Fifty women, some who were accused of disobedience but went on to change the course of the Church’s history, have been featured in a new book. Source: The Catholic Leader.
Mary MacKillop and the Path of the Foundress, written by Brisbane author Carrie Lock, details the lives of 50 women who founded religious orders, uncovering their moments of struggle, opposition, joy and peace.
With a particular focus on St Mary MacKillop, the patron saint of the Brisbane archdiocese, the book will be launched on her feast day of August 8.
St Mary MacKillop co-founded the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in South Australia in 1866.
Five years later, she was excommunicated by the bishop. The excommunication was lifted five months later. She became Australia’s first canonised saint in 2010.
As change agents, the foundresses needed to be risk-takers to redefine social boundaries, Ms Lock said.
“And this required a very mature understanding of obedience,” she said.
“In honouring their call, they were sometimes even accused of disobedience, as happened to St Mary MacKillop, which resulted in her excommunication.”
It is the dimension of woman that makes the stories of foundresses fascinating and inspiring.
In addition to challenges met in common with male founders, these women had to “operate as a woman in a world – and even more so in a Church – that didn’t always welcome such strong, determined women”.
The life of St Mary MacKillop was unique and part of a long tradition of women who were ready to put themselves aside in response to God.
“It was an incredible sense of conviction in her God-given calling that enabled the foundress to forge ahead. As St Mary wrote in 1907: ‘We must let no obstacles deter us from proceeding with courage in the path marked out for us,’” Ms Lock said.
During research, Ms Lock saw a pattern in the lives of women who had founded religious congregations.
“The first theme I discovered was the fruitfulness of their middle-aged life. It was amazing how often something pivotal in the life of the foundress happened at around the age of 39,” she said.
Eventually there were 17 themes that became evident across the lives of 50 foundresses.
Those themes formed the basis of the book.
Mary MacKillop and the Path of the Foundress will be released after the feast day Mass at St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane, on August 8. The first copy of the book will be gifted to the Josephite Sisters.
FULL STORY
Tracing the path of brave Catholic women who set out to live their faith (By Kymberlee Gomes, The Catholic Leader)
