Mary Elizabeth Lange
Founder of the Oblate Sisters of Providence.
The Vatican record
- 22 June 2023 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2023)
Who they were
Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP (born Elizabeth Clarisse Lange; c. 1789 – February 3, 1882) was an American religious sister in Baltimore, Maryland who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1829, the first African-American religious congregation in the United States. She was also, via the Oblates, the first African-American superior general.
Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), until this page is written up in full.
The miracles
The Church has declared this person’s heroic virtue, which is what the title Venerable means. One approved miracle is needed before beatification.
Why that counted as sanctity
Limited information is available on this saint so far.
The cause
Mary Elizabeth Lange has been declared Venerable; the cause continues. Favours received, and offers of help, go to the postulation, the office that carries the cause forward: Oblate Sisters of Providence: the cause of Mary Elizabeth Lange.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q6779421 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Mary Elizabeth Lange (CC BY-SA)
Not yet written up in full. The dates and the step marked “Vatican record” come from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; the rest comes from Wikidata and is not yet checked.