Prologue: The author urges his readers to honour the patron saints of the Church of Hexham. #

¹ The venerable feast of this present day, dearest brothers, should be received by us with all the greater devotion and celebrated with all the greater festivity, because in it our consolation, our hope and, moreover, our glory are especially commended. For this feast is ours, particularly ours, who live in these most sacred places under the patronage of those to whose honour we have dedicated the joys of this day. It is indeed fitting that at all times we should devote ourselves to their praises in voice, heart, deed and affection; but on this day above all, with the privilege of more abundant joy, let us offer the calves of our lips, and sacrifice to the Lord the richest sacrifice of praise. For on this day, experience confirmed the presence of the most sacred relics which faith had held until then; sight examined it, hands touched it, and affection also tasted it by drinking in its inward sweetness. Truly that prophetic saying is proved true: “The righteous shall be held in everlasting remembrance”, for often even their dead bones spring forth from their place in frequent miracles; and they do not cease, by manifest signs, to perpetuate the memory of those whom age had hidden or negligence had erased. Hence it is that our holy fathers, in whose present relics we glory, do not cease to heap new miracles upon old, so that the devotion of those serving there may always be increased, their hope made certain, charity nourished, and, from the reception of present gifts, a firm expectation of those to come established. We know that, through their merits, some whose eyes the night of blindness had closed have obtained the gift of this light; that the lame have recovered the use of their feet; that those placed in tribulation have quickly felt the comfort of Divine consolation; and that those condemned to punishment, at the very point of death, have experienced through sudden deliverance the effect of their prayers. Of these things, it is worthwhile to set forth a few for the glory of those whose solemn feast we celebrate, so that from bodily benefits we may hope for spiritual ones, from temporal benefits eternal ones, and from earthly benefits heavenly ones.

² Hearing, dearest brothers, that these Saints restored through their prayers the sight taken from the blind, let us confidently flee to their aid if the darkness of foolishness should obscure the eyes of our mind, so that, when our blindness has been wiped away and our eyes opened, we may draw in the true light of wisdom through their most holy merits. Thus, when our spiritual enemies besiege us and, battering the wall of our virtues with the torments of temptations, strike us with fear of everlasting death, let us remember how powerfully they once delivered the helpless people besieged in this church from the hand of those stronger than they, the needy and the poor from those who plundered them; and let us know that the spiritual siege will likewise be broken if we cry out to them in a spirit of humility and with a contrite heart. If we are driven towards vice by the goads of the flesh or the spurs of anger, let no despair silence the voice of devout prayer, knowing that the same mercy which rescued a man condemned to death from beneath the hand of his executioner will also rescue us, when moved by tears and prayers, just as we are about to be swallowed up by our vices. The most holy Hexham church, founded under the most ancient kings, long shone with the honour of an episcopal see and, always abounding in excellent brothers, was feared even by the powers of this world. But when the most blessed prelate Wilfrid renovated it, bringing with him craftsmen from lands beyond the sea, with the marvellous stone pavement which you see at present, and adorned it in many ways with paintings and carvings in order to win the devotion of a people still new to the faith, its fame soon raised it higher and summoned not only neighbouring but also foreign nations to visit its most sacred thresholds. Since that most holy bishop visited this church more frequently and honoured it more devoutly than the other churches over which he presided, it came about that even after his death all the people flocked to him in this church as though he were alive, consulted him as though he were present in all their needs, and in their tribulations and distresses did not so much ask for his help as demand it. Favouring their devotion and faith, the most holy prelate was always at hand for those who invoked him, granting to those who asked, consoling the sorrowful, helping those in distress and bringing aid to the wretched, so that, although his bodily presence had been withdrawn, spiritual grace flowed upon them more abundantly. Therefore, not without reason do we believe him to share in this most sacred feast, since by so many signs we prove that he is present with us.

Chapter One: A Thief Is Rescued from the Axe after Saint Wilfrid Is Invoked. #

¹ A young man, having been accused of theft and robbery by the magistrates in this city, was placed in chains and held for a long time. Since there was no one to offer surety on his behalf, he was at last condemned to death and led away to execution. He therefore fled with a most devout heart to the common refuge, namely Saint Wilfrid and the other patrons of this church, though he could not flee to them in body. His feet carried him where he was being dragged, but he turned his eyes towards the church with the deepest contrition of heart. At last they reached the place of execution. A considerable crowd had gathered to witness the spectacle and, surrounding the wretched man like a ring, urged the executioner to make haste. He stood there, terrible in appearance, strong of hand and cruel of mind. Raising his sword with both hands, he ordered the prisoner to stretch out his neck and await a single stroke. The young man raised his eyes a little and, looking towards the church, said, “Help me now, Wilfrid, because if you are unwilling now, you will not be able to do so a little later.” Everyone laughed at the simplicity of these words, and some mocked them. The executioner himself also burst into laughter and delayed the blow, his ferocity being set aside for a time as that fit of laughter hindered his effort. During this brief delay, two young men swiftly arrived on the fastest of horses and, having provided surety for him according to the custom of the country, rescued the young man from death, freed him from his chains and allowed him to depart as a free man. Although he named only the most blessed Wilfrid at the very point of death, no one should suppose that the other Saints who rest in this church did not cooperate in this miracle, since in his heart he invoked them all, placed his hope in them all and raised his eyes towards them all with devout faith. Let us therefore consider, dearest brothers, with what confidence we should flee to these most holy fathers of ours when our souls are in danger, and how we must not despair of their help, however fierce the temptation may be. Therefore, if we are bound by the chains of any wicked habit and handed over to one of the spiritual executioners to be struck, and experience what Paul says, “I do not do what I wish; and I see another law in my members resisting the law of my mind and leading me captive to the law of sin”, let us raise our eyes to heaven, pour out abundant tears and seek the help of these Saints, knowing that they will take up weapons and shield and rise to our aid. Once our enemies have been put to flight, they will break our chains, so that with unimpeded steps and an enlarged heart we may run in the way of the Lord’s commandments, saying to the Lord with the Prophet, “You have broken my chains; I will sacrifice to you a sacrifice of praise”. This miracle became known to so many people that the young man’s words, proved true in such great danger, became a common proverb among all the people.

Chapter Two: Malcolm, King of the Scots, Is Prevented from Destroying the People of Hexham When the Saints Come to Their Aid. #

¹ At the time when Malcolm, king of the Scots, was laying waste Northumbria with cruel slaughter, he always kept peace with the church of Hexham, out of reverence for the Saints who rest there. But on one occasion, when his messengers encountered robbers near the borders of the church and returned to the king stripped and wounded, they laid the blame for this cruelty upon the innocent people. Enraged by this accusation, the king roared with anger and swore that, because of such ingratitude, he would utterly destroy the place itself together with its people. What more need be said? At the cruel king’s command, the army assembled, ready for plunder, eager for slaughter and inclined towards outrage, sparing no one when entreated and never resting even when satisfied.

² The king’s anger did not remain hidden from the people of Hexham. But what could they do? They had no means of resistance, no protection in flight and no comfort in the fellowship of any human beings. The one and only hope of them all was the power of the Saints, which they had experienced so many times. Therefore, young men and virgins, old men with the young, women with little children, gathered at the church, either to be delivered by Divine power or, at least, to be slain before the relics of the Saints. The king was already approaching with a powerful force and had already occupied the neighbouring places along the river Tyne. He would have satisfied his cruelty had night not fallen and prevented the crossing.

³ But the priest who presided over the church sent some of the clerics to the king with the relics, so that they might both clear the people of the charge brought against them and ask for peace for the innocent population. Indignant, the king summoned the Galwegians, men more cruel than the others, and said within the hearing of the messengers, “As soon as day breaks, cross the river and rush upon them. Let not your eye spare them, nor show mercy, regardless of rank, sex or age. Let fire consume whatever the sword cannot, and leave none of them remaining.” Having said this, he furiously ordered the messengers to return.

⁴ When they returned to the church and reported what they had heard, a pitiful tumult arose, with a great clamour, weeping and much wailing. The women, with their heads uncovered, tore their hair with their own hands, beat their breasts and, uttering cries in dreadful voices, presented a horrifying spectacle to those watching. The men, prostrate on the ground, prayed more calmly for the aid of the Saints. Meanwhile, the priests and clerics sought to appease the face of the Lord, now with psalms and now with prayers. Some repeatedly called upon Wilfrid, others Cuthbert, others Acca, and some Alchmund, with groaning and shouting.

⁵ The priest fell asleep and was granted consolation through the following vision. He thought that he had gone outside the enclosure of the church and was looking around in every direction to investigate. And behold, two men appeared, dressed in splendid clothing and venerable in appearance, whose tonsures and clothing gave them the appearance of bishops. They were riding horses and approaching the church from the south. When they reached the place where the priest was standing, they dismounted and said, “Ho, good man, look after our horses until we have prayed in the church and return to you.” He agreed and awaited their return with great wonder. When they returned after a short time, one of them sighed deeply and said, “Alas, why is there such sorrow in the church, such groaning, such clamour and such fear? It is a pitiful spectacle, to be accompanied by the deepest sighs and bitter tears.” The priest replied, “Do not be surprised, most excellent father, for we have all been handed over to punishment, condemned to death and regarded as sheep for slaughter by the king of Scotland. In the hearing of our clerics, he ordered his army to destroy this most sacred place, together with its inhabitants, without mercy.” Then the Saint looked at him with a more serene expression and said, “Do not fear or be afraid before them, for I am with you to deliver you. I have surely seen the affliction of those who are in the church, and I have heard their groaning, and I have come to deliver them. Behold, when the dawn grows white, I shall stretch my net from the source of the river Tyne to its mouth, and none of them will be able to cross it or inflict any harm upon you.” Then the priest said, “Who are you, most blessed man, who have come to the wretched in such necessary aid?” He replied, “I am called Wilfrid, and behold, Saint Cuthbert is here with me. I brought him with me as I passed through Durham, so that, coming together to our brothers who rest in this church, we may together preserve this place and its people.”

⁶ He had spoken, and immediately both the sleep and the vision left the priest. Rising, he commanded silence, delivered a speech of encouragement to the people and told them to take greater courage, knowing that the Lord had looked upon the prayer of the humble and had not despised their prayer. He said, “For our hope, which we place in the Saints of God, under whose wings we live, will not put us to shame, since their eyes are upon us and their ears are attentive to our prayers.” Having said this, he urged the clerics to persist in the psalms and the others in prayer with renewed hope.

⁷ The priest, meanwhile, silently pondering the vision, tried to understand the metaphor of the net. He would have interpreted it as a flooding of the nearby river, had not the pleasant clearness of the air at that time dissuaded him from this conclusion.

⁸ What more need be said? Dawn was now bringing the darkness of night to an end and, emerging brighter than usual, had taken away the hope of the consolation they had conceived, when, behold, a mist arose from the west and covered the entire channel of the aforementioned river, from its source to its mouth. Gradually drawing itself together, it soon thickened into such darkness that, had anyone stretched out his right hand a little farther, the hand itself, swallowed up by the darkness, would have become invisible to him. The Galwegians therefore entered the darkness and, running through every trackless place, crossed the western river by the road leading to Cumbria, and towards evening found themselves on the border of their own land. The king, meanwhile, waited both for the Galwegians whom he had sent and for the departure of the mist, which he dreaded, uncertain what to do. But when the mist lifted itself higher and revealed the light it had hidden, the river swelled with a sudden flood and hindered the king’s attempt for three days. Then the king came to himself, summoned his nobles and said, “What are we doing? Let us depart from here, since these Saints are at home.” As the dreadful people withdrew, thanksgiving and the voice of praise rang through the Hexham church. Tears followed tears and cries followed cries, but security replaced fear and joy replaced sorrow. At last, when the solemnities of the Masses had been celebrated with great rejoicing, each person returned joyfully to his own home.

⁹ But as for us, dearest brothers, upon whom it rests to care more for souls than for bodies, and to guard against the powers of the air more than earthly powers, whenever he who is king over all the children of pride arms the attendants of his wicked power to endanger our salvation, and the dreadful army of vices rushes upon us in a mass, let us approach with confidence the protection of these Saints, beseeching them with the deepest sighs that, like the prophet Elisha, they may strike all our enemies with blindness and, opening the eyes of our hearts, show us that more are with us than with them. Let no one suppose that the precious Saints of God whose relics are contained here summoned others because they were somehow insufficient. Rather, it was so that the faith of believers might be strengthened, devotion increased and, moreover, the holiness of the place commended, since not only the Saints present here, but also those who seemed absent, were proved by sure signs to be present on its behalf. Provision also had to be made for the devotion and faith of those who, placed in such great need, had raised devout hands not only to those whom they believed to be present in their relics, but also to those whom they did not doubt were absent in body but present in spirit, and had offered prayers full of faith.

Chapter Three: The Impure Murderer Is Punished. #

¹ There was also, near this church, a nobleman of great wealth named Aldan, who indeed had a great name, like the name of the great men who were then in this land. He was accustomed to attend the holy Hexham church, especially on solemn feast days. One day, however, he happened to turn aside to a certain house in which a maiden, beautiful in face and pleasing in appearance, lived under the care of her parents. The man immediately cast his eyes upon her and, overcome by desire, first tested the maiden’s constancy with words. When his wish did not achieve its intended result, anger on the one hand and desire on the other blazed up within him. He rose up in pride and was driven into a fury; and, as though impelled by Furies, forgetting God and forgetting himself, neither revering the presence of the Saints nor sparing his own soul, he seized the maiden and dragged her by force from the house, carrying her away like a wolf carrying off a sheep, to subject her to his lust. In the city of Hexham there is a church built in honour of the Holy Mother of God, on the eastern side of the greater church, separated from it by enough space for a courtyard to lie between them and for an open road to remain for those passing through. When that madman came between these two basilicas of the highest veneration, cruelly carrying away the prey he had wickedly seized, the maiden’s brother arrived and tried to rescue her, to save the place from contempt and himself and his family from mockery. But the man whose blood, name and wealth had raised his heart to pride, and whose very marrow the flame of lust had inflamed, joined murder to his unchastity. Turning his spear backwards, he pierced the man following him and turned upon the defender of chastity the punishment which he himself, in his impurity, had deserved. But the avenging wrath for violated chastity and murder came upon him at once and forced the proud man to return to himself. His hand immediately stiffened around the spear and remained withered and contracted in every finger until the end of his life. At last, deprived of both hearing and sight, he brought his wretched life to an end still more wretched.

