This study analyzes the contribution of Teresa de Cartagena, a deaf Spanish nun and author of the first known piece of writing by a Spanish woman. First, the work is put into its cultural and literary context. Second, the term "autohagiography," a hybrid of "autobiography" and "hagiography" is applied in order to understand that the figure that Teresa de Cartagena employs to express her spiritual fight against sadness. It is conclueded that Teresa de Cartagena constructs herself as if she were a saint, and she uses herself as a model for the faithful and the infirm.