Day 4:  Saint Marianne Cope

Sister Marianne Cope was 45 years old when a call changed her life forever.  She was a successful hospital administrator, having built and supervised large hospitals in New York.  Known as an expert in modern medical strategies, her hospitals were renowned for both their cleanliness and technology.  She also held the most prominent leadership role in her Franciscan community.   

However, a letter arrived from a leper colony in Hawaii, asking for religious sisters to care for infected patients.  Most religious superiors throughout the country did not even bother acknowledging the request.  They could not imagine sending their sisters to such a disease-infested, lonely, distant place.  Sister Marianne was different.  To her, this request was a call from God.  She decided to leave behind her prestigious positions in New York and go to Hawaii herself with a small group of sisters.   

Sister Marianne knew she was giving up a lot by making this commitment.  Her friends and family.  Her important connections. The successful hospital system she had worked so hard to build.  She would never return to New York, spending the rest of her life thousands of miles away on a remote island, caring for persons with Hansen’s Disease.

Upon her arrival on the island, Sister Marianne revolutionized care for patients.  She quickly instituted new protocols for hygiene and cleanliness.  She instructed patients how to stop spreading disease.  These interventions greatly reduced the spread of contagions. 

Furthermore, Sister Marianne recognized that the disfiguring epidemic left residents with low self-esteem.  The cold, institutional feel of the crowded facilities also deepened their sadness.  Sister said her mission was “to help put a little more sunshine into their dreary lives”.  She brought more beauty into their lives by redecorating hospital rooms, re-landscaping properties, and replacing uncomfortable and unsightly patient gowns with bright and fashionable attire.  These practical details enabled the patients to rediscover their humanity and brightened their morale. 

After several decades of caring for lepers, Sister Marianne died on August 9, 1918.  Neither she nor the sisters working with her ever contracted the contagious disease.  Her prayerful charity inspired deeper faith in the quarantined children, women, and men she served.  She was canonized a saint on October 21, 2012.  The feast day of Saint Marianne Cope is January 23.

Questions for Reflection

Saint Marianne found creative ways to bring beauty and “sunshine” into the lives of the quarantined and ill.  What creative ways can you share joy with others?  How can you show kindness and support to the quarantined, socially isolated, or lonely?  What talents has God given you to use in your vocation to serve others?

Diligent hygiene and modern medical technology were fundamental aspects of Sister Marianne’s ministry.  How have you altered your lifestyle to keep others safe during the COVID-19 pandemic?  Have you offered these inconveniences to God as acts of charity to help the most vulnerable members of society?

Prayer

God our Father, 

You called Saint Marianne Cope to serve the socially isolated, lonely, and diseased.  Inspire our creativity during the current epidemic to reach out to those who are suffering.  Give us courage to embrace our vocation and follow your plan wherever it might lead us.  Raise up many religious sisters to serve in our diocese.  

We ask this through your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Saint Marianne Cope, pray for us!