Page 87 - Nada temas, dice ella

into a saint characterised by her omni- valent exemplarity.4
The episode that marks the begin- ning of this representation is the dis- covery of the relic of the saint’s left hand in a reliquary in Malaga during the occupation of the city by Franco’s army. Published in the Seville issue
of ABC on 18 February 1937, the news was immediately interpreted as a sign of divine assistance in the ‘crusade’. It would also result in the revival of numerous stereotypes built around the figure and works of Teresa of Jesus, beginning with the processes of be- atification and canonisation adapted to the urgent needs of the moment, including the demonisation of the enemy, demonstrated by the title of the article by Silverio de Santa Teresa, ‘La mano de la Santa redimida de la esclavitud bolchevique’.5
The act of atonement for the relic after desecration was held in Sala- manca Cathedral on 21 February. The topic of Teresa ‘Saint of the Race’ was raised once more on that occa- sion, linking the spirituality of Teresa of Jesus to the spirituality of Spain, highlighted by the Reconquest, the civilisation of America, Trento and Lepanto. The coincidence of the arrival of the relic in Salamanca
was also stressed: ‘[H]eart of Spain and where her Caudillo lives, in
the fight for spirituality and Chris- tian civilisation. It is a sign of bless- ing and victory’.6
In short, the stereotypes built up during the previous centenary cel- ebrations of Saint Teresa acquired re- newed strength. In particular, on the occasion of the third centenary of her canonisation – celebrated in 1922 in
a climate of great patriotic fervour with the support of Alfonso XIII, the nobility, the army and the church hierarchy – the Carmelite saint was consecrated as an authoritative re- presentative of Hispanic unity. The anniversary coincided with powerful propaganda surrounding the myth
of hispanidad (Spanishness) and the raza (race) with the aim of re-estab- lishing relationships with the former Spanish colonies in the name of a shared cultural, religious and spiritual identity. Against this backdrop, the castiza prose of Teresa as the ‘honour of our race’ can be read in the royal decree in which Alfonso XIII declared her ‘Teresa of Jesus, Patron Saint of the Army Service Corps and Troops’. The codification of Teresa as ‘saint of the race’, descended from ‘old Chris- tians’ and therefore a personification of Spanish values, was asserted by the monumental biography by Gabriel
de Jesús, published under the title La Santa de la Raza.7
During the war, the use of Teresa as an exemplum vitae by the Falangists gained a growing foothold. In 1937, the Carmelite saint was proclaimed patron of the Feminine Section by Pilar Primo de Rivera, sister of José
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