Blessed María Concepción Cabrera Arias de Armida, a Mexican woman better known as Conchita Cabrera, was a mystic, and was ahead of her time. She knew how to live her femininity and share it with other women through her life and her great writings, particularly her Spiritual Diary.
In it, she describes her experiences of God through the beautiful gift he gave her of being a woman, friend, wife, and mother of nine children whom she raised with love, inviting them to live their faith authentically.
An example to follow for women
For this talented woman, the most valuable thing in her life was following the voice of God. She herself said, “Ever since I learned, my God, to say yes to you, there are no longer any struggles in my life, there are no more sorrows for me.”
Her testimony of her virtue is light for every woman who longs to be virtuous and to live her femininity lovingly, following the will of God.
We offer you here three of Conchita’s characteristics that can help you be a fulfilled woman who reveals the beauty that God gives to each of his daughters, so you can achieve holiness as she did.
1
EXTRAORDINARY LOVE
Conchita said that “only the love of God could transform a woman’s heart.”
She fell in love with God in such a way that, coming to know that God himself was her goal, she then fell in love with her beloved Pancho Armida, whom she married after nine years of courtship.
She was clear about her priorities, and in her diary she wrote:
I was never worried about courtship in the sense that it could have made me belong less to God. It was so easy for me to put the two things together. When I went to bed, when I was alone, I thought about Pancho and then about the Eucharist, which was my delight.
2
A HEART OPEN TO MOTHERHOOD
Conchita shows us the beauty of being open to motherhood. God gave her nine beautiful children whom she raised with values and, of course, with the perfect ingredient: love.
Like many women, she had the desire of being a mother since she was little. Some women are called to spiritual motherhood, such as those whom God calls to consecrated life and who spiritually adopt and pray for many children. Others are blessed with the gift of engendering life and giving birth.
In the case of Conchita, she was a mother in both senses, since she dedicated much of her life to praying for all priests, later founding the Apostleship of the Cross. “I feel like my mission is to be a mother. With infinite ardor, I wish to embrace in my soul the love of all Heaven and Earth; the immense and maternal love of Mary.” (CC 58,44).
3
Cleverness
Blessed Conchita said, “Women have a natural cleverness that does not exist in men.” She knew how to handle other people and always did what she had to do at the exact moment.
Additionally, she constantly sought ways to spread the Gospel intelligently, inspiring many other women she gathered, as well as in other aspects of her life.
Conchita de Armida is an example of how women play a valuable role in the Church and of how God has created them with singular beauty and strength to be loved, respected, and valued.
And today we celebrate...