CHILDREN FROM St Mary’s the Mount Catholic School, Walsall, West Midlands, took part in the traditional procession on May 23 in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, writes Józef Łopuszyński.
The event was led by children from the school who had recently made their First Holy Communion and by those soon to be confirmed. The First Holy Communicant boys wore red ties instead of the usual blue, and the girls wore their First Holy Communion dresses.
The school orchestra accompanied the singing under the direction of deputy head teacher Mrs Souter and both parents and pupils joined in with gusto in singing “As I kneel before you”, “Bring Flowers of the Rarest, Bring Blossoms the Fairest” and other hymns.
Each class had its own part to play in the celebration, and during the ceremony a statue of Mary was crowned symbolising Mary as Queen of Heaven.
Head teacher Cath Amos said: “Each year we hold a special procession in honour of Our Lady. It is an extremely important service of our school year and is always well attended. We are proud to process around the streets to witness our faith. This year our May Queen was T’Nisha Vassel and Max Preston was our Cushion Bearer. Our First Holy Communion children and our Confirmands had a special role to play and this is an opportunity for them to come together.” Parish priest Canon Peter Taylor added: “The school orchestra did a wonderful job, and the children were well-prepared. Through prayer, singing and readings, the children honoured Mary and at the end of the celebration we also prayed a decade of the Rosary.” One pupil said he was pleased to sing “My Soul is filled with Joy as I sing to God, my Saviour.”