Original subtitles

Mary is not the first person who's been made a saint

who had difficulties with authorities.

To some extent it's almost a prerequisite for saints

that they disturb the natural order of things.

There is a widespread... unfortunately widespread... opinion

that saints are born saints, or that they are infallible,

or they're completely alien and exempt from any human weakness.

These conceptions are totally wrong.

If we talk about heroic virtue,

well, it means that you 're not born that way.

To be heroic, you've got to battle in some way.

So Mary obviously had her battles.

If we could only remember we are but travellers here.

With this thought ever in our minds,

how easy would the daily trials of life become to us.

Great burdens would become great blessings.

Grace, found through adversity.

From early childhood...

Mary.

...I had a sense of another presence

that's made everything that's hard easy.

If ever there's a taste of bitterness...

Yes.

...something calm and soft raises my spirit above it all.

Yes.

At six, she told people that she had a vision from a beautiful lady

who told her that she had a great work ahead of her

and that she would be there to help her and guide her.

And she said that that lady appeared to her over a period of time.

And at that stage she didn't really fully understand what it was about,

but she wrote about it when she was 20.

So there's a kind of a feeling of fate in that, if you like,

that there was something that Mary came into the world to do.

Hold on. Here's a corner.

Ew. Makes you sick.

Ew!

Watch out. Coming through!

Here. Let's cut its head off.

Ew! There's guts all over the place.

Donald, do you have a kiss for me?

Oh! You don't have a kiss for your big sister. That's a bit mean.

Hey, hey, hey.

Hey, nobody splashes me, Donald MacKillop.

I'll tell you what I'll have to do with you... take you inside.

Quiet, you two. I can't think.

Where have you been?

I stopped off at the markets.

What's wrong?

Your father. He's not leaving Glasgow for another two months.

Has he forgotten?

How can a grown man forget?

What does he say?

Here. You know what he's like.

A dreamer. Head in the clouds, head in a book.

Will they take the house this time?

Of course they will. I've run out of excuses.

Ouch! that hurt.

Didn't touch her.

That's enough.

We can ask Uncle Peter for another loan.

We won't. I'll not go begging again.

Papa's been a bad boy!

Lexie.

I can ask for a month's advance on my wages.

- That'll give us some more time. - That won't be enough, Mary.

Mama, there's got to be something we can do.

Are you ready for your supper, Master MacKillop?

William, I hope you 're very well.

Thank you, Father. I loved the sermon this morning.

How kind.

The way you spoke about the schools for the poor.

- Thank you. And you 're Mary... - Mary MacKillop.

I'm the new governess for the Camerons. This is Olivia.

- Yes. Yes. - Jonathan.

How's that Latin coming along, Jonathan?

He's improving. Aren't you?

Well, you 're lucky to have a teacher like this.

Why, thank you. I enjoy teaching very much.

Well, see you next week, then.

Yes.

I think Father Woods was rather a romantic figure.

Bit of dash about him.

He was a very brilliant man and he was a man who was multifaceted...

he was a priest, he was a scholar,

he was a botanist, he was a geologist.

He had a kind of compelling personality.

And I think he was probably quite different

to anybody else that was around.

And we must remember, everybody deserves an edu...

Everybody has a God-given right to an education.

The future of this country depends on the education of our children.

If our children remain ignorant, the whole colony will suffer.

Excuse me, Father.

Mary.

I was asked to bring you this.

It's from my aunt.

How kind.

How are you settling in, then?

- Fine. - Good.

Father, can I ask you something?

- Yes? - It's about your sermon yesterday.

Yes, of course.

You said that everyone has the right to an education,

that knowledge can set you free.

But schooling's expensive. Not everyone can afford an education.

Well, it's a difficult area. I've thought about it a lot.

Somehow we need schools to be free.

That would solve the problem.

As it happens, I have an idea.

It's not completely practical.

What is it?

A teaching order of nuns.

It doesn't exist yet. I'm still thinking it through.

They'll teach only the poor and live like the poor.

It would be the first Australian order,

uniquely designed for this impossible, mosquito-ridden country.

I think you can repeat after me.

Today is St Joseph's Day...

Today is St Joseph's Day...

...19th of March...

...19th of March...

...1866.

...1866.

Dearest Mama,

I have long wished to enter religious life.

The thought of leaving you gave me much pain and anxiety.

