Joachina was born in Barcelona in 1783, in 1779 she married Theodore de Mas, by whom she had nine children. Her husband died in 1816 after he withdraw from the army he served during Napoleonic Wars to defend Spain. In 1826 she was moved by the Holy Spirit to found the Congregation of the Carmelite Sister of Charity, which soon spread throughout Catalonia, maintaining many houses for the care of the sick and the education of the children, especially the poor. She loved to contemplate the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and the devotion characterized her life of prayer, mortification, detachment, humility and charity. She died at Vich in 1854.
“If only we were all on fire with love of God! If we were, we should preach love, proclaim love, and yet more love, until we had set the whole world on fire. We must have great desires: then God will give us whatever is best for us”. A fragment of the reading from the Letter of St Joachina de Vedruna, after Discalced Carmelite Proper Offices.
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