Nuns Writings - Sepulchrines From English Convents in Exile, 1600-1800

8/2/2019 Nuns Writings - Sepulchrines From English Convents in Exile, 1600-1800

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PART V: NUNS WRITINGS

Te documents presented so ar demonstrate the extent to which reading was

one o the most central activities o conventual lie, together with prayer andwork; in its various orms privately in cells and the inrmary, or communallyin the choir, the reectory or the workhouse it occupied a considerable part othe day. Te previous sections give samples o the wide variety o reading under-taken by early modern English nuns. Part II presented documents intended orthe nuns spiritual guidance, ranging rom loose papers to lengthy treatises writ-ten or that purpose. Tey could be o an explanatory nature, or take the ormo practical guides. Tus, writings expounding the virtues o a good nun ormedthe basis o a religious womans instruction. Ten, methods to achieve this ideal

were many, as were methods or taking the spiritual exercises and documentsdelivering advice upon contemplation, prayer or retreats. Part III showed thatnuns also read liturgical papers. Tey learnt rom didactic documents elucidat-ing the liturgical calendar, or explaining the rituals and mysteries o the Mass.Being thus instructed, they were better able to become spiritually involved inthe perormance o their duties during the Divine O ce. Finally, a proportiono their reading was to be edi ying and inspirational, to stir their spirits towardsthe imitation o Christ or the emulation o Christian exemplars. As indicatedby the excerpts in Part IV, hagiography and martyrology played an important

part in the ashioning o a nuns spiritual mindscape, since they set the highest ostandards, towards which every religious woman was supposed to strive.

Te sum o the nuns readings thereore le a deep imprint upon their livedexperience in the convent. In the process o learning, readers passed their lessonsthrough their own emotional, spiritual and intellectual lters and, in some cases,

they le testimonials o the intricate process o transormation during whichthey appropriated the precepts which were imposed upon them.1 Te h andlast part o this volume thereore presents documents o a rather rare and pre-cious kind: writings authored by nuns themselves. Te very activity o writing

was problematic in early modern convents, since it appeared to contradict thetraditional virtue o humility and the precept o silence. Moreover, the misog ynyo the age posited that womens intellects were not suited to the activity o writ-


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370 English Convents in Exile, 16001800: Volume 2

ing, which would breed in them the sin o pride. Yet despite these reservations,the English convents produced a non-negligible amount o nun-authored manu-scripts. Besides the writings which were held acceptable or women religious,such as transcriptions, translations or chronicles (or histories) o their houses,they produced letters, poetry, contemplations and even polemic texts.2

Te attribution o those documents is highly delicate. Most o them werenot initially intended to be used by the community but were written privately,on loose papers, as nuns jotted down their thoughts, intentions and the ruits otheir contemplation. Tese devotional notes are oen incomplete, non-sequen-tial and are almost never dated or signed.3 It was upon the nuns death that hernotes could lose their private nature and be compiled into a collection or com-munal use. Tese could remain anonymous, but some were attributed to theirauthor. Such documents varied greatly in nature; many o them mimic or mirror

what the nuns read. Some provide prescriptive advice to prepare or signicantstages o a nuns lie or to undertake spiritual exercises, in documents whichresemble those written by male clerics. Tis section provides two instances osuch literature used by the Sepulchrines o Lige, one or the renewal o the holy

vows (How to make or renew our vows with spirit & afection (pp. 38994),and the other to prepare or the IgnatianExercises (An other preparation to theexercise. Where be the days o thy lie (pp. 37582)). Such documents tell pos-terity o the manner in which nuns, as readers, digested and appropriated the

prescriptive material which they read, and how they expressed their own, emale

versions o those papers.Conventual authors also wrote on the subject o meditation, which was atthe centre o their contemplative lives. Tus, Victoria Ayray, a Sepulchrine atLige, wrote A Most Devout and E catious Prayer to our Blessed Redeemerin the honour o his Bitter Passion (pp. 3837). Interestingly, it is obvious thatshe intended this piece as a guide or communal practice rather than a purely

private document. Her work is reminiscent o traditional clerical pieces such asChrist having suferd in his esh (pp. 20316, above). Te Passion o Christ

was the object o much o the nuns writing, since it was the ocal point o theirstrie to imitate their Saviour. Another example is provided below with a PoorClare document containing various meditations on Christs suferings. Te same

principle applies to the Eucharist, whose centrality in the nuns lives is mirrored

in their writings. Te documents reproduced here show examples o guidanceon the devotion to the Holy Sacraments, taken rom Poor Clare manuscriptsrom Rouen. O the ardour & zeal which we ought to have to approach the holymysterys (pp. 40914) and Te chie points o our holy ceremonys in whichthe Sisters must daily renew them selves (pp. 4018)both present the Eucha-rist as a central devotion. Tey urge the nuns to take requent communion andhelp them to prepare their souls each time through prayers and contemplation.


