Just read this article that my friend Fr. Steve posted today. First I’m hearing if this young woman. It’s such a hopeful sign in a very dark and selfish world. I will pray for her cause. Michelle Duppong By Fr. Steve Ryan, SDB A saint in America? A young woman? Yes. Don’t be surprised. We are all called to be saints. Of course there are young men and women in America who live extraordinary lives of holiness! Michelle Duppong is one of them. This young woman who died from cancer at the age of 31 on Christmas Day in 2015, lived an ordinary life with extraordinary love and virtue. Her cause for canonization has been underway since All Saints’ Day 2022. Michelle Christine Duppong was born on January 25, 1984, and grew up with five siblings on a farm in Haymarsh, North Dakota. The family practiced the Catholic faith joyfully, and Michelle particularly, radiated the joy of Jesus. Michelle’s childhood included farm chores such as gardening, mowing, pruning, weeding, harvesting and canning. If there were extra vegetables, the girls sold them in town after Mass on Sunday mornings. There was also herding of sheep and bottle-feeding lambs that soon became pets. It was understood that work was a big part of life. Michelle buckled down to get any task done but she also brought joy and fun into every duty. In high school Michelle did well. Although Michelle was valedictorian and president of her senior class, she was not particularly engaged in sports, drama or even a peer social life. She was busy working on the farm and also happy to go along with her family to daily Mass and weekly Adoration. After graduating high school, Ms. Duppong enrolled in North Dakota State University where she earned a degree in horticulture. While there, she encountered the Catholic campus ministry FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). FOCUS provides college kids with mentors who share the Gospel with them through personal relationships and scripture sharing. FOCUS evangelizes using a three-step process: 1. Win over people through love and friendship; 2. Build up and strengthen them in their personal relationship with God and desire for virtue; and 3. Send them out to evangelize others and spread the joy of Jesus into the world. Through FOCUS Michelle embraced her formation as a disciple and assisted in discipling other students. This led her to working with the ministry for six years post-graduation. One of her assignments was at the University of Mary. Michelle was known for being a great witness of Christ’s love to others. She mentored many college students in prayer and virtue. Michelle showed great kindness to those around her. She had, as a young adult, the ability to help her peers discern God’s call for their lives – even helping influence men to join the priesthood and women to become religious sisters. Over her time in the ministry, she worked with hundreds of students at various universities. After working with FOCUS, Michelle Duppong became the Director of Adult Faith Formation for the Diocese of Bismarck in North Dakota, where she coordinated various events in the diocese, including conferences and outreach events. In the fall of 2014 Michelle began experiencing sharp pains in her abdomen. Ovarian cysts was the diagnosis. Nothing serious, Michelle was told, and they might even dissolve on their own. By mid-December Michelle was in agony. After a second ultrasound, outpatient surgery was scheduled for December 29 to remove the cysts. The surgeon opened Michelle and was shocked at the finding. Her abdomen was full of cancer – stage four. Throughout that following year with cancer, she was known for being “docile to the Will of God” and being a positive presence in the hospital she was in. There were many surgeries and hospital stays until Michelle was sent home when there was nothing more that could be done for her. Her mother said this about her illness: “Michelle was not one to blame anyone for anything. Her attitude was, ‘If God wants me to go through this, I will go through this.’” She died on Christmas Day 2015, the day on which she had predicted she would die. Soon after Michelle’s death, both her parents and the Bishop of Bismarck started receiving letters and testimonies from people on the holy influence that Michelle had on them. It was obvious that the woman left a mark on this world in her 30 years of life. It was also obvious that the story of her life started to spread and began to inspire countless people who never knew her. On November 1, 2022, the Diocese of Bismarck began the beatification process, calling her a Servant of God. A documentary about her life called Radiating Joy: The Michelle Duppong Story has been announced and will be released this year (see trailer here). Look for it. There is a long process ahead, but if Michelle becomes a canonized saint, it will be a real inspiration for young American Catholics. As is common among so many of our saints, their ordinariness became extraordinary through their radiant witness. Saints reflect Christ wherever they go. As the investigation into Michelle’s life proceeds, those who knew her attest – that was exactly the way Michelle lived. Stories of prayers answered through her intercession are coming in. The Duppong family has heard from many people who believe they have had prayers answered through Michelle’s intercession. They request that people who have such stories, to contact the diocese to share them. A saint in America? A young woman? Of course!
A simple country girl. God is made wonderful in his saints, bless her. She had the most lovely face, looking forward to meeting her in heaven
