Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop

8 August 2017
Our Diocesan Patron, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Photo: Used with permission of the Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Diocesan Patron

St Mary of the Cross MacKillop was proclaimed the Patron of the Diocese of Parramatta during the Diocese’s Silver Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta on Thursday 19 May 2011.

The proclamation of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop’s patronage was read during the Mass by His Excellency Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the then Apostolic Nuncio to Australia. “The faithful people of the Diocese of Parramatta remember and continue to honour St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Virgin,” Archbishop Lazzarotto said in the proclamation.

In his homilies, Bishop Vincent Long OFM Conv has spoken about the life and contribution of St Mary of the Cross Mackillop.

“St Mary MacKillop had a saying: ‘Never see a need without doing something about it’. 

“Today, we honour in a special way St Mary MacKillop who embodied characteristics that typify the best of the Australian spirit. There is that sense of “going in to bat” for the battlers of life, to give a helping hand to the needy irrespective of colour, culture or creed; it is that sense of a ‘fair go for everyone’.

“It was the genius of Mary that in seeing Christ in every person, she was deeply appreciative of the dignity and worth of every person made in God’s image and likeness. She saw the image of Christ in every person and saw that each had an eternal inheritance. We realise more and more the need for people to stand up for the lives and dignity of the needy and defenceless, the vulnerable and dependent and how the charism of Mary MacKillop stands as a blazing light of hope in our fractured and fractious world.

St Patrick’s Cathedral’s life-size statue of Mary MacKillop by artist Peter Corlett. Photo: Hamilton Lund.

“Mary MacKillop met the great challenges of her time with vision, passion and creativity. She challenged the status quo and envisioned new ways of living and sharing the Good News. May she intercede for us to do the same as we face the challenges of our time. May we also follow her example of making the missionary journey to our brothers and sisters in need and by our active discipleship, witness and engagement be the leaven for the Kingdom.”

Read more about St Mary of the Cross MacKillop here.

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