MARY MACKILLOP FEAST DAY

PAULA O'ROURKE | ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

This year we celebrated our namesake's feast day on Friday, 5 August. What is a feast day I hear you ask?

According to the Catholic church, a feast day is the day a particular saint is remembered and celebrated. The church has a calendar that reflects all saints' days throughout the year. It is usually an annual religious celebration where prayers and readings are said to reflect about the saint. Mostly a feast day is the day of the saint's death as it is believed that this is the day they enter heaven - their 'heavenly birthday' (Aleteia) Mary MacKillop's day is 8 Augustthe day she died in North Sydney in 1909 and entered into heaven.

So what do we do?

We began our day with a whole College mass celebrating living with faith and hope. The students processed into the sacred space with symbols of Mary MacKillop - scripture, her large picture, a brown coat, work boots and basket of fruit, vegetables and bread. All things that reflect Mary MacKillop's hard work living in the 1800's where faith was very important and the driver for her hope of a future that will enable children to know God as well as be able to make choices.

Through prayer, we asked God to help us be more like Mary MacKillop and acknowledging her passion, perseverance, practical action, possibilities, prayer and partnership. The day then continued with an Amazing Race for Year 3 to 9 students while Prep to Year 2 were treated to old school games with Year 10 to 12 students. After a picnic with a sausage sizzle near the Café, for first break, the students were involved in age appropriate activities that were fun, reflective, active and enjoyable.

Second break saw the cutting of the cake and everyone sharing in a celebratory piece. The afternoon concluded with tug-o-war competitions and reflective videos.

Why is this important?

Our feast day is important to us. As we grow as a College, our identity as a Catholic school also grows but more importantly our charism develops. The spirit of Mary MacKillop is fostered through the 6P's and celebrating her feast day is just one of the activities.

It is a day where learning happens in a fun way but it also enables different age groups to work in partnership and develop relationships that might not happen any other time. It is also a day to be involved in activities that they may not otherwise do at school.

We look forward to seeing our feast day grow each year.