San José (Costa Rica). On 7 July 2025, we celebrate the 47th anniversary of the birth into heaven of Blessed Sister Maria Romero Meneses (1902-1977), Daughter of Mary Help of Christians of Central America who, with a heart truly in love, through her writings, her prayers, but above all, through her tireless catechetical work and a variety of initiatives, succeeded in spreading devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during her life.
“Heart of Jesus, I offer you all the tears that the Virgin has shed for You and all the tears and drops of blood that You have shed for me, in reparation, atonement, satisfaction, absolution, and remission of all my sins, omissions, and negligence, in thoughts, words, and actions, and above all, in infinite gratitude for Your infinite mercy…”. (Escritos Espirituales Beata María Romero – No 2. P. 147)
One of the great apostolic works of Sister Maria, in the flowering of the Oratories in San José, the capital of Costa Rica, in various neighborhoods and villages of rural areas, was the enthronement of the Heart of Jesus in families.
Through her little missionaries, she endeavored to prepare an entire village for the enthronement of the image of the Sacred Heart, happy to have won many families, not only for the enthroning of the holy image, but especially for the preparation of the great feast, with abundant confessions and communions, normally concluding the celebration with a solemn Mass in honor of the Sacred Heart.
For this occasion, she printed thousands of copies of a booklet containing all the parts of the Mass and a brief meditation on each moment of the Mass, according to a well-defined pattern.
In her book, The Social Works of Mary Help of Christians, Sister Maria tells in a pleasant and punctual way all the apostolic activity and the vicissitudes she lived with these young missionaries to have printed thousands of black and white images of the Heart of Jesus, which were then prepared with a small glass in front and framed with a simple piece of red adhesive tape.
The girls visited the poor houses of Barrio Corazón de Jesús (before its arrival it was called Barrio “Las Latas”); Sister Maria changed the name and it is still called this today. Other very poor neighborhoods were catechized gradually, making people change their habits, clean their homes better, take better care of their children, and, most importantly, change their lives, allowing the Heart of Jesus to be enthroned, not only in their humble homes, but above all in their hearts.
Once the Sacred Heart was enthroned, she began catechesis in the families, where she also promoted the practice of the First Fridays, with a good confession, thus keeping them in grace for several months.
Sister Maria herself tells some facts:
“During the months of vacation, the missionaries go mainly to distant villages to extend the Kingdom of God in souls, agreeing in advance by correspondence with the parish priest. On 22 January (1953), four of them went to Pozos Negros de Puriscal. There they prepared 12 children and 4 adults for First Communion and enthroned the Heart of Jesus and Mary Help of Christians in 120 houses. To be able to do good, they slept on the ground during those nights and went through various vicissitudes…”.
Sister Maria delicately narrates how in 1959, she proposed the Hour of Vigil to the Sacred Heart and how a Protestant woman wanted to join the shifts and said to Sister Maria, “I do two hours: one in church and the other at home. The one in church, I do in the evening, at the time of adoration, and the other one, I do at noon; and since we are said to be soldiers of Christ the King, I stand rigidly. (Ah, may the Heart of Jesus accept her sacrifice and convert her one day)”.
What did it mean for Sister Maria to “enthrone the Heart of Jesus”?
For Sister Maria, it was not a simple act of hanging a picture on the wall of a house, or a religious gift that she gave to families. For her, it was the hard work of preparation, family catechesis, rehearsals, going back and forth from Mary Help of Christians School in San José to the nearby southern outskirts, crossing the puddles, under the rain and mud, trying to use all the poor means at her disposal.
It is admirable to consider that from 1953 to 1965, when she received the order not to continue with the Oratories, Sister Maria had frequented 30 Oratories and carried out about 50,000 enthronizations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary Help of Christians. Today we would say, a ‘well-rounded’ Salesian’, in love with Jesus and able to attract others to Him alone!
When she no longer had the work of the oratories, nor the missions in various parts of the Country, she carried out her mission of love from the “House of the Virgin”. Every year, she celebrated with great solemnity the feast in honor of the Sacred Heart, preparing for it with the spiritual retreat of all the lay collaborators of the work. With this feast, she wanted to thank Jesus for having given her the gift of a chapel in honor of His Mother under the title of Help of Christians.
In her Spiritual Writings, Sister Maria leaves a small but beautiful prayer, which she repeated thousands of times during her life. With this prayer, we entrust to the intercession of Blessed María Romero, the request for a great love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
“Heart of Jesus who knows everything and can do everything, provide, your holy will be done. I believe and I abandon myself to your love!”
Podcast Triduum Sister Maria Romero:
Pagina Facebook Casa de María Auxiliadora, Obras Sociales Sor María Romero
Canale YouTube del Centro Teologico Storico Sor María Romero di San José
Que nuestra beata nos conceda la gracia de un amor fiel y entregado, renovado día a día en el sacrificio Eucarístico. ¡Feliz fiesta a todo el Instituto!