St. Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls
House System• Every member of our school community belongs to a House.• We have decided that our Houses should have important
female patron and also represent the six continents. • Theses are St Angela, St Faustina, St Josephine Bakhita, St
Laura, St Marianne Cope & St Teresa Benedicta.• They are not celebrities or religious do-gooders.• These are important Catholic Women who the Church has
declared to be Saints and therefore worthy of our love and respect and they in turn will show us their love and their help.
• Our 6 Patrons are not Eurocentric, rather they provide cultural diversity and reflect the universality of the Catholic Church.
• Catholic Global & cultural diversity is a theme that we want the House System to develop over the next few years e.g. through food, fashion, culture, music, competitions, festivals etc.
• Girls wear coloured badges on the lapel of their blazers and staff have coloured ID lanyards.
• All achievements, events, competitions, Sports Day etc. are also inter-house competitions.
• Vivos is the system we use to create personal Merits and House Points.
• There is a weekly update of House Points for Staff & students on the TV monitors and the school website.
• We will develop the community & character of each House through charity events & inter-house competitions.
• We look forward to everyone being involved and always welcome new ideas.
St. Anne’s Catholic High School for Girls
House System
EuropeFeast Day 27th January
Pioneer of Female Education in Europe.
Born in 1474 in Italy. She and her older sister, were left
orphans when she was 15. Angela was very distressed when her
sister suddenly died It is said that in a vision
she received a response that her
sister was in heaven in the company of the
saints. Angela believed that a better Christian education
was needed for young girls.
On 25 November 1535, St Angela Merici
started the foundation of the “Company of St Ursula.” She wanted
the sisters to be consecrated to God and
dedicated to the service of their
neighbour, but remain in the world and live a
celibate life in their own homes. When she
died on January 27, 1540, there were some
24 branches of the Company of St. Ursula serving the Church.
STSt Faustina Oceania
Feast Day 5th October
Polish Saint, who had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart & whose congregation work with
vulnerable young women
Saint Faustina was born on 25 August 1905
Throughout her life, she reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him which led to the Divine Mercy Devotion. She approached several convents but was turned down time after time, in
one case she was told "we do not accept maids here",
referring to her being penniless. Eventually the
mother superior at the convent of the Sisters of
Our Lady of Mercy decided to give her a chance. At
age 20 Faustina knew nothing about the convent she was joining, except
that she believed she was led there. She was to be a nun for just over a decade, dying at the age of 33 on 5
October 1938.
She wrote that on the night of Sunday, 22 February
1931, Jesus appeared to her as the "King of Divine
Mercy" wearing a white garment with red and pale rays emanating from his
heart. In her diary she wrote that Jesus told her: Paint an
image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in
You". I desire that this image be venerated, first in your
chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this
image will not perish.
STST JOSEPHINE
BAKHITAAfrica
Feast Day 8th February
Modern Saint and former Slave
Josephine Margaret Bakhita, was a Sudanese-born former slave who became a nun in
Italy, living and working there for 45 years. She was
kidnapped by Arab slave traders who had already
kidnapped her elder sister two years earlier. Over the course of twelve years she was resold
again three more times and then given away. It is said that the trauma of her abduction caused her to forget her own name; she took one given to her by the slavers, bakhita,
Arabic for lucky. She says that the most terrifying of all her
memories there, was when she (in common with other slaves) she was ‘tattooed’ when 114
intricate patterns were cut into her breasts, belly, and into her right arm. The wounds were
filled with salt to ensure permanent scarring. She was
later bought by an Italian family and arrived in Italy in
1885. She was baptized, confirmed and received her
first Holy Communion from the future Pope St Pius X.
In 1893 she entered the Canossian Sisters throughout her entire life - "her mind was
always on God, and her heart in Africa” During her 42 years as
a nun she was in frequent contact with the local
community. Her gentleness, calming voice, and ever-
present smile became she was known as Sor Moretta ("little
brown sister") or Madre Moretta ("black mother"). Her
last years were marked by pain and sickness. A young student
once asked Bakhita: "What would you do, if you were to meet your captors?" Without hesitation she responded: "If I
were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel
and kiss their hands. For, if these things had not happened,
I would not have been a Christian and a religious today"
STST LAURA
(of St Catherine of Sienna)
South America
Feast Day 21st October
Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena (May 26, 1874 – October 21,
1949) was a Colombian nun. In 1914
she founded the Congregation of the
Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of
Siena. During the Colombian Civil War her father was killed,
and the family was left in poverty.
So, Laura was sent to live with her grandmother. When Laura was 16, to help her family in its
financial difficulties and she applied to receive training to
become an elementary school teacher. Beginning in 1908, she
worked as missionary to the natives in the Uraba and Sarare regions where she founded the
Works of the Indians. Even though she wanted to
become a cloistered Carmelite nun, she felt
growing within her the desire to spread the Gospel to those who
had never met Jesus Christ.
