Walbert and Bertilia
Acta Sanctorum, May 11
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://actasanctorum.org/may/day-11/walbert-and-bertilia.html
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ON SS. WALBERT AND BERTILIA, PARENTS OF SS. WALDETRUDIS AND ALDEGUNDIS,
AT CURTISSOLRA IN HAINAUT.

ABOUT DCLX.

[Preface]

Walbert, and Bertilia parents of SS. Waldetrudis and Aldegundis in Belgium (SS.)

BY THE AUTHOR D. P.

The Reader has on the XXX of January and the IX of April
the lives of the Saints named in the title,
illustrated with a Commentary and Annotations
by Bolland, whom we venerate as the originator of this work. [A cult paid them from time immemorial] The same man, concerning their parents,
whether they were to be venerated as Saints or Blessed, being asked by one
of the Prelates of Hainaut, replied that, saving a better
judgment, Walbert and Bertilia seemed to be Saints,
and to have been held as such from time immemorial, and
could be publicly venerated, nor was it lawful for Prelates to forbid
or suppress a cult of this kind. He then proceeds to establish
and fortify this his judgment with the following arguments,
which, as they were found in his papers, for the memory of so great
an author it pleases here to give in his very own words.

[2] In the year MDXLV all the altars
of the church of S. Aldegundis at Maubeuge were again consecrated by the most Reverend
Lord Martin Cuper, [the altars consecrated under their name prove it,] Bishop of Chalcedon: and
among the rest on the XXVII of April in the old church,
as they call it, a lesser altar in honor of S. Aldegundis,
S. Bertilia, S. Ablebert, and Walbert. This
is clear from a book written by hand in the year MDLXI, which exists
with the Lady d'Yve, Canoness of Maubeuge,
bound in black leather. The authority of this
book is moreover confirmed, because with the same Reverend
and Noble Lady there exists an authentic testimony,
written on a parchment membrane, and subscribed
by the hand of the same most Reverend Lord Cuper,
found within the altar of SS. Dionysius, Antony of
Padua, Leonard, Marculphus, Gertrude: in which he attests
that he had consecrated that chapel and altar on the XXVI of April of the same
year. Whence it becomes probable that within the other
altars also membranes of this kind were enclosed,
and could still be found, unless consumed by damp and rot:
but it can be presumed that in that membrane which would be found
in the above-mentioned altar, the names of SS. Bertilia and Walbert
would likewise be found together with the other Saints.
Great moreover is the authority of Lord Cuper; who, since
he was Abbot of Crispin, versed in the affairs and Saints of the fatherland,
ought not to be presumed to have consecrated an altar,
except to those who already from of old have been held Saints,
or are held so by a special indult of the Apostolic See.

[3] Secondly, the lawful observation of the same cult is proved,
because at Mons in the church of S. Waldetrudis an altar is said to have been consecrated
in honor of S. Walbert by the most Illustrious
and Reverend Lord Francis vander Burcht, [and the public honor of the relics.] Archbishop
of Cambrai: nor does it appear why she who
once obtained a common honor with her husband,
Bertilia, should now be deprived of it, since more is preached
of her virtue than of her husband's in the life of her daughter Aldegundis.
It is proved thirdly: The bones of both for a very long time
have been enclosed by lattices and exposed to the veneration
of the faithful: and within our memory by the authority of the Archbishop
of Cambrai placed within a new and elegant
shrine. Whence it cannot be denied that they have been elevated.
For elevation is nothing other than the raising of the bones from the earth
and their separation from others that they may be honored, wherever at last
the ark, in which they are enclosed, be laid up.
It is proved fourthly: Every year that shrine is carried about in procession,
with the Relics of both Walbert and Bertilia:
which I hold proved certainly by the testimony of several grave men,
as also the third argument.

[4] Of both it is said in the first and more ancient Life of S. Aldegundis,
that, although enriched by the pride of haughty blood, [a commendation of their virtue from the Life of S. Aldegundis,]
they were fortified by the title of the name of Christianity.
The author of the third life, an Abbot or monk of Gisleng,
when he had premised something about the Ecclesiastical counselors
of Dagobert, King of the Franks the first of this name: To this so great a college,
he says, there was not lacking a military retinue, indeed
sufficiently subject to Christian worship: which
was adorned by the Mayor of the Palace, a chief Prince, a soldier
distinguished, by name Walbert. Him the Palatine
Nobles venerated as a Prince, the Princes as a
Mayor, the Royal majesty as faithful. For he was indeed
a worshipper of the Christian religion, a generous lover of the poor
of Christ, a pious consoler of all who mourned.
He abounded in riches and honors, since to him there flowed
a manifold and almost incredible inheritance from
his parents. Thus preeminent in these things, he received as wife
one illustrious by royal lineage, by name Bertilia. That
Walbert was Mayor of the Palace we do not read elsewhere, nor does it seem
credible. In Austrasia certainly B. Pippin was already in possession
of affairs under Dagobert from his very beginning, and the title
of Mayor of the Palace he also handed down to his posterity: among the Neustrians
are known to have presided in succession Erchanualdus, Ebroin, and
Warado. In the same age indeed under Clothaire II the King, Dagobert's
father, there flourished a certain Duke and the King's Domestic
Waldebertus, who in the XLIII year of him, of Christ DCXXVII,
rushing with an army upon Godinus, son and successor of Warnacharius the Mayor of the Palace,
slew the same, Fredegarius being witness:
who again mentions the same at the IV year of Clovis II,
DCXLVIII of Christ, when with three other Dukes of the Neustrians
he fought for Erchanualdus against Willebadus
the Patrician. And on this reckoning the title of Domestic could have given
occasion for writing Mayor of the Palace. But
who would prudently assert that this man commemorated by Fredegarius
is the same as this our man, who obtained wife, children, possessions, burial
in Austrasia; even though it be not utterly impossible?

