National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi

On January 23, Franciscans honor the memory of St. Marianne Cope, the first American Franciscan woman to be canonized. Barbara Cope was born in 1838 to Peter an...d Barbara Koob of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. Two years later the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York, where the name was eventually Anglicized to Cope. When her father became an invalid, Barbara, 14, as the eldest child at home, went to work in a textile factory to support her family. Upon her father's death in 1862 and the younger children now being old enough to work themselves, Barbara joined the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York, with the name Marianne. After profession the next year, Marianne began teaching in the congregation’s parish schools. She held the post of superior in several places and was twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, in 1870 she founded the first public hospital in Syracuse, St. Joseph’s, which she directed for seven years. Elected general superior in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously reelected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to staff a receiving station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were approached. When the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of them volunteered immediately. Marianne wrote at the time: I am hungry for the work and I wish with all my heart to be one of the chosen Ones, whose privilege it will be, to sacrifice themselves for the salvation of the souls of the poor Islanders. . . I am not afraid of any disease, hence it would be my greatest delight even to minister to the abandoned ‘lepers.’ On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving Station outside Honolulu; they also opened a hospital and a school for girls on the island of Maui. In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Moloka'ithe leper colony where afflicted people were forcibly segregated. There they opened a home for unprotected women and girls in Kalaupapa. On Moloka'i she also took charge of the home that Saint Damien de Veuster had established there for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Moloka'i by introducing cleanliness, pride, and fun to the colony. Mother Marianne continued her work on Moloka'i faithfully until the end of her life. Despite her long exposure to leprosy (now called Hansen’s disease), she never contracted it. She died on August 9, 1918, and was beatified in 2005 and canonized seven years later. The noted poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, visited Hawaii in 1889; impressed by Sister Marianne and her sisters, he penned the following lines: To the 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 breasts of pain! He marks the sisters on the painful shores, And even a fool is silent and adores. #stmariannecope #firstamericanfranciscanwomantobecanonized #thirdorderofsaintfrancisinsyracusenewyork #kakaakoreceivingstation #saintsofhawaii #leprosy #hansensdisease #robertlouisstevenson #saintdamiendeveuster #franciscantradition

Blessings to all on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception! Today's Mass at the National Shrine will be at 12:15pm.

St. Peter Baptiste and companions, Pray for us.

St. Marianne Cope, Pray for us.

Holy Franciscan Martyrs, Pray for us.

May the gift of Emmanuel warm our hearts with joyful peace and cast away all fear.

On December 12, Catholics in the Americas celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Franciscans were there at the beginning of this story. As the late Dr. G...ary Francisco Keller, Director of the Hispanic Research Center of Arizona State University says, The Franciscans and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe go together hand in hand. Franciscans were the first missionaries to come to Nueva España, beginning with Pedro de Gante in 1523 and, in 1524, the Twelve Franciscan Apostles of New Spain . . The work of these Franciscans marked the beginning of the systematic evangelization of the indigenous peoples of Mexico." Dr. Keller’s Center has available on its website an important source document: the "Nican Mopohua," which narrates the apparitions of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Talking Eagle), on December 9, 10, and the culminating day, December 12, 1531. As Dr. Keller continued: The Franciscan order was the one on watch during those days. Bishop-designate, and subsequently the first bishop of Mexico, Juan de Zumárraga, OFM (1468 1548), after a couple of days of hesitation, accepted the authenticity of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe to the humble, devout 'macehualtzin,' Juan Diego, who had agonized about going to the bishop: Because I am really (just) a man from the country, I am a (porter's) rope, I am a back-frame, a tail, a wing, a man of no importance: I myself need to be led, carried on someone's back; that place you are sending me to is a place where I'm not used to going to or spending any time in, my little Virgin, my Youngest Daughter, my Lady, Beloved Maiden. As Dr. Keller concludes: Juan Diego doubted his ability to carry it off with the bishop but placed his faith in the Holy Mother, ‘my little Virgin,’ and Juan de Zumárraga at first was doubtful and skeptical. Ultimately, they both succeeded. The rest is history. To read this fascinating source for yourself- the "Nican Mopohua" - in four languages - Náhuatl (mexicano), and Spanish, English, and Italian translations - go to this website: https://stfrancis.clas.asu.edu//huei-tlamahuiçoltica-and-n For a beautiful reflection by Pope Francis three years ago on the significance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, see (Spanish text first, then English translation): https://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com//si-madre-estas-a