ON ST. ODRADA, VIRGIN, AT BALEN IN THE CAMPINE,
AT AN UNCERTAIN TIME.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY
Odrada, virgin, in Brabant. (S.)
BY C. D. S.
§ I. Mention of St. Odrada among the martyrologists. Of her Acts. At what time she lived.
[1] The Life of St. Odrada, written in the year 1304, Alem is a village of northern Brabant, formerly of the diocese of Liège, now of 's-Hertogenbosch, not far from the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, between the north and the east, situated on the river Meuse. There has been honored there with special cult at least from the thirteenth century St. Odrada, a virgin who, unknown to the older martyrologists, was announced by Greven on the 4th of November, and by Molanus on the 3rd of the same month. Molanus was followed by Canisius or Walasser, du Saussay, Ferrari and Châtelain. Furthermore, all that is read in the same Molanus in the Indiculus sanctorum Belgii Page 58. and among the Natales sanctorum Belgii Page 240. and from there in others (apart from what concerns the cult) has been excerpted from the Life which in the year 1304 a certain anonymous writer composed Cf. below, Life, prologue., the older Life having been lost, from oral tradition and from pictures then existing in the church of Alem, in a rather unskilled style and an excessively inflated kind of speech.
[2] is displayed by three codices of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries This Life was furnished to us by the second volume of a certain Legendary in the monastery of St. Trudo, to which the church of Alem was subject Cf. below, num. 6., written in the fourteenth century, among the codices of the library of the University of Liège formerly under number 58, now 210; and by another Legendary of the monastery of Corsendonk near Turnhout, of the fifteenth century, now cod. 858 of the Royal Library of Brussels. The two texts agree wonderfully, so that you may readily conjecture that one was copied from the other. To these should be added an ancient breviary of the collegiate church of Alem, of 166 leaves of the larger format, now preserved in the archive of the church of St. Peter in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch; from which the Life of St. Odrada, divided into nine lessons, was published by the very reverend Louis Henry Schutjes [Kerkelijke geschiedenis van het bisdom's Hertogenbosch ('s Bosch, 1870 – 76, 5 vols. in 8°), vol. I, p. 345.]. In that codex the prologue of the Life and the last number are missing, and in it many errors worthy of note here and there occurred.
[3] and certain more recent apographs, There were available to us besides two apographs of the same Life in a codex formerly of the Bollandist museum, now of the Royal Library of Brussels 8931, taken from the second part of the Hagiologium Brabantinum collected in the monastery of Rooklooster by Gilmannus (d. in the year 1487) (whence among some Gilmannus is wrongly said to be the author of this Life). These differ from the copies just cited only in a rather frequently occurring inverted order of words and in certain corrections or rather adulterations, of which some seem chargeable to Gilmannus himself, others to the writer of the other apograph. Finally, about forty years ago, a third apograph, copied from the Rooklooster codex by John Anthony Snijders, subprior of the monastery of Corsendonk, and sent by the same to John de Rover, parish priest of the village of Macharen in the Campine in the years 1679 – 1717 Schutjes, vol. V, p. 23., was found in the rectory of Millegem by the very reverend P. J. Dillen, then vicar of the parish of Mol, who himself carefully copied it, added variant readings from a fourth apograph, which was in the possession of the same parish priest of Macharen, received from Servatius, abbot of Averbode, in the year 1681 Cf. below, num. 14., and, bound into one booklet with documents on the cult of St. Odrada and with notes of the aforesaid John, transmitted it to our museum, where that booklet We will refer to this here and there by the title Lib. Dilleni. is still preserved.
[4] and three booklets in the vernacular. The Latin legend of St. Odrada was rendered into Flemish in the year 1682 by the above-praised John de Rover, parish priest in Macharen, and a few years later put into meter in the same idiom by a certain canon of Geel [Here is the complete title of this study: Het leven van de H. Maegd Odrada, geviert wordende den derde November, Patroonnerse tot Millegem gelegen tusschen de vryheyd van Gheel en Moll, beschreven int lateyn door den Eerw. heere Ioannes Gilemannus … in het 2e deel van zyne Hargyologue (sic) van brabant in het jaer 1304 opgezogt en in het vlaemsch getranslateerd door den Eerw. heer Ioannes de Rover, pastoor tot Macharen in het jaer 1682. — En om t' zelve beter bekent te maken aen de devote geloovige … door den druk ter oorzake van de oude gevonde fontyne en haer kragtig water in t' jaer 1686, in Rym-digt gestelt door Iudocus Coene, Canonik van Gheel, in het jaer 1688, bestaet uyt eene voorrede of den prologus van Tilemannus en 24 capittels en een liedeken sluyt den geheelen opstel. [The life of the holy virgin Odrada, celebrated on the third of November, patroness at Millegem, situated between the freedom of Geel and Mol, described in Latin by the Rev. Mr. John Gilemannus … in the 2nd part of his Hagiologue (sic) of Brabant in the year 1304, sought out and translated into Flemish by the Rev. Mr. John de Rover, pastor at Macharen in the year 1682. — And to make the same better known to the devout faithful … by the press, on account of the old fountain found and its powerful water in the year 1686, set in rhyme-verse by Judocus Coene, Canon of Geel, in the year 1688; it consists of a preface or the prologue of Tilemannus and 24 chapters, and a little song closes the whole composition.] The little work consists of 32 pages in 12°, each of which contains 24 hexameter verses; the poem appended is completed in 162 verses. Lib. Dilleni.]; but I have not found that these were published in print. In our days from that metrical Life another in prose was published by C. Mangelschots [Leven der heilige maegd Odrada, gevierd wordende te Milghem, by Moll, den derden november; byzondere patroonesse tegen kwade oogen, alle ziektens van menschen en vee. Getrokken uit eene oude berymde Levensbeschrijving dezer Heilige. Door C. M angelschots. Meerhout-Gheel, 1854, 16 pp.]. Most recently, however, a most complete booklet on the life and cult of St. Odrada was published by the very reverend A. Geboers and F. Van Olmen, priests of the diocese of Mechelen De H. Odrada van Baelen, haar leven en hare vereering. Mechelen, 1891..
