Nazaria Ignacia
nun (1889–1943)
Feast: 6 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 26 January 2018 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2018)
Who they were
Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa was born in Madrid on 10 January 1889, the daughter of a naval captain, and emigrated with her family to Mexico. Driven by a missionary spirit, she gave herself to evangelising the poor across Latin America, opening soup kitchens in Chile when the nitrate works closed in 1931, and founded the Missionary Crusaders of the Church. She died on 6 July 1943.
The miracles
A person in Buenos Aires — Buenos Aires, Argentina — 11 September 1964
A healing in Buenos Aires on 11 September 1964 was found by the Vatican's medical board in 1991 to be rapid, complete, lasting and scientifically inexplicable.
Sister María Victoria (María del Rosario Azuara Carrasco) — October 2010
On 13 October 2010 a sister of her own congregation suddenly began behaving strangely, with slurred speech, loss of coordination and disorientation, a sudden and serious neurological illness. She recovered, and on 21 September 2017 the Vatican's medical board found the case inexplicable.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a person in Buenos Aires was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 7 March 1992, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 27 September 1992 by John Paul II. The case of Sister María Victoria (María del Rosario Azuara Carrasco) was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 26 January 2018, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 14 October 2018 by Francis.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of St Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, with both miracles
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q2074078 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.