Soon and Very Soon...A Second Saint for Hawaii

Statue of Bl. Mother Marianne Cope in Kakaako

By now you must have read the news: Vatican brings Hawaii closer to gaining 2nd saint

A nun who dedicated her life to caring for exiled leprosy patients is a step closer to sainthood after the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints recommended her canonization on Tuesday.

I think Hawaii will be the only state in the union with two saints!

Bl. Mother Marianne Cope's Relic - Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Honolulu

This is wonderful news and I am sure everyone in Hawaii is excited about Bl. Mother Marianne Cope finally that much closer to being canonized.  I must admit it is only recently that I have grown to appreciate the work she did for the Hansen's Disease patients in Kalaupapa.  Before that, it bothered me that Saint Damien, then Father Damien, had so much opposition to his tireless work with those patients.  It also bothered me that it took so long before Mother Marianne Cope and her sisters finally went to help Father Damien.  I realize now how unselfishly she gave of herself.  And, of course, I have a devotion to her too.

"We thank God that the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of the Saints has approved a petition to ask Pope Benedict XVI to officially declare Blessed Marianne Cope, OSF, a saint of the Church. We are particularly joyful in Hawaii, because of Blessed Marianne's worked here, but her example of selfless love can soon be an inspiration to all the world. She was a woman who brought hope and joy to people who had good reason to lose hope and to lament their condition in life. At this time when so many people are losing hope because of our economy and the increased unrest throughout the world, Blessed Marianne inspires us to work simply for the good of others and to allow God to work miracles through the simple things we do. We look forward to honoring this holy woman in our celebrations, and most of all by our faith in the God who begins and sustains every good work among us."

- Statement by Bishop Larry Silva, Diocese of Honolulu.

Background of Barbara Cope (Bl. Mother Marianne Cope)

January 23, 1838 - Born to Peter and Barbara Koob (Cope) in the German Grand Ducy of Hesse-Darmstadt

In 1840, Koob family settled in Utica, New York

In August, 1862, entered the Sisters of the Third Oder of St. Francis, in Syracuse, N ew York
In 1877, elected Second Provencal Mother of the Syracuse Franciscans

Source: Mother Marianne of Molokai

Source

"Reverend Sister Maryanne, Matron of the Bishop Home":


To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferers smiling at the rod,
A fool were tempted to deny his God.


He sees, and shrinks; but if he look again,
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain! -
He marks the sisters on the painful shores,
And even a fool is silent and adores.

- Robert Louis Stevenson, Kalawao, May 22, 1889

Recommended reading and source of the above is A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile: The Life and Spirit of Mother Marianne of Molokai by Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, O.S.F. and O.A. Bushnell.