Blessed Laura Vicuña

Laura Vicuña was born on April 5, 1891, in Santiago, Chile, daughter of José Domingo Vicuña and Mercedes Pino. After political upheaval forced the family out of Santiago, her father died, and her mother, left poor with two little girls, crossed the Andes into Neuquén, Argentina. There Mercedes began living with a ranch owner, Manuel Mora, who paid for the girls' schooling but was harsh and violent.

In 1900 Laura entered the school of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Salesian Sisters, in Junín de los Andes. She grew in prayer and wished to become a sister. Grieving that her mother lived far from God, she offered her life to Jesus, with her confessor's permission, for her mother's conversion. Her health failed, and before she died on January 22, 1904, in Junín de los Andes, she told her mother of her offering; her mother promised to change her life. Saint John Paul II beatified Laura on September 3, 1988.

Laura is loved in both Chile and Argentina as a model for children and young people. Pilgrimages are made in her honor in Junín de los Andes and at her shrine in Chile, and many Salesian schools carry her name.

Families pray to her for children who suffer, for broken homes and for loved ones who are far from God.