JESUS Not long after she had Writ this Letter a good occasion offering it self by a Gentlemans passing through Graveling who going for England undertook to deliver a Letter to her Father with his own hand she took the pains to Write again being mov'd to it by the thoughts of her own approaching Death as well as by the news of the Death of several of her Fathers Neighbours and Relations which put her in mind of what might happen to him and how unprepared he was for it SIR WHilst I was making a strict iniquiry how I might speedily and securely send you another Letter in hopes that before I die your goodness would move you to vouchsafe me the comfort of such an Answer as my heart most passionately longs for Providence was pleas'd to bring a Gentleman this way who has kindly offer'd me the safe conveyance of this Letter into your hands wherefore thô I very lately troubl'd you with one and thô Writing in the weak condition I am in gives me a great deal of pain yet that of the Body is nothing in respect of the pain my Soul suffers as often as I reflest upon the danger yours is in and that the Eternal happiness of that depends upon the uncertain moments of this transitory Life Wherefore Dear Sir once more upon my Knees I humbly beg your Blessing which perhaps will be the last time I shall ask it and also beg the comfort of hearing of your health which I hope is good thô I thank God mine is at present in a very low condition his Divine Will be done in me who does all things for the best Alas Sir when I consider that we are all Mortal and that there is an Eternity of Happiness or Misery that attends us how can I refrain from being thus troublesome Since I know not how soon that change may come to you which I have reason to expect will soon happen to my self and which I lately heard has arriv'd to several of your Neighbors who thô young and as I fear far from the thoughts of it are now but Dust. How then can the pain that my Heart feels be conceal'd Or indeed how can I express what I feel till you are out of danger and in such a condition as Death may be welcome to you whenever it comes For God's sake Sir think of it surely such a number of Martyrs and Learned Confessors have not dispised the World and suffer'd for nothing Oh no God speaks to us in every thing and all the Benefits that we receive every moment proclaim his goodness who requires nothing but that we Believe be Sorry and be Saved And when we do believe in and love Iesus Crucified that we hate our selves for having offended so much love Having done this what he requires for our Repentance instead of seeming hard will prove sweet and easie And so I doubt not but it will to you Dear Sir if at my humble request you will do this and that you will find such a joy and comfort in the doing it as all your past Life could never afford you Behold me now therefore prostrate if I could below the Feet of all Creatures and even the Earth it self to beg of you for Christs sake not to deny my request of retiring your self two or three Days to consider the Truth of things and to take to heart your Eternal concern If I were dying you would not deny me this and I know not how far I am from it at present being very ill of a languishing distemper which I fear will end in Death And therefore I beg it of you as my last request with all the tenderness and earnestness my Soul can express assuring you that your grant of it will be as dear to me as the Life you gave me Pardon my too great boldness I beseech you for thô I would not for the World willingly offend you yet I cannot avoid making this presumptuous request as I fear you will think it Dear Sir my heart is too full of Affection Respect and Concern for you to be silent where your Eternal happiness is in so eminent a danger I humbly beg my Ladies and your own Blessing for Your Poor Sick Child CLARE of JESUS CHAP. XI Her interior sufferings in time of her sickness and the effects of her Childrens Visit ONE would have thought that the infinite goodness of God which permits him not to be behind hand with his Creatures seeing her in the interior affliction she suffer'd upon account of her Father as the foresaid Letters sufficiently express as well as the exterior she felt from her Sickness and a want of those helps to bear it which the Austerity of her Order permitted not the use of and which her love for him had therefore made her choose loving suffering above all things in this World because it was the best expression she could make of her love to him I say one would have thought that the goodness of God would have mov'd him to temper and sweeten these great afflictions with some interior Comforts but it happen'd that his Providence dealt quite otherwise with her not out of a want of Love but out of an abundance of it who seeing the fidelity and courage with which she serv'd him and her constant Conformity to his Divine Will even in the hardest things and knowing also what an Eternal weight of Glory these momentary sufferings gain'd for her and that the more pure her sufferings were the greater also was her gain seem'd to withdraw himself together with all interior comforts that accompany a sensible feeling of his presence so intirely from her that she thought he had totally abandon'd and forsaken her thô still he resided in the secret of her heart and invisibly assisted her to bear this most sensible affliction Declaring one Day these her sufferings to a Sister that came to Visit her who was a great confident of hers she desir'd her to Pray for her that she might intirely abandon her self to Gods Will and signified to her how great an addition it was to the Mortification her sickness brought with it that it depriv'd her of Religious observance especially that of the Divine Office Another time she exprest her self to those that Visited her in the following manner Happy are you dear Sisters that can assist in the Quire amongst those Seraphims for so she call'd the Religious in praising and loving God and can still be punctual in the performance of all other things that Religious Observance requires alas we never know a Benefit till we are depriv'd of it How happy was I when I had strength and abilities to perform what our Rules require but not justly acquÄtting my self in the performance of them God has justly placed me here and taken that happiness from me to whom I humbly submit for I know his Infinite VVisdom thinks it best to have it so his Holy VVill be done Adding moreover That it seem'd to her since she
