María Josefa Sancho de Guerra

With the authorization of the Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo, María Josefa left the Servants of Mary in 1871 and founded, with four companions, the Institute of the Servants of Jesus of Charity (Siervas de Jesús de la Caridad). Initially intended for Barcelona, the founders were ultimately directed toward Bilbao, where they established themselves; María Josefa then took the name María Josefa of the Heart of Jesus. The congregation dedicated itself to the care of the sick, both at home and in hospitals, and more broadly to the care of children, the elderly, and the poor. The institute received diocesan approval in 1874 and pontifical approval in 1886. Vocations flowed in rapidly and new houses opened in several cities in Spain, such as Burgos or Miranda de Ebro, and then beyond the borders. Superior of the institute for several decades, María Josefa directed its expansion, including during her final years of illness, notably through abundant correspondence. At her death in 1912, the congregation counted forty-three houses and more than one thousand religious sisters, the last foundation during her lifetime having been opened in Concepción, Chile.

The holiness of María Josefa unfolds in the union of a contemplative spirit and a very concrete devotion to the sick. She teaches her religious sisters that charitable assistance is not reduced to dispensing remedies and food: there exists, she says, another form of help that must never be forgotten, "assistance from the heart," that which sympathizes with the person who suffers and adapts to their needs. This maternal attention, exercised toward the sick without distinction of condition, constitutes the heart of her spirituality. Her own life is marked by physical trial: during her final years, a serious heart condition, followed by a pulmonary ailment, confined her, without interrupting her charitable service or her governance of the institute. Her reputation for holiness, founded on humility, patience in suffering, and charity toward the most destitute, spread during her lifetime and grew after her death, opening the way for the introduction of her cause.

María Josefa Sancho de Guerra was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 27, 1992, in St. Peter's Square. The same pope canonized her on October 1, 2000, in Rome, during a celebration that brought together several new saints, including Katharine Drexel and Josephine Bakhita, as well as the martyrs of China. She is thus recognized as the first saint originating from the Basque Country. In his canonization homily, John Paul II recalled that she entrusted to her Servants of Jesus the mission of manifesting the merciful face of God to those who suffer, and he invoked her intercession for the Basque region. Her liturgical memorial is celebrated on March 20, the anniversary of her death. The official recognition of miracles attributed to her intercession occurred within the ordinary framework of the beatification and canonization processes, in accordance with the Church's procedure, but the details of these healings could not be documented here from accessible sources.

The legacy of María Josefa Sancho de Guerra continues through the congregation of the Servants of Jesus of Charity, which has continued its expansion far beyond Spain since her death. Today, the institute has numerous houses spread across several countries in Europe and Latin America, as well as in other regions of the world, where the religious sisters dedicate themselves to the care of the sick, the elderly, and the poorest. A figure of healthcare ministry, María Josefa is honored particularly in the Basque Country, of which she is the first saint, and her memory remains attached to the city of Bilbao, the cradle of her foundation and the place of her death. Her teaching on the "assistance of the heart," which places compassion and relationship at the center of care, continues to inspire healthcare communities and the Church's reflection on the accompaniment of the suffering.