Cristina Gaztelu Vargas was a young artist, student, and seeker of truth who radiated faith, beauty, and compassion. Born on February 22, 1994, in El Puerto de Santa María, Spain, Cristina grew up in a loving Catholic family and was shaped by the deep spirituality of her parents, Fátima Vargas Domínguez and José Ramón Gaztelu Pastor, members of the Los Siervos de Jesús (Servants of Jesus) community.

Cristina loved the arts in all forms—especially music, painting, graphic design, photography, writing, and cinema. She was a gifted singer, writer, and visual artist who found in beauty and love a path to truth. Cristina loved animals, the beach, the sea and the sun, the forest and flowers. Through her creative talents, she sought to communicate faith, joy, and hope to the world. 

Cristina’s family and friends remember her as the sweetest, purest, and most loving person they had ever known.

Cristina suffered deeply from bullying as a child, an experience that left lasting wounds. Yet even in pain, she responded with kindness and love to everyone she met, including those who had hurt her. Like Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, whom Cristina discovered and came to love shortly before her death, she was misunderstood by many for living her Catholic faith with conviction and gentleness.

From a young age, Cristina offered her life to God for the good of people, plants and animals, and all creation. She lived her apostleship within her family, in everyday encounters, and through social media. Her presence was quiet but powerful, often expressed in short reflections and prayers shared on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter (now X), Facebook, and YouTube.

“Lord, help me know how to make the sacrifices for which I do not feel prepared or qualified. Help me to approach things with truth and justice, to act humbly and well.”

Cristina Gaztelu, Diary, 11/09/2017

Cristina studied advertising and public relations at the Universidad de Cádiz, where she hoped to use media to promote the common good, advocate for the vulnerable, and share messages rooted in human dignity and integral ecology. Her causes included animal welfare, care for creation, human rights, and poverty alleviation.

Cristina was born with cancer, which her family believed had been cured. Tragically, cancer returned for a second time while Cristina was in college. During the final eight months of her earthly journey, the illness took her sight—she became fully blind in her right eye and nearly blind in her left. Still, she remained joyful and peaceful, accepting God’s will and offering each day for others. In this, she bore a striking resemblance to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, who also suffered impaired vision after suffering from smallpox as a child. Both young women, nearly blind at the time of their deaths, saw the world through the eyes of faith and radiated light through their suffering. In her pain, Cristina united herself to Christ and embraced her cross with grace. She offered her suffering for other people who suffered, for those she loved, and even for those who had harmed her.

Cristina drew strength from Psalm 42: “As the deer longs for streams of water, so my soul longs for you, O God.”

Cristina lived trusting the will of God at every step, knowing that the grace of the Lord was enough for her.

“Mama, the Lord will help me.” These were Cristina’s last words on Earth. She said them to comfort her mother and father, sensing her parents’ pain and offering them peace. Cristina passed into eternal life on June 26, 2018, at the age of 24.

Shortly before her death, Cristina told her mother: “Mama, I was thinking… In God I have found EVERYTHING and I am happy, very happy.”

Cristina is lovingly remembered alongside the saints she admired—Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, and Saint Kateri Tekakwitha—all of whom shared her love of creation, her understanding of suffering, and her complete trust in God. Notably, Cristina, Saint Kateri, and Saint Thérèse each entered eternal life at the age of 24, having offered their youth entirely to Christ.

Cristina left behind a beautiful testimony in her diaries, art, and online posts. Her parents generously share these writings as a gift to others. Cristina’s life encourages us to live with gentleness, conviction, and a deep commitment to caring for creation and those who suffer.

Cristina once wrote: “Do what you can, as best you can.”

The Delegation for the Causes of Saints of the Diocese of Asidonia-Jerez began the preliminary phase of the Diocesan Process for Cristina Gaztelu Vargas on February 6, 2023, and has published the Official Private Prayer (below) so that we may entrust ourselves to Cristina’s intercession and ask God for his favor through her. To this end, the delegation invites us to send favors received through Cristina’s intercession to the following email address: santos @ diocesisdejerez.org (remove spaces).

We at the Saint Kateri Conservation Center have experienced Cristina’s intercession personally and as an organization. We are grateful for the blessings we have received through her prayers, and we faithfully and enthusiastically support her cause for sainthood.

Cristina Gaztelu Vargas

PRAYER

(For private devotion, English translation)

Merciful God the Father, who granted Cristina the grace of desiring to love You more each day by pouring out Your tenderness upon her brothers and sisters and accepting Your will in moments of darkness and pain.

Grant us the recognition of her holiness by the Church for Your greater glory, and, if it is Your will, grant us through her intercession the favor we now ask of You… (Mention your petition). Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be)

In accordance with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that nothing herein intends to preempt the judgment of ecclesiastical authority, and that this prayer is not intended for public worship.

Send favors received through Cristina’s intercession to the following email address: santos @ diocesisdejerez.org (remove spaces).

We thank the Lord for making it possible for the fruit of divine grace in Cristina’s beautiful and kind soul to become increasingly visible in our Church.

English translation of bio:

Cristina Gaztelu Vargas was born in El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz), on February 22, 1994, the only child of a Catholic family. Together with her parents, she belonged to the community of the Servants of Jesus, in which she grew in faith.

From childhood, she was sensitive and loving, capable of seeing and delighting in the beauty of God in music, painting, photography, literature… Christ desired to associate her with His cross from a very young age, as she suffered bullying at school. This caused her much suffering, but at the same time, it led her to develop the habit of offering everything that happened in her life to the Lord for the good of those who suffer.

In her heart burned the desire to live seeking goodness and truth. Her apostolate was focused on her family, her friends, and the use of social media, which she used to spread the love of God. Her studies in Advertising also allowed her to share the Gospel with greater strength and effectiveness.

The last eight months of her life, she battled a jaw cancer that caused her tremendous pain. She embraced her suffering with Christ, offering it for the salvation of the world and for those who had harmed her in life.

After this final battle, she rested in the Lord on June 26, 2018, at the age of 24.

On February 6, 2023, the Bishop of Asidonia-Jerez, D. José Rico Pavés, authorized the publication, for private use, of the prayer to promote devotion to Cristina Gaztelu.
Please report any favors received through her intercession to:
📧 santos @ diocesisdejerez.org (remove spaces)