St Patrick’s Day Mass for Schools

“Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.” These are the words of St. Patrick, reiterated by the choir in the Mass of St Patrick for Schools 2017, held on 17th March at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

This is a Mass celebrated annually in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, during Catholic Education Week.

Many students from Catholic primary and secondary schools across Melbourne attend the event to partake in the ‘opportunity for all Catholic Education ministries to celebrate their distinctive mission and share the great things they are doing’.

The enormity of Melbourne’s Catholic Education community didn’t really hit us until we found ourselves caught up in the waves of people flowing on the streets of Melbourne towards the cathedral, some coming from as far as Geelong.

The beautiful cathedral filled quickly as it approached 10am. Mass commenced with the banner procession followed by distinguished guests, then the concelebrating priests and Archbishop Hart.

With the unique sounds from the Celtic Irish Pipers reverberating around the Cathedral, we were astonished by the abundance of schools sharing in our Catholic community celebration.

Archbishop Hart delivered a strong, concise message: to keep the teachings of the Church alive in both our teaching and learning, to serve God constantly in our living; caring for every individual in our community and to display faith and hope in everything we do.

Overall, it was a fantastic day with an opportunity for reflection and development of understanding, none of which would be possible without the accompaniment of our Acting Principal, Mrs Franken. Thank you for a great day!

Tiana Chandraratne, Year 11 Faith and Mission Captain

Emma Johnston, Year 8 Chisholm House Captain