Sister Stefani came to Kenya in 1915 and worked as a nurse at British military hospitals during WW1.
She then settled near Nyeri where she was known as “Nyaatha”, meaning “mother of mercy” in the Kikuyu language. Nyeri has held three days of beatification ceremonies, taking the nun a step closer to becoming a saint.
Tanzanian Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on Saturday read a letter of beatification in Latin from Pope Francis, declaring that the sister “from now on will be called Blessed”. The Daily Nation said up to 100,000 people were in attendance, with millions more watching on live television.
On Sunday, her remains, which were exhumed in 1995, were taken from the Mathari Memorial Chapel to a new tomb at Nyeri Cathedral. British military officers oversaw the burial as a mark of respect for her work treating soldiers in Kenya and Tanzania during World War One. For a person to be beatified, there must be verification that a miracle has occurred as a result of people praying to the beatification candidate after they have died.
In 1989 almost 300 people who were taking refuge in a church during Mozambique’s civil war prayed to the nun and much-needed water were said to have appeared in the font at Nipepe church. “It was enough for all of them to drink, to refresh themselves and even to bath a baby girl who was born in that occasion the Irine stepahani website says.
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