Today is the feast of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop the first and only saint of Australia. Her parents migrated to Australia from Scotland she was the first of nine children , the family was very poor although hardworking . She was the founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart  (The Josephites) ..she spent her life mainly taking care of orphaned, neglected , poor girls looking after and teaching them . But also looking after the elderly and terminally ill.  The order is still operational in Australia.  A Franciscan bishop asked her to found the first school Bishop Laurence Bonaventure Sheil OFM. One of her sisters joined the order as well , one of her brothers became a Jesuit priest.

After her death she was buried in a chapel North Sydney .She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 , when he visited Sydney for World Youth Day he prayed at her graveside . She was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI in the square in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Still a lot of people visit Mary’s graveside and ask for healing ! 

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop intercede for us . Amen

posted by dr k.e.