Year 3 visit St. James’ Church

On Thursday Year 3 visited St. James’ Church for one of our Religious Education lessons as part of our Eucharist topic.

Father Philip told us all about the sacred vessels used during Mass such as the paten, ciborium and the chalice. He showed us the different cloths the priest uses and pointed out that the veils around the church, including on the altar, were now a special purple colour because we are in the season of Lent.

Father Philip then demonstrated how the vessels are used by the priest as well as the words and actions the priest says during Mass. We heard the Eucharistic prayer and learnt that it is God working through the priest as he says these words to consecrate the bread and wine so that they become the body and blood of Christ.

Year 3 has some insightful questions to ask Father Philip such as: Is it still a Mass if no one turns up? Why does the priest wear special vestments? Why are the bells rung during Mass? and Why is that particular kind of bread used for the hosts?

When we returned to school we completed a piece of work to describe the Liturgy of the Eucharist and give reasons for the actions and symbols during this very special and holy part of the Mass.

At the end we had time to look around our the Lady Chapel and the Baptistry and ask Father Philip some more questions about the church and our faith.

Thank you Father Philip for welcoming us to the Church, it was lovely to have a look around. Another thank you to the parents who came to the Church with us!

What did you enjoy most about our trip to St. James?