Quis ut Deus

In The Year 1868 Fr.Francis Xavier Philip the first Tamil secular priest of Ceylon was Sent to Batticaloa by The Bishop Jaffna , Who Was also in Charge of the East Mgr Christoper Bonjean, With a sum of Rs 500 to start a boy's English school in Batticaloa. A man of great energy and drive, Fr Xavier established three schools in Batticaloa. namely St.Mary's English school, St.mary's Vernacular school And St.Cecilia's Girls English School.St.Mary's English School,witch later became St.Michael's College, Was constructed on a plot of land donated byPaschal Mudaliyar, in the year 1873. This edifice still stands today and forms the sacristy of St.Mary's Co Cathedral in Batticaloa. there were 57 pupils and three teachers with Joseph Abraham as the first Principal.

In 1895 the French Jesuits tookover the newly created Dioces of Trincomalee with Mgr Charles Lavigne Sj as the first Bishop, who had among his plans the construction of boy's school, " Second To None ". This Task was entrusted to the Jesuit Fathers who With the Assistance of Governor McCallum Commenced operation, ona site acquired over the years from 42 small holders. The Moving spirit behind this was Fr.Ferdinand Bonnel Who was the chief architect with Bro.Wright as the engineer. The French Jesuits not only begged for money in France for this project but also had to economize their expenditure to achieve the target. The Bishop could not spare enough priests at the time for classroom work and hence had to bring down three young Marist Brothers from France who was lodged in a bungalow near the esplanade called "Maris Stella".

THe school was made a secondary school. Scouting was started with Mr.S.Saveryrajah in charge of the troupe. A cadet platoon and brass band followed. An electric plant was installed by Fr.Bonnel with Tudor batteries, creating history with SMC pioneering the introduction of electricity in Batticaloa.

By now, SMC, had a respectable list of old boys, settled in Government posts and professions. The college had also provided three diocesan priests and a prominent old boy, Pandit Mylvaganam who was later promoted to the rank of Sanyasi in the Rama Krishana Mission under the name of Srimath Swami Vipulananda. An Old Boy's association was started in 1909 by Fr.D.Arras and Fr.S.Lazarus was elected the first President of the association.

The first batch of student was presented for the Jounior Cambridge examination in 1912 and the results of the exam revealed a 100% success. Enrolment moved up to 300. In 1915, McCallum hall was opened and was recognized as the best science Laboratory in the Island. Fr.Bonnel made most of the apparatus equipment for the lab and was a splendid science teacher himself.