Alis de Tésieux (ca. sixteenth century C.E.)
Spirit of a Spanish nun, as recorded in a book published in
Paris in 1528 La merveilleuse histoire de lesprit qui, depuis naguère,
sest apparu au monastère des religieuses de Saint Pierre de Lyon, laquelle
est pleine de grande admiration, comme on pourra vois par la
lecture de ce prèsent livre, par Adrien de Montalembert, aumonier du
roi François Ier. This work dealt with the appearance in the
monastery of the spirit of Alis de Tésieux, a nun who had lived
there before the reformation of the monastery in 1513. It
seems Alis led a rather worldly life, following pleasure and enjoyment
in a manner unbecoming to a nun, finally stealing the
ornaments from the altar and selling them. She left the monastery
and for a time continued her disgraceful career outside,
but before she died she repented of her sins and, through the
intercession of the Virgin, received pardon. However, she was
refused Christian burial and was interred without the usual
prayers and funeral rites.
A number of years later, when the monastery was occupied
by other nuns, one of their number, a girl of about eighteen
years, was aroused from her sleep by the apparition of Sister
Alis. For some time afterward the spirit haunted her wherever
she went, continually rapping on the ground near where she
stood and even communicating with the other nuns. The spirit
who entered the monastery seemed good and devout, but the
good sisters, well versed in the wiles of the devil, had their
doubts. The bishop of Lyons and the narrator, Adrien de Montalembert,
were called in to deal with the evil spirit.
After many prayers and formalities, the spirit of Alis was
found to be an innocent one, attended by a guardian angel. She
answered a number of questions regarding her present state
and her desire for Christian burial, and confirmed the doctrines
of the Catholic Church, notably that of purgatory. The
remains of Sister Alis were conveyed to consecrated ground,
and prayers made for the release of her soul from purgatory,
but she continued to follow the young nun for a time, teaching
her, on her last visit, five secret prayers composed by St. John
the Evangelist.
