Every June 15, the Church celebrates Saint Mary Micaela of the Blessed Sacrament, Spanish nun, founder of the female congregation of the ‘Slave Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament and Charity’.
“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Ps 126)
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Saint María Micaela had a maxim of life that she asked to place in each of the houses of the congregation: “My Providence and your faith will keep the house standing.” With this, the Mother wanted her daughters to always be aware of the necessary collaboration between God’s grace and human effort, if she is to fight both the small and the great battles of life in a Christian way.
And the saint learned a lot from those spiritual struggles because she dedicated her entire life, with a sacrificial apostolic spirit, to rescuing women from the clutches of prostitution.
To be noble is to serve the vulnerable
Saint María Micaela was born in Madrid (Spain) in 1809, into an aristocratic family. Her full name – very extensive, by the way – was María de la Soledad Micaela Agustina Antonia Bibiana Desmaissières y López de Dicastillo, Viscountess of Jorbalán.
Despite her social status, since she was little she had to face great difficulties and pain: her parents died unexpectedly, her youngest sister lost her mind after witnessing an execution, while another of her sisters ended up exiled from Spain for political reasons.
For some years, María Micaela had to accompany her older brother while he served as ambassador -first in Paris and later in Brussels-. He used to get up early every day so as not to miss fulfilling his pious practices, going to Mass, and then having enough time for works of charity among the poor and sick. Starting at noon, María Micaela changed her activity completely: she changed her outfit and appeared at events attended by her brother, just as she corresponded to the sister of an ambassador. She attended diplomatic banquets and formal activities, exhibiting the same smile, simplicity and kindness with which her day began, because for her everything had to be done with charity.
Premise for the apostolate: the dignity of women
Upon returning to Madrid, María Micaela visits the San Juan de Dios hospital accompanied by María Ignacia Rico. In the hospital she encountered a harsh reality: the hospital was full of prostitutes sick with smallpox and other terrible diseases.
María Micaela was impressed with the horrible and cruel condition that those women suffered. Not only were they abandoned, their dignity violated and socially rejected, but they also suffered from the pain and symptoms caused by infections and lacked food and hygiene.
“As you did it to one, the least of my brothers, you did it to Me” (Mt 25, 40)
Micaela and Ignacia found a small house to house those women, most of them very young, and thus begin to protect them, save them from whoredom and redeem them in their human and Christian dignity.
Such a type of help – unthinkable for the majority – generated gossip and misunderstanding on the part of Spanish high society and, although it may seem absurd, also on the part of the clergy. The social condemnation of María Micaela translated into open rejection, even from her close friends and some former spiritual director. The saint, then, decides to leave her family home, located in an elegant neighborhood, and go live next to those she had decided to serve as Christ served men.
“My Providence and your faith will keep the house standing” (Santa María Micaela)
Saint Mary Micaela was a woman of deep prayer, sensitive to the motions of the Holy Spirit and very obedient. None of these things were easy for her, but her desire for “the house to remain standing” was very great. She had different good spiritual directors although, probably, the person who best knew how to accompany her on her spiritual itinerary was Saint Anthony Mary Claret.
Many stories tell of the zeal that drove her in the care of souls. One day, for example, she went to a brothel determined to rescue a forcibly held girl. María Micaela was insulted and beaten, they threw stones at her and they attacked her with obscene gestures. Nothing managed to dissuade her from her goal. María Micaela pulled the girl out, pushing her way through those who were attacking her.
Foundation
The queen of Spain – aware of María Micaela’s spiritual work – sent for her to ask for advice. The saint came eagerly to offer her help.
In gratitude, the queen supported her in her most ambitious project: the founding of the community of Sisters Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament – a congregation whose members are dedicated to the adoration of Jesus in the Eucharist and to assist women at risk or victims of abuse.
Meeting the Lord
Mother María Micaela helped sick people for years without becoming infected, even when the black typhus plague devastated Madrid. Unfortunately, in 1865, during a trip to help cholera patients in Valencia, she contracted the deadly disease and died.
Mother María Micaela died on August 24 of that year. She was canonized in 1934 by Pope Pius XI.
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Central Editorial
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