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APPENDIX B.
CARMELITES DECENDED FROM THE ENGLISH CARMELITE MONASTERY AT ANTWERP.
Bois-le-Duc, Alost, Cologne, Dusseldorf.
Bois-le-Due, or 'S Hertogenbosch, is an ancient fortified city of the Province of North Brabant in the Netherlands. During the troublous period of the Reformation it was the scene of much violence and bloodshed, and its magnificent cathedral, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, still testifies to the desecrating fury of the Iconoclasts of the sixteenth century.
This city was chosen to possess one of the first communities that went forth from Antwerp. In the year 1624 Mother Ann of Jesus, Ann Doyne, one of the foundresses of the community of Antwerp, was sent, with Sister Teresa of Jesus Maria, Elizabeth Worsley, the first professed of the Antwerp monastery, and sister of Mother Ann of the Ascension, to Bois-le-Duc, in order to found a monastery there. They were accompanied by some Flemish novices, and it is supposed that Mother Ann of the Ascension went herself to this foundation.
In the year 1630 the city of Bois-le-Duc fell into the hands of the Protestants, and although the Prince of Orange protected the nuns, they did not feel satisfied where they were and continually importuned the community of Antwerp to aid them in changing their residence to a Catholic place. In order to satisfy them, Mother Ann of the Ascension helped them to found a monastery at Cologne, and as their number had so increased, that there were more than twenty-one members in the community, she solicited and, after much difficulty, obtained from the Infanta another foundation at Alost, in Belgium.
The religious who came from Bois-le-Duc to Alost remained for several months at the convent of Antwerp, and it was noted that during that time the expenses did not increase, although there were twelve additional persons in the community.
The first prioress of Alost was Mother Teresa of Jesus Mary, Worsley. She continued in that office during the remaining nineteen years of her life, and died in the odor of sanctity.
In 1783 the convent of Alost was suppressed by the edict of Joseph II. Two of the religious, Sister Teresa of Jesus and Sister Ferdinand, the first exiles of the Carmel of Flanders, started for France, where they had been promised a refuge. The brother of one of them, the Baron de Meer, accompanied them. They were received hospitably at St. Dennis by Madame Louise, on June 7, 1783.
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Mother Ann of Jesus, Doyne, with part of the community of Bois-le-Duc, went to the foundation of the monastery at Cologne.
Mother Ann of the Ascension also established a monastery at Dusseldorf. We find the following account in an old manuscript:
“Mother Ann of the Ascension sent two religious women to Dusseldorf to raise a convent. They afterwards became the first prioress and sub- prioress, in which position they strived with such prudence and piety, that they were held in great veneration not only by their dependents, but also by seculars.”
Lierre.
In the year 1648, while Mother Teresa of Jesus was prioress of the Carmelite community of Antwerp, the foundation at Lierre was begun.
It appears that the nuns did not take possession of their new home until 1649. The first prioress was Mother Margaret of St. Teresa, Downes, and the sub-prioress Catherine of the Blessed Sacrament, Windoe, who had received the habit at the age of thirteen. Ten religious accompanied them. They were Sisters Mary Ann of Jesus, Foster, Mary of Jesus, Powderle, Elizabeth of the Visitation, Emery, Eugenia of Jesus, Leveson, Margaret of Jesus, Mostyn, Ursula of All Saints, Mostyn, Jeronima of St. Michael, Winter, Margaret of St. Francis, Johnson, Alexis of St. Winefride, Harris, and Mary of St. Joseph, Vaughan. The latter was a novice.
Mother Margaret of St. Teresa, Downes, was a person of great talent and energy as well as remarkably holy. She was ever considered the right hand of Mother Ann of the Ascension, and had aided her in many of her foundations and had also been mistress of novices to the greater part of the Antwerp religious.
Sister Catharine of the Blessed Sacrament, Windoe, who came as sub- prioress, was an eminently holy and contemplative soul, who had the privilege of pronouncing her vows at the early age of fifteen. A saying of hers is recorded that she frequently repeated to the prioress: “Mark me well, dear Mother, those that don't like recreation, don't like mortification, not only because recreation in due time is the spirit of St. Teresa, but also because it often gives occasion or opportunity of practising both self-denials and self-sacrifices, all most pleasing to our Divine Lord.”
