| Faith-base
Activities at St. Anne Catholic Elementary School
The priest of St. Kevin Parish comes to the school regularly to
celebrate mass with the students. There are also numerous other
faith celebrations throughout the school year for students (in their
own classrooms and in the gym and/or library for larger groups).
St. Anne School offers the Rainbows program. This year we have two
support groups. Rainbows is for children who are living in single
parent families, step-families or families that may be going through
painful transitions. Rainbows is a support group to assist your
child in expressing and understanding his/her feelings, to feel
acceptance for what has happened, and to feel a sense of belonging
and love.
St. Anne School is a participant in a worldwide, mission education
program called the Holy Childhood Association (HCA). It connects
children in Canada with children in developing countries. As members
of the HCA, children are asked to do three things: Pray, Learn and
Share. Its motto is “Children Helping Children”. Children
share by raising money through raffles, penny drives, lunches, etc.
100% of donations from children are sent to children in the developing
world. Since 1843, this association has assisted millions of children
in areas of nutrition, health, spirituality, and education. Our
school is proud to be involved in this very worthwhile Mission Club.
Annual food drives are held at the school to help fill the shelves
at the local food bank. The drives are held to enhance our Catholic
and Christian spirit in helping members of our community who are
in need.
Grade 8 students are involved in a fantastic retreat day offered
by the National Evangelization Team, a travelling group of young
adults each of whom has had a very vivid encounter with God. The
NET team share their stories of personal difficulties and incredible
faith. Here are some of the comments from our students regarding
the retreat:
- I learned that God loves, He knows me and that He has a plan
for me. I only have to listen to Him to learn what that plan is.
- I thought those guys were cool!
- The NET retreat was a blast! The skits were great. I think
the best part was during the quiet prayer time when our group
leader came and prayed quietly for each of us.
- Although I don’t really understand god, the NET team
made it a little easier for me to see what God has done for me.
- I thought it was going to be boring, but boy, was I wrong!
It was awesome!
- I learned that God is watching over us each day. My faith definitely
grew today.
- I learned that it’s ok to make mistakes-that’s
what humans do, and no matter what you say or do, God will always
love you
About our Patron Saint
 St. Anne is the
traditional name of the mother of Mary, the Blessed Virgin. Her
name in Hebrew is Hannah, which means “grace”. Anne
and her husband, Joachim, lived in Nazareth, and they were childless.
To be childless in this time and place was considered a curse from
God. Joachim went into the mountains to pray that God would remove
this curse from them. Anne also prayed, and promised to dedicate
any child she had to the service of God. An angel appeared to both
Joachim and Anne promising that God would send them a child whom
the whole world would call blessed. In time, a daughter was born
to them, and they named her Miriam (Mary).
St. Anne is also the patroness of women in labour and of miners.
Her feast day is celebrated on July 26th.
St. Kevin’s Parish
Learn more about our parish at http://stkevin.diocesessm.org/index.html/en.
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