Teresita Barajuen (16 September 1907 – 12 June 2013) was a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and member of the Order of Cistercians. Barajuen is believed to hold the world record for the longest service in cloister.[1] [2] [3] [4]
Barajuen entered the Monastery of Santa María de Buenafuente del Sistal on 16 April 1927, when she was nineteen years old.[1] She remained as a cloistered nun at the monastery for 86 years.[1] In an interview with Portal de tu Ciudad Barajuen said that she did not originally intend to become a nun, but entered into religious life at the monastery due to family pressures.[1] [5] She and her fellow nuns were forced to flee the monastery during the Spanish Civil War due to fighting in the region.[1] In August 2011, Barajuen left the monastery for the first time in forty years to meet with Pope Benedict XVI, who was visiting Madrid for World Youth Day 2011.[1] [2] Barajuen had entered the cloistered monastery on 16 April 1927, the same day that Benedict XVI was born.[1] [6] Barajuean was one of ten Spanish nuns featured in a 2013 book, What is a Girl Like You Doing In A Place Like This?, by Jesús García, a journalist with El Mundo.[1] Barajuen died during the night of 12 June 2013, at the age of 105.[1] Her death was reported by Sister Maria Romero, abbess of the Buenafuente del Sistal monastery.[1]