Sister Mary of Jesus, Powderle, a soul most pleasing to her Spouse, Who, in order that the Lierre foundation should possess her, worked no less a miracle than that, when the Antwerp prioress read out the list of the religious who were to be sent to that filiation, to her great astonishment the name of Sister Clare, which had been written down, was effaced, and that of Sister Mary of Jesus appeared in its place. To this evident manifestation of God's will superiors deferred, and she accordingly accompanied the religious destined for Lierre, instead of Sister Clare.
Sister Eugenia of Jesus, Leveson, a very humble, courageous and favored soul, received the habit of Carmel at Antwerp in 1634, aged sixteen, but was forced to leave on account of her health. She again returned in 1640,
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and was clothed a second time, and in 1641 professed. To be helped by her suffering, which was always very great, and to secure her prayers, the holy souls in Purgatory often visited her. Her esteem for obedience was very remarkable, and often she used to say: “It imports much for the obtaining of perfection to perform and observe the least inclination of my Superior's will, for in doing the least thing, though seemingly better according to my own will and judgment, I am sure of doing a great imperfection.” She was the first who died at Lierre, August 18, 1652.
Sisters Margaret and Ursula, Mostyn, were both remarkable for their great sanctity. The life of Mother Margaret was published some years ago in England. (Life of Margaret Mostyn, by Canon Bedingfield).
Sister Jeronima of St. Michael, Winter, was professed at Antwerp June 29, 1648, the same year the Lierre foundation was made. She soon won her crown, dying in 1655.
Sister Margaret of St. Frances, Johnson, was a Lay Sister, a most holy and simple soul, and so pleasing in the eyes of our dear Lord that in one of the revelations of Mother Margaret, Mostyn, He said that He was impatient to have her with Him in heaven, but He allowed her to live because she merited so much.
Sister Alexis of St. Winefride, Harris, was also a Lay Sister. A particular providence watched over this simple and fervent soul. Born of Protestant Welsh parents, her father, a laborer, was accidently killed while employed on the Marquis of Worcester's estate. The latter provided for his widow and children, and the future Teresian fell to his Lordship's daughter, Lady Anne Somerset's lot, as we are told, “to take care of, bringing her up a good Catholic,” which she did, instructing her, and having her in quality of maid always about her; and when Lady Anne went to the English monastery of discalced Carmelites at Antwerp, she took her with her and she was received on her Ladyship's portion as a Lay Sister, and professed at the age of twenty, 1626.
Sister Mary of St. Joseph, Vaughan, of Courtfield, Monmouthshire, was a novice when she went to Lierre. She was professed 1649, at the age of seventeen (without a dispensation, Teresians, according to the constitutions, cannot be professed till seventeen). She died at the ripe age of seventy-seven, 1709, having during that long religious life never lost her first fervor, but, going on from one virtue to another, she increased every day in continual tendency to religious perfection.
Notes on the Convent of Discalced Carmelite Nuns at Newburg,1 on the Danube.
(Translated from an extract in French of the Manuscript Chronicle of the Convent).
This convent was founded by Duke Philip William, Count Palatin of Newburg, and his wife, Elizabeth Amelia Madeline, princess of Hesse
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Newburg is a town in Bavaria, on the Danube, and is of very ancient origin. It was for a long time, until 1802, the capital of the independent duchy of Pfalz-Neuburg.
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Darmstadt. The Bull of the Pope, authorizing the foundation, is dated from the month of May, 1561. The first religious came from Dusseldorf. The first prioress, Mary Magdalen of St. Joseph, née Bedingfield,1 was of English origin and belonged to an ancient and illustrious family. Her parents, distinguished by their religion and virtues, had much to suffer on account of their faith, and on many occasions gave evidence of heroic patience. Although they were obliged to lead a very retired life, they did not cease to have a chapel in their castle, to which two Jesuit Fathers attended and in which the Holy Sacrifice was offered up daily. The life led in this family was very edifying and agreeable to God. A proof of this is that all the daughters that issued from it, and there were ten or eleven, without a single exception, entered into religion. One of them married, but on becoming a widow, she too became a religious. To enter the convent it was necessary for them, as the occasion presented itself, to be sent over to the continent secretly, and thus all were placed in convents of different orders, and most of them in course of time became superiors. The one that distinguished herself most among the members of this family, by the fervor of her piety, was without doubt our Mary Magdalen. From the age of seven she exhibited a zeal for her salvation, and an understanding of things appertaining to God that was altogether supernatural. She was often seen, forgetful of her play, crouched in a corner of the room occupied by one of the Jesuits. There, in profound recollection, she would meditate for hours on the means to escape from an eternity of pain. Already at this early age she declared her intention to follow the safest road to heaven, and that at any cost.
