their pilgrimage. To this they readily assented, and she adhered to them with great diligence and devotion; for she washed and kissed their feet, and served them better than any others. In this manner she conducted herself the whole way, both going and returning; no one asked her who she was or where she came from, nor did she ever mention it. When they passed through London on their return, she obtained their consent to leave; but she said before going away, "It is now time for me to go to the place from which I came and you must give thanks to God, who never deserts those that put their trust in Him; for I tell you that you will surely obtain that which you prayed for at Rome from the apostles." None of the company saw this woman except Godric and his mother only. How the man of God, on his return home, retired into the desert. In When he had restored his mother in safety to the protection of his father, he sold all that he had, received their blessing, and left them, in order to become a hermit. the extreme parts of England he came to a city called Carlisle, where, finding some of his relations, he obtained from one of them a present of one of St. Jerome's psalters, which in a short time he learned to recite by heart. He then, without the knowledge of his friends, retired to the woods. where he lived some time on wild herbs and fruits; and both serpents and wild beasts came and looked on him, but after a time left him without doing him any harm. In this desert he spent many days as a hermit; at one time on his knees, at another time with his hands raised to heaven, or prostrate on the ground, he was constantly in prayer to God. At last he found in that place a hermit's cave, into which he entered, and received the salutation, "Welcome, brother Godric!" To which he replied, "How do you do, father .Ailric?" though they never knew one another before. "You are sent by Heaven," replied the old man, "to bury my old body when I am dead." These two lived together two years, though neither of them had any property. At last the old hermit became very infirm, and was carried about by Godric, who brought him food, and fetched a priest to hear his confession, and administered to him the eucharist. Godric, therefore, seeing that he became worse, said, “Thou spirit, that hast been created after God's likeness, I adjure thee by the Almighty God, not to leave this body without my knowledge." The old man thereupon died immediately, and Godric saw a kind of spherical body like a hot and burning wind, which shone like most transparent glass, in the midst of an incomparable whiteness, though no one can describe the measure of the soul's qualities. At the news of the holy man's death, his companions, who were at the court of St. Cuthbert, where, when a young man, he had himself resided, buried him in the cemetery of Durham. How the blessed Godric went to Jerusalem and returned safe. When the brother aforesaid was buried, Godric returned to the desert, doubting what might be the divine will concerning him. Whilst, therefore, he was praying earnestly to God on this subject, a voice came from heaven saying to him, "It is expedient that thou shouldst go to Jerusalem and return again." Also St. Cuthbert, Christ's holy confessor, appeared to him saying, "Go to Jerusalem, and be crucified with the Lord, and I will there be your helper and patron in all things. When you have completed this journey, you shall serve God under my protection at Finchale." Godric returning to Durham, took the cross and received the priest's blessing. On this journey he ate nothing but barley bread and drank water, he neither changed nor washed his clothes, nor ever took off his shoes to change or mend them, until he arrived as the holy places. When he came to the Lord's tomb and the other sacred places, he prayed devoutly, shedding tears, and kissing the spot so long and devoutly, that one could hardly have thought it possible. He then went to the river Jordan, where, clothed in sackcloth, and with a cup which he carried in his wallet, and a small cross, which he always bore in his hand, he entered the river, which he always after loved, and there putting off his clothes, came forth washed and clean; but he threw away his shoes, and said, "Almighty God, who in this land didst walk with naked feet, and didst suffer thy feet to be pierced with nails upon the cross henceforth I will never again wear shoes." Having thus fulfilled his vow of pilgrimage, he returned to England. How the blessed Godric, by God's inspiration, chose his residence Returned from pilgrimage, he found a secret place in a forest, in the north of England, called Eskdale, which he thought would suit him to dwell in. He accordingly built a hut of logs, covering it with turf, and dwelt there a year and some months: but when the proprietors of the land began to annoy him, he left it and went to Durham, where he made such rapid progress in learning the Psalter afresh, that he soon knew as much of the psalms, hymns, and prayers, as he thought sufficient. Wherefore, one day, inspired from on high, he went into a grove in the neighbourhood, where he heard a shepherd say to his comrade, "Let us go and water our flocks at Finchale." Godric hearing these words, gave the shepherd the only penny he had, to conduct him to that place. As he proceeded towards the interior of the forest, there met him a fierce wolf of extraordinary size, which rushed upon him, as if it would tear him in pieces. Godric, perceiving that this was one of the wiles of the old enemy, made the sign of the cross, saying, "I adjure thee in the