Margalida Amengual i Campaner

Although a laywoman living in the simplicity of her home in Costitx, Margalida Amengual i Campaner became a major spiritual figure on her island. Under the spiritual direction of her parish rector, she dedicated many hours, day and night, to prayer and meditation. Her spiritual life was centered on the Passion of Christ, Eucharistic adoration, and a special devotion to the Virgin Mary and her guardian angel. In 1916, she received the badge of the Eucharistic association of the "Maries of the Tabernacles" (Maries dels Sagraris). Her daily life was marked by extraordinary mystical phenomena that attracted the attention of the entire local population. Margalida experienced frequent ecstasies and physically relived, particularly on Fridays, the sufferings of the Passion of Jesus Christ (the phenomenon of stigmata). Despite these extraordinary graces, she maintained a profound humility, often repeating her motto: "Tot per Vostre amor, Jesús meu" (Everything for Your love, my Jesus). She also possessed a small spiritual library which notably included a biography of the Italian mystic Saint Gemma Galgani, to whom she felt very close.

Margalida died in the odor of sanctity on January 30, 1919, in Costitx, at only 30 years of age. Her death caused immense emotion throughout the island of Mallorca. For several days, her remains were exposed in the church of Costitx, attracting a huge crowd estimated at several tens of thousands of pilgrims who came from all over Spain to pay her a final tribute. She was buried accompanied by a certificate in Latin written by a committee of local theologians describing her mystical charisms. In 1969, her mortal remains were exhumed and solemnly transferred to the presbytery of the parish church of Costitx (Església de Santa Maria de Costitx), where they still rest. In 1988, on the occasion of the centenary of her birth, the municipality of Costitx officially proclaimed her "Illustrious Daughter of the town" (Filla il·lustre de la vila). Her house of birth and death, known as "Ca na Cativa," is preserved in its original state and remains an active place of pilgrimage.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Margalida Amengual i Campaner was officially introduced at the diocesan level in Mallorca on June 6, 1969. After the closing of the diocesan informative inquiry on June 18, 1976, the file was transmitted to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The 'nihil obstat' decree was granted by the Holy See on October 4, 1984. A complementary diocesan inquiry was conducted from November 21, 1984, to October 25, 1986, and its validity was decreed in Rome on July 12, 1991.

The Positio on her heroic virtues was published in 1993. After examination by the congress of theological consultants on September 22, 2006, and by the ordinary session of cardinals and bishops on February 19, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI authorized, on March 15, 2008, the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues. Margalida Amengual i Campaner was thus proclaimed Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Margalida Amengual i Campaner rests on the total offering of self to the love of Jesus Christ, lived out in the simplicity of the daily life of a laywoman. Her intense Eucharistic devotion and constant contemplation of the mysteries of the Passion of Christ configured her spiritually and physically to the Savior. She embodies the figure of the "hidden saint" of the people, whose mystical radiance extends far beyond the borders of her small village of Costitx.

Even today, the memory of "Na Cativa" remains extremely vivid in Mallorca. Every year, around January 30 (the anniversary of her death), the inhabitants of Costitx and numerous pilgrims gather to pay tribute to her during a solemn Mass and a traditional procession connecting her house to the parish church. Her life testifies to the possibility of reaching the heights of the mystical life and Christian holiness in the heart of a simple and humble lay existence.