María Romero Meneses, FMA (13 January 1902 – 7 July 1977) was a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated ''Sr.'' or Sist.) in the Catholic Church is a woman who has taken public vows in a religious institute dedicated to apostolic works, as distinguished from a nun who lives a cloistered monastic life dedicated to pr ...

and a professed member from the

Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco , image = Maria Dominika Mazzarello jpg..jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = Maria Mazzarello: Founder , abbreviation = FMA , founder = Saint Sr. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, , type ...

dubbed the "Social Apostle of Costa Rica". The

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

process started on September 20, 1988, and she was titled as a

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 ...

before being named

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 December 18, 2000.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

beatified her on April 14, 2002.

Life

María Romero Meneses was born in

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

in 1902 as one of eight children to middle-class parents – her father was a government minister. Her parents were Félix Romero Arana and Ana Meneses Blandón. Her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

was held on January the 20th. She received her

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

on July 23, 1904, from Siméon Pereira y Castellón and received her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communi ...

on December 8, 1909. Romero was found to have a talent for art and music and so her parents saw to it that she was trained on the piano and the violin. She later attended the Salesians Sisters of Don Bosco's school, although in 1914 she was stricken with a long bout of

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

which she suffered until 1915 and it left her heart damaged for the remainder of her life. When she recovered it was deemed to be miraculous in nature and this led to a total confidence in the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

and to the vision of her vocation to the order. The hopeful girl joined the Marian association

Daughters of Mary Help of Christians , image = Maria Dominika Mazzarello jpg..jpg , image_size = 175px , caption = Maria Mazzarello: Founder , abbreviation = FMA , founder = Saint Sr. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, , type ...

on December 8, 1915, to follow her Marian call. In 1920 she joined that congregation and left for

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

for her period of

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, receiving the habit of the order on January 16, 1921. Her spiritual director was Father Emilio Bottari who gave her a prophetic recommendation: "Even though difficult moments will come and you will feel torn to pieces, be faithful and strong in your vocation". These words sustained her for the rest of her religious life. On 6 January 1929 in Nicaragua she made her final profession. Her writings indicate that she attempted to live the religious interior life after the example of

John Bosco John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19t ...

. In 1931 she went to San José in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

which became her second homeland and at 1933 was a teacher of music and art as well as typing in a school for the daughters of rich families. A great number of her students were won over to her mode of life and worked with her to help the poor and the abandoned. Her focus was on social development while helping the rich to see if the latter could help the poor with their wealth. She set up recreational centers in 1945 as well as food distribution centers in 1953. She also set up a school for poor girls in 1961 and a clinic in 1966 for ill people. In 1973 she organized the construction of seven homes which became the foundation of the village of Centro San José – a place where poor families could have decent homes. Romero died of a heart attack in mid-1977 in the Salesian Sisters house in León where she had been sent for a rest. Her mortal remains were sent back to San José in Costa Rica to be buried in the chapel at a Salesian house.

Beatification

The beatification process started on 20 September 1988 once the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

issued the ''

nihil obstat ''Nihil obstat'' (Latin for "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way") is a declaration of no objection that warrants censoring of a book, e.g., Catholic published books, to an initiative, or an appointment. Publishing The phrase ''ni ...

'' to the cause and titled her as a

, which allowed for the diocesan process to span from 18 November 1988 until its closure on 6 May 1992; the C.C.S. validated the process on 8 January 1993 and then received the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

in 1997 for inspection. Theologians approved the cause on 7 March 2000 and the C.C.S. did so as well on 3 October 2000. She was named as

on 18 December 2000 after

approved that she had lived a 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 ...

. The process for investigating a miracle spanned from 1997 until 1998 and was validated on 9 October 1998 which allowed for a medical board to approve it on 30 March 2000 and theologians to do so as well on 30 January 2001; the C.C.S. issued their approval on 3 April 2001 which led to the pope granting final approval on 24 April 2001. John Paul II beatified Romero on 14 April 2002 in

Saint Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Bot ...

. Romero was the first individual from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

to be beatified. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause is the Rev. Pierluigi Cameroni.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero Meneses, Maria 1902 births 1977 deaths 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Nicaraguan people 20th-century Nicaraguan women Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Nicaraguan beatified people Nicaraguan Roman Catholics Nicaraguan emigrants to Costa Rica People from Granada, Nicaragua Sisters of Don Bosco Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II