At the heart of earthly existence, some souls shine with such intense light that they illuminate the path of entire generations. Among them shines the figure of Blessed Mother Speranza of Jesus, a woman whose very name evokes the theological virtue she embodied with ardor. Born Maria Josefa in Spain on September 30, 1893, her life was a hymn to Merciful Love, a love with a precise name: Jesus.
Merciful Love: a calling within a calling
After first entering religious life among the Daughters of Calvary, her journey led her to a deeper calling: in Madrid, she founded the Congregation of the Servant Sisters of Merciful Love. This was only the beginning of a work destined to leave an indelible mark on the world, culminating in the founding of the Congregation of the Sons of Merciful Love in Rome in 1951.
Her heart, an echo of Christ’s Love, beat in unison with that of Jesus. Her experience was an intimate and passionate dialogue with divine Mercy. For her, Jesus was not only the Son of God, but the good Jesus, beautiful beyond all telling. This love was the driving force behind all her actions, a love she ardently desired to be like Christ’s: eternal, just, liberating, faithful, and above all, merciful.
A love to live out every day
Mother Speranza lived this love in everyday life, in her relationships with others. Everyone who met her was certain of being special to her, loved as a unique and cherished child. Hers was a human love, but constantly modeled on the Love of Jesus. Like a special thermometer, her life measured the amount of love she was consciously able to pass on to others: children, young people, the elderly, the sick, priests—no one excluded.
Her gaze was constantly turned toward the Face of Love, that of Jesus. This was not always a joyful privilege, since it often involved sharing in Christ’s greatest sufferings. The throne of Merciful Love is the cross, and Mother Speranza lived this reality deeply, experiencing agony, betrayal, and injustice. Yet in every trial, she learned to fix her gaze on the Crucified Christ, drawing from him the strength to love and forgive.
The Shrine of Merciful Love
Mother Speranza’s desire to spread God’s immense kindness and his boundless love for humanity took shape in the construction of the Shrine of Merciful Love in Collevalenza. This sacred place became a pilgrimage destination, a beacon of hope and consolation.
In the name of Merciful Love, Mother Speranza became “a flute that plays; the Lord’s doorkeeper; a handkerchief that wipes away tears…” for anyone who crossed the threshold of the Shrine of Collevalenza.
Even today, every pilgrim who arrives at this place breathes in love and faith: those who enter wounded and disappointed by life leave comforted and hopeful, renewed and ready for a new life because they encounter the face of a Father who loves and is always ready to embrace his children.
Mother Speranza’s boundless trust in Merciful Love, which is capable of healing body and soul, is contained in the prayer that accompanies the act of drinking the Water of Merciful Love:
«My Lord and my God,
through your love and mercy,
from every illness, especially those
heal us, your children,
that human science cannot cure
and grant that with your help
may we always keep
our soul from every grave sin».
If you would like to learn more about the life and work of Mother Speranza, we recommend the volume in the I Santi del Messalino series dedicated to her: I Santi del Messalino. Mother Speranza. Her life, mystical experiences, and the Shrine.
In the preface to the book, Father Massimo Tofani, vice-postulator of the canonization cause of Blessed Speranza of Jesus, who edited and supervised the creation of the volume, writes: «The Lord chose Mother Speranza to proclaim the Merciful Love of God and to show all people “that God is a Father full of goodness who seeks by every means to comfort, help, and make his children happy; he seeks them and pursues them with tireless love, as if He could not be happy without them.” Thus, mercy does not remain something abstract, but in the life of Mother Speranza it became concrete through assistance to the poor, those most in need, and priests. For this reason, all the works of the Family of Merciful Love, from the perspective of its Foundress, embrace those who are in need and, above all, priests, so that they may refresh body and spirit».
And so, to us who live in this time marked by so much evil and darkness, Blessed Speranza of Jesus teaches us to hope beyond all hope, as is inscribed in her name; she teaches us to see light within every darkness; she reminds us that we are beloved children; she reveals to us the true face of God, who is Merciful Love.
