Abstract
This study features the crusades of the three beatas, namely Ignacia del Espritu Santo, Dionesia Talangpaz and Cecilia Rosa Talangpaz. Ignacia and the sisters Dionesia and Cecilia Rosa unintentionally became foundresses of beaterios, a religious community of women. During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, the native women, the indias, were not accepted to the convents. They were seen as unfit for monastic vows in spite of them living an ideal, Christian life epitomizing virtues of piety, obedience, sacrifice and perseverance. As leaders of the beaterios, Ignacia, Dionesia and Cecilia also faced persecutions by the Catholic Church, the Spanish government and the community. Each life story tells of a female who existed in a male dominated society that followed a rigid framework that oppressed women. As a qualitative research, this study looks into the social processes of the three beatas as they struggled for two hundred years to establish a beaterio that eventually became congregations that exists until today in the Philippines, actively fulfilling social and apostolic missions.
Author Information
Janet Atutubo, University of Santo Tomas, Philippines
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