You are invited to “Mother Marianne Cope - A Legacy of Love and Service,” a very special gale dinner, 4:00pm, Saturday, August 4, at the Hawaii Convention Center, in anticipation of the canonization of Blessed Marianne of Molokai by Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, October 21, in Rome.

The celebration will feature a gourmet meal, silent and live auction and great Hawaiian entertainment. The evening is being hosted by the Father Damien/Mother

Marianne Commission of the Diocese of Honolulu. For more information: Sister Alicia Damien Lau, 348-7701; Deacon Wally Mitsui 341-1385

The funds raised will help send nine Kalaupapa residents and their caregivers to Syracuse and Rome for the historic ceremonies. The proceeds will also help cover local post-canonization events, including an interisland pilgrimage of St. Marianne’s relic, an interfaith prayer service at Iolani Palace and a luau at Kalupapa.

Mother Marianne was the superior of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N. Y., when she came to Hawaii in 1883 to care for people with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). She served five years in Honolulu and her final 30 years in Kalaupapa, Molokai. The selfless dedication o this “Beloved Mother of Outcasts” was the beginning of an expansive Franciscan mission in the Islands of hospitals,

schools and other institutions of care. May Blessed Marianne’s life and pioneering spirit be an inspiration for all to serve our sisters and brothers in need. Mahalo nui loa!