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Nuns Writings 371

Cecily Cornwalliss Eight Meditations or the Octave o the Most Blessed Sacra-ment (pp. 41522) served a similar unction.

Hence, some o the nuns own literary production remained advisory or evenprescriptive, in an echo to clerical regulatory papers. Yet some o these pieceswere meant to enable religious women to achieve a state o contemplation suchthat they would no longer need the guidance o documents and could relin-quish themselves to Gods direct inspiration at work within them. For instance,litanies acilitated a sort o spiritual trance through the automatism o repeti-tion, as can be seen Te Litany o the Holy Name of Jesus (pp. 4236) andTe Latanyes o the Blessed Virgin Marye (pp. 4278) used by the Benedic-tines. When reading successully ullled its purpose and enabled nuns to accessthe highest levels o contemplation, it oen le them with the pressing need torecord their experiences. Tus, much conventual literature describes the highlyintimate episodes experienced by their authors; it tells o mystical union anddivine love, o amorous longing, passionate embraces and unequalled bliss. TeSepulchrine Christina Dennett evoked her happiness in An Intellectual VisionRelating to the Sacred Heart o Jesus (pp. 42936), where she described a visionin which Jesus tenderly uncovered his heart to her, and trusted her to promotethe estival in honour o his Sacred Heart. Dennett tells o her brimming emo-tions in a text which, like so many mystical accounts, relies upon the languageo love. Te anonymous Poor Clares document entitled Te sighs o a soul whodesires to leave the world to go & unite hersel to God in Heaven (pp. 43744)

goes even urther in this direction.Whether in verse or prose, the women presented themselves as lovers, pin-ing or the object o their passion. Tey evoked their yearning to meet theirbridegroom in texts which abound with metaphors o all-consuming love andlonging. Tese writings, ocused upon the moment o impending union withGod, provide an interesting contrast to other devotional texts; there, the lexi-cal eld changes, leaving aside the usual register o reserve to reclaim a more

passionate vocabulary. Benedictine documents rom Cambrai such as I givemy sele to thee my God with my whole hart & soule (p. 445) or O my GodI love thee with all my heart above all things (pp. 4478) show that althoughdevotional writings usually express contempt or emotions as the expressions obodily cravings, desire and passion appear rehabilitated in the context o mysti-

cal love. Tis was made possible by the shi operated in the very experience odivine union, during which all was bathed in Gods glory and thereore madeholy and pure.

However, not all o the nuns writings were either o a prescriptive or o a mys-tical nature, and quite a proportion o their production ell somewhere betweenthose two extremes. Such was the case o some o the poetry written by AnneTrockmorton, an Augustinian rom the Paris community. Her poems reect


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the broad variety o her concerns. Tey document her devotions, exempliedhere with the poem For St Teresa (p. 457), but also give details o events whichmarked the lie o the convent, such as her celebration o the Mother Superiors

patronizing o a statue o St Augustine (see Upon St Austins Statue put up byreverend Mother ildesley (p. 458)). Some interpersonal pieces provide insightinto her relationships with other nuns; On the yearly day o a Proession (pp.4512), For a Proession o a riend (pp. 4534) and Upon the clothing o ariend (p. 455) testiy to the deep eelings attached to the ceremonies whichmarked the entrance o a young woman into religion. Although we hardly haveany records o the emotions experienced by religious women upon the occasiono their own clothing, or instance, these short pieces provide a rare insight intohow others elt about the clothing or proession o one o their riends. AnneTrockmorton also wrote more personal poetry, among which her moving con-dolences and support o a riend upon the death o her sister (p. 456) and a

poignant piece upon her sisters travel to England, which testies to her genu-ine concern or her siblings physical and spiritual saety (When my sister Betty

went to England (pp. 45960)).Finally, some nuns wrote works which, though preaced with the usual pro-

essions o humility, meekness and ignorance, were o a much more polemicnature. In this section, it would be impossible to bypass the writings producedby the Cambrai Benedictines in the aermath o the controversy caused by thespiritual direction o Augustine Baker. Baker (15751641) took his position

with the Cambrai Benedictines in 1624, barely six months aer the oundationo the convent.4 He was sent by the General Chapter o the English Benedic-tine Congregation in response to the nuns request or spiritual direction. Tecommunity, it appears, was unhappy with the Jesuit direction it had received soar. Although most communities could not envisage their journey to the divine

without the methodological landmarks provided in the spiritual exercises, expe-riences varied and, or Cambrai, such guidance proved too restrictive. Bakerhimsel doubted the suitability o Jesuit directors or contemplative nuns andargued that methods tted or missionary and active religious were not idealor the direction o convents.5 Instead o ollowing a specic list o prescriptionsto meditate upon, he encouraged nuns to ponder upon the texts o late medi-eval mystics. He extolled contemplative prayer, which led to mystical union with

God without the need or predened methods o the Ignatian type. In order toguide the Benedictine nuns along this path, he wrote or them an impressivecorpus o over sixty manuscript treatises, in which he intertwined his own words

with those o reputed mystics such as auler, Fitch, Blosius, St John o the Crossor even women such as Julian o Norwich or eresa o vila. When the newchaplain Father Francis Hull arrived at Cambrai in 1629, this became a mattero controversy and the practices o the Cambrai nuns ell under investigation.


