View source for Blessed Anna of the Angels Monteagudo

{{Saints
|SaintName=Blessed Anna of the Angels Monteagudo
|SaintStage=Blessed
|FeastDay=January 10
|SaintBirthPlace=Arequipa, Arequipa Region, Peru
|SaintBirthCoordinates=-16.398900, -71.535000
|SaintDeathDate=1686-10-01
|DeathPlace=Arequipa, Arequipa Region, Peru
|SaintDeathCoordinates=-16.398900, -71.535000
|SaintCauseOfDeath=natural causes
|NotableAddress1=Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena, Calle Santa Catalina 105, Arequipa, Arequipa Region, Peru
|NotableLabel1=Site of education, profession, and prioress service
|NotableCoordinates1=-16.399000, -71.536000
|AssociatedCountries=Peru
|AssociatedDioceses=[[Archdiocese of Arequipa]]
|BeatificationDate=1985-02-02
|Beatifier=Pope John Paul II
|BeatificationLocation=Arequipa, Peru
|Canonized=No
|SaintMiracle1=Healing attributed during beatification process
|Profession=nun; prioress
|ReligiousAffiliation=Dominican Order
|Patronage=Peruvian Dominicans
|Attributes=Dominican habit
|PrimaryShrine=Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena, Calle Santa Catalina 105, Arequipa, Arequipa Region, Peru
|ReviewLevel=0
}}
'''Blessed Anna of the Angels Monteagudo''', born Ana Monteagudo Ponce de León (26 July 1602 – 10 January 1686), was a 17th-century Peruvian Dominican nun, mystic, and prioress of the Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena in Arequipa, revered for her profound spiritual life and leadership in the Order of Preachers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_of_the_Angels_Monteagudo |title=Ana of the Angels Monteagudo |publisher=Wikipedia |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> According to historical records from the Archdiocese of Arequipa and Dominican chronicles, Anna was born the fourth of eight children to Spanish-born Sebastián Monteagudo de la Jara and Peruvian Francisca Ponce de León in Arequipa, receiving her early education at the Santa Catalina convent from age three, where a vision of St. Catherine of Siena inspired her Dominican vocation despite familial opposition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=7047 |title=Bl. Anna of the Angels Monteagudo |publisher=Catholic Online |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> Professing vows on 17 May 1619, she served as sacristan until 1632, novice mistress until 1645, and prioress thereafter, guiding the community through trials including her decade-long illness of blindness and frailty, as documented in convent annals and her approved spiritual writings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://catholic.net/op/articles/1657/cat/1205/blessed-anna-of-the-angels-monteagudo.html |title=Blessed Anna of the Angels Monteagudo |publisher=Catholic.net |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> Her life bridged colonial piety and mysticism, earning her the title "second St. Rose of Lima" for her devotion to the Holy Souls and Eucharistic adoration.

Beatified on 2 February 1985 by Pope John Paul II during his apostolic visit to Peru, following the acknowledgment of a single miracle attributed to her intercession in a 30 March 1981 decree, Anna's cause began locally in 1686 and advanced through apostolic processes concluding in 1903, with heroic virtues confirmed in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_of_the_Angels_Monteagudo |title=Ana of the Angels Monteagudo |publisher=Wikipedia |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> Her feast day on 10 January, observed by Dominicans and in Arequipa, commemorates her death, with no formal canonization to date. While hagiographic traditions recount visions of King Philip IV's soul entering Heaven through her prayers and angelic legions revealing purgatory—these deriving from her writings approved in 1909 without independent verification—her verified legacy lies in exemplary religious obedience and community governance amid 17th-century Andean challenges.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.summitdominicans.org/blog/2006/01/bl-ana-of-the-angels-a-lover-of-the-holy-souls |title=Bl. Ana of the Angels—a lover of the Holy Souls |publisher=Summit Dominicans |access-date=2025-11-16}}</ref> As a model for Peruvian Carmelites and mystics, Anna's intercession is sought for spiritual guidance, with her remains interred in the Santa Catalina cloister inspiring ongoing devotion.