[5] This therefore, as it is uncertain, so the title of distinguished
nobility among the Frankish Nobles is certain, and far most certain
the praise from the cult of true Christianity attributed to both spouses by the more ancient
author. [whose flight from marriage] That Walbert died first appears
from the second Life, which Hucbald the monk of Elnon composed.
For after he had narrated the flight of Aldegundis from Curtissolra,
where her parents dwelt, and were preparing all things for the daughter's marriage
soon to come, he thus continues their last acts concerning the same daughter:

The father perceives thence the deed done, and the illustrious mother,
And at the same time both bewail their blessed daughter … [the Father approves;]
But the pious father, reckoning in his mind that this in his daughter was a
change of the right hand of the Most High; divine grace working it,
perceived no slight relief of grief,
commending to the Lord the beginning and
end of his daughter's purpose: but the mother, mourning her daughter as though dead, was afflicted with so great
a grief that she was endangered even to the division of body
and soul. [and then the mother also,] But the Clemency of the supernal
goodness, seeing the mother bear beyond
measure grievously the absence of her daughter, sent into her breast a longing
to visit the daughter, whose
absence she could not lightly endure. Therefore, taking some companions,
she hastens to visit her daughter. With whose arrival the daughter
exulted with how great joy, it is not within our power
to unfold. So the daughter, receiving her mother, after
greetings and kisses given with the love of charity,
warns and exhorts her pious mother to despise utterly
earthly things, to seek heavenly, and to make herself friends
of the mammon of iniquity, by whom into the eternal tabernacles she might be received.

[6] The happy mother therefore, seeing that her daughter had chosen
for herself a better way, [turned away from the world by her daughter's example,] who proposed to confer the things due to her
by right of inheritance for the corruption of virginity, hastens to
yield them to the glory of incorruption, about to receive a hundredfold,
and life eternal moreover in eternal
blessedness. Therefore by the pious mother to the daughter is made without
delay a handing over of the household of either sex, and of estates and woods
is handed over no small possession, of which thing
a confirmation is made by testament before all. The daughter
rejoices that her mother has handed over her own to the Lord; the mother is glad
that her daughter has not obeyed her in a marital union: and so on either side
the mother rejoices over the daughter, and the daughter over the mother.
And when her mother fell sick, and now despaired of life,
she calls her virgin daughter, gives her gold and
silver, [and buried with her husband at Curtissolra] precious garments, estates, farms, servants
and handmaids, and all that she had, except those things
which she distributed to the poor at present as a remedy for her soul,
and which she allotted to the use of the servants and handmaids
of God, serving the Lord in the monasteries.
But the mother, dying in the aforesaid farm Curtissolra, and
in the church of the holy Mother of God beside her husband, was buried.

[7] After these things, S. Aldegundis being about to receive herself
into the monastery of Maubeuge founded by her, the attempts of her former suitor being eluded,
from the holy Bishops Autbert and Amand, gathered
in the monastery of Altmont built by S. Waldetrudis' husband,
receives the sacred veil. That this was done about
the year DCLXI we said at the Life of S. Amand on the VI of February
no. 98: But if Aldegundis was then twenty-four years old,
[about the year 660,] she came into the light while Dagobert
the first still reigned, who ceased to live in the year DCXXXVIII; but the King
was in Austrasia already from the year DCXXII; so that under his
reign Walbert could conveniently have flourished both in favor at court,
and have taken Bertilia to wife; and from her among the
first children have begotten Waldetrudis, a mother of four children
when Aldegundis was still a young girl, and when about her
to be settled in matrimony the parents of both were acting,
about the year DCLV: within which year, and the already mentioned
DCLXI we must conceive Walbert to have died first, then also Bertilia
his wife, a widow of not many years.

[8] Aldegundis survived her mother by years not much more than twelve:
in whose more ancient Life it is read,
that she was buried in the farm once of her own jurisdiction by the name of
Curtissolra, [S. Aldegundis placed with them] where both her parents are said to be entombed.
It is between Maubeuge and Lobbes, commonly
Courtsore: whence by the illustrious King Sigebert the body was translated
to Maubeuge, the same Life asserts. Which thing
at first was suspect to us of falsity, since we then understood no other Sigebert
than the son of Dagobert I, [translated to Maubeuge about 678.] whom it was established to have died before
S. Aldegundis; afterward it seemed to us
it could be verified in the son of Dagobert II, likewise Sigebert, who
reigned with his father in Austrasia after the year DCLXXV until
DCLXXX. But what if on the same occasion there were also elevated
from the earth the bodies of her Blessed parents Walbert
and Bertilia? If not, their very tombs, which
either they themselves while living, as in their own Domain and ground,
had built; or S. Aldegundis had erected for the dead, which afterward
were honored with an altar also added; and a Chaplaincy
was endowed there, [those tombs were in the old church,] to this day called the Chaplaincy of S.
Walbert. Thus certainly both the tombs and the altar and the chaplaincy
were in the old church of Curtissolra, before it was renewed
and enlarged into the form which is now seen.
A most trustworthy witness for this is offered to us, the Eminent
Lord Thomas Gozæus, born at Beaumont near Curtissolra,
President of the Savoyard College in the University of Louvain and Doctor of sacred
Theology, and also dear to the most Serene Princes of Belgium
Albert and Isabella by the title of remarkable prudence, dead
in the year MDLXXI. This man, such and so great, being asked in the year MDLXIII about the cult of SS.
Walbert and Bertilia, after
other things wrote thus: The place of burial of S. Walbert and Bertilia
and S. Aldegundis was not that in which your
church now is: but another place, which was pointed out to us with the finger,
in which once there was a church, as is most well known among
you.

[9] [in the place which today is called the old monastery;] But this place I find called by the inhabitants the old
monastery. But how all things were translated thence,
was once written: which would that it now were extant! Meanwhile
there is extant this memory of that writing, sent to us from there,
which from the French I thus render into Latin. I, Anselm Martin,
citizen and Mayor of the land of Courssolre, make certain,
that I very well remember that, among the writings and
papers of my parents now deceased, I found a charter,
signed by several Doctors in Theology
and Licentiates, containing the translation of the Relics
of S. Walbert and Bertilia, from the place which is called
the old monastery, into the present church
of Courssolre: and there read these or similar words
in substance. Certification and writing concerning the translation
from the old monastery into the new church, within
the chapel of the Lady Virgin from the side of the altar within the wall
of the said chapel. Which when I had read, I said to those standing by: [whence into the new church they were translated,]
See, I pray, what a charter. Behold, behold the translation
of the bodies of S. Walbert and Bertilia, when they were
translated from the old monastery into this church.
In faith of which things I signed these in the year MDXIII.
To Anselm the Mayor of Curtissolra his brother gives confirming testimony
likewise in French words to this sense: Angelus Martin,
Mayor of the Lordship of la Glyselle of Courssolre, certify
to all whom it concerns, that some years ago
my brother Anselm Martin, Mayor of the said place, turning over
the writings of our deceased mother, showed me,
and after he had read it said: Behold how was made
the translation of the bodies of SS. Walbert and Bertilia,
from the old monastery into this church. There appeared
moreover below that writing the subscriptions of three or
four honored persons, Doctors and
Licentiates. In approbation of which truth
with my accustomed seal I have subscribed these. [with the altar of S. Walbert, where they remained until 1503.]

