Petra of Saint Joseph

Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph
Founder of the Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain. Promoter of the construction of the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain in Barcelona.
Born	Ana Josefa Pérez y Florido December 6, 1845 Valle de Abdalajís, Málaga, Spain
Died	August 16, 1906 Barcelona, Spain
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Beatified	October 16, 1994 by John Paul II

Petra of Saint Joseph (Valle de Abdalajís, province of Málaga, December 6, 1845 – Barcelona, August 16, 1906) was a Spanish religious sister, founder of the Congregation of the Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain and promoter of the construction of the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain in Barcelona. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 16, 1994.

Legacy

During her lifetime, Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph founded 8 houses: Málaga, Ronda, Gibraltar, Martos, Andújar, Valencia, Álora, Vélez, Barcelona and Arriate; all of them with homes for orphan girls or residences for the elderly. Her devotion to Saint Joseph inspired the birth of the Congregation of the Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain, the Association of Saint Joseph of the Mountain in Barcelona (initially called the Pious Union) and the Family of Saint Joseph in Málaga. Her crowning work was the construction of the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain in Barcelona.

Family

Ana Josefa Pérez Florido—known as Mother Petra of Saint Joseph and later, after her beatification, as Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph—was born in Valle de Abdalajís, province of Málaga, on December 6, 1845. The daughter of José Pérez Reyna and María Florido González, she was the youngest of five siblings. The family owned land, a house and a mill, so it can be described as well-off. The Blessed's mother died when she was 3 years old. From that moment on, her paternal grandmother, Teresa Reyna, took charge of her upbringing.

Adolescence and youth

In her adolescence she went out with a young man from the area, José Mir, as she herself attested in her memoirs. But when the families began to speak of marriage, the future Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph rejected the idea. It was easy for the young woman to break off the engagement, since her "fiancé" took a political position contrary to the protector family of the Pérez Florido, the Counts of Corbos. According to Blessed Petra, the latter offered her the possibility of marrying another young man, but she refused.

She withdrew from social life and began to practice charity actively: at night, together with her brother Juan, she distributed food among the less fortunate families of the valley, and she went to church repeatedly.

Her father forbade her to become a nun, and she struck up a friendship with Josefita Muñoz, another young woman of the valley who wished to become a nun and whom her neighbors called "the saint."

Family life was affected by the insecurity that existed throughout the country, and the Blessed's father, who had been Mayor from 1869 to 1870, had to flee and leave the house for a time; this saved his life in the revolt of the people of Málaga in March 1873.

After these events, her father relaxed his position regarding Ana Josefa's vocation and allowed her to devote herself entirely to charity, although he still did not permit her religious consecration, as she herself writes in her memoirs.

First asylums

In 1873 she rented a house on Alameda Street. There she took in the forsaken elderly of the town. A cousin joined her in this task: María, 18 years old, who died 7 months after joining the Blessed. María's father, upon her death, made a donation that allowed them to buy the first house, which stood opposite the parish church and which is still called the House of the Poor. When the new home was fitted out, the Blessed and Josefita moved in to live with the elderly people they cared for. Josefita was sickly, and Petra also had to look after her. They were soon joined by Francisquita Bravo Muñoz, the future Mother Magdalena of Saint Joseph, and later by her sister Isabel Bravo Muñoz.

The four young women opened the second asylum on March 19, 1877, in the nearby town of Álora, where they settled at No. 10 Santa Ana Street. They rented the back part of the house, which consisted of a small courtyard, a ground-floor room and an upper chamber with access. Ana Josefa's father had died on January 11 of that year, which allowed her to settle in the new asylum together with Josefita, although the latter did not last more than 15 days and was replaced by Isabel Bravo. At first, 18 elderly people were taken in. At that time they were joined by Rafaela Conejo Giménez, who would become superior general of the Congregation under the name of Mother Trinidad of Saint Joseph.

Religious consecration

In May 1878, the young Rafaela and Josefita moved to Málaga, since the former's doctor had prescribed sea baths for her. There they came into contact with the Little Sisters of the Poor and other nuns, which strengthened their desire to consecrate themselves to God.

They asked the advice of the Franciscan Father Mariano, Ana Josefa's spiritual director, who advised them not to join the Little Sisters and to consult the Bishop of the diocese. Since he was absent, they were received by his secretary, who sent them to meet with the provisor Juan Nepomuceno Zegrí, who at that time was founding a congregation.

