companions lived at first in the house of Antonia de Esguerra who had by then died. The establishment of the Spanish beaterio in Manila The cause for the beatification of Madre Jeronima de la Asuncion, foundress of the Spanish Monastery of Sta. Clara in which one of the main witness was the Dominican Friar Jeronimo de Belen, seemed to have inspired the Order of Preachers to start their own monastery for Spanish women. Unfortunately, discrimination against native Filipinas by the Dominicans continued. It was specified in the beaterio foundation papers that there would be only fifteen choir sisters of Spanish blood in honor of the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. The Dominican Chapter of April 17, 1633, mandated "that those who enter the convent should all be Spanish women and not in any way mestizos."{{(Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, OP, Beginnings of the Filipino Dominicans 2014).|date=November 2021}} Santa Clara Monastery, however, objected to another foundation identical to it on the grounds that public alms were insufficient to support two convents for women in the city. The Franciscans with the Poor Clares appealed to the king who eventually sided with them in a decree dated 16 February 1635 commanding the Dominicans to desist from their plans. Inauguration of the Beaterio de Sta. Catalina At long last, the Beaterio de Sta. Catalina de Sena de las Hermanas de Penitencia de la Tercera Orden was formally inaugurated on 26 July 1696, the feast of St. Anne. Mother Francisca del Espiritu Santo became the prioress for life. Considered as the co-founders were Fray Juan de Sto. Domingo, Don Juan de Escaño, Mother Lorenza, Mother Juana, Mother Rosa and Mother Maria del Espiritu Santo, the surviving Spanish beatas in the Ezguerra house. Unfortunately, it was specified in the foundation papers that there would only be Fifteen choir sisters of Spanish blood in honor of the fifteen mysteries of the rosary. As in the Monastery of Santa Clara, the inevitable question came up as to what to do with the Filipina applicants who were also begging for admission to the Beaterio de Santa Catalina. After some deliberation, the founders of Santa Catalina determined in 1699 that, to begin with, five native women could be accommodated as "Sisters of obedience" (hermanas de la obediencia). Although permitted to take simple vows, they were to be deprived of voting rights, barred from holding office, and charged with the menial