Madame Eglentyne: the nun prioress

Title

Creator

Borromeo, Leonor

Language

English

Year

1957

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

The STUDENT ol literature who reads the character portrait of the Prioress is most likely to single her out as the pilgrim most deserving of respect and awe. For one rea son, she was one of the three women who formed a notable mi nority in the group of men. For another, she easily stood out in the feminine group with her courtly ways and stately dignity and her world, she grew up "ful simple and coy" and never had a chance to deal much with such vulgar char acters as the Summoner or the Miller. Otherwise, the oaths that escaped her lips would have been worse than the mild "St. Loy". Eglentyne was "of greet disport" but took her lessons with such se riousness that in no time "French she spak ful faire and fetisly She found no difficulty in ac cepting the stringent discipline of the novitiate since at home a strait laced mother had taught her the graceful table etiquette that forbade her to "wette hir fingres in his sauce depe". Indeed, Madame EGLENTYNE: was relieved by a variety of occu pations. Eglentyne's mild disposition and very pleasant manners, her aristo cratic bearing, and physical attrac tion made her very popular with the nuns. They saw a woman of good background and breeding so that it was no surprise at all that, after some years they chose her for the office of prioress. The new position, while giving her a number of con venient privileges a simple nun could not enjoy, entailed many re sponsibilities, among which were looking after the discipline of the convent and taking care of money matters. THE NUN PRIORESS religious garb. One imagines how she must have caught the pilgrims' eyes and given rise to unspoken admiration with Her nose tretys; hir eyes gray as glas; Hir mouth ful smal, and thereto softe and reed; But sikerly she hadde a fair forehead; It was almost a spanne; brood, I trowe. Such patrician beauty must have awed even the Miller and the Sum moner and ignited sparks of wom anly envy in the Wife of Bath to whom nature had not been very generous. But that is all that meets the eye. With characteristic good sense and mellow humor, Chaucer presents Madame Eglentyne as a blameless little nun "ful plesaunt, and amiable of port." In all likelihood, the girl Eglen tyne entered the Benedictine nun nery in London when she was barely in her tteens, so that un schooled in the ways of the outside by LEONOR S. BORROMEO Wei coude she carie a morsel and wel kepe, That no drope ne fille upon hir brest. She took such delight in these nice ties that she impressed many a clumsy nun who could not drink without leaving traces of grease on her cup or who reached out for her food unbecomingly. Eglentyne showed or marked aptitude for singing. Very often her voice would rise above the voice of the choir in the convent chapel as ... she song the sevice divyne, Entuned in hir nose ful semely. In the afternoons in summer, Eglentyne and her sisters would either do brain work or spin and embroider altar vestments; at times they would do garden work or go out haymaking. These activities were followed by periods of re laxation. Of course, the religious services formed an important part of the monastic schedule. Thus, the monotonous regularity of the offices The responsibilities were too head-breaking to suit her, but the privileges more than made up for the ordeal of having to solve the various problems inherent in the office. As head of the convent she did not have to account to any body for her actuations except the bishop who came around only on visitations. She could go out of the convent to see how the estates were getting along, and whenever she did there was one nun who was with her as companion and as sisted her in every little way. Then, too, a couple of priests came along, for a nun was not allowed to go out of convent walls alone. Thus, in this Canterbury pilgrimage she was in the company of her chaplain and three priests. As prioress Madame Eglentyne had to entertain visitors, especially paying guests in the convent, like wives of crusaders who were away in heathen lands or pilgrims on their way to some distant shrine. Quite naturally, these boarders with their (Continued on page 45) IMWNCf, 1957 Page 29 MADAME EGLENTINE... (Continued from page 29) worldly trappings and pet animals gave the cloistered women frivolous ideas. The bishops raised eyebrows at these incursions into the convents, but no ban could be enforced since the nunneries needed the money badly. Madame Eglentyne and her nuns did not exactly close their eyes or turn deaf ears to the