Catholic Church to honour Blessed Nyaatha and St Allamano in Nyeri

The Roman Catholic Church will on Friday (tomorrow) hold a special thanksgiving mass for the Canonisation of Saint Joseph Allamano and Memorial of Blessed Irene Stefani Nyaatha.

The Church’s faithful, Consolata missionaries and clergy from different parts of the world are expected to convene at Our Lady of Consolata Cathedral in Nyeri town for the mass that will be presided over by Archdiocese of Nyeri Archbishop Anthony Muheria.  

Pope Francis canonised Blessed Allamano into a Saint on October 20, 2024.

St Allamano is the founding father of the Institute of Consolata Missionaries (IMC) for men and the Consolata Missionary Sisters for women.

Blessed Stefani was beatified on May 23, 2015, in Nyeri, in a ceremony that was presided over by Papal delegate Polycarp Cardinal Pengo from Tanzania who had been sent by Pope Francis.

The Church has since been inviting its faithful to present miracles, which they have received through intercessory prayers of Blessed Stefani, so that she can be declared a Saint by the Pope.

The Church has been collecting and documenting the miracles (favours and intentions) so as to fast-track her canonisation process.

Father Peter Githinji – who is the postulator in charge of causes of saints, beatification and canonization at the Archdiocese of Nyeri – notes that Blessed Stefani is one step away from Sainthood.

“We are urging our faithful to continue praying and presenting to us the favours and intentions received through Blessed Nyaatha. A miracle is the one that will lead to the final stage, and it will be the greatest news for the world because the Pope himself is the one who will declare Blessed Nyaatha a Saint,” said Fr Githinji.

“We are asking for her intercession so that a miracle will happen soon, and she gets canonized as a Saint of the Holy Catholic Church. The annual memorial mass is very important to us as Catholic faithful. They remind us that we are only remaining with one final step before the canonization of Blessed Nyaatha as a Saint,” he added.

Blessed Stefani was from the Consolata Sisters and started her missionary work in 1915 at Gikondi village in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County. This is where she earned the name Nyaatha, which means ‘merciful’ in Kikuyu.

Blessed Stefani died in 1930 at the age of 39 after contracting an illness from one of the patients she was treating.

The Church’s world headquarters, Rome, started documenting her life’s work in 1985.

Her remains were preserved in a brown marble sarcophagus and installed on the wall next to the exit of Mathari Central Chapel in Nyeri.

Some of her remains (relics) were moved to Our Lady of Divine Providence Catholic Parish at Gikondi in Mukurwe-ini, Nyeri County, where they were placed in a shiny golden vessel.

Other remains were interred at Our Lady of Consolata Cathedral in Nyeri town while some were ferried to Vatican City in Rome