Ruadhán Jones
Photo: Gerry Temple New mural unveiled as devotion to Sr Clare grows
An Irish nun who died while helping children flee an earthquake in Ecuador has been hailed as a saint for a new generation of young Catholics as devotion to her continues to spread.
A new shrine to Sr Clare Crockett was unveiled in her native Derry at the weekend and many local people say they have started praying for her intercession.
Máire McAteer of Youth 2000 predicted that Sr Clare will be a “saint for the new millennium”.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Ms McAteer said that while Sr Clare is a saint “with a small ‘s’” at the moment, hopes are high that she will be canonised one day.
“Pope St John Paul II, when he came to Ireland, called us to be the saints of the new millennium,” said Ms McAteer. “She’s on the road to sanctity. She had great charity in her heart, giving her life completely to the service of humanity and to God.”
Intercession
Sr Clare died in 2016 and soon after her death young people began praying to her and seeking her intercession.
“She’s so attractive to young people,” Ms McAteer said. “She was a young woman herself, so full of joy. Her motto – ‘all or nothing’ – that speaks to the heart of young people. That’s what they want, they are full of enthusiasm and they want to give it all.”
Local saints such as Sr Clare will be important for reviving Irish Catholicism, Ms McAteer believes. She said that she thinks that young people in particular “can identify with her and to see one of our own live a life of holiness, it makes you think well, that’s possible for us”.
“We have so many Irish saints over the generations, but to have new saints of this generation is so important,” she added.
Meanwhile, Carmelite Fr Stephen Quinn said he also believes that holy examples like Sr Clare are vital for re-evangelising Ireland’s young people. “The Church in Ireland still works on the basis of words – but I don’t think that works anymore, especially in the case of young people,” he said. “It has to work in terms of vision. You have to be able to show them what it means to follow Christ, and Sr Clare does that.”
Fr Quinn devotes a regular Mass to Sr Clare and says that a number of reported miracles have been attributed to her intercession, including possibly curing a case of coronavirus. “There was a young Derry man, he was suffering from Covid-19 and several times his family had been told he was dying,” according to Fr Quinn.
“They kept up a vigil to Sr Clare the whole time and he came through. His wife claimed Sr Clare had given them a miracle,” Fr Quinn said.