“This is our Abbess, Madre Sor Maria de Jesus.”
Screenshot taken from a YouTube video posted by
Caballeroperegrino titled,
Sor María Jesús de Agreda
“Very well. May God be pleased with you.”
“Thank you, Father Superior”
“Since you have requested guidance, I am the one
God has chosen to bring about some order here. Obviously you need help in obeying
His will. Am I wrong or right on this matter,
Sister?
“Of course you are right, Father.”
“You may bring me something hot to drink. I swear
I’m catching a cold.”
“Yes Father, it will only take me a minute.”
“Alright then, hurry up before I’m too sick to
attend mass.”
Maria returned with some hot tea, mixed with a few
local herbs that were known for their healing
quality, pleasant taste and wonderful aroma.
“My God, Sister, do you call this a drink? At least
bring me something sweet to hide that ghastly
flavor. Haven’t you nuns been taught how to make a
proper cup of tea? No wonder they sent me here.”
“My Lord, please take some sugar.”
“Listen carefully, Mother. I don’t have a lot of
time to waste. I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Certainly Father. In the name of our Lord, of
course I will.”
“First you need to know that back in Madrid there
are countless rumors flying around and
they’re all about you. Are you aware of this Sister
Maria?”
“I am sorry, Father, I do not follow you.”
“Rumors for God’s sake! Gossip! Rumors about you!
What’s so hard to understand about that? Let’s
start with your fantasies. What is this nonsense
about you and the Indians? I was even told that you
never went to school? How can that be possible?
Don’t they have a school in Agreda?”
“There is a fine school …but because of my health.”
“Are you telling me that you are too sick to be a
nun?”
“Oh no, heaven forbid, I am a bride of Christ.”
“Then if you haven’t been to school, Sister, tell me
how everyone in Madrid is telling me that you have
taken it upon yourself to write a biography of our
Holy Virgin Mother. Is this true?”
“Father it is true that I am obedient to Our Lady
and that Her will is mine.”
“So is it your confession that our Most Splendid Mother,
the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,
has selected you from amongst all of Spain’s finest—from all her diligent—and from all her nobility—to
be Her chief servant?”
“Oh
no Father, I am not qualified to be her servant.”
Can’t you hear yourself speak, Sister? Perhaps your
other confessor—what was his name?”
“Father Andres, My Lord.”
“That’s right. Perhaps he encouraged you to pen
your dreams due to his inexperience. Now
enough of your double talk.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Listen. You do not want to upset the apple cart,
do you Sister Maria?”
“Never, My Lord.”
“Then it’s settled. Alright, now I must get some
rest before evening mass. If I am not feeling
better I may not be able to attend. That so called
hot drink of yours has only made me worse. I will
call upon you soon. Goodbye Sister.”
“Praise be to Our Father, His Son, and the Holy
Ghost. Goodnight Father.”
*
A
few days later...
“But Maria, I do not understand.
Why must you burn everything—your diaries and your
manuscripts? Didn’t Father Andres encourage you to
write?”
“I’m
sorry, Sister Candida. The Lord is now calling
me to be obedient. My writings are a distraction.
We must all be obedient just as our Lord obeys His
Heavenly Father.”
*
Sor
Maria de Jesus was assigned several priests during
her lifetime to give her both guidance and counsel.
Father Andres del la Torre encouraged her—while
quite the opposite could be said of a much older
Confessor who took a much sterner approach to Sister
Maria and woman in general.
Screenshot taken from a YouTube video posted by
Caballeroperegrino titled,
Sor María Jesús de Agreda
Always a humble soul but at times in turmoil, Maria
strived to be obedient to those in charge of her,
even if it brought her enormous pain. Perhaps due to
the wisdom of his old age, perhaps the old Confessor had been
right to chastise her—but in retrospect, historians
and theologians can only shudder. By the age of 42, Sor
Maria had been ordered by him to burn close to 5000 pages
of priceless writings, including her journal
describing her experiences with the American
Indians. Her original, 2700 page, 8 volume,
Mystical City of God—the biography of Mary, the
Mother of Jesus—was among the writings she was
forced to destroy. Thankfully, unknown to her, a copy
had been secretly made and survives today. The journal is forever
lost.
Mystical City of God
Mystical City of God
Mystical City of God
Sister Maria confessed to investigators that she had
bilocated nearly 600 times to preach to the Indians in
North America, sometimes as often as four times a
day. During one examination, having just been bled
with leeches to reduce her fever, in poor health
Maria was made to kneel precariously on a rail for
ten days, 6 hours each day, while Padre Inquisitor
Antonio del Moral and his Spanish scribes sat
comfortably questioning her.
Screenshot taken from a YouTube video posted by
Caballeroperegrino titled,
Sor María Jesús de Agreda
Official tribunes were
conducted on multiple occasions into her behavior
and admissions—their
official notes
survive today as well as other correspondence
relating to the great mystery of the Jumano Indians
and the Lady in Blue.
