St. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala

Ø  Co- Foundress of “Handmaids of St. Margaret Mary and the Poor” with Father Cipriano Iniguez Ø  Also Known as Mother Lupita
Born	On 27th  April 1878 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico
Died	On 24th  June 1963 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico of natural causes
Beatified	On 25th  April 2004 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized	On 12th  May 2013 in by Pope Francis in Rome, Italy
Feast	24th June

María Guadalupe García Zavala was born on 27 April 1878 in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, to Fortino García and Refugio Zavala de García.      As a child she was known for her piety and made frequent visits to the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan, which was located next to the religious goods shop run by her father. Her love for God was particularly demonstrated in her love for the poor.      Although initially she planned to marry Gustavo Arreola, she broke off her engagement because she felt a call to religious life, and believed that she was called to give assistance to the poor and sick. Along with her spiritual director, Fr Cipriano Iniguez, she co-founded a new Congregation, which they began on 13 October 1901. It was known as the "Handmaids of St Margaret Mary and the Poor". María worked as a nurse. Regardless of the poverty and lack of material goods of the patients, compassion and care for the physical and spiritual well-being of the sick were the primary concerns of their congregation.      María was named Superior General of the quickly-growing Congregation, and taught the Sisters entrusted to her, mostly by means of her example, the importance of living a genuine and joyful exterior and interior poverty. She was convinced that it was only through loving and living poverty that one could be truly "poor with the poor".      From 1911 until 1936, the political-religious situation in Mexico became uneasy and the Catholic Church underwent persecution. Mother María put her own life at risk to help the priests and the Archbishop of Guadalajara to "go into hiding" in the hospital.    She did not limit her charity simply to helping the "righteous", but also gave food and care to the persecutors who lived near the hospital; it was not long before they, too, began defending the sick in the hospital run by the Sisters.      The last two years of Mother María's life were lived in extreme suffering because of a grave illness, and on 24 June 1963, she died at the age of 85.      During the lifetime of the foundress, 11 foundations were established in the Republic of Mexico. Today, the Congregation has 22 foundations and is present in five different Nations: Mexico, Peru, Iceland, Greece and Italy.