[5] A compendium of this Life. Here is a summary of that Life for you. Odrada, born at Scapis (commonly Scheps, which is a village of the parish of Baelen, near Mol) of parents distinguished for nobility and wealth and also for Christian virtue, excelled in piety from her childhood years. When she had grown older, and was being solicited for marriage by many noblemen because of her beauty and other outstanding gifts, she spurned them all and chose to keep her virginity for Christ her spouse. Soon, however, her mother having died and her father having passed to second marriage, she suffered many injuries from her stepmother and, at her suggestion, from her father; indeed, on a certain day, when the whole household of her father was on its way to celebrate the annual commemoration of the dedication of the church of Millegem, and she earnestly asked for a horse to carry her to that solemnity, she was ordered to pick out and saddle one of those which were kept in great number in the pastures solely for the breeding of foals, wholly unaccustomed, that is, to the bridle and so wild that no one could approach them without great danger to life. Yet when she fearlessly entered the place where they were enclosed, the horses, suddenly tamed, offered themselves to the virgin in rivalry and as if in veneration. One of the finer of these being picked out and saddled, she soon, at a rapid but gentle pace, overtook her father, who had already gone ahead by the space of a mile. He, astounded at the prodigy and coming to himself, at once leapt from his horse and, prostrate at his daughter's feet, begged pardon, promising that from then on she would be immune from all injury. On the same day divine omnipotence worked a second miracle in favor of the virgin, drawing forth from the sandy ground at her prayers a spring, whose water is also said to be effectively used for driving out diseases. Shortly afterward, however, Odrada fell into a sickness, and, fortified with the last sacraments of the Church, died most piously. Her body, as she herself had asked, placed on a wagon, was entrusted to two bullocks to be drawn wherever God willed her to be buried, and was carried by a straight road to the estate of Alem; where it was reverently received by Count Otto and committed to the tomb, in which place the same Otto built a most beautiful church and fittingly furnished it with clergy and other ministers. Nor did that carrying of the virginal body lack a prodigy: for an oak trunk, long since dried out, struck by chance by one of the wheels of the funeral cart, suddenly grew green again and grew into a tree. By frequent miracles of healings, moreover, granted at the tomb of Odrada, the divine power showed that she reigns gloriously in the heavens.
[6] Whether the saint flourished in the eighth century How truly these things have been narrated, is difficult to say. For, as we indicated above, the anonymous writer (who, from what will shortly be said, one may readily conjecture to have been a monk of St. Trudo) professes that when he was composing the Life of St. Odrada in the year 1304 he had to hand as his only sources popular tradition and the painted panels with which the church of Alem was adorned: which sources no one could safely assert to be certainly of the purest; nor do we have from elsewhere any document by which the sincerity of the narrative can be confirmed. Nay, it has not even yet been determined at about what time St. Odrada lived, some maintaining that she flourished in the eighth century So by name Châtelain and Butler., others in the tenth, eleventh or twelfth. For the latter opinion the chief argument is drawn from the mention, at the end of the Life Num. 12., of Count Otto, who is there reported to have received the body of Odrada at Alem, to have committed it to burial and to have built in the place of burial a basilica, which he enriched from his goods. Now we have a diploma given by Paschal II, R. P., on the 25th of May in the year 1107, by which the privileges and possessions of the monastery of St. Trudo are confirmed, and among these is listed the altar of Aleym Cartulaire de Saint-Trond, publié par Ch. Piot (Bruxelles, 1870), vol. I, p. 31.. Around the same time, moreover, it is found that the advocates or subadvocates of the monastery of St. Trudo were Otto, count of Duras, and another of the same name, nephew of the former. Otto I, namely, count and advocate or subadvocate, is read to have subscribed charters of St. Trudo in the years 1055, 1059, 1060, 1065 and 1080 Ibid., pp. 17, 19, 20, 22, 25, 26.; Otto II, in the years 1138, 1140, 1141, 1142 Ibid., pp. 47, 56, 61, 63.; and besides there is preserved in the cartulary of St. Trudo a diploma given in the year 1146 by the Emperor Henry II on behalf of the monastery Ibid., p. 68., where these things are read: Thus in our times the illustrious Count Otto of Duras … to the church of Blessed Trudo, for the use of the brothers serving God there, the estate of his possession of Aleym, with the church endowed and the household and all its appurtenances and bounds in lands and waters, for the remission of the sins of himself and his whole house, so handed over as he held it freely while living as left to him by his predecessors, and left only the advocacy to be possessed by his heirs, which not long afterward his son-in-law Count Godfrey and his daughter Juliana with ready devotion handed over to the church of Blessed Trudo. That their generous donation may remain valid and unshaken, etc.
[7] or at the end of the eleventh century or the beginning of the twelfth, The favorers of the former opinion do not consider the matter plainly settled by this argument. For in the cited place of the Life of St. Odrada it is clearly indicated that Count Otto first built the church on the occasion of the holy virgin's body being received and entombed in the village of Alem, whereas the altar of Aleym, which Paschal II assured to the monastery of St. Trudo, was so assigned to it by the pontifical diploma that as the clerics in that church died off the abbot might substitute monks Ibid., p. 31., and therefore before that church came into the possession of the monks clerics were already ministering in it, nor is it proved by any reasoning that this did not continue from the eighth century. And a similar answer is opposed to the words cited from the diploma of Henry II: for that endowed church which Otto of Duras, a contemporary of this emperor, handed over to the monastery of St. Trudo, could certainly have existed at Alem already for three or four centuries. — But, to confess frankly what I think, these answers do not at all seem to me to destroy the force of the argument. For Paschal II, when he assigned the church of Alem to the monastery of St. Trudo, could have decreed that as the clerics in that church died off the abbot might substitute monks, even if the church had been first founded a few years earlier and a college of canons instituted in it; and this holds with even better reason of the confirmation of the Emperor Henry II. Since therefore it is demonstrated by certain documents that a certain Otto of Duras gave the collegiate church by proprietary right to the monastery of St. Trudo, and since on the other side no reason of any weight is brought forward for thinking that Odrada lived in the eighth century, there is no reason why we should gratuitously imagine that there existed at this same period another Otto, count of Duras, whose memory had been preserved until the year 1304, in which the Life of St. Odrada was written, by oral tradition alone.
