FRAY LUIS DE GRANADA: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

Fray Luis de Granada (1504-1588) was a writer of Spanish origin who belonged to the Order of the Dominicans, an organization of the Catholic Church. With his work, he consolidated during the Spanish Golden Age, which lasted from 1492 to 1681, with the death of Pedro Calderón de la Barca.

All of his works were oriented towards faith, spirituality, meditation and prayer, from the philosophical and psychological points of view. He is considered one of the best prose writers of his time; work he did in Latin, Portuguese and Spanish.

Fray Luis de Granada. Source: By Herman Panneels, via Wikimedia Commons

The way he expressed himself in each of his sermons made it possible for him to be taken as an example until the 18th century. He is considered one of the greatest public speakers of all time. In addition to his renowned work as a writer, he was also known for being the confidant of the monarchy.

Biography

Luís de Sarria, later known as Fray Luís de Granada, was born in the city for which he bears his name, in Spain, in the year 1504. His origin was poor and he was the son of Galicians. His father was a baker and his mother was a laundress. At a very young age, he was orphaned as a father.

Between the convent and the nobility

After his parents died, he entered the convent of Santa Cruz de Granada de los Dominicos, where he served as an altar boy. At this time he was sponsored by the Counts of Tendilla, specifically by Íñigo López de Mendoza, who was surprised at the way the church sermons spoke.

Much of his life was spent in the Alhambra, the duke's residence. There, in addition to being the page of the future diplomat Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, he began to train in studies, and began with the humanities. When she was 19 years old, she sent the application to enter the convent of the Dominican Order of Santa Cruz la Real.

He left the convent in 1525, from then on he called himself as he has been known throughout history: Fray Luís de Granada. Even when he came out learning about theology, he developed his knowledge more in depth at the Santa Cruz and San Gregorio schools.

Friends and Accusers

While he was in the convents of Valladolid he made friends with the archbishop and theologian Bartolomé Carranza de Miranda, who was a victim of the Spanish Inquisition, an institution founded by the Catholic Monarchs in 1478, with the aim of maintaining the tradition of the norms of the Catholic Church..

The process that Carranza underwent by the Inquisition, gave rise to what is historically known as the Counter-Reformation, which was the answer to Luther's reform within Catholicism. Fray Luis drew on the archbishop's knowledge, and delved into the concepts of Erasmus of Rotterdam.

At the same time he also met whoever was opposed to his ideas and thoughts, the theologian and bishop Fray Miguel Cano, the highest representative of the Inquisition. His eternal friendship with the priest, and today the patron saint of the Spanish clergy, Juan de Ávila, was born in Córdoba.

Writing and stumbling

During the 1930s, while he was in Córdoba, in the Escalaceli convent, he began to write. Then the Book of Prayer and Meditation was born, which caused him to be persecuted by the Inquisition, more specifically by the powerful Spanish politician Fernando de Valdés y Salas.

Valdés did not act alone, he did it supported by Cano. The fact that Fray Luis was sure that God could give everyone the gift of being saints, and being able to be like him, caused Miguel de Cano much disturbance. He did not allow Fray Luis to let the people know that he could be pure and perfect, and even less did he let him teach in Spanish.

One of the greatest regrets of Fray Luís de Granada was the fact that he defended tooth and nail the falsehood of a nun of the Dominican Order. The nun supported the appearance on her body of some sores, as a gift from God to perform miracles and heal.

Life in Portugal

In 1551 he moved to Portugal, specifically to the city of Lisbon, in response to the invitation made by the archbishop of that entity. The reason for the trip was that, through his talent for speech, Luís de Granada defended the constitution of the Society of Jesus, from which the Jesuits emerge.

While in Portugal he served as the main confessor of King Henry and Catherine. He received and rejected the proposal to become bishop of his congregation in Évora.

From then on he spent the last years of his life between Lisbon and Évora, preaching and teaching about his thoughts and ideas.

Death

Monument to Fray Luis de Granada. Source: By José Luis Filpo Cabana, from Wikimedia Commons

The last years of Fray Luís de Granada's life were lived by sick and blind. Death enveloped him in Lisbon on December 31, 1588. Great personalities and the people were present at his funeral. Pope Gregory XIII, who deeply admired him, took it upon himself to exalt his virtues and wisdom.

Plays

As mentioned at the beginning, Fray Luís de Granada was recognized for his ability to write, work that he carried out in Latin, Portuguese and Spanish. His works were almost always directed to religious and ecclesiastical themes. Many of his texts were the cause of persecution.

Meditation and Prayer Book

Fray Luis wrote it in the year 1554, it had a great boom in Spain. The text is an invitation to spiritual life, and to constantly converse with God through prayer.

In the manuscript he made reference to the positive results that meditation and prayer had in the lives of those who applied them.

The book contemplates a kind of steps to get in touch with God. It refers, for example, to how to give thanks to the Creator, to the previous steps to pray, how to begin to meditate, to requests, to the offers made to the Father, among other points that he considered important to achieve his proposal of the holy and perfect man.

Sinners Guide

He wrote it during his years in Lisbon, in 1556. In this work he expressed his sympathy for the ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, also known as Erasmists.

He made clear the importance of a society full of virtues, and he imparts some guidelines on how the representatives of the church should act.

The play, which was also directed at non-believers, warned of the dangers of an earthly life outside of the divine. In addition, he laid out the ways to live a life guided by God.

The book is divided into two parts: the first has to do with the duties for a good life and their results; the second, with the enjoyment of the fruits of the spirit in earthly life.

Introduction to the Symbol of Faith

He wrote it between the years 1582 and 1585. It is considered the work to which he put the most effort due to the development time, and for the content. It was an extensive and comprehensive defense of the contemplation of nature and what emerges from that work. The writing consists of five parts.

In the first part, with passion and admiration, he described his perception and appreciation of creation, he did it in detail. The other extensions of the book refer to the Christian faith, and the aspects of the act of redemption, from the spiritual point of view.

Memorial of Christian Life

In this book, Fray Luis described the steps that a Christian must follow from the beginning of his path through the spiritual life. It was written in the year 1565. This treatise was expanded by himself, adding: Treatise on the Love of God and The Life of Christ or Meditations.

The argument of the writing was based on the actions that bring the love of the Creator closer, as well as on the aspects that can take people away from his grace and mercy. The author made special mention of the goodness and charity of God, and, consequently, its benefits.

Other works

The above are some of the most relevant writings or works of Fray Luís de Granada. However, the following are also worth mentioning: Manual of Various Prayers and Spiritual Exercises, and Suma Cayetana, which were written in the year 1557.

Also noteworthy are: Treaty of Prayer, of 1559, and Anthology and Compendium of Christian Life, which was printed in 1559. It is important to point out that many of Fray Luís's works could not be published in time due to the onslaught of the Inquisition.

After approximately five centuries, almost all of Fray Luís de Granada's writings have gone through various editing processes. Of these, the most outstanding edition was made by Father Justo Cuervo, in 1906, and it was an extensive fourteen-volume critique.

References

1. Luis from Granada. (2018). (Spain): Wikipedia. Recovered from: wikipedia.org
2. Fray Luis de Granada. (2004-2018). (N / a): Biographies and Lives: The Online Biographical Encyclopedia. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com
3. From Granada, Fray Luís. (S. f.). (N / a): Writers. Recovered from: writers.org
4. Moreno, Ramírez, De La Oliva and Moreno. (S. f.): Fray Luís de Granada. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com
5. Fray Luis de Granada. (S. f.). (N / a): The Web of Biographies. Recovered from: mcnbiografias.com