Mercè Prat i Prat, STJ (6 March 1880 - 24 July 1936) was a Spanish Catholic nun who was a member of the ''Societatis Sanctae Teresiae a Iesu''. She assumed the religious name of ''Maria Mercè of the Sacred Heart''. She was killed during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

on the charge of being a

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 ...

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 ...

beatified her on 29 April 1990 in

Saint Peter's Square St. Peter's Square (, ) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the pope, papal enclave and exclave, enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo (rione of Rome), Borgo. Both t ...

Life

Beatificazione della Beata Mercedes Prat celebrata da Papa Giovanni Paolo II

Mercè Prat i Prat was born on 6 March 1880 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

as the eldest of four children to Juan Prat i Serra and Teresa Prat i Bordoy. She was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

on 7 March 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 tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

on 30 June 1890. She attended Mass on a frequent basis as a child and excelled in painting as well as needlework. Prat had to fend for herself and her siblings after the death of her father in 1895 and the death of her mother not long after in 1896. Prat travelled to

Tortosa Tortosa (, ) is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Baix Ebre, in Catalonia, Spain. Tortosa is located at above sea level, by the Ebro river, protected on its northern side by the mountains of the Cardó Massif, of which Buinaca, one of the hi ...

in 1904 and entered the Teresian Sisters while commencing her

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 ...

on 27 August. Prat was vested in the habit on 1 March 1905 and made her profession on 10 March 1907. She worked in the field of education in Barcelona until 1909 when she was invited to

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

where she made her final vows on 10 March 1910; she was in Tortosa in 1915 and was later assigned to work at the motherhouse of the congregation in 1920 in Barcelona. On 19 July 1936 the congregation was forced to abandon both their house and school due to suppression from the anti-Catholic government forces. She was later arrested within the week alongside a companion and was sentenced to death on the charge of being a nun. She was both interrogated and threatened with being shot on 23 July. That evening he and her companion were shot in the evening before a firing squad on the road to Rabasda; Prat repeated between cries of pain: "Jesus, Joseph, Mary" while she also recited the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

. Her last words were part of the

Our Father The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, Will of God, will, and Kingship and kingdom of God, kingdom, as well as h ...

: "Forgive us ... as we forgive ..." - militiamen heard her cries of pain and shot her dead at dawn at 4:00 a.m. on 24 July. She was buried in Barcelona. Gioacchina Miguel, another sister arrested and shot alongside Prat, lived through the ordeal and became a main witness for the beatification process of Prat.

Beatification

The beatification process commenced in 1969 - under

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

- in an informative process that concluded in 1970 and accorded 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 ...

as the first stage in the process; one of the main witnesses was the nun Gioacchina Miguel. 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 process in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 21 June 1985 and assumed charge of 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 ...

in 1987 for further investigation. Her beatification received the approval of

on 21 December 1989 after he determined that Prat had indeed died "in odium fidei" ('through hatred of the faith' by her killers) and beatified Prat in

on 29 April 1990.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prat, Merce Prat i 1880 births 1936 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Spanish nuns 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Spanish nuns Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War Beatifications by Pope John Paul II People executed by Spain by firing squad People from Barcelona Spanish beatified people Venerated Carmelites