María Guadalupe García Zavala (27 April 1878 – 24 June 1963) – born Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala – was a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

religious sister A religious sister (abbreviated: Sr.) 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 prayer and ...

and the co-founder of the Handmaids of Santa Margherita and the Poor. She is also known as "Mother Lupita". At one time, she was engaged to be married but she decided her religious call was too strong for that and she broke off her engagement in order to pursue this call. She dedicated herself to the care of ill people and was noted for her compassion and faith. Her beatification cause began in mid-1984 and her formal beatification was celebrated on 25 April 2004.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

later canonized her as a saint on 12 May 2013 in

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Life

Anastasia Guadalupe García Zavala was born in 1878 in

Zapopan Zapopan () is a city and municipality located in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Part of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, Zapopan is the largest city in the state. It's best known as the home of the Virgin of Zapopan, an image of the Virgin ...

to Fortino García and Refugio Zavala de García; her father was a religious store merchant and his shop was located in front of the

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

to which she made frequent visits. Her

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

was celebrated in the parish of Saint Peter the Apostle. Those who knew her best as a child saw her as nice and likeable as well as an altruistic person who was willing to lend a hand to those who needed help the most. 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 tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

was on 8 September 1887 at the Zapopan basilica. Zavala had planned to wed Gustavo Arreola (marriage was a strong desire for her) but she broke off their engagement in 1901 because she felt a call to the religious life and believed that she was called to give assistance to the poor and the sick. Zavala and her

spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...

(and future

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 ...

) Cipriano Iñiguez Martín del Campo both co-founded a new religious order on 13 October 1901 titled as the Handmaids of Santa Margherita Maria and the Poor. Zavala described her call to the religious life as a "sudden change of heart" that she knew she had to follow. Zavala worked as a nurse and regardless of the poorness and the lack of material goods of the patients she was compassionate and caring towards the needs of the ill. Zavala was named as the Superior General for the new order. In times of dire need she asked her spiritual director for permission to go begging in the streets in order to collect funds needed for the hospital. Zavala did this with her fellow religious and she would seek offerings until the needs of the hospital and patients were met and would ask for no more than was needed. The

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...

started in 1911 and its effects lasted up until 1936 during which the political-religious situation in Mexico became tense in which the faith underwent severe persecution. Zavala put her own life at risk and hid the priests and the Archbishop of Guadalajara in her hospital; it was the archdiocese who granted diocesan approval to the order on 24 May 1935. Zavala began to suffer from a severe illness since 1961 and she died from this on 24 June 1963 in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. Her order now operates in nations such as

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and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. In 2005 there were 147 religious in 24 houses though this declined in 2015 with 112 women in 22 houses.

Sainthood

The beatification process began in a diocesan process that opened in the Guadalajara archdiocese from 29 June 1984 until its closure on 11 June 1986; 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, passi ...

validated the cause on 15 March 1991 in

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while receiving the

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

from postulation officials in 1992. The theological experts first approved the cause on 7 January 2000 while the C.C.S. did so as well on 21 March 2000 while the confirmation of her

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

led

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

to name her as

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 1 July 2000. The miracle for her beatification – a healing science could not explain – was investigated on a diocesan level and received C.C.S. validation on 11 January 2002 while a panel of medical experts on 13 March 2003; theologians likewise approved this on 17 June 2003 as did the C.C.S. on 11 November 2003. John Paul II approved this miracle on 20 December 2003 and beatified her in

on 25 April 2004. The second miracle was investigated and it received C.C.S. validation on 14 May 2010 prior to the approval of a medical board on 15 December 2011; theologians voiced their assent to this on 26 May 2012 as did the C.C.S. on 2 October 2012.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

approved this miracle on 20 December 2012 and formalized the date at a consistory of cardinals on 11 February 2013 (just prior to announcing his resignation).

canonized Zavala as a saint on 12 May 2013. The

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

at the time of the canonization was Mgr. Oscar Sánchez Barba.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN

Our Sunday Visitor
{{DEFAULTSORT:García Zavala, María Guadalupe 1878 births 1963 deaths 20th-century Christian saints 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Mexican people 20th-century Roman Catholic nuns Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope Francis Christian female saints of the Late Modern era Founders of Catholic religious communities Mexican Roman Catholic saints Mexican Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns People from Zapopan, Jalisco Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II