NEW JERSEY - SISTER MIRIAM TERESA DEMJANOVICH - SISTER OF CHARITY - BEATIFIED
EXCERPT "On Saturday, as thousands filled the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark to capacity in celebration of Demjanovich’s beatification—the first step toward sainthood—Susan DeVoe knelt in a pew beside her children to pray for a second one.
DeVoe’s youngest son suffers from Choroideremia, a rare and currently incurable degenerative retinal disease that she says is slowly causing 9-year-old Mark to go blind. In the three years since her son was diagnosed, DeVoe says he’s lost 50 percent of his peripheral vision. The disease has also left him night-blind, she added.
“We pray for the help of Sister Demjanovich all the time,” DeVoe said, waiting in a pew with her son and daughter prior to the ceremony. “Through her, one man was cured of his blindness. We hope that she will intercede on our behalf to do it again, but we’re also here to celebrate the joy of this day.”
She was not alone. At Saturday’s beatification Mass, thousands of nuns, clergy and other Catholic faithful gathered to honor Demjanovich, as church leaders officially declared her a “blessed” person.
It is the first time such a ceremony has been held on U.S. soil, said Jim Goodness, a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Newark. “This is a special day for New Jersey, “ he said. “What we have here is a moment is the church recognizing a woman of heroic virtue. And when we have an event where a person from our community has been recognized, that’s a powerful message for the rest of us.”