[10] And this is, says Thomas Gozæus aforesaid praised,
what those honest old men narrated to us in person; sixty
years ago, that is before the year MDIII, before
namely your church was reduced into greater capacity;
that they had seen two coffins and tombs
somewhat elevated, placed in that place where now is
the column nearest the chapel of the Lady Virgin: to which tombs
the altar was common, at which the Chaplains
of S. Walbert celebrate. But afterward into one coffin were placed
the bones of husband and wife, [when it was enlarged and the bones gathered into one,] without any distinction
from one another, and laid up in a wall crypt by the altar of the Lady
Virgin, as now there they are seen. Then by the lapse
of time, when that coffin, which seems to have been made of wood not very durable,
was found almost consumed;
the Archbishop of Cambrai commanded Lord Dean
du Bois to visit it, to see whether the bones
of S. Walbert could be discerned from the bones of Bertilia. So
he himself on the day of S. Eligius, having taken a Doctor of medicine and
the Guardian of the Capuchins, secretly wished to make that
visitation. But since he could not conceal it from the Abbess,
she herself wished to be present and some Canonesses. And so
there were present perhaps thirty or forty
persons: [and again translated into a new coffin 1619:] Nevertheless on the occasion of this visitation
he cleansed the bones, and laid them again wrapped in fine linen in a new
bier; because scarcely appeared a trace of the other bier.
But all these things were done without any
solemnity or other ceremonies, the doors of the church being closed,
in the year MDCXIX, as Miræus indicates in the Belgian fasti at
the XXX of April: erring however in this, that he says the bodies were then
elevated from the earth, and that by Francis vander
Burch; Archbishop and Duke of Cambrai:
neither of which, as the words sound, is to be understood,
is clear from the aforesaid.

[11] But the Dean, who did not elevate them, but from the old
into the new ark, variegated with gold and colors, translated them,
certainly used too great abstinence; and by it cast a scruple upon posterity,
lest, if according to the institution of their elders they should proceed to honor them, they should perchance sin against
the prescriptions of the sacred Canons; especially
after the decrees of Urban VIII of the year MDCXXV. And this scruple
could even be increased, when it was alleged, that the book of the Canonesses
of Maubeuge, which they call the Capitulary, among
the prayers which are made on the day of Parasceve, [but too timidly and soberly,] had thus written,
Thomas Gozæus being witness, Let us pray for Lord Walbert
and Lady Bertilia, and their holy
offspring. But as the opinion of Thomas Gozæus himself could remove the scruple,
that this was thus from of old and next after the death
of SS. Aldegundis and Waldetrudis instituted, not without some
mark of excessive simplicity, and continued by the holy Virgins without
further discussion, derogated nothing from the ancient certitude
concerning their sanctity and popular cult; so
to this the Urbanian decrees do not derogate, which he himself in the year MDCXXXV
declared not to prejudice in anything those who either
by the common consent of the Church or by an immemorial
course of time exceeding the bounds of a hundred years,
or by the writings of Fathers and holy men,
or by the knowledge and toleration of a very long time
of the Roman See or the Ordinary, are celebrated.

[12] But thus are celebrated these of whom we treat. For
in the ancient Litanies of the church of S. Waldetrudis of Mons
it was once said; [the antiquity of the cult being supposed both at other times and almost the second day of Pentecost] Holy Walbert pray for us:
S. Bertilia pray for us: and everywhere from time immemorial
they are called Saints by the neighboring peoples, who every year
on the second feria of Pentecost run together to Curtissolra, with
their Pastors and Crosses and banners,
so numerous that it can scarcely be believed. But the chapel,
in which are laid up the bones of both, is called the Chapel
of S. Walbert, on account of the chaplaincy under the name of the same Saint
founded there with the burden of three Masses:
whose image also is seen in the principal glass window
of the chapel, and concerning him there everywhere is said
Mass. As I find all these things written from the mouth of the aforesaid Lord Dean du Bois
to Bolland, [confirmed by miracles:] about the first beginnings of our work:
to whom also was sent a double collection of graces,
obtained about the year MDCXIX up to MDCXXIX by the invocation
of SS. Walbert and Bertilia, of which some
were described by him who about the year MDCXXXIV was Pastor of the place;
others by his predecessor, dead then twelve years before,
both by the testimony of the Lord Dean good,
not ill learned, and sufficiently judicious: in whose
faith I shall here give the collections themselves from French into Latin.

[13] Of the day of the heavenly birth of either spouse, nothing do I find anywhere: yet not without cause did Bolland do this, that
he placed all the memorials he had concerning them at this XI of May:
because this is the first day of the year, [and with an ancient title of sanctity.] on which
can fall the second Feria of Pentecost, when, the Dominical letter being D,
the Epact XXIII, Easter falls on the XXII of March, although that
be most rare. Arthur du Monstier in the Sacred Gynaeceum at
the VIII of November notes the memory at Cursorium in Hainaut of the diocese
of Cambrai of B. Bertilia, illustrious by lineage and by a wondrous
fervor of religion, by liberality of alms,
and by deeds done holily and wonderfully. But
those whom in the Annotations Molanus, Miræus, and
Malbrancus allege, nowhere either mention such a day or
add the title of Blessed: which deservedly at least Molanus could have done,
who at the IX of April in S. Waldetrudis said, that her
parents, sister, and all her children are invoked in the Litanies of the Church of Mons.
But what those omitted, an older man did for all of them,
namely Guisius, illustrious by the Annals of Hainaut written before the year MCCCC,
afterward published in a compendium: who in book 11 chapter 4
thus speaks. S. Walbert was Duke of Lorraine (that is
in that part of the kingdom of Austrasia, which afterward obtained that name)
whose wife was S. Bertilia. But among the other things
which he had; he was enriched with many allodial properties of his own both in Hainaut
and in Brabant. But Guisius was
of the order of S. Francis a Doctor of sacred Theology, and his
Chronicle exists in MS. at Mons among the Franciscans: whose
words copied for us from there are such, that in the margin is added
"from Ghilbertus": but Ghilbertus was Chancellor of Baldwin IV Count of Flanders
and Hainaut, and Provost at S. Germanus
in the city of Mons, and wrote and flourished in the
XII century.

