This Saturday 17 October 2020 marks the 10th anniversary of St Mary MacKillop’s canonisation at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, declaring her Australia’s first canonised saint. Pope Benedict XVI addressed tens of thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square. About 9,000 Australians travelled to celebrate this occasion, including Sr Neisha Allport, a previous Principal of St. Michael’s, Mittagong.

To celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop and the wonderful life and legacy she left behind, the Sisters of Saint Joseph will remember her with commemorative prayers, videos and a global vigil in her honour.

On 16 October 2020 at 8pm AEST, the Sisters of Saint Joseph will hold Courage Hour, a global vigil of deep peace, prayer, and reflection. The Sisters invite all who may wish to participate to join the Vigil online www.sosj.org.au/10th-anniversary/ and celebrate Mary’s life and follow her lead to ‘Take Fresh Courage’.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be no formal celebrations at Mary MacKillop Place for the anniversary, however, the Sisters invite you to celebrate this occasion by engaging with the resources available on www.sosj.org.au/10th-anniversary/.

There is a free prayer booklet available to view, use and download below:

Encountering St.Mary MacKillop in Prayer

Mary MacKillop

join us in our gratitude

on this 10th anniversary of your canonisation.

Be with us in this time of crisis in our world

as we gather fresh courage around us

for working in God’s healing mission.

Keep us participating as a people of the Gospel

engaging with our neighbours for the good of all

and serving with Christ in our common home.

Holy Spirit strengthen us.

Amen

 “Never See a Need Without Doing Something About It”

Welcome back

Welcome back for Term 4! I hope everyone has had an enjoyable break away from routine. Just a reminder as we commence the term that we still have many restrictions due to COVID 19. We were hoping that there would have been a much bigger easing of them, but we need to remain safe. The good news is that at this stage Year 6 should still be able to go to camp as we were able to change the date earlier in the year. Year 6 will also be able to have something to celebrate the end of their primary schooling, however, it will look very different to previous years, we just need to wait on further directives to know what we are allowed.

Whilst we can’t have our play-based transition for our 2021 Kindergarten students, we will be able to have Kindergarten Orientation with the students only.

We are still unable to have parents entering the school grounds so we will continue to offer the early departure for side gate students. Bubblers and sharing of items are still not allowed, so students will need to continue bringing their own water bottle and belongings. Any birthday celebration items need to be commercially produced, individually wrapped items.

Thank you for your support.

Kayleen Petzer
Acting Principal