a short Idaea of that consummate perfection she at length arriv'd too which cannot be better perform'd then by seting down those generous Resolutions I find in her own hand amongst the rest of her Papers O Most Sacred and undivided Trinity Three Persons and one Essence cast a glance of your All-seeing Eye upon my unworthy wretched and wounded Soul groaning under the burthen of her own Abyss of misery trembling at the consideration of your secret judgments confounded at the memory of her former disloyalties and ingratitude all cover'd with shame and pieret with sorrow Humbly prostrating her self before the Throne of your dreadful Majesty and tendering her Petition to your infinite Mercy You have been pleas'd O benign Lover of all Souls to expect her hitherto most patiently You have most efficaciously terrifyed her with your threats you have most earnestly invited her and powerfully drawn her with your promises you have given her a strong confidence in your goodness and mercy You have induced her to an absolute expiation of her Crimes and a perfect reconciliation by a sincere Contrition intire Sacramental Confession and prompt satisfaction you have given her strong resolutions of an intire Reformation This is the change of your right-hand and the only effect of your goodness to whom be ascribed all honor and praise And now my powerful Creator my unfetter'd Soul aspires to a high flight she covets a nearer conjunction with your infinite perfections and excellencies the only Object of her Love and repose of her desires O! who will give her the wings of a Dove that she may Soar up to her beloved and spend the rest of this Pilgrimage in the sweet Contemplation of Heavenly Mysteries by a perpetual retirement and divorce from those many turbulent distractions she has been incumber'd withal and from all sollicitude and care of any thing below Infuse therefore O Divine attractor of Souls your efficacious Grace strengthen her desires and confirm her resolutions in so high an interprize for the Reliques of sin have yet an overswaying Power over her feeble Will her cruel Enemies lye in wait to obstruct her free passage into this happy State of repose The sensual propensions of Flesh and Blood are in a continual conflict to subdue reason and the enticing allurements of Worldly objects in her imagination endeavour to blind the interior Eyes of her Soul and divert her from beholding the beauty of Vertue from considering her own misery and ingratitude and from contemplating your infinite beauty and love towards her Let therefore your Powerful strength break afunder all these strong bonds of Iniquity and let the same force that has so happily dispossest Satan of the Empire he had in her re-invest you in your just inheritance and habitation Embelish her with all solid Vertues and Perfections make her a Paradise of delights by leting her behold you in all things and then re-assume her to your self who are her Creator Preserver and Redeemer Amen Having gather'd out of her own Memoires how far she was advanced in all the ways of an interior Life and to what a pitch of the Union of God she was arriv'd it follows that we take notice of those steps by which she mounted up to this so eminent degree of Perfection Which her Ghostly Father and several of the Religious take notice of in the Characters they by request gave of her since her Death from her first entrance into a Religious State of Life Viz. that she had so deep an apprehension of her own Nothingness that of all Vices she seem'd to fear that of vain-glory the least All the extraordinary favors she receiv'd from Heaven serv'd only to increase the bad Opinion she had conceiv'd of her self From this Humility and profound acknowledgment of her own unworthiness sprung as from their source all those other Vertues so singular in her As to her Recollection besides what I have already said of this subject she trod the paths of the most Illustrious Saints always walking in the sight of God which holy exercise became so habitual to her that she once ingeniously acknowleged That since her entrance amongst the Poor Clares she had but twice lost the Divine Presence and that for about the space of an Ave Maria each time being taken up with too great sollicitude for her Children No wonder then she had as many unquestionable Witnesses of a Recollected Spirit as there were persons who dayly convers'd with her Her looks as they said and that Heavenly Air which appear'd in her Countenance was sufficient to strike Reverence and Devotion into the most wandring and dissipated imagination There was no need of studying her humor or observing her times her temper was always equal as was her mind those Graces and Excellencies of an even and pleasant humor never fail'd her so that no accident thô never so surprizing prizing and strange could make the least visible impression upon her Her Vertue was not of a faint or fading Nature like that of some tender Constitutions which changeth with every blast but strong and permanent not to be alter'd by any vicissitudes or various events