NEW SAINT FOR AUSTRALIA ?

 

 

Perhaps like our own country, Australia is relatively new, so has fewer saints than Europe. So far there is only one canonized saint for Australia, Mary Ellen MacKillop (Mary of the Cross), the foundress of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (New South Wales) She died in 1909.

On the rostrum there are so far no Blesseds or Venerables, and only four Servants of God- all women, two of whom are from the laity. (Twenty others are being considered).

SERVANT of GOD EILEEN (Eily Rosaline) O'CONNER was born in 1892 in Richmond, Melbourne, Australia the oldest of four children of devout Catholic Irish parents, Charles Fergus O'Connor, clerk, and his wife Annie Kilgallim. Eileen, as she was known, when 3 fell from her pram, severely damaging her spine. Despite several operations nothing could be done to alleviate the terrible pain she endured. Later, radiologists discovered that her spine was at an angle of eighty degrees which should have prevented her from walking.

In 1902 the family moved to Sydney. When Charles died in 1911 , his widow faced great financial difficulty and sought help from a friend, a priest who introduced her to the parish priest of Coogee, Father Edward McGrath, a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. He found accommodation for the family and witnessed the courage with which Eileen met her disability. In Father McGrath's opinion she came close to death when lapsing into unconsciousness during periods of particularly intense pain.

Eileen claimed to have received a visitation from Mary, the Mother of Christ, who encouraged her to accept her suffering for the good of others. She told only Father McGrath of this and he shared with her his hope of establishing a congregation of nurses to serve the poor. Eileen entered into his scheme with enthusiasm and on 15 April 1913 moved into a rented house at Coogee which, known as Our Lady's Home, would serve as a convent for the new congregation.

She lived her short life in constant nerve pain from what was later diagnosed as transverse myelitis and underwent countless operations with little success. With limited education and no formal theological formation, Eileen embodied a distinctive spirituality marked by an unwavering devotion to Our Lady and her own willingness to endure a lifetime of suffering.

 Around this time, Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor were fortunate to secure important financial support from benefactors. However the nurses still faced unexpected opposition from church authorities in the early years.

 Allegations of an improper relationship between Eileen O’Connor and Father McGrath caused great suffering. All who knew both Eileen and Father McGrath considered the allegations rediculous.

Father McGrath was ordered to end his involvement with Eileen and Our Lady’s Nurses under threat of expulsion from his order. Eileen was threatened with excommunication if she proceeded with legal action for defamation by church authorities.

 Eileen and Father McGrath travelled to Rome in 1915 where Father McGrath’s case was successfully appealed in the Vatican Congregation for Religious.

Granted an audience with Pope Benedict XV, Eileen spoke with the Holy Father about Our Lady’s Nurses for the Poor and their mission in Australia. Eileen influenced the decision to reinstate Father McGrath as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart, but he could not return to Australia for close to 30 years.

Father McGrath joined the British Army and served as a military chaplain during the First World War and was awarded a Military Cross, and recommended for the Victoria Cross, for repeated acts of gallantry under enemy fire.

 Eileen's case against church authorities was quashed and after several months travelling in Europe and Britain, she returned to Australia.The growth of the congregation was now very much in Eileen’s hands and she provided strong leadership and direction.

She earned the affectionate nickname, The Little Mother, reflecting her short stature since her childhood injury had halted her growth.

Eileen died on 10 January 1921 of tubercular transverse myelitis (chronic tuberculosis) of the spine and exhaustion. She was 28.

In December 1936, 16 years after her death, Eileen’s coffin was moved from Randwick Cemetery to the chapel at Our Lady’s Home in Coogee. At the time, her body was found to be incorrupt. 

Photos:  Above-  Father Edward McGrath

            Left: Eileen with Theresa McLaughlin-                             1st superior of Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor.