Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro
Encyclopedia
Saint
Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro, S.S.J., (6 June 1837-8 August 1905) was the co-foundress of the Religious Congregation of the Servants of St. Joseph and the "Nazareth workshop" to help the poor and unemployed women. They were an innovative foundation of Religious Sisters in Spain in the 19th century.
, Spain
, on 6 June 1837, in a small home on Las Mazas Street, near the ancient University
to Juan Rodríguez and María Natalia Castro, who were devout and pious people. Her father was a tailor
and the family was very poor, frequently having to move because he was unable to pay the rent. From a very young age, Bonifacia helped her father with his craft in his small shop, by sewing some of the work he was able to get, as well as caring for her younger siblings.
After completing a basic schooling, Bonifacia began to work as a ropemaker. Later, in 1865, after the marriage of her sister, the only surviving sibling
, she was able to set up a small workshop in the family home for making rope, lace and various other items. In this way, Rodríguez lived a quiet life with her now-widowed mother, one in which she was able to grow and deepen her faith, meditating and praying throughout the daily routine.
After five years as an independent artisan
, in 1870 Bonifacia met a newly-arrived priest from Catalonia
, Fr. Francesc Xavier Butinyà i Hospital
, S.J.. Butinyà was from a family of factory owners, but he had a vision of responding to the needs of the growing working class which had arisen from the Industrial Revolution
, one which was far ahead of the Church leaders of the day. He preached that work was a way for all to become more free equal in society, and also to give witness to the teachings of the Gospel
. Rodríguez and her mother attended daily Masses
at the nearby Jesuit Church of La Clerecía, where Butinyà preached and Bonifacia decided that this priest was the one to guide her in her spiritual searching.
Bonifacia opened her workshop as a meeting place for gatherings for working women like herself, both for socializing and for times of reflection on the themes and issues of the day. They invited Father Butinyà to these gatherings, and, under his guidance, they established themselves as the Association of the Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph. Gradually Rodríguez felt herself called to religious life in a convent
, and finally decided to enter a local one. Butinyà, however, saw in her the model he envisioned of a woman who could imitate the quiet life of service and prayer which Christ
Himself had followed in His home in Nazareth
, with Mary, His mother, and Joseph. He therefore proposed to her that she take a radically different path, one in which a community of religious women could respond to the situation of poor, working women, who had such severely limited opportunities in life, a response based on their mutual reality of earning their daily living through industrial work.
, and also seeking his protection. They took religious vows on 10 January 1874. Three days before, on January 7th, the Bishop of Salamanca, Don
Joaquin Lluch y Garriga (1816-1882), had signed the Decree of Erection of the religious institute
. A Catalan like Butinyà, he had supported with great enthusiasm the new foundation from the first.
This community came into being at a very troubled time in Spanish
history, one of great civil unrest and violence at the height of the First Spanish Republic
. Butinyà, who is honoured as their co-founder, wrote a short Rule of Life for the small community, in which he envisioned their demonstrating, through their lives, that there was a fraternity in labour, and through their creating spaces where workers could become free and critical observers of their society in the light of the Gospel
. Bonifacia Rodríguez developed deep trust in this vision, and maintained a strong sense of her life as an imitation of that of St. Joseph, who worked quietly building a home in Nazareth. This was the vision which was to sustain her throughout her life.
This trust was needed, as the community faced the loss of Bishop Lluch and his support, when, within days of their foundation, he was transferred to the new post of Bishop of Barcelona. Then came the loss of Butinyà, with his guidance when, the following April, he was expelled from Spain, along with all the other members of the Society of Jesus, due to the anti-clerical laws of the Republic. Though he soon wrote them from his place of exile in France, Rodríguez faced the burden alone of sustaining the community and their goal of protecting the youth of the city. She faced a huge task: the community had been formed into a religious congregation, one, however, which had chosen to root its life among the working class, sharing their life. They wanted to proclaim to the working poor that, especially for women who had few options for their lives in that society, the teachings and life of Christ were not for an abstract, moralistic imitation, but were a guide to their taking their proper place in a Christian society.
The Republic fell less than a year after the Congregation had formed, and the monarchy was returned to power. A period of peace came to the nation as a result. The Church felt secure again and sought to return to traditional modes of operation. A new Bishop of Salamanca was installed, Narciso Martínez e Izquierdo, who immediately looked to invigorate the structures and organizations of the Church. Among these was the life of the religious communities of the city. He grasped and supported the vision of the Josephite Servants. With this time of peace and official support, the number of Servants grew, and they expanded their ministry to reach out to those they had been unable to reach previously.
