Pharahildis

ON ST. PHARAHILDIS, VIRGIN, IN BRABANT.

Pharahildis, Virgin Widow in Belgium (St.)

[1] The birthday of the virgin Pharahildis on January 4 is recorded by the Belgian Martyrology, the Cologne editions of Usuard from 1490 and 1521, Molanus in his Additions to Usuard, the German Martyrology, Ghinius, Galesinius, Ferrarius, and other especially manuscript Martyrologies. The Paris edition of Bellinus from 1536 mentions her on January 5 and calls her Faraillis; others, Pharildis. The manuscript Florarium has her birthday on June 13, her elevation on January 4, and (as do Molanus and others) her Translation on October 7. But since several translations of her relics have been made, which one in particular is celebrated on that day is not known to me.

[2] The manuscript codex of the monastery of St. Adrian at Geraardsbergen, a town in Flanders, furnished us with the Life of St. Pharahildis. In it, however, some may find scruple in the fact How she is said to have remained a virgin against her husband's will. that she appears to have refused to comply with her husband Guido in those things which are commanded by the natural and divine law. But she had perhaps not consented to the marriage, from which she did not dare to withdraw out of reverential fear; moreover, she kept him from her not so much by feminine boldness as by a certain divine force. And Guido himself had perhaps consented from the beginning that she should preserve her virginal continence — from which resolve, whenever his perversity of mind recalled him, she could rightly resist.

[3] To this Life we shall append what Molanus writes about her in his Birthdays of the Saints of Belgium, and then a miracle worked at the village of Steynockerzeel, not far from the Brabantine town of Vilvoorde, described from the records of its church by Hieronymus Franchaeus, its pastor, and sent here by our Gommarus Zuenius to Heribertus Rosweydus in the year 1609. Chapel of St. Pharahildis at Steynockerzeel in Brabant. There is a small chapel separate from the church, built of old in honor of St. Pharahildis, in which she used to have her oratory. There also two of the loaves turned to stone by the impious woman's curse can be seen. A celebrated pilgrimage used to be held to this chapel, and many miracles were worked there. Finally, we shall add what Antonius Sanderus of Ghent has in Book 5, chapter 2, concerning the translations and church of St. Pharahildis, from the ancient records of the Bavon monastery.

[4] Mention of St. Pharahildis is found in the Life of St. Gudula on January 8 and of St. Emebertus or Ablebertus on January 15, where she is called Sarachildis, [The church of St. Pharahildis at Ghent destroyed by heretics. The Canons transferred elsewhere.] perhaps by a copyist's error. Autbertus Miraeus, a most learned man, also mentions her in his Belgian calendar, where he testifies that the College of Canons of St. Pharahildis at Ghent was transferred from the ancient basilica of St. Pharahildis, devastated by the Calvinists, to the parish church of St. Nicholas in the marketplace, in our own time. Sanderus writes the same in exactly the same words in his Hagiologion of Flanders. Nevertheless, where that basilica once stood, a chapel dedicated to the honor of St. Pharahildis has been rebuilt.

[5] Arnoldus Raïssius, in his Belgian Sacred Treasury, where he treats of the Cistercian convent of Épinlieu near Mons in Hainaut, has the following: Relics of St. Pharahildis at Épinlieu. "Here the relics of St. Pharahildis shine with miracles, by whose merits this place (as Nicolas Guise says in his Mons, Metropolis of Hainaut, chapter 40) is not thorny but fertile with rich soil, which produces not only worldly fruits for the body but also heavenly fruits for the soul, whose harvest a numerous concourse of pilgrims happily enjoys." So Raïssius. Sanderus, among the relics of Bavon, whose catalogue was presented to Albert of Austria, most pious Prince of the Belgians, records the body of St. Pharahildis.

LIFE.

