In order to understand anxiousness in Joana de Jesus, it is necessary to analyze how the author appropriates the mystical tradition to which she belongs: the recollection mysticism.Just like with anxiousness, Joana uses this notion quite often.Equivalent to the Spanish notion of 'recogimiento', this word derives from the Latin prefix 're' (backwards) and 'colligo' (to collect, to move). 1 It can be translated into English as both withdrawal and recollection.Both terms are interchangeably used in the jargon of Christian mystical tradition.However, when referring to the Spanish (and Iberian) authors, most scholars and translators prefer the Latin equivalent.Together with a singular stylistic and scholarly choice, these scholars are also showing the closer connection to its etymological roots as well as preserving its popular usage in seventeenth-century English language.In Joana's text, the word 'recolhimento' appears 61 times as an abstract noun and 74 times as a verbal form: in the first person 'recolhi-me' ('I recollected myself') or in the adjective participle 'recolhida' ('she is recollected').The subject is either the 'I' or, less often the 'potencies of the soul'; in either case, the verb is reflexive, indicating the movement of the subject preparing itself for an encounter with the incarnated God.The anticipation of divine encounters involves intellectual and affective activity, a true agency of loving anxiousness.Nonetheless, 'the recollection' or 'the Recollect' is also a proper noun when ascribed to a social manifestation: it is a form of religious community, usually less formal, where people lived a devotional life and showed an observance which was usually stricter than the monastic orders. 2 Most of these individuals were women.In the Portuguese context, the word recollect is mainly used when referring to the Augustinian Recollects.