Many of the clergy
of the city did not share the enthusiasm of their bishops, however, and felt scandalized by this innovation of having religious women laboring in a workshop like any other person of the working class. In 1878, the Bishop appointed Don
Pedro García y Repila as the new Director of the Congregation. García was one who did not appreciate either the vision of the Josephites or the contributions of Mother Bonifacia. She began to see herself excluded from decisions regarding the life of the Congregation, just at the time when the growing number of Servants was bringing in women who identified consecrated life
with the security and propriety of a traditional convent, and began to oppose the element of industrial work as a basis of their way of life.
Three years later, the Congregation moved from the working-class neighborhood where Bonificia had lived her entire life to a large, old house which was in total disrepair. The Servants named it the House of St. Teresa. They continued to work, though, with the members of the Josephite Association which Rodríguez had founded in her first days of religious commitment. This collaboration continued to prove fruitful to both groups in working their missions.
. From there he began to write to Mother Bonifacia, urging her to go there in order to expand the Congregation. For various reasons, she was not able to comply with his repeated requests. Thus, in February 1875, Butinyà established a community of Sisters on his own in that region of the country, following the pattern he had helped establish in Castile
. Soon there were several new communities of the Servants of St. Joseph in that region. They remained canonically
separate from the community in Salamanca, however.
A union of the Catalan communities with the community in Salamanca was once more proposed by Butinyà in 1882. This time, Mother Bonifacia was able to fulfil his repeated requests and was able to travel to that region, in order to begin the process for a possible merger. After her visit to the different houses there, whereby she was able to meet and get to know the Catalan Sisters, she stopped in Zaragoza
to consult with Butinyà. While there, she received a letter from the community in Salamanca, in which the writer had signed herself as "Superior". Thus Rodríguez received notice of her removal from office. Upon her return to the house, she encountered only rejection and insults. Deciding that there was no good way to deal with this situation, Rodríguez petitioned the bishop to establish a new house of the Congregation of Servants of St. Joseph in the city of Zamora
. She left Salamanca with her mother on 25 July 1883, never to live there again.
The pair found hospitality in Zamora with a local priest, Felipe González, who had known and supported their work in Salamanca. Nevertheless, Mother Bonifacia felt weak and useless. In that period, Zamora was far more of an agricultural environment that Salamanca, and the move required a complete re-evaluation of the process she had started in Salamanca. Her mother was her main support in that period of transition. Within a week of their arrival, however, a novice
from Salamanca, and a new candidate, Soccoro Hernández, joined her. The latter was to become her faithful companion.
By November of that year, the small group was able to establish their own home in the city, where they began again to establish the project, setting up a workshop whereby they could earn their living and which would provide a gathering place for their collaborators in the mission. They were desperately poor, but persevered. In the meantime, they received frequent communications from Butinyà, who encouraged them in their perseverance.
Back in Salamanca, García y Repila was leading the community there away from the commitment to manual labor which Butinyà and Rodríguez had seen as fundamental to their way of life, both spiritually and in identifying with their neighbours. This advanced to the point where, in August 1884, Bishop Martínez modified the Constitutions written in 1882 by Butinyà to remove this as an element of their daily lives. Both Rodríguez and Butinyà continued writing them frequently, but the sole reply they received was silence. At that point, Rodríguez decided that the only future lay with the proposed union with the Catalan congregation.
She made another trip to Catalonia in 1886, accompanied by Sister Soccoro. Following this, she made a visit to the House of St. Teresa in Salamanca, in a final attempt at a complete union of all the communities. She saw that there was a total lack of interest for this among the Sisters in Salamanca. Thus the proposed union never came to be. The Catalan communities became an independent Congregation, calling themselves the Daughters of St. Joseph, and Zamora became the new cradle of the Servants of St. Joseph.
On 1 July 1901, the Congregation received formal Papal approbation
by Pope Leo XIII
. Publication of this led many priests of the diocese to contact the Servants to congratulate them. Noticeable in the silence was any word from the House of St. Teresa, which had been specifically excluded from the papal decree. On November 15th of that same year, the entire community in Zamora signed a letter to them, seeking some way of maintaining the bonds between the two groups. On December 7th, the current Superior in Salamanca, Luisa Huerta, replied. She wrote that there were no documents indicating any such connection between them, and claimed that it was Rodríguez herself who had walked out of the community.
