Faith & Mission
Honouring Tradition and Story
As we continue to honour our rich Mercy heritage at the Academy of Mary Immaculate, we are also called to recognise and celebrate the depth and beauty of the First Nations cultures that have lived on this land for tens of thousands of years. This year, that reverence has been thoughtfully expressed in a beautiful new altar cloth for the Ursula Frayne Memorial Chapel, lovingly designed and created by Ms Arancha Joulian.
While keeping the traditional white liturgical colour symbolising purity, hope and the season of celebration, the altar cloth also incorporates a striking Indigenous artwork print by artist Reanne Nampijinpa Brown. The piece tells the Pamapardu Jukurrpa, the Flying Ant Dreaming, from Warlpiri country in the Tanami Desert region of Central Australia.
In this story, the ‘pamapardu’ (flying ants) emerge from their earth mounds, known as ‘mingkirri’. When the summer rains flood their homes, they grow wings and follow their queens to find new ground, dropping their wings when they settle to build again. This Dreaming holds deep meaning related to resilience, renewal, nourishment and the movement of life across Country. In Warlpiri art, concentric circles represent the mounds and significant rock holes, while surrounding dashes depict the flying ants themselves.
By featuring this artwork within our sacred space, we acknowledge the wisdom and storytelling of the world’s oldest continuous living culture and recognise the traditional custodians of the land on which our school stands. Ms Joulian has beautifully woven together Catholic tradition and First Nations identity, creating a powerful visual reminder of our call to reconciliation, respect and community.
We thank Ms Joulian for her creativity, skill and deep care in enhancing our worship space. May this new altar cloth help us pray with open hearts, honouring both our Mercy story and the enduring story of this land.
Guided by Truth, Community and Interiority
Before his election as Pope Leo XIV, Fr Robert Prevost OSA, delivered a powerful talk in Peru on what truly shapes a Catholic school. He named three values that should stand at its heart: the search for truth, the strength of community and the richness of interiority. These values deeply resonate with us here at Academy of Mary Immaculate, not as aspirations, but as realities lived each day.
We live the truth. At Academy, truth is not simply delivered, it is explored. In every subject and conversation, our students are encouraged to think deeply, listen openly and speak courageously. Faith and learning are partners in discovery, reminding us that the Holy Spirit is active within our questions, ideas and growing understanding of the world.
Our College motto, Mirror Without Blemish, calls our community to reflect Mary, the Immaculate Woman, who reveals God’s truth through her grace, courage and unwavering faith. As young women following her example, our students are invited to live the truth boldly: to let who they are and what they believe shine with integrity, compassion and hope.
We are a community where every person belongs. Fr Prevost highlighted that true community is built when gifts are shared rather than compared. We see this lived daily through collaboration, acts of kindness, House spirit and our commitment to social justice. No student stands alone here, each is known, valued and supported to shine in her own unique way. Our Mercy tradition calls us to ensure that the most vulnerable are always at the centre of our concern.
Community at Academy stretches far beyond our campus. It is alive in our growing relationship with St Mary’s House of Welcome, in supporting Breakfast Clubs at local primary schools and in our intercultural learning with Nishiyama Girls’ School in Japan. It thrives in our valued partnership with Worawa Aboriginal College, and in the many donation drives and hampers our students organise to ensure those most in need are supported. It is found in our welcome, in the doors we have opened to other schools this year, sharing our spaces and resources generously. In all of these encounters, we honour the belief that every person brings a gift that strengthens the whole.
We grow the inner life. We continue to nurture the formation of the heart as much as the mind. Through prayer, reflection, retreat and quiet moments of stillness, students encounter what St Augustine called the “inner teacher”, the presence of Christ already alive within them. We teach not only facts, but discernment, wisdom and identity.
These three values shape who we are becoming: young women of courage, compassion and faith; educators who believe in the sacred potential of every learner; a community that continues to be transformed by love.
And in this steady, faithful work of each school day, in a question asked, a friendship supported, a generous act unseen by most, we as educators discover that the ordinary becomes sacred. In the rhythm of teaching and accompanying young people, the water slowly turns into wine. What might begin as simply a job becomes a vocation: a daily “yes” to forming hearts and minds, and to helping our students recognise God at work within and around them.
May we continue forward united in our Mercy mission: to live the truth, to stand with others and to welcome God’s quiet transformation in the everyday life of our College.
Ms Hannah Hale
Director of Faith & Mission