Spanish Pilgrims In New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Pilgrims from Agreda, Spain are visiting Albuquerque in a quest to push sainthood for a woman known at "the Blue Nun."

The pilgrims are gathering information this week on the influences of Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda in New Mexico. Her image is reported to have appeared more than 500 times in 1620 to the Jumanos, a Plains Indian tribe at the Salinas Pueblo Missions Monument in New Mexico.

Sor Maria de Agreda served as the spiritual and political adviser of King Philip IV of Spain for more than 22 years. She chronicled the life of Mary, mother of Jesus, in the book "Mystical City of God," a work the Spanish Inquisition temporarily condemned.

She is lauded in Spain as one of the most influential women in its history.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.