On the main website I use for my Saint research, they list about 2 dozen St. Marys . . . that's not counting all the St. Maries and St. Marias . . . . yet we most often only hear about the one St. Mary - our Blessed Mother. Today we will profile one of the "forgotten" St. Marys.
Mary Helen MacKillop was born in Australia in 1842 to Scottish immigrant parents. She was the oldest of 8 siblings. Because their father was never able to make a success of the farm - or any other profession he tried, the children went to work at early ages to help support the family. Mary started working as a clerk at 14 and later worked as a teacher and a governess. She opened her own boarding school for young ladies in 1864. Two years later, a priest friend invited Mary and her sisters to open a Catholic School.
About this time, Mary made a declaration of her dedication to God and began wearing black. In 1867 she became the first sister an mother superior of a new religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the first religious order to be founded by an Australian) and she took the name Sister Mary of the Cross. The order adopted brown habits and the sisters became known as the Brown Joeys. By the end of 1869, more than 70 Josephite sisters were educating children at 21 schools - by 1871, 130 nuns were working in more than 40 schools and charitable institutions across South Australia and Queensland.
Unfortunately, the bishop at this time was often absent from his episcopate due to health reasons and without clear leadership, factions developed among the clergy. Through a complex series of events, involving both misunderstanding as well as vengeance, Mary MacKillop ended up on the wrong side of the Bishop and was excommunicated. She was forbidden to have contact with anyone in the Church, so she lived with a Jewish family. The Bishop lifted the excommunication on his deathbed and a later Episcopal Commission completely exonerated her. Her order continued to thrive and expanded into New Zealand.
Mother Mary died in 1909 and was canonized in 2010. Her feast day is August 8.
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