Joaquina Vedruna de Mas
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Saint Joaquina Vedruna de Mas |
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| Born | 16 April 1783 Vic, Barcelona, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | 28 August 1854 (71 years) Barcelona, Kingdom of Spain |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 19 May 1940, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope Pius XII |
| Canonized | 12 April 1959, Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City by Pope John XXIII |
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| Attributes | Religious habit |
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Saint Joaquina Vedruna de Mas (or Joaquima in Catalan) (16 April 1783 – 28 August 1854) - born Joaquima de Vedruna Vidal de Mas and in religious Joaquina of Saint Francis of Assisi - was a Catalonian professed religious and the founder of the Carmelite Sisters of Charity. First she married to a nobleman despite her desire to become a nun though she and her husband both desired the religious life; the couple bore nine children but she and her children fled after Napoleon invaded the nation to which her husband remained to fight as a volunteer and later died leaving her widowed but free to pursue her religious inclinations.
Her canonization as a saint was celebrated on 12 April 1959.
Joaquima Vedruna Vidal de Mas was born on 16 April 1783 in Barcelona to the nobles Lorenzo de Vedruna - who worked for the government - and Teresa Vidal; her baptism was celebrated on the date of her birth in the parish church of Santa Maria de los Pinos. In 1795 she expressed a desire to become a Carmelite nun but her parents believed she was not mature enough to make such a decision. Her childhood was a pious one and she fostered a special devotion to the Infant Jesus while being known for her obsessive cleanliness and she made her First Communion in 1792.
On 24 March 1799 she married the barrister and landowner Teodoro de Mas (the firstborn of his own household) with whom she had nine children; both husband and wife later became members of the Third Order of Saint Francis and she became known as "Joaquina of Saint Francis of Assisi". Her husband was a friend of her father and was undecided about which of Lorenzo's three daughters to wed: he gave the three a box of almonds and the two older girls rejected it as a childish gift but she accepted and said: "I love almonds" and thus he settled on her. But Napoleon's invasion saw her flee with her children but her husband insisted that he remain to fight as a volunteer and he died on 6 March 1816; she moved with her children after a few months from Barcelona to their estate of "Manso Eseorial" in Vic and she began to wear the habit of the third order on a frequent basis. Here she began her charitable activities with the sick and with women. Her spiritual director - the Capuchin Esteban de Olot - suggested she establish an apostolic congregation devoted to education and to charitable works. Four daughters entered convents and two sons married while three others died as children.
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