ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, BL.

Spanish Discalced Carmelite; b. Almendral, near Ávila, Oct. 1, 1549; d. Antwerp, June 7, 1626. Anne, the daughter of Ferdinand Garcia and Maria Manzanas, entered the Carmelite convent of St. Joseph at Ávila, Nov. 7, 1570, and was professed as the first lay sister of the Re-form, Aug. 15, 1572. She was constantly with St. teresa of Avila until the latter's death in her arms, Oct. 4, 1582. She accompanied anne of jesus in 1604, when the Reformed Carmelites were invited by Cardinal Pierre de bÉrulle to found convents in France. There she was unwillingly promoted to a choir sister on Jan. 6, 1605, and became prioress at the convent of Pontoise, and then of Tours in 1608. Against the opposition of Bérulle, she left Paris on Oct. 5, 1611, to join Anne of Jesus in the Spanish Netherlands. She founded a convent at Antwerp (1612), and because of her prayers, she is credited with saving the city from the hands of the Calvinists (1622 and 1624). For this she is acclaimed "Liberator of Antwerp." There she wrote her autobiography and her instructions for superiors and mistresses of novices. She was declared venerable June 29, 1735 by Clement XII, and proclaimed blessed May 6, 1917 by Benedict XV.

Feast: June 7.

Bibliography: Anne de Saint-Barthélemy: lettres d'Anvers, ed. p. sÉrouet (Paris 1981). Autobiography of the Blessed Mother Anne of Saint Bartholomew …, ed. m. bouix (St. Louis 1917). m. bouix, Vie de la vén. mère Anne de Saint-Barthélemy (2d ed. Paris 1872), the second edition is based on the autobiography. p. marie-joseph, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart (Paris 1912–) 3:346–349, bibliog. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 9:257–261. r. aigrain, Catholicisme 1:589. a. butler, The Lives of the Saints, ed. h. thurston and d. attwater, 4 v. (New York 1956) 2:499–500.

[e. d. mcshane]