of this Life The change of weather the infirmity of sickness the Death of friends had no influence upon her constancy this golden vein of indifferency that ran through the whole body of her actions made her Superior to all events that are wont to move and work upon others nothing but what was in God from God and for God was any part of her care in a word not to run this Topic out into a Volum she had obtain'd by a Mastery over her natural inclinations and passions so perfect an union with Almighty God that her whole Life seem'd to be one continu'd Act of love and Adoration This Communication with God was attended with that high degree of Prayer which according to Divines consists in passively receiving the impressions of the Divine Spirit insomuch that her first Abbess Reverend Mother Taylor who had spent several Years in that Holy practice affirm'd That it was so supernatural and sublime that all she had either read or heard upon that subject came short of her Prayer which thô she could never conceive or understand the depth of yet she was fully convinced it was from God as having so irrefragable a Testimony against Delusion as was her humble Obedience and submission to her Ghostly Fathers in laying it aside as long as they judged sit thô in the mean time she felt so great desolation dryness and darkness as she was better able to suffer then to express which was a second proof and no less convincing than the former of the Truth and Goodness of her Prayer and of the Spirit that conducted her in it CHAP. VI. The Excellency of her Prayer gather'd from it's fruits IF the Rule the Eternal Wisdom gives us how to make a right judgment of any thing by it's fruits be infallable as certainly 't is we cannot miss the making a right
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
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
Fathers sake The Solemnity being over one askt her how it was possible that beholding the great Commotion and Tears of so many about her she could remain so chearful and unconcern'd as she seem'd to be during the whole Ceremony She Answer'd with a Spirit as full of Ingenuity as Humility That this constancy and chearfulness took their rise from no other source than the Divine Goodness which during the whole Ceremony had fil'd her heart with so great an Interior peace and comfort as she had never felt before in all her Life Which was a due reward for that generous oblation she had that Day made of her self to Almighty God Had the Person who askt her this Question propos'd the same to any one of the Religious they would have given an Answer quite different from hers which her Humility would not permit her to give The Religious had seen with how much Industry even from her first entrance into Religion she had made it her chief endeavour to suppress and overcome the Sallies and Efforts of Nature and had beheld her comportment in several other occasions and seen with how great a Courage she had behav'd he self in other tryals which God thought fit to send her during her Noviship to dispose her to a due performance of this great act of Love and therefore they were not so surpriz'd as those were who had only seen that one action of hers they having been Eye Witnesses of divers evidences she had given of her perfect and intire resignation to Gods Holy Will even in the greatest afflictions and most sensible tryals that could have happen'd to her Now the Reader that may the better perceive how she carry'd her self in them I will here set down a Relation of her behaviour and perfect Conformity to Gods Will at the Death of two of her dearest friends The first tryal of her Conformity was given her by the Death of Reverend Mother Luisa Taylor Abbess of the Monastry The History of whose Life deserves a Volum being a person of an absolute and consummated Vertue This Holy Abbess being suddenly seiz'd with violent symtoms of Death was piously expecting her last happy moment and all the Religious were sent for and came without the least delay except Sister Clare who being advertis'd by one of the Religious that came in great hast to her Cell that Reverend Mother Abbess was a dying and that if she did not come quickly she would never see her alive Sister Clare joyning her hands without the least surprize made a bow to her expressing thereby her gratitude for the Message she brought her it being their Custom never to speak in their Cells and without making any such hast as might occasion the omission even of the least or most inconsiderable Ceremony of Religion she first put on her great Veil then kist the ground and afterwards with a modest and graceful gate follow'd the Religious to the Infirmary where Mother Abbess lay a dying as if this sad News had not at all come unexpected or given her the least affliction She came into the Chamber where her dear Friend and tender Mother lay ready to expire and where she found all the Religious bath'd in Tears like so many tender hearted Children bemoaning the loss of their dying Mother yet she who was like to sustain as great a loss as any having had a great dependance upon her and receiv'd great comfort from her Counsels beheld her ready to leave her without shedding a Tear whilst all the rest seem'd to be in a very great affliction and general consternation and so concern'd as if all their happiness had depended on this Abbesses Life Sister Clare knew her great Vertues and worth and had no less respect and affection for her than they which the many Obligations she had receiv'd from her justly deserv'd yet for all this she shewed not the least outward sign of grief And when one of the Religious exprest hers by her many Tears for Reverend Mother Abbesses Death she efficaciously stopt them by the following words VVeep not so much Dear Sister 't