Tuesday June 02, 2020

Students pull on their boots for Mercy Sisters

Schools

St Anthony’s School at Millicent celebrated the 140th anniversary of the Sisters of Mercy last month, despite the Sisters having to cancel their pilgrimage to the South East because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tuesday June 02, 2020

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The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Beachport on a wheat ship called the Coorong in 1880. Their first goals were to establish schools and devote themselves to charitable works in the South East.

Students at St Anthony’s held a Boots to School day in recognition of the Sisters’ reputation as the ‘walking Sisters’. Founded in Dublin in 1831 by Catherine McAuley, they began tending to the needs of the wider community outside the convent walls. They were especially concerned with the education of girls, visitation of the sick in their homes and the protection of distressed women.

During the week, each class had the opportunity to design and decorate a section of a photo of Catherine McAuley. Each section was put together to form a mural to display within the school. The mural features her famous quote ‘we must strive to do ordinary thigs extraordinarily well’. This quote has been chosen as the school’s theme for the year and encourages students to think outside the box, to be unique, and strive to be the best version of themselves.

During class time students learnt about what the Sisters of Mercy did and the impact they had on their school. Students heard about their lives and what it means to follow the school mercy keys – integrity, mutual respect, justice, responsibility, compassion and loyalty – in their daily lives.