Saint of the Day: Bl. María Angélica Pérez

Religious Sister (1897-1932)

Her life

+ Born to an immigrant family in San Martin, Argentina, María Angélica entered the Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden in 1915, receiving the religious name María Crescencia.

+ Following her profession of vows, she was assigned to serve as a teacher and catechist.

+ From 1924 to 1928, she was assigned to serve in a sanitarium, where she cared for children suffering from tuberculosis.

+ Later, although her own health was beginning to fail, she was assigned to a hospital in Vallenar, Chile, where she was loved by her patients because of her joyful spirit and the comfort she gave.

+ Blessed María Angélica died on May 20, 1932. She was beatified in 2012.

For prayer and reflection

“We cannot escape the Lord’s words to us, and they will serve as the criteria upon which we will be judged: whether we have fed the hungry and given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger and clothed the naked, or spent time with the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-45). Moreover, we will be asked if we have helped others to escape the doubt that causes them to fall into despair and which is often a source of loneliness; if we have helped to overcome the ignorance in which millions of people live, especially children deprived of the necessary means to free them from the bonds of poverty; if we have been close to the lonely and afflicted; if we have forgiven those who have offended us and have rejected all forms of anger and hate that lead to violence; if we have had the kind of patience God shows, who is so patient with us; and if we have commended our brothers and sisters to the Lord in prayer.”—Pope Francis

Spiritual bonus

On this day, we also remember Blessed Arnaldo Serra. A member of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (the Mercedarians), he exchanged his own life in exchange for 30 Christians imprisoned in Tunis, Tunisia. Blessed Arnoldo died of starvation in 1492.

Prayer

O God, who called blessed María Angélica to seek your Kingdom in this world through the pursuit of perfect charity, grant, we pray, through her intercession that we may advance with joyful spirit along the way of love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Religious)

Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.