Laura Vicuña

In February 1901, Laura and her sister Julia Amanda entered as boarders at the school of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) in Junín de los Andes. Laura found there a true haven of peace that she described as a "paradise." She quickly distinguished herself by her deep piety, her joyful obedience, and her charity toward her companions. On June 2, 1901, at the age of ten, Laura made her first communion. That day, she made major spiritual resolutions, inspired by those of Saint Dominic Savio: to love and serve Jesus all her life, to prefer death to sin, and to strive to make God known and loved. It was during her religious instruction, while studying the sacrament of marriage, that Laura became aware of the sinful situation in which her mother was living in concubinage with Manuel Mora. Deeply distressed by this reality, which jeopardized her mother's salvation, she decided to secretly offer her life to God in exchange for the conversion of Mercedes. With the agreement of her confessor, Father Augusto Crestanello, she made private vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. During school holidays at the estancia, Laura had to face the aggressive advances and attempted abuse of Manuel Mora. She offered him heroic and inflexible resistance, which provoked the fury of the man, who went so far as to beat her violently.

In 1903, weakened by deprivations, physical trials, and fragile health, Laura contracted tuberculosis (phthisis). Her illness progressed rapidly, but she bore her sufferings with admirable patience and serenity, united with the Passion of Christ. Feeling her end approaching, Laura called her mother to her bedside on the evening of January 22, 1904, to reveal her secret: "Mom, I am dying! I have asked Jesus for this for a long time, offering Him my life for you, to obtain your return to God... Mom, will I have the joy of seeing you repentant before I die?". Overwhelmed by this heroic sacrifice, Mercedes Pino solemnly promised her to change her life and leave Manuel Mora. Appeased by this promise, Laura passed away peacefully that same evening, January 22, 1904, at the age of 12. On the day of Laura's funeral, her mother went to confession, received Holy Communion, and began a new life of faith, breaking definitively with her partner.

The cause for the beatification of Laura Vicuña was introduced in the diocese of Viedma. Although her young age initially raised reservations from the Congregation of Rites, the precedents of Saint Dominic Savio and Saint Maria Goretti paved the way for the recognition of her heroic virtues. On June 5, 1986, Pope John Paul II solemnly declared her Venerable. The miracle accepted for her beatification was the extraordinary healing of Sister Ofelia del Carmen Lobos Arellano, a 25-year-old Chilean nun of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Suffering from bilateral bronchiectasis with chronic peribronchial fibrosis, episodes of recurrent focal pneumonia, acute respiratory failure, and severe toxic infections, she had been given no hope by doctors. After invoking the intercession of Laura Vicuña, she was healed instantaneously, completely, and permanently on May 22, 1958, in Santiago, Chile. Laura Vicuña was beatified by Pope John Paul II on September 3, 1988, at Colle Don Bosco (Italy), on the occasion of the centenary of the death of Saint John Bosco. Her liturgical feast is set for January 22.

The spirituality of Blessed Laura Vicuña is deeply marked by the Salesian charism, characterized by a simple joy, absolute fidelity to daily duties, and a filial love for the Virgin Mary under the title of Mary Help of Christians. Her heroic offering makes her a model of evangelical courage and purity for youth. She is today invoked as the patron saint of families in difficulty, victims of sexual abuse, incest, and domestic violence. Her mortal remains are venerated in the chapel of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. In 2010, a rigorous historical and scientific study allowed for the reconstruction of her true face from a period photograph, correcting the idealized representations with European features that had been prevalent until then.