Don't dread the future. I feel sure you won't have cause.

What appear great crosses can be great blessings.

Father Woods had a very attractive personality.

And there are stories around

saying that some of the mothers locked their doors

and wouldn't let their daughters out when Father Woods was coming

because they were afraid they would go off

and join the Sisters of St Joseph.

I'm now a sister of St Joseph,

devoted completely to the work I care about...

the education of children living in humble circumstances.

My heart is at rest and my spirit feels free.

They felt that if they adopted a kind of poverty

where they owned nothing,

where they lived in rented accommodation and so on,

they were really one with the poor people.

As sisters, we shall wear a monogram with three letters, 'J',

in honour of Jesus, St Joseph and St John the Baptist.

To maintain our integrity, we shall govern ourselves.

We will be responsible only to our mother general.

Mary and Father Woods chose autonomy because they needed it.

They were setting up an Australia-wide order,

which was quite a new concept in its time, anyway,

and they had to have the ability to have control of themselves.

They needed to be able to train their own people

and they needed to be able to move them round the country as needed.

And the order set out to work in cooperation with the bishops

but that they weren't to have the final say.

Very good. Well done, Emma.

Now, where did I put that providence bag?

Did I put it over... No.

No, no, no. I'm sure I didn't. I didn't leave it in the box this time.

Oh!

Here you are.

- Thank you. - Good girl.

Alright. Who else would like a turn?

James, you've had your turn today.

Me. Me. Please?

- Alright, Johnny. You go. - Why does he always get it?

And I would like you to write the capital of Queensland, please.

Excuse me.

- Good morning, Sister. - Good morning.

Governor Daly has instructed me

to bring his grandson, young Thomas, to join your class.

He's most welcome.

We've heard only the best reports about your schools.

Thank you.

Hello, Tommy.

Hello.

His name is Thomas.

Thomas.

Follow me, Thomas.

Emma, this is Thomas.

- Here's a slate for you and... - Excuse me, Sister.

Thomas can't sit there.

He requires special care.

Special care?

Governor Daly would expect him to be seated separately from the others.

Everyone's equal before God, sir.

We are all equally special.

I'm sure he'll be very happy sitting where he is.

That's all very well, Sister,

but I know the governor will not be satisfied with this arrangement.

I'm sorry, sir. We make no exceptions.

All the children sit together.

I must tell the governor before we can allow the boy to stay.

We'd love to have Thomas in our class.

We shall see. Come along, Thomas.

- Good morning, Sister. - Good morning.

The first thing that happened was that they were a big success.

They had 60 pupils in the first school,

and in six months it had gone to 200.

I think within two years they had 127 nuns running 17 institutions.

They're the bare facts.

So it says that the service they were offering was needed.

They set out to provide a basic education

for the children of poor families,

most of whose parents were illiterate,

and their aim was to teach the children

to read and understand an ordinary newspaper,

to write simple letters correctly,

and to do enough sums to be able to manage their money.

Of course, that's the significant thing about Mary MacKillop,

that she set up an educational system that had a curriculum.

Now, it was very pragmatic and practical,

but that's what she saw that the poor needed.

What will I say?

Let me show you.

- Always be as friendly as possible. - Mm-hm.

- Good morning to you. - Morning.

We're the Sisters of St Joseph.

We were hoping you might have food to spare for the poor orphans.

No. We got nothing to give away to no-one.

That was for us. Do you have anything for the children?

You don't give up, do you?

Thought you nuns were supposed to be locked up in the convent.

Too many homeless children for us to be locked up.

Well, I might have a few scraps to give you.

Humph. Come round begging.

Well, the sisters went begging

because they had no other way to provide.

Mary had this idea that...

She'd set up what she called 'houses of providence'

and the idea was that God would provide.

But being the practical woman she was,

she gave him ample opportunity to see that he did something about it.

The order was set up in a series of small houses

and the nuns often lived two together in remote areas.

They had to be very independent people themselves

in order to survive there, because there was no kind of support.

They didn't have the communication systems that they have now.

Come on. Get up.

Oh, Sister Agnes.

- Have you got that kettle on? - Yes.

So she'd get on a horse and she'd travel for days

to get to visit her nuns

because she always acted in a maternal way towards them.

Like, she was maternal and she supported them,

but she supported them to be independent, not to be dependent,

and that was the difference.

