This week we celebrated the Assumption of Mary with a whole school Mass. Our lady has always been an important figure at the College, as shown by this article we found in the College Archives:
Reported visions or appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, were held in high regard by Catholics, especially the Sisters.
In 1951 the Convent was visited by the statue of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima, connected to the apparition of Mary in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. The statue had been created on the orders of the Bishop of Fatima and developed to resemble as closely as possible Our Lady as she appeared at Fatima. It then went on an international pilgrimage around the world visiting as many Catholic institutions as possible including Mount Lilydale.
Then in 1958 the College performed the play The Song of Bernadette for their end of year grand concert. This was based on the novel of the same name that told the story of Bernadette Soubirous who experienced 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, France, between 1858 and 1933.
Joan Moriarty (Class of 1958) played the title role of Bernadette, she later took up acting again, starring in 1983 in a production of Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels.
In 2012 the new Our Lady of Mercy Memorial Chapel was opened at the College. It contains a relic of St Bernadette of Lourdes as well as a relic of St Polycarp.
