Hindiyya (1720–1798; also Hindiyé or Hendiye, "the Indian"), born Hannah al-ʿUjaimi (other spellings: Anna ʿAdjaymi, ʿAjjeymi, or ʿAjami) was a Maronite mystic nun who claimed to have many visions of Jesus and Mary.
Similar to other Maronite Christians of the time, the Ujaimis were merchants who were getting increasingly wealthy due to commercial treaties signed between European powers and the Ottomans' in 1675.
She moved from Aleppo to Bkerke, Lebanon, where on March 25, 1750, she founded her own religious order called the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Western devotion she imported among the Maronites and that made forthwith success.
Moreover, the Pope abolished her Order of Sacred Heart and he suspended the Patriarch Joseph Estephan from all functions of office, appointing Michael El Khazen as Vicar.
Her decision to remain single and devote her life to Christ was an explicit rejection of social boundaries adhered to by young women her age and displayed how dedicated she was to her goals.
[3] Hindiyya's figure and spirituality had a significant influence on a similar Aleppo-based sect, the Worshippers of the Sacred Heart, which was founded a few years later by Margaret Baptist and supported by the French priest, Nicholas Gaudez.
[3] Bernard Heyberger, author of a major biographical study of Hindiyya and her place in Maronite history, argued that her career exemplified the "feminization" of Middle Eastern Christianity under the influence of Catholic missionaries, who encouraged new cultures of female devotion.