Anna Maria Antigó i Pujol (19 January 1602 – 28 September 1676) was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

. Antigo was

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...

of the convent St. Clair-de-la-Passion, in Perpignan, dedicated to the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

. She is best known for her work for peace in this community, her reform of the Poor Clares' convent, and for her influence in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

and beyond. She is interred at St. Claire monastery, Perpignan. A beatification was initiated by the bishop of Perpignan, , in 1909, but the process remained pending. Recognized as

venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

, Antigo has a significant popular devotional following.

Biography

Antigo was born in 1602, in the parish of St. James, in Perpignan, Roussillon, Principality of Catalonia,

Monarchy of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

. She was the daughter of the grocer Antigó Miquel Pujol and Marcellina. She entered the convent of Santa Clara of Poor Clares in 1621, where he was noted for her virtue and fervor towards penance. On 30 March 1645, she was elected as the abbess. On 10 November 1652, Governor

Pedro Rosselló Pedro Juan Rosselló González, (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, a ...

, who was appointed by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, banished the collaborationist Francesc de Segarra to Barcelona with twenty nuns, including Antigo, for "anti-French sentiments." They were installed at the convent of Santa Isabel during their exile which lasted more than eight years. Following the signing of the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

in 1659, Louis XIV pardoned them and stated they could come back the following year despite the negative influence of the governor, Segarra. On the occasion of a visit that

Anne of Austria Anne of Austria (french: Anne d'Autriche, italic=no, es, Ana María Mauricia, italic=no; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was an infanta of Spain who became Queen of France as the wife of King Louis XIII from their marriage in 1615 un ...

made on 10 April 1660 to the Santa Clara convent in Perpignan, Antigo asked for amnesty for exiled religious and she won Anne of Austria's favor. Thus, on May 25 of that year, Antigó and her companions were able to return to the convent in Perpignan. Another one of her notable accomplishments was within the religious community during the French occupation in trying to maintain the language and culture within the community, in addition to ensuring Catholic fervor and local customs. In 1664, Antigo was named the new abbess. Accompanied by sister Coronado and the support of fifteen sisters, they asked the Pope to remove the convent of Franciscan obedience and place it on the authority of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan-Elne The Roman Catholic Diocese of Perpignan–Elne (Latin: ''Dioecesis Elnensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Perpignan–Elne''; Catalan: ''Bisbat de Perpinyà–Elna'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France.

. One of the arguments for was that confessors could not receive confession in Catalan. She reformed the religious community, strictly enforcing adherence to the

rules of order Parliamentary procedure is the accepted rules, ethics, and customs governing meetings of an assembly or organization. Its object is to allow orderly deliberation upon questions of interest to the organization and thus to arrive at the sense or ...

, and she maintained a strict convent life until her death. Antigo died on September 28, 1676, widely admired and revered, as evidenced by her grave, which became a place of pilgrimage locally. At least within the community, there was a willingness to pray to a woman who was already credited some miraculous actions.Conseil Genéral des Pirenées Orientales (2009). ''Deux ou trois choses que je sais d'elles. Portraits de femmes en Roussillon''. Perpignan: Archives départementales (in French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antigo, Anna Maria 1602 births 1676 deaths Poor Clare abbesses People from Perpignan