Year 12 Graduation Mass- 2009

St. Maroun’s College Dulwich Hill held its Year 12 Graduation on Friday 25 September, 2009 in the College Hall.

The Mass was conducted by Fr. Geoffrey Abdallah and Fr. Maroun Kazzi. During the Mass, Fr. Geoffrey encouraged students to keep the values of the College and the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family close to their hearts. He mentioned that these values would sustain each student during their life journey. 

After Mass, a Graduation ceremony took place, whereby academic awards were presented to high achieving students in Year 12. The audience enjoyed the various speeches given during the morning and an exchange of student leadership occurred.

 The College community wishes the graduating class of 2009 the very best in their future endeavours.

The Catholic Archbishop's Award for Student Excellence

The Catholic Archbishop’s Award for Student Excellence has been held every year since 1999 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. This award is designed to recognize the tremendous contributions that students make to their relevant Catholic school and the community at large.

 St. Maroun’s College, Dulwich Hill was proud to nominate Elias Hachiti as the recipient of the award for 2009. Elias is the College Captain and is considered to be a student who embodies the values of the College and the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family – Friendship, Faith and Honesty. The following citation was highlighted at the ceremony:

 Elias Hatchiti has been a member of the St. Maroun’s College community for six years. An outstanding school leader, Elias is distinguished by his faithfulness to God’s word and his respect and love for all those around him. His mature approach and responsible behaviour in all facets of schooling is exemplary. To the teachers, he is an outstanding academic. To his peers, he is a loyal friend and supportive companion. To the whole community, Elias is an enthusiastic and committed participant. His presence challenges all of us to become more authentic and reach our potential. Elias is worthy of this honour. 

 As a College community, we congratulate Elias and his family for this wonderful acknowledgement. May his example be an inspiration to other students.

Year 12 Prefects 2010

It is with pleasure that I announce the College Prefects for 2010. The students are:

 Monique Kairouz – College Captain

Haydar Majzoub – Vice Captain

Andreas Harb – Prefect

Gabriella Pestantez-Laharner – Prefect

Camiella Taouk – Prefect

Lemis Halaoui – Prefect

Foundation Day Mass ( 13 - 8 -09) 

On Thursday 13^th August, we celebrated Foundation Day and the Feast of the Assumption with his Lordship Bishop Ab Abikaram and Father Maroun. 

This is a very important time in the religious calendar for all Christians and especially the Sisters of the Holy Family.  With this image of our Lady, the 15^th August  was chosen as the Foundation Day for the Order of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family.  They follow in the footsteps of Mary our Mother.  It is on this Foundation Day that the Sisters take their vows and renew their love for Christ.  In the image of the Holy Family, the Sisters uphold the values of unconditional love, care and loyalty.  This was recognised by the school community on this day.

First Holy Communion ( 8 - 8 -09) 

The following students made their First Holy Communion on Saturday 8^th August 2009:Christopher Awad, Chloe Chebli, James Cruz, Robert Dinh, Viola Douaihy, Nadim Eid, Charbel Fayad, Nicholas Gebrayel, Tony Hanna, Frascella Heriyanto, Sumaya Iwaszkiewicz, Najat Jabbour, Jonathon Khoury, Dean Lambert, Don-Pierre Nassif, Sally Nema, Georgia Nohra, Hani Rahme, Keven Rizk, Jocelyn Semaan, Elissa Srour, John Succar, Toufic Succar, Mary Tawk, and Jason Trad. 

Congratulations to all our communicants!

Mary MacKillop

This year (8^th August) marked the 100^th anniversary of the death of Blessed Mary MacKillop…or as proud citizens of this country commonly call her…Australia’s first saint.

On Wednesday 5^th August I had the pleasure of attending a Mass of Thanksgiving at St Mary’s Cathedral celebrated in the midst of staff and students from all the schools in the Sydney Diocese.  St Maroun’s College was represented by Venessa Chidiac (yr 11), Karim Nehme (yr 10), Agness Rahme (yr 10), Phillip Kayrouz (yr 6) and Louise Abi-Hanna (yr 6).  They found the celebration to enlightening, inspirational and prayerful.  Not to mention that taking time out to travel to the city and have take-away Hyde Park was an enjoyable bonus.

