MARY OF ST. JOSEPH SALAZAR

Associate of St. teresa of avila and writer; b. Toledo, 1548; d. Cuerva, Oct. 19, 1603. She came of a noble family linked with the ducal house of Medinacelli. As a child she entered the service of Doña Luisa de la Cuerda in Toledo where, at the age of 14, she met Teresa. Attracted to the Teresian enterprise by Teresa herself, Mary took the habit (May 6, 1570) and made her profession at Malagon (June 10, 1571). Teresa took her to her new foundation of Beas (1565), then to Seville (1565–66). The many extant letters of St. Teresa to Mary testify to the great affection and love that the mother foundress had for her. After the death of St. Teresa, Mary made the foundation of the Lisbon house (1588), where she soon became very popular. In 1603 she was sent to the new foundation of Talavera and Cuerva. Her writings remained unpublished until 1913, when they were published at Burgos in a single volume. They are unpretentious and of no great importance from a spiritual point of view. However, they do possess considerable historical value because of what she has to say about St. Teresa, especially in the declaration she made in the process of beatification.

Bibliography: silverio de santa teresa, Historia del Carmen Descalzo en España, Portugal y América, 15 v. (Burgos 1935–49) 8:436–454. A short introduction to her writings by Silverio de Santa Teresa contained in marÍa de san josÉ, Libro de Recreaciones, Ramillete de Mirra, Avisos, Máximas y Poesías (Burgos 1913).

[o. rodriguez]