The Chapel is at the heart of Farleigh and is a place for quiet reflection and prayer, as well as for whole school liturgies and collective worship focusing on the Church’s year, special liturgical feasts and other significant Catholic religious festivals and traditions. It is open for staff, pupils and parents and is an oasis of quiet and calm in the middle of our busy school.  Weddings, baptisms, funerals and Sunday mass are celebrated throughout the year; it is also where we celebrate the sacraments of reconciliation, holy Communion and confirmation. The boarders use the Chapel for prayers and RS classes can often be found there, exploring the symbols of devotion and the traditions they represent.

Mass is celebrated three times each week before school, with attendance entirely optional. Sunday mass is at 10 am, when members of the public come to join the school in worship.

Pupils actively lead and organise chapel activities as servers, choristers, readers and members of the Chapel Committee.

The sacraments are central to the life of the Chapel and pupils have the opportunity to be prepared for, and to celebrate, reconciliation, first holy Communion and confirmation at the appropriate time. Penance services are held in Lent and Advent with the opportunity for individual confession too.

There is a retreat programme built into the school year and during their time at Farleigh, all pupils enjoy a day of prayer, reflection and activities to help them contemplate their relationship with God and each other.

St Thérêse of Lisieux

Born in France in 1873, she died at the age of 24 as a result of contracting tuberculosis. Thérêse entered the Carmelite order at the unusually early age of fifteen and, living a hidden life of prayer marked by considerable suffering, and knowing that she could not achieve anything dramatic from her place in the convent, she undertook to do all the little things well to the glory of God. Thérêse lived a life of trust and dedication in spite of, and indeed, through her illness. Her posthumously discovered writings, compiled into a book titled "The Story of a Soul," have inspired millions to dedicate the small aspects of daily life to God. She was canonized in May 1925.

As our patron, St Thérêse inspires us to do “little things and do them with great love,” which is central to our ethos and values.  Her feast day on October 1st is much anticipated by staff and pupils, with a special mass to begin our celebrations and a fabulous meal for the boarders to conclude the day.