is the VVill of God you love so well Her bearing this cross with so admirable a Conformity mov'd Almighty God to reward her by sending another equally sensible and at the same time to give her his Divine Grace to bear it with no less constancy It was the Death of her Mistress of Novices Sister Mary Bonaventure Carleton who thô she had had a long experience in training up the Novices in perfection yet us'd to say She learnt more from this than ever she had taught the rest finding her perfect even before she enter'd into the way of perfection which made her have a very great esteem of her confidence in her and affection for her looking upon her as sent from Heaven rather to perfect her than be perfected by her Sister Clare being of a grateful nature was no ways backward in her returns and looking upon her as the best of friends and plac'd her confidence in her as in a Mother But God by her surprizing Death almost as soon snatcht away this comfort as he had given it which cross Sister Clare supported with the like courage as she did the former even without the loss of a Tear Insomuch that being ask'd by a Person of Quality Madam Flavecoeur the Governors Lady of Graveling If she were not very much concern'd for the Death of her Mistress She Answer'd Yes Madam I have a great feeling of it and indeed more than I can well express These words and the manner of delivering them struck the Lady with admiration to see such a temper as did not shed a Tear when she had thus renewed the sorrowful thoughts of the loss of her Mistress and mov'd her to urge the matter a little farther and ask her How it was possible she could forbear weeping at the Remembrance of the loss of such a friend The good Novice for then she was not Profest told her after her sweet and affable way Madam nothing but God deserves our Tears who is so good as to hinder me from paying them where they are not due Such as knew not of how excellent and sweet a disposition Sister Clare was might perhaps think so great an insensibility as appear'd in such moving circumstances as I have related effects of an ill hard and ungrateful nature which was insensible of kindness and knew not either what friendship was how to value it what gratitude it requires or how much a Spiritual friendship exceeds that of Nature ordinarily grounded upon Sympathy Natural inclination or Interest and therefore perhaps might not much wonder at her comportment in the occasions I have related But those who by Reading her Life are made better acquainted with her humor and have seen how solidly she grounded her friendship how warily she engag'd her affection and with what constancy and tenderness upon all occasions she exprest it to those she had made choice of for
Temporal Blessings Another very remarkable thing of this Gentleman is that the day before his Death Brother Clare going to Montague took his way by Herke to have the satisfaction of giving Mr. Ruisson a Visit who had been so kind as to give him many at Liege upon the account of that Spiritual Friendship which he had contracted with Sister Clare coming thither he found him very sick yet perfectly in his Senses and as chearful as ever he had seen him but was concern'd to see him lay'd after so poor a manner upon the ground and asking the reason of it his Servants signified that it was in Obedience to his own Orders they had made his Bed in that manner and that he would scarse thô in so weak a condition admit of any help from them and had also desir'd his Wife for his as well as for her own greater comfort being he saw she suffer'd very much to see him in that condition that she would not come to him but leave him to make the best use he could of those few moments he had left Brother Clare thô pleas'd to see him as Mr. Ruisson also seem'd to be with his Visit yet was troubl'd to see him so ill accomadated and therefore beg'd of him to accept at least of such helps and conveniences as that dangerous condition he was in requir'd that might conduce both to his ease in his sickness and contribute also to his recovery for the manner he had order'd himself to be treated could not but much augment his distemper which of it self was already too great To all which he reply'd That could he be without those conveniencies he still had he should be very glad and if he did but know what comfort he receiv'd by the want of those he had depriv'd himself of he would rather press him to quit those he had left than desire him to admit of others and then asked Brother Clare VVhether he thought the Inconveniencies he suffer'd were comparable to those which our Saviour had suffer'd for his sake And farther aver'd That the only trouble he now felt was that he could not suffer more at his Death to express his Love to him that dyed with so much pain for him upon the Cross He expressed this with such a chearful and unconcern'd Countenance as made Brother Clare not think him to be in that danger that others thought he was in otherwise he would have given himself the comfort and advantage of being present at his Death Which happen'd the same Night he left him He giving no less evidence of his Vertue at his Death than he had done in his Life not only by a perfect Resignation to Gods Will in suffering it but by earnestly desiring as St. Paul did To be dissolv'd and to be with Christ Perhaps the occasion of this great Friendship he exprest both to Brother and Sister Clare proceeded from those Inclinations he found in himself to do what they had done and in this without doubt Almighty God made him a kind of living Martyr even by the too great Affection of the Person he loved most in the World I mean his Wife who out of the tender Affection she had for him never would give her consent for their retirement into Religion thô he had frequently