As stated in our College’s Vision Statement, St Patrick’s College is a Christ-centred community which is formed in the Benedictine and Good Samaritan tradition and which engages all its members in learning and in working for a just society. In the spirit of St Benedict, a warm welcome is extended to each member of the St Patrick’s community, especially those new members. Just as St Benedict himself would do, we welcome each other as if each one of us is Christ himself.

We also honour St Patrick as the strength of our College for he is our role model who demonstrates to us the value of community and the power of God’s Word. St Patrick had the ability to draw people together to form faith-filled communities whose foundations were firmly grounded in their faith in Jesus.

Therefore, as we begin the 2017 school year, we commend to our God our hopes and vision for a year of:

- deep learning
- the gaining of knowledge and wisdom
- strengthened relationships
- utilised opportunities
- realised justice, and
- true compassion.

St Benedict’s advice is that ‘Whenever you begin any good work, you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Lord to bring it to perfection.’ The ‘good work’ we began on the first school day of 2017 is empowerment through education—empowering all to be independent and lifelong resilient learners. This process, according to St Benedict, should rightfully begin with us asking Jesus for his guidance, strength and protection, so that what we begin is brought to perfection.

PRAYER:

Loving God, you are our beginning and our end.
We commend to you all the endeavours of the year ahead of us.
Guide us in all that we do.
Bring balance to our lives
so that we may experience fullness of life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We ask this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
for you are one God, forever and ever. Amen.