THE HISTORY OF THE CONVENT OF LA CONCEPCION

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Despite available funds left by Bishop Francisco Marroquin before his death in 1562, authorities in Santiago de los Caballeros. Now La Antigua Guatemala, were ho-hum about a convent for women. Finally in 1578 four nuns of the order Jeronimas arrived from Mexico to found the order La Concepción and occupied temporary housing on the sight where their convent and church would be built, on calle de la Concepcion.

According to Irish Friar Thomas Gage, the convent was among the most sumptuous in Santiago. It was expanded, repaired, rebuilt and finally completed in 1694, the date bored above the well-preserved convent gate on the north wall-only to suffer drastic damage by earthquake in 1717.

By this time the nuns numbered ell over 100, perhaps closer to 200, plus some 700 servants. They took to temporary housing again, dispersed through the town until 1729 when their elaborate convent and church were built, covering two square blocks and having 22 fountains.

It was customary for noble families to give their second child to the religious life, and the girls brought with them dowries that enriched the convents significantly. Life in the convent in colonial America, being far from the Mother House, was not about seclusion or vows of poverty. To the contrary, some chose the convent for independence, as their only alternative to marriage. They could live in luxury they could afford, in private quarters with plenty or servants. They could manage their money, even conduct business, and receive visitors according to their social status. There where festivals, theater and dance, sometimes attended by ladies and gentlemen of the court. One wonders when the nuns had time to teach the 140 girls in their charge to read and write, which was their work.

Which brings us to Sister Juana de Maldonado y Paz, who entered the convent La Concepcion when she was barely 20 years old? Being the only child of a judge of the Royal Court, nothing was too grand and nothing too expensive for Juana. Her father’s ride and joy, he brought her gifts every day. Gage wrote, “She was not only the admiration of the convent but also of the city, as much for the beauty of her voice and musical aptness as for good education, which exceeded that of all the youth of the convent and the city.

The lovely Sister Juana had also captured the heart of the bishop. In addition to her father’s gifts of gold and silver and Italian paintings that decorated her rooms, there were gifts from the bishop. Juana had her own house within the convent, with many rooms, galleries and garden. Her favorite was her private chapel. With alter adorned with precious stones, silver lamps and gold embroidered canopy, where she enjoyed playing the organ and other instruments alone or with friends or, especially, the bishop when he came to call.

Eventually the word got out, and tongues wagged that such luxury was inappropriate for a nun who had taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Still, she was idolized by the young nuns, who organized to make her Mother Superior. It caused such a stir in the convent and community that one day the men charged through the streets, swords in hand, threatening to break down the door of the convent and rescue their daughters. Sister Juana’s dad finally convinced her that such a charge could not be trusted to a youth of her age. He succeeded not without great shame to the bishop. Sister Juana was left to live in obedience and achieved the position when she became old. She died in 1666.

The convent finally succumbed to the earthquakes of 1773. The entrance to the public church, on the north wall, now has an iron gate for a peek at broken domes insides. The plain walls on the corner of 4a. calle and calle del Hermano Pedro are those of the nun’s church, which had no outside entrance and therefore no façade. Sister Juana’s private cloister survived surprisingly well and, so long silent with its secrets, is being restored.