Walter of Birbeke

ON BLESSED WALTER OF BIRBEKE, A NOBLE BRABANTINE, OF THE CISTERCIAN ORDER, AT HEMMENRODE.

ABOUT THE YEAR 1220.

Walter of Birbeke, of the Cistercian Order (B.)

[1] Birbeka, or Bierbeka, commonly Bierbeke (called by older writers Birbacum, Birbach, Birbackt), is a very large village in Brabant, about two leagues from Louvain, distinguished by the title of Barony, within the Duchy of Aarschot. This village was once held by an illustrious family descended from the Counts of Louvain, The Bierbeke family, illustrious in Belgium. or Dukes of Brabant: it now belongs to the house of Aarschot, whether acquired by right of dowry or rather by the munificence of the Dukes of Brabant. Peter de Latheu, a member of the Premonstratensian cenobium of Tongerloo, traces the genealogy of the Bierbeke family in his book on the memorable events of his time, written about the year 1383, and Chrysostom Henriquez recites it from him in his Notes on the Cistercian Menology for this day. But not everything he writes was approved by that keen critic of antiquities, Andreas du Chesne, whom we consulted on this very matter, and certain diplomas of the Dukes of Brabant are said to exist at Louvain in the keeping of the Treasurer of the Duke of Aarschot, by which some part of that genealogy is undermined. It was neither possible nor desirable for us to investigate everything. "Nor is it right to know all things": especially since the Saints, and all wise men, scarcely consider as their own their lineage and ancestors and what they themselves did not do.

[2] Walter conferred an outstanding distinction upon that family, who, having left the worldly military service from which family Walter became a monk, in which he had won no ordinary glory, embraced the Cistercian institute in Claustrum, or the cenobium of Hemmenrode, and flourished with extraordinary holiness of life; for which he merited this eulogy in the Cistercian Calendar compiled by Chrysostom: "In Germany, Blessed Walter of Bierbact, most celebrated for the splendor of his blood and the title of holiness, who, bidding farewell to worldly military service, embraced the cenobitic life at Hemmenrode; and, ennobled by the Blessed Virgin, whom he venerated with the highest affection, with heavenly favors, and also illustrious for many miracles, fell asleep in the Lord and was enrolled in the number of the Saints."

[3] He then adds in the Notes: "It is also established that his sacred relics were exposed for veneration by the people. with public veneration of relics, Indeed his boots were enclosed in a chapel dedicated to that blessed man, upon the very altar, with the highest honor. All of which presuppose that he was enrolled in the number of the Saints, whether by the solemn process which the Church now uses for the canonization of Saints, or by the formerly customary process — namely, by the acclamation of the people, the approval of the Ordinary, and the consent of the Church." But his relics seem to have been first placed upon the altar only by the private piety of a certain nobleman; yet it is magnificent and renowned for miracles; that miracles were performed through them, as will be clear below. Peter de Latheu, cited above, who lived more than 250 years ago, writes thus of Walter: "Walter of Bierbact, most celebrated in military exploits, held as a Saint for many centuries. afterwards became a Religious of the Cistercian order, in the monastery of Hemmenrode: where, on account of his holy life, he was canonized, and died in the year of the Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-two." His images are certainly displayed publicly with the title of Blessed.

[4] We give the deeds nobly accomplished by Walter from a manuscript codex of the Canons Regular at Rouge-Cloitre near Brussels, His Life, which John Gilmannus or Antony Gentius wove together from book 7 of the illustrious miracles of Caesarius of Heisterbach, chapters 38 and 39, or reported in nearly the very words of Caesarius himself. The title is: "The Deeds of Lord Walter of Birbaco, knight, afterwards a Cistercian monk." Caesarius lived with Walter himself and often mentions him elsewhere, as in book 4, chapter 54: "These things were told to us by Walter of Birbach, of holy memory." And book 5, chapter 6: "These things were told to me by the above-mentioned Abbot Hermann, and also by the monk Walter of Birbec." Book 7, chapter 26: "Walter of Birbach, monk of Hemmenrode, told me." Book 10, chapter 12: "Brother Walter, monk at Hemmenrode, was accustomed to relate a wonderful miracle, at which he recalls having been present. When the pilgrims on the first expedition were besieging the city of Acre," etc. — from which it is clear that he too had gone to Palestine for the sake of defending the Catholic religion against the Barbarians by arms.

