Saint of the day for January 23: the story of Santa Marianne Cope

(23 January 1838 - 9 August 1918)

Although leprosy frightened most people in 1898th-century Hawaii, that disease sparked great generosity in the woman who became known as Mother Mariana of Molokai. His courage contributed enormously to improving the lives of his victims in Hawaii, a territory annexed to the United States during his lifetime (XNUMX).

The generosity and courage of Mother Marianne were celebrated on the occasion of her beatification on May 14, 2005 in Rome. She was a woman who spoke "the language of truth and love" to the world, said Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Cardinal Martins, who presided over the beatification mass in St. Peter's Basilica, called his life "a wonderful work of divine grace". Speaking of her special love for people who suffer from leprosy, she said: "She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus. Like the Good Samaritan, she became their mother".

On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany. The girl is named after her mother. Two years later the Cope family emigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young Barbara worked in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York. After his profession in November of the following year, he began teaching at the parish school of the Assumption.

Marianne has held the office of superior in various places and has twice been the novice teacher of her congregation. A natural leader, she was superior of St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse three times, where she learned much that would benefit her during her years in Hawaii.

Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was looking for someone to run the Kakaako reception station for people suspected of leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were surveyed. When the request was made to the Syracusan nuns, 35 of them immediately volunteered. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako reception station outside Honolulu; on the island of Maui they have also opened a hospital and a school for girls.

In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to open a home for "unprotected women and girls" there. The Hawaiian government was rather reluctant to send women to this difficult post; they shouldn't have worried about Mother Marianne! In Molokai he took charge of the house that San Damiano de Veuster had established for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, pride and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and beautiful dresses for women were part of his approach.

Awarded by the Hawaiian government with the Royal Order of Kapiolani and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother Marianne has faithfully continued her work. Her sisters attracted vocations among the Hawaiian people and still work in Molokai.

Mother Marianne died on August 9, 1918, was beatified in 2005 and canonized seven years later.

Reflection

Government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother Marianne to be a mother in Molokai. Thirty years of dedication proved their fears were unfounded. God grants gifts independently of human myopia and allows those gifts to flourish for the good of the kingdom.