According to Roman Catholic theology and Catechism, the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” This means that Mary was transported into Heaven with her body and soul united. The feast day recognizing Mary’s passage into Heaven is celebrated as The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Roman Catholics.
This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus.
Feast Day
The patronal Feast of Mandurah Parish is celebrated on the 15th August with a Solemn Mass followed by a social get together in the Parish Centre. The Novena in preparation for the feast begins on the 6th of August.
History of Our Lady’s Assumption Catholic Parish
When the first Mass was celebrated in Mandurah is unknown, we do know however that Mandurah was part of the Pinjarra parish when the first priest Father John Fahey was appointed to Pinjarra in 1909. Mandurah was one of the many Mass stations Fr Fahey served, and he travelled mainly on horseback. He visited other such as Yarloop, Waroona and Harvey, by train. Mandurah was a small village of about 400 people. The majority of workers were in fishing families who supplied Perth and Fremantle with 80 per cent of the “wet” (that is, fresh) fish used. Mandurah was part of the Murray Road Board. Pinjarra was the main centre of the Murray area with all government offices there, Police, Electoral office, hospital etc. As there were busy timber mills at Holyoake, Banksiadale and Dwellingup, the last named was the economic centre of the Hills district. The Forestry Department maintained a large centre at Dwellingup. Mandurah was isolated on the coast with very poor communications, with roads of gravel and sand. When the first census was done of the Murray Mandurah area in 1891, there were 701 Anglicans and only 252 Roman Catholics. The first indication of the intention to establish a parish in Mandurah appears in a letter dated May 30th 1934 from the Perth Archbishop Redmond Prendiville, referring to purchasing of land in Mandurah. Blocks 44 & 45 “Cockburn Sound Location”, the present church stands on Lot 44. Due to financial difficulties in the early 1940’s Lot 45 was sold.
Mandurah was lucky enough to have Sunday Mass from Christmas day until the end of the school holidays and then until Easter, once a fortnight, and during the winter once a month. Sunday Masses required readying one of two centres, the Hotham Valley Hall (now Foreshore Real Estate on Pinjarra Rd) or the Capitol Theatre (Cnr of Sutton St and Pinjarra Rd). Timetables for Mass in Mandurah appeared in “the Record” only during the summer months in the 1940s.
As Mandurah was moving towards becoming a parish in its own right, a momentous event in the history of the Catholic Church took place. On November 1, 1950 Pope Pius XII declared as dogma the Assumption of our Blessed Lady. Although no documentary evidence can be found to prove it, those were parishioners at that time believe that the decision was then made to name the proposed parish, “Our Lady’s Assumption Parish”. It is also believed that Mandurah would be the first in this Sate to bear this title.
From 1949-1952 the parish priest in Pinjarra, and was still travelling to Mandurah to say Mass. With the end of the war, several changes took place, petrol rationing was eased, giving people more mobility, and so the holiday population grew. From 1952-56 there were only 20 or so parishioners, were wage earners, the small remainder were pensioners or part-time residents. The only help gained was -the Diocese would pay for the land acquired in Churchill Avenue but the final cost would be borned by Mandurah Parish if and when it came into being. The debt of the church to be started in the immediate furture could be serviced by the Mandurah congreagation through the Pinjarra parish. The parishioners started fundraising events, to try and lessen the strain, with things like raffles, bazaar’s, catholic balls, fete’s etc. The campaign to raise money persisted for many long years.
In 1952 the dream of a church became a reality. It was built on the site of the present church, Lot 44 Creery Street. The contractor was Mr Stan Costello. Because it was to serve as a school during the week, it was designated a ‘school/church’. However, the Presentation Sisters did not begin to use the building for a school until the first tem in 1955. The first Mass in the church was celebrated during the Midnight Mass of Christmas in 1952. The pews were made by Jim Byrne, Wally Weeks, Bill McGeogh, Keith Firns, Ray Gray and Ross Kirkpatrick. Only five pews were completed in time for the first Mass, and they used tilly lanterns for lighting.