[8] [which latter the writer of the Life seems rather to indicate, is still uncertain.] But it is also very worthy of note that both in the Life and in the diploma of Henry II the church of Alem is said by the same formula of speech to have been endowed by Otto, and that as in the privilege of Paschal II the talk is of clerics serving the church, in whose place monks were to succeed, so in the Life too it is reported that it was furnished by Otto with clergy and ministers. Whence there arises a strong suspicion, indeed to me it scarcely appears doubtful, that what is reported in this place of the Life was drawn by the writer from those very diplomas, doubtless preserved in the cartulary of St. Trudo. Certainly it is not credible that from long oral tradition or from pictures standing in the church of Alem (which he declares in the prologue of the Life to have been his only sources) Cf. the Life, Prologue. he should have learned both the name of the count who buried the body of St. Odrada and those particulars about the church founded by him in honor of the holy virgin. — Further, that according to the opinion of the writer of the Life St. Odrada died at the end of the eleventh century or the beginning of the twelfth is perhaps confirmed in some degree by that narrative of the same writer about the oak which grew green again at the touch of the cart in which the body of the holy virgin was carried Life, num. 10.. To this, namely, he adds these words: which tree certain persons still remaining in the flesh testify that they have seen. Whence it is gathered that that oak perished of old age around the year 1250 or a little before. Moreover, although some trees of that kind are reported to have reached an age of four hundred or five hundred years, yet generally they do not by far exceed their hundred and fiftieth year. From this therefore we are brought back again to the beginning of the twelfth century, at which time the tree would have been granted a kind of new birth. For the rest, I readily confess that the authority of our anonymous writer, as regards determining the age of Odrada, is of the slightest weight, since he had at hand no certain monuments for that very purpose. And so the case is still undecided.
§ II. Of the relics of St. Odrada.
[9] The body of St. Odrada translated at the end of the sixteenth century The body of St. Odrada rested among the people of Alem until the beginning of the seventeenth century: at which time, for fear of the heretics, it was translated by order of the bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch. Of this translation John de Rover says: After that time (an, 1573) the relics of St. Odrada, virgin, that they might be withdrawn from the fury of the heretics, were dug up and raised and placed in a little chest (marginal note: The body was found entire and wholly beautiful, but when exposed to the air was reduced to ashes), and, as is also reported to me by the people of Alem, were carried to 's-Hertogenbosch to the Carthusians, and thence to Antwerp to the same Lib. Dilleni, p. 24.. And again a little below: Among the people of Alem, a wife worthy of belief, Anna van der Asmand van Empel, born in the year 1614, told me that her husband's father had seen all the relics, and also that the last peaceful pastor of Alem was John of Geldorp, who left Alem at the time of the retaliation, 's-Hertogenbosch being already taken, and became [est] a canon of Emmerich and afterward dean of the chapter of Rees, where he died in 1680. He often invited the people of Alem to come to him: for he said that he had many writings that would be of service to them. And I, in the year 1686, on the 14th of August, setting out from Wesel to Cleves, fell into the company of a certain excellent canon of Rees, who stood by this van Geldorp at the last. He told me that the church of the chapter has two different relics from the Lord van Geldorp, and as he said, a quite notable piece, as he thought, of an arm, doubtless of St. Odrada. Before this John of Geldorp the pastor at Alem was John van Vlymen, and before him the Lord van Meyden: under this pastor they say that the relics of Alem were carried elsewhere Ibid., p. 25..
[10] first to 's-Hertogenbosch, soon to Antwerp, With the testimony of de Rover there wholly agrees what was written in the year 1747 from 's-Hertogenbosch by Norbert Amand Snelle, apostolic protonotary, to I. Staak, dean of the collegiate church of St. James
of Antwerp, in these words In Schutjes, vol. III, p. 822.:
Most learned and most distinguished Lord Dean,
Since divine justice does not cease to scourge us with a pestilential disease of the animals, in order that the people may be more effectively called from sins to better things, we have been expecting the acts of our compatriot, the holy virgin Odrada, a native of Balem, soon to be brought to light. It is known and established, however, from authentic documents, that her sacred body at Alem in the district of Maasland, under the jurisdiction of the abbot of St. Trudo in Hesbaye, formerly of the diocese of Liège, now of 's-Hertogenbosch, remained incorrupt for four hundred years and more and famous for many miracles; but when grim wars came on, in order to be withdrawn from the fury of plunderers, it was dug up and shortly, on being exposed to the air, was reduced to dust, and her sacred relics, gathered into a little chest, were translated to 's-Hertogenbosch, and handed over to be preserved to the venerable Lord Carthusians of 's-Hertogenbosch, then living at Vught, by the Most Illustrious Lord Nicholas Zoesius, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, in the year 1617, and thence sent by the same to Antwerp. Wherefore we ask and beseech that Your Eminence will deign to procure and send to us a generous portion of the relics of the aforesaid holy virgin Odrada, to be distributed among the places entitled by right, since we have been specially asked and deputed for this by our Most Reverend Vicar Apostolic, as is established from the same Your Eminence's mouth.
Further if Your Eminence could give us further information concerning an authentic Life of this virgin, it would be most welcome to us. We earnestly ask for an answer. I subscribe myself with all veneration and offer of obedience,
Most learned and most distinguished Lord Dean,
Your most ready servant
N. A. Snelle.
's-Hertogenbosch, the 14th day of Feb. 1747.
[11] only a small part of her bones preserved at Alem. Some part of the holy remains, however, remained at Alem or was soon brought back there, as is established from a letter of the 8th day of April of the year 1746, still preserved in the archive of the church of Alem, in which the praised Norbert Amand Snelle, apostolic protonotary, recognized as authentic the relics from the bones of SS. Odrada and Hubert laid up in the same church Ibid., note..
[12] Relics of St. Odrada at Averbode and at Balen; Another part of the same relics was given in the year 1617 to the church of Hoogemierde in the Campine, situated between the small towns of Mol and Geel; but from there too they were removed for fear of the heretics and entrusted in the year 1651 to the abbot of Averbode, who three years later brought them or a part of them, namely an entire lower jaw, to the church of Balen, from which village or small village, in the seventeenth century joined with Balen, namely Scapis, Odrada is read to have come. Proof of this is given by the following instrument, transmitted to our predecessors by John van Tilborgh, parish priest of Balen in the years 1657 – 1666 Ibid., p. 174., and preserved among the Bollandist collectanea in a codex now of the Royal Library of Brussels 8931:
Servatius, by the patience of God Abbot of Averbode, to each and all who shall see or hear read these presents, greeting in the Lord.
