Description
Oil Dedicated to Saint Narcisa de Jesús
St Narcisa de Jesus is brought to you by a Blessed Call to Love, full of Irish blessings.
St Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán was an Ecuadorian Roman Catholic. Martillo was known for her charitable giving and strict devotion to Jesus Christ . Her fame is also for becoming somewhat of a hermit dedicated to discerning Christ’s will. The death of her parents prompted her to relocate in order to work as a seamstress. She doubled this acting as a catechist and educator to some of her siblings who needed caring. But her devotion to God was strong and it led her to live amongst the Dominican religious in Peru.
Life
Narcisa de Jesús Martillo Morán was born on 29 October 1832 in Ecuador. Her mother died in 1838 and she took up much of the domestic chores as a result of this. The girl also turned a small room in her house into use as a domestic chapel. Martillo had a clear perception of her call to saintliness as a child. She received her Confirmation on 16 September 1839. Martillo frequented a small wood near her home for contemplation in solitude. Consequently, one of the guava tree near which she went to is now a large pilgrimage destination.
The death of her father prompted her to relocate to Guayaquil where she began her mission of helping he poor and sick. She also took up a job as a seamstress to fund her mission.
In June 1868 she relocated to Lima in Peru at the advice of her new Franciscan spiritual director Pedro Gual where she lived in the Dominican convent at Patrocinio. Here she followed a demanding schedule of eight hours of reflection offered in silence and solitude. In terms of nourishment she fasted on bread and water alone and took the Eucharist as her sole form of sustenance while was sometimes seen in an ecstatic state.
In late September 1869 she developed high fevers and soon died on 8 December 1869. Upon her death a nun reported a pleasant and sweet odour filling the room that Martillo had died in. Her remains were deemed to be incorrupt in 1955 upon exhumation and were transferred from Peru back to her homeland of Ecuador.
Canonisation
Upon her death the cities that she had dwelt in came to revere and acclaim her as a saint while the Dominican nuns she had lived with preserved her remains at their Peru convent. Martillo became titled as Venerable on 23 October 1987 after Pope John Paul II acknowledged the fact that she had lived a model life of heroic virtue.
The first miracle for her canonisation was approved and validated on the 27 June 1991. John Paul II approved this miracle on 7 March 1992 and beatified her in Saint Peter’s Square on 25 October 1992.
The second and final miracle needed for full sainthood was approved on 19 December 2006. Pope Benedict XVI approved this miracle on 1 June 2007.
Miracles
The miracle that led to her beatification was the healing of Juan Pesántez Peñaranda. A single man who was working in banana plantations in Pasaje in El Oro. When he was working a banana stalk struck him in the head and caused several tumours to appear which repeated surgeries could not cure. He was just over 20 at the time and didn’t believe in miracles. While he was at the Luis Vernanza Hospital he met a policeman who suggested he write “Narcisita” on a piece of paper. He was sceptical that this would bring results. However this did and a dream occurred of her that night which caused him to be cured of his tumours.
The miracle that led to her sainthood was the healing of Edelmina Arellano. He was cured from a congenital defect in 1992. Edelmina was born without genital organs and at the age of seven was cured. This happened after her mother took her to the shrine dedicated to the then-Blessed and appealed for her intercession. Mere hours later her doctor testified that the girl was normal like all other children with no defects apparent.
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