Marian Anniversaries

Karel Kupka, Aboriginal Madonna, oil, 1958

August 19

Star of the Sea, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia

William Bustard, Star of the Sea

In 1882, a group of Jesuits from South Australia, led by Fr. Anthony Strele, arrived in the Northern Territory as missionaries to the Aborigines. In 1888, Fr. Strele became Apostolic Administrator of the Port Victoria Diocese, with his office in Darwin (then called Palmerston), on the Timor Sea. With the help of Chinese labor, he built the city's first Catholic church, Our Lady Star of the Sea, in 1889. A cyclone destroyed the small, wooden building in 1897, and a larger one replaced it, augmented over the years as Darwin and its Catholic community grew. During World War II, Japanese bombs destroyed much of the city, including Star of the Sea Church. It was rebuilt in modern style and dedicated August 19, 1962 as St. Mary's Star of the Sea War Memorial Cathedral. In 2008 the diocese began work on remodeling the cathedral to accommodate post-Vatican II liturgical needs and its increasingly diverse congregation, in time for the 50th anniversary in 2012.

Source: the cathedral's Home Page, www.stmaryscathedral.com.au

Also commemorated this date:

	Kelahiran Santa Perawan Maria, Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia (Cathedral of Mary Immaculate). First stone laid, 1899.
	Gua Maria Padang Bulan, Pringsewu, Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia. Grotto dedicated, 1984.
	Stella del Mare, Ferruzzano, Reggio Calabria, Calabria, Italy, Marina district (Star of the Sea)
	Madonna della Vittoria, San Marco la Catola, Foggia, Puglia, Italy (Madonna of Victory)
	Our Lady of Fatima, Ramabanta, Lesotho. Shrine inaugurated, 1946.
	Matka Boża Gidelska, Gidle, Radomsko, Łódź, Poland. Statue crowned, 1923. Feast Sunday after St. Hyacinth's Day (Aug. 17).
	Matka Boska, Szczyrzyc, Jodłownik, Limanowa, Lesser Poland, Poland, Church of St. Stanislaus. 1500s painting crowned, 1984.
	Nanebovzatia Panny Márie, Lutina, Sabinov, Prešov, Slovakia (Dormition of the Virgin Mary). Apparition of St. Nicholas with icon, 1851.
	Nuestra Señora del Rocío, Almonte, Huelva, Andalucia, Spain (Our Lady of the Dew). "Rocío Chico," votive thanksgiving for liberation from Napoleon in 1810.
	Santa Maria, Stockholm, Sweden. Cloud apparition outside Santa Maria Syrian Orthodox church in Tensta district, 2012.

Where We Walked ~~~ Mary Ann Daly