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Mary Helen MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne
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Marys life
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When she was fourteen she strated working as clerk in Melbourne
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Mary become a teacher
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Mary's presthood
she found contact with Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods, who had been the parish priest in the South East since his ordination to the priesthood, after having completed his studies at Sevenhill -
Marys first teaching at school
Woods had been very concerned about the lack of education and particularly Catholic education in South Australia. When he started his school he was soon appointed Director of Education and became the founder, with Mary, of the Sisters of St Joseph who would teach in his schools. -
Mary's a sister
In 1867 Mary became the first Sister, and Mother Superior, of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of St Joseph and moved to the new convent in Grote Street Adelaide. Dedicated to the education of the children of the poor, it was the first religious order to be founded by an Australian. -
Sisters teaching
In an attempt to provide education to all the poor, particularly in country areas, a school was opened at Yankalilla in October 1867. By the end of 1869 more than seventy Sisters were educating children at twenty-one schools in Adelaide and the country. Mary and her -
Mary on the move
In December 1869 Mary and several other Sisters travelled to Brisbane to establish the Order in Queensland. Two years later she was in Port Augusta for the same purpose. -
Schools have a good year
1871 they also established a school in Burra. During this eventful year, Mary was wrongly excommunicated by Bishop Sheil, who was against most of the things she had fought for, on the grounds that 'she had incited the sisters to disobedience and defiance'. -
Mary visits rome
After the acquisition of the Mother House at Kensington in 1872, Mary made preparations to leave for Rome to have the Rules of the Sisters of St Joseph officially approved. While in Europe, Mary visited as many schools as possible to observe the latest teaching methods. -
Coming back from rome
When she returned 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 fifteen new Josephites from Ireland. Regardless of her success, she still had to content with the opposition of priests and several bishops. This did not change after her unanimous election as Mother General of the Josephites. Life was still hard and held many disappo -
Josephites sisters growing
Mary 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 in New Zealand, where Mary stayed for three years, and in 1889 in Victoria. -
Mary's traval
By 1896 Mary was back in South Australia visiting Sisters in Port Augusta, Burra, Pekina, Kapunda, Jamestown and Gladstone. That same year she travelled again to New Zealand to establish the Sisters, and a school, on the South Island. -
Sisters of St joseph grows
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. -
Marys death
Mother Mary MacKillop died on 8 August 1909 of the age of 67 and was laid to rest at the Gore Hill Cemetery, a few kilometres up the Pacific Highway from North Sydney. After her burial people continuously took earth from around her grave and as a result her remains were exhumed and transferred, on 27 January 1914, to a vault before the altar of the Mother of God in the newly build Memorial Chapel in Mount Street Sydney. -
The future
Nearly a hundred years after the death of Mary MacKillop, the Sisters are still working in many towns in South Australia, including Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills. They bought Pirralilla in 1950, which was originally build in 1902 by Michael Hawker. The property has been used as a convent and spiritual retreat centre. It includes a 30 room dormitory and chapel. -
Mary is canonized
Today Mary Mackillop is going to be a saint Her name will now be called St Mary Mackillop.