Saint María Guadalupe García Zavala

Life story

Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala was born on 27 April 1878 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico. Her father, Fortino García, ran a shop selling religious goods near the basilica of Zapopan.

At 23 she felt called to religious life, focused on caring for the sick and poor. With her spiritual director, Father Cipriano Iñiguez Martín del Campo, she founded the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Margaret Mary and of the Poor, which officially began on 13 October 1901. She was named Superior General of the growing congregation. She also worked as a nurse in the congregation's hospital, and in a period of severe financial hardship she and other sisters begged in the streets for several years.

During the persecution of the Church in Mexico, which the Vatican biography dates from 1911 to 1936, she hid priests and the Archbishop of Guadalajara, Francisco Orozco y Jiménez, in the hospital, at risk to her own life and her sisters'. According to her biography, the congregation opened eleven foundations in her lifetime.

She died on 24 June 1963 in Guadalajara, aged 85. Pope John Paul II beatified her on 25 April 2004 and Pope Francis canonized her on 12 May 2013.

Works and witness

• Co-founded, with Cipriano Iñiguez, a congregation for the sick and poor
• Served as Superior General
• Worked as a nurse and begged to support the hospital
• Hid priests and the archbishop during the persecution
• Beatified in 2004 and canonized in 2013

Saints from the same country

Saint Juan Diego, Blessed Miguel Pro, Saint José Sánchez del Río, The 25 Martyrs of Mexico

References

• Holy See: biography of Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala for her beatification, 25 April 2004 (vatican.va, ns_lit_doc_20040425_zavala_en)
• Catholic.net (Spanish): 'María Guadalupe García Zavala' (es.catholic.net, article 36149)

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