Pope Benedict XVI receives some relics of Blessed Marianne Cope from Kate Mahoney who was cured from impending death through the intercession of Blessed Marianne.	Beatification of Mother Marianne Cope at St. Peters Basillica, Vatican City, Rome, May 14, 2005

In 1883, as Mother Marianne Cope (then Mother General of her religious community), she received a visit from Fr. Leonor Fouesnel, emissary for the Hawaiian government, requesting the services of “hospital sisters” in Hawaii to minister to leprosy patients.  Mother Marianne traveled to Hawaii along with six other sisters to establish the Franciscan community in these far off islands.  She never returned to her home. 

Immersed in the ministry of caring for the afflicted and suffering victims of leprosy, she spent 35 years in the mission, first serving as head of a hospital for leprosy patients in the Honolulu area where she established an orphanage and school for their children.  Her legacy includes founding of the first general hospital on the island of Maui in 1884.  She extended the Franciscan sisters’ mission in Hawaii to Kalaupapa, Molokai in 1888, where she established a home for female patients and after the death of Fr. Damien De Veuster (now blessed) took over the home he had established for men and boys. 

She provided a clean, safe environment for her charges and inspired her companion sisters to heroic service to their charges.  Mother Marianne Cope was beatified on May 14, 2005.  Her feast day is celebrated on January 23, her date of birth.  Her earthly remains are located at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities located in Syracuse, NY.