Every July 30, the Catholic Church celebrates Santa María de Jesús Sacramentado Venegas, Mexican nun and founder of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sacramentado, a congregation dedicated to different service tasks, especially those related to the care of the sick.
Known for her charitable spirit, Sister María de Jesús became the first Mexican to be canonized. It was Pope Saint John Paul II who raised her to the altars in the year 2000, two years before Saint Juan Diego (1474-1548), the visionary of the Virgin of Guadalupe and second Mexican saint.
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Where it all started
María Natividad Venegas de la Torre – by her given name – was born in Zapotlanejo, Jalisco (Mexico), on September 8, 1868. She was the twelfth daughter of a Catholic home that introduced her to the faith and where she learned to love Jesus.
In November 1905, María Natividad attended a day of spiritual exercises in Guadalajara, in which she meekly accepted to be a servant of the Lord. Shortly afterward she entered a religious institute that had been recently created: the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This institute had been founded by Canon Atenógenes Silva (1848-1911) with the purpose of caring for abandoned and needy patients.
The Daughters of the Sacred Sacramental Heart
On January 25, 1921, the first canonical elections of the congregation were held; In these, María Natividad was elected superior general. Her new position of service awakens in her a greater awareness of duty and fidelity to God.
From 1926 to 1929, during the religious persecution unleashed in Mexico, she firmly maintained her spiritual life and dedicated herself to strengthening her sisters. That was a time of sacrifice, in which the discipline of the institute entrusted to her was at stake. They were also the years in which she wrote the constitutions of her congregation, later approved by the archbishop of Guadalajara, Mons. Francisco Orozco y Jiménez.
On September 8, 1930, the feast of the Nativity of Mary, she and the sisters who persevered took their final vows. María Natividad changed her name to “María de Jesús Sacramentado”.
Firm in faith, hope and charity
For 33 years, from 1921 to 1954 – the year in which Sister María de Jesús left the direction of the congregation – Sister María de Jesús Sacramentado founded sixteen houses to care for the sick and helpless elderly (hospices). Behind her there had been a long distance walked hand in hand with the Lord. He was always his strength to provide the best care to the sick and the nuns under his tutelage.
The last years of his life, marked by illness and fragility, gave an example of selflessness and fortitude. Saint María de Jesús Sacramentado died in Guadalajara on July 30, 1959, at the age of 91, in the Sacred Heart hospital of Guadalajara. Today, in that place, is where his mortal remains are preserved.
Holy Mary of Jesus Sacramentado Venegas, pray for us! Intercede for all your Mexican children!
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