Taking Care of and Sharing Our Documents (VI)
In our desire to care for, preserve, and make available to anyone who wishes to access them the materials that help us deepen our understanding of our identity and mission as Daughters of Jesus, today we are adding one that is particularly special: Mother Cándida speaks in the first person.
This is not a typical biography. It is a work crafted from the Foundress’s own words, the testimonies of those who knew her, and the meticulous research of someone who had spent years studying her life. Through its pages, Mother introduces us to the world of her experiences, allows us to feel the atmosphere that surrounded her, and helps us get to know the people with whom she lived. It’s a different and intimate way to get to know her.
Wherever God calls you. A life dedicated to Christian education
In 1990, after years of research that had resulted in an extensive biography of the Foundress—intended primarily to support her cause for beatification—Sister María del Carmen de Frías presented us with this second book: a unique work in which Mother Cándida recounts her own journey in the first person. It is not an autobiography in the strict sense—the author knows this and points it out—but it is so imbued with the words and testimonies of those who knew her that Mother Cándida is revealed to us through it with transparency and authenticity.
The story begins with Juana Josefa Cipitria’s childhood in Andoain, continues through her years in Tolosa, her first steps in the faith, her experience as an emigrant and a servant in Burgos, and culminates in the founding of the Daughters of Jesus. Throughout this journey, we recognize a guiding principle: the words her father, Juan Miguel Cipitria, spoke to her when she was very young: “Wherever God calls you.” That simple prophecy became the driving force of her entire life: the life of a woman who knew how to seek and remain faithful to God’s will at every crossroads, wherever she was sent.
Download the text and review the previous headings
Reading this book means allowing Mother Cándida to guide us personally, recognizing in her story the elements that define our vocation, and letting ourselves be challenged by the question she always asked herself: Where is God calling me today?
Thanks to Sister Lucía Cantalapiedra García for making the digitization and dissemination of this document possible.
We also invite you to check out the articles we’ve shared in previous installments of this series:
Taking Care of and Sharing Our Documents: New Online Resources
Taking Care of and Sharing Our Documents (II)
Caring for and sharing our documents (III)
Caring for and sharing our documents (IV)
Our Roots and our Center: two new resources available.
Why “Daughters of Jesus”? Taking Care of and Sharing Our Documents (V)
