|
|
Previous | all pages
|
Next |
|
|
ROGER OF WENDOVER Flowers of history. The history of England from the descent of the saxons to A.D. 1235. vol.1
page 325
most blessed martyr lay entombed under the humble turf, until the time of Egelwin bishop of Durham, and Tosti earl of Northumberland, who succeeded Siward in that dignity, not by hereditary succession, but by the grant of king Eadward. It pleased therefore the divine goodness, in the lifetime of the aforesaid bishop, to bring to light the blessed martyr's relics for the profit of the whole church, that the candle which had been long placed under a bushel, being set on a candlestick, might illuminate the darkness of infidelity. There was a certain warden of the aforesaid church, in which the body of the blessed martyr had been buried, whose name was Eadmund, a religious man, and devoted to the blessed martyr, and, though not professedly of any particular monastery, yet wearing the religious habit One night, after he had given his members to rest in the church, when the nightly vigil was over, there stood by him a man of lofty stature and heavenly brightness, who called him by name and said, " Brother Eadmund, brother Eadmund, I am king Oswin, who lie in this church unknown to all. Arise therefore, and tell bishop Egelwin to search for my body under the pavement of this oratory ; and when he has found it, let him not fail to place it in the same oratory with more than ordinary honour." Awaking from sleep, and glad at the vision, Eadmund in the early twilight went to the bishop, and reverently opened to him the matter of the vision. On hearing this, the prelate rejoiced with unspeakable joy, and reverently going to the spot, found a multitude of people assembled there from distant parts, and by his command, after prayer had been made by all, they set about digging up the floor of the oratory, and by the time the day was far spent, had discovered nothing. Emulous for the saint's credit, Eadmund seized a mattock, and with much warmth struck the ground where they had all for a long while been digging, and after repeated blows discovered the slab of a tomb, and on removing the stone, he with joy beheld the holy relics. The bishop himself raised the sacred body, which he then washed with his own hands, and after wrapping it in clean linen, placed it with honour in a more conspicuous part of the church. The water with which the most sacred body was washed in a corner of the chapel, was of benefit to a number of people as well as cattle, on whom the bishop directed it to be
|
|
|
Previous |
First |
Next |
|
|
|