Ana Josefa decided to obey and become a nun in the congregation that had been recommended to her; Josefita did not leave the valley and remained in the House of the Poor accompanied by Isabel Bravo, who was too young to enter as a nun; Francisquita wanted to accompany her, but her brothers, opposed to her becoming a nun, forced her to return to the valley against her will, something common at that time.

Mercedarian novice

On November 1, 1878, Ana Josefa took the habit of the Mercedarian Sisters, but she did not accept profession, so the provisor ordered her to return to Álora to continue caring for the elderly together with Rafaela, who entered the Mercedarian convent of San Carlos, hiding from her family, who were demanding her return. Once Ana Josefa received the rights to the House of Álora from Josefita, who renounced them as co-founder, Josefa ceded them, together with her own, to the provisor.

Her experience as an administrator led Zegrí to keep her as superior of the house of Álora even while she was a novice. On December 24, 1878, her former companions Francisquita, Isabel and Rafaela managed to join her again after pressuring their respective families. Although Ana explained to her friends that the congregation did not seem well organized to her, they decided to take the habit on the Day of the Kings of 1879.

Hospital of Vélez

Ana, with two of her companions and four other nuns, was assigned to the hospital of Vélez, which had been governed by a charity board until January 31, 1879, the date on which the town council transferred its management to the provisor Zegrí.

The situation of the hospital was terrible: the poor and the sick slept on the floor on straw mattresses, and cleanliness and care were scarce. The nuns and novices gave up their beds to the sick and devoted themselves to cleaning and caring for the patients.

Ana was in charge of the hospital and managed the donations it received. The congregation imposed on her an obedience, regarding financial matters, that deprived her of freedom of action. Displeased by this, she asked the advice of her director, Father Mariano, who advised her to leave the congregation, regretting that he had recommended it to her. Ana asked her director for permission to consult other priests, to which he did not object. The two priests she consulted answered her in the same way; after meeting with Dr. Zegrí on several occasions, on September 23, 1879, she put off the habit. Zegrí transferred his Mercedarian nuns to the hospital of Álora, since it now belonged to him. One Mercedarian nun stayed with Ana.

Ana and her companions continued working in the hospital dressed in black lay clothing and nurses' bodices. Bishop Gómez-Salazar received news of the case and wished to meet with Ana, whom he advised that she and her companions not enter any other order and that they continue working with the sick for a trial period of two years.

During that period, they increased the number of people cared for and took in poor elderly people, in addition to the sick they were already caring for. Mortality at the hospital fell. She established a schedule of prayer, work and silence for herself and her companions.

Birth of the Congregation of the Mothers of the Forsaken

Before the two years of trial had ended, the Bishop of Málaga received Ana and one of her companions. Monsignor Gómez-Salazar urged them to found their own congregation, suggesting that they do so under the patronage of Our Lady of the Forsaken, and he gave them profession together with the habit on February 2, 1881, after ten days of spiritual exercises with the young priest Francisco Coca.

From that day on, Francisquita Bravo Muñoz would be Mother Magdalena of Saint Joseph; Isabel Bravo Muñoz, Mother Natividad of Saint Joseph; Rafaela Conejo Jiménez, Mother Trinidad of Saint Joseph; the Mercedarian nun, Mother Visitación of Saint Joseph; and Ana Josefa, who was 35 years old, Mother Petra of Saint Joseph.

The year after their profession, they wished to prepare to renew their vows by making spiritual exercises. Mother Petra wanted them to be given by a father of the Society of Jesus. The superior in Málaga sent them Father Pascual Barrado, who advised Mother Petra, among other things, to found a Novitiate House, since the hospital was no place for silence, recollection and prayer.

The Congregation grows. The first homes

The novitiate of Málaga. The departure from Vélez

With the encouragement of Father Barrado and the help of Father Coca, they found a house in Málaga that was given to them by the Huelin couple. The couple paid the expenses of worship on condition that they run a school for the boys and girls of the neighborhood.

In Vélez it was thought that the 12 nuns were abandoning the hospital, and the town's Mayor was obliged to intervene. Fearing that they would stop managing the hospital, the town council imposed on them rules of isolation that did not allow them to have contact with their directors. Mother Petra managed to ask Bishop Gómez-Salazar for help, and he advised her to impose conditions of her own as well and to go to Málaga.

