Later, when many folk investigated the matter more carefully, we found out that it was the same priest who had deposited it at the tomb of the martyr. He had bought it for three pennies, but given that he heard that it had been stolen and was frequently being sought in the church, and I do not know whether inspired by shame or corrupted by a desire to keep it, he delayed in returning it. The book was indeed precious and valuable, not unworthy of being coveted. But as we have figured out for several reasons, he would not have returned it, but for being compelled by some fear. And they say that on the night of the day on which, as we said, we had offered a candle to the holy martyr, that most blessed martyr appeared to that priest in sleep and gave him a terrible warning if he did not return the psalter on the next day. We believe that he returned the book because he was urged by that compulsion.
[XII] OF A DEMONIAC WHO WAS CURED BY THE MERITS OF SAINT WILLIAM
Hiding from others the benefit of divine goodness – which can be of such benefit to many if they find out about it – is indeed a sign of jealousy. For truly, good things shine forth all the more beautifully if they are verified by the knowledge of many. Therefore, it is inappropriate to suppress through silence that which it is highly useful to divulge for the edification of devotion. The pious simplicity of those of good will knows that by often hearing the miracles of saints, the feeling of pious devotion is usually ignited. But while miracles follow other miracles, and the great are followed by even greater, indeed, our pen must be tempered in writing, lest the little flame of pious devotion be extinguished by the weariness inspired by excessive reading. While we have faithfully related the miracles of the blessed martyr William for the devotion of the faithful, as far as we have been able to know them by what we have heard or seen, he sins who puts about that we have struck the stamp of truth on untruths or have dressed up events with figments of the imagination. But now let the careful reader pay attention with the simple eye of the mind, that the most blessed martyr William, accepted by God, rules over not only the illnesses of humans, but also truly over the tricks of demons. We have seen a certain peasant, Simon of Hempstead,19 who was vexed by a demon for many days, and after he tied himself hand and foot to that healing tomb of Saint William, on the next day he was led home hale and healthy.
[XIII] OF ANOTHER INSANE PERSON WHO WAS CURED
We have also seen another possessed person who was cured by divine mercy at the tomb of Saint William in the week of Pentecost. He was a son of Richard of Needham,20 whose mother was called Silverun. Suddenly one day he was possessed by a demon and then began to behave so violently that seven men could hardly restrain him in chains. Once he was tied up, he remained so for six days, eating nothing, sleep escaping him, so he got little rest. Bound in this way, he was finally led to the oft-mentioned tomb by his parents, and as they approached suddenly he cried out in a horrible voice and said: ‘What do you want of me? Where are you leading me? I won’t go there! I won’t go there!’ When they led him there forcibly, he broke his chains not with his own, but with the effort of the malign spirit and, rising up, he threw his mother to the ground and grabbed her by the throat with his teeth. And he would have caused her death had the crowd running to them not snatched and freed her. He then hissed through his teeth and, gazing at those standing around with savage eyes, abused those he could in a miserable fashion.
And as many people gathered there because of the events, he was cruelly seized, tied up, his hands bound to his feet, willy-nilly he was placed at the side of the holy tomb. As soon as he touched the sacred place, wonderful to relate, he showed not the smallest sign of madness in his voice or on his face. After an hour had passed, gently and humbly he asked to be released, and he was freed by one of the servants of the church, and thereafter he behaved as calmly and meekly as if he had not had the madness before. And after a while he was overtaken by sleep, he who – as I said – had not slept at all for many days, and he rested for a while. And when he woke up, he who for many days had remained without food, said that he felt very hungry. And so when food was brought he ate and drank, and returned home with all speed with his parents and friends, sane and in good health.
