Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala
|
Saint María Guadalupe García Zavala |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Religious | |
| Born |
27 April 1878 Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Died | 24 June 1963 (aged 85) Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 25 April 2004, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II |
| Canonized | 12 May 2013, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis |
| Feast | 24 June |
| Attributes | Religious habit |
| Patronage |
|
Saint María Guadalupe García Zavala (27 April 1878 – 24 June 1963) - born Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala - was a Mexican Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-foundress of the Handmaids of Santa Margherita and the Poor. The religious was and still is also known as "Mother Lupita". Her life was supposed to be towards that of married life but she decided her religious call was too strong for that and she broke off her engagement in order to pursue this call; she dedicated herself to the care of ill people and was noted for her compassion and faith.
Her beatification cause began in mid-1984 though her formal beatification was celebrated on 25 April 2004 while Pope Francis later canonized her as a saint on 12 May 2013 in Saint Peter's Square.
Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala was born in 1878 in Zapopan to Fortino García and Refugio Zavala de García; her father was a religious store merchant and his shop was located in front of the basilica to which she made frequent visits to. Her baptism was celebrated in the parish of Saint Peter the Apostle. Those who knew her best as a child saw her as nice and likeable as well as an altruistic person who was willing to lend a hand to those who needed help the most. Her First Communion was on 8 September 1887 at the Zapopan basilica.
Zavala had planned to wed Gustavo Arreola (marriage was a strong desire for her) but she broke off their engagement in 1901 because she felt a call to the religious life and believed that she was called to give assistance to the poor and the sick. Zavala and her spiritual director (and future Servant of God) Cipriano Iñiguez Martín del Campo both co-founded a new religious order on 13 October 1901 titled as the Handmaids of Santa Margherita Maria and the Poor. Zavala described her call to the religious life as a "sudden change of heart" that she knew she had to follow. Zavala worked as a nurse and regardless of the poorness and the lack of material goods of the patients she was compassionate and caring towards the needs of the ill. Zavala was named as the Superior General for the new order.
...
Wikipedia