I have included a prayer that I hope you take some time to recite.  It was distributed by the Sisters of St Joseph, the first religious order of nuns in Australia that Mary co-founded.

Yr 9 Reflection Day

On Thursday 6^th August, Yr 9 participated in a double period seminar presented by Youth Mission Team.  The following are some comments:

I learnt:

…that God is always with us especially when we need help (Joan Lee)

…to be confident and to follow my dreams and not to listen to people that don’t really care about you (Adolfo Velez)

…that no matter how hard your life is, always have a friend in God because God is always with us (Caitlan Rogan)

…that confidence comes from within – we are all important even if we’re not popular (Salvatore Cabezas)

…communication skills, to have more faith in Jesus and that God is always with us (George Antoun)

…to follow my own conscience because God will help us make decisions when we are in doubt.  We just need to trust (Stella Sukardi)

…about focusing on the future, not the past.  I liked it because it changed everyone and it was enjoyable.  I thought it was going to be boring but when I went it was fun (Alec Zreika)

In life there are always going to be people who want to tell you what to do and how to live your life.  But at the end of the day it’s up to you which voice you want to listen to and it’s your decision.  There will always be God to help and look out for you no matter what you choose (Candice Azar)

It was fun, my confidence built up (Aladdin Assaf)

The day helped me realise that God’s presence is among us in our lives.  I also learnt that to be happy you must be yourself and true to yourself.  Also, teamwork is helpful and fun (Julianna Katra)

St Maroun's Mothers Day Mass ( 8- 5 -09) 

Our annual Mother's Day Mass was held and it was wonderful to see so many of our mothers and grandmothers attend the Mass and the morning tea. 

Father Maroun led the Mass and he reminded all the students how valuable our mothers are and to always be appreciative of what they do.  He also told the students to treat our mothers with the love and respect that they deserve.

During the Mass, the choir did a fantastic job at leading the school through all the songs and hymns.  A special thank you to Mrs Deanne and Carl Sokkar for all their hard work preparing and practicing with the students who are in the school choir.

The Mass concluded with the Sisters presenting all the mothers and grandmothers who attended the Mass with flowers. 

Holy Week 2009

St Marouns College had their Easter Mass in the college hall on Thursday 9th April.  The mass was led by Father Maroun.  Father Maroun reminded us all that just as Jesus did, we can't always want success without any suffering or sacrifice.

It was also wonderful to hear everybody who was present joining in with the choir and singing through the hymns and songs.  Once again thank you to the choir who is led by Carl and Mrs Deanne.

The College celebrated Holy Week with the reenactment of the Stations of the Cross and an Easter Mass in the college hall.

The primary students dramatically performed the Stations of the Cross. This performance showed the suffering of Jesus as he was crucified and buried. All the students involved performed well and thank you to Sr Martha for all her efforts in organising the performance.

Meeting Bishop Ad Abi Karam ( 18-2-09 )

On Wednesday 18th February, 23 students from Year 11 and Year 12 went to the House of St Maroun's to see and interview the Bishop Ad Abi Karam. 

During the visit, the students were very excited by the presence of the Bishop and the students eagerly asked the Bishop questions about the history of Lebanon, culture, religion and the faith of different churches around the world.  The students had the opportunity to discuss questions and share their ideas.  They also took pictures with the Bishop and then he presented the students with chocolates and souvenirs.

The students had an interesting and exciting day where they learnt more about religion and they also felt closer to God.  It was a once in a lifetime experience that the students encountered and a special thank you goes to Ms Enaam and Ms Tina for organising the event.

Opening Mass - St. Maroun’s Day ( 06-02-09 )

On Friday 6 February, 2009 the College community celebrated its opening Mass with many parents and friends in attendance. The occasion was also a time to acknowledge St. Maroun’s day – the patron saint of the school.

College chaplain, Father Geoffrey Abdallah, celebrated the Mass and took the opportunity to remind the student body to relish any educational opportunities available to them at the College. He continued to mention that education is a gift and that we should reflect on the life of saint Maroun.