As the Merici College community gathered on Friday 20 May for St Angela Merici Day, we celebrated the life of Angela Merici, our Patron Saint, who will be remembered as a revolutionary woman and who continues to inspire us each day.
The celebratory activities commenced in Pastoral Care with students gifting a St Angela Merici medal ‘Pray For Us’ to another student in their PC group and exploring our College theme #SERVIAM. Students remembered St Angela as an educator of women from all classes of society.
At our Thanksgiving Mass, we were honoured to welcome our Main Celebrant, Archbishop Christopher Prowse, and con-celebrants Fr Emil Milat, our College Chaplain, Fr Trenton Van Reesch from St Christopher’s Cathedral and Fr Troy from St Raphael’s Parish in Queanbeyan. We also extended a special welcome to the Sisters of the religious communities who were instrumental as the foundresses of the College, as well as Catholic Education staff, students and parents. As we processed into Mass, our College Principal, Anna Masters carried our College candle which displayed the College crest and House crests, symbolising Christ as our light and reminding us that we are one community with strong connections to our six founding religious communities.
The Merici College House banners were held with pride by our House Captains and House Vice Captains, led into Mass by our House Coordinators and the Sisters representing our Founding Orders which was symbolic of the unity and importance of family, celebrating the past, present and future.
The Gospel Procession also embraced the College’s history with Margaret McGrath from the Class of 1959, the year the College was established, her daughter Clare Gilligan who attended Sr Ursula College in Sydney, and her grand-daughter Olivia Ramage, currently enrolled at Merici, passing the Gospel to each other as a symbol of the Gospel values being passed from one generation to the next.
In His Homily, the Archbishop spoke about our call to love one another and to walk in love wholeheartedly just as God loves us.
At the conclusion of Mass, the Christian Service Learning Program awards were presented to more than 60 students for 50 hours, 100 hours and 150 hours of completed Christian Service. We congratulate these students for the contribution they have made, and continue to make, to our wider community.
A very significant day in the College’s history was the Blessing of the College’s Jubilee Chapel which occurred after Mass with His Grace and members of our community. We are very fortunate to have our own chapel where we can celebrate Mass and where members of our alumni can return to Merici to celebrate their marriage or baptize their child.
Merici’s school captains, Freya Spring and Amy Stubbs, coordinated a whole school Letter Hunt Trivia game with a twist! The students were challenged to learn more about the history of Merici College through the completion of quizzes and going to specific checkpoints to undertake team building activities in order to complete the Letter Hunt challenge.
The celebrations continued with delicious House food stalls at lunch time, followed by a disco and fiesta-type activities run by each House to raise funds for their respective charities.
The celebration of the life of St Angela Merici was very successful and students and staff thoroughly enjoyed the day. The generous support displayed by students, staff and the parent community was outstanding. The whole experience brought our community closer and confirmed our connection of heart and mind.
May we all continue to be inspired by the words and actions of St Angela Merici, to “challenge people to love life, have hope, be faithful and build futures more wondrous than you dare to dream”.
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