ÁGREDA, MARY OF

Also known as Mary of Jesus, Poor Clare mystical writer; b. Ágreda, province of Burgos (Spain), April 2, 1602; d. Ágreda, May 24, 1665.

Mary was one of the 11 children of Francisco Coronel and Catalina de Arana. She is said to have made a vow of chastity at the age of eight and to have had a desire for religious life from early youth. In 1619 she became a Poor Clare at Ágreda. Her mother and one of her sisters entered with her; her father, although 63 years of age, took the Franciscan habit and thus made her mother's admission possible. Mary was made abbess at the age of 25 by papal dispensation. Except for a period of three years, she remained in office for life. In 1633 she founded a new monastery outside Ágreda, to which she transferred her nuns. In 1672, seven years after her death, Mary's cause was introduced at the request of the Spanish court, and she was declared venerable.

Mary of Ágreda's principal work was The Mystical City of God and the Divine History of the Virgin Mother of God (3 v. Madrid 1670). A concise narrative, written in a polished style (though critics differ on this), it is a life of Our Lady as seen by Mary in vision. It aroused considerable opposition in the Sorbonne, particularly the chapter on the Immaculate Conception, which, though perhaps crude, was not, as was alleged, immoral. Mary supported the doctrine. The book was condemned by the Inquisition and put on the Index of Prohibited Books on June 26, 1681. Almost immediately there were earnest appeals from Spain, and at the request of the king, Innocent XI suspended the decree of condemnation and had it removed on Aug. 4, 1681. Some held that this suspensory decree was intended only for Spain, but a decree of the Holy Office (Sept. 19, 1713) in reply to a query put by the bishop of Ceneda appears to have declared the decree to have the force of law throughout the whole Church.

Prominent among the opponents of the book were Bossuet and particularly Eusebius Amort. It was alleged that more importance was given to private revelations than to the Incarnation, that the term "adoration" was used for devotion to Our Lady, that the government of the Church was attributed to her, etc. On the other hand, it is said that the Sorbonne condemnation was based on a faulty translation and that evidence exists that Amort misunderstood the Spanish in 80 places.

Though the Mystical City of God was attacked, even Mary of Ágreda's enemies respected her holy life, and no accusation was ever made against her sincerity. In 1729, after a new examination, the work was approved by the universities of Salamanca, Alcalá de Henares, Toulouse, and Louvain.

Mary's letters to Philip IV cover a period of 22 years and deal with morals, asceticism, and politics. She is said to have been instrumental in the dismissal of the Conde-Duque de Olivares.

Bibliography: t. d. kendrick, Mary of Ágreda: The Life and Legend of a Spanish Nun (London 1967).

[k. e. pond]