Laura wanted to destroy this racial discrimination and to
personally sacrifice herself in order to bring them Christ's love and teaching. On 14 May 1914, she started the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of Saint Catherine of Siena. With four other young
women and went to live among the native Indians. Even though this new Congregation had the support of the local Bishop of Santa Fe de Antioquia, it was severely criticized even within the Christian community itself. The last nine years of her life
were lived in a wheelchair. She died after a prolonged illness on October 21, 1949 in, Colombia Today her Missionary Sisters
work in 19 countries throughout America, Africa and Europe. She
was known for her work with indigenous peoples and as a strong role model for South American girls. Laura was
canonized by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013. Her Feast Day is
October 21st.
STSt Marianne
Cope Americas
Feast Day 23rd Janaury
American Saint who worked with the Lepers in Hawaii.
Marianne Cope, January 23, 1838 – August 9, 1918) was a
German-born American. She is known for her charitable works and virtuous deeds, she spent many years caring for lepers in
Hawaii. By eighth grade, her father had become an invalid and, as the oldest child, she worked in a textile factory to help support her family. She
became a nun in New York and a teacher then a principal in
newly established schools for German speaking immigrants. She also helped found the first
two Catholic hospitals in Central New York stipulating that medical care was to be provided to all, regardless of race or creed. In 1883, she received a plea for help in
caring for leprosy from King Kalalaua of Hawaii. Shen then set out with six other Sisters Two years after the arrival of the Sisters, the king himself
bestowed on Mother Marianne the Cross of a Companion for her acts of benevolence to his
suffering people.
In 1887 she convinced the government that it was of vital
need to save the homeless female children of leprosy
patients. Although this step meant that she would likely
never be able to return to New York and see her family and
friends again, she accepted the call. “We will cheerfully accept
the work…” was her response. In November 1888 she cared for
the famous Fr Damien. After his diagnosis as a leper; he was
shunned by both civil and church leaders. It was only Mother
Marianne who gave him welcome, even arranging for the king to meet him. When Father Damien died on April 15, the
government officially gave Cope charge for the care of the boys
as well as her original commission for the female
residents of the colony. She died on August 9 and was canonized on October 21, 2012. She is the
11th American citizen to be made a saint and is the patron of lepers, outcasts and those with
HIV/AIDS. Her Feast Day is January 23rd.
STSt TERESA BENEDICTA
AsiaFeast Day 9th August
Philosopher, Convert, Carmelite & Martyr
Edith Stein, 12 October 1891 – 9 August 1942, was a German Jewish
philosopher who converted to Catholicism & became a
Carmelite nun. She is a martyr and saint. She was
born into an observant Jewish family, but was an atheist her teenage years. Moved by the tragedies of World
War in 1915 she took lessons to become a nursing
assistant and worked in a hospital for the prevention of disease outbreaks. After
completing her doctoral thesis in 1918 and obtained
a teaching position at the University of Freiburg. From reading the works of the St
Teresa reformer of the Carmelites she was drawn to
the Catholic Faith and was baptized in 1922 At that
point she wanted to become a Carmelite nun, but was dissuaded by her spiritual
mentors. She then taught at a Catholic school in Munster.
As a result of the Nazi persecution she had to quit her teaching position. 1933 she entered the Carmelite
monastery in Cologne, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross "Teresa blessed by the Cross". In 1938 she and her sister Rosa, by then also
a convert and an extern sister of the monastery, were sent
to the Carmelite monastery in Echt in the Netherlands for
their safety. Despite the Nazi invasion of that state in 1940,
they remained undisturbed until they were arrested by the Nazis on 2 August 1942 and sent to the Auschwitz concentration where they were murdered in the gas
chamber on 9 August 1942. She was canonized in 1998. She is one of the six patron saints of Europe, together
with St. Benedict, Sts Cyril & Methodius, St Bridget of
Sweden & St Catherine of Siena. Her feast day is 9th
August .
St ANGELA
EUROPE
Pink
St FAUSTINA
OCEANIA
Yellow
St JOSEPHINE BAKHITA
AFRICA
Blue
St LAURA(of St
Catherine of Sienna)
SOUTH AMERICA
Orange
St MARIANNE COPE
AMERICA
Red
St TERESA BENEDICTA
ASIA
Green
Head of House
Mrs Gumbrell
Head of House
Mrs Hyland
Head of House
Mrs Sanders
Head of House
Dr Cooper
Head of House
Mrs Turner
Head of House
Miss Pugh
7 Angela8.Angela9 Angela
10 Angela11 Angela12 Angela
and Form Tutors
7 Faustina8 Faustina9 Faustina
10. Faustina11 Faustina12 Faustina
and Form Tutors
7 Josephine 8 Josephine 9 Josephine 10 Josephine 11 Josephine 12 Josephine
and Form Tutors
7 Laura8 Laura9 Laura
10 Laura11 Laura12 Laura
and Form Tutors
7 Marianne 8 Marianne 9 Marianne
10 Marianne 11 Marianne 12 Marianne
and Form Tutors
7 Teresa8 Teresa9 Teresa
10 Teresa11 Teresa12 Teresa?
and Form Tutors
Prayer to the Saints of our Houses
Dear God you constantly raise up new saints to glorify your name and to show us your kingdom of love. May Saints Angela, Faustina, Josephine, Laura, Marianne and Teresa Bendicta, look down on all of us
here today. May they continue to inspire us, pray for us and help us in this life and
welcome us all into to your kingdom where you live and reign for ever and ever.
Amen