[1] Candida, born Juana Josefa Cipitria y Barriola in the Basque town of Andoain, Gipuzkoa, went to Salamanca as a young girl to help support her family.

[2] Cipitria was deeply affected, however, by the depth of poverty she saw in a society undergoing the social effects of the Industrial Revolution in her country.

Seeking to find God's will for herself in this, Cipitria said she was led to founding this congregation through a vision of Jesus she experienced on Good Friday of 1869.

[3] In addition to Spain they include: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, China, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Mozambique, Philippines, Taiwan and Venezuela.

[4] The foundress was beatified in 1996 by Pope John Paul II, along with another early member of the congregation, María Antonia Bandrés Elósegui.