Msgr. Zelimir Puljic, the bishop of Dubrovnik, and the postulator approach the Holy Father and request for the act of the beatification of the Servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic to begin.

Holy Father, as the bishop of Dubrovnik, I humbly request you to deign to count among the blessed ones the Servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic, the foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mercy. Then Bishop Puljic briefly presents the life of the Servant of God to the faithful.

Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic was born on December 10, 1892 in the All Saints’ Parish in Blato, on the island of Korcula. She was the sixth of eight children born to the family of Antun and Marija Petkovic. Her exemplary parents gave their children a Christian upbringing and instructed them in faith. Their daughter Marija showed an inclination toward devotion and charity. Seeing the suffering of people, hunger and want, while still a child she decided to protect the poor, “the chosen and beloved brothers of the crucified Lord,” as she was known to call them. Yearning to help the poor and needy, at the initiative of the bishop she began to prepare a modest constitution for a religious community “for the training and education of young domestic girls.”

The bishop of Dubrovnik, Msgr. Josip Marcelic, based upon the regulations of the Third Order Franciscans, by a special document dated 1928 canonically established the religious community. Three decades later, on the feast of the Annunciation in 1957, the community received Pontifical recognition as a Congregation and a constitution. Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic particularly respected and valued the decrees from the bishop and Holy Father, as evident from the letter in which she explained the meaning of the rights and constitution to her sisters: “These are the words and law of our Lord. . . . the holy regulations, the book of life, the way of the cross, the key to heaven and the bond of eternal friendship . . .” This Servant of God found her greatest joy in the poor, the marginalized and the despised. In them she recognized the face of the suffering Jesus and rejoiced if she could be at their service. Until her blessed death on July 9, 1966, she never tired of urging her sisters to demonstrate by their behavior and sacrifices that God’s love, goodness and mercy were embodied in them.

The reputation for saintliness that this Servant of God enjoyed during her lifetime was also confirmed after her death. Following the procedure by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on July 5, 2002 Your Holiness published a decree of “the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic,” and on December 20 of the same year, a decree on the miracle that occurred through her intercession. This daughter of the Dubrovnik Diocese succeeded in her spiritual life to connect the apostolic act of spreading the faith with effective care and love of the little ones. She was able to suffer and bear insults, and “made poverty and humility her highest values in life.” She derived her spiritual strength and prudence from prayers and from the advice of Church pastors, toward whom she was very docile and obedient. The Congregation of the Daughters of Mercy that she founded today numbers approximately 450 sisters who are active on three continents, 12 countries and 67 communities. The sisters are engaged in the education of the young, catechesis, care of the elderly and infirm, parish pastoral work and missions.

I request of you, Holy Father, to deign with your apostolic authority to beatify the first Croatian woman, the Servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic.