Mother Maria Clara do Menino Jesus
• Born in Amadora, Lisbon, on the 15th of June of 1843.
• Baptized in the Church of Nª S.ra do Amparo, Benfica, on the 2nd of September of 1843
• Loses her parents, victims of cholera and yellow fever, in the years of 1856 and 1857 respectively.
•In October 1857, joins the Boarding of Ajuda, meant for the orphans of the noble families.
• As a consequence of the expulsion of the French Daughters of Charity, in May 1862 she leaves the Boarding and is received in the house of the Marquees de Valada, where she lives for 5 years.
• After that she goes to the Retreat of St. Patricio, with the Conceptionist Capuchinhas, under the guidance of Fr. Raimundo dos Anjos Beirão.
• Having understood the call of the Lord, in 1869, she receives the habit of the Capuchinhas, and takes the name Sister Maria Clara of the Child Jesus.
• She’s sent to Calais – France, on the February 10, 1870, to make her Novitiate, with the purpose of later on starting, in Portugal, a new Congregation.
• Starts the first Community, in St. Patricio, Lisbon, on the May 3, 1871 and 5 years after, on March 27, 1876, the Congregation receives Pontifical Approval.
• Opens a large number of houses to receive the poor and the needy people in Portugal and sends Sisters to Missions Ad Gentes: Angola, Goa and Guiné-Bissau.
• In Lisbon, on December 1, 1899, having lived a life totally dedicated to doing good where there is good to be done, she goes to heaven.