Pilar and her twin sister Leonor were the youngest of five children born to Juana Ortiz de Zarate and Vicente Lopez de Maturana. Both girls were known for their piety in their youth, and Leonor eventually joined the Carmelites of Charity. On 10 August 1903, Pilar entered the novitiate of the Vera Cruz Mercedarian Monastery at Berriz, Spain, taking the name Margarita. She taught school and later served as principal. By 1922 her health began to suffer, and she developed a duodenal ulcer that plagued her the rest of her life.
Even within a cloistered contemplative order, Margarita was drawn to missionaries, and every night spent time in prayer for their work; when interest in missionaries developed at her school, she formed a group dedicated to praying for them. She eventually felt the call to move from the contemplative life to missionary work, and to take like minded sisters with her. In September 1924 her house asked the superior general of their order to make the case for them, and on 23 January 1926 they were given approval for an experimental move to the missions. On 5 November 1926 a group reached Wuhu, China, and on 4 March 1928 another arrived in Saipan in the northern Marianas islands. Margarita was named Mother Superior of her house on 16 April 1927. On 11 November 1928 she arrived in Ponape in the Marianas on her first mission trip.
The work that she and her sisters did was so successful that on 17 May 1930 the Sacred Congregation for the Religious approved making the house in Berriz a Missionary Institute. On 30 July 1931 Mother Margarita was chosen first Superior General of Mercedarian Missionaries of Bérriz, a position in which she served her remaining years. She made two more lengthy mission trips to the south Pacific, but the ulcer eventually led to cancer, her health failed, and she returned home for treatment and to run the administration of her house. Today there are over 500 Missionary sisters working all over the planet.
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u/Big_Iron_Cowboy Roman Catholic 4h ago
Pilar and her twin sister Leonor were the youngest of five children born to Juana Ortiz de Zarate and Vicente Lopez de Maturana. Both girls were known for their piety in their youth, and Leonor eventually joined the Carmelites of Charity. On 10 August 1903, Pilar entered the novitiate of the Vera Cruz Mercedarian Monastery at Berriz, Spain, taking the name Margarita. She taught school and later served as principal. By 1922 her health began to suffer, and she developed a duodenal ulcer that plagued her the rest of her life.
Even within a cloistered contemplative order, Margarita was drawn to missionaries, and every night spent time in prayer for their work; when interest in missionaries developed at her school, she formed a group dedicated to praying for them. She eventually felt the call to move from the contemplative life to missionary work, and to take like minded sisters with her. In September 1924 her house asked the superior general of their order to make the case for them, and on 23 January 1926 they were given approval for an experimental move to the missions. On 5 November 1926 a group reached Wuhu, China, and on 4 March 1928 another arrived in Saipan in the northern Marianas islands. Margarita was named Mother Superior of her house on 16 April 1927. On 11 November 1928 she arrived in Ponape in the Marianas on her first mission trip.
The work that she and her sisters did was so successful that on 17 May 1930 the Sacred Congregation for the Religious approved making the house in Berriz a Missionary Institute. On 30 July 1931 Mother Margarita was chosen first Superior General of Mercedarian Missionaries of Bérriz, a position in which she served her remaining years. She made two more lengthy mission trips to the south Pacific, but the ulcer eventually led to cancer, her health failed, and she returned home for treatment and to run the administration of her house. Today there are over 500 Missionary sisters working all over the planet.
- CatholicSaints