Mother Bonifacia decided to make one final attempt to achieve a reconciliation. She went personally to Salamanca. There she was denied admission and ignored by the members of the community. Mother Bonifacia kept this sorrow to herself the rest of her life, only pouring it out gently in her journal with these words: “I shall neither return to the land where I was born nor to this beloved House of Saint Teresa”. Again silence sealed her lips, so that the community of Zamora learned of what happened only after her death. Thus she returned to Zamora and continued her life there, quietly working with the young girls and women of the city. She died on 8 August 1905.
, throughout South America
, also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, the Philippines
, Papua New Guinea
and Vietnam
. They continue their work in the model set by St. Bonifacia, establishing industrial centres for training young women and guiding them in becoming witnesses to the Gospel in their societies.
beatified Mother Bonifacia on 9 November 2003 in Rome. In 2011, the Holy See
announced that Pope Benedict XVI
had authorized that Mother Bonifacia be canonized, with the date set for 23 October.
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro, S.S.J., (6 June 1837-8 August 1905) was the co-foundress of the Religious Congregation of the Servants of St. Joseph and the "Nazareth workshop" to help the poor and unemployed women. They were an innovative foundation of Religious Sisters in Spain in the 19th century.
Foundation
Rodríguez was born in SalamancaSalamanca
Salamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, on 6 June 1837, in a small home on Las Mazas Street, near the ancient University
University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the town of Salamanca, west of Madrid. It was founded in 1134 and given the Royal charter of foundation by King Alfonso IX in 1218. It is the oldest founded university in Spain and the third oldest European...
to Juan Rodríguez and María Natalia Castro, who were devout and pious people. Her father was a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
and the family was very poor, frequently having to move because he was unable to pay the rent. From a very young age, Bonifacia helped her father with his craft in his small shop, by sewing some of the work he was able to get, as well as caring for her younger siblings.
After completing a basic schooling, Bonifacia began to work as a ropemaker. Later, in 1865, after the marriage of her sister, the only surviving sibling
Sibling
Siblings are people who share at least one parent. A male sibling is called a brother; and a female sibling is called a sister. In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood socializing with one another...
, she was able to set up a small workshop in the family home for making rope, lace and various other items. In this way, Rodríguez lived a quiet life with her now-widowed mother, one in which she was able to grow and deepen her faith, meditating and praying throughout the daily routine.
After five years as an independent artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
, in 1870 Bonifacia met a newly-arrived priest from Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
, Fr. Francesc Xavier Butinyà i Hospital
Francesc Xavier Butinyà i Hospital
Francesc Xavier Butinyà i Hospital was a Catalan missionary Jesuit, teacher and writer and the founder of two religious congregations of Sisters. He was the son of a prosperous factory owner...
, S.J.. Butinyà was from a family of factory owners, but he had a vision of responding to the needs of the growing working class which had arisen from the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, one which was far ahead of the Church leaders of the day. He preached that work was a way for all to become more free equal in society, and also to give witness to the teachings of the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
. Rodríguez and her mother attended daily Masses
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
at the nearby Jesuit Church of La Clerecía, where Butinyà preached and Bonifacia decided that this priest was the one to guide her in her spiritual searching.
Bonifacia opened her workshop as a meeting place for gatherings for working women like herself, both for socializing and for times of reflection on the themes and issues of the day. They invited Father Butinyà to these gatherings, and, under his guidance, they established themselves as the Association of the Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph. Gradually Rodríguez felt herself called to religious life in a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
, and finally decided to enter a local one. Butinyà, however, saw in her the model he envisioned of a woman who could imitate the quiet life of service and prayer which Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
Himself had followed in His home in Nazareth
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest city in the North District of Israel. Known as "the Arab capital of Israel," the population is made up predominantly of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel...
, with Mary, His mother, and Joseph. He therefore proposed to her that she take a radically different path, one in which a community of religious women could respond to the situation of poor, working women, who had such severely limited opportunities in life, a response based on their mutual reality of earning their daily living through industrial work.
A new congregation
Rodríguez took up the challenge along with her mother and five other members of the Association, who then moved into the small Rodríguez home to form a religious community, with her as their leader. They took the name Servants of St. Joseph, to show their identification with him as the primary labourer in the Holy FamilyHoly Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph.The Feast of the Holy Family is a liturgical celebration in the Roman Catholic Church in honor of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Saint Joseph, as a family...
, and also seeking his protection. They took religious vows on 10 January 1874. Three days before, on January 7th, the Bishop of Salamanca, Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Joaquin Lluch y Garriga (1816-1882), had signed the Decree of Erection of the religious institute
Religious institute
In the Roman Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, and lead a life of brothers or sisters in common".-Distinctions...
