Marina de Escobar

Marina de Escobar Montaña (8 February 1554 – 9 June 1633) was a Spanish Catholic mystic of the Counter-Reformation era. Restricted in her activity due to poor health, she devoted herself to prayer and contemplation under the guidance of her Jesuit confessors and spiritual advisors. Marina experienced visions of a number of saints, and within her lifetime she acquired a reputation throughout Spain as a holy woman, especially in her home city of Valladolid.

Despite taking a vow of chastity, spending her life in prayer and service, and gathering a small community of other women around her, Marina never joined a religious order. After a 1615 vision, she worked to found a modified branch of the Brigittine Order, but died before she herself could join it. She was popularly venerated after her death, and her confessor, Luis de la Puente, collected and prepared her accounts of her spiritual experiences. After a lengthy investigation by the Spanish Inquisition, these were published, and Marina was declared venerable.

Life

Childhood Marina was born in Valladolid, Spain, on 8 February 1554. Her father, Diego de Escobar, was a professor of civil and canon law, a lawyer in the Royal Chancellery of Granada, and, for a time, governor of Osuna; her mother was Margaret Montaña, daughter of the Emperor Charles V's physician. After she returned to living with her parents, her father criticized her for taking care with her appearance and for insufficient asceticism. Later, in 1604, Marina spoke to about her desire to join Mariana's Augustinian convent, but was unable to do so due to her health.

In fact, although she devoted her life to religion, making a vow of chastity and taking frequent communion, Marina remained in her family home in Valladolid for most of her life.

Marina's funeral, in 1633, was widely attended, and she was honored by an elaborate funeral procession. She was later declared Venerable.

Marina experienced visions of saints including Bridget of Sweden, Gertrude the Great, Matilda of Ringelheim, Ignatius of Loyola, Bernard of Clairvaux, Saint Dominic, Francis of Assisi, and the Virgin Mary, While sometimes comforting, her visions were often harsh and demanding, such as one in which Christ had her guardian angel beat her as punishment. Although often published in one large volume, the work is divided into six books, on the following topics: