Saint María de la Purísima Salvat Romero
October 31
Saint María de la Purísima Salvat Romero (20 February 1926 – 31 October 1998), born María Isabel Salvat Romero, was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and a member of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. She assumed the name of "María de la Purísima of the Cross" after she entered that order. She was beatified on 18 September 2010 in Seville and a second miracle approved in 2015 paved the path for her eventual canonization. She was proclaimed a saint on 18 October 2015. As of 2015, with her death in 1998, she remains the fastest canonized saint proclaimed as such in recent times, with the exception of Pope John Paul II.
Romero joined the Sisters of the Company of the Cross, established by Saint Angela of the Cross, on 8 December 1944 and was vested in the habit of the congregation for the first time on 9 June 1945, also taking a new name to symbolize this. Romero later made her temporary vows on 27 June 1947 and took her perpetual vows on 9 December 1952. In 1966 she was sent to the Mother House of the congregation in Seville where she, in 1968, was named the Provincial of the Mother House. She eventually ascended to the position of Superior General in 1977 and was reelected thrice, remaining in office until her death. During her tenure, she oversaw the updating of the Constitution while attempting during her term to defend and uphold the charism of the congregation. She continued to safeguard the charism while focusing on a renewed fidelity to the message of the Gospel and the magisterium of the Church, as well as an added emphasis on Marian and Eucharistic devotion. Romero also met with the sick and the poor each morning, working tirelessly for them in terms of serving them food and cleaning their clothes. In her role as Mother General she attended the beatification of Angela of the Cross by Pope John Paul II on 5 November 1982.
She was diagnosed with a tumor in 1994 and she faced her illness for the next four years with great docility to the will of God. Romero died in Seville on 31 October 1998. Her memorial is kept on October 31.
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