María de León Bello y Delgado
Encyclopedia
María de León Bello y Delgado, (El Sauzal
El Sauzal
El Sauzal is located on the north coast of Tenerife 19 to 20 km E of Puerto de la Cruz, about 20 km SSW of the island's capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, NE of Los Cristianos and Las Américas of Arona and WSW of Tenerife North Airport.The population is 8,267 , its density is 451.50/km² and the area...

, March 23, 1643 - San Cristóbal de La Laguna
San Cristóbal de la Laguna
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands . The city is third-most populous city of the archipelago and second-most populous city of the island. It is a suburban area of the...

, February 15, 1731) was a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

 nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...

 known popularly as "La Siervita" and "Sor María de Jesús".

Her incorrupt body is preserved in the Convent of Santa Catalina de Siena in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...

), convent next to the Plaza del Adelantado in the center of the city.

Her life was always surrounded by wondrous miracles and cures, facts which according to its faithful even repeat. In fact it is considered the most mystical of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

. Every February 15 (the anniversary of his death) her body is on public display in a glass-covered coffin, to the massive pilgrimage of devotees who want to see her body intact.

Currently this nun is in the process of beatification
Beatification
Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 and be declared a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

.

See also

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