María Montserrat Grases García (10 July 1941 – 26 March 1959) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

secular member of

Opus Dei Opus Dei, formally known as the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei ( la, Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their work ...

. Grases became part of Opus Dei on 24 December 1957 after she discerned whether or not her path would allow her to join their ranks. Her cheerfulness and friendship with others made her a known figure for her piousness and her compassionate nature towards the poor and the ill since she would often catechize to children and tend to the poor in the poor regions in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

alongside her friends. Grases further continued her studies despite her

bone cancer A bone tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as noncancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body such as from lung, breast, thy ...

and she continued to demonstrate a cheerful demeanor centered on offering her suffering for Opus Dei's founder Saint Josemaría Escrivá and for both

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

and

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 28 Oc ...

who both reigned during her illness. The cause for her beatification commenced after her death on 19 December 1962 thus making her known as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

while the confirmation of her

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

on 26 April 2016 allowed for

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

to title Grases as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

Life

María Montserrat Grases García was born in

on 10 July 1941 as the second of nine children to Manuel Grases and Manolita García. Her

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

was celebrated on 19 July in the church of Nuestra Señora del Pilar. People knew her with affection as "Montse". Her parents sought to create a climate in which sincere faith was fostered with great respect for their children's freedom. In late 1942 she suffered from

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

but remedies failed to work promoting constant care for her condition which improved and was gone in the summer of 1943. On 11 June 1944 - with her brothers Jorge and Enrique - she received her

Confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

at the parish of Santa María. Grases made her

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin Church tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Commun ...

on 27 May 1948. In October 1946 she began her schooling and in 1951 commenced her high school education under the care of

nuns A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. Once she graduated from her high school education she continued her studies at the Professional College for Women in Barcelona while alternating that with piano courses. Grases liked sport and music as well as traditional local dances; he favorite dance was the "sardanas". Her friends would go with her on frequent trips to the poor regions to teach

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adul ...

to children and often bought them sweets. Grases liked

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

as well as outings with friends and participating in theatrical works. Grases also climbed mountains near Seva where she liked to spend her summers and also liked

ping-pong Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

. In 1951 she was awarded a prize after winning a bike race. In 1954 she had her first encounter with

but knew of them beforehand since her parents had joined in 1952. Her mother encouraged her to visit an Opus Dei center that offered classes to girls to help strengthen her faith and her spiritual life but there existed some doubts as to whether she wished to belong to Opus Dei. In 1956 she attended an Opus Dei retreat to discern her calling but did not come to a conclusion as to whether she desired to join Opus Dei. On 24 December 1957 she saw that

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

was calling her to the path of holiness offered in Opus Dei and she asked for admission into their ranks after seeking counsel from those around her. In 1958 she went skiing with friends at La Molina and injured her leg which caused pain over the course of several months prompting for her to be taken on 26 June 1958 to a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

clinic for evaluation. In June 1958 she was diagnosed with

Ewing's sarcoma Ewing sarcoma is a type of cancer that forms in bone or soft tissue. Symptoms may include swelling and pain at the site of the tumor, fever, and a bone fracture. The most common areas where it begins are the legs, pelvis, and chest wall. In about ...

in one leg after having experienced great pain for several months. Once the news had been broken to her she was heard singing a Mexican song later on 27 June in Llar:

"When I was living so happily, without thinking of love, you wanted me to love you and I loved you passionately. And I will continue to love you even after death. For I love you with the soul, and the soul never dies".

The

caused intense pains which she bore with both a serene and heroic fortitude. Throughout her illness she never lost her contagious cheerfulness or her desire for friendship which sprang from her deep interior life and zeal for souls. It was as a result of this that she continued bringing friends and schoolmates closer to God. From 11–17 November 1958 she visited

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where she got to see

and also was able to meet Saint Josemaría Escrivá on 13 November. He was to give her his blessing and she tried to kneel though Escrivá prevented her from doing so. He instead put his hands on her head and made the

sign of the Cross Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...

on her forehead in blessing. It was upon her return home that her condition worsened and she found she was unable to sleep at night. Grases offered her pain for the founder and for the pope. García died in Barcelona on 26 March 1959 -

Holy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

- at around 10:00am after she tried to sit up in her bed. The girl died - according to witnesses - looking at a picture of the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are ''Dei Genitrix'' or '' Deipara'' (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations ar ...

. Her last words were: "How much I love You! When are You coming for me"? Her remains were later exhumed and relocated in 1994.

Beatification process

The beatification process opened in Barcelona in an informative process that spanned from 19 December 1962 until 26 March 1968 collecting witness testimonies and documentation as well as Grases' spiritual writings. There were 27 testimonies collected from those who knew her on a personal level. The theologians inspected her spiritual writings and approved them of possessing no doctrinal errors on 22 February 1974 while the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

validated the informative process in Rome on 15 May 1992. On 10 May 1993 a request was lodged to hold another process to collect additional documentation and testimonies though not required. This diocesan process opened on 10 June 1993 and closed later on 28 October 1993 collecting another 100 testimonies. The C.C.S. later validated this process on 21 January 1994. The postulation later submitted the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. De ...

dossier to the C.C.S. for assessment in December 1999 though the cause remained inactive for sometime until 30 June 2015 when theologians provided an affirmative response and approved the cause after having inspected the dossier. Cardinal Angelo Amato - the C.C.S. prefect - chaired the session of the C.C.S. members that approved the cause on 19 April 2016.

confirmed that Grases had lived a model Christian life of

and named her as

on 26 April 2016. The then-Opus Dei prelate Javier Echevarría Rodríguez welcomed the pope's decision and said that Grases had "corresponded to God's love" and had "sought to be pious" while noting that she strove to "work well with a spirit of service" to others. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

for this cause from 25 October 2013 is Monsignor José Gutiérrez Gómez.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle

Opus Dei site on Montse

Text of the decree on heroic virtues
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grases, Montserrat 1941 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Spanish people 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Christian mystics Deaths from bone cancer Deaths from cancer in Spain Opus Dei members People from Barcelona Roman Catholic child venerables Roman Catholic mystics Spanish children Spanish Christian mystics Spanish Roman Catholics Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis