Theme announced for the 200th anniversary of the first House of Mercy

In 2027, we will celebrate 200 years since Catherine McAuley founded the first House of Mercy on Baggot Street, Dublin. Mercy International Centre has announced the theme for Mercy Day 2026 and for the 2027 anniversary year: ‘Celebrating 200 Years of Catherine McAuley responding with mercy’.

We will also be celebrating 170 years of the work of the Sisters of Mercy in Victoria in 2027.

For all in Mercy Communities, be they education, health or community services, next year will be a very significant year for all of us. It will be a time of thanks and celebration for the gift and legacy of Venerable Catherine McAuley and Mother Ursula Frayne.

It is timely to also remind our families that Mercy Day will be celebrated at OLMC on 17 September this year. It is one of the most significant events for building community amongst staff and students. All students are expected to be present on the day. Each year we raise funds for Mercy Works and focus on a specific project. This year, all monies raised will go towards supporting the Remote Laundry project for First Nations people.

We look forward to a wonderful day of celebration of all that it means to be part of our OLMC community.

High Tea

Thank you to all in our community who joined us for the annual High Tea to raise funds for McAuley for Women and Children. McAuley supports women and children who are experiencing domestic violence and homelessness. It is a privilege for OLMC to count itself as one of the strong supporters of McAuley.

New Building Works – Music Centre

While it has taken a long time to get to this point, we have finally seen the breaking of ground for the new Music Centre. As a reminder of the facility, we hope to achieve, I have included the image below. Hopefully, as it rises from the ground, you will see it formed into the beautiful building captured in this image.

The image below is what will be seen from inside the grounds of OLMC:

Spring is a wonderful time of year. We begin to see new growth, blossoms and sunshine and they all serve to lift our spirits. It is also an indication that we are well into the second half of the year. The end of Term 3 is significant for our Year 12 students who are getting ready to prepare for exams. We hold them in our thoughts and prayers as they complete assessments, make decisions and get ready for their exams.

Season of Creation 2026: Living Water

From 1 September to 4 October, Christians throughout the world celebrate the Season of Creation, an ecumenical time of prayer, reflection and action for the care of our common home. The Season begins with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and concludes on the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.

The theme for 2026 is 'Living Water: Immersion in Living Water,' inspired by the prophet Ezekiel: 'Wherever the river flows, everything will live.' Ezekiel 47:9

Ezekiel imagines water flowing from the Temple of God into dry, lifeless places. As the river deepens, barren land becomes fertile, trees bear fruit and damaged places are restored. It is a powerful image of hope: God's presence brings healing, renewal and life.

The image also carries a challenge. We are invited not simply to stand beside the river, but to step into the living water, allowing God's grace to change us and then becoming sources of life for others. Our care for water, land, oceans, plants, animals and one another becomes an expression of our faith and our responsibility for God's creation.

A Prayer for the Season of Creation

God of Creation,
we thank you for the gift of water,
for the rivers and oceans,
for the rain that nourishes the earth,
and for every living thing that depends upon it.

As living water brought life to the barren places in Ezekiel's vision,
let your grace flow through our world today.

Where creation is damaged, bring healing.
Where water is polluted or scarce, inspire justice.
Where people and communities suffer, awaken compassion.
Where we have taken your gifts for granted, change our hearts.

Help us to step more deeply into the living water of your love.

May our choices protect rather than harm,
restore rather than diminish,
and bring life rather than take it away.

Make us faithful carers of our common home
and sources of hope for one another,
so that through our words and actions
your healing love may flow through all creation.

Amen.

Sources: Season of Creation 2026 Celebration Guide, Ecumenical Season of Creation Steering Committee

The image above shows Catherine’s first House of Mercy on Baggot Street, Dublin, which is now home to Mercy International Association (MIA).

