Fray Nicolás de Jesús María was a religious carmelita born in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Spain, during the last years of the reign of

Carlos II Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...

(1734-1759). His parents were Francisco Sánchez Risco and María de Merino, whom called him Nicolás Sánchez Risco y Merino. He was a preacher whose printed sermons were praised by other ecclesiastical authorities of the period. Also, he was prior of

Orizaba Orizaba (, Otomi: ) is a city and municipality in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It is located 20 km west of its sister city Córdoba, and is adjacent to Río Blanco and Ixtaczoquitlán, on Federal Highways 180 and 190. The city had a ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

Puebla Puebla, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Puebla, is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its capital is Puebla City. Part of east-centr ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

Life

At the beginning of the 18th century Fray Nicolás of Jesús María arrived at the Indians, as the American territory was then known. After a year as novice, he received the

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

habit A habit (or wont, as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. A 1903 paper in the '' American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, ...

at the convent of Puebla at the hands of Fray Bartolomé of Saint Joaquín on 1 April 1708. Nicolas preached at the Convent of the Remedios de

, and later moved to the capitular school of Santa Ana in 1715. In 1717 Fray Nicolás toured several convents, finally arriving at San Sebastián, Mexico. In 1720 he attended the school of theology and in three years obtained the charge of reader of theology. This was a position of considerable importance as in Trienio there were only one or two readers.

Preacher

For the year of 1725 fray Nicolás returned to the convent of San Sebastián. On 11 November of the same year, he preached for the first time his sermon "La Mano de los Cinco Señores" with which began to win popularity due to his oratory. Many of his sermons were published, the majority of them in Mexico. Some of his sermons were written in honour to Santa Teresa.

Civil servant

His fame as preacher enabled him him to occupy some government charges, e.g. the presidency of the Hospice of Guadalajara in 1728.

Foundation of the Carmen in San Luis Potosí

In 1735, fray Nicolás and his companion Fray José de la Asunción visited

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

for the foundation of the Temple of Our Lady of Carmen. On 23 February 1749 he put the first stone for his construction. Fray Nicolás was the first carmelita in San Luis Potosí, where he won popularity because his sermons. After the foundation of the temple, returned to Mexico City to continue preaching his sermons in the convent of San Sebastián. Of these, "La Cátedra" it is the last print known.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fray Nicolas de Jesus Maria Discalced Carmelites Clergy from Seville Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in New Spain