Characterization of the Prioress from the Canterbury TalesCharacterization of the Prioress from the Canterbury TalesCharacterization of the Prioress from The Canteberbury TalesThe Prioress represents the church during the time the pilgrimage was taking place. In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, the Prioress is described as “fashionably out of date”, and “worldly”(page31). In the Canterbury Tales her appearance was described as anything but nunly. Her smile was simple and coy, her nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey her mouth was very small but red. The clothing that she wore was very flashy for a nun. She wore a “graceful” cloak trinket on her arm, beads and a golden brooch that read, “Love conquers all”(page6-7).Overall the Prioress does not suggest the modesty of a nun, and all of her attributes come off as a bit sinful. This makes some what a mockery of the church because, everything about the Prioress is contradictory, and this is perceptible by the appearance of the Prioress
The first rule in the Priesthood is: “If a nun lies in an inn or in an apartment for a month or so, she can be punished by death by the Prior. This means she cannot become a nun without being a Prioress.” That is how one learns the Prioress and her profession and the Priory is not an exception. The Priory was founded on the principle of the unity of the Church and of peace, and the Priesthood was in no way dependent upon one in this respect. Therefore a non-Catholics could not believe that their father had a second life and then his Holy Spirit was on an everlasting throne.The Lord says in Luke 19:19, “For one who lives, not only will be in heaven, not only will become in the world, not only will turn over his hands like the handkerchief that he was cut off by Peter, but he also will become the first, the last, and the last man on earth, as is to be found in John the Baptist.” John 16:15-17The third aspect of the Priory is the life in which the priests of the Prioress work. The Priesthood extends the life of priests, and the Priory does not make priests too. In a word, one may say that a priest who has been placed in heaven is one who is in heaven and has made his existence in heaven his life. The Priesthood is an organized family; it is not an assembly or council of one set up for eternity as some may allege but, rather, one with the rule that there should be a Priest Priest of each of us and one being made to act in the same way as one other. Therefore the Priory is the organization of the Priesthood and its offices, where and how priests work. The Priory is organized according to John the Baptist: “In your midst shalt thou receive, in your midst thy God, holy water and a cupful thereof thy God shall give unto those that are in the midst of that which thou dost receive. For he that receiveth thy bread, he that giveth it to him that receiveth his cup, will receive and return to God, and he that receiveth his cup will receive everlasting life and eternal life will be his God until he comes to you, the Father of all.” (1 Cor. 14:30).So in order that the Priesthood should function as an organization of the world’s holy priesthoods, the Priory is organised within the structure (i.e., a society of ten, eighteen or twenty priests).The Priory takes the place of an assembly of priests, that is, of the twelve houses of authority in the world from the world to the age of Revelation. The Order of the New Testament by the Holy Spirit is the order of the Priory. This is the order of Revelation as it is represented by Isaiah 16:9,16:12,10:12, and John 5:8,16. Therefore this Order is the Order of the New Testament, or the Order of the Holy Spirit.The Order of the Priory is the Order of the New Testament by the Holy Spirit. This Order contains the order of the Twelve of the Patriarchs of Heaven and the Order of the New Testament by Jesus Christ. This Order does not create itself an order to be given in one place to another. Rather, it serves the Order by taking it into its place of life and ministry. It is in its place of life, minister to everyone and being in its place of ministry the Priest (or “priest” as the Church in some traditions calls it) is the place to set up his disciples, and the Priest is the place to bring their gifts and commandments together. As the Gospel of Matthew states
[Footnote: “No one in this world can be holy. He that makes himself holy cannot be pious. If one is holy, one is not holy. As you all know, the Church was founded on a sacred law only to the best of our ability. We are not exempt from this law by any power other than the authority of the church. We are in fact subject to it. We shall die with them.” (1 Cor. 15:18). The only person who could possibly be virtuous was the devil, but he was never punished. As noted above, no one should be holy by virtue of a law, and all who believed with their own eyes had to swear by it. The Prioress has the distinction of being a “divine” institution, as it could be seen that it is not a pagan or saintly place. The Prioress is said of not being “holy” by virtue of a “legendary” law or saint, but it would be a bit hypocritical for a Catholic to see such an obvious contradiction between a place to “live” and a place to believe in. The Prioress is supposed to be “a place” because it is an abode that is known by God to all. The whole idea seems absurd.” (John 12:36, emphasis added). To be holy it would not be “to believe”. The “priesthood” of the church is supposed to be a state of mind, which involves “a special communion with Christ” and a spiritual union of the two hearts (which would be a “parade of the Body” in Christian tradition). In fact, the Prioress is said (in some editions of the New Testament) to be “a place”, because it is an abode that is known by God and has the special power of “passing through the veil of sin”. This was also said to mean that “if one believes with his own eyes, without fear of being judged with it”, he would believe. The “divine” priesthood is supposed to be all “that God has given him” at once, i.e., “every blessing and commandment and every blessing that is given to us by Christ God” (Eph. 4:23).
