Saint Marianne relics enshrined at Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Saint Marianne's relics are now in downtown Honolulu on permanent display.

It was a moving homecoming for Saint Marianne. 131 years after she first arrived in Hawaii, her remains have returned, where she'll rest in peace, at Cathedral Basilica Our Lady of Peace.

Sisters of Saint Francis carried the remains of Saint Marianne onto the same koa canoe that took Saint Damien's relic to its permanent place inside in 2009.

Then, the procession began for the Beloved Mother of Outcasts in front of surviving patients from Kalaupapa, who she cared for more than a century ago when no one else would.

Boogie Kahilihiwa said during services, "She cared with all of us with aloha, compassion and dignity. We love her and are happy that she has returned to Hawaii Nei."

"She brought love, care, dignity and respect to those who were disdained, those who were isolated, those who were cast off." said Sister Roberta Smith, from the Sisters of St. Francis of Neumann Communities.

Sister Smith escorted Marianne's remains back to Hawaii from Syracuse, New York.

That's where Marianne became a Franciscan Sister in 1863 before answering a call to care for hansens patients in Kalaupapa in 1883.

Many of the patients at this mass were in Rome for Marianne's Canonization in 2012.

Also at the Basilica to honor her legacy, family members of Hawaii's second Saint and many compelled to personally venerate Marianne.

Sister Smith said, "How fitting that she should be placed here in a place of peace because it was she who brought peace to so many people."

Marianne's journey has come full circle. She first came to Hawaii to help Damien in Kalaupapa. Now, they're reunited again in Honolulu.

The hope is that by enshrining her relics at Cathedral Basilica Our Lady of Peace, more people can visit than if she was returned to Kalaupapa.

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