Saints Who Wanted To Be Religious?

[AnneLine]

OK, I can share a few with you. :)

 

Ven. Maria Luisa de la Pena (aka Mother Luisita)

 

She was the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles (in Alhambra and Duarte, California), and she DEFINITELY fits your description.   And she lived for a number of years as a lay woman.  I have friends in the community, and know the story of the foundress well!

 

 

Luisita wanted to be a sister from the time she was a small child, but her parents placed her in an arranged marriage with a medical doctor, Dr. Rojas.  During the honeymoon, he asked her what she wanted to do on their honeymoon, and she begged to go visit the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Guadalajara.  He thought it was odd, but complied, even when she said she wanted to talk to the Rev. Mother by herself.  After that conference, she came out and announced to her astounded husband that it was all decided and she was going to stay there and be a sister!  The doctor went in and talked with Rev. Mother, and the two of them then explained to Luisita that she was married, and she wasn't going to be a nun!   She and the doctor had a number of years of marriage until his death, and they set up a hospital together.   As he was dying, he told her that she had always been a good wife to him, and that she had his blessing to enter a convent now, as he knew that was where her heart had always been. 

 

She entered the Carmelites in Guadalajara (the house that eventually spawned Cristo Rey in San Francisco), but while she was a novice, the Bishop came and ordered her out because the hospital she and the doctor had founded had fallen apart in her absence.  She came out, fixed it up, again put it under other people's control, and then re-entered the Carmelites.  A few months later, the Bishop was back -- OUT!!  hospital needs you, and if you still want to be a Sister, join THIS group of Sisters so you can run the hospital after you finish your novitiate.  She did so, along with all the women who were helping her with the hospital.  Only after they had made their vows did they discover that the constitutions of that community did NOT allow them to run a hospital!!!!  The bishop said that Luisita HAD to leave, and gave the choice to the others to stay or leave... most of them stayed.

 

So.... once again poor Luisita had to start all over again from scratch as a lay woman.  A few months go by... and the Bishop is back.  (AnneLine would have chased him away with a frying pan!)  He now says, it is not appropriate for a group of lay women to be running a hospital..... you need to become a religious community!   And so they affiliated with the Carmelites as a Third Order Regular community (which is what they are to this day).   They set up shop in the Guadalajara area... and got caught up in the Mexican Cristero struggle and Mother Luisita and a group of the sisters were able to escape to the USA (and others hid in homes in Mexico in lay clothing), ending up doing housework for the Christian Brothers at St. Mary's College (now in Moraga, CA), which was part of the San Francisco diocese at that time.  When the LA bishop heard of their plight, he said it wasn't OK for these well-trained nurses to be doing custodial work for the Christian Brothers, and that there was no need for the Jesuits to hve to support them (the Jesuits were taking care of them, as they had with the Cristo Rey nuns who also had escaped....).  The LA Bishop asked them to come to the LA diocese, where he needed nursing sisters to run a sanitarium for Spanish-speaking women who had TB.  It was the start of what would be Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte (part of LA diocese).  They eventually did the hospital/healthcare work, ran a retreat house, and a home for children, and also taught school.  They are still doing all/most of those ministries (although there have been some changes through the years...)

 

You can read all about it (and her!) on the website of the Carmelite Sisters. AND they have her diary available to download... written in code during the Mexican persecutions.  A few things you can see in that code.....  'Ignatius' sons' are the Jesuits. :)   'weddings' are vows!   'vacations' re retreats!   You can make good guesses beyond those!!!!! 

 

More Bio

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/mother-luisita/

 

Letters

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/letters/

 

Remembrances by people who knew her

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/remembrances/

 

Another person I think fits the description was Mary of Modena, the Duchess of York and future wife of King James the II of England!   She was set-up in an arranged marriage (usual fate of princesses in those days....), and in 1676 St. Claude de la Colombière was sent to England as her chaplain. 

 

I read in a biography of St. Margaret Mary that she was very unhappy at the marriage, and that the only way she agreed to go would be if they sent a chaplain to be her personal confessor.  (I think she lucked out with St. Claude!!!)   She had a long marriage, and raised a bunch of children!

 

Here's a link to info on her (although it doesn't mention the wanna-be religious aspect.... so I can't be sure.) 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Modena

 

Good video, below, but the 'pretty' script is hard to read - just pause the video so you can read as needed.

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xOBRlNc0c4[/media]

 

Another person who fits the description is the Carmelite blessed, Bl. Marie of the Incarnation.  She wanted to be a Sister but her parents forbade it.  She entered the Carmelites after her husband's death and the children were raised... but before that as Barbe Acarie, she had a very well attended 'salon' - 'the place to be' in society! - and moved in very influential circles.  She kept the family out of poverty when her husband lost his money in a financial panic.  (Certainly she sounds modern!)  

