Class of 2014 Graduation Mass
In a moving ceremony which reflected the six years the students had spent with their teachers in the College, there was prayer, reflection, readings, flowers and music, to mark the leaving of another group of young people into the hopes, uncertainties and contradictions of an adult world.
That their parents had done a very good job in preparing them for this next stage of their lives was acknowledged by Ardine O'Neill, Year Head, who noted how quickly the last six years had gone by. "You have taught them well, and you must be very very proud of them, and rightly so," she said. "They have grown into fine young men and women, and that is very much down to you."
Saying that some teachers will have been involved with the group since their very first year in the College, while others joined in along the way, she said that for all a very special relationship had been formed. She thanked the staff for their own tireless efforts over the time. For the students themselves, a very united group, 'you had good times together, you had great times together, remember them'. "But now it is time to move on. Endless opportunities lie ahead. I know you have the skills to meet any challenges that come your way."
When she had finished speaking, Ardine joined Assistant Principal Noel Clare with the musicians to surprise the gathering with a duet rendering of 'Feet of a Dancer' ... to applause which almost brought the house down.
And, wondering how she could follow that, Principal Catherine Moynihan gave the final address of a 'very special occasion'. She told the class they had been, and are, part of a 'proud heritage' of the school, which has an educational legacy of excellence bequeathed to it by the Cross & Passion sisters and by all those who had served the College for the past 127 years.
"I love the springtime. The brightness, the long evenings, the richness of colour and the real sense of possibility," she said. "I think it's no accident that we celebrate your graduation night at this time of the year. I'm also conscious that as spring comes, it comes very quickly." To the parents present, she acknowledged that the evening must also be a little sad, with another cycle of their children's growth coming to an end. "But I also know that you are justifiably proud of what they have become."
Commenting on the economic difficulties of the six years during which the students had been learning at CPC, she said light always follows darkness. "Our hope for you as you leave us, and enter College and eventually the world of work, that there will be many opportunities for you all. You leave Cross & Passion College where your talents have been nurtured this far, but you have so many wonderful experiences ahead of you. You have strengths that you may not have tapped into yet, but they are there for when you need them."
Quoting the late Nelson Mandela's dictum, that 'the significance of the life you lead is determined by the difference we make to the life of others' she also referred to Seamus Heaney's 70th birthday thought that we should always keep our feet firmly on the ground to signify that nothing is beneath us, but that likewise we lift our eyes to say that nothing is beyond us. "That is my wish for you. We are all very proud of your achievements, of what you have become."
