The original Mary MacKillop School at Penola.
Blessed Mary MacKillop (pictured) is likely to become Australia’s first Saint. She founded the Josephite order of nuns at Penola in 1867.
Penola is 50km from Mount Gambier and we walked around the town today.
Mary’s birthday is one day before mine, albeit 125 years earlier. She was born at Fitzroy in 1842, the suburb in Melbourne of the football club I used to follow.
In 1866, at the invitation of Father Tenison Woods, Mary established the first school in Australia that catered for all children, irrespective of family income or social status.
The original schoolhouse was a renovated stable that catered for more than 50 students. It was replaced in 1867 by what is now known as the Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse (pictured above).
The school adjoins Petticoat Lane, which is a state heritage area.
According to the State Heritage website:
The Petticoat Lane heritage precinct is the oldest part of Penola, with timber and stone cottages dating from 1850 to the First World War. It is also an area with significant open allotments, reflecting important aspects of early life in the town (pictures below).”
Mary founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. They were to live in poverty and dedicate themselves to educating poor children. With Mary its first member and Superior the society was founded at Penola in 1866 with the approval of Bishop Sheil.
He later excommunicated Mary for alleged insubordination, but withdrew the edict shortly before he died.
In 1992, it was determined that prayer to Mary MacKillop was responsible for the recovery of an apparently dying women in 1961.
She was later beatified, the first step towards canonisation.
To be canonised, the postulator of the cause must now prove the existence of a second miracle.
According to Wikipedia, the case of a second former cancer patient is under investigation in Rome, and Pope Benedict XVI has been quoted as saying: “She will be canonised, we’re waiting for the miracle.”
I think it’s great that Australia’s probable first Saint has a strong connection to this area. I prayed at her shrine in St Joseph’s today.
Update: Mary was canonised on October 17, 2010.
