Mary MacKillop: Gifted and Graced
No doubt 15 January 1842 was a day of celebration for Flora MacKillop (nee MacDonald) and Alexander MacKillop and their extended family on the birth of their first daughter in Merino Cottage, Fitzroy, Melbourne. Mary MacKillop’s parents were Highland Scots, Alexander MacKillop arriving in Sydney in January 1838 and Flora MacDonald in April 1840. Father […]
Mary MacKillop’s Cross from the Beginning
We celebrate the birth of Australia’s first canonised saint and co-founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Mary MacKillop, who was born on 15 January 1842. Mary MacKillop’s whole life, almost from the time of her conception to her death, was overshadowed by the Cross. Father Geoghegan, priest at St. Francis’ Catholic Church, Melbourne, gave […]
Birth of Mary MacKillop – 15 January 1842
In 1891, during a worldwide depression, the people of Melbourne city suffered greatly. Those who were rich lost their investments, those who were poor lost their work, the poorest were homeless and slept on the streets. The Archbishop of Melbourne had a heart for the poor and he talked to Mary MacKillop, the new Josephite […]
Mary MacKillop’s Birthday (15 January)
Beginnings are important. They often act as a prologue, as it were, to the meaning of what follows. Over past weeks we have pondered the meaning of Jesus’ life as described in the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke. Right from the beginning, we are told, the birth of Jesus would demonstrate the Good News […]