The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): MarchBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 03 (of 16): March
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
and take me away with them.' His languishing sickness increasing daily,
on the seventh day, when he had prepared for death by receiving the
Body and Blood of our Lord, his soul being delivered from the prison
of the body, the angels, as may justly be believed, attending him, he
departed to the joys of heaven.
"It is no wonder that he joyfully beheld the day of his death, or
rather the day of our Lord, which he had always anxiously looked for
till it came; for notwithstanding his many merits of continence,
humility, teaching, prayer, voluntary poverty, and other virtues, he
was so full of the fear of God, so mindful of his last end in all his
actions, that, as I was informed by one of the brothers, who instructed
me in divinity, and who had been bred in his monastery, whose name
was Trumhere, if it happened that there blew a strong gust of wind,
when he was reading or doing anything else, he at once called upon God
for mercy, and begged it might be extended to all mankind. If it blew
stronger, he, prostrating himself, prayed more earnestly. But if it
proved a violent storm of wind or rain, or of thunder and lightning,
he would pray and repeat Psalms in the church till the weather became
calm. Being asked by his followers why he did so, he answered, 'Have
ye not read,--'The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest
gave forth His voice; yea, He sent out his arrows and scattered them,
and he shot out lightnings and discomfited them.' For the Lord moves
the air, raises the winds, darts lightning, and thunders from heaven
to excite the inhabitants of the earth to fear Him; to put them in
mind of the future judgment; to dispel their pride and vanquish their
boldness, by bringing into their thoughts that dreadful time when, the
heavens and the earth being in a flame, He will come in the clouds with
great power and majesty, to judge the quick and the dead. Wherefore it
behoves us to answer His heavenly admonition with due fear and love.'
"Chad died on the second of March, and was first buried by S. Mary's
Church, but afterwards, when the Church of the most Holy Prince of
the Apostles, Peter, was built, his bones were translated into it. In
both which places as a testimony of his virtue, frequent miraculous
cures are wont to be wrought. The place of the sepulchre is a wooden
monument, made like a little house covered, having a hole in the wall,
through which those that go thither for devotion usually put in their
hand and take out some of the dust, which they put into water and give
to sick cattle or men to drink, upon which they are presently eased of
their infirmity and restored to health."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account