Saint Candida Maria of Jesus

Cándida María de Jesús (31 May 1845 – 9 August 1912), born in Andoain, as Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola, was a Spanish nun and the founder of the Daughters of Jesus. The order – founded in 1871 – was under Jesuit direction from her spiritual director and was involved with the education of children in Salamanca though expanded during her lifetime. Barriola was canonized as a saint on 17 October 2010. Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola was born in May 31, 1845 in Berrospe, Andoain, as the eldest of seven children to the weavers Juan Miguel Cipitria and María Jesús Barriola. Her father was a weaver. Rather than attend school she helped look after her siblings because she was the eldest child. She received her Confirmation on 5 August 1848 and made her First Communion in 1855. At a young age, she went to Burgos to help support the household and worked as a domestic servant in various homes. Barriola was affected to a great degree from the depth of the poor conditions that she witnessed in a place undergoing the social effects of the Industrial Revolution in her native land. The Jesuit priest Miguel José Herranz advised her on her path ahead and at his advice started a number of charitable and educations programs; the two met in Valladolid in 1868. Barriola believed that she experienced a vision of Jesus Christ on 26 March 1869 on Good Friday. On April 2, 1869, she received the inspiration to found a Congregation with the name Hijas de Jesus. On 8 December 1871 – alongside five companions – she founded the Daughters of Jesus and assumed the religious name: "Cándida María de Jesús". She founded the congregation for the education of children and the advancement of the women in Salamanca. It received diocesan approval from the Bishop of Salamanca on 3 April 1873. On 8 December 1873 she made her solemn profession. Barriola based her spiritual principles and practices on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola.