• Faith Club Flyer and Enrolment Form
• Faith Club Introduction Flyer [A4]

Dear Parents,

All children from Grade 1-6 are invited to our kids ‘Faith Club’.

Faith Club runs from 10.30am to 11.30am following Sunday Mass at Sacred Heart Church Croydon.

The sessions will include elements of fun and games, prayer, teaching, art response, reflection, song and food.

Term 1 dates 2025:

16th and 23rd February : What’s LENT about?
2nd March : The Last Supper

[Break] : Long Weekend

16h March : The Death and Resurrection of Jesus
23rd March : The Ascension

.................................................

The purpose for this outreach is -

1. For the children to have an opportunity to encounter Jesus.
2. For the children to come into a deeper understanding of their faith.
3. To build community through friendship, food and fun.

The framework for the program centres around the themes embedded in the Apostles Creed. The sessions will include elements of fun and games, prayer, teaching, various forms of art response, reflection, song and food.

Our objective is that children will come to a deeper understanding that Jesus knows and loves them; that he gave his life to save them; and He is now living at their side every day.

If you are interested in your child attending this program in a fun and friendly environment, please complete the enrolment form attached and return it to the parish office as soon as possible. All children from grade 1-6 are invited. If your child has a friend that they would like to invite, enrolment forms are available to download via the links below.

For more information please contact:

Trish: 0418 553 295

We look forward to welcoming your family to this parish community initiative.

Fr Melvin & the Faith Club Team

...

Leaders and assistants are all required to have a valid Working with Children’s Check.
We welcome donations to help contribute to the cost of running this group for our young people.

• Faith Club Flyer and Enrolment Form
• Faith Club Introduction Flyer [A4]

The Magnificat Charismatic Prayer Group

We meet every Monday morning, starting with a cup of coffee and fellowship straight after the Communion service in church. From 10.15-11.30a.m. we praise and worship our God with songs and scripture ad quiet time.
In our prayer session we pray for Sacred Heart Primary School, St. Patricks in Lilydale, Mt Lilydale Mercy College, and Aquinas College. After this we pray for our own needs.

Catholic Women’s League (C.W.L.)

The C.W.L. was formed in 1916 to aid families in need, today the League, under the guidance of their Spiritual Director, is a strong workforce within the Parish. Our theme for this year is “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

We currently have 17 members and we meet on the first Thursday of every month. Our membership is $65.00 which includes our beautiful Horizon magazine. The C.W.L. support the Parish and School as well as many other charities. We also provide catering for funerals and other parish functions.

Altar Society

The Society consists of a group of parishioners who are responsible for the floral arrangements in the Church. They also perform other tasks like laundering the church linen. Willing helpers are always welcome.

Sacred Heart Choir

The Sacred Heart choir sings at the 10.15am Mass 3 or 4 timers each month, plus Easter and Christmas. We do receive requests to sing at Requiem Masses and we do our best to oblige.

We have a long-standing tradition of having collections among our members over the year and donating the proceeds to worthy causes, such as St Vincent de Paul society, McKillop Family Services and the African Missions etc.

Our numbers currently average around 18 and practices are held most Wednesday afternoons lasting 1½ hours.

We are always looking for new members and any expressions of interest in joining should be directed to the choir leader, Marie Janssen Ph: 9779 9048.

Divine Mercy Adoration

Lasting an hour, the adoration takes place after the 9.30am Mass each Friday.

Originally starting off with a devoted team of 6, the numbers have increased to 40 with people joining in the prayers during the hour. We consider this prayerful time most important and we invite others to join us. Our objective is to help us all understand that God’s mercy is needed and is readily available to everyone.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion to the sick and housebound

Objective:
To reach out to all our brothers and sisters within our designated geographical area who are unable to come to Mass on Sundays.

We try to achieve this objective in the following ways.
1. Visit them weekly or every two weeks to check how they are keeping and offer them Communion.
2. Pass on the love and best wishes of our Parish family who are able to come to Mass and our union with them in being nourished by the Bread of Life.

