Josefa Naval Girbés was a Spanish Roman Catholic who was also a Secular Carmelite. She worked with cholera patients towards the end of her life and this led to her death in 1893 combined with her heart condition that hastened her death. She opened a home for the spiritual development of all people and worked to educate them and earned a reputation as a prominent educator and catechist. Pope John Paul II beatified her on 25 September 1988 and her cause for sainthood continues pending the papal approval of a second miracle attributed to her intercession. She has been recognized across Spain for her commitment to Church life and in the fieldof education, and became well known for her personal holiness and the conduct in which she led her life.
Life
Josefa Naval Girbés was born on 11 December 1820 in Algemesi, Spain as the eldest of six children of Vincenzo and Josefa Girbés. She was baptized hours after with the name of "Josefa Maria". She attended the school of a close neighbor and learned needlework in addition to the core educational framework. She received the sacrament of Confirmation and First Communion at the age of eight and nine. Her mother died on 19 June 1833 at the age of 35, and Josefa was forced to leave school in order to look after her household and her brothers. Her father died several decades later in 1862. She chose as her spiritual guide the parish priest Gaspar Silvestre. She took a vow of chastity on 4 December 1838 in order to consecrate herself to Jesus Christ. She became a Secular Carmelite at an unknown point during adulthood. She opened a home where she taught people needlework and also focused on the moral and spiritual formation of people which included the children. Girbés began to feel chronic pains in 1891 due to a heart condition and was in great pain as a result of it. She died in 1893 after a long illness related to that heart ailment. Her last request was granted: to be buried in the brown tunic and white mantle of the Carmelite habit. Her remains were transferred on 20 October 1946.
Beatification
The process for the beatification commenced on 25 February 1982 despite the fact that there had been two causes that had opened before this: the first was held from 22 December 1950 to 30 June 1952 while the other spanned from 23 February 1956 to 28 May 1956. Both of these processes were ratified in 1982 and the introduction of the cause granted her the title of Servant of God. The Positio - documentation on her life of heroic virtue - was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1985 for further evaluation and garnered the approval of theologians and the Congregation members themselves; both concluded that she had lived a model life of heroic virtue. Pope John Paul II recognized her virtuous life and proclaimed her to be Venerable on 3 January 1987. A miracle attributed to her intercession was investigated on a local level and the process spanned from 1968 to 25 February 1979; it was ratified less than a decade later on 28 November 1986 with all documentation sent to Rome for further evaluation. John Paul II approved it on 1 September 1988 and beatified her several weeks later on 25 September 1988. A second miracle attributed to her intercession and needed for her canonization was investigated and the process that ensured was ratified on 12 May 2006 with the information sent to Rome to be evaluated. The Rome-based medical board approved the miracle on 22 May 2014.
