Everything about Abbess totally explained
An
abbess (
Latin abbatissa, fem. form of
abbas, abbot) is the female
superior, or
Mother Superior, of an
abbey of
nuns.
In
Roman Catholic and
Anglican abbeys, the mode of election, position, rights, and authority of an abbess correspond generally with those of an
abbot. The office is elective, the choice being by the secret votes of the sisters from their own body. Like the abbot, the abbess is solemnly admitted to her office by formal blessing, conferred by the bishop in whose territory the monastery is or by an abbot or another
bishop with his permission. Unlike the abbot, she receives only the ring and a copy of the rule of the order: the abbess doesn't receive the
mitre, and she isn't given a
crosier as part of the blessing ceremony though, by ancient tradition, she may carry one when leading her sisters. She also traditionally adds a
pectoral cross to her habit as a symbol of office.
Abbesses are, like abbots, major superiors in
canon law. They receive the vows of the sisters of the abbey and have full authority in its administration. As they don't receive Holy Orders, in the Roman Catholic church they don't have many of the other powers conferred upon abbots, however, and they don't exercise authority over territories outside of their monastery.
Historically, in some
Celtic monasteries abbesses presided over joint-houses of monks and nuns, the most famous example being
St. Brigid's leadership in the founding of the monastery at Kildare. This custom accompanied Celtic monastic missions to France and Spain, and even to Rome itself. At a later period, in
1115, Robert, the founder of
Fontevraud Abbey near
Chinon and
Saumur,
France, committed the government of the whole order, men as well as women, to a female superior.
In the
Lutheran Church the title of abbess (
Äbtissin) has in some cases—for example Itzehoe—survived to designate the heads of abbeys which since the Protestant
Reformation have continued as
Stifte, for example collegiate foundations, which provide a home and an income for unmarried ladies, generally of noble birth, called canonesses (
Kanonissinen) or more usually
Stiftsdamen. This office of abbess is of considerable social dignity, and was sometimes filled by princesses of the reigning houses. Until the dissolution of
Holy Roman Empire and
mediatization of smaller imperial fiefs by Napoleon, the evangelical Abbess of
Quedlinburg was also per officio the head of that
reichsunmittelbar state. The last such ruling abbess was
Sofia Albertina, Princess of Sweden.
Further Information
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