Julian Tenison Woods – No Ordinary Man
November 15, 2024
The early years are widely recognised to be the most important years of a child’s life. From all accounts, real love between parents and children was shown in the Tenison Woods family.
As Sr Isabel Hepburn recalls in No Ordinary Man, Julian Tenison Woods ‘mostly remembers himself as very happy in a world very bright without any dull days. All his memories of the earliest stages of life are those of a golden summertime, the horizon bounded by sunlight’. (p. 15) Noting also that the country enchanted Julian. ‘The fields, the trees, the sheep, the cattle were simply delightful to me. I thought the sight of green trees, the blossom of springtime, or the smell of new mown hay were amongst the most enjoyable things in life.“ (p. 14) From this rich foundation, the rest, as is said, is history.
Julian Tenison Woods – Encouraged by Saints
November 1, 2024
We celebrate the feast of All Saints on 1 November with a reflection by Sr Jan Tranter.
Drawn to priesthood from youth and struggling to his goal, Julian Tenison Woods was encouraged by three priests who are now recognised or on the path to be recognised as saints.
Venerable Ignatius Spencer, St Peter Julian Eymard and St Jean Marie Vianney, each affirmed Julian in his journey to priesthood. Canon Frederick Oakeley stands with them, encompassing Julian’s contact with the other three.
Love of God, love of neighbour, love of common home
October 6, 2024
Joy and Suffering
One of the greatest joys I have experienced through the Josephite charism is the beauty of relationship between Mary MacKillop and Father Julian Tenison Woods. Jan Williamson captured it wonderfully in her painting The Vision. But joy and suffering often go together.
I remember suffering when I first learned of Mary and Fr Julian’s estrangement. That luminous Vision of them both suddenly felt like a naïve fairytale. The realisation shook my confidence in the goodness of the charism. Feelings arose like those I had experienced as a young adult when my parents each explained to me how they were considering separating from one another. My response was fearful denial. I didn’t want to believe it could happen in our family. Thankfully, it didn’t. But the experience revealed the difference between a beatific vision of my family and the reality.
A Visit with Fr Julian
Father Julian Tenison Woods died on 7 October 1889 in Elizabeth Street, Sydney. Since May 1887, he had been cared for by a community of women who, under the leadership of Gertrude Abbott, would later found St Margaret’s Hospital. With their help, he was able to sort out his notes and dictate them into articles and papers, answer letters and record his memoirs. He also received many visitors, including Mary MacKillop.
I invite you to imagine being one of those visitors – making your way to Elizabeth Street and finding Fr Julian in poor health, but still welcoming and ready to talk. What would you talk about?
Julian Tenison Woods: A many-sided mind
Photo of Julian Tenison Woods taken in Perak, Malay Peninsula in 1883.
Father Julian Tenison Woods died on 7 October 1889. He was in his fifty-seventh year and extremely unwell. Julian had returned to Sydney after extensive and exhausting field work in parts of Australasia and the Northern Territory.
Many of the letters and reports he wrote while abroad have survived. In letters to his friends and family, he describes the various style of his accommodations which range from a canoe, to the homes of those representing the face of the British Empire and royal palaces. He includes observations of the local flora and fauna he encounters, or in the case of the tigers narrowly avoiding an encounter. He tells of joining the missionary priests whenever circumstances permitted and celebrating the sacraments in exotic settings. In articles destined for Australian newspapers, he writes an account of the causes and aftermath of the eruption of Krakatoa. The reports he prepared for the government commissions detail his observations and surveys of minerals and other natural resources.
The Gift of Fr Julian Tenison Woods
As we celebrate Father Julian Tenison Woods’ day (7 October) in our Josephite story, we give thanks for his gift to us, our Church and our world. Julian was a noted pastor, missionary, scientist, musician and writer.
Julian had a deep love for nature and often encountered experiences of the Divine in his contemplation of nature. In a letter he wrote to Mary MacKillop, he said:
Fr Julian and the forests of Tasmania – his own words
September 26, 2024
Father Julian Tenison Woods was born on 15 November 1832 in England and entered eternal life on 7 October 1889 in Sydney. A young Julian arrived in Tasmania (from England) on 30 January 1855 and was a priest there from 25 February 1874 until 15 November 1876.
Let us celebrate, in his own words, Fr Julian in Tasmania, as he experienced the forests on this beautiful island…
Julian Tenison Woods – ‘A Man of God’
August 7, 2024
On 9 June 1974, the Minister for Lands in Queensland, the Hon. Mr Wallace Rae MIA, officiated at the ceremony which named the highest peak in the D’Aguilar Ranges, forty-eight kilometres north-west of Brisbane, ‘Tenison Woods Mountain’.
In his tribute to Fr Julian, Mr Rae described Julian as “one of the most picturesque personalities of Australia’s early history”:
He led a strangely varied and adventurous life. He achieved distinction in many totally different spheres. He was a distinguished scientist in separate fields, a noted explorer, a writer and a missionary. But in assessing his achievements he seems to stand most prominently as a mystic and a man of God. [1]