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Nuns Writings 373

Although Baker was neither a Jansenist nor a Quietist,6 his personal brand opiety was the object o much suspicion.

Tis attack upon Bakers teachings prompted some nuns to undertake atask they would not normally envisage: they wrote about spirituality and aboutlived religious experience in their own names, voicing their personal opinionson the matter. Dame Catherine Gascoigne wrote to deend a spiritual path

which was less strictly regulated than that prescribed by the Ignatian method.She advocated a type o mystical contemplation inspired by holy exemplars suchas Julian o Norwich (13421416), whose Showings o Love she partially tran-scribed. In her 1633 poem which starts My prayer I know not how to express(pp. 4616), Gascoigne explained her spiritual practices to the Superiors o theEnglish Benedictine Congregation, who led the enquiry against Baker. In this,and others o her writings, she promoted contemplative passivity to allow thesoul to be penetrated by God. She expressed her condence in Gods grace as amuch surer path towards spiritual union than any exercises undertaken throughthe retreatants own will. At that time, her writings were supported by those oDame Gertrude More (160633), who also wrote a vehement deence both oBakers spiritual teachings and o the right o nuns to read and learn rom thedevotional writings o holy exemplars (see her Apology or Hersel and her Spir-itual Guide (pp. 46776)).

Te intensity o the Baker controversy le the community o Cambrai in astate o turmoil, which came over it in waves over the next decades. Individuali-

ties had been encouraged to express themselves, in the convent and beyond. Telast documents o this section are excerpts rom Some speeches made in chapter(pp. 47789), made by Mother Christina Brent during her time as Superior;they testiy to the tensions and disorder which afected the community, oppos-ing one action to another in an atmosphere which was ar rom the spiritualharmony and sisterly benevolence which supposedly united a religious commu-nity. In such troubled times, the Superior ound strong support o her authorityin the Constitutions, and she sought to bring an end to dissention by the strictapplication o the moral ramework provided by the Benedictine Rule, in whichindividuals all obeyed the same precepts and were ordered to orget themselvesand live to serve their Order and God only.

Notes1. See H. Wole, Reading Bells and Loose Papers: Reading and Writing Practices o theEnglish Benedictine Nuns o Cambrai and Paris, in V. E. Burke and J. Gibson (eds),

Early Modern Womens Manuscript Writing: Selected Papers om the rinity/rent Col-

loquium (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004), pp. 13756.2. See I. Grundy, Womens History? Writings by English Nuns, in I. Grundy and S. Wise-

man (eds), Women, Writing, History, 16401740(Athens, GA: University o GeorgiaPress, 1992), pp. 12638.


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3. Ibid., p. 146.4. On Augustine Bakers mysticism and the controversy around his spiritual direction

o the Cambrai Benedictines, see or instance B. Weld-Blundell (ed.), ContemplativePrayer: Ven. Father Augustine Bakers eaching Tereon om Sancta Sophia(London,1907), and J. McCann and H. Connolly (eds),Memorials o Father Augustine Baker andOther Documents Relating to the English Benedictines, Catholic Record Society, vol. 33(1933). Also C. Walker, Gender and Politics in Early Modern Europe. English Convents in

France and the Low Countries (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003),pp. 1437.

5. Weld-Blundell (ed.), Contemplative Prayer, p. 52.6. Cornelius Jansen (15851638) was bishop o the nearby town o Ypres and the leader o

the religious movement later known as Jansenism. What began as an attempt to clariy

and implement Augustinian theology soon took in France a much more polemical turn,and Jansenism was linked to Gallican tendencies, and to a rejection o ultramontanism.Some time later, another movement came under scrutiny in France: Quietism, originally

preached by Miguel de Molinos (162896), was a reaction to Jansenism. It advocatedquiet or passive contemplation, which was believed to enable mystical union. Its mys-tical element, deended by such gures as Franois de Salignac de La Mothe-Fnelon(16511715) and his spiritual companion Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de La Motte-Guyon(16481717), met with great opposition, notably rom Bishop Jacques-Bnigne Bossuet(16271704), who enjoyed great inuence at the French court o Louis XIV.


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375

SEPULCHRINES: AN OTHER PREPARATION TO

THE EXERCISE. WHERE BE THE DAYS OF THY

LIFE

An other preparation to the exercise. Where be the days o thy lie; held by the Can-onesses o the Holy Sepulchre at Colchester (under the label R.4 in box D.1), UnitedKingdom.

