ANNE OF JESUS, VEN.

Spanish Discalced Carmelite; b. Medina del Campo, Léon, Nov. 25, 1545; d. Brussels, Mar. 4, 1621. Her parents, Diego de Lobera and Francisca de Torrès, were from prominent families of Spain. When 15 she rejected the prospect of a rich marriage because of a vow of chastity. She cut off her hair, wore a penitential gown, and under the guidance of a Jesuit, Pedro Rodriguez, sought admission into the reformed Carmel at Salamanca. There she took the habit, Aug. 1, 1570, and was professed Oct. 22, 1571. She assisted St. Teresa of Avila in the foundation of convents in Andalusia (1575), where she was prioress for three years, and in Granada (1581). After the death of Teresa (1582), she became prioress in Madrid (1586) and began the edition of Teresa's writings. When Anne of Jesus obtained a brief from Sixtus V on June 5, 1590, confirming the constitutions of the Discalced Carmelites, she displeased the Carmelite Vicar-General, Nicolò Doria, and the Consulta (his six advisers), and was deprived of jurisdiction for three years (see carmelites, discalced). In 1596 she was again prioress at Salamanca. At the invitation of Cardinal Pierre de Bérulle, she and Anne of St. Bartholomew established houses at Paris (1604), and Pontoise (1605), but opposed the cardinal's aim to associate the Reformed Carmelites with his French Oratory. She left France, founded a convent at Brussels (1607), and then returned to Spain, where she worked on further editions of St. Teresa's works, translated them into Latin and Flemish, and wrote a biography of the saint. She also concurred in the establishment of communities in Cracow, Galicia, and Antwerp.

Bibliography: berthold-ignace de sainte anne, Vie de la mère Anne de Jésus, 2 v. (Mechlin, Belgium 1877–83). p. marie joseph, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillat et al. (Paris 1912–) 3:340–343, bibliog. g. marsot, Catholicisme 1:588.

[e. d. mcshane]