Chapter Four: A Brother Suffering from a Hernia Is Healed. #

¹ A certain lay brother, renouncing the world, followed the example of our father Abraham and went out from his land, his kindred and his father’s house, so that he might more fully and perfectly exchange riches for poverty, delicacies for restraint and nobility of blood for voluntary submission. He preferred a dwelling in this northern region to the southern parts of England and, leaving behind both his own possessions, in which he had abounded, and the wealth of a certain most distinguished man, over which he had exercised great authority, he bound himself to the service of this monastery. For a considerable time, therefore, because of the necessary labours at which he worked intensely, he lived outside the community of the brothers, untonsured and bearded, soberly, justly and devoutly, preferring to be wearied by labour in a humbler position rather than, for the sake of a higher rank, to occupy himself with less useful duties. Consequently, everyone called him Hugh with the Beard.

² One day, this same venerable man, together with another brother, was attempting to move a felled tree of great size from the steep side of a valley to a place more accessible to carts. When the weight of the burden exceeded the strength of those pushing it, this most fervent man, sparing himself nothing, gathered all his strength and pushed the mass with such force that he suffered a rupture of the sac covering the vital organs, leaving an opening wide enough for three fingers. The intense pain that followed threatened the servant of God with lifelong infirmity. Reflecting within himself that his illness would burden the poverty of the place and deprive him of the fruit of the labour he desired, his heart was pierced with inward sorrow, his spirit was broken and his eyes dissolved into tears. At last, remembering how powerful were those whom he had present with him, for whom it was very easy by their holy prayers to restore his former strength, he was brought to the church. There, from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith, he laid before the relics of the Saints, with the greatest sorrow, his own affliction, the burden it placed upon the brothers and the loss to the church, and with great devotion asked them to have mercy on him. The man rose from prayer healed and, returning to the necessary labours of the monastery, never again found the slightest sign of that infirmity in his body. He lived for many years afterwards. He was sparing in speech, sober in food and moderate in dress. He diligently cared for the poor, strangers and orphans, and faithfully and usefully administered the possessions of the church entrusted to his care. When the house had emerged from the poverty it had endured in its beginnings, he submitted himself to the disciplines of the cloister and, after serving for a long time as the keeper of the cellar, fell asleep in the Lord in a good old age and full of days.

³ These are a few of the many miracles known to belong in common to all the Saints of this church. Through them, the holiness of this place is commended, the faith of its inhabitants increased and their devotion stirred. Therefore, allowing our mind to rest for a short time, let us proceed to recount those miracles through which the power of each individual Saint is made manifest, just as we have learnt them from a truthful account.

Chapter Five: The Violator of the Church of Blessed Mary Is Handed Over to the Devil. #

¹ It is worthwhile not to pass over in silence how, in our own times, the blessed Mother of God triumphed over a most wicked man in the same village of Hexham.

² After the death of King Henry, who had succeeded his brother William, when Stephen usurped the kingdom of the English, David, king of the Scots, was deeply zealous on behalf of the king’s daughter, to whom he and all England had been bound by oaths. He took up arms against Stephen and, having assembled an army, laid waste Northumbria with slaughter and fire. Yet he showed such respect for the church of Hexham that he not only permitted no one to touch anything belonging to it, but also decreed that all who could flee there and bring any of their possessions with them should enjoy his protection. Hence, when the most wicked people of the Galwegians raged with unheard-of cruelty, sparing neither sex nor age, our countrymen who were with the king, moved by compassion, rescued many from their hands and brought them to Hexham as to a sure refuge for their safety.

³ Saint Wilfrid had once built in the same village a round church in honour of the most blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by four porticoes facing the four quarters of the world. After it was destroyed during the persecution of the Danes, it was repaired by a certain priest. At that time, therefore, a most wicked young man from that most impure people came and tried to carry something away by theft, since he could not do so by force. But because everyone guarded their possessions, his evil intention bore no fruit. At last, the cruel burglar approached the church of the most blessed Virgin and walked around it in vain, searching for an entrance. Finding the bolt by which the door was secured, he seized a stone in his sacrilegious hand and attacked it as though intending to break it. Until then, the Virgin had endured his offence. At that very moment, before the eyes of the people, he was handed over to a most evil demon and paid the entirely just penalty for his presumption. The wretched man ran here and there, shouting and wailing. His lips foamed, his eyes rolled, his tongue was now thrust out and now torn by his teeth, and at times he gnashed out some barbarous sound. His arms were flung about with horrifying movements, and with his sacrilegious hands he tore his clothes and flesh. After he had presented the people for several days with the dreadful spectacle of his misery, they could endure the horror no longer. They dragged him from the village, took him across the river and left him there. The evil spirit tormented him until his soul was torn from him and delivered to the underworld, while his body was left for beasts and birds.

Chapter Six: A Eulogy of Saint Acca; His Garments Remain Uncorrupted. #

¹ As we are about to commit to writing the miracles of the Saints who rest in the holy Hexham church, namely those which we have learnt were performed by each of them individually, let us begin with the most holy pontiff Acca. He succeeded blessed Wilfrid in the governance of the holy Hexham church, having been the companion of his pilgrimage, a sharer in his tribulations, his companion in exile and the confidant of his secrets. First trained most religiously among the clergy under the most holy Bosa, bishop of York, he afterwards spent the whole of his life, until the death of that father himself, under the instruction of Saint Wilfrid. Travelling with him to Rome, he learnt more fully the institutions of the Church and the canons of the fathers and, devoutly storing them in the sacred treasury of his heart, handed them down to those subject to him, to be observed in a suitable place and at an opportune time. On that same journey, the aforementioned man of the Lord, Wilfrid, disclosed to blessed Acca above all other mortals the secret of that great revelation in which Divine grace, through the holy Archangel Michael, promised him a swift return, a prosperous journey, tranquillity of life, the restoration of his honour and possessions, and the certain day of his death. Once he had been enthroned, you have learnt from the testimony of Venerable Bede the priest how great was his devotion towards God, how great his benevolence towards his neighbours, what discipline he exercised over those subject to him, how attentive he was to the Divine offices and how diligent in the sacred Scriptures. The books which that same doctor wrote in response to the wishes of so great a pontiff, addressing their prefaces to him, still bear witness to this; in them he expressed most gratefully his devotion and his skill in the Divine writings. But why should we seek other witnesses to his holiness, when before our very hands we have, so to speak, speaking signs which may very easily be touched with the hands and seen with the eyes, and in which not even an unbeliever has denied that Divine miracles shine forth and sure traces of his immaculate life remain? Who, I ask, preserved his most holy garments unharmed from all corruption, although his sacred relics had been wrapped in them beneath the earth for three hundred years, unless it was God, wonderful in His Saints, who, to commend the incorruption of his life, transferred to the garments of the man lying in the tomb the grace of integrity which his flesh had merited while he lived? You certainly possess his silk chasuble, likewise his dalmatic and also his linen shroud, in which their ancient beauty is preserved and their original strength endures. Nature yielded to them, the earth did not harm them and age did not impair them.

² But why, someone may ask, do you claim that what we know was denied to the flesh itself was granted to the garments because of the merit of that flesh? For it was not the flesh, but the bones reduced to dust, that were found beneath the earth wrapped in those garments. But far be it from us to say that this was denied to the flesh. It was certainly not denied, but delayed. For the incorruption of the flesh belongs not to this mortal life, but to the eternity to come. The Saint of God has therefore been glorified: he will be glorified temporally in his temporal things, and eternally in his eternal things, when his mortality puts on immortality and his corruptibility puts on incorruption. Meanwhile, in his garments we have an indication of his holiness, a sign of incorruption and the innocence of chastity. For who would not be encouraged to attain purity of the flesh, knowing how pleasing it is to the Lord, how dear to the Angels and how worthy of reverence among men? Who would not recognise it as a common beauty of all the virtues and a powerful conqueror of every vice? Nature yields to it, time stands amazed at it, it imitates eternity and displays the marks of the resurrection. Nor, however, was the grace of healing absent from his most sacred relics, where we know that the blind were given sight, the presumptuous were terrified and the lame were healed.

