Among contemporary saints, only John Paul II was canonized faster.

Maria Isabel Salvat Romero was born in 1926 in Spain to Ricardo Salvat Albert and Margarita Romero Ferrer as the 3rd of 8 children. She was baptized the following day. As a child, she attended the school of the Irish Sisters.

Her family left Spain for Portugal in 1936 in order to escape the persecutions of the Spanish Civil War and returned afterwards. It was during this time that she realized her true calling was that of a religious life.

She joined the Sisters of the Company of the Cross when she was 18. They are dedicated to the poorest people in the world and take in old women who can no longer care for themselves, those with disabilities, and the homeless. They also establish schools for poor families.

In 1966, she was sent to the Mother House of the congregation in Seville where she was named Provincial. She oversaw the updating of the Constitution while attempting to defend and uphold the charism of the congregation. Even with the many duties of her position and reminiscent of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, she met with the sick and the poor each morning, washed their wounds and clothes, and cooked for them. She was always attentive to all of her fellow sisters as well, especially those who were ill.

She ascended to Superior General in 1977 and was the principle at several schools. To set an example of humility and service, she often cleaned the schools by herself.

In 1994 she was diagnosed with a tumor and faced her illness for the next 4 years with great docility to the Will of God. She died in Seville on October 31, 1998. She was beatified in 2010 and canonized only 5 years later in 2015.

Her feast day is September 18.

For God’s Glory.