She visited the jails, the hospitals...

and the Royal Adelaide Hospital was a place where you went to die,

it wasn't a nice place like a hospital is now...

and the destitute asylum,

and in those places they met people who needed care,

young women who had nowhere to go when they got out of jail.

So they established a refuge for those women, for street women,

and eventually for unmarried mothers.

Get up!

They were not like the kind of nuns

that most of those people would have met at home in Ireland or in Europe.

They didn't stay inside their big convents.

They went out into the streets to the people.

The bishop approved of everything that they were doing

because they could see that they were doing a good job.

They also had support from across the religious lines at that stage.

And that's something that Mary pretty well retained

all through her life and indeed after her death.

Protestant, Catholic and Jew

would have been the main categories of people there,

and she got help from everybody.

A few of the upper-class Catholics

were a little nervous of what was happening

because they weren't quite sure.

It was a little bit different, they were a little bit afraid of change,

and, "What if it goes wrong? What if this movement fails?

"What if the Protestants find," you know,

"that Catholics aren't quite as good as we like to pretend we are?"

So although on the one hand they were very successful,

they also built up a...

...an atmosphere of hostility over a period of time,

mainly, I think, against Julian and some of his decisions.

But then that, in turn, reflected back on the nuns.

When Father Woods started teaching them how to be sisters

he introduced them to the mysticism

of the medieval saints,

which was something that was far beyond their ability to cope with.

And so he had some rather strange things happening,

like because they wanted to please him, they tried to get visions

and other mystical experiences

such as were described in the books about these 13th-century women.

So, how have you managed without me, Father?

Oh, we couldn't have hoped for better.

12 more girls have joined us in the last month alone.

That's wonderful.

Young ones are so inspired by you.

What do you mean by that?

Nothing.

- Oh, Mary. - Oh.

You don't look well.

Mary, I'm profoundly exhausted.

You've been working too hard while I've been away.

I can't seem to rest while I'm here. There's too much to do.

Well, then, you must go away and rest.

The bishop of Bathurst has offered me sanctuary.

Oh, good. Good. I can look after things here.

The last few months have been an absolute torment.

Some of the priests here don't understand what we're doing.

I have heard some very strange stories.

Didn't you get my letters?

Our sisters have been accused of stealing the blessed sacrament.

This is an extraordinary time. Not everything can be explained.

What do you mean?

Some of the sisters have been tested.

Their faith in God has been on show for all to see.

The fire in the convent.

Yes, but it's more than that. We've been wrestling with the devil.

Father, there...

There are deep, deep dangers in the spiritual life.

He came again last night.

Sister Angela was awakened by a devil.

I saw him. He came as a hideous dog.

I threw holy water on him and, of course, he fled.

But then he stood in the doorway,

abusing me and spitting at Sister Angela.

She was moaning with the agony but she remained pure,

like St Teresa, "To suffer or to die."

It's so hard to be sure about these things.

You doubt me?

You must rest, Father.

It happens at times that among nuns you find some types

who are, frankly, hysterical.

That's not very frequent, but it does happen,

and she had the misfortune among the first group of her sisters

to have two of them who pretended to have visions,

to have diabolical vexations

and other things like that... stigmata and all that.

Now, Mary MacKillop,

who was very down-to-earth and who was a very shrewd person

with regard to the assessment of people,

was utterly reserved with regard to this.

But Father Woods, who at that time had still a great influence, favoured them

and this caused a good deal of trouble.

In the event, the two sisters admitted

that the whole thing had been a fraud.

Mary and Father Woods, I think, in the early stages were friends.

He was spiritual advisor

and to a certain extent I think he was mentor.

But that was only in the early stages.

I think as the religious order got underway

and Mary took on more and more responsibilities...

She was 10 years his junior,

but she took on a lot of the administrative responsibilities

and she began to grow in that.

And I have the feeling that Julian Woods was more of a visionary,

the kind of person who started things off

but didn't necessarily develop them

and continue them through in an administrative manner.

I don't think he was nearly as good at that.

And that's where Mary came into her own.

The bishop has shown us generous support until now.

But I fear that these mystical events

have put our entire order into disrepute.

Certainly the bishop's council thinks lowly of us.

Ah, Sister Mary, Sister Teresa.

Oh, pray be seated.

Thank you, my Lord.

