Four 19th Century Nuns, Representing Three Nations and Four Unique Charisms, to Become Saints

They came from France, from Italy and from Palestine.  They founded new religious orders; and their orders worked with the elderly and small children, operated a monastery, established missions in many lands, and operated 50 Catholic colleges, providing an education to 35,000 new students per year.

On Saturday, February 14, at the close of the Consistory, Pope Francis announced that he will elevate four holy women to sainthood in May.  The new soon-to-be-saints are:

Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (1843-1927) was a native of Palestine.  Her family lived in Jerusalem; but when she was just 14, she joined the Congregation of St. Joseph of the Apparition as a postulant.  After her vows, she was sent to Bethlehem to teach catechism.  In Bethlehem, she established religious associations promoting devotion to Mary through the Rosary.  Sister Alphonsine experienced several apparitions in which Mary directed her to found a Palestinian congregation known as the “Sisters of the Rosary“; and in 1880, she received approval from Rome.  She and eight other sisters received the habit of her new Order on October 7, 1883, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  Sister Alphonsine founded a school for girls in Beit Sahour, then served in several Palestinian communities before returning to Jerusalem due to declining health.  She died on the feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1927, in Ein Karem, the city in the hill country where Mary visited Elizabeth and where John the Baptist was born.  Her order continues its work with the elderly and young children.

Mariam Baouardi (1846-1848) was a mystic and was also from Palestine.  Her name means “Mary of Jesus Crucified.”  In 1870, she traveled with the first group of Carmelite Apostolic Sisters to Mangalore, India, where she served for two years.  Then, returning to Pau in 1872, she made her profession of solemn vows.  She traveled to Palestine where, in 1875, she founded the first monastery of her Order in that region, in the town of Bethlehem.  Throughout her life, Sister Mariam experienced periods of religious ecstasy frequently during the day.

Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve was a French nun who founded the Congregation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Castres.  She was born in Toulouse, in southwestern France, in 1811.  The Order which she founded operates more than 50 colleges, which receive more than 35,000 new students each year.  The also operate several homes for abandoned children, and serve in hospitals and for families in need.  The Sisters operate a residence for pilgrims in Rome.  Today the Order has more than 700 sisters working in 16 countries.

Maria Cristina dell’Immacolata (1856-1906) was from southern Naples, in Italy.  Her family was wealthy, but she was extremely devout.  When she was only 12 years old, while kneeling before a statue of the Child Jesus, she made a vow of perpetual chastity.  She founded the Sisters Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, which runs convents, shelters for young women, orphanages and schools.  Throughout her life, she kept as her motto, “I must become a saint, I want to become a saint.”  

The canonization will take place on May 17, 2015.