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A34223
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The life of the Lady VVarner of Parham in Suffolk, in religion call'd Sister Clare of Jesus written by a Catholic gentleman.
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Scarisbrike, Edward, 1639-1709.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing C574; ESTC R22893
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139,162
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320
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Lord Amen Father Pray for us O Blessed Mother St. Clare Quire That we may be made worthy of the pomises of Christ O Lord we beseech thee to make us who Honor the Memory of the Holy Virgin St. Clare by her Intercession partakers of Celestial joys and Co-heirs of thy only begotten Son who lives and Reigns with thee World without end Amen Then the Father Blessed the Veil as follows Father May our help be in the Name of our Lord. Quire VVho made Heaven and Earth Father O Lord hear my Prayer Quire And let my cry come unto thee Father The Lord be with you Quire And with your Spirit Let us Pray O Lord we humbly beseech thee that thy powerful blessing may descend upon this Veil wherewith the head of thy Handmaid is to be cover'd that it may become blessed and holy to her through Christ our Lord. Amen O Mnipotent and Everlasting God we humbly beseech thy Sacred Majesty to Sanctifie with thy right hand this Veil which thy Servant is about to put on her head that thy Mercy assisting her she may keep with an undefiled Body and Mind that Vow of Chastity Mistically represented by this Veil by which out of Love to thee and thy Sacred Virgin Mother she dedicates her self to thy Holy Service that prepar'd hereby she may joyn her self to thy Train of Virgins and deserve to be led by thee to the Everlasting Nuptials of the Lamb who livest and Reignest World without end Amen Then he blessed the Ring as follows LOrd Iesus Christ the lover of true Chastity and perpetual Fidelity we humbly beseech thy Immense Clemency that thou wouldst bless this Ring thy Servant is about to put on and grant that she being Espous'd by this pledge may persever thy Loyal Spouse by so unspotted a Chastity that she may deserve to be adorn'd with the gift of this Vertue and enrich'd with it's Hundred-fold fruit who livest and reignest c. These Prayers being ended the Quire recited the Litanies of the Saints Petitioning each of them to Pray for the Bride and having ended the last Kirie Eleison or Lord have Mercy upon us The Father began the two first words of the Pater Noster saying the rest to himself till he came to the following words And lead us not into Temptation which he said aloud and the Quire Answer'd but deliver us from Evil Amen Then the Father said Lord save thy Servant Quire VVho my God places her trust in thee Father Send her help from thy Sanctuary Quire And from Sion defend her Father Be to her a Tower of strength Quire To defend her from the face of her Enemies Father Let not the Enemy prevail against her Quire Nor the Son of Iniquity be able to hurt her Father Lord hear my Prayer Quire And let my cry come unto thee Father The Lord be with you Quire And with your Spirit Then the Father said the following Prayers LEt our humble Petitions O Lord appear in thy presence and vouchsafe to bless thy Servant to whom in thy Holy Name we give the Veil of Religion and by the Intercession of the most blessed and most glorious Virgin Mary of the Blessed Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul St. Francis St. Clare and all the other Saints grant her a perfect Conversion from the World and so ferverous an observance of what she has undertaken that in all her Tribulations Streights and Temptations being encourag'd by thy Divine Consolation and by true Humility and Obedience being founded in fraternal Charity she may justly piously and Chastly perform what by thy assistance she does this Day promise and thereby deserve to enjoy with thee Everlasting Life Who with the Father and Holy Ghost livest and reignest God World without end Amen O Lord Iesus Christ who art the way out of which none can come to the Father we beseech thy most benign Clemency that thou wouldst lead this thy Servant whom thou hast drawn from Terrene and carnal desires into the secure way of regular Discipline and since thou vouchsafest to call Sinners to thee saying Come unto me all ye that labor and I will refresh you grant that the Voice of this your Invitation may have so much Power