By Sarah Levesque (Rated G)
Ascensión Nicol y Goñi was born on March 14, 1868 in Tafalla, Navarra, Spain. She attended a boarding school run by Dominican sisters and, as an adult, felt a call to join them. She made her vows to become a Third Order Dominican, becoming Sister Ascensión of the Heart of Jesus. She taught for twenty-eight years, but then the government took the school away from the sisters.
Following a long-held desire to serve the poor, at age 45, Mother Ascensión and four of her sisters accepted a mission to Peru, where they trekked through jungle and mountains to Porto Maldonado, the first European women to make the journey. Here, under the spiritual leadership of Bishop Ramon Zubieta, O.P., they started a boarding school for poor girls, and helped the community of natives by ministering to the sick.
Eventually the Master General of the Dominican Order advised that Mother Ascensión’s sisters become a new Order. Mother Ascensión submitted to this idea and the Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Rosary was founded. Mother Ascensión and Bishop Zubieta were credited as co-founders, with Mother Ascensión taking the post of Superior General of the new Order, which later sent missionaries to other parts of the world. Mother Ascensión was called an “intrepid and tireless fighter” and was said to have “maternal tenderness capable of conquering hearts.” Devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Our Lady of the Rosary, she made many sacrifices for the salvation of souls. She died on February 24th, 1940 and was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church on May 14, 2005.
May we, like Mother Ascensión, be ready to follow God’s will courageously into the unknown, humbly accepting the hardships and the sacrifices made along the way.
Sources:
https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20050514_nicol_en.html
LogoSophia Magazine 
Amen. Thank you.
LikeLike