You'll be pleased to know we set up four new schools in Queensland.

Oh, very good. Very good.

Is there something I can do for you, Sister Mary?

My Lord, I'm worried about your decision to divide the sisters.

Why is that?

We're a democratic order.

It doesn't matter to us what size dowry a sister brings with her.

Your proposal, my Lord, asks that we make distinctions

between the rich and the poor sisters.

Your sisters, Sister Mary, have become women of the street.

My Lord, there must be some misunderstanding.

It appears the devil has got amongst you.

Please allow me to explain.

In my absence, Father Woods has been under much duress.

Father Woods is unfit for his duties. I'll be taking over.

My Lord, you've always approved of our work until now.

Your sisters can't even teach.

Perhaps you mean the younger ones.

- They're still... - Your standards aren't high enough.

The younger ones are still in training. They're only assisting.

I mean no disrespect, my Lord.

I'll examine your sisters.

I'll decide who's good enough and the rest will be dismissed.

The convent will go to the Dominican nuns.

A smaller house will be found for you and your sisters.

We prefer simplicity.

And I want you to teach music.

Music is for those who can afford a piano, my Lord.

My Lord, would you be kind enough

to write down the changes you wish to make to the rule?

I'll do no such thing. I'll not humour the whim of a female.

I made the rule. I can change it when and as I please.

I know better what is good for the sisters than you do yourselves.

Mary was bigger than the people around her quite often

and she just couldn't go along

with forsaking her larger loyalties for smaller ones.

She would have loved to obey... and she says this...

even the least of the priests who were around her.

She would have loved to obey them.

But she found herself with a crisis of conscience

and she had to work out where her greater loyalties were.

My Bishop, it is in the most docile spirit

that I now venture to write the thoughts of my heart.

From the time I gave myself completely to this world

I have found true peace.

I want to please you, but above all to please God.

"I want to please you, but above all to please God.

"You kindly approved our rule as it now stands.

"If you should alter our rule,

"I must take the alternative that you have offered and leave.

"Pardon me if I say that I cannot in conscience see our rule altered

"and still remain a Sister of St Joseph."

How dare she?

"I implore your pardon, my Lord, if I presume too much."

And so where is Sister Mary?

We beg your pardon, my Lord. Sister Mary's been ill.

She is on her way.

I trust we have not disturbed your sleep.

Your Lordship, Fathers, I humbly apologise for my delay.

I've not been well this morning.

Oh, you'll get no blessings from me.

Do not stand!

I hope you 're satisfied, Sister Mary.

On account of your disobedience and rebellion

you leave me no option.

I, Bishop Sheil,

through the power invested in me by the holy church of Rome,

do solemnly declare that you, Sister Mary MacKillop,

are from this time forth

excommunicated from the holy Catholic church.

You are now Mary MacKillop,

free to return to the world.

And take your weakness with you, young lady.

Sister Mary! Sister Mary!

Anyone speaking with this woman will be excommunicated along with her.

Mary, do something with your sisters.

Silence!

Don't leave us, Mary.

- Don't. - Please, Paula, let me go.

Be strong for me.

I really felt like someone in a dream.

I can't remember the things that were said to me.

I did not feel alone.

I was intensely happy

and felt nearer to God than I had ever felt before.

Mary was excommunicated because, basically,

the clergy could not accept that the Josephites were proper nuns.

They wanted to fit them into the mould

of the Irish religious whom they knew,

and they led the bishop to believe that he needed to take strong action

because there were some things that were happening among the nuns

that were not quite right.

My movements are well watched

and the most absurd stories are going about,

one that I'm dead and buried.

Had it not been for the kindness of a few who have given me refuge

I would have fled from this place altogether.

Many of the sisters have been dispensed or expelled.

I meet with them in secret so as to avoid scandal.

First of all, she was tossed out. 47 of her nuns followed her.

They didn't have anywhere to live because they didn't own any property.

A Jewish friend gave the other nuns a house,

and it should be understood that Mary was excommunicated

and it was said

that anybody who spoke to her would also be excommunicated.

So there was a lot of danger in people even talking to her.

In a paper called the 'Protestant Advocate',

which was a very strong,

'Truth'-type paper of the day...

And the person who wrote there claimed

that some of the sisters were pregnant,

that they were having a very good night-life

that was being kept pretty, you know, on the side,

and that, generally speaking,

life in the convent was a little bit like hell on earth.

