CECILIA of the Nativity. — Discalced Carmelite nun, born Cecilia Sobrino y Morillas in the world, born in 1570 at Valladolid, where (17 January 1588) she took the Carmelite habit among the Daughters of St Teresa, and died there on 6 April 1646. Except for the years 1602–12, when she was novice mistress and prioress at Calahorra, she always lived in Valladolid. Guided by the teaching of St John of the Cross and favoured by the highest charisms, she rose to mystical contemplation, of which she describes the effects in various treatises as an itinerary of the soul towards divine union, interpreting, with notes of personal experience, the synthesis of St John of the Cross’s doctrine in a lively and attractive manner.
Two of her principal treatises, namely the *Tratado de la transformación del alma en Dios* and the *Tratado de la unión del alma con Dios*, were published by Fr Gerardo, Discalced Carmelite, in the edition of the works of St John of the Cross, III, Toledo 1912, pp. 349–438 and pp. 441–58 respectively. She also left spiritual songs with commentaries (preserved in the Carmel of Burgos).