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= Joanna de Jesus = “Joanna de Albuquerque,” “Joana de Albuquerque,” “Joana de Jesus,” should redirect here.

Joanna de Jesus (1617 –20 August 1681) was a Portuguese Cistercian nun and mystic most noted for her autobiographical contribution, “Book of Her Life,” a mystical account of her daily life with her companions and family and relationship with God. Joanna’s life was marked by visions, seizures, and mystical experiences.

Early Life
Joanna de Jesus was born Joanna de Albuquerque to Mateus de Albuquerque Freire and Maria Nunes de Andrade in the Portuguese village of Mioma, Sátão. Joanna’s exact date of birth is unknown however she was baptized on January 21, 1617. As a result of the Spanish Occupation in Portugal, her father grew up the son of impoverished low-nobility. As primogeniture was customary in most of Europe at the time, Mateus de Albuquerque Freire went on to inherit all of his father’s assets including his estate and office as a judicial chamber clerk. During this time, the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition was targeting New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula and  Joanna’s mother’s family had been under a bit of suspicion for being newly Christian Jewish converts. Similar to other nuns like Joana, Joana's fathers position and rank could have potential influenced Joana's ability to join the Convent of Lorvao. Joanna had three brother and four sisters: Catarina, Mariana, Sebastiana, and Inês. All of Joanna’s sisters but Catarina eventually became members of the Cistercian Order at Lorvão.

Convent of Lorvão
Joanna moved to the parish of Lorvão to become a nun of the Cistercian Convent of Lorvão. The  exact date when Joanna took her vows is unknown. In 1657, after joining the Cistercian Convent of Lorvão, Joanna had a vision of writing the Rule for her fellow Cistercian nuns. True to her visions, Father Alberto de Amaral, a cleric at the Lisbon Monastery, asked Joanna to write down a new rule for reformed nuns. Joanna began this task in May 1659 and she became known as Joanna de Jesus.

Joanna initiated correspondence with a few different superiors within the Order to discuss her visions. Vivardo de Vasconcellos, the General of the Cistercian, was among those Joanna corresponded with. He would eventually become her confessor.

Recollect of St. Bernard
In 1659, Vivardo de Vasconcellos invited Joanna to move to Lisbon to reside at the Recollect of St. Bernard which he had founded in 1654. Joanna arrived at the Recollect of St. Bernard on October 8, 1659. It was while living at the Recollect of St. Bernard that she began writing her autobiography. In August 1662, while living at the Recollect of St. Bernard Joanna was accused via letter by Vivardo de Vasconcelos of being a fake mystic. Later in September 1663 Joanna was known to have suffered from apoplectic incidents twice a day, for five hours each. Chrisitan mysticism was commonplace within the Roman Catholic Church and so it was not conflicting or strange that Joana held this position within her order.

Book of Her Life
Joanna began documenting her life 1661 while living at Recollect of St. Bernard. In this autobiographical account, Joanna not only described her daily life with her companions and family but also her visions of Christ. Her narrative is divided in two parts or versions. The first version of her autobiography is Livro de Seus Apointamentos is sometimes referred to as Joanna’s Notebook. This notebook is Joanna’s original documentation of her life.

The second version is sometimes called the Copy. Vida Da Venerável Madre Joana De Albuquerque was the version submitted for publication. Joanna began writing the Copy version in 1678. This manuscript is somewhat of a fictional account of Joanna’s life where she intertwines fact with fiction to produce a self-constructed narrative.

Joanna’s “Notebook” Livro de Seus Apontamentos is currently archived at the Torre do Tombo National Archive in Lisbon, Portugal. While her “Copy” Vida da Venerável Joanna Freyre de Albuquerque lives at the National Library of Portugal. A translation of her work is currently in progress.

Return to Lorvão
In March 1668 Joanna left Lisbon and returned to the Convent of Lorvão. The exact reason for this relocation is unknown; however Vivardo de Vasconcellos’ notes refer to a ‘nun from Lorvão’ who had to return to her original monastery due to a lack of dowry.

Her manuscript remained in Vivardo de Vasconcellos’ possession until 1676, when he was ordered to return it to her by Joanna’s second confessor, Father Antonio da Conceição. Joanna was then able to resume her descriptions of her mystical visions and encounters.

Death
Joana was approximately 64 years old when she died on August 20, 1681, St. Bernard of Clairvaux’ s Day. Her death is described in the Lives Memorial of the Monastery of Lorvão. It explains that her confessor, Father Antonio da Conceição, ordered the other nuns to collect objects of Joanna’s. These women were said to have had favors bestowed upon them.