Today, September 27th, we celebrate: the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, priest; of Saint Judith; and of the Blessed Fradera sisters, virgins and martyrs.

Saint Vincent de Paul, priest

He was born in 1581 in Pouy, in southwestern France, into a peasant family. Ordained a priest, he came into contact with figures such as Pierre de Bérulle and Saint Francis de Sales, discovering the need for a profound renewal of priestly life and a more decisive devotion to the poor. He became a great organizer of charitable action and founded the Congregation of the Mission, formed by the Vincentians, dedicated to the formation of the clergy and the evangelization of the poorest. Together with Saint Louise de Marillac, he also founded the Daughters of Charity, placing service to the most needy at the heart of his work: “If you leave prayer to care for a sick person, you leave God to find God himself: healing a sick person is like saying a prayer.”

His life was marked by a deep spirituality and an extraordinary capacity for service. He used to tell the Daughters of Charity: “Your monastery will be the houses of the sick; your cell, a rented room; your chapel, the parish church; your cloister, the streets of the city.” He died in Paris on September 27, 1660, and was canonized in 1737. In 1885, he was proclaimed patron saint of all charitable works.

Saint Judith, widow of the Old Testament

Judith is the protagonist of the biblical book that bears her name, one of the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament. She is presented as a young and virtuous widow who, facing the siege of Bethulia by Nebuchadnezzar's army, trusts in God and decides to act to save her people. With cunning, she enters the enemy camp and manages to get close to General Holofernes, whom she ultimately kills. Her action leads to the defeat of the enemy army and frees the city.

The book is not a historical chronicle, but rather a story intended to strengthen the people's faith in God's saving power. Judith appears in it as an instrument of salvation precisely because of her trust in God and her courage. Her victory song proclaims: “The Almighty Lord has foiled them by the hand of a woman.”

Blessed Fradera sisters, virgins and martyrs

The Fradera sisters, Carme, Rosa, and Magdalena, born in Riudarenes (La Selva) between 1895 and 1902, were three sisters of the Missionaries of the Heart of Mary, a congregation dedicated to educating youth and serving those most in need. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, they had to leave their communities and take refuge in their family home in Riudarenes.

On the morning of September 27, 1936, they were arrested: “We are ready to die for our faith. Open the door for them, for we are already prepared, and if they kill us, we shall rest in God.” That same day they were murdered in the woods of Els Hostalets, near Lloret de Mar. According to witnesses, they faced death with serenity and a determination to remain faithful to their faith. Their remains currently rest in the Mother House of the Missionaries of the Heart of Mary, in Olot. They were beatified on October 28, 2007.