Chapter Seven: Sight Is Restored to a Blind Man. #

¹ There was in a region near this one a man named Raven, who lived a modest life under a certain noble and very wealthy man. According to the measure of his understanding, he was a simple and upright man, and was especially devoted to the most blessed Acca above the other Saints. His eyes were suddenly overcome by the darkness of blindness, which entirely deprived him of the power of sight and turned day into night for him for three years. A remedy was sought from physicians in vain, for a heavenly cure had been reserved for him. At last, the sick man came to himself and recalled within himself the grace of faith and devotion. He said, “What am I doing? Where has my resolve fled? How long will my faith sleep? How long will my devotion grow cold? Why do I hesitate? Why do I delay? I will arise; I will arise and go to my Acca, in the hope that he may hear and have mercy upon his little servant, turn night into day and, after this long darkness, restore the joys of the light I have desired.”

² And now the feast day of the most blessed Acca was approaching, on which he joyfully passed from this bodily darkness into the splendour of the true light, and which is celebrated each year with great honour by the inhabitants of this region. Judging this to be a fitting time to seek the aid for which he hoped, he ordered that he be led to the church. The man persisted in prayer, repeatedly kissed the sacred altar, watered the pavement with his tears and thus spent the greater part of the night without sleep. At last, overcome by weariness, he fell asleep and saw in a vision the Saint of the Lord standing beside him, with a radiant face and splendid garments, bearing the insignia of a bishop, smiling upon him with a cheerful expression and saying, “O man, you have great confidence in the Saints of this church.” He replied, “Truly, Lord, for my one and special refuge is Saint Acca the bishop.” The Saint said to him, “Not in vain, nor foolishly. For I am Acca the bishop, by whose prayers you should know that you have been healed.”

³ The man arose, now able to see, and looked in amazement at those who were watching him. For he thought that he was seeing a vision. At last, addressing the man who was sitting nearest to him, he said, “Is that you?” The man replied, “Indeed it is I. Can you see me?” “Clearly,” he said, “I can see, unless I am dreaming.” The other man leapt up and made the miracle publicly known. The words sounded on everyone’s lips: “Raven, Raven can see.” They all arose, offered a sacrifice of rejoicing in the tabernacle of the Lord, sang and recited a hymn. News of the man’s miracle was brought to his lord, who, wishing to show himself grateful to the Saint, freed the man and gave him, together with all his possessions, to the Saint, appointing him to the service of that church for as long as he lived.

⁴ Would that, dearest brothers, with the same faith, equal devotion and no lesser hope, we might implore his aid when our souls are in danger, considering with what tears and persistence in prayer this carnal man obtained bodily health. You who are spiritual, against the spiritual infirmities of the soul, should offer to so great a father libations of tears, sacrifice offerings of prayer, and kindle upon the altar of the heart, with the fire of charity, whole burnt offerings of vigils and psalms.

Chapter Eight: A Blind Woman Recovers Her Sight. #

¹ I do not think it right to pass over in silence how a blind woman was healed by the power of his most holy relics. You know, brothers, how the venerable Eadric, who was the first to order his life and conduct in this church according to the form of Apostolic tradition as one of the regular canons, is said to have found two reliquaries beneath the holy altar. According to the testimony of the inscriptions upon them, one contained certain bones of Saint Acca mixed with dust, and the other those of blessed Alchmund. But so that the value of the treasure which the devout investigator had found should not remain hidden from its discoverer, its power was confirmed by miracles. A certain woman, deprived of her sight but devout in mind, frequented the threshold of the church by day and night. Because the poor woman was sometimes deprived of the help of a guide, the aforementioned brother, taking pity on her misery, often guided her steps by giving her his hand. One day, while providing his customary act of kindness to the needy woman, it occurred to him to test the power of the holy relics he had found. He therefore entered the sacred repository, prayed, took out one of the bones and poured water over it. Then, approaching the blind woman, he told her to trust in the merits and power of the most holy prelate Acca. She agreed and, bending her knee and lowering her head, venerated the bearer of the sacred treasure. He then anointed her eyes with the healing water and, making the sign of the cross, prayed that the power of the most blessed father might be present. A wonderful thing! At the touch of the heavenly water, a certain Divine power immediately opened her closed eyelids and, as the darkness gradually receded, the long-desired light took its place. Both rejoiced: she because she experienced the effect of a bodily benefit, and he because he experienced the fruit of a spiritual one.

Chapter Nine: A Swelling of the Throat Is Healed. #

¹ Thus that venerable brother, made bolder by this experience and advancing, as it were, from faith to faith, became more confident in the power of the most holy prelate and sought the grace of heavenly power whenever an opportunity arose. It happened that the smith who alone at that time served the inhabitants of this city through the benefit of his craft suffered from a disease beneath the skin around his throat. The force of the swelling deprived him of the ability to speak and blocked the passages through which food descends into the body. The city was in danger, since he feared the loss of his health and the inhabitants feared the loss of a necessary craft. But while the others despaired, the often-mentioned brother trusted in a remedy from heavenly grace. “Will not,” he said, “that power which turns darkness into light very easily remove this swelling?” He therefore brought water which he had poured over the sacred relics and poured it into the sufferer’s mouth. A wonderful thing! The heavenly water attacked the disease, and immediately, as though the man had received not water but iron, the skin at the lower part of the swelling burst, the harmful pus was expelled and, as his throat gradually subsided, a passage was opened for his voice and a path for food. Thus, through the same miracle, health was restored to the man and a necessary craft to the city.

