e the
mother superior of the institution, and, beginning from that date, she
was subject to frequent visions of a most surprising character. God and
the Virgin appeared to her repeatedly, commanding her each time to write
the life of Mary; but in spite of these supernatural admonitions, she
resisted for ten long years, fearing that she might be possessed of
demons who came in celestial shape to urge her to a work which she felt
to be beyond her powers. Finally, impressed by the persistence of these
holy visitants, she referred the matter to a priest who had long been
her father confessor, and at his suggestion she decided to write as she
had been commanded. For some months she busied herself with this task,
and then one day, in an unlucky moment, she ventured to confide her
plans to another monk, in the absence of her regular spiritual adviser.
This time her plans of literary work were discouraged, and she was
advised to burn her manuscripts as worthless paper and to content herself
with the usual routine of conventual life. Following this advice, she
destroyed the fruits of her labor, and prepared to resume her
interrupted duties, when, to her consternation, God and the Virgin again
appeared in her cell at night and again commanded her to write as
before. Again she resisted, and again the vision came, and finally,
encouraged by her old confessor, who had returned upon the scene, she
began anew the once abandoned work. This time there was no interruption;
the book was finished, and printed first in Madrid, and then at Lisbon,
Perpignan, and Antwerp. Naturally, the claim was made that the book was
written under divine inspiration, and the curious and oftentimes
revolting details with which its pages were filled were soon the talk
and scandal of the religious world. Maria, in spite of her mysticism,
had proved to be a realist of the most pronounced type, and in many
quarters her book was openly denounced. In Paris, the great court
preacher Bossuet proclaimed it immoral; and the Sorbonne, which was then
a faculty of theologians, condemned the book to be burned. Although the
facts are not clearly known, it must have been during this time of
publicity that the nun was brought to the attention of the world-weary
king. He was attracted by her professed visions, he sought for
consolation of a spiritual character in the midst of his unhappy career,
and there resulted this correspondence between the two, which has since
been publi