Mary Howard, Of The Holy Cross
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Mary Howard, of the Holy Cross (28 December 1653 – 21 March 1735 at
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
) was an English nun of the
Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...
.


Life

She was a great-granddaughter of
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, (Kenninghall, Norfolk, 10 March 1536Tower Hill, London, 2 June 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. Although from a family with strong Roman Catholic leanings, he was raised a Protestant. He was a ...
, and a daughter of
Sir Robert Howard Robert Howard may refer to: Entertainment * Robert Howard (playwright) (1626–1698), English playwright and politician * Robert Boardman Howard (1896–1983), American muralist and sculptor * Robert E. Howard (1906–1936), fantasy writer, crea ...
, a younger son of
Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire (8 October 1587 – 16 July 1669) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1605 and 1622. He was created Earl of Berkshire in 1626. Life Howard was born in Saffron Walden, Essex, t ...
, in whose home Mary's early youth was spent. At the age of eighteen, to escape the attentions of
Charles II of England Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was King of Scotland from 1649 until 1651, and King of England, Scotland and Ireland from the 1660 Restoration of the monarchy until his death in 1685. Charles II was the eldest surviving child of ...
, she went to Paris, under the assumed name of Talbot, and was placed in the Benedictine convent of Val de Grace to learn French. Here she was received into the Catholic Church, a step which brought her into disfavour with Lady Osborne, her guardian in Paris. Remaining staunch, she was finally permitted to retire to the convent of the Canonesses of St. Augustine at
Chaillot The 16th arrondissement of Paris (''XVIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''seizième''. The arrondissement includes part of the Arc de Tr ...
, near Paris, where she remained several years, until her admission into the English convent of Poor Clares at Rouen, under the name of Parnel, to safeguard further the secret of her identity. Here she was made successively mistress of the choir, second and first portress, the latter a position involving the management of the temporal affairs of the convent, and in 1702, on the resignation of Mother Winefrid Clare Giffard, abbess since 1670, she became
abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic ...
of the community.


Works

Her "Chief Points of our Holy Ceremonies " was published in 1726. Her other works, all in manuscript, are chiefly books of spiritual exercises, litanies, and other devotions.


See also


References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Mary 1653 births 1735 deaths 18th-century English Roman Catholic nuns Mary of the Holy Cross 17th-century English Roman Catholic nuns