SPANISH NUN TO BE CANONIZED A THE VATICAN TODAY
MANILA, OCTOBER 17, 2010 (STAR) By Evelyn Macairan- The Hijas de Jesus in the Philippines is offering prayers and thanksgiving Masses for their foundress, Blessed Candida Maria de Jesus, who is set to be canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome today.
In a statement, the Hijas de Jesus in the Philippines yesterday said that De Jesus, a Spanish national, would be one of the six new names who would be canonized, which is the final step to sainthood.
A delegation of Filipino sisters, students and alumni went to Rome to witness the canonization.
In the Philippines, they have also offered four thanksgiving Masses - on Oct. 18 at 8:30 a.m. at the San Pedro Cathedral in Davao; at 2:30 p.m. at the Jaro Cathedral; at 3 p.m. at the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City; and at 5 p.m. at the Cebu Cathedral.
In Camiguin island, the community and friends will hold their thanksgiving Mass on Oct. 31 at their parish.
De Jesus was reportedly born Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola on May 31, 1845, in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa, Spain.
Mother Candida was said to be illiterate during her youth and worked as a housemaid to help support her family. But despite her poverty, she displayed remarkable piety and virtue, showing boundless compassion for those more destitute than herself.
When she turned 24, she received a message from the Blessed Virgin to establish a congregation dedicated to the salvation of souls through the education of women and the youth.
It was with the help of her spiritual adviser, a Jesuit, that she learned how to read and write.
On Dec. 8, 1871, despite raging persecution against the Catholic Church in revolutionary Spain, she established the congregation "Hijas de Jesus" and began opening schools that offered Christian education to both paying students and indigent scholars, including free Sunday classes for domestic helpers.
She died in Salamanca, Spain on Aug. 9, 1912 and was beatified on May 12, 1996.
She is regarded as a visionary who had a prophetic view of the modern world.
She is esteemed as a pioneer of social justice and women's rights, making formal education available to the poor, especially women, at a time when over 80 percent of females in Spain could barely read or write.
Today, the congregation runs schools, retreat houses, medical dispensaries and social service centers in 17 countries around the world, particularly in Asia, Latin America and Africa , where the need is greatest.
The first Hijas de Jesus missionaries arrived in the Philippines in 1932 and through their efforts, nine schools continue to operate today in Manila, Parañaque, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao .
----------------------------------------------------------
© Copyright, 2010 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All rights reserved
----------------------------------------------------------
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
-----------------------------------------
Lily (Lee) Quesada
Email: leeq@sympatico.ca
leequesada@hotmail.com
www.newsflash.org
"I used to have a life, now I have a computer."
----------------------------------------------------------
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------