“The saints are like stained-glass windows that let in the light of God.” With this image, Pope Francis addressed the faithful during the Angelus on All Saints’ Day in 2017. They are not perfect figures, he said, but people touched by God.
Each stained-glass window lets the same light shine through in a different hue. The saints are brothers and sisters who welcomed God’s light into their hearts and shared it with the world, each in their own unique way. What unites them is that they were transparent, and they struggled to remove the stains and darkness of sin so that this light could shine through.
Today, November 1, we look at the stained-glass windows of our own home.
The Colors That Inspired Saint Cándida
When Juana Josefa (M. Cándida) founded the congregation, she wasn’t starting from scratch. There were already three stained-glass windows illuminating it.
- St. Ignatius of Loyola, master of discernment and the Spiritual Exercises, who taught us to “seek and find God in all things.” Ignatian spirituality lies at the roots of the Daughters of Jesus and the Mother Candida family.
- St. Francis Xavier, the tireless missionary who journeyed to the farthest reaches of the earth. His apostolic zeal continues to kindle the desire to go out and bring Jesus to those who need him most.
- Saint Teresa of Ávila, a woman of prayer and a trailblazer, who showed that God is found in everyday life and that a woman could accomplish great things for Him.
Three stained-glass windows that help us turn our gaze toward the three closest members of our charismatic family… .
Juana Josefa: a humble woman who became a foundress
Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola was born in Andoáin (Gipuzkoa) on May 31, 1845. She worked as a domestic servant, and from that simple life, she felt a calling to devote herself entirely to God. Accompanied by the Jesuit Miguel San José Herranz, the Daughters of Jesus were founded in Salamanca on December 8, 1871, and she took the name Cándida María de Jesús. From the very beginning, she gathered other women to educate girls and young women “in the towns most in need of our schools and where the greatest spiritual benefit could be achieved.”
She died in Salamanca on August 9, 1912. She was beatified by John Paul II in 1996 and canonized by Benedict XVI on October 17, 2010. Her commitment to the education of girls and the empowerment of women—at a time when many had no access to it—lives on today in our educational and pastoral works in so many countries.
Antoñita: Simplicity That Became Total Self-Giving
María Antonia Bandrés y Elósegui was born in Tolosa on March 6, 1898. She studied at the San José School, founded by Mother Cándida, where the Foundress sensed her calling and told her, as is recalled: “You will be a Daughter of Jesus.”
Antoñita lived her life with joy and great sensitivity. She loved simplicity and humility, devoted herself to those most in need, and strove to do “the ordinary extraordinarily well.” She died in Salamanca on April 27, 1919, at the age of just 21. John Paul II beatified her along with M. Cándida on May 12, 1996. Today she is the patroness of the Daughters of Jesus in initial formation and a model for those who live out solidarity in FASFI.
Vicenta: the humble doorkeeper
Vicenta Guilarte Alonso was born in 1879 in a village in Burgos. She was orphaned at a very young age and entered the congregation to devote her life to the education of young people. She spent much of her life in a very humble role—that of a doorman—from which she welcomed and transformed the lives of many people. She died in Leopoldina, Brazil, on July 6, 1960.
Her secret was finding happiness in doing God’s will in everything. Pope Francis approved the decree on her heroic virtues on June 20, 2024, and she has been Venerable ever since.
The “Saints Next Door”
Pope Francis said that today’s feast is not only for the saints on the calendar, but also for “so many brothers and sisters right next door”—ordinary, unsung people who help God sustain the world.
Over the course of our 150-year history, we, the Daughters of Jesus, have known many of them. They were sisters who taught, cared for others, walked alongside them, and prayed, without anyone ever recording their names. They also included laywomen and laymen, educators, families, young people, students, collaborators, and friends who shared in the mission in every province and every country. Without them, the stained-glass window of our congregation would have gaps.
It is both a gift and a calling for us to help one another be transparent so that God’s light may shine through our lives. May each of us, in our own place and with our own color, be a window through which that light may enter.
Happy All Saints’ Day!
