María Luisa was born at Atotonilco el Alto in Jalisco on 21 June 1866, married Don Pascual Rojas on 9 February 1882, and was widowed on Good Friday, 3 April 1896. On 24 December 1904 she and six companions began their common life: the Carmelite Sisters of the Sacred Heart.
In 1926 the Mexican government's persecution of the Church closed the churches and forbade the Mass. On 24 June 1927 Mother Luisita and some of her sisters arrived in Los Angeles as refugees, welcomed by Archbishop John Cantwell. She stayed until 24 October 1929, then went back to Mexico; the sisters she left in California became the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles, who carry on her work there.
She died in Guadalajara on 11 February 1937 and was buried the next day in the cemetery of Mezquitán. John Paul II declared her Venerable on 1 July 2000.