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incedere, vocibus suis prophanis ita horridè aerem concusserunt, quod stridore illo magis erat attonitus quam illatione tormentorum quæ prius fuerat a dæmonibus perpessus. Alii hostes, qui sub ponte in flumine erant, uncos suos ferreos & ignitos projecerunt ad illum, sed militem tangere nequiverunt. & sic demum securè processit quia nihil sibi contrarium invenit.

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minum utriusque sexûs vidit multitudinem, quantam residuum sæculi credidit continere non posse. Chori choris per loca astiterunt ac dulcis harmoniæ concentu, Creatorem omnium laudaverunt. Alii quasi reges coronâ incedebant. Alii amictu aureo induti videbantur, nonnulli variis indumentis erant decorati, juxta quod unusquisq; in sæculo utebatur. Singuli de propriâ felicitate gaudebant, singuli de aliorum liberatione & gaudio exultebant. Omnes qui militem intuebantur, de ejus adventu Dominum benedicebant, & de ejus ereptione à mortuis congaudebant. Non æstum non frigus ibi aliquis sentiebat, nec quicquam quod offendere posset vel nocere, videbat.

"Tunc sancti pontifices qui militi patriam tam præclaram ostenderant, dixerunt ei, Quoniam misericordiâ Dei ad nos illæsus pervenisti, rationem à nobis audire debes, de singulis quæ vidisti. Patria hæc terrestris est Paradisus: unde pro peccatis suis ejectus est homo primus, hinc verò expulsus in miseriam illam projectus est in quâ homines moriuntur, ex cujus carne nos omnes propagati, et in peccato originali omnes nati, per fidem Dni. nst. J. Christi, quam in baptismate suscepimus, ad hunc Paradysum reversi sumus, & quoniam post fidei susceptionem, innumeris actualibus sumus implicati peccatis, non nisi per purgationem peccatorum & afflictionem pœnarum huc potuimus pervenire. Pœnitentiam enim quam ante mortem vel morientes suscepimus, & in sæculo non peregimus, in locis quæ vidisti pœnalibus, juxta modum & quantitatem culparum per tormenta restant

"Miles itaq; invictus jam liber factus à vexatione Spirituum immundorum, vidit ante se murum altum & in aerem evectum, mirabilis & structuræ impreciabilis, in quo portam unam, sed tamen clausam cernebat. Hæc metallis ac pretiosis ornata lapidibus splendore admirabili radiabat. Ad quam cum miles appropinquaret, contra ipsum aquæ tantæ suavitatis odor ei occurrens exivit, ut viribus corporis resumptis, tormenta quæ pertulerat sibi in refrigerium verterentur. Egressa est autem contra eum venientem, cum crucibus, cereis,' & vexillis, ac velut palmarum aurearum ramis, tam ordinata processio, quod nunquam talis visa fuerat in hoc mundo. Sequebantur prædicta de omnibus ordinibus, utriusq; sexûs homines, quorum archiepiscopi alii, & episcopi & abbates, monachi & presbyteri, ac singulorum ecclesiæ graduum ministri, qui omnes sacris vestibus, & suis ordinibus congruis induti, militem cum jucundâ veneratione susceperunt, atq; cum concentu harmoniæ inauditæ infra portam secum feliciter conduxerunt. Finito itaq; concentu duo archiepiscopi cum eo loquentes benedixerunt Deum, qui tantâ constantiâ in tormentis per quæ transiit & quæ pertulit, ejus animam confirmavit. Illis igitur militem perluenda. Omnes enim qui hic sumus, in patriam conducentibus, invenerunt & illi ostenderunt prata amoenissima, diversis floribus, fructibusq; & herbarum arborumq; multiformium decorata, ex quorum suavitatis odore, ut sibi visum est vivere potuisset. Nox illam aliquando non obnubulat, quia semper cœlesti quâdam claritate & ineffabili splendore coruscat. Tantam ibi ho

