Saint Marianne Cope Research Paper

Saint Marianne Cope, also known as Saint Marianne of Moloka’i, is the eleventh North American canonized saint. Maria Anna Barbara Koob, her baptismal name, was born in Happenheim, Germany on January 23, 1838 to Peter Koob, a farmer, and Barbara Witzenbacher-Koob. The family moved to the United States and changed their family name to Cope, the English pronunciation. She was the oldest of ten siblings that were raised as Roman Catholics. The life of St. Marianne Cope is characterized by her faith, her intelligence, and her courage when faced opposition from the Catholic Church and the Hawaiian government.
Maria Anna Barbara was a devout Catholic and felt the call to religious life as a young girl living in New York. Her heart’s desire was to enter the religious life. However, her dreams were delayed. Being the eldest of ten siblings, she
Francis, Sr. Marianne. Now, Provincial Mother Marianne was asked for assistance in the administration of the hospitals and schools in the islands. She immediately answered with excitement “I am hungry for the work and I wish with all my heart to be one of the chosen ones, whose privilege it will be to sacrifice themselves for the salvation of the souls of the poor Islanders…. I am not afraid of any disease, hence, it would be my greatest delight even to minister to the abandoned “lepers”” (Cope). Mother Marianne and six other sisters traveled to the Hawaiian Islands ready to face the new venture in treating patients diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, leprosy. Faced with a government and church opposition, it was difficult to aid the unwelcomed outcasts. However, King Kalakaua, helped Mother Marianne. She was now allowed to administrate a hospital in O’ahu and establish a hospital in Maui for lepers. She cared for them with love and compassion and opened an orphanage for the children of victims of