Te document transcribed here is a section taken rom a 129-page manuscriptbook belonging to the Sepulchrines o Lige and kept by the Canonesses o theHoly Sepulchre at Colchester.1 Tis is the rst section o the book, and also that

which appears to have been written rst; its spelling and script point to an earlyseventeenth-century document. Te sections o the volume seem to have been

written in as many as six or seven diferent hands, and at diferent times. Forinstance, a copy o a letter is dated 1632, whilst other documents appear writtenin an eighteenth-century hand. Tis document is akin to the clerical writingsmeant to accompany nuns during their retreats. It is prescriptive in nature, and

provides several meditations or particular times. It is meant as a guide to thoseundertaking the Spiritual Exercises; the author reers to Jesuit precepts andteachers throughout, thereby indicating a strong Ignatian inuence upon herspirituality.

Note1. Tis document is introduced initially on p. 153, above.


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An other preparation to the exercise. Where be thedays o thy lie; held by the Canonesses o the HolySepulchre at Colchester (under the label R.4 in boxD.1), United Kingdom.

An other preparation to the exercise.1

Where be the days o thy lieAlasse sel-love, the esh, the world and the divill hath [sic] taken up the greatest

part o them whereo they will serve them selves at the hower o death to temptthe[e], notwithstanding thy dayes are not yett spent. Allmighty God hath yettin his hands a part, that part o thy lie that is past is the surest, the best & perad-

venture the greatest, that which remains is uncertain, shut up in the hand o Godwhich how long it will last thou knowest not.

Tere remaines noe other way to secur thy salvation, but to imploy the rest o thydayes, ewer or more, in a serious & ervent seeking o thy soveraigne good to the endthat, have-ing gotten perdon o thy sinns and being delivered rom thy ennemyes,thou maist ordre thy lie according to the will o God & the salvation o thy soule.

o perorm this there is noe better occation than by these spirituall exer-cises, the which thou art thereor to undertake & accept as a singulare avourrom the hand o God, endeavouring to make them with all diligence possible.

o this purpos it will be good to consider how many spirituall helpes thouhast past over with out prott, to noe small preiudice o thy soull and the dis-

pleasure o God, whereor lay hands on this occation & indeavour to make useo this hapy time.

Peradventure it will be the last spirituall exercises by which Allmighty God

callis thee to his love & riendship; take head least thy ingratitude put any hin-derance to thisgreat worke.Have recours to the Blessed Virgin and angell guardian, to thy good patron,

St James, St Helena, St Augustin, St Ignatious, St Francis o Borgea, St MaryMagdelen, St resia [sic] & others; beggin[g] o them the impetration o light to see & stringth to put in practis all that appertaines to thy salvation.

Pater & Ave.


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Meditation or the next morning aer the 5 dayes exerciseTe ground o this meditation are the words o our Saviour Matthew: 7: Eve-ryone that heareth my words and doth them shall be likened unto a wise manthat built his howse upon a rocke and the winds blew, and they beate aganst thathowse and it ell not or it was ounded upon a rocke. And everyone that hearethmy words and does them not shall be like a oolish man that built his howseupon the sandes & the raign ell the ouds came the whinds blew and they beatagainst the howse and it ell & the all thero was great.2

Consider that in this 5 dayes exercise Christ our Savoiur [sic] hath beenspeaking to your heart, and thou hast heard him that is rmely believed them: hehath told the[e] that God alone is thy nall end and to be sought or a bove allthings; that all things els are but means to help to this end, that to orsake God& to adhere to his creatures is sinne, that sinne unrepented causeth a bitter lie, arightull death, a severe judgment & everlasting torments. Tat Christ our Lord& his rulls or constitutions are the onely sure way to returne to God, to whomi thou dost constantly stick, thy lie will be ull content, thy death o security,thy sentance o happiness & thy end o bliss eternall; is not this most Heavenly& solide doctrine? ~

Consider that now it is in thy hands to play the oole or the wisman, i believ-ing these eternall principles thou ramest thy lie accordingly unto them, like the

wiseman thou buldest upon an imoveable rocke. Lett temptations come,[rom] either the earth, or thy owne esh as ouds, or rom the ill suggestion o

those aeriall powers the divills as winds, rom Heaven by Gods special premis-sion or thy triall as raigne,3 thy resolutions & good purposes o perection willever stand like stately buildings seated upon a rocke. But i thou dost believethose principles and not live accordingly, what soever thou doest thou buildestlike the oole upon mear sand, that is upon thy own eeble orces, thy own erro-nious judgment, & inconstant will, wherin thear is lesse sollidity than in a heapo sand; what mervaille then i either the afection o esh & bloud like ouds,or the breath o others mouths by which the divill blowes like winds, or lasttryall coming rom a bove by thy Superiors lay all thou hast built at upon theground which indead is a lamentable all.

