In 2020 there was a celebration of 10 years since the canonisation of our Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop (17th October 2010). To help mark this event, SOSJ brought together a group of people to brainstorm, come up with ideas, and put these ideas into reality to honour the anniversary. The theme for the anniversary was "take fresh courage"... Working as part of this team gave me great joy, a sense of fresh courage and I certainly learned a lot from the group. In the lead up to the anniversary, AJASS schools group had asked me to create a modern image to use in prayer cards to help our school communities (and wider) remember this occasion.

With any project it's crucial that the design is created with a purpose. The classic three W's are always important.
Why are we doing it?
Who is it for?
What do we want to produce?

With this in mind I listened, brainstormed, created ideas and worked with our community to create prayer cards and posters. The schools were very happy, as well as sharing the cards and posters with our wider community. Amazingly we sold about 40,000 prayer cards and several hundred posters - it seems that we certainly need Mary's courage! You are welcome to read some of the reviews from the shop, and posters can now be purchased here.

- The bold, modern, bright depiction of Mary links to her bold courage.
- The brown colours signify the brown habit that Mary wore.
- The teal links to the teal scarves that all the Sisters of Saint Joseph wore on the canonisation day.

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Prayer text:
Creator God, We thank you for the life and canonisation of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop.
She taught us that you understand us better than we understand ourselves.
May we trust as Mary did, being mindful of your loving presence in all we do.
​Living today with Mary’s words, leaning on you and trusting in your providence. Amen. 
“He wants us to take fresh courage - to lean more on Him and less on ourselves”. St Mary MacKillop 1877
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A big thank you to AJASS schools for trusting us with this project. I am delighted to have been able to work together to spread Mary's courage. May we continue on as Mary did with trust in our good God. 

~ Jane