MACKILLOP HOUSE

MacKillop house is named after our Patron Saint, Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

In 1842 Mary MacKillop was born in Victoria. Mary met Father Woods who needed help in the religious education of children in the outback. Mary opened the first Saint Joseph's School in a disused stable in Penola.

Young women came to join Mary, and so the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph was begun. She also opened Orphanages, Providences to care for the homeless and destitute both young and old, and Refuges for ex-prisoners and ex-prostitutes who wished to make a fresh start in life.

Throughout her life, Mary met with opposition. In the most difficult of times she consistently refused to attack those who wrongly undermined her work and was always ready to forgive those who wronged her. Our patron saint, Mary of the Cross MacKillop is best remembered by her own words:

“Never see a wrong without trying to right it”.

The qualities of Mary MacKillop are shown in her radical trust in God, her loyal service of the Church, her readiness to discern the urgent needs of the time, her faith and courage to risk suffering and failure for the sake of the Kingdom,

and a life of poverty and prayer. These lessons remind members of MacKillop House to uphold the core values of Peace, Justice, Truth and Mission.