And they also claimed

that Father Woods got around with his head in the clouds

and had no idea what was going on.

"And so, my dear child,

"let us leave each other alone for a time.

"My work with the Sisters of St Joseph is over.

"You would get on much better without me.

"Let us be done with painful recollections and sad words.

"I am sorry if I have caused you pain.

"It was a sad day for your soul when you met me.

"I fear it is my misfortune to do more harm than good."

Certainly, she had to undergo a number of trials,

and she would not have been human

if she hadn't greatly suffered from that.

And she did suffer from it, and understandably so.

But on the other hand, there is nothing in her make-up

as far as we could ascertain...

I have investigated this question thoroughly

because it is an important point...

there is absolutely nothing that would be the slightest indication

that she was revengeful

or that she was embittered against the bishop or anything like that.

Dearest Mama,

I am quite confident that the bishop will soon realise

he's been misled about us.

Bishops and priests have an awful power.

How terrible in the sight of God it must be if that is abused.

I'm not afraid.

I feel protected.

There may be storms in the life of a saint

but ultimately there must be serenity.

This confidence in God and this feeling close to God,

and knowing that He would not abandon her,

that gave her this tranquillity, this serenity,

and even spiritual joy in the midst of her tribulation and crosses.

Bishop Sheil was on his deathbed in a little town south of Adelaide.

He had gone there thinking that his health might improve.

And some of the priests that surrounded him,

realising that he was so close to death,

suggested that perhaps the excommunication

had been a very sad mistake.

During his last days,

Bishop Sheil expressed sorrow for the injustice of his conduct towards us.

He lifted the sentence of excommunication from me.

Father Woods was the first person to suggest that Mary go to Rome,

and the reason for it was that he felt

that the order would face more troubles

unless it got the backing of Rome

and became an established order in its own right.

It is unsafe in the present state of Italy

to go in religious habit.

There is civil war here and the church is being persecuted.

I have to travel incognito.

I was so pleased to see the Holy Father.

He knew that I was the excommunicated one

but he let me see that he has a father's heart

when he laid his hands upon my head.

I felt more than I can attempt to say.

He's much thinner than I would expect from the photographs.

The pope of the time had a great interest

in the promotion of social justice

and therefore the project of Mary MacKillop

immediately appealed to him.

And meeting her personally, he also got the impression

that she would be able to carry out this project.

I am much comforted

that the Holy Father thought that our rule of self-government

must be strengthened rather than done away with.

This means that we will be directly responsible to him.

I feel secure that we're well supported here.

The pope believes that our vow of poverty is too severe

and that we shouldn't risk being turned out into the streets again.

He also informed me

that Father Woods can no longer be our spiritual director.

My dear, dear Mary...

...since you took over the management, disaster has reigned.

You went to Rome against my wishes

and destroyed the poverty and the simplicity of the sisterhood.

You then had me purposely removed as director.

You have caused me much humiliation and suffering.

I therefore decline to renew any relations with you.

And from that point

it seems that he and Mary separated from each other,

almost each believing that the other was out to destroy the work

that they had begun together.

And the sad part of it was that after that,

he became quite vindictive in some of his behaviour.

And I believe that some of that reaction

came from the fact that he really loved Mary

and that he was grieving for her loss.

I believe that Mary grieved for his loss too.

I mean, Mary came back to Australia

in the sure knowledge that Rome backed her.

So she had a place, a central place to call to, if you like,

knowing that she had got support, and she played that card very well.

She was actually a very good politician, you know.

So she played that card very well right throughout her life,

and she did have a sense

that her direct responsibility, line, was to Rome

rather than to her immediate superiors in Australia.

Like, there was a hierarchy and Rome was top of the tree,

in a three-dimensional world, anyway.

I mean, religions are intermediaries for the divine,

which they sometimes forget.

Thank you, my Lord.

There were two Quinn bishops.

They were two very strong characters

of the real hierarchical church mould.

"The bishop is the boss."

Oh, Mother Mary of the Cross.

To what do we owe the pleasure?

I've come in peace, my Lord.

I am sorry, young lady. I'm in a terrible hurry.

I'd like to discuss your decision to separate our Queensland sisters.

There is nothing more for us to discuss.

It will only take a moment, my Lord.

Very well, then. Speak.

We have no argument here if you allow the sisters to continue as before.

