Her Family
Ignacia Iuco was born in Binondo, sometimes called as Minondoc or Milongo. Her devotionary surname, del Espiritu Santo, was written in her baptismal certificate. She was baptized on March 4, 1663 in Parian, Manila by Fr. Alberto Collares, OP with Catalina Malinang as her godmother.
Her father, Jusepe Iuco was a Chinese while her mother, Maria Geronima was a Filipina or Yndia as the Filipina was called then.
At that time, it was usual to enter the child’s name on the parish record without the family name of the father. According to Jesuit historian, Fr. Horacio Dela Costa, sj, it was customary among the pious parents to endow their children with devotional names at baptism.
Ignacia was a product of two cultures: Chinese and Filipino.
Ignacia had grandparents Bun and Lisi who hailed from Amoy, China. They were among the Chinese who came to the Philippines and brought their technology, industry, self-help and frugality. Most of the Chinese at that time stayed in the different commercial centers called Parian. On the other hand, the converted Chinese as in the case of Jusepe were given a place in Binondo where their children like Ignacia were brought up as Filipinos and of Catholic upbringing.
Coming from a middle class family, Ignacia was the lone survivor from one brother, Santiago, and two sisters, Rafaela Rodriguez and Juana de la Concepcion.
From her mother, Ignacia inherited special Filipino values such as freedom, justice, peace, family solidarity, dignity and honor, womanhood, hospitality, sensitivity and modesty, cleanliness, simple contentment, and a profound sense of spirituality and religion.
The Call
At the age of 21, Ignacia signified her desire not to marry. Through the spiritual direction of Fr. Paul Klein, sj who advised her to undergo the spiritual exercises or retreat of St. Ignatius of Loyola, she was enlightened to perceive that a stronger faith, a greater love was being asked of her.
The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola is the way of preparing and disposing the soul to rid itself of all inordinate attachments, and after their removal, of seeking and finding the will of God.
What St. Ignatius aimed at in his Spiritual Exercises was faithfully achieved by Ignacia, with God’s special grace and Fr. Klein’s competent guidance. Ignacia disposed her soul to the Spirit in a radical openness (bukas-loob and bukas-palad) to the future and detachment from her will and that of her parents, and thus properly disposed, she sought the will of God, recognized it. and was ready to obey and follow it. It was during this retreat that “God inspired her to remain to serve His majesty.”
It is worthy to note that during her time, there were two existing convents in Manila, that of:
Beaterio de Santa Catalina (or Beaterio de Santo Domingo): which clearly defined its membership, i.e., beatas must be Spanish women.
Santa Clara: they did not give religious profession to native aspirants. The reason was that natives were considered too young in the faith and they were not mature enough to embrace the rigors of religious life.
In such a situation, Ignacia heard her call from God, to live by the sweat of her brow in the service of the Divine Majesty. She left everything, all the conveniences her family could offer her. With only a pair of scissors and needle, she withdrew to the house that was to become the Mother House of the Congregation and started her new life.
The Congregation
Her fame of the exemplary life led numerous native girls and mestizas from various towns to join her. Among her first followers were her niece Christina Gonzales, and two others, Theodora de Jesus and Ana Margarita.
They were more known as the Beatas de la Compania de Jesus because the beatas frequented the St. Ignatius Church of the Jesuits where they received the Sacraments daily. When they numbered thirty-three, Mother Ignacia suspended the admission of more members because the house was small and the group did not have much resources for the maintenance of many. They lived in great poverty, living almost only on a little rice and a little salt which they begged from Fr. Andres Serrano, rector of the College of St. Joseph.
Mother Ignacia used to wear a halter on her neck and the others dragged her through the house, bearing cross on her shoulders; sometimes she prostrated on the ground for the others to step on her; she extended her arm in the form of a cross under the heat of the noonday sun.
The others imitated her. Every night, they used the discipline, slept very little, but spent most of the night in prayer. For scarcity of means for light, they were often in darkness. They used to have supper while there was still daylight, or else, on moonlight nights they supped at the batalan, on banana leaves, having no plates.
Because of these hardships and the rigorous penance they practiced, most of the beatas fell ill. They had to solicit alms as far as Pampanga where they were given much: two bancas and the contents thereof. Such was the fragrance that permeated the city by their way of life, prayer, frequency of the sacraments and penance that not only the Spaniards but also the Mestizos and natives gave them donations. With these donations and the income from their sewing, they were able to enlarge the house and maintain more than 30 beatas.
The Silent Protest
In an era when women of her land were meant to be confined within the limits of the home, Ignacia bravely left for a life with an uncertain future. With nothing but an abiding trust and faith in God and an intense love for souls, she formed an association which accepted the challenge of her times.
Mother Ignacia has a special place among the great Filipinos in history. She was humble, pious and patient person who possessed remarkable courage and willpower to help womanhood by founding a much-needed religious congregation for non-Spanish women. Religious life and the best that education could offer in her times were only for the Spaniards. But she was called to stand side-by-side with them to make the same openings for the natives. In other words, she was called to make a silent protest against the ills of the times and to contribute to the good that was already present in the building of the kingdom of God.
Undaunted by racial bias, which prevailed then not only in society and government, but also in the Church, Ignacia decided in 1684 “To form a religious community to which not only mestizas like herself but pure-blooded native Filipinas would be eligible for admission.”
Mother Ignacia’s founding of a community of Indio women might therefore be interpreted as a silent protest against her race even in matters spiritual. It is also proved that the inferior race of Filipino islanders was capable of achieving what was then considered beyond the endowment.
Her Death
Mother Ignacia died on September 10,1748 right after receiving communion at St. Ignatius Church in Intramuros. Her funeral took place in the same Church where she was honored by the presence of ecclesiastics and Spaniards who bore her coffin. Her spiritual daughters now known as the RVM (Religious of the Virgin Mary) Sisters resolved to recover her remains so that as early as 1959, excavations in what was known to be the site of the Jesuit Church were made. Unfortunately, until today, no remains of Mother Ignacia were found.
The whole Congregation, with the help of their lay friends and the Mother Ignacia Club and Mother Ignacia Movement, however, continues to hope and pray for the beatification of Mother Ignacia.
But beatification is not an easy process. It needs a lot of research, hard work and prayers. It is the formal and official act of the Church of pronouncing publicly that a person is worthy of the title “Blessed”. This is done after a process of proper inquiry into the heroic sanctity of a deceased person who is said to have led a truly holy and exemplary life.
The National Movement for the Cause was launched on May 16,1988 at the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral. On January 25,1989, the CBCP (Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines) after findings of an Ad Hoc Committee formally endorse the Cause for the Beatification of Mother Ignacia.