Mass to celebrate Shrewsbury nun
A bishop is holding a celebratory online mass to mark the birth of a Shrewsbury-born Passionist nun.
Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury Cathedral is live-streaming the mass to celebrate Mother Elizabeth Prout, foundress of the Passionist Sisters.
It will be held tomorrow from noon.
Mother Elizabeth, whose cause for sainthood is being studied by the Vatican, was born a short distance from the cathedral in 1820.
She laboured in the slums of Victorian Manchester and towns of North West England until her death at 43 from tuberculosis.
The so-called “Mother Teresa of Manchester” opened a chain of schools for poor children and homes for destitute women across the industrialised region, and was ahead of her time in teaching women crucial skills to earn their own livings.
Her sainthood cause was submitted to the Vatican in 2008 for scrutiny by theologians who have now concluded that she lived a life of “heroic virtue”.
The ruling means not only that there is nothing in her background that would disqualify her from sainthood but also that evidence of her sanctity has been proven.
A document on her life is due to be examined by top-ranking cardinals and bishops in Rome who will then ask Pope Francis to declare Mother Elizabeth as “Venerable”.
At that point, the search for two miracles will begin in earnest – one to declare her as Blessed and the other as a saint.
To follow the mass visit churchservices.tv/shrewsburycathedral
