María Guggiari Echeverría

At the age of 16, María Felicia became actively involved in the Paraguayan Catholic Action. She dedicated herself fully to the apostolate, teaching catechism to children and visiting the sick, the elderly, and prisoners. To mark her commitment, she made a vow of consecration to the apostolate, to which she added a vow of virginity. She adopted a very sober lifestyle, often wearing a simple white apron to draw close to the most destitute without arousing suspicion. In February 1950, due to political persecution targeting her father, the Guggiari family had to move to Asunción, the capital. María Felicia continued her apostolic activities there. It was in this context that she formed a deep spiritual friendship with Ángel Sauá Llanes, a medical student who was also a member of Catholic Action. Although romantic feelings developed between them, Ángel confided in her his desire to become a priest. María Felicia chose to fully support his priestly vocation through prayer and sacrifice, renouncing her own feelings. She then discerned her own religious vocation. On August 20, 1952, she met Mother Teresa Margherita del Sacro Cuore, prioress of the first Carmel in Paraguay, who was then hospitalized in Asunción. This meeting was decisive. On February 2, 1955, at the age of 30, María Felicia entered the Carmel of Asunción, taking the name Sister María Felicia de Jesús Sacramentado (María Felicia of the Blessed Sacrament). There, she led a life of contemplative prayer and sacrifice, marked by constant joy and a deep love for the Holy Scriptures.

In January 1959, Sister María Felicia contracted infectious hepatitis (a disease from which her sister Mañica had died a few days earlier, on January 7, 1959), complicated by a severe form of purpura. She accepted the illness with admirable serenity and joy, offering her sufferings for the Church, for priests, and in particular for the vocation of her friend Ángel. She passed away peacefully on April 28, 1959, in Asunción, at the age of 34. The reputation of holiness of the young Carmelite spread rapidly throughout Paraguay. The diocesan process for her beatification opened in Asunción on December 13, 1997, after obtaining the nihil obstat from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on July 17, 1997. On March 27, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, declaring her venerable.

The path to her beatification is marked by the recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession. It concerns the scientifically inexplicable healing of a Paraguayan newborn in 2002. The child, born without vital signs and in a state of severe asphyxia, returned to life after prayers of intercession were addressed to Sister María Felicia. After the positive examination by the medical commission on June 1, 2017, and the theological consultants on November 30, 2017, Pope Francis signed the official decree recognizing this miracle on March 6, 2018. The beatification ceremony was celebrated on June 23, 2018, at the General Pablo Rojas Stadium (La Nueva Olla) in Asunción. It was presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis. María Felicia de Jesús Sacramentado thus became the first blessed of Paraguayan origin. Her liturgical feast is set for April 28, the day of her birth into heaven.

The spirituality of "Chiquitunga" is centered on the total offering of oneself to God, summarized by her life motto: "T2OS" (Todo te ofrezco, Señor — "I offer You everything, Lord"). Her life bears witness to a remarkable synthesis between intense apostolic action in the service of the poorest and mystical contemplation in the Carmel. She knew how to transform the renunciation of a legitimate human love into a source of spiritual fruitfulness for the Church and the priesthood. Pope Francis has presented her as a model of generosity, gentleness, and joy for the youth, particularly for the young people of Paraguay.