THE SMILING CATECHIST

The next young woman being considered for canonization could become the patron saint of young people with eye disorders. 

SERVANT OF GOD REBECA ROCAMORA NADAL  was born in 1975 in Granja Rocamora, a tiny village south of the Spanish province of Alicante. One of four children, Rebecca grew up in a profoundly religious environment She was  a typical child but, at the same time mature and reflective, with a marked inclination for the spiritual life.

At  age 10, a pituitary tumor gave her an insidious form of diabetes, causing ocular paralysis.  The ordeal of radiotherapy  did not alter her sunny disposition, but rather she gave courage to other children in the hospital.  She developed a great love of  Our Lady and gratitude for her suffering even when  the therapy weakened her body.

 At  age 16 she become a catechist, preparing children for their first  Communion with much joy and enthusiasm. As a true lover of Jesus, she succeeded in infecting the little ones with her same love.

Rebeca grew to like sports, crafts, books and adventure films, music, dancing, as any young woman of her age, yet she delighted in making others happy.

In 1995 she was diagnosed with  a tumor  on the optic nerve, which was to prove fatal.   She became bed-ridden  yet still managed  to transmit peace and serenity to anyone who approached her, even more than before. For this reason, whoever visited her  left  consoled. “Faith in the Holy Cross is my strength", she would say. The cross united her more and more to God and to the desire to accept His Will.  Daily Mass was celebrated in her room. She dies at the age of 20.

Today she is still remembered in her region of Spain as the "smiling catechist".