8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
1/24
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
2/24
Francisca de Fuentes was born to
Don Simon de Fuentes and Doa
Ana Maria del Castillo y Tamayo
in the City of Manila in 1647.
Francisca grew up to be a fine
lady; and she was given in
marriage to a gentleman who, by
the inscrutable design of God,did not live long, leaving her a
childless young widow.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
3/24
Francisca then dedicated her time
to prayer and social servicehelping many poor and sick in the
city.
In a vision in which she saw St.
Francis and St. Dominic, she
prostrated herself before St.Dominic.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
4/24
Because of this, she chose to be a
Dominican, being admitted as a
tertiary in 1682.
She chose the name Francisca
del Espiritu Santo.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
5/24
In 1686, Francisca, Antonia deJesus Esquerra, Maria Ana de
Fuentes (blood-sister of Mother
Francisca), and Sebastian Salcedo
requested that they be allowed to
live together in a life of prayer
and the practice of the virtues
while continuing their socialapostolate.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
6/24
After a brief hesitation, their
request was sent to the Master
General of Order of Preachers inRome, who approved it on
January, 1688.
Meanwhile, the erstwhile director
of the Third Order, Fr. Juan de
Santa Maria, who favored the
request of the ladies, was assigned
to Bataan, and Fr. Juan de Santo
Domingo was assigned in his place.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
7/24
The new Director was against theproject and the proposal was laid
aside. Mother Francisca and her
companion were deeply dismayed,but Mother Sebastiana prophesied
that although she and Mother
Antonia would not live to see it,
the Beaterio would be a reality.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
8/24
Mother Francisca was progressively
maturing spiritually, and her desirefor serving the needy grew more
and more. The desire for the
realization of the Beaterio alsogrew more intense so that one day,
after confession, she opened once
more the subject to Fr. Juan de
Santo Domingo, and she got
scolded for her. impatience.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
9/24
But bravely, she told Fr. Juan with
a tone of prophecy: Father Prior,
the Beaterio will be established,and Your Reverence will see it.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
10/24
Fr. Juan de Santo Domingo wasenlightened and became one of
the powerful supporters of the
Beaterio project. Under his
direction, Mother Francisca and
her companions lived at first the
house of Mother Antonia de
Esguerra who had by then died.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
11/24
On the feast of St. Anne in 1696,the Beaterio was formally
established with Fr. Juan de Santo
Domingo, then Provincial,presiding. And on this joyful
occasion, Mother Francisca was
appointed first and founding
Prioress for life.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
12/24
The first community consisted of
Mother Francisca, Mother Maria,
and Mother Rosa de Santa Maria.
The community was placed underthe patronage of St. Catherine of
Siena and accepted in the
Provincial Chapter of 1698.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
13/24
But their joy would not last verylong, for in 1703, Manila Archbishop
Don Diego Camacho wanted the
Beaterio under his jurisdiction. Theconflict grew until Archbishop
Camacho excommunicated Mother
Francisca, and put the other sisters
under interdict.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
14/24
To avoid scandal, the beatasremoved their habits and with the
help of the Governor General and
counsel from the DominicanFathers, they went into exile at
the Santa Potenciana College, there
to stay for over two years in
Babylonian Exile.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
15/24
Mother Francisca suffered the
most under these grave trials, but
with heroic courage, she and most
of the Sisters increased theirreligious and hoping for the day of
victory.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
16/24
Since part of the opposition against
the Baeterio was a question offinances, very valuable help came
from a lay Dominican Tertiary, Don
Juan de Escao y Cordova, who in1704 assured the Beatas an annual
subsidy through the Dominican
Province of the Holy Rosary of twothousands pesos a considerable
sum in those days.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
17/24
The time of triumph came in 1706
when after some negotiations, their
former opponent ArchbishopCamacho changed heart and began
to show himself sympathetic to the
Beatas.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
18/24
With the help of the Governador
General and the Dominican Fathers,Mother Francicsca and her Sisterreturned to their original home,having donned once more theirDominican habits, there to liveunder the rules set for them asbeatas, with a few added features
of their religious life as prescribedby the Archbishop.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
19/24
The permit from the Archbishop is
dated 26 March 1706. With Mother
Francisca at the time of their
return were (15) fifteen Sistersincluding a novice, and in addition,
there were lay Sisters and a girl
who eventually donned the habit.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
20/24
It was in the same year that theBeaterio became a Beaterio-
Colegio which admitted Spanish
girls, mestizas and natives,instructing them in the (4) four
Rs Religion, Reading Writing and
Arithmetic with Music,
Embroidery, Flower Making, etc.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
21/24
The major trials having passed,Mother Francisca continued with
even greater ardor her pursuit ofspiritual perfection for herself andfor spiritual daughters.
Like the brave and strong womanthat she was she governed theBeaterio with great prudence and
fidelity to the Rule, making theEucharist the sublime center of thecommunitys spiritual life.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
22/24
To do this in the absence of a
Chapel for the Blessed Sacrament inthe Beaterio, she importuned,against many difficulties, theFathers of San Juan de LetranCollege, to build a corridorconnecting the Beaterio to thechapel of the Blessed Sacraments in
the Church of Letran. As always,her prayers eventually prevailed.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
23/24
Worn-out physically by herperpetual acts of mortification, and
her continual struggle to secure the
solid establishment of the Beaterio,
she became ill and was suffering
with heroic resignation and humility
for several months, edifying
everyone with her extraordinaryspiritual life.
8/14/2019 Mother Francisca
24/24
And on the feast of St.
Bartholomew on 24 August 1711,
she was born to eternal life,
leaving behind her living witness to
her love of God and neighbor- theBeaterio de Santa Catalina de Sena
which lives vigorously as ever up to
this day as the Congregation ofDominican Sisters of St. Catherine
de Siena.
Top Related