The Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church states that “archives are places of Church memory, which must be preserved, transmitted, renewed, appreciated because they represent the most direct connection with the heritage of the ecclesial community.”
Last month the Auckland Catholic Archives had the opportunity to put this statement into practice as the Catholic Church celebrated the feast day of Saint Mary MacKillop.
Together with Fr Julian Tenison-Woods, she founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites), a congregation of religious sisters that established a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor. You can read about her on Wikipedia:
Mother Mary of the Cross 1869
By N.N., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8047088
The diocesan archives put on display letters between Bishop Lenihan and Mary of the Cross between 1900 and 1905. This was popular with the staff of the Pompallier Centre who read the letters and were able to connect with the person.
Here are three of the letters that were on display.
LEN 24-3 No 15
LEN 24-3 No 18
LEN 24-3 No 20
Mary MacKillop had a stroke in 1902, the effects shown in her signature. She died in 1909 and was canonised in 2010.
Thank you for displaying the Diocese’s collection of personal correspondence between Bishop Lenihan and Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop on her feast day.
It provided a glimpse of the life and times of our first Southern Cross saint that would have otherwise remained cloaked, disconnected or lost to time.
The signatures on her final letters are a testament to her strength and determination, as well as the fragility and frailty of life.
A true marvel.