Students in Year 10 at St Paul’s High School had the opportunity to attend a special retreat at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, which culminated with the celebration of the Eucharist, with His Eminence, Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh.

Cardinal Brady, welcomed the students and their form teachers to St Patrick’s Cathedral, and encouraged the students to work hard at their studies over the next few weeks and months.

The annual Year 10 retreat to St Patrick’s Cathedral is part of a series of retreats offered to students at St Paul’s High School.

BBC Radio Ulster broadcasted its weekly Morning Service from St Joseph’s Church, Meigh.  The Mass was celebrated by our Chaplain, Father Dermot Maloney.

The broadcast featured our award-winning Choir, under the direction of Head of Music, Mr Colm Murphy.

To hear Morning Service from BBC Radio Ulster, click on this link:   Morning Service*

(* please note this is a large MP3 file, and it may take a little while to stream or download.)

Recording, (c) BBC Radio Ulster.

Pictured above are  senior students from St Paul’s High School, who recently received their John Paul II Awards from Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, at St Patrick’s Cathedral.  The students are pictured with Mrs Deirdre Graham, RE teacher at St Paul’s, Cardinal Brady, and Rev Deacon Thomas McHugh.

Congratulations to Claire McCone, Janine O’Hanlon, Aoife Garvey, Emma Quinn and Sarah McGennity , they received their John Paul II Awards at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh recently.

Their awards were presented by Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady. It was a beautiful ceremony and a very proud night for the students, their parents, Mrs Deirdre Graham, RE teacher at St Paul’s and the whole school community.

Chaplain at St Paul’s High School, Father Dermot Maloney celebrated two very special Masses recently, celebrating the many talents, skills and hard work of our Year 12 and 14 students, and praying blessing on them as they prepare for GCSE and A Level examinations in the next few weeks.

The students and their parents were greeted by Principal, Mr Oliver Mooney and their Year Heads, Mrs Catherine Rafferty (Head of Year 12) and Mrs Catherine Hughes (Head of Year 14).

Some photos from both celebrations are below.

St Paul’s Science students demonstrating an experiment to a P7 pupil and a parent at Open Day. 

St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook held its annual Open Day on Saturday 25 January.  Prospective pupils from Primary 7 classes in our feeder primary schools and their parents visited the school in large numbers.  They were guided around the school by our current Year 8 and Year 9 students and shown the different departments, getting a flavour for what the school is about.

Principal Mr Oliver Mooney addressed parents and pupils on the day.  A video of Mr Mooney’s address is available below.

Prospective parents and pupils of St. Paul’s can watch the video to experience a virtual tour of the school.

A selection of photographs from Open Day 2012 are visible below.

 Bosco McShane, team leader of the Síolta Retreat Team, talking to Year 14 St Paul’s students. 

The Síolta Retreat Team, led by Bosco McShane, that has worked extensively in missionary countries from 1999 to the current day,visited St Paul’s last week to provide a workshop. It was intended to help young people grow towards adulthood, and help them understand and develop their faith in our Christian heritage and practice.

The year 14 students thoroughly enjoyed their break from normal class routine and felt that this retreat helped them recharge and bond as a year group.  They understand the importance of the year ahead and how events like this will help them grow into mature, responsible young adults with a deep awareness of their faith.

St Paul’s would like to thank the team for coming in and providing an inspirational day for our Year 14 students to enjoy.

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Below is a few photos from the Síolta Retreat Day: 

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Mr Dermot Kelly from the Armagh Diocesan Youth Commission, with Religious Education teacher Mrs Deirdre Graham and Year 13 pupils from St Paul’s High School.

Mr Dermot Kelly from the Armagh Diocesan Youth Commission visited St Paul’s on Thursday 29th September to launch the John Paul II Award to Year 13 students.

He gave a very inspirational talk and delivered a PowerPoint presentation which underlined the widespread appeal that this award has around Ireland. This is the third year of the award and it is going from strength to strength.

The response from Year 13 students was excellent, and we currently have eight Year 14 students completing their award in preparation for the Awards Ceremony in Armagh in early 2012.

Pictured at the Award Ceremony at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh are Year 14 students at St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook, Sarah Harper, Ceallach Grant, Sinéad O’Grady and Órla Quinn. The students are photographed with Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Seán Brady, Auxiliary Bishop of Armagh, Bishop Gerard Clifford and Co-ordinator of John Paul II Awards at St Paul’s High School, Mrs Deirdre Graham.

Archbishop of Armagh, His Eminence Cardinal Brady celebrated the first ever Diocesan Youth Faith Awards ceremony which took place at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.

The event was an evening which showcased all award participants’ gifts and talents that they had demonstrated in the completion of either the Muiredach Cross Award or the Pope John Paul II Award. The evening was presided over by Cardinal Sean Brady and Bishop Gerard Clifford.

There were over 100 young people who received these awards from all over the Archdiocese.  The liturgy included singing, dancing, processions and youth testimonials which were enjoyed by families, friends, award leaders, school principals and members of clergy.

The Pope John Paul II Award is dedicated to the memory of the late Pope John Paul II who had a great connection with young people and visions to encourage their beliefs.  The Award was launched by Diocese of Derry in November 2006. And has been rolled out over various dioceses in Ireland ever since. If you are aged between 16 and 18 and living or going to school in Archdiocese of Armagh, this award will enable you to become more actively involved in the life of your parish and community.

The Muiredach Cross Award was set up by the Archdiocese of Armagh in 2009 and is aimed at young people aged of 14 to 16. Its primary aim is to create opportunities for our young people to put their faith into action.  This award may be taken as part of your school’s extracurricular programme and will include a project in your local parish.

On Friday 18 March the Eucharistic Congress Bell began its journey to the parishes of the Armagh Diocese for a total of 15 days. From Armagh the bell will be brought on foot from diocese to diocese by teams of volunteers.

On Thursday night, 24th March, the bell arrived into the parish of Lower Killeavey at 9.30 pm and on Friday morning, pupils from all four schools in the parish went to the Good Shepherd Church in Cloughreagh to celebrate its visit.St Joseph’s PS Bessbrook, St Peter’s PS Cloughreagh, St Malachy’s PS Camlough and St Pauls HS Bessbrook  were all represented and participated in the celebration of the Mass.

The bell will move onto the Dioceses of Dromore, Down and Connor and Derry and onto the remaining dioceses. It will also be taken to the World Youth Day event in Madrid in July and will be taken to Lourdes as part of the Annual Dublin Diocesan pilgrimage. The first stage of the bell pilgrimage will be completed on 29 January 2012.

The Congress Bell has its origins in the Dominican Convent in Portstewart in County Derry.  It was used most recently to ring in the Jubilee Year 2000 in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow.

The bell, a reminder of the tradition of St. Patrick’s Bell, will represent the call to faith, to prayer, to conversion and the vocation to service and to mission.

The bell has been fitted into a carrying frame in which it will be brought on foot from place to place around Ireland by teams of volunteers. It is hoped that it will be a focal point for gathering and for prayer, in cathedrals, parish churches and places of pilgrimage between now and June 2012.

In our preparation of the Eucharistic Congress, we have been asking people to think of it as a journey rather than just an event. Some of those who came to the last Congress in Dublin in 1932 have spoken to us of their mammoth journeys on foot or on bicycles. For this Congress we are asking people to engage in an interior journey of renewal. That is where the symbolism of the bell comes in. The bell will go on its journey around the country, but it will invite all those who hear it to begin an interior journey of renewal.