Saint Who?
Saints Who Lost Loved Ones
Blessed Catalina de María Rodríguez
Widow and foundress († 1896) Feast: November 27
“My daughters, I recommend peace, obedience, and holy charity.” Born in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1823, Saturnina Rodríguez de Zavalía lost her mother when she was three and her father when she was nine. After doing the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in her late teens, Saturnina discerned a call to active religious life. However, there were only contemplative communities for women in Argentina at the time.
When she was twenty-nine, Saturnina’s spiritual director encouraged her to marry Manuel de Zavalía, a widower with two small children. It was not the easiest marriage. Zavalia, a colonel in the army, could be emotionally unstable, and Saturnina had her own bouts of temper. However, she became a devoted wife and a loving stepmother. They only conceived one child together, a stillborn daughter.
After Manuel died in 1865, Saturnina’s desire for an active religious life was rekindled, and she was inspired to found her own community according to the rule of Saint Ignatius. Seven years later, she succeeded in establishing the Slaves of the Heart of Jesus. She took the religious name Catalina—the name of her stillborn daughter. She died in 1896 and was beatified in 2017.
Heavenly Father, through the prayers
of Blessed Catalina, may we persevere
in following your plan for our lives.
