Our Mercy tradition is intrinsic to St Mary's identity. The information presented below is the centre of our school's values and lived experiences.

Mercy Prayer:

We pray for the Sisters of Mercy, who established our school and for the priests who have served at St Mary’s.  

It is through their vision, determination and strong faith that we enjoy the benefits of a Catholic Education here in Mooroopna.  

We are proud to be a Mercy School, where the values of love and justice are taught and lived every day.

The Mercy sisters made their way to Victoria and Mooroopna, where they opened St Mary’s School in1936.  There were 60 students when Sister Annina and Sr Alban began teaching the children of Mooroopna.  It wasn’t easy, but in true Mercy style these two women managed as best they could.  Tables were placed across the tops of the church seats for desks for the older children and the preps, ones and twos sat on the kneelers and used the seat as a desk.  The only equipment available were some portable blackboards, chalk and a few text books.  

McAuley House is named after Catherine McAuley.
Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy and we named one of our houses after a Mercy sister because the Mercy Sisters started St Mary’s in 1936.  

Marian House is named after  Mary our Mother.
Mary said yes to God and she is the mother of Jesus.
We named one of our houses after Mary because we are called St Mary’s! 

Archer House is named after William Archer
William Archer was the first settler to live in Mooroopna.
Because St Mary’s is a part of the Mooroopna Community and we are honouring our local history, we called one house Archer.

Marian House is named after Mary our Mother.
Mary said yes to God and she is the mother of Jesus.
We named one of our houses after Mary because we are called St Mary’s!

Mercy Cross

This is the Mercy Cross. 

It is the symbol of the Sisters of Mercy. 

The Sisters of Mercy started our school a very long time ago.

Catherine McAuley designed the original Mercy Cross herself - a dark background with a white cross in the middle.

The Mercy Cross that we see today still has a white cross in the middle of a dark coloured cross. Catherine chose the cross to be the symbol of the Sisters of Mercy because of her deep love for Jesus.

You may have noticed that the Cross does not have the figure of Jesus on the Cross. This is because Catherine believed that each Sister of Mercy places herself on the Cross to be like Jesus.

Sisters of Mercy all around the world wear this cross so we can recognise who they are.

You can see this Mercy Cross outside our school library.