Jerónima de la Asunción

A pamphlet cover with a reproduction of Velázquez's 1620 painting of Mother Jerónima.

The notion of establishing a convent in Manila was first brought up to Jerónima in 1599 by the Dominican Diego Soria, who stressed its importance. Some who supported idea felt that it would strengthen the crown's commitment to the islands. Authorisation for the transfer to the Philippines was delayed by the inconveniences and difficulties posed by the Council of the Indies due to problems of finance and patronage. Franciscan Pedro Matías mentioned the holy nun of Santa Isabel to a wealthy couple, who decided to become patrons of a convent, provided Jerónima was the abbess.[4] Friar José de Santa María, was named Procurator to arrange the necessary royal travel permits and other financial matters for the venture, while Jerónima herself was appointed as foundress and first abbess of the Philippine monastery.[3] The new monastery would be the first of its kind, both to be established in Manila and the entire Far East.

Jerónima's journey began in April 1620, with an initial group of six nuns; she was already 66 years old at that time. From Toledo, they traveled by carriages loaned by the king to Seville where they arrived in mid-May, where she was portrayed by the young Velázquez. They were joined by two more nuns, and then went on to Cádiz, from where they set sail across the Atlantic Ocean with the fleet for New Spain. Arriving at Veracruz, they traveled overland to Mexico City, which they reached by late September 1620. They stayed there for about six months at another monastery of the Order, and where two more nuns from that community joined the group.[1]

Accompanied by two friars and two male servants, on Ash Wednesday of 1621, Jerónima and her group left Mexico by road to cross the mountains by mule to Acapulco. Once there, on April 21, 1621, the group boarded the galleon San Andrés to sail for the Philippines.[1]

Sor Ana de Cristo kept a record of their journey from Toledo to Manila.[4] One nun died during the crossing, while the ship was near the Mariana Islands. The rest of the group eventually landed in the port of Bolinao on July 24, 1621. They traveled by litter south, reaching Intramuros, the colony's capital, on August 5, 1621. They arrived one year, three months and nine days after leaving Toledo.[1]

Initially well received by the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, disagreements soon arose, both over the accommodation arranged and over the admission to the convent of young marriageable girls - which reduced the chances of marriage for the descendants of the conquistadors in a society where Spanish women were scarce. Sor Jerónima's determination to maintain the purity of the rule in all its rigour, renouncing dowries and the presence of handmaids or servants of the nuns in the convent to preserve poverty, and her desire to admit mestizo or indigenous women along with the Spaniards, also brought her into conflict with the rectors of her own order, who in 1623 deprived her of her position as abbess.

The royal foundation was specifically created for "pious Spanish women and daughters of the conquistadors who cannot marry properly" without mention of native women. Around 1628, the application of Doña María Uray of Dapitan ("Uray" denoting her status as a native noblewoman), was rejected simply because she was classified as an "Indio." Madre Jerónima had requested permission to establish a convent in Pandacan for native women, but had been overruled by higher authorities both in the church and government.

In 1633, Martha de San Bernardo applied for admission. She was from a wealthy family in Labuad Kapampangan (Pampanga) and spoke Spanish. When the Franciscan superiors denied her request, the nuns at the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara decided to send her to their new house in Macao, which was outside the priests' jurisdiction. Learning of this, the Franciscan guardian in the Philippines directed that she should receive the habit en route so that both superiors could disavow responsibility if questioned. Thus Martha de San Bernardo became the first Filipino nun.[5]

The first Japanese novice was Sor Lucia de San Juan.[4]

During the last thirty years of her life, Jerónima lived in constant illness. In early September 1630, her health deteriorated. She died at dawn on October 22, 1630,[3] at the age of 75.

Jerónima's remains were first buried in a niche within a wall inside the monastery, but later relocated five times. The first was in 1670 to deter local devotees, while the second happened in 1712 due to the reconstruction of the monastery, when the remains were placed in the lower choir. The third relocation was during the British Occupation of Manila in 1763, when her coffin was transferred to the old Church of Saint Francis in Intramuros. The remains were returned to the monastery in 1765, and later survived the aerial bombings during the Battle of Manila in 1945. In the 1950s, her bones were finally placed at the monastery's new site in Dilimán, Quezon City.[1]

1. Claussen, Heather L. and Ann Arbor. Unconventional Sisterhood: Feminist Catholic Nuns in the Philippines, Issue 8, The University of Michigan Press, 2001, and A Review by Carolyn Brewer, Murdoch.edu.au, October 2002, retrieved on: June 17, 2007 – ISBN 978-0-472-11221-0 (hard cover)
2. Lally, Father Campion, O.F.M. (Note: F. C. Lally is a missionary in Japan who has been chaplain to the Poor Clares in Japan for 49 years). Poor Clare Bibliography, Poor Clare.org, retrieved on: June 17, 2007
3. Brewer, Carolyn. Holy Confrontation: Religion, Gender and Sexuality in the Philippines, 1521–1685 (Note: This is an article mentioning Jeronima de la Asunción and the Poor Clare's Bolinao Manuscript), Issue 8, October 2002, Manila: Institute of Women's Studies, St. Scholastica's College, 2001, 437 pp., and A Review by Barbara Watson Andaya, retrieved on: June 18, 2007 – ISBN 978-971-8605-29-5
4. Bourne, Edward Gaylord. The Philippine Islands, 1493–1803: Explorations, 1905, retrieved on: June 17, 2007
5. Sanchez, C (1994). "La Madre Jerónima de la Asunción y su fundación del monasterio de Santa Clara de Manila. Incidencias y consecuencias" [Mother Jeronima of the Ascension and the Foundation of the Monastery of Santa Clara of Manila. Incidents and Consequences]. Verdad y Vida (in Spanish). 52 (205–06): 379–400. INIST:3739241.
6. Intramuros, Historic Walled City of Manila, Santa Clara Monastery, WordPress.com, February 19, 2007, retrieved on: June 18, 2007
7. Monasterio de Santa Clara, Katipunan Avenue and Aurora Boulevard, Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, MyTravelGuide.com Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved on: June 18, 2007
8. 99 Kapampangan Who Mattered in History and Why, Center for Kapampangan Studies, HAU.edu.ph and Geocities.com, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007
9. Pascual Jr., Federico D. Religious Firsts, Postscript, ABS-CBN Interactive, ABS-CBNNews.com, March 6, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007