Pharahildis, Virgin Widow in Belgium (St.) — BHL Number: 6791

From manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] Since we are invited by a truthful saying to understand that a burning lamp placed under a bushel gives little light to those around it, admonished therefore by the divine warning, we have decided to make known to the ears of the ignorant the deeds of blessed Pharahildis the virgin, which have hitherto remained almost entirely hidden — so that the torpid hearts of those who hear them, touched by our discourse, may be set ablaze with the fire of divine love. Matt. 5:15 But since a long string of words generally produces weariness in both hearers and readers, we have decided to set forth briefly what we have resolved to communicate to the minds of the intelligent, for a concise discourse stirs the exhortation of a sluggish soul.

[2] The author does not narrate uncertain things. If any detractor should reckon the miracles of this virgin worthy of God as mere fable, which the garrulous tongue so often invents, let him know for certain that what is written here is not composed from apocryphal or fabulous material, but is confirmed by the authoritative testimony of the ancient Fathers and found in the succession of certain very old books. For whatever seems impossible to the human race is made possible by the divine grace bestowed for the merits of the saints, because it is written in the Gospel: "If anyone has faith like a grain of mustard seed and says to this mountain, 'Move from here,' it will move" Matt. 17:19. Wherefore it should seem neither strange — whether for building up the faith of Christians or for rooting out the unbelief of infidels — that what nature does not permit should be attributed to the merits of the saints.

CHAPTER I.

The Family of St. Pharahildis and Her Holy Youth.

[3] In the beginning of this treatise, therefore, so that the lineage of the virgin may be clear to all, the starting point of her origin must be set forth. For since she is noted as descending from a royal line, The royal lineage of St. Pharahildis. it will seem strange to none that, having spurned both royal and imperial marriage, she ascended from the lowest to the highest after her end, who had descended from the highest to the lowest before her end. We have learned, on the corroborating authority of the ancients, that King Theuderic, who ruled within the borders of Lotharingia and of both remote and nearby Gaul, had a twofold offspring of sons, whom the unimpeachable antiquity of those same Fathers showed to be endowed with strength, wealth, riches of every kind, and consular power. To the same king, a third child of female sex, Pharahildis by name, known to us more by the merits of faith and religion than by worldly prerogative, is attested by the authority of the Fathers, which is not to be rejected.

[4] She resolves to embrace the Evangelical counsels. She, by a continuous course of merits and works, having set aside the royal lineage from which she was born, and having spurned the abundance of both royal and imperial nobles, fulfilled the Evangelical command where it says: "Unless one renounces father and mother and all that he possesses for my name's sake, he cannot be my disciple" Luke 14:26, 33. Placing this precept therefore in the little chamber of her heart, while she was still in her mother's arms, she elegantly provided for her own purpose by exercising inviolate virginity, She devotes herself to literary studies. and according to the capacity of a girlish mind she succeeded in the study of letters. But although persevering in the tenacity of her purpose, she strove with earnest mental effort to attain knowledge of letters, yet the divine exhortation clung to her mind. For it is written: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" Prov. 9:10. Not with a servile but with a filial fear, laboring in the service of God, she strove to fulfill the Apostolic precept. For the Apostle says: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear" 1 John 4:18. Moved therefore by these and similar persuasions, while still in her tender years, she both labored in the divine service and applied herself to the study of letters.

[5] She is not puffed up by luxury of dress. And although by royal custom, being a king's daughter, she was clothed in the most precious and ornate garments and adorned daily with royal attire, she did not let these lead her into arrogance of speech or insolence of mind. She distributes alms. She ministered the abundance of alms to the poor, secretly and openly. And while she labored in so kind an office, though still unlearned in the Gospel, she was fulfilling the word of the Gospel: Matt. 6:3 "When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Sir. 29:15 And again: "Hide your alms in the bosom of the poor, and it will pray for you." Strengthened by these and similar examples, with divine grace assisting, she performed the service of God with devoted effectiveness.

CHAPTER II.

She Preserves Virginity in Marriage.

