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Mother Hope of Jesus
Spanish religious nun (1893–1983)
Feast: 8 February (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
María Josefa Alhama Valera was born at Santomera, Spain, on 29 or 30 September 1893, the eldest of nine children of a very poor family, and learned to read and write in her parish priest's house. At eight she felt the need to be always with Jesus.
As Mother Speranza of Jesus she founded the Handmaids and the Sons of Merciful Love. Her foundation met opposition from bishops and priests in Spain and struggles within the institute itself; sent to Rome, she worked there as an ordinary sister.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A foundress who proclaimed God's merciful love through opposition and humiliation.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Madre Speranza di Gesù
- Wikidata Q3966507 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Maria Josefa Alhama y Valera (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.