Oldest of seven children born to Juan Miguel Cipitria and María Jesús Barriola. The family were weavers, and Juana learned the craft as a child. At age 18 she left home to work as a maid to a family in Burgos, Spain. Juana early felt a call to religious life, and on 8 December 1871 she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Jesus to work for a Christian upbringing of children, and to improve the condition of woman in Salamanca, Spain. She took the name Mother Candida Maria de Jesus, and the Congregation received papal approval from Pope Leo XIII on 30 July 1901. Mother Candida based her spirituality on the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.
(From saints.spqn.com)