MARY MACKILLOP

• Born 15/1/1842 in Melbourne, Australia.
• Father Woods wanted to form an order of Australian nuns who could provide teaching in remote areas of Australia’s outback.
• This order was known as the Josephites and they were dedicated to educating children of the poor.

The rules for the order were:-

• They were not allowed to own any personal things.
• They had to go wherever they were needed.
• In 1865 Father Tennison Woods asked Mary to teach in Penola.
• The school was started in an old stable and was the first, free Catholic school in Australia.

JOSEPHITE NUNS COME TO NEW ZEALAND

• In 1883 a group of 3 Josephites arrived in Temuka, South Island to open a parish school.
• The order of Mary Mackillops Josephites were, and still are, recognised by their monogram.

• The A and M’s = Ave Maria
• J for Jesus
• J for Joseph
• J for John the Baptist

JOSEPHITE NUNS BEGIN AT ST PETER CHANEL

• In January 1957, St Peter Chanel School in Motueka, New Zealand opened.
• The first Josephite sisters to teach at the school were Sisters Gabriel Bendall and Philomena Turney.
• The school opened with 3 classrooms and 44 pupils.
• In 1957, the Josephite Nuns of our school still lived by the rules for the order.
• The sisters had to live at the school for a while. The office, kitchenette and library became their home.
• They went wherever they were needed.

First days 1957

50 years later

Today 2007