American History
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Mary of Agreda in America - Part VIII
The Soul of the Spanish Prince
Begs Succor from Mary of Agreda
Prince Balthasar Carlos
The future of the young Prince looked glorious and bright. By 1646 at the age of 16, the Prince of Asturias and heir to the Spanish Crown, had already been sworn as Crown Prince of Aragon and Navarre, and was betrothed to the Archduchess Mariana of Austria, daughter of the Holy Roman German Emperor Ferdinand III.
But the marriage would never take place. Several weeks before his 17th birthday, Balthasar Carlos fell seriously ill of tertian fever and died a few days before his birthday. It was a shattering blow to the Monarchy and to Philip IV.
In his copious correspondence with the Conceptionist nun, Ven. Mary of Agreda, (1) the King often mentioned his son Balthasar Carlos. This Prince, like his mother Queen Elizabeth, was also in communication with Mother Mary of Agreda. In 1646. the year of his death, he had addressed three letters to her.
Balthasar Carlos Prince of Asturias, portrait 1646, the year of his death
Shortly after his son’s unexpected death, King Philip IV expressed his overwhelming grief to Mother Mary of Agreda. The nun had already informed him a month before the youth fell sick that she sensed in prayer a new blow was threatening the Kingdom. On October 6, 1646, three days before the death of Prince, she was given to know that this blow would strike a member of the Royal Family. (2)
She soon learned, along with all of Spain, that the heir to that Catholic Crown had died. But God made it known to her that the young Prince was destined to enjoy eternal bliss after sufficient atonement in Purgatory, which God wanted her to contribute in shortening.
Balthasar Carlos appears to Mary of Agreda
Shortly after his death, the soul of Don Balthasar Carlos in Purgatory appeared to Mary of Agreda and implored the suffrages of her charity. His soul was accompanied by his Guardian Angel, who belonged to one of the superior hierarchies and shone with dazzling radiance.
King Philip IV addressed 618 letters to Ven. Mary of Agreda, asking prayers & counsel
“I will do everything I can, with divine grace,” the Conceptionist nun responded. She reassured the King that she was working for the rest of Balthasar’s soul “as much as my poor strength allows, and by every means possible.” (3)
These apparitions of the Prince and his Angel took place frequently. In an apparition of October 26, the soul of the Prince appeared to her in the Church in the region of the air next to the window of the tribune, accompanied by his Angel. He said to her:
The Guardian Angel of the Prince always accompanied him on his visits to Mother Mary of Agreda
"I assure you, Mother, that since this knowledge has come to me, if the Most High and Powerful God were to grant me to return to the world and reign in it, even if I were certain of my salvation, I would not willingly accept. For, given the errors and deceptions I know about now, I would not want to return to the life I left.
"I have great compassion for my poor father, knowing as I do now that he lives surrounded by so many betrayals, lies, idols, fraudulence and wickedness on the part of those who should be helping him. I would like to enlighten him about all this, to make him benefit from the light I enjoy and the truth I see and which is hidden from him, so he may know the perils in which he lives." (4)
In another apparition to Mary of Agreda, Don Balthasar Carlos explained to her that it was a great mercy for God to have taken him out of the world. By so doing, the Almighty had saved him from the plot that the spirit of darkness had formed to destroy him by giving him over to vices and depraved habits “in a way that would render him unworthy of divine grace and make of him a wicked King, ruling without the fear of God.”
The Infanta Maria Theresa, who would be the future Queen of France
It is worthy of note that this fraternal warning did not go unheeded by Philip IV, who carefully chose the advisors and retinue of the Infanta Maria Theresa, preparing her well for the vicissitudes and trials that awaited her in Versailles as the spouse of King Louis XIV.
The soul of the Prince and his resplendent Angel insisted several times that Mother Mary of Agreda should warn the King of the dangers he was placing himself in at the court, pressured by bad advisors and corrupt officials. Mary of Agreda felt a great reluctance to obey these commands, for she was always loathe to mention names or become involved in the court intrigues.
She expressed her concerns to the King in one of her letters: “I told them (the Prince and his Angel) that I had never declared anything to the KIng that could harm any of his servants.… The soul of the Prince answered me that it was the will of God, and I should conform to this command [to divulge the names of those plotting against him] without fear. (6)
Released from Purgatory after 83 days
The soul of the Prince was in Purgatory for 83 days, from October 9, 1646 to January 1, 1647. On January 1, 1647, a radiant apparition appeared to Mother Mary of Agreda while she praying at 3 p.m in the Convent Church.
She heard an order given to several Angels to bring the young Prince into the presence of the Lord, where he was given the beatific vision and became resplendent with light. The Queen of Heaven received him as her son, the Angels and Saints as their brother and companion, and there was a display of universal joy in Heaven. (7)
The glorified soul of the Prince addressed Mary of Agreda one more time with advice that she was to transmit to the King. The Conceptionist nun did this, revealing to the still grieving father the happiness that this favored son was enjoying.
This was the last apparition of Don Balthasar Carlos to Ven. Mary of Agreda.
The Prince at age 4
- Ven. Mary of Agreda (1602-1665) wrote The Mystical City of God, which relates the life of Our Lady as dictated by the Heavenly Queen herself. She also bilocated to the New World from her Convent in Agreda more than 500 times. See here.
- Dom Prosper Guéranger, Mary of Agreda and The Mystical City of God, ed. Timothy A. DSff, M.S. Ed., Pekin, IN, Refuge of Sinners Publishing Inc: 2024, p. 52.
- Ibid., pp., 52-53.
- Hayley R. Bowman, Ineffable Knowing: Sor María de Jesús de Ágreda in the Early Modern Spanish World, Dissertation, University f Michigan, 2022, pp. 156-157.
- Dom Gueranger, Mary of Agreda and The Mystical City of God, p. 53.
- Ibid., p. 54.
- Ibid., p. 55.
Posted May 5, 2025
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