Aspire, Achieve, Love and Learn as One Family in Christ.
Our school is really special because we have two saints as our patrons, Our Lady and St Teresa.
Our Lady is of course, the most important of all the saints as she is the mother of Jesus. God chose Mary from the very beginning of her life to be utterly perfect and sent the Angel Gabriel to ask her to become the Mother of Jesus his beloved Son. He promised to send the Holy Spirit so that this could happen and Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord.” She welcomed Jesus into the world and cared for him throughout her life even telling his disciples to, “Do whatever he tells you.” When Jesus was dying upon the cross, he gave Mary to be the mother of his beloved disciple John and indeed to be the mother of all of us who believe in and follow Jesus her Son. Mary’s heart was filled with joy when Jesus rose from the dead and with the apostles she waited for him to send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. At the end of her life here on earth, Mary was taken into heaven to be united with her beloved Son and share in the life of heaven.
Our Lady is a wonderful example to us of welcoming Jesus into our lives and following him. She also loves and cares for us for we are also her children and family, so she prays for us. Our Lady will always lead us to Jesus, and she will always pray for us when we seek the help of her prayers.
St Teresa is another wonderful saint. She was born in 1873 near the town of Lisieux in France. Her mother and father were people of great faith and alongside her sisters they grew up in a family that prayed and lived their lives as Catholic Christians.
From an early age Teresa wanted to become a Carmelite nun just like two of her older sisters, but she was too young to enter the convent in Lisieux. On a trip to Rome, she met and begged to the pope to allow her to enter the Carmelite Convent in Lisieux. He granted her request.
As a nun Teresa loved her life of prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures and following Jesus. She found that doing little things very well with great love was what God was asking her to do. She called this her “little way” and tried to practice this every day of her life.
Sadly, Teresa became ill with the terrible disease of tuberculosis and she died in 1897 aged 24. Soon after her death many people recognised her holiness and closeness to Jesus. She was declared a saint in 1925.
Since her death millions of people have been inspired by her life and have asked St Teresa of Lisieux to pray for them and for all their special intentions. Many believe that she has helped them by her prayers.
St Teresa inspires us to do little things well out of love and have a great love for Jesus. Her “little way” is something we can do every day in school and with our families.
It is the example set by our two patron saints that serves as a guide for all members of our school community, and through which our mission statement was formed. Using the words of our mission statement, our Mini Vinnie group wrote the OLST school prayer which focuses us on our faith journey as a Catholic school for all.
