Born: 21 October 1628, Spain
Died: 9 January 1703
Country most active: Spain
Also known as: NA
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Ursula Micaela Morata was a nun, mystic, and the founder of the Capuchin Poor Clares convent in Alicante, Spain.
In 1647, she took her religious vows at the Capuchin Poor Clares convent in Murcia as Sister Micaela. When the plague hit in 1648, she cared for the sick. In 1651 and 1653, the river flooded, forcing nuns to seek refuge. She experienced a spiritual crisis, wrote her autobiography in 1652, and had a mystical experience in 1653.
Sister Ursula Micaela had various supernatural encounters, including visions, voices, miracles, and extrasensory perception. She was particularly known for bilocation, allowing her to appear in different places, and prophecy, which made her an advisor to prominent figures like Charles II of Spain and John of Austria the Younger. In 1669, steps were taken to establish a Capuchin Poor Clares convent in Alicante, though it wasn’t completed until 1672. The convent, funded by donations from the people of Alicante and John of Austria the Younger, was named “Triumphs of the Blessed Sacrament” after one of Sister Ursula’s visions.
She served as vicaress until 1699 and was later elected abbess. She died in 1703 at the age of 75, her body remaining uncorrupted. Efforts towards beatification began in 1703 but were lost due to fires.