[Miracles]

Walbert, and Bertilia parents of SS. Waldetrudis and Aldegundis in Belgium (SS.)

FROM A FRENCH MS.

I. COLLECTION OF GRACES,

described in French in the year MDCXIX by the Parish Priest of the place, R. Lord John le Clercq.

[1] [the pain first of one is healed,] Barbara Bastien, legitimate daughter of John Bastien
a laborer, dwelling at Barbenzon, lame from her
birth, and now advanced to the fourteenth year of her age,
was so weak in her right leg, that
however little she walked, she was thereby exceedingly wearied;
and felt in it an almost continual pain,
nor could she except with the greatest difficulty advance as far as the church
of the said place. Hearing that there were many
who, visiting the relics of SS. Walbert and Bertilia, experienced relief
in their necessities, resting in the church
of Courssolre, by the counsel of her kinsmen
on the XV day of October of the year MDCXVIII
she betook herself thither; and returning thence to Barbenzon
asserted that she no longer felt her former pains. But
these were again renewed in her about the XXI, [then of both legs.] XXII
and XXIII of April of the year MDCXIX, and that in both legs,
so that she could move no step at all.
Wherefore her mother, having compassion on her daughter, vowed some
alms to the honor of God and of S. Walbert.
Which being completed, at once the girl was better,
and was soon freed from all pain. So her parents
again sent her to the said place, for the purpose of rendering thanks:
and she came and returned without any
weariness at all: yet she remained lame. And
these things seriously and under the confirmation of his signature asserted
the father of the girl on this II of May MDCXIX.

[2] [a girl almost paralytic from a fever,] Ægidius Gravet, a merchant dwelling at Berchilly,
had a daughter born about eighteen years, by name
Mary: who in the year MDCXVIII prostrated by a continual fever,
was rendered so powerless over herself that from the girdle downward
she had no use of her body at all; so much
so that, like a paralytic, she could neither raise nor move
herself, all the time the malady lasted,
whence her household much pitied her.
But although her father out of devotion had sent for
her some alms to S. Gislenus; nay had carried his daughter
taken upon his back himself to the hermitage
near Montiniacum, where is a chapel
dedicated to God and S. Anne: nevertheless the sick girl
was nothing better; until after the eighth or tenth
month of that disease, by the counsel of the Parish Priest of Berchilly,
he sent her to pray to the church
of Courssolre before the Relics of S. Walbert: whence
she returned free from the fever, and at the end of the novena of prayer
then made had wholly firm health;
such as she has even now.

[3] The same Gravet had another daughter sixteen
or seventeen years born, [and her sister from a tertian.] by name Joanna:
who about the November last past of the year MDCXVIII
likewise fell into a tertian fever: which
when she had endured for twelve or fifteen days,
her Pastor visited her, and persuaded her to visit the aforesaid holy
Relics. She moreover vowed that she would do this,
at the very point of time at which the fever was wont to recur:
and on the next and last day of November to Courssolre
she betook herself for the sake of prayer: and thence returned, affirming
that from the hour of the vow made until the present she enjoys
perfect health: which also her father by subscribing
affirmed. And I, the unworthy Pastor of the aforesaid place of Berchilly,
as an eyewitness, give faith,
that all things contained in the aforesaid narration rest on sincere truth.
John Marischal MDCXIX.

[4] [a boy and a girl are freed from a continual fever,] John Pochiet, a merchant of woolen cloths,
dwelling at Beaumont, has two children,
John of nine years, and Anna of ten
years, who in the month of November in the year MDCXVIII both together
fell into a continual fever, and suffered it
through nine or ten weeks. After which,
when their father had ordered a novena to be made before the relics
of S. Walbert, he observed his aforesaid children
to recover their strength, and at the end of the second novena found them wholly
freed from the fever. But the said
Pochiet certifies that it was distinctly observed by him, that one
of them recovered health sooner than the other, namely he
for whom the first novena had been begun. But both
from thenceforth until now enjoy entire health,
and that before the Parish Priest and two other witnesses
the father seriously affirmed, on the III of May of the year MDCXIX.

[5] Vincent Martin, legitimate son of Anselm
Martin Mayor of Courssolre, of ten years,
in the month of May in the year MDCXVIII, was touched by a continual fever,
which took away from him entirely his vital color, [likewise another boy.] and made him
pale and wholly withered. Which change of his
being beheld, the parents of the boy at once took care
that a novena be made before the Relics of S. Walbert:
and at once the sick boy began to be much better, and on the eighth
day was wholly free from the fevers: and thenceforth he lives sound
and lively, the father attesting the matter in all sincerity,
likewise on the III day of May in the year MDCXIX.

[6] [a third obtains the faculty of walking.] John Gobert a workman, dwelling at Courssolre,
has a little son of two years and
ten or eleven months: who up to the half of his third
year could in no way stand on his feet. Which
when his parents wished to teach him, in vain they gave
their effort, the boy always falling to the ground, although
he did not complain of any pain in his legs. Seeing
therefore him so constituted that he could never in
his life walk; they took care of a novena in
the said place, stirred up by the report which was spread, that several
in that way had received the cure of their diseases.
But that being begun, the boy too began to be strengthened,
and himself to attempt the step by himself; and about the end
of the same novena he assumed a wholly lively
color with full health and the power of walking, which
he uses even now, according to the attestation of the father signed
on the same III of May of the year MDCXIX, before five
witnesses.

[7] Catharine, daughter of Balthasar de Preux of eighteen
years, in the month of April of the year MDCXVIII felt herself invaded
by a violent and continual fever: [a girl is cured of a continual fever,] by which when she was vehemently
weakened, by the counsel of her parents
she asked that a novena be made: during which lasted also
the continual fever until the eighth day, when
calling her mother she affirms that she was well,
fully and entirely sound, as also now; the aforesaid
father affirming the same thing before two witnesses,
on this III of May MDCXIX.

[8] [and a little boy:] John Sponlet, a wool merchant, dwelling
at Courssolre, has a little son of four years
by name Nicholas, who in the month of May in the year
MDCXVIII was oppressed by an acute and continual fever. Which
peril being observed, his parents continually ordered
a novena to be made: and that being made the boy was healed,
as before three witnesses the said father of his asserted
on this III of May MDCXIX.

[9] [likewise a young man] Stephen Goblet, a youth of fourteen
or fifteen years, in the year MDCXVIII about the month
of January received a continual fever, which to him
for three months continuously adhered. Wherefore his father
Adrian, moved by a natural affection of compassion, resolved
that a novena be made before the relics of S. Walbert:
and on the fourth day almost in an instant he who was sick was healed most entirely,
nor thenceforth felt any ill
or fever: as on the XXI of May in the year MDCXIX the aforesaid
father of his seriously attested.

