Today August 9

Today is the feast of St. Edith Stein, of course, but I'm going to go with the little-known Mother Marianne of Molokai (1838-1918), a fairly modern saint, and an American. Her baptismal name was Barbara. She was born in Heppenheim, Germany, but her family migrated to the US when she was just two years old. She lived in New York and though she knew she had a religious vocation, she was the oldest of eight children and felt she needed to help her parents. At twelve, she went to work in a factory, turning over all her wages to her parents (she still lived at home, of course) until her father's death in 1862. She joined the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, New York and it was quickly discovered that she had profound interpersonal and administrative skills. After some time in the novitiate and in regular duties, she was put in charge of St. Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse -- a good experience for her, in light of her later mission among the lepers in Hawaii -- and in 1877, in charge of her order.

In 1883, the Hawaiian government put out an appeal for women religious to come help with the victims of leprosy in their country, as the disease was reaching epidemic proportions. Although 50 orders were approached before hers, they all demurred, but Mother Marianne's joyfully accepted. Thirty-six sisters volunteered, six were chosen, and Marianne set out from New York to Hawaii just to accompany them. Yeah, you know how that goes. What was just going to be 6 months turned into 35 years! Mother Marianne died among her patients on this date in 1918, happy and peaceful, though racked with pain. She didn't die of leprosy, however. Neither did any of the sisters of her order. She told one of her sisters: "You will never be a leper. I know we are exposed, but God has called us for this work. If we are prudent and do our duty, He will protect us . . . Remember, you will never be a leper, nor will any sister of our order." And so it was.

She threw herself into her work, first running the hospital at Honolulu, then at Maui, and finally at the God-forsaken island of Molokai. Father Damian had already started his church, hospital and home for boys and men there. She built one for women and took over the Men's Home (and Boys' Town) after his death. She knew by this time she would never return to her beloved America. But she cheerfully went about giving the colony a "woman's touch": planting flowers, sewing dresses, adorning the girls with bows and arranging their hair, teaching them to sing, bringing them joy. She loved all things of nature, like her spiritual father Francis, and was happy and content with poverty. We need more people like her!

When a visiting writer came and was horrified by what he saw and told her: "It would be a mercy to put an end to such a hopeless and miserable life," she responded: "God giveth life; He will take it away in His own good time. In the meantime it is our duty to make life as pleasant and as comfortable as possible for those of our fellow creatures whom God has chosen to afflict with this terrible disease."

She herself died of dropsy, complicated by lung hemorrhage, after a long illness. Her cause for beatification is now open.