Special to the Herald
“I am not afraid of any disease; hence it would be my greatest delight even to minister to the abandoned.” (St. Marianne Cope)
The public is invited next year to remember the legacy of St. Marianne Cope by attending a celebration on her feast day. Bishop Larry Silva will preside at the Mass Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
St. Marianne was born Barbara Koob on Jan. 23, 1838, in Hessen, West Germany; her family emigrated to the United States a year later.
In 1883, Mother Marianne Cope with six other Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse arrived in Honolulu at the request of the Hawaiian Kingdom to care for its citizens with leprosy.
Bringing with her experience in nursing and hospital administration, she served the most desolate of outcasts. Giving herself generously and heroically to the victims of leprosy, she alleviated their physical and spiritual sufferings.
She spent 30 years in Kalaupapa, Molokai, caring for the patients there. She exemplified the ideals lived by St. Francis of Assisi, an all-embracing compassion, an enduring selflessness and a deep love of Christ.
In gratitude, the Hawaiian government awarded her the Royal Order of Kapiolani and Robert Louis Stevenson honored her in a poem.
Mother Marianne died in Kalaupapa in 1918. Her legacy in medicine and education left no Hawaiian island untouched.
A model of grace, service, kindness and love, Mother Marianne was beatified in 2005 and canonized at the Vatican on Oct. 21, 2012.
Her spirit of selfless service continues today in Kalaupapa and in the St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawaii.
Come and celebrate her gift to Hawaii.
Above: A memorial in Kalaupapa dedicated to Mother Marianne Cope. (HCH file photo)