St Stanislaus' College is an independent Roman Catholic secondary day and boarding school for boys, located in , in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney. Founded in 1867 and conducted since 1889 by the Congregation of the Mission's priests and brothers. The college is the oldest Catholic boys' boarding school in Australia, and caters for approximately 600 students from Year 7 to Year 12, including approximately 120 boarders. The early history of the college is intertwined with that of the short-lived St Charles' Seminary; both institutions shared the original towered section of building facing Brilliant Street until the latter closed in the late 1800s.
St Stanislaus' College is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), and is a member of the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW).
St Stanislaus' College exists to give a high school education to boys in such a way that the Christian faith in the Catholic tradition is offered, built up and practised.
College motto
St Stanislaus' College shares its motto with its older sister, St Vincent's College in Castleknock, Dublin: "" ("We, however, in the name of the Lord"), which comes from Psalm 20:7 (Septuagint numbering 19:7). The text in the psalm is "" ("Some trust in chariots or horses; we, however, [trust] in the Name of the Lord."). However, considering "", it may be more accurately translated as "we, however, will call upon the Name of the Lord".
Patron saints
St Stanislaus
The main patron saint of the college is St Stanislaus Kostka SJ of Poland (1550–1568). He walked from Vienna to Rome to join the Jesuit order. En route Kostka stopped at Dilingen in obedience to St Peter Canisius who tested his vocation there. On his seventeenth birthday, Kostka achieved his aim and joined the order. Partly because of the exhaustion from his arduous journey, he died about two months before he turned eighteen.
House patrons
The college has six houses.
The patron of St Vincent's House is St Vincent de Paul (1581–1660), the founder of the Congregation of the Mission, also called the Vincentian order. The charism of St Vincent influences all that the College does in that it is a way of following Christ that has been passed on at the College since 1889. St Vincent also founded the Daughters of Charity and gave his life in service of the poor and is known as the patron saint of charitable societies.
The patron of St Charles' House is St Charles Borromeo (1538–1584) who was the patron of the short-lived seminary which was the sister institution of the College in the early years. There is a statue of him on the old part of the College grounds. He was Cardinal Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584, and a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation, along with Ignatius of Loyola and Philip Neri.
The patron of St Joseph's House is St Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the patron of St John's House is St John the Evangelist; the patron of St Justin's House is St Giustino de Jacobis CM, a Vincentian missionary bishop in Ethiopia; and the patron of Xavier's House is St Francis Xavier SJ, a Jesuit missionary who traveled around South-East Asia.
All six House Patrons have their own stained glass windows in the College Chapel.
College war-cry and song
The Ric
The College war-cry is known as "The Ric". The words are: Stannies, Stannies, one, two, three... Ric, ric, rickety ric, , hey! Hey hey , Hey, hey, hey! Aussie, aussie-ah, who are, who are, who are we? We are, we are SSC! Where do we come from, yeah, yeah, yeah? Stannies, Stannies !
The Vincentius
The College Song is the 'Vincentius', a Latin hymn about St Vincent de Paul which includes a rendering of verses 15 and 16 of Psalm 132.
History
St Stanislaus' College was established in 1867 with 14 boys, near the present St Michael and St John's Cathedral. Tuition occurred until 1873 in part of the Denominational School, which replaced the demolished St Michael's church, and the boarders lived nearby under the care of Michael McGirr; the first President was his cousin, Fr James McGirr. A quote from the Catholic newspaper, The Freeman's Journal, mentions the new College:
The school came under the control of the Congregation of the Mission in 1889, following the arrival of the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers from Ireland. Their task was to run the College and St Charles' Seminary on the same site. The seminary was founded in 1875 and closed at the end of 1891.