The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): FebruaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): February
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
They had to pass the Liffey, which was much swollen, consequently the
thieves stripped, and tied their clothes to the horns of the cattle,
intending to drive the cows into the river, and swim after them. But
the cows ran away, carrying off with them the clothes of the robbers
attached to their horns, and they did not stop till they reached the
gates of the convent of S. Bridget, the nude thieves racing after
them. The holy abbess restored to them their garments, and severely
reprimanded them for their attempted robbery.
Other strange miracles are attributed to her, of which it is
impossible to relate a tithe. She is said, after a shower of rain, to
have come hastily into a chamber, and cast her wet cloak over a
sunbeam, mistaking it, in her hurry, for a beam of wood. And the cloak
remained there, and the ray of sun did not move, till late at night
one of her maidens ran to her, to tell her that the sunbeam waited its
release, so she hasted, and removed her cloak, and the ray retired
after the long departed sun.
Once a rustic, seeing a wolf run about in proximity to the palace,
killed it; not knowing that it was the tame creature of the king; and
he brought the dead beast to the king, expecting a reward. Then the
prince in anger ordered the man to be cast into prison and executed.
Now when Bridget heard this, her spirit was stirred within her, and
mounting her chariot, she drove to the court, to intercede for the
life of the poor countryman. And on the way, there came a wolf over
the bog racing towards her, and it leaped into the chariot, and
allowed her to caress it. Then, when she reached the palace, she went
before the king, with the wolf at her side, and said, "Sire! I have
brought thee a better wolf than that thou hast lost, spare therefore
the life of the poor man who unwittingly slew thy beast." Then the
king accepted her present with great joy, and ordered the prisoner to
be released.
One evening she sat with sister Dara, a holy nun, who was blind, as
the sun went down; and they talked of the love of Jesus Christ, and
the joys of Paradise. Now their hearts were so full, that the night
fled away whilst they spoke together, and neither knew that so many
hours had sped. Then the sun came up from behind Wicklow mountains,
and the pure white light made the face of earth bright and gay. Then
Bridget sighed, when she saw how lovely were earth and sky, and knew
that Dara's eyes were closed to all this beauty. So she bowed her head
and prayed, and extended her hand and signed the dark orbs of the
gentle sister. Then the darkness passed away from them, and Dara saw
the golden ball in the east, and all the trees and flowers glittering
with dew in the morning light. She looked a little while, and then,
turning to the abbess, said, "Close my eyes again, dear mother, for
when the world is so visible to the eyes, God is seen less clearly to
the soul." So Bridget prayed once more, and Dara's eyes grew dark
again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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