CO_Mar17_WEB

LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY
St Patrick’s Day: Celebrating the man who
inspired a global missionary effort
By Ben Smith, Director,
Life, Marriage & Family Office
ON 17 MARCH WE CELEBRATE
St Patrick’s Day. It is celebrated in
more countries than any other national
festival. In Ireland, 17 March is a public
holiday. Celebrations also occur in Great
Britain, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina,
Russia, the Caribbean, and in various
parts of Asia.
St Patrick’s legacy has had a profound
impact on the founding of Catholicism in
Australia and in the geographical area that
is the Diocese of Parramatta, established
in 1986.
His legacy inspired many Irish-born
priests, brothers, religious sisters and lay
people to be pioneers in setting up parishes
and schools in our Diocese.
Many people of Irish descent played
their part in the 19 th and 20 th Centuries in
building on these foundations to help make
our Diocese what it is today.
Fr James Dixon, an Irish convict, celebrated
the first officially sanctioned Mass on
Australian soil in 1803. The second and third
Masses that he celebrated in the colony were
in Parramatta and Windsor respectively.
Another Irish priest, Fr John Therry,
arrived in Sydney in 1820 and covered many
miles on horseback to minister to Catholics
in the colony, especially in the Parramatta
and Windsor areas.
In 1839, a group of Sisters of Charity
from Ireland arrived in Parramatta to
set up a convent on the land where Our
Lady of Mercy College is now located.
They performed a vital ministry to female
convicts living in terrible conditions at the
Female Factory in Parramatta.
In 1888, a group of Sisters of Mercy arrived
from Callan, Ireland. They played a critical
role in founding many parish-based primary
schools as well as some secondary schools in
the Diocese and further afield.
Their work extended beyond education
to include visitation of the sick and in
more recent decades has expanded into a
number of other areas to minister to poor
and vulnerable people.
A number of other teaching orders
originating from Ireland have had an impact
on the Diocese. The Patrician Brothers have
founded three high schools in the Diocese.
The Christian Brothers have also founded
and run schools and their Winbourne
property at Mulgoa has been used for training
brothers and more recently as a retreat and
conference centre. The Presentation Sisters
and the Holy Faith Sisters have also founded
schools in our Diocese.
Irish-born lay people also played a
pioneering role in setting up the Church
in the Diocese. James McCarthy, a convict
from Northern Ireland who settled on
a farm at Castlereagh near the Nepean
River, supported the practice of the faith.
McCarthy College at Emu Plains has been
named in his honour.
Aside from Australia, St Patrick’s
missionary example has inspired many
Irish missionaries over the centuries to go
to places across the globe. The religious
communities and schools that Irish
missionaries established are still playing a
role across the Western world and also in
Africa, India, Asia and South America.
While St Patrick’s Day has a special
significance to those in our community who
were Irish born, the day is also an occasion to
celebrate the amazing sacrifices of the priests
and religious men and women who left their
green shores to establish and grow parishes,
schools, religious communities and other
outreach structures across the globe.
On Saturday 18 March this year, the Life,
St Patrick’s legacy has had a profound impact on the
founding of Catholicism in Australia.
Marriage & Family Office is organising a
St Patrick’s Family Festival from 2pm-5pm
at St Patrick’s Cathedral Precinct, 1 Marist
Place, Parramatta. Everyone is welcome to
attend to celebrate the great gift of faith and
service that St Patrick inspired throughout
the world.
2017 pilgrimages
FROM
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FULL AIR &
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GRACES OF MARY
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ST. PATRICK’S
Family Festival
This Irish themed event will include live entertainment, food, rides for all ages and
a historical display about the contribution the Irish have made to our Diocese.
The event will also raise awareness about the World Meeting of Families taking
place in Dublin in 2018 and raise funds for families to be able to attend.
HOSTED BY
RIDES ENTERTAINMENT FOOD
ST PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL PRECINCT, 1 MARIST PLACE, PARRAMATTA
VISIT WWW.PARRALMF.ORG.AU/ST-PATRICKS-DAY
6 CatholicOutlook MARCH 2017 www.catholicoutlook.org