María Mercedes Prat y Prat

Mercè Prat y Prat

María Mercedes "Mercè" Prat y Prat STJ (born March 6, 1880 in Barcelona ; † July 24, 1936 there ) was a Spanish nun of the Teresans and martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church . She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 29, 1990 .

Life

Mercè Prat i Prat was born in Barcelona in 1880 as the oldest of four children. Her parents were Juan Prat i Serra and Teresa Prat i Bordoy. She was baptized the day after she was born and received her first communion at the age of ten on June 30, 1890. Her parents died in Prat's youth (1895/96), after which she had to look after herself and her siblings.

She traveled to Tortosa in 1904 and entered the order of the "Teresian Sisters" (Latin Societatis Sanctae Teresiae a Iesu ). Her novitiate began on August 27, 1904, her dressing in the habit took place on March 1, 1905, and profession on March 10, 1907. Mercè Prat i Prat was active in the field of school education until 1909, then she took the perpetual vows. She stayed in Tortosa until 1915, from 1920 she worked in the mother house of the order in Barcelona.

On July 19, 1936, the Congregation had to leave its convent building and school because of the Spanish Civil War . This was due to anti-Catholic government troops. The nun was arrested and imprisoned for a week in prison. Mercè Prat i Prat was eventually sentenced to death and shot on July 23, 1936. She found her final resting place in Barcelona.

beatification

Pope Paul VI opened the beatification process in 1969. She was beatified on April 29, 1990 by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square in Rome . Her feast day is July 24th.