Ascensión Nicol Goñi

In 1912, the anticlerical Spanish government ordered the closure of the normal school and the graded school run by the Dominican sisters of Huesca. Deprived of their teaching apostolate, the community decided to offer its availability for missions abroad, particularly in America and the Philippines. In 1913, Msgr. Ramón Zubieta, O.P., Vicar Apostolic of Urubamba and Madre de Dios (in the Amazon rainforest of Peru), visited Huesca. He was looking for religious women ready to collaborate in the evangelization and education in his vicariate. Sister Ascensión volunteered with four other companions. The group left Spain in November 1913 and arrived in Lima on December 30, 1913. They settled temporarily at the convent of Our Lady of the Patrocinio in Lima, of which Mother Ascensión was appointed prioress. In July 1915, Mother Ascensión and two other sisters undertook an arduous three-week journey across the Andes mountain range to reach Puerto Maldonado, in the heart of the Peruvian jungle. They were the first European women to complete this crossing. In Puerto Maldonado, they founded a boarding school for the education of indigenous girls and dedicated themselves to the care of the sick. Given the scale of the needs and on the advice of the Master General of the Order of Preachers, it became necessary to structure this missionary work in the form of a new institute. On October 5, 1918, Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi co-founded with Msgr. Ramón Zubieta the congregation of the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary (Misioneras Dominicas del Rosario). The constitutions of the institute were approved on September 27, 1918, and the congregation was officially recognized by Pope Benedict XV on March 25, 1919. Mother Ascensión was elected the first prioress general of the congregation, a position she held for 21 years (until 1939). Under her energetic leadership, the institute developed rapidly, founding new missions in Peru, Spain, and Portugal, and extending as far as China.

Exhausted by the rigors of missionary life and her numerous apostolic journeys, Mother Ascensión retired from her position as Superior General in 1939. She passed away peacefully on February 24, 1940, at the motherhouse in Pamplona, Spain. Her reputation for holiness and heroic charity prompted the Archdiocese of Pamplona to open her cause for beatification. The diocesan informative process was officially opened on September 24, 1962, and closed on April 24, 1968. Her writings were approved by decree on June 22, 1971. After the examination of the Positio by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues on April 12, 2003, thereby granting her the title of Venerable.

The miracle required for her beatification concerns the extraordinary healing of the young Fortunato Quispe Huanjatupa. In 1959, this young man was suffering from post-traumatic gas gangrene with irreversible hypovolemic and septic shock, accompanied by progressive myonecrosis of the left lower limb extending to the abdomen, following a work accident ("gangrena gassosa post-traumatica con shock ipovolemico e settico irreversibile, con mionecrosi progressiva dell'arto inferiore sinistro fino all'addome, per infortunio lavorativo"). While his condition was deemed desperate by the doctors, a relic of Mother Ascensión was placed on his bandages on March 22, 1959. After a night of fervent prayers, the young man was instantly and completely healed. He was able to leave the hospital on March 28, 1959. The official decree recognizing this divine miracle obtained through the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God was promulgated by Pope John Paul II on December 20, 2004 (published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis). Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi was solemnly beatified on May 14, 2005, during the vigil of the Solemnity of Pentecost, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. By mandate of Pope Benedict XVI, the Eucharistic celebration and the rite of beatification were presided over by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The spirituality of Blessed Ascensión of the Heart of Jesus is deeply rooted in the Dominican charism, combining contemplation with missionary action. Her life was centered on the love of the Heart of Jesus and a filial trust in the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary. She conceived of mission as an extension of the charity of Christ, affirming that evangelization must be accompanied by integral human development, notably through the education of women and the care of the sick. Her pragmatism and boldness are summarized in her famous maxim: 'To current problems, current answers.' She exhorted her sisters not to fear sacrifice and to constantly adapt to the realities of the peoples they served. Today, the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary perpetuate her spiritual and apostolic legacy in many countries, working primarily with marginalized populations, indigenous peoples, and excluded persons.