desir'd it with very great instance And this kind cruelty of hers was doubtless so great a cross as nothing but his Love to Gods Will could sweeten and render supportable The truth of which he one Day confidently discover'd to Brother Clare for discoursing with him about the happiness of a Religious Vocation he told him in Confidence That it was a double favor that God had bestow'd upon him in giving him such a Vocation in the State he was in and at the same time affording him the means of putting it in execution by giving his Lady the same inclination God indeed says he has been so good as to grant me the first by letting me see the happiness of a Religious State and giving me very earnest desires of entering into Religion but as yet he has vouchsafed to give me little hopes of putting these in execution not perceiving he gives the same to my VVife and added that he found it very hard to receive such a Mortification as a refusal was to so advantagious a request from a person he so intirely lov'd and who also refus'd it out of a Motive of love to him wherefore he thought this so great an affliction as 't was impossible for any one to conceive the greatness of it that did not actually feel it CHAP. IX A remarkable passage of her burning her Picture a little before her Death 'T IS a common Axiom in Philosophy that motion for example in a Stone cast down from a high place the nearer it comes to the end or Center to which it tends the more swift it is Sister Clares example seems to prove that the same Axiom holds no less in Moral than in Natural Philosophy for thô from her first Conversion to the Catholic Faith and her entrance into Religion which immediately follow'd the other she never stopt but still made a constant and continual progress in Perfection managing each pretious moment of time to the best advantage to prepare her self for a happy Eternity still advanceing towards her end and Center of her affections God himself Yet there is one instance of her Zeal that happen'd a little before her Death which manifestly proves that the nearer she approacht her end the swifter progress she made and thô perhaps what I am about to relate may at the first fight appear to some less considerable yet whosoever shall rightly weigh it cannot but be of my opinion that it far exceeded the other actions of her Life expressing a strange fund of Humility Contempt of her self and solid Piety which also evidences that the lower she hereby debast her self in her own thoughts the higher she was rais'd in Gods esteem and in a very short time mounted to such a hight of Perfection as deserv'd immediately to be Crown'd Brother Clare long before he or she had any thoughts of Religion had procur'd her Picture to be drawn in Miniature by that famous and renown'd Artist Mr. Cooper which being extreamly well done and very like her he caused to be set in Gold with a Cristal before it This Picture he sent to her with other things to Graveling supposing she would bestow them upon the Children As soon as they came she beg'd leave to dispofe of the Picture Mother Abbess thinking she desir'd this leave that she might give it to one of her Children told her she might dispose of it as she pleas'd she had no sooner obtain'd Mother Abbesses consent but she presently endeavour'd to get the Picture out of the Case and what a Workman could scarce have done with Tools in a Quarter of an hours time Providence helpt her with a Pin only to take out in a moment even to her own
had left these exercises as if God also had abandon'd her and that she had nothing now to comfort her self withal but the thoughts that he treated her no worse then his own Son whom also he had abandon'd for her sake all therefore she was able now to do was to unite these her interior sufferings and derelictions to those he suffer'd upon the Cross when he complain'd of his Eternal Fathers forsaking him and beg'd of them to assist her with their Prayers that she might bear this tryal as she ought testifying that the pain it occasion'd was so great as that it had made her almost insensible of her exterior sufferings neither feeling the pain of her distemper nor tasting what was given her to Eat One of the good Sisters thinking to give her ease in these her sufferings at least for some little time desir'd she would admit of a Visit from her Children but she knowing how much her indisposition had chang'd her from what she had been formerly was unwilling for fear she should not have strength enough to maintain that equality of mind which she had till then exprest in such like occasions yet after much intreaty she gave her consent that they should be brought to her no sooner were they come to the Bed-side but she fell a weeping This unexpected accident made them presently be taken away from her and after they were gone the Sister asked her the cause of her Tears she answer'd 't was my tenderness that made me VVeep being well I had often much a do to forbear the expressing the sentiments of a Mother but now being overcome by sickness I cannot overcome my self Then the Sister asked her How she had attain'd to that great Mortification and conquest over Nature She reply'd That from the moment she left Brother Clare all things but God were displeasing to her and that the Children putting her in mind of that other Sacrifice which she had made to God caus'd her a new to settle her Affections upon her Creator which by the assistance of his Divine Grace could not be alter'd by any Creature Perhaps the thoughts that this was the last time she should ever see them in this World and that they were to be left to the care of strangers or else expos'd to a dangerous Education by their Protestant Relations might occasion her tenderness in this Visit which she overcame in the next in which