We begin a special month, a time to remember with gratitude, to return to our roots and let ourselves be inspired by the life that continues to bear fruit today. May has two names for us: Mother Candida and Mary. We want to go through it together, as a family, with our hearts open and our ears attentive to what these women of God inspire us today, to incarnate the charism in our beloved and wounded world.
The whole month, until the last day, will be impregnated with his feeling, living and dedication.
A month full of life
On May 31 we will celebrate the birth of Mother Candida; Joan Josepha was her given name. It is a date that invites us to recognize how God continues to act in history through concrete, simple and deeply available persons. Her parents decided to baptize her on the same day of her birth, precisely because it was a feast of the Virgin: the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her cousin St. Elizabeth. This date commemorates the biblical passage in which Mary, after accepting to be the mother of Jesus, visits Elizabeth, who was also pregnant, highlighting values of service, joy and faith. Their lives, Mary and Mother Candida, are a path that continues to illuminate ours.
Throughout this month, we will be sharing different contents that will help us to get closer to his experience, to his way of living his faith and to the strength of his charism made life.
We will begin by remembering the anniversary of her beatification, together with María Antonia Bandrés (Antoñita), on May 12, giving thanks for her testimony that today is a gift for the whole Church. We will also share a new video of La Audacia del Corazón, a song so dear to us, composed years later on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Daughters of Jesus and which continues to awaken in us the desire to give our all.
In the following weeks, we will go deeper through her words: a series of phrases of Mother Candida that, for six consecutive days, will accompany us in social networks as small lights for the road. In addition, we will make available a downloadable resource, in the different languages, in the style of what we experienced with Antoñita, so that everyone can make use of this material in the mission or personally.
As part of this shared celebration, we will also offer the hymn of Mother Candida in three different versions, which will be added to the materials that we want to continue putting at the service of the entire Mother Candida Family.
All this accompanied by changes to the website, which you will see throughout this month, as we are updating the design and pages in line with the CGXIX Determination.
A month to return to the heart
Beyond everything we will be sharing, this month is a personal invitation. It is not only about remembering, but also about letting ourselves be touched, to return to the essential.
Let us join this time of grace by sincerely asking ourselves:
How do I want to live this month?
How do I want to deepen our charism?
What space do I want to give God in my life today?
May this May, hand in hand with Mary, be an opportunity to rediscover the audacity, trust and dedication that marked the life of Mother Candida, and that continue to be a path for us.
