Mariana Allsopp González-Manrique

In 1882, Mariana's family moved near the Church of the Incarnation (Iglesia de la Encarnación) in Madrid. It was there that she had the decisive meeting with Canon Francisco de Asís Méndez Casariego. This priest, deeply moved by the misery of the young girls on the streets of the capital, planned to found a work to welcome and rehabilitate them. Mariana immediately discerned in this project the call of God she had been waiting for and committed herself without hesitation to his side. On February 2, 1885, Mariana Allsopp and Father Francisco Méndez officially founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Trinity (Hermanas de la Santísima Trinidad, also known as the Trinitarians of Madrid). They opened their first reception house in a rented home on the Paseo del Obelisco (today Martínez Campos) in Madrid. The boldness of their charism—which consisted of opening the doors of their refuge at any hour of the day or night to welcome prostitutes and minors in danger without condition—aroused misunderstanding and criticism from the neighborhood. They were then nicknamed "las locas del obelisco" (the madwomen of the obelisk). In this home, the young girls received practical training (sewing, ironing, embroidery) allowing them to acquire financial autonomy and regain their dignity. On March 3, 1888, the statutes of the nascent institute were approved by the Bishop of Madrid. On March 18 of the same year, Mariana took the habit under the name of Sister Marianna of the Most Holy Trinity (Marianna della Santissima Trinità) and began her novitiate. She pronounced her temporary vows on May 14, 1890. In 1907, she made her perpetual profession alongside 73 other sisters and was elected Superior General of the institute. After the death of Father Méndez in 1924, she assumed the direction and expansion of the congregation alone. Under her generalate, the work developed actively in Spain (with foundations in Santander, Barcelona, Vigo, etc.) before establishing itself in Argentina and Mexico.

Throughout her life, Mariana Allsopp demonstrated strength of soul and unwavering trust in Providence, overcoming slander, material difficulties, and the prejudices of a society reluctant to accept such an avant-garde feminine work. Afflicted with bronchopneumonia, she passed away holily in Madrid on March 15, 1933, at the age of 78. Her mortal remains rest in the motherhouse of the congregation in Madrid, alongside those of the co-founder, the Venerable Francisco de Asís Méndez Casariego. Due to her reputation for holiness and the fruitfulness of her work, her cause for beatification and canonization was introduced in the Archdiocese of Madrid.

The diocesan process on the heroic nature of her virtues concluded with the transmission of the file to Rome. On May 21, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the virtues inherited by the Servant of God Mariana of the Most Holy Trinity (Mariana Allsopp González-Manrique). She was thus declared venerable. The cause is currently underway, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession to pave the way for her beatification.

The spirituality of Mariana Allsopp is deeply Trinitarian and redemptive. She conceived her action as an extension of the charism of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, focused on the liberation of captives. For Mariana, the Trinity is the model of unconditional welcome and love without borders. Her work aims to free women from the new forms of slavery of her time: sexual exploitation, poverty, and social exclusion. Today, the Trinitarian Sisters continue this mission in eight countries spread across four continents (Spain, Italy, Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Guatemala, India, and Kenya). In 2017, in order to structure and perpetuate their social action, the religious sisters created the Mariana Allsopp Foundation (FMA). This foundation manages numerous reception centers, homes for minors, and socio-professional integration programs, thus perpetuating the legacy of compassion and liberation of their founder.