María Teresa Ferragut Roig, also spelled Ferragud Roig, was born on 14 January 1853 in Algemesí in the province of Valencia, Spain. On 23 November 1872 she married Vicente Silverio Masià. From their marriage came a large family marked by religious vocation: their only son entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin under the name Serafín of Algemesí, and five of her six daughters entered enclosed religious life. María de Jesús, María Verónica, and María Felicidad joined the Capuchin Poor Clares at Agullent; another daughter entered the convent of San Julián in Valencia; and María Josefa joined the Discalced Augustinians at Benigánim. Only one daughter, Purificación, remained in the world as a laywoman.
María Teresa herself lived an active lay apostolate. She took part in Catholic Action and in charitable works such as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and she served as secretary of a Catholic seamstresses' association. Her interior life rested on daily Mass and a steady devotion to the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In her home she formed her children in the faith that would later lead so many of them to the cloister.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, anti-clerical persecution intensified in Republican-controlled Valencia. María Teresa opened her house to her daughters who had been forced from their convents. On 19 October 1936 militia members raided the home and arrested her together with four of her daughters. She refused to leave them. They were confined in the former Cistercian convent of Fons Salutis in Algemesí, turned into a prison. Their captors pressed them to renounce their religious commitments; mother and daughters held firm.
On the night of 25 October 1936 they were taken by truck toward Alzira, about eight kilometres away. The vehicle stopped at the entrance to the town at Cruz Cubierta, a wayside cross associated in local tradition with the death of King James I of Aragon. According to testimony preserved in the beatification process, María Teresa chose to be executed last and encouraged her daughters with the words: "My daughters, do not be afraid; it is only a moment, and Heaven will be forever." She and her four daughters—María de Jesús (Vicenta Masiá Ferragut), María Verónica (Joaquina Masiá Ferragut), María Felicidad (María Felicidad Masiá Ferragut), and Josefa de la Purificación (Raimunda Masiá Ferragut)—were shot by firing squad. Their bodies were taken to the cemetery of Alzira; on 2 July 1939 they were transferred to Algemesí and later, in 1961, placed in the parish church of Saint Pius X.
The Church recognized their deaths as martyrdom in hatred of the faith. The diocesan inquiry was joined to the cause of Capuchin companions; the Archdiocese of Valencia completed its phase in 1959. María Teresa was beatified on 11 March 2001 by Pope John Paul II within the large group of 233 Spanish Martyrs, in the juridical cohort of José Aparicio Sanz and companions. In the beatification homily the Pope singled out her maternal witness: a lay mother (mater familias) who accompanied and strengthened her daughters unto death. Her individual memorial is kept on 25 October.
May Blessed María Teresa Ferragut Roig obtain for us the courage to stand with those we love in the hour of trial, and let us imitate today her calm trust that heaven is forever.
