Venerable Maria Antonia Pereira y Andrade

Mother Maria Antonia of Jesus, born October 6, 1700, in Cuntis, Spain, and died March 10, 1760, in Santiago de Compostela, was a Spanish Carmelite nun. Married at 22, she had two children, Sebastian and Eleanor, whom she raised alone after her husband left early on to earn a living in Andalusia while she remained in Galicia. Following a spiritual journey, she desired to enter religious life but hesitated due to her responsibilities as a mother. In 1729, she joined the Third Order of Carmel, and the following year, she attempted to found a Carmelite convent in Santiago de Compostela. After this attempt failed, she reflected on the direction of her life, choosing the religious path. In 1733, after permanently entrusting the care and education of their children to friends, she entered the Order of Discalced Carmelites, at the same time as her husband, who also became a religious in the same order. A great mystic, she was elected prioress of her convent and soon revived her project to establish a Carmel in Galicia. After overcoming all administrative obstacles, she succeeded in 1748 in establishing the first community of Discalced Carmelite nuns in Santiago. Initially settled in a temporary house in the city, the community did not move into their permanent convent in Santiago de Compostela until 1758. Mother Maria Antonia died two years later, regarded by the local population as a saint. Her beatification process began a year after her death but was interrupted after a few years; it was not resumed until 1987. Mother Maria Antonia was declared venerable on November 7, 2018, by Pope Francis. Illiterate until the age of 28, she wrote several works at the request of her confessor, including an autobiography and El Edificio Espiritual, her major work, which earned her a central place among Galician-language writers, particularly among mystical authors.