Documentary on Sister Maria of Jesus (of Agreda)

Welcome. My name is Harvey Meier and I am a member of the Secular Franciscan Order in the Catholic Church. St. Francis of Assisi originally established the Secular Franciscans as the Brothers and Sisters of Penance in the year 1218. Like our Seraphic father, St. Francis of Assisi, we are known primarily for our great devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary as well as our professed vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.

I admit that my own devotion to Holy Mary, the Mother who ignites in me a profound adoration for her Son, Jesus, is beyond my means to describe with mere words. Mary beckons us to come into communion with her Son. The Blessed Mother's greatest desire is for each of us to unite our heart with her Son and in so doing we may begin the greatest adventure of our life.

Should you choose to join me in this journey, together we will discover the incredible heroic virtue in the life of Holy Mary and her Divine Son. We will bear witness to the great battle between heaven and hell and between the sinless Virgin and the legions of demons for the salvation of humankind.

We begin this magnificent journey with the birth of the great Franciscan mystic, author, and missionary, Sister Maria of Jesus of Agreda.

Early Life of Maria Coronel (1602–1615)

Maria Coronel, the third child and first surviving daughter of Francisco Coronel and Catalina Arana, was born in Agreda, Spain, on April 2nd, 1602. Francisco and Catalina were both members of the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi — now called the Secular Franciscan Order.

Maria's first memories were likely influenced by her parents' devotional practices. Her father practiced the Exercise of the Cross, rising at 3:00am each morning and carrying a large iron cross on his back while performing his daily duties in fervent prayer. Her mother would lay prostrate on her bed with a Franciscan habit as a shroud and a replica of a skull over her face as she contemplated the death of the body and the everlasting life of the soul.

As a young child Maria made a favorable impression on Bishop Don Diego de Yepes. Though most children were confirmed at the age of seven, the Bishop saw a spiritual presence in Maria and confirmed her at the age of four, advising her parents to take special care with her education and to set aside a quiet place for her to pray.

Illness, Vocation, and the Dark Night of the Soul

At the age of six Maria entered a new phase as she began to become concerned with offending God. The consolation of sensing God's presence was soon followed by the desolation of His absence and Maria became severely depressed. At the age of six she received her First Holy Communion and began attending the only girls' school in Agreda, but following a series of illnesses her parents withdrew her from school.

A pivotal event occurred at the age of seven when she saw a religious play titled The New World as Discovered by Christopher Columbus by the playwright Lope De Vega. The depiction of the native Indians who did not yet know her Lord inflamed in her the spiritual aspiration to become a missionary. At the age of eight she declared her intention of lifelong chastity, and at twelve, inspired by the canonization of St. Teresa of Avila, she declared her intention to enter religious life as a nun.

At the age of thirteen, Maria's fragile health took a turn for the worse and she became gravely ill. After six months with no signs of recovery she received the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. Through grace and prayer she came to understand that by unifying her suffering to Jesus she could make it an offering of love to God. As soon as Maria embraced her pain she began to recover.

"This lesson eroded the hardness of my heart and I became happy with my pain."

The Founding of the Convent (1615–1620)

In 1615, Catalina had a vision in which the Almighty told her to give up her husband, her children and her property and to convert their home into a convent. The dream so worried Catalina that she ran to find Padre Juan Torrecilla — who met her midway and confirmed he had seen the same vision. Despite years of heated family discussions, Catalina's desire prevailed.

The Coronel family founded the convent under the order of the Franciscan Conceptionists. On December 8th, 1618 — the feast of the Immaculate Conception — the first Mass was celebrated in the convent. On January 13, 1620, the official dedication took place. Catalina and Maria donned their veils as novices on the same day. Maria took the name of Sister Maria of Jesus.

Life in the Convent: Ecstasies and Trials (1620–1623)

Cloistered and protected from worldly influences, Sister Maria began to live a life of extreme austerity and penance. Her spiritual ecstasies became so frequent that she was given a private cell so as not to disturb the others. In 1620, while in deep prayer after receiving Holy Communion and in the presence of witnesses, Sister Maria levitated.

"Whenever she was rapt in ecstasy, her body was raised a little distance above the earth where it remained motionless."

— Ximinez Samaniego

Finally in 1623 the nuns from Burgos called for an external examination. Two priests were sent from the provincial office — the Villalacre brothers, who were friends of the Coronel family. After interviewing Sister Maria for several hours they excused her and she immediately ran to receive Communion and once again fell into ecstasy. Before leaving, the two priests decided to call her mentally to return to the parlor, reasoning that if she were under demonic influence she would not respond. She returned immediately as instructed.