On Saturday the 16th of July, Saint Mary’s Mount Pritchard held a Sunday School day retreat themed around “The Life and Works of St. Joseph of Damascus.” With around 80 children in attendance, the activities of the day were split between high school students – also known as Young Youth of Mt Pritchard (Y2MP) – and primary school students.
Y2MP started the day with a talk centred around St. Joseph of Damascus. The students went through St Joseph’s life and work. They took inspiration from his fervent desire to study the Gospels and his zealous labours for the renaissance of the Church of Antioch. This was followed by an activity where the students analysed a selection of hymns for St. Joseph, looking at how his life is embedded into the Church hymnography.
The Sunday school students also looked at the life of St. Joseph of Damascus in their own interactive talk.
Following lunch, Y2MP students went on an ‘Amazing Race’, completing a series of fun puzzles and activities while the primary school students had arts and crafts activities.
To conclude the day, each family received a copy of the Archdiocese’s newly published book on the life of St. Joseph of Damascus.
We thank His Eminence Metropolitan Basilios for always encouraging us to learn about the lives of our Antiochian Saints. Furthermore, we thank the Archdiocese Publications Department for the book on St. Joseph of Damascus’ life, which gave us the inspiration for the retreat.
