Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado
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Mary of Jesus de León y Delgado (
De León died with a reputation for
Early life
De León was born on 23 March 1643, to Andrés de León y Bello and María Delgado y Perera, in the town of El Sauzal, on Tenerife, of the Spanish Canary Islands. Her family was said to be humble but of noble origin. She was the youngest child, and had two sisters and a brother. She may have been of Guanche ancestry.[1]
After De León's father died in 1646, poverty overtook the family. Three years later, a couple from mainland Spain, who had relocated to the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, where the husband was to practice medicine, decided that they wanted another child in addition to their first to care for. The doctor's wife appealed to María Delgado to give up her youngest daughter to give her a better life. Two years later, the couple made plans to move to New Spain, intending to take Mary with them. But her birth mother recovered the girl.
Delgado died shortly after and a good friend, Inés Pérez, took her in. She lived in La Orotava.[2]
When De León was a youth, two local women, who had the reputation of leading simple lives, came to her foster mother with a letter supposedly from the girl's maternal aunt, Catalina Delgado. It said that Delgado and her husband wished to care for the girl, and the bearers should accompany her to their farm. When they took her back to the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, one of the women approached a man in a back alley of the city. De León realized that she was in danger and escaped. She reached her aunt's home, where Catalina and her husband cared for her.[2]
Her uncle was a lagoon farmer and wealthy landowner. De León gradually assisted in household duties and helped her uncle manage the estate. She rose at dawn and worked all day without signs of fatigue. Drawn to religious life, she declared her intention to enter a monastery as a lay sister, a decision which her aunt and uncle accepted.[2]
Initially De León's guardians wanted her to enter the local monastery of the
Entrance to the monastery
In February 1668, De León was admitted as a lay sister to the Dominican Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. There she was to care for an elderly nun, Sister Jacobina de San Jerónimo Suárez, O.P.
From that point on, De León lived within the monastery walls until her death. It was during this time that many miracles were attributed to her. For instance, a devotional medal of hers, with the image of Our Lady of Solitude, was broken into pieces. It reassembled spontaneously after several days. In another incident, other nuns described her as having a possible episode of levitation. D
De León was a mystic known to experience ecstasy, during which an emission of light could be seen coming from her face. Reportedly nuns noticed a marked heat emanating from her body, especially when she received the Eucharist.[3]
De León was said to be friends with the noted corsair
The privateer claimed to have undergone a great miracle through De León. He recounted having been assaulted by a man while in Cuba. When the attacker would have stabbed Pargo with his dagger, the figure of De León appeared, interceding and preventing the pirate's death. This phenomenon, known as ubiquity or bilocation, and associated with many saints, is the capacity to be in two places simultaneously.[3]
De León also had a great friendship with the Franciscan friar and mystic
De León died in monastery cloister on 15 February 1731, having lived within its walls for 63 years without leaving. Before her death, she fell into an ecstasy and died keeping a pulse and the pupils of her eyes clear for more than 24 hours. In her side, next to her heart, was found a wound, such as the one which would have been left in the side of Christ. Three years later her body was exhumed and was found incorrupt, whole and flexible. Her palate and tongue were preserved fresh and rosy, and jasmine-scented blood issued from her mouth.[3]
Veneration
De León's incorrupt body is still preserved in the Monastery of St. Catherine, where she lived out her life. Every 15 February (the anniversary of her death), her body is placed on public display in a glass-covered coffin, which was donated by the corsair Amaro Pargo, who was present at the exhumation. Because of the numerous pilgrims and devotees who want to see her incorrupt body, the coffin is also displayed on the following Sunday.[3]
A formal inquiry into De León's life for possible canonization was begun in the 19th century, but ceased. The cause was reopened in 1992 and has been submitted to the Vatican. It is pending. Supporters of her cause are dismayed by this lack of progress, despite a document from 1771 that lists 1,251 miracles attributed to her intercession.[5]
Although she has not been officially canonized, veneration of Sister Mary of Jesus has become the equivalent in the
Miracles
Miracles associated with De León are:
- Levitation: The ability to maintain stable suspension in the air; it was described by several nuns of the monastery.[3]
- Ecstasy: Experience of the divine, and presence of God. La Siervita was said to have this miracle several times, even as she lay dying.[3]
- Bilocation: The ability to be in two places simultaneously. De León was credited with saving the life of the privateer Amaro Rodríguez through her appearance during an assault on him while he was in Cuba.[3]
- Hyperthermia: A remarkable elevation of body temperature and the emission of light from the head or face.[3]
- Clairvoyance: The nun prophesied her own attempted abduction, a great flood, and an eruption of the Teide volcano, among other events.[7]
- Stigmata: When she died, a wound as if by a lance was found near her heart.[3]
- Psychokinesis: Ability to move objects by an invisible force.[3]
See also
- List of saints of the Canary Islands
- Amaro Rodríguez Felipe
References
- ^ Análisis iconográfico del retrato de sor María de Jesús "La Siervita de Dios"
- ^ a b c "Brief biographical data of Sister María de Jesús de León Delgado, OP, Dominican nuns of the Monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena, La Laguna, Tenerife
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Notas sobre la Siervita de Dios Archived 15 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine(in Spanish)[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Cuadros históricos de la admirable vida y virtudes de La Sierva de Dios: Sor María de Jesús de León Delgado". Archived from the original on 21 October 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
- ^ Barbuzano, D. (15 February 2011). "Sor María de Jesús aún espera por el milagro que la beatifique". El Día (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 December 2012.
- ^ Síntesis del Proceso de Beatificación de la Sierva de Dios Sor María de Jesús de León Delgado
- ^ La Candelaria de sor María de Jesús, la Siervita(in Spanish)
Sources
- García Barbusano, Domingo (1990). Sor María de Jesús: la monja incorrupta del convento de Santa Catalina de La Laguna. Edited by the Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena in La Laguna. ISBN 84-4046-866-0.
- ISBN 84-9637-415-7.
External links
- La Siervita de Dios.
- Una casa museo para La Siervita, El Día.
- El convento de Santa Catalina expone hoy el cuerpo de la Siervita. El Día.
- Congrega miles de devotos en el Monasterio de Santa Catalina. Odisur.
