mistress of novices in the Secular Franciscan Order, heralding a period which
for some people marked the great flourishing of the Third Order.
Housewife &Mother
–
Although a second marriage could have been an option
for Maria del Refugio, once she made the commitment to a new life through
the spiritual exercises, her overriding desire was to become a nun. Nevertheless,
she did have a daughter and had to seek perfection of her maternal capacity.
As a mother she was strict, demanding and ever watchful; however, she was
able to respect her daughter’s vocation and to bring her up to respond freely to
whatever destiny God intended for her. After completing elementary studies in
Mexico City, Refugio Teresa graduated college as a schoolmistress in 1907. In
her experience both as a mother and in carrying out her apostolate, Maria del
Refugio felt that Our Lord had entrusted her with the salvation of children and
young people and therefore it was her duty to work for this salvation through
example and prayer.
Foundress
–
On one of her visits to Morelia to see her daughter, she went into
the cathedral and while praying there before the image of Our Lady of Guadal-
upe, she had the idea of founding a religious institute devoted to spreading love
for the Blessed Sacrament and to make reparation for the sins of the world, as
well as acting as a vehicle which would allow her apostolic activity to exert more
far reaching influence. It would be an institute which would set up educational
establishments, centers of religious teaching and libraries for the purpose of
proclaiming the Gospel and inspiring and disseminating love for the Blessed
Sacrament. She conveyed this idea to Father Vicente Zaragoza and on March
25, 1910,
the Apostolate of the Blessed Sacrament was founded and on April
16
the Archbishop of Mexico, Jose Mora y del Rio formally opened the Colegio
del Santisimo Sacramento.
Christ, font of all knowledge
–
The basis of her educational program was that
at the center of all knowledge lay God and that truly Christian life was not pos-
sible without the presence of the Eucharist and the protection of Mary. Her
schools would offer a comprehensive, structured and practical education and
include the latest methods of instilling good habits in the pupils and teaching
them to control their passions by means of will power and leading orderly lives.
The teaching of morality would be based on seeking the remedy for everything
in God’s law, in prayer and in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.
The nuns and teachers practiced precautionary vigilance because they were
aware that they were responsible before God for the children’s purity and so
should steer them away from any opportunities for sinning.
The Mexican Revolution
–
The foundation of the Institute coincided with the
fall of President Porfirio Diaz’s government. He was a ruler who refused to
loosen his grip on power and together with the state of oppression and poverty,
in which the greater part of the population lived, combined to provide the
trigger for a revolution. At this same time, the Church would be subjected to
cruel persecution, its ministers imprisoned or exiled, its property confiscated
and its charitable establishments closed down, while the whole country was
awash with the blood of martyrs. During the period of fighting Maria del
Refugio set up an improvised first aid post from which, assisted by her com-
panions and two doctor friends, she treated the wounded. She also organized
collections of food and clothing to distribute among poor families. In 1917, a
new Constitution was declared denying the Church a legal status and stripping
priests of their civic rights, withdrawing recognition of religious communities
and vows, outlawing denominational education and banning public worship
outside churches, as well as decreeing that all ecclesiastical property should
pass into the ownership of the state. At that time, the Colegio del Santisimo
Sacramento moved to a very small neighborhood and the work began to ex-
tend and improve the building that would now become the school. The Sisters
were destined to spend several years surrounded by bricklayers, plumbers and
carpenters, while struggling with the recurring weekly problem of how to pay
the wages, for there were days when they did not have a cent and had to trust
in Providence alone to see them through.
The Strengthening of the Institute
–
Maria del Refugio was friendly with some
bishops, including the Bishop of Tulancingo, Jose Juan de Jesus Herrera y Pina,
who had been taking an interest in the community since 1914, visiting it often
and offering advice. It was he who suggested they ask Archbishop Mora y del
Rio to appoint a director to give them canonical framework and offer them
guidance. Towards the end of 1918 the Mercedarian Father Alfredo Scotti
turned up with instructions to check up on how the community was being run.
Until then the life of the community had been organized on an informal basis
and what was still needed was a constitution. Maria del Refugio drew up some
rough drafts in which she defined her ideas on religious life. The Apostolate of
the Blessed Sacrament had only three members when it was founded; by Janu-
ary 1919 there were fifteen and one year later twenty-seven. Among the young
girls who entered the community at that time was Maria’s daughter, Refugio
Cancino, who until then had led an ordinary life as a laywoman. In August
1920,
she decided to enter the Institute founded by her mother and on Octo-
ber 12
th
she took the habit, assuming the religious name of Maria Teresa. Many
sister houses were opened in 1919 and some of these foundations suffered ex-
treme poverty and food shortages. However, Maria del Refugio was happy to
put up with the precarious conditions, reminding herself of St. Teresa’s maxim
that “all principles are painful”, and remaining true to her conviction that once
one had started something, one should persevere with it no matter what dif-
ficulties might arise, if it was the will of God and the Superiors.
Under the patronage of Our Lady of Mercy
–
In view of the number of houses
and the well organized footing of the Order, the Archbishop put the Aposto-
late’s application for diocesan approval in the hands of Father Scotti, together
with letters of recommendation from several bishops for him to take personally
to Rome. On June 15, 1922 the Congregation of Religious, finding that all
was in order, granted permission for the canonical foundation. The commu-
nity was gradually taking on a Mercedarian character. Out of gratitude to Our
Lady of Mercy, Maria del Refugio requested the latter’s incorporation into the
Order of Mercy, this being granted on June 11, 1925, so that they would now
be known as Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
Religious persecution
–
The Government’s attacks on the Church became in-
creasingly frequent. In February 1925 the President evoked discourse with
the aim of establishing a religion which was answerable to the civil authori-
ties. That same week most Catholic schools were closed down. The bishops
ordered headmasters of Catholic schools to sign declarations in which they
undertook to observe Article 3 of the Constitution which stipulated: “Religious
corporations, ministers of religion, societies which exclusively or mainly carry
out educational activities, and associations or societies concerned with the dis-
semination of any religious creed, will not involve themselves in any way in
establishments which provide primary or secondary education, teacher train-
ing, or classes for workers or peasants”. They all signed except Father Carranza
and the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Maria del Refugio could
not in all conscience comply with a law which constituted an attack on God
and the freedom of man. A few weeks later two agents from the Ministry of
the Interior turned up at the Colegio del Santisimo Sacramento with orders
to search the premises. They found the Sisters wearing their habits. Pistols in
hand they went over the whole house, even looking under the beds, saying that
they had orders to shoot “any priests they found there”. In order to avoid any
desecration, Maria del Refugio carried the Blessed Sacrament under her cloak
as she accompanied them around the house talking to them forcefully and with
considerable courage, and replying to their questions in the following vein: “I
am not afraid of you closing my oratories, as you say you could, because you
will never be able to close the oratory which I carry in my heart”.
Spreading the love of the Blessed Sacrament
–
Seeing the religious question
in Mexico becoming ever more difficult, Maria del Refugio had been intending
for some time to establish houses in Spain and Italy as a means of preserving the
vocational calling of her nuns and keeping the life of the Institute going. The
Superior General and her counselors would remain in Mexico City but would
leave their convent for the time being to take refuge in the cellars of a neighbor-
ing house from which they would continue running the Institute. Because of
the religious persecution, the Congregation had set about expanding abroad.
In 1929 the training center for the Sisters in Oklahoma was operational, as
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The Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament
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