Ana de los Ángeles Monteagudo

At the monastery, Ana de los Ángeles distinguished herself by her humility and strict adherence to the Dominican rule. She held the positions of sacristan until 1632, then novice mistress until 1645. Elected prioress in 1647, she undertook a rigorous reform to restore evangelical poverty and spiritual fervor within a community of nearly 300 people. Despite strong internal opposition, she carried out this reform with firmness. She also devoted herself heroically during a plague epidemic in Arequipa.

The spiritual life of Ana de los Ángeles was marked by intense contemplation and an extraordinary devotion to the souls in Purgatory, inspired by Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. She was graced with mystical gifts such as prophecy, counsel, and visions. The last ten years of her life were marked by blindness and paralysis, sufferings she accepted with patience and united to the Passion of Christ. She died in holiness on January 10, 1686.

After her death, the Bishop of Arequipa opened an informative process as early as July 1686, but the file was lost in a shipwreck. The cause was relaunched in 1885 by Father Vicente Nardini, O.P. Her heroic virtues were recognized by Paul VI in 1975. A miracle involving the inexplicable healing of uterine cancer in María Vera de Jarrín in 1932, after the application of a relic, was approved by John Paul II in 1981. Ana de los Ángeles was beatified by John Paul II on February 2, 1985, in Arequipa.

The spirituality of Ana de los Ángeles is based on abandonment to the divine will, poverty, and intercession for the souls in Purgatory, which earned her the title of "advocate of Purgatory." She remains a major figure in Arequipa. Her cell and her relics, preserved at the monastery of Santa Catalina de Siena, continue to attract numerous pilgrims.