He Pope Francisco He declared Mother María Isabel Lange, a prominent African-American nun of Cuban origin who founded in 1829 the first religious congregation for black women in Baltimore, venerable.
The recognition of Lange’s heroic virtue and the progress of his beatification process were announced by the Vatican in a decree, issued June 22.
Now, a miracle attributed to his intercession is expected to occur in order to proceed with his beatification, explained the Catholic News Agency.
Little is known about the early life of María Isabel Lange, known as Elizabeth Lange. His official biography says which nation in Santiago de Cuba around 174, although some point out that he arrived in that city with his family from the island of Hispaniola, fleeing the Haitian revolution.
At the beginning of the 19th century, he moved to the United States and there he became aware of the lack of educational opportunities for the children of black immigrants. Together with a friend, he established the St. Frances Academy in his own home, using his own resources to offer education. free to African-American children in Baltimore.
With the support of Baltimore Archbishop James Whitfield, she founded a school for “colored girls” and later established the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious community for black women.
The purpose of this congregation was to provide religious and general education to the African American community. Over time, Lange and her sisters also responded to other needs, such as caring for widows and orphans, educating freed slaves, assisting during the cholera epidemic, and serving at St. Mary’s Seminary.
The Oblate Sisters of Providence were founded more than two centuries ago as a testimony of faith and service to women of African descent. Lange, who adopted the religious name of Maria, served as the congregation’s superior general for two terms.
Lange founded this community long before the Civil War and the subsequent abolition of slavery in the United States. Despite living in Maryland, a slave state at the time, he demonstrated unwavering faith and exceptional dedication to his community.
Mother Mary Lange practiced her faith to an extraordinary degree, giving herself and her material possessions until she was empty of everything except her love for Jesus, which she generously shared with all as a living witness to his teaching, according to the Mother Guild. Mary Lange in an online biography.
Lange passed away on February 3, 1882, at the age of 92 or 93, and his beatification process began more than a century later, in 1991, by Baltimore Cardinal William Keeler.
Currently, the Oblate Sisters of Providence have around 80 members who serve in three cities in the United States and two in Costa Rica.
In the Catholic Church, a Christian is declared “venerable” when it is demonstrated, during his beatification process, that he has led a life in accordance with the gospel and the Pope therefore declares his “heroic virtues.” This is the step before it is recognized as blessed, if there is a proven miracle.
