Melanie Rigney

Marianne Cope listened only to God, accepting and caring for people others feared or found distasteful and putting her own health at risk. Hansen’s disease, in those days called leprosy, struck fear in the hearts of most people. It was believed—later disproved—that the infection that strikes the skin, nervous system, and more was highly contagious. As a result, in Hawaii and elsewhere, those suffering from Hansen’s disease and sometimes their family members were cast out from society.

St. Anna Schäffer wanted to be a missionary. Falling into a boiling laundry vat took away any possibility of that happening; she was bedridden for the rest of her life. It didn’t seem right. Hadn’t God put on Anna’s heart that she had a calling as a missionary? For two years, she struggled to see the purpose in this tragedy. With time, she adjusted her thinking, and she began to see her disability as a cross to be picked up and carried daily. Anna said she had three tools with which to bring souls to the Lord: her suffering, her needle, and her penholder.

“Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them cheerfully, remembering whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid.” —St. Mary MacKillop

“My joy is in leading a hidden life unknown to others.”—St. Euphrasia of the Sacred Heart

“The Lord has called us from different nations, but we must be united with one heart and one soul.” — St. Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad