Blessed Bonifacia Rodr¡guez de Castro will be canonized this year Oct. 23 with Blessed Guido Maria Conforti and Blessed Luigi Guanella.

Bonifacia was born in Salamanca, Spain, June 6, 1837. She was the eldest of six children. After the death of her father she supported the family with manual labour. She learned the trade of cord-making and eventually set up her own cord shop.

Imitation of Holy Family

During work, Bonifacia strived to be recollected and to imitate the hidden life of the Holy Family. Bonifacia had great devotion to Mary the Immaculate Conception, and to St. Joseph. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854, and St. Joseph was declared patron of the universal Church in 1870.

Of the siblings of Bonifacia, only Agustina reached adulthood. After her wedding in 1865, Bonifacia and her mother devoted themselves to a life of intense piety.

A group of young girls were attracted by Bonifacia’s way of life, and they began to come to her shop on holidays to avoid dangerous forms of entertainment. Eventually they founded the Association of the Immaculate and St. Joseph, also known as the Josephine Association.

New form of religious life

Bonifacia desired to become a Dominican nun, but her spiritual director, Father Francisco Javier Buti¤a y Hospital, persuaded her to help him found a religious community, the Congregation of the Servants of St. Joseph.

Bonifacia began community life with six members of the Josephine Association (including her own mother) at her shop Jan. 10, 1874. This was a new way of living religious life.

The sisters worked in the world and imitated the Holy Family. They also provided work for unemployed women and prevented them from being led astray.

This new style of community was opposed by some clergymen in Salamanca. A new priest director appointed by the Bishop had Bonifacia removed as mother superior.

Way of the cross

Like many other saints, Bonifacia experienced opposition from within the Church. After being removed as mother superior, she experienced rejection and calumny. Some people wanted to force her to leave Salamanca.

Like Jesus, Bonifacia responded to persecution with silence and forgiveness. As a solution for the conflict, she proposed to the Bishop of Salamanca to found a new community in Zamora. So in July 1883 Bonifacia left Salamanca with her mother and settled in Zamora.

The mother house in Salamanca ignored Bonifacia and her new foundation in Zamora. When the Servants of St. Joseph received approval from the Holy See in 1901, the house of Zamora was not included. A sense of communion compelled Bonifacia to travel to Salamanca and to talk with the sisters personally. However, they rejected her and said, “We have orders not to receive you.”

With a broken heart, Bonifacia returned to Zamora, and she continued to hope and pray for unity for her beloved congregation.

Bonifacia died Aug. 8, 1905. Within two years, on July 23, 1907, the house of Zamora was incorporated into the rest of the congregation.

On Oct. 23 Holy Mother Church will solemnly recognize the holiness of Bishop Conforti, Father Guanella, and Mother Rodr¡guez de Castro.

Bishop Conforti embraced the whole world through his Missionary Society while faithfully fulfilling his duties as Bishop of Parma. Father Guanella and his canonized friends trusted in Divine Providence and worked with dedication. They became spiritual fathers of numerous religious and of the poor.

Mother Rodr¡guez de Castro initiated a new style of religious life and patiently endured hardships from within the Church. May we imitate the examples of the saints in holiness and in service for others.

今年十月二十三日，真福博麗花.卡詩洛修女將和另外兩位真福 —— 基道.瑪利亞.郝福定總主教及類斯.關訥諾神父，將一起被宣聖。

博麗花.卡詩洛在一八三七年六月六日，出生於西班牙的薩拉曼卡，家庭六名孩子中居長。父親離世後，她成了家庭的經濟支柱，靠製繩線為生，後來開設自己的繩線店。

效法聖家

博麗花在工作時不忘培靈靜修，效法聖家的默修生活；她特別恭敬始胎無玷聖母和大聖若瑟 —— 教宗碧岳九世於一八五四年，頒定聖母無染原罪為當信道理，並在一八七零年奉大聖若瑟為普世教會的主保。

唯一幸存的妹妹出嫁後，博麗花和母親矢志渡更熱心的生活。一群年青少女受博麗花影響，每逢假日，她們都到她的店內，以避免不良的誘惑，後來她們一起組織了名為「無玷聖母與聖若瑟協會（亦名「若瑟芬會」）」。

新穎的修道生活

本來，博麗花有意入「道明會」當修女，但在神師方濟.哈維爾.布迪納神父的敦促下，協助他成立了「聖若瑟忠僕修會」。在一八七四年一月十日，博麗花和她六名的「若瑟芬會」的成員（包括了她的母親），在繩線店內過著修道的團體生活。

這不能不謂是一種嶄新的修道方式，成員們效法聖家去在世上工作，並設法提供失業的女子工作機會，免她們誤入歧途。

不過，這種修道方式，遭到當時薩拉瑪卡的一些神職人員反對，而博麗花被主教新任命的神師，除去修會會長一職。

背十字架的路

與不少聖人的際遇一樣，博麗花承受教內人仕的迫害。她遭到排斥及誣蔑，更有人要把她逐離薩拉瑪卡。

博麗花效法耶穌，以沉默和寬恕對待一切反對的洪流；最後為了平息事端，在主教許可下，在一八八三年七月，博麗花帶同母親離開薩拉瑪卡，轉到薩莫拉定居。

雖然，博麗花在薩莫拉繼續「聖若瑟忠僕修會」，卻仍受薩拉瑪卡方面的排斥，甚至教廷在一九零一年頒准「聖若瑟忠僕修會」的成立時，竟然把博麗花所在的薩莫拉分會擯於門外。博麗花曾專程回到薩拉瑪卡據理力爭，得到的答案是「有令不接納妳」。

傷痛的博麗花，回到薩莫拉，不斷為自己所愛的「聖若瑟忠僕修會」祈禱，殷切期待合一。她在一九零五年八月八日去世時。一九零七年七月二十三日，薩莫拉的分會終如她所願被納入總會。

將被宣聖的三位真福，是我們成聖與侍奉的好榜樣：基道.瑪利亞.郝福定一方面在龐馬任總主教，另方面以自己創辦的修會，福傳四達地極。類斯.關訥諾神父倚仗天主上智的眷顧，委身服務，成了眾多貧苦和修道大眾靈性上的慈父。博麗花.卡詩洛修女以在世生活修道，同時以極其堅忍，默默承受所有不公平的對待和偏見。