Patriarch beatifies nun in Nazareth
By Judith Sudilovsky in Nazareth, Israel

27 November 2009

A Rosary Sister prays at the beatification Mass of Blessed Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas (Photo: CNS)

A Palestinian nun could serve as an inspiration for Christians who remain in the Holy Land, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem said during her beatification.

The beatification on Sunday "breathes upon us a new spirit, renews our Church and invites us to the happy hope that we ourselves, too, can be saints like her", said Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal about Blessed Soultaneh Maria Ghattas, founder of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Rosary of Jerusalem.

"What the Church needs most is the witness of saints," he added in his homily. "Holiness is the sign of the Church's credibility."

Patriarch Twal beatified Mother Marie-Alphonsine, as she is known, during a Mass for more than 3,000 people in the Basilica of the Annunciation which was also attended by Helen Zananiri, whose prayer paved the way for Mother Marie-Alphonsine's beatification.

Miss Zananiri had prayed for the protection of her daughter following a premonition just hours before a group of girls fell into a collapsed outdoor septic tank six years ago. All of the girls, including Natalie Zananiri, who was under the toxic water for at least five minutes according to testimony given in the beatification process, were pulled out unharmed.

"This is a very big event for Christian Palestinians in this land," said Miss Zananiri. "It shows all the world that there are Christians who speak Arabic. We are very proud we live in this holy land."

Natalie Zananiri, now 23, said before being rescued she had never heard of Mother Marie-Alphonsine and had not really believed in miracles. She said she now believes.

Other Palestinians expressed their immense pride at the beatification. Slipping into the basilica just minutes before the Mass began, Habib Sabbara, 35, said he had come to Nazareth from East Jerusalem with his wife and two young children to honour a native of his own city.

"These footprints of Jesus Christ are still living. It gives a very big [incentive] to the local Christian community to go after those footsteps," he said. "Even though we [Christians] are less than one per cent of the population here, we are the most powerful because we are like salt. A little bit of salt makes a big difference. It gives meaning to this land. Without Christians here, there is no meaning to this land."

Sister Hortense Nakhleh, principal of Rosary Sisters' High School in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, said that although she was looking forward to the ceremony, what was of greater significance to her would follow the beatification. "After this my mission is to do exactly as our foundress wished. As she lived we have to live; as she was the shining face of the Lord so, too, we have to be the same in our society," she said. "For me that is more important."

Some 23 Rosary Sisters from Lebanon and 50 from Jordan, along with a large number of Catholics from Jordan, began the Israeli visa application process in August and received their permits to travel only days before the ceremony.

Sister Aline Barakat, principal of a Rosary Sisters' high school in Jbeil, Lebanon, said that in addition to asking Mother Marie-Alphonsine to "give us peace and give us grace... to be like her", the Sisters also asked her to send vocations.

Church bells rang out as the Mass began and a sense of excitement swept over the congregation. They applauded enthusiastically when a little girl, dressed in the habit of the Rosary Sisters and representing the order and its founder, walked with her mother to the section where the Rosary Sisters were sitting and was hugged and kissed by several of the nuns. Applause again exploded through the sanctuary and people stood up in their places, straining to see as Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo of Jerusalem completed reading in Arabic the text of the apostolic letter from Pope Benedict XVI, which had been read in Italian by Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

As the bells grew to a crescendo and the white curtain covering the several-foot tall picture of Mother Marie-Alphonsine was lifted, several Rosary Sisters began to cry and wave their hands toward the picture, which hung from a balcony. Women in the pews behind began to trill in the traditional Arabic way of celebration.