Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Venerable Juana de la Cruz Vázquez y Gutiérrez TOR
Anonymous Spanish artist (16th–17th century)
Born	3 May 1481 Azaña, Toledo, Crown of Castile
Died	3 May 1534 (age 53) Cubas de la Sagra, Madrid, Spain

Juana de la Cruz Vázquez y Gutiérrez (born May 3, 1481 – died May 3, 1534) was a Spanish nun and abbess. She belonged to the Franciscan Third Order Regular. Juana was known as a mystic, which means she had special spiritual experiences. It was very unusual for a woman in her time, but she was allowed to preach publicly. She lived during the early part of Spain's "golden era" of mysticism and influenced many spiritual writers, including Teresa of Ávila. In 2015, the Catholic Church declared her "Venerable," which is a step towards becoming a saint.

Early Life and Calling

Juana Vázquez y Gutiérrez was born on May 3, 1481, in Azaña (now called Numancia de la Sagra). Her parents, Juan Vázquez and Catalina Gutiérrez, were successful farmers. When Juana was seven, her mother passed away. Her mother had made a promise that if Juana was born healthy, she would join a special religious community. To keep this promise, Juana decided to join the Beaterio of Santa María de la Cruz de La Sagra. This was a community of Franciscan "tertiaries," people who followed the rules of St. Francis but lived outside a traditional monastery.

In 1496, Juana went to live with her aunt and uncle. She was very beautiful and kind, and a noble knight named Francisco de Laorte wanted to marry her. Juana's father agreed to the marriage. But Juana did not want to marry; she wanted to dedicate her life to God. So, she dressed like a man and ran away from home. She found refuge with the sisters at the Beaterio de Santa María de la Cruz. Her family followed her, but Juana convinced her father to let her stay at the convent. The next year, she made her "religious profession," taking her vows and becoming a nun with the name Juana de la Cruz. She lived as a Franciscan sister for 38 years, helping to spread the practice of praying the rosary and devotion to Guardian Angels.

Life as a Franciscan Nun

In 1506, Juana Vázquez lost her ability to speak for six months. People who wrote about her life believed this was a special time that prepared her for her gift of preaching. She began to preach in 1508, with permission from Church leaders. Many important people came to hear her sermons, including Emperor Charles V and military hero Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.

In 1509, Juana helped her convent become a full monastery, and she was chosen as its first abbess (the leader of the nuns). The next year, a powerful church leader, Cardinal Cisneros, allowed the Church of San Andrés, which was next to the monastery, to become part of the community's income. This meant the monastery would receive money from the church. This was unusual in Spain and caused some priests to complain. Juana asked for and received approval for this arrangement from Pope Julius II.

As abbess, Juana guided and taught many important people, including nobles, priests, and ordinary people. She also expanded the monastery's work to include educating young women. She and her sisters were able to start new communities in other towns like Illescas and Fuensalida.

After Cardinal Cisneros died in 1517, some priests tried to take away the monastery's income from the Church of San Andrés. Juana asked the Pope again to confirm the arrangement, which he did. However, her problems continued when one of her nuns, Sister Eufrasia, spread false rumors about Juana because she wanted to be abbess. These false accusations reached the Franciscan leader, who removed Juana from her position as abbess. Juana humbly accepted this decision.

Sister Eufrasia did not remain abbess for long. She became very ill and admitted that she had lied about Juana. In 1523, Juana was re-elected as the abbess of the community. In 1524, an illness left her paralyzed, but she continued to preach. She had once called herself "God's trumpet," but now she became "God's guitar," meaning her message became softer and more gentle.

Juana Vázquez died on May 3, 1534, at the age of 53. Even though she has not been officially declared a saint by the Church, many people lovingly called her "Santa Juana" (Saint Juana).

Her Influence

Seventy-two of Juana Vázquez's sermons were collected in 1509 in a book called The Conhorte. This book included her visions of heaven. Her sermons influenced other important nuns, like Jerónima de la Asunción, who founded the first Catholic monastery in the Philippines. A Franciscan preacher and scholar named Francisco de Torres greatly admired Juana. He added his own notes and comments to her sermons, defending her teachings and using them to speak out against problems in society.

Path to Canonization

Soon after Juana's death, people in her town called her a saint, "la Santa Juana." Kings, cardinals, and nobles visited her remains.

