Today October 11

Today is the feast of St. Maria Soledad Torres Acosta, SM (1826 - 1887), of the Servants of Mary, home health care nurses, a noble cause that she put under the patronage of Mary, Health of the Sick.

In Madrid the hospital was run by the Daughters of St. Vincent de Paul, but they never sent their sisters to the homes of those who for whatever reason could not come to -- or afford -- the hospital. So, Father Michael, a pastor in the poorest section of the city, recruited women he thought could do it. He had his doubts about Vibiana (later named Sister Soledad) because of her poor health, but he took her anyway. (Truth be told, he only took her, the little dairymaid, because he was devoted to the Seven Sorrows of Mary, and he needed another girl to make seven. Who knew that of all the seven, only little Vibiana would last?)

She was an ordinary girl, quiet but also given to practical jokes, but warm-hearted and devout. She was ultimately rejected by the Dominicans, which she tried to join, but propitiously heard of Father Michael and interviewed successfully with him. She learned nursing and took her vows August 15, 1851. Immediately she began the home health care of all, rich and poor, regardless of ability to pay. She was squeamish, surprisingly, but I've heard (from another nun) that the squeamish ones ultimately make excellent nurses.

Boy, did she have to overcome obstacles. First, there was NO money -- sometimes even no food. Then, worse yet, the mother superior quit and tried to dissolve the congregation. Then, the governor required them to lose the habits and to wear secular dress. This would have profoundly hurt the fledgling order. But the governor himself contracted cholera and the great good care he received from the Servants of Mary caused him to change his mind.

Things began to change. A new spiritual director was chosen. Mother Soledad was chosen superior. A rule was written, and approved by the pope in 1876. Some sisters went to Cuba and started a house there. At. Mother's peaceful death from pneumonia on this date in 1887, the little order was well on its way. Her last words were directed to her sisters: "Children, live together in peace and unity." St. Soledad, pray for us.