Chapter Ten: The Mockery of Saint Acca Is Punished. #

¹ In our own times there were also two men who had lived from boyhood in the service of the brothers. Having received the rewards due to them, and now being distinguished by their house, household and wealth, they became dearer to their fellow citizens through their faith and good conduct. They both resolved to visit the places of the holy resurrection and the Lord’s passion, so that they might obtain forgiveness of their sins where the sins of the whole world were blotted out by the blood of Christ. They encouraged one another and, after discussing their purpose frequently, at a suitable time they protected themselves with the sign of the cross, most devoutly commended themselves to the protection of the Saints and the prayers of the brothers, and set out upon their desired journey. After they had crossed the sea, pilgrims arriving from other regions joined them in one fellowship. Since, as is customary, they invoked the patron of their own city more familiarly each day, the aforementioned men repeatedly called upon Saint Acca in their daily prayers and, in friendly conversation, explained his merits to their companions. Their words were scorned and mocked. A certain cleric, whom chance had joined to their company together with his sister, said that he did not even know who this Acca was, and accused the young men of simplicity and ignorance because they called someone a Saint whose miracles he had never heard of and whose name he had not found in the catalogue of the Fathers. Most wretched was he who judged the merits of the Saint according to his own negligence, supposing that what he had not read had never been written, and that one of whose deeds he had never heard had not flourished in virtue. He also laughed at the ignorance of those who, simply placing faith in the young men’s simple words, joined them in praying that the most blessed Acca might be present with them. Adding blasphemy to blasphemy, he mockingly railed against the Saint of the Lord. Unable to endure the slanderer any longer, they expressed their indignation in just imprecations. The whole company condemned the blasphemer and, judging him unworthy of their fellowship, compelled him to leave them. As they continued onwards, the accursed man remained behind and was immediately struck by a terrible affliction; falling to the ground, he rolled about foaming. The man’s wretched appearance dissolved his sister into tears. But what could she do? She feared the companions whom her brother had provoked, yet by remaining behind she brought him no relief. Her sorrow compelled her to seek a remedy from those whom he had treated with such excessive perversity. Running after those who had gone ahead, she told them of the misfortune with tears and groaning, and begged them to offer some counsel for the man in danger. They all refused and rejoiced that the blasphemer had been justly struck. One of the young men, however, moved by compassion, asked, “Do you now believe that Saint Acca can help you in this danger?” At the Saint’s name, the man opened his eyes and, seeing the young man, said in such a voice as he could manage, “I believe, I believe truly and from my heart, and I give you to him as the guarantor of my faith; only pray for me.” The young man prayed, and at almost the same hour one rose from prayer and the other from the ground. At last, he was placed upon a beast of burden and came to his companions, no longer a blasphemer but now a devout defender, in part, of the Saint’s holiness. From then onwards no one was more fervent in praising blessed Acca, no one more certain in his faith in the Saint’s power, and no one more confident of his aid or consolation amid dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers and dangers from mountains. Having experienced many benefits from the blessed Confessor during their journey and visited the most holy places, the young men returned safely to their own country, bringing sufficiently honourable gifts for the Saint and an account of the miracle for the people.

Chapter Eleven: The Destruction and Renewal of the Hexham Church; the Relics Are Reinterred; the Discovery and Translation of the Relics of SS. Acca and Alchmund. #

¹ After the devastation of the Northumbrians, which it miserably suffered when the Danes invaded England, this Hexham church, like the other churches of its kind, to use the words of the Prophet, sat mourning for a long time without a priest, without an ephod and without theraphin. Then she wept bitterly in the night, and her tears were upon her cheeks. Fire consumed everything made of wood. That most noble library which the holy prelate had established was entirely destroyed. It is certain that, in that devastation, the records which the holy fathers had committed to writing to preserve knowledge of the lives and miracles of the Saints for posterity were consumed. Then, when the fury of the persecution had cooled and the serenity of peace smiled upon the land, there flourished in the Durham church a priest adorned with many virtues. He was honoured as a father by all the northern English, who listened so eagerly to his words that they received whatever they heard from him as though it were a Divine oracle. He was called Alfred filius Westou, and because of the grace of his learning and wisdom he was also named Alfred Larwa, that is, teacher. Warned by Divine revelation, he travelled through the holy places which the savagery of the barbarians had laid waste, removed the relics of many Saints from their tombs and transferred them to the Durham church. When he came to the holy Hexham church and had raised the relics of the most holy Acca, perhaps foreseeing in spirit—for he is said to have possessed the spirit of prophecy—what religious devotion and honour that church would later enjoy, he either would not or could not carry those sacred relics away. Instead, he honourably reinterred them within the church and, by the ordering of Divine grace, provided for the veneration of the place, the devotion of those then present and the spiritual benefit of those to come. When Northumbria had recovered a little under King Edward, and the remnants of the dispersion had returned to their homes and begun to rebuild the ruins, desolation followed once again during the reign of William, after Walcher episcopus was killed by the English and the people fled from the calamity. Walcher was succeeded by William, a monk by habit, who removed the clerics from the Durham church and replaced them with monks. He assigned possessions outside the church to some, but did not hesitate to expel others who refused to accept them. Among them was the son of the aforementioned Alfred, who presided over the others. Since he did not consider it proper to accept anything from the bishop, he went to the venerable archiepiscopus Thomas, the first of the Normans to govern the York church, and asked him to grant him the Hexham church so that he might rebuild it. The venerable pontiff agreed to his request and entrusted the aforementioned church to his governance. When the man arrived at the place, he found everything desolate: the walls of the church were without a roof, foul with hay and bristling with overgrown woods; its plaster had been cast down by rain and storms, and nothing of its former beauty remained. The desolation of that land was so great that for almost two years he supported himself and his household solely by hunting and fowling. He therefore resolved to renew the church. Beginning first on the eastern side, he erected an altar and suitably prepared it for the heavenly sacrifices. But he died shortly afterwards with the work unfinished, leaving the fruit of his labour to his son. Although his son was a sinner and lived otherwise than he ought, he nevertheless showed himself devout and diligent in renewing, adorning and serving the churches of Christ.

² Devoting all his attention and care to renewing the Hexham church, he cut down the woodland that had overgrown it, cleansed the walls of all filth, roofed the whole church with tiles and, after plastering the walls inside and out, adorned it with its former painting and beauty. Having laid a pavement of squared stones in the eastern part, he placed an altar supported by columns in a suitable position. Grieved that the sacred relics lay buried in a lower place, he decided to remove them from the tomb and replace them more honourably behind the high altar, with due honour, in a reliquary covered with a pall. He therefore removed the bones from the tomb and, until the necessary preparations had been made around the place where they were to be replaced, arranged them upon linen cloths on the altar of Saint Michael in the southern porticus. To guard them, he left his young brother Aldred, trusting in his innocence, who afterwards became a canon of excellent life and good conduct in this church. As the young man looked upon the sacred relics in his presence, he was moved by a certain inward sweetness and desired a small portion of them. “For,” he said, “this church alone ought not to glory in so great a gift, since such a multitude of bones could suffice for many churches.” Yet, shrinking from touching so holy a treasure with his hand, he first recited the seven penitential psalms with tears and contrition. Then, having prayed, he approached the porticus, but at its very entrance he encountered such burning heat that he thought he could experience nothing like it even at the mouth of a blazing furnace. Terrified, he withdrew, believing himself unworthy of so great a gift. Again he prostrated himself, wept, beat his breast and, repeating the sacred psalms, attempted to enter. But immediately a fiercer heat came out from the porticus, drove him back as he entered and took away even the hope of entering, for he did not presume to attempt it a third time. When his brother, who presided over the church, heard this, he dissolved into tears and, with great devotion and contrition, wrapped the most sacred relics in a most precious pall, placed them in a most suitable reliquary and, with due honour, replaced them upon the stone slab which he had fittingly prepared there.

³ As the priest’s devotion towards the Saints afterwards increased, he began to consider more strictly within himself his own unworthiness, the holiness of the church and the reverence due to the Saints. Judging himself unworthy to approach such great fathers, and fearing moreover that after his death the church might be entrusted, if not to men less worthy, certainly to men less diligent, he was consumed with zeal for the house of God. He went to the venerable younger Thomas, archbishop of York, and humbly asked him to entrust the church to regular canons and to hand over himself and his possessions to them. When the venerable prelate agreed to his wishes, he built with his own hands the wooden buildings required for religious life and, at the direction of the aforementioned pontiff, first brought into the Hexham church two brothers of honourable life, one of whom had lived commendably in the York church and the other in the Beverley church. After the death of Thomas, Thurstan succeeded him and entrusted the care of the church to a certain canon named Asketil from the Huntingdon monastery, decreeing that the regular life should be observed there for ever. That man was refined and affable, skilled in adapting himself to the ways of all, and in winning the favour of rich and poor, clerics, knights and countrymen. In his time, the house of God prospered so greatly in both spiritual and temporal matters that it soon abounded in good and honourable men who had professed the regular life, while the monastic buildings, fittingly constructed of stone and roofed with wooden shingles, provided a welcome dwelling for the inhabitants. Moreover, the church itself, adorned with precious ornaments and enriched with relics of Saint Andrew and other Saints, increased the devotion both of those who came there and of those who lived there. He was succeeded by a religious and highly learned man named Robert, surnamed Biset, who had made his profession in the same church. Being better suited to religious life than to the administration of external affairs, after some years he resigned the pastoral charge and was succeeded by Richard, a man of honourable life and gravity from his youth, who even while living in the world was considered almost a monk because of his remarkable chastity and sobriety.

