Sr Annie Bond with statue of Mary MacKillop outside the Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel, North Sydney.

Bookings are now open for pilgrims to participate in the popular Australian National Pilgrimage: In the Footsteps of Mary MacKillop run by Mary MacKillop Place and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

The next pilgrimage will be running from 17 – 28 October 2023 and will visit many places associated with Mary MacKillop’s life and ministry in Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales.

The Pilgrimage is led by Sr Anne Bond rsj, a Sister from the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and Mr Garry McLean, the inaugural Director of the Mary MacKillop Heritage Centre, East Melbourne.

“This is a unique opportunity for participants to enter more deeply into the life and spirituality of Saint Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods and to appreciate Mary’s role as our first canonised Australian saint,” says Sr Anne.

“The notion of going on a pilgrimage and being a pilgrim is a very ancient one that belongs to the spiritual tradition of all great faiths. It is a very personal experience, but it is usually a journey with others: seeking, listening, reflecting and seeing the hand of God at work in our own lives.”

The Australian National Pilgrimage will begin in East Melbourne on 17 October and conclude at Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney on 28 October. Along the way pilgrims will visit historic sites and towns including Portland, Penola, Robe and the Mary MacKillop Chapel in North Sydney.

Website: www.marymackillopplace.org.au/retreats-sprituality/australian-national-pilgrimage
Email: national.pilgrimage@mmp.org.au
Phone: (02) 8912 4818