Count It All Joy for the Sake of Love

The quiet heroism of a new saint: Mother Marianne Cope

By: Jill A. Boughton

All around you, wherever you live, there are quiet heroes. I’m sure you could come up with your own personal list: A mother struggling to maximize the potential of a child with autism, a husband tenderly caring for a dependent and querulous wife with Alzheimer’s disease. Or perhaps you know people whose love for Christ moves them to do something out of the ordinary—say, a gifted scientist who leaves a lucrative corporate job to teach in an inner-city school.

Their heroism often goes unnoticed. “What a shame,” others may say of them. “What a wasted life.” And yet, not only does the Spirit call these people to their hidden, humble service: He equips them for it by forming in them the often ordinary-looking virtues that the job demands. Such is the case with Mother Marianne Cope.

Joy in an Unlikely Place. On October 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI will officially declare Mother Marianne one of the church’s canonized saints. But although she received title “Blessed” in 2005, this quietly heroic woman has been relatively unknown.

How about St. Damien of Molokai? Now there’s a more familiar name! If I tell you that Mother Marianne came to Molokai five months before Damien died of leprosy, and that she devoted herself to carrying on his work, you may get…

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