Celebrations honouring Australia's only beatified nun have begun, less than a month after Pope Benedict revealed that she is likely to become a saint. The feast of Mary MacKillop starts today (Friday) with a morning mass at Mary MacKillop Memorial Chapel in North Sydney.
Mother MacKillop, who was born in Victoria in 1842, founded the Sisters of St Joseph in 1866 and died in North Sydney in 1909.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in January 1995, but remains one documented miracle away from becoming Australia's first saint.
Beatification means she is blessed and has performed a miracle, but a candidate must perform two miracles to be canonised and named a saint.
Mother Mary is said to have cured a woman of leukaemia, but it has been difficult to satisfy Vatican authorities she has performed a second miracle.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the Mary MacKillop shrine during his World Youth Day trip to Sydney last month and indicated Rome was still considering her canonisation.
Masses in her honour will be celebrated throughout the day, with the last service at 7pm (AEST).
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