Feasts of All Saints and Souls
The feasts of All Saints and All Souls are celebrated on 1 November and 2 November respectively. Over the first two days of November, we are invited to pray with and for everyone. We can pray with one another and the saints, as we are also reminded to remember and pray for all departed souls.
St Mary MacKillop in the Pandemic and Post-Pandemic
The pandemic was a time that surprised the world. It was never thought that the COVID-19 virus could challenge humanity on the domination of Earth. A fixation on daily death numbers, anguish, despair, pain, violence, lack of food and work, medicine, etc. all reigned. But all believers in God had hope in God. It is […]
Mary MacKillop’s Canonisation Anniversary
Canonisation celebrations at Mary MacKillop Place, 2010. For the canonisation of Mary MacKillop, all roads led to Rome on 17 October 2010. For those of us in Australia, all roads led to Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney. At the time, I was blessed to be working at Mary MacKillop Place as a member of […]
Making A Difference – A Reflection on St Mary MacKillop
Never see a need without doing something about it.Mary MacKillop In 1866, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart and opened a school to provide free education for the children of Penola, South Australia. From this small beginning, Mary went on to establish Catholic […]
The Foundations of the Josephite Charism across NSW
Our First Three Seedbeds The story of the presence of the Sisters of Saint Joseph in New South Wales (NSW) grew from three distinct seedbeds – with the planting of the Josephite charism by our pioneering Sisters. These small seedbeds were planted with love, grew out of the soil of trust in God’s Providence and […]
Mary MacKillop Place – Out of the Ordinary
At the heart of Mary MacKillop Place located in North Sydney, New South Wales, is the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel. The Chapel was built in 1913 in memory of Mary MacKillop and shortly after, it was dedicated by the Archbishop Michael Kelly in 1914. Mary’s body was exhumed from the Gore Hill Cemetery and reinterred […]
Keeping St Mary MacKillop’s legacy alive
I’m so thankful to be part of the Josephite family and share stories with you about the work we’re doing at Mary MacKillop Today. Like you, I am truly inspired by the extraordinary ‘can help’ spirit of Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of Saint Joseph who travelled to set up schools in Australia’s remote communities. […]
Saint Mary MacKillop Feast Day 2022
A Message from Sr Monica Cavanagh, Congregational Leader, Sisters of Saint Joseph. Greetings for the feast of Saint Mary MacKillop (8 August). As we join in celebrating Mary MacKillop’s feast this year, we are called to embrace the values that were at the heart of all she did. Her deep love for those she […]
Looking forward to the next 150 years at Perthville
The Sisters of Saint Joseph marked the 150th anniversary of when the first Sisters of Saint Joseph arrived in Perthville to begin ministry in New South Wales on 16 July 2022. The first community of sisters, Teresa MacDonald, Joseph Dwyer and Hyacinth Quinlan, and an enquirer, Ada Braham, arrived at Perthville near Bathurst at the […]
Mary MacKillop Feast Day Celebrations 2022
Mary MacKillop Place and the Sisters of Saint Joseph extend a warm invitation to celebrate the Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop on Monday, 8 August 2022. “After two years of disruption due to COVID, we look forward to welcoming pilgrims and supporters to Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney,” says Sr […]
Responding to a Call
The phone rang as I was locking up the house before going to Saturday night Mass. It was the bishop wanting to know if I would go to a country town, 400 kilometres away to train people in leading Liturgy of the Word with Communion. The parish had recently lost their priest, with no replacement […]
First Adelaide school opens in 1867
On 2 July 2022, the Sisters of Saint Joseph will celebrate 155 years since the opening of the first Josephite school in Adelaide, South Australia. “What,” they say, “can you expect from colonial girls, without any knowledge of a religious life, and no one to train them?”[1] Writing to Sister Mary MacKillop, Father Julian Tenison […]