St. Susanna

The beautiful daughter of Gabinius, a priest, and niece of Pope Caius, St. Susanna refused Emperor’s Diocletian request that she marry his son-in-law, Maximian. She converted two of her uncles, Claudius and Maximus, to Christianity. They were court officers sent by Diocletian to persuade her to marry. Diocletian was enraged by her actions. He sent one of his favorites, Julian, to deal with the matter. Julian executed Maximus, Claudius, his wife Praepedigna, and their two sons by burning them to death at Cumae. Then, he beheaded Susanna and her father. There was a Susanna who lived in Rome, but the details of the story are fictitious. Her feast day is August 11th.

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St. Ada

St. Ada is a lesser-known early Christian saint venerated primarily in parts of Europe. She lived in the 7th century and is often associated with the Benedictine tradition. Ada was the abbess of a convent in France, most likely in Le Mans, where she devoted her life to the service of God and the care of her fellow sisters. Her leadership and sanctity earned her a lasting reputation of holiness.

Though not much is documented about her life, she is often remembered for her piety and dedication to her monastic community. Ada’s feast day is celebrated on December 4. As with many early saints, details of her life may be scarce, but her example as a religious leader remains significant within the Church.

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St. Seraphina

St. Seraphina, also known as St. Fina, was born in 1238 in San Gimignano, Italy. She is a beloved saint known for her great patience and acceptance of suffering. Fina was afflicted with a severe and debilitating illness at a young age, which left her paralyzed. Despite her immense physical pain and the hardship of her condition, she offered her suffering to God with remarkable grace and trust in His will.

Fina’s devotion to God deepened through her suffering. She lived on a wooden board for several years, as her body was too weak to move. According to tradition, during her illness, she experienced a vision of St. Gregory the Great, who told her that she would pass away on the anniversary of his death, which she did on March 12, 1253.

One of the most well-known miracles attributed to St. Fina happened after her death. As her body was being prepared for burial, white violets bloomed on the board where she lay, and these flowers still bloom every spring in San Gimignano.

St. Fina is honored as a patron of those who suffer from chronic or terminal illnesses, and her story is one of hope, endurance, and trust in God’s providence, even in the midst of great suffering.

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St. Marianne Cope

St.Marianne Cope, O.S.F. is also known as St. Marianne of Moloka’i. She was born in Germany on January 23, 1838 and spent much of her life working in Hawai’i working with lepers on the island of Moloka’i.

She was beatified in 2005 and declared a saint by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

Cope was born on January 23, 1838 in Heppenheim, in what was then the Grand Duchy of Hesse. Today, that region is part of Germany. She was baptized Maria Anna Barbara Koob, which was later changed to Cope.

Just a year after her birth, her family emigrated to the United States, settling in Utica. New York. Cope attended a parish school until she reached the eighth grade. By that time, her father had become an invalid and she went to work in a factory to support the family.

Her father died in 1862, and this along with her siblings maturity, permitted her to leave the factory to pursue a religious life. She became a novitiate of the Sisters of the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis based in Syracuse, New York. She took the name Marianne when she completed her formation.

German-speaking immigrants settled in large numbers in her area of New York state, so she became a teacher and later a principal at a school for immigrant children.

Cope also helped direct the opening of the first two Catholic hospitals in central New York. She arranged for students from the Geneva Medical College in New York to work at the hospital, but also stipulated that patients should be able to refuse treatment by them. It was one of the first times in history that the right of a patient to refuse treatment was recognized.

By 1883, Cope had become the Superior General of her congregation. It was at this time she received a plea for help from leprosy sufferers in Hawaii. King Kalakaua himself sent the letter asking for aid in treating patients who were isolated on the island of Moloka’i. The King had already been declined by more than 50 other religious institutes.

Mother Marianne, as she was then known, left Syracuse with six sisters to attend to the sick, and arrived on November 8,1883.

Once arrived, Mother Marianne managed a hospital on the island of O’ahu, where victims of leprosy were sent for triage. The most severe patients were sent to the island of Moloka’i.

The next year, Mother Marianne helped establish the Malulani hospital on the island of Maui.

Her tenure at Malulani hospital did not last as she was soon called back to O’ahu to deal with claims of abuse from the government-appointed administrator there. Upon arrival and following an initial investigation, Mother Marianne demanded that he resign or she would leave. The government dismissed the administrator and gave her full management of the hospital there.

Although Mother Marianne was getting older, he workload only seemed to increase. Soon, she was responsible for orphans of women who had contracted the disease as well as clergy who had contracted the disease while working with lepers.

Eventually, Mother Marianne’s work became a burden on her frail body and she was confined to a wheelchair. Despite this limitation, she continued to work tirelessly. Many noticed that despite all her years of work she never contracted leprosy herself, which many regarded as a miracle in itself.

Mother Marianne passed away on August 9, 1918 and was buried at Bishop Home.

In the years following her death, several miracles were reported in her name. In 1993, a woman was miraculously cured after multiple organ failure following prayers to Mother Marianne. The woman’s subsequent recovery was certified by the Church and Mother Marianne was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on May 14, 2005.

After her beatification, Mother Marianne’s remains were moved to Syracuse, New York and placed in a shrine.

On December 6, 2011, an additional miracle was credited to her and approved by Benedict.

On October 21, 2012, she was officially canonized by Benedict.

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St. Julie Billiart

St. Julie (Julia) Billiart was born in 1751 and died in 1816. As a child, playing “school” was Julie’s favorite game. When she was sixteen, to help support her family, she began to teach “for real”. She sat on a haystack during the noon recess and told the biblical parables to the workers. Julie carried on this mission of teaching throughout her life, and the Congregation she founded continues her work.

Julie was the fifth of seven children. She attended a little one room school in Cuvilly. She enjoyed all of her studies, but she was particularly attracted to the religion lessons taught by the parish priest. Recognizing something “special” in Julie, the priest secretly allowed her to make her First Communion at the age of nine, when the normal age at that time, was thirteen. She learned to make short mental prayers and to develop a great love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

A murder attempt on her father shocked her nervous system badly. A period of extremely poor heath for Julie began, and was to last for thirty years. For twenty-two of these years she was completely paralyzed. All of her sufferings and pain she offered up to God.

When the French Revolution broke out, Julie offered her home as a hiding place for loyal priests. Because of this, Julie became a hunted prey. Five times in three years she was forced to flee in secret to avoid compromising her friends who were hiding her.

At this time she was privileged to receive a vision. She saw her crucified Lord surrounded by a large group of religious women dressed in a habit she had never seen before. An inner voice told her that these would be her daughters and that she would begin an institute for the Christian education of young girls. She and a rich young woman founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

At Amiens, the two women and a few companions began living a religious life in 1803. In 1804, Julie was miraculously cured of her illness and walked for the first time in twenty-two years. In 1805, Julie and three companions made their profession and took their final vows. She was elected as Mother General of the young Congregation.

In 1815, Mother taxed her ever poor health by nursing the wounded and feeding the starving left from the battle of Waterloo. For the last three months of her life, she again suffered much. She died peacefully on April 8, 1816 at 64 years of age. Julie was beatified on May 13, 1906, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1969. Her feast day is April 8th.

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