On Monday 16th September, staff and students from St Margaret Ward went to St Mary’s College, Oscott. Oscott College is the main seminary, where priests are trained in England and Wales. Students went to join the Diocesan Chaplaincy Commissioning Mass, where they were encouraged and celebrated for their work in support the Catholic Life of our school. Mass was celebrated by the Rector of Oscott, Canon Michael Dolman, and our students joined in prayer, singing and carrying our school banner.
After Mass there was time for lunch (including lots of cake!) and we had a tour of Oscott College from a seminarian, Connor, who was assigned to look after our group. The students were very taken with Connor who answered all their questions and was very knowledgeable about the artwork, architecture and history of the College.
Following the tour, we then had a workshop discussing vocations, where some of the seminarians shared their stories of how they felt God’s call to train for the priesthood. Our students asked lots of good questions and were excellent representatives of the school. Here’s what they had to say about the day:
“It made me feel more connected to the community as we were able to meet other people involved in chaplaincy”
“We loved the cake!”
“I enjoyed the tour of the seminary, it told us a lot about the history of the place.”
“The chapel was so beautiful”