might take effect if she would not stay where she was He being desirous that she should rather be amongst those of her own Nation than Strangers since frequent examples have shew'd how easily the Enemy raises jealousies and disgusts in those that enter among Externs For this reason he procur'd a Book of the Rules of St. Clare which he gave her to Read and desir'd her for his comfort and satisfaction if she lik'd the Rules which she would find rigorous enough rather to make choise of that place to go to than any other She promis'd to Read them and was so taken with them that she resolv'd if her Ghostly Father approv'd of it immediatly to betake her self to that course of Life Which was a great subject of joy to Brother Clare thô on the other side it was a great trouble to him to find that his Sister and Kinswoman who had enter'd with her resolv'd to take the same course For he fear'd that it might be a prejudice to the Monastry they left which had been extraordinary kind to them Since the World which is too apt to censure might think that three Religious going away together could not but have some Motive of disgust or dislike to the place and did not purely leave it out of a desire to serve God in a stricter and more austere Order He therefore oppos'd his Sisters and Kinswomans going and had just reason to disswade his Sister because her Constitution was so weak and her health so impair'd that the Doctors would not permit her even to comply with the Church-precept in keeping her fast in Lent Whereas in the place she design'd to go to she must keep the Lenten Fast as long as she liv'd He told her therefore That this desire of hers could not be good it being too presumptuous and inconsiderate to expect that God should work a Miracle for the satisfying of her own humor Especially when in doing so she went against the Advice of those whom he had substituted in his place to direct her That it was an ordinary Artifice of the Malignant Spirit under pretence of a specious and plausible good to draw several out of the way God had plac'd them in This Discourse so sensibly afflicted her that she fell a weeping saying That she was sure that God had call'd her to a stricter Order and that his Power and Grace was always proportionable to his Call The Reverend Mother and the Religious finding them so earnest to go upon so good and solid Motives were so kind as to second their Requests and prevail'd with Brother Clare for their removal This then being the good effect of Brother Clare's Journy to Liege he resolv'd to hasten back to VVatten to dispatch all things necessary for their Admittance at Graveling that they might the sooner be able to follow him Amongst other Discourses which Brother Clare had with Sister Teresa Clare she thanked him extreamly for the favor of a Letter which he had procur'd her from Father Philip Marini a Missioner that came from China to England and other parts of Europe to gain Companions to Labor with him in that large Vinyard With whom Brother Clare coming acquainted whilst after her departure he stay'd at London obtain'd from him a Letter of encouragment to her which being from so Apostolical a Man who had spent many Years in the hard and dangerous Mission of China not only exposing his Life during those great Persecutions that happen'd whilst he was there but also in taking so long and dangerous a Journy for the procuring help for those many Souls that he had hopes to reduce by their assistance to the true Faith and as she also profest having given her so inexplicable a comfort in her undertaking I thought worth your purusal as it is Translated out of Italian in which Language it was Writ MAy the Grace and Love of Iesus Christ increase in our Souls to Gods greater Glory Writing to a person of your Merit I ought to do it in such a manner as may give you an assurance of the reward of that Eternal happiness which you will certainly gain not by running but flying from the Liberty of the World to the narrow confinement of a Cloyster Thrice happy are you that have so great an assurance of Heaven by so Noble and Generous a forsaking of all pleasures upon Earth the better to embrace what the World flies from the Cross of Christ Following hereby St. Teresa's admirable Lesson Either to suffer or die for Iesus This is that Jewel which the wise Marchant gave all he had to purchase and did not repent his bargain And thó he became Poor in the Eyes of the World yet he recover'd his loss by purchasing a Good which was of greater value than all other Goods How happy then is the Renunciation of that Blessed Soul which leaving all looseth nothing still finding all in the Poverty of Iesus The Apostles Patrimony after they had forsaken their Parents Friends and all they had was a pure nothing which put into the Hands of Iesus as St. Gregory saith excellently well so multiply'd as to become all things Totum reliquit qui sibi nil retinuit He left all who retain'd nothing to himself Behold therefore the nothing which the Apostles reserv'd but this nothing put into the Hands of Iesus grew to the hight of that Glory to which they were call'd At this Day so many Ages after their departure out of the World we proclaim their Dignity and give them greater Titles than ever the Ambition of Monarch could Usurpe I would say more of this subject but time will not give me leave therefore to send you my Opinion about leaving the World my sentiment is that it is not sufficient to go out of it to live in Religion unless we bid adieu to and renounce all things that are united to it The difference between those who leave and renounce is this He that leaves can return to the thing he left but he that renounceth looseth the Dominion over what he renounces in the same manner as a Man does his Right to what he has Sold. This was that which our Saviour said to the Young Man Vade vende omnia quae habes veni sequere me go Sell all you have come and follow me which words agree with those others Nisi quis renunciaverit omnibus quae possidet non potest mâ—us esse Discipulus Vnless one renounce all things he Possesseth he cannot be my Disciple What therefore is it to be a Disciple of Christ 'T is to have Christ for our Master Father Spouse Lord God and All. But what need I Write after this manner to you Who I know practice better things than I can suggest Wherefore I Write not to give you instruction but to praise your Generosity by which you have not only left the World with your Body but with your Soul also have renounc'd all it's Vanities and every thing that relates to it Heaven
admiration as she afterwards declar'd and lest her design should be discover'd before she could meet with a conveniency of burning it she immediately scratcht the Face all over with the same Pin with which she had taken it out of the Case and as soon as she came to the Fire so dextrously threw it in that none perceiv'd it Not long after Reverend Mother Abbess asking for the Picture Sister Clare ingenuously told her what she had done with it having had her leave to dispose of it as she pleas'd And Brother Clare hearing also she had burnt it and some time after Expostulating with her for having depriv'd the Children of so comfortable a Treasure as that would have been to them she made him this Answer That she was sorry she had done what she found was displeasing to him which he would not have disapprov'd had he reflected how fit it was that the Picture of what she had taken so much Pride in should come to no better an end than the Original deserv'd Ingeniously covering and excusing one act of Humility with another This seem'd to be the last Action that God Almighty had reserv'd for the compleating of her Crown for the very Morning that the Coppy thus perish'd the Original was seiz'd on by her last Sickness as if the Humility she had exprest in burning her Picture had obtain'd of God to perfect the Original and render it more like his own Image by calling her to his Beatifical Vision St. Iohn assuring us VVe shall be like him when we shall see him as he is Providence also hereby manifesting that the more earnestly she desir'd to be forgot by Creatures the more she was remembred and rewarded by her Creator So that whilst Sister Clare thus fervently endeavour'd in a little time to make up a great Crown by a faithful practice of all Vertues especially of a profound Humility the foundation of them all Almighty God as I before hinted design'd to put a Period to her Vertuous course judging it time to reward the labors of so Penitential a Life as her love had caus'd her both to undertake for his sake and to make such wonderful progress in as I have recounted Whereby she deserv'd the Encomium which the Holy Ghost gives a fervent Soul Viz. that she had consummated or heapt together in a short time so great a stock or Treasure of Vertue and Merits as others in a long time even in many Years were not able to obtain CHAP. X. The Foresight God gave her of her Death her concern for her Fathers Conversion and her Letters to him about it THE reward that God often bestows upon persons of an extraordinary Piety and Vertuous Life is a foresight and knowledge of their Death both to animate them to spend the short time that remains to make up their Crown with greater fervor and the better to prepare themselves for this change by a frequent Resignation and ardent desires of a happy disolution that ends in the beginning of an Eternal Union with himself 'T is probable as we may gather from that which follows that God had bestow'd this favor upon Sister Clare for whom Reverend Mother Abbess being much concen'd by reason of the accident which that Morning had happen'd to her of falling into a sound in the Quire she having no less kindness and tenderness for her than her Predecessor had went to Visit her in the Infirmary whether she had order'd her to retire her self to try if she could repose thinking nothing better for her Where finding she had got two or three hours rest Mother Abbess was much comforted to see her so extraordinary chearful as she seem'd to be hereupon she told her she thought the worst was now past and exprest how comforted she was to see her so well She smiling told Mother Abbess That she thanked God she found her self ready and most perfectly resign'd to embrace his Holy VVill in all things and therefore had no apprehensions at all of Death nay if she could desire one thing more than another it would be rather to die than live And that which now comforted her was the thought that this would be her last Sickness Reverend Mother Abbess earnestly desir'd her to lay aside these thoughts telling her there was not the least appearance of any danger of Death and that she hop't soon to see her as well