July 6: Saint Nazaria Ignazia of Saint Teresa of Jesus
Charity and human development for the poor and the vulnerable
NNazaria Ignazia March Mesa was born in Madrid on January 10, 1889, into a large family: eighteen children were born to her parents, of whom only ten survived. At the age of nine, while preparing for her First Holy Communion, she felt the Lord’s call: “You, Nazaria, follow me,” and she replied: “I will follow you, Lord, as closely as it is possible for a human creature to do.” On August 15, 1900, she made a vow of virginity.
At the age of seventeen, after completing her schooling, she received many marriage proposals, but her desire to follow the Lord was stronger. She therefore joined the Third Franciscan Order and succeeded in bringing her family back to the practice of the Christian faith.
She decided to enter the Institute of the Sisters of the Cross in Seville, but she was not accepted. In 1906, after her family suffered financial ruin, they moved to Mexico, where she met the Sisters of the Abandoned Elderly. She understood that she was called to become a religious sister in that congregation, but her father delayed giving his permission. She finally entered the convent on December 7, 1908.
She completed her novitiate in Palencia, Spain, where she professed her first vows on October 15, 1911. The following year she was sent to Bolivia, to the Foundation house in Oruro, with nine fellow sisters. She remained there for twelve years, dedicating herself to the care of the elderly and carrying out humble duties such as sacristan, cook, porter, and even collecting alms in nearby villages.
In 1920, while making Spiritual Exercises, she felt that Jesus was calling her to a new mission: to bring the Gospel to Bolivia, where poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance prevailed. She planned the foundation of a religious congregation, but had to wait five years before this could become a reality. On June 16, 1925, by order of the Bishop of Oruro, she left the Sisters of the Elderly and withdrew to the Beaterio of the Nazarenes to found a new institute. After six months, the community had grown to ten novices. This had been the condition set by the bishops to determine whether founding a new institute was truly God's will.
According to Nazaria’s vision, the sisters would preach the Gospel in rural areas and among miners, prepare children for First Holy Communion, and care for prisoners, abandoned elderly people, and the poor. To the three traditional vows of religious profession, she added two others: the first was love and obedience to the Pope, and the second was to work with all their strength for the unity and expansion of the Kingdom of Christ.
On February 12, 1927, the diocesan religious congregation of the Sisters of the Pontifical Crusade was canonically established. In 1934, she founded the first women’s labor union under the name “Society of Catholic Women Workers.”
From 1933 to 1935, during the war between Bolivia and Uruguay, Nazaria and her sisters cared for the wounded and opened an orphanage for children left alone. She founded several houses in Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Spain.
She died in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 6, 1943, and her mortal remains were later transferred to Oruro, Bolivia.
Her congregation received definitive approval from the Church on June 9, 1947, under the name Missionary Crusaders of the Church.
She was beatified on September 27, 1992, by John Paul II and canonized by Pope Francis on October 14, 2018.