[5] The claim by Peter de Latheu that he died in the year 1222 is refuted by Caesarius, who, although in the cited passages he speaks of Walter as already dead, nevertheless in book 10, chapter 48, testifies that he composed that book in that year. date.

LIFE FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF ROUGE-CLOITRE.

Walter of Birbeke, of the Cistercian Order (B.)

BHL Number: 8794

From the manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

The secular military career of Walter.

[1] Lord Walter, originally from the village of Birbaco in Brabant, was a man very rich and noble: who, while still flourishing in age and devoted to secular military service, Blessed Walter assiduously venerates the Blessed Virgin: and quite active and renowned in it, began from his very boyhood to invoke our Lady, the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary, and to love her from the inmost affection of his heart, and to honor her with fasts and almsgiving and celebrations of the Mass according to his measure: and although he was still devoted in body to tournaments, yet in his heart he was entirely in the service of the Blessed Virgin.

[2] On a certain occasion, when he was preparing himself for a certain tournament, having knights in his retinue, and had come to a certain church, he exhorted them to hear Mass: when they refused, claiming that such a delay would be dangerous for them, he remained in the church and had a Mass of the Blessed Mary sung for himself and offered it: and so he followed after his companions. [While absent and hearing a Mass of the Blessed Virgin, he is seen to emerge victorious in the jousts:] When certain men from the tournament met him and he learned this from their responses, he said: "Has it not yet begun?" When they said "Yes," he added: "Who is fighting most bravely there?" They answered: "Lord Walter of Birbaco; his name is on everyone's lips, he is preferred to all, and praised by all." When others also met him and said similar things, he was astonished and wondered what this might portend. This was done by the ineffable piety of the Blessed Virgin Mary, so that while her devoted knight was delayed in her service, she meanwhile honored him in the tournament and by a certain wondrous power supplied for his absence. Coming at last to the place, he armed himself and entered, but did nothing great there. When the sport was over, certain knights entered his lodging and begged him to deal more gently with them. When he said to them: "What is the reason for your request?" they answered: "Today you captured us, and we ask that you treat us well." When Walter denied it, saying: "I did not capture you," they answered: "In truth we surrendered to you today; we saw your military insignia there; we heard your voice there." And the noble man immediately recognized that this had been done by the grace of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had honored in the Mass which he had caused to be sung of her and had heard.

[3] How this was done, since tournaments are forbidden. But here it may be asked: since it is a mortal sin to engage in tournaments, how could the prayers and offerings of the said Walter have pleased the Blessed Virgin? To which it must be said that two mortal sins are committed therein: pride and disobedience — pride, because it is done for the sake of human praise; disobedience, because it is done contrary to the prohibition of the Church: whence those killed in tournaments are rightly buried outside the cemeteries of the faithful. Since therefore the service of the said Mass could have been meritorious of eternal life for Walter, if it had been done in charity, it now passed into a temporal reward; for good works, that is, works good in kind, are rewarded temporally. A man also, through them, as certain writers prove, makes himself ready to receive grace: which the following example proves to be true.

[4] On another occasion, when the aforesaid noble man was seeking those execrable fairs and, standing among many, was hearing Mass, the celebrating Priest, as he lifted the chalice in the Canon, beheld a golden Cross under its foot, to which was attached a small document containing these words: The Blessed Virgin sends him a Cross: "Bear this Cross on behalf of me, Mary, the Mother of Christ, to my friend, the knight Walter of Birbach." When the Priest had read it, after the completion of the Mass he ascended the pulpit and cried out: "Is there here any knight called Walter of Birbaco?" When some answered: "Behold, here he is," the Priest took him aside, extended the Cross, and told him where he had found it and who had sent it. He joyfully received it, and afterwards, having entered religious life at Hemmenrode, he surrendered it to the Abbot of that place. Then the Countess of Holland, having sent honorable messengers there, asked that the same Cross be given to her, [which was afterwards given by the monks of Hemmenrode to the Countess of Holland.] and obtained it in this way. For when the Community replied to the aforesaid messengers: "We cannot give it unless it is the will of Brother Walter," hoping that he would not consent, when asked about this, he replied: "I have no property of my own. It is in the Abbot's hands." And so, grieving, they sent it to the Countess, whose gold is of such splendor that all gold pales in comparison: and the Countess, receiving it joyfully, placed it among her relics, not presuming to use it.

