Maris Stella School Celebrates 120 Years!

by Erin Carelse · Published June 15, 2019 · Updated June 13, 2019

Cardinal Wilfrid Napier and priests proceed at Maris Stella School’s 120th anniversary thanksgiving Mass. (Photo: Derryn Schmidt)

As Maris Stella School in Durban celebrated 120 years, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier honoured it for transforming love into service.

Speaking at a thanksgiving Mass concelebrated with Frs Peter Lafferty and Sean Mullin, the cardinal reminded the school community that God was not finished with them yet, and recalled the words of Pope John Paul, who said that we should remember the past with gratitude, live in the present with enthusiasm, and embrace the future with confidence as we realise that God is in control.

Maris Stella religion coordinator Karen Bodley said when we are filled with the love of God, we grow as followers of Christ, which inspires us to serve and connect to others.

“Our love is then transformed into service — to God, our school, our community, our planet and our own destiny. It is through service that we become the person God wants us to be, and become co-creators with God in building his Kingdom here on Earth,” she explained.

The Holy Family Sisters opened the doors of the school — dedicated to the Star of the Sea, Maris Stella — on May 22, 1899.

This was thanks to the vision of the congregation’s founder, Fr Pierre Bienvenue Noilles, and an inspired group of Sisters who travelled from France to Durban to answer the need girls’ schools in South Africa.