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CARRYING ON THE FAITH:
From the 1890”s up until about 1915 nuns from St. Joseph’s Convent in Bacchus Marsh travelled down by train to Melton each Saturday afternoon to give Religious Instructions to the children. Parishioners took it in turns to drive them to and from the station. Sister M. Ursula McFarlane, who travelled down in 1909, 1910 and 1911 recalls: “I used to enjoy the outing. Mrs. Jongebloed always had a delicious afternoon tea ready for us and also a parcel of goodies to take home.”
The ladies of the Parish took over from the nuns. Miss Nora Smith cheerfully carried out the task almost singlehanded for some thirty-six years and then, as the numbers increased, the work was taken over by a band of Catechists. Now that many children attend the Catholic School – their role has become more vital – and they carry the Faith to the children in the Government Schools by way of Sunday Religious Instruction Classes and by visiting the schools.
VOCATIONS:
Fr. William Casey is Parish Priest at Alphington.
His mother, Mary Casey, was the first child baptised in St. Dominic’s. Monsignor Frank McGuire who, at the time of his death in 1968, was Dean of Kyneton, is buried in the Melton Cemetery. Sr. M.Francis Coburn teaches at Mount St. Joseph’s Secondary School in Altona West and since St. Dominic’s has been a Parish in its own right Dianne Millington has joined the Sister of St. Joseph.
Archbishop Little’s father was, in the 1930’s, the Shire Engineer of the Melton Shire.