[10] [and a widowed woman.] Joanna Rondeau, wife of Nicholas Thiery, dwelling
at Courssolre, forty years born, in the year
MDXVII about the month of August incurred a fever,
which exercised her until the March of the following year MDCXVIII:
when by some persons known to her she was persuaded
to take care of a novena: during which she began to be better,
and at its end totally recovered,
as she testifies by subscribing on the XXVII of the month
of April.

[11] [a jaundiced girl,] Peter de Remis, working with his hand and dwelling in the said place,
had a little daughter of three years, who
in the year MDCXVII vexed by a rather strange disease, was wholly tinged
with a yellow color and weak, nor digesting in the accustomed manner
the food she took: in which state when she
had been for eighteen months, on the second day of a novena cared for by her parents,
she began to seem wholly other, as
the neighbors testify, and then obtained perfect health, such
as she now uses, on this XXVII of April MDCXIX.

[12] [a boy paralytic in his whole body is healed] About the end of May of the year MDCXVIII John
Bertau, a laborer dwelling at Courssolre, had a son
of seven years James by name, with a languor and
most grievous disease so affected, that destitute of all appetite of food,
and deprived of the sense and use of his limbs,
he remained in that posture in which he had been placed, nor
even able to move himself in the least, nor even to complain
if he were longer thus left; nor did his parents expect now
anything other than the boy's death,
after the same violence of the disease, continued for four or
five weeks, had left them no hope of life.
Meanwhile they heard the report spread
about those who, many, were said to be cured by God through
the invocation of SS. Walbert and Bertilia, taking care
that a novena be made to their honor. Wherefore when
they themselves also had done the same, on the fifth day of the said novena the boy
asked for food: and thenceforth gradually stronger, in a short time
he wholly recovered: as seriously attests his mother Barbara Gravis, on the III day of May MDCXIX before
the Rector of the chapel and other witnesses.

[13] [a merchant suffering from fever is cured,] Nicholas Minon, a merchant dwelling at Courssolre,
in the month of April in the year MDCXIX for some time wearied
by a certain inflammation, and almost freed from it, fell
into a violent fever, which prostrated his strength entirely.
When therefore it had recurred two or three times,
and he had heard the solace which many before had received
in a like disease by recourse to God through the intercession
of S. Walbert, he took care that a novena be made:
under which he felt himself free from the fevers,
suffering no further inconvenience, as he testified in the presence
of the Pastor and other witnesses, on the III of May of the year
MDCXIX.

[14] Joanna Hellin, widow once of James Jacquey,
of thirty-five years dwelling at Courssolre, [and a woman with swollen legs:]
in the year MDCXIX in the month of May suffered a great
swelling of both legs: which lasting one whole month
and more wrought great pains for her
and most acute prickings, and so weakened her,
that she could not ascend the steps of her cave without another's aid,
nor could she walk to a quarter of one league. At length she resolved by praying to God
to have recourse, and to ask the intercession of S. Walbert.
And when to that end she had promised a votive offering of wax,
in the figure of legs so ill affected, she set out
on the way toward Beaumont, a town one league
distant, to buy wax: and this journey she performed
with no prop applied or other help. And from that
day the swelling itself successively subsided, and within a few
days she congratulated herself on the perfect health recovered:
as by asserting she deposed before the Pastor,
the Rector and three other witnesses.

[15] [a blind octogenarian is given light,] A certain Robert, dwelling at Solre on the Sambre,
of about eighty years, having been blind
for fifteen years, on the XXVIII day of May in the year MDCXVIII
came to our church of Courssolre,
led by his wife; where prostrate on his knees before the relics
of SS. Walbert and Bertilia, he asked God that
through their intercession He would deign to restore sight to him,
if indeed it were expedient for him. And further resolving
to do the same for nine days, on the seventh day when
he was returning from the church to his lodging toward evening,
he said to his hostess, that he beheld things he had never
seen, namely the straw of his bed and the wife whom
in the time of his sure and confirmed blindness he had betrothed to himself.
Wherefore he began again to pray and give to God and
S. Walbert thanks. But the following morning, as soon
as he came into the church, he beheld both the candles, and the glass
window, and the altar of that chapel itself; and receiving sight
proportioned to his age, thenceforth he needed no guide
of the way. Which when it was publicly known
and attested, a celebrated procession was instituted
around the village, such as is wont on the more solemn feasts;
which Robert himself accompanied, carrying
a wax taper, singing with the others the Hymn; Te Deum
laudamus, and giving God thanks for so signal a miracle.
But afterward before all the people under oath
he testified what had happened to him. Praise to God.

[16] Another blind man from France came to Courssolre to
our church, [likewise another.] about the year MDCXIX: who likewise
received entire faculty of seeing, on the fourth
day of a novena begun to that end. And he said to the woman caretaker of the offerings,
being placed in the chapel of S. Walbert,
that he clearly beheld all things that were within the church. She went,
and signified to the Pastor what miracle had happened.
But the Pastor asked him whether he would dare
to confirm by oath what he had said: which he soon
performed before all.

[17] Peter Carlier, a citizen of Landrecies, of about
fifty years, [a man for many years deprived of walking,] hearing the miracles which
were done through the intercession of SS. Walbert and Bertilia
in the church of Courssolre, where their relics rest;
and grieving that he was destitute of the use of all his limbs and singly
of his legs, on which already for many
years he had not been able to stand; was raised into hope of recovering
health. Wherefore he had himself placed in a cart,
and came to visit the aforesaid Relics. But
when he was carried back home thence he felt himself better:
and after three weeks he sent one to announce
to the Pastor that he was fully healed. After a short time then
elapsed he came himself into the chapel, where the holy
relics are kept, himself bringing his armpit
crutches: and giving God thanks for the miracle on the XXIX
of June in the year MDCXIX, he affirmed all things on oath, before
the Pastor and other witnesses subscribing.

[18] [likewise others receive the same.] A certain man from Winhiza came to the aforesaid church,
advancing his step with two armpit crutches,
since without them he could not stand on his feet,
on the VII day of June in the year MDCXIX. So when he went around the church,
he felt a motion and a tremor diffused through all
his limbs, plainly as if he had been drunk:
and when he had gone back into the church, every one
asked him what disease he suffered. But he answered,
that he had never been so constituted; and that
he had need to give great thanks to God and
S. Walbert: for he wholly trusted, that through
his intercession he should be freed from his ills.
Which said, leaving there his crutches, he began again to go around
the church, wholly sound and strong. Wherefore
afterward he returned, to give thanks for the benefit, and
on oath affirmed the truth of the thing done with his accustomed subscription.

