Maria Micaela Desmaisieres
Spanish saint (1809–1865)
Feast: 24 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Micaela Desmaisières was born in Madrid on 1 January 1809 of a noble family and bore the title Viscountess of Jorbalán. Living in high society, she gave part of her time to charity; she painted and played the harp.
Returning to Madrid, she took charge of her struggling college and, seeing God's will, stayed there, leaving the world she had known. She founded the Handmaids of the Blessed Sacrament and of Charity, approved in 1858, and gave her life to rescuing girls led astray and women in prostitution.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A viscountess who left society to rescue women from prostitution.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Maria Michela del Santissimo Sacramento
- Wikidata Q440077 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Maria Micaela Desmaisieres (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.