Mary Helen MacKillop
RSJ (
in religion Mary of the Cross; 15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian
religious sister
A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to prayer and ...
. She was born in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
but is best known for her activities in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
. Together with Fr
Julian Tenison-Woods
Julian Edmund Tenison-WoodsThough common in modern references, his surname was not hyphenated in contemporary newspaper reports, his signature, or his headstone. (15 November 18327 October 1889), commonly referred to as Father Woods, was an Eng ...
, she founded the
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sis ...
(the Josephites), a
congregation
Congregation may refer to:
Religion
*Church (congregation), a religious organization that meets in a particular location
*Congregation (Roman Curia), an administrative body of the Catholic Church
*Religious congregation, a type of religious instit ...
of religious sisters that established a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor.
The process to have MacKillop declared a saint began in the 1920s, and she was
beatified
Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
in January 1995 by
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation in 2013. Following his ...
prayed at her tomb during his visit to
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
for
World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was deci ...
and in December 2009 approved the Catholic Church's recognition of a second miracle attributed to her
intercession
Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer, praying on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others.
The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy speci ...
. She was
canonised
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...
on 17 October 2010, during a public ceremony in
St Peter's Square
St. Peter's Square (, ) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint ...
at the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
.
She is the first Australian Catholic saint. Mary MacKillop is the patron saint of the
Archdiocese of Brisbane and of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Early life and career
Mary Helen MacKillop was born on 15 January 1842 in what is now the Melbourne
suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
of
Fitzroy, Victoria
Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, northeast of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Yarra Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. Fitzroy recorded a population ...
(at the time part of an area called Newtown in the then British colony of
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
), to Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald.
Although she continued to be known as "Mary", when she was baptised six weeks later she received the names Maria Ellen.
MacKillop's parents lived in
Roybridge
Roybridge (, 'the bridge over the Roy') is a small village, that lies at the confluence of the rivers River Roy and River Spean, located east of Spean Bridge, in Kilmonivaig Parish, Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Highland a ...
(),
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...
,
Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...
, Scotland, prior to emigrating to Australia. Others on both sides of the family had emigrated previously. MacKillop visited the village in the 1870s where St Margaret's, the local parish church of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles
The Diocese of Argyll and the Isles () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Scotland, in the Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh.
Overview
The diocese covers an area of 31,080 km² and has a C ...
, now has a shrine to her.
MacKillop's father, Alexander MacKillop, was born in
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
. He began his studies for the priesthood at age twelve, and two years later went to the
Scots College in Rome; he also studied at
Blairs College
St Mary's College, Blairs (commonly known as Blairs College), situated near Aberdeen in Scotland, was from 1829 to 1986 a junior seminary for boys and young men studying for the Priesthood (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic priesthood. Part o ...
in Kincardineshire, but at the age of 29 left, just before he was due to be
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
. He migrated to Australia and arrived in Sydney in 1838.
MacKillop's mother, Flora MacDonald, born in
Fort William, had left Scotland and arrived in Melbourne in 1840.
Her father and mother married in Melbourne on 14 July 1840. MacKillop was the eldest of their eight children. Her younger siblings were Margaret ("Maggie", 1843–1872), John (1845–1867), Annie (1848–1929), Alexandrina ("Lexie", 1850–1882), Donald (1853–1925), Alick (who died at 11 months old) and Peter (1857–1878).
Donald became a
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priest and worked among the
Aboriginal peoples in the
Northern Territory
The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
. Lexie became a member of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Melbourne.
MacKillop's mother, Flora, was killed on 30 May 1886 when the steamer SS ''Ly-ee-Moon'' ran aground and sank at Green Cape on the Far South Coast of New South Wales.
MacKillop was educated at private schools and by her father. She received her
First Holy Communion
First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...
on 15 August 1850 at the age of nine. In February 1851, Alexander MacKillop left his family behind after having mortgaged the farm and their livelihood and made a trip to Scotland lasting some 17 months. Throughout his life he was a loving father and husband but not successful as either a farmer or gold prospector. Consequently, the family faced many hardships.
[
MacKillop started work at the age of 16 as a clerk in a stationery store in Melbourne.] To provide for her needy family, in 1860 she took a job as governess[Saint Mary MacKillop]
, http://www.sosj.org.au . Retrieved 20 October 2008 at the estate of her aunt and uncle, Margaret MacKillop Cameron and Alexander Cameron in Penola, South Australia
Penola ( ) is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located about southeast of the state capital of Adelaide in the wine growing area known as the Coonawarra. At the 2021 Australian Census, the town of Penola had a population of 1 ...
