Paixão (Mother Virgínia da)
Original title: Paixão (Madre Virgínia da)
Madre Virgínia da Paixão, one of the last nuns of the Mercês convent, who died in 1929 with a reputation for heroic virtue.
Crowned with a reputation for the most sublime Christian virtues, Mother Virgínia da Paixão died on 17 January 1929 in the locality of Lombo dos Aguiares (‘the Aguiars’ ridge’), in the parish (freguesia) of Santo António (‘St Anthony’). She had been one of the last professed nuns of the former Convento das Mercês (Convent of Our Lady of Mercy), dedicated to Our Lady of Ransom (Nossa Senhora das Mercês), and when that religious house was demolished she withdrew to the modest home of her relatives in the same locality, where she had been born in the third quarter of the 19th century. During her lifetime, and particularly after her death, the most laudatory tributes were woven around her name, going so far as to regard her as one truly predestined, to whom heaven had granted exceptional gifts in the practice of the most heroic virtues. O Jornal (‘The Newspaper’) of 17 January 1941 and of 16 January 1944 wrote about this nun at some length.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 01Place
Places mentioned · 02
- Convent of Our Lady of Ransom
Funchal. Convent where she professed, later demolished.
The Convento das Mercês was a convent in Funchal, begun in 1654 as a lay retreat house for women, made a strict Poor Clare convent in 1663, and demolished from 1911. It was renowned for the austerity of its nuns, its foundation is the subject of a legend, and it gave the Rua das Mercês its name. Madre Brites da Paixão lived, died and was buried there, and its church held the image of Our Lady of Solitude.
- Lombo dos Aguiares
Funchal. Her birthplace and place of death.
Lombo dos Aguiares is an inhabited locality in the parish of Santo António, Funchal. It is named after Diogo Afonso de Aguiar, Zargo's son-in-law, or his descendants, and was the birthplace and place of death of Madre Virgínia da Paixão.
People
People mentioned · 01- Madre Virgínia da Paixãod. 1929
One of the last professed nuns of the Mercês convent, died at Lombo dos Aguiares in 1929 with fame of sanctity.