Chapter IX
Of the Foundation of St Joseph's at Malagon.
How I have wandered from my purpose! And yet the counsels I have given may be more to the purpose than the accounts of the foundations. "Well, I was at St Joseph's of Medina del Campo, very happy at seeing the Sisters tread in the same steps as those at St Joseph's of Avila, of sincere religion, fraternity, and zeal; and happy at seeing how our Lord provided what was necessary for His house, both for the church and for the Sisters. Some women entered the convent whom our Lord seemed to have chosen as being the right sort for the foundation of such a house; for I have learned that on the good beginning of a house depends its subsequent welldoing; for later comers go on in the ways they find there.
There was at Toledo a lady1, sister of the Duke of Medinaceli, in whose house, by order of my Superiors, I had stayed, as I have narrated more at length in the account of the foundation of St Joseph's2. This had made her conceive a special affection for me, which must have had something to do with the interest which she took in my doings: for His Majesty often brings about such effects from things which to us, who know not the future, seem of little use. This lady, understanding that I had a licence to found convents, began begging earnestly that I would establish one in her own town, Malagon. I was not at all inclined to consent; because the place is so small that we could not be maintained there without an endowment, to which I was strongly opposed.
When I discussed the matter with learned men and with my confessor, they told me that I was doing wrong: that since the Holy Council3 permitted endowment, I ought not to refuse to found a convent where the Lord might be so well served, because of my own opinion. To this was added the lady's urgent requests; so that I could not help accepting the foundation. She granted us a sufficient endowment: for I always like convents to be either altogether without means, or else with enough to supply the nuns with necessaries without their having to beg of anyone. I took all possible precautions that no Sister should be able to possess anything of her own, but that the Constitutions might be kept in every respect as in the houses founded in poverty.
When all the legal documents were completed, I sent for some Sisters to begin the foundation, and we went with that lady to Malagon. There the house was not ready for us, so we were more than a week in an apartment in the Castle. On Palm Sunday, 1568, the procession of the place came for us, and we went, with our veils over our faces and our white cloaks, to the parish church, where a sermon was preached; and thence they carried the Blessed Sacrament to our convent. It moved everyone to devotion. I stayed there some time. One day when I was in prayer, after my Communion, I under- stood from our Lord that He would be greatly served in that house. I think I was there not quite two months; for my spirit was urging me to make haste to found the house of Valladolid, for the reason which I will now relate.
Footnotes
Chapter 10 of 32