Pope Francis approved yesterday, June 20, 2024, the decree of heroic virtues of the Daughter of Jesus Vicenta Guilarte Alonso. We read about her in the book “Whom shall I send?” that Maria del Carmen Cruz wrote on the occasion of the centenary of the first expedition of the Congregation outside Spain, to Brazil.
On the list of sisters chosen for the first expedition to Brazil in 1911, Vicenta was named fourth. It was no surprise. She was well known and appreciated by all. Mother Candida, in the discernment she made to propose her destiny to Brazil contemplated that:
- She was a young nun and in acceptable health.
- She had a pleasant character: kind, positive in everything, with serene joy (without stridency), affectively balanced.
- His consistency of life, faithfully maintained throughout the ten years he lived in the Congregation. She had been a constant example for novices and professed.
- The solicitude and affection he showed for the most disadvantaged people were a testimony to the quality of his apostolic life.
- His love for the most needy, his readiness to be close to the greatest need.
This was Vicenta. She made transparent the love she received from God wherever she was sent. The porter’s lodge served as a privileged position to attend and deal with many and varied people. She was a special support for seminarians and priests, to whom she was especially attentive when they sought her advice. The young girls sought her out for conversation; the Daughters of Jesus who lived with her found comfort in her person and strength in their struggles; her superiors, a calm and firm support. Her welcome extended to the families of the students and to anyone who approached her.
At her funeral, the mayor of the city approached the sisters and said:
Mother Vicenta was not only yours, she was Leopoldina’s patrimony.
The canonization process is a long and complex process that can take several years. It is divided into four main stages: Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed and Saint.
Vicenta Guilarte, with the approval of the decree of heroic virtues, becomes Venerable. May her life, together with that of St. Candida and Blessed Maria Antonia, show us how to be daughters and awaken in every heart that first vocation that impels us to give ourselves to others. For them we give thanks and to them we entrust ourselves.
Read what they say about her in:
