BLESSED ANNE OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW
Born in Spain in 1549, October 1st, fifth child of Maria Manzanas and Herman Garcia, prosperous farmers of the region of Old Castile, where Saint Teresa of Avila was born in 1515, Anne's childhood, as preserved in her biography kept in the Carmelite monastery in Antwerp, Flanders (Spanish Netherlands) was characterized by deep religious prayer and mysticism. She attempted to enter the new Carmelite monastery in Avila, Saint Joseph's founded by Saint Teresa in 1562, but was rejected as too young. Her parents had both died before Anne was ten years old. She worked on the family farm for her brothers for several years until she was accepted by Saint Teresa in 1572 as the first lay sister (not required to recite the Divine Office in choir). Anne learned to read and write in the monastery, serving as infirmarian and as Saint Teresa's nurse and secretary after she broke her arm on Christmas Day, 1577 until her death at Alba de Tormes in 1582. After the Saint's death, Anne was sent to Paris in 1604 as one of seven founding nuns. Saint Therese of Lisieux, the French Carmelite born in 1873, in one of her rare mystical experiences received confirmation from Blessed Anne in a dream that her Little Way of Spiritual Childhood was pleasing to God. From Paris, Anne was sent to Pontoise as prioress, and from there to Tours, then back to Paris, and finally to Antwerp, where she served until her death in 1626. Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1917.
Born in Spain in 1549, October 1st, fifth child of Maria Manzanas and Herman Garcia, prosperous farmers of the region of Old Castile, where Saint Teresa of Avila was born in 1515, Anne's childhood, as preserved in her biography kept in the Carmelite monastery in Antwerp, Flanders (Spanish Netherlands) was characterized by deep religious prayer and mysticism. She attempted to enter the new Carmelite monastery in Avila, Saint Joseph's founded by Saint Teresa in 1562, but was rejected as too young. Her parents had both died before Anne was ten years old. She worked on the family farm for her brothers for several years until she was accepted by Saint Teresa in 1572 as the first lay sister (not required to recite the Divine Office in choir). Anne learned to read and write in the monastery, serving as infirmarian and as Saint Teresa's nurse and secretary after she broke her arm on Christmas Day, 1577 until her death at Alba de Tormes in 1582. After the Saint's death, Anne was sent to Paris in 1604 as one of seven founding nuns. Saint Therese of Lisieux, the French Carmelite born in 1873, in one of her rare mystical experiences received confirmation from Blessed Anne in a dream that her Little Way of Spiritual Childhood was pleasing to God. From Paris, Anne was sent to Pontoise as prioress, and from there to Tours, then back to Paris, and finally to Antwerp, where she served until her death in 1626. Blessed Anne of Saint Bartholomew was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1917.