1 See DU CANGE, under Cereus Paschalis. J. W. W.

locis illis pœnalibus fuimus pro peccatis, & omnes quos in pœnis vidisti, præter eos qui infra os putei Infernalis existunt, ad hanc requiem pervenient, et tandem salvi fient. Omni namq; die inde aliqui purgati ad nos veniunt, quos in hanc requiem, sicut & fecimus te, introducimus venientes, nec nostrum aliquis novit quam diu hic moraturus sit. Per missas verò, psalmos, elemosynas, & orationes ecclesiæ generalis, & per specialia amicorum auxilia, aut purgandorum tor

timeo ne per fragilitatem humanæ miseriæ aliquid delinquam, quod me impediat huc redire.

menta mitigantur, aut de ipsis suppliciis ad | ait, hinc discedere non valeo, quia valdè minora transferentur, donec penitus liberentur. Ecce ut vides hic in magna quiete sumus, sed nondum tamen ad supernam cœli læticiam ascendere sumus digni. Transibimus hinc post spatium à Deo singulis constitutum, in Paradysum cœlestem, sicut Deus providerit.

"Deinde præsules venerandi, militem in montem declivem ducentes jusserunt ut aspiceret sursum. Quo cum aspiceret, interrogabant cujusmodi coloris cœlum esset, respectu loci in quo stetit? Qui respondit, colore simile esse auri in fornace ardentis. Hoc inquiunt quod nunc vides introitus est cæli & cœlestis Paradysi; quando enim aliqui à nobis recedunt, hinc in cœlum ascendunt; & quamdiu hic manemus, quotidiè semel pascit nos cibo cœlesti Deus, & quali hic pascamur cibo, nobiscum senties jam gustando. Vix sermone finito, & ecce quasi radius flammæ ignis de cœlo descendens, patriam totam cooperuit, & quasi per radios super capita singulorum subsidens, flamma demum tota in eis intravit. Unde miles tantam dulcedinis in corde simul & corpore sensit suavitatem, quod vix intellexit utrum vivus an mortuus fuisset; sed horâ illâ in momento transivit. Sed miles libenter ibi mansisset, si ibi his deliciis frui licuisset. Sed post talia tantaq; jucunda ei tristia referuntur. Quoniam, inquiunt sancti præsules, et requiem beatorum, ut desiderâsti, & tormenta malorum nunc pro parte conspexisti, oportet te jam, ut per eam viam quâ veneras, revertaris. Si autem, quod absit, malè vixeris, amodò1 ad sæculum reversus vidisti quanta te expectant tormenta; si verò benè vixeris & religiosè, securus esto, quia huc ad nos pervenies quando de corpore exibis. In isto quoque reditu quo nunc reverteris, nec dæmonum tormenta formidabis, quia dæ. ad te non audebunt accedere, nec tormenta te poterunt quæ vidisti, nocere. Tunc miles flens & ejulans

"Sicut etiam Græci dicunt áráρri, ita Latini, sed barbarè loquentes amodò, id est, ab hoc tempore." MARTINII Lexicon in v. Modo. J. W. W.

Non, inquiunt, sicut tu vis erit, sed sicut ille qui et nos et te fecit voluerit, ita fiet. Mærens igitur & lugens miles ab eis reducitur ad portam & eo contra voluntatem suam egresso, clauditur porta post ipsum.