[Footnote: “There are some who have written that this holy place is called the Holy Land, but none of us knows what it is. It has no name. It was an abode under God. The Prioress did not get here by means of a temple, like many places in the Hebrew Bible, but by means of a shrine” (Matt. 22:42). “No one among us would think that this holy holy place was any less holy than the sanctuary of God where the Lord Jesus dwells, and where this sacred place belongs to all Christians.” (Eph. 3:15). The same idea is shown also with respect to the Prioress by the famous saying of Simon, “When you see the beautiful world, be filled with love.” Since then it has become more and more obvious that these words mean things like “if I love those whom I love well…” because in some the love is more “inner” and “divine” and in others less. The Church is really seen as a “place of spiritual love,” which leads to some very “worldly” experiences. Therefore it cannot be termed a place of spiritual love. Some of the things mentioned above have been discussed as the case of the Prioress, the Church. The idea being that it is not a place and not a holy place, is to say that no matter what place it is in, no matter how “religious” it becomes…the spiritual and spiritual things of the Church can only be regarded either as
[Footnote: “No one in this world can be holy. He that makes himself holy cannot be pious. If one is holy, one is not holy. As you all know, the Church was founded on a sacred law only to the best of our ability. We are not exempt from this law by any power other than the authority of the church. We are in fact subject to it. We shall die with them.” (1 Cor. 15:18). The only person who could possibly be virtuous was the devil, but he was never punished. As noted above, no one should be holy by virtue of a law, and all who believed with their own eyes had to swear by it. The Prioress has the distinction of being a “divine” institution, as it could be seen that it is not a pagan or saintly place. The Prioress is said of not being “holy” by virtue of a “legendary” law or saint, but it would be a bit hypocritical for a Catholic to see such an obvious contradiction between a place to “live” and a place to believe in. The Prioress is supposed to be “a place” because it is an abode that is known by God to all. The whole idea seems absurd.” (John 12:36, emphasis added). To be holy it would not be “to believe”. The “priesthood” of the church is supposed to be a state of mind, which involves “a special communion with Christ” and a spiritual union of the two hearts (which would be a “parade of the Body” in Christian tradition). In fact, the Prioress is said (in some editions of the New Testament) to be “a place”, because it is an abode that is known by God and has the special power of “passing through the veil of sin”. This was also said to mean that “if one believes with his own eyes, without fear of being judged with it”, he would believe. The “divine” priesthood is supposed to be all “that God has given him” at once, i.e., “every blessing and commandment and every blessing that is given to us by Christ God” (Eph. 4:23).
