Mary MacKillop Buc was commissioned by the Shire of Glenelg to write an hour-long cantata mass for the centenary of the death of Mary MacKillop. It was premiered by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic in Portland, Victoria. The "Mass of Mary McKillop" is a setting for congregational singing, composed by Joshua Cowie. Hymns specifically used in St Mary of the Cross celebrations including "A Saint for Today" and "Mary MacKillop, Woman of Australia" by Josephite Sister Margaret Cusack, and "If I Could Tell The Love of God", "In Love God Leads Us" and "Psalm 103" by Jesuit Priest Christopher Willcock. MacKillop is also
Mary MacKillop had a somewhat positive outlook toward the Josephites, he removed MacKillop as superior general and replaced her with Sister Bernard Walsh. Pope Leo XIII gave official approval to the Josephites as a congregation in 1885, with its headquarters in Sydney. On 31 May 1886, Mary MacKillop's mother, Flora MacKillop was travelling from Melbourne to Sydney in the SS Ly-ee-Moon, to visit Mary and another daughter who was also a nun. The ship struck a reef near the Green Cape Lighthouse. Flora, along with 70 others, died. Pope Leo XIII gave the final approval to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of