influence of their worldly boarders. Thus, our prioress diverted a part of the con gregation's money to entertainment at New Year or Christmas, to games, and contests which must have in cluded dancing. For the womanly vanities of clothing and jewelry Madame Eglen tyne had a soft spot in her heart, for Ful semely hir wimpel pinched was; mid Ful fetis teas hir eloke, as 1 was war. Of course, these lines could only mean she was a fastidious lady who insisted on being meticulously prim. But then. Of smal coral aboule hir arm she bar A peire of bedes, gauded al with grene; And there — on heng a broche of gold ful shone. These definitely ran counter to mo nastic rules. A nun was not sup pose to wear jewelled brooches nor reveal her broad forehead. Contrary to the bishop's injunc tion on pet animals, Madame Eglen tyne lavished maternal care on her small dog which .... she fedde With rosted flesh, or milk and wasted — breed, But sore weep she if oon of hem were deed, Or if men smoot it with a yerde smerte. If small dogs could move her tender heart, what was to keep her from showering as much tenderness on a snow-white rabbit or a twittering little bird (or birds) in a cage in some shady nook of the nunnery bower? Madame Eglentyne's presence at this pilgrimage shows very little discretion on her part, considering the vehement objections of the Church to wanderings of nuns, ex cept in very exceptional cases. A papal bull had made it quite clear that pilgrimages for nuns did not ramblings in lower case (Cont'd from page .'il) stars in her eyes or the offbeat tempo of a rythm. whatever it is, if it answers a restless need of finding yourself, you've found it and you'll never really lose it for its possession is an eternal answer. there is an old old gem of wisdom in the age-old saying that "you must take people for what you find them and not for what other people say" that makes up our little song of life, this is one rung up to help us grow in understanding even with the sceptre of our fallible human nature hanging like a sword over us, pulsating clay. The Warriors’ Following (Cont’d from page -!6) Agapito Rogado, the old reliable of the team is an artist in his own way. His body twists when making sneak-in shots, much like a calypso dancer. Often, he bumps into someone's back, with the result that he does a one-point bottom landing. In one game he did this stance so many times that the groans of the sympathetic audience could be heard for miles. Balodoy Borromeo, the magic ball-hawking skeleton, teamed up with Rogado is something to see with his outside shooting, the happiest shooter of the team. The strange behavior of the men around the court in shorts can only be understood by the few followers who sit and watch them cavort daily and gaily. Carolinian rooters are few with the result that what they lack in number they make up for in noise. The school's population just doesn't cater to the idea of being seen whopping it up. Some students do not just give a hoot about moral support. But let us, if for one moment, talk about a man. Let us pick him who turned the tables on a highly-touted team. Dodong is a genial man with a hearty relish for lusty cracks. Some of his more colorful "shorts" has put him in not-so-good standing with his fellow tutors. He has that easy touch of comradeship that makes his boys give back all he has taught. The boys now present to their mentor... the 1956 Loving Cup! The laughter now is on our side, our coach has shown to the public his worth, the prediction of our honored sports hacks have gone to the mud, but then, the writers' consolation is: "When good predictions are made, they do not come from sportswriters or, for that matter, a weatherman." SPECIAL TREAT. . . . Three members of the 1946 National Champion Warriors who have gone into mentorship have each bagged a championship prize. First is our Juan "Dodong" Aquino who took the CCAA crown; next is Jimmy Bas of the CIT Wildcats who tamed UV to grab the zone VII Championship and last but by no means least is Lauro "The Lord" Mumar, coach of the FEATI Hi-Flyers, CALM champions in Manila. fall under the category of excep tional cases. One is inclined to believe that the prioress must have used some amount from the convent coffers to cover the expenses of the pilgrim age, an amount which could have filled more pressing needs. She was really more human than the aver age reader would think. Neverthe less, the host of the Tabard Inn, not being wise to her share of im perfections, regarded her with much more consideration than the other pilgrims. (To be continued) JANUARY, 1957 Page 45

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