over her as that laying down the burden of her Sins she may deserve to taste how great and good you are and by this your Divine refection be inabl'd to sustain your Chastisements for them And as thou hast vouchsaft to attest saying I know my Sheep and my Sheep know me acknowledge her for thine and grant that she may so know thee and follow thee and only thee that she may never give Ear to or obey anothers Voice who hast promis'd that whosoever obeys and serves thee here shall follow thee hereafter who livest and reignest c. Then the Father bid the Bride repeate thrice the following words out of the 118 Psalm Receive me according to thy promises and I shall live and do not disappoint me of my expectation which she having done with a loud and distinct Voice and the Abbess having as often Answer'd My dearest Daughter let it be done unto you according to your words the Quire Answer'd Amen Then the Bride kneel'd down before the Abbess and joyning her hands together plac't them betwixt the Abbesses and both their hands thus joyn'd were tyed together with such a Stole as the Priest wears about his Neck at Mass and is a Representation of those Cords wherewith our Savior out of Love to us permitted himself to be bound in his Passion and therefore the Bride mov'd with a Memory of this his Love permits her hands to be thus bound to represent those Interior bands by which she ties her self whilst she makes her Sacred Vows and her hands are also bound to Mother Abbesses as a mark of that tye of Obedience to her Will which she undertook and then with a loud and distinct Voice she made her Profession as follows In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen I Sister Clare of Iesus do Vow unto Almighty God the most Glorious Virgin Mary Our Holy Father St. Francis Our Holy Mother St. Clare unto all the Holy Saints and to you Reverend Mother Abbess and all your Successors that shall hold your Place to observe all the Day 's of my Life the Rule and Form of living of the Poor Sisters of St. Clare giv'n her by St. Francis and Confirm'd by Our Holy Father Pope Innocent the IV. I Vow to live in OBEDIENCE without PROPRIETY in any thing in CHASTITY also and not to go out of INCLOSURE during my whole Life according to the Constitutions of the same Rule Then the Abbess said And I on the part of God according to his Inviolable Decree do promise you Eternal Life if you observe what you have Vow'd To which the Quire Answer'd Amen Then the Abbess saluted the Bride and taking off her White Veil put on a Black one saying Take Daughter
this Sacred Veil and wear it till you come before the Tribunal of the Eternal Iudge to whom all Knees both in Heaven and Earth and Hell are bent remember you have for ever taken leave of the World and given and united your self wholy to Iesus Christ as to your beloved Spouse may he defend and protect you from all Evils and receive you at length into Eternal Life Amen Then the Bride with a loud Voice recited the words of St. Agnes He has put a Mark and Veil ever my Face that I may admit no other Lover but himself Then the Abbess put on the Brides head a Crown saying Take my dear Sister this Temporal Crown as a certain pledge of that Eternal one which your Divine Spouse has prepar'd for you if you be faithful to him After this the Abbess also put a Ring on her Finger saying at the same time My beloved Daughter take this Ring as a Mark of that love and fidelity which you ought inviolably to keep to your faithful Spouse Iesus Christ as long as you love To which the Bride Answer'd with a high Voice My Lord Iesus Christ has engag'd me to him with his Ring and adorn'd me as his Spouse with a Crown Then the Abbess put into her hand a Crucifix and said Receive here and embrace your Spouse may he receive bless and preserve both you and us for ever Amen After she had receiv'd the Crucifix the Father recited the following Prayers LOrd Iesus Christ who by the immense goodness of thy Purity hast vouchsafed to Espouse our Souls with an indissoluble band of Love grant we beseech thee that this thy Servant being firmly engag'd by thy Ring of Faith may become so constant faithful and devout a Spouse in thy service as that she may firmly persever in it to the end who livest and reignest c. O God who by thy love hast inflam'd this thy Servant and drawn her from the Vanity of the World to the reward of so high a Calling vouchsafe so to purifie her heart with thy presence and the infusion of thy Divine Grace that she may persever in it that being strengthen'd by thy assistance she may be able