| Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew | |
|---|---|
Anne of Saint Bartholomew |
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| Born | 1 October 1550 Almendral, Old Castile |
| Died | 7 June 1626 Antwerp |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 1917 by Pope Benedict XV |
| Feast | June 7 |
Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, O.C.D., (Almendral, Old Castile, 1 October 1550 – Antwerp, 7 June 1626) was a Spanish Discalced Carmelite nun, and companion to Saint Teresa of Avila.
Born Ana García, she was of humble origin and spent her youth in solitude and prayer tending flocks. When she first went to Ávila to enter the Carmelite convent, she was refused as being too young; for several years after, she suffered much at the hands of her brothers.
She later entered the convent as lay sister and made her vows on 15 August 1572. For the next ten years she filled the post of infirmarian; she now became the almost inseparable companion and secretary of St. Teresa, who died in her arms at Alba de Tormes in 1582.
Anne afterwards returned to Avila, took part in the foundation of a convent at Ocana (1595), and was one of the seven nuns selected for the introduction of the order into France (October, 1604). The French superiors, desirous of sending her as prioress to Pontoise, obliged her to pass from the state of lay sister to that of choir nun. So unusual a step met with the disapproval of her companions, but as St. Teresa had foretold it many years previously Anne offered no resistance. She had also been forewarned that the same step would cause her great sufferings. Her priorship at Pontoise (January to September, 1605), Paris (October, 1605, to April, 1608), Tours May, 1608, to 1611) brought her heavy trials, not the least of which were differences with her superiors. At the expiration of her last term of office she returned to Paris, but warned by a vision, she proceeded to Belgium (October, 1611), where she founded and became prioress of a convent at Antwerp (27 October 1612), which she governed to the end of her life. Twice she was instrumental in delivering the town from the hands of Protestant forces.
In 1735, Anne of St. Bartholomew was declared Venerable. She was beatified in 1917.
Her writings include a number of letters still preserved, an autobiography now at Antwerp, edited by Marie Dominique Bouix (Paris, 1869–72), and several treatises on spiritual matters, which appeared at Paris in 1646.