Martha de San Bernardo

Martha de San Bernardo was the first Filipina Catholic nun in both Philippine and world history.^[1][2][3]

Biography

De San Bernardo belonged to an affluent and influential family in Pampanga, and was a ladina, a Spanish-speaking Filipina that had no Spanish lineage. In 1633, despite the colonial ambience and the existing prejudices on race and gender at the time, De San Bernardo was able to secure support from the Spanish nuns of Madre Jeronima de la Asuncion’s convent, the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara in Intramuros, Manila. With the assistance of the head friar of the Franciscan Order, De San Bernardo was sent to a newly opened monastery in the Portuguese colony of Macau, a place that was not under the administrative jurisdiction of any religious order in Manila. De San Bernardo officially became a nun after leaving Manila bay and before reaching the shores of Macau, while sailing along the South China Sea, together with other Spanish women applicants to the nunnery of Poor Clares in Asia.^[1][2][3]

Current and Possible Filipino Saints

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Tantingco, Robby. First Filipino Nun was Kapampangan (Note: The first Filipino nun, Martha de San Bernardo, was under Doña Madre Jeronima de la Asuncion's congregation), Sunstar.com, March 06, 2007, retrieved on: June 18, 2007
2. ^ ^{a b} 99 Kapampangan Who Mattered in History and Why, Center for Kapampangan Studies, HAU.edu.ph and Geocities.com, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007
3. ^ ^{a b} Pascual Jr., Federico D. Religious Firsts, Postscript, ABS-CBN Interactive, ABS-CBNNews.com, March 06, 2007, retrieved on: June 23, 2007

See also

• First Filipino Saint
• Chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz, New York
• Pontificio Collegio Filippino
• Three Fertility Saints of Obando, Bulacan, Philippines
• Ignacia del Espiritu Santo
• Religious of the Virgin Mary

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Name	San Bernardo, Martha de
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