[19] [two ruptured boys are cured.] In the same year and month, two women from the Castle
of Solre brought two ruptured boys: who,
when they were within the church, began to wail so enormously,
that the mothers were compelled to carry them out.
The Pastor ran to the unusual tumult; he asks
what was wanting to those boys. They answer; Alas! Lord,
our sons are ruptured. Which he understanding
and moved with compassion, gave to each a little piece
of the linen, in which the sacred relics had been wrapped; and bade
that they apply it to the rupture itself, when it should break forth.
Which they doing, after three weeks
they returned, to give thanks for the miracle, done
through the intercession of S. Walbert, attesting that their boys
were now whole.

[20] [and an honored man,] Cornelius from the Castle of Solre, an honored man,
when he had never dared to show to anyone a rupture,
which daily inflicted on him grievous torments, so
that sometimes he could not even walk, unless perchance leaning
on two crutches; when he had heard the miracles which were done
daily at Courtissolra, through the intercession of SS. Walbert
and Bertilia, as best he could came to the church; and there
feeling himself not a little relieved, dismissed one of his crutches.
But not long after
he returned to give to God and S. Walbert thanks,
bringing the other of his crutches, since being perfectly healed
he needed it no more, as he testified before
the Pastor and other witnesses, under the accustomed formula of oath.

II COLLECTION OF GRACES

noted in French up to the year MDCXXIX, under the same and the successor Parish Priest.

[1] John Coupin, a shepherd in the service of Anselm
Martin Mayor of Courtissolra, of fifty
years; when younger, of about twenty
two years, being in the service of a certain master
overseer of a foundry furnace, Gaucherius Polchet; by night
felt a certain pustule or tumor in the groin: [a man weak in the feet is healed,]
which spreading through his right leg in a short time rendered him so
impotent, that he could not advance a step except with armpit crutches applied
for three whole months, nor even so could he raise his right
shin above the threshold of any house
which he wished to enter; but he had need of the help of another
lifting it. But when in so miserable a state
constituted he had heard from the elders of the place,
that the visitation of the Relics of S.
Walbert had once been much frequented, he took care that a novena be made:
under whose end feeling himself better, one of his crutches there
he left; and after two months he sent also the other;
and that from that time he never needed them, although
one of his shins remained shorter than the other, he testified
by the subscription of his name on the III day of May of the year MDCXIX,
before John le Clercq Pastor of the place, Adrian Gollet
and Balthasar de Preux.

[2] Peter le Clercq, citizen and goldsmith of Beaumont,
now of XLV years, [dangerously fallen on his shoulder,] when he was a boy about
nine years; came to Curtissolra to visit
his kinsmen, dwelling in the chief estate of the place, which commonly
is called the Court of Curtissolra, where wrestling with
his agemates, he rashly fell prone on his left
shoulder, and by that fall was so grievously affected,
that most of the bystanders judged that one of his ribs
was probably broken for him. Who placed upon a horse
and brought back to Beaumont, did not cease day
and night to wail because of the violence of the pain. In
so wretched a state persevering a notable time, he was brought
by his mother to Curtissolra, and before
the Relics of SS. Walbert and Bertilia devoutly presented.
But the prayers being finished, brought back home, daily
he was better and better; so that at length he wholly recovered,
feeling thenceforth no remnants of the former torment:
as in all sincerity he testified on the IV
of May in the year MDCXIX, subscribing his name before
John le Clercq Parish Priest and J. Mareschal Chaplain
of the place itself. But the parents of the aforesaid Peter were named
William le Clercq and Margaret Pigeon.

[3] Philip Bosquez, legitimate son of the late John
Bosquez Merchant of Curtissolra, [enormously swollen in face and the lower part of the body,] in age twenty,
in the year MDCXIX in the month of April, was afflicted with a very great
swelling both of the whole face and of the rest of the body below the girdle
down to the soles of the feet: so much that,
unfit for every duty, he was compelled to dismiss the master,
under whom he was thus far being trained. And when in
so wretched a state he had passed three entire weeks,
in the house of his widowed mother, nor found any
remedy; the said mother resolved to make certain prayers
for him secretly to God, through the intercession
of SS. Walbert and Bertilia. And about to execute her
resolution on the VI day of May, she came to the church,
and began to pour forth fervent prayers, with the intention
of thus secretly continuing the same for nine days. But that
very evening the young man began to be better, [and at the same time laboring with scabies and difficulty of urine;] and that swelling
to be much diminished: but the next day considering his
shins, he wondered that they had entirely subsided. There had come
upon him together with the swelling a kind of scabies,
stirring a continual itching; which likewise he rejoiced
had vanished from him. Nay even, he who at the same time
had suffered the greatest difficulty in passing urine,
which the physicians who were consulted judged scarcely curable;
on the very day on which his mother began the novena devotion,
feeling himself relieved, without trouble
emptied his bladder, filling the measure of one
pint, and that thenceforth several times in one day; when before he could scarcely
once, and that most sparingly, urinate daily. And thenceforth,
as he now is, he remained in the best health;
as, being eyewitnesses of the aforesaid infirmities,
confirmed Peter Teillier, John
Regnaut, and Francis Brussart; but by subscribing
asserted Margaret de Gozee Philip's mother,
John Renault, and Philip himself, before the Parish Priest
and three witnesses.