We make known and attest that we, being requested by the venerable Dom John van Tilborgh, canon of Averbode and pastor of the church of Balen, the sacred relics of St. Odrada, virgin, born at Balen, namely the entire lower jaw, handed over to me in the year 1651 by the venerable man Dom Philip Nevius in July, that he might withdraw them from the fury of the heretics and that they might be exposed elsewhere with greater honor to the devotion of the faithful people, which indeed the Most Reverend Lord Nicholas Zoes, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, had sent to him, these so named and declared we have venerated with due reverence and recognized in accordance with the public instrument of the Reverend Dom Matthew Langhecrucius, pastor of Hilvarenbeek and dean of Christianity, and the attestation of the aforesaid venerable Dom Philip Nevius, whose tenor follows word for word: "In the year from the Nativity of the Lord 1617, on the ninth day of August, I the undersigned received these relics of St. Odrada, virgin, from the Most Reverend Lord Nicholas Zoes, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, for the church of Hogemierde: in faith of which I have written and subscribed these things. So it is. Matthew Langhecrucius, pastor of Hilvarenbeek and dean of Christianity:" and at the side of the instrument there appeared the mark of a seal, on a wafer that was now decayed, of the above-written Reverend Dom pastor and dean of Christianity of Hilvarenbeek. In another document it was thus: "I, Br. Philip Nevius, pastor at Hogemiert, carried in procession with our whole community of Hogemierde from Legemiert these sacred relics of St. Odrada, virgin, sent from the Most Reverend Lord Nicholas Zoes, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, to us and to the church of Hogemierde through the Reverend Dom Matthew Langhecrucius, pastor at Hilvarenbeek and dean of Christianity, and enclosed them in a certain little casket, which is usually called the casket of St. Odrada, virgin, and laid them in an honorable place in the church of Hogemierde in the year one thousand six hundred and seventeen in the month of August". Beneath was placed: "so it is. Br. Philip Nevius, pastor at Hogemiert."
These sacred relics we brought, with the greater honor and devotion that was fitting, with solemn procession on the 27th of September in the year 1654 into the parish church of Balen of the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch, and resigned them to it to be enclosed in a reliquary of St. Odrada and placed there to increase the devotion of the inhabitants and of Christ's faithful. In faith of which we have subscribed these presents with our hand and caused them to be fortified with the impression of our seal. Given at the rectory of Balen on the twenty-seventh day of September in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand six hundred and fifty-four.
Place of the seal. It was subscribed,
Br. Servatius, Abbot of Averbode.
This copy collated with the original agrees word for word.
Which I attest,
Br. John van Tilborgh,
Pastor in Balen.
In more recent time, namely on the 1st day of December in the year 1830, Francis Anthony de Méan, archbishop of Mechelen, inspected the same relics, and recognized them as authentic, and permitted them, enclosed in a silver case, furnished with crystal glass on its front part, to be exposed to the veneration of the faithful, but by no means to be elevated. They were also recognized and approved again by the aforesaid archbishop's predecessor, Engelbert Cardinal Sterckx Geboers and Van Olmen, De H. Odrada, p. 77..
[13] in the village of Schijndel; From a note stored in the archive of the church of Alem it is gathered that in the month of July in the year 1624 three altars were consecrated by Zoesius, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, in the church of the village of Schijndel, and that relics of St. Odrada were placed in them Schutjes, vol. III, p. 85. Cf. num. 16..
[14] in Macharen, Then in the year 1663 some small part also of the jaw of which there is mention in the instrument just cited Num. 12. was received by the church of Macharen, situated not far from Alem to the west, as is witnessed by the often-praised John de Rover, parish priest of that church, who says: From a letter of Abbot Servatius (of Averbode) in the year 1681, on the 5th of December, sent to me together with the Life of the same virgin, it is clear that the relics which our church of Macharen has, solemnly received with a procession from the town of Megen on the 16th of September 1663, the very day of the dedication, are from this jaw: for thus he writes on the first page: "The relics given to your church we have consigned to our confrere Gregory Bedix, a native of Macharen, who out of natural affection toward his country gave them to be venerated there. At the time when we elevated them in Balen, he was vice-pastor there." On page 2 he writes thus: "The relics transmitted to you are from the lower jaw, given by the very venerable Lord Philip Nevius." — In another letter of the 10th of October 1685 he writes thus again: "The relics are from the Balen jaw, sent to you through Br. Gregory of Macharen, and I say assertively and constantly that those relics, extracted from the altar at Hoogemiert, lest they be profaned by the Beggars, were brought to me by Philip Nevius." I add the testimony of Brother Gregory and of the pastor of Macharen; whose tenor is this: "I the undersigned by the tenor of these presents attest that I received the holy relics of St. Odrada, virgin, born at Balen, with an instrument added by the Rev. D. Prelate of Averbode, from the hands of the Rev. Mr. Bedix, vicar of the church of Balen, enclosed in a wooden casket, sealed and tied with white thread, just as the very Reverend and most distinguished Lord Prelate of Averbode sealed and tied them, with which the Reverend Lord Prelate has deigned to honor the church of Macharen." It was signed: "Done at Macharen on the 25th day of August 1663 in the presence of two witnesses." Likewise subscribed: "Br. P. van Dale, pastor of Macharen. So it is. Br. Gregory Bedix, vice-pastor in Balen; Theodore Bedix; William Gelij." This copy agrees with its original word for word: which I attest, John de Rover, pastor in Macharen, with his own hand Lib. Dilleni, p. 34 – 36..
[15] where they were solemnly elevated That the same relics were solemnly elevated in the year 1686 is attested by the following instrument: We, James van Lent, archpriest of the council of Oss, and John de Rover, pastor of Macharen, attest that, by a faculty transmitted to us in writing by the Most Rev. Lord William Bassery, vicar apostolic of the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch, on the very feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the wooden casket having first been opened, we enclosed the relics of St. Odrada, virgin of Balen, in a conspicuous silver reliquary and exposed them, thus elevated, to the veneration of Christ's faithful, in the year of the Eternal Principle incarnate one thousand six hundred and eighty-six. So it is, James van Lent, archpriest of Oss. So it is, John de Rover, pastor in Macheren Lib. Dilleni, p. 36..
[16] and increased with others; Besides this jaw, John de Rover also received on the 9th day of May in the year 1691 from the parish priest of Schijndel, Henry Clomp, certain relics of St. Odrada, extracted from one of the altars of the church of Schijndel Cf. num. 13. and enclosed in a silver pyx, and he exposed them in his church for the faithful to venerate on the 3rd day of November of the same year Schutjes, vol. III, p. 85..
[17] in Millegem. Finally some fragments of the jaw preserved in the village of Balen were given to the church of Millegem, as we are once again taught by that pious devotee of the holy virgin John de Rover in these words: To satisfy the wishes of my soul, at length by divine providence, on the sixth feria, the 7th of September 1686, that is, of the past year, I trod the ground so greatly blessed already for ages, I mean your church of Millegen. There, having offered at the sacred altars in honor of the Mother of God and of the kindly virgin Odrada before the son and the spouse respectively, I found three fragments of the same Balen jaw, and these cut off at the back from the same lower part of which we have a piece at Macharen; which the most distinguished Lord official William Lauwen, pastor of the church of Millegen, perhaps received in the same year, and so from the Rev. Lord John van Tilborgh Lib. Dilleni, p. 37..
