The Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints has decreed that Mother Mary Angeline Teresa McCrory, O CARM, is venerable. She is the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, a congregation that sponsors 17 long-term care facilities in the U.S. and one in Ireland.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been investigating Mother McCrory's cause for beatification and canonization. There are four stages in the canonization process: First the person is deemed a servant of God, then venerable, then blessed, and then a saint. One miracle must be attributed to the candidate's intercession to be named blessed, and a second miracle, to be named a saint. The Vatican congregation was authorized to declare Mother McCrory venerable on June 28. The Carmelite sisters are asking people to report to them if a favor has been granted through Mother McCrory's intercession.
Born Bridget Teresa McCrory in Ireland in 1893, Mother McCrory professed her vows as a Little Sister of the Poor in 1915. That congregation, which was focused on the care of the destitute aged, sent her to the U.S., where she in time served as superior at a Bronx, N.Y., facility for the elderly.
Mother McCrory believed that a different approach was needed to care for the aged in the U.S. than that being pursued by the Little Sisters of the Poor. For instance, whereas the Little Sisters believed that they should focus their efforts solely on the destitute elderly, Mother McCrory believed that, irrespective of their economic and class status, elderly individuals could need assistance in aspects of daily living.
With the counsel and approval of the Cardinal of New York City, Mother McCrory and six other sisters withdrew from the Little Sisters of the Poor and in 1929 established the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. Mother McCrory died in 1984.
Information on her sainthood cause is available online: www.carmelitesisters.com/foundress. Click on "Cause for Beatification" at the bottom of the page.
Copyright © 2012 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
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