“Tell me, who is the first captain of the age?” a noble lady asked Maurice of Nassau.1
“Spinola is the second!” he replied proudly, thereby naming himself first man-at-arms.
Maurice led the Calvinist troops in Holland and had already inflicted numerous defeats on the Catholic forces, conquering almost the entire Netherlands. Despite the undeniable valour of the commander Spinola and the Spanish soldiers, Princess Isabella Clara Eugenia, daughter of Philip II of Spain, who ruled those lands, was forced to sign a twelve-year truce.
After this period had elapsed, hostilities were resumed. Maurice of Nassau, however, achieved less brilliant triumphs than in previous campaigns. Unable to resist the Spanish siege of the city of Breda, he died the same year, in 1625.
What contributed to this turnaround, or may even have been its decisive factor? The military genius of the Italian commander, the courage of the Catholic warriors and the firm command of the Spanish crown do not fully justify it… It is within the austere walls of the Carmel of Antwerp that we may find an explanation: there, the love of an authentic daughter of St. Teresa obtained from God decisive victories for the cause of the Church.
In fact, Anne of St. Bartholomew who, with veneration, had accompanied St. Teresa on her travels and assisted her in the last years of her life, had very much alive in her spirit the ardent zeal that consumed that great soul and the ideal that had moved her to reform the Carmel.
An elite troop: Carmel
St. Teresa asked herself in anguish what she could do to defend the Church from the heresy then advancing across Europe: “Yet, as I am but a woman, feeble and faulty, it was impossible for me to serve God in the way I wished – indeed, all I cared for then, as I do now, was that, as the enemies of God are so many and His friends so few, these latter might at least be good ones. Therefore I determined to do what little was in my power, which was to follow the Evangelical counsels as perfectly as I could and to see that the few nuns here should do the same. […] Thus, being all of us employed in interceding for the champions of the Church and the preachers and theologians who defend her, we might, to our utmost, aid this Lord of mine.”2
Seeing that force of arms was having little effect in containing the heresy, she expressed the need to gather souls who, by giving themselves radically to God, would draw His own strength to the Catholic cause. Carmel would thus be an elite troop, ready to act wherever the fighting was fiercest: “Seeing how great are the disasters of these times, and that no human power can quench the devouring flames of heresy, […] I think we should act as people do when, in time of war, the enemy has overrun the country and the king finds himself hard pressed. He retires into a strongly fortified town from whence he sometimes makes a sortie. The small company with him in the citadel, being picked men, are better than a large army of cowardly soldiers.”3
She urged the sisters to beseech God for learned and holy men, well-disposed and protected by the Lord for the battle: “If we can prevail with God to grant any of these things, though we are enclosed in this house, we are fighting for Him, and I shall think all my pains have been well spent in building this little nook where I also intended that the rule of our Lady and Empress should be kept with all the perfection of its commencement.”4
A faithful disciple
Mother Teresa’s inseparable helper, Anne, had witnessed her faith and her virtues; with her she had endured great misfortunes, setbacks and ingratitude, braving inclement weather and crossing long distances to found new Carmels and nurture the existing ones. To a large extent, she had inherited the Teresian charism and spirit, summarized by the saint in her last days: “I thank you, my God, Spouse of my soul, because You have made me a daughter of your Holy Catholic Church.”5
This disciple would not lack opportunities to exalt the legacy she had received. Submissive to the point of heroism when it came to herself, but unyielding when it came to the Order, her role as an ever-zealous peacemaker for the unity of Carmel shone during the disputes that threatened to divide the reform undertaken by the Saint of Avila.
However, the radiance of the Teresian charism was no less evident during the last stage of her life, at the Carmel of Antwerp in Flanders.