 

She helped Bl. Anne of Jesus bring the Carmelites to France.  

 

After the death of her husband, Pierre, she entered one of the Carmelite communities she had helped to found as a lay sister.... and that after a serious physical injury that left her partly disabled!

 

http://www.madame-acarie.org/presentation.php?lang=en

 

I am sure there are others!!!!  We need to FIND them!!!!!

 

 

Edited July 9, 2013 by AnneLine

[Spem in alium]

Oh goodness, AnneLine....thank you so much for sharing the stories of these remarkable women! Just amazing! :)

[BarbTherese]

.................probably heaps and heaps of saints on Phatmass who want to be religious  :) ....

..................... praying so.......

[beatitude]

 I remember reading about a saint like that but I am spacing her name as well, I am working on finding her though!

 

St Elizabeth of Hungary.

[thepiaheart]

Y'all are great. THANK YOU.

[Chiquitunga]

OK, I can share a few with you. :)

 

Ven. Maria Luisa de la Pena (aka Mother Luisita)

 

She was the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles (in Alhambra and Duarte, California), and she DEFINITELY fits your description.   And she lived for a number of years as a lay woman.  I have friends in the community, and know the story of the foundress well!

 

 

Luisita wanted to be a sister from the time she was a small child, but her parents placed her in an arranged marriage with a medical doctor, Dr. Rojas.  During the honeymoon, he asked her what she wanted to do on their honeymoon, and she begged to go visit the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Guadalajara.  He thought it was odd, but complied, even when she said she wanted to talk to the Rev. Mother by herself.  After that conference, she came out and announced to her astounded husband that it was all decided and she was going to stay there and be a sister!  The doctor went in and talked with Rev. Mother, and the two of them then explained to Luisita that she was married, and she wasn't going to be a nun!   She and the doctor had a number of years of marriage until his death, and they set up a hospital together.   As he was dying, he told her that she had always been a good wife to him, and that she had his blessing to enter a convent now, as he knew that was where her heart had always been. 

 

She entered the Carmelites in Guadalajara (the house that eventually spawned Cristo Rey in San Francisco), but while she was a novice, the Bishop came and ordered her out because the hospital she and the doctor had founded had fallen apart in her absence.  She came out, fixed it up, again put it under other people's control, and then re-entered the Carmelites.  A few months later, the Bishop was back -- OUT!!  hospital needs you, and if you still want to be a Sister, join THIS group of Sisters so you can run the hospital after you finish your novitiate.  She did so, along with all the women who were helping her with the hospital.  Only after they had made their vows did they discover that the constitutions of that community did NOT allow them to run a hospital!!!!  The bishop said that Luisita HAD to leave, and gave the choice to the others to stay or leave... most of them stayed.

 

So.... once again poor Luisita had to start all over again from scratch as a lay woman.  A few months go by... and the Bishop is back.  (AnneLine would have chased him away with a frying pan!)  He now says, it is not appropriate for a group of lay women to be running a hospital..... you need to become a religious community!   And so they affiliated with the Carmelites as a Third Order Regular community (which is what they are to this day).   They set up shop in the Guadalajara area... and got caught up in the Mexican Cristero struggle and Mother Luisita and a group of the sisters were able to escape to the USA (and others hid in homes in Mexico in lay clothing), ending up doing housework for the Christian Brothers at St. Mary's College (now in Moraga, CA), which was part of the San Francisco diocese at that time.  When the LA bishop heard of their plight, he said it wasn't OK for these well-trained nurses to be doing custodial work for the Christian Brothers, and that there was no need for the Jesuits to hve to support them (the Jesuits were taking care of them, as they had with the Cristo Rey nuns who also had escaped....).  The LA Bishop asked them to come to the LA diocese, where he needed nursing sisters to run a sanitarium for Spanish-speaking women who had TB.  It was the start of what would be Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte (part of LA diocese).  They eventually did the hospital/healthcare work, ran a retreat house, and a home for children, and also taught school.  They are still doing all/most of those ministries (although there have been some changes through the years...)

 

You can read all about it (and her!) on the website of the Carmelite Sisters. AND they have her diary available to download... written in code during the Mexican persecutions.  A few things you can see in that code.....  'Ignatius' sons' are the Jesuits. :)   'weddings' are vows!   'vacations' re retreats!   You can make good guesses beyond those!!!!! 

