Thursday, August 13, 2009

St Catherine's Trust Summer School 2009

I'm now somewhat recovered from our Summer School, which ended last Sunday, and have processed my own photos and have had a few from other sources too, so here are a selection. (For more, see my Flickr set here.)
Ardingly Mass 16
(Here is our Chaplain, Fr Andrew Southwell, returning from the Asperges on the final Sunday, at Mass in the impressive chapel of Ardingly College, Sussex.)

As always the Summer School was hugely enjoyable. We had 36 students and about a dozen staff. Numbers were down on last year because of the later date - entirely in August - which was the earliest our venue was able to offer us this year. But the atmosphere was particularly good this year, with the students throwing themselves into the academic and artistic tasks and the activities.
Tennis 3
(Fr Southwell joining the tennis group one afternoon.)

Most days of the Summer School are organised like a school day: classes in the mornings, Sung Mass, games and activities in the afternoon, some more classes, dinner, and some evening activity. The classes included Catechesis, History, Philosophy, Latin, New Testament Greek, Gregorian Chant and Polyphony.
Sewing 5
In the afternoon there was tennis and football, country walks and a very popular sewing group. In the evenings we had two talks from visiting speakers, Fr Rupert McHardy, who spoke about St Phillip Neri, and Mr James Bogle, who spoke about Blessed Karl of Austria. Each day ended with Compline.
Compline 2
(Compline.)

During the week we were training some of the boys to serve and MC, and others to sing the some of the propers with the small liturgical schola who accompanied the Masses throughout the week.
Ardingly Mass 15
(The enlarged Schola for the final Mass.)

The finale of the week included a staged reading of a radio play, one of Dorothy Sayer's wartime plays about the Passion.
Play 5
(From left to right are Mary Magdalen, Our Lady, Our Lord, and St John.)

We also had a very enjoyable quiz, which demonstrated that the students really had been taking in some of the things we'd been teaching them. I was the Quiz Master.
Quiz 8

The Summer School is subsidised by generous benefactors, including the Latin Mass Society, making it possible for us to accept students regardless of their ability to pay. We ask merely for a donation in accordance with parents' means; these contributions usually ammount to about a third of the cost of the school. The staff are all volunteers; the main cost is the accomodation.

We would welcome any donations for our work, which can be made on-line though the St Catherine's Trust website; any enquiries about next year's Summer School can be made to info@stcatherinestrust.org

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