Statistical Data:
1. We currently are a team of 18 who cover on average 1 Hospital, 10 Ages Care/Nursing Homes and 18 private homes per week.
2. The breakdown is as follows:
Hospitals 1, 25 visits/Communions; Aged Care/Nursing Homes, 75 visits/Communions; Private homes, 18 visits/Communions.
Major Ongoing Challenges:
1. Try to identify those needing our services.
2. Seek and train more volunteers to cover those in our present team who are retiring soon, absent through sickness, on holidays etc.
3. Anyone interested in being a part of this Parish endeavour should contact Patrick Connell,
P: 9723 6881 / M: 0400 900 911. 

GodStart

GodStart is a parish-based Post Baptism programme designed to help parents and family members develop the faith of their preschool children, it is a ‘good news’ program focussed on its youngest members and their families.

The program focusses on the children’s birthdays. Children’s birthdays have been chosen, in contrast to baptismal dates, because they are naturally occurring family celebrations, providing the parish with an opportunity to acknowledge this important event.

We are always looking for more volunteers to join our current GodStart team of 6 members.

Government and Independent Schools Apostolate - Sacramental Program

This Sacramental Program enables children who do not attend Parish schools to prepare for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation. Children from year 2 through to year 10 are welcome. The team of volunteers run classes to facilitate faith development and assist parents in preparing their child for the sacraments. Each program is conducted after school hours during the school term.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (R.C.I.A.)

This group invites, encourages and journeys with people seeking understanding of the Catholic faith as well as desiring to join the Catholic Church community. Its focus is to provide teaching within a welcoming community as well as companionship through the sharing of our story. The Word of God is at the heart of the process. The high point of celebration is the Easter Vigil celebration where the candidates receive the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist). If you would like more information about this ministry, please contact the parish office.

Sacred Heart Men’s Club

We meet every second Wednesday of each month in one of the meeting rooms at Sacred Heart parish. We have a drink, something to eat, share our stories and enjoy good company.

We also gather on Monday mornings at a coffee shop to talk further on matters affecting our members and families who maybe sick or housebound and arrange visits from members of the team.

At present our numbers are only 8-10 and we would welcome additions to our ranks as we would like to arrange outings, BBQ’s etc., as part of our socialisation.

Expressions of interest should be relayed to Peter Ward – P:9725 0096.

Society of St Vincent de Paul, Croydon Conference

The Croydon Conference of the Society gives aid to individual persons and families who have sought assistance through calling the Society’s Box Hill call centre on its 1800 305 330 number. The Box Hill centre then passes on details of the callers within Croydon Conference for action by conference members.

Conference members visit the caller’s home in pairs and assess the type and level of assistance needed. Assistance provided is usually in the form of either food parcels, contribution towards they payment if essential bills such as for utility services and the provision of clothing or a combination of these. The provision of furniture is currently being reviewed as further form of assistance.

Currently the conference has 17 members. In the June quarter 79 families were assisted involving 195 individuals.

We welcome approaches of interest in our work which result in new members within the conference. These can be directed to our President via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“Let the children come…” [Matt 19:14]

Welcome to Children’s Liturgy for 2016!

Important Dates

Children’s Liturgy will run every Sunday at 10.15am Mass during school terms (see dates below)

Term 1
7 February – 20 March
20 March – Save the date… BYO Picnic Lunch at Croydon Park (next to the Skate Park) after the 10.15am Mass on Palm Sunday for all Children’s Liturgy families and all volunteers (weather permitting!)

Term 2
17 April – 19 June

Term 3
10 July – 11 September

Term 4
9 October – 11 December

Sacred Heart Parish Croydon Children’s Liturgy Facebook Group

• Are you on Facebook?
  Would you like to be informed of events relating to Children’s Liturgy?
  Would you like to connect with a group of other Children’s Liturgy families and leaders?
  Would you like to help with Children’s Liturgy but don’t know how to go about it or what help is needed?
  Would you like ideas for things that you can do at home to help your child grow in their faith?
• What is Children’s Liturgy?

Children's Liturgy is 'Liturgy of the Word' for Primary and Preschool children [children under 4 are welcome if accompanied by an adult].