the Children were also taken from her upon account of their own arid not of their Mothers Tears As soon as they were out of the Room Mother Abbess asked her If she were not troubled for them No said she I bless God not in the least for I have long since given them into his hands and powerful protection who I am sure can and will take care of them Without doubt as the Religious took notice of before she had as great a Tenderness for her Children as a Mother could have and yet she was so much Mistress over this passion as she seem'd to have none at all for them which made one of the Religious once tell her in Recreation That she would be much above her in Heaven by reason of the great Oblation she had made To whom Sister Clare Answer'd It is you dear Sister that will meet with the highest place there for having given your self to him when you were Young making him your only Spouse upon which the Sister reply'd And do you count it a small thing to leave Brother Clare and your two Angelical Children Here her Humility would not let her own the greatness of the gift yet her love to God forced her to make this acknowledgment In leaving Brother Clare and my Children I cannot say that I have left nothing and then smiling said God deserves greater Sacrifices Dear Sister than we can make him CHAP. XII Another tryal God gave her to compleat her Crown 'T IS a strange and wonderful Paradox that affliction should be a mark of Love yet the Divine Wisdom Truth it self has declar'd That God Chastises those he Loves If this therefore be true as certainly 't is his Love to Sister Clare was very extraordinary who gave her so many marks of it by sending her so many afflictions But one comfort she exprest to have still left was that she should die before Brother Clare but God would not permit her long to enjoy this neither and would also give her this tryal even when she was in so very weak a condition as made her less able to bear it Viz. the suspition of Brother Clares Death which happen'd from his unwonted silence to several Letters she had Writ to him and in some of them about the Children's concerns which she knew he would not fail to Answer by the first opportunity and because she was disappointed in this she imagin'd that he was dead and under that conviction suffer'd as much as if he had been truly so yet she silently underwent this hidden affliction for a long time with that courage as not to discover any outward sign of grief at all till at last her want of strength forc't her at least to a change of Countenance caus'd by this following accident She giving some Letters which she had Writ to Brother Clare to send by a Father that was going to Liege the Sister that was to carry them to the Father finding them open desir'd her to Seal them upon which proposal they discern'd a more then ordinary change in her Countenance which proceeded as afterwards she own'd from the Confirmation this action of the Sister gave to the suspition she before had of his Death she believing that to hide it such care was taken that she should Seal her Letters This certainly was one of the greatest tryals that could befal her or that could call her constancy in the love of God to a more than ordinary Test If you desire to know the conflict she felt and how she behaved her self in it take it in her own words as I find amongst her Papers she gave account of it to her Ghostly Father The Combat I had and how I wholy offer'd up Brother Clare to Almighty God which I beseech him our Blessed Lady and all my Patrons and Patronesses to assit me to keep I by Almighty Gods Grace resolv'd to make this Sacrifice to his greater Honor and Glory and when I heard the Mass Bell Ring my heart trembl'd and I was all in a Commotion the first thing as I remember I did was to fancy him dead and so I presented him at our Blessed Ladies Feet and beseecht her to offer him up for me I beg'd also the ayd of St. Bruno and St. Teresa and then I resolv'd never to desire to see him and if he should come never to look on him to put him clearly out of my heart to be no more concern'd in him than a stranger then it came into my mind to behold him dead and to say to Almighty God I was glad
hearts to Visit her Corps return with joy it giving not a delight only to the exterior Senses but also an interior comfort to the heart which extraordinary effect could be Communicated only by God himself and that it might appear so he gave such a very particular evidence as follows Her Children heard not of her Death till the Morning after she dyed but they no sooner had notice of this sad news but they broak forth into such a passion of crying as there was no pacifying them by all the Caresses and kindness they could shew to them wherefore Reverend Mother Abbess experiencing in her self what comfort she found when she came to Sister Clares Body thô before much afflicted and finding several of the Religious to express that they had experienc't the like sent for the Children into the Quire where her Body lay expos'd hoping they might find the same and by this means become pacified which all other endeavours could not effect Nor was she deceiv'd for behold what an extraordinary effect of Gods Power appear'd in this moving circumstance the Children coming into the Quire in a vehement passion of crying as soon as they beheld the Object of their grief their dear and Dead Mother this sight which ordinarily increaseth passion so moderated theirs that they were immediately pacified and the sweetness that still remain'd in her Countenance mov'd them to run to her Body and express the same Caresses by embracing and kissing her as if she had been living nor were they surpriz'd to see no return since she in that respect had used them to it in her Life time as has been said After this they