Monteagudo, Ana de Los Angeles, Bl.
MONTEAGUDO, ANA DE LOS ANGELES, BL.
Dominican mystic; b. c. 1600, Arequipa, Peru; d. there, January 10, 1686. Ana, the daughter of the Spaniard Sebastián Monteagudo de la Jara and his Peruvian wife Francisca Ponce de León, was entrusted to the care of the Dominican sisters of Santa Catalina de Siena until she reached marriageable age. She returned home at her parents' request and eventually overcame their objections to her religious vocation. In 1618, she began her novitiate at Santa Catalina and appended the name "de los Angeles." She served as novice mistress. After she was chosen as prioress (1647), she reformed the community of nearly 300 sisters. The entire life of Blessed Ana was spent in prayer and apostolic work. Her sanctity was recognized through her beatification, February 2, 1985, at Arequipa, Peru, by Pope John Paul II during his pastoral visit to Latin America.
Feast: Jan. 10 (Dominicans).
Bibliography: b. gÓmez cano, Sor Ana de los Angeles Monteagudo y Ponce de León (Lima, Peru 1984). Acta Apostolicae Sedis (1986): 909–12. L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. ed. 11 (1985): 8–9.
[k. i. rabenstein]