We aim to teach the Gospel through:

Discussion
Prayer
Activities
Craft
Stories
Role play
Games

Children’s Liturgy is also about:

• Instilling in our young people a sense of belonging to our faith community
  An experience of fellowship with other children
  Being a valued part of our parish community

Who runs Children’s Liturgy?

We are a volunteer team of leaders and assistants whose enthusiasm and commitment keep this program running! We always welcome new team members and assisting a leader is a great way to start. The commitment is only one Sunday per term from 10.00 – 11.30am. All resources and materials are provided each week, so there is nothing to prepare, and training is also available. Please consider joining our team, especially if you have a child who attends Children’s Liturgy. All leaders and assistants need to have a current ‘Working with Children Check’.  
If you are able to help please contact Bridie...

Contact:

Bridie Price, Coordinator
M: 0490 086 866 | E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
facebook.com/mbprice98

The first church at Croydon was a constrained monastic chapel: the centre of prayer for a cloistered religious community. Built in 1937, it had a seating capacity of 100. As the suburbs of Melbourne grew to surround the site, this chapel became too small to accommodate the increasing congregation and renovation and extensions were planned. As a result, the monastic chapel has now been incorporated into a new parish church with a 520-plus overflow capacity.

Through a series of workshops, a client brief was developed by the parish community and subsequently presented to architects Graeme Law and Associates P/L in a formal parish ceremony. The brief presented a decisive picture of the type of space required for worship along with a basic planning concept: the expansion of the chapel into the central enclosed cloister while sympathetically conserving the original façade of the monastery complex.

The new church is next to invisible upon arriving at the site. The point of entry remains the portal of the original chapel but the nave of this chapel now only serves as an enlarged narthex or entry and greeting space. The new church nave and altar are only visible looking through this space where fully glazed walls and curved veneer plywood ceilings provide an almost seamless transition between the two: the constrained heritage monastery building and the new worship space for a broad and active community.

The church and its evolution contrast the changing forms of worship before and after the reforms of Vatican 2 in 1962. These saw the formality and strong hierarchical arrangement of older church forms, with their separation of clergy and congregation, broken down to an arrangement more readily reflecting an open relationship in religious celebration. The linearity of the church seen in the plan of the chapel is gone in the new church, replaced by a semicircular arrangement that encloses the main focus of the sacrament and allows each person a clear line of sight to the celebrant. This effectively exploits an arrangement common to theatres. The focus of attention, the priest and the sacrament, is in the centre. Radial and tiered seating focuses attention both on the sacrament and on the wider community. People are effectively within one another’s sightline across the curved arrangement. This brings the congregation closer to the celebration of Mass and to other members of the community. Pragmatically, it also improves the acoustics in the space.

While the two spaces contrast strongly in plan, the architects have moulded the ceiling and roof form in the new church to conform with the old. So, the strong lines of the roof of the original nave continue through the extended building to lead the eye to the new altar and the sweeping cross and Christ figure above it. This disassociation of plan and ceiling form is being used increasingly, as it allows the cruciform and nave arrangement of the traditional church to be retained above new ways of arranging the congregation.

Timber is a traditional material in religious architecture and in Australia, it has been widely used in ceiling and exposed roof structures, in furniture and in specific religious fittings, such as carvings.

In this ‘combined’ church, it is used in a number of ways. The ceiling and roof structure of the original church features a series of king post trusses with an exaggerated design to suit the style of the original complex. They support expressed purlins and a stained plywood ceiling. The original pews are also wood.

In the extension, timber is used throughout the finishes and fittings. The curved ceiling over the wings of the new church nave are plywood faced with slip matched Blackwood veneer. Fitted in overlapping layers to a metal subframe, it is fixed with exposed hexagonal headed black screws in a regular pattern. The external curved soffit is painted waterproof ply. Internally, the ceiling accommodates downlights and other services.

The Victorian ash pews are perhaps the major element in the nave, at least when it is empty of its congregation. Custom designed by the architects and manufactured to detail by Fallshaw & Sons, Victoria , the regular pale colour and grain, and rectilinear arrangement of the wood in these long bench seats contrasts with the more active grain and darker colour of the ceiling.