As Mercy Day is fast approaching – Thursday 17 September (second last day of Term 3) for our OLMC community – I would like to highlight the history and meaning behind this special day. Mercy Day commemorates the opening of the first House of Mercy on Baggot Street in Dublin on 24 September 1827. As this usually falls during our school holidays, many Mercy schools across Australasia choose to celebrate Mercy Day at the end of Term 3.

According to American Sister of Mercy, scholar and biographer of Catherine McAuley, Mary C. Sullivan RSM (1931-2025):

‘September 24 in 1827 was the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy, an ancient feast day of Jesus’ Mother Mary (now no longer a feast day in the calendar of the Roman Church). On that day, God asked us to do what Mary had always done: to stretch out over all God’s beloved people the Shawl of God’s own merciful comfort and help, the sheltering Cloak of God’s own tenderness.

September 24 was for centuries the ancient feast of Our Lady of Mercy, also called Our Lady of Refuge and Our Lady of Ransom. To hono[u]r this feast, many Renaissance artists such as Piero della Francesca, chose to paint Mary in a long red dress with her wide and outstretched blue cloak mercifully sheltering men, women, and children.

Image from: Piero della Francesca—in his Madonna della Misericordia

And in Dublin on that day in 1827, Catherine McAuley extended the great Shawl of God’s Mercifulness by opening wide the front door of the newly built House of Mercy on Baggot Street, and beginning a protective school for poor Irish girls, and a welcoming shelter for homeless servant women.

Catherine’s sister Mary had died in late August, and Catherine was now caring for Mary’s five children, two young cousins, and at least two orphans. Therefore, she herself could not live at Baggot Street just then, so she asked her fifteen-year-old cousin Catherine Byrn and a new friend, Anna Maria Doyle, to move into the house on September 24, 1827, and to open wide the Merciful Shawl of the school and the shelter on that very day.

Ever since then, the gift of God’s own out-stretched Merciful Shawl has been a persistent, enabling call to each of us throughout the Mercy world. It daily asks us weak, ordinary human beings to accept the weight and duties of God’s Shawl of Mercy and to extend its sheltering comfort to all God’s beloved people.’

(Extract taken from: https://www.sistersofmercy.org/mercy-day-what-shall-we-wear/)

Catherine McAuley was able to establish the first House of Mercy using the wealth that she inherited from William Callaghan (his entire estate and effects, equivalent to ~$5 million today). William (a Protestant) and his wife, Catherine (a Quaker), were an elderly, childless couple who Catherine worked for as household manager and lived with as companion for almost 20 years. Using this unexpected inheritance, Catherine was able to purchase land and build a large house that was fit-for-purpose (a school for poor girls, and a shelter for homeless servant girls and women), choosing to do so in the wealthy part of Dublin. It is worth noting that Catherine did this as a single, lay, Catholic woman, during a time when Catholics were experiencing immense discrimination, injustice and poverty in Ireland, and before Catherine became a religious sister and founded the Sisters of Mercy.

We look forward to celebrating this coming Mercy Day here at OLMC, especially in this special 180th anniversary year of the arrival of Mother Ursula Frayne and the first Sisters of Mercy in Australia (on 8 January 1846 in Fremantle, Western Australia).

McCrindle is an Australian research, advisory and insights organisation that helps leaders and organisations better understand people, society and the trends shaping the future.

McCrindle’s recent report, Shaping a Human-Centred AI Future: Consumer Sentiment, Trust, and the Future of Work (August 2026,) examines how Australians are responding to the rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence. The report explores how people are responding to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and what this means for the future. The report considers consumer attitudes, trust in AI, concerns about its impact, and changing expectations of work. A key focus is the importance of ensuring that AI development remains human-centred - enhancing human capability and opportunity while maintaining trust, transparency, accountability and human connection.

For OLMC these themes are particularly relevant as AI reshapes teaching, learning, assessment and the skills students will need for future employment. In the LEARN Instructional Model it is providing our students with the critical thinking skills to evaluate AI generated information.

The McCrindle report outlines five key ways we can preserve and strengthen our human future in an AI world to guide our work in this everchanging landscape:

McCrindle (August 2026). Shaping A Human-Centred AI Future Consumer Sentiment, Trust, and The Future of Work.