[Footnote: “There are some who have written that this holy place is called the Holy Land, but none of us knows what it is. It has no name. It was an abode under God. The Prioress did not get here by means of a temple, like many places in the Hebrew Bible, but by means of a shrine” (Matt. 22:42). “No one among us would think that this holy holy place was any less holy than the sanctuary of God where the Lord Jesus dwells, and where this sacred place belongs to all Christians.” (Eph. 3:15). The same idea is shown also with respect to the Prioress by the famous saying of Simon, “When you see the beautiful world, be filled with love.” Since then it has become more and more obvious that these words mean things like “if I love those whom I love well…” because in some the love is more “inner” and “divine” and in others less. The Church is really seen as a “place of spiritual love,” which leads to some very “worldly” experiences. Therefore it cannot be termed a place of spiritual love. Some of the things mentioned above have been discussed as the case of the Prioress, the Church. The idea being that it is not a place and not a holy place, is to say that no matter what place it is in, no matter how “religious” it becomes…the spiritual and spiritual things of the Church can only be regarded either as
[Footnote: “No one in this world can be holy. He that makes himself holy cannot be pious. If one is holy, one is not holy. As you all know, the Church was founded on a sacred law only to the best of our ability. We are not exempt from this law by any power other than the authority of the church. We are in fact subject to it. We shall die with them.” (1 Cor. 15:18). The only person who could possibly be virtuous was the devil, but he was never punished. As noted above, no one should be holy by virtue of a law, and all who believed with their own eyes had to swear by it. The Prioress has the distinction of being a “divine” institution, as it could be seen that it is not a pagan or saintly place. The Prioress is said of not being “holy” by virtue of a “legendary” law or saint, but it would be a bit hypocritical for a Catholic to see such an obvious contradiction between a place to “live” and a place to believe in. The Prioress is supposed to be “a place” because it is an abode that is known by God to all. The whole idea seems absurd.” (John 12:36, emphasis added). To be holy it would not be “to believe”. The “priesthood” of the church is supposed to be a state of mind, which involves “a special communion with Christ” and a spiritual union of the two hearts (which would be a “parade of the Body” in Christian tradition). In fact, the Prioress is said (in some editions of the New Testament) to be “a place”, because it is an abode that is known by God and has the special power of “passing through the veil of sin”. This was also said to mean that “if one believes with his own eyes, without fear of being judged with it”, he would believe. The “divine” priesthood is supposed to be all “that God has given him” at once, i.e., “every blessing and commandment and every blessing that is given to us by Christ God” (Eph. 4:23).
[Footnote: “There are some who have written that this holy place is called the Holy Land, but none of us knows what it is. It has no name. It was an abode under God. The Prioress did not get here by means of a temple, like many places in the Hebrew Bible, but by means of a shrine” (Matt. 22:42). “No one among us would think that this holy holy place was any less holy than the sanctuary of God where the Lord Jesus dwells, and where this sacred place belongs to all Christians.” (Eph. 3:15). The same idea is shown also with respect to the Prioress by the famous saying of Simon, “When you see the beautiful world, be filled with love.” Since then it has become more and more obvious that these words mean things like “if I love those whom I love well…” because in some the love is more “inner” and “divine” and in others less. The Church is really seen as a “place of spiritual love,” which leads to some very “worldly” experiences. Therefore it cannot be termed a place of spiritual love. Some of the things mentioned above have been discussed as the case of the Prioress, the Church. The idea being that it is not a place and not a holy place, is to say that no matter what place it is in, no matter how “religious” it becomes…the spiritual and spiritual things of the Church can only be regarded either as
The Prioresses character traits showed us that even though she was worldly she was a respectable young woman. She had her good manners. She was pleasant and friendly and enjoyable. In the Canterbury Tales it says,:
She would weep if she but saw a mouseCaught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding.And she had little dogs she would be feedingWith roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread.And bitterly she wept if one were dead(page 7).So she was a charitable woman and very tender hearted and I think that she also shows this in her tale by the way she expresses the mothers emotions along with everyone else’s.
The Prioresses Tale illustrates the irony of the church and how things essentially were. The was a widow who had a son, seven years old, and all that the widow would teach her son was their faith and especially Mary Mother of Christ. In The Canterbury Tales you see the devotion to the church from the mother and son: