Sentence:  The child she had conceived in terror, had carried in shame, and had borne in pain had been given the name of that paradisal spring which could, if anything could, wash <WSD>antecedence</WSD> into non-existence and torment into calm. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  That which precedes something or someone (e.g. prior events, origin, ancestry).