. A Catalan like Butinyà, he had supported with great enthusiasm the new foundation from the first.
This community came into being at a very troubled time in Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
history, one of great civil unrest and violence at the height of the First Spanish Republic
First Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
. Butinyà, who is honoured as their co-founder, wrote a short Rule of Life for the small community, in which he envisioned their demonstrating, through their lives, that there was a fraternity in labour, and through their creating spaces where workers could become free and critical observers of their society in the light of the Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
. Bonifacia Rodríguez developed deep trust in this vision, and maintained a strong sense of her life as an imitation of that of St. Joseph, who worked quietly building a home in Nazareth. This was the vision which was to sustain her throughout her life.
This trust was needed, as the community faced the loss of Bishop Lluch and his support, when, within days of their foundation, he was transferred to the new post of Bishop of Barcelona. Then came the loss of Butinyà, with his guidance when, the following April, he was expelled from Spain, along with all the other members of the Society of Jesus, due to the anti-clerical laws of the Republic. Though he soon wrote them from his place of exile in France, Rodríguez faced the burden alone of sustaining the community and their goal of protecting the youth of the city. She faced a huge task: the community had been formed into a religious congregation, one, however, which had chosen to root its life among the working class, sharing their life. They wanted to proclaim to the working poor that, especially for women who had few options for their lives in that society, the teachings and life of Christ were not for an abstract, moralistic imitation, but were a guide to their taking their proper place in a Christian society.
The Republic fell less than a year after the Congregation had formed, and the monarchy was returned to power. A period of peace came to the nation as a result. The Church felt secure again and sought to return to traditional modes of operation. A new Bishop of Salamanca was installed, Narciso Martínez e Izquierdo, who immediately looked to invigorate the structures and organizations of the Church. Among these was the life of the religious communities of the city. He grasped and supported the vision of the Josephite Servants. With this time of peace and official support, the number of Servants grew, and they expanded their ministry to reach out to those they had been unable to reach previously.
Many of the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
of the city did not share the enthusiasm of their bishops, however, and felt scandalized by this innovation of having religious women laboring in a workshop like any other person of the working class. In 1878, the Bishop appointed Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Pedro García y Repila as the new Director of the Congregation. García was one who did not appreciate either the vision of the Josephites or the contributions of Mother Bonifacia. She began to see herself excluded from decisions regarding the life of the Congregation, just at the time when the growing number of Servants was bringing in women who identified consecrated life
Consecrated life
The consecrated life in the Christian tradition, especially the Roman Catholic Church, but also the Anglican Church and to some extent other Christian denominations, is, as the Roman Catholic Code of Canon Law states: "a stable form of living by which faithful, following Christ more closely under...
with the security and propriety of a traditional convent, and began to oppose the element of industrial work as a basis of their way of life.
Three years later, the Congregation moved from the working-class neighborhood where Bonificia had lived her entire life to a large, old house which was in total disrepair. The Servants named it the House of St. Teresa. They continued to work, though, with the members of the Josephite Association which Rodríguez had founded in her first days of religious commitment. This collaboration continued to prove fruitful to both groups in working their missions.
Expansion and division
Butinyà's period of exile had ended with the return of the monarchy, but he had returned to his native CataloniaCatalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. From there he began to write to Mother Bonifacia, urging her to go there in order to expand the Congregation. For various reasons, she was not able to comply with his repeated requests. Thus, in February 1875, Butinyà established a community of Sisters on his own in that region of the country, following the pattern he had helped establish in Castile
Castile
Castile is derived from a word meaning 'castle' and may refer to:-People:* Brooke Castile , American pairs figure skater* Javier Castilla , professional Colombian squash player* Simeon Castille , NFL cornerback...
. Soon there were several new communities of the Servants of St. Joseph in that region. They remained canonically
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
separate from the community in Salamanca, however.
A union of the Catalan communities with the community in Salamanca was once more proposed by Butinyà in 1882. This time, Mother Bonifacia was able to fulfil his repeated requests and was able to travel to that region, in order to begin the process for a possible merger. After her visit to the different houses there, whereby she was able to meet and get to know the Catalan Sisters, she stopped in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
to consult with Butinyà. While there, she received a letter from the community in Salamanca, in which the writer had signed herself as "Superior". Thus Rodríguez received notice of her removal from office. Upon her return to the house, she encountered only rejection and insults. Deciding that there was no good way to deal with this situation, Rodríguez petitioned the bishop to establish a new house of the Congregation of Servants of St. Joseph in the city of Zamora
Zamora
-Geography:Ecuador* Zamora, Ecuador* Zamora-Chinchipe Province** Zamora RiverMexico* Zamora, Michoacán* Zamora Municipality, Michoacán* Gutiérrez Zamora, VeracruzSpain* Zamora, Spain* Zamora United States...
