MOUNT CARMEL - Mother Maria Kaupas, founder of the Sisters of St. Casimir, will be returning to Mount Carmel in a special, spiritual way during the 10:30 a.m. Mass Sunday at Divine Redeemer Church.
A portrait of Mother
Maria provided by the Sisters of St. Casimir, Chicago, will be placed in a position of honor near the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue at the front of the church. The proximity to the statue is fitting in light of her devotion to the Sacred Heart.
The Lithuanian immigrant, who also established the first Lithuanian Catholic school at the former Holy Cross Church in Mount Carmel, was declared venerable in 2010 and is awaiting Vatican verification of a miracle that will enable her to be beatified, the final step before sainthood.
"It's exciting to remember someone who walked on our streets is being considered for sainthood," said the Very Rev. Martin O. Moran III, pastor of Divine Redeemer.
The parish was created in 1995 by a merger of five parishes that were originally founded by immigrants. They included Holy Cross, Lithuanian; St. John the Baptist, Slovak; Our Mother of Consolation, Polish; and St. Peter's and St. Paul's, Italian and Tyrolean.
"Mount Carmel has always been a welcoming community for immigrants," said Moran. "How wonderful it is to keep that spirit alive."
The ceremony will take place after the homily. The painting will be carried to its new home by Marion Wydra, one of the parish's oldest Lithuanian members, and her great-nephew, Jared Shutt. Wydra was among a group of local residents who have been involved in Mother Maria Kaupas' journey toward sainthood. The artwork will be blessed by Moran.
The painting at Divine Redeemer is the latest in the local commemoration of Mother Maria's life and ministry. The St. Pauline Center in Kulpmont has been home since 2010 to an extensive display of paintings of the sister and items made by or presented to Mother Maria.
The event is the result of a dialogue between the Sisters of St. Casimir, the Diocese of Harrisburg and Divine Redeemer, noted Moran.
The pastor pointed out the 75th anniversary of Mother Maria Kaupas' death will be April 17, 2015. He said the parish is planning several other ways of honoring the sister's life.
He pointed out that if Mother Maria Kaupas is canonized, she will join St. Pauline Visintainer, the namesake of the spiritual center in Kulpmont; her cousins are local residents.