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Wednesday September 16, 2015

Sister of Miracles in Sencelles


The saintly Francinaina of Sencelles

In the tiny, atmospheric village of Sencelles, there is a street dedicated to the memory of a nun known as Francinaina Cirer i Carbonell. Street signs bear her face and there are scenes on ceramic signs showing her acts of charity in the village. She lived from 1781 to 1855. According to locals, her religious fervour didn’t go down well with her parents but she stuck to her course and persisted with her vocational work. Luckily for the devout nun, when her parents died she inherited various properties so she didn’t want for financial support. At the age of 70 she became Mother Superior of the local convent and helped institute a local charitable centre with the church rector.

She spent her life seemingly doing good works, helping the poor and teaching children the catechism and how to read and write. A popular story goes that she performed miracles and Catholics across the island would head for Sencelles in the hope of witnessing one of her spiritual feats!

In 1989 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. All I would add is that on the street signs she looks rather fierce. I doubt many locals would have wanted to cross her!



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