MOTHER MARGARITA’S experience of Christ the Redeemer was the driving force behind her mission. I am sure that if we even came close to understanding the immensity of the Redemption: Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, we would be holy people ourselves, and sainthood would not elude us.
But Mother Margarita not only possessed a great insight into Christ the Redeemer, she lived to love and be grateful for the Redemption. Her happiness was in sharing Jesus with others, whereby she also glorified the Father.
In the life and spirituality of Mother Margarita, her long and profound contemplation of Christ the Redeemer led her to commit herself to Christ with joy and happiness, without measuring the risks involved, and to renew the redemptive fourth vow of the Mercedarian tradition. Mother Margarita said” The knowledge of Jesus Christ absorbs me and fills me with joy. …Understanding, will, spirit, – everything tends to joyfully hold fast to God our most loving Father, who by His free will sent His Son to redeem us…”
This joy was so great that she was able to instill her love for the missions in those around her. As a young teacher she founded the Mercedarian Missionary Youth Association, and her zeal consumed the girls she taught. They spent countless hours of their free time preparing packages for a hospital of lepers in eastern Spain. The girls collected many gifts and gave away some of their own treasures such as jewelry, toys and candy their own families had sent them. This is how the association blossomed and grew in the missionary spirit. In time this missionary zeal of the association included the missions of China, Japan and the Pacific Islands.
The culminating event of all this missionary zeal was of course, the transformation of the cloistered convent in Berriz, into a missionary institute. To be sent by God on this journey to the ends of the earth; to be co- redeemers with Christ; this was the breath of the spirit alive in the Mercedarians.
“I would like to make Jesus known and to imprint in all peoples and races, even to the outmost parts of the earth, the image of this divine Redeemer, so disfigured on the Cross” – Blessed Margarita Maturana
Following in the footsteps of the Mercedarian founder, Saint Peter Nolasco, who added a fourth vow to ransom Christian captives in danger of los- ing their faith, the charism of this missionary spirit gave Mother Margarita a strong desire to practice the fourth vow, even if it had a different emphasis in the world she lived in. Her writing defines the stimulus of this spirit as the “desire to love Jesus Christ in a new and total way; to love him above all in those who do not know him.” The secret of
understanding Saint Peter Nolasco’s founding of the Mercedarian order is exemplified in his profound devotion to Jesus, the Redeemer of the world, characteristic of the Redemptive Fourth Vow. This vow was renewed in the Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz by Mother Margarita as distinctive of their missionary life. Instead of offering themselves in place of captives, they vow “…to remain in the mission when there would be danger of losing one’s life if the good of our sisters and brothers so demands.”
The practice of this vow was clearly seen right here on Saipan during World War II, when the Japanese wanted the Mercedarians to leave Saipan. They chose instead to live that Fourth Vow, by remaining in the islands at the cost of their lives. This was also the spirit that gave so many islanders the courage, which sustained them through the war years.
The fact that the Mariana and Caroline Islands were so distant, made redemption even more precious. In speaking about these islands Mother Margarita wrote:
“The beautiful, poor, hidden and isolated mission where one scarcely receives some faraway echoes…this is the mission for great works, the mission of secret and silent sacrifices…I know that many missiologists believe that if we were to compare China or Japan with these small islands, the latter are not so important. But both the huge and the small territories are a wealth for the apostle; souls to save; souls that are God’s and hunger for Him.” …And having raised our eyes on high, very high, and looking at heaven and Jesus Christ any sacrifice disappears…Please tell me without Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ destroyed out of love for us, who could be as crazy as the missionaries, to risk everything for the sake of some unknown people?…Hasn’t Jesus Christ died for us? Well, then we have to die for our brethren.”
And it wasn’t always easy. Despite the great joy in the work of the missions, Mother Margarita’s life was a journey, a process to fulfill the Will of God. At the beginning, she probably thought she was choosing a direction. But as she journeyed, she realized it was not so much a matter of choosing but of welcoming and discerning the surprises in life…especially the surprises that God was showing her as she went deeper and deeper into the Mystery of Redemption. She would find clear stretches during which she could advance with agility and other times that were hard and rocky and that had a limited vision. She journeyed in touch with what she lived, and lived it deeply, listening to the promptings that came to her from distant lands. God’s voice was becoming irresistible, and the same God that called her, put her into action. The hardest part of all this was fidelity; she had moments when her humanness made her feel far from God. In one of these moments she wrote:
“My love for the crucified Jesus stirs inside me. I feel the desire to live in love for the cross. In my littleness and my poverty, I continue to feel embarrassed about how much further I have to go while continuing to follow the footsteps of Jesus. In this life of faith, one that I wish to keep, I have so much yet to learn about noble self-sacrifice, self-forgetfulness and unconditional surrender.” Despite these feelings, Mother Margarita was able to connect fidelity to the Mercedarian Redemptive Spirit which was her fourth vow, with an openness to all that she was called to accomplish in the missions. In Mother Margarita we can see that despite her human- ness, her desire for God was the source of her peace and freedom. In her life’s journey, though dispersed and divided, we see how little by little her journey comes full circle. She continued to desire; to search for Gods will in all she did. She continued to involve herself in ev- erything God asked of her, despite the difficulties it entailed. During this Holy Week, the life of Mother Margarita should inspire us to examine our own desires in the light of the Redemption. We should examine the reality that makes us aware of the love and mercy of God. The Redemption is a sign for us that our world threatened by violence, injustice, suffering and exclusion can find hope. And that hope can come through us. In the words of Mother Margarita, “Do not let one day go by without doing something great for the love of Christ.”
(Committee for the Canonization of Mother Margarita Maturana)
UPDATE ON CANONIZATION PROCESS:
Sr. Flor de Maria Alvarez, MMB, the General Postulator for the Cause of Canonization of Mother Margarita has just informed the Diocese and this Committee that the possibility of an equipollent canonization is not the route needed to be taken, rather the acceptance of another miracle (after Beatification, in this case 2006).
We all know that Mother Margarita Maturana continues to intercede for us. Very soon we will be making available copies of The Novena Prayer for the Sick for those interested in continuing to pray through her intercession.
We also encourage anyone who has a personal story to share about Mother Margarita to please do so. You can submit your sharing directly to the Sisters at Maturana – not addressing it to Pope Francis as requested before, but rather: Cause for the Canonization of Blessed Margarita Maria Maturana.
We thank Bishop Ryan for his continual support of the Mercedarian Sisters and their Foundress, Mother Margarita Maturana.
We will continue sharing the story of Mother Margarita and the MMB Sisters on Saipan who have been a big part of the faith experience of the people of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa. There will be a few more articles in the current series which will take us into the Easter Season and later in the coming months more good things to share! The 90th Anniversary of the arrival of the Mercedarian Sisters here on Saipan will be on March 4, 2018, so all that we are doing now will also lead us to then.
Sincerely,
Committee for the Canonization of Mother Margarita
