VENERABLE MOTHER ELISA MARTINEZ
Foundress of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Leuca
Mother Elisa Martinez was born on March 25th 1905 in Galatina, Italy. Her parents nurtured her with kindness and tenderness. Young Elisa was highly spirited and showed deep interest in prayer and in serving the Lord. Even at young age Elisa already knew in her heart want she wanted to be. At the age of 23 she decided to offer her whole life to God for the service of the poorest of the earth.
She first entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd in Angers (France) where she spent two years of novitiate and made her first religious profession on September 29th 1930. She was given the name of Sister Maria Lucia and was immediately assigned to their community in Chieti, to facilitate the rehabilitation of young women.
While in Chieti, she suffered from a serious lung infection. It was the darkest and saddest periods of her life for she was asked to return home due to her ill condition. Even in despair, Elisa never failed to live her religious life and was reminded to always look at the future with faith and hope.
A couple of years may had passed but Elisa’s will to serve the Lord never change. She then moved to small village of Botrugno. There she spent most of her time educating the poor especially women, helping the needy in any way she can and assisting the parish through catechesis. Many young women were captivated by Elisa’s compassion and dedication thus they joined in her mission. The people of that village began to call them “Sisters of the Catechism”, showing them esteem, affection, and appreciation.
Elisa together with her fellow sisters they left Botrugno and they transferred in Archdiocese of Ugento, where they were warmly welcomed. Elisa and the others arrived and settled in Miggiano on March 20th 1938 and they began to call themselves “Sisters of the Immaculate”.
Their apostolate was inspired by the evangelical maxim: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt. 25,40) and by the figure of Good Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep and when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home.
They lived peacefully and harmoniously in their newly found community but Elisa thought it was too small to carry her charity works. Thus, she journeyed to Northern Italy with the hope to reach and help more individuals. She successfully established new communities in here and their charitable activities were mainly addressed to orphaned, abandoned sick children, and single mothers.
“The two communities founded in Lourdes and Fatima of Mother Elisa, are a significant testimony of her veneration for Our Lady. Mother Elisa said: “The purpose is to be constantly near the grotto of apparitions of the Blessed Virgin, in prayer and meditation”.
When she spoke to the community, she always began and ended with the invocation to Mary. There was no exhortation or conference in which she did not invite the Sisters to love Mary and to pray to her with filial affection. Mary’s name was always on her lips”.
On 15 August 1941 the Bishop of Ugento, Mons. Giuseppe Ruotolo, established the Pious Union of Diocesan Right changing its name to “Daughters of Saint Mary of Leuca” in honour of the most important Marian Shrine in the region of Salento. When their congregation became official, Mother Elisa was elected Mother General. In the meantime the Congregation had spread out into various parts of Italy and was granted the Decree of Pontifical Right in 1943.
They brought Christian comfort, solidarity, and concrete support to poor people especially when the Second World War broke out. The poor were the ones who suffered gravely during this terrible conflict and battle between parties. Mother Elisa bravely handled this situation and became even more motivated to fulfill her mission not only in Italy but throughout the world. The immediate post-war period paved way for her to set out for new journeys, relentlessly seeking those in need. “The poor and needy are out there. They live in distant lands. That is where we, too, must go”.
Their community grew bigger and bigger as Mother Elisa continues to travel. Later, they were widely known as the Daughters of St. Mary of Leuca and their works were mainly focused in assisting young women, caring for the children of immigrants, taking to heart the concrete problems of the Italian families.
Upon trying to established a community in USA, a group of nuns decided to break away from the congregation because of calumnies and persecutions thrown at them. In this painful event, Mother Elisa faced an exhausting investigation by the Holy Office but was completely acquitted of every false accusation in the end.
She had lived a life with moments of pain and suffering but she persisted to fulfill what she started. After countless of hardships, Elisa brought to life the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Leuca. The institute continued to expand in Italy and abroad where more and more individuals entered it. In spirit and by nature, she was a woman of prayer, a contemplative soul.
Mother Elisa was always on the move, yet she remains a woman of profound prayer. She went on forming, animating, organizing communities, and establishing new houses. Prior to this success, she had experienced many failures which she strongly overcame by being resilient and positive that the community will continue to grow despite the challenges of times. All this was made possible because of her unceasing and unwavering faith in God.
In her last years, she spent some time gathering her daughters together reminding them of how they should remain steadfast whenever trials come knocking again. On February 8th 1991, after a long life spent for the greater glory of God, for the honor of the Virgin Mary, and for the sake of the most needy brothers and sisters, she fell asleep peacefully in the Lord at the age of 86.
The life of Mother Elisa Martinez is a reminder that those who live in solitude should never be forgotten. Many of our brothers and sisters are waiting out there to be saved thus we must continue to seek them at distance and try to pull them out of their despair.
Mother Elisa Martinez was introduced for beatification and canonization of the Servant of God on November 17th 2016 and its diocesan phase ended on November 12th 2017. On October 13th 2021, Pope Francis confirmed her life as one of heroic virtue and declared her Venerable. With the title of venerable, the Church recognizes that Mother Elisa lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. It is the first step that will lead her, if in God’s plans, first to Beatification and then to Canonization.