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Blessed Maria Sagrario of St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Born in Lilo, Spain, to Ricardo Moragas and Isabel Cantarero January 8, 1881, Elvira was the first woman in Spain to become a pharmacist, like her father, at which she excelled.  She entered a Carmelite monastery in Madrid, made her solemn profession of vows on Epiphany 1920, was elected prioress in 1927 and became novice mistress in 1930.  Her desire to be a martyr was fulfilled when, on July 20th of 1936, (she had been again elected prioress a few weeks earlier), her convent was attacked.  Mother Maria found shelter for all of her daughters in the homes of friends, but was herself arrested, along with another Sister, on August 14th.  Refusing to reveal the hiding places of her daughters, Blessed Maria was shot to death on August 15th, Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Her daughters survived the ordeal and were spared.  She was beatified in 1998 by Saint Pope John Paul II.

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BL. THERESE OF ST. AUGUSTINE
AND COMPANIONS

The Carmelite convent of Compiegne founded in 1641 was located fifty miles north of Paris on the Oise River. It had been a successful foundation, and at the outbreak of the French Revolution the prioress was Therese of St. Augustine, a native of Paris who had entered the convent at the age of twenty-one and had been elected prioress just two years previously, at the age of thirty-five. She was a bright woman, admirably equipped to deal with the crisis ahead, and her deep spirituality, particularly as it is manifested in her extant letters, was based on a profound spirit of trust in the goodness of God. The members of the community were a mixed assortment of personalities, and none of them appears at first inspection to be particularly unusual or outstanding, but they seemed individually to have grown in strength and character as they moved through the drama of their martydom, thus presenting a striking example of group dynamics in a community setting. In august of 1790, a functionary of the government appeared at the convent and offered the nuns their freedom according to the tenets of the new constitution, but they all refused, stating that the offer was one of a "ridiculous freedom." The nuns were able to remain in their convent two years longer, and shortly before their expulsion the prioress proposed to the community that they offer themselves to God as victims to obtain peace for the Church and the state. All of the nuns agreed immediately, except the two oldest nuns, both octogenarians, who were terrified at the implications of that offering; however, that same evening the two nuns overcame their fear and joined the rest of the community in that heroic act which expressed the spirit and authenticity of their later martydom.

In September of 1792 the nuns of Compiègne were expelled from their convent, and they went into hiding as had other Carmelite the area of Compiègne. They continued their clandestine convent splitting into four groups which took up residence in houses in life until June of 1794 when they were discovered, arrested, and imprisoned at Compiègne. Since most of the cases at that stage of the revolution were being referred to Paris, the nuns were handcuffed, loaded into open carts and transported to Paris in a two-day journey of heartless discomfort and cruelty. The nuns ranged in age from the two octogenarians, to a group in middle age, to two nuns in their thirties, to the youngest, a novice of twenty-eight. When they arrived at the Paris jail, one of the older nuns was pulled from the cart and dashed to the ground by a soldier. A few days later they were brought to the tribunal of judgment, which was located at a place ironically called the Hall of Liberty. Accused of practicing the religious life against the proscriptions of the constitution and of being "religious fanatics" and sympathizers of the king, they were condemned to death. A witness later testified that as they were led from the hall "their faces were beaming with joy." Back in their prison cell the nuns began to dress themselves in a garb of some similarity to their Carmelite habits. They were already wearing brown dresses, and they fashioned long white mantles for them- selves out of pieces of white cloth they had carried with them, and black veils. Thus on July 17, they were carried through the streets of Paris in open carts, dressed as Carmelite nuns, their hands hand cuffed behind their backs.

