Gallery
Her life told in 33 drawings, the objects that survive and the places where she lived. Select any image to see it enlarged with its details.
64 images
1. Toledo, before 1562
María de Salazar grows up in the household of doña Luisa de la Cerda, in Toledo. In this noble and cultured setting pass her first known years, before her meeting with Teresa of Jesus.
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- 1 of 33
2. Toledo, 1562
María de Salazar, aged about fourteen, meets Teresa of Jesus in the house of doña Luisa de la Cerda. That meeting left a deep and lasting impression on the young woman.
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3. Toledo, 1562
María de Salazar discreetly watches Teresa of Jesus, absorbed in prayer, in the house of doña Luisa de la Cerda. That example of inner life left a deep and lasting impression on the young woman.
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4. Toledo, 1568
Teresa of Jesus returns to Toledo, to the house of doña Luisa de la Cerda, while she prepares the foundation of Malagón. María de Salazar, now older, meets the Holy Mother again and her vocation matures more deeply.
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5. Toledo, 1568-1570
María de Salazar’s vocation matures in the household of doña Luisa de la Cerda. Between the world of the court and God’s inner call, the desire grows in her to give herself to the life of Carmel.
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6. Malagón, 9 May 1570
María de Salazar takes the habit of a Discalced Carmelite in the convent of San José de Malagón. Her religious life begins, following the path she had come to know through Teresa of Jesus.
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7. Malagón, 1570-1571
María de San José receives her initial formation in the convent of San José de Malagón, under the guidance of St Teresa of Jesus. She grows in the spiritual life, in knowledge of the Rule and in the spirit of prayer and reform.
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8. Beas de Segura, February 1575
María de San José accompanies Teresa of Jesus to the foundation at Beas de Segura. In this new house of the Discalced Carmel she takes part in the beginnings of the community and in the daily life of the Reform.
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9. Beas de Segura, 1575
In Beas, María de San José witnesses the meeting of Teresa of Jesus with Jerónimo Gracián. That relationship would be decisive for the projects of the Reform and for María’s future life.
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10. On the road to Seville, May 1575
María de San José accompanies Teresa of Jesus on the journey to Seville. She shares the hardships of the road and the apostolic spirit with which the Holy Mother drives forward new foundations.
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11. Seville, 29 May 1575
The first Mass is celebrated and the new house of the Discalced Carmel in Seville is established. María de San José takes part in these beginnings, beside Teresa of Jesus, amid difficulties and hope.
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12. Seville, 1576
The first Inquisitorial investigation reaches the community of Seville. María de San José witnesses the difficulties that affect Teresa of Jesus and the nuns, amid uncertainty and prayer.
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13. Seville, June 1576
After the move to a new house, Teresa of Jesus takes leave of the community in Seville. María de San José is left at the head of the convent, with the weight of responsibility and the living memory of the Holy Mother.
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14. Seville, 1576-1578
María de San José governs the ordinary life of the community in Seville. She looks after the sisters, receives novices and faces the daily needs of the convent with prudence, prayer and firmness.
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15. Seville, late 1578
María de San José is removed from the office of prioress and confined within the convent. In the midst of the trial, she sustains her spirit in prayer and in fidelity to her vocation.
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16. Seville, May 1579
María de San José recovers her freedom and returns to the office of prioress. The community receives her once more with relief, obedience and hope.
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17. Seville, 1580
After a disagreement, María de San José and Teresa of Jesus resume their understanding by letter. Obedience and affection overcome the distance and strengthen their spiritual union once more.
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18. Seville, October 1582
María de San José receives in Seville the news of the death of Teresa of Jesus, which took place in Alba de Tormes. The loss of the Holy Mother opens a new stage in her life and in her service to the Reform.
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19. Seville, 1583
María de San José begins to write the Libro de recreaciones to preserve the memory of Teresa of Jesus and to hand on her spirit to the sisters.
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20. Seville, December 1584
María de San José leaves Seville with the nuns chosen for the foundation of Lisbon. So begins the journey that will lead her to open a new house of Carmel in Portugal.
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21. Lisbon, 19 January 1585
María de San José establishes the convent of San Alberto and San José in Lisbon. The new foundation opens a decisive stage of her life as prioress and writer.
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22. Lisbon, 1585
While sorting some papers, María discovers proposals to change the Constitutions. She then begins to write to other prioresses to defend the Teresian heritage.
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23. Lisbon, August 1588
María de San José is questioned in Lisbon about the accusations made against her and against Jerónimo Gracián. A few days later she will receive the command not to communicate with him.
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24. Lisbon, 1590
María de San José defends the Teresian Constitutions against the changes promoted by Nicolás Doria. Her firmness makes her one of the chief guardians of Teresa’s heritage.
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25. Lisbon, Good Friday 1593
Shut up in the convent prison, María de San José writes the Carta de una pobre y presa descalza. In it she leaves a testimony of her suffering and of her fidelity to the truth.
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26. Lisbon, 1594
After her confinement in the convent, María de San José regains her freedom in Lisbon. With serenity and fortitude she returns to community life.
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27. Lisbon, around 1595
María de San José completes the Ramillete de mirra, in which she leaves a record of the trials she suffered and of her fidelity to the Reform.
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28. Lisbon, February 1597
María de San José is elected prioress of the convent of Lisbon once more. The community recognises in her a firm, prudent guide, faithful to the spirit of Teresa.
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29. Lisbon, 1602
María de San José writes the Instrucción de novicias and passes on to the younger sisters her spiritual experience and her wisdom in government.
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30. Lisbon, 1603
Through letters and consultations, María de San José takes part in the preparations for the expansion of Carmel to France. Her voice continues to influence the course of the Reform.
