Hindiyya al-'Ujaimi

Hindiyya (born Hannah al-‘Ujaimi; 1720-1798), (other spellings: Anna 'Adjaymi, or Ajjeymi, Ajami, also known as the Hindiyé, or Hendiye, i.e. the Indian) was a Maronite mystic nun which claimed to have many visions of Jesus and Mary. She was a central figure in the history of the Maronite Church in the 18th century. Hindiyya founded in 1750 the controversial religious order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which was dissolved by order of pope Pius VI in 1779.

Hindiyya was born on August 6, 1720 in Aleppo to Shukrallah Ujaimi and mother Helene Hawwa both devout Maronite Christians. Similar to other Maronite Christians of the time the Ujaimi’s were merchants who were getting increasingly wealthy due to commercial treaties signed between European powers and the Ottoman’s during 1675. Hindiyya had a brother named Nicholas and sisters although the exact number of siblings is unclear.

Hindiyya studied under the Jesuits which encouraged her in developing her spirituality and supported her by sharing stories of other young women who had chosen a religious life over the secular path. Hindiyya in turn embraced many Roman Catholic devotions, as the frequent auricular Confession. The support from the Jesuits lasted until 1748.

She moved from Aleppo to Berke, Lebanon, where on March 25, 1750 she founded her own religious order entitled to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Western devotion she imported among the Maronites and that made forthwith success. She claimed to have visions of Christ, to make miracles, to speak with Christ in mystical unions and to be united with the Trinity in a unique way. She soon became considered as a living saint and almost an object of veneration.

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