Born
1891 m. balandžio 5 d., Santiago, Čilė
Died
1904 m. sausio 22 d., Junín de los Andes, Argentina
Feast day: January 22
Born in Santiago, Chile. After the sudden death of the father, the mother fled with her two daughters to live in Argentina, near the Andes mountains. 1900 Laura was accepted into the college of the Institute of the Daughters of Christian Help of Mary. The following year, he received his First Communion and, as St. Dominikas Savio, vowed to love God with all his being, sacrifice and die just to avoid sin. He quickly became an example of friendship with Jesus and apostolic love. She was faithful to her daily duties. Full of confidence, she endured and heroically raised physical and moral suffering beyond her age. When she realized that her mother was living in sin with her partner, she sacrificed herself to the Lord for her conversion, chose asceticism and accepted personal evangelical vows with the permission of her confessor. Broken by illness and suffering, on the last night she confided her secret to her mother: "Mother, I am dying! I have been asking Jesus for a long time, sacrificing my life for you, to win your return to him... Mother, before I die, will I not have the joy of seeing you converted?" Having experienced this joy, she died the same evening - in 1904. on January 22.
Laura is a song of chastity, filial love, sacrifice.
In 1988, Fr. In Bosco's centenary year, John Paul II declared Laura Vicunja blessed.
The Director of the Salesian Institute who received Laura left the following record: "From the first days after her arrival at the college, Laura stood out for her thoughts and piety beyond her years. Her heart found no peace and rest anywhere but in the affairs of God. Although she was still a child, her piety was serious: nothing artificial or exaggerated. Everything was simple and ordinary. During prayer, one could notice her conscious immersion in what she did. She treated all her other duties with the same care. She used to say: "Prayer or work is the same to me; it's the same whether I pray or play or sleep. I do what the Lord wants me to do."
"When the elders command you, do it without hesitation, do not be like those who shrug their shoulders, shake their heads, or worse, refuse. Such are grievously offending God himself, who commands one thing or another with the help of the elders." (Fr. J. Bosko)