⁴ Meanwhile, the brothers, among whom the power of the Saints had so often shone forth, grew in inward devotion, and their love was kindled still more. They felt that the Saints were present not only in their relics but also in their miracles: by them they were comforted in sorrow, guided in joy, supported when tempted, defended when persecution arose, and heard whenever they fled to them in any need. And because through their merits they increased daily in temporal riches, they also sought to emulate their temporal glory. They were indignant that, covered with cheap wood, they displayed nothing of glory or honour to the sight of the people, who so often rejoiced in their benefits. First, the heart of each grew warm within them, and in their meditation the fire burned. Then, conferring with one another and speaking more frequently about these things, they kindled one another and diligently considered how the matter might be brought to completion. At last, approaching the Prior about this matter, they stirred the holy man’s devotion towards the same desire. When, therefore, the wills of all had united as one, they undertook the desired work, while those concerned provided what was needed with a willing mind and ready heart. A reliquary of suitable size was prepared and clad in silver and gold. Gems were set in suitable places, and through the skill of the craftsman the work was varied with the greatest beauty. Two smaller ones, also of no slight beauty, though not of the same value, were likewise constructed. In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1154, when everything had been prepared, the Prior appointed the solemn day on which the sacred relics were to be translated: the fifth day before the Nones of March. Meanwhile, the brothers prepared themselves for so great a work with psalms, prayers and spiritual exercises.

⁵ And now the appointed day had arrived, when, at about the third hour, the Prior and the brothers assembled in the church and prostrated themselves barefoot before the holy altar. Adding suitable prayers to the penitential psalms, they sang in a very loud voice the responsory customarily used in the church in honour of holy confessors. When the solemn prayer following the chant had ended, the brothers proceeded, clothed in albs and barefoot, and placed the revered relics, together with the chest in which they had until then been preserved, before the step of the altar. Taking the most sacred remains from it, they laid them with the utmost reverence upon palls honourably spread on the pavement. There were the bones of four Saints, each kept separate from the others and wrapped in most beautiful palls. When they began to unwrap them, a fragrance of wondrous sweetness arose, striking everyone’s nostrils and soothing every heart. Astonished by this Divine visitation, the brothers at first thought that the Saints had been buried with spices. But when no sign of this appeared, they understood that the Saints of God had imparted this grace to their holy relics from the fragrances of paradise, which they enjoy eternally. Greatly comforted by this, they first examined the sacred remains of one of them. The bones were found shining with heavenly beauty and, in both colour and fragrance, breathing forth manifest holiness. They so drew everyone’s gaze towards themselves and stirred their affections that they did not doubt that he was spiritually present whose relics they perceived to be infused with such grace and worthy of reverence with such majesty. And lest later generations have any doubt concerning the name of the holy confessor, the one who had deposited him had removed every uncertainty by written testimony. For within the wrapping they found a small document containing:

⁶ IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S INCARNATION 740, ACCA EPISCOPUS, OF REVERED MEMORY, PASSED FROM THE WORLD TO HEAVEN ON THE THIRTEENTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF NOVEMBER, IN THE TWENTY-THIRD YEAR OF HIS EPISCOPATE, AND HERE HIS RELICS REST IN PEACE.

⁷ Though they were not satisfied by this most sacred sight, they were nevertheless greatly refreshed. Wrapping the heavenly remains once more in the cleanest cloths, they reinterred them with due honour. And lest, if the document should perish in future times, the Saint’s name and merit should be lost to memory, they wrote the same words on parchment and engraved them on a sheet of lead, which they placed with the relics.

⁸ They then turned to examine the relics of Saint Alchmund. Finding them with equal glory and honour, they read the document containing his name and office. The text of the inscription was:

⁹ IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD 780, ALCHMUND, BISHOP OF THE HEXHAM CHURCH, OVER WHICH HE PRESIDED FOR THIRTEEN YEARS, DIED ON THE SEVENTH DAY BEFORE THE IDES OF SEPTEMBER. FOR HIS MERITS, HE WAS MADE A PARTAKER OF ETERNAL BLESSEDNESS, AND HERE HE RESTS IN PEACE.

¹⁰ The brothers stood around that heavenly treasure and, carefully examining everything, found every part of which the human body is composed. Since those who had formerly laid the Saints to rest had removed some small fragments from the bones of blessed Acca out of devotion, they wondered that nothing of this kind had been done to the relics of blessed Alchmund. Some had forgotten why this had happened, while others had never heard of it. Therefore, as we join the account of his former translation to that of the new one, we shall not hesitate to explain the reason why his relics remained complete.

Chapter Twelve: Another Translation of Alchmund. #

¹ At the time when the priest Alfred, whom we mentioned above, was honoured as a father by all the churches of the Northumbrians, as well as by the nobles and the people, a certain man of lesser rank among the nobles, who lived on a possession of the Hexham church, was filled with great devotion towards the patrons of that place. He was a simple man, endowed more with faith than with knowledge. One night, when he had given his limbs over to sleep, an elderly man of venerable appearance stood before him in a vision, adorned with pontifical insignia and shining with heavenly light. Lightly touching the man with the pastoral staff he carried in his hand, as though waking him from sleep, he said, “Go quickly and tell the priest Alfred of Durham that, when the people of Hexham have been gathered together, he is to remove my body from its tomb and, raising it higher within the church, reinter it in a more honourable place. For it is right that honour should be shown on earth by men to those whom Christ has judged worthy to be glorified among the Angels in heaven.” Astonished by both the splendour of the light and the authority of his voice, the man, when he had recovered himself a little, humbly and reverently asked who he was. Then the Saint said, “I am Alchmund, who was the fourth after blessed Wilfrid to preside over the Hexham church. After fighting the good fight, finishing the course and keeping the faith, I obtained through the grace of Christ the crown of righteousness, and was buried beside my venerable and holy predecessor Acca. There the aforementioned priest, with you standing by, should search carefully for my body, and without doubt he will find it.” Having said this, he withdrew into his invisible and incomprehensible blessedness.

² When the man awoke, he had no doubt about the revelation. He went to the priest and, relating the vision in the order in which it had occurred, told him what the Saint had commanded. The priest, not disbelieving the vision, obeyed the instructions. On the appointed day, when the people whom he had summoned had solemnly assembled, he first offered prayer and then approached with the clerics the place which the Saint had indicated. But although they had already dug deeply, they found no trace of a tomb. The third hour had now arrived, and they had achieved nothing. The man to whom these things had been revealed from heaven stood firm and encouraged the others through faith not to despair. They continued the work until the sixth hour, but received no reward for so much labour. Then some among the people, who had grown weary from their long wait, began to laugh. Some, as though disappointed in so great a hope, mocked the man as one deceived by phantoms; others silently criticised the priest for having placed faith in dreams. But the man, unmoved by these things, remained firm in his conviction and in the same place. Full of faith, he insisted that the holy body would be found. Taking up a tool and urging the others, whom weariness had already caused to stop, to dig again, he said, “Here, here without doubt, here lies Alchmund. From here we shall raise his sacred relics today.” So great a hope did not deceive the man. Because his faith had not failed and his love had not grown cold, at about the ninth hour he obtained the treasure he desired and proved his promises true.