They also define the curved arrangement of the congregation, again in contrast to the lines and shapes of the ceiling. The pews have glue laminated seats, backs and legs. The front edge of the seat is rounded, while the top of the back returns in an inverted L-shape. This stiffens the long back piece, and provides a guide for the incoming parishioner.

The architects designed all the interior furniture and liturgical artwork throughout, including altar, ambo, font, tabernacle refurbishment and other pieces. Several of them are timber items. The priest’s chair is solid Blackwood assembled in a design reminiscent of the designs of Macintosh. The back verticals taper up from the bottom rails while most of the connections are mortise and tenon joints. A rail at the top of the chair back passes through the vertical and is expressed on either side. The rails are cut to shape to accommodate the upholstered seat and back. A memorial timber cabinet, designed by the architects, was made by Bill Neagle of Neagle Bros.

The church also features religious elements and carvings in a range of styles. A simple cross made from recycled Ironbark supports the Christ figure. This is carved from jeluton – a south east Asian hardwood - by Leopoldine Mimovich, it is in a sweeping modern style. Other timber sculptures of the saints in the church by sculptor Eva Schubert have the proportion and forms of more traditional gothic carvings.

The changing face of worship is represented effectively in the evolution between old and new design and presentation in this building. What was once a monastery – literally a controlled society – has become a rich, vibrant and diverse community of worship. This change is represented in the building itself, where traditional timber elements have been reinterpreted. Visitors enter the original building, where the dark ceiling and linear form evoke a constrained, sombre atmosphere. Beyond this, they discover a very different ambience, with the colour and light of the new wing, bright and welcoming. This evolution is especially true of the pews: the new installation maintains the previous straight shape of the old but the fresh, light timber and curved layout represents the change in the perceived relationship of the church to its community.

The contrast of two ceiling types is another obvious expression of this change. Looking up to the ceiling of the original nave, one can see an example of a king post truss arrangement with its mortise and tenon joints. The complexity of this traditional arrangement and form of architectural expression contrasts with the simplicity and reflection of the natural light of the wood wave ceiling in the newer part of the building. The form of this ceiling allows people to take in the views to the surrounding cloister but compels them by the flow of the waves further back inward towards the altar and the centre of the congregation.

The building combines elements of two forms of worship – two distinct periods – in an elegant way. This pastiche of styles employed is not dogmatic or uniform but is rather contemporary and practical. While this may draw criticism from some quarters, it is nevertheless a realistic architectural expression of the diverse and active community that it serves.

St Edmund

"What do we know of St Edmund? He was born in 1175, the eldest son of a prosperous merchant in the town of Abingdon near Oxford. He was named Edmund after the martyr king, because he was born on his feast day. After schooling in Abingdon, he was educated at the new university of Oxford, and then in the University of Paris. He returned to England and taught mathematics at Oxford, where he is credited with introducing the study of Aristotle. The college known as St Edmund’s Hall was later named after him. He then took up the study of theology and was ordained to the priesthood. His scholarship was recognised when he became the first Oxford Doctor of Divinity.

In 1222, Edmund left Oxford to work as a parish priest in the town of Caine and at the same time he became the treasurer of Salisbury cathedral. During this ministry his holiness and administrative talents were soon noticed and in 1234 the Pope appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of the Catholic Church in England. Up to this time Edmund had followed the policies of the king, but now, like Saint Thomas Becket in the previous century, he strenuously defended the rights and freedom of the Church.

He did not get on with the overbearing King Henry III and had to appeal to the Pope for support in opposing the king and his friends. He suffered for taking this stand. The courageous Archbishop Edmund died in France in 1240 and was buried in Pontigny Abbey, the source of the relic that is being returned and enshrined in this church.

The feast day of Saint Edmund of Abingdon is November 16th. The collect for his Mass which I will say at the deposition of his relic is found the new version of the Roman Missal that we use in Australia. I hope that this parish will honour the saint on that day each year and that his relic will be accorded reverence and respect in the years to come."