[6] She is sought in marriage by many. At length the fame of the royal daughter struck the ears of the kings and emperors of both neighboring and remote regions. Moved by the succession of both her character and her birth, for the multiple purpose of seeking the king's daughter, they came to the palace. When some individually and privately, others publicly and openly, had disclosed their business — the reason for their coming — the king promised to give his daughter, though unwilling, to one of them. When he had betrothed her and given her to a man of the highest lineage, those who had come for the same reason departing, She is betrothed to Guido against her will. this virgin, though compelled, did not dare either to delay or to violate the deeds of her father.

[7] Led therefore into matrimony and having entered the marriage of a most noble man, she did not cease the service of God to which she had previously been devoted. Refusing to violate her professed virginity, She preserves virginity in marriage. she maintained the sobriety of her mind and preserved the integrity of her body. For when the banquets were completed and the nuptials celebrated in the royal manner, and when at the end of the day, as night drew near, she entered the marital chamber at her husband's command, with a throng of attendants, she did not delay in womanly fashion from approaching the beautiful marriage bed. And although she seemed to enjoy the marital embrace, yet by the intervening grace of God she both suppressed the flames of desire and completely tamed whatever manly passion might have been in her mind. For when her husband entered the bedchamber and desired to exercise the flame of lust upon her, the virgin with devout prayer poured forth these words to God:

"Supreme Father of all things, King, Light, and Source of days, By whose command the fabric of this age stands: To whom those who obey virginity are pleasing, Grant to your grateful handmaid to enjoy virginity."

When she had poured forth these or similar words to God, By divine power the spark of lust is extinguished in her and repressed in him. with the right hand of God presiding, as in her so in him the heat of lust was extinguished. Neither in the following night nor in the next, and — to speak briefly — at no succeeding time in her life, did she deserve to be stimulated by the goad of lust. But when her husband wanted to exercise carnal intercourse in the male manner, by the intervention of the virgin's prayer, although he was goaded by fiery lust, he could not enjoy it with the virgin.

[8] For 30 years she goes nightly to the monastery. At midnight itself, or at cockcrow, with no sloth detaining her, nor waiting for the sound of bells, with no one or only a few accompanying her, she went to the monastery. And for nearly thirty years, persevering in so laborious an office, growing ever more in divine fervor with no creeping vice, she held fast in human memory what is found in the Gospel: "He who perseveres to the end will be saved" Matt. 24:13. And again: "The plowman who looks back is not worthy of the reward" Luke 9:62. Not allowing her spirit to be overcome by torpor or insolence — though her husband was unwilling and, by diabolical persuasion, tried to draw her back from ecclesiastical devotion as much as he could — nevertheless with a constant and untiring step she frequented the church.

CHAPTER III.

Her Husband, Cruelly Beating Her, Is Punished First with Illness, Then with Death.

[9] She is beaten by her suspicious husband. By the frequent regularity of her nightly journeys, her husband, falling into a suspicious — indeed a false — suspicion, punished her with daily and immoderate beatings. When he had struck her with the most tedious blows, supposing that she had committed shameful adultery with some native or foreigner, she — worn out indeed by intolerable injury — although she had resolved to endure it, yet could not endure it further. Falling on her knees, weighed down with tears, she used these prayers: She implores God's help.

"Christ, Son of God, I beseech you, may I not be vile to you; For a servant's prayer, be moved, O pious Son of God: Receive the vows I pour forth to you with devout prayer. Burden with illness or plague the one who gives me wicked blows, Who strikes me, and by striking seeks to destroy me."

Yet this was not the wish of one cursing, but the ardor of spiritual grace burning in her, for the sake of softening the tyrannical persecution of her husband, supplied constancy of strength to her persevering soul.