§ III. Of the cult of St. Odrada.
[18] The Office of St. Odrada customarily recited at Alem in the fourteenth century. The oldest trace of the cult of St. Odrada, apart from what is read in her Life, is afforded by the office customarily recited in the fourteenth century by the canons of Alem, in a codex of that age still surviving, from which the very reverend L. H. Schutjes took the Life
of St. Odrada Cf. above, num. 2, p. m. and which the very reverend A. Geboers and F. Van Olmen have recently published entire De H. Odrada, p. 115.. There is cited besides in John de Rover the Utrecht Missal published in the year 1540, of which he says: In my Utrecht Missal of the year 1540 the name of St. Odrada, virgin, is found on the 3rd of November Lib. Dilleni, p. 26.. Now we have in our Bollandist museum a copy of that Utrecht Missal, which Henry Peter of Middelburg published at Antwerp in the year MDXL, and it was before my eyes as I wrote these things, and it is certain that neither at the 3rd of November nor anywhere else in it is the name of St. Odrada read. So de Rover was strangely deceived here. For the rest it appeared at first sight altogether incredible that St. Odrada was ever honored in the diocese of Utrecht, since none of the places which gloried in her residence or burial or relics ever belonged to that diocese; but all were situated in the diocese of Liège until the new distribution of episcopal sees established in Belgium by the work of Philip II, king of Spain, in the year 1559; at which time they were assigned to the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch, and afterward, namely in the year 1802, some were made subject to that of Mechelen.
[19] Of her cult in the dioceses of 's-Hertogenbosch and Mechelen, Now as regards those three dioceses, in that of Liège no day was ever appointed for celebrating the memory of St. Odrada. Of that of 's-Hertogenbosch, however, we are taught these things by the very reverend L. H. Schutjes Vol. II, p. 280.. In the year 1724 there came out a new edition of the Proper of the Saints of the diocese, in which there was added, at the 10th of November, the festival of St. Odrada to be celebrated with semidouble rite, the whole office from the common except the prayer. Then, however, in the year 1746, a double office was prescribed for the same day, with proper lessons from the Life of the saint. These lessons were suppressed again in the editions of the year 1807 and the year 1854. Now in the diocese of 's-Hertogenbosch the festival of St. Odrada is celebrated on the first free day after the 3rd of November, with lesser double rite, with proper prayer, the rest from the common of virgins, and in the diocese of Mechelen with the same rite, on the 5th of November, with two proper lessons of the second nocturn, of which one is taken very summarily from the Life, the other briefly recalls the translations of the relics.
[20] [and, at least from the end of the seventeenth century, in certain particular places.] But the cult of St. Odrada was already flourishing earlier in some particular places. The church of Millegem was dedicated to her name as chief patroness Schutjes, vol. V, p. 117., as also formerly the church of the chapter of Alem (the principal or parish church being dedicated under the title of St. Hubert), long since demolished Ibid., vol. III, p. 83.. In the village of Macharen there was built in the year 1690 a chapel of St. Odrada, in the place where formerly stood the chapel of St. Nicholas Ibid., vol. V, p. 21.: the villagers of Alem established a procession there in that same year or in the year 1692, on the Sunday after the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary assumed into heaven, many from the nearest villages accompanying them Ibid. (and vol. III, p. 88).. That chapel, almost collapsed through the injury of time, was restored in the year 1833 by the care of the parish priest of Macharen, who adorned it with an effigy of St. Odrada Ibid.. In the church of Hoogemierde too a monument after the fashion of a sarcophagus was erected in honor of St. Odrada Ibid., vol. IV, p. 631.. Finally in the treasury of the cathedral church of Tournai there was preserved in the year 1661 a silver image of St. Odrada, the gift of the Most Reverend Lord Zoes, bishop of 's-Hertogenbosch, formerly canon of Tournai Analectes pour servir à l'hist. eccl. de Belgique, vol. III (year 1866), p. 101..
[21] Present-day cult in the villages of Baelen, To these things there now come to be added what the very reverend A. Geboers and F. Van Olmen have taught us in their recently published booklet on the cult of St. Odrada in certain places of the Campine. Among these a leading place is held by the parish of Balen, to which belongs the hamlet of Scheps, famous for the birth of the holy virgin Cf. Life, num. 1.. A plenary indulgence was granted by Pius VI, S. P., to those visiting its church on the feast day of St. Odrada, which on the 17th day of July of the year 1821 was so extended that each year they could gain it on one of eight continuous days to be designated by the bishop. There were designated in perpetuity by the archbishop of Mechelen, Francis Anthony de Méan, the feast day of St. Odrada with the seven following De H. Odrada van Baelen, p. 82.. From that time to the present day that day has been reckoned among the chief festivals of the year and is observed, and throughout the whole day there is exposed to the veneration of all the sacred pledge granted in the year 1654 to the church, which from this time venerates St. Odrada as secondary patroness, St. Andrew being principal patron. There is seen in the same church a notable sculpted effigy of the virgin saddling the untamed horse, into whose base is inserted the little casket in which those relics were translated here from Hoogemierde Cf. above, num. 12.. — In the hamlet of Scheps itself, moreover, there is held in great honor the little well of St. Odrada, which is traditionally said never to have run dry, although not so very copious in water: this water is piously used by the inhabitants to drive out diseases, especially of the eyes. Adjoining Scheps is another hamlet, called Schoor, where there stands a chapel adorned with an old picture, in which the virgin is shown carried on a horse De H. Odrada, p. 94..
[22] Millegem, But above others in the veneration of St. Odrada excels the village of Millegem, whose church is dedicated to her name. In that church, built anew some twenty years ago next to the older one now demolished, above the high altar there appears, painted in the windows, the holy virgin praying on bended knees, and around the choir on painted panels are recorded the things narrated of her in her Life. Besides, in the right lateral apse there is seen the altar of St. Odrada, above which rises her statue. The pulpit too, recently set up, is adorned with three elegantly carved panels, on which again certain things of the virgin's history are shown; and beneath is placed a huge sculpted effigy, in which she is represented sitting on a horse and holding a linden branch in her left hand. — On the 3rd of November there is celebrated each year in that church the memory of the translation of the relics of St. Odrada with solemn Mass and procession. The chief concourse of the people from the surrounding villages, however, takes place on the Sunday before the feast of All Saints, namely some three or four thousand persons, and also through the whole octave of the same festival. And in the course of the year at set times they come in crowds from each village in solemn pilgrimage: the people of Balen in the time of Lent, from Meerhout in the month of May, others at other times. Indeed on every Friday of the year not a few come there out of private devotion to venerate St. Odrada [Ibid., p. 98. On the wonderful spring and linden in Millegem cf. below, annotation f to the Life; on the extraordinary processions for obtaining rain, below, num. 26.].
