College Captain James Biviano’s Speech presenting the College Prayer

 

It gives me great pride to be able to stand before you all today, and to present something that our senior student leadership team has been working on. 

These are very exciting times, in the 105 years that De La Salle Malvern has been around, we have never had an official De La Salle college prayer; a prayer that gives a de la boy a sense of pride, indicates a commitment to faith and being a Lasallian, a connectedness to the community and the school that he represents. 

It is hoped that the college prayer will help to encapsulate what we stand for at De La Salle College and one that will be frequently read out in morning homeroom, Year Level and House assemblies, major college events, liturgies, assemblies and meetings. 

So, a little bit on how the prayer developed. In several afterschool workshops and with guidance and direction from Mrs Brogan, I along with Aaron and Leon the two College Vice-Captains and the five Lasallian Captains, Peter, Chris, Anthony, Oliver and Joel sat and discerned how we would begin. We took our inspiration from various Lasallian prayers and the Five Core Lasallian Principles as well as a range of other College prayers to get a sense for the style of how a College prayer sounds. 

When we completed our first draft, we began the feedback process. First, we took on advice from Mr Houlihan and the De La Salle Brothers and each time, we were very encouraged by the suggestions they offered and we felt that the suggestions that came back from Mr Houlihan and Brother Michael Carroll gave us essential advice which we incorporated into the final copy that we have here today. From there, we met with the broader senior student leadership team, who were also generous with their feedback of the prayer. It is hoped, that this prayer will stand as a legacy of the 2017 senior student leadership team. One that will be read and reflected on by all members of the De La Salle College community. 

As the 207 College Captain, I stand before you all today excited to reveal to you, the new and official College prayer of De La Salle College. I would now like to ask the year 12 leadership team, the Tiverton Captains and the Primary Captains to stand as we announce the De La Salle College prayer for the first time. 

Let us remember we are in the holy presence of God

God, as our leader,
and guided by the Lasallian Principles,
we commit ourselves to lives of faith and excellence,
compassion, courage and loyalty.
May we have a humble heart,
a generous spirit,
and a willingness to serve our community.
In the likeness of the Founder,
may we live with virtue and love.
Inspired by a burning zeal to do what is right and just,
we commit ourselves to the blue and gold — Deo Duce.

St John Baptist de La Salle – Pray for us

Live Jesus in our hearts – Forever! 

And finally, the prayer will appear in the morning bulletin until the end of the term. We hope and encourage everyone to stand proud, with the same burning zeal that is referred to in the prayer, as you pray this prayer each morning. Thank-you.

James Biviano
College Captain 2017