Usually, I read about saints who knew from an early age that they were destined to be a priest, or a nun. But Conchita knew from an early age that she wanted to married. And she wanted to marry to have a lot of children. Why? She figured that with many children there would be all the more to pray and love God.Ven. Conchita Cabrera de Armida loved the Blessed Sacrament. As a child she often prayed in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and often felt incapable of loving God how He deserved to be loved. Hence her desire to be more people--to love Him move. This was behind her childish wish to have a lot a lot of children.
Conchita picked out her future husband at age 13, Pancho Armida. She considered herself engaged to him and never considered anyone else. She married at age 22 and went on to have nine children. She attended Mass every day and prayed constantly. She is considered a mystic and her writings reflect that. See, Conchita, A Mother's Spiritual Diary, by Fr. Marie-Michel Philipon, OP.
There's a Face Book Page dedicated for her cause (with lots of pictures). She is a venerable now, on the way to beatification. Her writings were widely read and inspired the establishment of the "Works of the Cross," in Mexico, "the Apostolate of the Cross," the "Congregation of Sisters of the Cross of the Sacred Heart of Jesus," the "Covenant of Love with the Heart of Jesus," the Priestly Fraternity," and the "Congregation of Missionaries of the Holy Spirit."
Pancho died when she was 39. Her youngest was two, and it was during the Mexican Civil War. Her prayers allowed her and her family to get through the turmoil. She said that God told her that she was to suffer and write. That was her charism. She never claimed visions, but often spoke as if Jesus had conversed with her.
There's a nice video on You Tube dedicated to her. Conchita lived to age 75, dying in 1937. She was a woman, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a mystic, a writer, a religious activist, and a servant of God.
* h/t to Fr. Kevin Kraft, OP, and his research on married saints
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