"Miles igitur Oenus viâ quâ venerat, reversus ad aulam præfatam pervenit. Sed dæmones quos in ipso reditu suo vidit, quasi timentes eum fugerunt, & tormenta per quæ transiit, ei nocere nequiverunt, & confestim cum aulam intrasset, occurrunt ei quindecim viri supradicti glorificantes Deum qui tantam illi contulerat constantiam in tormentis. Oportet te, inquiunt militi, ut quantotius hinc ascendas, jam enim in patriâ tuâ clarescit aurora, & nisi portam Prior aperiens, te invenerit, de reditu tuo desperans, obseratâ portâ, ad ecclesiam revertetur. Sicq; miles benedictione perceptâ, ab eis ascendere festinavit, et horâ eâdem qua portam Prior aperuit miles ei festinus veniens obviavit. Quem cum Christi laudibus Prior suscipiens in ecclesiam perduxit, ubi cum per dies quindecim in oratione permansisset, signaculum crucis accepit, et in terram sanctam devotus proficiscens, sepulchrum Dni. cum locis aliis venerabilibus, in sanctâ contemplatione petivit. Et inde expleto laudabiliter peregrinationis voto, reversus, regem Stephanum Dominum suum adiit, consulturus, ut ejus consilio, in sanctæ religionis ordine reliquum vitæ suæ expleret, ac Regi Regum omnium de cætero militaret. Contigit autem eo tempore quod Gervasius Ludencis cœnobii Abbas, Rege Anglorum Stephano donante, locum ad Abbatiam construendam in Hyberniâ obtineret. Qui monachum suum nomine Gilebertum ad Regem direxit, ut ab eo locum susciperet, et ibi construeret Abbatiam. At Gilebertus ad Regem veniens, conquestus est nimis quod patriæ illius linguam non novit. Sed inquit Rex, bonum tibi interpretem Deo auxiliante inveniam, & vocato milite Oeno, jussit Rex ut cum Gileberto iret, & cum ipso in Hy

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berniâ remaneret. Quod miles gratanter | like a large Baptistery, whence a great annuens cum dicto Gileberto remansit, & flame ascended that burnt not, but illuminasatis ei devotus ministrans, monachalem | ted the church and all around as with a perhabitum suscipere voluit; quia servus esset petual noon-day splendour. This proceeded quem Dns. præelegit. Transeuntes autem in from the tithes of the righteous. Here St. Hyberniam Abbatiam construxerunt. Ubi James met him. The church was built by miles Oenus interpres monachi, devotus the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that extitit & in omnibus agendis minister fidelis. | all souls, when newly departed, might come Quandocumq; vero monachus solus alicubi there for their doom, untouched by the cum milite fuit, de statu purgatorii & pœnis fiends. A wall was on the north side only. mirabilibus quas viderat & experto didice- "In hâc ergo Basilicâ S. Mariæ quæ congrerat curiosè ab eo quæsivit. At ille qui gatio Animarum dicitur, multas vidi animas nunquam audire potuit de purgatorio loqui justorum ex omni parte candidas, vultusq; quin prorumperet in fletum amarissimum, quasi adolescentium habentes. Extra mucœpit sub sigillo secreti amico, pro edifica- rum aquilonalem eductus conspexi animas tione, ea quæ audierat, viderat & experi- plurimas muro vicinius astantes, maculis mentis didicerat enarrare, affirmans sese albis & nigris respersas, quarum quædam omnia corporeis oculis conspexisse. Hujus plus candoris quam nigredinis, quædam è autem monachi industria & diligentia, hujus contrario similitudinem præferebant. Illæ militis experientia redacta est in Scriptu- vero quæ candidiores erant muro vicinius ram, simul cum relatione episcoporum re- adhærebant & quæ longius a muro distagionis & aliorum religiosorum, qui causâ bant, nihil in se candoris habentes, ex omjustitiæ perhibuerunt testimonium veritati." ni parte deformes apparebant.” -MATTHEW PARIS.

Vision of Thurcillus.

A.D. 1206. THURCILLUS, a poor man of Tidstude in the diocese of London, was accosted at his work by Julianus Hospitator, and told to hold himself in readiness to see his patron, St. James, that night. He went home, washed the head and feet of two poor female guests, whom his wife had received, then laid himself down in "stratu suo, quem seorsum ab uxore ob continentiam præparaverat." When all the family were asleep, Saint Julian came, and shaking the man, said, 'Lo! I am come as I promised, for it is time that we should go. Let thy body rest in the bed, for thy spirit only is about to depart with me, and lest the body should appear dead I will send into it a vital breath.'

