Castillo y Guevara, Francisca Josefa de la Concepción de (1671–1742)

Francisca Josefa de la Concepción de Castillo y Guevara (b. 6 October 1671; d. 1742), Colombian nun and author. The daughter of a Spanish official, Francisca Josefa was born in Tunja and entered the convent of Saint Clare in 1689. She remained there until her death, holding various offices in the community, including that of abbess.

Madre Francisca is remembered for two literary works, which she undertook upon the advice of her confessor. The first of these is her autobiography, known as the Vida, which was published in 1817. In this work she recounts her physical and spiritual travails, including her conflicts with fellow nuns and her visions of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and others. The second is the Afectos espirituales, also known as Sentimientos espirituales, which was published in 1843. The Afectos consists of 195 meditations on religious themes that express her longing for union with God. Because of their clear, forceful style and their spirituality, Madre Francisca's writings are often compared to those of other mystics, notably Saint Teresa of Avila.

See alsoLiterature: Spanish America .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Obras completas, 2 vols., edited by Darío Achury Valenzuela (1968). See also María Teresa Morales Barrero, La madre Castillo: Su espiritualidad y su estilo (1968).

Julie G. Johnson, Women in Colonial Spanish American Literature (1985).

Additional Bibliography

Mújica, Elisa. "250 Anos de la Muerte de la Madre Castillo" Revista credencial historia (June 1992).

                                             Helen Delpar