Saint. A Sister, Mother Superior and Mother General of The Order of The Sisters of St Joseph. Dedicated her life in the Education of the poor, The caring of neglected children, the aged and the incurably ill. This was the First Religious Order to be founded by an Australian. Fundametal in establishing over 40 schools in South Australia, and many others in New South Wales and Queensland, then expanding the Order to New Zealand. The Blessed Mary MacKillop Co-Founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866. She was Beatified on the 19th of January 1995, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, at Randwick Racecourse, Sydney, Australia. This extraordinary Australian woman inspired extreme dedication to Gods work in the new colonies, and is an example of remarkable courage in her pursuance of Gods compassionate care, for all of those in need. She was buried in the Gore Hill Cemetery, North Sydney. But after her burial, people took the earth from around her grave, resulting in her body being exhumed and reinterred on the 29th of January 1914, in the vault, standing before The Altar of Mary the Mother of God, located in The Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel, in Mount Street, North Sydney. On the 20th of December 1993 she was then placed in the now present tomb, located to the right side of the altar. On January the 19th 1995, Pope John Paul II, prayed at her tomb, before her beatification ceremony. The Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel has become a place of pilgrimage to those thousands of followers who visit her Tomb to pray. Her Feastday, the 8th of August, is a special day of Worship for pilgrimage and prayer each year. On the 17th of October 2010, Pope Benedict XVI gave the world its first Australian saint, Saint Mary MacKillop. The Pope declared Mary would be known as St Mary of the Cross, the name the 19th century nun assumed when she took her vows.

You can view the Cenotaph here: Cenotaph 1

You can view the Cenotaph here: Cenotaph 2