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In the late 1950’s with no trains running on Sunday's, because of strikes, the Catholic population of Aspendale had great difficulty getting to St. Brigid’s, Mordialloc for Mass.
A deputation of men spoke to the Parish Priest, Father J. English, to see if Mass could be celebrated in Aspendale and so began a new era.
Martin’s Dance Hall, opposite the Aspendale Station, was centrally situated and the faithful gathered in a small room at the front of the hall to celebrate Mass together. Soon this room was inadequate and the congregation moved into the main Dance Hall.
Eventually, Martin’s Hall was sold and Mass was then celebrated in the old Scout Hall at Regent’s Park. Seating was limited, so most of the congregation brought their own camp chairs!
The site in Dolphin Street, 8.5 acres was purchased by the far-sighted Father English in 1961 for $36,000.00. Soon after, in 1964, the building of the original rooms of St. Louis’ School was begun.
Eventually, the congregation made its last change of venue and Mass was celebrated in the corridor of a partly-finished classroom, wherever the least disturbance was caused to the builder, Mr. George Dorian.
The patron of the Parish and its school is St Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort (1673-1716), a French missionary and theologian who cannot be categorized easily. His life as a priest involved proclaiming the Word of God in barracks, pulpits, houses of ill-repute, town squares, contemplative monasteries and village chapels. His work for the sick and poor, his teaching of catechism to children, his composition of religious music, and his administrative flair as chaplain of an immense refuge for the poor in Paris, combined with periods of contemplative seclusion in the forests of Mervent. He is truly a powerful and intriguing figure in the history of the Church, a gifted educator, who stressed devotion to Mary as way to conversion, and thus to reform of the Church. The purpose of his over 200 missions, of the religious communities he founded, and of his writings, was formation of true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, our Saviour, true God and true man, must be the final goal of all other devotions, else they are false and delusive.
His motto: Ad Jesum per Mariam (To Jesus through Mary)