Today, 15th October, is known to all in the Society of the Holy Child Jesus as Founders' Day. On October 15th 1846 Cornelia Connelly and her 3 companions arrived in Derby and set up the very first Holy Child convent and schools. This year, Founders' Day is particularly important as we celebrate 175 years of the Society for the Holy Child Jesus and the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first school on the Layton Hill site, where St Mary's stands today.

This year will be a time to celebrate our roots, our connection to the Holy Child tradition through the great and varied history of our school,and to learn more about the person of Cornelia and the legacy of education she and her sisters established in Blackpool 150 years ago. We will do this through our Ethos day in November and a whole series of other planned celebrations during the year.

This morning, we join in prayer with all the Sisters and Schools of the Holy Child Jesus across the world as we pray together a prayer written by the Sisters specifically for today:

Holy God,

May your Spirit guide and challenge us this year

to broaden our imagination,

deepen our trust,

move beyond obstacles,

be open to possibilities

and, like Cornelia, make a difference in the world.

Through Jesus, the Christ.

Amen.