Michele Maura Montaner

The major work of Miguel Maura Montaner is intimately linked to his profound Eucharistic devotion. In 1877, he founded a pious union of women under the name of "Pious Work in favor of poor churches" (Obra Piadosa en favor de las Iglesias pobres), of which he assumed the spiritual direction. This association aimed to promote the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to make reparation for outrages committed against the Eucharist, and to provide liturgical vestments and hosts free of charge to the most destitute parishes.

On September 8, 1902, this pious union was canonically erected as a religious congregation under the name of the Congregation of the Zelatrices of the Eucharistic Cult (Congregación de las Hermanas Celadoras del Culto Eucarístico). The first six postulants received the habit that day. Miguel Maura drafted the constitutions of the institute, giving it the motto: "Zeal for your house consumes me. I adore you, hidden God." The religious sisters dedicated themselves to contemplative prayer, daytime Eucharistic adoration, and the professional and hygienic production of hosts (Sagradas Formas), as well as the making of liturgical vestments.

In 1908, under the impetus of the co-founder and first superior general, Mother Josefa del Corazón de Jesús (Margarita Bernard), the congregation expanded by opening a second house in Madrid.

Parallel to this foundation, Miguel Maura led an intense intellectual and pastoral activity. In 1880, to defend the Christian faith in the face of the rise of atheism and secularism, he founded the newspaper El Áncora, of which he was the director until 1886. His vigorous writings sometimes earned him persecution from the political authorities of the time.

In 1886, he began teaching dogmatic theology at the seminary of Palma de Mallorca. He served successively as professor, vice-rector, and then rector for the last twenty-eight years of his life. He dedicated himself fully to the structural reform of the seminary and to the spiritual and intellectual formation of the future priests of the island.

Due to a drastic decline in vocations and the aging of its members, the Congregation of the Zelatrices of the Eucharistic Cult officially merged on April 11, 2010, with the congregation of the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament and Mary Immaculate (Misioneras del Santísimo Sacramento y María Inmaculada), an institute with a similar Eucharistic charism founded by Blessed María Emilia Riquelme y Zayas.

The cause for the beatification of Miguel Maura Montaner was initially promoted by the congregation he founded. Following the 2010 merger, the cause was officially taken up by the Diocese of Mallorca, under the direction of the diocesan postulator, Father Gabriel Ramis Miquel.

The body of Miguel Maura rests at the Eucharistic Center (Centro Eucarístico), located at Calle Calatrava 10 in Palma de Mallorca, a site that houses a chapel of perpetual adoration now managed by the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament and Mary Immaculate.

The diocesan process, having gathered testimonies regarding his life and virtues, was transmitted to Rome, to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. After the examination of the Positio by theological consultants and cardinals, Pope Francis officially recognized the heroic nature of his virtues.

Miguel Maura Montaner currently holds the canonical status of Venerable. The decree regarding his heroic virtues was promulgated on February 24, 2025, by Pope Francis, during an audience granted to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, and to Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, Substitute for General Affairs.

For the next step, in order for Miguel Maura Montaner to be proclaimed Blessed (beatification), the Church must officially recognize a miracle (generally a medically inexplicable healing) obtained through his intercession.

The spirituality of Miguel Maura Montaner is deeply Eucharistic and Marian. He centered his entire priestly life on the real presence of Jesus Christ in the tabernacle, insisting on the importance of reparatory adoration and contemplation. His love for the Eucharist was translated concretely by the meticulous care brought to the liturgy and by his concern to help poor churches celebrate the divine mysteries with dignity. He was also distinguished by a filial and unlimited trust in the Virgin Mary, as well as by a total abandonment to Divine Providence, particularly manifest in the midst of the physical sufferings that marked his life due to his fragile health. His legacy endures today through the Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament and of Mary Immaculate, who continue to keep his spirit of adoration alive in Palma de Mallorca. Furthermore, one of the most illustrious members of his original congregation, Sister María de los Ángeles Ginard Martí, martyred in Madrid in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War, was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on October 29, 2005, testifying to the spiritual fruitfulness of the religious family he founded.