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31. On the road to Castile, September 1603
María de San José obeys the order to leave Portugal and sets out for Castile. So begins the last stretch of her life, lived with obedience and fortitude.
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32. Cuerva, 1603
María de San José arrives at the convent of Cuerva. According to the surviving testimony, she kneels before the community and asks for its blessing.
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33. Cuerva, 19 October 1603
María de San José dies in the convent of Cuerva at the age of fifty-five. So ends the life of one of the disciples and writers most faithful to the spirit of Teresa.
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Portrait of María de San José
Her portrait, with a crucifix and a book. It is the image kept by the community in Seville and the one reproduced on its prayer cards.
- Material
- Oil
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Her crucifix
The Christ of María de San José, which is kept today in Fátima.
- Material
- Polychrome wood
- Custodian
- Fátima (Portugal)
Her crucifix, detail
The face and body of the Christ of María de San José.
- Custodian
- Fátima (Portugal)
Her crucifix, the loincloth
Detail of the loincloth and the side.
- Custodian
- Fátima (Portugal)
Portrait of St Teresa of Jesus
The portrait of Teresa of Jesus kept in the convent in Seville.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Our Lady of Mount Carmel with the Carmelites
A painting in the convent: Our Lady shelters the Carmelite nuns beneath her mantle.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Father Gracián’s Mass
A painting in the convent in Seville. Jerónimo Gracián celebrates Mass before the nuns, who attend behind the choir grille, while Teresa of Jesus appears in glory.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Father Gracián’s Mass, the cartouche
“Advice XV. May those of Heaven and those of earth be one and the same in purity and in love.” According to the cartouche, “this advice was given by St Teresa from Heaven to Fr Jerónimo Gracián by means of the Blessed Sister Catalina de Jesús”.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
“Hic est chorus”
Cartouche in the convent: “This is the choir”.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
The original parlour grille
According to the plaque beside it, this is the same grille that Teresa placed in the parlour of her foundation in Seville.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Plaque of the grille
“This grille is the same one that Teresa placed in the parlour of her foundation in Seville.”
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
The cross of the move
A wooden cross which, according to the convent’s plaque, St John of the Cross placed with his own hands.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Plaque of the cross
“St John of the Cross directed the move of the convent from its original site to this place. And he placed this Cross with his own hands.”
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Keys of the convent
Old keys of the convent of San José in Seville.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
The bell
Bell of the convent, on a whitewashed wall.
- Custodian
- Convent of San José, Seville
Corporal embroidered by María de San José
She embroidered it in Seville and sent it to the Holy Mother Teresa. It is kept in the Museo de las Madres in Alba de Tormes.
- Custodian
- Museo de las Madres, Alba de Tormes
Detail of the lace
Lace of the corporal embroidered by María de San José in gold and silver thread.
- Custodian
- Museo de las Madres, Alba de Tormes
The Convent of San José in Seville
Founded by Teresa of Jesus in 1575, with María de San José as first prioress. In Seville it is known as “Las Teresas”.
- What survives
- The convent, with its community of Discalced Carmelites
- Address
- C/ Santa Teresa, 7, Sevilla
Calle Santa Teresa
The convent seen from the street, in the Santa Cruz quarter.
- Address
- C/ Santa Teresa, 7, Sevilla
The door
Studded wooden door of the convent.
- Place
- Convent of San José, Seville
The door, detail
The studs of the convent door.
- Place
- Convent of San José, Seville
The Carmelite coat of arms
Tile with the Carmelite coat of arms on a convent wall.
- Place
- Convent of San José, Seville
Façade of the house on Calle Zaragoza, no. 60
Before moving to its present home, the community founded by Teresa lived in this house on Calle Zaragoza, formerly Calle de la Pajería.
- Place
- House on Calle Zaragoza, Seville
Courtyard of the house on Calle Zaragoza
Arcaded courtyard of the house on Calle Zaragoza, where the first Carmelites of Seville lived.
- Place
- House on Calle Zaragoza, Seville
Grilles in the doorway at Calle Zaragoza 60
Wrought-iron grille and lattice in the doorway of the house on Calle Zaragoza.
- Place
- House on Calle Zaragoza, Seville
Plaque in the hall of the house
“House of Saint Teresa. So called because the mystical doctor, glory of Spain and distinguished reformer of the Order of Carmel, lived in it conventually, with the first nuns of her foundation in Seville, in the year 1576.”
- Place
- House on Calle Zaragoza, Seville
Zaragoza, formerly Calle de la Pajería
The street sign and the tile with its original name.
- Place
- House on Calle Zaragoza, Seville
Toledo, Braun and Hogenberg (1572)
Toledo, her native city and the place where she met Teresa of Jesus in 1562.
- Author
- Georg Braun y Frans Hogenberg
- Date
- 1572
- Source
- Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Seville, view by Hoefnagel (1565)
Seville (“Hispalis”) from the surroundings of the Buhaira, a decade before María arrived. Engraving by Frans Hogenberg in the Civitates Orbis Terrarum (1597).
- Author
- Joris Hoefnagel y Frans Hogenberg
- Date
- 1565 (publicada en 1597)
- Source
- Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Seville, view by Simon Frisius (1605)
Panorama of Seville at the start of the seventeenth century, barely two years after the death of María de San José.
- Author
- Simon Frisius
- Date
- 1605
- Source
- Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
Lisbon, Braun and Hogenberg (1572)
Lisbon (“Olisipo”) as it was when María founded the first Discalced Carmel in Portugal there.
- Author
- Georg Braun y Frans Hogenberg
- Date
- 1572
- Source
- Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)