CHAPTER II.

The pursuit of virtues. Entrance into religious life.

[5] Seeing therefore, Lord Walter, still placed in the world, such great benefits of the Blessed Mother of God toward himself, he was so inflamed in love of her that in a certain poor little church dedicated in her honor, with the knowledge of the Priest, Walter consecrates himself as a servant to the Blessed Virgin: having placed a rope around his neck, he offered himself at the altar as a serf of the glebe, paying annually a head-tax of the kind that native-born serfs are accustomed to pay. And because for the honor of the heavenly Queen he so greatly humbled himself, she in return glorified her beloved in manifold ways even in this life.

[6] Finally, he was accustomed to fast on bread and water on the vigils of all the solemnities of the Blessed Mother of God, he fasts on her eves and on Fridays: and also often on Fridays out of reverence for Saturday. One day therefore a servant offered a small earthen vessel of water to him as he was fasting, and in his hands divine power converted it into the best wine: and when he had tasted the water made wine, he called the servant in secret and rebuked him, saying that wine had been served to him instead of water. When the servant denied this, asserting that he had drawn water from the bucket, water is changed to wine for him: he nevertheless took back the vessel and poured it out. And so, filling it with the purest water, he tasted it first to be sure, and then offered it again to his master. When he tasted it, he found wine as before, and immediately, angry at the servant, said: "Why do you mock me by bringing me wine instead of water a second time?" At this word the servant, dumbfounded, denied it with the greatest oaths. Then, first understanding that this miracle had been wrought around him by the great mercy of the Mother of God, he orders the miracle to be kept secret: he adjured the same servant never to reveal it to any person as long as he himself should live. The servant who shared in so great a miracle was Brother Arnold, who afterwards entered the Cistercian Order with him, a holy and very orderly man, and at last buried at Mount Stromberg, who before he died published the miracle to the glory of God, fearing to render account after death for a hidden treasure.

[7] he becomes a monk at Hemmenrode; Hearing that the Cistercian Order was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the oft-mentioned Walter left everything of this world for love of her, and at Claustrum in Germany, which is called by another name Hemmenrode, whose fame was then most brilliant, he received the religious habit. In that cenobium, how humbly he conducted himself, how fervent and devout he was, how outstanding in obedience, and how solicitous in the services of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a zealous worshipper of the Blessed Virgin: the monks of the same monastery who were his contemporaries bore witness. He had learned the psalter, hymns, canticles, and many other prayers to Our Lady during his probation; all of which he recited most assiduously. He always wished to be present at the daily Mass of Our Lady which was celebrated in the Community. Nearly everything he said was edifying, and because many were edified not only by his words and appearance he is made guest-master. but even by the fragrance of his reputation, he was made guest-master.

CHAPTER III.

Various miracles.

[8] On a certain occasion a possessed man was brought to the monastery in hope of a cure, and was received by him in the guest-house: for he was a rather wealthy and well-known rustic, who, when he could be healed by no remedy, neither by the relics of the Saints nor by the prayers of the monks, He frees a demoniac: the oft-mentioned Walter, by the authority of his office frequently visiting him, read over the head of the possessed man the prayers and rhymes about the holy Mother of God which he had in his written collection, and showed him pictures of her, adjuring the demon through all these to depart. One day, when he had placed the psalter upon the head of the possessed man, the demon, crying out and raging at this, so disturbed and dashed the man from whom he was being forced to depart that, falling to the ground, he was said to be dead. After an hour, coming to himself, he arose, crying out that he had been freed from the devil. A lay brother who was present at this cure and who held the raving rustic was witness to this event. Going therefore to his house healed, after some time he returned, giving thanks to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to her servant who had healed him. He said this word in the hearing of the Community, adding about the same man: "If there were no more relics in this monastery than this holy man, by whose merits I was cured, he ought to suffice for the whole place."

[9] Furthermore there was in the monastery a most beautiful horse of such value that both the Archbishop of Trier and the Duke of Lorraine, or Brabant, are said to have offered about 40 marks of silver for it; for it had the appearance of an excellent war-horse. The Community, however, fearing to offend one if it were sold to the other, sent the same horse gratis through Lord Walter with two lay brothers to the Count of Holland. he miraculously recovers a wild horse with the help of the Blessed Virgin. When they came into a certain forest, the horse spotted from afar a herd of mares grazing: and immediately, whinnying and prancing, it tore itself from the hands of its leaders, and with the swiftest course hastened to the opposite herd. When the lay brothers pursued it, the horse was driven further away from them. When they returned with their labor frustrated, Brother Walter said: "Let us proceed; for this horse is lost, unless Holy Mary restore it to us." They had scarcely gone two miles when behold, the same horse came running back swiftly — for it had not been sufficiently tamed — and like a gentle sheep, submitted its neck to the hands of its leaders.

[10] And because he was known to the nobles of the land, and was venerated by them both for the nobility of his blood and for the holiness of his life, he was often sent out against his will for the needs of the monastery. On a certain occasion therefore, descending with a house-ship carrying wine and arriving in Zealand with his companions, a very great storm arose that terrified everyone he persuades pirates: and tilted the ship. Danger was added to danger: for pirates, rowing toward them, attempted to plunder the ship. And behold, by the just judgment of God, two barrels thrown out by the force of the winds overturned their little boat and plunged the pirates themselves into the deep. These things took place on the vigil of S. Nicholas the Bishop after midnight. Wherefore each of them, fearing for his life, prayed to God. The blessed man himself, coming out from the hold of the ship, drew his servant aside, made his confession, and thus entered again. Then, with the ivory image of the holy Mother of God, which he always kept with him, placed before him, he prostrated himself before it and prayed, and gently fell asleep in prayer; and immediately it seemed to him that he heard Lord Arnold in the Cloister, a holy man of proven life, in a storm he sees an absent Brother praying for him, and the storm is calmed. playing the harp during the time of psalmody; and thus he was awakened by the sweetness of the voice, for it was the time of Matins. Understanding immediately that the just man was praying for them at that very hour, he went out joyful, and consoling all with these words, said: "Do not fear, for no danger can harm us. For I have heard Lord Arnold of S. Severinus, our monk, playing the harp." And immediately by divine power and the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom he had invoked in that crisis, and of the aforesaid Arnold, the storm was calmed.

[11] When these things had been reported to Lord Hermann, then Prior at Hemmenrode and afterwards Abbot of the monastery of S. Mary, he immediately called the aforesaid Lord Arnold, who was completely unaware of the foregoing, and asked him what he had been thinking during Matins on the night of S. Nicholas, or what he had done there. He answered: Spiritual harp-playing to arouse devotion. "Believe me, I was playing the harp there." "In what manner?" he said. And the other replied: "When I cannot have devotion, I move my fingers under my cowl in the manner of a harpist and strike the strings of the heart, and thus I rouse the torpor of the mind to devotion." And the Prior was greatly amazed to hear this, for since he was a learned man, we think he did this after the example of Elisha, in whom the spirit of prophecy was aroused at the sound of the psaltery.

CHAPTER IV.

Religious virtues.

[12] Walter is kind to the poor, This holy man was of such compassion toward the poor that, when sent on the road, he would anticipate those who begged and give them from the money given to him for expenses. When one day a barefoot student met him and it was cold, he made him stand still and dismounted from his horse, and removing his shoes, gave them to him, he gives his shoes to a poor man: and put on the new ones he had in his bag, and mounted his horse and went on. He who saw this and was present bore witness and wrote it down. He reconciled those who were at odds, entreated the disobedient, often recalled the angry and impatient to their senses, and relieved the tempted with many examples which he always had at hand. Hence it was that when on a certain occasion one of the Brethren was conferring with him about a certain matter, he drew him aside and said: he suffers temptations of the flesh: "I too suffer great temptations of the flesh." For in order to be able to heal others, he was not ashamed to confess his own infirmities to them.