[23] Alem, In the village of Alem too the festival of St. Odrada is celebrated with solemn Mass and sung lauds, and her relics, enclosed in the same little casket together with the relics of St. Hubert, are exposed to public veneration. In the windows above the high altar she is represented together with St. Hubert, and at the left side of the altar there appears her statue, holding in its right hand an image of the crucified. There formerly existed in that church a pious sodality under the auspices of SS. Hubert and Odrada, now suppressed; but from an ancient foundation an anniversary Mass is still sung each year for the deceased members Ibid., p. 103..
[24] Macharen In the church of Macharen there is exposed every month a small piece of cloth from the garment of St. Odrada, to which many come to venerate it. Twice in the year a solemn Mass of the saint is sung. There is seen in the same place, two or three hundred paces distant from the church, the chapel of St. Odrada Ibid., p. 104..
[25] and others. In more recent time an effigy of St. Odrada was placed in the church of the parish of Hersselt, and a little chapel built under her name, by the very reverend Peter Dillen, a native of the village of Balen, whose piety toward his holy fellow-villager is attested by the documents collected by him and often cited by us, who ruled that parish and died there in the year 1880. Further, St. Odrada is shown in the windows of the church of the parish of Dessel. Finally also in the metropolitan church of Mechelen there was placed, by the work of His Eminence Cardinal Engelbert Sterckx, among the effigies of saints with which the seats of the canons are adorned, carved with splendid art in the choir of that church, an image too of St. Odrada, whom the same prelate attended with a particular affection Ibid., p. 101..
[26] For what her patronage is chiefly invoked. The patronage of St. Odrada is invoked from ancient tradition chiefly for the healing of the eyes, and also, as John de Rover witnesses in a note written in the year 1687, against what[so]ever disease, both of men and of animals, chiefly, however, of horses and beasts, as things which to them both among the living and among the dead carried, also the bites of rabid dogs, with a special blessing for this purpose of loaves or [edi]bles and of little cords [Lib. Dilleni, p. 38. The letters and words enclosed in brackets, eaten away by moths, were supplied by the very reverend Dillen.]. She is invoked also to obtain rain in time of drought, or a cessation of excessive rain; on which occasion a huge column of pilgrims is usually led on an agreed day from Baelen to Millegem, to which on the way many join themselves from other villages, so that the church of Millegem by no means can contain the pilgrims. After Mass of the saint solemnly sung and the veneration of her relics, they return home in the same order amid pious prayers, nor does the outcome generally fail the confidence of the pious De H. Odrada, p. 95..
These things I have been able to gather on St. Odrada and her cult.
LIFE OF ST. ODRADA
From the codices: (1) Liège, formerly 58, now 210; (2) Brussels 858; (3) formerly of Alem, now of 's-Hertogenbosch, according to the edition of the very reverend L. H. Schutjes; (4) an apograph of the Rooklooster codex, now in Brussels 8931. Cf. above, Prelim. Comm., nums. 2, 3. — We have, however, neglected not a few variant readings, which manifestly seemed to be ascribed to a copyist's fault.
Odrada, virgin, in Brabant. (S.)
BHL Number: 6317
PrologueHere begins the prologue [(I. p.) omits 4, Prologus in vitam sanctae Odradae virginis 2; whole prologue omits 2.].
The old Life lost; another written from popular traditions in the year 1304. We are all commanded by the divine oracle, as the psalmist witnesses, to praise the Lord in his saints: not because quia 4.
he who alone needs nothing has need of our praise; but that we all need his help and praise him is supremely necessary. Since then I was by no means able to find the life and acts of the kindly virgin Odrada, who rests bodily at Alem, namely an estate that lies upon the river Meuse, whether, I know not how, not handed down in writing, or, once written, negligently lost, which my heart had to bear with no small sorrow. Whence Verum 4. when I inquisitively and questioningly searched rimare 1. among the natives of her holy burial place, they gave answers of this kind about these things: We know, they say, that there was a book of her life and acts, filled with a great number of many miracles, written from beginning to end in a most splendid and rhetorical speech, but through the frequent breaches of the dikes, various windings, and inundations of the rivers, which there furnished a habitation only for fish, it was incautiously kept; but that after the glorification of her who reigns with Christ, the deaf obtained hearing, the blind sight, the dumb speech, the weak the power to walk, and all the sick health, through various remedies from the Lord by her merits and prayers there where she rests. And these things they declare they have beheld with faithful eyes. Lest therefore this shining pearl, most fittingly to be set in the diadem of the heavenly king, and a most splendid light irradiated with the brilliance of the heavenly sunbeam, should lie hidden under the murky cloud of ignorance, and that the light of good example, as the Lord exhorts, should by no means be put under a bushel, but that God might be glorified, it should be shown to men, placed upon a lampstand, and that the merits of this virgin should not remain unknown to the faithful, I undertake a work certainly beyond the strength of my capability, constrained by the affection of pious veneration for her, trusting in her prayers, and I shall try to write of her and make her, unknown to many, public, wholly abandoning rhetorical trappings, neglecting to compose the graces of words, since I have never dreamed on the two-headed ridge of Parnassus, nor wet my lips libra 1, 2, labra corrected 2. in the horse's spring. O reader, do not ne 4. expect from me all the deeds that are to be told in admiration of her, for even if all the members of my body were turned into tongues, if Homeric eloquence were given me by God, the deep talents of the bard of Mantua were strong in me, the copious Ovidian rivers were bestowed, I could by no means set them forth. But a very few things that I have learned from the report of men worthy of belief and of the highest approval, priests of the Lord, monks and secular persons and faithful laymen, which hoary antiquity has dedicated and which the great-grandsons of their sons had received from the fourth forefathers of their great-great-grandfathers to be told from generation to generation through the age to come: which also the paintings of the walls and of the ceriae cerearumque 4. a of the ancients, which according to the blessed Pope Gregory are the books of the laity cerearumque 4. b, attest even till now, namely in the year three hundred and four after the thousandth of the Eternal Principle incarnate.
May God and Odrada, then, assent with kindly prayers,
That the Lord may so grant me to relate her deeds,
That they may profit us, and redound to the honor of the Lord,
Who without end remains God, one and three, for ever. Amen.
