Diocesan News

NET to Air Live Coverage Of Beatification in Newark

October 2, 2014
An image of Opus Dei Bishop Alvaro del Portillo is unveiled during his beatification ceremony in Madrid Sept. 27. Tens of thousands of people from around the world attended the beatification Mass for the former Opus Dei leader, who died in 1994.
An image of Opus Dei Bishop Alvaro del Portillo is unveiled during his beatification ceremony in Madrid Sept. 27. Tens of thousands of people from around the world attended the beatification Mass for the former Opus Dei leader, who died in 1994.

New Evangelization Television (NET-TV) will broadcast live the Beatification of the Venerable Miriam Teresa Demjanovich from the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Newark, N.J., on Saturday, Oct. 4, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

“This is the first beatification to take place in the United States, ever,” said Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark. “In recent years, there has been an effort by the Vatican to bring these important liturgies to the actual countries where the saints are from,” he explained.

Venerable Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich was born in Bayonne, N.J., in 1901. She lived her religious life in the Garden State where she attended public schools, graduated from the College of St. Elizabeth and entered the community of Sisters of Charity, both in Convent Station and Morristown, N.J. She died in 1927 when she was only 26 years of age.

The liturgy will follow an official format provided by Rome, the same one performed in St. Peter Square in Vatican City, and will be presided over by Angelo Cardinal Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints from Rome. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Bishop of Brooklyn, will concelebrate.

Bishop DiMarzio was taught by the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth at the Sacred Heart Cathedral School in Newark. “I have memories of praying for her (Venerable Sister Miriam Teresa) beatification when I was in elementary school,” said Bishop DiMarzio. “Today is a joyful day, not only for the Sisters of Charity but also for all who are the beneficiaries of their teaching apostolate.”

The liturgy will also include a procession with Sister Miriam Teresa’s relic carried by Michael Mercer, the young boy who was cured of macular degeneration in 1963 after prayers through her intercession.
Mercer’s case was reviewed by many optometrists, who later declared the cure was medically unexplainable. After years of investigation, the Congregation for Causes of Saints approved the authenticity of this cure as miraculous and recommended to Pope Francis that Venerable Sister Miriam Teresa be listed among the Blessed in the Catholic Church.

Community members, Sisters of Charity, some of Sister Miriam Teresa’s relatives and Dr. Mary Mazzarella, a retired pediatrician who has been working on her cause for sainthood, are expected to attend.

Encore showings will be available at 3 p.m. on Saturday and at 9 p.m. on Sunday. NET-TV is a cable network featuring news and information with a Catholic point of view and is available in the New York area on Time Warner Cable, Ch. 97, Cablevision, Ch. 30; nationally on Verizon FiOS on Demand; and streams live at netny.tv/watch-now.