Mary Glowrey Museum

22/06/2026

Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey was born on this day, 23 June, in 1887 in the Victorian town of Birregurra. Mary was the third child of Edward and Margaret Glowrey. Edward was then the proprietor of the Birregurra general store.
Mary was baptised in the first St Peter's Catholic Church in the town.

Mary Glowrey's Cause for canonisation advanced in November last year, when her "herioc virtues" were officially recognised, and she was accorded the title Venerable.

05/05/2026

Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey died on this day, 5 May, in 1957 in Bangalore (Bengaluru) at the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph convent. It was Good Shepherd Sunday.

Those who cared for Mary Glowrey in in her final months observed her praying continuously. In her account of Mary's last years, Sr Peter Julian Barrett JMJ, the Australian chemist missionary, colleague and friend to Mary in Guntur, wrote, 'She died as she had lived. Her death was very holy, as was her whole life upon earth.'

After 36 years of missionary service in Guntur, Sr Mary of the Sacred Heart JMJ, as she was known, had moved to Bangalore in 1956, on account of her ill health.

17/04/2026

One of the key figures in Mary Glowrey's vocational experience, Dr Agnes McLaren (1837 to 1913), died on this day in Antibes, France. Dr McLaren's obituary in the British Medical Journal described her as one of the pioneers in the medical education of women.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Agnes McLaren was unable to study medicine in her homeland, so she enrolled in the medical course at Montpellier, France, graduating as the first woman doctor at the University in 1878. Dr McLaren set up practice in Cannes, charging those who could afford her service, and dispensing free treatments and kindness to the many impoverished patients who sought her care. After her conversion to Catholicism, and concerned for the health needs of marginalised women in India, Dr McLaren advocated for the suitability of Catholic religious Sisters serving as medical doctors, which was not then supported in canon law. Dr McLaren died in 1913.
Two years later, in October 1915, while working as a doctor in Melbourne, Dr Mary Glowrey (Venerable Mary pf the Sacred Heart Glowrey) experienced a vocational calling to medical missionary work in India after reading an account of Dr McLaren's life. Mary Glowrey went on to serve as a doctor Sister in India for 37 years. Another young woman also experienced a medical missionary vocational calling after hearing of Dr McLaren's story. Austrian born Anna Dengel (1892 to 1980) corresponded with Dr McLaren, and she was encouraged to study medicine in Ireland. Dr Dengel (Mother Anna Dengel SCMM) also dedicated her life to the provision of medical missionary care to those who needed her most. In 1925 Dr Dengel founded the Medical Mission Sisters, an international Catholic congregation now providing healthcare and education particularly to vulnerable women and children in 20 countries.

29/03/2026

It was a privilege have Sr Dr Helen Mary Anthony SAB and other CHAI delegates participate in the Melbourne celebrations in Cathedral Hall for Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey on 13 March. We also hosted Sr Helen and the group at the Mary Glowrey Museum on 19 March, when we reflected on Mary Glowrey's experience of vocational calling - a particularly moving session, held on the Feast Day of the patron and protector of vocations, St Joseph.

Sr Dr Helen Mary Anthony will be the first sister-doctor to lead the Catholic Health Association of India since its founder – the now Venerable Mary of the Sacred Heart Glowrey – when she soon takes the helm of the world’s largest voluntary healthcare network.

📷 Sr Dr Helen Mary Anthony, who will take over the Catholic Health Association of India in May 2026.

Find out more: https://melbournecatholic.org/news/reaching-the-unreached-mary-glowreys-mission-in-india-continues