. She left Salamanca with her mother on 25 July 1883, never to live there again.
The pair found hospitality in Zamora with a local priest, Felipe González, who had known and supported their work in Salamanca. Nevertheless, Mother Bonifacia felt weak and useless. In that period, Zamora was far more of an agricultural environment that Salamanca, and the move required a complete re-evaluation of the process she had started in Salamanca. Her mother was her main support in that period of transition. Within a week of their arrival, however, a novice
Novice
A novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
from Salamanca, and a new candidate, Soccoro Hernández, joined her. The latter was to become her faithful companion.
By November of that year, the small group was able to establish their own home in the city, where they began again to establish the project, setting up a workshop whereby they could earn their living and which would provide a gathering place for their collaborators in the mission. They were desperately poor, but persevered. In the meantime, they received frequent communications from Butinyà, who encouraged them in their perseverance.
Back in Salamanca, García y Repila was leading the community there away from the commitment to manual labor which Butinyà and Rodríguez had seen as fundamental to their way of life, both spiritually and in identifying with their neighbours. This advanced to the point where, in August 1884, Bishop Martínez modified the Constitutions written in 1882 by Butinyà to remove this as an element of their daily lives. Both Rodríguez and Butinyà continued writing them frequently, but the sole reply they received was silence. At that point, Rodríguez decided that the only future lay with the proposed union with the Catalan congregation.
She made another trip to Catalonia in 1886, accompanied by Sister Soccoro. Following this, she made a visit to the House of St. Teresa in Salamanca, in a final attempt at a complete union of all the communities. She saw that there was a total lack of interest for this among the Sisters in Salamanca. Thus the proposed union never came to be. The Catalan communities became an independent Congregation, calling themselves the Daughters of St. Joseph, and Zamora became the new cradle of the Servants of St. Joseph.
A new foundation
Despite the obstacles they endured, the small community in Zamora was able to obtain a larger house. Donations from friends of Father Butinyà had let them buy new and improved equipment for their work. In this new house, they were able to expand to the point where this industrial work was able to sustain not only the Servants, but the young girls they had begun to take in and teach a trade. They used this building to be a centre of industrial training and development of the minds and hearts of their young charges.On 1 July 1901, the Congregation received formal Papal approbation
Approbation
Approbation is, in Roman Catholic canon law, an act by which a bishop or other legitimate superior grants to an ecclesiastic the actual exercise of his ministry....
by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
. Publication of this led many priests of the diocese to contact the Servants to congratulate them. Noticeable in the silence was any word from the House of St. Teresa, which had been specifically excluded from the papal decree. On November 15th of that same year, the entire community in Zamora signed a letter to them, seeking some way of maintaining the bonds between the two groups. On December 7th, the current Superior in Salamanca, Luisa Huerta, replied. She wrote that there were no documents indicating any such connection between them, and claimed that it was Rodríguez herself who had walked out of the community.
Mother Bonifacia decided to make one final attempt to achieve a reconciliation. She went personally to Salamanca. There she was denied admission and ignored by the members of the community. Mother Bonifacia kept this sorrow to herself the rest of her life, only pouring it out gently in her journal with these words: “I shall neither return to the land where I was born nor to this beloved House of Saint Teresa”. Again silence sealed her lips, so that the community of Zamora learned of what happened only after her death. Thus she returned to Zamora and continued her life there, quietly working with the young girls and women of the city. She died on 8 August 1905.
Legacy
As Rodríguez had predicted, the house in Salamanca joined the Congregation in 1907, after her death. Currently, the Servants of St. Joseph serve in ten countries of the world: in addition to its birthplace of Spain, they are in CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, throughout South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. They continue their work in the model set by St. Bonifacia, establishing industrial centres for training young women and guiding them in becoming witnesses to the Gospel in their societies.
Veneration
Pope John Paul IIPope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
beatified Mother Bonifacia on 9 November 2003 in Rome. In 2011, the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
announced that Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
had authorized that Mother Bonifacia be canonized, with the date set for 23 October.
Sources
- Servants of St. Joseph http://www.siervasdesanjose.org/posplamostrar.asp?id=130&comunidad=1
- Vatican News "Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro" http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20031109_castro_en.html