Cándida María de Jesús (31 May 1845 – 9 August 1912), born in Andoain, as Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola, was a Spanish nun and the founder of the Daughters of Jesus.

[1] The order – founded in 1871 – was under Jesuit direction from her spiritual director and was involved with the education of children in Salamanca though expanded during her lifetime.

[1] Barriola was affected to a great degree from the depth of the poor conditions that she witnessed in a place undergoing the social effects of the Industrial Revolution in her native land.

The Jesuit priest Miguel José Herranz advised her on her path ahead and at his advice started a number of charitable and educations programs; the two met in Valladolid in 1868.

On 8 December 1871 – alongside five companions – she founded the Daughters of Jesus and assumed the religious name: "Cándida María de Jesús".

The informative phase for the beatification process spanned in Salamanca from 17 June 1942 until 9 July 1957; all of her spiritual writings received theological approval on 25 October 1961.

John Paul II approved this miracle on 6 April 1995 and beatified the late religious on 12 May 1996 in Saint Peter's Square.