Prayers Written for Students, By Students
With great excitement, the Student Ministry team recently presented the Students’ Prayer Book to the student body. To align with the Faith pillar of our Strategic Plan, the prayer book was created to provide students with appropriate and meaningful ways to connect with their faith.
The project, which took 12 months to complete, was initiated by Chelsea White and Eireann Robertson, the Student Ministry Team leaders in 2021. When they graduated, they handed over the task to 2022 leaders Niamh Smithies and Alice Handcock. Niamh and Alice have worked hard to successfully complete the project.Â
When asked why a student prayer book was important, Chelsea and Eirann commented, “As a team, we understood that every student was at a different point in their faith journey, and we wanted to meet students at that point, so we decided to focus on prayer. Prayers for students, written by students, is important to increase their engagement with their faith. Students often feel disconnected when they don’t relate to the topics or understand the language or ideas.”
The Ministry team ran a Prayer Writing Competition for students from Years 7 to 11. Many students wrote their own prayers, while others shared prayers that were important to them.
Alice explains, “The Prayer Book has created a contemporary opportunity for students to connect with their faith. Not only are students enabled to grow closer to God, but they are also reflecting on their own life through prayer, empowering them to learn, grow, develop, and be strengthened as individuals.”
Niamh added, “Through prayer, we can put all our worries into the hands of God and pray for the intercession for a particular person, group of people or issue that concerns us. We can feel God’s presence more strongly in our lives, and we feel more compelled into acts of loving service to those around us and towards the people we pray for.”
The prayer book will be used in Homerooms at the start of each day. With many categories of prayers, students will have a large selection of prayers to choose from.Â
Director of Mission, Jilly Landers, offered her thanks to everyone who supported and contributed to the prayer book. “I hope you find the prayer book relevant and meaningful to your lives. Congratulations on a huge task that took many hours of meetings, collating, editing, and vetting. You should be very proud of your efforts. You have given current and future students a legacy to be used for years to come.”
The younger students aren’t being left out of this project. Next on the agenda is a prayer book for Years 5 and 6 students.
Below is one of the prayers from the book, written by Dilara Wijesinghe (Year 12).
Lord,
May I honour you by serving others.
Allow me to serve with a joyful and loving heart.
Strengthen me to give my time to others without hesitation.
Guide me to give of myself, my gifts, and my talents for those in need.
Help me to use my eyes to see the needs of others,
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen
Images in this story are from the prayer book and were created by Lucy Dal Molin (Year 12)
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
