Love in Action · Week 3 · Grades 9–12
Guided Notes: St. Mary MacKillop
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
St. Mary MacKillop
A new kind of religious life
Mary Helen MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne, on January 15, blank 1, the oldest of eight children of Scottish parents. Her father was kind and intelligent but terrible with money, and at 14 Mary became a wage earner for the family.
In blank 2, in Penola, South Australia, she and Father Julian Tenison Woods opened a free school in a stable. On March 19 she took the name Mary of the Cross, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart began.
The blank 3 did not stay in large convents. They lived in twos and threes in Outback towns, founding schools, orphanages and homes for the elderly and for women in trouble. By 1871 there were more than 100 sisters and 40 schools.
Excommunicated
Some priests wanted each bishop to control the sisters in his diocese. Mary held that the sisters should govern their own order, so they could be sent blank 4 the poor were.
In 1871, some sisters reported that a priest was hurting blank 5. The priest was sent away, and his friends turned their anger on Mary.
In September 1871, the Bishop of blank 6 excommunicated her for disobedience. Excommunication is the Church’s most serious penalty: it puts a person out of the Church’s communion. Mary did not fight back or speak against him. She waited. In February 1872, as he was dying, the bishop said he had made a mistake and lifted the excommunication.
Rome, and the long road to sainthood
In 1873 Mary traveled to Rome. Pope Pius IX agreed that the sisters could govern themselves, and she came home with approval and new sisters from blank 7. She worked until her death in North Sydney on August 8, 1909, even after a stroke in 1902 put her in a wheelchair.
Her cause opened in Sydney in 1926. She was declared Venerable on January 13, 1992, and beatified by Pope John Paul II in Sydney on January 19, 1995. Pope Benedict XVI blank 8 her, officially naming her a saint, on October 17, 2010.
The Church approved two blank 9: the cures of Veronica Hopson, dying of leukemia in 1961, and of Kathleen Evans, whose lung cancer had spread to her brain, in 1993.
Mary’s life and cause
Write what happened at each point.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1842 | Write your answer |
| 1866 | Write your answer |
| 1871 | Write your answer |
| 1872 | Write your answer |
| 1873–1874 | Write your answer |
| 1883 | Write your answer |
| 1909 | Write your answer |
| 2010 | Write your answer |
Apply it: authority
A student says, “Mary’s story proves that obeying Church authority does not matter.” Which reply fits the facts best? Circle one.
- A True: she ignored the bishop and carried on as before
- B True: she left the Church until the Pope stepped in
- C False: she agreed the bishop was right and gave way
- D False: she kept her conviction and appealed to Rome
Why is that the right answer?
Apply it: seeing a need
A classmate is being mocked in a group chat. Which response best reflects “Never see a need without doing something about it”? Circle one.
- A Mute the chat so the mocking does not bother you
- B Message the classmate and speak up or tell an adult
- C Mock the bullies back until they finally stop
- D Post about online kindness on your own account
Why is that the right answer?
Virtues Mary lived
For each virtue, write how the saint lived it and one way you can practice it.
| Virtue | How the saint lived it | How I can practice it |
|---|---|---|
| Solidarity | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Fortitude | Write your answer | Write your answer |
| Forgiveness | Write your answer | Write your answer |
Take a side
When you are publicly and unjustly accused, is it better to stay silent and wait to be vindicated, as Mary did, or to defend yourself publicly right away?
My side: ☐ Wait in silence ☐ Defend yourself publicly
- Mary did not fight back, and within five months the bishop admitted his mistake.
- She did not stay passive forever: she went to Rome to secure the order’s future.
- Her sisters spoke up at once when children were being hurt. Is harm to others different from harm to yourself?
- Online, an accusation can spread in minutes and stay searchable for years. Does that change the answer?
- Mary said, “We must teach more by example than by word.”
My strongest reason, with evidence from the slides:
The best argument for the other side, and my response:
Think, pair, share
Mary said, “Remember we are but travellers here.” How might believing that change the way a person handles an unfair attack, a damaged reputation, or the pressure to look successful online?
Think: my idea before we talk
Sentence starters: “If this life is a journey, then my reputation ...”“What would matter more to me is ...”“This is hard to believe when ...”
Pair: something my partner said
Let us pray
God of the poor, you led St. Mary MacKillop to those no one else would reach.
Give us her eyes for the needs around us, her courage in injustice, and her freedom to forgive.
St. Mary MacKillop, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Well done!
Mary MacKillop began with one stable. When she died, about 750 sisters were teaching more than 12,000 children across Australia and New Zealand.
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Mary MacKillop shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: This week, pick one need you keep scrolling past, at school or online, and take one concrete, in-person step to meet it. Tell someone what you did.