again as ever she was in her Life But she Answer'd with a smiling Countenance full of comfort and conformity Dear Mother God has now decided a Question which I have often thought of with no small trouble Viz. VVhether Brother Clare or I should die first For knowing how great an Affliction the Death of either would be to the surviver and diffiding in my own strength and ability to bear such a cross and on the other side compassionating the affliction which I am sure he would suffer I durst never beg the one or the other But now it is Gods VVill that I should go first and this Sickess is to carry me to my Grave I doubt not but his Infinite goodness who designs to give Brother Clare this Cross will also give him strength to bear it This passage alone is an undeniable Argument as I said before of her being a Favourite of Heaven and evidently shews the great Union she had with God in Prayer and is a signal token of her great Conformity to the Will of her Heavenly Father After she had imparted this sad and Prophetical News to Reverend Mother Abbess her Feavor grew more violent which finding a Body so exhausted and broken it soon got the Mastery over Nature and render'd her unable to take any farther care or charge of her Children yet did not hinder her from prosecuting her Pious endeavours for her Fathers Conversion by making use of that little strength she had left to Write at different times the following Letter SIR MY true and Passionate desires for your happiness cannot be lessen'd by any severity of yours nor can your silence frighten me out of the concern I ought to have for your felicity to my last breath The dayly experience I have of the comfort and happiness that there is in being in the true Catholic Church breaks my heart to think that you are out of it and that I am yet so uncertain of meeting you in an Eternity of Ioys O let it not be so any longer the ways to God are sweet and easie you 'l never find comfort seek it as long as you please but in God You would pardon me this presumption I allow my self if you saw my heart and Tears which almost hinder me from Writing this Letter and I am sure they would move your goodness to a compliance with my request in vouchsafeing me an Answer which I shall receive on my Knees with inexplicable joy if it please God that I live till it comes I humbly beg your blessing and my Ladies for the Children and Your unworthy Child CLARE of
knew had Visited her several times whilst she was in London My Lady had several Discourses with Father Travers in which he gave her so evident an assurance of the Truth of the Roman Catholic Religion that she resolv'd forthwith to embrace it and was in pain till shâ— did so but yet would first acquaint Sir Iohn with her desires Wherefore one Night they being alone together she told him she had a request to beg of him which for the Passion of our Savior she desir'd him not to deny her he was surpriz'd at such an earnest and unusal Petition and told her he wonder'd she should by so earnest a Solicitation express a fear of his refusal who had never yet deny'd her any thing she had askt and therefore she needed not with that earnestness demand any thing that was in his Power to grant since she could not but know it was as great a satisfaction to him to grant her request as it could be to her to obtain what she askt Upon this she desir'd him to give her leave to save her Soul he told her That he was now more struc at the request it self than before at the manner of asking it because she could not think he would deny her leave to save her Soul it being as dear to him as his own He could not yet conceive the drift or reason of this demand Infine she told him That she beg'd his leave to Reconcile her self to the Roman Catholic Church without which she was convinc'd she could never be sav'd Adding That thô she knew his Condescention to her Request would be a prejudice to him both in his Estate and Reputation yet she could not but believe that the Love she had ever experienc'd from him and the necessity of a grant of what she desâ—r'd in ordâ—r to her obtaining Heaven would move him to Sacrifice both for the Salvation of her Soul Sir Iohn knowing her Zeal for the Protestant Religion and how far she was from sickleness or unconstancy in any thing especially in Religion Could not conceive what should be the cause of so earnest and unexpected a Request Therefore He desir'd her to tell him how she came now to make this Petition after such an eaâ—nest manner as she had done Hereupon she told him all that had past at London both between herself and Father Hanmer and also between her and Dr. Buck at which he was no less surpriz'd than she had been before never having believ'd that to be the Protestant Faith which Dr. Buck declar'd to be so she told him also That this Gentleman whom her Vnckle Hanmer had sent had given her such a clear knowlâ—dge of the Roman Catholic Faith and such convincing Reasons of the Truth of it that she no longer doubted there was any other way to Salvation than by making her self a Member of the Roman Catholic Church Sir John desir'd her not to be too rash in her Resolutions telling her That oftentimes a too precepitous Zeal is apt to out-run reason and discretion and make Resolutions otherways good to become Abortive that too great heat is an hinderance from bringing any thing to prefection and then added How uncomfortable a thing it would be for them to be of different Religions that he had a Soul to save as well as she and that no Temporal Interest or loss of Reputation should hinder him from doing what was necessary to obtain Salvation That he was troubled no less than her self was upon what she had related and assur'd her that he would not rest satisfied till he was throughly convinc'd which of the two Religions was the truest and that perhaps after a diligent enquiry he might be of the same mind with her and that 't would be most comfortable to both to embrace the same Religion together But he believ'd this Gentleman would not be able to Answer such difficulties as he would propose to him concerning the Roman Catholic Faith which if he could not she would then have little reason to acquiesce in those Arguments he had given her for it And lastly Desir'd her for sâ—me time at least to defer for his sake the change of her Religion however if she thought these his Reasons insufficient to move her to do what he desir'd he left her intirly to her liberty to do what she thought best Hereupon she resolv'd to put off her Reconciliation till another time The next Morning Sir Iohn not doubting but that the difficulties he had to propose were unanswerable accosts the Gentleman who handsomly Eluded all Questions that might occasion a Dispute in Religion Which Sir Iohn perceiving told him That he wonder'd he shew'd not the same Zeal for his Soul that he had express'd for his VVives and did not give him the same satisfaction in his doubts that he found he had given her in hers The Gentleman perceiving that my Lady had inform'd Sir Iohn of all that had past desir'd him to propose his difficulties which he had no sooner done but the Gentleman so easily and clearly answer'd them that Sir Iohn was astonish'd and had nothing to reply to his Answers they being so clear and convincing Amongst other things Sir Iohn asking him what rational grounds there could be for a Belief of Purgatory Hereupon he solidly explicated them shewing the difference between the guilt of Punishment and guilt of Offence by the Example of David who after the Pardon of his Transgression had the Punishment of it inflicted upon him by the Death of his Child and so ingeniously Moraliz'd upon God's Infinite goodness and mercy that would not permit him to Damn a Soul for one small Offence no more than his Justice would suffer any thing that was defil'd to enter into Heaven and therefore requir'd either a Voluntary Pennance or Mortification to be undergone in this Life or an involuntary Punishment to be suffer'd in the next to purifie such a Soul and thereby render it fit for Heaven and also clearly Explicated the difference between a Voluntary satisfaction made for Sin in this Life and a necessary undergoing the Punishment inflicted for it in the next and how much more acceptable the one must needs be to God than the other and that therefore a small Pennance perform'd in this World was able to satisfie more than many Years great sufferings could do in the next The one being freely and willingly undertaken the other suffer'd by force Sir Iohn at the end of this Discourse found himself so sensibly toucht by it that he could not refrain from telling him That were he convinc'd there was a Purgatory as he should be were he once a Roman Catholic he would use the best means he could to avoid it and he thought none better than to betake himself to a Religious course of Life the Roman Catholic Church affording this means of avoiding it having many Religious Houses whether such as perceiv'd the great danger the VVorld expos'd to and the little satisfaction it gave might retire
the boundless Ocean of your Goodness from whence it flow'd Lord give me your Love 't is the Life of my Soul The Body cannot live without breathing and what is the Breath of my Soul but your Love The beams disappear when they are disunited from the Sun O Sun of Justice what is my Soul but a beam of light and how is it united to you but by your Love Ah when shall I see nothing but you Thô in you all Creatures When shall I give my self all to you and be nothing to my self Grant Dear Lord that when I give my self to Exterior Affairs I may remain undevided from you and unchang'd by them and after I have finish'd them to your Glory I may return to you without any spot or wrinkle of Vanity in my Soul since 't is your goodness that gives me both to Will and to Do. Ah when will that happy hour come that shall give me an entrance into Eternity Here Flesh and Blood hang heavy upon me and Times and Seasons interrupt my Union with my Beloved When will that happy moment present it self wherein I may cry out I have found him whom my Soul Loveth When my Visits to you shall be no more determin'd to Time nor Place but be boundless as Eternity Where neither Heat nor Cold Hunger nor Thirst Pain nor Grief Night nor Sleep can interpose to make a moments separation But an Eternal Day an Everlasting Joy an Endless Bappiness shall attend this un-interrupted Union Such a felicity as neither human understanding can fathom nor the Luxurious fancy invent O! when will that joyful Day appear in which I shall behold your beautiful face When shall I be dissolved and be with you For ever to assist before your Throne of Glory in Bliss Everlasting These and many