The Paraclete, which in ancient Greek signifies “the comforter” and in Christianity is often used to refer to the Holy Spirit, is also the name of God in the feminine. The Oratory of the Paraclete was a Benedictine monastery owned by Peter Abelard, near Troyes in the county of Champagne, in 12th century France.

After his love affair with Heloïse was discovered and they were forced to separate, Abelard was elected to be an abbot of a monastery near Brittany. So, he bequeathed the Paraclete to her. There, in the Oratory, with the sisters who wished to accompany her, Heloïse spent the rest of her life becoming the abbess of The Paraclete.

They only met a few times after separating but their relationship has survived in their outstanding correspondence. All that Abélard had to say about Heloïse at this time was that she was remarkably successful and that she and her sisters accomplished more in a single year at The Paraclete than he could have done in one hundred.

Elena del Rivero’s studio is dedicated to the memory of proto-feminist Heloïse.

Heloïse and Abélard, by Étinenne Gilson, Ann Harbor Paperbacks, The University of Michigan Press. The word parakletos is a verbal adjective, often used of one called to help in a lawcourt. In the Jewish tradition the word was transcribed with Hebrew letters and used for angels, prophets, and the just as advocates before God's court. The word also acquired the meaning of 'one who consoles' (cf. Job 16:2, Theodotion's and Aquila's translations; the LXX has the correct word parakletores). It is probably wrong to explain the Johannine parakletos on the basis of only one religious background. The word is filled with a complex meaning: the Spirit replaces Jesus, is an advocate and a witness, but also consoles the disciples. Source Wikipedia