On June 8, 1882, the nuns secretly left Vélez at night. There were seven travelers, including Mother Petra and Father Coca; Mother Magdalena remained in Vélez as superior.

The first days in Málaga were hard. The house was very humble and very dirty. To these harsh conditions was added the fact that Sister Visitación ran away and returned to Vélez. There she met with the Mayor and offered to run the hospital. Mother Petra had to go after Sister Visitación to calm tempers. She did not reach the town, as she met on the road the two nuns who had remained in Vélez. They had been expelled with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Mother Petra and Mother Magdalena went to the town and met with the Mayor in the presence of the parish priest. Tempers calmed, but the nuns left Vélez for good. Sister Visitación was stripped of the habit and the professed sister's escutcheon.

The hostilities of Málaga

The departure from Vélez soured the atmosphere in Málaga. They were nearby towns, and rumors spread. The boys and girls did not come to the school, and donations were nonexistent. So hard was that early period that the nuns ate from the charity of Father Coca. Eventually he had to consider the possibility of leaving the nuns in order to seek a chaplaincy. Mother Petra and her companions slept on the floor. Little by little, through their work and character, they won over the people of the neighborhood and gradually became integrated.

Ronda

Established and accepted in Málaga, Mother Petra began to consider founding another house in Ronda. Ronda was a nearby town, and Father Coca was a native of it. The possibility arose of taking over the management of a foundation promoted by a parish priest of the city. The matter was quite advanced, since the Bishop had recommended Mother Petra for this work.

The foundation was a hospital, a fact that did not please Mother Petra, who wanted an asylum for the forsaken; nevertheless, she thought she could convert the foundation.

The Hospital of Santa Bárbara was located near the Cathedral of Santa María. Unlike in Málaga, in Ronda the population threw itself behind them, and they received much help and affection.

The possibility of taking charge of a foundation for the forsaken came to her through Antonio Ruiz Higuero. Ruiz explained to Mother Petra his wish to found an asylum for the forsaken, and since the Little Sisters of the Poor already had one in Ronda for the elderly, he proposed to the Mother that she found an asylum for orphan girls. The benefactor would take charge of the cost of the house and its upkeep; he asked only one condition: the asylum had to be in the Convent of the Mother of God of the Dominican nuns. Ruiz was a relative of the abbess and had reached an agreement with her, under which the community would hand over to him a ruined part of the convent and some gardens in exchange for repairing the rest of the buildings. On March 19, 1884, the Asylum of Saint Joseph for orphan girls was inaugurated in Ronda.

Tapestry displayed in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City during the beatification of Mother Petra of Saint Joseph. A copy exists in the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain, Barcelona.

Mother Petra combined the direction of the Hospital of Santa Bárbara with the construction of the asylum for orphan girls. During this period she began home visits to care for sick and needy families in their own homes. Once the asylum had opened, she added free classes for day pupils to her social work.

It is now a state-subsidized school called La Inmaculada y San José de la Montaña.

Gibraltar

On July 16, 1884, they officially took over the management of the Gabino Hospital in Gibraltar, with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Gonzalo Canilla. The management of the Gabino came to them through the parish priest Gabriel Femenías, whom Mother Petra had met on an earlier trip she had made in order to take charge of another hospital, a project that was not carried out.

The beginning in Gibraltar was especially hard for her, since a niece of hers decided to leave the congregation, something that could cause a scandal at the time. In addition, there were problems with those taken in at the asylum, who were not used to rules and who even each cooked whatever they wished for themselves. The Mothers established schedules and separated the residents by sex and age. Mother Magdalena was left in charge of this asylum.

Andújar

During the construction of the Asylum of Saint Joseph for orphan girls in Ronda, Mother Petra received a letter from Andújar, Jaén, asking her to take charge of an asylum, but the construction in Ronda and the organization of Gibraltar did not allow her to go immediately.

In Andújar there was an asylum as chaotic as the one in Gibraltar which, moreover, had windows that communicated with the prison, so Mother Petra judged that it was necessary to change its location. For this she chose the former convent of San Juan de Dios, which at that time housed a public school and town council offices, where the Asylum of Andújar was inaugurated on January 31, 1885.

1884 Andalusia earthquake

Ruins of the Church of Zafarraya after the earthquake

On Christmas night of 1884 the ground shook throughout Andalusia. The earthquake had a magnitude of between 6.2 and 6.5 on the Richter scale and lasted approximately 10 seconds, with an epicenter between 40 and 50 kilometers underground, causing between 1,050 and 1,200 victims and around twice as many injured.

