The 2023 Chronicle

of Michaelhouse men who will be expected to care for others through service throughout their lives. The matric class of 2023 was encouraged to look after one another and to go out into the world as disruptors of worldly norms. The boys were encouraged to be Michaelhouse men of significance, who stand against destructive subversion and stand for significant and sacrificial lives, with a call to love and to serve. We hope that these events will create a poignant memory for them and we hope that many will reflect on a school career in which they have learnt to deal with triumph and adversity, and during which they have developed a deep understanding of people, apart from enjoying success in the academic realm and in their chosen fields of interest. We wish them fulfilment, reward and joy as they move on to new challenges and develop new talents and interests. Matric class of 2023, your connection to Michaelhouse is not severed as you leave, but is a brotherhood that will last throughout your lives. MEMORIAL SERVICE – ZANDA CELE The Memorial Service for Zanda Cele was held on Thursday 16 November at 2pm. Please use the link below to watch a replay of the live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f8NZBfVd-8 The sudden passing of Zanda, an E Block boy in Farfield, was a time of indescribable sadness. Zanda presented with mild flu symptoms, and less than 24 hours later he had died. Zanda was a well-liked boy who was making good progress at Michaelhouse: he was a conscientious young man who received many accolades from his teachers and he contributed in a positive way to activities such as sport and, indeed, to the life of Farfield. With his passing we received many messages of condolence, and we are most grateful for the support of parents, Old Boys, other schools and a whole panoply of individuals who expressed sympathy with his family and our school through this time of mutual grief. It is at times like these that we comprehend more deeply than ever the beauty of family life and the cohesiveness of our school community at Michaelhouse. TO LEAD IS TO SERVE Our newly appointed student leaders took part in a very special service with our Rector, Mr Antony Clark, reminding them that true leadership is about serving others above self, and setting the example of living lives according to the Michaelhouse values of integrity, humility, compassion and courage in service to our community and country. “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” John 13: 14-16

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

It is little known that the minute’s silence which is observed on 11 November each year was the result of a discussion between a South African, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, the author of the famous Jock of the Bushveld , and King George V at Buckingham Palace in 1919. Sir Percy was grief-stricken, having lost his son Nugent in the first world war, and suggested that a minute’s silence should be held throughout all the territories which, at that stage, were under British control. George V took up the idea and that is why, to this day, a minute’s silence is observed throughout much of the world at 11 o’clock on the 11th day of the 11th month of each year, at the moment when the war stopped in 1918. Remembrance Sunday is an important day in the school calendar not only because we remember those who have given their lives for others in circumstances where they had little control over their fate, but also because the theme of remembrance has been for us a feature of the past few weeks, in particular, since the passing of Zanda Cele, which has had such a significant impact on us. At our Sunday service, Canon Peter Houston spoke eloquently on the theme of Peace in Pieces , of warfare in several parts of the world currently and of the need to follow a course with Christ as our guide. The names of the Michaelhouse Old Boys who died in war were read out, as is the tradition, and poppies were placed on a cross in front of the altar by our E Block boys, who have been studying the first world war as part of their history course. MATRIC LEAVERS CEREMONY – BOYS TODAY, MEN OF PRINCIPLE TOMORROW A school with a chapel has a very different ethos to one which does not have a chapel. Apart from Michaelhouse having an excellent chaplain and a strong Christian Fellowship group at which senior boys lead other boys on a weekly basis, our young men gather in the Chapel frequently during each term, week by week, to consider their spirituality, their approach to life and to assess how they are growing as people in relation to the value system espoused by the school. Boys who arrive at Michaelhouse in the E Block are inducted into the school in the Chapel in front of other boys and staff. It is here that they begin to accommodate the values which have been instilled in those who have preceded them over many years, along with the values which they have brought from their homes and prep schools. Then, when those boys come to leave Michaelhouse years later, it is fitting that they should leave from the Chapel. On 23 November a service was conducted for the 2023 matriculants after their final examination. On this occasion, the boys signed the leavers’ register and were presented by the Chaplain with a Bible and by the President of the Old Boys’ Club with an Old Boys’ tie. Parents lined the walkway down the terraces, and the President of the Old Boys’ Club, Sean Lumley, led the boys past the statue of St Michael slaying the dragon, along Warriors’ Walk and out of the school. These young Old Boys will be part of another closely knit brotherhood

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