Readings:
Judith 16:1–10
Psalm 34:11–18
Matthew 5:17–20Preface of a Saint (2)
PRAYER (traditional language)
Almighty God, Source of all knowledge, we give thee
thanks for the witness of thy servant Juana Inés de la Cruz
in her fierce passion for learning and creativity. Teach us,
we beseech thee, so to be faithful stewards of our minds
and hearts, that, following her example, we might forever
proclaim the riches of thine unending love in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Through the same Jesus Christ who, with thee
and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest for ever and ever.
Amen.
PRAYER (contemporary language)
Almighty God, Source of all knowledge, we give you
thanks for the witness of your servant Juana Inés de la
Cruz in her fierce passion for learning and creativity. Teach
us to be faithful stewards of our minds and hearts, so
that, following her example, we might forever proclaim
the riches of your unending love in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through Jesus Christ who, with you and the Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This commemoration appears in Lesser Feasts & Fasts 2018.
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Last updated: 17 March 2020
JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ
MONASTIC AND THEOLOGIAN, 1695
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, O.S.H. (English: Sister Joan Agnes of the Cross; 12 November 1648 – 17 April 1695), was a writer, philosopher, composer, poet of the Baroque school, and Hieronymite nun of New Spain (Mexico). Her outspoken opinions granted her lifelong names such as, "The Tenth Muse", "The Phoenix of America", or the "Mexican Phoenix", for she was seen as a flame that rose from the ashes of "religious authoritarianism".
Sor Juana lived during Mexico's colonial period, making her a contributor both to early Spanish literature as well as to the broader literature of the Spanish Golden Age. Beginning her studies at a young age, Sor Juana was fluent in Latin and became known for her philosophy in her teens. Sor Juana educated herself in her own library, which was mostly inherited from her grandfather. After joining a nunnery in 1667, Sor Juana began writing poetry and prose dealing with such topics as love, feminism, and religion. She turned her nun’s quarters into a salon, visited by the city’s intellectual elite. Her criticism of misogyny and the hypocrisy of men led to her condemnation by the Bishop of Puebla, and in 1694 she was forced to sell her collection of books and focus on charity towards the poor.She died the next year, having caught the plague while treating her fellow nuns.
After fading from academic discourse for hundreds of years, Octavio Paz re-established Sor Juana's importance in modern times. Scholars now interpret Sor Juana as a protofeminist, and she is the subject of vibrant discourses about themes such as colonialism, education rights, women's religious authority, and writing as examples of feminist advocacy.
much more at Wikipedia
See also bio and selected poems in English translation at poets.org
A number of her works (all in Spanish) are at archive.org