Saint Who?
Saints Who Achieved Sanctity Young
Blessed Maria Antonia Bandrés y Elósegui
Religious († 1919) Feast: April 27
She was called Antonita by her family. Her father was a lawyer in Tolosa, Spain, and she was the second of fifteen children. Antonita was educated by the religious sisters of the Daughters of Jesus, a relatively new order in her community, and she was an excellent exemplar of virtue to her classmates and younger siblings. She also suffered frequently from health problems, but that did not stop her from accompanying her mother in serving the needy.
While participating in the Spiritual Exercises at the age of fifteen, she remembered that the founder of the Daughters of Jesus had once predicted to her that she would someday enter the order. At that moment, she decided to give her life to Jesus. She entered the order when she was seventeen and took vows when she was twenty. However, she became seriously ill soon afterward.
The medical doctor who cared for her during her final ten months of life was an agnostic. The joy and serenity that Sister Maria Antonia displayed during her painful decline and her unshakeable trust in God deeply moved her doctor and others. Maria Antonia privately told her friends that she had decided to offer her life for the salvation of a wayward uncle. When her uncle learned of this after her death, he came back to the Catholic faith.
Heavenly Father, may our love for you be visible in our lives and inspire those around us.
