Born at Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, on April 27, 1878, Mother Lupita was a Sister who devoted most of her life to caring for the sick. In 1901 she founded the Religious Congregation of the Handmaids of St Margaret Mary and the Poor.

During her lifetime, 11 foundations were opened in the Mexican Republic, and after her death the Congregation continue to grow, and today the Handmaids of Saint Margaret Mary and the Poor have 22 foundations in Mexico, Peru, Iceland, Greece and Italy.

She fell asleep in the Lord on June 24, 1963 at Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico aged 85, and ever since has enjoyed a solid fame of saintliness.

Relations between the Hospitaller Order and the Congregation of the Handmaids of Saint Mary Margaret are very close, particularly at Guadalajara in Mexico where they have a hospital and where are working together on Pastoral Care of the Sick-related issues, sharing matters relating to the certification and accreditation of our Hospitaller Centres.

In April 1987 the bonds were further strengthened between our two institutions when the Order granted the Charter of Affiliation to the Congregation.

Mother María Guadalupe was beatified by Blessed John Paul II on April 25, 2004 and on May 12, 2013 at the canonisation held in St Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Francis proclaimed her a Saint, together with the first Colombian Saint, Laura Montoya, and Antonio Primaldo and his 800 companions who were murdered by Muslims from the Ottoman Empire during the siege of the Italian city of Otranto in 1480.