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<img height='275' src='http://vaticanstamps.org/VPS/images/296/023-2025-a.jpg'> 
Witnesses of Hope: 
Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified 
Vatican City, 2025</center>
 
The memorial for Saint Mariam Baouardy (Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified) is celebrated on August 25. Vatican City issued a four-stamp minisheet in 2025, one of four released under the title "Witnesses of Hope". The issue honors this Palestinian Discalced Carmelite nun, sometimes called "The Little Arab" who, despite her short life, inspires millions around the world, especially Christians living in the Middle East.
 
Mariam Baouardy was born on January 5, 1846, in the village of I'billin in Galilee. Her early life was marked by deep tragedy and loss. Her parents, poor Melkite Greek Catholics, had lost twelve children in infancy before Mariam and her brother were born. By the time Mariam was three years old, both of her parents had died of illness, leaving her to be raised by a paternal uncle. As a young girl, she remained illiterate and worked as a domestic servant. At age 13, she refused an arranged marriage and chose to dedicate her life entirely to God.
 
Mariam’s desire to serve God led her to the religious life and, in 1867, she entered the Carmelite monastery in Pau, France, where she took the religious name Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified. Her life as a nun became deeply intertwined with the establishment of new spiritual communities. In 1870, she traveled with a small group of sisters to Mangalore, India, to establish the first Carmelite monastery on the subcontinent. She later returned to France before setting out on a mission to the Holy Land where, in 1875, she founded a new Carmelite monastery in Bethlehem.
 
Mariam's life was defined by profound mystical gifts and an intense devotion to the Holy Spirit. Despite her lack of formal education, Mariam possessed a deep knowledge of spiritual matters. She regularly experienced ecstasies, prophecies, and visions, and would receive the stigmata: the physical manifestations of Christ's wounds. Witnesses documented instances of levitation during her intense moments of prayer. Through all this, she maintained a humble persona and advocated for a renewed devotion to the Holy Spirit. Despite her illiteracy, she composed beautiful prayers that emphasized complete surrender to divine guidance.
 
Tragically, Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified died at the young age of 32 as a result of a fatal accident. While overseeing the construction of the Bethlehem monastery, she fell from a scaffold and broke her arm. She developed a severe case of gangrene, and would die on August 26, 1878. Her memorial is celebrated on August 25, one day earlier than the anniversary of her death, so as not to conflict with another feast on the Discalced Carmelite liturgical calendar. The memorial of "The Transverberation of the Heart of Saint Teresa of Jesus", the profound mystical experience of the order's foundress, Saint Teresa of Avila, is celebrated on August 26.
 
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<img height='275' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Karmel_v_Betl%C3%A9m%C4%9B%2C_relikvi%C3%A1%C5%99_Mariam_Baouardy_2019.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=index&utm_content=original'> 
Reliquary of Saint Mariam Baouardy, Carmel Monastery, Bethlehem 
Photo by Dobroš 
From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative 
Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license</center>
 
Mariam Baouardy, Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified, was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 13, 1983 and Pope Francis canonized her on May 17, 2015, following the recognition of miracles attributed to her intercession. She is venerated as a powerful source of hope and, as one of the few modern Palestinian saints, she is deeply revered as a powerful intercessor for peace in the Holy Land. Her shrine is at the Carmelite monastery in Bethlehem.
 
REFERENCES: 
<li>Wikipedia, <a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariam_Baouardy'>Mariam Baouardy</a> 
<li>PosteVatican.va, May 27, 2025, <a href='https://www.postevaticane.va/en/philatelic-issues/4-2025/186'>Witnesses of Hope: Holy Mary of Jesus Crucified Baouardy</a> 
<li>Vatican Philatelic Society website, www.vaticanstamps.org, Stamp Database Search

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Mariam Baouardy:Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified

Mariam Baouardy:
Sister Mary of Jesus Crucified