From the Homily of Bishop Peter Elliott
Pontifical Mass, Return and Deposition of the Relic of St Edmund of Abingdon
Sacred Heart Church, Croydon, Vic. Australia,
Solemnity of All Saints, Friday November 1, 2013

St Francis de Sales

Born in France in 1567, Francis was a patient man. He knew for thirteen years that he had a vocation to the priesthood before he mentioned it to his family. When his father said that he wanted Francis to be a soldier and sent him to Paris to study, Francis said nothing. Then when he went to Padua to get a doctorate in law, he still kept quiet, but he studied theology and practiced mental prayer while getting into swordfights and going to parties. Even when his bishop told him if he wanted to be a priest that he thought that he would have a miter waiting for him someday, Francis uttered not a word. Why did Francis wait so long? Throughout his life he waited for God's will to be clear. He never wanted to push his wishes on God, to the point where most of us would have been afraid that God would give up!

God finally made God's will clear to Francis while he was riding. Francis fell from his horse three times. Every time he fell the sword came out of the scabbard. Every time it came out the sword and scabbard came to rest on the ground in the shape of the cross. And then, Francis, without knowing about it, was appointed provost of his diocese, second in rank to the bishop.

Perhaps he was wise to wait, for he wasn't a natural pastor. His biggest concern on being ordained that he had to have his lovely curly gold hair cut off. And his preaching left the listeners thinking he was making fun of him. Others reported to the bishop that this noble-turned- priest was conceited and controlling.

Then Francis had a bad idea -- at least that's what everyone else thought. This was during the time of the Protestant reformation and just over the mountains from where Francis lived was Switzerland -- Calvinist territory. Francis decided that he should lead an expedition to convert the 60,000 Calvinists back to Catholicism. But by the time he left his expedition consisted of himself and his cousin. His father refused to give him any aid for this crazy plan and the diocese was too poor to support him.

For three years, he trudged through the countryside, had doors slammed in his face and rocks thrown at him. In the bitter winters, his feet froze so badly they bled as he tramped through the snow. He slept in haylofts if he could, but once he slept in a tree to avoid wolves. He tied himself to a branch to keep from falling out and was so frozen the next morning he had to be cut down. And after three years, his cousin had left him alone and he had not made one convert.

Francis' unusual patience kept him working. No one would listen to him, no one would even open their door. So Francis found a way to get under the door. He wrote out his sermons, copied them by hand, and slipped them under the doors. This is the first record we have of religious tracts being used to communicate with people.

The parents wouldn't come to him out of fear. So Francis went to the children. When the parents saw how kind he was as he played with the children, they began to talk to him.

By the time, Francis left to go home he is said to have converted 40,000 people back to Catholicism.

In 1602 he was made bishop of the diocese of Geneva, in Calvinist territory. He only set foot in the city of Geneva twice -- once when the Pope sent him to try to convert Calvin's successor, Beza, and another when he traveled through it.

It was in 1604 that Francis took one of the most important steps in his life, the step toward holiness and mystical union with God.

In Dijon that year Francis saw a widow listening closely to his sermon -- a woman he had seen already in a dream. Jane de Chantal was a person on her own, as Francis was, but it was only when they became friends that they began to become saints. Jane wanted him to take over her spiritual direction, but, not surprisingly, Francis wanted to wait. "I had to know fully what God himself wanted. I had to be sure that everything in this should be done as though his hand had done it." Jane was on a path to mystical union with God and, in directing her, Francis was compelled to follow her and become a mystic himself.

Three years after working with Jane, he finally made up his mind to form a new religious order. But where would they get a convent for their contemplative Visitation nuns? A man came to Francis without knowing of his plans and told him he was thinking of donating a place for use by pious women. In his typical way of not pushing God, Francis said nothing. When the man brought it up again, Francis still kept quiet, telling Jane, "God will be with us if he approves." Finally the man offered Francis the convent.

Francis was overworked and often ill because of his constant load of preaching, visiting, and instruction -- even catechizing a deaf man so he could take first Communion. He believed the first duty of a bishop was spiritual direction and wrote to Jane, "So many have come to me that I might serve them, leaving me no time to think of myself. However, I assure you that I do feel deep-down- within-me, God be praised. For the truth is that this kind of work is infinitely profitable to me." For him active work did not weaken his spiritual inner peace but strengthened it. He directed most people through letters, which tested his remarkable patience. "I have more than fifty letters to answer. If I tried to hurry over it all, i would be lost. So I intend neither to hurry or to worry. This evening, I shall answer as many as I can. Tomorrow I shall do the same and so I shall go on until I have finished."

