St. Angela was a young woman from Spain who founded the Sisters of the Company of the Cross. Angela was born as María de los Ángeles Guerrero y Gonzálex in Seville, Spain in 1846.

She was one of fourteen children, most of whom did not survive childhood. Her parents were humble workers who worked at a Trinitarian Friary in their city. Angela did not receive much formal education, but she received catechesis and received her first communion at eight and confirmation. When she was just twelve years old, she began to repair shoes in a local cobbler's shop.

Although a shoe repair shop seems like an unlikely place to encounter Christ, it was while working in this shop that the flames of young Angela's faith were fanned. Antonia Maldonado, the owner of the shop, encouraged all her employees to pray together during the work-day. Antonia taught them the lives of the saints. Antonia's spiritual director, a priest renowned for his spiritual wisdom, often heard the confessions of the women in the shop. At the age of nineteen, Angela applied to become a Carmelite sister. The Carmelites denied the frail young woman's request, as she did not seem suited for the manual life of the monastic Carmelites.

Angela's confessor recommended that she begin working among the ill of the city on her own. In 1865, a cholera epidemic was running through Seville, and there were many sick men and women in need of care. Angela cared for the sick, and still kept her heart set on religious life. She applied to join the Daughters of Charity in Seville. She was accepted, but illness kept her from becoming a full part of the community. Angela returned to the shoe shop and began to plan and pray for a new venture. In 1875, Angela and three companions founded a religious community to support the local poor and ill. Angela took the name Mother Angela of the Cross. The archbishop of Seville approved the order one year later in 1876, and two more communities were established. In the years that followed, over twenty communities sprung up all over Spain. The Sisters of the Company of the Cross continue to minister in Spain to this day. Mother Angela died on March 2, 1932, at the age of eighty-six. She was canonized by John Paul II in 2003 in Madrid. Mother Angela is a great model of perseverance in doing God's will. Despite facing obstacles, Angela continually sought to serve God, despite her own limitations.

St. Angela of the Cross, who gave her life in service to the poor—pray for us!