About Blessed Anna Maria Janer Anglarill of Spain. Material from the source: sagradafamiliadeurgell.org

1. BLESSEDANNA
MARIAJANERimage source: sagradafamiliadeurgell.org

2. “God is not a God who is unconcerned with
the pain and suffering of humankind, but a
God who wanted to become fragile and
poor like us, and experience suffering in the
flesh, and from there, save us.
If you learn to discover the signs of life in the
midst of death… in the little things, in the
little gestures of love, in an outstretched
hand, in an ear attentive to needs… there
you will find the fingerprints of God.
Blessed Ana Maria Janer… fingerprints of a
life devoted to the service of God and of
others, fingerprints of a life given in love to
all without distinction, fingerprints of a God
who wanted to be close to us through a
woman who dared to live in fidelity to the
miracle of God's mercy in a wounded
world.”
- translated from Spanish
From the website of the Hermanas
de la Sagrada Familia de Urgell

3. Today, in the 21st century, new wounds
affect humanity, but God continues to call
us to work for life in the midst of a culture
of death, living a charism whose center
and meaning is love.
Facebook/Hospital La Seu D' Urgell

4. The Seu d'Urgell is a town in Catalonia, in northeastern Spain.
Starting around the year 1850, the Board of the Seu d'Urgell Hospital wanted
to establish a community of Sisters of Charity, but various circumstances had
prevented a stable community from taking shape.
In 1853 Bishop José
Caixal took over the
diocese, and one of his
goals was to revitalize
the service that this
Hospital offered to the
sick and the poor.
The Hospital is part of a
set of buildings that
formed around the
ancient Cathedral. The
earliest reference to the
existence of a hospital
in La Seu d'Urgell
appeared in the year
1059. It still exists today.
Link to website
Some History

5. For this purpose, in 1858 the
administrators of the Hospital
initiated contact with Sr. Ana
María Janer, to enlist her to
take charge of the
establishment as superior.
At the end of June 1859, after
obtaining the necessary
consents of hospital
administration and Church
authorities, Mother Janer
traveled to La Seu
accompanied by two
postulants, Concepción
Descárrega and Josefa Selva.

6. On July 1, as recorded in the
minutes of the La Seu Hospital,
Ana María Janer appeared before
the Board to accept the
assignment:
“That she has come here in order to
take charge of the internal
management of the establishment
out of a spirit of charity and not for
profit; content to remain here and
support the other sisters, healthy or
sick, with the respectability
appropriate to their station in life;
And each of the sisters is to be given
the amount of one hundred and sixty
reales annual income for their shoes
and dress; And at the time of death,
as determined by the Board, funerals
will be held for them, granting this
in exchange for whatever they will
earn through their work.”

7. Next came the presentation
and approval of the Rule of
their new institution, then
called "Sisters of Charity", now
known as the “Religious of the
Holy Family of Urgell”, under
the patronage of the
Immaculate Virgin, Saint
Vincent de Paul, and Saint
Louis Gonzaga.
Its two purposes were well
defined: assisting the poor
and sick, and education for
girls.

8. Needless to say, the institution
gained momentum during the
early years under the
leadership of Mother Janer
who, tirelessly, despite her age,
continued to found schools,
charities and hospitals in
Cervera, Tremp, Oliana, Bellver,
Sant Andreu, Organyà,
Castellciutat, Llívia, Les
Avellanes.
According to the oldest
chronicles of these foundations,
she personally went to
establish the communities
there.

9. Ana María Janer dedicated her
entire life to the service of the
marginalized people of her
time: the poor and incurably
sick, the plagued, orphaned
children, lonely elderly. Charity,
love of God and neighbor, is
what moved this woman to act,
to go out of herself to attend to
the concrete needs of the
other.
In each sick person, in each
child, in each community sister,
in each person in need, Jesus
Christ is loved, consoled and
caressed… this is the
overarching principle of her life
and the reason for her
unconditional dedication to
others.

10. Today they are a worldwide
family, “la familia janeriana
mundial”, consisting of the
Instituto Hermanas de la
Sagrada Familia de Urgell, the
Janerianos Latinoamérica, and
other groups based on charity,
joy, and a spirit of service.
They communicate via
Facebook, website, and
newsletter.

11. SOURCE: sagradafamiliadeurgell.org