Two Palestinian nuns to be canonised

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified Baouardy

Two Palestinian religious sisters and a French nun are to be declared saints on 17 May, the Vatican announced on Saturday. They are: Blessed Mary Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified and Baouardy and Blessed Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve.

Blessed Mary Alphonsine Danil Ghattas was born in Jerusalem in 1843. When she was 15 she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. She worked tirelessly to help young people and Christian mothers. She had a special mystic affinity with the Mother of God. She founded the Congregation of Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem - the first Palestinian congregation. Blessed Mary Alphonsine died in 1927 and was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified Baouardy was born Maria Baouardy in Abellin, a village in Upper Galilee, near Nazareth, in 1846 of Arab parents. She was baptized in the Melchite Greek Catholic Church. From early youth she experienced many sufferings together with extraordinary mystic phenomena. In France, she entered the Carmel of Pau. She was sent to India to found new Carmels, and then to Bethlehem, where she died in 1878. She was beatified by St John Paul II in 1983.

Blessed Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve was born in France, in Toulouse in 1811. She founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception for the education of poor girls and children, for the sick and for missions in faraway lands. She died of cholera on October 2nd 1854. She was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

Source: VIS