Black Catholic History Month – Did you know? Servant of God Mother Mary Lange is on her way to canonization. Born Elizabeth Clarisse Lange probably in Haiti about 1790, she was raised in Cuba. At some point when she was young, she moved to the United States and settled in Baltimore, Maryland among the French speaking population coming from Haiti.
Around 1818, Elizabeth and her friend, Marie Madeleine Balas began offering free education to the children of the Haitian refugees. It was a challenging task because she and Madelaine were free black women in a slave state and the Emancipation Proclamation was 50 years away. Around 1828, the Archbishop of Baltimore asked Father James Joubert if he and Elizabeth would start a school for “girls of color.” Elizabeth asked if she could also start a religious order for “women of color.” The Archbishop agreed. This order was called The Oblate Sisters of Divine Providence and exists to this day. Mother Mary Lange died in 1882. In 1991, her cause for beatification was started and the designation of “Servant of God” was given. The Oblate Sisters of Providence had a presence in St. Louis in the first half of the twentieth century, conducting a school for children of color and an orphanage. This author met a woman who lived at the orphanage as a child and became a devout lifelong Catholic because of her experiences there.. Mother Mary Lange, help us to seek understanding of all of our Catholic brothers and sisters. Information provided by Saralou Hendrickson.
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