 

More Bio

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/mother-luisita/

 

Letters

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/letters/

 

Remembrances by people who knew her

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/remembrances/

 

Another person I think fits the description was Mary of Modena, the Duchess of York and future wife of King James the II of England!   She was set-up in an arranged marriage (usual fate of princesses in those days....), and in 1676 St. Claude de la Colombière was sent to England as her chaplain. 

 

I read in a biography of St. Margaret Mary that she was very unhappy at the marriage, and that the only way she agreed to go would be if they sent a chaplain to be her personal confessor.  (I think she lucked out with St. Claude!!!)   She had a long marriage, and raised a bunch of children!

 

Here's a link to info on her (although it doesn't mention the wanna-be religious aspect.... so I can't be sure.) 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Modena

 

Good video, below, but the 'pretty' script is hard to read - just pause the video so you can read as needed.

 

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xOBRlNc0c4[/media]

 

Another person who fits the description is the Carmelite blessed, Bl. Marie of the Incarnation.  She wanted to be a Sister but her parents forbade it.  She entered the Carmelites after her husband's death and the children were raised... but before that as Barbe Acarie, she had a very well attended 'salon' - 'the place to be' in society! - and moved in very influential circles.  She kept the family out of poverty when her husband lost his money in a financial panic.  (Certainly she sounds modern!)  

 

She helped Bl. Anne of Jesus bring the Carmelites to France.  

 

After the death of her husband, Pierre, she entered one of the Carmelite communities she had helped to found as a lay sister.... and that after a serious physical injury that left her partly disabled!

 

http://www.madame-acarie.org/presentation.php?lang=en

 

I am sure there are others!!!!  We need to FIND them!!!!!

Thanks for sharing all of that, AnneLine!! wonderful to read about!  :saint:  I would guess you might find a bunch more in this book, Married Saints and Blesseds I gave this as a wedding gift once. :like:

[Chiquitunga]

Another person who fits the description is the Carmelite blessed, Bl. Marie of the Incarnation.  She wanted to be a Sister but her parents forbade it.  She entered the Carmelites after her husband's death and the children were raised... but before that as Barbe Acarie, she had a very well attended 'salon' - 'the place to be' in society! - and moved in very influential circles.  She kept the family out of poverty when her husband lost his money in a financial panic.  (Certainly she sounds modern!)  

 

She helped Bl. Anne of Jesus bring the Carmelites to France.  

 

After the death of her husband, Pierre, she entered one of the Carmelite communities she had helped to found as a lay sister.... and that after a serious physical injury that left her partly disabled!

 

http://www.madame-acarie.org/presentation.php?lang=en

 

I am sure there are others!!!!  We need to FIND them!!!!!

 

p.s. almost forgot to mention, her second daughter was Venerable Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament (not one who wanted to be married, but had to mention her) :like:

 

http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=7543

http://saints.sqpn.com/saintmcx.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=xEsBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=margaret+of+the+blessed+sacrament+acarie&source=bl&ots=eOZWHrj8pG&sig=PMHsdJlFeuCJ9wVRVdhe4IbzM6c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NpDdUe6fBeHXygHpj4DgBA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=margaret%20of%20the%20blessed%20sacrament%20acarie&f=false

[OnlySunshine]

St Elizabeth of Hungary.

 

I love her!

 

I was going to put her down but wasn't sure she was who they were talking about.  :)

[OnlySunshine]

According to a friend of St. Thomas More, he seriously considered abandoning his legal career to become a Carthusian monk.  He lived outside the walls of a monastery for about a year but then ultimately determined that he was to remain a layman.  He married Jane Colt the following year.  :)

Edited July 10, 2013 by MaterMisericordiae

[OnlySunshine]

Pope John Paul II wanted to become a Carmelite friar but he discerned God was calling him to the priesthood instead.  He became a Third Order Carmelite and wore the Brown Scapular at all times.  :)

[Chiquitunga]

p.s. almost forgot to mention, her second daughter was Venerable Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament (not one who wanted to be married, but had to mention her) :like:

 

http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=7543

http://saints.sqpn.com/saintmcx.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=xEsBAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA206&lpg=PA206&dq=margaret+of+the+blessed+sacrament+acarie&source=bl&ots=eOZWHrj8pG&sig=PMHsdJlFeuCJ9wVRVdhe4IbzM6c&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NpDdUe6fBeHXygHpj4DgBA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=margaret%20of%20the%20blessed%20sacrament%20acarie&f=false

 

oops need to correct myself here, I meant not one who wanted to be a religious but couldn't, etc. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

Hi! I'm looking for examples of saints (or blesseds, etc.) who wanted to be religious but were unable to pursue that vocation. I am particularly interested in circumstances of these individuals marrying, but would love to hear about other circumstances as well. (Between the two, I can think here of St. Therese's parents, the Martins, and St. Gemma Galgani.)