“Zelus zelatus sum”
Despite not allowing worldly news to trespass the walls of her cloister, Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew avidly followed the progress of the war against the Calvinist Dutch, and with real enthusiasm she would go to the parlour to hear from the officials about the successes or difficulties of the Catholic troops. She was even envious of the soldiers, “for they were laying down their lives in defence of the Faith, and by her desire she accompanied them and gave her own a thousand times over.”6
In 1621, when the truce between the Spanish and the Dutch was coming to an end, Isabella Clara Eugenia, governor of Flanders and a great admirer of the Blessed, bid her to ask God if it was His will that the agreement be renewed. Blessed Anne wrote to her: “The Lord said to me: ‘Do not make peace with your enemies, for they are fixed in their errors and we will be lost among them.’ It seemed that the Lord was telling me to die to defend His Church and Faith; that He does not like the softness of Christians, which they show in wanting peace and not war.”7
Anne was aware of Carmel’s responsibility to achieve victory, as she describes in a letter to another nun: “Some have fasted three days this week – Friday, Saturday and Wednesday – for the war; since they want to, I let them. In these times, my Mother, this is necessary, and we have a greater obligation. Last night, we all kept vigil until the morning […]. We applied a severe discipline to ourselves and prayed a Litany of all the Saints; every day we take the discipline for this need of the Church.”8
Her zeal went beyond the confines of the community and her desires reached even the Father Provincial: “As far as the enemies are concerned, I do not know if they will come out as they think; God will not let them have their way. A lot of prayer is offered here, continuously, and many Communions.”9
With the security that fidelity to the charism gave her, she was not afraid to contact the Infanta, to encourage her: “May God give us victory in this war. We pray much in this house of Your Highness, with the desire that it bring honour to His Majesty. I have no doubt that He will accept all that Your Highness asks of Him, for you are His defender, and He surely esteems you and loves you for your holy and upright zeal for His Church, an always persecuted Holy Church, in need of such a good defender.”10
Active participation in the Church’s interests
“Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Mt 21:21-22). Using a material example to demonstrate the scope of faith, the Divine Saviour makes it clear that an unhesitating act of faith can move the earth, when it suits the glory of God.
This is how the Blessed was able, within her convent, to overthrow the enemy forces and defend the city, as the Infanta Isabella commented: “I have no concern for the castle of Antwerp and this city, because I am safer with the defence of the prayers of Mother Anne of St. Bartholomew than with as many armies as I could have there.”11
And the governor was right. In 1622, Maurice of Nassau approached Antwerp with a powerful fleet. He was so convinced of his success that he claimed that only God or the devil could defeat him.
Although she had not been informed of the fact, Blessed Anne woke up that night in great anguish. With her arms raised, she began to pray with all her might, crying out for divine help. Becoming tired, she began to lower her arms, but soon heard a voice telling her to continue. Raising them again, she mystically saw ships that had been sinking, but which surfaced again and continued to float when she let her arms fall. She spent the whole night like this, suffering greatly. When morning came, she realized that she had achieved her goal.
It was later learned that “when the fleet [of Maurice of Nassau] was already sailing, captained by him and his officers, a violent and cold wind arose. His own ship was endangered, some of the others sank and the rest of the squadron was at the mercy of the winds. Everything ended in a terrible disaster, and both the soldiers and the sailors struggled to save themselves.”12
More vigilant than the sentries
On another occasion, during the siege of Breda in 1624, Maurice sent Calvinist troops to attack other cities in order to weaken the Spanish siege. When the commander was near Antwerp with half his army, the Infanta wrote: “So far he has done nothing, and I hope in Our Lord that he will not. Many are dying in his camp from the plague, and in ours there is plenty of health, thank God. They still say that the enemy wants to return to Antwerp, but I hope that Mother Anne of St. Bartholomew will protect it with her prayers, and Our Lord with another storm, for by means of these He fights for us.”13
On the night of October 13 to 14 of that year, however, the enemy tried to enter secretly into the city. Three thousand infantrymen, a thousand horses and thirty chariots with ladders and instruments, displaying the Catholic insignia, managed to approach the castle without being stopped. A few small boats crossed under the bridge and were already close to the wall without anyone noticing them, due to the dense darkness…
In Carmel, however, the alarm was sounded. Blessed Anne herself recounts the event: “As I was lying down and sleeping, I woke up to some loud cries in the dormitory.”14 Calling the sisters, she sent them to check the cells to see who was in need of help. When she saw that all was well, she understood that it was others who needed her. She told them: “Get dressed and let us go to the Blessed Sacrament, for there must be some treachery afoot, and it seems that our Saint [Teresa] is waking us up.”15 The community remained in the chapel in fervent prayer, until after some time they heard sounds of bombing and movement in the castle. The mother then dispersed the community, ordering the nuns to sleep.