The execution of the nuns of Compiègne was one of the most dramatic scenes in the French Revolution, and it marked a turning point in the Reign of Terror, demonstrating the aberrations to which the Revolution had descended. For could not the doctrine of liberty and humanitarianism enunciated by the thinkers of the Enlightenment even tolerate the presence of sixteen harmless nuns who only transported into the Place du Trône that July 17 of 1794 a deadly I wanted to be left alone and say their prayers? As the nuns were hush fell over the crowd. Five thousand people had already been guillotined at Paris during the Reign of Terror, and it had become somewhat of a sport to the crowd, accompanied by cheers and the been chanting aloud the Miserere and the Salve Regina and the Te Deum, and as the carts pulled into the Place the crowd seemed their creaking carts, chanting their hymns with happy smiles, appar ently oblivious to the terror which was only a few moments away. They arrived at the foot of the guillotine, where Thérèse of St. Augustine intoned the Veni Creator, and when the nuns had com- pleted the hymn they renewed aloud their baptismal promises and their religious vows in the Order. Thérèse, as prioress, requested to remain until the end so she could guide her community. The young of her prioress, asked for her blessing and permission to die, and then novice, Constance Meunier, was selected first. She knelt at the feet ascended the steps. She refused to allow the executioner even to touch her, and she calmly laid her head on the block. The prioress chanted the Laudate Dominum, and the guillotine smacked down, decapitating the novice. The nuns continued the Litany of the Blessed Virgin, as one by one the community ascended the steps and was guillotined. The voices grew fewer and fewer until only Thérèse of St. Augustine remained. She had done her job. She climbed the steps and the guillotine flashed for the last time. Not a sound was heard in the Place during the executions and the drums were not rolled. Pius X beatified the sixteen nuns from Compiègne on May 27, 1906.

Martyrs

BL. MARY OF ANGELS

Blessed Mary of the Angels Fontanella OCD (1661-1717) “The Fragrant Rose of Turin,” Discalced Carmelite, Mystic, Stigmatist, Marian devotee and client of St Joseph, Prioress, Spiritual director – born as Marianna Fontanella on 7 January 1661 at Balderino was a distant cousin of St. Aloysius Gonzaga.She was the youngest of 11 children born to Count Giovanni of Turin and his wife, Lady Maria Tana.she was well-educated, pampered and exposed to all sorts of social niceties and assemblies … and she enjoyed it all, especially the fancy outfits and the dances.while still a young child, she sat in front of a mirror admiring herself when her own reflection vanished to be replaced by a vision – Christ appeared in the mirror, sadly staring back at her, battered and crowned with thorns.  The experience so shocked Marianna that it had the immediate effect of a lasting conversion.   From that moment on she shunned her elaborate wardrobe and jewellery and began exercising a devout mode of living despite her tender age.  At one point, she made a plan with a brother to run away and live in the desert.   
In 1673 as a 12-year-old, Marianna accompanied one of her sisters to the Cistercian Monastery in Saluzzo where the latter was entering into religious life.   Somehow, Marianna was able to persuade her parents to allow her to board with the nuns and she remained with them for over a year until her mother recalled her home due to the unexpected death of her father.   Back at the family villa, she resisted her family’s efforts to marry her off and she practised a regimen of prayer and self-mortification. After providentially meeting and speaking with a venerable Carmelite priest during one of the rare public exhibitions of the Holy Shroud of Turin, Marianna applied with the local Discalced Carmelite Monastery of Santa Cristina.   Lady Maria reluctantly consented when it became clear that her daughter could not be dissuaded, so Marianna made her entrance into Carmel on 19 November 1675, she was 14-years-old and took the name Maria of the Angels.

The first year in the monastery was not easy for the aspiring nun.   The sweetness of spirit and the divine favours she had started to enjoy before entering, evaporated, leaving Sr Maria with a terrible dryness in her soul.   She clung desperately to her faith and, guided by a meticulous novice mistress, she managed to reach profession on 26 December 1676…  but the sense of separation from God – the “dark night of the soul” – continued to torment her for the next 15 years.   The devil aggravated the situation, via severe temptations and diabolic assaults.

Fortunately, the beleagured nun weathered her personal storm through the consistent practice of virtue, especially humility and obedience towards her superiors.   All that she suffered, served to purify her spirit, as Jesus was leading her on a singular path of extraordinary mystical union with Himself, as was proven later on.

By 1691 Sr Maria was finally free of the darkness and began experiencing supernatural lights with greater intensity.   Sublime visions of Christ and heavenly inhabitants resumed, along with other mystical gifts such as Prophecy, the Stigmata and the Fragrance of Sanctity.   It was reported that the beautiful scent that constantly surrounded her was so obvious, that the other nuns could track her whereabouts by following the aroma she left in her wake.   The Blessed, on her part, took to carrying small bundles of flowers and spices to try to disguise the heavenly scent but to no avail – it increased on feast days and during times when she was ill and unable to take precautions, to disguise the fragrance.   Even things she handled, were imbued with the delightful scent!

