4

The last two lines in Gabriela Mistral's poem Vieja are as follows:

las viejas que pudieron no morir:
Clara de Asís, Catalina y Teresa.

Translation:

the old women who could not die:
Clara/Clare of Assisi, Catherine and Teresa.

Clare of Assisi (Chiara Offreduccio, 1194–1253) is "an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi" and the founder of the Order of Poor Ladies.

Catherine is presumably also a saint, but Wikipedia has a list of more than a dozen Catherines who are saints or blessed. Did Mistral have any specific saint in mind?

Similarly, Wikipedia also has a list of saints named Teresa, including Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582) and Therese of Lisieux (1873–1897). (I assume Mother Teresa was not yet famous when "Vieja" was written. She had definitely not yet been canonised as a saint.) Which Teresa could Mistral have had in mind?

0

1 Answer 1

6

Gabriela Mistral did not only write poetry. She also wrote prose, and two of her works revealed her admiration for the Catholic Saints, Santa Catalina de Siena and Santa Teresa de Avila - or in English, Saint Catharine (not the saint of "catherine wheel" fame) and Saint Teresa.

In an article entitled "Siena", an extract of which was published in in the newspaper El Mercurio in December 1924, Mistral wrote a brief biographical portrait of Santa Catalina, telling "the beautiful and terrible episodes of her life". The extract begins with the lines:

She was almost a politician, this Saint, a bit of a stateswoman, as we would say today. She is less of a mystic than our saint from Castile. And her charity sinks into me, like a scarce water...

It is interesting to note that "our saint from Castile" can only be the other saint mentioned above, Santa Teresa de Avila (also sometimes called Santa Teresa de Jesús).

In 1924-25 Mistral visited Spain, and wrote several articles about her experiences. In an article entitled Castilla she detailed an imaginary encounter with Santa Teresa, who showed her around the Castilian countryside and recounted events from her life:

She says, I will show you my Castile, so that you can understand it... I know your people and there is blood of my people sown in the valley of Chile. She looks at me with her big eyes, and I know her by her naturalness, and by the tone with which she wrote some brave letters to Philip II.

-You are "the wanderer," I tell her; the Spanish still call you "the founder" and the pedants "the crazy woman with the love of Christ."

Mistral clearly felt a close personal and spiritual link to these women. As far as I can see she did not write about any of the other saints of these names, and so I believe they are strong candidates for the saints referenced in the final line of Vieja.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.