, where she was to look after their children and teach them. Already set on helping the poor whenever possible, she included the other farm children on the Cameron estate as well. This brought her into contact with Fr Julian Tenison-Woods, who had been the parish priest in the south east since his ordination to the priesthood in 1857 after completing his studies at Sevenhill
The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius ...
.
MacKillop stayed for two years with the Camerons before accepting a job teaching the children of Portland, Victoria
Portland ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and is the oldest European settlement in the state. It is also the main urban centre in the Shire of Glenelg and is located on Portland Bay. As of the 2021 Australian census, 20 ...
in 1862. Later she taught at the Portland school and after opening her own boarding school, Bay View House Seminary for Young Ladies, now Bayview College, in 1864, was joined by the rest of her family.
Founding of school and religious congregation
In 1866, Julian Tenison-Woods invited MacKillop and her sisters Annie and Lexie to come to Penola and to open a Catholic school. Woods was appointed director of education and became the founder, along with MacKillop, of a school they opened in a stable there. After renovations by their brother, the MacKillops started teaching more than 50 children. At this time MacKillop made a declaration of her dedication to God and began wearing black.["In Her Own Hand", '' The Advertiser'', pp. 8, 89; 17 October 2010.]
On 21 November 1866, the feast day of the Presentation of Mary
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known in the East as The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, is a liturgical feast celebrated on November 21 by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some Anglo-Catholic Churches.
The fea ...
, several other women joined MacKillop and her sisters. MacKillop adopted the religious name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...
of "Sister Mary of the Cross" and she and Lexie began wearing simple religious habits. The small group began to call themselves the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and moved to a new house in Grote Street, Adelaide
Grote Street is a major street running east to west in the western half of Adelaide city centre, South Australia. It is on the northern border of Chinatown and the Adelaide Central Market, and is a lively centre for shopping and restaurants. Th ...
. There they founded a new school at the request of the bishop, Laurence Sheil OFM.''''
The "rule of life" developed by Woods and MacKillop for the community emphasized poverty, a dependence on divine providence, no ownership of personal belongings, faith that God would provide and willingness to go where needed. The rule of life was approved by Bishop Sheil. By the end of 1867, ten other women had joined the Josephites, who adopted a plain brown religious habit
A religious habit is a distinctive set of clothing worn by members of a religious order. Traditionally, some plain garb recognizable as a religious habit has also been worn by those leading the religious Hermit, eremitic and Anchorite, anchorit ...
. Due to the colour of their attire and their name, the Josephite sisters became colloquially known as the " Brown Joeys".
Expansion of the Sisters of St Joseph
In an attempt to provide education to all the poor, particularly in rural areas, a school was opened in Yankalilla, South Australia
Yankalilla is an agriculturally based town situated on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, located 72 km south of the state's capital of Adelaide. The town is nestled in the Bungala River (South Australia), Bungala River valley, over ...
, in October 1867. By the end of 1869, more than 70 members of the Sisters of St Joseph were educating children at 21 schools in Adelaide and the country. MacKillop and her Josephites were also involved with an orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or abusi ...
; neglected children; girls in danger; the aged poor; a reformatory (in Johnstown near Kapunda); and a home for the aged and incurably ill.[Mary MacKillop]
Retrieved 20 October 2008 Generally, the Josephite sisters were prepared to follow farmers, railway workers and miners into the isolated outback
The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
and live as they lived.
In December 1869, MacKillop and several other sisters travelled to Brisbane to establish the order in Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
. They were based at Kangaroo Point and took the ferry or rowed across the Brisbane River
The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...
to attend Mass at St Stephen's Cathedral. Two years later, she was in Port Augusta
Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...
, South Australia for the same purpose. The Josephite congregation expanded rapidly and, by 1871, 130 sisters were working in more than 40 schools and charitable institutions across South Australia and Queensland.
MacKillop clashed with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brisbane
The Archdiocese of Brisbane is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Brisbane and covering the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
Part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Brisbane, the re ...
