When Father Francis Jordan, the Founder of the Salvatorians, came to Wealdstone in 1901 he could scarcely have foreseen that, from the very small nucleus of Catholics in the area at the time, not only would a thriving parish grow, but that a school with over 600 pupils would be found cheek by jowl with the parish must have been far beyond even his imagination. He had a vision of an Apostolic Teaching Society; he had an aim - that all men might come to know and love the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He had sent; he had one precept for his followers - caritas Christi urget nos - 'the love of God presses us on".

In the early years of his priesthood - the age of the Kulturkampf of Bismarck - he was ever conscious of the needs of the young, more especially the satiation of their spiritual hunger, and made a small immediate contribution to that need in the publication of a children's magazine - "Manna fur die Kinder". Once his small society had received the approbation of the Holy See, it was necessary to see to the needs of the mission rather than the people in his own native Germany and, in a very short time, his young band of Salvatorians were as far a field as India and North America. Indeed it was to assist in the preparation of the members for the Indian mission that this foundation in England was made.

One of the earliest fathers to come for this purpose was the late Father Gabriel Enderle who came in 1913 for a brief course in the English language but providence decreed otherwise and he remained to found the province, this parish and this school. Until his death in February of this year at the wonderful age of 92 he rarely even left for a visit to his homeland. We today celebrate his foresight and only regret that he did not live to be with us today.

The education of youth entrusted to us is a sacred obligation. To open the minds of youth to the invisible, the intangible, the apparently unknowable, the inapprehensible - seems, at first sight, an impossible task. In a rapidly changing world it is even more daunting assignment for, despite all the mutations of time and environment and approach to education and to the vagaries of education philosophies, we dare not allow the youth whom we endeavour to teach to 'miss the many-splendoured thing'. So, whether in the fields of analytic or organic chemistry; the light, energy, sound, heat and magnetism of physics; the unfathomed wonders of our physiological make-up; the necessity of the physical build-up of body, muscle and sinew; the challenge of language both native and foreign; the eternal wonder of the variations of musical possibilities and their calming effect on the human spirit; the examination of the complex nature of the physical universe and the composition of river, rock and crystal; our oneness in time with an ever changing yet ever similar historical process; the limitless !manipulation of wood and metal; paint and fabric, colour and light; the infinite permutations in the search for numeracy - all of this is but part of the majesty of the world God made and the measureless potential of the creatures He chose to make his own image and likeness. In all Celtic mythology one constantly finds reference to a land known as - 'Tir na n-Og' - the land of the eternal young; or to 'Hy-Brasil' - the isle of the blessed and while the ancient Celts thought only of these as a place for the renewal of youth, it soon became evident that it was also their rendering of their vision of a pre-Christian paradise. If the sun, after its daily duty of giving warmth and life and growth, sinks into the sea each day only to reappear again each morning, fresh and clean and new, attracted the Celts from the eastern lands beyond the Mediterranean to the red rim of the western Atlantic, they were but seeking the fulfilment of their fondest dreams and hopes. There is a parallel in this imagery for a teacher, except that for the Christian teacher there is the added assurance that the land of the eternal young is capable of attainment on the word of God Himself. If God be for us, who can be against us ?

We have been blessed, in our fifty years in this College, in the confidence so many parents have placed in us; in the enthusiasm so many pupils have shown in response to the lively encouragement of dedicated and loyal teachers; in the support and ready response to problems of the Diocesan and Local Education authorities. Most of all we feel that we have been singularly blessed in that we have found that one may still discover that our young people are as ready today to believe and accept, that Christ still walks upon the waters, not only of Galilee, or of Gennesareth but of the Thames. Even in this highly technological and highly sophisticated age in which we live, we can still marvel at the wonders of the world about us; even with the satellite news bulletins bringing us close-up portraits of the rugged face of Mars; even with the constantly repeated charge that this is a materialistic age, devoid of any stirring of the spirit - any child will still not only tell us, but humble us in a real innocent acknowledgment that -

"The angels keep their ancient places, Turn but a stone and start a wing."

Long may it remain so.

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