Servant of God

Jerónima de la Asunción

O.S.C.
The Nun Jerónima de la Fuente by Diego Velázquez
Poor Clare Nun
BornMay 9, 1555
Toledo, Spain
DiedOctober 22, 1630(1630-10-22) (aged 75)
Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church

Jerónima de la Asunción, O.S.C. (Spanish: Jerónima de la Asunción García Yánez y De La Fuente; May 9, 1555 – October 22, 1630) was a Spanish Catholic nun and abbess who founded the Real Monasterio de Santa Clara (Royal Monastery of Saint Clare) in Intramuros, Manila, Philippines.

For her efforts in establishing the first Catholic monastery in Manila and the Far East, the Vatican issued an apostolic decree for her beatification in 1734. This monastery was immortalized in the novel Noli Me Tángere, penned by the national hero, José Rizal.[1][2]

Biography

Jerónima was born in Toledo, Spain to Pedro García e Yánez and Catalina de la Fuente of Toledo, who were pious, prosperous and of the lower nobility.[3] Jerónima spent her childhood in Toledo, where she learned the basics of Christian life very early on. She grew up on the Calle de lod Letrados, next to the Church of San Marcos.[4] At the age of fourteen, she met the great Carmelite reformer, Teresa of Ávila, after which she felt the calling to monastic life. She was also influenced by a biography of Clare of Assisi.

On August 15, 1570, Jerónima entered the enclosed monastery of Santa Isabel la Real de Toledo. At this monastery, she joined two of her paternal aunts who were already professed nuns in the community which follow the more austere First Rule of Saint Clare. She worked successively as a nurse, henkeeper, sacristan, vicar of the choir, and provisioner. She later occasionally functioned as Mistress of Novices,[2] and gradually developed a reputation for being a holy woman. Wealthy donors would send her gifts and ask for her prayers. She commissioned devotional artwork and statues. "She sent pots of chicken and bacon to the prison and local hospitals. She handed out bread and eggs to beggars who frequented the convent torno (revolving door)."[4]

Voyage to the Far East

A pamphlet cover with a reproduction of Velázquez's 1620 painting of Mother Jerónima.

The notion of establishing a convent in Manila was first brought up to Jerónima in 1599 by the Dominican Diego Soria, who stressed its importance. Some who supported idea felt that it would strengthen the crown's commitment to the islands. Authorisation for the transfer to the Philippines was delayed by the inconveniences and difficulties posed by the Council of the Indies due to problems of finance and patronage. Franciscan Pedro Matías mentioned the holy nun of Santa Isabel to a wealthy couple, who decided to become patrons of a convent, provided Jerónima was the abbess.[4] Friar José de Santa María, was named Procurator to arrange the necessary royal travel permits and other financial matters for the venture, while Jerónima herself was appointed as foundress and first abbess of the Philippine monastery.[3] The new monastery would be the first of its kind, both to be established in Manila and the entire Far East.

Jerónima's journey began in April 1620, with an initial group of six nuns; she was already 66 years old at that time. From Toledo, they traveled by carriages loaned by the king to Seville where they arrived in mid-May, where she was portrayed by the young Velázquez. They were joined by two more nuns, and then went on to Cádiz, from where they set sail across the Atlantic Ocean with the fleet for New Spain. Arriving at Veracruz, they traveled overland to Mexico City, which they reached by late September 1620. They stayed there for about six months at another monastery of the Order, and where two more nuns from that community joined the group.[1]

Accompanied by two friars and two male servants, on Ash Wednesday of 1621, Jerónima and her group left Mexico by road to cross the mountains by mule to Acapulco. Once there, on April 21, 1621, the group boarded the galleon San Andrés to sail for the Philippines.[1]

Sor Ana de Cristo kept a record of their journey from Toledo to Manila.[4] One nun died during the crossing, while the ship was near the Mariana Islands. The rest of the group eventually landed in the port of Bolinao on July 24, 1621. They traveled by litter south, reaching Intramuros, the colony's capital, on August 5, 1621. They arrived one year, three months and nine days after leaving Toledo.[1]

Initially well received by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, disagreements soon arose, both over the accommodation arranged and over the admission to the convent of young marriageable girls - which reduced the chances of marriage for the descendants of the conquistadors in a society where Spanish women were scarce. Sor Jerónima's determination to maintain the purity of the rule in all its rigour, renouncing dowries and the presence of handmaids or servants of the nuns in the convent to preserve poverty, and her desire to admit mestizo or indigenous women along with the Spaniards, also brought her into conflict with the rectors of her own order, who in 1623 deprived her of her position as abbess.

The repudiation of Filipinas

The royal foundation was specifically created for "pious Spanish women and daughters of the conquistadors who cannot marry properly" without mention of native women. Around 1628, the application of Doña María Uray of Dapitan ("Uray" denoting her status as a native noblewoman), was rejected simply because she was classified as an "Indio." Madre Jerónima had requested permission to establish a convent in Pandacan for native women, but had been overruled by higher authorities both in the church and government.

In 1633, Martha de San Bernardo applied for admission. She was from a wealthy family in Labuad Kapampangan (Pampanga) and spoke Spanish. When the Franciscan superiors denied her request, the nuns at the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara decided to send her to their new house in Macao, which was outside the priests' jurisdiction. Learning of this, the Franciscan guardian in the Philippines directed that she should receive the habit en route so that both superiors could disavow responsibility if questioned. Thus Martha de San Bernardo became the first Filipino nun.[5]

The first Japanese novice was Sor Lucia de San Juan.[4]

Later life and death

During the last thirty years of her life, Jerónima lived in constant illness. In early September 1630, her health deteriorated. She died at dawn on October 22, 1630,[3] at the age of 75.

