Edict
Decree N. 29 / 2024
Pierbattista Card. Pizzaballa
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Cause for Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God
Mary of the Trinity (in the world: Louisa Jaques)
professed nun of the Poor Clares
On June 25, 1942, the Servant of God, Mary of the Trinity (in the world Louisa Jaques), professed nun of the Poor Clares, died at the age of 41 in Jerusalem, on June 25, 1942. Born into a Protestant missionary family in South Africa and raised in Switzerland, she embraced the Catholic faith after a long journey. At the age of 25, in the heart of her youth, she experienced a profound existential and faith crisis, culminating in the night of her conversion: into her despair came light and an irresistible attraction to the cloister. Drawn by the mystery of the Eucharist, she was baptized into the Catholic Church on March 19, 1928. After countless vocational attempts, Providence led her, at the age of 37 to the Poor Clares’ Monastery in Jerusalem, where God was waiting for her to unite her more closely to the mystery of His Passover. In the travails, illness and sufferings of life, the Servant of God was driven to the search for truth and true love, overcoming evil with good, learning to listen to God’s voice. Quietly, she gave herself unreservedly in prayer, adoration and fraternal charity, striving with all her strength for Christian unity, imploring the gift of peace. On December 8, 1941, she offered herself as a victim to Jesus in the Eucharist, and a few months later she died peacefully, leaving behind a luminous witness of Christian life.
As her reputation for sanctity has been increasing over the years and as it has been formally requested that the Cause for Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God be initiated, in bringing this to the attention of the Ecclesial Community, we invite each and every one of the faithful communicate with us directly or through Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (Latin Patriarchate Road, P.O.B 14152, Jerusalem 9114101 - [email protected]) any information that could be favorable or contrary to the fame of holiness of the abovementioned Servant of God.
Furthermore, having to collect, according to the legal provisions, all of the writings attributed to her, with the present Edict we order those persons who have such writings to consign to the said Tribunal, without delay, any writing whose author is the Servant of God, if it has not yet been consigned to the Postulation of the Cause. We remind you that the term “writings” does not just mean the printed works which have already been collected, but any manuscripts, diaries, letters and every other personal writing of the Servant of God. Those who wish to keep the original may present a duly certified copy.
In conclusion, we decree that the present Edict will be displayed for two months on the entrance of the Co-Cathedral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It will be published in the Diocesan Bulletin as well as on the website of the Latin Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land and that of the Poor Clares.
Given in Jerusalem, from the See of the Latin Patriarchate
November 29, 2024
Feast of All Saints of the Franciscan Order
