| Mother Candlemas of San José | |
|---|---|
| Foundress | |
| Born | August 11, 1863 |
| Died | January 31, 1940 |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | April 27, 2008, Central University of Caracas, Venezuela by Pope Benedict XVI |
| Feast | February 1 |
Mother Candlemas of San José (August 11, 1863 - January 31, 1940) is the founder of the congregation known today as the Hermanas Carmelitas de Madre Candelaria. She was beatified on April 27, 2008 at the Central University of Caracas, Venezuela by Pope Benedict XVI.
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Mother Candlemas of San José was born Susana Paz Castillo in Altagracia de Orituco, State of Guárico, Venezuela, on August 11, 1863, daughter of Francisco de Paula Paz Castillo ane María del Rosario Ramírez.[1] Her father died on November 23, 1870, when Susana was 7 years old. Her mother died on December 24, 1887 when Susana was 24 years old, and Susana assumed the responsibilities of the household.[1]
Susana cared for those wounded in Venezuela's Liberation Revolution. She practiced charity with invalids who gathered at a house attached to the parochial church. In 1903, when Saint Anthony's Hospital was founded at Altagracia, Susana became its director, at the encouragement of the parish priest Father Sixto Soda Diaz.[1]
On September 13, 1906, with the authorization of the diocesan Bishop, Susana took on the habit of the Hermanitas of the Poor men of Altagracia de Orituco and the name, Candlemas of San José.
On December 31, 1910, the Congregation, Hermanitas of the Poor men of Altagracia de Orituco was officially established with the profession of the first six brothers, at the hands of Monsignor Felipe Neri Sendrea, who confirmed Mother Candlemas as General Superior of the Congregation. In December 1916 she professed her perpetual vows.[1]
Mother Candlemas traveled widely in search of resources for the support of her works, founding new Communities that responded to the needs of the moment. She founded two hospitals, one on the Isla de Margarita at Porlamar, called the Hospice for the Abandoned, the other at Upata.[1]
Many difficulties confronted the Congregation in its early days. Providentially, on July 12, 1922, the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance arrived in Porlamar, on the Island of Margarita and Bishop Sosa gave them the parish of Saint Nicholas of Bari. Mother Candelaria never suspected the great gift that the Carmelite presence would be to her and to the difficult and dangerous work her Congregation was involved in. The Congregation was aggregated to the Order on March 25, 1925.
She governed the Congregation for 35 years from its foundation to the General Chapter of 1937.
The last years of Mother Candlemas were marked by a painful disease, however, after leaving the position of General Superior, she continued serving the Congregation as Mistress of Novices.
At dawn on January 31, 1940, after vomiting blood, she pronounced the name of Jesus three times, she died.
The beatification ceremony of Mother Candlemas was attended by "60,000 people from all over Venezuela and other nearby countries filling two stadiums."[2]