The feast day of Mary of the Cross MacKillop is celebrated on 8 August.
Mary of the Cross MacKillop is one of our Patron Saints of Australia and our first Australian saint.
To mark this feast day, we have purchased a new icon for our Chapel. Her connection with this area is considerable having founded schools at St Nicholas of Myra, Penrith, and Our Lady of the Rosary, St Mary’s.
In 2010, 12 year old Brandon Sheehan, a Year 6 student at Our Lady of the Rosary, St Mary’s was chosen to represent the Parramatta Diocese at the Canonisation Of Mary MacKillop in Rome at St Peter’s Basilica, with Pope Benedict XVI.
Brandon was chosen because his great-grandmother Elma Davidson was the oldest living relative of Mary MacKillop, being Mary’s cousin. The following year, and until 2016, Brandon attended St Dominic’s College.
This link connects us even more deeply to a Saint who asks us ‘to never see a need without doing something about it’ and calls us to be a ‘voice for the voiceless’.
Ever generous God,
You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop
To live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and constant in bringing hope and encouragement
to those who were disheartened, lonely or needy.
With confidence in your generous providence
and through the intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop
we ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit
so that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.
Ever generous God hear our prayer.
We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mr Z Culican – Director of Identity
