Beatified nun could inspire Holy Land's Christians, says Patriarch Twal

(Nov.24,2009): A newly beatified nun from the Holy Land, could serve as an inspiration for Christians who remain there, said the Latin-rite patriarch of Jerusalem. The Nov. 22 beatification "breathes upon us a new spirit, renews our church and invites us to the happy hope, that we ourselves, too, can be saints like her," said Patriarch Fouad Twal, referring to Blessed Soultaneh Maria Ghattas, founder of the Dominican Sisters of the Holy Rosary of Jerusalem. "What the church needs most is the witness of saints," he added in his homily at the beatification Mass.. "Holiness is the sign of the church's credibility," he said .
Patriarch Twal beatified Mother Marie-Alphonsine, as she is known, during a Mass for more than 3,000 people in Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation. Some 23 Rosary Sisters from Lebanon and 50 from Jordan were among those present. Sister Aline Barakat, principal of a Rosary Sisters' high school in Jbeil, Lebanon, said that in addition to asking Mother Marie-Alphonsine to give them peace and grace to be like her, the sisters also asked her to send vocations.
Loud applause broke out as Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo of Jerusalem, completed reading in Arabic, the text of the apostolic letter from Pope Benedict XVI, which had been read in Italian by Archbishop Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.