At the age of fifteen she asked her parents' permission to enter religion. At this period of her life the extraordinary event we are about to relate occurred. Her father took her, together with one of her sisters and a young friend of hers who was determined to follow her, to the sea-coast, where he placed them, one of her brothers and two Jesuit Fathers, under the care of the captain of a vessel that was about to start. The captain promised to take them across to the continent. However, having gone on board, fascinated by the extraordinary beauty of Magdalen, he conceived an iniquitous project, and it was not long before he manifested it. The sailors received orders to keep the vessel on a course opposite to their destination. When they had been sailing for a day and a night, to the great surprise of the crew, they were once more at the point where they had started the day before. The captain's confusion was great when he recognized how Divine Providence is able to frustrate the plans of the wicked.
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1Her father was Francis Bedingfield, of Redingfield, Suffolk, grandson of Edmund Bedingfield, Knight, of Oxburgh, who died A. D. 1585. Her mother's name was KatharineFortesque. She was sister of Mother Lucy of St.Ignatius of the Antwerp convent, and first cousin of Mother Margaret of St. Teresa, Downes, granddaughter of Mr. John Bedingfield, of Redingfield. Mother Margaret Teresa, Fettyplace, was a daughter of Sir Edward Mostyn and a grand-niece of Mother Magdalen of St. Joseph.
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When finally they had landed, the brothers of Magdalen and the two Jesuits seized the first favorable opportunity to conduct her to the convent of English Carmelites at Antwerp. She was admitted into this community, and after her year's novitiate she made her profession in presence of Mother Ann of the Ascension, the first prioress of the monastery. This religious was eminent by the spirit that animated her and the many graces that had been conferred upon her. She had spent many years in the convent of Venerable Ann of St. Bartholomew, who had died but a short time previous in the odor of sanctity. Mother Ann of the Ascension conceived a strong affection for Magdalena and held her in great esteem, and she was certainly deserving of this honor. A short time after receiving the habit, she fell dangerously ill, so that her life was despaired of; but Mother Ann of the Ascension confidently asserted that she would recover, because God had special designs in view concerning her. Nine years later Mother Ann died, and after a few years more Magdalen was sent to Dusseldorf as sub- prioress. She filled this position for ten or eleven years to the great advantage of the convent, and was then made prioress. She had scarcely governed the community one year, when Duke Philip William, Count Palatin of the Rhine and of Cleef and Berg, together with his wife, desiring to found a convent of discalced Carmelites at Newburg, she was chosen to establish the strict rule of St. Teresa in the new foundation. On that occasion, Magdalen made a journey to Antwerp in the year 1660 to choose some subjects fit to form the infant community. She took several Sisters with her to Dusseldorf, where she added several others to her little band, and on July 17, 1661, she started on her journey, accompanied by the dean, Bernard Vorz, commissary of the convent of Dusseldorf, and by the Knight Palatine de Guise, who was to be the chaplain of the new convent. On their arrival at Newburg they discovered that the building destined to serve as a convent was unfit for the purpose, and they were consequently obliged to begin the construction of another. Notwithstanding this obstacle, they endeavored, as much as possible, to observe the rules of the order. Magdalen had at this time four novices whom she directed and formed to the religious life. She also conducted the affairs appertaining to the building of the convent, and under those difficult circumstances she showed great courage and energy united with much discretion and judgment—gifts that shone forth specially in her conduct, and which she often had occasion to exhibit as well in the direction of souls as in the administration of affairs. The building progressed so rapidly that it almost seemed as if angels worked at it. Besides her unlimited confidence in Divine Providence, Magdalen had a special devotion to St. Joseph, whom she called the architect and superintendent of the building. Contradictions and obstacles, however, were not wanting.
The powers of darkness visibly assailed the daughters of St. Teresa, for it happened once that during the night of the feast of that Saint, they were frightened by the apparition of a horrible phantom bound in chains. At
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another time they heard cries and howling in the choir during the night, and even that part of the monastery fell down, so that it was necessary to recommence the work.
