Om· Catholic Heritage in Texas
"The habit which she has worn personally most of the time has been that of our Father Saint Francis; at other times it has been that of the [Immaculate] Conception with its veil. But the white sleeves were always rolled up and the skirt of the white habit tucked up, showing much of the brown. The first time she went was in the year 1620. She has con- tinued [these visits] ever since until 1631 ••• She told me also ... that she had commanded the Jumanos to call us and that she had instructed them during all this time. She gave me all their signs and [declared] she had been with them. She knows Captain Tuerto (the one-eye Captain) very well, having given me his personal characteristics and that of all the others. She herself sent the messengers from Quivira to call the missionaries.m These and many other details, the modest and saintly abbess communicated to Father Benavides, constrained by the request of the Father General who commanded her under oath of obedience to tell the former custodio all she knew of those lands and their people who.m she had visited. Life of Mar,a de Agreda. A brief sketch of the life of this remarkable woman, who played so important a role in the history not only of Texas but of all the Southwest, is fitting here. The Venerable Mother Maria de Jesus was born on April 2, 1602, in the small but ancient Villa de Agreda, in old Castile. Her parents were Francisco Coronel and Catalina de Arana, both of noble lineage. She was one of eleven children, of whom only four attained maturity. She was baptized in the famous church of Santa Maria de Magana, on April 11, 1602, being given the name of Maria and dedicated to our Lord Jesus Christ. At a very early age, she gave evidence of her inclination to a life of prayer in the service of our Lord. Sickly and frail from her earliest years, she found refuge and consolation in prayer and learned, while tender in years, the great strength and grace of this daily exercise. The careful instruction imparted to her by her mother, who was a deeply religious woman, and the spiritual disposition of the frail child, showed clearly her unmistakable and high vocation. At the age of twelve she informed her parents of her desire to enter a convent. Both her father and mother knew that her desire was the result of a sincere calling and readily gave their consent. While casting about for a convent which Maria might enter, the pious mother, who herself was a most devout person, was favored by a vision of our Lord Who ordered her to found
7Benavides, Ta11to que se Saco de 1111a Carta, 5-7.
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