Mary Glowrey
Mary Glowrey was born in 1887 in the Victorian town of Birregurra. Her family moved to the town of Garvoc when she was six months old, then north to the Mallee township of Watchem five years later. Mary attended South Melbourne College on a scholarship aged 13 and boarded with the Good Shepherd Sisters. She studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating as a doctor in 1910. Her residential year was undertaken at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand.
Dr Mary Glowrey returned to live in Melbourne in 1912. She had medical rooms in Collins Street and worked at St Vincent’s Hospital and the Eye and Ear Hospital. She became the inaugural General president of the Catholic Women’s Social Guild (now the Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga) when it was formed at Cathedral Hall in 1916.
In January 1920 Dr Mary Glowrey left her homeland, beloved family and friends, and her medical career to become a medical missionary in India. She joined the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph in Guntur. She was known as Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart JMJ. With the permission of Pope Benedict XV, she became the first Sister Doctor. For more than three decades she served marginalised women and children in India through her provision of medical care, establishment of facilities, training and networks.
She died in Bengaluru (Bangalore) in 1957.
The Cause for canonisation for Mary Glowrey opened in 2010. She was accorded the title Servant of God. Following the conclusion of the diocesan inquiry into her Cause in 2017, documents were submitted to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which currently continues its canonical investigation in Rome.
Click here for further details from the Mary Glowrey Museum
Image: Mary Glowrey Collection
Mary Glowrey Prayer Cards
The Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga has created beautiful Mary Glowrey prayer cards.
The card shows Mary Glowrey reading to children in India on the front, with the following words from Mary: “There is but one question. Does Our Lord want me to do this for him?” On the back is the prayer for the canonisation of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey JMJ, Servant of God. The imprimatur is by Archbishop Peter A Comensoli.
Download the prayer by clicking here.
Requests for cards, along with a stamped self-addressed envelope, can be sent to:
Catholic Women’s League of Victoria and Wagga Wagga
PO Box 3192, Cotham, Victoria 3101, Australia.
Autobiography of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey
Mary Glowrey’s account details her upbringing in Australia and her first years in India as a pioneering medical missionary. As ill health prevented Mary from completing her account, her fellow Australian, Sr Peter Julian Barrett JMJ, completed Mary’s story within a few years of Mary’s death in 1957.
In this publication both documents are accompanied by beautiful photographs from the Mary Glowrey Collection and commentaries that provide cultural and historical background for the texts.
Makes a great gift!
Order a copy of the Museum’s recent publication of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey JMJ’s autobiography, The Autobiography of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey JMJ: ‘God’s Good for Nothing’, which includes supplementary texts.
Download an order form here
Cost: $49.95 + postage and handling $10 (Currently, Australia only). Pay by EFT or cheque. (Please note, delivery may be delayed due to demands on the postal system)
The Autobiography of Dr Sr Mary Glowrey JMJ: ‘God’s Good for Nothing’ has been produced by the Museum with the generous support of ACU.
Inquiries: info@maryglowreymuseum.info
100th anniversary of Mary Glowrey’s arrival in India
Mary Glowrey was first in Madras on 11 February, 1920. This date is celebrated by the Catholic Church as the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick.
On the centenary of Mary Glowrey’s arrival in India, the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI) a sent a message to member organisations and supporters with the prayer below. The message describes Mary Glowrey’s arrival in India as having ‘marked the beginning of a new chapter in the healthcare of the country’. It notes that Mary Glowrey developed processes and structures to promote efficient and sustainable health care delivery to the poor, and that she established CHAI, along with a team of Sisters.
For more information about CHAI click here
Novena Prayer to Sr Dr Mary Glowrey, Servant of God
Merciful and loving Father, You sent Your only Son, Jesus Christ to heal and save the world. In Your loving compassion, You chose Sr Dr Mary Glowrey, founder of the Catholic Health Association of India (CHAI), to follow in Your Son’s healing ministry. As a model of benevolent care to the millions of sick, destitute, and impoverished in India, she spread Your message of love and healing. May we, the beneficiaries of her service, continue to spread the same love and healing to the people we now serve.
Lord, we pray for all health care workers and caregivers who tirelessly follow in the footsteps of the Divine Healer to alleviate suffering and bring glory to Your Name. May we have the courage to walk the unbeaten path of Sr Dr Mary Glowrey as we continue Your healing ministry. May the members of CHAI grow in unity, through our founder’s example of selfless love, hard work and concern for the poor.
Through the intercession of the Servant of God Sr Dr Mary Glowrey, we ardently ask You to grant favours to those in need of Christ’s physical, mental, social and spiritual healing. We pray with confidence that Sr Dr Mary Glowrey may soon be raised to sainthood and become the patron saint of CHAI. This prayer we make through Christ, Our Lord, Amen.
3 Hail Mary’s and 1 Glory be.
Address: PO Box 3192, Cotham, Victoria 3101, Australia.
Email: info@cwlvicww.org.au