View source for Rita Lopes de Almeida

{{Short description|Portuguese nun}}
{{Infobox saint
|image = Rita Amada de Jesus.png
|imagesize =
|caption =
|honorific_prefix = [[Beatification|Blessed]]
|name = Rita Lopes de Almeida
| honorific_suffix    = JMJ
|birth_date = 5 March 1848
|birth_place = Casalmedinho, Ribafeita, [[Viseu]], Portugal
|death_date = {{death date and age|1913|01|06|1848|03|05|df=yes}}
|death_place = Casalmedinho, Ribafeita
|titles = [[Virgin (title)|Virgin]]
|venerated_in = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
|feast_day = [[24 September]]
|attributes =
|patronage = Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
|beatified_date = 28 May 2006
|beatified_place = [[Viseu]], Portugal
|beatified_by = Cardinal [[José Saraiva Martins]]
}}
'''Rita Lopes de Almeida''' ([[religious name]] ''Rita Amada de Jesus,''<ref name="beatification2">{{Cite web |last=Filipe |first=Maria de Lurdes Lopes |title=Beatification |url=https://www.institutojmj.org.br/beatificacao.html |access-date=12 February 2024 |website=Jesus Maria José Institute}}</ref> 5 March 1848 – 6 January 1913), was a [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] [[religious sister]] and the founder of the [[Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph]]. She was called "Apostle of the [[Rosary]], Apostle of the [[Eucharist]], [and] Apostle of the Family"<ref name="beatification2"/> and one of the greatest Christian teachers of her time. She worked with the poor and founded schools for the children of single mothers, despite the religious persecution in Portugal at the time.<ref name="martinshomily2">{{Cite web |last=Martins |first=Jose Saraiva |date=28 May 2006 |title=Rite of Beatification of Rita Amada de Jesus, Foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20060528_rita-amada-jesus_en.html |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=The Vatican}}</ref> Almeida was beatified by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] in 2006. As of 2020, the Sisters of Mary, Jesus and Joseph were in nine countries, including in Brazil, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding there in 2012.
==Life==
Rita Lopes de Almeida was born on 5 March 1848 in Ribafeita, [[Portugal]], the fourth of seven children, to Manuel Lopez and Josefa de Jesus Almeida.<ref name="blessedrita">{{Cite web |title=Blessed Rita Amada de Jesus |url=https://www.institutojmj.org.br/fundadora.html |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=Jesus Maria José Institute |language=Portuguese}}</ref> Her family was devout Catholics<ref name="vatican">{{Cite web |title=Rita Amada de Jesus (1848-1912) |url=https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20050424_amada_en.html |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=The Vatican}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=1913 |url=http://newsaints.faithweb.com/year/1913.htm |access-date=11 February 2024 |website=Hagiography Circle}}</ref> and "felt a great desire to live an authentic Christian life".<ref name="martinshomily2"/> Almeida demonstrated a devotion to the [[Eucharist]], the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]], [[Saint Joseph]], and "a great love for the Pope".<ref name="vatican" /> Almeida, despite the religious persecution of the time and death threats against her, traveled to parishes throughout Portugal, teaching parishioners how to pray the [[Rosary]].<ref name="vatican" />
At a young age, while still living with her parents, Almeida visited the [[Benedictines|Benedictine sisters]] in [[Viseu]], 15 kilometers from her home parish, but was unable to join the order because the government had forbidden all religious houses to admit new members.<ref name="vatican" /> The Benedictine sisters taught Almeida the religious practice of [[Mortification of the flesh|mortification]]. She felt called to be a missionary and an apostle, despite the laws that prohibited it in Portugal. She also rejected her suitors because of that call, even though they were wealthy. Her family was involved in her missionary work; needy women lived in the family home. She travelled from parish to parish to encourage people to make their faith an important part of their lives.<ref name="blessedrita" /><ref name="vatican" /> Her missionary call was "to free the youth from religious indifferentism and immorality, through the family apostolate".<ref name="vatican" />
