Saturnina Jassa Fontcuberta

The life and work of Saturnina Jassá y Fontcuberta are inseparable from the Company of Saint Teresa of Jesus (Compañía de Santa Teresa de Jesús), a religious institute dedicated to the Christian education of children and young girls, inspired by the spirituality of Saint Teresa of Ávila. As the first Superior General, she played a fundamental role in the structuring, consolidation, and expansion of this educational work.

After leading the congregation for seven years, she was sent to Mexico in 1889 to establish the institute there. She founded several houses, taught in Puebla, and became superior in Chilapa in 1893. During her stay in Mexico, from 1898 to 1900, she was also entrusted with the leadership of the nascent congregation of the Religious of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Religiosas de la Cruz del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús) in order to guide and support them in their first steps.

Returning to Spain in 1900, she was appointed superior of the house in Valencia, then provincial superior of the Sacred Heart province in 1904, and superior of the Ciudad Rodrigo community in 1906. In 1908, she was re-elected Superior General of the Company of Saint Teresa of Jesus, a position she held for twelve years until 1920. Under her firm and inspired leadership, the institute experienced remarkable development and expanded internationally.

In 1920, she became a general consultant, before retiring in 1921 to the novitiate of Jesús de Tortosa. She died there of natural causes on October 13, 1936, at the age of 85, in the midst of the Spanish Civil War but without suffering martyrdom.

The reputation for holiness of Saturnina Jassá y Fontcuberta led to the opening of her cause for beatification and canonization in the diocese of Tortosa on September 10, 1966. The diocesan informative process was officially closed in 1970. The decree on her writings was promulgated on July 6, 1973. The validity of the informative processes was recognized by a decree of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on July 13, 1984. The Positio on her heroic virtues was published in 1987. After the favorable examination by the congress of theologians on May 23, 1989, and the ordinary session of cardinals and bishops on January 9, 1990, her cause reached a decisive stage.

On March 3, 1990, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thus conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Her cause for beatification is still ongoing, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

Endowed with a strong personality, an enterprising spirit, and a great sense of practicality, the Venerable Saturnina of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus marked the history of her congregation through her absolute fidelity to the charism of the founder, Saint Henry de Ossó. An eminent educator, she constantly sought to perfect the institute's pedagogical methods. Her spiritual life was deeply rooted in prayer, the love of the Cross, and an intense contemplation of the mystery of the Holy Trinity.

Her body rests today in the chapel of the novitiate of the Company of Saint Teresa of Jesus in Tortosa (Spain), where she continues to inspire Teresian sisters throughout the world.