³ The venerable priest therefore gathered the most sacred bones, wrapped them in the cleanest cloths and placed them in a suitable chest. Since the lateness of the hour did not permit the sacred solemnities of the Masses to be celebrated, they decided that the heavenly gift they had received should be placed and kept that night in the eastern porticus of the church, where the commemoration of blessed Peter Apostoli was observed. In the silence of the dead of night, while the priest himself and his clerics kept holy vigil around the sacred relics, he was inflamed with devotion and resolved to carry a small portion of the holy bones back with him to Durham, so that his devotion might thus be satisfied and further honour added to the Saint. He also thought this was owed to him: that the Saint who had appointed him to carry out so great a work would not deny him a worthy reward. Therefore, when the others were overcome by deep sleep, he approached the chest and removed one of the bones from which, through the joining of sinews at certain joints, a finger had been formed by the Creator’s art, and took care to lay it aside and preserve it for himself.

⁴ Meanwhile, dawn brought the darkness of night to an end, and anticipation of the sacred celebration roused the people earlier than usual. A considerable multitude of both sexes hastened there, desiring to be commended to the prayers of so great a patron and wishing to offer some service to his sacred relics. At the third hour, when everything that seemed fitting for so great a solemnity had been prepared, the venerable priest appointed those thought suitable for so great a task to carry the chest upon their shoulders. When they came forward at the proper time and laid their hands upon the most holy burden, attempting to lift it, it remained motionless, as though fixed to the ground. The common people, as was their way, attributed this to their sins and thought they should be removed. “Let others be chosen.” But when the efforts of these also achieved nothing, the people were struck with amazement. Lest these too should be thought unworthy, others succeeded them; but they likewise laboured in vain and withdrew without obtaining the fruit of their desire. Everyone was therefore astonished and dismayed, waiting to see what the priest would decide. Marvelling, and not considering that he himself was the cause, he judged that they should spend the night in prayer, supplicate the Saint with the utmost devotion and seek a revelation from the Saint himself, so that the reason for his immovability might not remain hidden. He spoke, and it was done. While the clergy and people kept vigil and prayed around the relics, the Saint appeared to the same man as before, for sleep had already overcome him while he kept vigil in the church. Looking upon him more sternly, he said, “What is this that you have intended to do? Did you think that I should be carried into the church with my limbs cut apart, so that I might stand mutilated beside blessed Apostol Andrew and his sacred altar, whom I served for so many years with an entire body and mind?” Showing him his hand, from which what seemed to be the middle part of one finger had been cut away, he said, “Rise and declare before the people that the man who took my finger must restore it, so that my members may rest in their place of repose in their integrity, and those who have assembled so devoutly in my honour may obtain the desired fruit of their labour.” When morning came, the man rose in the midst of the people and, as everyone watched him closely, proclaimed the heavenly revelation in a clear voice, adding that whoever had inflicted such an injury upon the Saint would be punished with severe vengeance. Then the venerable priest, although he knew that those dear remains must be restored to the Saint, nevertheless rejoiced that he had been exposed by so great a miracle for the Saint’s honour. Having called the people to silence, he related without hesitation everything he had done and the intention with which he had done it. When he brought out before the people what he had kept for himself, while everyone rejoiced and proclaimed God wonderful in His Saints, he restored it to its place. At last, after prayer and fitting satisfaction had been offered, the clerics, at the priest’s command, easily raised the bier and carried it into the church with hymns and spiritual songs, as befitted so great a pontiff, on the fourth day before the Nones of August. When the solemn office of the saving sacrifice had been celebrated with the customary devotion, each returned home with joy. From that day onwards, no one dared to remove anything from his sacred relics, but they preserved them untouched and complete, just as the brothers had found them, for the knowledge of posterity. This day was celebrated every year by the people; but because, after this new translation had been completed, it was decreed that the glory of both should be honoured in a single celebration, we believed that the two accounts should be joined together, adding the miracle which once occurred through the merits of the blessed man during this solemnity.

⁵ [A Brother Is Rescued from Shipwreck.] One of the brothers, namely Hugh Venerable, whom we mentioned above, had travelled to nearby places on monastery business and, as the solemn day was now approaching, was hastening to return. With him was a faithful and devout servant of the church, who was very useful to the brothers in everything that concerned him. When they came to the river that flows below the city, they placed the horses they had been riding in a small boat. Uhtred, for that was the man’s name, took the helm and stood at the stern, steering the boat, when, behold, one of the horses leapt forward at the bow and almost dragged the boat beneath the waves. For as the animal pushed powerfully into its leap with its hind legs, it forced the prow deep into the water; but immediately, rebounding through its own lightness and raising itself higher, it plunged beneath the waves the part where the boat’s steersman was sitting. He fell from the stern and was swallowed by the river. Those who were present cried out, ran towards him, mourned and hurried here and there, declaring their misfortune with sighs and tears. But what could they do? They had no rope, rod, branch or anything at all with which to help the wretched man. They could only grieve, while he remained hidden beneath the waves. As their only remaining hope, they raised their eyes towards the church and prayed that the merits of the Saints might assist them, especially beseeching blessed Alchmund, to whose solemn feast they had been hastening, to deliver him from these dangers. Meanwhile, the young man, whom they already thought suffocated, had sunk into the depths, yet retained his memory unimpaired and his senses undisturbed. He could hear clearly everything being said on the bank, and made his confession, as though speaking with a priest, to Him Who is present everywhere. At last, directing his whole mind towards blessed Alchmund, he begged him, as far as such peril allowed, to have mercy upon him. Those running about on the bank, now assuming him dead, were considering how to recover and bury his body, when, behold, they saw a man standing at a distance, holding a spear in his hand and apparently wondering at their running to and fro. They all shouted for him to come, and he quickly ran towards them. He thrust the spear he had brought into the water at the place where the young man had last been seen. The young man immediately saw it and, still fully aware, grasped it with both hands, revealing by his weight where the body they sought lay. The others ran to help and, behold, the man emerged from the depths and came down onto the bank. After resting there briefly and spitting out the water he had swallowed, he hurried to the monastery with his companions. There he was brought to the fire, and when the natural warmth which the cold had taken from his limbs returned through the heat of the material fire, he recovered his strength and entered the church to give thanks to God and Sancto Alchmund. There, through the merits of blessed Alchmund, he recovered so fully that on the same day he crossed the river and returned home unharmed. From that time onwards, every year for as long as he lived, he came to the church on that same day with an offering and never failed to repay his deliverer, with whatever gifts he could, in a manner fitting the benefits he had received. Having perhaps not unprofitably inserted these things, let us return to the account of the translation.