, James Quinn, over the control of the many schools she established; MacKillop believed the sisters should control the schools while Quinn believed the diocese should control them. In 1879, relationships between them had deteriorated to the point that Quinn directed the sisters to leave his diocese. Despite protests by the laity, Quinn was determined and MacKillop and her Josephite sisters had left the diocese by mid-1880 with other Catholic orders taking over the operation of their schools. When the Diocese of Rockhampton was excised from the Brisbane diocese on 29 December 1882, it enabled MacKillop and her sisters to return to Queensland, where they established a school in Clermont and then in other places within the new diocese.
In 1881, Elzear Torreggiani, then Bishop of Armidale and a Capuchin who had worked in both North Wales at Pantasaph and London at Peckham, prior to being consecrated in London in 1879, for the Armidale Diocese; established Mother Mary MacKillop's Sisters of St Joseph at Tenterfield and defended their power of central government at the 1885 Plenary Council.
During the time Torreggiani was Bishop of Armidale the Sisters of St Joseph established foundations at Tenterfield (1880), Inverell (1880), Narrabri (1882), Glen Innes (1883), Uralla (1886), Quirindi (1888), Hillgrove (1889), Tingha (1890), Bingara (1902), Walgett (1902), Warialda (1904) and Manilla (1904). Subsequently, the sisters established Bundarra (1908), Barraba (1910), Boggabri (1911), Tamworth West (1919), Dungowan (1930), Tamworth South (1954), Lightning Ridge (1980), Mungindi (1995) and Attunga (1995). Wee Waa and Werris Creek were also "Motor Mission" centres.
Excommunication
Bishop Sheil spent less than two years of his episcopate in Adelaide and his absences and poor health left the diocese effectively without clear leadership for much of his tenure. This resulted in bitter factionalisms within the clergy and disunity among the lay community. After the founding of the Josephites, Sheil appointed Fr Julian Woods as director general of Catholic education.
In Sept 2010, Fr Paul Gardiner, historian and chaplain with the Mary MacKillop Penola Centre told Australian media that in 1871 Mary MacKillop had been banished following a series of events, including her uncovering and reporting clergy child sex abuse. Gardiner explained that after hearing disturbing stories of alleged child abuse involving Fr Keating of the Kapunda parish in South Australia, MacKillop and other nuns spoke to Father Woods, who in turn approached the Vicar General in Adelaide. As a result, Keating was removed from his parish and sent back to Ireland where he continued as a priest. One of Keating's fellow priests, Father Charles Horan OFM, was so angered by what Woods and the Josephites had exposed, he swore vengeance on them.
In addition to reporting the child abuse, Fr Woods and the Josephites also came into conflict with some clergy over educational matters and local clergy began a campaign to discredit the Josephites. As well as allegations of financial incompetence, rumours were also spread that MacKillop had a drinking problem. A 2010 investigation by Fr Paul Gardiner found no evidence to support these allegations. In fact, it was widely known that she drank alcohol on doctor's orders to relieve the symptoms of dysmenorrhea
Dysmenorrhea, also known as period pain, painful periods or menstrual cramps, is pain during menstruation. Its usual onset occurs around the time that menstruation begins. Symptoms typically last less than three days. The pain is usually in th ...
, which often led to her being bedridden for days at a time.
Father Horan met with Sheil on 21 September 1871 and convinced him that the Josephites' constitution should be changed in a way that could have left the Josephite nuns homeless; the following day, when MacKillop apparently did not accede to the request, Sheil excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...
her, citing insubordination as the reason. Candid coverage in the Catholic newspaper '' The Irish Harp and Farmers' Herald'' earned for its editor C. J. Fox ostracism and expulsion from the Catholic Association of which he was president. Though the Josephites were not disbanded, most of their schools were closed in the wake of this action. Forbidden to have contact with anyone in the church, MacKillop was given the rent-free use of two houses in Flinders Street, Adelaide
Flinders Street is a main street in the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia. It runs from the northern end of Victoria Square to East Terrace. It is one of the intermediate-width streets of the Adelaide grid, at wide. by prominent Jewish merchant Emanuel Solomon and was also sheltered by Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
priests. Some of the sisters chose to remain under diocesan
In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...
control, becoming popularly known as "Black Joeys".
On his deathbed, Sheil instructed Horan to lift the excommunication on MacKillop. On 21 February 1872, he met her on his way to Willunga and absolved her in the Morphett Vale
Morphett Vale is a southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Onkaparinga. It is the largest suburb in the state, with a population of more than 23,000 and an area of 12.76 km2, followed by Paralowie with nearly 10,000 fewe ...
church. An episcopal commission later completely exonerated her.