name of the Holy Trinity to depart with speed, if the service which I propose to discharge to God in this place is acceptable to him!" At these words, the animal prostrated himself with his impious feet, as if begging pardon of the holy man. How Saint Godric dwelt at Finchale among the wild beasts and serpents. Intending, therefore, to serve the Lord in this place, Godric, by licence of Ralph bishop of Durham, formed a cave in the earth near the bank of the river Wear, and covering it with turf, resided therein among the wild beasts and serpents. The number of serpents was fearful; but they were all tame towards the man of God, suffering themselves to be handled, and obedient to his commands. Sometimes as he sat by the fire they would twine round his legs, or coil themselves up in his dish or his cup. After having passed some years in this way of life, he thought that the serpents impeded his prayers; wherefore one day seeing them about him as usual, he commanded them to enter his house no more; upon which all those vermin wholly left it, and never again crossed his threshold. When, also, presents of food and other articles were offered to him, he declines them altogether, preferring to live by the labour of his hands: and he burnt boughs and branches of trees to ashes, which he mixed with his barley flour in such proportion that the ashes formed one-third of the whole; and he restrained the passions of the body by weeping, watching, and fasting, so that sometimes he even passed six days without eating. After tempting him strongly with luxury, the devil appeared to him in the form of a wild beast, such as a bear, a lion, bull, or wolf, a fox, or a toad, and endeavoured to alarm him; but he was strong in faith and despised them all. To quench the burnings of the flesh, he subdued his body by the use of the harshest sackcloth, and for fifty years wore a coat of mail. His table was a broad flat stone, on which stood his bread, such as I have before described it, but he never tasted it until compelled by absolute necessity: his drink was a moderate draught of water, and only when urged by extreme thirst; he never reposed in a bed, but would lie on the ground when he was fatigued, with his sackcloth under him, and with his head reclining on the stone which served him for a table. When the moon shone, he devoted himself to his works, and, shaking off sleep, spent the time in prayer. In winter, amid snow and hail, he entered the river naked, and there, during the whole night, offered himself up a living victim to the Lord, immersed up to his neck, and in this state poured forth psalms, and prayers, and tears. Whilst he was in the water, the devil used often to appear to him with all his limbs distorted, and on the point of rushing on him, but he was repulsed in confusion at the sign of the holy cross; he endeavoured, however, to carry off the clothes of the holy man, but was so terrified by Godric's shouts, that he cast them also away and fled. How Saint Godric one day saw a child come forth from the mouth of the crucifix, and reverently settle himself in the bosom of its mother. One day, whilst the man of God was sitting in his oratory repeating the psalter, he saw a little boy come out of the mouth of the crucifix, who, going to the image of the blessed virgin, which stood on the north end of the same plank, sat himself in her bosom. She, on the other hand, stretching out her hands to meet him, fondled him in her arms for nearly three hours. The boy during the whole time moved as if he was alive; and both when he came and when he went, the image of the virgin trembled so much that the plank seemed likely to fall. Godric thought that the limbs of the image were filled with the spirit of life, and that the boy was no other than Jesus of Nazareth. The child afterwards returned into the mouth of the crucifix in the same way as it came out. How our Lord's mother and Mary Magdalene appeared to Saint Godric, and of the song which our Saviour's mother taught him. Another time, when the man of God was praying before the altar of the blessed virgin mother of God, he saw two girls, of tender age, and of the utmost beauty, standing at the two horns of the altar, and clothed in garments of snowy whiteness. They stood some time looking at one another, and Godric did not dare to move, but turned his eyes from one to the other, and occasionally bowed his head in adoration. The virgins then approached him, and she who was at the right hand of the altar asked him, "Dost thou know me, Godric?" To whom he answered, "That is impossible, lady, except to whom you design to reveal yourself." She replied, "Of a truth thou hast said that I am the mother of Christ, and through me thou shalt obtain his grace. This other lady is the female apostle of the apostles, Mary Magdalene." Godric now threw himself at the feet of the mother of God, saying, "I commit myself to thee, my lady, and beseech thee to take me under thy protection." She then placed both of her hands on his head, and smoothing down his hair, filled the house with a sweet odour. After this she sang, and taught Godric to sing a song, which he afterwards often repeated and imprinted it firmly on his memory: the song in the English idiom is as follows:* "Seinte Marie, clane virgine, Moder Jesu Christ Nazarene, Onfang, bring heali widh the in Godes rich. Seinte Marie, Christes bour, Meidenes clenhed, moderes flour, Delivere mine sennen, regne in min mod, Bringe me to blisse wit thi selfe, God." These are the exact words of the original, and form a curious fragment of early English religious poetry. |