[4] John Grevault, citizen and tile-maker of Beaumont,
of forty years, on the XVI of May of the year
MDCXIX received a grievous torment in his right leg,
which rendered him plainly impotent, and compelled him to keep
himself at home, where he could form a step only supported by a staff. [unable to walk without crutches from a grievous pain in the leg,] That torment lasted eight
or nine days, within which he could take no rest at night.
And so by the counsel of certain of his own
he resolved, as best he could, to go to Curtissolra,
to visit the relics of SS. Walbert and Bertilia.
To this end on the XXIV day of May about the sixth
morning hour he departed from Beaumont, leaning on an armpit crutch
on one side and a staff on the other, not without
the greatest trouble. But when he had thus measured about one
quarter of a league, he felt the most acute prickings in that same
leg, as great as he had never before. But these
gradually slackening upon him, he pursued the begun way
even to Curtissolra, only one league
distant from Beaumont, spending nevertheless four entire hours
on the journey. But as soon as he had entered the church,
he felt himself much relieved: and falling on his knees,
in the very place where the holy Relics are kept,
he perceived thenceforth no pain. The prayer therefore being made,
again he set himself on the way to return, helping himself
with his armpit crutch: when again the same torments
he began to suffer; but after the first quarter of the aforesaid league
he found them again slackening, and plainly
to vanish in the very instant in which he reached the threshold
of his house. In grateful acknowledgment of which benefit, on the last
day of the aforesaid month, wholly sound and unimpeded he returned to Curtissolra
to give thanks, and leaving his crutch
there in memory of the matter, which after the day
of his first pilgrimage he had not used: and so
he attested the matter done by the subscription of his hand, before
four witnesses likewise subscribing.

[5] Francis de Moriamme, a married man, dwelling at Beaumont,
of XXIII or XXIV years, [suffering strong torments of the kidneys,] bound to the service
of a certain John Sauveur citizen of Beaumont,
on the XXVI day of May of the year MDCXIX was oppressed by a most grievous
pain of the kidneys so that, unfit for all
labor, he was compelled to dismiss the work begun,
nor was he moved by appetite for food or sleep. By the counsel of others
accordingly he set himself on the way to visit
the Relics of SS. Walbert and Bertilia: and spending three hours
in measuring the one intervening league, at length
he came to Curtissolra. Thence after prayers poured forth, he returned
somewhat lighter, the very cause of the torments descending from the kidneys
to the genitals, which soon swelled to the likeness of two
fists: wherefore he began to fear
lest he had incurred a hernia. So now more
anxious than before, nor less tormented, on the VII day of June
again he returned to Curtissolra; and prayers being poured forth there
he took care that the Salve Regina be sung: and in the same instant
he felt the swollen parts subside, full health
following. Wherefore unwilling to defer the thanksgiving due
for so great a benefit, on the ninth
day soon of the same month he was present again at Curtissolra,
and asked that a solemn Mass be sung for him, believing himself by the merits
of SS. Walbert and Bertilia healed: as
also by subscribing he professed, before the Parish Priest,
the Mayor, and two inhabitants of the same place.

[6] James Herman a steward, dwelling in Maudrez
near the town of Binche, begot of his wife a little son, [a ruptured boy,]
by name William, who now is of five
years. But when he had completed the first year
of his age, he was found ruptured in the right groin:
but visited by those skilled in diseases of this kind, he was judged
to be truly ruptured: and the malady grew until
the August of the year MDCXXI, when his parents
recognized that the whole had disappeared. Because therefore
four months before they had visited the relics of S. Walbert,
kept at Curtissolra, they returned to the same place on this
XVI of May of the year MDCXXII, together with their little son now most entire,
to render thanks to God for the benefit,
as the father attested.

[7] Gissenus Parcoletz, an inhabitant of Lætium, of LV years,
[weakened in feet and legs,] for four years was ill affected in shins and legs,
chiefly however in the left shin, so that
from that time he began to use armpit crutches: most of all
for two years, when also at intervals he began
to feel sharp prickings of pain, which finally
took away all faculty of going forward without crutches or of doing any work.
In this state it happened
that he was passing by chance through Curtissolra, and entering the church
visited the Relics of S. Walbert, resting there.
In which place he soon felt his whole body
vehemently altered, and the pains of the shins
to vanish: which instilled in him confidence, his crutches being there dismissed,
to try whether without them he could walk.
And so rising from prayer he went around the church
three or four times, wholly, as it seemed to him, healed: in testimony
of which thing he left his crutches here, and these
all severally he professed, before three subscribed witnesses,
on the XXII of May MDCXXII.

[8] Peter du Mont, now dwelling in Beaufort
near Maubeuge, [long tormented in his stomach,] born at Abencourt near Cambrai,
of LXII years, for twenty years and more
was tortured by a grievous pain of the stomach, which often produced for him
a swoon and difficulty of recovering breath:
but the malady was so difficult, that when by it he
was held, he was compelled not to move from the place, in which
it had seized him. But although he had applied various medicines,
yet he never was better
until the year MDCXXI, when he proposed to seek a heavenly
medicine and to have recourse to S. Walbert,
by visiting his Relics at Curtissolra: which
being done, he found himself entirely cured, and freed from the malady.
Wherefore he returned to the same place on this XXIX of September
of the year MDCXXII, to give thanks to God for the benefit received,
and sincerely to profess what
had befallen him; as he did by subscribing his name, before
John le Clercq, Nicholas Planart and Gollet.

Thus far under the Parish Priest John, written or
transcribed by another hand: the following three the same hand wrote down, but
his own hand, the proper name and that of the witnesses being added, confirmed
each one — John's successor, M. Brunebarbe: the rest are entirely
from the hand of the same, written in the year MDCXXIX.

[9] On the XXII day of June MDCXXIV, Frederick Saincte,
and his wife Mary Huart, came to Curtissolra
a fourth time, in thanksgiving for the benefit,
which they had received in the person of their son Gilbert of seven years,
healed of a grievous hernia: who on each occasion also
accompanied his parents to serve the good
and most meritorious Saint Walbert: and
before me Pastor of the place, John Renard, Peter
Bosquez and others they protested, that for that grace no other
Saint had been invoked by them: and the father added,
that he had made no trial of art upon him: but
the first time they came to serve God and S.
Walbert, some relief of the malady appeared; but greater
the second time: full entirety being attained
the third time, when there disappeared every sign
of the hernia, nor did it bring any further trouble.
From which that little one, as if divinely inspired,
began to be vehemently affected toward this good Saint;
and a continual longing to come to Curtissolra to S. Walbert testifies the affection of childish devotion:
which also before me he showed, reciting a particular
prayer, in which he named and invoked S. Walbert among his other
holy Patrons.

[10] [likewise another boy,] On the XIV day of September of the year MDCXXIV, Mark
Pouillart and Mary Manteau his wife, came to Curtissolra,
to give thanks for the grievous hernia cured,
with which their son of nine years, Ægidius, was afflicted,
who also for a second time had come. But the first
time coming hither on the day of the dedication of Bercell
with his sister, he was so ill affected on the way
that he could scarcely walk, and again and again would ask
his sister to be willing to carry him: but entering the church
he was restored to perfect entirety, whence also he exclaimed,
Behold me healed. Afterward they took care that
a novena be made there, and they themselves made it in their village:
where he still felt some pain for two days:
and coming again today to Curtissolra, at the very entrance of the territory
of Curtissolra, he complained that his belly
ached, for the space in which the Pater and Ave might be recited
three times: and thenceforth he felt nothing more: whence
thanks be to God and S. Walbert.