Your sisters are teaching in my schools.

Therefore they remain under my authority. It's very simple, really.

They are not the terms under which we came here in the first place.

And what terms are you referring to, young lady?

Our sisters are responsible only to the motherhouse.

Oh. You mean to you, Mother Mary.

In this instance, yes.

But I'm speaking of the principle.

I do not recognise such principle.

If they're separated from us, they're no longer Sisters of St Joseph.

I think you forget who I am.

You want us to teach the rich and forget the poor.

That is contrary to our vows.

I've no more to say on the matter.

We can't run an exclusive boarding school.

The sisters cannot remain where their very beliefs are being ridiculed.

The sisters will have no more contact with you.

- They won't agree to that. - Yes, they will.

Father Woods will be joining us shortly

and I'm going to make him director again.

If you do not leave at once...

...I will have you removed.

Good day to you.

The bishop here in Brisbane has a terrible dislike for me.

Sometimes I get tired of so much opposition

from people I wish to look up to.

As matters now stand, Father Woods is not our friend.

I don't like to think about him at all.

What Mary and her nuns set up in Brisbane

was something that was needed.

The Catholic population there

could see that they were getting very good service indeed

and they stood by the nuns.

So there was a public tirade when the controversy blew up.

And he ran a public campaign against her from the pulpit.

But, I mean, he'd get petitions with hundreds of signatures on it

from people saying, "Oh, no," you know, "they should stay."

I could no longer argue with the bishop.

Rather than compromise,

I have been forced to withdraw the sisters from Queensland altogether.

Nothing else could be done.

We are all sorry to have to leave the children without teachers.

She came to be faced with a situation

which she had to deal with whether she liked it or not...

and she didn't like it at all.

I mean, she went through

endless physical and emotional reactions

to what was happening to her.

But again and again and again, she had to dive down in herself

into the sort of deep well that she had that was spiritual

and find out what mattered most.

My bodily health is bad...

...but the mental distress is worse.

I'm so weary of the struggle.

I feel utterly alone.

One of her main problems

was that she suffered from very painful periods

and that for some considerable time

they didn't come once a month, they came about once a fortnight.

I believe that a lot of this was stress related.

She was a woman who had tremendous respect for the bishops

and yet she never expressed any anger.

I believe that some of it was the result of repressed anger,

because a good nun doesn't say nasty things about bishops.

You know, if she'd kicked the cat

or done something like slammed a few doors, she might have felt better.

And how was your journey, Mother?

Oh, fine. Though I do get tired of travelling.

I see you've been very busy.

Yes. The new schools are coming along well.

I am rather worried about the size of our debt.

- How much is it? - It's all there on the last page.

- �10,000. - Mmm.

We've tried to raise funds but the sisters are too busy

with the schools and the refuge and everything to go out begging,

and the interest just keeps growing all the time.

We can't seem to stay ahead.

Don't worry, Teresa. You 're doing a very fine job, really. Very fine.

- Thank you, Mother. - It's true.

I feel very secure knowing you 're in charge here.

This is such a small amount in comparison to the work we've done.

We've achieved an enormous amount

and we couldn't have done it without borrowing money.

Yes, you 're right.

We'll go through the books this afternoon and we'll work out a plan.

We've survived worse than this.

It's wonderful to have you home again, Mother.

I'm happy to be here.

Milk?

Thanks. I'll help myself.

So how's Sister Francesca?

I'm afraid Sister Francesca has left us.

She's left us?

She's gone.

She sent back her habit

with a note saying she couldn't wait to be dispensed from her vows.

That's odd.

She's joined Father Woods in Queensland.

They'd been writing letters for some months.

I didn't know.

No-one did. It was all very secretive.

Well, she shouldn't have had any contact with Father Woods.

They'll be starting a new order over there.

I wish them well.

It's foolish, if you ask me.

How are the other sisters?

On the whole, very good.

Except for one, Mother.

Who's that?

Sister Clare is unhappy.

Sister Clare.

Some people aren't suited to this religious life, Teresa.

She saying things about you, Mother.

What could she say that hasn't been said before?

That's true.

It's just that you 're hardly ever here anymore, Mother.

Some of the sisters are losing courage.

Bishop Reynolds was a man

who should never have been made a bishop.

He was not well educated and he was not a good administrator.