At that time, the way of holiness was only for monks and nuns -- not for ordinary people. Francis changed all that by giving spiritual direction to lay people living ordinary lives in the world. But he had proven with his own life that people could grow in holiness while involved in a very active occupation. Why couldn't others do the same? His most famous book, INTRODUCTION TO THE DEVOUT LIFE, was written for these ordinary people in 1608. Written originally as letters, it became an instant success all over Europe -- though some preachers tore it up because he tolerated dancing and jokes!

For Francis, the love of God was like romantic love. He said, "The thoughts of those moved by natural human love are almost completely fastened on the beloved, their hearts are filled with passion for it, and their mouths full of its praises. When it is gone they express their feelings in letters, and can't pass by a tree without carving the name of their beloved in its bark. Thus too those who love God can never stop thinking about him, longing for him, aspiring to him, and speaking about him. If they could, they would engrave the name of Jesus on the hearts of all humankind."

The key to love of God was prayer. "By turning your eyes on God in meditation, your whole soul will be filled with God. Begin all your prayers in the presence of God."

For busy people of the world, he advised "Retire at various times into the solitude of your own heart, even while outwardly engaged in discussions or transactions with others and talk to God."

The test of prayer was a person's actions: "To be an angel in prayer and a beast in one's relations with people is to go lame on both legs."

He believed the worst sin was to judge someone or to gossip about them. Even if we say we do it out of love we're still doing it to look better ourselves. But we should be as gentle and forgiving with ourselves as we should be with others.

As he became older and more ill he said, "I have to drive myself but the more I try the slower I go." He wanted to be a hermit but he was more in demand than ever. The Pope needed him, then a princess, then Louis XIII. "Now I really feel that I am only attached to the earth by one foot..." He died on December 28, 1622, after giving a nun his last word of advice: "Humility."

He is patron saint of journalists because of the tracts and books he wrote.

Sacred Heart of Jesus be with us and send us wisdom through the Holy Spirit to guide our decisions and actions, so that we may do our part in the building of the Kingdom of God.

May we reflect to all the loving care of God our Father.

May we grow in the likeness of you the Son who came to serve and give your life for all.

May Mary, our Mother, and our special Patrons, St Edmund and St Francis de Sales plead on our behalf to the Father, through You the Son in the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

A LOST relic of St Edmund of Abingdon has been returned to Sacred Heart Parish, Croydon.
 
A Pontifical Mass was celebrated for the return and deposition of the first-class relic of St Edmund into a reliquary at Sacred Heart Church on Friday 1 November, the Solemnity of All Saints.
 
Bishop Peter Elliott concelebrated the Mass with Sacred Heart parish priest Fr Len Size, Fr Paddy Duggan (former parish priest of St Edmund’s) and Fr Peter Robinson (former parish priest of St Francis de Sales’). Assistant priest Fr Simon Grainger was master of ceremonies.
 
In his homily, Bishop Elliott shared how the relic, a piece of bone extracted from St Edmund’s forearm, was kept at St Edmund’s Church, Croydon, but was removed and nearly lost forever when the church was demolished in the 1990s.
 
The relic was donated to the parish by Lord Lewis Clifford, 12th Baron of Chudleigh, Devon, who lived in Wonga Park with his Australian-born wife Mary Knox, and died in 1964.
 
Lord Clifford’s ancestors were ‘Recusants’ or ‘Papists’, meaning they remained Catholics and refused to conform to the Church of England after the Reformation, despite the threat of persecution and death for practising the Catholic faith.
 
Bishop Elliott said the Recusants cherished the relics of saints and martyrs, and carefully preserved relics or rescued them from desecration.
 
‘This explains why the Cliffords had the relic of St Edmund in their care. It is believed to have been retrieved from his tomb in the Abbey of Pontigny, France, when it was opened in 1849,’ he said.
 
‘However, this relic which came to rest in St Edmund’s Church was removed when the church was demolished and replaced by this new church of the Sacred Heart. The relic was lost and nearly discarded, but by divine providence and, I believe, through the prayers of the saint, it was retrieved and identified.’
 
