Sisters of St. Francis
What little good we can do ... to help and comfort the
suffering, we wish to do it quietly and so far as possible
unnoticed and unknown. - Mother Marianne Cope
Early years biography

 Born Barbara Koob January 23, 1838 in West Germany
 Family moved to St. Joseph’s Parish in Utica, N.Y.
1839, became US citizens in the 1850s. Last name
Americanized to Cope
 Called to vocation; but delayed, family needed her
wages from factory work until younger siblings
grown
 1862, age 24, entered into Sisters of St. Francis, took
name Mary Anna (later known as Marianne)
early biography, cont

 First assignments were teaching
 Served in leadership positions, 1870 made Superior
of St. Joseph Hospital, NY
 October 22, 1883 – at age 45 years old – answered
Kingdom of Hawaii request for help at leper
colony…Mother Marianne wants to answer the
call…
Her life work begins…

“I hope the Fr. Provincial’s good heart
will approve my wish to accept the
work with leprosy patients in Hawaii
in the name of the great Saint Francis."
(1883)
Blessed Marianne Cope
www.catholichistory.net/images/MarianneCope.png
Leprosy: Biblical and Franciscan significance

Jesus Heals the Leper – Mark 1:40-45
Saint Francis, who overcame his fear of the leper
by his embrace of one, came to see in the leper
the very face of the crucified Jesus.
Leprosy

Infectious disease: Mycobacterium leprae, an
acid-fast, rod-shaped bacillus.
The disease mainly affects the skin, the
peripheral nerves, mucosa of the upper
respiratory tract and also the eyes.
Bacteria identified in 1873 by Dr. Hansen
Now called Hansen’s disease
Treatment in 1940s
http://www.heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.4.Health.htm
Leprosy: only treatment in 1800s: isolation

Hawaii was a Kingdom, actually
known then as the Sandwich Islands
Kalaupapa peninsula, Molokai
The isolation law was enacted by
King Kamehameha V
The Sisters of St. Francis
arrive in the kingdom

Oct 22, 1883 – Mother Marianne and 6 sisters
First 5 years they work on Kaka’ako, island of Maui
Receiving station where patients were evaluated before being sent
into isolation on Molokai
Marianne arrives at Kaka’ako

 A diary kept by one of the Franciscans, Sr.
Leopoldina, described the patient wards: "Fat
bedbugs nested in the cracks [of walls]. Brown stains
upon walls, floors, and bedding showed where their
blood-filled bodies had been crushed by desperate
patients. Straw mattresses, each more or less covered
by a dirty blanket, lay upon the unswept floor. . . .
Blankets, mattresses, clothing, and patients all
supported an ineradicable population of lice. No
attempt had been made to separate patients
according to age, sex, or stage of illness. . . ."
From the book “A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile” by Sr. Mary Lawrence Hanley, OSF, and O.A. Bushnell

 "permeating everything; air, clothes, straw pallets,
greasy blankets, even the wood of the walls and the
dirt on the floors; hung the stink of lepers: the
revolting stench rising from sores unwashed and
uncovered, the miasma of dead and rotting flesh, in
which voracious microorganisms by the billions
eagerly devoured the debris from the tissues that
they, and the implacable causers of leprosy, had
killed in the bodies of their hapless hosts."
From the book “A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile” by Sr. Mary Lawrence Hanley, OSF, and O.A. Bushnell
Mother Marianne used her administrative and
leadership abilities to clean up the receiving station.
Within 2 years king recognized her accomplishments
with a royal medal
Blessed Marianne’s response

 “For us it is happiness to be able to comfort, in a
measure, the poor exiles, and we rejoice that we are
unworthy agents of our heavenly Father through
whom He deigns to show His great love and mercy
to the sufferers." (1884) Blessed Marianne Cope
 Receiving station closed in 1888: lepers sent directly
to Molokai
 Marianne and 2 sisters move to Molokai to care for
them
What were conditions on Molokai?

