María Josefa Alhama Valera, now known as Mother Esperanza, was born in Santomera (Spain) on September 30, 1893, into a very humble family. Her father was a day laborer in the fields and her mother was a housewife. She was the eldest of nine siblings.
María was only 12 years old when she received the inspiration to spread devotion to the Merciful Love of Jesus. She was a very intelligent girl, which caught the attention of a neighbor of the family. The neighbor advised them to take her to live with the parish priest of the city and his two sisters, so that she could receive some education. This was the only education Maria Josefa received, because she never had the opportunity to go to school.
At the age of 21, she left for Villena with the great desire she had nurtured since childhood to become a saint like Teresa of Avila.
In Villena, she joined the Daughters of Calvary, changing her name to María Esperanza de Jesús Agonizante. Later, the congregation merged with the Claretian Missionaries, and she herself thus became a Claretian.
Foundress of a religious community
God had other plans for Sister Esperanza. On Christmas Eve 1930, in Madrid, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, she founded an association called “Las esclavas del Amor Misericordioso” (Slaves of Merciful Love).
Together with her new sisters, she opened several schools in Spain to provide shelter and a hot meal to orphaned and poor children affected by the war.
In 1936, she moved to Rome to open a new community of the Slaves of Merciful Love with some of her sisters.
She worked with her sisters on the outskirts of Rome, taking in orphaned girls. Later, World War II broke out. In addition to poor children, many sick people began to arrive at her congregation, trusting in the care of the little sisters. They had to reinvent themselves as nurses given the number of wounded from the bombings in Rome.
After the war, in 1951, Mother Esperanza moved to Collevalenza, in the province of Perugia, Italy. There, she founded the male branch, “The Sons of Merciful Love.”
She died on February 8, 1983. She was beatified with Pope Francis’ approval in Collevalenza on May 31, 2014.
Her remains are venerated in the crypt of the Shrine of Merciful Love, which she built in Collevalenza. Her liturgical memorial is on February 8, the day of her birth into heaven.
Mother Esperanza, like Padre Pio?
In Italy, Mother Esperanza is often compared to Padre Pio because of some similarities in the miracles performed through them.
Like Padre Pio, she was capable of bilocation. At night she fought with the devil, who inflicted various injuries on her. At one point, she also had the stigmata of Jesus Christ. However, she asked God for the grace to remove the wounds because she couldn’t work with her hands.
There’s still a living witness to the many miracles of Mother Esperanza: Pietro Iacopini. He started as a young atheist, but thanks to her he became a believer and accompanied the blessed for 35 years.
Among the most important miracles is the episode in which she fed 500 people with the little food that one of those present had donated. Iacopini recounts that the level of the pots of food remained the same without emptying. A true “multiplication of the loaves"!
Other events witnessed by Iacopini include: when money rained from the sky and was used to pay the workers who built the shrine (many witnessed this miracle); the appearance out of nothing of a statue of the Baby Jesus that was to be displayed in the manger; and occasions when many people, including the bishop of Todi (Italy), witnessed her various states of ecstasy.
The miraculous well
One day, Mother Esperanza, on the orders of Jesus Christ himself, ordered that a hole be dug in the mountain at the place she indicated. She claimed that they would find a source of miraculous water there.
The construction companies she called refused to do the work, saying that it was impossible to get water in such a dry place. Eventually, a very important company from northern Italy agreed. They said that they would do it only because of the money they would receive, and that it would be free money.
To their amazement, one night they managed to find water after digging several meters deep.
The workers immediately called Mother Esperanza to tell her that they had found water. She looked down into the hole to see the water, but it was very dark. Then, the whole well lit up, to the amazement of the workers, seminarians, nuns, and lay people present. They were able to see the water flowing in the depths of the well thanks to that miraculous light.
The basilica and the pools of water
Jesus told Mother Esperanza: “I want to use you as food and sustenance for many souls. May my sons and daughters draw from you the substance of this work to give me much glory in this Shrine, with the sweet perfume of sacrifice, prayer, renunciation, and the continuous exercise of charity and love towards those most in need.”
The shrine’s basilica, designed by Spanish architect Julio Lafuente, was built on the site where the water was found.
It consists of 10 chapels, the most important of which are the Chapel of the Crucifix of Merciful Jesus, the Chapel of the Child Jesus, the crypt where the body of Mother Esperanza lies, and the altar dedicated to Mary, Mediatrix of Mercy.
At the two side entrances, under a cone of light, are two white marble holy water fonts, contrasting with the rough stone that supports them. They symbolize the soul purified by the grace of God.
Not far from the basilica are the pools where pilgrims immerse themselves to receive grace through the “Liturgy of the Waters,” led by the priests of the Sons of Merciful Love.
Thousands of pilgrims arrive every year and are welcomed by the entire “Charismatic Family of Merciful Love” in facilities where they can stay for several days or just for the day, visiting with faith the places that Mother Esperanza had built for them.
