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Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena (May 26, 1874 – October 21, 1949) born as María Laura Montoya Upegui, was a Colombian nun. In 1914 she founded the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena. She was known for her work with Indigenous peoples, and as a strong role model for South American girls.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Vatican News Services )〕 She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. Laura was canonized by Pope Francis on 12 May 2013, along with Antonio Primaldo and his companions and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala. Laura is the first Colombian to be made a Roman Catholic saint.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Colombia's first saint a trailblazing champion of the indigenous )〕 ==Life== Maria Laura Montoya y Upeguí was born on May 26, 1874 in Jericó, Antioquia, United States of Colombia, the second of three children to Juan de la Crux Montoya and Dolores Upegui. During the Colombian Civil War of 1876, her father was killed, and the family was left in poverty. So, Laura was sent to live with her grandmother. When Laura was 16, to help her family in its financial difficulties and she applied at "Normale de Institutoras" of Medellín to receive training to become an elementary school teacher. She was educated at the Holy Spirit School in Amalfi, Colombia, and then in Medellín, Colombia. Beginning in 1908, she worked as missionary to the natives in the Uraba and Sarare regions where she founded the ''Works of the Indians''. Even though she wanted to become a cloistered Carmelite nun, she felt growing within her the desire to spread the Gospel to those who had never met Jesus Christ. Laura wanted to destroy this racial discrimination and to personally sacrifice herself in order to bring them Christ's love and teaching. On 14 May 1914, she started the ''Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of Saint Catherine of Siena''. She left Medellín with four other young women and went to Dabeiba to live among the native Indians. Even though this new Congregation had the support of the Bishop of Santa Fe de Antioquia, it was severely criticized even within the Christian community itself.〔 She died after a prolonged illness on October 21, 1949 in Medellín, Colombia. The last nine years of her life were lived in a wheelchair. Today her Missionary Sisters work in 19 countries throughout America, Africa and Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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