Prayer & Liturgy

Prayer and Liturgy

This year has witnessed a vast array of opportunities for our entire College community to participate in faith experiences. These opportunities began with our traditional Inaugural Mass. Instead of our usual journey to St Patrick’s Cathedral in East Melbourne, this year saw the celebration of our Inaugural Mass in the Provence Centre at Mazenod. During this Mass, we welcomed our students, staff and families as we shared in the joy of installing Fr Harry Dyer as our College Rector. We also congratulated and welcomed our College Captain, Vice-Captains, Prefects and Junior School Captains during this Mass. Our Inaugural Mass gave us the opportunity to invoke Almighty God’s blessings upon our new academic year.

Our traditional Mission Action Day Liturgy occurred on Holy Thursday. During this Liturgy, we participated in journeying with Jesus Christ through the Stations of the Cross. These Stations were narrated from the perspective of our Blessed Virgin Mary. Each of the Stations of the Cross was explained by one of our female members of staff, who provided us with Mother Mary’s poignant reflections on her Son’s suffering. Throughout these reflections, our students enacted the “Via Dolorosa” of Jesus’ “Passion and Death”.

We celebrated our founder, St Eugene de Mazenod, with our traditional Founder’s Day Mass. This year, our Mass was celebrated on St Eugene’s actual feast day, the 21st of May. During this Mass, we gave thanks and praise to God for St Eugene de Mazenod and for the gift of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in our lives. During June, we had devotions in honour of the Feast of the “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus”. These devotions included the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and prayers of praise and of reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The brief interlude we had between lockdowns provided us with a delayed, yet, moving enrolment of some of our students with the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This enrolment was preceded the previous week by a lunch gathering in which students learned about Our Lady’s request for people to wear the Scapular. For the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Fr Harry blessed the icons of the Virgin Mary that are venerated by each of our year levels. These images of the Blessed Virgin Mary remind us of our Lady’s help, protection and love for us all.

Of course, our parents were acknowledged with Masses held in honour of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day this year. During these Masses, we prayed for our mothers and fathers, who are both living and deceased. We also acknowledged and prayed for those women and men who mentor and are significant persons in our lives. In addition, whether in person, or online, we have participated in the celebration of the Holy Mass each morning this year. I sincerely thank the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the profound and immense gifts of our Masses, Sacraments, prayers, and for their pastoral witness and ministry to us all.

Tina Giacco Liturgy and Prayer Coordinator

Mr Tony Coghlan… Thanks Very, Very, Very, Very Much! How do we say thanks to a Principal who has the love and esteem of the entire Mazenod College community? My words are very inadequate; however, my short reflection seeks to express my sincerest thanks to our Principal, Mr Tony Coghlan.

When I first met Tony, he arrived as a youthful, fresh-faced young man who commenced his journey at Mazenod College as our Year 11 Coordinator. As someone who has worked closely with Tony ever since his first day in our College, I have been blessed by the opportunity to witness Tony’s wonderful and inspiring dedication, commitment and presence in our College. Over the years, Tony has taught Mathematics to our Years 11 and 12 students, and moved from Year 11 Coordinator to our Deputy Principal, Acting Principal, and finally, over the last three years, our Principal.

The hallmarks of Tony’s passion and commitment to our College have been his immense compassion, care and respectful and diligent nature. Tony’s boundless energy, industrious nature and tireless work ethic are phenomenal and we are its beneficiaries. In addition, his approachability and open-door policy have meant that every single person knows that their voice will be acknowledged and that they will be given a fair hearing.

As both Deputy Principal and Principal, Tony’s commitment to our staff, students and their families is beyond compare. Amongst these activities, I know that Tony always visited every single Year Level Retreat, as well as, our Outdoor Education Camps, Music Camps, Drama Presentations, Musical Performances, Artistic Events, and Old Boys’ Functions. In his first year as Year 11 Coordinator, Tony handwrote a personalised thank you note to all of us who worked alongside him in raising funds for Red Cross Sunday. Moreover, his friendly and cheerful nature made him an excellent colleague and friend as we accompanied our students to the World Youth Day Celebrations in Sydney, in 2008. Tony has been an excellent ambassador for us all on the College’s overseas immersion trips, amongst which, included Japan and China. Whenever I have received news about the joys, difficulties, adversities and sadness faced by our students, staff, families and our Old Boys, Tony has been a telephone call away. He is always prompt to help, totally compassionate, considerate and supportive. Nothing is too much trouble. I can attest to innumerable situations when I have called him and told him that someone in our College community required help. Tony has always responded with generosity, kindness, compassion and respect. It is extremely difficult for me to encapsulate what Tony Coghlan means to me and to the entire College community. Over the past twenty-six years, Tony has been encouraging, innovative, collegial, trustworthy, honest, persistent, determined, patient, motivated, dedicated and enthusiastic. He is a man of the utmost integrity and authenticity. He epitomises and embodies our Catholic Christian values. This is manifested in Tony’s total commitment to his Catholic Faith, to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, to the Oblate Charism and to us all. He is truly a model Mazenod Man. He is an awesome colleague and friend!

I wish to pay tribute to Tony’s beautiful family. His commitment to us all is assisted by and thanks to the generosity of his beautiful wife, Cathie and their boys, Sam and Ben. We all appreciate their many sacrifices. When Tony first came to Mazenod, Tony and Cathie’s eldest son, Sam, had not even commenced primary school. I can vividly recall Sam proudly telling me that his Grade Prep teacher’s name was Kylie. They were on a first-name basis at his school. Younger brother, Ben, allowed me to have running races with him. He always won! Now, both boys are wonderful young men. Sam is married to Maria, and Ben’s partner is Tilly. Along with Cathie, the rest of the family, Sam, Ben, Maria, Tilly and Tony’s Mum, Marj, have all been an integral part of Tony’s journey at Mazenod thus far. On behalf of us all, I wish to acknowledge and thank Cathie and their family for their friendship, care, generosity and sacrifices. The Coghlans are a beautiful family!

As Tony concludes his term as our College Principal, my prayer is that Almighty God blesses him, Cathie and their family with every happiness, excellent heath and with heaps of love! Thanks a million from us all! Tina Giacco