[XIV] OF A BENT WOMAN ON CRUTCHES WHO WAS CURED
In that same Pentecost week, on Saturday before the feast of Holy Trinity, a little woman came to the tomb of the holy martyr, who from early in life lived in Bury St Edmunds, and was bent for many years. She walked with hand-crutches, as far as she could, and came to Norwich after being instructed in a dream by Saint William. And approaching as far as she could on account of the crowd, she prayed at the aforementioned tomb that by the merits of Saint William the martyr the mercy of divine compassion would take pity on her disability. The moment she finished her prayer, she was immediately distressed, seized by an acute pain, her sinews distended with a loud creaking and her body stretched out, too. When she had lain down for a while in terrible suffering the pain eased and she became calmer, and after about an hour she rose up, sound and healthy, in our full view, and gave thanks to God and His holy martyr William for the health restored to her.
[XV] OF ANOTHER WOMAN, WEAK IN HER WHOLE BODY, WHO WAS CURED
There was a woman at that time in the village called Flordon,21 who incurred a weakness in her whole body because of the pain of childbirth and the illness of the limbs caused by contracted muscles, so that for many days after childbirth she could neither eat with her own hands nor walk with her own feet. And she passed very many days in this condition, until in the hands of her husband and several others she was put on a horse and conducted to the tomb of Saint William. She was placed near the tomb and for herself – and her family on her behalf – uttered prayers and vows. When she had waited three hours, divine pity through the merits of its holy martyr relieved the woman’s illness, and as healing power invisibly travelled, limb by limb, through her weak channels, she became visibly better. Her limbs were restored thanks to divine power; being confident in herself, the woman rose up, the pain in her innards diminished, and she gave thanks and praise to God and Saint William for the cure conferred upon her. And so it happened that she, who had come sad and in need of the support of others, returned home happy with her own steps, in the company of her relatives.
[XVI] OF A GIRL WHO WAS BENT AND DUMB AND WAS CURED
That year, on the Thursday before Easter,22 which is called by Christians the Day of Absolution, while Bishop William was celebrating the festive Mass, a woman came to the tomb of Saint William carrying her seven-year-old daughter, who was bent and mute. The mother set her down next to the tomb in the view of many people. After she prayed with tears, she joined Godiva, the wife of Sebald, son of Brunstan,23 who was sitting there. When she had stayed there some time, oppressed by chance by tiredness, she fell asleep. Meanwhile, as an egg was brought to the tomb, the girl who before could neither move nor speak – with the same Godiva as witness – rose up and took the egg, turned to her mother and said in her mother tongue: ‘Look, mother, I have an egg.’ At this sound the mother woke up and, seeing her daughter speaking and walking, she burst into tears for sheer delight. And now, having confidence in her daughter, she publicly announced to those present the great gifts which divine mercy had bestowed upon her by the merits of Saint William. And as we rushed up to her and asked her with great care what had happened, we heard from the said Godiva and many others that they did indeed know the woman and had often seen that maiden bent and mute.
[XVII] OF ANOTHER GIRL BLIND, DEAF AND DUMB FROM BIRTH
Not many days later, a little poor woman from Grimston24 was instructed in a vision by the same Saint William that if she wished her daughter, who was blind and mute from birth, to be cured, she should bring her to him in Norwich. Urged on by these promises, she made haste to come with her daughter; and, having brought her, laid her down at the head of the tomb and said with a clear voice: ‘Glorious William, martyr of God, look, I have brought my daughter as you have commanded: do to her, Lord, as you have promised.’ And she
cried as she said this and begged divine mercy for the health of her daughter.