Mother Petra, who was in Andújar preparing the new foundation, had to hurry to Málaga, where she contacted the Bishop. She offered to take in all the girls orphaned by the catastrophe in the former convent of the Capuchins, where the Congregation had its novitiate, since the old one had become too small for them. The abandoned Capuchin convent had been donated to the Congregation through the mediation of Monsignor Gómez-Salazar.

The Bishop, after some hesitation, accepted the offer. To manage the funds intended for building a new asylum—since all the facilities of the former convent, with the exception of the church, had suffered great damage—an administrative board was established; the bishopric ceded some land in Los Martiricos, where according to tradition the siblings Cyriacus and Paula had suffered martyrdom; in addition, Trinidad Grund, widow of Heredia, made a donation in the name of the former Queen Isabella II.

First constitutions

The Bishop of Málaga ordered Mother Petra of Saint Joseph to set down in writing the rules of the new congregation, which were approved on March 20, 1888, by Monsignor Gómez-Salazar, by then archbishop of Burgos.

Mother Petra in Barcelona

Mother Petra arrived in Barcelona on November 25, 1886, and first visited the Church of Bethlehem, located on the famous Ramblas, in which there is an image of the Virgin of the Forsaken. The nuns knew no one in the city and were taken in by Dolores Badía, who sold candles in the church, at her home at Perot Lladre Street 3, 4th floor, 1st door, where she lived with her daughter Mercedes Reisach Badía. A few days later the Mothers found a rented apartment at Ataülf Street 12, owned by the Baroness of Almirall, owner of the Castle of El Papiol.

On January 17 of the following year, they moved to the El Puxet villa, belonging to the Beltrand couple, in the neighborhood of San Gervasio, and that same day they received permission from the curia for the canonical erection of the community in Barcelona. On the Saint Joseph's Day they inaugurated the chapel of the Asylum of San Gervasio, in which the images of Our Lady of the Forsaken and of Saint Joseph were placed. For the latter she paid 200 pesetas, and it is the first reference we have to the image that is currently in the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain and that receives thousands of pilgrims every year.

Transfer of the novitiate to Manresa and beginning of the chronicles

On June 23, 1887, she requested permission to establish the novitiate in Barcelona. The prelate's reply arrived on February 16 of the following year. Mother Petra summoned the novices who were in Málaga to make the spiritual exercises together with those of the Condal City and to prepare the inauguration, but a few days before the ceremony a notification arrived from the prelate denying the permission granted. Displeased, on the advice of a priest, she asked Monsignor Morgades, Bishop of Vich, on April 25, 1888, for permission to move the novitiate to Manresa, which was granted to her on June 13.

A year later, on June 5, 1889, Mothers Petra, Luisa Gonzaga and Josefa arrived in the capital city of the Bages district to establish the novitiate on Àngel Guimerà Street, which was inaugurated on July 31. The first clothing ceremony took place on September 24 for the novices Sisters Asunción, Montserrat, Paula, María Rosa and Agustina.

On April 27, 1890, the day of the Patronage of Saint Joseph, Mother Petra began writing the chronicles of the Congregation.

The asylum of Martos

At the end of 1886 the Mothers of the Forsaken met the Marchioness of Blanco-Hermoso, who proposed to them the management of an asylum she wished to fund in the city of Martos. Founded on November 4, 1887, the Asylum of Saint Joseph was located at No. 2 Dolores Escobedo Street; it housed forty elderly people of both sexes.

Ignacio Verdós Maurí

This lawyer, who held the post of chief officer of the Expansion Department (Ensanche) at the Barcelona City Council, after meeting Mother Petra was completely captivated by her charism and devotion, to the point of giving up the practice of law and studying for the priesthood in Toledo.

He accompanied Petra on her first trip to Rome; he was chaplain on all her travels and adviser in her affairs. Because of his valuable support, when the time came for the work on the Sanctuary, Mother Petra called him her Cyrenian.

The first trip to Rome

On March 23, 1891, Petra, accompanied by Mother Natividad and Father Ignacio Verdós, set out for Rome with the purpose of presenting the Rules of the Congregation to the Holy Father and obtaining his decree of praise. Mother Petra carried letters of recommendation from the bishops of the various dioceses where the Congregation had houses.

