Mary Elizabeth Lange


Mary Elizabeth Lange

BornElizabeth Clarisse Lange
c. 1789[1]
Saint-Domingue
DiedFebruary 3, 1882(1882-02-03) (aged 92–93)
Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Mary Elizabeth Lange, OSP (born Elizabeth Clarisse Lange; c. 1789 – February 3, 1882) was an American religious sister in Baltimore, Maryland who founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence in 1829, the first African-American religious congregation in the United States. She was also, via the Oblates, the first African-American superior general.

The cause for her beatification was opened in 1991. Pope Francis named her as venerable on June 22, 2023.