And so it was as if the tears of motherly love reached up to heaven, so that by the devout effect of prayer the maiden attained health. For immediately the power of the martyr began to work, together with maternal devotion. What more can be said? Unexpectedly, the film which obscured the maiden’s eyes – like a membrane of an egg – was removed, and blood began to gush from her eyes and to trickle down to the floor. She cried out on account of the distress [caused by] pain, weeping and plucking at her cheeks; we all came running to find out what was going on. And although we had learned the outcome as the mother described it, we wanted to know the truth more surely, and we placed a burning candle on top of a stick. We put it in front of her eyes and, moving it from side to side, the maiden observed the light and wondered at it as something truly unknown to her; whenever it moved, the candle was followed by her eyes. Taking the candle away, we then showed her an apple. She took it up and, as she admired it, her mother said to her in English: ‘Eat, daughter, eat the apple.’ And when the little girl repeated the words, she believed herself to have answered her mother, since she did not know how to say anything else, except what she had heard from another. And from that we concluded that she was no longer blind, mute and deaf. And so we were confirmed of such a great miracle, and we paid our grateful praise to divine grace, so that from that day on, a pious devotion towards Saint William took root in the hearts even of those who had doubted.
[XVIII] OF A CERTAIN BOY MIRACULOUSLY CURED
At that time a boy, son of William Polcehart, was laid so low by illness that he no longer ate any food, and with the disease getting worse and worse he had no respite or rest, even for an hour. The doctors were consulted about the boy’s health and profited him not at all;25 at last the desperate parents took themselves to the help of Saint William. They made a vow over this, so that if the boy were cured by his [William’s] merits, they would offer him the best possible candle as token of his liberation. And so a candle was made the length and breadth of the boy, and was brought to the tomb of the said martyr; and immediately the boy, as if snatched from the jaws of death, was revived at the sudden coming of health, and in a short time was better, against all expectation. And the parents, indeed, after looking diligently into the truth of the matter, discovered that the moment at which he was restored to health was just when Saint William was offered his candle.
[XIX] OF A CERTAIN CLERK AT DEATH’S DOOR WHO WAS RESTORED TO HEALTH
Not much later, Adam the Clerk,26 nephew of Edward of Yarmouth, fell gravely ill in his body. When the doctors despaired of his health, he fixed the anchor of his well-being to divine mercy alone. Meanwhile, at the behest of his relatives, he called on the blessed martyr William, with a contrite heart and the voice of supplication, and, begging for his help, he vowed that if William granted a remedy to this current illness, he would be his servant for ever. Led by this devotion, he ordered that a candle the length and breadth of his own size be made and be brought to Norwich to William’s tomb. And it came to pass that at the very hour when his envoy offered the candle for his health, the sick man suddenly felt better. And when [the envoy] returned, he found the man whom he had left at his departure at death’s door, restored to health.
[XX] OF A MONK CURED BY A VISION
But I do not think I should be silent about something else that would enchant the readers’ labour and will not offend the devotion of the listeners. There was once in Norwich a certain monk, who was simple and pious, called Peter Peverell.27 He had always been greatly devoted to the holy martyr William and loved him with a special affection. On the night of the Lord’s Advent [Christmas Eve], while he returned from matins in good health, he took himself to bed and to sleep, and while asleep suddenly suffered the anguish of intolerable pain, perhaps due to an unfortunate accident. A most terrible pain invaded his right eye and a swelling followed like attendants in the footsteps of their lord. The monk was roused up, indeed, by suffering the terrible pain and immediately broke into cries in a dreadful voice, so much so that not one of those lying around him could rest for his cries. As the pain grew worse and worse, the whole right side of the face became swollen and offered a terrible spectacle to those who saw it. And the suffering increased so much over a few days that he would have rather died than live like that any longer. But among the piercing pains, he frequently repeated the names of Saint Mary and Saint William, and challenged them to explain why they did not help their servant.
After he had acted so for some time, the pain abated a little, and on the following night he had some rest. And it seemed that William, the blessed martyr of God, stood by him, saying: ‘I am that William, whom you have loved much, whom you have chosen as patron and whose help you have invoked. Behold, I am here and now you will feel the effect of my coming.’ This said, he passed his healing hand gently over the swollen right side of the face. At his touch the swollen face immediately subsided, as if it had never been swollen.
Once this had happened the vision disappeared and the sick man passed the rest of the night more quietly than usual. When finally light rose on the morrow, he discovered the whole swelling of the face had gone down. But the swelling of the eye, which was the greater affliction – although the pain had been somewhat relieved – still remained as it had been, and he prayed to Saint William in a more fervent spirit to confer a full remedy to his suffering. And so it happened that on the next night, while he slept, Saint William came to him again and, approaching very close, he impressed the sign of the Cross with his thumb on the bad eye.
An amazing thing and full of wonder! After the sign was made it was as if an awl had pricked it, and suddenly the skin under the eye parted and much bloody matter flowed over his face. As he woke up and, remembering the form of the vision, he wiped away that matter, which he took to be a sign that he had been cured. And it was shown that, indeed, this was not an illusion of fancy, but a real demonstration of a true vision, by the bloody matter that continued to be discharged for several days, and the mark of what had happened remained in the scar.
[XXI] OF THE MOTHER OF SAINT WILLIAM THE MARTYR AND HOW HER ILLNESS, AND DEATH FROM IT, WERE ANNOUNCED BY A VISION
A few days later in the city of Norwich a virgin, the daughter of Martin the fisherman, who loved and venerated the blessed martyr William with singular feeling, saw him appear to her in a vision by night when she was asleep, saying: ‘Be comforted, my dearest girl, and stay fast in your love for me. Just as you love a virgin in me, I want you to guard the flower of your virginity unharmed, and grant to me, a virgin, the pure service of virginal devotion. And when tomorrow dawns you are to execute some mundane tasks, which I enjoin upon you now. On my behalf, tell the sacrist Giulfus that he should have a cross made for me of the size that pleases him and put it at the foot of my tomb. Since I have long lain on my left side, I wish to have constantly before my eyes the sign of the Lord’s Cross, which I myself have carried on my body. It should be fixed where I have said, so that without the effort of turning my neck I am able to see it. And if the sacrist neglects to do so, tell Thomas the precentor28 and my mother, so that they should at once execute what I have commanded. And further add to my mother this: that she should not be upset if something adverse happens to her. She should bear it most willingly and modestly, because by passing through the suffering of the flesh she will pass for ever into the eternal glory of the celestial kingdom.’
This said, the night vision disappeared. Morning came and the virgin remembered what she had seen, and was delighted at a vision so worthy of her veneration. As quickly as she could, she related in order the whole business to those she was instructed to tell. Yet the said sacrist neglected the matter, thinking little of it, or perhaps because other affairs intervened, and it was carelessly overlooked. Be that as it may, I and the mother of the martyr discussed the instructions, took the matter in hand and followed it through. But because some misfortune occurred, the business was
delayed for a while. For in those days the mother of that holy martyr happened to fall ill and began to suffer from the grave sickness of dropsy, so that she could no longer walk or rise from her bed, unless supported by a helper. Its virulence grew worse and she lay in bed, praying in this way: ‘Saint William, dearest son, have mercy on your mother, she who suffered such pain for you, both before and during birth, have compassion on my pains and on me.’
Moved by this prayer, the pious boy and martyr felt for his mother’s sufferings29 and that night appeared to her in a vision, saying: ‘Be comforted, Mother, and bear patiently the suffering, which God has prepared for you as a crown. If any rust attaches to your sinful soul it must be purified in the furnace of adversity. And so let the silver of the flesh be tested so that it may earn a place in the treasure of the highest king.30 Know, then, that your illness will be relieved within a week, during the week of Pentecost that is now at hand, and you will come to me on your own feet. And when you come, you will bring with you the cross that I ordered. In particular, after some days have passed, your illness will return for a while. And although it will weigh upon you much more heavily, your brave spirit will bear it more bravely,31 because every stain of your sins will be wiped away by the suffering of this illness. And, having been cleansed, the Lord has granted to me that you shall pass over to me and live on, sharing my joy without end.’ Saying this he disappeared.
The Life and Passion of William of Norwich (Penguin Classics) Page 21