Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to our first newsletter for Term 3.

Year 7 2025 Enrolments

A reminder to all families that enrolment applications for Year 7 2025 close this weekend. Any families who have yet to lodge an application, are asked to do so within the next week. Please contact Maria De Fazio, College Registrar on 9331 9308 or by emailing Registrar.AveMariaCollege@avemaria.vic.edu.au for more information. Please note, there is no guarantee that the College will be able to offer your child a place at Ave Maria College if you do not submit you application by the deadline.

Ave Maria Day 2023

On Friday 11 August the College community celebrated Ave Maria Day. This year’s celebration was additionally special, as we celebrated not only our feast day, but also our 60th Anniversary. Whether it be Ave’s Got Talent, the Eucharist Celebration or Spec Spec, Ave Maria Day was a wonderful celebration as a faith community but also as a community who shares their gifts and talents. Well done to all, including Ms Natalie Meddis, Acting Assistant Principal (Wellbeing and Community) who oversaw preparations and planning on the day.

As part of both Ave Maria Day and our 60th Anniversary celebrations we have acknowledged throughout this year that it is truly a great honour for our college to be named after Mary, the mother of Jesus. This year through our college theme, ‘May we treasure God’s word like Mary’, we have explored with students who Mary was as a person, her calling, her values and her strengths. There is often a perception that Mary was meek and mild rather than a woman of strength, resilience, commitment, dedication, perseverance, and a powerful witness to her faith in God.

We have been challenging our students to reflect on the following questions.

What can you learn from Mary? How can these values and strengths help guide you through the rest of this year? How will you model the values of Mary as have been outlined to you today?

As we reflect on Ave Maria Day and the Feast of the Assumption, I would like to share the following prayer with you, the Magnificat.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him,

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel,

for he has remembered his promise of mercy,

the promise he made to our fathers,

to Abraham and his children forever.

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

God bless and may we continue to treasure God’s word like Mary as we continue to strive for truth through love.