Venerable Pablo de Anda Padilla

Pablo de Anda Padilla (July 5, 1830 – June 29, 1904) was a Catholic priest and founder of the Minim Daughters of Mary Immaculate. Pablo de Anda Padilla was born on July 5, 1830, in the city of San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico. His parents, Mariano de Anda and Sanjuana Padilla had five children: Pedro, José Sóstenes, María Rita, María del Refugio and Pablo. The family environment favored his aspirations to the priesthood and, when he decided to follow that vocation, his parents supported him and moved with him, in 1845, to León, Guanajuato, Mexico, where he began his studies at the Seminary of the Pauline Fathers. He received Holy Orders on August 24, 1856 at the parish of Venado, in the State of San Luis Potosí in Mexico; his first mass was on September 12 in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. By the end of the month he was pronounced interim priest of Ahualulco de los Pinos, where he remained until December 14, 1856. On January 1, 1857 he was designated Choir Chaplain of the Cathedral Potosina, with the annexed charges of Master of ceremonies, Mayor sexton, Secretary of Council and Synod of the Clergy of the Diocese, positions he held until March 6, 1865. Padilla was a tireless apostle, he opened a Casa de Misericordia, for homeless children, patients and elderly; he created workshops to teach different arts and crafts. He built a sanctuary to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the hill of San Lorenzo in León and founded a hospital next to the sanctuary, where many found refuge after the catastrophic flood in 1888. He founded the Congregation of Hijas Mínimas de María Inmaculada on March 25, 1886 with only four women; Mercedes de Señor San José Reyes, who until then was known as Soledad; Concepción de Señor San José Barrón, known in the secular world as Refugio Barrón; Guadalupe de Señor San José Reyes, born as Juana; and María de Señor San José Meabe, formerly known as María.