On the Sunday before the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in 1661, the church and convent, being completed, were dedicated, and Magdalen immediately established the enclosure and the strict observance of the rule of St. Teresa. Henceforward she applied herself with redoubled zeal to the interior government of the young community. Endowed with all that was required to succeed in the most difficult enterprises, possessed of a deep mind and many graces and gifts of soul and body, she exercised an immense influence over all who came in contact with her. Young and old, rich and poor, great and lowly, were all attracted and subjugated by the charm of her conversation and manners. The noble patrons and founders of the convent especially were very devoted to her and found satisfaction in recurring to her counsels in all things. Notwithstanding her frequent ailments and physical sufferings, her zeal never relaxed. She often, with tears in her eyes, begged to be relieved of her office of superior, considering herself unworthy; and although she had gained the affections of her religious to such an extent that all of them would gladly have given their life for their prioress, yet they never could resolve to acquiesce to her desire and choose another in her stead. We might cite many instances of her devotion and of all her other virtues, but in order not to prolong this account, suffice it to state, that beside the gift of mental prayer, she exteriorly manifested an ardent devotion to St. Joseph, whose feasts she always celebrated with great splendor, and in whose honor, as long as she lived, she fed daily a poor old man. To cause her to shed tears, it was enough to mention the name of St. Joseph.
Having governed the convent for twenty-eight years she was suddenly, in May, 1684, seized by such a violent disease of the stomach and became so weak, that it was evident her end was near. She immediately began to prepare for death, sent for the rector of the Jesuits, who was her extraordinary confessor, and received Extreme Unction. She then summoned the entire community to her bedside, and begged pardon for anything in which she might have grieved or scandalized them during the time she had spent in their midst, and recommended herself to their prayers. The Sisters, moved to tears, were unable to speak, and asked pardon of her through the confessor. The whole ducal court pressed around her and requested her blessing, while she thanked them for all the kindness and benefits she had received from them, and recommended her convent to the protection of the Duke. She expired at five in the evening of March 16th, in the sixty- fourth year of her age, and the forty-eighth of her religious profession. Her body was immediately laid out according to the rules of the order, and the funeral took place on March 18th. The Duke and Duchess followed her coffin to the grave, bearing lighted candles. The canons of St. Peter's
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chanted the office of the dead. Her death caused universal mourning, especially among the poor of the city.
The convent she had founded became celebrated in South Germany. One of the foundresses of the convent of Newburg was Mother Ann of the Ascension. Her name in the world was Catherine Keynes. She was of English birth, and had been prioress of the convent of English Carmelites at Antwerp in 1650, and following years. She became sub-prioress at Newburg and led a holy and edifying life. After spending several years at Newburg, she was unanimously elected prioress of Dusseldorf. She left Newburg with regret, having received the authorization of the Bishop of Augsburg. She died in July, 1678, aged fifty-nine years.
Another sub-prioress of the convent of Newburg was Mother Ann of Jesus, also from the convent of English Carmelites at Antwerp. She did not remain long at Newburg, but was speedily recalled to her convent whither she returned with the permission of the Bishop of Augsburg. She was accompanied by Sister Margaret of St. Francis, who had come from Dusseldorf for the foundation of Newburg, and who, being of a very advanced age, desired to return to her convent of Dusseldorf.
We must also mention Mother Anastasia of Jesus. She belonged to the ancient family of Wakeman in England. Brought up by her parents in the practice of all virtue, at the age of fifteen she was received into the convent of discalced Carmelites at Antwerp. She possessed a good mind and a joyous disposition, and was very beautiful. In 1661 she was taken by Mother Magdalene to Newburg. She was conspicuous by the splendor of her virtues, the zeal with which she adhered to the strict observance of the rule, her spirit of mortification and prayer and her special devotion to her Angel Guardian. Three years and three months before her death, she was appointed sub-prioress and acquitted herself to perfection of all the duties of this office. In the third year she lost her health, was confined to her bed and her disease soon developed into dropsy. This painful sickness was for her the occasion of practicing new virtues. She endured her sufferings with heroic patience, and often exclaimed: "I do not fear death." An hour before expiring she received the Holy Communion with the most ardent devotion. After her confession, she recited her act of contrition with a loud voice, and with such energy that the whole community heard it, although the door was closed. She died on December 10th,1667, between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning. She was, thirty-five years of age, and it was nineteen years since she had pronounced her vows.
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