The Little Sisters arrived in the United States in 1868 and began their work in Maryland the following year. Archbishop Martin John Spalding of Baltimore said they were "called to do a great deal of good in America, not only among the poor, but also among the rich; for words no longer suffice - works are necessary."
The order estimates that it has sheltered 15,000 elderly men and women in Maryland during the last 140 years.
Jugan's canonization follows a church investigation of her life and death, including the certification of a miracle: the cure of a Nebraska physician diagnosed with cancer in 1989 and given six months to live.
On the day an endoscopy revealed that anesthesiologist Edward Gatz was suffering from an adenocarcinoma extending from his esophagus to his stomach, his wife spoke with a Jesuit priest who had served as a chaplain to the Little Sisters of the Poor in Milwaukee. The Rev. Richard D. McGloin recommended that Jeanne Gatz pray a novena daily asking Jugan to intercede.
Twenty years later, Gatz, now 72, is alive and well in Omaha.
Little Sisters and their supporters around the world will tune in to watch the Mass, which will canonize five candidates, at St. Peter's Basilica. Kathleen Pence, a lay associate, will attend in person.
"We've been praying and waiting and hoping," said the Ellicott City woman, one of several members of the delegation who gathered after the send-off Mass last week to share their thoughts. "This is really a privilege for us. It's once in a lifetime."
