Expert on Bl. Mother Marianne Cope Dies

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Sister Mary Laurence Hanley.  Just the other day on one of the blog posts, I recommended her book on Bl. Mother Marianne Cope, A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile.

Hawaii Catholic Herald's Sister Mary Laurence Hanley dies.

I had the privilege of having an email communication with Sister a few years back. If I remember correctly, she contacted me about a blog post she disagreed with.  I dared to mention that Brother Joseph Dutton may one day follow in the saintly footsteps of Saint Damien and Bl. Mother Marianne Cope. This was certainly something Sister really disagreed about. She was very pleasant and friendly in all her emails back and forth. But she maintained her position that Brother Dutton not be a candidate for sainthood. She had her reasons. She was often told me to do my own research with all the archival materials at my disposal in Hawaii. She indicated that I would then draw the same conclusion.

Unfortunately, I never got around to doing that research and little by little we stopped emailing.

Even though we, the Church Militant, may be sad that she did not live to see her hero canonized. I doubt very much Sister is disappointed. After all, she will probably be there to congratulate Mother Marianne Cope in person!