Women of Faith · Week 3 · Grades 6–8
Guided Notes: St. Marianne Cope
- Name
- Date
- Class
Follow along as your teacher presents. Fill in each section when its slide is on the screen.
St. Marianne Cope
From factory floor to Mother Marianne
Barbara Koob was born in Heppenheim, Germany, on January 23, blank 1. Her family moved to Utica, New York, the next year. When her father got sick, she left school in eighth grade and worked in a factory for nine years.
In blank 2, at age 24, she joined the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse and took the name Marianne. She taught and served as a principal, then helped start two of the first Catholic hospitals in central New York.
At that time many hospitals turned away people who were poor, blank 3, or of a different religion. Marianne’s hospitals took everyone. In 1877 she became the leader of her community.
“I am hungry for the work”
In 1883 a priest in Hawaii wrote for help. People were dying of blank 4, also called leprosy. The government forced them to leave their families and live far away, with no one to care for them.
More than blank 5 religious communities said no. Mother Marianne answered, “I am hungry for the work.” She sailed with six sisters and planned to stay only a short time.
She cleaned up a hospital near Honolulu and set rules about washing hands. In 1888 she moved to blank 6 on Molokai. She cared for Father Damien as he died, then led homes for boys, girls and women.
Marianne’s life
Write what happened in each year.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1838 | Write your answer |
| 1839 | Write your answer |
| 1862 | Write your answer |
| 1877 | Write your answer |
| 1883 | Write your answer |
| 1888 | Write your answer |
| 1918 | Write your answer |
| 2012 | Write your answer |
Check: causes
What made Marianne’s New York hospitals unusual for their time? Circle one.
- A They treated only the members of her own religious community
- B They were the first hospitals to treat Hansen’s disease
- C They welcomed everyone, rich or poor, of any religion
- D They were built with money from the King of Hawaii
Why is that the right answer?
Check: choices
Why did Marianne plant flowers, start a choir and teach sewing at Kalaupapa? Circle one.
- A She wanted the patients to feel happy and human
- B The government required these projects
- C She was preparing the patients to return home
- D She needed to raise money for the hospital
Why is that the right answer?
Fear or dignity?
Fear pushed people away. Marianne chose to see each person. Sort each action by what drives it. Check one box for each.
| Item | Driven by fear | Sees the person |
|---|---|---|
| Forcing sick people to live far from their families | ||
| Opening a home for the healthy daughters of sick parents | ||
| Turning patients away because they are poor or foreign | ||
| Caring for Father Damien until he died | ||
| Staying silent while a classmate is mocked in a group chat | ||
| Messaging someone who has been dropped from the group | ||
| Sharing an embarrassing photo so the joke is not on you | ||
| Setting rules about clean hands to keep everyone safe |
Virtues Marianne lived
For each virtue, write how the saint lived it.
| Virtue | How the saint lived it |
|---|---|
| Courage | Write your answer |
| Respect for dignity | Write your answer |
| Perseverance | Write your answer |
Check: the Church’s judgment
Why did the Church name Marianne Cope a saint? Circle one.
- A She discovered the medicine that cures Hansen’s disease
- B She gave her life for people others had rejected
- C She died as a martyr for refusing to leave Hawaii
- D She founded the Sisters of St. Francis in Syracuse
Why is that the right answer?
Think, pair, share
Fear made people treat those with Hansen’s disease as outcasts. Who gets treated as an outcast online or at school today, and what would Marianne’s kind of courage look like there?
Think: my idea before we talk
Sentence starters: “People get pushed out today when ...”“Fear plays a part because ...”“Courage like Marianne’s would look like ...”
Pair: something my partner said
Let us pray
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:40
Lord Jesus, you made every person in your image.
Free us from the fear that pushes people away.
Make us hungry for the work of love.
St. Marianne Cope, pray for us.
Amen.
My own prayer or intention:
Well done!
Marianne wrote, “Let us make best use of the fleeting moments. They will not return.”
One thing I learned today:
One question I still have:
How could the example of St. Marianne Cope shape the way I live, online and offline?
Challenge: Use one fleeting moment this week: reach out, in person or by message, to someone who has been left out.