General News
26 July, 2024
Message Stick visits St Pats’
STUDENTS at St Patrick’s Primary School (St Pat’s) have been looking after a special item over the past week.
As part of the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Ballarat, four message sticks have been circulating through the Catholic schools of the Diocese.
Assistant principal Tarryn Delaney said the sticks were also in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples within the area.
“The message sticks were crafted by Trevor Clark and Vicki Clark OAM, a Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited (DOBCEL) board director and founder of The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry of Victoria (ACMV),” she said.
“They were blessed by Fr Marcello Colasante and presented to representatives of the four diocesan education zones during the Catholic Education Week Mass in Ballarat.
“A mother stick has remained in the central Catholic Education Ballarat (CEB) office to which the four travelling message sticks are indelibly linked.
“The Message Sticks are now on their journey across the Catholic schools of the Diocese, remaining with each school for approximately one week, before being handed onto the next school community, connecting over time, community to community.”
The message stick currently in possession of St Pat’s came from Trinity College in Colac and will be heading to St Thomas’ Primary School in Terang at the end of the week.
Ms Delaney said the messages sticks will be kept in a prayer space within the Catholic Education Ballarat offices following the end of their journey.
“They will journey outwards to further gatherings with their presence in liturgies symbolically reminding all that, from the Murray to the sea, we are a hope-filled Catholic community of communities,” she said.
“On Friday we celebrated the arrival of the message stick with a liturgy ran by Mr Bourke and the 5/6 students.
“A member from each class passed the message stick down as a symbol of our connectedness and the stories we each share.”
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