Mass draws more than 500
By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer
As the Aloha Mass dedicated to Mother Marianne Cope ended last night, hundreds flocked to the center of the downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, pressing their way through the line to touch and kiss the casket of the nun who is likely to be the first woman with Hawai'i ties to become a saint.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Dalisay Galura of 'Aiea was among those wanting a closer brush with Kalaupapa's beloved nun. Galura brought a rosary to the service, and afterward waited in line to press it against the casket, which was festooned with fragrant lei and flowers.
People flocked to bid aloha to the remains of Mother Marianne Cope yesterday at Our Lady of Peace Cathedral. The nun, lauded for her work with Hansen's disease patients, is a candidate for sainthood.
"All her hardship — it feels so holy, just to touch her," Galura said with a sigh.
It was the last full day in Hawai'i for Mother Marianne, whose body was exhumed a week ago in Kalaupapa, where she spent the last years of her life ministering to Hawai'i's lepers.
Today her remains will be returned to Syracuse, N.Y., where she became a nun and where she will be enshrined on her path to sainthood.
Officials estimated that more than 500 people, including Hansen's disease patients from Kalaupapa, Moloka'i, visited the cathedral yesterday.
People lined up before 2 p.m. for the afternoon arrival of the casket carrying her remains to the cathedral, and services lasted long past sundown at the spot where Hawai'i first welcomed Mother Marianne to its shores to care for victims of what was being called a "national affliction," leprosy, now called Hansen's disease.
The vigil and Mass capped eight days of events that began on Mother Marianne's birthday, Jan. 23, with a prayer service at her gravesite in Kalaupapa.
Marianne Cope
The feeling of adoration yesterday was palpable even up in the cathedral rafters, where schoolchildren from St. Michael's School in Waialua jockeyed for seats under the watchful eye of their teachers.
"I feel really special," said Brianna Acosta, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, who came by bus from the North Shore with her classmates. "She's going to be a saint, and I'm going to be blessed to have experienced it."
Brianna has memorized the prayer for Mother Marianne's canonization, which she recites daily with her class, and she also has a statue of Mother Marianne in her bedroom. "My family are big fans," she said.
Near the Fort Street Mall entrance to the church, Kapi'olani Community College student Rochel Farinas fingered the gold crucifix around her neck and talked about why she came straight from school, hoisting her full backpack, to stand through the 90-minute service.
"I just wanted to see her," she said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
• Today and tomorrow, her remains will be traveling to Syracuse, N.Y., where they will be housed at the chapel of the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, the very spot where she prayed as a young nun. • On Thursday, there will be a Mass for the sisters, friars and associates of the religious order in New York. After that, officials say, her remains will be kept in the chapel until an appropriate shrine is erected.
The Rev. Tom Gross, Roman Catholic diocesan administrator, ritually commanded the faithful to go in peace, but with Mother Marianne in the room, a tangible excitement pervaded the church after yesterday's 5 p.m. Mass.
Mother Marianne's remains
Those in attendance included businesspeople coming from work, students leaving Hawai'i Pacific University, parishioners and myriad Catholic clergy.
More than a tenth of them were nuns, and about half of those were nuns from the order to which Mother Marianne belongs, the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse. Several had come from New York for the occasion, including Mother Marianne's historian, Sister Mary Laurence Hanley.
"This is the most exhilarating experience one could have in a lifetime," she said from her front-seat perch, beaming past the casket to the adoring crowd. "This is more than I've ever seen at the different celebrations.
"I think the people of Hawai'i really pay tribute to her. It's a beautiful beginning for what is due her."
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Hanley had been in Kalaupapa when the exhumation of Mother Marianne's grave took place on Jan. 24, as was Sister Grace Anne Dillenschneider, the general minister of the Syracuse Franciscans. Both remarked with amazement how her face had almost been visible to them.
Among those attending yesterday's Mass were members of the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse, Cope's religious order. Cope's final resting place will be in the order's Mother House.
As Dillenschneider addressed the crowd at the end of the service yesterday, she talked about her conflicting emotions: sadness, for having to disturb Mother Marianne (she's being taken back to Syracuse as part of the canonization process); joy, when the remains emerged (there had been some question as to whether any recognizable remains would be found); and gratitude at the privilege of being there.
"We've been very privileged to witness this sacred and historic time," she said, adding that Mother Marianne's beatification is expected sometime this year.
"The legacy of Mother Marianne has indeed affected us all," Gross said during his sermon. "Her example, her ministry, her goodness and her love not only brought light to the people to whom she ministered on Kalaupapa, but continue to bring light to our islands today."
His homily also addressed the Catholic hunger for saints.
"We need people who exemplify what it means to be Christian," he told the hushed crowd. "We need saints who are human, who have bodies like we do, who have temptations like we do and who face everyday challenges like we do. We need them. They give us hope and courage."
At the end of the service, Dillenschneider told Hawai'i's loving crowds not to worry too much about what happens next to Mother Marianne. Even though some of her remains will be sent to New York, they did not take all of them, so she'll remain here, nourishing the place where she touched so many.
"She's going to a place she'll be loved equally, as well," Dillenschneider promised.
Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.
