Saint Beata Bonifacia Rodríguez de Castro

Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro (6 June 1837 – 8 August 1905) was the co-foundress of the Religious Congregation of the Servants of St. Joseph, who developed the "Nazareth workshop" as both a new format for consecrated life and to help poor and unemployed women. They were an innovative foundation of Religious Sisters in Spain in the nineteenth century. Rodríguez was born in Salamanca, Spain, on 6 June 1837, in a small home on Las Mazas Street near the ancient University, to Juan Rodríguez and María Natalia Castro who were devout and pious people. Her father was a tailor and the family was very poor, frequently having to move because he was unable to pay the rent. From a very young age, Bonifacia helped her father with his craft in his small shop, by sewing some of the work he was able to get, as well as caring for her younger siblings. After completing a basic schooling, Rodríguez began to work as a ropemaker. Later, in 1865 after the marriage of her sister, the only surviving sibling, she was able to set up a small workshop in the family home for making rope, lace and various other items. In this way, Rodríguez lived a quiet life with her now-widowed mother, one in which she was able to grow and deepen her faith, meditating and praying throughout the daily routine. After five years as an independent artisan, in 1870 Rodríguez met a newly arrived priest from Catalonia, Francesc Xavier Butinyà i Hospital. Butinyà was from a family of factory owners, but he had a vision of responding to the needs of the growing working class which had arisen from the Industrial Revolution, a vision which was far ahead of the Catholic Church leaders of the day. He preached that work was a way for all to become more free and equal in society, and also a means of witness to the teachings of the Gospel.