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“It’s always a good idea to carry with us a small book of the Gospels to have in your pocket or bag, and, during the day, to read a verse. It’s good for you.” | Pope Francis expounded on the universality of the Catholic Church during his general audience Sept. 17, noting the church’s missionary roots. He urged young people to follow God’s call and bring the Gospel to all parts of the earth. (Catholic News Service)
Saints under 40
Eyes only for God
NEWARK, N.J. — Although Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich was personally unassuming, the spiritual impact she had on other Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth was so unmistakable that they began the effort to have her canonized soon after her May 8, 1927, death in Paterson.
Her cause will advance Oct. 4, when she will be declared Blessed Miriam Teresa at a beatification Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. She will be the first American to be beatified in the United States.
Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, will celebrate the Mass, joined by Newark Archbishop John J. Myers, Paterson Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli and Bishop Kurt Burnette, head of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic.
The church leaders represent local churches that all claim the daughter of Slovakian immigrants — she was born in Bayonne, baptized in the Eastern Catholic Church and educated at St. Elizabeth College in Morris Township.
Sister Miriam was known for her bad eyesight, and her intercession was invoked for Michael Mencer, a New Jersey boy who was going blind but experienced a complete cure in 1964.
Sister Miriam, who was said to be devout from a young age, delayed college to care for her mother, who died when Sister Miriam was 18.
The young woman eventually graduated from college in 1923 and sought to join a contemplative community, which rejected her due to her poor eyesight. Instead she began teaching with the Sisters of Charity, only to leave that task to care for her ill father. She entered the sisters’ novitiate in 1925 after her father’s death.
Sister Miriam herself died in 1927 from acute appendicitis — just after taking her vows as a fully professed sister. (CNS)