An employee at the United Airlines cargo facility outside the Honolulu International Airport kisses the casket containing the remains of St. Marianne Cope, which arrived in Honolulu from Syracuse, N.Y., July 27. St. Marianne’s remains would be enshrined in the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace on July 31. (HCH photo | Darlene Dela Cruz)
St. Marianne’s remains were welcomed back to Hawaii on July 27 in Island fashion, with leis, songs and kisses, at the United Airlines freight facility shortly after their 3:15 p.m. arrival on United Flight 15 from Newark, N.J.
“E komo mai,” Bishop Larry Silva said, beginning his opening remarks with the Hawaiian expression for “welcome.”
“It is with great joy that we welcome back to Hawaii the remains of the Beloved Mother of Outcasts,” he said.
The remains, sealed in a 48-by-20-by-12-inch zinc box, were transported to the Islands from Syracuse, N.Y., in a simple white and gray mottled casket that, for the flight, had been placed in a cardboard crate and carried in a standard aluminum airplane cargo container.
The casket had been accompanied by Sister Roberta Smith and Sister Geraldine Ching, general minister and assistant general minister of the Franciscan Sisters of the Neumann Communities, St. Marianne’s congregation.
About 30 people were present in the warehouse to witness six United Airline workers open the cargo container and transfer the casket onto a rolling platform where five Sisters of St. Francis draped it with a funeral pall, a white cloth.
The warehouse door opened to reveal a waiting white Borthwick Mortuary hearse. As the casket was rolled out into the bright afternoon Hawaiian sun, the assembly broke into “O Makalapua,” which was said to be St. Marianne’s favorite Hawaiian song, in Hawaiian and English.
Sisters of St. Francis and others stepped forward to cover the casket with leis of maile and plumeria, said to be the saint’s favorite Hawaiian flower, and long-stemmed red roses.
The bishop thanked the Sisters of St. Francis for their decision to send St. Marianne back to Hawaii “for permanent enshrinement at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu.”
He said the seeds of sanctity planted at her baptism in Germany, matured in New York and blossomed in Hawaii.
“We thank God today that she is back with us,” he said.
After a reading from the Book of Ezekiel recalling the prophet’s vision of a field of bones coming back to life, Bishop Silva offered a final prayer.
“May all who draw near to venerate these sacred relics come alive to serve you and your beloved people with the dedication and spirit of this beloved mother of outcasts,” he said.
The welcoming ceremony ended with everyone coming forward to kiss the casket as they sang a hymn to St. Marianne. Among them were 10 United cargo employees who had paused to witness the historic event.
The hearse then took the casket to St. Francis Convent in Manoa where it would stay until its enthronement in the cathedral on July 31.