[13] When asked one day by the aforesaid Prior what he was thinking at table, since he did not understand the reading, he meditates on pious things at mealtime. he answered: "I have my reading there. When I begin to eat, I recall in my mind how the Son of God was announced by an Angel on my behalf and was conceived in the Virgin's womb by the Holy Spirit: and behold, the first page has been read. Then I think how, with Angels singing, He was born and wrapped in poor swaddling clothes and laid in a manger: and so I turn the second page. In this manner I run through the Circumcision, the coming of the Magi, His presentation in the Temple, the Flight into Egypt, the Baptism and the Fasting, the Passion and the Resurrection, the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and finally the Last Judgment. Such is my daily reading, whose end is the end of dinner." often weeping. That he was reading in such a book while eating was attested by the tears he most frequently shed at table; for he was more delighted by holy meditations than by genuflections, by which the spirit of contemplation is impeded. For, as we said, he did not seek many inclinations in prayer, but standing or lying upon his knees, he was accustomed to look toward heaven with uplifted face.

CHAPTER V.

Death. Miracles.

[14] Before God called him from this world, a wonderful vision was revealed to a certain monk. For while he was at Villers in Brabant, which is a house of the Cistercian order, with his Abbot, Lord Eustace, and it was a Sunday, the same Abbot had the entire Community summoned after supper. he comes to Villers: When this had been done and he said: "Are all our Brethren here now?" he was told: "All, my Lord, except two young men, who were sent here as guests from France, who are very studious about silence, especially on the days when they communicate." When they were summoned a second time on his behalf and had come, and the Abbot himself reproached them for their delay, they humbly excused themselves and sat down. On the following day, when the Community was returning from work and waiting before the gate, with the first bell of None having been rung, for the second, the elder of the two, while standing thus leaning on his spade and reading None of Our Lady, fell lightly asleep while standing. And behold, he beheld the Mother of God herself, attended by persons of various orders, passing in wondrous brightness between him and the gate: and since she did not, as it were, look at him as a stranger or call him, he said sadly within himself: "Woe is me, wretch! Why does she not call me?" When she had proceeded a little, taking pity on him, she sent back a monk who was more closely attached to her, saying: He is seen accompanying the Blessed Virgin, and summoning another to her. "Call that monk." When he returned and called him, saying: "Come, our Lady calls you," he was awakened by joy. Entering therefore and observing Lord Walter, he said within himself: "That monk is most like the monk through whom our Lady called me today in my sleep, except that his cowl is gray and this one's is white." And he recounted the vision to his companion. On the following day, when the Lord Abbot and the oft-mentioned Walter were about to depart, and the aforesaid young men had been called by them to the gate, and Walter was also standing in his gray cowl, having laid aside the white one that had been lent to him, the elder monk said to his companion: "Truly, this is the monk who called me; I recognize the garment; I have no doubt about the person."

[15] At last, after a few days, the same venerable Walter began to be ill, he dies, and, full of faith and charity, having confessed and been contrite, with the Blessed Mother of God calling him, he passed from darkness to light, from faith to vision, from labor to rest, from merit to reward, from the world to the homeland; to which may the Son of God Himself, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, lead us — He who is the way in example, the truth in promise, and the life in reward. and the other called by him. Amen. The monk of Villers also, himself called, just as had been shown to him beforehand, departed to the Lord after a few intervening days.

[16] But that the Lord might show how great the merit before Him of one beloved by His Mother, He glorified him after death with signs. He is renowned for miracles after death. For at that very time Winemarus of Aldendorp, a rich and honorable knight, lay in bed completely paralyzed: he heals a paralytic: hearing that the man of God, uniquely beloved to him, had departed to the Lord, he immediately sent a messenger to Claustrum, through whom he begged that the boots of the deceased be sent to him. New ones were sent and immediately returned, because he had learned that they had not belonged to Lord Walter. Then through the same messenger the boots of the man of God, quite old, were sent to him, and the sick man himself, receiving them with faith and devotion, as soon as he placed his dead hands upon them, immediately felt benefit from them. The same happened with his feet. From that hour he began to raise his hands and lift his feet and gradually recover the strength of his entire body. He venerated those same boots so greatly out of love for the blessed man and on account of the benefit granted to him through them His boots are enclosed in an altar: that he built a chapel in his castle, and enclosed those same boots in its wooden altar, with the Abbot of Hemmenrode present.

[17] Another knight, who had a dangerous abscess in his chest, hearing that such great healing power had been shown through the aforesaid boots in Winemarus, asked that one be sent to him, and obtained it; an abscess cured through them. and as soon as he touched the site of the ulcer with it, he was fully cured. Blessed be His name forever, through whom the blessed man concluded his transitory life with so holy an end. Amen.

d. That is, greaves.