Laura Evangelista Alvarado Cardozo

The heart of Blessed Mary of Saint Joseph's work lies in the foundation and development of her religious institute: the Congregation of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Hermanas Agustinas Recoletas del Corazón de Jesús).

The institute was officially born on January 22, 1901, in Maracay, when Laura and her companions (nicknamed the "Samaritanas" or "Samaritanis") received authorization to wear the religious habit under the name of the Hospital Sisters of Saint Augustine. Laura then took the name Sister Mary of Saint Joseph. In 1903, she was appointed the first superior of the community.

The mission of the congregation is defined by an active charity imbued with Eucharistic love, turning primarily toward the most destitute. Under the impetus of the foundress, the work grew rapidly despite extreme material poverty. The congregation founded numerous establishments throughout Venezuela: hospitals for the poor sick (such as the San Vicente de Paúl Hospital in La Victoria in 1902, or the Santa Ana Hospital in Coro in 1909), orphanages and homes for abandoned young girls (the first asylum, La Inmaculada Concepción, was founded in Maracay in 1905), retirement homes for the elderly without resources, and free schools for the instruction of poor children. In total, the Blessed would lead the creation of 35 care homes across the country.

The canonical evolution of the institute marked its progressive recognition by the Church: on September 17, 1927, diocesan approval was granted by the Archbishop of Caracas, Msgr. Felipe Rincón González; on May 21, 1950, the congregation was officially aggregated to the Order of Augustinian Recollects; and on November 15, 1952, pontifical approval (decree of praise) was granted by Pope Pius XII, establishing the institute as a congregation of pontifical right.

After a lifetime consumed in the service of the poor, Mother Mary of St. Joseph passed away peacefully in Maracay on April 2, 1967, at the age of 91. Her reputation for holiness, already immense during her lifetime, prompted the Bishop of Maracay to introduce her cause for beatification. The diocesan process officially opened on October 9, 1983, and closed on June 13, 1986. On March 7, 1992, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, conferring upon her the title of Venerable. As part of the beatification procedure, her body was exhumed on January 19, 1994. To the surprise of the witnesses, her mortal remains as well as her religious habit were discovered perfectly intact and incorrupt, nearly 27 years after her death. Her body now rests in a glass sarcophagus at the sanctuary dedicated to her in Maracay.

The beatification of Mother Mary of Saint Joseph was made possible by the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession: the healing of Sister Teresa Silva. This religious sister of her own congregation had been suffering from severe generalized osteoarthritis for 26 years, which had left her completely invalid and confined to a wheelchair. Years earlier, the foundress had prophesied to her that she would be healed at the age of 50. On September 17, 1982, the day of her 50th birthday, Sister Teresa Silva suddenly stood up and began to walk again in a totally unexplained manner.

This miracle was formally approved by a decree of Pope John Paul II on December 23, 1993.

On May 7, 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated the solemn liturgy of beatification of Mother Mary of Saint Joseph in Saint Peter's Square in Rome, making her the very first blessed in the history of Venezuela. Her liturgical feast is set for April 2, the day of her birth into Heaven.

The spirituality of Blessed Mary of Saint Joseph rests on two inseparable pillars: the Eucharist and charity towards the most destitute. She spent long hours in adoration before the tabernacle, drawing from it the strength for her apostolic action. She liked to repeat: "In the Eucharist is my treasure and there is my heart." She also spent a large part of her life personally making thousands of hosts to distribute them free of charge to priests. Her love for the poor is expressed in the motto she left to her sisters: "The rejected by all are ours; those whom no one wants to receive, they are ours." Today, the legacy of the Blessed is perpetuated through the Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Present in Venezuela, but also in Peru, Brazil, and Chile, the religious sisters continue to keep her charism alive by managing schools, orphanages, hospitals, and retirement homes, while maintaining the tradition of making and distributing hosts for the Mass free of charge.