1. Mariam Baouardy, OCD, was a Palestinian Discalced Carmelite nun of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
25 Facts About Mariam Baouardy
1. 2.
Mariam Baouardy was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 November 1983 and canonized on 17 May 2015 by Pope Francis.
3.
Mariam Baouardy's father was Giries Baouardy and her mother was Mariam Chahine.
4.
Mariam Baouardy was their 13th child and first daughter, and none of her preceding brothers had survived infancy.
5.
Mariam Baouardy was born after the couple made a pilgrimage on foot to Bethlehem, some 70 miles away, out of desperation after the loss of their children.
6.
Mariam Baouardy was joined by a new brother, Boulos, two years later.
7.
Mariam Baouardy was not yet three years old when her parents died from an illness in 1848, only a few days apart.
8.
Mariam Baouardy was taken by a paternal uncle who lived in the same village, and her brother went to live with a maternal aunt.
9.
Mariam Baouardy was raised in a loving home in comfortable circumstances.
10.
When Mariam Baouardy was eight, her uncle and his wife moved to Alexandria, Egypt to improve their situation.
11.
Mariam Baouardy wrote her brother, then living in Nazareth, asking him to visit her.
12.
Mariam Baouardy rejected his proposal, which caused the young man to fly into a rage, in which he drew a knife and cut her throat.
13.
Mariam Baouardy then dumped her body in a nearby alley.
14.
Mariam Baouardy then experienced what she was convinced was a miracle.
15.
Mariam Baouardy felt inspired to make a vow of perpetual virginity there at the Holy Sepulchre.
16.
Mariam Baouardy then took a boat in Jaffa intending to head to Acre.
17.
Mariam Baouardy's employer cared for her for a month until she recovered, wholly healed.
18.
In May 1863, a generous patron made it possible for Mariam Baouardy to move to Marseille, France, where she became the cook for an Arab family.
19.
Mariam Baouardy invited Baouardy to go with her, writing to that community's prioress and recommending that they accept the young Arab woman.
20.
In 1870, Mariam Baouardy went with the first group of Carmelite Apostolic Sisters to Mangalore, India.
21.
Mariam Baouardy served there for two years before returning to Pau.
22.
Mariam Baouardy died on 26 August 1878 in Bethlehem from cancer that had developed in her bones due to the fall she had while working in the monastery, which led to gangrene that spread to her lungs.
23.
Mariam Baouardy's cause was formally opened on 18 May 1927, granting her the title of Servant of God.
24.
Mariam Baouardy was declared Venerable on 27 November 1981 and beatified by Pope John Paul II on 13 November 1983.
25.
Mariam Baouardy became the second Greek Catholic to be canonized a saint of the Catholic Church, the first being Josaphat Kuntsevych in 1867.