Eileen O’Connor’s path to sainthood is now in God’s hands (and the care of the Vatican) after Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP formally concluded the diocesan phase of the canonisation cause. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The archbishop officially signed off on the final decree for the acts of the cause at Cathedral House on Friday, alongside members of the Eileen O’Connor tribunal and the historical commission, who hope the Servant of God will become Australia’s second saint.
The decree, and the documents compiled by the tribunal and commission over the last four years evidencing Eileen’s case for sainthood, were sent on Monday to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome.
Diocesan postulator Fr Anthony Robbie has overseen the cause from beginning to end and sealed the necessary documents ready for dispatch to Rome.
Fr Robbie said he has seen the “massive response” of Catholics growing in knowledge of Eileen and turning to her in prayer.
He will travel to Rome with Archbishop Fisher in October to formally present the documentation to the dicastery.
There they hope a Roman postulator will be appointed to take forward the investigation into the cause.
“Now begins the work of researching for a miracle to show God’s approval of the work that we’ve done. We’re very zealously pursuing that at the moment,” Fr Robbie said.
Eileen O’Connor was born in 1892 and died 1921, aged only 28. She suffered from tuberculosis of the spine, spinal curvature, stunted growth, periods of blindness, long periods of paralysis and extreme nerve pain, amidst other ailments.
Despite this Eileen offered her suffering up to God and dedicated her life to his mission, founding the Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor—known as the “Brown Nurses”— alongside Fr Edward McGrath msc.
In 1936, her remains were transferred from Sydney’s Randwick Cemetery to the chapel at Our Lady’s Home in Coogee. At the time, her body was claimed to be incorrupt.
She was declared a Servant of God in 2018.
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Eileen O’Connor ready for sainthood (By George Al-Akiki, The Catholic Weekly)
