M44 Mother Marianne by Hawaiʻi Artist Dietrich Varez
At 24, Barbara Cope entered the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, N.Y. where she was given the name Sister Marianne. In 1883, Mother Marianne and her Franciscan sisters journeyed to Hawaiʻi to care for patients afflicted by Hansen’s disease. In 1889, Father Damien had been serving the patients of Kalaupapa for 16 years and had contracted the disease. With months to live, he requested that Mother Marianne and the Franciscan sisters join him in tending to the patients and continue his life’s work. Mother Marianne was canonized into sainthood on October 21, 2012.