In the first days she prayed to Saint Joseph in the church of San Claudio; she met with the members of the Sacred Congregation of Bishops and Regulars, among them its prefect, Cardinal Isidoro Verga.

On the eve of Corpus Christi she was received in a public audience by Pope Leo XIII. The following day she heard Mass in the private oratory of the Supreme Pontiff and received Communion from his hands.

While awaiting the papal decree, Mother Petra visited Cardinal Rampolla, Secretary of State of Leo XIII, to tell him that she wished to ask him to be protector of the Institute. On July 17, 1891, a little more than three months after her visit to the Pope, she obtained the decretum laudis in favor of the congregation.

Last days

Understanding that her end was approaching, Mother Petra left for Montserrat on July 30, 1906: she was 60 years old and had very advanced diabetes. Accompanied by two nuns, the chaplain of the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain and the young Antonio Gili, she went to fulfill the promise of a novena she had made to the Virgin of Montserrat for having granted her the possibility of paying all the debts from the construction of the Sanctuary.

Beatification

The cause of canonization was introduced in 1932 in the Curia of Barcelona. On June 14, 1971, Paul VI declared her Venerable for "her heroic degree in the theological and cardinal virtues, as well as those related to them." Twenty years later the canonical process was instructed, presenting the miracle that occurred on July 31, 1951, in Fuensanta de Martos, Jaén, when Pastora López Moya gave birth in her own home, assisted by a midwife. The child was born well, but the placenta was not expelled and Pastora suffered a severe hemorrhage. Attended by two gynecologists, she was given several transfusions, but the patient went into shock. According to the account of relatives, they commended themselves to God through Mother Petra and placed a small holy card beside the sick woman. A transfusion was performed at the family's insistence, and Pastora began to recover.

The recognition of this miracle led John Paul II to declare Mother Petra Blessed on October 16, 1994, describing her as a "great woman with a heart of fire." The cause of canonization continues its course toward declaring Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph a saint.

Quotations from other figures about Blessed Petra

• John Paul II: "Woman with a heart of fire."
• Matilde T. de Oiz: "Like the public fountain where one goes to fetch water without limit and without measure, as if it were never to run dry… she gave herself, gave herself without sparing herself… She was all for all, in imitation of her divine Master, for whom sorrows were sweet to her and joys bitter. A giant soul that was suffocating in the narrow horizons of the world."
• Piarist Father Juan Colomer: "In Mother Petra, nature made likable and amiable the virtue that her soul treasured to an eminent degree. And, in return, virtue adorned and completed the beauty of her nature, thus making her the center of an irresistible influence. People, on dealing with her, at once felt a pull of delight. Soon they believed they had seen a saint."
• Priest Francisco Coca: "God thus predestined and favored her, and she, blessed, knew how to correspond to so singular a choice. Seeing things in God and all things in God, walking with God from the dawn to the sunset of her holy life."
• Priest Ignacio Verdós: "She exercised the virtue of charity to a heroic degree, giving herself wholly to God and wholly to the poor in God and for God, devoting herself to a life of work and sacrifice for them."

Relics

On July 23, 1936, the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain was looted and set on fire, and Mother Petra's remains disappeared. After the Spanish Civil War the Sanctuary was once again occupied by the Congregation of the Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain; the nuns found the charred coffin and gave up Mother Petra's remains as lost.

In 1952 a dying man confessed on his deathbed to a nun of the Servants of Jesus that he had taken part in the burning of the Sanctuary in Barcelona and that they had stolen Mother Petra's remains. The sick man explained that they destroyed the coffin because of the fame the nun had in Barcelona at that time and the large number of pilgrims who came to the Sanctuary to make their petitions to Saint Joseph, and that, since they did not manage to destroy the remains, in the end they buried them in a field near Puzol, Valencia.

On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Congregation, in 1981 it was decided to investigate this matter, and it was placed in the hands of the public prosecutor's office. The case concluded with the exhumation of the body found in the place described by the dying man, carried out in the presence of the archbishop of Valencia, Miguel Roca Cabanellas, the mother general and the council of the Congregation, two doctors and a civil notary.

Finally, on May 11, 1984, Cardinal Palazzini, prefect of the Congregation, signed the document declaring that the remains found in the field near Puzol are truly those of the Venerable Mother Petra of Saint Joseph Pérez Florido.

Honors

Statue of Petra of Saint Joseph in Málaga.