The Science Week theme this year was ‘Seeds of Science: Nurturing Science For All’. This theme aligns with the 2026 UN International Year of Women Farmers, which highlights the significant contributions of women to agriculture and draws attention to the challenges they continue to face.

During the lead up to Science Week the ABC launched a nationwide search for Australia's most amazing wildflower. Native wildflowers nurture biodiversity, keep the soil healthy and play a crucial role in the lives of many of our indigenous species. The winning wildflower with 16,567 votes was announced on Friday 21 August as the Flannel Flower (Actinotus). We also recorded our own wildflower voting here at the College and the final results were:

#1: The Flying Duck Orchid (Caleana) & the Flannel Flower (Actinotus)

#2: The Underground Orchid (Rhizanthella)

#3: The Star Flower (Calytrix)

#4: The Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus)

#5: The Creamy Candle (Stackhousia Monogyna) & the Murnong or Yam Daisy (Microseris)

#6: The Blue Bladderwort (Utricularia Caerulea) & the Triggerplant (Stylidium)

#7: The Richea Scoparia (Richea Scoparia)

The Science Week celebrations at our College officially started on Monday 17 August with a theme related Morning Quiz. Pastoral classes embraced the challenge and the first three to complete the answers accurately were Senior Carmel 3, Year 9F, Year 7D. Also deserving recognition are Senior Loreto 3 and Year 9H. During lunchtime on this day our beautiful tradition of Science Window Celebrations continued. Students visited the ground floor of the Centenary Building and immortalised this year’s theme with art on the glass panels.

Tuesday was the day of fun flower pressing. Students who attended this activity carefully arranged their flowers to create magical works of art. Extreme patience was required here as these pieces were not ready to be revealed until a few days had passed. The following accounts were written by two of our students who attended this event:

Science week was so fun. In the flower pressing, we chose different types of flowers and pressed them down to make them look pretty in a frame. I found it interesting how only the camellias turned brown and soggy, but the rest stayed perfectly fine. I most enjoyed seeing the big reveal a couple days later - it was very exciting. I also enjoyed placing the flowers in specific spots where I thought they would look nice. Overall, it was a really fun and intriguing experience.

Alice M (7A)

I felt as though the flower pressing was a perfect way of appreciating nature’s beauty, being able to see as we placed each flower to our preference on our blank canvas. I found that through the process of flower pressing, we were truly able to absorb the fine details on each and every petal, and how nature has a canvas with a painting through every piece.

Alexis K (10L3)

Thursday’s lunchtime activity involved contributing to securing our future biodiversity and growing our very own baby native plant. These included Mulla Mullas, Everlasting Daisies, Purple Flags and Billy Buttons. The knowledge and skills we learnt during this activity gave us the confidence to continue this practice on our own.

The instructions seeds use to grow into a plant are contained in their DNA. During our Friday lunchtime activity, we made our very own eye-catching DNA key chain. The following reflections are from students who attended the activity:

As part of National Science Week 2026 based on this year's theme 'Seeds of Science', students across all year levels were invited to participate in a fun and engaging DNA Keychain making session at lunchtime. This year's theme goes hand in hand with the idea of DNA in seeds and was fun to create a decorative keychain to represent this. Students got the opportunity to learn more about Science, such as learning what base pairs and the sugar-phosphate backbone is in DNA through this creative way. Making this DNA keychain turned abstract textbook learning into a hands-on activity and I am sure many students, including myself, were proud of our creations and found this a very engaging experience. It was not only an experience that can be used for future learning, but students can take home this real-life model to be proud of.

Allegra J (7F)

I really enjoyed the DNA keychain making activity. It was a great way to spend a lunchtime and to learn a little bit about what DNA actually is. What I enjoyed the most about this activity was being able to get creative and make something new.

Clara H (7F)

This experience has been one I will remember as it helped me build stronger bonds with my friends and it was a fun activity we could join in with.

