Mary will be the first Australian Catholic to become saint 50 years after the first miracle that has been attributed to her.
She was beatified in 1995 when the Vatican accepted Veronica Hopson's complete recovery from acute myeloblastic leukemia in 1961 as a miracle.
Veronica, a Catholic woman, got married in a Methodist church. The marriage was confirmed by the Catholic church on the day she was sent home to die in November 1961. That marriage bore six children. She will turn 73 next week
Mary was the oldest of eight children born to Scottish Catholic immigrants Flora MacDonald and Alexander MacKillop. She was born in Melbourne on January 15, 1842 in Melbourne.
The MacKillop children were educated at home by their father.
The thread of her story as a breadwinner for their needy family--her father's business ventures hardly prospered--to her becoming the first sister and Mother Superior of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1867 was her deep concern for the education of poor children in Penola, South Austalia.
In September 1871, she was excommunicated by the Catholic Bishop Laurence Sheil "over a constitutional dispute involving the Sisters of St Joseph". She traveled to Rome in 1873 and stayed there for two years to seek approval of her constitution.
Mary left behind many letters and diary entries that were used by the Roman Catholic Church to study her worthiness to become the first Australian saint.
Sources:
1. For appreciation of her saintly life, go to the webpage on Blessed Mary MacKillop at http://www.marymackillop.org.au/index.cfm.
2. Hoctor, Michelle. (2010, October 13). "Mary MacKillop's struggle as told in her own hand." Illawara Mercury. Retrieved from http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/mary-mackillops-struggle-as-told-in-her-own-hand/1966887.aspx
3. Howden, Saffron. (2010, October 16). "Mary's first miracle." Newcastle Herald. Retrieved from http://www.theherald.com.au/news/national/national/general/marys-first-miracle/1970523.aspx
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