Cora Evans’ canonization cause is sent to Rome for review

The Vatican will now review the cause of Servant of God Cora Evans, a wife and mother from California.

Last year at their fall plenary assembly in Baltimore, the U.S. Bishops gave their support to the cause of canonization of Cora Evans. This support allowed the cause to move onto the next stage, which includes the submission of documents to Rome.

According to OSV News, “The [local] diocese held a closing session of the cause’s diocesan phase Jan. 22 following Mass at the San Carlos Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Monterey. During that session, the cause’s documentation was ceremoniously sealed with wax ahead of its transfer to the Vatican. The seal will be broken by Vatican officials when the cause’s Roman phase officially begins.”

If the Vatican reviews Evans’ cause and finds her life to have evidence of “heroic virtue,” then she can be declared, “venerable.”

A brief life of Cora Evans

Born in 1904 in Utah, Cora Evans began life in a Mormon household. Then at the age of 3, Evans experienced a mystical vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary, though at the time she didn’t fully understand it. For the remainder of her childhood she lived according to the Mormon religion and eventually married her husband at the Utah Temple.

Shortly after her wedding, Evans started to have doubts about the Mormon faith and began a long road of investigation. In 1934, while lying sick in bed, she heard a radio program called The Catholic Hour, and afterward contacted a local Catholic priest. Evans met with the priest on multiple occasions and soon became convinced that God was calling her to be Catholic. A year later Evans, her husband, and two daughters converted to the Catholic faith.

This led her into a deeper relationship with Christ, and she kept a diary of her many mystical experiences.Our Sunday Visitor reports that Evans “had the stigmata (wounds of Christ), bilocation and the fragrance of roses associated with her presence.” Evans tried to hide these gifts from her family, but her daughter still witnessed the stigmata and was greatly impacted by it.

Evans died in 1957 and her writing and example continue to inspire many people around the world.