He was a teetotaller, and he had gone to Rome.

And in Rome he had been hauled over the coals

about the amount of alcohol being consumed in his diocese.

"To stop abuses,

"I degree that none of religious calling in this diocese

"should take drink before dinner.

"I will suspend anyone found violating this law."

My Lord, I am grateful you have made time to see me.

You 're welcome, Sister Clare,

but I don't quite understand the urgency.

It's regarding Mother Mary.

She's acting strangely, My Lord.

Sister Clare, what are you saying?

I've seen her under the influence of drink, My Lord.

I know the doctor has ordered brandy for medicinal reasons,

but I assure you Mother Mary takes liquor to excess.

Are you sure about this?

Positive.

Be very sure about this, Sister Clare.

I've seen it with my own eyes.

Mary had health problems. She had menstrual difficulties.

She wasn't the only one of the nuns that had them.

She had dysmenorrhoea.

And she had alcohol prescribed for her by a doctor

with the bishop's consent.

That was the cure for dysmenorrhoea at that time... it was brandy.

We have to investigate in the causes of saints

every single aspect in the life of a candidate

and especially the various problems that have arisen.

If we would have come to the conclusion

that there was anything wrong in her behaviour,

we would have stopped the cause immediately.

"Well, well.

"So your motto is 'Hoodwink the bishop."'

'Hoodwink the bishop.'

"You made a promise to be open and candid.

"Instead, you've kept me in the dark about your scandalous habits. "

I do not enter into any explanations.

I simply deny the charges made against me.

Surely those who know me well...

...surely they can tell a different tale.

"It is no longer in the interests

"of peace and good order

"that you remain in this province."

Oh, thank you, thank you.

"I could insist upon your resignation.

"Instead, I notify you, Mother General,

"to leave at once for Sydney."

All aboard!

Though my character is at stake here,

I thought it best to be silent.

Several sisters who have professed love and affection for me

have been insincere.

If they believe these stories to be true,

they should say so openly.

Right, we'll have you writing, Mother... there we are... with the quill.

Sister Bernard is now the mother general of our order.

There. Lovely.

The time will come for me to step down from the position of superior.

It felt strange to hand over the responsibility of the sisters.

Alright, hold that, Mother.

She was an Irish woman, upper-class, well educated,

very much inclined to go along with what the bishops wanted,

a yes-woman type of person.

Fairly indecisive, not willing to make hard decisions.

But, you know, it's very difficult for somebody who's not a leader,

as Mother Bernard wasn't,

to assume first place

and it's very difficult for somebody who was an actual leader,

as Mary was,

to assume second place.

But according to her letters, it was a most difficult time for her

and she probably went through even some crises, really, of doubt.

There's one very sad letter that she writes to her brother Donald...

and I suppose he was one of the few people she could confide in deeply...

where she said, "Look, I really wonder

"ought I ought to leave it all and go away.

"I've been tempted."

I'm relieved to be out of Sydney.

Mother Bernard and I have seriously differed on a number of occasions.

I regret having lost my temper.

My heart sank when I heard the news of Mother Bernard's death.

It was all very sudden.

I'd not seen her for many months.

May she rest in peace.

The order had spread to New South Wales, Victoria,

Queensland and New Zealand

as well as South Australia.

It's a little bit difficult to discover

how many students they were teaching by 1900,

but I think it would've been somewhere in the range of 10,000.

This year has been good to us.

We have endured the storms and grown because of them.

We can see from history

every order doing good work has been tried, as we have,

and often from within the church we so dearly love.

Remember, our many trials have done us great good.

They have strengthened us

and in the end, they have unified us.

Now, as you know, the colonies of Australia

have formed one federated country,

and I think we should all register to vote.

During elections, consider your choice carefully,

consult whomever you want to

and you 're entitled to keep your vote a secret.

But remember...

every so-called Catholic

is not always the best man for the job.

You see, the Italians have a famous proverb...

"Un santo triste � un triste santo."

It's difficult to translate that,

but I would say you could perhaps say in equivalent terms,

"A saint who is sad all the time... what kind of saint is that?"

And the reason is simple.

I think even in ordinary human life,

you will meet people who,

in their youth maybe or on other occasions,

have received so much love

and have been able to give so much love

that ultimately nothing can ever take away

their final peace of mind.

- How does that feel? - Fine.

Very hot.

