Faith, Justice and Formation
Mothers’ Day Mass - Save the Date
The St Patrick’s College Mothers’ Day Mass will take place on Friday 8 May at 8:30 AM.
It will be at Rosehill Gardens Grand Pavilion, followed by optional morning tea.
A link will be placed in next week’s Especean (25 March) for you to RSVP for the event. There is a great deal of logistics involved in this event so your RSVP will be necessary for its smooth running. The RSVP deadline is Thursday 23 April (Term 2, Week 1) as we need to liaise with the venue.
In order to use the venue and ensure transport back to school for all boys, there is a cost for each mother (adult) attending Mass. It will be $20 per adult. There is no cost for students. You will need to have your payment details with you when responding from next Wednesday.
Grandmothers will also be welcome to attend, with priority going to those of Year 12 students. These tickets need to be booked with the main tickets, not separately. There is a limit to how many grandmothers’ tickets will be available.
It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the unique relationship between mother and son. We hope to see you there.
St Patrick and St Joseph
This week sees the Feast Days of two very significant saints for the College.
- Tuesday 17 March – The Feast of St Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland
- Thursday 19 March – The Solemnity of St Joseph, spouse of Mary.
We celebrate the namesake of the College, Patrick, who was born in Roman Britain around the end of the fourth century and who died in Ireland in the middle of the fifth century. He faced hardship as a missionary priest in Ireland with opposition even from other Christians. Nevertheless, he worked hard to educate, evangelise, and unite the locals, ultimately having success. St Patrick is remembered for his simplicity and pastoral care, for his humble trust in God and for his fearless preaching of the Gospel. He is particularly honoured in Australia because of the many Irish people who settled here bringing with them the faith and zeal of St Patrick, and within our College as a significant figure within the Christian Brothers who originated in Ireland.
St Patrick’s Breastplate is the most recognised prayer from him. See the whole text here:
We also commemorate the Solemnity of St Joseph, the spouse of Mary, and significant model of fatherhood and manhood. While not a lot is written about St Joseph, we know from the Bible that he listened to God and looked after Mary and Jesus. He taught Jesus his earthly skills of carpentry and more, and he set Jesus up for all that was to come. St Joseph brings the lineage of King David to Jesus and plays an integral role in the Christian story. While the Eastern Church venerated St Joseph from the fourth century, his significance only took off in the West from the fifteenth century with the introduction of the Nativity scene. He plays a very significant role in the lives of our families and the College.
On Friday this week after Mass, the Class of 2024 is having their gift to the College blessed by Bishop Danny Meagher. Their gift – a statue of St Joseph to sit in the Senior Yard as a reminder of his importance in the lives of Christians.
The following prayer was said by Pope Francis every day for 40 years. It is taken from a nineteenth-century French prayer book of the Congregation of the Sisters of Jesus and Mary:
Glorious Patriarch Saint Joseph, whose power makes the impossible possible, come to my aid in these times of anguish and difficulty. Take under your protection the serious and troubling situations that I commend to you, that they may have a happy outcome. My beloved father, all my trust is in you. Let it not be said that I invoked you in vain, and since you can do everything with Jesus and Mary, show me that your goodness is as great as your power. Amen. |
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St Patrick and St Joseph……. Pray for us.
Earth Hour 2026
Earth Hour is a symbolic and practical gesture for our planet that began in Australia in 2007 and has now spread around the world. Turning off power for just one hour can save large amounts and also remind us of our capacity without technology.
The official date for Earth Hour is Saturday 28 March from 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I encourage everyone to get involved - it can be liberating and relaxing, not to mention helpful! You are asked to turn off your lights, air conditioning, television, phone and more. It is a great opportunity for board games by candlelight or simply a family chat or time to do chores without power or an early night to bed!
By doing this it is a real reminder to each of us about how much we take for granted by using power and how we should minimise our use to be able to save the beauty of our planet into the future. What we do today affects our descendants for years to come.
As a College community, we will participate in Earth Hour by shutting off our lights and electrical appliances from 1:45 PM – 2:45 PM on Friday 27 March. It is about us coming together as a community and facing the sometimes overwhelming issue of climate change one step at a time.
Get on board Earth Hour in its 20th year!!
I also remind everyone of the SPC Lenten Carbon Fast shared at the start of Lent, that might help you reduce your carbon footprint even further in Lent and then hopefully beyond.
SPC Lenten Appeal Mufti Day
On Monday 30 March the whole College will participate in our Mufti Day dedicated to fundraising for the Annual Lenten Appeal.
All boys who wear mufti are to pay $5 for the privilege.
No cost to wear College uniform.
This money will be collected in Homeroom on the day. Cash is required so we ask everybody to prepare for this over the coming weeks. (If boys wear mufti and do not pay please expect for them to be chased up! So, we ask everyone to work together for the greater good.)
NCLS Student Spiritual Life Survey
The National Church Life Survey is the largest Church survey in the world and the people who run it (NCLS Research) also offer a Student Spiritual Life Survey for secondary schools which helps inform schools about how their students are engaging with the message of Christ and the impact of school programs on their faith life.
The survey covers six core components:
- Personal Wellbeing
- Religious or Spiritual Identity
- Spiritual beliefs, experiences and practices
- Civic action – service and the like
- Spiritual formation – influential people and practices
- Views on the role of the school in spiritual development and culture.
All students in Years 7 to 12 will be undertaking this survey in Homeroom between 23 and 27 March. This will help us understand our community better, building on the data collected last year, and develop our programs accordingly. We will be able to share with you the core features of our community, any changes that have happened in 12 months and what we need to focus on moving forward.
Gillian Daley
Director of Identity