Here ends the prologue omits 2, 4..
LifeHere begins the life of the same (I. v. e.) Vita sanctae Odradae virginis 2, omits 3, 4..
[1] St. Odrada, sprung from a distinguished family, In the parts of the Campine, then, in the place which is now called Scapis by the inhabitants c, there flourished a certain illustrious Christ-worshiping man, famous splendens 4. for nobility, endowed with honor, exceedingly strong in riches, with a wife of equal nobility, worship and religion; whose names divine knowledge keeps written transcripta 4. in the book of life. Both flourishing before God in conjugal chastity, famous in power, humble toward God and poor in spirit, very abundant in riches, coming forth from royal stock, they could not undeservedly be called king and queen. Rightly Bonum 4. a king, I say, who having received from the Lord five or two talents, with as many senses, or two, understanding and working (i. et a.) intellectu et operatione 4; bonae adds 3. d, knew how to rule by dashing allidendo 4. harmful appetites against the rock of Christ. These then brought forth on earth, so to say, a heavenly offspring of the female sex, whom, regenerated at the sacred font, anointed with the unction of sacred chrism, they gave the name Odrada e.
She vowed novit 1, 3, voluit 4. in her childhood years to serve God;
She often visited visitabat 3. the threshold of the church, wearing it down;
And she spurned to love girlish games,
Afflicting her flesh; both sex and age marvel.
She was very beautiful of face, but incomparably more beautiful in merit meriti 4., so that it could deservedly be said of her:
With so much beauty rich nature rained upon her (c. h.) h. implevit 4.
That she marveled that nothing was left over for herself.
[2] she consecrates her virginity to God. Such a woman, while she was expected thus 1, 2, 3, videretur 4. to be the heir of her father's wealth, because of the elegance of her most excellent beauty and the dignity of her illustrious lineage and the honor dignitatem 1, probabilitatem 3. of her most becoming conduct, was loved by the sons of many noblemen, who, aspiring to her union, burned with a most ardent love in desire concupiscentiam 3. for the virgin. All of whom (Q. o.) O. autem 3., repulsed by her with indignation, departed confounded with shame; for by vow she consecrated servavit 4. the purity of virginity to the Lord alone. To him alone and to no other earthly spouse she chose elegit 3. to cling; and so, spurning the propagation of children, to be redeemed ornanda 4. in act and habit, she preferred to be joined to the spouse who is in heaven. She, I say, a cautious trader, having considered the field which concealed a hidden treasure, bought it, and lest she be plundered of the aforesaid treasure on the road, she was eager to hide it from the popular breeze. And she, having sought good pearls, and found one precious one, having sold all her goods, bought it most eagerly.
[3] Her mother having died, soon from her stepmother Now because it sometimes happens that divine compassion allows its elect to be tried by various tribulations, not because this proceeds from their demerit, but that thereby, like gold that is tested by fire in the furnace, their merit may be increased and they may be made purer by it, hence it is that, when she enjoyed the solace of her mother, whom she loved most tenderly, the Lord summoned her, to be rewarded worthily according to her merits, from her sojourn on this road to the country of the heavenly promise. When she had died, and the blessed virgin of whom we speak was deprived of maternal solace, after a short time her father joined to himself in second marriage another wife, though noble in race, unlike the former in acts and manners, a Christian in name alone, a stepmother to his daughter, under whom she suffered many injuries and increased the merit of a most enduring patience.
[4] she suffers many things. Not much time afterward having passed, when by the revolution of the solar orb the annual huius 3. day of dedication had come in the church named Milliglem thus 1, 2, 3, de Millegem 4., to which there flowed together from the neighborhood no small throng of peoples, in the customary way, for the sake of prayer and devotion, to this solemnity indeed the aforesaid father of the girl with his new wife, accompanied by their soldiers and a crowd of attendants (s. t.) suorumque turba 4., peoples of both sexes being joined to them, were hastening with no unlike zeal. The virgin beloved of God perhaps desired to go, if she had been permitted to enjoy freedom, if a suitable mount on which she might sit decenter adds 4. were not lacking. On this occasion she approaches her father with entreaties, that he would favor her in this little thing, granting what she desired. Her father would quite omits 3. readily have assented to her prayers, if the pernicious suggestion of his wife had not changed him; this wife, I say, tinder of sin and vessel of diabolical fraud, of whom that saying of Juvenal could not incongruously be said:
… She lives as a neighbor to her husband,
Nearer only in this, that she hates her spouse's sons. Sat. VI, vv. 509, 510.
For stepmothers of this kind, wasting with a poisoned venato 1, 3. zeal of hatred, according to the same poet:
Hate the children of a concubine; let no one resist,
Let no one forbid: now, now it is lawful to kill a stepson. Ibid., vv. 627, 628.
The virgin's father, desiring to satisfy the wishes of this wicked wife, addressing the virgin with a harsher countenance ironically, that she might be frustrated in her petition, grants what was as if impossible. For the above-mentioned man, as one strong in great wealth, had a very large and spacious marshy and wooded pasture estate, walled round about with a high fortification, so that no one could enter it or go back from it except by a single back gate, within whose enclosures very many stallions with mares of wonderful size, for the sake of breeding foals, were kept shut apart; which, for a long time strangers to the sight of men, had been so changed to the wildness of beasts, that one could not dare attempt entry within except at the risk of life. Using the counsel of his pestilential wife, he assigned his daughter Odrada to be torn to pieces by the bites of the horses, sending her to this enclosure to choose one horse out of many.
[5] An untamed horse being prodigiously made gentle, Alas, the contagion gave this stain patris filiae adds 3.. For who would hope that she would return with her life safe comite sospitem 4.? Who would not suppose her torn to pieces delaniatam 1. by the bites of the untamed horses? Or who of sound mind except for a God-powerful person would have gone to meet the teeth morsibus 4. of such strong rabidorum corrected 2, 3, 4. horn-footed creatures? But the virgin, unaware of so great a danger, a fitting dwelling habitaculum 4. of the Holy Spirit, fortified with the sign of the cross, not at all hesitating, went forward without delay and fearlessly all the way inside. First she unlocks the bolts, then she opens the bar. At her approach the animals marvel at the unwonted inconsueta 3. visit, and run up rather quickly to tear whatever it is to pieces. O new thing of a miracle, and after the prophet Daniel, who was kept unharmed among hungry lions, to be vehemently admired! He who guarded the prophet from being devoured, himself granted his handmaid Odrada to be adored by brute beasts.
