Joaquina de Vedruna

Spiritually guided by the Capuchin Esteban de Olot, who diverted her from the project of a purely cloistered life to orient her toward an active work of charity, Joaquina de Vedruna founded in Vic, in Catalonia, the congregation of the Carmelites of Charity (Carmelitas de la Caridad). The nascent community pronounced its first vows on February 26, 1826: Joaquina and eight other women committed themselves then to this new life, which united Carmelite spirituality with an apostolate turned toward the most destitute. The institute was dedicated to the care of the sick in hospitals and to the education of young girls, particularly in poor environments deprived of instruction. Under the impetus of its founder, despite the political troubles of 19th-century Spain, the congregation spread rapidly throughout Catalonia. At the death of Joaquina, about thirty houses had been opened and several hundred religious sisters were already working, making this foundation one of the great charitable and educational works of the Church in Spain.

The holiness of Joaquina de Vedruna unfolded through the successive states of her life: wife, mother, widow, and then foundress. She lived each of these calls as a service willed by God, making the love of neighbor the sole reason for the work she inspired. Her spirituality, inherited from Carmel, placed at its center a trusting abandonment to divine Providence and union with God in charitable action. Tradition attributes to her words that summarize this spirit, inviting one to abandon oneself to Providence by leaving the care of all things to God and to accomplish in everything His sweet will. During her final years, struck by strokes that partially paralyzed her starting in 1849, she offered her sufferings in patience. Her reputation for holiness, founded on humility, devotion to the sick, and fidelity to her vocation, spread after her death and gave rise to a cult that led to the opening of her cause.

The beatification process for Joaquina de Vedruna was introduced under the pontificate of Benedict XV on January 14, 1920. The heroic nature of her virtues was recognized by Pius XI, who declared her venerable on June 16, 1935. After the recognition of two miracles attributed to her intercession, Pope Pius XII presided over her beatification on May 19, 1940. The cause for canonization was subsequently resumed, and it was Pope John XXIII who proclaimed her a saint on April 12, 1959, in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome: it was one of the first canonizations of his pontificate. Her liturgical memorial is celebrated on May 22 in the Roman calendar and among the Carmelites, while August 28, the day of her death, is observed as her dies natalis. According to sources, her death occurred in Vic, where she had retired after her widowhood and where the congregation had its cradle.

The legacy of Joaquina de Vedruna is primarily carried on by the congregation she founded, the Carmelites of Charity, also known as the Vedruna sisters. Born in Catalonia, the congregation subsequently expanded well beyond Spain, present on several continents, where it perpetuates the dual charism of its founder: education, particularly of young girls, and the care of the sick and the poorest. The figure of Joaquina, a mother who became a founder, is readily presented as a model of lay and conjugal holiness as much as religious, showing that the vocation to charity can traverse all states of life. Venerated first in Vic, where her remains rest, she is honored in the houses and works of the institute, which see in her the inspirer of a selfless service to one's neighbor in the name of the love of God.