Flavia Antonia Pereira y Andrade was born on October 5, 1700, in El Penedo, Galicia, Spain as the oldest of 4 to Manuel Pereira and Maria do Campo, who descended from what were some of the most powerful nobles in Gacean and Portugal.

Her father died when she was 14 and her family moved in with her paternal aunt who also educated the children.  With finances pleating, her mother moved the family to Bay of Spain where she worked as a key mistress at the Abbot of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary.

When Flavia was 19, she went to work at the House of a Lady of Tui and from there onto Santiago de Compostela.

At the age of 22, she was wed in an arranged marriage with Juan-Antonio Valverde, who was an ecclesiastical notary. Together they had 2 children, Sebastián and Leonor.  Like other men of the area, he asked to emigrate to the south of Spain to earn more for their family. She gave permission but remained behind with the children, asking for him to not be too long. 

She was called to a life of intense prayer and piety while her husband received a mystical experience in which Jesus called him to the religious life. She was also enlightened and took her concerns to her confessor who approved. They both worried about the state of their children and hesitated. In 1729 she entered the Carmelite Third Order and the following year, attempted to found a Carmelite convent in Santiago de Compostela. This was due to her zeal for souls and so that young women didn’t have to journey to Castile. After she failed, she contemplated the direction of her life and whether she was to live as a wife or a nun.

After 12 years of marriage, they agreed to a canonical separation, while entrusting the remaining care and education of their children to guardians. They both entered the respective female and male Order of Discalced Carmelites and she took the name of Mary Antonia of Jesus.

She became a mystic and a writer after her inspiration, Saint Teresa of Avila. Queen Barbara of Braganza visited her as well in seeking spiritual advice.

She was soon elected prioress of her convent, and very quickly relaunched her project to found a Carmel in Galicia. In 1748, after removing all obstacles and overcoming the reluctance of the Archbishops, with assistance from King Philip V, she established the first community of Discalced Carmelites Santiago.

They were temporarily set up in a house in the city and began work on a new building. It was completed in 1758.

She died at the convent on March 10, 1760. 10 months afterwards, the superior general of the Order ordered that an investigation be initiated into her life and virtues. A decree of heroic virtues was given by Pope Francis on November 7, 2018 and she was declared Venerable.

Both of her children went on to embrace religious life in the Dominican Order.

For God’s Glory.

Carmelite Santiago de Compostela