Mary of St. Joseph, the feminine face of the Recollection

Tenacious, deeply human and fearless. This is how Sr. Graciela Molina, ARCJremembers Blessed Mary of St. Josephfoundress of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Heart of Jesus. Her life witness – marked by Eucharistic adoration, service to the poorest and a daring spirituality – continues to be a luminous compass for the Church today. Her cry, “Lord, break, rend my heart,” still resounds as a prayer for those who long to be God’s alone.

A woman of God on Venezuelan soil

María de San José was born and lived in a context of poverty, illiteracy and scarcity in Venezuela. Far from giving up, she knew how to read history through the eyes of God and respond with an astonishing creativity and audacity. He founded 38 social and educational works in almost impossible conditions. She did so moved by her love for Christ, by the hours before the Blessed Sacrament and by a burning passion to alleviate human suffering. burning passion for alleviating human suffering..

“She knew how to put herself in the other person’s place,” says Sister Graciela, “and to respond from God. We can all do that, even today.

Founder without bending

Mary of St. Joseph did not only leave a work. She left a way of being. Her life was a coherence between faith and action, mysticism and charity.. She was a sincere woman, an enemy of hypocrisy, and courageous to the end. “I fear nothing, only sin,” she said.

This radical sincerity is reflected in his writings and in his way of life: close, compassionate, unafraid to be stained by reality, with no distance between his prayer and his action. She was, as Pope Francis would say a saint from next doorbut with the soul of a giant.

A spirituality that continues to challenge

One of the most moving thoughts of Mary of St. Joseph, collected by Sister Graciela, is this:

“O divine Host! Break, rend my heart and make me yours, yours alone. May your divine blood pour down upon my poor soul, purifying it of all its sins, may nothing remain in me that is not yours.”

This cry, which springs from a wounded but hopeful heart, becomes a shared prayer for all believers who recognize their fragility and wish to give themselves entirely to God. It is not only a mystical expression: it is the portrait of a soul who knew how to live daily conversion, without concessions or excuses.

Mary of St. Joseph, today

Since her beatification in 1995 by St. John Paul II, Mary of St. Joseph has been a beacon and consolation for many consecrated women, committed laity and people seeking God in the midst of the world’s pain. Her legacy is not in the archives, but in the concrete life of those who continue to give themselves to her. in the concrete lives of those who continue to give themselves as she did: with gentleness, determination and fidelity..

A woman for our times

Blessed Mary of St. Joseph was not a museum heroine. She was a real woman, capable of embracing the pain of her people with her hands united to the Eucharistto see Christ in the poor and to be strong without losing her tenderness.

Today, her life is an invitation to stand up, to serve, to love with deeds and to repeat -like her-:

“Make me yours, only yours… let nothing remain in me that is not yours.”