Early life[edit] The birthdate of Mother Ignacia del Espíritu Santo is piously attributed on February 1, 1663, basing on the cultural customs of the Spanish era. Only her baptismal record is preserved, which occurred on March 4, 1663, The baptismal rite occurred in the Church of the Holy Kings in the fifth Parian de Chinos[2][3] and was officiated by Fray Padre Alberto Collares, O.P. Ignacia was the eldest and sole surviving child of María Jerónima, a Filipina and Jusepe Iuco, a Christian Chinese migrant from Amoy, China. Expected by her parents to marry at 21 years old, Ignacia sought religious counsel from Father Paul Klein, a Jesuit priest from Bohemia. The priest gave her the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola from which Ignacia drew her religious devotion and piety. After this period of solitude and prayer, Ignacia finally decided to pursue her religious calling, to remain in the service of the Divine Majesty” and “live by the sweat of her brow.” According to Father Murillo Velarde, her eyewitness biographer, Ignacia left her parents home with only a needle and a pair of scissors. Religious seclusion[edit] Ignacia felt strongly against the Spanish prohibition that native Filipinos could not become religious nuns or priests at the time. Mother Jerónima de la Asunción was the first Spanish religious sister who came to the Philippines to establish a convent but due to the Spanish prohibition and racial attitudes against native Filipinos at the time, they were prohibited from joining the Holy Orders and religious congregations. In hopes of changing this ecclesiastical limitation, Ignacia began to live alone in a vacant house at the back of the Colegio Jesuita de Manila, the headquarters of Jesuits in Manila. She devoted a life of public prayer and labour which attracted other Filipino lay women to monasticism at a time when Filipinos were barred from pursuing the religious life. Ignacia accepted these women into her company, and though they were not officially recognised as a religious institute at the time, together they became known as the Beatas de la Virgen Maria (English: Religious of the Virgin Mary) living under the Beaterio de la Compania de Jesus (English: Marys Convent of the Society of Jesus).[1] They frequently received the sacraments at the old church of St. Ignatius, performed many acts of public devotion there and went to the Jesuit priests for spiritual direction and confession. Popular folk tale ascribed the penitential form of spirituality and mortification of the flesh which sustained the other women in hardship, especially during times of extreme poverty, when they had to beg for rice and salt as a form of almsgiving and scour the streets for firewood. The lay women continued to support themselves through manual labour and requesting alms from other laypeople. Eventually, the growing number of laywomen called for a more stable lifestyle and a set of rules called Religious Constitution which governed their daily schedule . The association only admitted young girls and boarders who were taught catechism and given manual work.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 11:29:42 +0000
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