President Uhuru Kenyatta today is expected to lead thousands of Catholic faithful at Nyeri town for the historic beatification of Sister Irene Stefani.
Beatification is a step to sainthood for the Italian nun. Sister Stefani (1891-1930) came to Kenya in 1915 and worked as a nurse at British military hospitals during World War I.
She then settled near Nyeri where she was known as "Nyaatha", meaning "Mother of Mercy" in Kikuyu.
Ceremonies began on Thursday with a Mass and a vigil on Friday afternoon.
Today there will be a beatification Mass, when the nun, who died of the plague in 1930 at the age of 39, will be declared "blessed". It will be held at Dedan Kimathi University grounds where elaborate preparations have been made.
The Archbishop of Dar es Salaam, Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, will preside and read a letter from Pope Francis and Cardinal John Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi, will preside over the beatification Mass to be attended by many digitaries.
More than 300,000 pilgrims are expected.
On Sunday, Sister Stefani's remains, which were exhumed in 1995, will be taken from the Mathari Memorial Chapel to a new tomb at Nyeri Cathedral.
Yesterday Opposition leader Raila Odinga said the events in Nyeri were significant in Kenya's history and Christianity.
"The beatification has rallied the nation on the path of much-needed unity, quest for tranquility and peace to our families and the country. The event is proof that good deeds never run out of fashion or season. That the human race will always search for and honour those who do good is a critical lesson I hope our country carries from this event.
"I congratulate the Catholic Church in Kenya and the entire world for this once-in-a lifetime event, which is also a miracle for our nation in several ways."
For a person to be beatified there must be verification that a miracle occurred as a result of the person's intercession after their death, in response to a prayer for help.
In 1989 almost 300 people taking refuge in a church during Mozambique's civil war prayed to the nun and much-needed water was said to have appeared in the font at Nipepe church.
"It was enough for all of them to drink, to refresh themselves and even to bath a baby girl who was born on that occasion," the Irene Stefani website says.
Nyeri has been a beehive of activity as Christians arrive from around the country and abroad. Relatives and pilgrims arrived in six buses after traveling from South America, Bolivia, Italy and Tanzania.
Over 1,000 police from GSU, AP and Kenya Police have been deployed in the area, on land in the air . A police helicopter hovered around the compound and hundreds of police stood guard around the church.
About 300 local and international journalists are covering the event
Locals have doing booming business, with taxis, hawkers and hotels raising prices.
On Thursday afternoon, Archbishop of Nyeri Peter Kairo, Rev Gottardo Pasqualet and other church leadplqed there in nterred in the church in 1995.They confirmed the nun's remains had not been interfered with. Tampering and breaking the seal results in cancellation of beatification.
The sarcophagus will be reopened tomorrow and again interred at Our Lady of Consolata Catholic Cathedral in Nyeri town.
Sister Irene was born in August 22, 1891, in Northern Italy and she joined Consolata Missionary Sister din 1911 where she was trained as a nurse and anun.
In 1914, she took her vows and was sent to Kenya to treat wounded soldiers from Kenya and Tanzania.
She was sent to Gikondi Parish in Mukurwe-ini subcounty where she died on October 31, 1930. She contracted the plague while trying to cure a man who had the disease.