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Blessed Maria del Carmen Rendiles Martinez

Blessed Maria del Carmen Rendiles Martinez Also known as

Carmen Elena Rendiles Martínez
María Carmen

9 May

Profile

Third of eight children born to a wealthy and respected family, the daughter of Ramiro Antonio Rendiles and Ana Antonia Martínez; she was born without a left arm and lived with prosthetic. She was baptized on 24 September 1903, confirmed on 28 October 1905, and made her first Communion on 11 March 1911. At age 15 she began serving as a catechist in her parish, and would travel to other towns to teach at parish missions. Feeling a call to the religious life, she joined the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament on 25 February 1927. After studying in Toulouse, France, she received her habit on 8 September 1927, her first vows on 8 September 1929, and her solemn profession on 8 September 1932. She then returned to Caracas, Venezuela where she worked for the next ten years, serving in a variety of positions. Chosen Provincial Superior of the Order in 1951, she started convents and schools in Venezuela and Colombia including a school for poor children in her family home when she inherited it. For practical reasons, including the distance from the motherhouse in France to the sisters in South America, the congregation split on 25 March 1965, and Blessed Carmen is considered the founder of the Servants of Jesus of Caracas (Servant Congregation of Jesus of Venezuela); she served the rest of her life as its superior. By 2015 there were 94 religious in 19 communities.