THE first post-sainthood stained glass window of Mary McKillop in Australia looks down on parishioners at St Anne's Church in North Fremantle.
The $5000 stained window was fitted at the 1909-established Stirling Highway church the day before St Mary was beatified last month.
“Because she was the first Australian saint, it was very important to give something to future generations,” Father Nikola Cabraja said.
His Croatian-background parishioners donated the money for the 3m-high window, made in three months by North Fremantle stained glass window artist Kim Fitzpatrick who was chosen for his traditional skills.
Mr Fitzpatrick was connected to the church after his grandfather Carl Mynesbergen made stained windows for worshippers in previous decades.
But getting an exact likeness of St Mary was Mr Fitzpatrick’s greatest challenge.
“The accuracy of the likeness was paramount and we had to design the actual clothing and the colour scheme as best we could with the references we had to work with,” he said.