Rome
After the acquisition of the Mother House in Kensington in 1872, MacKillop made preparations to leave for Rome to have the "Rule of Life" of the Sisters of St Joseph officially approved.
MacKillop travelled to Rome in 1873 to seek papal approval for the religious congregation
A religious congregation is a type of Religious institute (Catholic), religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from Religious order (Catholic), religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – i ...
and was encouraged in her work by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...
. The authorities in Rome made changes to the way Josephite sisters lived in regards to their commitment to poverty and declared that the superior general and her council were the authorities in charge of the congregation. They assured MacKillop that the congregation and their "Rule of Life" would receive final approval after a trial period. The resulting alterations to the "Rule of Life" regarding ownership of property caused a breach between MacKillop and Woods, who felt that the revised document compromised the ideal of vowed poverty and blamed MacKillop for not getting the document accepted in its original form. Before Woods' death on 7 October 1889, he and MacKillop were personally reconciled, but he did not renew his involvement with the congregation.
While in Europe, MacKillop travelled widely to observe educational methods.
During this period, the Josephites expanded their operations into New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
and New Zealand. MacKillop relocated to Sydney in 1883 on the instruction of Bishop Reynolds
Christopher Augustine Reynolds (1834–1893) was an Irish Catholic Church, Roman Catholic bishop who became the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Archbishop of Adelaide in Australia.
Biography
Born in Dublin, Ireland on 25 July 1834 ...
of Adelaide.
Return from Rome
When MacKillop returned to Australia in January 1875, after an absence of nearly two years, she brought approval from Rome for her sisters and the work they did, materials for her school, books for the convent library, several priests and most of all, 15 new Josephites from Ireland. Regardless of her success, she still had to contend with the opposition of priests and several bishops. This did not change after her unanimous election as superior general in March 1875.
The Josephites were unusual among Catholic church ministries in two ways. Firstly, the sisters lived in the community rather than in convents. Secondly the congregation's constitutions required administration by a superior general chosen from within the congregation rather than by the bishop, which was uncommon in its day. However, the issues which caused friction were that the Josephites refused to accept government funding, would not teach instrumental music (then considered an essential part of education by the church) and were unwilling to educate girls from more affluent families. This structure resulted in the sisters being forced to leave Bathurst in 1876 and Queensland
Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
by 1880 due to the local bishops' refusal to accept this working structure.
Notwithstanding all the trouble, the congregation did expand. By 1877, it operated more than 40 schools in and around Adelaide, with many others in Queensland and New South Wales. With the help from Benson, Barr Smith, the Baker family, Emanuel Solomon and other non-Catholics, the Josephites, with MacKillop as their leader and superior general, were able to continue the religious and other good works, including visiting prisoners in jail.
After the appointment of Roger Vaughan as Archbishop of Sydney in 1877, life became a little easier for MacKillop and her sisters. Until his death in 1882, the Revd Joseph Tappeiner had given MacKillop his solid support and, until 1883, she also had the support of Bishop Reynolds
Christopher Augustine Reynolds (1834–1893) was an Irish Catholic Church, Roman Catholic bishop who became the first Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide, Archbishop of Adelaide in Australia.
Biography
Born in Dublin, Ireland on 25 July 1834 ...
of Adelaide.
After the death of Vaughan in 1883, Patrick Francis Moran
Patrick Francis Moran (16 September 183016 August 1911) was a prelate of the Catholic Church and the third Archbishop of Sydney and the first cardinal appointed from Australia.
Early life
Moran was born at Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Irel ...
became archbishop. Although he had a somewhat positive outlook toward the Josephites, he removed MacKillop as superior general and replaced her with Bernard Walsh.
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
gave official approval to the Josephites as a congregation in 1885, with its headquarters in Sydney.
On 31 May 1886, Mary MacKillop's mother, Flora MacKillop was travelling from Melbourne to Sydney in the SS Ly-ee-Moon, to visit Mary and another daughter who was also a nun. The ship struck a reef near the Green Cape Lighthouse
The Green Cape Lighthouse is a heritage-listed lighthouse located at the tip of Green Cape, New South Wales, Green Cape, a headland forming the northern boundary of Disaster Bay, in southern New South Wales, Australia. It is the southernmost lig ...
. Flora, along with 70 others, died.
Pope Leo XIII gave the final approval to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1888.
Although still living through alms
Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving.
