María Antonia Pereira Andrade

In 1730, by mutual agreement, María Antonia and her husband decided to embrace religious life. She entered the convent of the Discalced Carmelites of Alcalá de Henares in 1733 and made her profession under the name María Antonia de Jesús in 1734, while her husband took the habit among the Discalced Carmelites. Elected prioress, she strove to found a Carmel in Galicia. Despite numerous obstacles and after pleading her cause before King Philip V, she founded in 1748 the first convent of Discalced Carmelites of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, where she died on March 10, 1760.

From her death in 1760, her reputation for holiness was immense. The Order of Carmel began collecting testimonies in 1761, but the cause was suspended in 1770 due to political upheavals. The process was relaunched at the end of the 20th century under the impetus of Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela. The diocesan inquiry, reopened on January 25, 1993, was closed on June 14, 1996. After validation by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1997, the Positio demonstrating the heroic nature of her virtues was published in 2008.

On November 7, 2018, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God María Antonia de Jesús, following an audience granted to Cardinal Angelo Becciu. She was thus officially declared Venerable. Her cause for beatification continues, awaiting the recognition of a miracle.

Considered the first great mystic and writer of Galicia, María Antonia de Jesús left behind a profound spiritual body of work influenced by Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross. Her major writings include her three-volume Autobiography and The Spiritual Edifice (El Edificio Espiritual), a treatise on mystical theology. Her legacy remains alive, notably in Cuntis, where a bronze statue was erected in her honor in 2015.