Jerónima's remains were first buried in a niche within a wall inside the monastery, but later relocated five times. The first was in 1670 to deter local devotees, while the second happened in 1712 due to the reconstruction of the monastery, when the remains were placed in the lower choir. The third relocation was during the British Occupation of Manila in 1763, when her coffin was transferred to the old Church of Saint Francis in Intramuros. The remains were returned to the monastery in 1765, and later survived the aerial bombings during the Battle of Manila in 1945. In the 1950s, her bones were finally placed at the monastery's new site in Dilimán, Quezon City.[1]

Portrait

Modern-day photographs and images of Jerónima de la Asunción are replicas of the depiction by the court painter Diego Velázquez.[3] The portrait was composed during Jerónima's almost two month stopover in Seville en route to the Philippines.[4]

The painting is described as conveying the then-sixty-six-year-old nun's "devoutness and strength of character through her stern expression and rugged countenance; her direct, outward gaze at the beholder; and her expressive accoutrements". Jerónima is depicted wearing her dark religious habit while holding a book and a crucifix.

The inscriptions on the painting read "It is good to await the salvation of God in silence" (top), while the banderole that flows from her mouth reads "I shall be satisfied as long as He is glorified".[6][7]

Canonisation process

Although not born in the Philippines, Jerónima became a religious inspiration for many Catholic devotees. She was described as a woman of resolute character in managing political and religious conflicts both within and outside the confines of her monastery. Steps towards her canonisation began in 1630,[1] but to date, they have not proceeded.

Jerónima dictated her Life to Sister Ana de Cristo, one of the sisters who participated with her in the foundation. These notes were partially collected in the biography dedicated to her by her confessor, Fray Ginés de Quesada, martyred in Japan in 1636, whose manuscript, dated 1634, remained unpublished until 1717 when it was issued in connection with efforts to promote her beatification.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ruano, Pedro, O.F.M. (Vice-General Postulator). Mother Jerónima de la Asunción (1555–1630), A Biography, Monastery of St. Claire, Quezon City, Philippines, 1999.
  2. 1 2 Serrano, Hanna, Tanya J. Tiffany and Ronald E. McNair. Mother Jeronima de la Fuente: Founder of First Convent of Nuns in the Philippines, A Woman Religious and Reflection of Christ, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Archived 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on: June 17, 2007
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Nun Jerónima de la Fuente", Museo del Prado
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Owens, Sarah E.. Nuns Navigating the Spanish Empire United States, University of New Mexico Press, 2017. p. 1 ISBN 9780826358950
  5. ↑ Tantingco, Robby. "First Filipino Nun was Kapampangan". Sun Star March 6, 2007], retrieved on: June 18, 2007
  6. ↑ Zirpolo, Lilian (1994). "'Madre Jerónima de la Fuente' and 'Lady with a Fan': Two Portraits by Velázquez Reexamined". Woman's Art Journal. 15 (1): 16–21. doi:10.2307/1358490. JSTOR 1358490.
  7. ↑ Great Masters Gallery, Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez Art Reproductions, Jeronima de la Asuncion, c.1620, 79 x 51 cm, The Wallace Collection, London, UK, 2007 Archived 2007-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on: June 24, 2007

Bibliography

  1. Claussen, Heather L. and Ann Arbor. Unconventional Sisterhood: Feminist Catholic Nuns in the Philippines, Issue 8, The University of Michigan Press, 2001, and A Review by Carolyn Brewer, Murdoch.edu.au, October 2002, retrieved on: June 17, 2007 – ISBN 978-0-472-11221-0 (hard cover)
  2. Lally, Father Campion, O.F.M. (Note: F. C. Lally is a missionary in Japan who has been chaplain to the Poor Clares in Japan for 49 years). Poor Clare Bibliography, Poor Clare.org, retrieved on: June 17, 2007
  3. Brewer, Carolyn. Holy Confrontation: Religion, Gender and Sexuality in the Philippines, 1521–1685 (Note: This is an article mentioning Jeronima de la Asunción and the Poor Clare's Bolinao Manuscript), Issue 8, October 2002, Manila: Institute of Women's Studies, St. Scholastica's College, 2001, 437 pp., and A Review by Barbara Watson Andaya, retrieved on: June 18, 2007 – ISBN 978-971-8605-29-5
  4. Bourne, Edward Gaylord. The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803: Explorations, 1905, retrieved on: June 17, 2007
  5. Sanchez, C (1994). "La Madre Jerónima de la Asunción y su fundación del monasterio de Santa Clara de Manila. Incidencias y consecuencias" [Mother Jeronima of the Ascension and the Foundation of the Monastery of Santa Clara of Manila. Incidents and Consequences]. Verdad y Vida (in Spanish). 52 (205–06): 379–400. INIST 3739241.
  6. Intramuros, Historic Walled City of Manila, Santa Clara Monastery, WordPress.com, February 19, 2007, retrieved on: June 18, 2007
  7. Monasterio de Santa Clara, Katipunan Avenue and Aurora Boulevard, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, MyTravelGuide.com Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on: June 18, 2007
  8. 99 Kapampangan Who Mattered in History and Why, Center for Kapampangan Studies, HAU.edu.ph and Geocities.com, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007
  9. Pascual Jr., Federico D. Religious Firsts, Postscript, ABS-CBN Interactive, ABS-CBNNews.com, March 6, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007
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