So they went eastward, and when, they had reached the middle of the world entered a church, ample and grand, open like a cloister, and its roof supported only by three pillars. In the middle was something

Near this wall was a cavity, the entrance of Hell, whence a most foul and fetid smoke arose into the faces of the souls, and Thurcillus was incommoded by the stink so that he coughed twice, and they who were near his body say that that coughed twice also at the same times; for this smoke proceeded from the tithes that were withheld, and Thurcillus had cheated the Church; so he confessed, repented, and was forgiven.

Eastward, the fire of Purgatory blazed between two walls, it terminated in a cold salt lake, from whence a bridge, covered with stakes and nails, led to the Mountain of Joys. On the mountain stood a magnificent church, large enough, as it appeared, to hold all the inhabitants of the earth; St. Nicolas superintends this purgatory, and in due time dismisses the souls ; but they who attempt to pass the bridge unaided by their own alms, or the masses of their relatives and friends, are cut and lacerated dreadfully by the stakes and sharp iron, and what they catch at to save them pierces them, and they often fall and roll

over the tenterhooks to the bottom of the bridge again; but when at last they reach the church beyond, they remember not the torments they have passed.

"Beatus Paulus Apostolus, ad finem muri Septentrionalis residere cœpit, intrà Basilicam, & extrà murum ex opposito Apostoli, Diabolus cum suis satellitibus residebat. Puteus autem flammivomus, qui os erat putei gehennalis, secus pedes diaboli erumpebat. Quædam vero libra æquâ lance dependens affixa erat super murum inter Ap. & Diab. cujus pars media dependebat ante conspectum Diaboli exterius. Habcbat itaq; Ap. duo pondera majus & minus, omnino nitida & quasi aurea, & D. similiter duo fuliginea & obscura. Accesserunt ergo animæ ex toto nigræ cum magno timore & trepidatione una post alteram, singulæ ponderationem operum suorum ibidem visuræ bonorum & malorum, nam pondera prædicta ponderabant singularum opera animarum, secundum quod fecerant bonum sive malum. Cum ergo statera se versus Ap. inclinaret, per suorum librationem ponderum, tollebat Ap. animam illam & introduxit eam per portam orientalem, quæ conjuncta erat Basilica in ignem Purgatorium, at illic crimina expiaret. Cum verò pars stateræ se ad diabolum inclinaret & præponderaret, mox ille cum satellibus suis animam miseram nimis ejulantem, patremq; suum ac matrem, qui eam ad æterna genuerant tormenta maledicentem, rapientes, cum multo cachinno, præcipitabant in foveam profundam & flammivomam quæ secus pedes diaboli librantis erat. De hujusmodi libratione bonorum & malorum, in Sanctrm. Patrm. scriptis sæpius reperitur.

Every Sunday the devils have their theatrical sport; the damned see them sitting on red hot seats, and they are made to exhibit their earthly follies and crimes; the proud man acted over his haughtiness and supercilious manner, and as he looked with satisfaction on his costly robes, they became garments of fire.

"Post hunc adductus est miles quidam qui vitam suam in cædibus innocentum &

torneamentis peregerat & rapinis. Hic omnibus armis militaribus armatus, equo nigerrimo insidebat, qui piceam flammam cum fætore & fumo per os & nares, cum urgeretur calcaribus, in supplicium sui sessoris efflabat. Sella equi clavis igneis & prælongis erat undique præfixa. Lorica & galea, scutum & ocreæ ex toto flammantia nimio sui pondere militem graviter onerabant; sed non minori cruciatu eum medullitus exurebant.

The adulterer and adulteress act over again their loathed lewdness to the sport of the devils; then vent their mutual hatred by mangling each other.

There is little worth remarking in the remainder of the vision. Adam is rather finely imagined as beholding the events of the world with mingled grief and joy; his original garment' of glory gradually recovering its lustre as the number of the elect increases till it be fulfilled.- MATTHEW PARIS.

Disappearance of St. John.

