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a convent in her home. Two of her sons were already in the Order of Saint Francis. A few years later, after overcoming apparently insur- mountable difficulties, the parents of Maria established the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, in December, 1618. On January 13, 1619, the mother and her two daughters entered the new convent, while the father joined the Monastery of San Antonio de Naida of Recollects of the province of Burgos. After serving a year's novitiate, Maria de Jesus took her formal vows on February 2, 1620.' In summarizing her later career, Marison says: " In 1625, she was chosen abbess, much against her wishes, and, except during a short inter- mission, was reelected every three years until she died in 1665. The fame of her prudence and foresight, not only in the government of her convent but in other matters, soon spread outside the convent walls and persons of the highest rank in state and church were eager to obtain her counsel in important affairs. King Philip IV visited her several times in her convent and corresponded with her about national affairs for many years. "But she was not less famous for her exalted virtues. In many respects her life was a faithful copy of that of St. Francis. The miracle of bilocation related of her is in fact more remarkable and lasted a longer time than that recorded anywhere in the lives of the saints. Her good sense, her truthfulness, her sincerity, her humility, her unselfish love of God and man eminently adapted her for the communication of messages from God to men." 9 How did she visit the numerous nations of New Mexico and Texas? Mange explains how she came to undertake these visits and the manner in which the miracle was performed. "On one occasion," he says, "while praying for the welfare of these souls [the Indians of Texas and New Mexico] the Lord took her while in ecstatic contemplation, without her being aware of the means, and it seemed to her that she found herself in a different place and clime, among a people whose nature and dis- position had been made known to her in an abstract manner. They were Indians, and it seemed to her that she saw them with her material senses and felt the difference of the clime of the land. While in this 8 The summary given here is taken from the detailed life of this remarkable woman by Fray Joseph Ximenez Samaniego, 0. F . M., Prologo galateo. Relacion de la flida de la V. Madre Sor Maria de /es,,s ... Madrid, 17 54. 9 Fiscar Manson, City of God, xiv. The writer has in his possession a copy of the correspondence of Maria de Agreda with Philip IV, which he found in the archives of the State Library in Guadalajara, Mexico.
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