Maria Soledad Torres y Acosta
María Soledad Torres y Acosta (2 December 1826 – 11 October 1887) - born Manuela - was a Spanish Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Servants of Mary. Her apostolic actions - and those of her order - were dedicated towards the nursing of the sick and the poor in the places that it operated in. Torres' childhood consisted of the desire to join the religious life and managed to join a priest's fledgling religious cluster of women after the Dominicans refused to admit her due to her frail constitution. But a series of struggles saw her in a conflicted position of leadership that saw her removed and reinstated twice.
Torres was beatified in 1950 and was later proclaimed a saint in 1970. Her liturgical feast is affixed to the date of her death as is the norm. In 2016, a movie was produced in Spain (original title: Luz de Soledad) that tells her vocation and the struggles during the early years of her life as founder.
Patron saint of Servants of Mary
In the Martyrology
- October 11 Saint María Soledad Torres y Acosta, virgin and founder of the Servants of Mary