Scottish Catholic Observer

The school community welcomed Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow on November 21—the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary—as he led staff, pupils and members of the community in a beautiful celebration of Mass along with Fr Monaghan for the important occasion, which falls in the centenary year of the apparitions.

Pupils played a key role in the Mass, including the provision of a beautiful musical Liturgy, with the ‘array and intricacy of the musical styles on offer’ deemed to be a ‘great testimony to the staff and pupils involved.’

It comes after the consecration of Scotland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary earlier this year on September 3 at Carfin Grotto, as part of global celebrations of the 100th anniversary of Fatima.

It also proved to be a ‘fitting climax’ to the school’s 40th anniversary celebrations which took place this year, and the two important anniversaries of local parishes St Matthew’s and St Dominic’s Churches in 2017.

The Mass and consecration was a chance for the extended school community to come together in a spirit of Faith and family, as the school welcomed back retired headteacher Neil Roarty, and former pupil Sr Andrea Fraille, a Sister of the Gospel of Life.

“It was a very special atmosphere and it was a genuine coming together of the extended Turnbull community and family,” Principal Teacher of RE, Mike Hughes, said. “Under the auspices of the Headteacher, the senior management team, the RE and Music departments and numerous other teaching and support staff, an atmosphere of fervent preparation ensued for weeks in advance. Never was the superb assistance of the facilities team more greatly appreciated.”

Mr Hughes also praised Sancta Familia Media’s commitment to capturing the special day on film for all to see online.

“We feel certain at Turnbull High that we can entrust all our worthy causes to Mary and our endeavours will be fortified anew with God’s Grace in these difficult times in which we exist,” he added.

“This year is a huge year in the life of our school,” music teacher Fraser Pearce said. “We have both the 40th anniversary of St Dominic’s Parish, our other parish, St Matthew’s, have their 70th anniversary, it’s the Fatima centenary and it’s our school 40th anniversary, and of course we’re also looking forward to the 2018 celebrations of the Education Act and promoting Catholic schools and just how good they are for Scotland.”

“It was a lovely occasion; it’s the end of the 40th anniversary year for Turnbull High School,” Archbishop Tartaglia said. “I’m delighted to be here because I’ve got history with Bishopbriggs, I started off my pastoral ministry in Bishopbriggs.

“They’ve kind of taken Our Lady to their hearts as their special patron and we’ve celebrated this on the feast of the Presentation of Our Lady.

“In the centenary year of the apparitions at Fatima, so we’ve crowned the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, we’ve dedicated the school to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and all this just at the time when we’re going to have the centenary of the 1918

Education Act, which brought Catholic schools into the public provision of education and and really set Catholic education off in a really stellar direction which we have today.

“The stars have aligned, or providence has disposed, that all of this should have happened and it’s a great opportunity and a great sign for the shcool and I wish the school going forward every blessing.”

“We’ve had a whole year of celebratory events and we did start off with a community Mass and obviously with the Mass today,” said headteacher Eileen Kennedy following the consecration. “Obviously the children who were at Mass today are all children who do participate within the various groups that we have within the school.

“We have some from our St Vincent de Paul Youth Conference, others from our Aid to the Church in Need group, and more recently our Mary’s Meals group which was set up after a visit from Mary’s Meals. The children were so inspired that they set up their own group and we now sponsor a school in Liberia and we hope to do that year on year from here on in.”