As a child on idyllic holidays by the seaside, John Barry, said that his sister Mary Barry ‘was supremely happy as she sat on a rock watching the play of light on the waters’1. She swam in a delicious depth of thought: pondering, reflecting, and wondering.

The ocean’s vast expanse and state of natural perfection was a clear testament to the glory of God. Always in possession of a profoundly religious side, these qualities of philosophical contemplation were sustained in Mary Barry’s character – providing for the visionary founder of Loreto education in Australia that she would become, little did she know it in her youth. Nor did she know it at the time, despite how fitting in retrospect, the ocean which she was staring at then would be the water that allowed her to accomplish the journey there. To an unknown continent, desperately far from all that she ever knew.

And it is to that fateful voyage that we, as members of our beloved Loreto community, are forever grateful. Without it, we would be somewhere else today – and we would certainly not be celebrating the amazing achievement that 150 years of Loreto education in Australia marks.

All of this we owe to the remarkable foresight, vision, and courage in the work of Mother Mary Gonzaga Barry, I.B.V.M., and her companions. We are the proud possessors of an immense debt to their appreciation for, and wonder at, the beauty of creation – something encouraged in their students. These qualities in Loreto education allowed Mother Gonzaga Barry’s pupils to grow, thrive, and study in a way that cannot be replicated anywhere else. The curiosity that was inspired in her students is something that has since become a defining characteristic in all Loreto schools – imbuing in girls the desire to learn, to create, and to wonder.

Mother Gonzaga Barry was an exceptional educator. She strongly believed that the world required ‘wise, lovable, and well-educated women.’ To this end, after disembarking from the train to Ballarat, the Loreto Convent at Mary’s Mount was established. This was the very first Loreto school in Australia. The students had a rich curriculum, far beyond what was ordinarily taught to girls. Notably, the school enjoyed its own telescope and orrery, which has been gifted to Gonzaga Barry by her brother John. This orrery enabled the very first of Australia’s Loreto girls to study astronomy – invoking a sense of wonder and inquisitiveness surrounding the immensity of our cosmos.

Our Box design, is inspired by Mother Gonzaga’s orrery and her sense of wonder. We are inspired by a young Mother Gonzaga Barry, experiencing wonder as a child, gazing across the ocean, and something that stayed with her throughout her lifetime. The words inside the box are taken from a micro story called Wonder written by me, Grace Collins. I will read this for you now.

Wonder.

It settled on her eyelids; caressed her mind.

She could see beyond her sight. Eyes were opened – but closed simultaneously.

A thought formed on her lips, seizing her tongue. It poised for the leap: from human to humanity; dream to reality.

The foundation of our world.

The humble idea.

Mother Gonzaga Barry went on to found numerous Loreto schools across Australia – allowing more young women the unrivalled opportunity for a Loreto education. An unrivalled opportunity to experience the wonder, joy at learning, and personal development unique to our Loreto community. One such school was opened in Adelaide – a school that Saint Mary McKillop, a close friend of Mother Gonzaga Barry, told her that, “There is work for you to do in Adelaide that no one else will do. Your house there will yet be the most important of all your foundations in Australia”.

That house, founded in the City of Churches in 1905, was our very own Loreto College Marryatville – and we are incredibly grateful for it.

Without the tenacity, strength, and vision of Mother Gonzaga Barry, we would not have the privilege of celebrating not only 150 years of Loreto in Australia, but 120 years of Loreto College in Adelaide this year. This was vital work, of profound importance to the legacy of Mary Ward which Mother Gonzaga Barry carried forward with evident distinction.

It is interesting to imagine how Mother Gonzaga Barry would feel at our celebrations this year, 150 years after she poured, built, and polished the beginning of Loreto in this country. The schools Mother Gonzaga Barry cultivated are not dissimilar to the string of goodly pearls that she asked her students to act as. Loreto schools are unique in their ethos, values, and history – and it is this that binds us together like string. Mother Gonzaga Barry was truly a daughter of the Mary Ward tradition.

We are, undeniably, “Proud to be Loreto”.