Chapter Thirteen: The Discovery of the Bodies of Frithubeorht and Tilberht; the Reliquaries in Which They Were Placed. #

¹ Approaching the third, and finding him adorned with no less glory, they sought a document declaring his name and merit; and behold, they found one containing these words:

² IN THE YEAR FROM THE INCARNATION OF THE LORD 766, FRITHUBEORHT, BISHOP OF THE HEXHAM CHURCH, PASSED FROM THIS MORTAL FLESH TO THE ETERNITY OF THE TRUE LIGHT ON THE TENTH DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF JANUARY, IN THE THIRTY-FOURTH YEAR OF HIS EPISCOPATE, AND HERE HE RESTS IN PEACE.

³ Having therefore renewed this testimony, as they had done with the previous ones, they wrapped him most honourably and placed him with those whom they had examined. When they similarly examined the riches of the fourth bundle, they found bones shining with no less beauty than the others, deposited and wrapped with the same care; but why the man who deposited them did not add the name remains uncertain to us. Perhaps it was because all the people knew that four bishops had been buried there, and their names were by no means unknown to them. For many years before this translation, when I was still a little boy, the whole people confidently declared that Acca, Alchmund, Frithubeorht and Tilberht rested there together. Perhaps, therefore, when he had added the names of three, he believed this sufficient, since, once the others had been named, the remaining one could be thought to be none other than Tilberht. They wrapped these four in the most precious palls with the utmost devotion and, just as they had been found together, placed them together in the larger reliquary.

⁴ Lastly, opening the reliquary in which the relics of the venerable bishop Eata were enclosed, they found his bones breathing forth a heavenly fragrance. When all who were present had drawn in that fragrance with fear and amazement, they dissolved into tears and most devoutly commended themselves to the prayers of so great a patron. In the same reliquary they found a leaden vessel containing certain small fragments of blessed Frithubeorht and giving off the sweetness of the same fragrance. Then thanksgiving and the voice of praise sounded upon everyone’s lips; and, bringing forward the smaller reliquary which they had adorned, they placed within it the relics of the blessed pontiff together with the leaden vessel they had found. In the third, likewise adorned within, they placed, together with the sacred relics of Saint Babylas, bishop and martyr, a portion of dust from the body of bishop Saint Acca. They then erected beside the altar a shelf supported by three columns and most fittingly decorated with carvings and paintings. In the centre they placed the larger reliquary, which contained the sacred remains of the four bishops; on its southern side, the one enclosed the venerable bones of Saint Eata; and to the north they placed the third, containing the relics they had put within it. When all these things had been duly completed, and the solemn Masses had been celebrated with fitting joy, the people were dismissed, and the community of brothers returned to its accustomed peace and quiet.

Chapter Fourteen: Who Saint Eata Was. #

¹ It is asked who this Eata was, and at what time he governed the Hexham church. We shall not hesitate to commit to writing what antiquity thought about these matters, or what may be proved or inferred from Chronicles and Histories. Saint Bede says that this was the Eata who was once the most reverend abbot of Melrose and Lindisfarne, and who was privileged to have as disciples the most blessed Cuthbert, Saint Boisil and several other men of great perfection. At the time when Saint Wilfrid was in exile, King Ecgfrith, who had expelled him and envied his glory, divided the diocese of the York church, over which Wilfrid alone had presided, first between two bishops and afterwards between three. He did this with the support of Theodore, archiepiscopo of Canterbury, to whom the whole island had submitted. He entrusted the province of the Bernicians to this most holy Eata, establishing his seat in the Hexham church and also adding to it authority over the Lindisfarne church. He appointed Bosa over the York church, granting him the province of the Deirans to govern. They were ordained at York by blessed Theodore together with Eadhæd, bishop of Lindsey. After three years had passed, the same Theodore ordained Tunberht to the Hexham church, while Eata remained in the Lindisfarne church. We have rendered these things in our own words from the History of Venerable Bede. He later says that John succeeded Eata in the episcopal seat of Hexham. It is therefore clear that, after Tunberht, the most blessed Eata returned to his former seat, when sancto patre Cuthbert was established in the Lindisfarne episcopal seat. It is said that this father himself had been elected to the Hexham church, but obtained permission that, while Eata returned to the seat to which he had first been ordained, he himself might instead exercise the episcopal office in the place where he had served Christ as a monk, thereby providing for his own peace. After the death of Eata, as Bede testifies, Saint John succeeded him. It is quite clear that all these things happened while blessed Wilfrid was in exile. When he returned, John was transferred to the York church, while Wilfrid himself recovered the Hexham church. Four years after recovering his episcopate, he was translated to heaven, just as Michael Archangel had revealed to him, and had the most reverend Acca as his successor. Thus the most holy Acca, although ordained as bishop in the Hexham episcopal seat after Wilfrid while another bishop was still living, ended his life there. Bede commemorates him as a most gentle and simple man, and we have thought it right to include in this work what happened concerning him in modern times.

Chapter Fifteen: The Translation of Saint Eata to York Is Prevented. #

¹ In the time of Thomas the Younger, a man of pleasant disposition and cheerful speech, when canons had already been introduced into the Hexham church, the clerics of York, now greatly exalted and enlarged, were distressed that they possessed no memorial of any of their bishops, since the Rochester church possessed Paulinus, the Ripon church Wilfrid, and the Beverley church John, while it was impossible to translate any of them because of the opposition of the people. They therefore approached the archbishop and asked him at least to grant them the relics of blessed Eata, arguing that it was inglorious for the Hexham church to possess five bishops while the York church did not possess even one. Considering the weakness of the common people of Hexham and the poverty of the brothers who had recently arrived, they thought it safer to use force against them. Because he was a man of remarkable kindness, he readily agreed with their proposal. Accompanied, therefore, by the clerics who were to carry away the Saint, he came to Hexham. There was no one to oppose them, no one to open his mouth or utter a word. Nevertheless, the brothers did what they could. They persisted in prayers, not with swords, though they fought against the despoilers with their petitions. They prostrated themselves before the reliquary which preserved that heavenly treasure, weeping and begging him not to abandon them, not to prefer the wealth of the people of York to their poverty, and not to deprive by his absence the place which he had cultivated while alive and enriched by his burial. The Lord heard the desire of the poor; His ear heard the preparation of their heart. The clerics prepared what was needed to carry him away, but the Lord mocked their preparation, dissolved their plan and frustrated their attempt. The day on which they were to carry out their purpose was now approaching; but on the preceding night, when the prelate had retired to his bed for rest and sleep, he saw in a dream a man standing beside him, distinguished by episcopal majesty, stern in countenance and shining with immeasurable light. The bishop was terrified and, scarcely able to endure the fear displayed in the man’s eyes and face, waited trembling to see what he would do. The man looked fearfully upon him as he watched and spoke to him thus: “Why have you agreed to disturb my rest and to translate me to another people from the place where I sleep and rest with my brothers? This is not the will of the Lord, but your own presumption, for which you shall now pay the penalty.” Raising the pastoral staff which he held in his hand, he struck him twice upon the shoulder and, after severely threatening him, disappeared. Terrified by the blows, the bishop awoke from sleep with a cry. The clerics who were present were also awakened and came to him; finding him trembling and afraid, they demanded that he reveal the cause. He related the vision and, in the morning, summoned the brothers, confessed his offence, sought forgiveness and, promising that he would never again attempt anything of the kind, begged them to offer sacrifices of prayer on his behalf. The brothers were greatly cheered by this, while the clerics, disappointed in their hope, were not a little confounded. Having therefore endured the Saint’s hand for three days, on the fourth he was healed by the one who had struck him; his infirmity departed from him, and he departed from the village.