Ringing in success
This tradition is now in its fifth year and at the end of the year, the 2021 matric class will ring the bell at their valedictory Mass to mark the end of their school career.
Grade One Sacred Heart College learners recently rung in the start of their schooling career. The learners each had a chance to ring the historic bell situated near the school’s chapel, which signified the start of their school career.
This tradition is now in its fifth year and at the end of the year, the 2021 matric class will ring the bell at their valedictory Mass to mark the end of their school career.
Both the bell and the college chapel have a rich history and are of particular significance to the school, which is one of five Marist schools in the country and 140 worldwide.
The bell came from the Third General House of the Marist Brothers in Grugliasco, Italy, where it had hung since the late-1800s.
The first General House was in France at the Hermitage just outside St Chamond. As the Marist order grew, they moved to the Second General House at St Genis Laval, Lyon, but when all religious institutes were expelled from France in 1903, the brothers moved to the Third General House at Grugliasco in northern Italy.
ALSO READ: Corinthians to reopen after lockdown
In 1958, this Generalate was moved to Rome, at which time brother Jordan, who was the principal of Sacred Heart College in the late ’50s and who was responsible for the building of the chapel, asked that the bell at Grugliasco, which had called the brothers to prayer and meals for over 50 years, be given to the college for its chapel.
Many Sacred Heart College former learners gave their lives in the two World Wars.
The 49 Old Boys who died in the First World War (1914 – 1918) are commemorated with a plaque that hangs in the college hall.
The current chapel at Sacred Heart College was erected in 1956 as a memorial to the former learners who fought and fell for their country during the Second World War (1939 – 1945).
Behind the altar of the chapel is a statue of Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of Marist Brothers. The statue was sculpted by Hungarian sculptor and artist Zoltan Borbereki.
Today, the historically significant Grugliasco bell and the college chapel formed a new tradition that will become part of the personal journey of each Sacred Heart learner.
This historic bell rings in the new year and the start of a long academic journey. Sacred Heart College is a Marist co-educational school which provides innovative, value-based education from playgroup to matric.
Visit www.sacredheart.co.za for more information.
Also follow us on:
 
 
 
