Dear Parents and Carers,

I have taken a few days Long Service Leave to attend a family celebration. Mrs Kerry Wode our Assistant Principal, with the support of Mr Aaron Fox and Mrs Katie Imbriano will be leading the school during my absence.

Congratulations to Emmy on her first prize in the ANZAC Day essay competition.

On Friday afternoon Mr Greg Kennett from the Woden Branch of the RSL attended our school assembly to present Emmy’s award for her essay on this year’s theme, The Royal Australian Air Force. Her grandparents were the subject of her inspiring essay.

Congratulations to the Confirmation Candidates of Mary Help of Christians Parish

Tonight and tomorrow night, Confirmation candidates from Mary Help of Christians Parish will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. Please keep these children and their families in your prayers.

The Feast of Mary Help of Christians Parish

On Monday we celebrate the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, our parish patron. Please find a brief outline of the history of this special feast from the Catholic Weekly.

The feast day of 'Mary Help of Christians' has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800’s.

Napoleon Bonaparte had jailed Pius VI who died in jail. When Pope Pius VII was elected he too was jailed by Bonaparte, who kept him prisoner at Fontainbleau.

The Holy Father vowed to God that if he were restored to the Roman See, he would institute a special feast in honour of Mary.

The military eventually forced Bonaparte to release the Pope and on 24 May 1814, Pius VII returned in triumph to Rome.

Twelve months later the Pope decreed that the feast of Mary Help of Christians be kept on 24 May.

The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days and mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.

Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians, as principal Patroness.

St Mary’s Cathedral was dedicated in her honour by the Irish pioneer priest, Fr John Therry, who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral.

When Australia became the first country to have Mary Help of Christians as patroness, it became the first country to have a mother-cathedral under the same title. 

Take care and God bless,