 

Thanks!

 

I was going to say St Gemma Galgani, who is one of my favourite Saints :)

 

there are some who wanted to be religious but eventually God lead them to marriage, like St Frances of Rome.

 

Some married but then became religious, like St Rita.

Edited July 17, 2013 by MarysLittleFlower

[nikita92]

Question- why do saints have to be dead, before we recognize them??

[MarysLittleFlower]

Question- why do saints have to be dead, before we recognize them??

 

Miracles of intercession? My understanding is that this is like the proof that they're in Heaven, and that they truly did persevere in living a holy life. Am I correct? There are also people in Heaven who are on the way to being canonized, or those who are unknown of course.

Edited July 18, 2013 by MarysLittleFlower

[tinytherese]

OK, I can share a few with you. :)

 

Ven. Maria Luisa de la Pena (aka Mother Luisita)

 

She was the foundress of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles (in Alhambra and Duarte, California), and she DEFINITELY fits your description.   And she lived for a number of years as a lay woman.  I have friends in the community, and know the story of the foundress well!

 

 

Luisita wanted to be a sister from the time she was a small child, but her parents placed her in an arranged marriage with a medical doctor, Dr. Rojas.  During the honeymoon, he asked her what she wanted to do on their honeymoon, and she begged to go visit the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Guadalajara.  He thought it was odd, but complied, even when she said she wanted to talk to the Rev. Mother by herself.  After that conference, she came out and announced to her astounded husband that it was all decided and she was going to stay there and be a sister!  The doctor went in and talked with Rev. Mother, and the two of them then explained to Luisita that she was married, and she wasn't going to be a nun!   She and the doctor had a number of years of marriage until his death, and they set up a hospital together.   As he was dying, he told her that she had always been a good wife to him, and that she had his blessing to enter a convent now, as he knew that was where her heart had always been. 

 

She entered the Carmelites in Guadalajara (the house that eventually spawned Cristo Rey in San Francisco), but while she was a novice, the Bishop came and ordered her out because the hospital she and the doctor had founded had fallen apart in her absence.  She came out, fixed it up, again put it under other people's control, and then re-entered the Carmelites.  A few months later, the Bishop was back -- OUT!!  hospital needs you, and if you still want to be a Sister, join THIS group of Sisters so you can run the hospital after you finish your novitiate.  She did so, along with all the women who were helping her with the hospital.  Only after they had made their vows did they discover that the constitutions of that community did NOT allow them to run a hospital!!!!  The bishop said that Luisita HAD to leave, and gave the choice to the others to stay or leave... most of them stayed.

 

So.... once again poor Luisita had to start all over again from scratch as a lay woman.  A few months go by... and the Bishop is back.  (AnneLine would have chased him away with a frying pan!)  He now says, it is not appropriate for a group of lay women to be running a hospital..... you need to become a religious community!   And so they affiliated with the Carmelites as a Third Order Regular community (which is what they are to this day).   They set up shop in the Guadalajara area... and got caught up in the Mexican Cristero struggle and Mother Luisita and a group of the sisters were able to escape to the USA (and others hid in homes in Mexico in lay clothing), ending up doing housework for the Christian Brothers at St. Mary's College (now in Moraga, CA), which was part of the San Francisco diocese at that time.  When the LA bishop heard of their plight, he said it wasn't OK for these well-trained nurses to be doing custodial work for the Christian Brothers, and that there was no need for the Jesuits to hve to support them (the Jesuits were taking care of them, as they had with the Cristo Rey nuns who also had escaped....).  The LA Bishop asked them to come to the LA diocese, where he needed nursing sisters to run a sanitarium for Spanish-speaking women who had TB.  It was the start of what would be Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte (part of LA diocese).  They eventually did the hospital/healthcare work, ran a retreat house, and a home for children, and also taught school.  They are still doing all/most of those ministries (although there have been some changes through the years...)

 

You can read all about it (and her!) on the website of the Carmelite Sisters. AND they have her diary available to download... written in code during the Mexican persecutions.  A few things you can see in that code.....  'Ignatius' sons' are the Jesuits. :)   'weddings' are vows!   'vacations' re retreats!   You can make good guesses beyond those!!!!! 

 

More Bio

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/mother-luisita/

 

Letters

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/letters/

 

Remembrances by people who knew her

http://www.carmelitesistersocd.com/remembrances/

 

 

 

Wow, that bishop.   :getaclue:  :wall: