Iglesia de Las Catalinas - La Laguna

The church and convent are located in the heart of the city center next to the Plaza del Adelantado and is known for the incorrupt body of María de León Bello y Delgado , popularly known as “La Siervita” (The Little Servant).

The monastery is inhabited by nuns of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) . It was founded in 1606 by Juan de Cabrejas, councilor of the island of La Palma, and his wife María de Salas. For this purpose they had bought the houses where the conqueror Alonso Fernández de Lugo lived in 1600. It was consecrated on April 23, 1611 , with the admission of four nuns from Seville, although in later years it would number as many as a hundred nuns . It was a very prosperous monastery, but the confiscation of Mendizábal seriously damaged its heritage, which was one of the most important on the islands.

The facade of the church is topped by a bell tower , has one nave and an upper and lower choir. Mudejar influences can be seen in the construction, such as in the carved wooden gazebos, the roof covered with Arabic tiles on the outside and topped with a beautiful coffered ceiling on the inside. Also notable are the two carved wooden entrance doors flanked by stone arches.

The interior is notable for the altarpieces and the latticework separating the cloister, dating from the 17th century. In the main chapel there is a large altarpiece, executed and gilded between 1665 and 1667 by Antonio de Orbarán and Antonio Álvarez. The main altarpiece is preceded by the image of the Virgin of the Rosary in the central niche, on the left is the image of Santo Domingo de Guzmán dressed in the tunic of the Order of Preachers and holding the standard of the Order in his right hand, and on the right is the effigy of Santa Catalina de Siena also dressed in the Dominican habit, the titular saint of the monastery. In front of the main altarpiece, the imposing silver tabernacle with relief is striking.

The five side altarpieces come from different periods, of which the Virgen del Tránsito or Virgen Difunta, from the old Augustinian monastery of this city, and the altarpiece of the Sacred Heart of Jesus stand out. Also notable is the sculpture depicting Santa Rosa de Lima , located in one of the side altarpieces.

In terms of painting, there is a canvas by Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana of the Virgin of Candelaria, patron saint of the Canary Islands, as well as several paintings from the 18th century.
Undoubtedly, María de León Bello y Delgado, “La Siervita” , as she is affectionately called by the pious, is the most famous person who lived in this monastery. Her incorrupt body is preserved in a sarcophagus donated by Captain Amaro Rodríguez Felipe (known as the pirate Amaro Pargo) who, given the friendship he felt for her and the devotion he showed for her, became a funerary altar made for her in the lower part of the monastery choir, on which a cloth was placed with one of the visions that Saint Teresa of Jesus had of Jesus Christ tied to the column. This painting was a gift from Miguel Pérez (María de León's uncle) to his niece, because of the great devotion that “La Siervita” felt for this Castilian saint. After Mary's death, this cloth was placed on the upper part of her sarcophagus.

What is special about this nun is not only her inexplicable integrity but also all the miracles that surrounded her life, including: stigmata, ecstasy, levitation and bilocation, among many others.

The nun's body is not on display every day of the year , in fact only on February 15 (the anniversary of her death) and the Sunday after the 15th. Because of this, every year on February 15, thousands of believers come to the monastery to venerate her body, and to do this the faithful have to wait in lines that sometimes go around the entire block of the monastery. “La Siervita” is currently being beatified.

In the same monastery is the “Museo de la Siervita” where you can see paintings of the nun and personal objects that were in her cell, such as a stone pillow, the remains of the sheet in which she was wrapped when she died and other curiosities.

Willem Vandenameele