Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy in 1842 into a Scottish migrant family.

Mary was the eldest of eight children, and their father – who had attended Scots College in Rome – educated the children at home.

Having squandered most of the family fortune, the MacKillops were dirt poor. So at the age of fourteen, Mary was sent out to work. By the age of sixteen, Mary had become the major family bread winner.

Even in her youth Mary showed herself to be a very capable person. At Sands & Kenny, the stationers where she worked, Mary was given a position of responsibility usually reserved for older employees.

At the age of eighteen Mary assumed the role of governess to her cousins in Penola, South Australia. There she met Father Julian Tenison Woods. Mary had already decided that she wanted to be a nun, so she asked Fr.Woods to be her spiritual mentor.

Julian Woods and Mary MacKillop became close friends. They shared a vision for developing an Australian religious order that would serve the needs of the poor.

In 1866 they founded ‘The Sisters Of St. Joseph’ – an indigenous mission, made up of small, mobile communities of two or three sisters, caring for kids in frontier towns,  rural farms, and roadside and railway camps.

The itinerant lifestyle of the sisters was very simple. They took a vow of poverty to identify with the poor. And because they had no money, they were only able to get by through begging. The hierarchy of the church did not approve of the practice. But, mind-ful of her mission, Mary encouraged the sisters to carry on regardless.

Mary started Australia’s first free catholic school. At the time only the rich could afford to pay the fees to send their kids to school. But the sisters provided education for the children of the poor – whether they could afford to pay the fees or not.

In 1867 Mary moved to Adelaide. And it wasn’t long before she and her sisters had seventeen schools up and running. Instead of supporting their efforts, the Bishop of Adelaide – who was a paranoid alcoholic – tried to clamp down on the congregation. And when Mary resisted, he excommunicated her, and discharged her sisters.

For Mary, being thrown out of the church was a terrible blow. She was totally devastated. But, in spite of the desolation, she was determined to maintain her faith. She refused to become bitter and twisted about the way she was treated.

The Holy See sent a delegation to investigate the disturbance in the antipodies; and as a result of their inquiries, they decided to back Mary against the Bishop.

In 1872, when the Bishop lay dying, he apologized to Mary, absolved her from excommunication, and reinstated her and her sisters.

In 1873 Mary traveled to Rome. There she sought permission from the Pope for her congregation to run its own affairs free from the interference of the bishops in future. In the light of the quality of her work, her request was well received, and the Josephites were given the independence Mary had fought for.

In 1875 Mary was elected superior-general of her order.

Under Mary’s guidance the Josephites became the primary provider of catholic education to Australian girls – regardless of race, class or creed. And, because they had a policy of being non-proselytizing, the sisters enjoyed a lot of support from protestants, as well as catholics, in the communities where they worked around Australia.

In 1885 the Josephites found themselves in conflict with the Bishops again. The Holy See supported the congregation, but asked Mary if she would stand aside and let someone else (less controversial) lead the congregation for a while.

So in 1888 Mary stood aside; and Mother Bernard was elected to lead the order in her stead. But in 1898 Mother Bernard died; and Mary was elected again by the congre-gation to the lead the order into the twentieth century.

They not only taught students, they also taught the teachers who taught the stud-ents. They opened orphanages for those with no homes, and refuges for those fleeing violent homes. And they provided family support services and residential care services for those with intellectual, physical, psychological and developmental disabilities.

In 1909 Mary died. And today, October 17 2010, this ‘little battler’, ‘feminist trailblazer’, ‘ecclesiastical troublemaker’ and ‘extraordinary never-say-die pioneer of education for all’ was recognized as our first Aussie Saint.

I’m sure Mary would want a lot less fuss and bother over her canonisation and a lot more ‘fair dinkum’ commitment to the radical compassion she embodied.

As Mary said: ‘Never see a need without trying to do something about it!’

Dave Andrews