María Guggiari Echeverría Santos
Paraguayan nun (1925-1959)
Feast: 28 April (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 6 March 2018 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2018)
Who they were
María Felicia Guggiari Echeverría was born on 12 January 1925 in Villarrica, Paraguay, the eldest of seven children; her father called her 'Chiquitunga', little one. She threw herself into Catholic Action and cared for the elderly, the sick and prisoners.
On 14 August 1955 she entered the Discalced Carmelites in Asunción, taking the name María Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She died on 28 April 1959, aged 34, asking for St Teresa of Ávila's poem 'I die because I do not die' to be read to her. She is the first Paraguayan woman to be beatified.
The miracles
Ángel Ramón — San Pedro de Ycuamandiyú, Paraguay — 15 August 2002
A baby boy was born at the regional hospital with no signs of life. The obstetrician, Dr Blanca Duarte, entrusted him to the Venerable Chiquitunga, and after twenty minutes of prayer he began to show signs of life. The Vatican's medical experts approved the case on 1 June 2017.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of Ángel Ramón was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 6 March 2018, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 23 June 2018 by Cardinal Angelo Amato, for Pope Francis.
Connected on this site
- Teresa of Ávila Saint“She died on 28 April 1959, aged 34, asking for St Teresa of Ávila's poem 'I die because I do not die' to be read to her.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of Blessed María Felicia (Chiquitunga)
- ACI Prensa - the miracle that gives Paraguay its first woman Blessed
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q21595729 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — María Guggiari Echeverría (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.