Mary MacKillop
The Holy Mary Helen MacKillop, Mary Ellen actually MacKillop ( born January 15, 1842 in Melbourne, † August 8, 1909 in Sydney) was an Australian Roman Catholic nun and founder and Superior General of the Congregation of Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart ( German sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart ). On January 19, 1995, she was beatified as the first and so far the only personality of Australia and Oceania by Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI. spoke MacKillop 17 October 2010 sacred - their commemoration in the liturgy of the Catholic Church is the 8th August.
- 2.1 beatification
- 2.2 canonization
- 2.3 Mary MacKillop Place of pilgrimage
- 2.4 Miscellaneous
Life
Childhood and first professional activity
Mary Helen MacKillops parents, Alexander MacKillop (1812-1868) and Hannah Flora MacDonald (1816-1886), emigrated late 1830s from Scotland to Australia, where they were married in Melbourne on 14 July 1840. Her father, who was born on Ardnamurchan, had arrived on 20 January 1838 aboard the Brilliant in Sydney. Flora had come with her mother Catherine and her brother Donald on board the Glen Huntley to Australia. She came from the small village of Glenfinnan.
On January 15, 1842 Mary Helen was born as the oldest of eight children in Fitzroy, Melbourne. At the instigation of her father towards Mary Helen enjoyed a good education at private schools and by her father himself, who had studied as a seminarian in Rome, among other things several years. Her father is described as a very intelligent and diligent student who is also very persistently represented his own opinion, which is why he had a falling out in Rome with his Prior. He was also very carefree, what financial aspects were concerned, and was discharged because of his stubbornness often. When Mary was nine years old when he took a mortgage on the family farm to fund for a trip to one of the dying friend to Scotland, which he had promised this assistance for a long time. When he returned after seventeen months, the family had lost the farm. On one hand, Mary learned through him integrity and strength of character to appreciate, on the other hand she was forced early as the oldest child of the chronically suffering from lack of money family, to take care of her siblings and to support the family financially.
To support her family, Mary MacKillop began at the age of 14 years to work as a shop assistant. For a short time she also worked as a teacher in Portland, Victoria, before she was hired as a nanny with relatives in Penola, South Australia. In addition to their children supervised and taught them, other farmers children from the neighborhood. Through this activity they came into contact with Father Julian Tenison Woods who is very worried about the general and religious education in his field. He founded a school and offered her a teaching job at which they initially but could not accept because they still had to support her family. With the help of some family members MacKillop opened a boarding school and found out more long to feed her family safe.
1866 she founded together with two of her sisters, Annie and Alexandrina ( " Lexie " ), at the invitation of Father Tenison Woods, a Catholic school in Penola. The school was housed in a stall, the one of her brothers had renovated. At times, they taught more than 50 children.
Founding of the order
In 1867, Mary MacKillop along with Tenison - Woods, the Congregation Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, which took care of the education of children from poor families, and became the first Superior General of this first founded in Australia Order. The monastic rules were approved by Bishop Sheil and at the end of ten sisters had already joined the Order.
In the following years the congregation grew rapidly and with it the tasks assumed. End of 1869 already taught 70 nurses in 21 schools in different parts of Australia and New Zealand. The Order now also ran an orphanage and took care of impoverished older people.
Excommunication and travel to Europe
1871 MacKillop was excommunicated by Bishop Sheil on the grounds that she pins her sisters in the schools for disobedience to. Shortly before his death in February 1872, however, he made six months later, the excommunication undo. The following year traveled Sister MacKillop to Europe to get their monastic rules officially confirmed in Rome. In several audiences, it was by Pope Pius IX. encouraged in their activities. She also visited a number of schools in order to learn about the latest teaching methods. After almost two years of absence, she returned in 1875 with many changes rules of the order back to Australia. They also brought a number of books and teaching materials for their schools, and several priests from Ireland 15 new sisters for their order. On her return she was unanimously elected Superior General.
Opposition of priests and deteriorating health
1877, the number of schools of the Order had grown to 40 alone in Adelaide and the surrounding area. Despite their successes MacKillop was unpopular with the priests and bishops. They favored a hierarchical structure and criticized the egalitarian approaches in the internal organization of the Order. So some bishops tried to bring the sisters in their respective dioceses under their own control and denied on the other hand, that Sister MacKillop led the community center from Adelaide. Even Bishop Reynolds of Adelaide was unhappy with the government of the Order by MacKillop. He ordered that MacKillop had to leave his diocese. For this reason she moved the seat of their community in order to Sydney. However, it was also the Archbishop of Sydney not kindly disposed. He defied the legitimacy of Sister Mary as an elected Superior General and appointed another sister to the Head of the Order. After her death, 14 years later, Mary MacKillop was re-elected Superior General. This position she held until her death.
In her last years, the health deteriorated rapidly. MacKillop suffered from rheumatism. In 1902 she suffered a stroke that paralyzed one side and bound to a wheelchair. Nevertheless, it was confirmed a few years later in an election in her office as Superior General. She died on 8 August 1909. At this time her order had grown to nearly 1,000 sisters.
Commemoration
Beatification
Due to the lack of experience of Australia in terms of beatification and due to numerous complications in the process of beatification of Mary MacKillop, it took until 1992 that the existence of a miracle has been demonstrated that they should have, through her intercession. The proof of a miracle is one of the main prerequisites for beatification. For a variety of allegedly caused by them miracles the surprising recovery of a woman in 1961 was selected whose leukemia suggesting to an early death. Her case was investigated in 1992 by the Medical Commission Consulta Medica of the Congregation for Saints and beatification processes. In November 1992 was then confirmed by the Congregation after examination of documents such as the hospital documents that the former diagnosis was correct, the prognosis was so rightly put negative and there was no medical explanation for the subsequent recovery. Finally, Mary MacKillop was beatified on the Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on 19 January 1995 as the first and so far the only personality of Australia and Oceania by Pope John Paul II.
Canonization
In the canonization of the first Australian saint approximately 8,000 Australians were present in St. Peter's Square; Australian television broadcast live over the celebration.
Mary MacKillop Place of pilgrimage
As from the grave of pilgrims resistant earth was removed, her remains were transferred in 1914 in the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Joseph to North Sydney. The chapel is today as Mary MacKillop Place is a popular place of pilgrimage. At the World Youth Day 2008, the chapel was the central place of pilgrimage, like the Cologne Cathedral for World Youth Day 2005. Moreover sister Mary was named one of the ten patrons for the World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.
Others
After Mary MacKillop many facilities are named in Australia, including several colleges. Her mother, Flora MacKillop, arrived in 1886 with the sinking of the Australian passenger ship Ly -ee -Moon on the coast of New South Wales killed. The hl. Mary MacKillop is the patron saint of the Knights of the Southern Cross - Australia a Catholic brotherhood