Pastors

Chapter 2 serves as a companion piece to its predecessor. It examines the pastoral and liturgical roles and responsibilities assumed by abbesses and prioresses, underscoring the authority they exercised in and outside of their communities. Identifying the nuns known to have held these offices and detailing how they fulfilled them set the stage for the following three chapters because abbesses and prioresses were most often charged with reading the gospel liturgically, hearing confessions, and leading their consorors in offering intercessory prayers. This chapter contextualizes these ministries by associating them with some of the other acts abbesses and prioresses performed as pastors: raising spiritual daughters, grooming successors, and instructing those entrusted to their care, including affiliated and visiting laity. To gain access to these officers’ lived experiences, this chapter gives special consideration to sources addressing how they, their consorors, their admirers, and even their detractors viewed their roles and responsibilities.