Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa (March 30th 1904 – October 13th 1955) was a Portuguese Salesian co-worker, mystic and one of
the most significant mystical figures of the 20th century. The Catholic Church venerates her for her profound suffering, which she offered up for the salvation of sinners.
1. Childhood and a tragic event
Alexandrina was born in the village of Balasar in Portugal. She grew up in a poor but deeply devout family, where her mother and older sister Deolinda guided her towards Christian values. A turning point in her life came in 1918, when she was 14 years old. To protect her purity and innocence from three assailants who had broken into her room, she did not hesitate to jump out of a window from a height of approximately 4 metres. This fall had devastating consequences for her spine. Although she was able to move about for some time, despite being in great pain, she gradually became paralysed and, from 1925, was permanently bedridden, where she spent the last 30 years of her life.
2. The Path of Mysteries and Sacrifice
She found the early stages of her illness very difficult and prayed for a cure. Later, however, she came to understand her suffering differently – she accepted it as a gift and united it with the suffering of the crucified Jesus. Her motto became: ‘To love, to suffer and to save’.
● Consecration of the world: On the basis of inner inspirations and her requests (via her confessor) addressed to Rome, Jesus, through Alexandrina, asked the Pope to consecrate the world to the Immaculate Heart of the Virgin Mary. This request was later granted by Pope Pius XII.
● Life without food: From March 27th 1942 until her death, she consumed no ordinary food or drink – her sole nourishment was the daily Holy Eucharist. This phenomenon was subjected to rigorous medical and ecclesiastical investigations.
● The Salesian spiritual family: In 1944, she joined the Association of Salesian Cooperators, offering up her entire life and sufferings above all for the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of young people.
​● Alexandrina’s spiritual life whilst bedridden was marked by profound mystical experiences, reminiscent of the lives of other great mystics of the 20th century (such as St Faustina Kowalska or Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich). Her experience was divided into several key aspects:
● The Friday experience of the Passion (Crucifixion): From 1938 until 1942, Alexandrina mystically relived the Passion of Jesus’ journey to Golgotha every Friday. These pains were so intense that her body showed signs of physical suffering and she experienced the agony of the crucifixion, whilst uniting herself with Jesus’ desire for the salvation of souls.
● Friendship with Jesus and Mary: Jesus and the Virgin Mary appeared to her and had intimate conversations with her. She recorded these inspirations at the behest of her confessor, Father Piedade da Cruz. Her spiritual writings comprise extensive diaries full of exhortations to trust in God’s mercy.
● Total fasting (a life without food): The most remarkable physical phenomenon was her loss of the ability to consume any food or drink from 1942 until her death in 1955. As doctors and church investigators were sceptical, she was hospitalised for 40 days in 1943 at a hospital in Lisbon under strict medical supervision. The doctors had to confirm that throughout her entire stay she neither ate nor drank, and yet her organs continued to function and her weight remained almost unchanged. The only ‘nourishment’ that kept her alive was the daily Eucharist.
● A prophetic mission for the world: Through Alexandrina, the Lord Jesus repeatedly emphasised the importance of Holy Mass, the recitation of the Holy Rosary and the sanctification of Sundays. He warned against the moral decline of the world and stressed that the only salvation for humanity lies in a return to God and repentance.
For Blessed Alexandrina, the Eucharist was the centre of her entire spiritual life and the focal point of her suffering. As she was bedridden and unable to move freely, her relationship with the Blessed Sacrament took on a profound mystical dimension:
● ‘Prisoners’ in the tabernacle: Alexandrina often saw herself and Jesus in the tabernacle as two prisoners. She used to say: ‘You are a prisoner for my good and happiness, and I am a prisoner in Your hands.’ She experienced her suffering in spiritual union with the tabernacles throughout the world, where, in her own words, Jesus dwelt forsaken, forgotten or even insulted.
● Her sole ‘nourishment’: Her 13-year experience of living entirely without food or water was direct testimony to the real power of the Eucharist. The Lord Jesus told her: ‘You live solely on the Eucharist, because I wish to prove to the world the power of the Eucharist and the power of my life within souls.’ Daily Holy Communion was for her not merely spiritual sustenance, but literally a physical substitute for any earthly food.

● Reparation: She felt called to offer sacrifices and acts of love as atonement for people’s indifference and sins against the Eucharist. Her prayers and sufferings were a constant call to love for the Saviour present in the Blessed Sacrament.
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3. Death and Legacy
Alexandrina died on October 13th 1955 in her native Balasar at the age of 51. Her last words were: ‘I am happy because I am going to heaven.’ To this day, her gravestone bears the message she left for sinners: ‘Sinners, if the dust of my body could serve to save you, come near, trample it underfoot, scatter it until it vanishes! But sin no more, do not offend Jesus any longer!’
4. The miracle used for her beatification
In the process of beatification, the Catholic Church examines and approves a miracle attributed to the intercession of the candidate in question (unless the case involves martyrdom). In the case of Alexandrina Maria da Costa, the process was based on a thorough examination of her heroic virtues and, in particular, the inexplicable phenomenon of her long-standing complete abstinence from food and drink (known as ‘inedia’), which was subject to strict medical supervision and which, in itself, led to the recognition of the extraordinary workings of God’s grace. On 25 April 2004, Pope John Paul II officially declared her Blessed and praised her self-sacrificing life, filled with love for Christ.
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5. Sayings and thoughts of Blessed Alexandrina
On the Eucharist and the tabernacle
● “The Eucharist is my life, my only strength and my heaven on earth.”
● “If people knew what love awaits them in every tabernacle, churches would be full of weeping sinners day and night.”
● “Jesus, you are a prisoner in the tabernacle and I am a prisoner on my bed by your will. We shall keep each other company.”
● “My heart beats in time with the tabernacles of the whole world; that is my true home.”
On suffering and sacrifice
● “To love, to love, and to suffer for love – that is the whole science of my life.”
● “Suffering is the most beautiful gift God could have given me, for it makes me like my Saviour.”
● “My bed is my cross, and my cross is my altar, upon which I offer myself daily for the salvation of the world.”
● “I accept all pain, so long as not a single soul is lost.”
On sinners and love for one’s neighbour
● “Sin is the only thing that truly hurts, for it wounds God’s infinite love.”
● “If I could, I would endure the whole of hell, just to open the gates of heaven to sinners.”
Last words 
● Before her death ( October 13th 1955): “I am happy because I am going to heaven.”

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