Early History

The journey to where we are today began when, in 1980, the Carmelite Fathers of the Carmelite Retreat Centre at Mount Carmel, expressed their willingness, on request from Bishop Murray, to become more involved in pastoral ministry to the people of the rapidly growing area of Macarthur. The parish incorporated the areas of  Varroville,St Andrews, Raby and Bow Bowing. On 11th May 1980, Bishop Murray established our parish under the patronage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and the task of working together with the first Parish Priest, Father Albert McKeogh, to build a truly Christian community, began. Fr Albert was assisted  by Sister Patricia Lawless SGS who operated from a room in the Mt Carmel Retreat Centre.Sr Patricia now works in Nowra.

The celebration of Mass began in St Andrews Primary School Hall and, to promote the devotion to Our Lady, through the family rosary, the statue of Our Lady was taken from home to home each week, a practice which continues to this day, with the assistance of the Legion of Mary.

By 1984, the number of families in the parish had grown to 450. The need for a parish centre was realized when the Carmelite Fathers made available two hectares of land for this purpose. The generosity and hard work of parishioners made the centre a reality. The Centre, now our Parish Hall, was blessed and opened by  Bishop Murray on St Patrick’s Day, March 17^th, 1984.

By 1990, the parish had grown to 800 Catholic families; catechists taught 700 Catholic children at the two local state schools; Renewal of Faith groups, Catholic Enquiry Groups (now RCIA) and other Adult education groups were meeting regularly to journey in faith together. The Parish Pastoral Committee was active in many ways laying plans for a Parish Church.

This church, designed by a parishioner, Mr Tony Agius, was dedicated and consecrated on 14^th March, 1992. It has been the centre of many events under the pastoral leadership of Fr Tadgh Tierney. Carmelite parish prayer is a central focus of our parish life- Carmelite prayer has a contemplative dimension to it, inspired by the writings of Carmelite saints Teresa and St John of the Cross. So when, in 2001, our parish was blessed by a visit of the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux, we witnessed a hugely successful pilgrimage: by successful we mean that people rediscovered Therese’s message of trust in a loving God and experienced a renewal of faith.

2004 also saw the much awaited arrival of an international group of Carmelite Missionaries, known as Palau Sisters, and we welcomed Sister Norma who has become our parish assistant.

We  rejoiced greatly  as we celebrated 25 years as a parish community at a mass presided over by Bishop Peter Ingham on May 21^st.2005. The  Mass celebrated who we are today. Many  symbols were used at different parts of the ceremony marking  the multicultural dimension of parish life, the different parish groups, and generations of families such as the Agius family  and each individual, past and present who has journeyed with us. One of the songs in our liturgy was fittingly  “The Journey we Share”…….