Blessed Mariana de Jesús

Mariana Navarro de Guevara, in full Mariana Navarro de Guevara Romero (17 January 1565 – 17 April 1624) was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun who became a member of the Mercedarian Tertiaries. Upon admittance she took the religious name Mariana of Jesus. She was noted for a life of penance and an emphasis on devotion to the Eucharist and is sometimes called the "Lily of Madrid". Pope Pius VI beatified her after the recognition of two miracles; the cause still continues. Mariana Navarro de Guevara was born on January 17, 1565 in Madrid, the oldest of six children and the only daughter. Her father was Ludovico Navarro Guevara and her mother was Joan Romero. Her father supplied leather goods to the Spanish court. The poet Lope de Vega was a playmate. His father was an embroiderer, and the people who worked for the court lived in the same neighborhood. She was pious as a child and cared for her brothers after the death of her mother. Her father remarried and her new stepmother seemed to dislike her for reasons unknown. Her father desired that she get married and leave home but she desired to be married to Jesus Christ and to devote her life to him. She turned down a marriage proposal at the age of 23. She tried to join several religious orders but was not accepted because of an illness that prevented her from using her hands freely. Guevara met a priest who suggested to her that she become a member of a religious order known as the Mercedarians. From 1598 her spiritual director was Fr. Jaun Bautista Ganzáles of the local Mercedarian house. In 1611 the discalced Mercedarians relocated to Santa Barbara, and she settled in a nearby cottage. She spent hours in worship of the Eucharist and counseled people who came to her for advice. She was well known for her patience and kindness with everyone she met. She became one of several tertiaries into the order who made their final profession in 1613.