In the second week of the holidays, seven Year 11 students travelled to Melbourne with Mrs Brett and Mrs McDonagh for the Young Mercy Leaders pilgrimage.
We enjoyed listening to and interacting with inspirational speakers at two Mercy schools: Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy and Our Lady of Mercy College in Heidelberg. A guided history walk of Fitzroy enabled students to walk in the footsteps of Catherine McAuley and her Sisters of Mercy where they supported vulnerable women in the 19th century. Ella Cobbing, Isabel Thomas, Ava Radford, Jessica Church, Charlotte Jaensch, Lily Collins and Alistair Brett were immersed in the history and values of the Sisters of Mercy who came to Australia from Ireland over 150 years ago.
The notion of ‘mercy’ has evolved over the generations. Current issues such as human trafficking, homelessness and fast fashion is at the forefront of the Sisters’ social justice work. This work enables the most vulnerable to be supported through charitable programs with the mantra, ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime’, underscoring their benevolence and faith.
Mrs Caroline Brett & Mrs Tess McDonagh