Etymology
The word ''alms'' come ...
, the Josephite sisters had been very successful. In South Australia, they had schools in many country towns including, Willunga, Willochra, Yarcowie, Mintaro
Mintaro is a historic town in the eastern Clare Valley, east of the Horrocks Highway, about north of Adelaide, South Australia. The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, within the Clare Valley wine region. Established ...
, Auburn, Jamestown, Laura, Sevenhill
The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius ...
, Quorn
Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 11 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin.
Quorn is sold as both a cooking ingredient and as ...
, Spalding, Georgetown, Robe
A robe is a loose-fitting outer garment. Unlike garments described as capes or cloaks, robes usually have sleeves. The English word ''robe'' derives from Middle English ''robe'' ("garment"), borrowed from Old French ''robe'' ("booty, spoil ...
, Pekina, Appila and several others. MacKillop continued her work for the Josephites in Sydney and tried to provide as much support as possible for those in South Australia. In 1883 the order was successfully established at Temuka
Temuka is a town on New Zealand's Canterbury Plains, 15 kilometres north of Timaru and 142 km south of Christchurch. It is located at the centre of a rich sheep and dairy farming region, for which it is a service town. It lies on the north ...
in New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, where MacKillop stayed for over a year. In 1880, sisters from Perthville opened a boarding school in Whanganui
Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...
. In 1889 the community was also established in the Australian state of Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
.
During all these years MacKillop assisted Mother Bernard with the management of the Sisters of St Joseph. She wrote letters of support, advice and encouragement or just to keep in touch. By 1896, MacKillop was back in South Australia, visiting fellow sisters in Port Augusta
Port Augusta (''Goordnada'' in the revived indigenous Barngarla language) is a coastal city in South Australia about by road from the state capital, Adelaide. Most of the city is on the eastern shores of Spencer Gulf, immediately south of the ...
, Burra, Pekina, Kapunda
Kapunda is a town on the Light River near the Barossa Valley in South Australia. It was established after a discovery in 1842 of significant copper deposits. The population was 2,917 at the 2016 Australian census.
The southern entrance to th ...
, Jamestown and Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
. That same year, she travelled again to New Zealand, spending several months in Port Chalmers
Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre.
History
Early Māori settlement
The or ...
and Arrowtown
Arrowtown () is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River ( Māori: ''Haehaenui'') approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. Arrowtown is loc ...
in Otago
Otago (, ; ) is a regions of New Zealand, region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island and administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local go ...
. During her time in New Zealand with the Sisters of St Joseph, a school was established in Arrowtown, near Queenstown, South Island. Located in the grounds of St Patrick's Church, the small yellow cottage now known as Mary MacKillop cottage was originally built as a miner's house around 1870. It was bought by the church and incorporated into the church school in 1882 and then in 1897, MacKillop had the cottage and some of the school converted to a convent for the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart who worked in New Zealand.
In 1897, Bishop Maher of Port Augusta arranged for the Sisters of St Joseph to take charge of the St Anacletus Catholic Day School at Petersburg (now Peterborough
Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
). MacKillop founded a convent and base for the Sisters of St Joseph in Petersburg on 16 January 1897. "On January 16th, 1897, the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Mother Mary of the Cross,[ arrived in Petersburg to take over the school. She was accompanied by fellow Sisters Benizi (who was placed in charge of the school), M. Joseph, Clotilde and Aloysius Joseph. They were met at the station by the priest Norton who took them to the newly blessed convent, purchased for them on Railway Terrace."][ cited in ] The property at 40 Railway Terrace is identified as the convent by a plaque placed by the Catholic diocese of Peterborough.
After the death of Mother Bernard, MacKillop was once more elected unopposed as superior general in 1899, a position she held until her own death. During the later years of her life she had many problems with her health which continued to deteriorate. She developed rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
and after a stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
in Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, New Zealand, in 1902, became paralysed on her right side. For seven years, she had to rely on a wheelchair to move around, but her speech and mind were as good as ever and her letter writing had continued unabated after she learned to write with her left hand. Even after her stroke, the Josephite nuns had enough confidence in her to re-elect her in 1905.
Death
MacKillop died on 8 August 1909 at the Josephite convent in North Sydney
North Sydney is a suburb and commercial district on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. And is the administrative centre for the local government area of North Sydney Council.
History
The Indigenous people on the s ...
