Maria Soledad Torres y Acosta
| St. Maria Soledad Torres y Acosta, S.M. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Virgin and foundress | |
| Born |
Antonia Bibiana Manuela Torres y Acosta December 2, 1826 Madrid, Spain |
| Died |
October 11, 1887 (aged 60) Madrid, Spain |
| Beatified | February 5, 1950, Vatican City, by Pope Pius XII |
| Canonized | January 25, 1970, Vatican City, by Pope Paul VI |
| Major shrine | General Motherhouse, Servants of Mary, Plaza de Chamberí 7, 28210 Madrid, Spain |
| Feast | October 11 |
- Not to be confused with María de la Soledad, Our Lady of Solitude.
Maria Soledad Torres y Acosta, S.M. (2 December 1826 – 11 October 1887 ) was a Spanish Religious Sister who founded the Sisters, Servants of Mary, dedicated to nursing the sick and needy of the world. She is honored as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
Life
She was born the second of the five children of Francisco Torres, a dairy worker, and Antonia Acosta in Madrid on 2 December 1826, and baptized Antonia Bibiana Manuela. Her parents ran a small business in their home near the Plaza de España. She was educated by the Daughters of Charity and often visited the sick in her neighborhood, performing small penances for the benefit of others.[1] She also helped at a free school for the poor run by the Daughters.<ref name=SM /[2]
Around 1850, when she was in her mid-20s, Torres felt called to enter an enclosed religious order and applied to a nearby Dominican monastery for admission as a lay sister, but had to wait until there was room for her. In 1851, she heard of the efforts of Miguel Martínez y Sanz, a member of the Servite Third Order, the parish priest in Chamberí, then one of the poorer suburbs of Madrid, which was undergoing the transition from being a farming region to an industrial one, around which basic housing was cropping up for the wave of workers who flocked to the new factories. Martínez envisioned founding a group of seven women who would minister to the sick poor of his parish in their own homes, as they often could not afford hospitalization. Torres offered herself for this life, and, albeit at first reluctantly, Martínez accepted her as the seventh and final member of the community he wished to establish.[3] On 15 August of that year, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary, Torres and six companions committed their lives to this service as a religious community. At that time they took a religious habit and she took the religious name of Sister Maria Soledad.[1]
In 1856, Martínez took with him six of the twelve Sisters then in the community to the missions in the Spanish colony of Fernando Pó, leaving Torres as superior of the community and the sole remaining member of the original community. The remaining Sisters, however, soon removed her from this office. This move left the community disorganized and the bishop threatened to dissolve it. After an examination by him, Torres was re-appointed as superior and, with the help of a new director, Gabino Sánchez, an Augustinian Recollect friar, they continued their work. At this time they named their community the Servants of Mary serving the Sick." The bishop gave his formal approval of their ministry and expanded their work to include the care of the young delinquents of Madrid. The dedication of the Sisters was brought to the attention of the public by their care of the sick during the cholera epidemic of 1865.[1]
Torres faced many trials throughout her time of leadership of the congregation. She became the victim of slander and was again removed from her office, until Sánchez had her reinstated, after another investigation. While establishing a new community of the congregation in Valencia, she faced the liberalizing government which took control of the empire in the Revolution of 1868. At about this time, several of the Sisters left the community, but the Servants grew in number and, in 1875, began to serve in Havana, Cuba. The new institute received definitive papal approval in 1876. Torres had governed the community for 35 years when she died of pneumonia on 11 October 1887. At the time of her death there were 46 houses of the Servants of Mary in Europe and Latin America.[1]
Veneration
Torres' body was buried in the Sisters' cemetery but, on 18 January 1893, as part of the inquiry into her possible canonization, her body was exhumed and transferred to the chapel. The body was still intact, reportedly exuding a bloody liquid and a sweet odor. A few years later, however, only bones remained. Torres was beatified on 5 February 1950, by Pope Pius XII. She was canonized by Pope Paul VI on January 25, 1970. She is commemorated liturgically on the 11 October.
Legacy
The Servants of Mary carry out their service of health care in Europe, the Americas, Cameroon and the Philippines. In the United States, the congregation has six communities.[4]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Saint Maria Soledad", The Newman Connection
- ↑ "Vida de la Fundadora". Siervas de María (in Spanish).
- ↑ "St. Maria Soledad". Catholic Online.
- ↑ "Communities by Countries". Servants of Mary, Ministers of the Sick.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soledad Torres Acosta. |