Each year, Catholic schools from across the Archdiocese of Melbourne gather at St Patrick’s Cathedral for Mass of St Patrick for Schools. This is a significant moment in the life of Catholic education, bringing together students, staff and leaders to celebrate our shared faith and mission.

This year, thousands of students filled the Cathedral, with every seat taken and additional chairs lining the aisles. Schools were represented through banners carried in procession, as the sound of Irish bagpipes led the gathering into prayer. The scale of the Cathedral, its architecture and atmosphere, added to the sense of occasion and invited reflection.

The theme, “Christ beside me: Walking in the footsteps of St Patrick,” invited us to reflect on how Jesus is present with us in every part of our lives.

In his homily, Archbishop Peter A Comensoli reminded students that, like St Patrick, we are called to recognise that Christ is always with us, guiding us, strengthening us, and sending us out to bring peace, hope and faith to others.

Our College was represented by Gracie Cook and Alexander Price, our Junior College Captains and Benjamin Knight, the Junior Faith Leader, who joined with others in this shared celebration of what it means to belong to a Catholic school community.

Here is how Gracie, Alex, and Ben described their experience of the day:
This year's visit to St Patrick's School Mass was fantastic! We got to see a multitude of different students speak along with prayers conducted by Archbishop Comensoli. The architecture and size of St Patrick's Cathedral was amazing, and it was great to see the bagpipes, the orchestra from Avila College, and over 2,000 students from multiple Catholic schools across Victoria. We were so lucky to have been given the opportunity to visit, and we would like to thank Mr Travers and Mrs Knight for taking us there and making it all possible. We had an amazing day!