Summary

Order of service for the Thanksgiving Mass held as part of the celebrations of Mary MacKillop's canonisation at St Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday 6 November 2010.

The service consisted of a welcome from Sister Josephine Dubiel SRJ, songs, hymns, prayers and readings, with a homily by Archbishop Denis Hart DD, as well as a Eucharist. Afterwards participants were invited to look at story boards about Mary MacKillop set up around the Cathedral and to attend refreshments in Dallas Brooks Hall.

Physical Description

20 page full colour booklet with a coloured image of Mary MacKillop in full Nun's habit on the cover.

Significance

Mary MacKillop (later to be known as Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop) became Australia's first saint on Sunday 17 October, 2010. She was canonised by Pope Benedict XVI at a ceremony held at the Vatican in Rome, an event televised live around the world. The process that led to her canonisation had begun a long time before. She died in 1909 and was called a 'saint' by Cardinal Moran on her deathbed, but the formal process did not begin until 1926. This process required, amongst much other evidence, the acceptance by the Vatican of two 'miracles' attributed to her intercession. Although she was born in Victoria, she spent much of her life in New South Wales and South Australia. Her canonisation was a significant event for all Catholic Australians and for the people of Australia more broadly, as she was not only the first Catholic saint but was also a woman. A community event was held at the Royal Exhibition Building (REB) on the day of her canonisation in Rome, and the ceremony was attended by Julia Gillard, Australia's first female Prime Minister. This collection was donated by members of her religious order, the Sisters of St. Joseph, whose mother house is in North Sydney. As well as being a major REB event, the collection has religious, social, public history and local community connections.

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