Laura Vicuña

Laura del Carmen Vicuña Pino (5 April 1891 – 22 January 1904) was a Chilean child who was noted for her religious devotion. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1988 as the patron of abuse victims, having herself experienced physical abuse.
Laura del Carmen Vicuña was born on April 5, 1891, in Santiago, Chile, to José Domingo Vicuña and Mercedes Pino. The Vicuña family were Chilean aristocrats, the father in military service and the mother working at home. Forced out of Santiago by the revolution, the family took refuge in Temuco, but soon after José Domingo died suddenly and Mercedes went to live with her two daughters in Argentina.
Mercedes and her daughters moved to the Argentine province of Neuquén. In search of a way to finance her daughters' education, Mercedes took a job in the Quilquihué Hostel. The owner of the hostel, Manuel Mora, propositioned Mercedes, promising to pay for Laura's education in exchange. Laura soon entered the Hijas de Maria Auxiliadora (“Daughters of Mary Help of Christians”) School, where, under the care of the nuns, she began to take a deep interest in the Catholic faith.
Because of her deep religious interest, she was not well liked by her classmates. She spent most of her time praying before The Blessed Sacrament in the school's chapel. She prayed every day for her mother's salvation and for her to leave Manuel Mora. She had one good friend, Mercedes Vera, to whom she confided her desire to become a nun.
During one of her school vacations, Laura was beaten twice by Manuel Mora, who wanted her to forget about becoming a nun. She held to this desire even when Mora stopped paying for her education, and when the nuns at her school learned of the conflict, they gave Laura and her sister scholarships. Although she was grateful to her teachers, she still worried about her mother's situation.
One day, remembering the phrase of Jesus: “No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends," Laura decided with the authorization of her Bishop to give her life in exchange for her mother's salvation.As time passed she became seriously ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. One day she was beaten up by Manuel Mora even though she was very weak and sick and that accelerated her death.Before she died, Laura told her mother: “Mama, I offer my life for you, I asked our Lord for this. Before I die, Mother, would I have the joy of seeing you repent?” Mercedes crying, answered: “I swear, I will do whatever you ask me! God is the witness of my promise!" Laura smiled and said: "Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, Mary! Goodbye, Mother! Now I die happy!" On 22 January 1904, Laura died of her disease, weakened by the physical abuse she previously received from Mora, having offered her life for the salvation of her mother. From 1937 to 1958, Laura's remains lay in the Nequén graveyard, after which they were moved to Bahía Blanca. One of her famous sayings is "Suffer silently and Smile always".
Bernhard Maier, following the work of Ciro Brugna, says that Laura's popular biographies need revision. Among the points needing revision are the following: that her parents were never married; that her father did not die before the mother left Chile with the two children; and that Laura offered her life for both her parents, as transpires in the notes left by her close friend Maria Mercedes Vera.
The Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco started Laura's canonization process in the 1950s. The congregation commended that duty to the nun Cecilia Genghini, who spent many years collecting information about Laura's life. But she did not see the completion of her work; she died the same year the process began.
One incentive for the congregation was the beatification of Dominic Savio (March 5, 1950) and the canonization of Maria Goretti (June 24, 1950). The progress began in the city of Viedma. But Laura could not be considered a martyr, and because of her young age there was not much hope for her beatification. Nevertheless, in 1981 the application process was completed by the congregation, and on June 5, 1986, she was declared Venerable.
Every candidate for beatification, except in the case of martyrs, must be shown to have obtained a miracle from God when their prayers were invoked. In Laura's case, the requisite miracle concerned the nun Ofelia del Carmen Lobos Arellano. In August 1955, doctors told Sister Ofelia that she would die of lung cancer in a few months, but when she confidently invoked Laura's prayers, the disease disappeared. September 3, 1988, saw Laura's beatification by Pope John Paul II. Her feast day is celebrated on 22 January.
In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Laura is listed under 22 January with the citation: "Born in the city of Santiago, Chile, and a pupil of the Institute of Mary Help of Christians; for the conversion of her mother, she made an oblation of her life to God at the age of 13".
No photograph of Laura was known until recently, when a group photograph taken at her school was discovered showing her true appearance. A likeness of her had been painted by Italian artist Caffaro Rore based on descriptions by her sister Julia, depicting her as a dark-haired girl with European features. Church depictions have been changed to more accurately portray her as a serious-looking mestizo child.
The primary shrine for Laura Vicuña is located at Renca Hill, a park of 30 hectares lying between the communes of Quilicura and Renca in Santiago, Chile. The chapel has a capacity of 100. On December 9, 1999, a shrine in the city of Junín de los Andes was inaugurated and dedicated to her memory.
There is also a small sanctuary in the village of El Durazno near the town of Combarbalá in the Coquimbo Region, where Laura spent part of her early childhood. Local people contributed 200 blocks of adobe each for the construction of the sanctuary.
In the Philippines, there is a brass tribute memorial statue together with St. John Bosco and St. Dominic Savio were located in St. John Bosco Parish Church in Makati City, Metro Manila, and also a colored tribute memorial statue located in Barangay Don Bosco beside PNCC Skyway Bldg. and near SM Bicutan in Parañaque City, Metro Manila. Another concrete statue stands at Mary Help of Christians College in Canlubang, Calamba City, Laguna.
The Laura Vicuña Women Development and Training Center in Victorias City, Negros Occidental was named after her and is managed by the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Another concrete statue of Laura stands near the entrance gate of the school.