Today, May 12, 2025, is the 29th anniversary of the beatification of M. Candida and Antoñita.
We gratefully remember that day, invited to bring to life what we prayed so many times with the “Take, Lord” by saying “take my memory”. My memory is what I have kept sacred in my heart…offering him what I remember, what I have lived, my history, to recognize his presence, love, mercy, call, accompaniment, and sending. What a gift to remember today that May 12, 1996!
The then Pope John Paul II, on May 12, 1996, in St. Peter’s Square, before thousands of faithful among whom were many Hijas de Jesus, lay men and women connected in some way with M. Candida and M. Antoñita, families, children, especially school children, educators, young people… from “any part of the world” of the Hijas de Jesus’ presence, pronounced these words which we feel are very relevant today at this moment in history, in the Church and in the Congregation that find its way through the Sister delegates gathered in Rome.
The witness of the lives of these two new blessed women fills the Church with joy and should move their congregation, spread in so many countries, to follow their rich teachings, their model of dedication and perseverance in their fidelity to the charism received from the Spirit.
Is this not precisely the purpose of our Congregation and of every General Congregation?
At the end of the Regina Coeli prayer, Pope John Paul II also expressed about our two new Blessed women:
The deep spirituality of these two women from Guipuzcoa with a universal heart, based on the Ignatian Exercises, moved them to devote themselves with holy zeal to the service of the Church and the needs of the people of their time. Their witness is still alive today, and speaks to us of missionary zeal, of humble trust, of seeking always and in everything the greater glory of God and the salvation of mankind.
To what do you feel moved? What is it that impels your life?
Their testimony is still alive in our days too… in “these days” of the Jubilee Year Pilgrims of Hope, of farewell to Pope Francis, of grateful welcome to the recently elected Pope Leo XIV, of our GCXIX and also of so many joys, sufferings, pursuits, works, opportunities, challenges, help, selfishness, hopes and hopelessness of the people of today all over the world…
We also recall the words of the Superior General at that time, Sr Pilar Martínez, a few days after the beatification, in Salamanca, on 25 May 1996, on the occasion of the transfer of the remains of Mo. Candida from the Pantheon of the Mostenses to the chapel, in an urn placed under the altar.
And to us, Hijas de Jesus, what do her ashes speak today, resting next to Christ, the Eucharist, and under the gaze of Mary, star of our paths?
I feel that from here she confirms to us that the “true Hijas de Jesus” is the one who lives as she lived: with her heart firmly grounded in the love of Jesus Christ, steadfast and determined in the mission that he entrusted to her, sustained by the confidence that her faith gave her, abandoned to his will and joyful in his service. […] And with the commitment to continue giving life to the charism she left us and to incarnate it in the present day of our history.
What do these words communicate to you today for your life, community, family, work, mission, studies… and the GC XIX of the Hijas de Jesus?
We especially entrust today’s GCXIX to St. Candida Mª de Jesús and Blessed Mª Antonia Bandrés Elósegui, relying on their intercession and help to continue “preserving and promoting the growth of the Congregation in its well-being” in the present day of our history and our world.
