SEVERAL hundred people are expected to attend a Mass at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, next Saturday (August 8) celebrating the life of Blessed Mary MacKillop.
The Mass will commemorate the centenary of the death of Blessed Mary, who co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph in Australia.
Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane will preside. The Vatican declared Mary MacKillop the patron of Brisbane archdiocese earlier this year.
This followed a request from Archbishop Bathersby to the Congregation for Divine Worship that Mary be given that title, and the declaration from the congregation was received on May 6.
Queensland provincial of the Sisters of St Joseph Sr Moya Campbell said invitations to the Mass had been sent to parishes and schools around Brisbane archdiocese.
“We’re encouraging people wherever the sisters are to support celebrations there, all over Queensland,” Sr Campbell said.
She said that in the lead-up to the Mass the sisters had sent squares of fabric to the communities around the state where the Josephites had lived and worked, and asked the people there to decorate each square to reflect their association with the sisters.
The squares were sewn together into seven banners which will be displayed in the cathedral and at the Francis Rush Centre where morning tea will be held after the Mass.
“These will tell the story of our involvement in Queensland,” Sr Campbell said.
Meanwhile, the Josephite heritage along with the challenge of murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero will take centre stage for students on Brisbane’s northside this week.
Corpus Christi College, Nundah, will host its second Mary MacKillop Day on Friday (August 7) to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph.
The day will be held at Kalinga Park from 10.30am until 2.30pm and has been expanded since last year, with primary school students from four neighbouring schools also taking part.
Students from St Joseph’s, Nundah; Holy Rosary, Windsor; Our Lady Help of Christians, Hendra; and St Pius’, Banyo, will join girls from Corpus Christi in old-fashioned games and activities “just like Mary MacKillop would have had”.
Part of the day’s program will also include the launch of Caritas Australia’s national “Be More” weekend campaign.
