She was born María Luisa de la Peña y Navarro in Atotonilco el Alto, Jalisco, the third of fourteen children raised in a devout Catholic family. At fifteen years of age she married medical doctor Pascual Rojas. Together they worked to provide medical care for poor people. Dr. Rojas died when Mother Luisita was twenty nine years old Mother Luisita died on February 11, 1937. In 1942 her remains were secretly taken to be buried in Guadalajara, Jalisco. In 1966 they were brought back to the place of her birth Atotonilco. In 1998 they were placed in a special chapel in that town.