Mary MacKillop Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian nun who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known for her activities in South Australia. Together with the Reverend Julian Tenison Woods, she founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (the Josephites), a congregation of religious sisters that established a number of schools and welfare institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand, with an emphasis on education for the rural poor.
Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt (; "") is a historical Syriac Orthodox Church in Homs, Syria. The church is built over an underground church dating back to 50 AD. It is the seat of the Syriac Orthodox archbishopric. The church contains a venerated Holy Girdle that is supposed to be a section of the belt of Mary, mother of Jesus. The church was damaged during confrontations between the armed opposition and the security forces in the 2011–2012 Syrian unrest. In 2012, reportedly confrontations caused extensive damage to the exterior of the