to perform what by thy Divine inspirations she has promis'd and by the execution hereof happily partake of the Eternal reward thou hast promis'd those that persever in thy service through Christ our Lord Amen These Prayers being ended the Quire began to Sing the following Responsal The Kingdom of this VVorld and all it's Ornaments I have contemn'd for the Love of my Lord Iesus Christ Which having ended they began the Hymn Te Deum Laudamus and whilst they were Singing it the Bride went round the Quire and receiv'd the Embraces and Congratulations of all the Religious then returning to her place she and the rest of the Religious kneeling in their order the Father recited that Verse of the 67 Psalm Confirm O God what thou hast wrought in us and then made a very moving Sermon upon the following Text out of the 9th Psalm Sperent in te Domine qui noverunt nomen tuum Let them hope in thee O Lord who know thy Name In this Exhortation he First lay'd open the nature of this Action or Ceremony they had perform'd by evidencing that a greater Act of hope could not be express'd then by a Voluntary Contempt of the present but transitory Comforts of this World in expectation of those solid and inexplicable joys whose durance was to be Eternal in the next Believe me said he the vain hopes of the Earth are too poor and inconsiderable for so generous hearts as yours are the Kingdom of Heaven as you have made out to Day is only worthy of them Secondly He shew'd there could be no way more Compendious to Honor and Celebrate this great Feast of All-Saints then by striving to make themselves conformable to those Great Originals which in this present conjuncture they had done by so generously undervaluing all the transitory goods of this Life and so might justly hope to arrive at that pitch of Sanctity this Contempt of the World had rais'd the Saints unto and also to share with them the Crown of Glory in the World to come Thirdly Addressing himself to the Bride he assur'd her she had strictly follow'd the direction of St. Austin in Solemnising this Feast by so closely following the Example of Saints nay even the hardest example which is that of Martyrs Whereby she had made a better and a more moving Exhortation by her Example then he was able to make by his words she having verified those of this great Doctor Ser. 47. de Sactis Ab ipsis Martyrum Festivitatum gaudia celebrantur qui ipsorum Martyrum exempla sequuntur Solemnitates enim Martyrum Exhortationes sunt Martyriorum ut imitari non pigeat quod celebrare delectat The joys of the Festivals of Saints are best Celebrated by those who follow their Examples for the Solemnities of Martyrs are so many Exhortatations to Martyrdome that it may not be tedious to Practice what is delightful to Celebrate Proving that the Bride had couragiously enter'd upon the hardest of Martyrdoms by taking upon her so long and terrifying a one as was that dying Life or living Death she had so joyfully embrac'd for the love of God CHAP. II. What Effects this Ceremony wrought upon her self and those that were present at it The great Victory she had obtain'd over her passions manifested by her unconcernedness in this and two other very moving occasions Having ended the Ceremony of her Profession I hope the taking notice of some moving Circumstances in it and of the effects it wrought both upon the Bride and those that were present will prove as grateful to the Reader as I believe the foregoing Relation has been The Ceremony was so moving as that there was scarce a Religious or Secular Person present who were as many as the Doxal could hold that was able to refrain from Tears Nay the Governor himself the Marquiss of Flavecoeur a Person not at all subject to this passion declar'd that he could not refrain from weeping at the sight of it no more then the rest and that he had never felt such a tenderness of heart in all his Life She her self who was the Actor was the only person that seem'd unmov'd in this action appearing all the while with a chearful yet so recollected a Countenance as if she had been totally absorpt in God whose Sacrifice she fell that Day Her little ones stood by her all the time she perform'd the Ceremony which was enough to have mov'd any heart but hers For they being of an Age not sensible of their loss seem'd as little concern'd as their Mother and were very much pleas'd at what they understood not being very busie in assisting at the Ceremony The one put on her Veil the other her Crown at which Sister Clare smiling told her in a low Voice she wore that for her