TRANSFORMATION
The transformation
From Berriz to the ends of the earth
The Mercedarian Charism was very deeply rooted in Margarita: the liberation of the captives. Impelled by this ideal, she discovered that God was pointing out for them a new form of commitment, a new way to fulfill their liberating Charism: to share the Good News of Jesus with those people who did not know Him.
These women, who had entered a cloistered convent to dedicate their lives through contemplative prayer and to pray for others, saw the call of God to go to other continents, in the needs of impoveri shed people and those who did not know the Good News of Jesus. Once again difficulties appeared:
They needed the Pope's authorization to leave the cloister. A secret ballot was asked for to see if all of the nuns agreed.
The 94 nuns of the convent voted unanimously for the transformation to a missionary institute. They received with joy the new impulse of the Spirit that would take them beyond what was known to them.
It is hard for us today to imagine how difficult it was for them to go from a tiny town in Vizcaya, Spain to China. There the first Mercedarian group arrived in 1926.
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Within a few years, the Mercedarians arrived to the Islands of Micronesia and Japan. Margarita accompanied the missionaries on two occasions. This was how she could know the lands and the people she had dreamed so much about.
On July 23, 1934, at the age of 49, she died leaving behind a new Missionary Institute.
The Mercedarian Missionaries de Berriz continue this dream today sharing our life with people in: The Philippines, Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Nicaragua, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Peru, Ecuador, Japan, Micronesia, Taiwan, Zambia...