[10] Her husband is injured in the hunt and is sick for a full year. For after she had poured forth to God the aforesaid or a similar prayer, not in vain, when her husband, either setting out for or returning from the hunt, was pursuing wild game, spurred on by desire for the prey and hastening at full speed, his horse stumbled and he fell. In that very fall, by divine vengeance providing, with bones shattered, the cartilage of his nose broken, and his arm fractured, he was punished and nearly given over to death. What more? When the people of the entire surrounding country lamented, after the report of so great a misfortune had struck the Lady's ears, while the people indeed mourned, she for her part did not presume to weep over what she knew had been brought about by divine vengeance. At length, when her husband was oppressed by a long illness of his limbs, and had spent nearly innumerable sums on their healing, having been held by disease for a year, he barely escaped the danger of death.

[11] After he gradually began to recover his health and, with the weakness excluded proportionate to the illness, a little strength crept in, girded with the quiver of desire, he sought the conjugal chamber. But the virgin, holding up the virginal shield, neither perceived his quiver nor felt the shield of lust, for she, despising carnal intercourse, destined to God alone the inviolable purpose of her undefiled virginity. When healed, he returns to the beatings. But he, irritated by the neglect of intercourse and inflamed by the torch of diabolical lust, returning to his habitual beatings, crushed the tender limbs of the blessed virgin. Nor did the man of unrestrained cruelty desist from his accustomed madness; rather, by daily use he prolonged his fierce floggings. Pharahildis's patience. The weakness of virginal flesh, unable to endure so many and so great troubles, because it is written "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" Heb. 10:30, resolved to leave vengeance to God alone. He, not unmindful of the torments inflicted upon his faithful ones out of love for him, to put down the tyrannical persecution, inflicted bodily suffering upon the aforesaid Guido, Guido dies. who, wasted by a tedious illness of the limbs, after having languished a long time, ceased to live. And lest the constancy of blessed Pharahildis the virgin be disturbed, the madness of the impious Guido passed away, according to that saying of David: "I saw the wicked exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold, he was no more; I sought him, and his place was not found" Ps. 36:35.

CHAPTER IV.

The Death and Miracles of Pharahildis.

[12] When her husband was finally dead, the virgin of God set aside the marital chamber, Pharahildis remains a widow. nor did she refuse to be covered with the widow's veil, and the continence which she had not violated under the conjugal bond she resolved to observe during the time of her widowhood — so that in the kingdom of God, where some will receive a thirtyfold, others a sixtyfold, others a hundredfold reward, the virgin, destining perpetual virginity to God alone, would deserve to be crowned with the hundredfold prize. Hence she continually strove to fulfill what Paul commemorates in his epistle. For the Apostle says: "So run that you may obtain the prize" 1 Cor. 9:24. "For everyone who competes in the contest abstains from all things." By keeping vigil, praying, fasting, visiting the sick, comforting the ill, She practices the works of mercy. giving alms, and, as human capacity allows, fulfilling the six works of mercy, she spent the entire span of her life.

[13] She raises a bird eaten by servants. So that the greatness of divine power might be glorified, divine mercy deigned to work a certain remarkable and memorable miracle through her merits. For in winter, when she went with a slow and elderly pace to inspect a field in which she had sown wheat, she found certain birds gathered together, which some call "feles," others "miletas," and the common people * "gantas." Striking them with her staff like domestic cattle, she brought them home. When she had brought them home and enclosed them in a sheepfold like gathered sheep, she permitted none of them to be harmed or killed, and kept them safe until the next day. However, when she had gone to the monastery at evening or morning time, one of the household servants, without her knowledge, killed one of the aforesaid birds and ate it with some fellow servants. When the virgin of the Lord, Pharahildis, returned from the monastery, remembering the aforesaid birds, she permitted none of them to be slaughtered, and ordered them all to be released unharmed from the fold where she had enclosed them. When they were released, and walking with the fearless step of geese or chickens, the blessed virgin noticed that one of them was missing — either because a companion sought its mate, or because the number under which she had known them was deficient, or because she was forewarned by a divine prompt. When she diligently searched for it and earnestly tried to discover where it had gone or where it had fled, she learned from a boy of the household that it had been killed and eaten. What more? Ordering the bones and feathers of the bird to be brought to her, she gathered what could be found of them, and by a marvelous and astonishing composition she brought back to life the bird that was nearly lost and entirely dead, and sent it to its accustomed pastures.

