The catholic community has held masses to celebrate the feast day of saint Mary MacKillop.
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00:00It was here in Panola that Mary MacKillop founded her first school in 1866.
00:07She founded the Sisters of St Joseph's the next year.
00:10The organisation went on to start schools around Australia for the poor that became
00:15the basis of the Catholic education system that we know today.
00:18A mass was held at the church here to mark St Mary's feast day with children from the
00:22local Catholic school attending and contributing to the service.
00:26She means a lot.
00:28She's a very big role model in my life.
00:30She did so much to help the community and that's what I want to do.
00:33She's the saint of around Panola.
00:36She was here when she started her journey to become a saint so it's really important
00:41here and it's part of the culture here.
00:44Mary MacKillop became a saint in 2010 after the Catholic Church verified two miracles
00:48that it says she interceded with God to perform.
00:51Tourists can visit the schoolhouse here in Panola where Mary taught from 1867 and learn
00:56more about her life and legacy.
00:59Marie Valenzuela runs the Mary MacKillop Visitor Centre here and she says it still attracts
01:05up to 10,000 people a year.
01:07I've seen, I guess, a range of people that come through.
01:11The community of course is very proud of having the association with Mary MacKillop, but people
01:19come and they really are fascinated by what Mary achieved, a woman of the 1800s with a
01:26desire, dedication and the forbearance, I guess, to persevere with her ideals.
01:34More celebrations will be held next year to mark 15 years since Mary MacKillop was canonised
01:40and 30 years since she was beatified by Pope John Paul II in Sydney.