Saint Marianne Cope

Barbara Koob (later Cope) was born on January 23, 1838, in Heppenheim, Germany, and the next year her family emigrated to Utica, New York. She worked in a factory to support her family before entering the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse in 1862, taking the name Marianne. She taught, served as a superior and helped run Saint Joseph's Hospital in Syracuse, known for accepting patients regardless of background.

In 1883 she answered a plea from Hawaii, where dozens of congregations had refused, and sailed to Honolulu with six sisters to care for people with Hansen's disease (leprosy). In 1888 she moved to the settlement of Kalaupapa on Molokai, cared for the dying Saint Damien and took over his home for boys. She never contracted the disease and died at Kalaupapa on August 9, 1918. She was canonized in 2012.

Her optional memorial on January 23, her birthday, is kept in the dioceses of the United States. Her remains were returned to Syracuse, New York, where a shrine and museum honor her, and Hawaii honors her together with Saint Damien as a saint of the islands.