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María Dolores Rodríguez Sopeña was born on 30 December 1848, in Vélez-Rubio, Almería, Spain, fourth of seven children. Her father, Tomas Rodríguez Sopeña, was a lawyer, but because he was so young when he became a lawyer, he first worked in agricultural administrator. María Dolores’s mother, Nicolasa Ortega Salomon, was a homemaker.
Because of Tomas’ prestigious career in law, he introduced her to the high society of the day. Maria, however, always preferred the company of the poor, as opposed to the rich. As a teenager, María Dolores accompanied her mother visiting the poor of the town, and she found drawn to helping them in whatever way she could. As she grew older, this desire became her passion. Fortunately, Maria Dolores would live her life putting this passion into action.
In 1869, Tomas was sent to Puerto Rico to serve as a lawyer and judge. He took his eldest son with him, while his wife and other children went to live in Madrid. In Madrid, María Dolores taught in a women’s prison. In 1876, however, Maria Dolores, her siblings, and mother moved to Puerto Rico to join Mr. Rodríguez Sopeña and the eldest son.
In Puerto Rico, Maria Dolores developed her spiritual life with the help of a Jesuit priest, started a Sodality of the Virgin Mary, and began a school for disadvantaged students.
In 1873, the family moved from Puerto Rico to Santiago de Cuba. In Cuba, María Dolores taught catechism and helped the poor meet their healthcare needs.
It was in Cuba in 1883 that María Dolores decided to join a religious community of sisters, the Salesians. It took her only ten days to discover that that order was not for her, and she left.
In 1877, María Dolores’s mother died, and her father retired. The family then returned to Madrid. It was in Madrid in 1883 that her father died.
In Madrid, María Dolores established a Workers’ Center in 1885 where the poor could receive help solving their problems. Included in the services of the center were those to help women recently released from prison. Fortunately, María Dolores had a gift of attracting other people to help her in her work, and soon she began to expand to other areas.
In 1892, with the urging of the Bishop of Madrid, María Dolores founded the Sopeña Lay Movement to help her expand her help to the poor and sick in need. In the following four years, María Dolores made 199 trips everywhere in Spain to spread her work and enlist helpers.
In 1901, María Dolores founded the Sisters of the Catechetical Institute.” Unlike most religious sisters, though, the women did not wear habits. The community celebrates September 24, 1901, as its founding date, and the women began living together on October 31 of the same year.
In 1902, María Dolores established OSCUS, or Social & Cultural Work Sopeña. All three organizations that María Dolores founded are today known as the Sopeña Family and can be found in many nations of Europe, Cuba, North America, and South America.
Mother María Dolores died on January 10, 1918, in Madrid, Spain and was beatified in 2003. Blessed María Dolores’ feast day is January 10. She is the patron of the Sisters of the Catechetical Institute.
