First American-Made Saint Was Morris County Nun

In just 26 years of life Miriam Teresa Demjanovich left a profound mark on those around her and the Catholic Church. What she did posthumously was even more incredible, and has garnered her the status of sainthood.

According to dailyrecord.com, Demjanovich, who became Sister Miriam Teresa in 1925, will be beatified in Newark at an Oct. 4 Mass at Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark, making her the first American-made saint in history.

All beatifications and canonizations were previously held in Rome, the report said. Pope Benedict XVI was the first pontiff to give the permission of beatifications outside Italy, the report said.

Demjanovich was born in Bayonne, New Jersey to immigrant parents native to northeastern Slovakia, according to the Sisters of Charity of New Jersey. She was baptized five days after her birth at Saint John the Baptist Church in Bayonne.

At 16, Demjanovich gave the salutatory address at the Bayonne High School graduation, but shortly thereafter became a caretaker for her ill mother. Following her mother’s death, Demjanovich entered the College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station. She entered into the sisterhood on May 17, 1925, according to SCNJ.

She died less than two years later after contracting an infection during an operation for appendicitis.

Her sainthood is being considered because, according to dailyrecord.com, a young blind boy had his eyesight completely restored in 1963 upon receiving a photo and piece of hair of Sister Miriam Teresa from his third grade teacher, also a nun.

The October Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Amato, who will travel from Rome as the representative of Pope Francis, the report said.