Mother Maria Luisa Josefa, OCDS
Let's start asking her for HELP! Also, the sisters at the convent are now praying for this Apostolate, this ministry of prayer is growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to the Holy Spirit! Praise God for His goodness to us. Please feel free to write the sisters with your prayer request, there is a link on the bottom of their page for prayers. The Carmelits are true to their word when you ask them to pray that is their job in life, that is their vocation!!!
Prayer For the Beatification of
Venerable Mother María Luisa Josefa
of the Most Blessed Sacrament
O Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, King and center of all hearts! Look with merciful love on the petitions we present to You through the intercession of Your servant, Mother Maria Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament. (Pause and request your petition). We humbly beseech You to glorify her who was always such a fervent lover of Your Sacred Heart by granting us these favors if they are for Your greater honor and glory. Amen.
(Written by Mother Margarita María,O.C.D. and approved by Cardinal Timothy Manning August 28, 1981.)
Graces obtained through Mother Luisita's intercession
may be reported to :
Superior General
Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles
920 East Alhambra Road
Alhambra, California 91801
(626) 289-1353
Venerable Mother María Luisa Josefa of the Most Blessed Sacrament, also called Mother Luisita (June 21, 1866 – February 11, 1937) was a Mexican Roman Catholic nun who founded the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles.
She was born María Luisa de la Peña y Navarro in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco, the third of fourteen children raised in a devout Catholic family. At fifteen years of age she married medical doctor Pascual Rojas. Together they worked to provide medical care for poor people. Dr. Rojas died when Mother Luisita was twenty nine years old.
Mother Luisita founded the order of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart (Hermanas Carmelitas del Sagrado Corazón, also called Carmelitas de Tijuana) on December 24, 1904 in the Mexican state of Jalisco. In the 1920s, during the Mexican Revolution, Mother Luisita took a group of nuns to the U.S. city of Los Angeles to protect them from the Catholic persecution unleashed by the authorities. This group of nuns became the basis for the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. Mother Luisita herself went back to Mexico in 1930 where she continued her work of providing healthcare for the poor.
Mother Luisita died on February 11, 1937. In 1942 her remains were secretly taken to be buried in Guadalajara, Jalisco. In 1966 they were brought back to the place of her birth Atotonilco. In 1998 they were placed in a special chapel in that town.
She is a candidate for sainthood and was made venerable on July 1, 2000 by Pope John Paul II. Each year on February 11 the Catholic Church celebrates her Feast.
The beautiful gift of finding this holy woman is that she fits all of what this Apostolate represents, her feast day is also the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes (which is a very great blessing to this ministry)... we pray for those who are seeking the gift of life, and also for Catholic doctors and health care workers. Mother Luisita, not only suffered infertility, but she was married to a doctor who helped to care for others in great need. This was the beautiful gift of fertility (although they had no children, they were gifted with an interior fertility which brings such grace to the soul) in their marriage. She will be such a great prayer warrior as we also pray for the sanctity of Holy Catholic Marriages. Their lives brought about the fruits of her next vocation as founder of the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart. May she bring us all many blessings as we ask her for her prayers for us in this life. Never forget that God has a beautiful, and fruitful plan for your life. We all just have to wait on Him to show us the way.... May God bless and keep you today and always.