[14] She dies at nearly ninety years of age. When these and similar miracles had been accomplished, after the passing of nearly ninety years, she departed this world in the name of Christ the Lord our God. But if we should presume to recount the miracles she worked either after or before her death, we would sooner fail in talent, as I believe, than in material.

* Molanus suspects it should rather read "ganzas" geese.

THE SAME LIFE, FROM JOANNES MOLANUS.

Pharahildis, Virgin Widow in Belgium (St.)

[1] Parents, brother, and sisters of St. Pharahildis. At Ghent, the birthday of St. Pharahildis the virgin, who had as parents Theuderic, Duke of Lotharingia, and St. Amelberga, daughter of a sister of Pippin the Prince; as her brother on the mother's side, St. Emebertus, Bishop of Cambrai; and as sisters, Saints Reineldis and Gudula.

[2] Raised from the sacred font by her kinswoman blessed Gertrude and instructed in letters, Educated by St. Gertrude. she practiced piety with distinction from her tender years. Although she could not prevent her parents from giving her in marriage, she nevertheless preserved her virginity inviolate throughout the entire time of her marriage, She preserves virginity in marriage. endowed with that very prepotent grace of the Holy Spirit by which blessed Cecilia before her and blessed Emperor Henry and his wife after her were renowned in matrimony.

[3] The virgin departed to Christ when the span of nearly ninety years had passed, venerable no less for her religion than for her old age. Her body is translated to Ghent. Her body was brought to the Church of St. Bavo by Agilfridus, Bishop of Liège, who had also been created Abbot of St. Bavo's at Ghent by Pope Stephen, coming from Rome, from Lotharingia, in the year b 754.

[4] But not long afterwards, on account of the incursions of the Norsemen, the Ghent monastery fled with the sacred bodies of Bavo and Pharahildis. These bodies were at length, when the persecution had ceased, brought back from Laon and Nigella to the church of the new castle of the Count, situated on the bank of the Leie within the domain of the Ghent monastery. Afterwards, however, when the church of St. Bavo was rebuilt by St. Gerard, they were brought back there, although a portion was graciously granted to the former church at the request of Count Arnulf, lest the college of St. Pharahildis be deprived of the relics of its patroness.

[5] To add from other sources to what we have drawn from the ecclesiastical office: first, Christianus Massaeus in Book 12 A part of her body is preserved at Nigella. of his Chronicles writes c that a part of the body is kept at Nigella, which is a city of Lotharingia, in the church of St. Pharahildis. To this is relevant that from the Chronicles of the Ghent monastery it is known that those fleeing the Norsemen buried two abbots at Nigella and a third at Laon.

[6] Furthermore, at Steinockerzeel near Vilvoorde, there is a chapel of St. Pharahildis, Chapel of St. Pharahildis at Steynockerzeel. Loaves turned to stone. which is frequented on account of miracles. Also certain loaves are preserved which by the judgment of God and the aforesaid virgin were turned to stone. Concerning this matter, in the year 1342, the pastors of the churches of Humelgem, Erpse, Hockezele, Quaderebbe, and Corteberge bore testimony. Gregory of Tours relates a similar miracle about a boatman, whose entire cargo of food was turned to stone when he told a poor man that he had nothing but rocks. "From these," he says, "I saw dates and olives harder than marble."

The principal feast is on January 4; the secondary feast of the Translation is on the Nones of October October 7.

