From March 14-22, we invite the Parish and School community of St. Margaret of Scotland to join us in praying a Novena to our Patroness in thanksgiving for the leadership of Patrick Holley and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we seek a new leader for our School.
Though our community will be praying this Novena over the course of the school’s spring break, we trust that God will unite us in spirit no matter where we are when we pray
The daily prayers and reflections will be emailed to the community first thing each morning. Each day, there are reflection questions for you to ponder in your prayer, and we invite the community’s response to those questions, that we might share them with the search committee and the rest of the community.
Additionally, we would like to offer one video each day to accompany your prayers. The video will not walk you through all of the prayers of the day, but will offer you a chance to listen to prayers or God’s Word proclaimed, or to pray in unity with others in our parish and school community.
A downloadable printout of the entire Novena is attached below. For videos for each individual day, please click the link below to follow along.
Introduction
The Novena is a traditional Catholic prayer practice. An individual, a group, a family or a community holds an intention for nine days. The prayer that is repeated daily for nine days is generally a way of asking God for a special help or blessing.
This Novena, respecting the pious tradition of Catholic prayer, is meant to be a prayerful foundation to contemplate the meaning of the mission of St. Margaret of Scotland as we engage the search for new school leadership in our administration and classrooms. Values drawn from the mission statements of school and parish help us reflect on our identity – personally and institutionally. This reflection is done in the form of prayer, rather than simply in group discussion because the conversation is incomplete without God. Our identity and mission derive from God’s action and our response in faith. And we seek the active energy of the Holy Spirit as we move forward.
Make it your own! The prayer as given here is adaptable to various needs. It may be prayed in a group or privately. The lighting of a candle, an ancient symbol of prayer, can add to the experience of the Novena. Praying outside surrounds us with God’s great beauty and reminds us of his care for each of us – his loved ones. Since our community will be praying this Novena over the course of the school’s spring break, we will integrate our prayer into our weekend Masses, then pray from our homes most days, trusting that God will unite us in spirit no matter where we are when we pray.
The Order of the Novena
- The Novena service can begin with a bell chime, a hymn, or silence.
- Intercessory prayers, suited to the day’s theme, may be expanded into additional sharing of community needs and intentions.
- Reflection questions within the Novena may be revisited at the end of each day’s prayer. We invite you to share your personal reflections on the mission value of the day with the parish by emailing ffc@stmargaretstl.org. These reflections will be gathered anonymously and shared with the search committee to consider the community’s sense of mission as it relates to our search priorities.
We are confident that participation in this Community Novena for Catholic Education will yield benefits to those who take up the practice, and to the efforts of the St. Margaret of Scotland community.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7: 7-8
MISSION STATEMENTS
St. Margaret of Scotland Parish is a diverse urban Catholic parish. Inspired by the Holy Spirit and the Example of our patroness, we are called to be a vibrant voice and beacon of the Catholic faith in our neighborhoods. We proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ in work and action by
- Praying and celebrating as a Eucharist community,
- Educating children and adults to live a full Christian life in today’s world,
- Serving others with unconditional generosity, and
- Living just lives and working for a more just society.
St. Margaret of Scotland Parish School is a diverse, urban, vibrant and inclusive Catholic community. We are committed to providing an outstanding learning environment for children, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, in which they are challenged to meet their academic potential and recognize their giftedness in body, mind and spirit. Our students embody the example of our patron saint by becoming responsible leaders and caretakers of our community through works of service and social justice.
