Description

Oil Dedicated to Mother Maria Luisa Zancajo de la Mata (Servant of God)

Mother Maria Luisa Zancajo de la Mata (Servant of God) from A Blessed Call To Love.

María Luisa Zancajo de la Mata was born in Sinlabajos (Ávila) in 1911. She was born into a humble family and had two sisters. At around the age of three, María Luisa suffered from an illness that left her with paralysis.

fter many unsuccessful treatments, her parents decided to move to Madrid, where they hoped to find work and take better care of their children; however, her father became very sick and the financial situation of the family deteriorated.

María Luisa was taken to San José, a charitable nursing house and convent led by religious women in the capital. There, she suffered from a lack of maternal love, while receiving a strict Roman Catholic education. As a child, she said to have received a visit from Jesus, who allegedly taught her to read.

In 1929, she began to receive spiritual visits from Saint Thérèse de Lisieux. María Luisa desired to become a saint like Thérèse. In June that year, she decided to enter the religious life.

Many religious sisters of San José left the house and María Luisa went to live with her mother in Madrid, working as a seamstress until July 1940. During that time, she allegedly received the divine mission of founding a religious institution with the crucified Jesus as its emblem.