María Dolores Medina Zepeda

In Tacubaya, Dolores met the Passionist Fathers and was guided by Father Diego Alberici. In July 1892, she founded "El Círculo Católico" for the education of poor children. On February 2, 1896, she and eight companions took the religious habit, founding the congregation of the Daughters of the Passion of Jesus Christ and Mary of Sorrows. She took the name María Dolores de la Llaga del Costado de Jesús. After the departure of Father Alberici in 1902, she assumed direction alone. She founded the "Beato Gabriel" college in Toluca in 1909, which was closed in 1915 during the Mexican Revolution. Exiled to Cuba in 1916, she opened a college there in 1919. Upon returning to Mexico, she founded the "García Conde" college in Tlalpan, where she passed away on December 16, 1925.

The cause for the beatification of Mother María Dolores Medina Zepeda was introduced in the Archdiocese of Mexico. The diocesan inquiry into her life and virtues opened on June 9, 1987, and closed on May 4, 1990. 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 July 3, 1998, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable.

The cause of the Venerable María Dolores Medina Zepeda is currently in the Roman phase. For her beatification to be pronounced, a miracle attributed to her intercession must be formally recognized and approved by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and the Sovereign Pontiff. To date, no miracle has been the subject of an official decree, and the cause is following its course.

Mother Dolores' spirituality was centered on the mystery of the Passion of Christ and the sorrows of the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the charism of Saint Paul of the Cross. She saw the crucified Christ in poor children. Today, her legacy continues through the congregation of the Daughters of the Passion of Jesus Christ and of Mary Dolorosa, present in several countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, and the United States, where the sisters work in education, catechesis, and support for the destitute.