Memorial Foundation StonePrint Page

The foundation stone of the Presentation Convent and Secondary School commemorates former students who died in service or were killed in action in the various conflicts in which Australia has been involved.

He had blessed and laid the foundation stone of a building, the purpose of which was the highest, to provide a home for the Presentation Sisters, who had consecrated their lives to God, and had dedicated themselves to the work of Christian education in Longreach and district. His Lordship the Bishop of Rockhampton (Most Rev. Dr. A. G. Tynan, D.D.) made these comments on Sunday afternoon in the Catholic Club, which was filled to capacity, and to an overflow audience which took up every vantage point near windows, and even stood on the verandahs. Dr. Tynan a few minutes previously, with the temperature well over the century mark, had solemnly blessed and laid the foundation stone of the £60,000 Memorial Sacred Heart Convent secondary and boarding school, now in course of erection. Included in the gathering was a sprinkling of country people who had braved bad roads following the heavy rain on Friday night and Saturday morning. The funds now in hand towards the liquidation of the cost are £8,800.

The actual foundation-stone laying ceremony took less than a couple of minutes, but it was impressive to a degree, and was carried out in the highest tradition of the Catholic Church. A procession assembled in the church, and the acolytes showed the way to the focal point-which is where the chapel for the Sisters will be. Then followed the girls in their flowing veils and capes, drawn from the different sodalities in the life of the Church, the general body of parishioners, with the Bishop, led by priests, bringing up the rear. It was an impressive sight as the procession moved in orderly fashion, and when the Bishop performed the ceremony people were standling four and five deep, the men minus their hats, despite the burning rays of the sun. The inscription on the foundation stone, which is made of beautiful granite, is: "This foundation stone of the Presentation Convent and secondary school, erected in memory of the past pupils, was blessed and laid by Most Rev. R. G. Tynan, D.D., Bishop of Rockhampton, on 5th December, 1954. Very Rev. Dean T. Byrne, P.P., V.E." Immediately following, the concourse proceeded direct to the Catholic Club on the other side of the street, where addresses took place, and his Lordship extolled the qualities of the Sisters, and paid an outstanding tribute to their work. 
Excerpt from Longreach Leader (Qld), 10 December 1954.

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