Here thanke God or speaking to thee and aske Grace to conserve inthy heart or ever his holy words; resolve with the same Grace to conserve in

thy heart or ever his holy words & resolve with the same Grace to build all therest o thy lie, thoughts, words & deads upon them, & soe with the wise virginsthou doest either willt enter into the mariage banquett; i thou doest otherwiseexpect noe other reward than to heare what the oolish virgins nescio vos. I know

you not.4

e Deum Laudamus5


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An other preparation to the exercise 379

A meditation concluding the spirituall exercises, answerable to that by which itwas begun

Our Lord in your rst p[re]parations [or] meditation sayed he would allure youinto his solitude & retirement, and there, would speake unto your heart,that is which should prove to your true comort, your answare was you wouldimbrace his instructions and willingly heare and hearken to what he should

please to say unto you. Consider that he hath allured you indeed, and call tomiend, what he hath sayed to you, and be sure to practise itt presently whilst it isresh in your heart, your resolution in strength & you in heart.

Amongst other things which hee hath sayed unto your heart, you will ndone to be that hee in requitall expects that you allure him likewise unto a solitudeo yours; prepare with-in your heart or him onely as St Catherine o Sienna6 did,and thear detaine & intertain him, as time was he went into a desart place andthe multitude sought him & came even unto him, that hee should not departrom them; and those to disciples when our Lord made semblance to goe urtherorced him, saying tarry with us becaus it is towards night.7

In this your solitude he will expect & with good reason that you alsoespeake to his heart, that is to his ull comort & contentment, which is done byassureing him that what in these dayes he hath sayed unto you shall by his Gracebe perormed; what a comort, benett, honnour, and glory is it to be able toaford to soe ever loveing & once or me soe a icted heart o my Lord Jesus

Christ.

An examen according to the additionsI she prepared her sel over night according to the additions, considering whatdispositions o miend she ought most o all to have desier.

I aer being in bed or the space o an Ave Maria, I think o my medetationand noe so[o]ner a wake but presently shakeing o all other thoughts I busiedmy mind a bout the matter o my meditation rmly purposing to keepe a strict

watch over my sel.I whilst I put one my clouths my thoug[ths] were upon my meditation stir-

ing up in my sel that afection which I would will to have.I according to the additions, being one or too paces distant rom the place

wher I am to make my ollowing meditation, devoting my mind I consider ourLord Jesus present, beholding what I was to doe & wether I receivd him with anhumble bended body.

I I use the preludes wether my discours was without distractions or dry i inthe point wherin I ound my desired devotion I stayed without passing urther,

wether I used the colloquiums with Pater & Ave.


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I I avoidid all thoughts o joy and deprived mysel o the lights as divers mys-teryes, requiers, i I abstained rom laughter or words provokeing therunto, i Ilooked reely upon any one o my pennaces [sic], and their threeold ends: i and[sic] exact & perect observance o the distrebution o time; i att the appointedtime I examened my sel how I have observed my additions.

A meditation o preparation to the exercise1: What is become o all these empresses, queens and ladyes o hon[ou]r thatonce did ourish in the world and now receaved their last doome? what isbecome o their traines, their pleasures, their joylities? All is past like a dream; I

will likewise upon my dayes that are vainly past and bewaylle my vainly spendingo them.

2 pointWhat would many o those ladys & perhaps religious that neglicted there

souls in the state o religion, now give or 8 or 10 such dayes as God by his divinprovidence puts into my hands? to how low a consideration would they submittthem selves? what behoves me to doe?

3 pointWhat advantage shall I have by spending this pretious time will;8 how great a losse by employing it ill; that both are eternall & accordingly makesuch generious resolutions as becomes one that knowes the diference betwexttime & eternity. Conclud with an oblation. Pater: Ave

How to know when our prayer hath succeedid il[l] by our o[w]ne ault.1. I I have ben negligent in preparing o my meditation & not orceeing what

ruit I would indeavour out o every point.2. I aer propounded my points I came distractedly & couldly to begin my

prayer.3. I in time o prayer I either volontary wondred a bout with my senses or

minde or use[d] litle or noe diligence to put a way such distractions asoccured.

