Sister Teresa by Barbara Mujica

Set in the 16th century Spain, the story of Sister Teresa is told through the eyes of Sister Angelica, who knew Teresa since childhood. Teresa was of Jewish descent, but as at the end of the 15th century Jews had a choice either to leave Spain or convert, her family chose the latter. Avila, where she was from, was full of ‘conversos.’

She enters convent temporarily not at her will, but at the end she stays there of her own choice. Her health deteriorates. After chest pains, fevers, and failure of tinctures, she is pronounced dead. After three days she awakens.

She starts having visions and is asked to start a convent only for women, where women could devote themselves to God with no destructions. She performs miracles through God and gains support for her convent. “They called her a saint, especially the common people. They liked her patched habit and her earthy conversation. She put them at ease, and they flocked to her, hungry for the kind of raw spirituality she taught, a simpler kind of spirituality that led people to seek the Lord in their own hearts.”

Sister Angelica presents the story with honesty and a tint of good humor. “Well, good for her. Let her be a celebrity. I’m not going to let her drag me into her projects. I’m a simple woman with simple tastes. I want to be left alone.” Her observation of an emissary from a noble house: “Actually, it would have been pointless to send him to the Devil because he came from the Devil herself.”

Sister Angelica is a fictional character, but her voice is so credible as truly reflecting her knowing Sister Teresa since childhood.

Sister Teresa is a true character, who became a saint. “She’d become a larger-than life holy woman, a great mystic and reformer. Nobles, ecclesiastics, and even royalty held her in esteem. She was now the most important religious woman in Spain.”

Beautifully written story, showing true human emotions no matter what cloth you’re wearing. “A richly entertaining historical novel.”

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