Ana de Jesús facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Venerable Ana de Jesus OCD
Sister Ana de Jesus praying
Born	25 November 1545 Medina del Campo, Valladolid, Spain
Died	4 March 1621(1621-03-04) (aged 75) Brussels, Belgium
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Discalced Carmelites

Ana de Jesús, also known as Anne of Jesus, was a Spanish nun and writer. She was born on November 25, 1545, and passed away on March 4, 1621. Ana was a close friend and helper of Teresa of Avila, who started the Carmelite reform. Ana helped set up many new monasteries for her Order across Europe. She was known as a mystic and for her writings about prayer. The Catholic Church has declared her Venerable, which is a step towards becoming a saint.

Early Life

Ana was born Ana de Lobera y Torres in Medina del Campo, Spain. Her parents were Diego de Lobera and Francisca Torres. She also had a brother named Cristóbal, who became a Jesuit, a type of priest.

When she was a very young child, people thought Ana couldn't hear or speak. But at the age of seven, she surprised everyone by starting to talk! Her father died a few months after she was born, and her mother passed away when Ana was nine. This made her an orphan, and she went to live with her father's family.

Becoming a Nun

Ana had promised to live a life dedicated to God. In 1570, she joined the Monastery of St. Joseph in Ávila. This monastery was founded by Teresa of Ávila.

In 1571, while still learning to be a nun, Ana was sent to a new monastery in Salamanca. There, she officially took her religious vows on October 22. She stayed in Salamanca until 1575. That year, she traveled with Teresa to start a new monastery in Beas, Spain. Ana became the first leader, or prioress, of this new monastery.

After helping with a new monastery in Granada, Ana started another one in Madrid in 1586. She also served as prioress there. While in Madrid, she faced a challenge. A friar named Nicholas of Gesu Maria Doria wanted to make the rules for the nuns much stricter. Ana de Jesús wanted to keep the rules exactly as Teresa had planned them. To protect Teresa's work, Ana asked the Holy See (the Pope's office) for help.

The Pope agreed with Ana, but the friar complained to the King of Spain. This caused problems for Ana and her supporters. For over a year, no friars were allowed to hear the nuns' confessions. Eventually, the King heard Ana's side of the story and ordered things to go back to normal. However, the friar still punished Ana for speaking up. She was not allowed to receive Holy Communion for three years and was kept separate from the other nuns. After this time, she was sent to Salamanca, where she became prioress again from 1596 to 1599.

Ana was a good friend of John of the Cross, another famous Carmelite saint. He even dedicated one of his important books, the Spiritual Canticle, to her. Ana kept this book safe for many years.

Friendship with Teresa of Avila

From the moment Teresa of Avila met Ana de Jesus, she became one of Teresa's favorite nuns. Ana, along with Mary of St. Joseph, were like strong pillars supporting Teresa's life and work.

Ana and Saint Teresa were very close. When Saint Teresa was writing her book The Book of the Foundations in Salamanca, she shared a room with Ana. This meant Ana knew everything the saint was writing. She was the person most familiar with this important book.

After Teresa's death, it was Ana who gathered all of Teresa's writings. In 1587, she gave them to a friar named Luis de León to be published. They were finally printed in 1588.

Expanding the Order in Europe

In 1604, Ana moved with other nuns to Paris, France. There, they started the Monastery of the Incarnation. Because the Carmelite Order was doing well in France, Ana decided to open more monasteries. She founded one in Pontoise in 1605 and another in Dijon later that same year.

Later, Ana de Jesús was asked to come to Brussels by the Infanta Isabella and Archduke Albert. They wanted her to start a new monastery for the Discalced Carmelite nuns there. Besides Brussels, she also founded monasteries in Louvain and Mons. She also helped with new monasteries in Antwerp and Krakow, Poland. Ana remained the prioress in Brussels until she passed away in 1621.

Steps to Sainthood

The process to declare Ana a saint began in 1621, the same year she died. Many people gave statements about her life and good deeds. However, the process moved slowly for many years.

In 1872, the beatification process started again. A Carmelite priest from Belgium, Father Bertelo Ignacio, gathered many important documents about Ana. In 1881, the local church leaders in Mechelen, Belgium, began looking into her reputation for holiness, her life, and any miracles.

In 2019, Pope Francis officially declared Ana de Jesús "Venerable." This means the Church recognizes her "heroic virtues," which are great acts of goodness and faith. Even before this official declaration, the Carmelites often called her "Venerable Mother Ana." Saint Therese of Lisieux also referred to her as Venerable Ana of Jesus in her book Story of a Soul. Saint Therese wrote about a dream where Ana de Jesus appeared to her.

Writings and Letters

When Ana moved to Europe, a priest encouraged her to write. She wrote about starting the Carmelite convent in Granada and about her trip to Paris. While her poems are not as well known, her statements, writings, and letters are very important.

Ana believed she had a special mission from God: to spread Teresa's Carmelite reform outside of Spain. Her letters show that she was a strong woman who knew how to handle the practical needs of expanding the Order. This is why she traveled and dedicated her life to this work.

She left behind many letters and documents. Sadly, the letters written to her by Mother Teresa of Avila were burned by Ana herself. Teresa had told her to do this because of problems with other Carmelite groups at the time. Ana remembered this with sadness later on.

Fifty-three of her letters are still preserved today, written between 1590 and 1621. They cover her entire religious life, from being a prioress to just before her death. These letters are very valuable for understanding history because they mention many different people from that time. The content of her letters changed depending on who she sent them to. Some letters discussed starting monasteries or spiritual advice. Others were more personal, sharing her feelings, her suffering from being far away, or her health problems.

See also

In Spanish: Ana de Jesús para niños