PRINCIPAL'S PEN 

Honouring Our Heritage – Champagnat Day 2025

Last week we came together to celebrate the feast of St Marcellin Champagant, a significant occasion in the life of our college community. It is a day to honour St Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers, whose vision and dedication gave rise to Marist schools such as St Augustine’s.

This year’s celebration carried added meaning. As shared last week, a letter was sent to families and our wider community confirming that at the end of this year, the Marist Brothers' community at Saints will officially close. Understandably, many may be asking: what does this mean for us? To answer that, we must look to our past.

In 1930, four pioneering Marist Brothers – Reginald, Victor, Climachus and Urban – arrived at a very different Cairns to the one we know now. This very site was then swampland: muddy and mosquito-ridden. But those Brothers came with a clear mission – to build a school, to build a culture and to form young men of character, purpose and faith.

They succeeded. And over the last 95 years, the Marist Brothers have been an enduring presence at our college. For nearly nine decades, the principal was a Marist Brother. Since 1930, 190 Brothers have lived and worked in this community – teaching, coaching, mentoring, guiding and building the values that remain at the heart of our college.

The spirit of St Augustine’s College – our brotherhood, our drive to serve, our work ethic, and our commitment to becoming good men – is the legacy of these Brothers. Their presence, sacrifice and vision shaped everything we know and love about this school.

So, yes – this moment marks the end of a chapter. But it is not the end of the Marist story at St Augustine’s.

The Marist way – one of humility, love of work, family spirit, presence and faith in Christ – continues. It lives on in our culture, in our classrooms, in our service to others and in each of our students. We will always be a Marist school. We will always honour the legacy of the Marist Brothers. And most importantly, we will carry it forward – through the actions, choices and leadership of our young men.

On behalf of the College, I offer our deepest gratitude to the Marist Brothers. They have given us far more than a school – they have given us its heart and soul. We truly stand on the shoulders of giants.

As Principal, I make this commitment: we will keep the Marist story alive. To the Marist Brothers – your legacy will endure here. The beauty you inspired in generations of young people will ensure our culture stands for all time. In the end, the true worth of a culture lies not in how it began, but in how it endures.

Br Bernie’s 60th jubilee 

Marist Brothers live out the vision of St Marcellin Champagnat, dedicating themselves to leading others with love, faith and humility. Their presence enriches our communities, inspiring others through lives of compassion, service and justice.

We honour Brother Bernie, who celebrates his Diamond Jubilee – 60 years of Maristservice. His unwavering dedication to the formation of young people and the Marist mission stands as a powerful example of a life lived with purpose. Congratulations Brother Bernie on this remarkable milestone.