Thursday, February 9, 2012

SAINT VINCENZA MARY LOPEZY VICUNA


Vincentia (Vincenza Maria) Lopez y Vicuña
St. Vincenza Mary Lopez y Vicuna
Feast day: January 18
Died: 1890


Foundress of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate. Born at Cascante, Navarre, Spain, March 22, 1847, she was the daughter of a lawyer. Vincenza took a vow of chastity, aided by her aunt, Eulolia de Vicuna, and she refused the arranged marriage which had been organized by her parents. In 1876, she established the Daughters in order to offer some protection to the vulnerable young women who worked as domestic servants. Papal approval was secured in 1888 from Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), and Vincenza died two years later in Madrld on December 26, after intense suffering from illness. Beatified in 1950, she was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI (196
3-1978).

 Born at Cascante, Spanish Navarre, March 22, 1847; died December 26, 1896; beatified in 1950; canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975; feast day formerly on January 18.

 Vincentia, daughter of a lawyer, was sent to Madrid for her education, where she lived with her aunt Eulalia de Vicuña. Vicentia was a strong-willed woman, who refused to marry the man with whom her parents matched her, because she wished to follow her aunt's example. After much persuasion, they allowed her to dedicate herself to the service of God when she was 19. Shocked at the dangers and difficulties encountered in the lives of domestic servants, she elected to serve them. To this end, Vicentia, Eulalia, and a group of followers began to live a communal life in 1871. They drew up a constitution. In 1878, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate for Domestic Service was founded to look after the needs of serving girls, when Vincentia and three others pronounced their vows. The institute soon spread throughout Spain, then to other parts of Europe and Latin America. Papal approval for the order was given in 1888

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