Blessed Maria Sagrario 3rd Class Relic

Blessed Maria Sagrario of St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born in Lillo (Toledo), Spain, January 8,1881, to Ricardo Moragas and Isabel Cantarero, the third of four children.

Following in her father's footsteps, she became a student of pharmacy, excelling in this field, and became one of the first women in Spain to become a pharmacist. Although she had excellent prospects in pharmacy, and much ability, she eventually discerned a call to the religious life, and after some necessary delay to aid her family she was admitted as a postulant to the Carmel of Saint Anne and Saint Joseph in Madrid, in 1915. She was solemnly professed on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, 1920.

She became prioress of her community in 1927, and novice-mistress in 1930. She frequently told her novices of her desire to be a martyr. Just before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil war, with its corresponding wave of virulent religious persecutions, she was elected prioress for the second time on 1 July 1936.

On July 20th of that same year, the convent was attacked by a mob. Mother Maria Sagraria spirited her sisters to safety and sought shelter with one of them at the home of that sister's parents. She was arrested, along with the other sister, on August 14th. Surviving testimony well documents her serenity and abandonment to God's will. Under interrogation she staunchly refused to betray anyone, and was executed by being shot on the following day, August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In her beatification ceremony in Rome, Pope John Paul II said of her:

“Mother María Sagrario, a pharmacist in her youth and a Christian example for those who practice that noble profession, gave up everything to live for God alone in Christ Jesus (cf. Romans 6:11) in the Discalced Carmelite Monastery of St Anne and St Joseph in Madrid. There her commitment to the Lord matured, and she learned from him to serve and to sacrifice herself for her brothers and sisters. This how in the turbulent events of July 1936 she found the strength not to betray priests and friends of the community, facing death with integrity for her state as a Carmelite and to save others.”

Here is an excerpt from her writing:
“May Jesus reign always in my heart. The
Lord asks me to be humble, to weep over my
sins, to love Him much, to love my sisters
much, to mortify them in nothing, not to
mortify myself uselessly, to live recollected in
Him wanting nothing for myself, completely
surrendered to His divine will. In this vale of
tears, suffering will not be lacking and we
should be content to have something to offer to
our most beloved Jesus Who wanted so much to
suffer for love of us. The most direct way to
unite ourselves to God is that of the cross, so
we should always desire it. May the Lord not
permit that I be separated from His divine will.

Blessed be God Who gives us these ways
of offering ourselves up to His love! The day
will arrive when we will rejoice for having
suffered in this way. Meanwhile, let us be
generous, suffering everything, if not with
happiness, at least in close conformity to the
divine will of Him Who suffered so much out of
love for us. However great are our sufferings
they come nowhere near His. If you wish to be
perfect seek first of all to be quite humble in
thought, word, deed and desire, learn well what
this means and work tenaciously to carry it out.
Keep your gaze always on our most beloved
Jesus, asking Him in the depths of His heart
what He desires for you, and never deny Him
anything even if it means going strongly against
the grain for you.

Blessed be He Who arranges everything
for our good! In possessing Him, we possess
everything.”

Prayer:
O God,
Who by a spirit of prayer
and devotion to the Eucharist
prepared Bl. Maria Sagrario
to suffer martyrdom,
grant that we, through her example,
may freely spend our lives for You
by faithfully and constantly
fulfilling Your Will. Through our Lord
Jesus Christ Your Son, Who lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit one God
for ever and ever.

Amen.