Blessed Josefa de la Purificación Masía, virgin and martyr

She was born in Algemesí, Valencia, Spain, on 10th June 1887 in a profoundly religious farming family. She had a brother who entered religious life, and four sisters likewise. On 2nd February 1905, María Josefa took the discalced Augustinian habit in Benigánim ( Valencia ), and made her vows the following year. In the convent, she was notable for her diligence, silence and spirit of poverty. She was prioress for three years, and when war broke out she held the office of novice mistress.

In July 1936, she had to abandon the convent, seeking refuge in her mother's house. Her three Capuchin sisters were already sheltering there, and for some months all of them together led an authentically monastic life, observing the enclosure, reciting the Divine Office, and respecting the hours of silence and meditation. On 19th October of that same year, a group of militiamen arrived at the house to take away the nuns. Their mother refused to be separated from her daughters, and all of them together were imprisoned in the Cistercian convent of Fons Salutis, which had been turned into a gaol. On 25th October, the Feast of Christ the King, they were loaded into a lorry, and at the entrance to the town of Alcira, they were shot one after the other. The militiamen had intended to begin with the mother, but she wished to encourage her daughters, and begged the executioners to begin with them, and then they could go on with her.

Document related: Biography of Blessed Beata Josefa de la Purificación Masía (PDF, 84 kb)