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Blessed Candelaria of Saint Joseph
Image: Cecill Torres · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Blessed Candelaria of Saint Joseph

Venezuelan nun who nursed the sick and founded a Carmelite congregation

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Founder, Religious
Life
1863 – 1940
Era
20th century
Feast
1 February
Countries
Venezuela
Venezuela

Life story

Susana Paz Castillo Ramírez was born on 11 August 1863 at Altagracia de Orituco in Guárico State, Venezuela. Her father died when she was seven, the family gradually lost its property and she received only a basic schooling. When she was twenty-four her mother died and she took charge of the household. She nursed the wounded and dying during the upheaval after the 1900 earthquake and the Liberation Revolution.

In 1903 two doctors founded St Anthony's Hospital in Altagracia, and the parish priest Fr Sixto Sosa encouraged her to help run it. A group of women formed around the hospital to care for the sick. On 31 December 1910 it became a diocesan institute called the Sisters of the Poor of Altagracia de Orituco. In 1916 she took the name Candelaria of Saint Joseph and founded hospitals at Porlamar on Margarita Island and at Upata. On 25 March 1925 the congregation was aggregated to the Carmelite Order, and is now known as the Venezuelan Carmelite Sisters.

After the 1929 earthquake at Cumaná she went there with two sisters, took charge of a hospital and personally cared for smallpox patients in an isolated zone. She died on 31 January 1940. Pope John Paul II recognised her heroic virtues on 19 April 2004, and she was beatified on 27 April 2008 in Caracas, with Cardinal José Saraiva Martins presiding on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI. Her feast is 1 February.

Works and witness

  • Nursed the wounded and dying after the 1900 earthquake
  • Helped run St Anthony's Hospital from 1903
  • Her congregation was founded on 31 December 1910 and aggregated to the Carmelites in 1925
  • Founded hospitals at Porlamar and Upata
  • Beatified on 27 April 2008 in Caracas

Saints from the same country

Saint José Gregorio Hernández, Saint Carmen Rendiles, Blessed María de San José Alvarado Cardozo

References

  • Holy See Press Office, biography of Bl. Candelaria of St Joseph for the 27 April 2008 beatification (vatican.va)
  • Wikipedia article on Candelaria of Saint Joseph (read in full; feast 1 February)
  • Carmelite Order pages (carmelites.com, ocarm.org) via search summary

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.