[7] Image of St. Pharahildis. She is painted with a bird in her hand or at her feet, which in Flemish they call "een trap-gans," which the Ghent office does not mention. But in a fuller manuscript history it is read that she took birds from the field, which some call "feles," others "miletas," and others commonly "ganges" or "ganzas," one of which, entirely dead, she brought back to life.

a Christianus Massaeus, Book 12 of his Chronicles, writes that she was born of Theuderic, son of Childebert and King of Burgundy and later of Austrasia. But since Theuderic died in the year of Christ 613, how could Pharahildis have been educated by St. Gertrude and compelled to marry by her father?

b If this happened in this year, then before the beginning of his episcopate, since he succeeded Fulcarius only in the year 761.

c Massaeus's words are: "A part, however, is at Nigella; which place is now called the Church of St. Pharahildis."

MIRACLE

Of Certain Loaves Turned into Stones, confirmed by sealed letters of the Official of Cambrai, the Dean of Brussels, and various pastors named below.

Pharahildis, Virgin Widow in Belgium (St.) — BHL Number: 6794

[1] To the reverend men, the Lords Provost, Dean, and Chapter of the Church of St. Pharahildis in Ghent, the pastors of the churches of Humelgem, Erpse, Ockerzele, Quaderubbe, and Cortterberge send greetings and knowledge of the truth of the matter written below.

[2] Testimony concerning loaves turned to stones. Know that the stones which you have in your church, which formerly were kept in the chapel of St. Pharahildis near Geetbroek among us, by the power of almighty God and of St. Pharahildis, have worked many miracles — [By the merits of Pharahildis, headache, toothache, and other illnesses are healed by the touch of these loaves.] namely, those carrying the same stones around the altar of the aforesaid St. Pharahildis were, without doubt, healed of headache, toothache, and pain in other parts of the body, those having credulous faith in these things, by the mercy of almighty God and of St. Pharahildis the virgin aforesaid.

[3] We also wish you to know how and by what means the said stones first came to the chapel of St. Pharahildis near us. One day it happened that two neighbors were conversing among us, one of whom had a shortage of bread, [A woman refuses to lend loaves to a neighbor, denying with an imprecation that she has any.] asking the other, her neighbor, to please lend her one loaf until her own bread should be baked. The neighbor, responding, said that she had no bread or loaves she could lend to her neighbor. Again the other neighbor said: "You went to the oven this week with your loaves." She replied again: "May God and St. Pharahildis grant that all the loaves I have become stones, if I have more than half a loaf." When this had been done, she came home and opened her chest, and believed she would find her loaves in the chest — She finds them turned to stones. and found three stones in her chest, with half a stone. Seeing these loaves turned to stones, she knelt and begged pardon from God and St. Pharahildis for her misdeeds. And so that miracle was made known among the people. And the said stones were carried with honor and reverence to the aforesaid chapel of St. Pharahildis near us. In testimony of this matter, we have caused our seals to be attached to the present letters. Given in the year of the Lord's Nativity 1342, on the fourteenth day of the month of June.

ON THE CHURCH AND TRANSLATIONS OF ST. PHARAHILDIS

FROM ANTONIUS SANDERUS OF GHENT.

Pharahildis, Virgin Widow in Belgium (St.)

By Antonius Sanderus.

[1] When the church of St. Pharahildis was built. The collegiate church of St. Pharahildis, which recently migrated by consent of the princes to the parish church of St. Nicholas, was begun, with the support of Arnulf, Count of Flanders, near the new castle of that same Count, founded by Baldwin the Iron, as Gramaye thinks, in the year 912; and it served as a refuge for the Bavon monastery, fugitive from the Norse devastation. Hence when the monks returned to their ancient seats around the year 940 with the sacred relics of the saints, Arnulf the Marquis (these are the words of the Bavon Chronicle), seeing the church he had built in the new castle deprived of such pledges, Some of her relics there. obtained from blessed Gerard a finger bone of St. Bavo and relics of blessed Pharahildis — on the condition, namely, that the clergy of the church should pay an annual pilgrimage to the church of St. Bavo, which was done for many centuries.

