CARMELITE SAINT OF THE DAY

Bl. Maria Sagrario of St. Alphonsus Ganzaga

Photo courtesy of www.ocarm.org

Blessed Maria Sagrario of St. Aloysius Gonzaga was born in   Lillo, Spain, January 8,1881, to Ricardo Moragas and Isabel Cantarero, the third of four children. 

Following in her father's footsteps, she became a student of pharmacy, excelling in this field, and became one of the first women in Spain to become a pharmacist.  Although she had excellent prospects in pharmacy, and much ability, she eventually discerned a call to the religious life, and after some necessary delay to aid her family she was admitted as a postulant to the Carmel of St Anne and St Joseph in Madrid, in 1915. 
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From her writings:

"May Jesus reign always in my heart! The Lord asks me to be humble, to weep over my sins, to love him much, to love my sisters much, to mortify them in nothing, not to mortify myself uselessly, to live recollected in him wanting nothing for myself, completely surrendered to his divine will.

In this vale of tears, suffering will not be lacking, and we should be content to have something to offer to our most beloved Jesus who wanted so much to suffer for love of us. The most direct way to unite ourselves to God is that of the cross, so we should always desire it. May the Lord not permit that I be separated from
 his divine will.

Blessed be God who gives us these ways of offering ourselves up to his love! The day will arrive when we will rejoice for having suffered in this way. Meanwhile, let us be generous, suffering everything, if not with happiness, at least in close conformity to the divine will of him who suffered so much out of love for us. 
However great are our sufferings, they come nowhere near his.

If you wish to be perfect, seek first of all to be quite humble in thought, word, deed and desire; learn well what this means and work tenaciously to carry it out. Keep your gaze always on our most beloved Jesus, asking him in the depths of his heart what he desires for you, and never deny him anything, even if it means going strongly against the grain for you.

Blessed be he who arranges everything for our good! In possessing him, we possess everything."





Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds