Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi

Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi (14 March 1868 – 24 February 1940) was a nun of the Roman Catholic Church who co-founded and became mother superior of the Congregation of Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary.

She was raised to the title of "Blessed" upon beatification by Pope Benedict XVI on 14 May 2005 alongside Mother Marianne Cope of the Hawaii Catholic Church. Beatification is the first stage of the process which can lead on to canonization into sainthood.

Background

She was born on 14 March 1868 in Tafalla, Spain as Florentina Nicol Goñi, the youngest of four children.

Educated in the Saint Rose of Lima Dominican boarding school at Huesca, Spain where she became a Dominican nun in 1885, taking the name "Ascensión". She became a teacher in 1886, however, in 1913 the Spanish government took over the school and expelled the sisters.

As a missionary to Peru, she arrived with 8 other nuns on 30 December 1913, teaching girls and caring for the poor and sick. She co-founded the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary on 5 October 1918, and served the rest of her life as its first superior. Today the congregation has 785 missionaries in 21 nations.

External links

* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintf4d.htm Saintf4d.htm ] at www.catholic-forum.com Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi at Catholic Forum