[1][2] During her lifetime she led a tireless apostolate dedicated to serving the poor in Brazil (where she travelled to and once lived) and in her native land where she founded retreat centers and soup kitchens.

[3] In addition to these initiatives with her own resources she funded a boarding school for girls but divested most of her time and effort in a hospital that she sought to improve on following its inauguration.

[1][3][4] Cardoso made her First Communion on 23 April 1892 in her hometown and then in 1896 enrolled in a school at Vila Nova de Gaia alongside her sister Maria Haydée.

Cardoso received her Confirmation on 23 October 1903 from the Bishop of Porto António José de Sousa Barroso and later on 20 January 1911 made a private vow of service to God with the intent of evangelizing and ministering to others.

In 1917 – while she attended a retreat for the Spiritual Exercises – she made a private vow to remain chaste; Cardoso never married following the death of her fiancée.

In mid-October 1918 she contracted a flu that evolved into pneumonia as a result of the epidemic spreading across Europe though she managed to recover unlike others who succumbed to the outbreak.

On 21 January 1923 she began organizing retreats for people and in 1925 travelled to Rome for the jubilee that Pope Pius XI convoked; she hired a carriage for her friends, including the poet Dr. Queiroz Ribeiro.

[1][5][4] Cardoso also established homes for abandoned children whom she dedicated herself to helping and on one occasion learned that a child was considering the priesthood so encouraged him to pursue his vocation and paid for his education.

[4] Cardoso underwent a painful operation on 21 January 1950 in order to treat her condition but realized that she did not have much time left with which to live.

[1] The cause commenced on 9 April 1984 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official "nihil obstat" (no objections) decree therefore giving their assent to the cause and titling Cardoso as a Servant of God.