The goal of The Mantle is to lead teens to encounter Christ and to equip them to live as life-long disciples.

THAT'S A WRAP ON SUMMER 2026!

Hi there, Mantle Prayer Team! I pray that you all are doing well!

Happy September! We cannot believe that all of our teens are back to school, and that this month is the start of our full year for The Mantle!

The summer was a blast, and the Lord did so much. It truly was a time of rest, peace, community, and time for our teens to grow closer to our Lord. We are so grateful for all the fun and faith opportunities that we had this summer, and especially this month!

On August 3, we had the opportunity to make 150 Sibling Packs for the Ronald McDonald House, where these packs will be given to siblings of those who are sick and staying at RMDH. It was so special to be able to pray for those who will be receiving these and give thanks to God for the gift of RMDH. I dropped them off myself, and they were so grateful for the packs!

On August 5, we had the chance to hang out and play some outdoor games and board games. It was so much fun with our teens to be able to do that!

On August 10, we had the chance to come together for Mass, playing games, and a Bible Study on that past Sunday's Gospel: Matthew 14:22-33. We prayed through this Scripture and also watched a scene from The Chosen and prayed with that. It was such a gift to be able to be together in this way!

On August 11, we hosted our last young adult event, where our young adults joined us for dinner, a time of fellowship, and a Bible Study. We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for them, as a lot are beginning college and new careers!

On August 12, we had the opportunity to come together and play games and to have a study on the Assumption, that is celebrated on August 15. We had great conversation about Mother Mary's role in our lives and how the Assumption relates to our lives.

On August 13, we gathered our 11 students leader together for a time of fellowship and to make final plans and decisions for our kickoff happening September 20.

On August 17, we gathered together for our last event before the school year started, going to Mass and then doing a study on making a game plan for the year with the Lord, including making God priority in our schedules, making a prayer time game plan, and more!

We took a break from August 18-25, so our teens could settle into their first week of school.

On August 26, we had the chance to come together for a time of games and fellowship. We also had the chance to do a study together for Sts. Augustine and Monica, son and mother. It was so beautiful to take time together and learn about these saints, and to ask for their intercessions in our lives.

Otis, Fr. Fox, and myself were supposed to be in Uganda August 21-September 4, but due to Ebola we had to cancel our trip. But, that didn't stop us from having some times together with Fr. Godfrey and his parish in Uganda! Fr. Godfrey will be having a sister program of The Mantle at his parish, and he is so excited to start this up! (Also, please pray for him, he was ordained a priest on August 1!)

On August 27, I had the chance to Zoom call in and give a talk to 125 young people at Fr. Godfrey's parish, sharing and talking about Theology of the Body, which our curriculum at The Mantle is based upon. It was such an amazing gift, and I was so incredibly humbled by this opportunity All of the young people were so excited, receptive, and truly showed me the face of Jesus in a new way. We had a time for Q&A, and they had such insight in their questions! Fr. Godfrey is excited to keep this ministry going, and we can't wait to see how God will continue to work in and through this ministry!

On August 29, I had the chance to Zoom call in again with Fr. Godfrey's adult core team, training them in our curriculum, pastoral skillsets, and what youth ministry is. It was such a gift to talk to a smaller group, and truly see their hearts in wanting to grow in loving and serving these young people!

Also, on top of all of this, we redid my office and our teen room! We were able to make it a space that is more comfortable and cozy for our teens to come and hang out. They have LOVED it so far!

We are so grateful for this fun, full, and busy life, and to see God at work in our young people.

Thank you so much again (endlessly!) for your love, prayers, and support of us! It truly means the world, and all that God worked and did would not be possible without your prayers and support.

Please continue to read below for glories and intentions! Please know of our prayers for you!

In Mary's Mantle,

Ellie Dills

PICTURES FROM AUGUST

150 Packs to the Ronald McDonald House in Columbus

Game Night

New Office and Fr. Fox Blessing It

Student Leadership Hang Out + Winnie :)

Sts. Augustine and Monica Study

The launch of The Mantle in Uganda!

VIDEOS FROM AUGUST

AUGUST GLORIES

The Lord is so good and faithful! We share these glories in thanksgiving and in faith that He will do it again!

• Our teens really dove into our studies that we had this month. It is so beautiful seeing them claim the faith as their own, to put into practice the tools that we have taught them, and seeing how the Lord is daily transforming their life.
• I had some really honest and good conversations with a bunch of our teens this month, a lot of them sharing their heart in a new way. They feel safe, seen, and loved, and the Lord is truly touching deep and beautiful places in their hearts and lives.
• A lot of our young adults that have been coming to our events want to serve on our adult core team with our high schoolers! It is so beautiful to see them want to give back to the younger generation and to be a witness to them.
• Our teens are excited to go back to school and excited to see what the Lord has in store for them!
• We have had a new girl attending our events, and the other night she felt comfortable enough to share that she was Christian, and not Catholic, but she wanted to learn more. She asked a group of us what a saint is, and I was about to answer, but one of our other high school girls looked at me and said, "I want to answer!" and she did a great job with it! I am so grateful to the Lord for the ways that our teens feel safe to ask questions and that other teens are growing in confidence in answering questions about our faith!
• The Mantle being started in Uganda! The Lord is so good, faithful, and gracious, and it is such a gift to be able to have a sister youth group in Uganda!

Thank You, Jesus!

MANTLE SUMMER LESSONS

We are so grateful for all that God worked and did in our hearts and lives this summer, and these are just some of the lessons and pieces of wisdom that we want to take back with us into the school year!

SUMMERS SPENT FOR JESUS

We wanted to take a moment and honor three of our Mantle alumni that spent their summers for Jesus!

We are so grateful for the witness of Lindsay, Zachary, and Sophia, and the unique ways that they laid their lives doewn this summer for Jesus and for the Church!

Please read at the button below about what each of them did and how Jesus worked in and through them.

STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM INTRODUCTION

We are so excited to announce our amazing student leadership team for the '26-'27 year!

Please take a look at the button below to read more about each of our amazing teens that are saying "yes" to leading and loving like Jesus at The Mantle this year!

SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE

We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for this month!

SEPTEMBER PRAYER INTENTIONS

• For our teens as they dive into the school year, that they would remain rooted and tethered to our Lord and that they would know that their identity comes from Him, and not what they do.
• For our parish's ministry weekend, that we would continue to gain interest and support from our generous parishioners, and for opportunities to invite new teens to youth group.
• For our kickoff event, that their would be new teens attending, that those attending feel the love and joy of the Catholic faith and relationship with Jesus, and for great weather that evening.
• For our hearing God in prayer talk, the most important talk that we will be giving the whole year, that the teens would know that the Lord loves them and wants to speak to them daily.
• For Fr. Godfrey, his core team leaders, and The Mantle, that there would be new opportunities for these young people to know Jesus.
• For all of your intenions!

Come, Holy Spirit. Draw near to these intentions and we pray that Jesus's Most Precious Blood would cover it all and that Mother Mary's protective mantle would draw near to Her children. St. Brigid of Kildare, pray for us! Amen.

RESOURCES

We want to provide our teens with resources that they can take and continue to pray with!

If you hit the below button, you will see prayer resources / challenges from this month for our teens!

Also, we have started a new resource called "The Mantle Video Resources". What this includes are different topics with a variety of different videos hitting those resources. We would love for you to take this as a tool too!

THANK YOU!

Again, I want to thank you: for your heart and for your "yes" in being such a huge and important part of our high school youth ministry program.



We are so grateful, and please know of our prayers for you and your intentions!

Questions + Prayer Intentions? Reach out to Ellie Dills at edills@stbrigidofkildare.org.