On the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, we want to take a look at how St. Candida Mary of Jesus lived this mystery of faith, and what her experience as a believer can tell us today.
To this end, we will share some ideas gathered in the text “Following the thread”, the result of an in-depth study carried out by Mª del Pilar Linde FI in 2018.
A devotion interwoven with life
When we speak of the spirituality of St. Candida Maria de Jesus, we usually do so by highlighting her love for the Eucharist, her filial trust in the Virgin and her total dedication to God. However, there is an intimate, persistent and profoundly significant trait that runs through her life: her devotion to the Most Holy Trinity. Not as a doctrinal treatise nor as an isolated pious exercise, but as an existential attitude of faith, love, service and total availability to the will of God.
M. Candida did not leave systematic texts on her relationship with the Trinity. However, this devotion was alive and present in her letters where she mixed daily matters and advice of faith, and above all, in her simple gestures and in the naturalness of her life.
As Ignatian spirituality reminds us, devotion is not limited to exercises of piety, but is lived in all the actions and situations of existence. In M. Candida, this devotion translated into a constant attitude of seeking God, recognizing his presence and obeying his will, as the only reason for her life.
A painting in his office
Several witnesses have left us the reference to small gestures of St. Candida before a picture of the Trinity that she had in her office. Father Nazario Perez relates the following:
“He had a picture of the Trinity in his office. He was continually looking at it, day and night, and many times folding his hands on his chest he would stare at it…”
One of the most touching testimonies is that of the sister who attended in her last years:
“He had in front of his desk a picture of SS. Trinity. Many times I have seen her, interrupting her work, raise her eyes to the picture and say sometimes loudly and sometimes softly: “O Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit…”Before entering her bedroom, she would greet the picture with a nod of her head and inside, before going to bed, she would turn to look at it and greet it through a slit in the curtains.
Another witness alludes to the same picture:
He had a picture of the Blessed Trinity that we have in storage, and he was always looking at it and saying ejaculatory prayers, and another affirms that he used to pray before it with great devotion.
Eloquent silence
It is surprising that a devotion so alive and remembered by the congregational tradition is so little documented in their writings. Barely one letter contains an explicit mention of the Trinity. The spiritual notes that are preserved are from his early years, the later ones are not preserved. Did he destroy them out of modesty or discretion? Did he prefer to keep these secrets to himself? It is possible.
The truth is that what she did not write, her life spoke . The testimonies of those who lived with her leave no doubt: her relationship with the Triune God was deep, constant and natural.
We see this reflected, in a special way, as we approach the last hours of M. Candida’s life, when she is close to death. Candida’s life, when she was close to death. One of the Sisters present gives this testimony:
“When taking food or medicine, he would first bless it, then he would sip it, and to each one he would say, “In honor of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, etc.”
Can the final etc. of this testimony give us to understand that it was a habitual ejaculatory and therefore known to all? In the account that Father Nazario gives of these same moments, we can read:
“The invocations to the saints were very frequent and, above all, to the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, invoking the sweetest name of the Virgin”.
This fact is of fundamental importance: it was not the right time to introduce new prayers, but rather to spontaneously bring forth what was most deeply rooted in her heart, in her habitual relationship with God, so that in the fact that in each drink M Candida invoked the Holy Trinity we can read a manifestation of her Trinitarian experience, of her love for the One and Triune God who has been at the center of her life and who is now, when imminent death will bring her to meet Him face to face and forever.
Three verbs
From this experience, we can intuit three verbs that summarize his relationship with the Trinity:
- To love: God above all, absolutely and confidently.
- Obey: To the divine will, discovered in prayer, signs and daily life.
- Glorify: To seek always and in everything the greater glory of God.
These attitudes resonate strongly today in our charism, in phrases that we all know:
“I only for God”, “God wills it”, “ To the greater glory of God”.
A living heritage that challenges us
Today, those of us who are part of the Mother Candida Family are called to rediscover this spiritual legacy. Not to copy “yesterday’s”, but to integrate into our life and world today that believing attitude, that trusting and loving relationship with the Triune God.
Perhaps we could recover with simplicity:
- To invoke the Holy Trinity more consciously in our daily gestures.
- Praise God in joys and difficulties.
- Glorify God with our choices, words and deeds.
Want to learn more?
We invite you to read “Follow the thread” written by Mª del Pilar Linde FI, a precious work that brings us closer to this intimate and luminous aspect of the spirituality of our Holy Foundress.
Available for download or consultation on our website.