other such like were her dayly entertainments before the Blessed Sacrament These were the effects of that pure refin'd Love of God which was rooted in her Soul No Melancholly Humor extravagant Devotions o◠Scrupulous Reflections on her Life past enter'd her Thoughts or hinder'd her constancy in Gods Service The Considerations of his Benefits made them Soar far above the ordinary pitch of Creatures and to take no rest in any thing but in the Love of her Creator And 't is no wonder that those comfortable Communications she receiv'd in these Visits of her beloved made her desirous of a nearer and stricter Union with him by a dayly Communion But because it was not the Custom of the Convent she contented her self with exercising the highest Act of Conformity which is To leave God for God By these Devotions we may imagine how well she spent her time before the Blessed Sacrament and by what follows the means whereby she obtain'd these comfortable Inspirations For if we regard her comportment whilst she was in the Quire we shall find that she was never taken notice of to speak to any one no not to the Superior her self Her Modesty and Custody of her Eyes were no less Instrumental than her Silence for the obtaining a perpetual Communication with God And thô the Community never perceiv'd her Eyes off the Book in time of the Divine Office yet what they extreamly wonder'd at was that if any thing were wanting in the Quire none sooner perceiv'd it than she nor could be more ready to fetch it which made all believe that she had a particular Inspiration at those times of what was wanting When any thing requir'd her Presence or Assistance out of the Quire in time of Divine Office she was so faithful in a Pious Recital of it afterwards that nothing could make her hasten or run it over faster than ordinary In which she found such comfort that not content with the dayly Obligation that all Religious have to recite it she bound her self by a particular Vow to a constant performance of this Religious Duty And was so strongly toucht in Reading it that once Mother Abbess taking notice that in time of the Office she wept extreamly askt her If any thing troubled her Whereupon she Answer'd That her want of due compliance with what she had promis'd God a careful performance of was that which afflicted her This Answer fill'd Reverend Mother Abbess with amazement who had always been an Eye Witness of her constant and exact performance of this obligation having often observ'd that she seem'd always to be as it were rapt in the Presence of God whilst she recited it For as her Interior seem'd to be totally fixt upon Heaven so her Exterior was so fortified against distractions by a strict guard over her Senses that 't was almost impossible that she should be the least defective in this her promise to Almighty God Wherefore these Tears were undoubtedly rather a Mark of the Purity of her Conscience and an effect of those Spiritual Gusts with which his Divine Majesty had replenisht her Soul as a reward of her Fidelity than a sign of any neglect of her Duty as her Humility mov'd her to apprehend One would think that this rigorous silence this exact custody of senses and this continual Recollection would have render'd her Conversation less diverting at those times when Obedience gave liberty to speak and made her less dispos'd to help towards the innocent Recreation of others But they were so far from it that never any effects of dulness or melancholly were observ'd in her And 't was at all times an affliction to her to see any appearance of what lookt Morose or mis-becoming in any of the Religious and much more in her self and when she perceiv'd by any ones looks the least sign of melancholly or discontent she us'd her utmost endeavours to divert them in particular God had been very liberal in giving her a sweet and obliging Nature and she was resolv'd never to hinder it's course but dispence those Talents as liberally as she had receiv'd them This made her Humor affable her Conversation attractive and extreamly welcome to all And the Religious were us'd to say of her That she perfectly imitated St. Paul's example Omnibus omnia facta becoming all to all So chearful so pleasant and so condescending to every ones capacity and humor was this good Novice This comportment of hers depended purely upon the good Judgment which God had bestow'd upon her which gave her a happy conduct in all her Actions and such an insight into the humors and constitutions of those she converst with that thereby she qualified her self for all forts of Tempers She Knew when to be free in Recreation and yet never to abuse that freedom She could presently discern what sort of Spiritual Discourse for they never us'd any other was most agreeable to the Genius of the Persons present and this circumspection not only gave her an extraordinary command over her self but also a great Authority and Power with those she kept company withal It was a Prerogative singular to her self to be at once free and prudent chearful and
thoughts as to cause a regret at their departure Which is a great confirmation of that worth prudence and generosity which all that know her Ladiship not without reason admire her for When they came away the Confessor of the Monastry sent this Character along with them in a Letter to Sister Clare That Mrs. Catherine who was the Elder had so Edified the Religious with her singular Devotion Piety and sweet behaviour that they were all enamour'd with her and that he believ'd they were both predestinated not only to be Religious but to be great Saints For he had never seen such early tokens of both as they gave Thus in succeeding Years was that part of the Gentleman's Letter so far fulfilled that they became Religious As to the other part their Modesty will not permit me to enlarge upon their Virtues and so must be silent since they are now actually living and Profest in that Honorable and Florishing Community of English Benedictine Dames at Dunkirk Upon the 28th of September the Children came safe to Graveling and it was now above a Year since they had seen Sister Clare yet neither length of time nor the disguise of a poor and abject Habit was able to steal away the Memory of so dear a Mother wherefore they ran to her and with all the little hasty joy they were able to express hung about her Neck often kissing her and making a Thousand innocent expressions of fondness and affection towards her She in the mean time to the great amazement of all present did not suffer her self to be in the least carry'd away with the pleasing violence of their endearments but on the contrary remain'd unmov'd just as if Nature had been as dead in her as she desir'd to be to the World Her constancy in the Love of God was not to be shaken by the tender and redoubled expressions of her Children nor did she in the least show any symptom of fondness or tenderness of passion towards them thinking it a Sacriledge after the Sacrifice she had made of them to God to give way to her former Affections or feelings of Nature This made her receive all their innocent Caresses without the least return Which as some of the Religious confest was a strange check to their sensibility which they could not help whilst they beheld this more than human comportment of Sister Clare towards her Children Knowing she lov'd them as much as it was possible for any Mother to do by some particular passage they had observ'd in her which passion she so strangely stifl'd in this moving circumstance that it struck them with the greater admiration Love generally speaks in others from every part but in Sister Clare of Iesus this powerful Orator became dumb Love conquer'd Love the Energy of that silenc't this and the Mother gave place to the Saint As their arrival was a tryal of her Love towards God so it prov'd the Test of her Obedience to her Superior his Vice-gerent for they were no sooner come than she had that task put upon her which she so much dreaded Viz. the taking care of them To this she most submissively yielded thô nothing could more thwart her inclinations She had obtain'd at Liege that her Children should not come to her but at Graveling she must suffer this Mortification of giving more way to Nature than she desir'd But God saw her now more able to bear the one and to resist the other Thô she to prevent the exercise of this care of her Children frequently beg'd to be Scullion in the Kitchin and such like humble Offices which Mother Abbess still put off by telling her VVhen they were able to take care of themselves then she should be employed in such Offices as these but till then she must think that employment most pleasing to God which Obedience put upon her As soon as Sir Iohn VVarner receiv'd the news of his Daughters arrival at Graveling he made what hast he could thither to accomplish that which above all things in this World he had so much long'd for Viz. his Profession Where being arriv'd he was receiv'd with all expressions of joy and kindness on all sides and finding Father Thomas VVorsley still at Graveling whither he went for the comfort and assistance of Sister Clare he Writ to Father Green the Rector of VVatten now his Superior to know whether it would not be convenient that they should make their Professions together at Graveling and if so whether he might not also make his Preparation here of Eight Days Exercise under the conduct of Father VVorsley Father Green consented to both and accordingly they began it In the time of her retirement she made this following Oblation of her self to Christ Crucified Which as I found amongst her Papers in her own hand so I doubt not but you will find it well worth your Reading and therefore thought good to set it down at large Since it contains such admirable Acts that the exercise of them will undoubtedly conduce to your comfort and progress in Virtue as they did to hers Her Oblation to Christ Crucified O immense Ocean of Goodness and Mercy O unmeasurable Abyss of compassion and overflowing Fountain of Love and Charity O the only source of my Being and well-being O my Crucified Savior the only price of my Redemption How late do I come to refresh my Thirsty Soul in those copious Streams that flow from your Sacred Wounds How long has my blindness and ignorance detained me from tasting the sweets of these Heavenly delights A tast of which is only granted to Religious Souls I come at length drawn by the Cords of your Divine Love I come devested of all Creatures that my whole affection may be plac'd upon you my Creator and Redeemer O do not suffer alone but fix me with you to your Cross do not reject a heart inflam'd with a desire of pleasing you and only you Accept a heart melting away with your Love For I come to embrace your Cross bare and naked which alone for the future shall be my Inheritance O let me never be separated from you But if my Soul be not yet perfect enough for this Holy Conjunction let me bury all my imperfections in your Sacred Wounds O Fire O Flame Burn and consume my old defiled Garment let me be purified in the Ocean of your pretious Blood cleanse my Soul throughly and prepare an habitation in it for your self Frame it as you would have it and then take full possession of it for I am close linkt to your Cross by the strong Chains and Bonds of Charity I am burnt in the fire of your Divine and purest Love my heart is wounded with the consideration of your Sufferings whereby you have purchased for me an infinite Treasure of happiness But what have I done for you O Merciful Redeemer or what can I do Behold with the most intense affection of my Soul I freely and intirely give you my self my life and