From 1615 to 1617, the Archbishop of Toledo declared Juana holy and allowed people to publicly honor her. This devotion quickly spread throughout Spain and Latin America. However, the Catholic Church had a rule that a person had to be dead for at least 100 years before they could be officially recognized as a saint. In 1619, the process to declare her "beatified" (a step before sainthood) officially began. On May 4, 1630, she was declared "Venerable." The Church leaders reported that she had lived a life of great virtue and that miracles had happened through her. However, the process stopped because the important documents were lost.

The process for her beatification was restarted three more times, in 1664, 1702, and again in 1980. Finally, on March 18, 2015, Pope Francis officially recognized that Juana de la Cruz had shown "heroic virtue" during her life. This was a major step forward in her journey towards sainthood.

Mystical Experiences

Juana Vázquez's special spiritual experiences began when she was very young. When she was four, she fell off a horse and seemed to be dead. But the Virgin Mary and her Guardian Angel appeared to Juana and healed her. She became very devoted to the cross, the rosary, the Virgin Mary, and guardian angels. As she grew older, she also developed a deep devotion to penance (saying sorry for sins) and the Eucharist (Holy Communion).

As a teenager, Juana practiced "mortification of the flesh," which meant she would fast and stay awake praying for long periods.

When she was fifteen, guided by her Guardian Angel, Juana dressed as a man and ran away from home to join a Franciscan convent. When she arrived, an image of the Virgin Mary spoke to her while she waited to see the superior.

At age 25, Juana became mute for six months. During this time, she began to experience moments of ecstasy and rapture, which are intense spiritual experiences. These experiences led her to become a preacher. Her biographer, Sister María Evangelista, wrote that Juana said the Lord made her mute so He could speak through her and reveal "secrets and great wonders."

Juana's silent ecstasies lasted from 1506 to 1508. After this, she began to have visions and hear voices during her ecstasies. In 1507, she experienced a spiritual "betrothal" to Jesus, with the Virgin Mary acting as a witness. In another ecstasy in 1508, she received the stigmata, which are wounds like those of Jesus on the cross. These wounds appeared on Good Friday and stayed until the day Jesus ascended into heaven.

Juana's ecstasies and visions were the source of her powerful preaching. She also performed miracles and healings by making the sign of the cross. Besides preaching and miracles, she also spoke in tongues, including Basque and Arabic.

Writings About Her

Sister María Evangelista, who was Juana's companion, began writing down Juana's sermons in 1509. She also started writing Juana's life story in a book called Comienza la Vida y Fin de la bienaventurada virgen Sancta Juana de la Cruz (The Beginning of the Life and End of the Blessed Virgin Saint Juana of the Cross). This 16th-century manuscript is kept in the Royal Escorial Library. Sister María Evangelista also collected 72 of Juana's sermons into a manuscript called El Libro del Conhorte (The Exhortation or The Consolation), also kept in the Royal Escorial Library.

Francisco de Torres, a Franciscan preacher, added his own notes to El Conhorte between 1567 and 1568. His notes are interesting because they defend Juana's authority and teachings. He used her sermons to speak out against social problems of his time.

According to Innocente Gárcia Andrés, Francisco's notes show several things about Sister Juana:

• She was a true and very Catholic prophet. She preached according to the Gospel and spoke out against false teachings. Francisco called her "a most wise hammer against heretics."
• She was a simple, heartfelt, and effective preacher. He saw her as a true Franciscan preacher, following the teachings of St. Francis.
• She was a "vernacular" theologian, meaning she spoke about God in everyday language, as "the simple and ignorant daughter of the simple and ignorant Francis." He especially valued her message that knowing God means loving your neighbor.
• She was a teacher of life and faith. Francisco declared her his teacher and was amazed at how the Holy Spirit spoke through her to the reader.

The first official historian of the Franciscans in Spain, Fray Antonio Daça, wrote the earliest printed book about Juana's life in 1610. It was reprinted about 30 times in different cities across Europe.

Other early books about Juana's life include:

• Fray Juan Carillo, Vida y milagros de la Venerable virgen Sor Juana de la Cruz (Life and Miracles of the Venerable Virgin Sister Juana de la Cruz), 1623.
• Fray Pedro Navarro, Favores del Rey del cielo, hechos a su esposa la santa Juana de la Cruz (Favors of the King of Heaven, given to his spouse Saint Juana de la Cruz), 1622.

Juana Vázquez was largely forgotten in the literary world from 1663 until 1986, when an article about her was published, discussing her religious authority as a woman.

See also

In Spanish: Juana de la Cruz (abadesa de Cubas de la Sagra) para niños

• Juana de la Cruz Vazquez