I'll just be close by, Mother.

My health is increasingly betraying me.

Whilst visiting our order in New Zealand,

doctors advised me to take the thermal bath cure.

It does appear that the rheumatism in my knees has become less.

And the sisters watch over me as if their lives depended upon it.

Mary became mother general again

about 10 years before she died.

By the age of about 60, she said she was beginning to feel old.

Her health was very bad, she had a series of ailments

and three years after she became mother general,

she had a stroke which paralysed her right side.

And... I mean, typical Mary...

she learned to write and then to type with her left hand.

So her physical body was giving her great difficulties,

but her spirit remained intact.

There are stories of her not having money to buy stamps

and there are stories of her habit

being patched and darned and patched and darned

and, like, if you touched it, it fell apart irredeemably.

So that poverty thing

certainly followed through with her right to the end as well.

Today I have been much better than usual.

I have been waiting all day for visitors,

but very few came.

Even from my chair, I can give you my blessing,

which I do with all my heart.

Love one another

and let charity guide you in all your life.

Do not be afraid.

The surprising thing when Mary died...

and it's surprising because it's not usual for Australians...

many people hailed her as being a particularly holy person.

And there were a stream of people

wanting to touch her coffin with rosaries and pictures

and they spoke about her in terms of being 'saintly'.

The alcohol issue delayed the sainthood process

in the same way that the excommunication issue

delayed the sainthood process.

I mean, here you've got this woman up for sainthood

and first of all she's been excommunicated

and now she's up for alcohol.

Inevitably, it puts people off.

Then they start investigating what the circumstances were

and Mary comes out shining bright.

The process of saintmaking

has to begin on the local level.

The initiative is never taken by the hierarchy,

nor by the bishop, nor by the pope.

The initiative has to come from the people.

A number of witnesses have to be heard,

documents have to be collected,

the writings of the person in question have to be examined.

Therefore, all possible means have to be used

to collect all the materials that are available

and can be useful for the future discussions here in Rome.

Therefore, the material submitted to the judges

comprehends far more than 1,000 closely printed pages.

And from these pages,

it results that really she practised the Christian virtues,

she lived a Christian life in an exemplary way.

And therefore, before proceeding to the beatification or canonisation,

the church requires a divine sign

which according to the actual legislation of the church

is a miracle.

Now, a miracle is a special intervention of God

in the history of mankind.

I'll give you a concrete example

referring to the cause of Mary MacKillop.

30 years ago in Australia,

a lady was given up by the doctors

because she was affected by leukaemia.

She was treated by excellent doctors in Australia

and they gave no hope whatsoever.

She was completely given up, ready to die.

Mother Mary MacKillop, we pray for your intercession.

Mother Mary MacKillop, we pray for your intercession.

Please help Margaret recover from this illness.

Please help Margaret recover from this illness.

Mother Mary MacKillop, we pray for your intercession.

Please help our friend recover from her illness.

This woman suddenly was completely cured.

This was 30 years ago.

She has now six children, healthy children,

a number of...

She is a grandmother several times over.

The doctors in Australia,

specialists, Catholic and non-Catholics alike,

our medical board here in Rome who are highly trained specialists,

university professors, heads of departments

in the major hospitals here in Rome...

nobody can give us a medical explanation of such a cure.

I think saints can have a great impact on our lives,

but I think it's, um...

...it is how we view them, in a sense.

If we view saints somewhat like somebody from the Middle Ages

that we have up on a shelf

and every now and then we dust them down

or put a candle in front of them and flowers,

well, they're not going to have a lot of impact on us.

I think of her as a plain saint, you see,

because she is a person whose life you can identify with

and she's been through the mill and you can see how she handled it.

One of the ways that she handled it that I think is very important

is that she kept herself open as a human being.

She kept her heart open

even in the midst of the hells that she was going through

and she remained bigger than her circumstance.

And to a certain extent, she kept contact with two worlds.

She lived in the circumstance of this one,

but she called on spiritual help and strength

from the world that is beyond time and space,

the larger reality to which we belong.

I have always felt the compassionate presence

of eternal love.

When storms rage,

when persecutions threaten,

I quietly creep into its deep abyss

and securely sheltered there, my soul is in peace

though my body is tossed upon the stormy waves

of a cold and selfish world.

If our intention is pure

and we have charity in our hearts,

we need never fear.