Essays Upon Some Controverted QuestionsHuxley, Thomas Henry
Religion
Essays Upon Some Controverted Questions
Huxley, Thomas Henry
Science
On the second day, the relics were carried to Upper Mulinheim, and finally,
in accordance with the orders of the martyrs, deposited in the church of
that place, which was therefore renamed Seligenstadt. Here, Daniel, a
beggar boy of fifteen, and so bent that "he could not look at the sky
without lying on his back," collapsed and fell down during the celebration
of the Mass. "Thus he lay a long time, as if asleep, and all his limbs
straightening and his flesh strengthening (_recepta firmitate nervorum_),
he arose before our eyes, quite well." (Cap. ii. 20.)
Some time afterwards an old man entered the church on his hands and knees,
being unable to use his limbs properly:-- {385}
He, in presence of all of us, by the power of God and the merits of the
blessed martyrs, in the same hour in which he entered was so perfectly
cured that he walked without so much as a stick. And he said that,
though he had been deaf for five years, his deafness had ceased along
with the palsy. (Cap. iii. 33.)
Eginhard was now obliged to return to the Court at Aix-la-Chapelle, where
his duties kept him through the winter; and he is careful to point out that
the later miracles which he proceeds to speak of are known to him only at
second hand. But, as he naturally observes, having seen such wonderful
events with his own eyes, why should he doubt similar narrations when they
are received from trustworthy sources?
Wonderful stories these are indeed, but as they are, for the most part, of
the same general character as those already recounted, they may be passed
over. There is, however, an account of a possessed maiden which is worth
attention. This is set forth in a memoir, the principal contents of which
are the speeches of a demon who declared himself to possess the singular
appellation of "Wiggo," and revealed himself in the presence of many
witnesses, before the altar, close to the relics of the blessed martyrs. It
is noteworthy that the revelations appear to have been made in the shape of
replies to the questions of the exorcising priest, and there is no means of
judging how far the answers are, really, only the questions to which the
patient replied yes or no.
The possessed girl, about sixteen years of age, was brought by her parents
to the basilica of the martyrs. {386}
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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