. The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal Moran, said: "I consider this day to have assisted at the deathbed of a saint." She was laid to rest at the Gore Hill Cemetery, a few kilometres up the Pacific Highway from North Sydney.
After MacKillop's burial, people continually took earth from around her grave. As a result, her remains were exhumed and transferred on 27 January 1914 to a vault
Vault may refer to:
* Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards
Architecture
* Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space
* Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored
* Burial vault (enclosur ...
before the altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...
of the Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
in the newly built memorial chapel in Mount Street, North Sydney. The vault was a gift of Joanna Barr Smith, a lifelong friend and admiring Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
.
Canonisation and commemoration
In 1925, the Mother Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph, Mother Laurence, began the process to have MacKillop declared a saint and Michael Kelly, Archbishop of Sydney, established a tribunal to carry the process forward. The process for MacKillop's beatification began in 1926, was interrupted in 1931 but began again in April 1951 and was closed in September of that year. After several years of hearings, close examination of MacKillop's writings and a 23-year delay, the initial phase of investigations was completed in 1973.
A longtime and prominent non-Catholic promoter of her cause was poet-bookseller Max Harris.
After further investigations, MacKillop's "heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...
" was declared in 1992. That same year, the church endorsed the belief that Veronica Hopson, apparently dying of leukaemia in 1961, was cured by praying for MacKillop's intercession
Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of prayer, praying on behalf of others, or Intercession of saints, asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others.
The Apostle Paul's exhortation to Saint Timothy, Timothy speci ...
; MacKillop was beatified
Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...
on 19 January 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
. For the occasion of the beatification, the Croatian-Australian artist Charles Billich
Charles Billich (born Karlo Bilić) is an artist living in Sydney, Australia. His painting subjects include Ballet and sport, architecture and town planning, eroticism and classicism, portraiture, and Theatre, stage, as well as Humanitarianism, ...
was commissioned to paint MacKillop's official commemorative.
On 19 December 2009, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...
issued a papal decree
A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it.
History
Papal bulls have been in use at l ...
formally recognising a second miracle, the complete and permanent cure of Kathleen Evans of inoperable lung and secondary brain cancer in the 1990s. Kathleen Evans went on to publish in 2012 with Penguin Books, "The Story Behind Saint Mary MacKillop's second Miracle." Her canonisation
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...
was announced on 19 February 2010 and subsequently took place on 17 October 2010.
Recognition
In the week leading up to her canonisation, the Australian federal government announced that it was protecting the use of MacKillop's name for commercial purposes. According to a statement from the office of the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...
, the only other individual Australian whose name has similar protection is Australian cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. His cricketing successes have been claimed by Shane ...
. Australia Post issued an official postage stamp to recognise MacKillop's canonisation.
An estimated 8,000 Australians were present in Vatican City
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...
to witness the ceremony. The Vatican Museum
The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...
held an exhibition of Aboriginal art
Indigenous Australian art includes art made by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, including collaborations with others. It includes works in a wide range of media including painting on leaves, bark painting, wood carving, ro ...
to honour the occasion titled "Rituals of Life". The exhibition contained 300 artifacts which were on display for the first time since 1925.
MacKillop is remembered in numerous ways, particularly in Australia. Things named for her include the electoral district of MacKillop
MacKillop is a single-member Electoral districts of South Australia, electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It was named in 1991 after Sister Mary MacKillop who served the local area, and later became the first Australia ...
in South Australia and several MacKillop colleges. In 1985, the Sisters of St Joseph approached one of Australia's foremost rose growers to develop the Mary MacKillop Rose. MacKillop was the subject of the first of the "Inspirational Australians" one dollar coin series, released by the Royal Australian Mint
The Royal Australian Mint is the national mint of Australia, and the primary production facility for the country’s circulating coins. The mint is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury, and is situat ...
in 2008.[Mint Issue 76 > 1 uncirculated coin – Mary MacKillop]
. Retrieved 21 October 2008 She was posthumously inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women
The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...
in 2001.
Several Australian composers have written sacred music to celebrate MacKillop. For the occasion of her beatification the MacKillop Secretariat commissioned eight composers in 1994 to write some of the first liturgical hymns to MacKillop. These were published in 1995 by the Secretariat as an anthology entitled ''If I Could Tell The Love of God''. Hymns specifically used in St Mary of the Cross celebrations include ''A Saint for Today'' and ''Mary MacKillop, Woman of Australia'' by Josephite Sister Margaret Cusack and ''If I Could Tell The Love of God'', ''In Love God Leads Us'' and ''Psalm 103'' by Jesuit Priest Christopher Willcock.
