2023-10-26 16:30:00
He Pope Francisco authorized to promulgate a decree regarding the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed María Antonia de San José, known as Mother Antula. Together with Saint José Gabriel Brochero -he Cura Brochero– They are the only saints born, lived and died in our country.
This followingnoon #Pope francesco received our Prefect and authorized the Dicastery to promulgate the Decree regarding the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Maria Antonia of Saint Joseph (Antonia de Paz y Figueroa) known as Mama Antula pic.twitter.com/BeueZGkJ7V
— Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (@CauseSanti) October 24, 2023
Who was Mama Antula?
He was born with the name María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa in 1730 in Silipica, Santiago del Estero. At the age of 15 he placed himself under the direction of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, with whom he collaborated with various tasks. Among them, spiritual exercises, which are religious practices, such as meditations, prayers and other exercises compiled in a book by Saint Ignatius of Loyola (usually presented in the form of spiritual retreats). It is estimated that Mama Antula taught these exercises to more than 70 thousand people.
After the expulsion of the Jesuits from the country by order of Charles III, Mama Antula visited several cities from Jujuy to Córdoba and San Luis promoting these spiritual exercises. In fact, he traveled to Buenos Aires on foot from Santiago del Estero.
By then he earned his first name María Antonia and the surname “De San José” was added. The nickname Mama Antula was born from the Quichua expression that means “Mother Antonia.”according to this note Alero Quichua Santiago.
In Buenos Aires he took refuge in the Church of La Piedad and founded the Holy House of Spiritual Exercises. He died on March 7, 1799, aged 69.
What does it mean to be a saint for the Catholic Church?
The word canonize has its etymology in Greek and means measure. People who are canonized by the Catholic Church function as a “measure”, that is, they are a model to follow. Likewise, according to this belief, once they die they ascend to heaven without going through purgatory.
The Vatican, functioning as a State, has its own administrative processes for declaring a person a saint. There are four stages through which a person can be canonized: servant of God, venerable, blessed and saint. During this process, research is carried out on his life, his intercessions and the miracles attributed to him.
While some of the canonization processes may be short, such as that of Saint Francis of Assisi which lasted two years, in general they take a long time. In the case of Mama Antula, her canonization process began in 1905, she was beatified on August 27, 2016 and she will be named a saint in early 2024.
This content was originally published in RED/ACCION and is republished as part of the ‘Human Journalism’ program, an alliance for quality journalism between RÍO NEGRO and RED/ACCION
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