“Do not offend Jesus anymore! Enough with sin. Love Jesus, love Him!”
“I have no other purpose than to give glory to God and save souls.”
Alexandrina Maria was born on March 30, 1904, in rural Balazar, Portugal. Her father abandoned the family when she was very young and she had only 18 months of schooling before being sent to work on a farm at the age of 9.
She was brought up in the Catholic faith by her mother, along with her sister, Deolinda. She was lively, playful, and affectionate, and sought after by her companions. In her teens she began to work as a seamstress along with her sister.
At the age of 14, while she was busily sewing along with her sister and an apprentice on the 2nd floor of their home, her former employer, and 2 other young men, violently entered and attempted to sexually assault them. To escape, she jumped down from a window and fell to the ground. Her injuries were severe and soon became partially paralyzed. Her doctors said she would continue to deteriorate.
Still, she would drag herself to church where, hunched over, she would remain in prayer for hours, to the great amazement of the parishioners. She prayed to the Blessed Mother for the grace of a cure. It was not to be, but God answered her prayers in another way.
Her condition worsened and she became permanently paralyzed, and fully bedridden. She was cared for by her older sister.
Instead of a cure, she was given the grace to accept her suffering and along with Sister Eusebia, and Fathers Beltrami, Czartoryski, and Variara she developed the Salesian charism as established by Saint John Bosco. She understood that her suffering was an actual vocation and that she had been called to be a victim for Jesus. She offered herself for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world.
“Our Lady has given me an even greater grace: first, abandonment; then, complete conformity to God’s Will; finally, the thirst for suffering.”
Within 4 years, she overcame her usual paralysis and managed to leave the bed each week on Fridays. For 182 times, she relived the Passion of Christ every Friday, during 3 painful hours. The paralysis would seem to leave her as she lived the Stations of the Cross with overwhelming physical and spiritual pain.
She asked and obtained from Pope Pius XII that the world be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which he did during a radio broadcast on October 31st, and then in Rome on December 8th of 1942. WWII turned in favor of the Allies shortly after.
For 13 years and 7 months, she received no nourishment of any kind except daily Holy Eucharist. Medical doctors remained baffled, conducting various tests, acting cold and hostile towards her. This increased her suffering and humiliation.
Jesus spoke to her saying, ‘You will very rarely receive consolation. I want that while your heart is filled with suffering, on your lips there is a smile.’
No matter the intensity of her pain, she always had joy and a smile ready for anyone who came to her.
Father Pasquale, who stayed close to Alexandria throughout, ordered her sister to keep a diary of her words and her mystical experiences.
She died on October 13, 1955, at the age of 51. Her last words, “I am happy, because I am going to Heaven.”
For God’s Glory.