Noting her many virtues and fine example of Carmelite spirituality, the community elected Sr Maria to the post of novice mistress in 1691 then prioress in 1694.   Word soon spread outside of the monastery about the extraordinary prioress and people began seeking her counsel and prayers, including the reigning king of the region, Vittorio Amadeo II of the royal house of Savoy and other members of the nobility.   Vocations to the Carmel of St Cristina increased, which necessitated the founding of another monastery in nearby Moncalieri in 1703, with the encouragement from Blessed Sebastian Valfrè CO (1629-1710).   Sr Maria had hoped to transfer there, to be away from the centre of the limelight but the king explicitly forbade her to ever leave Turin, due to his dependence on her advice and his devotion to her.

A depiction of Bl Maria of the Angels interceding with Christ to spare
Turin from a chastisement of the dreaded plague.

Public esteem for the prioress reached a pinnacle in 1696 when the city was besieged by an invading army. She had a deep devotion to St. Joseph. She publicly announced that the city would be saved if people turned to St Joseph, for help, which they did. Turin was liberated and, in gratitude, St Joseph was proclaimed the Patron Saint of the city by the king.   Similarly, in 1706 when the French besieged the city, the citizens and royals turned to the intercession of their resident mystic – the nun invoked the Holy Virgin’s protection and the city’s army was again victorious.   At Sr Mary’s urging, a church – the great Basilica of the Superga (Superga is a Hill in Turin) – was built to commemorate the victory and to honour Our Lady.

She died at the age of fifty-six after a life of unswerving piety and devotion.

At the instigation of King Vittorio, the holy nun’s Cause for Canonisation was started just a few years after the death of Bl. Maria.   Pope Pius IX declared her a Blessed on 25 April 1865.

Born in Almendral (Toledo) in 1549, Anne entered the Carmel of St. Joseph's in Avila in 1570 at the age of 21 as a lay sister, and made profession in 1572. In 1574 she accompanied Teresa for the first time on her trip to Valladolid and Medina del Campo. After an illness that impeded her from traveling with Teresa during the years 1575-1577, she began accompanyiong Teresa again in 1577. From that time on she dedicated herself to the tasks of St. Teresa's nurse and secretary, taking dictation for numerous letters and assisting St. Teresa with her many health problems. Above all she was at her side in her last illness from Burgos to Alba de Tormes in 1582. Between 1578 and 1580 the two visited Medina, Valladolid, Salamanca, Avila, Toledo, Malagon, La Roda, Villanueva de la Jara, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, and the returned to Avila. Sister Anne at Teresa's side shared in the foundations of Villanueva de la Jara, Palencia, Soria and Burgos. St. Teresa died in the arms of Bl. Anne in Alba de Tormes. Later in 1595 she went with Maria de San Jeronimo on the foundaation in Ocana. In 1604, she traveled from Avila to Paris, France with the group of sisters who founded the Teresian Carmel in Paris in that year. In the following year she recieved the black veil of a choir sister so that she could be named the prioress of the Carmel in Pontoise of which she was the foundress in 1605. In September of that same year, she was brought back to Paris as Prioress.

Anne was the most fruitful writer among the disciples of St.Teresa, although she published nothing during her lifetime. Among the numerous writings, her Autobiography, Conferences, Meditations, and Defense of the Teresian Inheritance stand out. And the number of her letters so far discovered has reached 665 in the recent edition of her works by Julian Urkiza. She repeatedly wrote or dictated her recollections of Teresa and her spirit. She also left various writings on the origins of the Teresian Carmel in Spain and France and a series of festive poems. While she was still alive, her prioress Maria de San Jeronimo, Teresita, and Francisca de Jesus wrote about her. But most of all Gracian wrote in 1613 an important work on her life, published for the first time in 1933.A few years after her death, Padre Crisostomo Enriquez a large volume entitled The story of the life, Virtues, and Miracles of the Venerable Mother Anne of St. Bartholomew Inseperable Companion of the Holy Mother Teresa of Jesus (1632). Anne had the good fortune of living to see the beatification (1614) and canonization of St. Teresa (1622). She herself was beatified in 1917.

