ANZAC Commemorations at Santa Sophia Catholic College

This morning we gathered as a school community to begin an ANZAC Day tradition for Santa Sophia Catholic College.

We honoured the memory of the men and women who have sacrificed their lives in service to their country. Students led the ceremony through a prayer of remembrance and the reading of letters sent home from soldiers.

As the starting of a new tradition, the school community welcomed guest speaker Warrant Officer, David Walker from the Royal Australian Air Force to address the ceremony, speaking of the true meaning of ANZAC, not as a physical parade or ceremony, but as an embodiment of courage, discipline and mateship. He spoke of the battle of Lone Pine, one of the bloodiest battles of the Gallipoli campaign. Australian soldiers fought to capture the trenches only to fall victim to a staged counter-attack by the Turks; the battle lasting three days, resulting in over two thousand casualties and the awarding of seven Victoria Crosses.

Each year, to mark this tradition, as a school community we will plant a Lone Pine Tree as a memorial to the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who fought in Gallipoli. The Lone Pine was a solitary tree on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey, which marked the site of the Battle of Lone Pine in 1915.

Let us pray:

Lord God, help us this day to remember the sacrifice of the first ANZACs, Australian and New Zealander, and the generation of men, women and children who have died in the cause of liberty and peace.

Help us to remember the widows, girlfriends, partners and orphans and all those who waited in vain for the return of a loved one. Help us to remember the mateship, agony, courage and compassion of war service, but save us from ever glorifying the horror and tragedy of war.

Lord God, help us to remember.

Amen