Maria Micaela Desmaisieres
Saint Maria Micaela Desmaisieres (1 January 1809 - 24 August 1865) was the founder of the Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity.[1]
Early life
Maria Micaela Desmaisieres y Lopez de Dicastillo was born on 1 January 1809 in Madrid during the Spanish war of independence. Her father was a high-ranking officer in the Spanish army and her mother was a lady-in-waiting to the Spanish Queen, Maria Luisa de Parma. Her mother died while Maria was a child.[1]
Maria Micaela's life unfolded in the circles of the Spanish and French nobility. Through her family and social connections she had very cordial relationships with the Monarchs in Spain, France, and Belgium, and spent most of her young life accompanying her brother, the Spanish Ambassador Diego, to the Royal Palaces. Dances, parties, social gatherings and horse riding were the order of the day for her.
Search for Vocation
During these same years, Maria Micaela searched to find the direction she should give her life. She had inherited from her father a warrior's temperament, which prepared her for the hard battles in her later life, as well as nobility and generosity. Her heart, sensitive and compassionate, was guided by her mother towards works of charity towards the sick and needy, and she alternated between acts of charity and the daily life imposed on her by her social class. She was also very fond of spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, and it was her love for Jesus in the Eucharist which later become the soul of her work.
Mission
At the age of 35 Maria Micaela's eyes were opened to the painful realities of life. In her very first visit to the St. John of God Hospital in Madrid on 6 February 1844, she met a young girl, a banker's only daughter, who had become drawn into prostitution through deception and was now socially marginalised and facing economic hardship. The story of this girl, as well as those of many others, convinced her that something had to be done to help these women. Making use of her social connections, Maria Micaela set about establishing a shelter where these women could come for help.
The shelter was officially opened on 21 April 1845 and innumerable young girls and women knocked at the doors seeking assistance. This uncovered a great need which lead Maria Micaela to establish the Congregation of Adoratrices, Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity in 1856 with the sole purpose of ensuring the continuity of the work. It was approved as a Religious Institute of Pontifical Rights by Pope IX in 1860.
Maria Micaela died in Valencia on 25 August 1865 when she fell victim of the cholera epidemic whilst attending to some of the Sisters Adoratrices and to women infected by the disease.
Canonization
Maria Micaela was canonized in 1934.[1]