When Almeida was 29 years old, despite her parents' objections, she was admitted into the [[Sisters of Charity]], a non-Portuguese order in [[Porto]], because all local orders had been expelled from Portugal. She left the Sisters of Charity shortly afterwards because "she was disappointed with [their] spirit and charism"<ref name="vatican" /> and with the support of her spiritual director, accepted economic help from a noble family and established a school for children of single mothers. In 1889, Almeida founded the [[Sisters of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph]], which was based upon "the spirituality of the [[Holy Family|Holy Family of Nazareth]]".<ref name="vatican" /> She also founded a poor children's school in her own parish and later expanded her work to other dioceses in Portugal, founding schools in [[Castelo Branco, Portugal|Castelo Branco]], [[Porto]], and [[Guarda, Portugal|Guarda]].<ref name="vatican" /><ref name="martinshomily2"/>
In 1910, the Portuguese government seized control of all Church property and foreign religious orders left the country, so Almeida had to close her homes and the sisters dispersed and she hid with her fellow sisters and students, disguising themselves as [[Romani people|gypsies]], in her parents' home for three years. In 1912, she sent small groups of sisters to Brazil to educate poor children; their first school was founded in [[Igarapava]].<ref name="vatican" /> In 2012, the order celebrated the 100th anniversary of its presence in Brazil.<ref name="ourstory">{{Cite web |title=Our Story: Jesus Maria José Institute |url=https://www.institutojmj.org.br/nossahistoria.html |access-date=February 11, 2024 |website=Jesus Maria José Institute |language=Portuguese |publication-place=São Paulo, Brazil}}</ref>  The sisters returned to Portugal 32 years later. As of 2020, the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph  exists in nine countries.<ref name="martinshomily2"/><ref name="ourstory" />
Almeida died on 6 January 1913.<ref name="vatican" /><ref name="blessedrita" />
== Beatification and legacy ==
The process of Almeida's [[canonization]] began in 1991 by Margarida Maria Rossi, the [[Superior general (Christianity)|Superior General]] of the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The miracle that satisfied the requirement toward [[beatification]] was the healing of a Brazilian woman after Almeida was invoked by her and her daughter, a sister of the order.<ref name="beatification2"/> She was beatified by [[Pope Benedict XVI]] on 28 May 2006, in Viseu.<ref name="beatification2"/><ref name="martinshomily2"/><ref name="ourstory" /> The homily during the ceremony commemorating it was given by Jose Saraiva Martins. Martins stated, about Almeida, that she was an expression of "the life, culture, diligence and religiosity of the Portuguese".<ref name="martinshomily2"/> Martin also said that Almeida "is remembered from Portugal to Brazil, from Bolivia to Paraguay, from Angola to Mozambique, and her memory links Portugal to the American and African Continents"<ref name="martinshomily2"/> and that despite receiving death threats, she aimed to restore the dignity of women and their families. Martin called Almeida one of the greatest Christian teachers of her time.<ref name="martinshomily2"/>
Almeida stated, about her own call, "What I always wanted was to do the will of Our Lord God" and "I felt such fervour that I would have been capable of going round the world for the conversion of a single soul".<ref name="SEB">{{cite web |date= |title=Blessed Rita Amada de Jesus |url=http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92192 |accessdate=6 October 2016 |publisher=Santi e Beati}}</ref> The [[Vatican City|Vatican's]] documentation of Almeida's beatification in 2006 stated that she "had a great desire to save many souls".<ref name="SEB" /> The document also states that her "spiritual life was characterized by eucharistic reparation and devotion to the [[Sacred Heart|Sacred Heart of Jesus]]".<ref name="vatican" /> In 2006, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] called Almeida "Apostle of the Rosary, Apostle of the Eucharist, [and] Apostle of the Family."<ref name="beatification2"/>
In 2010, the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph sent relics of Almeida, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the order's founding in Brazil, to their communities around the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shipping Relics |url=https://www.institutojmj.org.br/envio_reliquias.html |access-date=12 February 2024 |website=Jesus Maria José Institute |language=Portuguese}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.institutojmj.org.br/ Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almeida, Rita Lopes de}}
[[Category:1848 births]]
[[Category:1913 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Portuguese nuns]]
[[Category:19th-century venerated Christians]]
[[Category:20th-century Portuguese nuns]]
[[Category:20th-century venerated Christians]]
[[Category:Beatifications by Pope Benedict XVI]]
[[Category:Founders of Catholic religious communities]]
[[Category:Portuguese beatified people]]
[[Category:People from Viseu]]
[[Category:Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II]]