Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey was celebrated at a Mass of Thanksgiving on Friday at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne. Source: Melbourne Catholic.
On November 21, Pope Leo XIV honoured the sister-doctor’s remarkable life, from her upbringing in rural Victoria to helping millions in India, when he accorded her the title Venerable.
Following the Mass, the congregation moved to the Australian Catholic University’s Cathedral Hall – the site where, in 1916, Mary Glowrey delivered her inaugural speech as the founding president of the Catholic Women’s Social Guild, now known as the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga.
The evening’s emcee, Gabrielle McMullen, director of Mary Glowrey Heritage, noted the “tangible link between then and now, between a life lived in faith and the Church’s recognition of that life today.”
Mary Glowrey was exceptional. She studied medicine at a time when few women did, and practised in Melbourne for several years. The call to India came to her while she was sitting in St Patrick’s Cathedral, where she was a parishioner, and she left to do missionary work in 1920.
She joined the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph in India, becoming Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart. For 37 years, she served as a medical missionary, founding the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), which has since grown from 16 sisters into a network of more than 3500 member organisations.
Catholic Women’s League president Jane Munro addressed a common question regarding Glowrey’s identity: “We’re sometimes asked, if Mary Glowrey becomes a saint, would she be a saint for India or for Australia? We always answer: both. One of the graces flowing from her cause has been the connection between Australia and India.”
This enduring connection was highlighted with the presence of several CHAI delegates, including the outgoing Director General, Fr Dr Matthew Abraham, and his successor, current Associate Director General Sr Dr Helen Mary Anthony.
The delegation is in Australia to take part in the University of Melbourne – St Vincent’s Health Sr Dr Mary Glowrey Scholars Program, which provides training for leaders at CHAI.
Mary Glowrey Museum curator Fiona Power said the evening was also a celebration of Mary Glowrey’s spirit.
“‘What Mary Glowrey did, her achievements, her ongoing legacy, sparked from who she was. From a young age, Mary set a course for holiness, on loving God and other people with all she had, fuelled by prayer.
“She persevered in this through significant changes in direction and circumstance, true adversity, true illness and prolonged suffering. And it’s this interior life that’s the key advancement, of course, for canonisation.”
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Selfless, faithful and a great doctor: Melbourne celebrates Venerable Mary Glowrey (Melbourne Catholic)