[11] On this X of November of the year MDCXXVI, John
Salhadin and Aldegundis Bertrand, dwelling at Marulle, [and a third,]
came to Curtissolra, to give thanks to God
and the Saints Walbert and Bertilia for the healed hernia
of their son Antony. Seeing him so affected, they vowed
a pilgrimage to S. Trudo and Marpinum,
which also, both places being visited, they fulfilled.
And when they had brought back from thence no help, after
fifteen days they brought the boy to Curtissolra,
and there took care that a novena be made. During which, when
the infant ceased from his wont of weeping, they perceived
that the malady had vanished: yet again after two years
they find some sign of it. Fearing therefore
lest because of their negligence and ingratitude this
had happened, because they had not come to give thanks as
they had promised: again they vowed to come hither,
and also to betake themselves to visit Our Lady of
Good-will near Havret: and from
that time also that very thing disappeared.

[12] [and several others,] In the year MDCXXIII, on the II day of November, Roman
Minon, dwelling in Gestru, attests, that his son
Matthew, grievously ruptured, the relics of S.
Walbert being visited, was healed. I attest also that two other
persons related to me, that their sons likewise
ruptured, were in like manner healed, whose attestation
authentic I could not find. In the year
MDCXXIII on the X day of August, Isabella Remy, widow
once of John Forgois, before me and Lord Anselm
Martin the Mayor, and John Bertaut related, that
her son John ruptured for a year, a vow to S. Walbert
being made and fulfilled, was healed: and when afterward
in the other groin a like hernia had appeared, by like
service toward the Saint, he merited perfect
health to the thread. In the same year and month I myself the undersigned,
grievously and dangerously according to the judgment of the physicians, [are cured, the Pastor himself dangerously sick,]
fell sick: but taking care that a novena to S. Walbert
be made, on the fourth and fifth day of it I felt myself much
relieved, and at the end healed. And when
I then suffered a relapse, and had instituted another novena;
about the ninth day I began to convalesce,
and thenceforth I am rightly well, and that I attribute to the merits of S.
Walbert, on this II of May MDCXXIX. M. Brunebarbe
Pastor.

[12] In the year MDCXXV on the VI day of June, returning from saying
Mass at Bon-Secours, [two suffering from fever,] I overtook a young man
coming to S. Walbert now a third time; in years
indeed diverse and on account of diverse infirmities of fevers:
who said, that twice coming, twice the hoped-for
health he had brought back, and this time also he hoped for the same.
He added moreover, that to a certain other friend of his, suffering a fever,
he had given the same counsel; and that he too, after
the office of votive pilgrimage was fulfilled, had convalesced.

[13] In the year MDCXXVII on the XVIII day of November, Adriana
Massart, wife of James de Gelluy the younger, [two women ill affected in the legs.] from
Dausoit near Walcourt, came to Curtissolra with her husband, having an ill-affected leg, so
that for walking he had need of the support of a staff,
because, lifting his foot, he felt it as if moved out of place.
But they came, because Adriana herself two years
before, having suffered the same malady, when hither on pilgrimage
she had come and had taken care of a Mass, had obtained
perfect health. But then she had come, persuaded
by another woman of the same village, Magdalena Wautier,
who suffering the same had obtained a like grace by the same
means: but now she had charged
the aforesaid Adriana, that she should testify to me for her
the grace done to her, under oath: which she did,
two witnesses moreover being present.

[14] [a boy having the same limbs distorted,] In the year MDCXX Anna Meuris, widow of the late Adrian
Brunebarbe, dwelling at Solre on the Sambre, when
she had a son Balthasar, with both legs deformedly
twisted, and therefore walking with more difficulty, came
to S. Walbert, bringing the boy himself of seven
or eight years: and obtained for him perfect rectitude
of body. In the year MDCXXII Antony del Rue
a farmer, dwelling at Busseniacum, has a son James,
four or five years born: who when
he had fallen into the ashes of the hearth, nothing was feared less
than the malady of blindness, because for half an hour,
with whatever remedies applied, he could perceive no
light at all. [and another blinded by a fall into the ashes:] And so his mother Catharine,
having gone out of the house away from the tumult of the people, who
had flowed together copious at the cries and wailings, vowed
to visit S. Walbert: and going back again she found
her son having sound and unimpeded eyes: and of which
thing besides the parents a great number of those present
were witnesses.

[15] [a third born dead] In the year MDCXXVI on the III day of June, Nicholas
Colson, dwelling in Gestru, accompanied by Joanna
Paren and Sebastiana Wautier, brought his son,
whom his wife had borne to him dead, trusting
in the merits of S. Walbert. And when he had held him a good
space of time before the holy Relics, and had made his vows
and prayers; returning thence, and not farther removed
from the church than a bow casts an arrow, he saw
copious blood flow from the nostrils, and tears
trickle from the eyes. So impatient of all delay,
because he had no water at hand, with the saliva
of his own mouth he baptized the infant, and returned to the church
to give thanks for the benefit. There when he related what
he had done, and showed the blood; I taught him his error;
and since such a baptism was none,
I began to exhort him, that before S. Walbert he should renew
his prayers, vow a novena to be made, or
whatever else his affection should suggest. Which being fulfilled,
when they were returning again, [at the baptism it revives.] and were distant from the church
three or four bow-casts, about a certain pond;
looking at the boy, they saw again
weeping, but soon the whole to be changed, to grow red,
to grow warm, as if newly from the mother's womb
he came forth. Which seen, all cheerful return to
their village Gestru, and soon approach the church
to give thanks to God. But here again from
the eyes trickled tears, and motion in the veins and several
members of the body began to be felt, as various persons experienced:
somewhat then after the blood well living
again flowed from the nostrils, drawing a line as far as
the middle of the breast, the mouth being meanwhile closed. Which seen,
the Pastor of Gestru under condition baptized the boy
(for his father had baptized him at the aforesaid pond)
and called him by his own name Stephen,
and the next day buried him in the cemetery. Then
the father returning hither with the two women aforenamed,
to give testimony of the thing done, brought various
linen cloths, tinged with the boy's blood, which I and
all the people saw. Thus far the French MSS., to which
we will willingly add if any be still sent.
