Today, we remember with gratitude and reverence Angustias Giménez, whose life and witness were instrumental in the founding of the Congregation of the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. On this anniversary of her passing, we honour not only her memory but also the profound role she played in the early days of our congregation’s mission.
Angustias Giménez was born in Granada, Spain, in the mid-19th century, a time of great social and spiritual need. When she encountered St. Benedict Menni, the Italian priest and future canonized saint, her life would change course in a way that would quietly but powerfully shape the future of religious hospitality.
Together with María Josefa Recio, Angustias answered Fr. Menni’s call to serve the mentally ill and those abandoned by society. In 1881, they took in their first patients in Ciempozuelos, Madrid, planting the seeds of what would become the Sisters Hospitallers.
While María Josefa would become the first Superior and later be recognised as Blessed, Angustias Giménez became the first postulant of the new congregation. She may not have held the same titles, but her deep humility, spiritual devotion, and unwavering support made her an essential pillar in the foundation of the order.
Angustias’ life was marked by simplicity, service, and deep faith. She embodied the spirit of hospitality not through great public works, but through everyday acts of love and care, attending to the sick, supporting her Sisters, and remaining faithfully by the side of those who suffered.
Though history may speak more often of others, the heart of Sisters Hospitallers beats with the legacy of women like Angustias, those whose lives were lived for others in hidden but holy ways.
As we mark the anniversary of her death, we are reminded that the strength of a mission often rests on quiet, faithful hearts. Angustias Giménez reminds us that the work of healing and hospitality begins in humility and is carried out in love.
At Sisters Hospitallers, her legacy lives on in every act of compassion shown in our hospitals and care homes, in every Sister and lay collaborator who chooses kindness over recognition, and in our ongoing commitment to the mission of serving the sick and the vulnerable with hospitality, dignity, and faith.
May her memory inspire us all to follow Christ in the footsteps of those who served humbly, loved deeply, and gave generously, without seeking the spotlight, but always seeking the good.
Angustias Giménez, pray for us.