Review
Dominican nun in the convent of Saint Catherine of Siena in Palma, she lived and wrote during the second half of the 17th century, an era of proliferation of the feminine writing in the monastic environment. She is one of the few figures of that time who wrote mystic literature in Catalan, which is partially preserved. Among her works, there are devotional texts, basically spiritual poetry, and spiritual autobiographical writings. However, she is renowned because she has written a comment on the book Llibre d’Amic e Amat of the medieval philosopher Ramon Llull. Indeed, she has been considered the most important representative of the feminine movement of Ramon Llull.
Justifications
- Mystic writer in Catalan belonging to the Baroque period. Author of highly successful texts.
- Writer of recognized intellectual value and an important spiritual reputation that increased during the 18th century.
- She is considered the main representative of the feminine ideological movement of Ramon Llull, since she made a comment on his work, Llibre d’Amic e Amat.
- She writes spiritual poems in common meter called "Cobles" ("strophes").
- She writes autobiographical or spiritual tales, considered the most paradigmatic genres of the monastic feminine literature of the Modern Age.
- Dominican nun who held positions of authority in the convents, since she was a teacher for novice nuns.
Biography
Margalida Mas Pujol, better known as Sister Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament, lived in the dominican convent of Saint Catherine of Siena and Palma, which she joined in 1677, and where she professed in 1678. She was well-known due to her deep spiritual life, her authoritarian positions, such as teacher for novice nuns, and her intellectual value. She was influenced by the blessed Ramon Llull, by the blessed Caterina Tomàs, from Valldemossa too (some mystic letters in Catalan have been preserved), and by other figures of her time, such as Teresa of Ávila, the writer and founder of the Discalced Carmelites.
Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament wrote texts of the most paradigmatic genres of the feminine monastic literature of the Modern Age: poetry and spiritual or autobiographical writing, created at the behest of her confessor. She is part of a generally little-known long tradition of religious writers who, from the Middle Ages, took advantage of the relatively free space that the convent represented, which allowed them to be taught and to be devoted to cultivate their intellect and literature.
When she died, in 1700, Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament had a considerable spiritual reputation that has been prevailed until today and increased during the 17th century (about 1732 a process of canonisation was tried to be carried out, but it failed). In the middle of the 17th century, a biography in Spanish that contributed to expand her spiritual and literary fame was published (Vida de la venerable M. Sor Ana María del Santíssimo Sacramento (Life of the Venerable Sister Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament), 1741, retrieved on 26/03/2022, https://books.google.es/books?id=PLiTugq-4dwC&printsec=frontcover&hl=c&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false).
The comment that she wrote about the Llibre d’amic e amat of Ramon Llull was partially printed, translated into Spanish, in 1760, by the protectors of the Causa Pia Lul·liana. The detractors of Ramon Lull condemned her because of this comment.
From the whole of her work, numerous manuscript copies were made that demonstrate the success of Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament at that time. In the 20th century, an anthology of her work in Catalan was published, preceded by a biographical introduction and a detailed study of the preserved manuscripts (1988). More recently, Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament has been the subject of a biography (2017) and a doctoral thesis (2021).
Works
Catalan
Comment on the work of Ramon Lull and mystic prose in Catalan, of which a partial edition translated into Spanish was published:
Exposición de los cánticos de amor compuestos por el inclyto mártyr y doctor iluminado el B. Raymundo Lulio en el libro de amico et amato. Dada y mýsticamente practicada por la Ven. Madre Sor Ana Maria del Santíssimo Sacramento… (Exposition of the Love Chants composed by the Distinguished Martyr and Doctor the Blessed Ramon Llull in the Llibre d'Amic e Amat. Given and mystically practiced by the Venerable Sister Anna Maria del Santíssim Sagrament...) (1760). 2 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Ignacio Frau, (retrieved on: 26/03/2022) https://books.google.es/books?id=0KMGAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=es&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false.
The work has been described as a "mystic break" with a personal character, https://ia800900.us.archive.org/34/items/exposiciondelos00marigoog/exposiciondelos00marigoog.pdf (retrieved on: 26/03/2022). Some excerpts can also be read in Antologia de textos de les Illes Balears. Segles XVII-XVIII, (Anthology of the Texts of the Balearic Islands. 17th and 18th Centuries.), of Joan Miralles i Montserrat (2006: 35-37), with a short biography.
- Spiritual autobiographical writings in which she tells the confessor visions and dialogues with God, and other aspects of her spirit for her superior to follow.
- She also maintained an unpreserved epistolary relationship with several personalities.
- Spiritual poems in common meter, called "Cobles". The texts, two verses with the same rhyme in groups of five, have been preserved in manuscripts in the comment of Ramon Llull, but they can be read in the edition of Sebastià Trias Mercant (1988: 213-224).
Didactic approach
This author can be used in 3rd of ESO in the block which deals with the work of Ramon Llull, the Baroque period, and poetry; and also in Spanish. It also allows for the revision of different aspects related to language (orthography, verbs...) during all the ESO period. Rhyme and meter can also be studied.
The importance of convents as spaces of freedom for women to cultivate intellect and literature can be seen in the subjects of geography and history, universal literature, Valencian and Spanish.
It can also be worked in relation with other authors such as Teresa Mir i Marc, author of a recently edited spiritual autobiography in Catalan, retrieved on 26/03/2022, https://dbd.vives.org/bio.php?id=5012 i https://dugi-doc.udg.edu/handle/10256/7874.
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