The following 2 August, will be the 117th anniversary of the death of María Angustias Giménez Vera who founded the Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers.
Biography
María Angustias Giménez was born in Granada on 21 August 1849 and was baptised in the parish of Los Santos Justo y Pastor, in the same city. In 1871 she met María Josefa Recio and they began a great friendship. On 21 June 1880, the two of them left Granada going on their way to Ciempozuelos where they were received by Father Menni in a modest house. On 31 May 1881, she took the habit with the name of Sister Heart of Jesus, –sor Corazón de Jesús-, and that same day; along with 10 other young women was the beginning that would be the first Sisters Hospitaller. She made her perpetual profession in 1885. She died in San Baudilio de Llobregat (Barcelona) on 2 August 1897. Her remains secretly stayed in her family´s pantheon until 1983, when they were found by chance. Today, she rests in Ciempozuelos together with the remains of Saint Benito Menni and María Josefa Recio.
Human Traits
María Angustias came from a middle-class family from Granada, she had a painstaking religious education and superior training to what the middle-class women had of her time. She suffered a heart ailment that would lead her to the grave whilst she was still young. She was a woman of boundless imagination, deeply affectionate and great spiritual sensitivity. From a letter from the Founding Father she extracted these words: -pray, work, endure, suffer, love God and be quiet-, that has been and is the first rule of the Congregation.
She was the General Counsel in Ciempozuelos and for sometime, she was the trainer for the first community, also in Ciempozuelos. Limited by her delicate health, which prevented her from looking after the sick, María Angustias lived in a brotherhood that formed the Union of Hearts –unión de corazones,– that were inspired by the Acts of the Apostles.
Her Legacy
María Angustias received an order by Father Menni to write the “Account About the Origins of the Congregration” -Relación sobre los Orígenes de la Congregación-. This work that was done, along with the correspondence of Father Menni, was the principal source to know the spirituality of the Congregation. The Account tells of a unitary experience, human, spiritual and charismatic, preserving a structure of progressive route, with the intention of being preserved as a memory for the Congregation.
María Angustias titled the Account: “Simple Explanation of the Wonderful Work of our Nascent Foundation of Daughters of our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus”, -Sencilla explicación de la maravillosa obra de nuestra naciente fundación de Hijas de Nuestra Señora del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús-. It aims to serve as a reminder of what God has done and by contemplating it, it inspires loyalty and gratitude.
Intercession Prayer
Lord Jesus, of whose heart comes from the charisma of the mercy in the service of the sick, that you yourself discovered your servant, María Angustias Giménez Vera, giving her a constant desire to love you without limits and worship you for eternity.
Grant us now by her intersession, to experience her goodness in favour of… and so, whilst your salvation is at work in us, we glorify you, that you who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever. Amen.
