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Mary Helen Makillop was born on the 15th Jan 1842 to Alexander and Flora Mackillop in Fitzroy, Melbourne. She is the eldest of seven children
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Was baptised on this date at St Francis' Church.
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First communion, also at St Francis' Church
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Sometime in the year of 1860, Mary Mackillop moved to Penola, South Australia to work for her Aunty and Uncle, who lived in the Cameron Estate as their nuursery governess.
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Somtime in the year of 1862, Mary accepted a job at Portland School and also opened a boarding school in her home, Bayview house, in which she was joined by the rest of her family.
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Father Woods, a parish priest in South East Australia, invited Mary and two of her sisters to come back to Penola to open a Catholic school, which they did, in a stable Mary's brother had renovated. They started teaching more than 50 children in need of an education.
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Mary became the first sister and Mother Superior of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of Joseph and moved to a new convent in Adelaide. She was dictated to the education of children of the poor.
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The sisters of Joseph are still carrying on the work that Mary Mackillop did in her lifetime.
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In an attempt to provide education to all, especially the poor in country areas, a school was opened in Yankatilla
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In december of 1869, Mary and some other sisters travelled to Brisbane to establish the Order of Queensland.
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in 1871, they established an order in Port Augusta and also a school in Burra.
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Also during this year, Bishop snell excommunicated her, on the grounds that she "incited sisters to disobedience and defience.
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During this year, Mary travelled to Rome to have the rule of the Sisters of the Order of Joseph officially approved, while in Europe, she visited as many schools as possible in order to observe the latest teaching methods
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She returned to Australia in January 1875 with the approval from Rome to carry on the work that she and the sisters do, materials for her schools, books for the convent, several priests and 15 new josephites from Ireland.
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In 1883, Bishop Reynolds successfully removed Mary from Superior General for the Sisters of Joseph. Although this happened, she still continued her work in South Australia
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In this year, the Order was successfully established in New Zealand, where it stayed for 3 years.
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In 1889, the sisters established another order in Victoria, Australia.
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Sometime in this year, her and the sisters went back to New Zealand to establish the sisters and also another school in the South Island.
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In this year, the Sisters of the order of Joseph took over Saint Anacletus Catholic Day School in Petersburg, Australia
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While in New Zealand in 1902, Mary suffered a stroke in which she became paralysed on her right side, leaving her rhaving to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. However, her speech and mind were still very active.
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Although Mary had some health issues, the sisters had enough confidence in her to elect her Mother Superior-General again.
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Mary Mackillop died on the 8th of August in 1909, at age 67. She was laid at rest in Grove Hill Cemetery, North Sydney.
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After Mary's death, people continuously visited and took soil from her grave, so on the 27th January 1910, her remains were exhumed and transferred to a vault before the altar of the Mother of God in the newly built Memorial Chapel in Sydney.
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Mry Mackillop was beatified by Pope John Paul II on the 19th Jan 1995.
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On the 17th of October 2010, Blessed Mary Mackillop was declared a Saint by Pope Benedict XVI and is now known as Saint Mary of the Cross.