contrary For this end she would have them always call their Maid Sister in which she show'd no little sign of Humility in her self by commanding them to give the same Title to their Servant they gave to her self And thô nothing could be more taking than the sweet and submissive humor or these Children towards her yet she forc'd the efforts of Nature always to give place to those of Grace as may be gather'd from the following passage The Governours Lady being one Day within the Inclosure amongst the Religious desir'd to see Sister Clare and her Children together upon this she was order'd to come and as she enter'd the Room the Lady wisper'd one of them in the Ear from whom I had the Relation saying I see 't is not a poor and mean Habit that can hide true Mobility and VVorth and beholding her very attentively she was so struck that words were too scant to express the sentiments of her mind till some Tears had made way for them and then recovering her self in a passionate and abrupt manner she said Here needs a Powerful Hand to sustain this great work and being still in a kind of confusion she could not proceed farther upon that subject but looking stedfastly upon the Children who all this time by moving Language Caress'd their Mother and hung about her Neck she broke out again into this expression O Madam how is it possible to leave such Children This is a touch of God that strangely surprizes me Another Person of Quality that accompany'd the Governors Lady seeing their Mother express so little kindness and tenderness towards them endeavor'd to Caress them and show as much fondness towards them as she was able Telling them They did mistake their Mother and that she her self was their Mother and not Sister Clare upon which the Children ran from her to their Mother hanging about her and speaking to her in such moving Language as melted the Ladys heart and mov'd her with Tears modestly to inveigh against the leaving such little Angels declaring That her change of Condition was an act above her Sex nay even above Flesh and Blood and was in her opinion rather to be admir'd then imitated This Rhetoric of both these Ladies had no influence upon Sister Clare she seem'd as if their words had not concern'd her or as if she had not heard them and by this her humble and modest comportment much amaz'd the standers by who admir'd to see God Almighties Grace so strangely Triumphing over the bent and inclination or Nature CHAP. IV. Her Zeal for the Conversion of her Relations to the Catholic Faith her Prayer for them and Ferverous Letters to her Father expressing her passionate Love towards him by her fervent Zeal for his Conversion notwithstanding his great severity and unkindnesses towards her BUt this Heroical abnegation of whatsoever the tenderness of Nature was able to suggest thô very extraordinary as we have seen in the foregoing Chapter did no ways hinder that restless Zeal she always had for the Conversion of her friends Her own words sufficiently prove that her Charity had no other tendency as the following Prayer she made for her nighest Relations will evidence Which I find in her own hand amongst the rest of her Papers O Most great God of Mercy look with the Eyes of compassion upon my near Relations and Friends who are yet detain'd in Schism and Heresie And remember I beseech you that you did not bring them out of their Eternal Nothing and Stamp upon their Souls your own Sacred Image in order to destroy and abandon those perfect products of your powerful hand having been pleas'd to send your only Son to pay the ransome for them as well as for my unworthy self with the price of your most precious Blood Dart therefore O most merciful God some beams of your light into their dark and deceived understandings Have mercy upon them and let the light of your Countenance shine upon them that they may see the Truth of your Sacred Mysteries Give them Grace to submit their Necks to the sweet and easie Yoke of your Precepts propos'd and deliver'd by your Holy Church O my dear Redeemer what have I done for you Or what have I deserv'd at your hands that I should be called to your saving Faith and be made a member of your Holy Church Impart I beseech you the like favor by your bitter Death and Passion to those your misled and unbelieving Creatures my Friends and Relations that together with my self they may faithfully acknowledge adore and love you their glorious Creator and Redeemer here in this World and in the World to come praise and magnifie your goodness and joyfully Celebrate your Mercies with Canticles of Eternal Gratitude and Thanksgiving Amen If this Zeal was so particular for her friends you may imagine how active it was for the conversion of her Father whom she so passionately lov'd that no want of Affection in him was ever able to lessen it Who thô he Wrote several Letters to her yet he never gave her the Title of Child or Subscrib'd himself her Father But oftentimes in his Letters he upbraids her for committing an unheard of ingratitude in taking such a course as this was without asking his advice or consent The news of which as he said in one seem'd to him incredible because he never judg'd that her Husband's or her Affections to one another had been so moderate by any thing he had ever heard or seen as that they could be perswaded upon pretence of Christianity to embrace such a strange and horrid undertaking by breaking the Solemn Vow of Matrimony That hereby she seem'd to have suckt the Milk of a Tygress rather than of a Woman and to have lost all good Nature and even Humanity it self He added that it was an injury done to Heaven to call such follies and Insinuations as these Inspirations and godly motions assuring her upon his Faith that all the Catholics he had spoken with condemned this rash and inconsiderate Action of theirs and therefore conjur'd her either to return to England that he might have the comfort of visiting them there or to live together some where in France or Flanders whether he would come to see them Requiring her to obey this his advice as the Counsel of a Father Which if she did not he would never give her his blessing and ends his Letter by a bare subscription of his Name These severe checks from a Father she lov'd so tenderly must needs have wrought upon her had not the Grace of Almighty God in a particular manner assisted her so piously to bear them and that she did so is evident from the Dutiful Answer she return'd him to his Letter couch't in so hard and severe terms SIR THe great condescention of your Goodness to me I did not receive till almost two Months after it's date else I had not deferred my acknowledgment of it a Minute and was not all that
time without great perplexity whether I might without an unpardonable presumption attempt to beg your blessing since my Actions have unhappily appear'd to you so Criminal as rather to deserve the contrary Wherefore I most humbly beg you upon my Knees to give me leave to offer unto you the sole Motives of our so much wonder'd at resolutions You know Sir that the State of Life I am now in is but what God Almighty has been pleas'd to grant me after a long and earnest pursuit of it and which if it had pleas'd him to move you to grant me sooner as he was pleas'd to move my dear Sir John Warner not only to consent to but even to propose might have prevented the unhappy disturbance I have since given you Those that consider his Vertue and that our Affections were wholy grounded on that will not wonder we should deprive our selves of those Temporal enjoyments we had here to make one another a present of Eternal ones and indeed Sir I presume to say I believe you have that opinion of my kindness to him thô you were never pleas'd to believe I had those due Respects and Affections I ought for you which might make you mitigate that severe Censure you are pleas'd to make of my Actions towards you Certainly Sir less than a particular and strong Impression that the World was not safe for me had not been sufficient to have made me part with such an Husband if you will give me leave to say nothing of your self But I must now acknowledge Sir that every word of this without your particular goodness may be offensive Therefore I do not Write without extraordinary pain As to the Infinite blessing of a Fathers presence that you were pleas'd to mention 't was too great to be offer'd till we were out of the Power of enjoying it and if you did not name it for a Torment to me you would find these Countries considering the nearness of the Spaw very convenient for you here being such entertainments and so good Conversations which if I were not here might perhaps be an invitation to you Oh Sir I wish since God has thus dispos'd of me by his infinite mercy that we had a Monastry near you in Wales for if I am to have any happiness in this World I wish it might be by your procurement For then my heart would be at rest that you had forgiven me but above all that by so acceptable a work as this you had gain'd those blessings of Almighty God which in my Prayers I shall never cease to ask knowing you would then find that true content which the World has not yet been able to give you Which that you may I beseech him of his mercy to move you to pardon whatever appears to you as Criminal in me since what contradicts not the Duty I owe my Heavenly Father I shall ever confess due to you With all Humility upon my Knees I beg your blessing for my self and Children Your most passionate and affectionate Poor Child CLARE of JESUS To which Letter she adds this Post-Script Sir I thought fit to send you these but I beseech you forget them as soon you have read them and forgive me who am the cause of so much trouble to you Nor did her restless Zeal for her Father's Conversion