13 October - Alexandrina Maria da Costa, better known as Blessed Alexandrina de Balazar, was born in Gresufes, parish of Balazar, a small town about 50 kilometres from Porto, in the Archdiocese of Braga, on 30 March 1904. She was baptised on the following Holy Saturday, April 2, 1904.

After jumping out of a window when she was 14 years old to flee from three men who were chasing her, she suffered from a progressive paralysis which, from 1925 onwards, nailed her to bed. In 1936, she asked Pope Pius XI for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a wish that was granted by Pope Pius XII on October 30, 1942.

On the advice of a priest, her sister kept a diary of the mystical words and experiences that Alexandrina would have had. According to her Vatican autobiography, Jesus spoke to her, saying at one point, "You will only very rarely receive consolation.... I want that, while your heart is full of suffering, on your lips there should be a smile".

According to her biography in the Vatican, from March 1942, for about 13 years until her death, she received no food, except for daily communion, and her weight dropped to about 33 kilos. She was examined by doctors, without any conclusions. Her biographers report that at the end of her life she relived the passion of Christ every Friday. During an ecstasy she fell to the floor under the weight of the cross, two men tried to lift her, but were unable to do so. She then weighs only 34 kilos. When asked by the spiritual director about the weight of the cross she carries, Alexandrina answers that she carries "a world weight".

She died on 13 October 19551. Her story then creates a fervour that arouses a popular pilgrimage, although the Archbishopric of Braga forbade any visits between 1944 and 1952. Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable on January 12, 1996 and Blessed on April 25, 2004.