Mariana Navarro de Guevarra Romero (17 January 1565 – 17 April 1624) was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun who became a member of the Mercedarian Tertiaries. Upon admittance she took the name of Mariana of Jesus. She was noted for a life of penance and the emphasis of devotion to the

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

beatified her after the recognition of two miracles and the cause still continues. Another miracle is now under investigation and is needed for canonization.

Life

Mariana Navarro de Guevarra Romero was born in 1565 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

as the oldest of six children and was the sole female child. Her father was Ludovico Navarro Guevara and her mother was Joan Romero. She was pious as a child and cared for her brothers after the death of her mother. Her father remarried and her new stepmother seemed to dislike her for unknown reasons to her. Her father desired that she get married and leave home but she desired to be married to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and to devote her life to him. She turned down a marriage proposal at the age of 23. Romero met a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who suggested to her that she become a member of a religious order known as the

Mercedarians The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

. She spent hours in worship of the

and counseled people who came to her for advice. She was well known for her patience and kindness with all those that she came across. She became one of several tertiaries into the order who took their final profession in mid 1614 and devoted herself to charitable acts towards the sick and the poor. She died on 17 April 1624 after a severe illness with a widespread reputation for holiness. Her remains were later found to be incorrupt upon exhumation in 1627 and then in 1731. Other exhumations took place in 1765 and 1924. Cardinal

Gabriel Trejo Paniagua Gabriel Trejo y Paniagua (1562 in Casas de Millán, Crown of Castile – 11 February 1630 in Málaga, Crown of Castile) was a Spanish cardinal, bishop and Rector of the University of Salamanca. Biography Born in Casas de Millán (Municipali ...

Bishop of Malaga A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

wrote a detailed and long report on her life.

Beatification

The introduction to the cause of beatification bestowed upon her the title of

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

and it opened in Madrid.

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII ( la, Clemens XIII; it, Clemente XIII; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. ...

recognized her life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

and proclaimed her to be

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on 9 August 1761.

approved two miracles attributed to her intercession on 31 August 1782 and beatified her in 1783. A third miracle attributed to her and needed for her canonization was investigated from 8 March 2011 to 11 November 2013 and received formal ratification on 2 May 2014.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guevarra Romero, Mariana Navarro 1565 births 1624 deaths Spanish beatified people Mercedarian beatified people 16th-century venerated Christians 17th-century venerated Christians People from Madrid