kneel'd by the Body praying for half an hour without so much as sheding a Tear and return'd as pacified as if nothing had happen'd not only to the astonishment of the Religious but even of themselves too as Young as they were Wherefore they asked their Maid the reason why before they went in to see their Mother they could not forbear crying and that now they could not cry for their Lives Reverend Mother Abbess finding this Angelical Air and sweetness continue in Sister Clare of Iesus's Countenance resolv'd to repair the loss that her Humility had brought upon the Community by burning her Picture Wherefore she sends to Dunkirk for a Famous Painter that then liv'd there who looking upon her wonder'd to see no decay in her Features but only that they were without motion and breath He said that he had been call'd to draw several Ladies after their Death but that he never met with the like Yet as great an Artist as he was his piece as the Religious testifie came far short of the Original and only gave cause of a continual resentment for the loss of that which Cooper had so admirably drawn to the Life And that this Painter might not pretend want of time for doing it the Body lay expos'd three days in the Quire Which in stead of sending forth any less pleasing smell fill'd the Quire and Church also with such a perfume as all wonder'd at But 't was not strange that her Vertuous Actions which she endeavour'd to conceal in her Life as much as she was able should now begin to blossom and send forth their Odours after her Death CHAP. II. The Points of her Funeral Sermon in short together with her Burial and Epitaph THE Fourth Day after her Death Reverend Father Seraphim a French Capuchin and Excellent Preacher as well as experienced Director of Souls Who had been earnestly desir'd and had kindly undertaken to make her Funeral Sermon came to perform his promise and to testifie to others what in several occasions in which he had treated with her he had been Witness of himself especially at that time when she had particularly desir'd to advise with some experienced person that was not of her own Nation about her removal from Graveling fearing the English she had consulted might be too much byast with a National affection and upon that account might disswade her from going amongst Strangers but he prov'd to be of the same sentiment with Reverend Father VVorsley and other English she had advis'd with in this point and assur'd her that it was a pure Temptation thô the Enemy had cunningly Cloak't and cover'd it with the specious pretence that she should find more Mortification and less esteem among Strangers than she receiv'd kind Father so good a Husband as she her self us'd to say she could not have wish't a better such fine and sweet Children so plentiful a Fortune and consequently all Earthly blessings this World was capable of bestowing upon her doing this also in the Flower of her Age in the hight of her prosperity Wherefore says he if the VVise Man Ecclesiasticus Chap. 31. Vers 9. declares that he who sought not after nor hop't in Riches had done wonders I may say her Courage was wonderful since she not only not sought but forsook and quitted not only Riches but Father Husband Children and all other happinesses this VVorld could afford to follow more exactly the Counsels of our Savior thereby to be the better able to take up and embrace his Cross and follow him Which brings me to the third mark of her Courage I promis'd to explicate in my third Point In the Third Point he prov'd how she exprest her Courage by the choice of so rigorous an Order discribing the Austerities of it which she was not content with but animated with the lik Zeal Sc. Francis Xavarius was when he cry'd out Lord let me still suffer more he declar'd how earnestly she had exprest to him her desire to go to a more rigorous Order amongst Strangers where she might suffer more and be known or regarded less all which he exprest after so pathetical a manner as amongst his numerous Auditory there was scarse a dry Eye to be found who by this his Discourse were convinc't that thô they came with a great Idea of her Sanctity yet it was far short of what they found she was endow'd withal At the end of the Fathers Sermon she was carried from the Quire where she lay expos'd in her Habit down to the Cloyster to be Buried next to Mother Taylor her first Abbess and great friend as has been before said It happen'd in the diging of her Grave that they broke into Mother Taylors out of which there came a scent no less fragrant than that which the Body of Sister Clare sent forth Their sweet Odors being thus united after Death as their Affections had been whilst they liv'd Reverend Mother Abbess desirous that the memory of her example should continue as long as the Monastry lasted caused a great Marble Grave-stone to be lay'd over her Body which Reverend Father Francis VVilliams then Rector of the Noviship of the Society of Iesus of the English Province at VVatten adorn'd with this ensuing Epitaph which I put in the Language in which 't is Writ upon the Grave-stone Viz. in Latin
