Beatification of a Carmelite Nun
We are happy to share the good news with you that one of our very own “little sisters” in Carmel is on her way to sainthood, and today is being beatified in her home country of Paraguay!
Blessed María Felicia Guggiari Echeverria
Also known as
María Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
María Guggiari y Echeverría
Chiquitunga – her father’s pet name for her as a child
Memorial 28 April
Profile
Eldest of seven children born to Ramón Guggiari and María Arminda Echeverría, she was baptized on 28 February 1929, and made her First Communion on 8 December 1937. Against her parent’s wishes, María joined Catholic Action in 1941, serving as a children‘s catechist and working with the poor; she made a personal vow of chastity in October 1942. While working with Catholic Action, she met and fell in love with medical student and fellow member Saua Angel, but in May 1951, Angel finally answered a call to the priesthood, and went Maria’s support, went off to to study. This caused Maria to begin to reconsider her own vocation in the world, and in 1953, against the strong objections of her family, she started the religious exercises that would lead to her becoming a Discalced Carmelite nun on 2 February 1955. She continued to stay in contact with Father Angel, and nearly 50 of her letters to him, along with poetry and other assorted writings, have survived.
Born
12 January 1925 in Villarica del Espiritu Santo, Guairá, Paraguay
Died
early morning of 28 April 1959 in Asunción, Paraguay of infectious hepatitis
Venerated
27 March 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI (decree of heroic virtues)
Beatified
on 6 March 2018, Pope Francis issued a decree of a miracle obtained through the intercession of Venerable Maria
Beatification recognition scheduled for 23 June 2018 at the Estadio General Pablo Rojas, Barrio Obrero, Asunción, Paraguay
Quotes
“Bridegroom of my soul, You know my desire for apostolic zeal for the salvation of souls, help me to know where you want the complete consecration of all my being.” – Blessed Maria
“Father, for Your glory accept the total surrender of my being in union with the perfect sacrifice of Your divine Son. In Him, through Him and with Him I live, love, believe, suffer and die. Choose Your heart as a place of my eternal home.” – Blessed Maria
“Jesus I love You! What a sweet encounter! Virgin Mary!” – Blessed Maria’s final words
On her Clothing Day (dressed as a bride before receiving the Carmelite habit)
MLA Citation “Blessed María Felicia Guggiari Echeverria”. CatholicSaints.Info. 9 April 2018. Web. 21 June 2018. <https://catholicsaints.info/blessed-maria-felicia-guggiari-echeverria/>