In 2006, the city of Málaga dedicated a commemorative statue to the memory of Petra of Saint Joseph in the neighborhood of La Trinidad on the occasion of the centenary of her death. The work was executed by Javier Casares and María Ortiz.

Film

In 2021 the film La misionera de San José, directed by Pablo Moreno, was released, telling the life of Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph. The film, shot in the last stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, faced many restrictions when it came to filming in the real settings of Mother Petra's life and was shot mostly on sets.

Cast

• Marian Arahuetes ..... Young Petra of Saint Joseph
• Olga Mansilla ..... Petra of Saint Joseph in the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain
• Asumpta Serna ..... Countess of Corbos
• Wendy Gara ..... Josefita

Bibliography

• Anonymous (former daughter in religion of Blessed Petra): "Vida y virtudes de la Sierva de Dios Madre Petra de San José. Fundadora del Instituto de MM. de Desamparados y San José de la Montaña". Barcelona: Librería Católica Internacional, 1929. Reissue: Luis Gili, publisher, Barcelona, 1933.
• Aparicio, Emilio Mª: "Madre Petra y su época". Valencia: Congregación Madres Desamparados y San José de la Montaña, 1982. ISBN 84-7065-094-7
• Carrillo de San José, Marta: "Madre Petra, Parábola de un amor en alerta". Málaga: Madres Desamparados y San José de la Montaña, 1994. ISBN 84-604-8898-5
• Conejo Mir, José: "Historia de la Villa del Valle de Abdalajís". Málaga: Editorial Confederación española de Cajas de ahorros, 1977. ISBN 84-500-2141-3
• Congregación Madres Desamparados y San José de la Montaña: "Carisma". Documento Base II. Valencia: 1979. Author.
• Congregación Madres Desamparados y San José de la Montaña: "Madre Petra en Barcelona". Barcelona: 2004. Author.
• de Foc, P.: "Gestos de Madre Petra". Valencia: Artes Gráficas Soler, 1994. ISBN 84-605-0834-X
• de la Hoz, Francisco: "Desde el valle a la montaña" (preface by Marcelino Olaechea Loizaga, then Archbishop of Valencia). Seville: Escuela Gráfica Salesiana, 1961.
• Gili Pero, Antonio: "Resumen histórico cronológico de la vida de la Sierva de Dios Madre Petra de San José Pérez Florido". Barcelona: Hogar de San José de la Montaña, 1969. Historical Archive of the City of Barcelona.
• Gordillo, Pedro: "Madre Petra, orgullo de un pueblo". Málaga: Gráficas Anarol, 2002. MA-1.368-2002.
• Gordillo, Pedro: "Desde el cielo y para siempre. ¡Amándonos!". Málaga: Edita Residencia de ancianos San José de la Montaña, 2006. Legal deposit: MA--1.987-2006.
• de Foc, P.: "Gestos de Madre Petra". Valencia: Artes Gráficas Soler, 1994. ISBN 84-605-0834-X
• Llácer de San José, Mª Virginia; Martín de San José, Bladina: "Sobre la Piedra. Breve biografía de la Madre Petra de San José Pérez Florido." Valencia: Artes Gráficas Soler, S.L., 1970. ISBN 84-604-9888-3
• Martín Castillo, Antonio: "la niña de la Huerta Grande". Málaga: Edita Congregación Madres Desamparados y San José de la Montaña.
• "Prodigio de amor: Ciclo de Conferencias celebradas con motivo de la inauguración del centenario del Real Santuario de San José de la Montaña". (1st, 2003, Valencia). Barcelona: Real Santuario de San José de la Montaña, 2003. 93 pp. (Private archive of the Sanctuary).
• La Vanguardia. Edition of October 17, 1994. URL: http://hemeroteca.lavanguardia.com/preview/1933/06/09/pagina-29/34394066/pdf.html?search=Madre%20Petra%20de%20San%20Jos%C3%A9.
• Petra de San José (official website of the film of her life): https://www.petradesanjose.com/

Own work

• Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph: "Crónicas de la Congregación Caritativa de Madres de Desamparados". Valencia: Gráficas Soler, 1975. ISBN 84-920382-1-7

External links

• Website of the Congregation of the Mothers of the Forsaken and Saint Joseph of the Mountain.
• Official website of Blessed Petra of Saint Joseph.
• YouTube channel of the Royal Sanctuary of Saint Joseph of the Mountain: Breve història de la vida de Madre Petra
• Official website of the Diocese of Málaga
• Royal Academy of History