and also in English that the meaning of it may be understood by all of our own Nation for whom this Life was chiefly Writ Siste Lege Mirare Sta Viator debitaque lachrymarum tributa Huic persolve Funeri Jacet hic Sepulta CLARA de JESU Nomen illam haud vulgarem indicat Nobilis ac Illustris HANMERORUM Domus Suam esse Progeniem jactat Latuit aliquantisper haec Stella Errorum tenebris offuscata Sed ut postea Orbem Orbe splendidiore decoraret Nupsit perillustri Domino JOANNI WARNERO Baronetto Sed cum nil nisi Caelum spiraret Caelestes affectavit Thalamos Sicque consentiente atque approbante Optimo Conjuge Toro Maritali Parentum Charissimorum pignorum Amplexibus posthabitis De Mundo esse desijt ut de JESU fieret Hoc Monasterium Suae Virtutis Theatrum esse voluit Ubi suave Christi jugum Ad finem usque vitae portans Omni perfectionis genere Multisque Nominibus CLARA Vixit Obijt Anno Domini M DC LXX Ianuarij xxvi Stop Read Admire Stay Passenger and pay a due Tribute of Tears To this Funeral Here lies Buried CLARE of JESUS Her Name speakes her no ordinary Person The Noble and Illustrious House of HANMERS Boasts of her as their Progeny This Star lay hid a little while Clouded with the darkness of Errors That afterwards it might adorn the World With a more resplendent Orb. She Married the Honourable Sir JOHN WARNER Baronet But breathing after nothing but Heaven She Aspir'd to Celestial Nuptials And her desires being approv'd and consented to By her Excellent Husband Forsaking his Embraces and those also Of her Dearest Father and Children She ceast to be of the World to be of JESUS She chose this Monastry For the Theater of her Vertue Where she carried the sweet Yoak Of Christ to her very last breath By the Practice of all Perfection Verifying her Name GLORIOUS She liv'd And Dyed In the Year of our Lord M DC LXX the 26th Day of Ianuary CHAP. III. The Letter of Reverend Mother Abbess of Graveling to Brother Clare concerning Sister Clares happy Death with an abridgment of her Vertuous Life THE Authority of Mother Abbess must needs gain no little credit to what she Writes concerning Sister Clare as having been very intimate to all her actions and proceedings For she always looked upon her as her Mother and with a more than filial confidence had recourse unto her upon all occasions believing her advice and direction to be the infallible Rule of Gods Will whose place she bore and consequently none can be more fit than she to give the World her Caracter Mother Abbess then after her Death Writes in this manner to Brother Clare Honour'd Dear Brother THE Will of God be ever done Life and Death are in his Hands and all works are perfected in mercy and goodness I have taken my Pen in hand upon the saddest subject that could have happen'd to me or this Community and were I not resolv'd never to let my Will jarre with the Will of God I should want resignation to this present visitation which has depriv'd us of your and our ever dear Sister Sister Clare of Iesus whom Iesus her dear Spouse called to his Eternal embraces on the 26th Instant Having left us a greater affliction I am bold to say than ever any conceived at the Death of their own Natural Sisters For in her we lost a great light of Vertue more than I am able to express since her generous embracing of our Abjections did incourage us in our Vocations I never heard her complain nor repine at our Austerities but I have often heard her say that they were too little and that she did nothing as she ought for the love of God Her Humility engag'd her to make use of all means to cover her Vertue yet I cannot frame to my self how any one could have liv'd more perfectly than she has done these few Years that she hath been with us Her perfection appear'd so much in all she did that it is hard to say in what she was most perfect I never could see how any one could be more prompt simple or blindly Obedient than she was and yet she was always accusing her self of her want of it O how clear sighted are Saints This made her to say dayly to me when I came to Visit her in her Sickness that she scarce thought her self Religious because she had never done any action in her Life time like a Religious Woman Dear Brother what great Humility was this That did so wean her from all self-opinion when the Life she led was such as I am sure none can surpass In her Sickness she us'd to express her Conformity in such like words as these It has pleas'd God to send me such or such a tryal or to deprive me of such or such a comfort This shew'd that she took all from the immediate hand of God and that her Sickness did not as her Humility made her believe rob her of her former near Vnion with him as far as I could perceive but when he seem'd to withdraw himself from her it was without doubt the greatest Affliction in her Sickness and consequently an effect of his Love to encrease her Merit Dear Brother I wish that you had seen her dying as we did what profit would you have made of such an example That God did not think us fit to enjoy any longer I wish I could do by her as our Blessed Lady did by her dear Son lay up in my Heart all the Words and Actions of her Life as a Rule whereby to square my own There has been little other Discourse since her happy Death but of her Vertuous Life and I wish that it may always continue amongst us to excite us to a faithful Imitation of her as the best means of meeting her once more in Heaven What reason have we then but to confide in her present happiness She knew that Heaven suffer'd violence and therefore resolv'd to be one of those that should take it by force Whilst she was well her Life was a continu'd practice of Religious Perfection and her Sickness was nothing but an encrease of her Merit because she suffer'd it with so much love and patience She would often sweetly invite Death that is dreadful and ugly to most to come and dispatch and not linger about her We are now Writeing to all the Convents as we use to do upon such occasions to procure Prayers for her thô I believe we want her Prayers more than she does ours I shall dayly beg at her Grave that she would obtain comfort for you and that you may bear this Cross with a resign'd Patience Our whole Community is full of Affliction and I hardly see what I Write my Eyes are so full of Tears I wish they may Redeem yours As for her two sweet Children if you please to intrust your dear Sister and me with them by Gods Grace
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