terminate here but she still us'd new Methods of endeavouring it And receiving no Answer to her last Letter she procur'd a Catholic Gentleman who was extreamly well verst in Controversie and a Neighbor to Sir Thomas Hanmer to take the occasion of giving him a Visit and Discoursing with him concerning Catholic Religion and withal desir'd him to carry this second Letter no less passionate then the former that by his Conversation he might come to a better knowledge of the truth of the Roman Catholic Religion SIR MY Obligations and ardent affection for you will not suffer me to be long silent nor to fear or excuse my often troubling you and I do now do it in hopes that the Conversation and acquaintance of this Gentleman who is the bearer will be so welcome to you that you will esteem his Company a divertisment At least Sir grant me this only request and satisfaction to hear you have discoursed with him I do really assure my self that if you were convinced of the necessity and had weighed the many reasons why you ought to be other than what you are your heart is too great and Noble to be kept back by any Worldly consideration St. Austin had surely something extraordinary in his Soul before it me with it's right Object and give me leave to say Sir so have you and I hope you may live to teach many to Love as he did if once all hindrances were taken away betwixt you and that ravishing goodness of God What is it we seek after but full contentment of mind And who can give that but the plenitude of all goodness In him there is nothing but love and joy his nature is to make all things happy in him and whoever has once experienced the delights he gives proper for the Soul will immediately abhor those of Sense and confess them to be real pains Sir what can you leave or suffer but he can fortifie you to undergo and change into comfort what by nature you most of all fear And infallibly his goodness will do so if you will only hear and Discourse impartially Which on my Knees I humbly beg for Christ's sake in remembrance of all he suffer'd for you Sir do not deny me behold me at your Feet embracing them with the affection of my whole heart and be no longer cruel to your self who are so dear to me since all the joys in this World can be nothing to me without your being happy Pardon me this importunity I could Write I confess and never give over but for fear of troubling you being truly thô your unworthy yet Your most passionate and affectionate poor Child CLARE of JESUS One would have thought that these lines so full of respect and affection might have deserv'd an Answer if the former had not and have convinced him that the want of affection was not the cause of her pious undertaking which he taxt her with but that this happy change of hers had purified that love which she before had for him in giving her so great a concern as she expresses in this for his Conversion on which depended his Eternal happiness And thô neither this nor those dayly Prayers and Tears she offer'd for him could gain the least upon him yet still she continu'd her sollicitations to Heaven in his behalf and that her Prayers might be the more efficacious she endeavour'd the more earnestly to obtain a more perfect and happy Union with God CHAP. V. Her generous Resolution of tending to Perfection The Testimony of her Ghostly Father and others how diligently she puts these her Resolutions in Practice IT will not perchance here be amiss to give
one of the solidity and excellency of her Prayer if we take a view of it's fruits For let the Prayer be never so high and never so hard to be understood the fruits thereof are visible and easily perceiv'd Her Prayer then thô it was very high did not consist in extravagant Raptures and Transports which sometimes draw to self esteem stifness of judgment a neglect of Rule and Order but in the practice of all solid Vertues As she her self hath given us to understand by transmitting unto us those Divine lights and interior motions Almighty God infus'd into her Soul which afford us so many convincing arguments of the sollidity of her fervor and Devotion Take then in her own words a short Summary of what she so long practis'd Some of her Fruits of Prayer How long O most pure Object of Divine Love shall I be deprived of that Soveraign good which my Soul incessantly thirsts after When will you put a period to this my tedious banishment When shall I be satiated with the fruition of your glorious aspect I am wholy transported with the love of your unspeakable goodness and my ardent affections surpass the bounds of moderation But the consideration of the Beatifical Vision and my own unworthiness gives me a severe check and puts me in mind of my own aspiring presumption telling me that if my wandring thoughts soar so high as to pretend to the favors of bosom friends the heavy burden of my Inquities and Transgressions will bring me to an unseasonable fall O dismal Consideration O horrid desolation This is the Dart that deeply pierces my poor Soul This is that fierce and cruel Lyon which with open Jaws seems ready to devour me and rend in pieces my bleeding heart whether then shall I turn my self but to you O my God the fountain of mercy and goodness Succor this distressed Soul of mine which you have framed according to your own likeness But how can I hope for mercy from you my Powerful Creator Whose Divine Perfections I have so often contemned whose Sacred Law I have so frequently violated whose Holy Inspirations I have so much rejected whose amiable Invitations I have most ungratefully slighted and wholy defaced the Sacred Image of your Divinity which you imprinted on my Soul nor can I alledge any Merits of my own that may make me worthy of your favor or mercy but like a helpless wretch my own Conscience crys out guilty and fills me with shame and confusion before the Tribunal of your Sacred Majesty What hopes then of redress What Advocate to plead my cause Shall the Sins of my Life past seperate me from what is so dear to me O Eternal Sun of Glory let the peircing beams of your brightness dissipate the dark Clouds of my Transgressions and open the way for an Interview between me and you the only comfort of my Soul Let the ardent fire of your Charity dissolve whatever is hard and frozen in me inflame my heart with an intense love for your Beauty and excellency let not Heaven frown upon me for therein lies all the Treasure I hope for Have mercy therefore upon me O most compassionate Redeemer I am that Prodigal Child who have spent so many Years in Ignorance and Error consuming the precious substance of your Soveraign Graces by my vain and licentious living and now finding my self destitute of all Spiritual helps by your sweet attracting Inspirations I return full of sorrow and confusion to you my loving Father my skilful Physitian my powerful Redeemer I confess I have sinned against Heaven and before you but open I beseech you the Bowels of compassion and of your great mercy and bounty receive me again into favor I am that lost Sheep who have so long gone astray from your Flock But since it has pleased your never failing Providence to bring me into the sweet Pastures of your Holy Catholic Church keep and preserve me in it by your most powerful hand let not the deceitful allurements of the World lay any farther infection upon my Soul Heal my sores by the infusion of those Spiritual Graces which your bitter Passion has Merited for me bind up my wounds cleanse me from my Iniquities speak but the word and my Soul shall live O let not any thing remain within me that may make me ungrateful to your most infinite Purity Your All-seeing Eye does most clearly penetrate the most secret corners of my Soul Burn therefore and consume with that Fire of pure Charity all the stubble and dross of my former transgressions that I may have a pure Soul suitable to your pure love for you know that nothing can satiate my ardent desires but your self in whom all good is contain'd Give your self therefore O Beauty of Angels give your self to my Soul and I shall be rich enough But alas what reciprocal Oblation can I make O source of goodness I can give nothing to you but what I have receiv'd from you take therefore to your self my whole Being take all the powers of my Soul all the senses my Body my Heart my Will my Desires and Affections take all that I am have or can hope for and if I had more I would give more if I may call any thing a gift to your self who are the Supreme Lord of all things and therefore whatever I can give you is already your own take therefore what is yours and dispose of it according to your most blessed Will and Pleasure Make my Will yours and let all the faculties of my Soul never move but to bless and praise you that so drawing nearer and nearer to you who are my sole delight I may at length be wholy absorpt in your Sacred Divinity and Celebrate your praises with an Eternal Alleluia Thus you see how by the purgative and illuminative way she attains to the Unitive after so high and wonderful a manner that she seems to have traced out the foot-steps of that worthy Gentleman and great Spiritualist Mr. Ruisson with whom as I before mention'd she became acquainted at Liege and to have put in practice those admirable directions for Prayer which at her request he gave her in a Letter not long before her Death Which since there appears in it an Idea of that Perfection to which he had arriv'd and she so closely follow'd thô it be somewhat long yet I cannot believe it will seem tedious and therefore have set it down at large in the following Chapter CHAP. VII Mr. Ruisson's Letter to Sister Clare containing admirable directions for Prayer and Vnion with God in which Perfection chiefly consists Together with her humble Answer DEar Sister in Iesus Christ in the Country of darkness all is darkness The light is reser'd for Heaven which God hides from us in this World under Shadows Visions and Figures which St. Dennis of Alexandria admir'd and reverenc'd without understanding them Whilst Adam acted by the Principles of Faith he conserved himself in the State of Innocency
