Assumption Day Mass at Mangere

School chaplain, Marist priest, Fr Brian Prendeville has led a whole school Mass at De La Salle College, Mangere East in Auckland to mark the Feast of the Assumption this week.

The feast on 15 August, which celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary's assumption into heaven, is of particular spiritual significance for New Zealand Catholics.

The country's first Catholic bishop, the French-born Jean Baptiste Pompallier, declared the Feast of the Assumption as the patronal feast day for New Zealanders in the 1840s.

Students at De La Salle Mangere were able to honour the Feast Day with prayers around a grotto dedicated to Our Lady on the college grounds.

Alongside the students were a number of De La Salle Brothers from the community in Auckland, including Br Jack Iremonger.

Each homeroom made a special wreath dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God and at the end of the mass, the students led a procession to the Grotto and lay their wreaths there.