1000 forcibly exiled people…no hope…no cure…years
to endure
Lawlessness, despair, men preyed on the women;
children had no protection
Again, the sisters rolled up their sleeves and improved
life for the lepers
Measures to improve
“Preach the Gospel always, use words
when necessary” – St. Francis

 Opened Bishop Home for Unprotected women and
girls
 Taught religion, morals, respect
 Cleanliness
 Joy, fun. Poet Robert Louis Stevenson sent a piano
 Began gardens: vegetables, flowers, landscaping
 Taught sewing…provided bright colorful scarves,
pretty dresses
 Continued to provide until her death at age 80
St. Francis Church

The Sisters of St.
Francis tended to Fr.
Damien when he fell
ill with leprosy; and
provided for his boys
after his death
St. Philomena Church on Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai, burial site of
Father Damien. Photo by Terry Richard the Oregonian
August 9, 1918
Mother dies

Mother Marianne Passes On
byDr. A. Mouritz
Photo taken shortly before her death
"The Venerable Mother Superior Marianne died at 10:50 p.m. on Friday,
August 9, 1918, at the Bishop Home, Kalaupapa, Molokai; then the waiting
Angels most assuredly guided her Spirit, heavenward. She had devoted 29
years of her life [plus] caring for the women and girls of the Home, and also
five years previously at the Kakaako Hospital [island of Oahu] from
November 8, 1883 to November 13, 1888. Her age at death was [80] years, 6
months and 17 days. The immediate cause of her death was kidney and heart
disease…of several years standing."
A Brief World History of Leprosy 1943
[Dr. Mouritz was Father Damien’s physician.]
1. Venerable
2. Blessed
3. Saint
1. Venerable

Deceased person recognized as having lived heroic virtues
Compilation of her life’s work provided to the
Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints
1983 Vatican accepted report – Mother Marianne is venerable
Shrine & Museum (reliquary) of Blessed Marianne Cope
Sisters of Saint Francis Motherhouse
1024 Court Street
Syracuse, NY 13208
Visiting Hours 1-5 P.M. Wednesdays & Saturdays
2. Blessed
To be recognized as a blessed, and
therefore beatified, one miracle,
acquired through the individual's
intercession, is required.

December, 2004 Vatican approves
Miracle: Kate Mahoney, when she was
14 years old, was cured of multi-system
organ failure by Marianne’s intercession
Shown here presenting relic of Mother Marianne
to Pope Benedict XVI
3. Sainthood

Awaiting another confirmed miracle
Canonization requires two confirmed miracles, though a Pope may
waive these requirements. Martyrdom does not usually require a
miracle.
Kalaupapa Leper Colony
Kalaupapa served as a leper colony from 1895 to 1969.
Since 1980 is has been a National Historic Park.

Kalaupapa Peninsula, Molokai, HI United States
2/28/2004
Image #7409 from the web at
http://www.airphotona.com/image.asp?imageid=7390
Kalaupapa peninsula is located at the base of the highest sea cliffs in the
world, dropping about 3,315 feet (1,010 m) into the Pacific Ocean. The village
is the site of a former leprosy settlement. The isolation law was enacted by
King Kamehameha V and remained in effect until 1969, when it was finally
repealed. Today, about twenty former sufferers of leprosy—now known as
Hansen's Disease—continue to live there. The colony is now part of
Kalaupapa National Historical Park.
Reverend Sister Marianne
Matron of the Bishop Home, Kalaupapa
To see the infinite pity of this place,
The mangled limb, the devastated face,
The innocent sufferers smiling at the rod,
A fool were tempted to deny his God.
He sees, and shrinks; but if he look again,
Lo, beauty springing from the breast of pain!—
He marks the sisters on the painful shores,
And even a fool is silent and adores.
Robert Louis Stevenson
Kalawao, May 22, 1889
Peace Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me a channel of your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love;
Where there is injury, your pardon Lord;
Where there‘s doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, only light;
And where there’s sorrow, ever joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
In giving of ourselves that we receive;
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.