with bad Mony and indeed we have no other make a Divine Commerce an Eternal Bargain with God whereby your Will which is a free Spiritual and an Immortal Power Mistress of her self and of all the other Powers does from this moment for ever destine imploy and apply all the parts and peices of your Being to be as the hand of a Dial that shows the hour a perpetual Remembrance Congratulation Thanksgiving and Iubilation for all the Praises Homages Respects and Adorations which all Creatures give or shall eternally give to God for the love he bears to himself to the end you may Adore and Glorifie him in this Spirit and love him with that eternal love which alone is worthy of him And God will shew you as much good will and give you as great a reward for it as if you your self did give all the Offerings Sacrifices and Blessings which Men and Angels give him in Heaven and Earth Nay the Will that has an Infinity for it's Object may make all the Individuals of Human and Angelical Natures all the motions of Soul and Body Nay even all Created Beings to an Atome or grain of Sand concur to so noble a work Good God how admirable profitable and Divine is this exercise which costs nothing at all and may be compleated in a moment And what Treasures of Glory does a Man loose that is either ignorant of it or neglects it Whilst he is busied in so many things whilst he is sad or joyful upon account of different accidents without referring them to God as their Origin Since in him they are eternal infinite and most perfect and out of him they are nothing but vanity and lys that is finite corruptible and subject to an infinity of changes Dear Sister stop a while here view this Spirit of Vnity which is the Spirit of God himself which gathers divided and dis-united things into one to draw us out of multiplicity and the imperfection of nature into this holy Vnion with a Transformation into himself Which makes one contrary to be found in the other the Creature in God Perfection in Imperfection Vnity in Multiplicity Light in Darkness Peace in War Recollection in Distraction Sweetness in the Cross Abundance in Poverty Life in Death Corporal in Spiritual God in All and All in Him Do not mistake me I beseech you in thinking that because God changes so often his manner of proceeding with you he is not still yours and you his dive by the light of Faith into the darkness where he hides himself penetrate the Veiles of Bodies and Spirits with which he covers himself see him act in all his Creatures giving them their determinate motion who is properly their Life and Being Not a Hair presents it self unto our Eyes without his sight and permission to the end that that lively and active Faith of yours may see him in his Images and Characters as we see a Saint in his Cloaths or a Friend in Imagination whilst we behold his Picture that repairs the weakness of our Memory Dear Sister make the last effort imitate a King who to Establish himself and to Reign peaceably in a Kingdom newly Conquer'd fills every place with horror and desolation Puts to the Sword not only such as oppose his designs but even rids himself of his suspected Friends for fear of some Treasonable surprize In like manner do you kill and destroy all your Sworn Enemies Annihilate all your desires and Passions take leave even of what appears Vertue and Perfection because they make a noise and pudder and cause more Smoak and distracttion than they augment the fire of Love Bid Love enter into it's source cause Humility to keep love Company or debase it self below Lucifer and desire your Friends to sleep and take their repose since the Son of Man goes to be abandoned forsaken and Crucified to Establish God alone in All and through All. His Dominion and Empire in a Soul in Grace is the Creating Essence or the very Essence of the Creator I have made an Epitome of the Nothing of all things and of the All of God which Practice will better explain than reason I hope this at present is sufficient to assure you of the Affection of him who is as much as any one in the World except your Brother Clare Dear Sister Your most humble and most affectionate Servant in God RUISSON Herke Iuly 13. 1669. To show with what Humility and how briefly and solidly she reply'd to this excellent Letter I will here set down her Answer Translated out of French which contains a great deal of substance in a few words SIR I Confess 't is a good while since I receiv'd your welcome Letter which my indisposition hinder'd me till now from Answering Please but to obtain for me some of that true and pure love of God which you so well discourse of and so faithfully practice that animated thereby I may be able to suffer sickness or whatever God pleases to send me with such a perfect submission and Vnion to his Divine Will as that I may become intirely his and then I shall be better able to converse with you for at present I am unworthy of such a Conveâ—sation but must own that when 't is God's Will to move you to Write to me I both receive and read your Letters with a great deal of comfort yet cannot desire this or any thing else but that his Holy Will should be done in all things Amen SIR Your most unworthy Servant CLARE of JESUS For the Love of God and the Blessed Virgin Pray for me CHAP. VIII A Short Account of some remarkable passages in the Life and Death of Mr. Ruisson SInce Mr. Ruisson's Letter set down in the foregoing Chapter as you have seen contains so much Spirit and Devotion I think it will be no unpardonable digression if I add a word or two concerning himself that the Reader may be convinced that this Servant of God practized what he Taught and thereby be induc'd to set a high value and estimate as well upon his Person as upon his Doctrin and also conceive a higher esteem of Sister Clare since a Person so Illuminated and favor'd by God as he was exprest so high an esteem of her and such a Zeal to serve her in so earnestly promoting her advancement in Perfection and the service of God Take for a mark of his Humility a Vertue that is the foundation of all Perfection the humble Letter he Writ to Brother Clare then Studying Philosophy at Liege in which he inclosed the foresaid Letter unsealed where after all the pains he had taken in Writing it and in obtaining light from Heaven without which such a Letter could not be Writ left the sending or burning it intirely to him confiding more in the Judgment of others than his own a great mark of Humility and of the true Spirit of God His Letter follows Translated out of Latin in which it was Writ Dearest Brother in
never recover from that sickness The only concern she had now left was for her Fathers Conversion and what would become of the Children after her Death which the thoughts of Brother Clares Death had for some time hinder'd her from thinking upon CHAP. XIII Her concern for her Father and Children She seeks her greater Mortification even to the last The Declaration of her satisfaction in her State of Life a little before her Death THe concern Sister Clare had been in for the suspected Death of Brother Clare and fright of her own being deluded had for some time made her forget her concern for her Father but no sooner were those apprehensions taken away but this return'd together with the apprehension least after her Death her Father should endeavour to prosecute his design of geting the Children into England and there perverting them from the Catholic Faith bring their Souls into as dangerous a condition as his own was in But now not being able to Write her self she desir'd one of the Religious to Write what she would dictate to her which she did in the following words SIR BEing at present unable to Write my self I am forced to make use of anothers hand to beg with my last breath a continuation of your kindness to me after my Death by giving your consent that my Children may be brought up in the place where they now live and that you would also please to reflect how unsafe the Religion you are of is to dye in and think before it be too late cf your Salvation This I crave of you for the bloody Passions sake of our dear Savior Your poor Child TREVOR HANMER At the beginning of her Letter she seem'd pleasant and chearful but before she came to the end of it the sadness of the subject had made her Heart also sad this Letter thô short is very expressive of her constant affection to her Father and concern for her Children wherein she to move him the more to grant what she asked made use of the most powerful Motives of our Saviors Passion and his own Affection which she endeavour'd to stir up by subscribing it with her Maiden Name Being in this weak condition we have mention'd notwithstanding the interior and exterior afflictions she suffer'd she had not forgot or lest off to Mortifie her self for she still practis'd it upon her dying Body out of too unreasonable a persuit I know not how to term it of self denyal and suffering refusing to ask that assistance which her condition requir'd but would sometimes lye three or four hours and very often for an hour with that stilness and quiet that one could not discern whether she were living or dead unless by her breath And all judged it to be no little pain for one in a Feaver to live so long without any manner of refreshment or change of posture which the Religious were still ready to give her but she never askt nay would scarce accept of when offer'd unless by Obedience This render'd the Religious rather sharers in her sufferings than inabl'd them to give her any comfort or solace in them And from this all that attended her were assur'd that she treated her Body in her sickness with no less rigor than she did in her health and that to her last breath she kept inviolably that purpose I find amongst others in her own hand For the love of God I will ever deny my self whatever is pleasing to me thô lawful for we and endeavour as much as Holy Obedience will permit to do all such things for his sake as shall be most contrary to my nature Let all Creatures love praise and honor Jesus Maria Joseph but let me be confounded A brave and Heroical resolution in which she exprest the constancy of her Love to God and contempt of her self A few days before her happy Death some of the Religious in the presence of the Doctor compassionated her present weakness for her Spirits were almost exhausted and her strength quite spent but the Doctor Answer'd That 't was no wonder to see her in that condition by reason of the many Austerities and Mortifications she had undergone and chiefly the violent combat she had often had with Nature of which he found evident Symptoms in her Body Sister Clare hearing this and thinking that some might infer from hence that all her Life in Religion had been troublesome and uneasie to remove this suspition and to undeceive those that were present especially the Doctor call'd God to Witness these following words I have so much content and satisfaction at present and always had in this State of Life that I voluntarily took upon my self as that were I again as free to choose as ever I would embrace This very condition and State of Life and no other Thô this was the last yet 't was not the only time she had signified her satisfaction in Religion and then also exprest a dislike to her former condition for being asked what mov'd her so to