Principal

Dear Members of the Academy Community,

Today we celebrated Mercy Day – the most important day  of the year for the Academy of Mary Immaculate community.   It was a rich and meaningful day acknowledging and celebrating our Mercy charism.   Many thanks to Fr Michael McEntee who celebrated our mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral, to our choir and musicians who led the beautiful music and to Ms Hannah Hale, Director of Faith and Mission for her overall coordination of the liturgy.

The Senior Student Leadership Team proudly walked down the aisle of the Cathedral, holding high the College flags and carrying the message stick, the Vision, Mission and Values Statement and the College Register – the latter encapsulating the story of the College from 1857 to 2025.  

We were delighted to welcome a number of Sisters of Mercy, representatives from Mercy Ministry Companions, College Advisory Council members, parents and friends.

Following the Mass, a BBQ lunch awaited all and I thank the many parent volunteers who worked all morning to ensure that the sausages were ready when the students returned to the College.  

Thanks, too, to Ms Jessica New and the Sports and House Captains for their overall organisation of the activities back at school.  They were supported by all members of the Senior Student Leadership Team and by Year 12 Wellbeing Leader, Ms Jodie Muller.

Please find below an excerpt from my speech of welcome, where I reflected on our 2025 College theme and linked it to our history.

"Today marks the pinnacle of our school calendar—Mercy Day. Not simply because it is tradition, but because it calls us to remember who we are and why we are here.

This year, as we honour 168 years of Mercy Education stretching from 1857 to this very moment, our College theme this year of "Pave the Way", takes on profound meaning. When Catherine McAuley first opened her House of Mercy in Dublin, she wasn't just founding an order or starting a school — she was laying stones on a path that would stretch across oceans and centuries.  When Ursula Frayne stepped onto Australian shores, she continued that sacred work of path-making, each act of mercy, each moment of compassion, each choice to serve the most vulnerable adding another stone to the way forward.

Looking around this magnificent cathedral at your faces — young and seasoned, hopeful and wise — I see that their work continues.  You are the path-pavers now.  Every time you choose kindness over indifference, justice over convenience, hope over despair, you are adding your own stone to this ancient way of mercy.

The beauty of mercy is that it multiplies.  When we live mercifully, we don't just change ourselves — we transform the world around us.  You are not merely inheritors of this tradition; you are its living embodiment and its future architects.

As we gather around this altar, we give thanks not just for what has been, but for what is yet to come.  The same Spirit that moved Catherine and Ursula, that has sustained this College for nearly two centuries, moves among us still — calling us forward, challenging us to be bold in our compassion, fearless in our service.

May this Mercy Day renew in each of us the courage to continue paving the way — for those who will follow, for those who need hope, for a world hungry for the mercy we carry within us.

Let us continue to rejoice in the past, to celebrate the present and to look forward to the future with trust and confidence, secure in the knowledge that the God who has walked with us for the past 168 years will be with us as we move forward into the future."

A very busy term now draws to a close.   I wish all familes and everyone, safe and happy holidays and look forward to working with you again in Term 4.

Many thanks to for your ongoing support.

Every Blessing, 

Sr Mary Moloney rsm 

Principal