Sofia S (7C)

Although National Science Week officially concluded on Sunday 23 August our celebrations at OLMC continued until the following Wednesday with a Live Science Show - Inspire Your Science. This science show featured a variety of exciting and memorable demonstrations, including methane and dry ice bubbles, the whoosh bottle experiment, transforming water into creamy soda and apple juice, elephant’s toothpaste, and completing an electrical circuit using energy sticks and salt water. The following is an account from a student who participated in the activity:

What I enjoyed about the science show was the elephant’s toothpaste. I also found interesting the experiment where water was poured into the different glasses and they changed colours.

Adele B (7F)

Students were also able to enter our Seeds of Science Photo Competition. Our two winning entries were from Sienna P (8B) and Amy P (8B). The following accounts explain how they were able to capture these magnificent images:

I chose to photograph this wattle plant because I was drawn to its bright yellow flowers and the way they stood out against the surrounding greenery. The plant was located in Rosanna Parklands. I wanted to capture the natural beauty of the wattle and show the small details that can easily be overlooked. The secret behind making the photo look amazing was finding a good angle and making sure the lighting highlighted the yellow flowers, and I also took lots of photos. I also focused carefully on the plant and took some close-up shots so that it stood out clearly from the background.

Sienna P (8B)

I chose to photograph the Southern Blue Gum because I liked the small details of the gumnuts and leaves rather than just taking a photo of the whole tree. The plant was located on my street, where I noticed the gumnuts standing out among the leaves. I wanted to capture the natural patterns, shapes and textures up close. To make the photo interesting, I focused closely on the gumnuts and leaves and used the natural lighting to bring out their details. I think the close-up perspective helped make the photo look more unique and eye-catching.

Amy P (8B)

We would like to thank our amazing and resourceful laboratory technicians, Dr Nathan Nicholas and Ms Catherine Borstelj for all their work behind the scenes. They were able to source all the required materials and equipment, as well as trial all the activities to ensure they all worked seamlessly. We would like to thank all our science teachers who were involved in the planning and implementation of the activities. Special thanks to the members of the Science Week Planning Committee who consisted of a group of dedicated volunteers from Year 7 to Year 12. This committee met regularly during lunchtimes prior to Science Week to discuss and decide on the activities that were to take place this year.

Looking forward to continuing to celebrate and embrace science throughout the year.

Assimina Semertjis
Science Learning Leader

It has been a busy and inspiring term in our Religious Education classes, with students in Years 7 and 8 engaging deeply with faith, responsibility, and social justice. Here is a snapshot of what our students have been exploring.

Year 7: Caring for Creation

Our Year 7 students have been reflecting on our shared environment and our duty to protect it. We delved into the Genesis creation narratives to understand our foundational role as stewards of the Earth, drawing further inspiration from Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical, Laudato Si’. To bring these concepts to life, students are currently delivering oral presentations on pressing contemporary environmental issues, offering creative and thoughtful solutions for our planet's future.

Year 8: Catherine McAuley & The Sisters of Mercy

In Year 8, attention has turned to the powerful legacy of Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy. Students have been examining how Mercy values apply to modern societal challenges. They are presently completing their oral presentations, showcasing the ongoing, impactful work of the Sisters of Mercy in advocating for social justice - specifically supporting women and children through critical healthcare and education initiatives.

We are immensely proud of the critical thinking and empathy our students are demonstrating through these presentations. Thank you for your continued support at home as they research, practice, and share these important messages with their peers.

Grace Austin
Religious Education Learning Leader

OLMC in conjunction with Marcellin College, are proud to host Jocelyn Brewer – a psychologist, cyberpsychology expert and founder of Digital Nutrition. Jocelyn will be presenting on raising calm, capable and connected teens in the age of algorithms and AI. For further information, please see the attached flyer.

On Wednesday 2 September, the OLMC school community came together for a special Father’s Day Breakfast hosted by the Parents’ Association. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to spend some special time with their dads and father figures and celebrate the important role they play in their lives.