4. I in time o prayer I placed my sele in an irreverent posture.I being guilty o any o these our things my prayer succeeded ill by my oneault; i I be not guilty in any o thes our things then I may comort my sel

knowing that the ill success o my prayer did not happen by any ault o mine.Tis is the doctrine o Father Lancicius.9

Tose things which the devil endeavours to draw religious to, are1. the endeavours to stur up a love to terrene commodities such as as [sic] are

allowed o in religion, as in cloth, diet, o ce, place o living, chambre, &c.- - -


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An other preparation to the exercise 381

2. o draw us rom vertue with ond eares o sickness, weakness o body,imparing or health, o to[o] much labour, &c. - - - -

3. o bring us into an oblivion o death, judgment, Hell & Heaven, &c. - - - -4. o bread a tediousness & hatred o spirituall things by proposing I know

not what di culty in the way o virtue.5. o make us doe or actions out o custome & or the love or ear o men.6. o make us contemne litle things & by requent disobsarvances in litle mat-

ters bring us to naughty reedome & liberty.7. o make us desert our good purposes rom time to time & to nd I know

not what ond excuses - - - - - -8. o bread in our minde an alleination & avertion rom Superiours & those

who are to dirictes us & rom our Brother in whom we live with all - - - - -[the next page, numbered 13, is non sequential; it contains points 1720]


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383

SEPULCHRINES: A MOST DEVOUT AND

EFFICATIOUS PRAYER TO OUR BLESSED

REDEEMER IN THE HONOUR OF HIS BITTER

PASSION

Victoria Ayray, A Most Devout and E catious Prayer to our Blessed Redeemer inthe honour o his Bitter Passion; held by the Canonesses o the Holy Sepulchre atColchester (under the label R.4 in box D.1), United Kingdom.

Te document transcribed in ull here is a seven-page section taken rom thesame 129-page manuscript book belonging to the Sepulchrines o Lige and keptby the Canonesses o the Holy Sepulchre at Colchester. 1 Te excerpt below, enti-tledA Most Devout and E cacious Prayer to our Blessed Redeemer in honouro his Bitter Passion, was written by Victoria Ayray (16841705), LS009, dur-

ing her novitiate in 1683. She also wrote other sections including Meditationso the Incomparable doctor St Augustine; O his Conversion (pp. 2130 othe manuscript), An Elegium and Abridgement o the Lie o Reverend FatherFrancis Williams o the Society o Jesus (pp. 6582),2 and Several ParticularDevotions o Reverend Father Francis Williams(pp. 8391). Other sections,though undated, appear to have been written in an early eighteenth-centuryhand. Te subtitle o this prayer indicates that it was intended to serve not onlyits author, Victoria Ayray, in her private devotions, but the entire community asa method or the evocation o the stage o Christs Passion. Te very orderlinesso this prayer and mental evocation was meant to ensure its e cacy.

Notes

1. See p. 153, above, or the initial presentation o this book.2. Francis Williams, alias William Crimmes, S. J. (162281) converted to Catholicism andentered his noviceship at the age o thirty-seven. In the 1660s he was sent to Lige wherehe taught divinity and philosophy, and became the conessor and spiritual director o theSepulchrines. Later, he was sent to work as a missionary in England, and became rectorand master o the novices at Watton.


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A Most Devout and Eicatious Prayer to our BlessedRedeemer in the honour o his Bitter Passion; held bythe Canonesses o the Holy Sepulchre at Colchester(under the label R.4 in box D.1), United Kingdom.

A Most Devout and E catious Prayer to our Blessed Redeemer in thehonour o his Bitter Passion

Which whosoever shall humbly recite beore the image o a crucix, with a pureintention and perect resignation, severall dayes together, may condently hopeto obtaine o the divine mercy, a ull grant o their lawull demands.

O deare Jesu, my Blessed Saviour and Redeemer; the sweet comorter o allsad, desolate & distressed soules. Behold thy poore servant, humbly prostrateat the oote o thy Holy Cross, deploring her miserie, imploring thy mercy andbeseeching thee to take pity & compassion upon her in this her present and

pressing a iction, inrmity, poverty, temptation, trouble, or whatsoever otherspirituall or corporall necessity.

Heare my prayers, O assured reuge o all a icted wretches, behold my tears,consider my sorrows and remedy my distresses: or nding mysel encompassed

with greivious calamities, by reason o my great crimes, I know not whether toy or succour, or to whom I may make my moan, but to thee, my meek andmerciul Saviour, with a ull hope and condence that thou, O my lovingRedeemer, wilt vouschae to lend the eares o thys ordinary piety and accus-tomed clemency to the humble petition o thy poore child.

And by that sweetness which thy blessed soul resented at the same time o

thy alliance with our human nature, when resolving with the Father and theHoly Ghost to unite thy divine person to mortal esh or mans salvation, thousentst thy Angel to the Holy Virgin Mary with those happy tidings, and clothingthysel with our nature, our humanity in her chast entralls, remainedst true Godand true man or the space o nine months in her sacred womb.

By the anguish thou enduredst when the time o thy designed Passion draw-ing nigh thou prayedst to thy eternal Father that i it might stand with his divine


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provedence, thou desiredst that bitter chalice might pass away rom thee, yetconcluding with a most perect act o resignation. Not my will, O HeavenlyFather, but thine by ulllled.1 By the outragious injuries, scornul disgraces,cruel blowes, contumelious blasphemies, orged witnesses; als accusations andinjust judgments, which thou, innocent lamb, patiently endured.