His lordship Bishop Goody blessed and opened the church on 4th January 1953.
Plans for a school were visioned for the future, but in the meantime the Presentation sisters travelled to Mandurah once a month to teach religious classes at the convent. The first Baptism conducted was on November 14th 1954, and the first wedding was on the 8th February 1955. The first Confirmations recorded were on the 20th November 1955 with a mere 6 children being confirmed.
The Presentation Convent School. This is the address summarising the history of Presentation school in Mandurah, which was presented by Sister M Carmel Loubere, PBVM, on April 21, 1983 at the official opening of the Assumption Catholic Primary School on Gordon Road. “The School was opened at the commencement of the first term of 1955 in the Parish Church, which was converted weekly on Sunday after Mass into two classrooms. The first roll call of students for the church was 40 students, of all ages and denominations. The older students learnt Typewriting, book-keeping, shorthand, and English, art and needlework. Sr M Assumpta Forest was in charge of the school, and her co-worker Sr Carmel Loubere taught music at the convent after hours. The school continued like this until 1959 when tragedy struck the sisters of the convent, with a boating accident that lost four lives, Sr Patricia, Sr M Finbarr, Sr M Joachim and Father Gerald O’Hara who had come from Iona to spend a holiday in Mandurah. On the face of this the school was temporarily closed for a period of two years.”
The Catholic Ladies guild was formed in 1965, which was later renamed CLAG. The St Vincent De Paul was established in 1978, and stays vibrant ever since. The church was finally debt free, when the blocks of land in Churchill St were sold. Work then began on constructing the new church. In 1968 the church continued on by purchasing Lot 63 Pinjarra Rd, realising it would be an ideal spot for the presbytery, as it was directly behind the church. On January 1st 1969 the new church of Our Lady’s Assumption was blessed and opened by Arch Bishop Goody. By 1975 a bigger church was needed as Mandurah’s population was thriving. Extensions on either side were soon erected to accommodate for this. A Parish Council was elected in 1976, and in December 1976 Bishop Peter Quinn visited to induct the parish councillors and to bless the new Presbytery at 63 Pinjarra Rd.
In 1975 the church boughtLot 65 Pinjarra Road. The old asbestos and weatherboard house became the headquarters for the St Vincent de Paul Society. The other half of the church was built and the altar moved to its present position. In 1977 Lot 43 Creery Street, next door to the church was also bought. The house was used for parish activities. A parish centre is planned for this site. In 1978 Our Lady’s Assumption Mandurah, a decision was made by the Arch Diocese of Perth to place Mandurah in the Bunbury Diocese.
In the 1980’s Mandurah saw rapid growth from a shire in 1961, to a town in 1987 and received City status in 1990. There was a real population explosion in these years. The opening of the Assumption Catholic Primary School took place in 1982 on a 10 acre site on Gordon Rd. During the 1986 census, parishioners took a survey of the whole district and all known Catholics were entered on a database at the parish.
The property at 4 Stevenson Street was bought for the Presbytery in 1991, and Mandurah Catholic College opened in 1992 with 50 students in year 8. The school at Coodanup Dr was not completed in time for the opening, and for a short time students had their lessons in the church once again. Extensions were made to the western side of the church in the mid-eighties and to the eastern side in 1990/1991.
Deacon Frank Nieman and his wife Jean moved from Bunbury in 1995, and has been serving this parish and surrounding areas tirelessly since then.
Two lovely additions to the church were made in 90s. In 1993, Our Lady’s shirine with lighting and stained glass. In 1994, the stained glass memorial window dedicated to the three nuns and priest who lost their lives on the Peel Inlet.
The Parish Centre and Parish Office were blessed and opened by Bishop Quinn on 12th June 1998, at 3/65 Pinjarra Rd.
Three Discalced Carmelites from Kerala (India) took over the administration of the parish on the 26th of January 2012.
Fr Albin was appointed as the Administrator of the Parish on 7 September 2025. Fr Bony Reberra OCD and Fr Jijo Rockey OCD were assigned as Associate Priests to continue the parish pastoral ministry.
