From the Assistant Principal: Faith & Identity

By Felicity Knobel

Mary Ward Connect

An often repeated line at Loreto College Ballarat is ‘once a Loreto girl always a Loreto girl”. This week at Loreto College we welcomed Loreto girls from Marryatville and Kirribilli and the joy of this meeting was really something special. The spirit of being a Loreto girl was clearly in evidence. Through Mary Ward Connect in year 10 we are able to build relationships with our Australian Loreto schools and we love it. 

Our network of Loreto is large and significant and extends beyond the borders of Australia. We are proudly part of a world wide network of Loreto communities who are Loreto girls, just like us. In 1875 when Mother Gonzaga Barry and her nine companions came to Ballarat, she was called here because there was a need to for a Catholic education for the families that had immigrated. She famously heard this call, and said that if she did not take this opportunity she would not be faithful to grace if she did not go. 

Every time we use the line ‘once a Loreto girl always a Loreto girl’ we are being called to be faithful to grace. We are answering a call just as Mother Gonzaga Barry did, she is our ultimate Loreto girl. This term we are raising money for Mary Ward International so that we can assist Loreto girls all throughout the world. Our Gonzaga Barry Day is legendary in the life of the school. It is a day of reflection, a day of celebration and a day of dress up. It has it all. It is a true celebration of what it means to be a Loreto girl as we embrace our value of Felicity.

GB Day

In the coming weeks our students will be asked to donate money to assist Mary Ward International in the various projects they are leading throughout the world. We are asking for money on this day through the purchase of a wrist band that will enable our students and staff to participate in the day. This money is not the extra money that we have to find, it is the money that we prioritise to assist others. It is the something that we can go without in order to assist others, it is the little things that we can do in order for us to be able to bring this donation to the people that are deserved of being Loreto girls, just like us. 

We have had 151 years of being proudly Loreto, let us continue to extend the welcome.