The Ground of Her Loving Paperback

Mary MacKillop, who died in 1909, is Australia’s first saint, canonised just recently and known now as Saint Mary of the Cross. She founded the order of Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart, an order that has spread rapidly and is to be found today in many countries outside Australia. The order was set up primarily to bring education and help to the children of the poor with the establishment, not only of schools, but also of clinics, orphanages and refuges, first in the primitive outback and latterly in towns and cities. This new book about Mary details her life story and what inspired her to devote her entire life to the poor and dispossessed. It devotes a great deal of space also to her disputes with the hierarchy of her homeland Church, bishops and priests who wanted the order to be under their control. Mary, however, was a strong-minded woman. She faced up bravely to these challenges, even going to Rome to plead her case for independence and she was successful. This is an inspiring book about a selfless, dedicated woman who was not only a brilliant educator but a social reformer whose legacy is still powerful today.