Maria Eufrasia Iaconis

Mother Eufrasia Iaconis, around 1890

Maria Eufrasia Iaconis (born November 18, 1867 in Casino , † August 2, 1916 in Buenos Aires ) was a Roman Catholic religious in the Congregation of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires. The beatification process for them was opened in 2001.

Life

Mother Eufrasia Iaconis was born on November 18, 1867 in Casino, today's Castelsilano ( province of Crotone ). Her parents were Luigi Antonio Iaconis and Maria Antonia Spina. A few days after she was born, she was baptized Maria Giuseppa Amalia Sofia in the parish church on November 27th .

In 1877 and 1878, her aunt, mother Maria Fabiano, founded a religious community of sisters called “Sisters of Mercy, Daughters of the Immaculate Conception”. Young Sofia, who wanted to devote her life to the service of God and her neighbor, later asked to be accepted into the community. Her request was granted and on July 16, 1886, the feast of the Virgin of Mount Carmel , she was able to enter the novitiate . In 1887 Sister Eufrasia, as Sofia was now called in the order , moved with the convent to Rome . On July 16, 1888, she made her temporary profession . On January 1, 1889, she was appointed superior of the convent in Rome. She held this office until 1893 when she was selected to set up a new branch in Argentina . Mother Fabiano had been asked to send a couple of nurses to Buenos Aires to look after emigrated patients in the Italian hospital .

Mother Eufrasia was appointed provincial superior before she set sail from Genoa on August 2, 1893 with seven other sisters . On September 6, 1893, the sisters arrived in Buenos Aires and opened their branch. This was followed by five further branches in Argentina by 1899.

The Congregation of Sisters was made an apostolic visitation in 1900 after anonymous accusations against Mother Fabiano. In 1901 Mother Eufrasia was called back to Rome. The community there was to be dissolved by decree from the Holy Office and it was hoped that Mother Eufrasia could solve the problems. But it could only achieve that the conventions in Argentina were excluded from the dissolution. She received approval to reorganize the congregation in Argentina.

Mother Eufrasia returned to Argentina and founded a new congregation with the sisters there, the "Daughters of the Divine Mother". Together with her fellow sisters, she made her temporary profession in the new community. The Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Mariano Antonio Espinosa , granted the new community episcopal recognition on September 24, 1904 and appointed Mother Eufrasia as Superior General . On December 17, 1904, Mother Eufrasia received approval to rename the community back to "Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires". In 1906 the sisters made their perpetual profession . The general chapter in 1908 confirmed Mother Eufrasia in the office of general superior.

In 1911, Mother Eufrasia decided to set up a novitiate in Italy , as there were hardly any children in Argentina. On June 8th she reached Genoa and after trying to find a diocese for the novitiate, she was received by the Bishop of Milan , who gave her permission. In October she was able to acquire a plot of land in Via Elba in Milan. There the novitiate and a school run by the sisters were opened on September 28, 1913 by Cardinal Andrea Ferrari , the Archbishop of Milan. In June 1914, after another trip to Milan, Mutte Eufrasia was able to return to Argentina with the first six novices who had been trained in Milan. In 1915 she was confirmed in her office as Superior General.

After suffering from cancer, mother Eufrasia died at the age of 48 on August 2, 1916 in the Pirovano Hospital in Buenos Aires. Two days later she was buried in the Chacarita cemetery.

In 1996, her remains were transferred to the chapel of the Motherhouse of the Congregation.

Beatification process

The beatification process was opened in 2001 under the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis . On August 2, 2012, the process was completed at the diocesan level and on September 12, 2012 the files were handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. Pope Francis awarded her the heroic degree of virtue on May 13, 2019 .

literature

• Ana Ofelia Fernandez: A charism in good hands. Mother Eufrasia Iaconis. Founder of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires (1867-1916) . Institute of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception, Buenos Aires, 2002.

Web links

• http://meufrasiaiaconis.blogspot.de/ - Homepage about mother Eufrasia Iaconis (Spanish)
• http://www.fic.org.ar/ - Homepage of the Argentine Community of the Daughters of the Immaculate Conception of Buenos Aires (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , May 14, 2019, accessed May 14, 2019 (Italian).