Religious Education News

Feast of Mary MacKillop

August is a very special month as it celebrates two feast days of two very important figures in the Catholic church.

8 August is the feast day of Mary Mackillop, the first Australian Saint. She was a woman of deep faith and conviction to serve the poor in the community.  This strong determination enabled her to overcome very difficult circumstances and setbacks to establish a school in South Australia's south-east, where she opened the first free Catholic school for the poor in Australia in 1866. 

The Assumption of Our Lady – 15 August

On 15 August, we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory”.

The Assumption signals the end of Mary’s earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary’s body was taken up to heaven by the power of her Son.

For this reason we use different words to describe each event. One is the Ascension of Christ and the other, the Assumption of Mary.

Vicky Pejic