St. Marianne Cope
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
A Franciscan sister, hospital leader, and fearless servant, St. Marianne devoted her final thirty years to people exiled with Hansen's disease in Hawaii.
The story
Barbara Koob was born in Heppenheim on January 23, 1838. Her family emigrated to Utica, New York, the following year, and their surname became Cope. After finishing school, Barbara worked in a factory to help support her family. She entered the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse in 1862 and received the name Sister Marianne. She served as a teacher and school administrator before helping to direct hospitals in Utica and Syracuse. Her insistence that every patient deserved competent and dignified care prepared her for a more demanding mission.
In 1883, the Hawaiian government appealed to religious communities for sisters willing to care for people with Hansen's disease, then commonly called leprosy. Mother Marianne, who was superior general, accepted the appeal. She traveled to Honolulu with six sisters and arrived on November 8. They managed the hospital at Kakaako, improved sanitary conditions, and cared for patients without treating them as social outcasts. The sisters also established services for vulnerable women and children.
In 1888, Mother Marianne moved to the isolated Kalaupapa settlement on Molokai. There she met St. Damien de Veuster during the final months of his illness. After his death on April 15, 1889, she helped ensure that his work continued. She supervised the Bishop Home for women and girls, provided clean clothing and nourishing food, and cultivated an atmosphere of beauty amid severe suffering. She took reasonable precautions, but fear never controlled her service. None of the sisters working with her contracted the disease.
Mother Marianne remained at Kalaupapa until her death from natural causes on August 9, 1918. She was remembered for practical leadership, serenity, and maternal tenderness. Pope Benedict XVI beatified her on May 14, 2005, through his delegate, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins. He canonized her in Rome on October 21, 2012. Her optional memorial in the United States is observed on January 23, her birthday.
What Marianne teaches
St. Marianne shows that mercy includes skilled work, patient attention, and respect for human dignity. The corporal works of mercy require Christians to serve Christ in the sick and afflicted, as taught in CCC 2447. Ask for courage to approach those whom society fears or neglects.
Patronage
people with Hansen's disease, health care workers, Hawaii, Franciscan sisters.
Prayer
St. Marianne, intercede for all who suffer from chronic illness, isolation, or rejection. Help us to serve Christ in them with courage, competence, and tenderness. Pray that health care workers may respect the dignity of every person. Amen.