An English Carmelite
The Life of Catharine Burton, Mother Mary Xaveria of the Angels, of the English Teresian Convent at Antwerp

The vivid and detailed autobiography of a seventeenth century English Carmelite nun, first published in 1876.

Catharine Burton (Author), Thomas Hunter (Edited by)

9781108020916, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 September 2010

320 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.8 cm, 0.41 kg

Catharine Burton (1688–1714) was an English Carmelite nun who in 1697 was inspired to write her autobiography following visions of her patron saint, St. Francis Xavier. During a severe illness in her teenage years which left her near death, Burton underwent a spiritual conversion and resolved to enter a religious order should she survive. After her recovery, Burton entered the English Carmelite convent in Antwerp in 1693. She was elected Superior of the convent in 1700. This volume, first published in 1876, contains her autobiography as arranged by her confessor, Father Thomas Hunter (1666–1725). Burton describes her childhood and spiritual struggles in fascinating detail, and provides a vivid account of her daily life, bodily sufferings and religious practices as a nun. This volume combines elements from medieval accounts of female religious experiences with early modern philosophical ideas, providing valuable information concerning changes in the representation of female spirituality.

Notice
Editor's preface
1. Birth and family of Catharine Burton
2. The English Teresians at Antwerp
3. Introduction to her autobiography
4. Early years
5. First year of illness
6. First year of illness
7. Continued suffering
8. Consolations and patience
9. Favours and trials
10. First devotion to St. Francis Xavier
11. The ten Fridays repeated
12. Miraculous cure
13. A second miracle
14. Passing the sea
15. In the noviceship
16. Advance in prayer
17. Second year in the noviceship
18. Among the professed
19. Employments and crosses
20. Sub-prioress and Mistress of Novices
21. Union with God
22. Anecdotes of religious life
23. Vision of Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven
24. Mary Xaveria when Prioress
25. Spiritual history
26. Recollections of the religious
27. Confidence in God
28. Religious virtues
29. Last sickness and death
30. After death
Appendix.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]