By the shackles which ettered thy limbs, the tears which owedrom thy eyes, the blood which trickled rom thy whole body.

By the ears, sorrows and sadness o thy heart, and by the shame thoureceivedst by being stripped o thy garments to hang naked on the Cross in thesight o thy sorrowul Mother, and in the presence o all the poeple [sic].

By thy royall head crowned with thornes, and smitten with a reed, by thythirst quenched with vinegar and gall, by thy side opened with a spear and issu-ing orth blood and water, to reresh our souls with that living ountaine o thylove and mercy.

By the sharp nails wherewith thy tender hands and eet were cruelly perced& astned to the Cross.

By the recommendation o thy departing soul to thy Heavenly Father, say-ing: Into thy hands I command my spirit. 2

By thy praying or thy enimies, saying: O Father orgive them, or they knownot what they doe.3

By thou giving up the ghost when thou cryedst out with a lowdvoice: My God, my God, why hast thou orsaken me,4 and then bowing down

thy blessed head to reach us the kiss o peace, saying: All is nished.By the great mercy thou showedst towards to good thie, saying: Tis daythou shalt be with me in paradice.5

By thy descent into limbus, and the joy thou communicatedst to the justsouls there detained.

By the glory o thy triumphant resurrection and the comortable apparitionsthou requently madst or orty dayes space to thy sacred Mother, to thy apos-tles, and to thy other chosen riends and servants.

By thy admirable ascension, when in the sigh o thy Mother and thy apostlesthou wert wert elevated into Heaven.

By the myraculous comming downe o the Holy Ghost in orme o erytongues whereby thou replenished the hearts o thy diciples with thy love and

gavest them strength and couradge to plant thy aith in the whole world.6

By thy dreadull day o general judgment, in which thou art to givesentance upon all mankind.

By all these, sorrows, joys, passions, compassions, and whatsoever else is nearand deare to thee in Heaven and upon earth, take pity on me; O compassionateRedeemer, heare my prayer, and grant me that or which I now most humbly andheartily petition thee.


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Ayray, A Most Devout and Ef catious Prayer 387

Mention here the thing you desire or reect mentaly upon it.Give me, O gracious Saviour, a speedy and e cacious eeling o thy divine

succour and comort, who according to the accustomed sweetness o thy tenderheart art wont to grant the requests o them who eare and love thee, even totheire souls desire and satisaction.

Bestow on me also, O my Blessed Lord Jesu, a constant aith, a conidenthope, a perect charity, a cordial contrition, a sincere Conession, a compe-tent satisaction, a diligent custody o my sel rom uture al lings, an heroickcontempt o the world, a compleat conquest o my passions, a zealous imita-tion o thy exemplary lie and conversation; an entire accomplishment o my

vows; an absolute mortiication o my sel-will, a willing readiness tody or thy love & honour, a inall perseverance in Grace and good works, ahappy departure o my soul out o this world, with my perect senses aboutme, the Holy Sacrament to strengthen me, thy sel, O Deare Jesu, to comortme, thy sacred Virgin Mother, with the Saint my particular patrons to prayor me and my good Angel to conduct me to eternal rest, eternal lie, eternalhappiness. Amen.

A Prayer to our good Angel.O Holy and happy spirit, who by our merciul creators appointment hast beenmy aithull keeper; my reindly comorter and my charitable protectour, romthe rst instant o my birth until this present moment; I humbly crave thee

to continew thy care and custidy over me in all places, in all company, uponall occasions, preserve me; O my good Angel, deend me and deliver me bothwhilst I sleep and when I am awake rom all diabolicall incursions, rom all eviltemptations, rom all dangers o soul and body, and rom a sudain andunprovided death, be thou graciously pleased to represent my wounds, my wants& my wishes, to our common Lord and master, and obtaine or me thy poor

pupil courage to overcome my sel and strength to get a compleat victory oversin, satan, an[d] sensuality, especially i there lurks any secret crime in my con-science, obtain or me light to deiscerne it, a will to detest it, time to coness it,and Grace to amend it. Abandon not my poor soul, I beseech thee, O blessedspirit, or the love o sweet Jesus, who hath not spared his dearest blood and lieto save it; but remaine constantly aithull, avourable and riendly unto me all

the moment o my lie and take a special and particular care and charge o me inmy deaths last gasp and agony. Deend me then in that dreadul hour; O power-ul guardian; rom the ury o my sworne enimy, and convey my departing soulinto the bosom o my dearly beloved Lord and maker, there to praise him withthy sel or ever more.

O my good guide, I againe and again iterate this my humble sute mostearnestly, beseeching the[e] neigther7 to orsake me dureing this transitory lie,


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nor to orget me when all the world will leave me: that through thy sae andsecure conduct, I may surpass through the wearisome troubles o this earthly

pilgrimage as that I may nd eternal rest in the Heavenly paradise. Amen.


