I FOUND THIS MANUSCRIPT IN DIJON, IN A TINY ANTIQUARIAN’S SHOP ON THE Rue Sainte Anne, near the old Carmelite convent. It was a pile of yellowed, crumbling papers tied with a ribbon, colorless and frayed from age. I skimmed the first paragraphs. The document appeared to be a testimonio personal, a type of spiritual chronicle people used to keep, often at the request of a confessor, but not always. I read the opening sentence: “All I wanted was to get away from Seville.” I ran my eyes over the next few sheets, and my hands began to tremble. This appeared to be a text written by someone who actually knew Saint Teresa of Ávila.
I bought the manuscript for practically nothing. A superficial examination convinced me it would be easily decipherable. Once I started translating, though, I faced some real problems. Should I try to maintain the antique feel of Sister Angélica’s writing or render it into modern English? Should I translate names? Should I divide her unbroken text into paragraphs and chapters? Sister Angélica wrote as she spoke, in a colloquial Spanish that would have been easily accessible to readers of her time. I opted to preserve her informal, clear style by translating her words into modern, conversational English. However, in order to conserve something of the early Spanish flavor, I left names in the original, for example Juan de la Cruz instead of John of the Cross. For the sake of readability, I divided the text into paragraphs, applied modern punctuation, and added chapter titles.
Most of the information in Angélica’s testimonio is correct and verifiable. Sometimes her quotes are very similar to passages in Saint Teresa’s own writing. All of the poetry she attributes to Teresa was, in fact, written by her. As Angélica foresaw, Teresa was beatified in 1614 and canonized in 1622. Immediately afterward, the Archbishop Pérez de la Serna named her patron saint of Mexico City.
I have found historical information about nearly all the people mentioned in this testimonio except for the author herself, Angélica del Sagrado Corazón (Pancracia Soto), and her lover, Braulio. However, I plan to continue my investigations.