Bl. Anne of Barthalomew

Bl. DENIS AND REDEMPTUS

Pierre Berthelot was born in the French seaport town of Honfleur in 1600. He developed an early fascination for the sea, and became a professional navigator and cartographer. At the age of nineteen he sailed for the Indies as navigator for a French expedition, but his ship was attacked by the Dutch and he was taken prisoner and brought Java. After his release, he setteled in Malacca, where he signed with the Portuguese and was so successful that the king of portugal named him "Master Navigator and Cosmographer of the Orient." His marine cartography became well known, and his map of the archipelago of Sumatra is still preserved in the British Museum. His contemporaries described him as a handsome, stocky man, blond and fair-skinned, an adventuresome and high-spirited person, with an inquisitive and active mind. His expeditions frequently brought him to Goa, where he became aquainted with the Discalced monastery and its prior, Philip of the Trinity. In 1634, at the age of thirty-four, he abandoned his career and entered the Order, adopting the name Denis of the Nativity. Four years later the Portuguese viceroy of the Indies asked the Carmelites to allow Denis to serve as navigator on an expedition which was carrying a new Portuguese envoy to Sumatra, a trip which appeared to be quite hazardous because of Dutch pirates and hostile natives. Denis' studies were accelerated, and he was quickly ordained to the priesthood so that he could also serve as chaplain on the expedition. A lay brother, Redemptus of the Cross, was assigned as his companion.

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Thomas Rodriguez de Cunha was born at Paredes in Portugal in 1598. He became a soldier and traveled to the East Indies as a young man, becoming a member of the governor's guard at Meliapor where he rose to the rank of captain and commander of the guard. He entered the Carmelite monestery at Goa, taking the name Redemptus of the Cross. He was stationed at the Carmelite missions at Tattah and Diu in the kingdom of the Grand Mogul, and then again at Goa where he served as porter and sacristan. Redemptus was an extremely likable person, friendly and jovial, and when he was assigned to the Sumatra expedition he joked with his conferes about having his portrait painted in case he became a martyr.

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The expedition arrived safely at Sumatra, where the party discembarked at the port of Achim, but the two friars were unexpectedly seized by natives and imprisoned. Asked to renounce their faith, they refused and were sentenced to death. They were led to a desolate spot on the seashore where Redemptus' throat was slit open, while Denis, a crucifix in his hands, was forced to watch. Then the natives cleaved open Denis' head. Pope Leo XIII beatified Denis and Redemptus in 1900.

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MARTYDOM

BL. ANNE OF JESUS

Bl. Anne of Jesus ( Lobera) was a truly remarkable women and a worthy successor to Teresa of Avila. Born in 1545 from a good family in Medina del Campo, she developed into a striking beauty; and because of her physical endowments she was called "the queen of women" by the people of Medina. She had a host of admirers, and finally she was persued so insistently by her many suitors that she fled to her uncle's home in Valencia.She came into contact with Teresa through a mutual friend, a jesuit priest; and the holy mother tried to persuade her to enter the reform. But Anne resisted for some time, despite Teresa's seemingly improbable prediction that the Spanish beauty would eventually become a Carmelite nun. Anne was attending Mass one day when she was quite suddenly and surprisingly decided to renounce her active social life and join the Carmelites. At the age of twenty-five she entered the convent of St. Joseph's in Avila.
Immediately after her profession of vows, Teresa made her novice mistress at Salamanca, and four years later she was prioress in Beas. She had a long and successful career in administration, and St. Teresa called her "the captain of the prioresses" and strongly suggested that she be her successor as chief spokesman for the nuns. Anne became a close friend of Gratian; and also of St. John of the Cross, who wrote the Spiritual Canticle expressly for her. In 1604, she led the first group of nuns to France, where she established the original Discalced covent in Paris. She later led the first group of nuns to theLowlands. She died in Brussels at the age of seventy-five, and in northern Europe she is still called "the second foundress". In 1878 the Holy See approved the heroicity of her virtues, thereby conferring on her the title of Venerable. On the Solemnity of St. John of the Cross, 14 December 2023, the Holy Father Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of a decree regarding the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Anne of Jesus (Lobera y Torres), foundress of the Discalced Carmelite nuns in France and Belgium. 
                      The Beatification of the Venerable Anne of Jesus (born Anna de Lobera),  held on 29th Sunday, September 2024 in the Archdiocese of Malines-Brussels.

