Announcing the death of a nun.

[Ephemera] / [Nuns]. Jesus Maria Francois. L’an de grace [1783] le [10 7bre] en notre Couvent des Soeurs Grises de Brugelette, est pieusement décédée entre les prieres de ses Soeurs, administrée des Sts. Sacrements de la Sainte Eglise, notre chere Soeur, Soeur [M. Albertine delvienquier Morte subitement] âgée de [74] ans, Professe de [53] l’Ame de laquelle nous recommandons aux saintes Prieres votre Communauté, par charité. [jublilaire de 3 ans] Requiescat in pace. S.l.: s.n.: s.a. [annotated shortly after 10 September 1783]. [9.3 x 7.0 cm], [1] f. letterpress form completed in manuscript. Well preserved.
 
 
Unrecorded letterpress form printed to announce the deaths of sisters at the Couvent des Soeurs Grises de Brugelette, i.e. Franciscan recollects associated with the charitable hospital at Wisbecq, Belgium. This example was completed in manuscript to record the death of a certain sister Albertine Delvienquier (or Delvainquierre). Ephemeral material of this sort rarely survives today.
 
In translation the text reads, “Jesus, Maria, Francis. In the year of grace [1783] on [September 10th] in our Convent of the Grey Nuns of Brugelette, our dear Sister, Sister [M. Albertine Delvienquier, sudden death], aged [74] years, professed for [53], died piously amidst the prayers of her Sisters, the Holy Sacraments of the Holy Church having been administered, and her soul we commend to the holy prayers of your Community, out of charity. [A jubilaire plus 3 years] Rest in peace.”
 
This Albertine Delvainquierre is attested elsewhere in the documents of the community, which was active from 1234 until the expulsion of the sisters in 1798 (see, L. Mahy, “Le couvent de Wisbecq en Brugelette,” Annales du Cercle royal archéologique d’Ath et de la région, vol. 4 (1919), pp 1-134, esp. pp. 34 & 57)
 
The format of this slip is interesting. The item was intended for distribution to neighboring religious communities which would then pray for the soul of the deceased Soeur Grise whose name was filled in by hand. That a blank form was printed specifically to handle the deaths of the sisters of Brugelette Convent, whose population was never more than a few dozen at a time, suggests either fitful access to a printing press or a real pessimism about the eminent deaths of multiple sisters.
 
 
This form is not located by OCLC or KVK.
 
*L. Mahy, “Le couvent de Wisbecq en Brugelette,” Annales du Cercle royal archéologique d’Ath et de la région, vol. 4 (1919), pp 1-134, pp. 34 & 57.