"WHEN St. John was 99 yeare old, thenne cam our Lord with hys dyscyples to hym and said, come my frende to me, for it is tyme that thou come, ete and be fed atte my table with thy bretherne. Thenne Saynt John aroos up and said to our Lord Jhu. Cryst, that he had desired it longe tyme, and began to goo. Thenne said our Lord to hym, on Sonday next comyng thou shalt come to me. That Sonday the peple came alle to the chyrche, whiche was founded in hys name and consecrate on that one side of Ephesee; and fro mydnyght forth he ceassed not to preche to the people that they shold establysshe them and be stedfast in the Crysten faith and obeyssaunt to the commandemens of God.

"And after thys he said the masse, and howselyd and comuned the peple, and after that the messe was fynysshed he bade & dyde do make a pytte or a sepulture to fore

See Third Series, p. 679.-J. W. W.

the aulter, and after that he had taken hys leve and comanded the peple to God, he descended doun into the pytte or sepulture, and helde up hys handes to heven and said, 'Swete Lord Jhesu Cryste I yelde me unto thy desyre and thanke the that thou hast vouchedsauf to calle me to the, yf it plaise the, receyve me for to be with my brethern, with whom thou hast sumoned me, opene to me the yate of the lyf permanable, and lede me to the feest of thy wel and best dressed metes. Thou art Cryst the sone of the lyvynge God, whyche by the comandement of ye Fader hast saved the world. To the I rendre and yelde grace and thankynges world wythouten ende, thou knowest wel that I have desired the withal my herte. After that he had made hys prayer moche amerously and piteously, anon cam upon hym grete clerenes and light, and so grete brightness that none myght see hym.

"And whan thys lyght and bryghtnes was goon and departed, ther was nothynge founde in the pytte or grave but manna, whiche cam spryngyng from under upwards, lyke as fonde in a fontayn or spryngynge welle where moche peple have ben deliverd of many diseases and sekenesses by the merytes and prayers of thys gloryous saynt. Somme saye and afferme that he deyed without payne of deth, and that he was in that clerenes born into heven body

and sowle, whereof God knoweth the certaynte.”—From The Golden Legend.

St. Agnes's Name explained. "AGNES is said of agna, a lambe, for she was humble and debonayr as a lambe; or of agno, in Greke whyche is to saye debonayr and pyteous, for she was debonayr and mercyful; or Agnes of agnoscendo, for she knewe the waye of trouthe, and after thys Saynt Austyn saith, trouthe is opposed ayenst vanyte, falsenes and doublenes, for thyse thre thyngis were taken from her, for the trouthe that she had."-Golden Legend.

St. Patrick's Purgatory.

THE Golden Legend varies the discovery of St. P.'s Purgatory. "Thenne by the commaundement of God Saynt Patryke made in therthe a grete circle with his staffe, and anone therthe after the quantyte of the cercle openyd and there appyered a grete pytte and a deep, and S. P. by the revelacion of God understood that there was a place of purgatorye, into whiche who somever entred therein he shold never have other penaunce ne fele none other payne, and there was shewed to hym that many shold entre whiche shold never retourne ne come ageyn, and they that shold retourne shold abyde but fro one morne to another and no more."

Standard of the Dragon.

1

"WHEN Aurel. Ambros. the British king there appeared a star of marvellous greatwas in the way between life and death, ness and brightness, having only one beam, in which was seen a fiery substance after the similitude of a dragon, which Merlin who after his brother's death, obtaining the expounded to signify Uther Pendragon, crown, in remembrance of that star 'jussit fabricari duos dracones ex auro, ad draconis spexerat; qui ut mirâ arte fabricati fuesimilitudinem; quem ad radium stellæ inrunt, obtulit unum in ecclesiâ primæ sedis Vuintoniæ, alterum vero sibi ad ferendum in prælio detinuit. Ab illo ergo, die vocatus est Uther pen dragon, quod Britannicâ linguâ caput draconis appellamus;' whom in like sort the Saxons called for the same cause, drak Hened, and this dragon was used "pro vexillo per regem usque hodiè," as saith Mathew Westmonasteriensis, who lived in the time of King Edward I., and this dragon, or not much unlike, is one of the regal supporters at present.

"When the Britons invited the Saxons, or ancient Westphalians, to their aid, Hen

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