Embedded Files
Foreword
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere
and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."
Christopher Reeve
"Heroes take journeys, confront dragons,
and discover the treasure of their true selves."
Carol Lynn Pearson
The eighty beatas written about and acknowledged in this collection of edifying lives give us reason to be grateful for the gifts of their persons. They deserve to be called “heroines.” For certain, they went through personal and communal grandes dificultades, journeyed through both the peaceful and turbulent areas of their lives, faced and fought their own inner monsters, and made the greatest victory of a lifetime—self-conquest.
Each beata written about in the pages shares the common threads of who, what, where, when, how, why, of their interesting lives. As a whole, all of them can be qualified as having possessed to an observable and affirmable degree the following shared characteristics of being:
Humble. They represent what all of us are trying to BE, according to the spirit of our Mother Foundress who followed the humble and loving Jesus.
Earnest in their search for God’s will. Their lives
Open to God’s will and the call of the present moment. They accepted according to their unique capabilities the good and bad as their lot to shape and mold them.
Industrious. They served with all their heart, trying to reach the standard “sweat of the brow” mark.
And having:
Revised constantly their weak self and been affirmed by those who accept them as they are. They remind us that God does not call the qualified but qualifies those He calls. Accordingly.
Endured trials and difficulties. They went through self-purification authored by persons and events, that in many ways formed them indirectly and unexpectedly.
Navigated through life with tenacity. Their journey during their lifetime were far from smooth and easy. In the process, their character was honed in community and ministry.
The world needs heroes and heroines. Not the archetypal superwoman, for sure. And we thank the Lord for each of our Ignacian Marian heroines.
May we find inspiration from the examples of eighty beatas, who with their characteristic ways sought not worldly success but the treasure that lasts, by serving God with all their heart and learning the way of perfection--as outlined by Mother Ignacia—as best as they possibly could during their earthly life.
Thank you, Sisters, for leaving us your holy examples.
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