What had happened? Just as the Blessed was praying, the soldier Andrés de Cea, sentry at the castle, managed to spot the enemy barge passing under the bridge and opened fire. Seeing that they had been discovered, the adversaries fled in terror, abandoning part of their military equipment.
“I assure you,” concluded Infanta Isabella, “that if one of them had climbed up and killed the sentry, the deal was done.” Not only were there few troops in the castle, but most of the soldiers were ill, with only twenty-five able to fight… However, “healthy and sick, they all came running and in some cases their fevers broke. We all know for certain that the prayers of Mother Anne of St. Bartholomew delivered us, because at midnight she woke up her nuns with great urgency so that they could go and pray in the choir, because of the deceit that was taking place.”16
Faith in waiting and in victory
The siege of Breda dragged on excessively, but the nun’s faith remained unshaken: “There are brave soldiers waiting for [the enemy] like cats for a mouse. Do what you want, they will wait, and you will gain nothing. God will help us, as He shows us every day. Blessed be so good a God. […] In the end, they will get what they deserve and God will help His own.”17
In May 1625 she wrote to another Carmelite, giving news and asking God to grant victory soon. “Now the Dutch are all in revolt; and even though they have offered battle to the king, our lord, they have not had the courage to fight, they have not come out; they only want to make sneak attacks, and they all backfire. Now their Maurice is dead […]. But because they serve the evil spirit, they prevaricate. They will not stop waging war on us. This is what the ones from Breda are doing to us and they never end up surrendering; it is a pity the people who are lost. May God keep everything in His hands.”18
The following month, the siege finally ended and Blessed Anne19 was able to congratulate the governor, calling her another Elijah, whom God obeyed in everything. The Infanta, however, did not fail to recognize with whom rested the true merit for the victory and the many miracles worked by God during the war.20
A mysterious fruitfulness
In view of such remarkable events, we are astounded to realize how much the daughters of the intrepid Teresa of Jesus have done for the good of the Church in four centuries of history, changing the course of events much more by the power of prayer than by force of arms…
In the ranks of this blessed “shock troop”, and in the examples of holiness offered in the past, we can glimpse something of the Church’s mysterious fruitfulness..
Great indeed is the mystery of the Mystical Bride of Christ, who grants to those who entrust themselves to her the invincibility of the Holy Spirit Himself! ◊
Notes
1 Prince of Orange and Count of Nassau, Maurice was born in 1567 in the city of Dillenburg, in present-day Germany, and died in The Hague in 1625.
2 ST. TERESA OF JESUS. Camino de perfección, c.I, n.2. In: Obras Completas. 2.ed. São Paulo: Loyola, 2002, p.302.
3 Idem, c.III, n.1, p.307.
4 Idem, n.3, p.308.
5 EFRÉN DE LA MADRE DE DIOS, OCD; STEGGINK, O. Carm., Otger; Tiempo y vida de Santa Teresa. Madrid: BAC, 1968, p.761.
6 URKIZA, OCD, Julen. Soldados españoles de Flandes y sus mujeres bajo el amparo espiritual y solidario de Ana de San Bartolomé. In: Monte Carmelo. Burgos. Vol. 116, N.1 (2008), p.170.
7 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Autobiografía de Amberes, c.XVII, n.19. All extracts from the Blessed’s writings compiled in this article have been taken from: Obras Completas. Burgos: Monte Carmelo, 1998.
8 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 431.
9 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 597.
10 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 567.
11 URKIZA, op. cit., p.174-175.
12 Idem, p.176.
13 Idem, p.178.
14 Cf. BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Relaciones de gracias místicas, c.II, n.29.
15 Idem, ibidem.
16 URKIZA, op. cit., p.180.
17 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 601.
18 BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 607.
19 Cf. BLESSED ANNE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. Letter 612.
20 Cf. URKIZA, op. cit., p.182-184.