Mortifie her self She Answer'd That the Love she ow'd to God made her esteem all she did and suffer'd as nothing and render'd all the hardships of her present Rules most easie and pleasant adding That what is suffer'd even in the strictest Orders is nothing to what many VVorldlings often suffer even when in outward appearance they seem most happy A few hours before she dyed she desir'd that several Candles might be lighted and put within her Curtains which all wonder'd at because she had before expressed a difficulty and unwillingness to see any light But it seems that Almighty God mov'd her to desire this faint Representation of that Eternal Light she was going to possess For she immediately after with a smiling Countenance declining her Head in Mother Abbesses Breast without the least groan or sigh gave up her pure Soul into the hands of her Creator about Seven a Clock at Night upon the 26th of Ianuary and as she had liv'd in a constant practice so Providence would have her dye in the bosome of Obedience wherefore we may truly say her Death Answer'd her Life she lived a Saint and so she dy'd The End of the Third Book THE LIFE OF THE LADY WARNER In RELIGION Sister CLARE of IESVS THE FOVRTH BOOK CHAP. I. Marks whereby God gave evidence of her Vertuous Life after her Death THE bounty and liberality of God to his Servants is such that as they give signs of their Love towards him in their Life as well in Body as Soul so he often expresses marks of his after their Death not only to their Souls in Heaven making them partakers of his Beatifical Vision but also extends such marks of his Love to their Bodies still in this World as may signifie to us the happiness of their Souls in in the other This he expressed to Sister Clare Whose Countenance after her Death retain'd so Angelical and Ravishing a sweetness as made all the Community which came with sad
they shall never want a Mother in what lies in my Power to serve them and I shall always look upon it as an obligation and pledge of that Treasure their dear Mother whom God has been pleased to deprive us â—f I must confess my weakness in not well bearing so great a Cross and our Community is in such a melancholly temper that we are incapable of giving them any comfort upon her death For this reason I sent for Reverend Father Rector of Watten who has acted the part of a Comforter both to them and us I keep her Beads Reliquary and Proffession Ring which she so highly esteem'd for you to dispose of who I hope this Summer will give us a Visit which will be the greatest comfort that your sweet Children and this Community can receive especially my self who am Dear Brother Graveling Ianuary 27th 1670. Your obliged and humble Servant ANNE BONAVENTURE Abbess CHAP. IV. A Letter to Brother Clare from Reverend Father Warren Confessour to the Poor Clares of Graveling concerning the Death of Sister Clare in which he also takes notice of some particular Vertues she excell'd in THO' the foresaid Letter confirms what we have hitherto said concerning Sister Clare yet I hope the Addition of another from her Confessour who had a more intimate knowledge of her than Mother Abbess could have Sister Clare being accustom'd to disclose to him the most hidden secrets of her heart will not seem tedious since it more efficaciously shews the Truth of what I have already Writ than any other Testimony that has been yet given he being the fittest Person to give us a knowledge of that eminent Perfection she had in a short time arriv'd to which joyn'd with that of so Prudent Vertuous and Experienc d a Superior as I have related must needs convince the Reader of Sister Clares most eminent Vertue Honour'd Sir THE happiness I have had in being acquainted with Sister Clare whose Name I can scarce write or even think of without Tâ—ars is a reward sufficient for what service I have been able to do her She was indeed the Pattern and Mirror of a true Religious Soul there could not possibly be any one more dis-engag'd from all things here below than she was for that short time that God was pleas'd to lend her to us nothing but God nothing but Heaven was in her Heart and Month. All other Discourses and entertainments were tedious to her as I am confident you know very well yet notwithstanding all these gusts and comforts that her Soul tasted in thinking of her Heavenly Spouse she seem'd as she thought to be perfectly forsaken by him in her last Sickness wherefore I cannot be perswaded but God us'd this means to purifie her Soul that it might fly directly into his loving embraces where 't is at present absorpt in Eternal delights But because the Iudgments of God are secret I will never cease to remember her dayly in my Poor Devotions But I cannot end this sad subject without speaking a word or two of her Perfections for your comfort First her Humility and perfect Contempt of her self which is the foundation of all other Vertues was such as that the most Ambitious Person could not more earnestly seek after Honor than she sought in all things her greatest Abnegation and Humiliation neither was she content to have this low and mean esteem of her self but earnestly desir'd to imprint the same in the minds of all others taking all occasions she was able of doing it and when she found her endeavors had not the desir'd effect but according to our Saviors promise Qui se humiliat exaltabitur He that humbles himself shall be exalted that the more pains she took to lessen the more she gain'd esteem it cannot be imagin'd what an affliction this was to her which the Enemy took an occasion to push on to such an excess that had she not had that submission to her Directors which was admirable in her and follow'd their advice rather than her own inclinations this affliction had caus'd her to leave this place to go amongst Strangers The only fault she found with it being the too much esteem and respect she receiv'd from the Religious which was to her humble Spirit as great a Mortification as the want of it can be even to the proudest heart Her Love and Practice of Mortification and Abnegation was also very extraordinary Nor would permit her to rest satisfied with the ordinary Austerities of the Rule which were even too great for her delicate and tender Complexion to suffer unless she added others to them and my refusing her leave to practice the Pennances she so earnestly desir'd I believe was a greater Mortification than they themselves could have been to her I often thought whilst she as earnestly Petition'd for leave to practice extraordinary Mortifications as if she had beg'd for her Life of the agreement of her Spirit with that of St. Teresa's her great Paironess who beg'd of God so earnestly Either to permit her to suffer or to die and that which mov'd Sister Clare chiefly to this ardent desire of suffering for God was her extraordinary Love of him better exprest as she thought by suffering than any way else and therefore what she could not get leave to practice exteriorly she interiorly supply'd by violently contradicting and overcoming her passions and even lawful inclinations in such a manner as to keep her self constantly upon the rack never giving the least way to Nature but curbing it upon all occasions so that her dayly Conversation with her Children which seem'd to others a comfort was to her without doubt a great occasion of suffering it giving nature an occasion of a continual conflict over which she constantly got the Mastery Her Conformity to God's Will and Abnegation of her own appear'd no less admirable in her blind and prompt Obedience than in receiving from his hands whatever his Providence vouchsaft to send by others and what was most contrary to Flesh and Blood seem'd always most pleasing and welcome to her By these steps of Humility Mortification and Conformity she had rais'd her self to such an Vnion with God as was wonderful walking always in his presence which no employment or accident could deprive her off And all the time she had free to her self she spent in a profound Contemplation or Communication with his Divine Majesty who was not wanting on his part in replenishing her Soul with such extraordinary Lights and Graces as still animated and strengthned her in the constant pursuite of the highest Perfection Nor was she so absâ—rpt in the Love of God as to permit that to her Neighbor to be less fervent and active her Love to his Image was like that to himself always in action on all occasions assisting every one with that Zeal that Humility that Chearfulness and Comfort as if what she did to them had been actually done to himself And her compassion whilst she assisted those who
manner of any other Imperfections or Temptations that come into my mind thô I know not whether I have consented to them or not So much for her Vertues in General CHAP. VI. A more exact Relation of her Vertues in particular THO' in the former Chapter the Religious whom she convers'd with have given as you have Read an ample Testimony of her Sanctity yet they seem rather to reduce what they affirm to General heads than descend to particulars upon a stricter scrutiny I find her Vertues more distinctly set down by several informations I receiv'd from Graveling They begin first with that of her Prayer in which she was so recollected as if God had been visibly present before her or she had spoken to his Divine Majesty This Holy Spirit of Prayer and Recollection whereby she exprest her Love towards God was strangely animated and increas'd by her Charity towards her Neighbor which God gives for a Mark of our Love towards himself All her Actions and designs were nothing else but so many Acts of Charity and her chief employment when she did not entertain her self with God was to assist the necessities of her Neighbor and comfort the Afflicted A whole Cloud of Witnesses and indeed as many as there were persons in that Holy Community in which she liv'd unanimously Testifie that Sister Clare of Iesus did so much excel in Charity towards her Neighbor that she scarce enjoy'd her self whilst she perceiv'd another to be in any trouble or affliction so that their sorrow prov'd hers and made her even ready to part with her own content and happiness to make them chearful There are a Hundred instances in this kind of her extraordinary Charity in which she so abounded that she made it properly her business to do good to all and like St. Paul become all to all behold an act of Charity one of the Religious recounts There were several of the Community who did not understand French wherefore Sister Clare who had several excellent French Books lent her for her own use was not content to enjoy that benefit alone but most willingly imparted the advantage she receiv'd by