Guests enjoyed a delicious breakfast featuring breakfast muffins, savoury croissants, Danishes and mini pancakes, along with tea and coffee.

A highlight of the morning was the Cantors performing a beautiful rendition of Rise Up. Adding a personal touch to the morning, a few students also shared their thoughts about their dads and father figures, providing some wonderful moments of reflection, laughter and appreciation.

A special thank you goes to the wonderful volunteers from the Parents’ Association who helped make the morning such a success. From organising the event and reaching out to our community and beyond for raffle prizes, to setting up the space and helping throughout the event, these occasions would not be possible without the generosity and commitment of our parent community.

We are also very grateful to our generous 2026 sponsors and supporters: Autobarn Preston, Men’s Shed at the Ven, Heidelberg Snap Fitness, Nice Guy Eddie Café, West Ivanhoe Unity Sports Club, Pharmacare Laboratories, Raven Scaffolds, Veneto Club, Ferguson Plarre’s and M² Productions.

As a special thank you, each dad and father figure received a lovely chocolate chip cookie and a coffee voucher from Nice Guy Eddie Café in Heidelberg Heights.

Whether they are fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers or mentors, the father figures in our lives make an important and lasting difference. We thank them for their love, guidance, encouragement and support.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special morning and helped make our 2026 Father’s Day Breakfast such a memorable event.

We look forward to seeing you again at the next Parents’ Association function.

A huge congratulations to our raffle prize winners:

1st Prize: Phil Javiar
Medallion Club Tickets at Marvel Stadium

2nd Prize: Clara Surman
Father and Daughter Fitness 3 Month Membership

3rd Prize: Justin Cybul
Autobarn Prize Pack

4th Prize: Ben Callery
Health and Wellness Park

5th Prize: Paul McGivern
Multi-Sports Hamper Pack

6th Prize: Adrian Williams
4 tickets to Ben Cousins’ Live Presentation

7th Prize: Catherine Leonard
Lifestyle Pack including tickets to M² Junior Production of I Hate Shakespeare and 2 x Snap Fitness 3 Day Access Passes.

Nikki Reynolds
On behalf of the OLMC Parents’ Association

OLMC Raffle for McAuley for Women and Children 2026 – Prize Winners

Thank you to all who participated in the OLMC Raffle for McAuley for Women and Children 2026, helping us to raise additional funds in support of the important work carried out by McAuley.

Congratulations to the following winners:

1^st Prize: Kathryn Salamone
Escape to Port Fairy – 2 night accommodation package

2^nd Prize: Angela Scaffidi
Ready, Set, Drive – Driving and car care bundle

3^rd Prize: Liz Wake
Dinner & Deluxe Hair Care Bundle – Steakhouse Voucher & Hair Care Products

4^th Prize: Zachary Pavlou
North Ivanhoe Village Core and Care – Hair Products, Pilates/Yoga Pass, Beauty Discount Voucher

5^th Prize: Angeline McLaughlin
A Night Out In Style – Hairdressing Voucher, Italian Restaurant Voucher

6^th Prize: Maureen Powell
Burgundy Perfect Blend – Café Gift Voucher, Insulated Coffee Tumblers, Frozen Yoghurt/Acai Voucher

7^th Prize: Fran Pinney
Tech Treasure – JB Hi Fi Voucher

8^th Prize: Marisa Rusak
Stove to Table Bundle – Enamel Cast Iron Cookware

9^th Prize: Gabrielle McMullen
Premium Prize Pack – Hamper

Thank You to Our Generous Sponsors

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the businesses listed below, including Ivanhoe Fuel and the Wilson Family, who donated prizes to our raffle, or provided valued financial support towards the afternoon tea. We also thank That’s Amore Cheese, Thomastown and Flower Scentsation in Lower Plenty for their generous contributions towards our Door Prizes.

Monica Agius
Community Development Coordinator

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