08/08/2022 – St. Mary MacKillop

Today’s saint, Mary of the Cross (MacKillop) is the patron saint of Australia. She dedicated her life to the education of the poor, establishing an order of sisters and opening schools across the continent. Though her mission met crushing opposition, St Mary MacKillop carried on. In all things she sought to imitate the Blessed Virgin’s Fiat, “Be it done unto me according to Thy Will” at the Annunciation

“Mary’s emphasis on knowing and doing the will of God pervades all … ‘The will of God is to me a very dear book, and I never tire of reading it.’ But how did she know what God’s will for her was? The answer is prayer. Mary came to know God’s will for her through a life of constant prayer.

Interestingly, the content of her prayer was very simple. She would offer up her “Holy Communions”, her “Rosaries”, her “adorations”, her “devotions” for the sake of others in a very simple piety. This is really interesting in our time when the old devotions of the Rosary and visits to the Blessed Sacrament are no longer the daily bread of people’s prayer. We have a saint who found a devotional way of praying the path to sanctity.

This simplicity led Mary to a profound understanding of the mind and heart of God, what she so marvellously called “her dear book”. It was in reading the book of God’s loving will for her, that Mary learnt to live a life of forgiveness and remarkable kindness.”

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, pray for us. (Archbishop Peter A Comensoli)