On June 15th  we welcomed Mr. Stephen Handrigan as the 30th President of St. Bonaventure’s College. Mr. Handrigan was welcomed, at a distance, to the school by the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors, Mr. Rob Blackie, Superior of the St. John’s Jesuit Community, Fr. Earl Smith, SJ, and our Principal, Ms. Annette Mallay. While the whole community could not be with us in person, we know everyone join us in giving Mr. Handrigan a warm welcome.

As part of the welcome, a blessing was given to Mr. Handrigan by Fr. Smith, SJ on behalf of the St. Bonaventure’s Community. The blessing is shared with you below.

Dear God, we, your St. Bonaventure College Community, bless and ask your blessing for Mr. Stephen Handrigan, the new President of our school.

Thank you for his choice to lead our school so that our children might learn in a safe and nurturing environment conducive to academic, personal and social successes.

Bless him with wisdom, integrity, a sense of humour, patience and the physical and mental energy required of his school duties. Bless him with strong support from parents, teachers and the community.

Help him to welcome conflict as a sign of diversity that offers an opportunity to reach for creative solutions.Help him to recognize diversity as a sign of your capacity to love us all, and help him to cherish it as a great strength.

Help him to listen; to know when and to whom he should listen. Help him to approach issues with an open and inquiring mind, free from prejudice, able and willing to make hard decisions.

Give Mr. Handrigan insights into each teacher’s unique gifts, strengths and abilities to assist them in ways that contributes greatly to the common good.

Reward and allow him to see the fruits of his labor displayed in the success stories of our teachers, students and alumni.

We pray that he approach relationships and conversations in our community with Christ-like loving kindness and humility.

Accept our prayer today as an expression of our gratefulness, to our new leader for his commitment and dedication in making our school a central and vital part of our Christian and Civic community.

We pray under the patronage of St. Bonaventure and St. Ignatius Loyola in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen