The Basics: Born September 1, 1592, in Spain; died December 2, 1665, in Spain; beatified May 23, 1982, by John Paul II; feast day, December 2. Mystic, woman religious.
The Story: Maria Angela is called the breviary mystic because it was through the liturgy that she had her closest encounters with Christ. Legend has it that she brought along six volumes of the Latin breviary when she joined a Capuchin monastery at age eleven. (She had 
been orphaned several years earlier and was being raised by a nanny; a sister was already in the monastery.) Maria Angela took her final vows when she was seventeen and when she was twenty-one, moved from her hometown of Barcelona with five other sisters to found a new community of Capuchin Poor Clares in Zaragoza two hundred miles away. Her mystical writings, including a depiction of her encounter with her guardian angel, primarily happened during this time. In 1645, she was among the founders of a community about thirty hundred and fifty miles away in Murcia. That last assignment was challenging both in terms of natural catastrophes and intrigue and false accusations against the sisters.
Blessed Maria Angela’s Wisdom: “As soon as I perceived (the guardian angel’s presence, such a change in my spirit came upon me that one could say that I lived within and outside my body at the very same time. Infused with great nobility in my perceptions, my heart filled with a sweet sensation of comfort and with minuscule operation it fortified my whole spirit.”
What We Can Learn: Slow down today and invite your guardian angel into a conversation.
To Learn More About Maria Angela: Maria Angela’s life and learnings are shared on an Australian Capuchin friars’ site. The government for the Murcia area has information on the museum within St. Clare’s Monastery.
To Learn More About Other Women Saints and Blesseds: Come back next week, or consider buying my book, Sisterhood of Saints: Daily Guidance and Inspiration.
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