[2] Translation of relics in the year 1073. This church was from antiquity the court chapel of the Count's household and the inhabitants of the palatine court, and especially for the preservation of the relics of these same saints. In it, the same Arnulf the Marquis established clerics with a provost, soon elevated into a canonical college. In the translation of these relics, carried out in the year a 1173 sic, recte 1073, at the request of the canons of the church — Remlenus, Azo, Fulcro, Otgerus, and Meinardus — through Folcardus, Abbot of Blandigni, and Sigerus, Abbot of Ghent, the witnesses enrolled were Folcardus the Castellan and Lantbertus, and his brother Stephanus, with a large multitude of both sexes and the congregation of the two monasteries.

[3] Also in the year 1336, portions of the relics of St. Bavo and Pharahildis in the church of the new castle, now called the Castle of the Count, situated in the new port of Ghent on the bank of the river Leie and founded of old in honor of the aforesaid saints, Another in the year 1336. were translated from the old shrine into a new one by the Venerable Father Lord Andreas, Bishop of Tournai, later Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, in the presence of the venerable Master Joannes de Portali, Archdeacon of Tournai, and many other venerable priests of various rank, canons of the same church of Tournai, as well as religious persons — Lord Henricus de Muda, Prior, and Balduinus Borluyt, Provost of the Ghent monastery — reverently directed thither by the venerable Lord b Gerelinus Borluyt, Abbot of the aforesaid monastery, who had been diligently requested by Lord Martinus, Provost of the aforesaid church, and the canons of the same church, to be present at the said translation, but was unable to attend there on account of his extreme infirmity.

[4] The same Chronicle narrates another translation of the same relics, The earlier translation again related in other words. carried out in the year 1073, in these words: "In the year 1073, portions of the relics of St. Bavo and St. Pharahildis, graciously granted by St. Gerard, Abbot of the Ghent monastery, to Arnulf the Great, Count of Flanders, were translated in the church of the new castle, on the bank of the river Leie, in the domain of the Ghent monastery, founded in honor of the aforesaid Saints Bavo and Pharahildis, by Radbod, Bishop of Noyon, in the presence of Sigerus, Abbot of Ghent, and Folcardus, Abbot of Blandigni." I consider this translation to be the same as the one we read above was made c in 1173 [sic]; for the same abbots are named there.

[5] How dear this college of St. Pharahildis was of old to the princes of Flanders is shown by a single diploma of Philip the Good, given on the 15th of December 1459 at Brussels. For in it that prince, Immunity of that church. after having said much about the outstanding devotion of his predecessors toward that church, takes it with all its property into his special guardianship and protection, declares it exempt from public burdens, and commands all his subjects to foster and defend it in its liberties and privileges.

[6] Records lost. Moreover, the ancient records of this church perished in the last fire, and its other treasures in these final tumults of war. It is certain, however, that the benefices of this church were once very opulent and honorable; now, diminished by the flooding of lands and other calamities, on account of the venerable antiquity of this same institution, the munificence of the nobles, and the favor and generosity of the princes, they are deserving. The church of St. Pharahildis has a provost with twelve canons and also several chaplains.

[7] Then, after recounting some names of the provosts, he adds: It is customary in this church, when the Feast of St. Pharahildis is celebrated, to display two stones having the form of bread, which are reported in histories to have once been real loaves that were turned to rock.

a Rather 1073, as is clear from the cited Chronicle, for in 1173 the Abbot was not Sigerus the 30th but Euerdeyus the 35th, as Sanderus himself also states in Book 4, chapter 4. At that time Folcardus was also Abbot at Blandigni, as the same says in Book 4, chapter 2.

b My manuscript catalogue of the Abbots of Bavon has Gerelmus, incorrectly. For the name Gerelinus is still familiar in the noble house of the Borluuts.

c We have already noted that Sigerus was Abbot not in 1173 but in 1073, when Ratboldus or Ratbodus sat at Noyon.