Maria Romero Meneses was born in Granada, Nicaragua on 13^th January 1902. Maria was one of eight children, and she was the daughter of a government minister. When she was 12, she went to the college that was run by the "Daughters of Mary Help of Christians".

However, she soon contracted rheumatic fever, which paralyzed her for 6 months and gave her heart damage which stayed with her for the remainder of her life. Her recovery from illness was a miracle, and this led to her complete and total faith in the Madonna and on 8^th December 1915, she joined the Marian association "Daughters of Mary" and in 1920 she joined the "Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians" and started her novitiate on mission in El Salvador.

On 6^th January 1929, Maria made her final profession back in Nicaragua. In 1931, she went to San José in Costa Rica where she would teach music, drawing and typing to the rich girls in the school. But she was also very keen to help the poorer girls, just like Don Bosco did with the boys in Turin.

In 1945 Maria began setting up recreational centres then food distribution centres in 1953. Maria wanted to get the richer girls to help with the work for those that were poorer. In 1961, she opened a cottage as a school for poor girls, and then planned to build a village for poor families so they were able to have good homes. Just outside of San José, 7 homes were built, along with farmland, a market, a school and a church.

After this construction, Maria was sent to Leon in Nicaragua for a rest. It was there where she died from a heart attack on 7^th July 1977. Maria's remains were sent back to San José, Costa Rica where Maria was declared an honorary citizen of the nation.

Maria was beatified on 14^th April 2002 by Pope John Paul II.