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31
It only remains now to speak of
blessed Wilgils, who, as we have said, was the father of this holy
man, for as the first chapter of this story began with him, so the
last must close with a reference to him. It was on the anniversary of
the sacred death of Wilgils that the good abbot Aldberct, successor
to the venerable archbishop, proposed to eat and rejoice with the
brethren after the solemnities of the Mass and the thanksgiving due
to God. In the monastery, unfortunately, there were left only two
flagons of wine; and since one of them had been drunk at the midday
meal, the other was put by for supper. Accordingly, after Vespers had
been sung in honour of that day the brethren returned to the
refectory; and when they came to the end of the reading the abbot
addressed [22] the brethren with these words: " It is
fiting, reverend Fathers, that we should celebrate the feast days of
our venerable predecessors with spiritual rejoicing and should allow
our bodies somewhat more indulgence than our usual strictness
permits, not from motives of glueony but of love. Now if there were
anything in the monastery that I could offer you beyond this single
flagon of wine which is left over from the midday meal I should
certainly not withhold it from you. But God is able through the
prayer of His saints to make even this prove more than sufficient for
our needs, alike to honour them as to gladden us, and to demonstrate
to us, unworthy as we are, the kindly power of Him who once through
the blessing of our former father, the holy Willibrord, condescended
to satisfy forty men from four flagons. Let us drink what we have
with rejoicing and with hope."
After all the brethren had drunk
from the boule a first and a second time the server found it as full
as before. When the abbot was acquainted with this he joined the
brethren in giving thanks to God; and, doing honour to the divine
mercy, they drank soberly but gladly that night as much as they
desired.
O happy father to beget such a son
and to be deemed worthy by God of having such an heir! In thee is
fulfilled the blessing which is read in Deuteronomy: "Blessed
shalt thou be, and blessed shall be the fruit of thy body."
Beornrade,
abbot of Willibrord's monastery at Echternach and later Archbishop of
Sens. Willibrord
was born, probably, 6 November 658.This is probably the correct interpretation ot the phrase "when
he was weaned ". The abbot at this time was most probably St.
Wilfrid, the leader of the Roman party which triumphed at the Synod
of Whitby, A.D. 664. Willibrord must have served under Wilfrid until
669 when Wilfrid left to take possession of the see of
York.He
received the tonsure and made his monastic profession about the age
of fifteen; cf. the letter of St. Boniface, Tangl, No. 26. Though the renown of the Irish schools was well deserved, it does not
reflect adversely on the lack of English educational centres. St.
Aldhelm of Sherborne complained at the time about students going
there and asked: Were there not schools good enough in England? The
real reason for going abroad seems to have been the expulsion of St.
Wilfrid from the see of York in 678, which led to the voluntary exile
of many monks who were in sympathy with him.
Ecgbert
was Abbot of Rathmelsigi, probably Mellifont in Co. Louth. In 664 he
had gone into voluntary exile after the Synod of Whitby, but returned
to Iona m 7I6. He died in 729 at the age of ninety. He had long
wanted to evangelize the Saxon peoples on the Continent, but was
prevented from doing so
Wichtberct was a companion of Ecgbert and had spent many years
in Ireland. He went on a rnission to Frisia, but, having preached for
two years wlthout success, returned to Ireland.
Willibrord's church was built from the rums of the old Roman
camp at Fectio (Vecht).
From
the beginning of his reign in 697 Radbod had been antagonistic to
anything that savoured of Frankish domination and had ruthlessly
destroyed churches and other buildings erected by the Franks.
Pippin II,
mayor of the palace of Clovis II. He it was who gave the church at
Antwerp, previously the scene of the labours of St. Amand and St.
Eloi, to the rnissionaries for their shelter and support. Pope
Sergius I, 687701. Alcuin only mentions one journey to Rome, but
there were two.
Alcuin
has made a mistake. The church meant is St. Cecilia in Trastevere.
The day of consecration was 22 November 695
Several
churches still preserve the relics brought back from Rome by
Willibrord, e.g. Emmerich and Treves.
Ongendus
has been identified with Ongentheow of Beowulf.
Fositeland or Heligoland.
Pippin
died 14 December 714. At this juncture Radbod revolted, and during
the disturbances that followed Willibrord retired to his monastery at
Echternach.
Charles
Martel, the natural son of Pippin. He obliged Radbod to raise the
siege of Cologne and then attacked the Neustrians at Compiegne, 26
Sept 7rS, where he put them to rout. It was during this time that St.
Boniface arrived with his companions in Utrecht, but, finding the
conditions unpropitious for preaching, he returned home.
The
property for this foundation had been given to Willibrord in 714 by
Plectrude, wife of Pippin II.
Probably
St. MarienadMartyres, where the portable altar of St. Willibrord is
still preserved. It
was the custom to fasten iron rings on the limbs of penitents as a
sign of their repentence.
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