Last Sunday, 22nd September St. Vincent’s Ashfield, NSW, Australia, culminated their weeklong celebration in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of St. Vincent de Paul and 130th parish anniversary The festivities kicked off a week earlier with the opening of the Heritage Exhibition Centre in the Parish House. This exhibition showcased how St. Vincent has inspired Catholics in Ashfield from 1894 until now.
Celebrations culminated last Sunday in St. Vincent’s College School Hall with Mass celebrated by Fr Joti, who arrived from Fiji to serve as parish priest in Ashfield in 2018. Concelebrants included Frs Alan Gibson, Michael Walsh and Kevin Canty.
There was a brilliant student re-enactment of the life of St. Vincent, bringing the legacy of the Saint to the next generation of St. Vincent’s students! The choir was superb and the Hall comfortably packed!
Parishioners encompassed Indigenous Australian, Anglo-Celtic, Filipino, Fijian, Zimbabwean, and Polish cultures, among others.
Sisters Thérèse, Margaret Armstrong, Angela Francis, Rosa and Celine were delighted to have attended last Sunday’s celebrations at Ashfield.