“True Martyrs of Christ”: The Notion of White Martyrdom in the Autobiographical Works of Four Notable Mexican Consecrated Women

Following and updating the tradition of the "vitae", many lay and consecrated women wrote their autobiographies by mandate of their superiors, confessors or simply by will. Clear examples of this practice are the works of Concepción Cabrera de Armida, Concepción Acevedo de la Llata, María Angélica Álvarez Icaza and María Amada del Niño Jesús.

These autobiographies were intended to place their lives under the scrutiny of the ecclesiastical superiority and ultimately also of the communities to which they belonged. Although not explicitly, the autobiographies were intended to perpetuate and promote the fame of sanctity of these women among the population. In most cases, these documents became central evidence for the canonization process and tools for promoting their reputation for sanctity.

The importance of the figure of the martyrs in the social context in which these women lived runs through the autobiographical narrative of these authors. Although none of them died because of their faith, they use the figure of white martyrdom to demonstrate that they were "true martyrs of Christ". White martyrdom is understood as the sustained disposition over time to detach oneself from the affections, not only physically but emotionally, as well as the renunciation of oneself through penance and the suppression of desire.

This paper aims to explore the notion of white martyrdom as an articulating element for the construction of a self-referential subject within the autobiographical work of Concepción Cabrera de Armida, Concepción Acevedo de la Llata, María Angélica Álvarez Icaza and María Amada del Niño Jesús.