In 2009 Nicholas Buc was commissioned by the Shire of Glenelg
The Shire of Glenelg is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 19,665. It includes the towns of ...
to write an hour-long cantata mass for the centenary of the death of MacKillop. It was premiered by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation.
The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is Austral ...
in Portland, Victoria
Portland ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and is the oldest European settlement in the state. It is also the main urban centre in the Shire of Glenelg and is located on Portland Bay. As of the 2021 Australian census, 20 ...
. The ''Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
of Mary McKillop'' is a setting for congregational singing, composed by Joshua Cowie.
In 2018 The University of Scranton in Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
renamed a residence hall after Mary MacKillop. The building which used to be McCormick Hall is now MacKillop Hall.
In popular culture
MacKillop is also the subject of several artistic productions, including
*1994 film ''Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religion
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...
'', directed by Kay Pavlou with Lucy Bell
Lucy Bell (born 23 December 1968) is an English-born Australian actress who appears in Australian television, film and theatre.
Early life
Bell was born in 1968 in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom, to Australian actor/director John Bell an ...
as MacKillop; released on DVD as ''Mary: The Mary MacKillop Story''
*''Her Holiness'', a play by Justin Fleming;
*''MacKillop'', a dramatic musical created by Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
composer Xavier Brouwer and first performed for pilgrim
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...
s at World Youth Day 2008
World Youth Day 2008 was a Catholic youth festival that started on 15 July and continued until 20 July 2008 in Sydney, Australia. It was the first World Youth Day held in Australia and the first World Youth Day in Oceania. This meeting was deci ...
in Melbourne.
*Novelist Pamela Freeman's ''The Black Dress'' is a fictionalised biography of MacKillop's childhood and young adulthood.
*''At the Centre of Light'' by Rosemary Johns, seeded at Explorations (La Mama
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...
), had a regional Victorian tour. It was read
Read or READ may refer to:
Computing
* Read (computer), to retrieve data from a storage device
* Read (system call), a low-level IO function on a file descriptor in a computer
* Read (Unix), a command in Unix operating systems
Places
* Read, L ...
in part with international and Indian actors at WPI Mumbai, and was later commercially produced at 12th Night Theatre Brisbane, 2010. An extract of the play was published in ''Scenes from a Diverse World'' anthology (published by the International Centre for Women Playwrights, U.S.A.) The play about MacKillop was written with permission and support of the Josephite Sisters in East Melbourne and is available at Australianplays.org
In 2000, the State Transit Authority
The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...
named a Sydney Harbour SuperCat ferry after MacKillop. In 2008, a railway bridge in Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
was named Mary MacKillop Bridge
The Mary MacKillop Bridge is a bascule bridge in Adelaide, Australia that carries the Dry Creek-Port Adelaide railway line over the Port River.
In July 2005, Abigroup was awarded a contract to build a railway bridge and the adjoining Tom 'Div ...
.[Official opening for new Port bridges]
, ''ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to:
* ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
* ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company
ABC News may a ...
'', 1 August 2008
See also
* Josephite Community Aid
*List of Catholic saints
This is an incomplete list of humans and angels whom the Catholic Church has Canonization, canonized as saints. According to Catholic theology, all saints enjoy the beatific vision. Many of the saints listed here are found in the General Roman C ...
References
Further reading
* Article written at the time of the opening of the new St Joseph's church in Penola.
*
External links
*
Mary MacKillop Place official website
Mary MacKillop Penola Centre official website
''MacKillop''
a musical by Xavier Brouwer
MacKillop Family Services website
SS Ly-ee-Moon wreck page
O Mother Mary of the Cross
a hymn to St. Mary of the Cross, text by Veronica Brandt, music b
Charles H. Giffen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackillop, Mary
1842 births
1909 deaths
19th-century Australian educators
19th-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns
19th-century Christian saints
19th-century Australian women educators
20th-century Australian Roman Catholic nuns
20th-century Christian saints
Australian people of Scottish descent
Australian Roman Catholic saints
Beatifications by Pope John Paul II
Canonizations by Pope Benedict XVI
Christian female saints of the Late Modern era
Founders of Catholic religious communities
People from Port Chalmers
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Religious leaders from Melbourne
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart
Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II
Women of the Victorian era
People from Fitzroy, Victoria