VENERABLE MARIA OF ST. JOSEPH

She was undoubtedly on of S. Teresa's most intimate friends. Gracian said of her that she was one of the holiest, purest, and most prudent women he had known in the order, and the one who suffered the most opposition in standing firm against a change in the laws left by St. Teresa. Born in Molina de Aragon (Gaudalajara) or, according to others, in Toledo, it seems she was related to the Duke of Medinaceli, at least that she recieved an education characteristic of those who lived in the households of the Castilian nobility. When a little girl, she entered into the service of Dona Luisa de la Cerda and lived in her palace. There she met St. Teresa, who in 1562 was sent by her superiors as a companion to Dona Luisa to comfort her after husband's death. Fourteen years old Maria developed a great admiration for St. Teresa and sometimes was a witness of her ecstasies.

Six years later when Teresa returned to Toledo to arrange for a foundation in Malagon with Dona Luisa, Maria decided to join St. Teresa and her companions. It was not until two years later, however, that she recieved the habit. The investiture took place in Malagon in 1570 when she was twenty-two years old. In 1575 St. Teresa took her on the foundation in Beas with the intention of making her prioress of a further foundation that was planned for Caravaca. When Gracian intervened to order a foundation in Seville, St. Teresa chose instead to make her prioress there. Because of her intelligence, education, and other talents, she was referred to by St. Teresa as the "provincialess" (provinciala). And when nearing the time of her death, St. Teresa thought that Maria would be perfectly capable of taking her place. Maria saved a great number of St.Teresa's letters. In them she is forever being urged to take care of her health and try the various remedies prescribrd by St. Teresa for her different illnesses. The prioress of Seville was a great figure among the nuns of the Teresian Reform. To none of the other nuns did St. Teresa express so much praise and cordial and intimate friendship. In 1578, Diego de Cardenas, the provincial of the Carmelites of the observance in Andalucia, deposed her from the office of prioress because of false accusations that were made against her by a nun. In the following year, Angel de Salazar was named vicar for the discalced friars and nuns. In reviewing the process against Maria, he concluded that removal from office was without foundation and restored her rights. On 9 June 1580, she was reelected prioress.

Her fidelity to Padre Gracian after St. Teresa's death brought her many troubles. They both felt the lack of t. Teresa's endrosement when they were in need of it. In December 1584, Gracian sent Maria as prioress on a new foundation in Lisbon, Portugal. Later, the chapter, which elected Nicolas Doria in the place of Gracian, was held in Lisbon. The dissension between Gracian and Doria that was follow has had its repercussions on Maria de San Jose. Though she tried to be a peacemaker, she was ordered by Doria in 1588 to have no more communication with Gracian, whom she had come to know so well in Seville. She played a role with Anne of Jesus in obtaining the brief from Sixtus V entitled "Salvatoris"(1591). The brief stated that no one has the authority to change or modify the constitutions recieved from St. Teresa. It riled Doria that there were efforts to preserve St. Teresa's constitutions from any changes that might be made by him, but not until 1593 were measures taken against her. She was confined to the monastery prison and deprived of communion. This punishment lasted for nine months, but then Doria died unexpectedly. The new general, Elias de San Martin, put an end to Maria's trials. She was elected prioress again in 1597. She was among those nuns desired by Jean de Bretigny for a foundation of Teresa's nuns in France, but the next general, Francisco de la Madre de Dios, opposed their going to France. Since authorization was then obtained by the French to take nuns from Portugal, Maria de San Jose was transferred by the general out of Portugal to Talavera and then to Cuerva, where she was recieved coldly by the prioress. Mara died shortly afterward. She left a number of writings that are highly regarded for their thought and charming style.

The Discalced Carmelites of Seville are taking the necessary steps to begin the Cause of Beatification of María de San José (Salazar), ocd.

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