On Saturday 8 August, we will be celebrating the Feast Day Mass of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop across the Archdiocese of Adelaide (South Australia), including at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral and, also, at St Joseph’s Chapel in Kensington in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs.
Kensington is a beautiful enclave and, in the secular and sporting world, is well known as the playing home of Sir Donald Bradman from 1934 onwards. The locals and cricket club members and followers are rightfully proud of this association.
There is though, an anniversary of even greater longevity in Kensington this year.
The day before the Feast Day Mass on 7 August, dozens of guests are expected to gather at the Mary MacKillop Spirituality Centre, Adelaide. It is where Mary MacKillop lived and worked in the very early days of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart congregation that she founded in tandem with Father Julian Tenison Woods. The August celebration will mark a colossal 160 years of education in the Josephite tradition
It is a significant occasion. Mary Hemmings, a Josephite Companion and former school principal across South Australia, is urging people to share their memories and Josephite stories on the day. A film will be made of the anniversary to complement footage already taken at the important geographical Josephite sites of Millicent and Penola.
Such is the South Australian fascination with everything to do with Mary MacKillop that another local former school principal, Paul Murphy, has written an extraordinarily comprehensive book on the history of Josephite education. We Are But Travellers Here covers not just the chronology of education in our state but looks at Mary’s ideals and how her way of thinking and teaching spread across South Australia. Paul, of course, is also a Josephite Companion.
As we know, Mary MacKillop is Australia’s first canonised saint and 8 August marks the anniversary of her death in 1909 and is observed across Australia in Catholic schools, parishes and communities.
Mary’s feast day celebrates what she stood for and her unremitting determination to help give children living in poverty the chance of an education everyone deserves. We should remember that Mary is not just a historical figure, but her ideals resonate pragmatically today.
The July edition of the Archdiocese of Adelaide’s newspaper, The Southern Cross, ran an interview with the School Principal at St Joseph’s School in Peterborough, a small but historic railway town about 250 kilometres north of Adelaide.
The Principal, Taylor Meyer, spoke very proudly of her 72 pupils and how they learn to practice daily such values as compassion and dignity. The community is not well off economically but “the golden thread is helping people” Taylor told the newspaper.
Indeed, she and about half of her staff get to school early each day to prepare food – cheese toasties are a favourite – for the children before classes begin.
Mary’s Feast Day Mass is an important day on the calendar and while it is concerning the need to help at a basic level remains, it is reassuring to know that Mary’s ideals are carried forward as strong as ever today.
Archbishop Patrick O’Regan DD
Archdiocese of Adelaide