IFTTT Autopost 
Maria Rosa Leggol was born on November 21, 1926 in Puerto Cortés, Honduras. Her father was a French-Canadian man who abandoned her before she was even one-year-old, and her Honduran mother left her in an orphanage where Maria Rosa grew up.
When Maria Rosa was just six years old, she saw two School Sisters of St. Francis and was curious about who they were. She learned from the priest that they were Catholic religious sisters, women who had dedicated their lives to Christ and his Church in a special way. The image of the sisters was planted in Maria Rosa’s head, and by age nine, she found herself praying to St. Mary to help her locate those sisters so she could become a member of their order. She eventually saw two of the School Sisters arriving on the train.
In 1947, when she was 21, the School Sisters of St. Francis accepted Maria Rosa into their congregation. However, Maria Rosa had to fight hard to gain acceptance, for she only had five years of formal education.
The Sisters sent Maria Rosa to the United States to begin formation as a member of the American province based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
After her profession, Sr. Maria Rosa returned to Honduras to work in a hospital as a night shift supervisor in the capital, Tegucigalpa. And although she was noted to be an excellent worker on night shift, she was also drawn to the plight of the city’s poor children. She knew some of the children were orphans, and many had experienced life in prison, for often whole families were locked up.
So, in the daytime hours, Sr. Maria Rosa began devoting herself to children in need. She started by renting ten homes for the children in a low-income neighborhood. Though she had permission from the provincial superior in the United States, she hadn’t received permission from the local superior in Honduras. When the local superior found out what Sr. Maria Rosa had done, the superior gave permission for this ministry, but she told Sr. Maria Rosa that she would have to pay for it herself.
Fortunately, however, Sr. Maria Rosa obtained a grant from U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress to help people in Latin America. Soon, business leaders became interested and gave grants, and she was able to buy more homes. These quickly became full. But Sr. Maria Rosa continued taking children, some from the local prison. Even the U.S. Air Force provided food for the children.
By 1966, Sr. Maria Rosa formalized her work by founding Sociedad Amigos de los Niños (SAN), Friends of the Children Society. Soon, Sr. Maria Rosa became famous for her devotion to children who were abandoned, abused, neglected, or orphaned. Because of its success, Sr. Maria Rosa’s organization found itself providing help throughout other nations of Central America as well as countries in South America.
Sr. Maria Rosa contacted COVID-19 in July 2020. Though she received hospital care and was released to recover at home, Sr. Maria Rosa died on August 18, 2020.
Sr. Maria Rosa received many honors for her work, including a postage stamp issued by the Honduran government. But perhaps the greatest honor was being known as the “Mother Teresa of Honduras.”
