St. Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran

Ø  A Virgin, Laywoman , who spent eight hours a day in prayer, and was known to experience ecstasies.
Born	29 October 1832 at Nobol, Guayas, Ecuador
Died	8 December 1869 at Lima 2 the age of 37, Peru of natural causes; remains transferred to Guayaquil in 1955
Venerated	declared Venerable on 23 October 1987 by Pope John Paul II
Beatified	25 October 1992 by Pope John Paul II at Rome
Canonized	Sunday 12 October 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI
Feast	30th August

Narcisa de Jesus Martillo was born on October 29, 1832 in the small village of St. Joseph in Nobol, Daule, Ecuador.She was the sixth of nine children born to Peter Martillo and Josephine Moran, who were wealthy landowners. Her mother died in 1838 when she was the age of six and as result took up much of the domestic chores. She had a clear perception of her call to sanctity from an early age and was confirmed on September 16, 1839 at the age of seven. She frequented a small wood near her home for prayer and contemplation in solitude. The Guava Tree near which she prayed, is today the destination for large pilgrimages. She chose Saint Mariana de Jesus as her patron with whom she identified and strived to imitate.            After her father died in 1852, Narcisa moved to Guayaquil at the age of 19 where she lived with a very prominent family. It is here where Narcisa began her mission of helping the poor and the sick and caring for abandoned children.[4] She took a job as a seamstress to fund her mission as well as supporting her eight brothers and sisters. Narcisa then moved to the city of Cuenca where she went from home to home, living with whoever would take her including the Blessed Mercedes de Jesús Molina to allow herself greater privacy for prayer and penance.           In June 1868, Narcisa moved to Lima, Peru at the advise of a Franciscan, where she lived as a lay person in the Dominican convent of Patrocinio. Here, Narcisa followed a demanding daily schedule of eight hours of prayer, offered in silence and solitudeIn addition, she devoted four hours of the night to various forms of mortification, including flagellation and the wearing of a crown of thorns. She fasted on bread and water and took the Eucharist as her only forms of sustenance and was frequently seen in a state of ecstasy.            Towards the end of 1869, Narcisa developed high fevers for which medical remedies could do little. She died on December 8, 1869. On 12th  October 2008  canonized by Pope Benedict XVI.