Physics teacher, Mrs. Ash has an ancestor, Mary McKillop, who will soon be canonized this year in Rome. Sharing the same great-great grandfather, the “McKillops always stick together” even through all of the difficult times they have faced in the past, Mrs. Ash’s husband exclaims. McKillop lived in Australia, and helped begin the Sisters of St. Joseph, which now has thousands of sisters throughout Australia who teach and help the poor.

In the late 1700s life was very difficult for those who lived in the Highlands of Scotland, especially if they were Catholic. Many residents were forced to leave, and in 1804 Ash’s ancestors moved from Scotland to Cape Breton Island, which is a part of Nova Scotia in the eastern part of Canada. Ash’s grandmother and grandfather moved when they were very young, from Cape Breton to Boston, where her family still resides. When her grandfather moved to Boston, “the immigration people assumed he was Irish because he was Catholic, so they changed his name from MacKillop to the Irish spelling, McKillop,” explains Ash. It was not unusual to have names changed during this time.

Meanwhile, Mary McKillop’s father left Scotland in 1838 to live in Australia. Before her parents had met, her mother also moved from Scotland to Australia in 1840. Soon after, they met and were married; they had Mary, baptized as Maria Helen, born in 1842. McKillop’s father was very well educated, but he could not get a good job. Therefore, her family lived in poverty and they had to depend on their close relatives. They moved many times throughout Australia.

When McKillop was a young woman, she worked as a governess. She met a priest, Father Julian Woods, and he asked her to teach in a small school he had just opened. He needed help educating the children and teaching them about religion. Many other young women joined, and this soon formed an order of sisters. McKillop faced much opposition from other male bishops and clergymen, and “she was even excommunicated once by the bishop! But she was later removed…” explains Ash.  “She faced many, many challenges, but always depended on her faith in God’s goodness.”

According to Religiousfacts.com, “The primary purpose of canonization is to officially authorize veneration and intercession of a particular saint. The investigation process that precedes canonization seeks primarily to ensure that the person is in heaven and God is working through him or her.” The canonization process usually occurs between 5 and 50 years after the individual’s death. A request needs to be made by people from the candidate’s community. After an intense evaluation, the Pope declares canonization at a mass, in the newly condemned Saint’s honor.

The family is very proud to have a connection to this amazing and inspirational woman.