By Mark Jason Sabas
We celebrate today the Memorial of one of the few Capuchin Poor Clares to be called Blessed, Maria Angela Astorch. Born in Barcelona in 1592, she entered the Capuchin Poor Clares Monastery when she was 11 years old. Her passion for learning allowed her to advance in the service. She founded a Monastery in Zaragoza, Spain and another in Murcia Spain, where she became an Abess of both monasteries. She is recounted as one of the Mystics, often experiencing visions of her Guardian Angel. She died in 1665 at the age of 75. Her incorrupt body lies in a monastery in Murcia, Spain. She was declared Blessed by St.Pope John Paul II on May 23, 1982.
Due to a miraculous healing when she was deathly sick as a child, she wrote of herself: “My childhood ended when I was seven. I was already a judicious and adroit woman and therefore patient, measured, silent and truthful.”
And as a mother and servant of the sisters, “My usual way of acting is to do everything under the gaze of my Divine Lord.”
sources: capdox.capuchin.org.au
