Maria Engracia Lecuona y Aramburú
Visitation nun, martyr of the persecution in Spain
Who they were
The decree on martyrdom records that she was born at Oyarzun in the province of Guipuzcoa on 2 July 1897, entered the monastery as extern sister and made her religious vows in 1934, and that in July 1936 she was one of the seven nuns who had stayed to guard the monastery and who moved together to a half-basement flat in Madrid, where none of them would leave the others even though she could. She was beatified on 10 May 1998 by Pope John Paul II.
The miracles
As a martyr she was raised to the altars without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
The decree says she lived her consecration with fervour and a desire to advance in the way of perfection, and that the seven nuns prepared themselves calmly for martyrdom.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- Acta Apostolicae Sedis 90 (1998), p. 232 - decree on martyrdom
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - beatifications of 10 May 1998
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.