_Of the consecration of the first chapel and altar at Mount St. Agnes_.
On the Vigil of the Feast of St. John the Baptist, and in the year of our
Lord 1395, was consecrated the first chapel on the Mount of St. Agnes the
Virgin, and the first altar therein was dedicated in honour of that
saint, and of the most blessed Mary Magdalene, by Hubert, the Suffragan
and Vicar-General for Pontifical Acts to our most Reverend Father and
Lord, Frederic, Bishop of Utrecht.
And after the rite of Consecration, when the Dedication Festival was at
hand, being the Sunday after the Nativity of St. John, Reyner, the Curate
of Zwolle, came and was the first to sing a Solemn Mass in the chapel,
wherein he offered the sacrifice of perpetual praise to God, for he was
friendly disposed to the Brothers, and at unity with them. So from that
day forward the Holy Mysteries of our Redemption were celebrated there by
Priests and Clerks, and on festivals, hymns to the praise of God were
sung to stir up devotion of heart.
Having made this holy beginning, the lowly band of Brothers was kindled
to a still greater love of the worship of God, but in after time, when
the new and larger church in the monastery was builded and consecrated,
the dedication of this former chapel was transferred to the latter by
licence of the Bishop, but as was more seemly, it was dedicated first to
St. Mary and afterward to St. Agnes. After this, when nearly three years
had gone by, the desire of the Brothers to build a monastery burned
fiercely within them, and the elder amongst them especially, with their
Rector, were eager to do this work and carry it forward with all speed,
for certain urgent reasons did compel them. They saw that without
monastic discipline the way of life in the House could not continue to be
ordered duly, and therefore they determined that the habit of an holy
order must be their refuge, for they were instant to make prudent
provision for themselves and those that should come after, and to stop
the mouths of them that spoke evil, because such men did strive with the
cunning of this world to disturb the lowly and simple lives of the
Brothers. Moreover, though they were still poor and had not things
suitable to their need--either proper buildings or service books--yet did
they try to begin the work, trusting in the mercy of God and heartened by
the help of good men. And one spake of them and marvelled that men so
poor should wish to build a monastery and to take religious vows, though
they had no hope of increase, but Father John of Ummen, ever a lover of
poverty, answered him, saying: "I have always heard from holy men that
poverty is good, being both the cause of all good and the means of
increasing the same."