ST MARIA ANTONIA DE PAZ, MISSIONARY

ST MARIA ANTONIA DE PAZ, MISSIONARY - 7 MARCH

SAINT MARIA ANTONIA DE PAZ, MISSIONARY

Pope Francis elevated Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa, the first female saint from his native Argentina, to sainthood. More commonly known by her Quechua name of "Mama Antula," she was born in 1730 into a wealthy family in Santiago del Estero, a province north of Buenos Aires. At the age of 15, she left the comfortable life at home and her family’s privileges to join the Jesuits.

Even though the Jesuits had been expelled from Latin America then, she encouraged spiritual practices like prayer and meditation, walking thousands of kilometres barefoot, and involving the rich and the poor in her initiatives.

Pope Francis first authorized her beatification in 2016 after the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints recognised a miracle linked to her: the inexplicable healing in 1905 of a seriously ill nun belonging to the religious order in charge of the House of Spiritual Exercises founded by Mama Antula in Buenos Aires. The second miracle that opened the door to her canonisation came in 2017 when a former Jesuit seminarian was left on the verge of death from a stroke. A friend brought a picture of Mama Antula to the hospital and stuck it on the vital signs monitor. The man improved and left intensive care, his health restored.

She was called a "gift to the Argentine people and also to the entire Church" by Pope Francis, a Jesuit himself. By letting her heart and life be touched and healed by Christ, he added, "she proclaimed him tirelessly her whole life long, for she was convinced, as she loved to repeat: 'Patience is good, but perseverance is better.'"

Sickness and healing were the key themes in Pope Francis’ homily during the canonisation of Mama Antula, which also coincides with the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick.

Sources: https://thecaribbeannewsnow.com/pope-canonizes-mama-antula/

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar%C3%ADa_Antonia_de_Paz_y_Figueroa

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Mama Antula may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

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