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528 Notes to pages 36279

popular place o pilgrimage became the object o an acrimonious dispute between tworesidents rom nearby villages, who ought or its control. See C. Harline.Miracles at the

Jesus Oak: Histories o the Supernatural in Reormation Europe (New York: Doubleday,2003).

6. doctor Leon doctor de Burge: these men have not been identifed.7. the ark o God Obededon: see 1 Chronicles13:14: And the ark o God remained in the

house o Obededom three months: and the Lord blessed his house, and all that he had.8. Lady Mary Crispe : Marie Crispe (16871757), BB 050, was abbess o the community o

Brussels rom 1719 to 1757.9. Teodosia Waldegrave: Teodosia Waldegrave (16661719), BB 191, o ciated as abbess

o the community rom 1713 to 1719.10. her own mother monastery: her mother was Mary Collins (16831728), BB 043.

11. : erroneous pagination; this should be p. 156.12. Sister Barbara Wilson: Barbara Wilson (174278), BB 197, was a lay Sister at Brussels,although the notice implies she was able to write.

13. :wrongly paginated 164 in original.

Part V: Nuns Writings

Sepulchrines: An other preparation to the exercise. Where be thedays o thy lie

1. Another preparation exercise : Te title o the section (Another Preparation) implies thatit comes aer a frst preparation, and the binding is loose against the cover. Moreover thetext starts mid-ow, as i already part-way through its discourse. It is thereore possible

that some pages may be missing at the very start o the book.2. a oolish man was great: see Matthew 7:2427: Every one thereore that heareth these

my words, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon arock, And the rain ell, and the oods came, and the winds blew, and they beat uponthat house, and it ell not, or it was ounded on a rock. And every one that heareth thesemy words, and doth them not, shall be like a oolish man that built his house upon thesand, And the rain ell, and the oods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon thathouse, and it ell, and great was the all thereo .

3. raigne: rain.4. I know you not: see the story o the oolish Virg ins, in Matthew 25:812: And the ool-

ish said to the wise: Give us o your oil, or our lamps are gone out. Te wise answered,saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough or us and or you, go ye rather to them thatsell, and buy or yourselves. Now whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came: andthey that were ready, went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. But atlast come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answering said:Amen I say to you, I know you not. Watch ye thereore, because you know not the daynor the hour.

5. e Deum laudamus: We praise thee, O God (Latin).6. St Catherine o Sienna: Catherine o Siena (134680) was a Dominican tertiary who

urged God to take her heart or himsel. In one o her most amous ecstasies, God con-


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Notes to pages 379404 529

sented to take Catherines heart rom her chest, and presented her with his in exchange.See p. 344, n. 5 in this volume.

7. tarry with us toward night: see Luke 24:29: But they constrained him; saying: Staywith us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now ar spent. And he went in withthem.

8. will: well.9. Father Lancicius: Nicholas Lancicius, S. J. (15741652). See p. 336, n. 2.

Sepulchrines: A Most Devout and E catious Prayer to our BlessedRedeemer in the honour o his Bitter Passion

1. Not my will ullflled: see Luke 22:42: Father, i thou wilt, remove this chalice rom

me: but yet not my will, but thine be done.2. Into thy hands my spirit: see Luke 23:46: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.3. O Father what they doe: see Luke 23:34: Father, orgive them, or they know not what

they do.4. My God orsaken me: see Matthew 27:46: My God, my God, why hast thou orsaken

me?5. Tis day in paradice: see Luke 23:43: And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this

day thou shalt be with me in paradise.6. By the myraculous whole world: see Acts 2: 14: And when the days o the Pentecost

were accomplished, they were all together in one place: And suddenly there came asound rom Heaven, as o a mighty wind coming, and it flled the whole house wherethey were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were o fre, and it satupon every one o them: And they were all flled with the Holy Ghost, and they began tospeak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.

7. neigther: neither.

Poor Clares: Te Circumcision

1. picture entitled La tristesse dans le jardin: see Figure 1 on p. 496.2. picture entitled La agellation: see Figure 2 on p. 497.3. adorable pasch: A reerence to the paschal mystery, that is to say the Passion o Christ, his

death, and his resurrection.

Poor Clares: Te chie points o our holy ceremonys in which theSisters must daily renew them selves

1. powr out: pour out.

2. it being monastick lie: In the second part o his Summa Teologica, the Dominicantheologian Tomas Aquinas (122574) deal with obedience in subjects and religious

persons. He argued: Man is subject to God simply as regards all things, both internaland external, whereore he is bound to obey Him in all things. (II11104)

3. St Peter Damian: Te Benedictine Peter Damian, or Petrus Damiani (c. 100772) was aferce proponent o the strictest discipline in monastic houses; he introduced the practiceo agellation in the hermitage o Fonte Avellana, o which he became prior in 1043. He