Bishop Elliott explained to the congregation that relics ‘intensify our awareness of the communion of saints’.
 
‘They help us remember heroic Christians with gratitude. They help us to strengthen our faith through following the example of a saint. These sacred fragments from a past earthly life help us to look forward in hope of an eternal life.’
 
He said he hoped Sacred Heart Parish would honour St Edmund of Abingdon’s feast day on 16 November each year and that ‘his relic will be accorded reverence and respect in the years to come’.
 
Story: Rebecca Comini, Kairos Catholic Journal

Sacred Heart Catholic parish is located within the old Sacred Heart Monastery, which was owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and opened by Archbishop Mannix in April 1939. The complex included a chapel, library, cloisters, classrooms, refectory, kitchens and domestic offices. Accommodation was provided for 65 students, 10 priests and several lay brothers.Due to declining numbers, at the end of 1985, the location for seminary studies was changed to apartments in Drummoyne, Sydney.

In 1991 the monastery and a surrounding parcel of 5 hectares of land was sold to the Archdiocese of Melbourne to serve as the parish centre of Croydon and East Ringwood. In 1993 the new parish of Sacred Heart, Croydon, was established using the monastery and chapel as its centre of worship and community activities.

A primary school was built to the rear of the monastery. This school opened in 2000 and now has 350 students. It uses part of the lower floor of the monastery as its offices and staff rooms.

From 1993 to 2002 the monastery was regularly used as a retreat and meeting centre, taking advantage of its unique facilities, serenity, historic ambience and community spirit.

The original chapel was extended in 2000 to handle the greater number of people attending Mass from the merged Croydon and East Ringwood parishes. It now seats 500.

By 2002 the buildings had fallen into disrepair. Land around the monastery, including the original oval, was set aside for the construction of a retirement village, Mingarra. This project was at first owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart but has since been sold to a private investment group. An aged-care hostel is part of the retirement village.

The monastery building is heritage listed and the parish hopes to maintain the heritage of the monastery as a place of learning, spiritual living and a communal hub for the surrounding district.

Parish Priest: Fr Leonard Size

Fr Size was ordained an Anglican minister in 1991 and a Catholic priest in 2000. He was appointed to Sacred Heart in August 2008, his first parish priest role in the Archdiocese, as he was previously Chaplain at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Fr Size says: “This is a very exciting time for the parish, with our new hall and plans for the retreat centre. The community is fantastic and includes members of former parishes at Wonga Park, Croydon and East Ringwood all working together.”

Parish Secretary: Susan Boysen

Sacred Heart is a wonderful parish, and I am very proud to be a part of it. I began working here in September 2000 after seeing an ad for the position while at Mass at a neighbouring parish. Currently the roof of the monastery is being repaired with the assistance of a grant from Heritage Victoria. We then hope it grows into a thriving retreat centre.

My role involves looking after groups that want to stay or use our facilities, taking parishioner inquiries, booking rooms, taking care of accounts, organising our Sunday press, organising baptisms and organising sacraments for children from government and independent schools and so on. Lynn, another secretary, works every Friday while I take a day off.

One thing I have learned is not to stress – nothing is impossible. When things get overwhelming, just call in a few parishioners and the work is done! Where else can you do that?

Source: Kairos: Volume 21, Issue 22

Sacred Heart Primary School is a parish primary school  providing a Catholic education to the families of Sacred Heart Parish, Croydon.

Education in religion and faith is our starting point. Our whole curriculum is underpinned by the AusVels curriculum which focus' on developing fundamental knowledge, skills and behaviours in literacy and numeracy. These behaviours are taught within a contemporary approach to teaching and learning. Other areas include physical and social capacities, which are crucial for future learning.

We view the education of young people as a vital partnership between home and school. Such a partnership can come to fruition only through effective communication, goodwill and highly professional staff working with families for the good of the child. This is what we can offer you in the unique environment of 'Monastery Hill'.

We look forward to having the opportunity to show you what education at Sacred Heart is about.

Michael Russo
PRINCIPAL

T: 03 9724 4333

www.shcroydon.com