Vatican declares NJ Sister of Charity "Servant of God"

John Freund, CM
May 10, 2012

Servant of God Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, American professed sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth (1901-1927).

“The website of the Sisters of Charity Convent Station asks the question about one of its own. For more information about Bayonne-born Venerable  Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich visit the Vincentian Encyclopedia entry devoted to her.”

“Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, a Sister of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, was born 26 March 1901 in Bayonne, New Jersey USA. She was baptized and confirmed in the Byzantine-Ruthenian rite of the Church on 31 March 1901. The youngest of seven children, five of whom survived infancy, she was the daughter of Alexander and Johanna (Suchy) Demjanovich, immigrants to the United States from the area now known as Eastern Slovakia.”

“The Ordinary Processes of the Cause for the Sainthood of Sister Teresa (the process which takes place with the diocese) were completed in the 1970s. Testimonies of the Apostolic Process were held from 18 May 1981 to 18 December 1981. The final portion of the Positio super virtutibus (report about virtues) was brought to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. A miracle, restoration of perfect vision to a boy who was legally blind because of macular degeneration, was investigated by the Newark Archdiocesan Tribunal. Subsequently, on 8 July 2005 a ceremony at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey marked the end of the investigative process for Sister Teresa’s beatification. Documents were sent to the office of the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington, D.C. and sent from there to Rome.”

Stay tuned for more details as the become available.


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1 Comment

  1. jbf

    According to Catholic News Service “Venerable Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, the daughter of Eastern Catholic immigrants from Slovakia, was born in 1901 and lived only 26 years. After graduating with high honors as a literature major, she taught and later joined the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth in New Jersey.

    Sister Teresa continued to teach during the last two full years of her life. She also gave a series of spiritual conferences, which were compiled after her death in the book “Greater Perfection.” The conferences stressed the call to holiness for people in every state of life. She died after several months of health struggles in 1927.”