Saints of the Week
Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop
Virtue: Knowledge
Feast Day: 8th August
On January 15, 1842, Mary MacKillop was born of Scottish parents, Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald in Fitzroy, Victoria. A plaque in the footpath now marks the place of her birth in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Mary, the eldest of eight children, was well educated by her father, who spent some years studying for the priesthood in Rome but, through ill health, had returned to his native Scotland until 1835 when he migrated to Australia with his parents.
From the age of sixteen, Mary earned her living and greatly supported her family, as a governess, as a clerk for Sands and Kenny (now Sands and MacDougall), and as a teacher at the Portland school. At the time, Mary's family depended on her income, so she was not free to follow her dream. However, in 1866, greatly inspired and encouraged by Father Woods, Mary opened the first Saint Joseph's School in a disused stable in Penola.
Young women came to join Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. In 1867, Mary was asked[1] by Bishop Shiel to come to Adelaide to start a school. From there, the Sisters spread, in groups, to small outback settlements and large cities around Australia, New Zealand, and now in Peru, Brazil and refugee camps of Uganda and Thailand.
She also opened Orphanages, Providences to care for the homeless and destitute both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished to make a fresh start in life.
Throughout her life Mary suffered ill health. She died on August 8, 1909, in the convent in Mount Street, North Sydney, where her tomb is now enshrined.