them to those who knew not how to make use of them For this end she obtain'd leave of the Superior to Read an hour in the Work-house every Sunday and Holy-day to those who had a mind to hear her They who attended to her Reading affirm that the bare explicating to them the sense of the Book was more moving than any Sermon and that they found themselves transported to see the Devotion with which she relish'd every word which she exprest with such a Grace and Emphasis as made a deep Impression in their Souls Nor was she contented with the Practice of this act of Charity whilst she was well but even when she was Sick of a Quartaine Ague which had reduced her to so very low and weak a condition as forc't her to keep the Infirmary understanding that one of the Lay-Sisters was troubled that she lost the hearing of what was Read at Table out of a French Book which was much commended by the Religious that heard it she being employ'd at that time Sister Clare earnestly desir'd leave of Reverend Mother Abbess as weak as she was that the Sister might come to the Infirmary when her employments would permit her and that she might dayly Read to her there what had been Read at Table The Touch-Stone of true Love and Charity to our Neighbor is said to be the Guard of the Tongue how free she was from a censorious Spirit the unhappy Temper of too many of this Age may be observ'd from hence that she was never heard to utter the least word or to offer the least insinuation in dispraise or dislike of another a Habit she had got from a Child and practis'd not only before her Conversion as hath been said but ever after in such perfection that the good Name of every one seem'd as tender to her as the Aple of her Eye and more esteem'd by her than herown wherefore she set a strict guard not only upon her Lips but even upon her very thoughts knowing how the one does influence the other because according to the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaks wherefore it made her endeavour not only to banish from her own mind all rash surmises or censures but to hinder as much as she was able that the like should not either enter into or make any abode in the thoughts of others wherefore if she heard any thing said less to anothers advantage if she could not excuse the fact that was recounted of them which she endeavour'd to do in the first place she always excus'd their intention and by these her Charitable endeavours either chang'd the Discourse or turn'd it to the advantage of the persons that were spoken of by taking occasion of praising them for some extraordinary Vertue she had taken notice of in them To this degree of Charity she arriv'd by a certain agreeable sweetness in her Nature for 't was observ'd that her word were always season'd with terms of compassion and love so operative that they heal'd the most secret infirmities of the mind Being at work with a Sister whom she understood to be not only sick in Body but also in some Interior trouble of mind which proceeded from a tedious indisposition she kindly embrac'd her and said Dear Sister calling her by her Name take Courage God sees and will reward your sufferings This Charitable expression out of the time alotted for Recreation utter'd with so much affection and by her who was so exact an observer and lover of silence gave the Sister no less cause of wonder than of joy and comfort The love of God mov'd her to the love of silence the better to attend to his Divine inspirations which nothing could make her break but the love of her Neighbor with which he inspir'd her and which she knew was no less pleasing to him when exercis'd for his sake towards his Image than when perform'd towards himself All bounds were too narrow for that overflowing goodness and zeal she had for the Conversion of Souls her Tears were in a continual manner spent upon this account she never made an end of urging her Children to offer up their Innocent Devotions for this end nor was the unkind return of an angry Father able to diminish the Zeal she had for his Conversion and concern for his Eternal Happiness The End of the Fourth Book The Authors Protestation IN Obedience to the Decâ—ee of Our Holy Father Pope Vrban the VIII of happy Memory Dated the 13th of March in the Year 1625. in which he Ordains that whosoever Composes the Life of any Person of eminent Vertue should make the following Protestation I Protest that I understand all that I have Writ in the foregoing Life of the Lady VVarner to have no other force and credit than what is grounded upon human Authority without the Churches
Approbation I do moreover declare that by the Title of Saint which upon occasion I have given her or any other Person whose Vertues I have related I intended only to signifie thereby that they were endow'd with a more than ordinary Vertue and design'd the word should be taken in no other sense than what St. Paul meant it when he apply'd it to the more Vertuous amongst the Primitive Christians and had no intention to ranck them amongst Beatified or Canoniz'd Saints which power only appertains to the Holy See Apostolick Having nothing more to add to the foregoing Memoires I heartily wish the Reader may find as much comfort in their perusal as I did in Reading and putting them together and that whatever I have here Writ may redound to Gods greater Honor and Glory Amen The End of the Life THE CONTENTS OF EACH BOOK OF THE Life of the Lady WARNER The First BOOK Contains her Life to her Entrance into Religion CHAP. I. HER Birth and Family her inclination even from her tender Years to a Religious Life both in France and England Pag. 1. CHAP. II. Her Pious designs are crossed by her Mother-in-law and what happen'd to her till the time of her Marriage Pag. 9. CHAP. III. The first interview between her and Sir John Warner her Marriage and behaviour in the World Pag. 15. CHAP. IV. The first beginning and occasion of her Conversion Pag. 30. CHAP. V. A Relation of Sir John Warners Conversion and how both he and his Lady resolve to enter upon a Religious course of Life Pag. 49. The Second BOOK Contains her Life from her Entrance into Religion till her Profession CHAP. I. She takes the Habit at Liege amongst the English Nuns's call'd Sepulchrines of the Order of St. Austin Pag. 71. CHAP. II. How she came to be call'd to a more rigorous State of Life or to a stricter Order Pag. 78. CHAP. III. How she resolves to enter amongst the Poor Clares her departure and journy from Liege and her arrival at Graveling Pag. 87. CHAP. IV. Sister Clare of Jesus begins her Noviship amongst the English Poor Clares at Graveling her Humility Zeal Courage Chearfulness and Blind-obedience in this her new Enterprize Pag 101. CHAP. V. Her Interior and Exterior Mortification her singular Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament her modesty and recollection Pag. 109. CHAP. VI. The happy thô untimely Death of Mr. Francis Warner and how this and several other cross and unexpected accidents which happen'd to Sir John retarded her Profession to which the Enemy endeavour'd to make even hâ—r self instrumental and how she discover'd and generously overcame his crafty Temptations Pag. 120. CHAP. VII Her Letter in Answer to one Sir John Writ upon the news of her desires to leave Graveling new hindrances of her Profession by the delay of the execution of a Commission out of Chancery and Death of Mother Taylor Abbess of the Poor Clares Pag. 136. CHAP. VIII Her concern about her Children's Education her Letters to Sir John and the Abbess of Gant about their removal to Graveling Sir John's return from England their preparation for their Profession her Oblation of her self during the Exercise and their taking their last leave of each other the Night before they made their Vows Pag. 143. The Third BOOK Contains her Life from her Profession or the making her Vows to her Death CHAP. I. The Ceremony of their Profession at Graveling Pag. 161. CHAP. II. What effects this Ceremony wrought upon her self and those that were present at it the great Victory she obtain'd over her Passions manifested by her unconcernedness in this and on some other very moving occasions Pag. 177. CHAP. III. Her exact compliance with Mother Abbesses Orders in taking care of her Children in which she exprest more of a careful Mistress than a tender Mother and hereby manifested that pure Obedience the inclination of Grace and not affection to her Children the inclination of Nature mov'd her to accept this employment Pag. 185. CHAP. IV. Her Zeal for the Conversion of her Relations to the Catholic Faith her Prayer for them and ferverous Letters to the Father expressing her passionate love towards him by her fervent Zeal for his Conversion notwithstanding his great severity and unkindnesses towards her Pag. 190. CHAP. V. Her generous resolution of tending to perfection the Testimony of her Ghostly Father and others how diligently she puts these her resolutions in practice Pag. 199. CHAP. VI. The Excellency of her Prayer gather'd from it's fruits Pag. 204. CHAP. VII Mr. Ruisson's Letter to Sistâ—r Clare containing admirable directions for Prayâ—r and Vnion with God in which perfection chiâ—fly consists Together with her humble Answer Pag. 210. CHAP. VIII A short account of some remarkable passages in the Life and Death of Mr. Ruisson Pag. 222. CHAP. IX A Remarkable passage of her burning her Picture a little before her Death Pag. 230. CHAP. X. The foresiight God gave her of her Death her concern for her Fathers Conversion and her Letters to him about it Pag. 234. CHAP. XI Her Interior sufferings in time of her Sickness and the effects of her Childrens Visit Pag. 241. CHAP. XII Another tryal God gave her to compleat her Crown Pag. 245. CHAP. XII Her concern for her Father and Children she seeks her greater Mortification even to the last the declaration of her satisfaction in her State of Life a little before her Death Pag. 252. The Fourth BOOK Contains some passages that happen'd after her Death CHAP. I. Marks whereby God gave evidence of her Vertuous Life after her Death Pag. 257 CHAP. II. The Points of her Funeral Sermon in short together with her Burial and Epitaph Pag. 261. CHAP. III. The Letter of Reverend Mother Abbess of Graveling to Brother Clare concerning Sister Clares happy Death with an abrigment of her Vertuous Life Pag. 208. CHAP. IV. A Letter to Brother Clare from Reverend Father Warren Confessour to the Poor Clares of Graveling concerning the Death of Sister Clare in which he also takes notice of some particular Vertues she excell'd in Pag. 273. CHAP. V. A Description in General of the Sanctity of her Life Pag. 280. CHAP. VI. A more exact Relation of her Vertues in particular Pag. 284. FINIS