When they catch sight of her, they run up at once together,
With bent knees they lower their bowed necks
Stooping to the earth, so preparing their backs to be sat on.
But the virgin, having picked out from the many a certain horse robust in strength, elegant and outstanding electo 2, 4. in form, and a saddle being thrown over it omits 4., fastened its jaws with the bridle, and so mounted upon it. The horn-foot, feeling itself burdened with a most welcome burden pondere 2, 3, 4., against the nature and use of its kind, hastened with a most gentle and swift gait, so much so that the daughter, overtaking before the end of the road her father, who had already gone ahead by the space of a mile, little by little came up with and passed him. On seeing this, the father is troubled by the unaccustomed miracle, and recognizing his error, he leapt down from the horse on which he was sitting, and prostrated himself on the ground, and falling at the feet of his daughter, begged that pardon be granted him for his offenses. But the virgin, perceiving that in this paternal reverence was being diminished, asserted that according to the precepts of the decalogue the offspring ought rather to honor their parents. But the father, not acquiescing, pleads the more that the offense be granted him with pardon, and promises that for the future he will in all things follow her will.
[6] carried to Millegem, So then they came to the church, where each prayed to the Savior according to the affection of his heart. From him the virgin for herself, for the salvation of her soul,
trusts that nothing will be denied to her who asks, turning over with anxious mind this saying: My house shall be called a house of prayer; in it everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Animated by this promise (Ib. a. p.) Haec annuata promissa 3., she asked by seeking and knocking, turning over in her inmost heart that saying of David: As the hart desires the fountains of waters, so my soul desires you, O God. When shall I come and appear before your face, O God? The desire of her prayer the bountiful Lord mercifully heard, so that she who asked and knocked should not be driven away, shut out from the marriage of the Lamb with the foolish virgins, lacking the oil of the brightness of a good conscience, but, with her lamp adorned, when the Lord suddenly comes, she might at some time deserve to be admitted.
[7] by her prayers she draws forth a spring from an old trunk. Her prayer being finally prolonged Peracta 4., not by chance, but by divine dispensation, as is believed, it happened that she burned vehemently with thirst, and since that place is known to be sandy and barren and waterless, she was seeking a little water with which to refresh her body and did not have it. Going aside Disgressa 1, 3. here thus 1, 2, 3, hinc 4. far from the church, on bended knees prostrate on the ground, she approached to entreat the divine solace. A wonderful thing: she had not yet completed the words of her prayer, when against nature from the lowest bowels of the earth a spring rose up, which began to flow most abundantly from the trunk of an old tree; from which the virgin, refreshed, drank, and men and cattle drew. This spring is shown in memory of the virgin even to the present day [f], and, drawn by the faithful, by the merits of Odrada it bestows on the sick the cure of various healings. O these are your works, O Christ, your miracles, who do not disdain to work so wonderfully in your saints; and that which you grant to be fulfilled in us spiritually by the prayers of this Odrada, may you grant that the river of living water, namely your Holy Spirit, may be contained abundantly in us and flow (e nob. ab. c. et) in accolis abundantiam continenter 4. from us; which also you promised to those who should believe in you.
[8] She dies most piously; her body Lest then the length of our narrative breed distaste in idle listeners, I shall pass over very many miracles of this virgin that I have heard from men of the highest approval, since to do miracles is not so much the mark of sanctity as quam 4. the effect of the miracles is of the charity with which she was wholly fervent. But because health in times of prosperity sometimes does not omits 3. benefit expediant 2, 3. a soul keenly aspiring affectantes 3. to God alone, after the example of Blessed Paul she began to glory in infirmities; thinking it a wholesome sign of divine sonship to be scourged in adversities, she labored under a grave and long-lasting sickness. She, however, so far as it is granted to human frailty to abstain, was a stranger to all contagion of sin, but that she, like gold that is tested by fire, might shine in the Lord's diadem with a brighter clarity. And so, deprived of the health of her whole body and long wearied, desiring to be dissolved and to be with Christ, she frequently ruminated in her mouth that saying of David, which she had desired with burning mind, repeating and redoubling ingemiscens 4.: When shall I come and appear before the face of God? When at length, taught by the Holy Spirit, she perceived praesensiit 3. that the dissolution of her body, long desired, was near ut adds 4. and imminent, fortified by the communion of saving confession and sacramental viaticum, and also anointed with the sacred liquid of extreme unction, leaving earthly things to the earthly, she breathed out this life g. The angels presented her blessed soul to heaven on this day, to be joined to Christ the spouse of virgins. From her father too she had obtained in place of a testament what she had earlier requested, that her holy corpse be enclosed in a hollowed willow trunk, and so iumentorum 3, 4. placed upon a new wagon, entrusted to a yoke of dumb indomitorum 3. bullocks, she chose that her body be buried wherever the divine disposition should direct the cart without a driver.
[9] not without many a prodigy And although the death of the saints is precious and their memory ought to be celebrated with praises, she was mourned by acquaintances, parents, relatives and friends, who had loved her most tenderly, not understanding that through temporal death life is not taken from the elect, and sed et 3, sed 4. is changed for the better. For some wept for the consolation lost, others for their patroness and nurse and helper in poverty; others, showing the tunics and garments furnished and made for them by her, after the example of Dorcas, could hardly be consoled. And so the sorrow and mourning of all, of the nobles especially, and also of the common people populorum 3. of both sexes, resounded where she could be recalled, if anyone could be recalled from death. And lest they should in a manner omits 4. seem to envy her glory, if they did not cease to weep for her whom without any doubt they hoped was reigning, and yet omits 4. lest the sorrow of so mournful a funeral should grow strong, and that they should not despair of much omits 3. more powerful aid from heaven from her whose patronage they had learned to experience on earth, the pious Lord did not delay to declare it by the frequent radiant signs of subsequent miracles. For the funeral having been arranged in order, as has been said, she, buried sepulto 1, 2, 3, sepulcrum 4. in the willow trough, is placed supponitur 3, 4. on a new wagon, and entrusted to a yoke of heifers without a driver. With the peoples accompanying it in crowds in wonder, advancing by a straight path, it turned aside neither to the right nor to the left anywhere: so that you would believe, the veil velamento 4. of the letter being now drawn, that she in all things was being hurried along as a minister mysterialiter 3. no more omits 4. nor less than omits 4. by the ark of the covenant of old.
[10] carried to Alem, is honorably buried there by Otto, count of Duras. And when in this way it was hastening toward the place provided praevisum 3, promissum 4. by God, not by chance, as I think, but by divine dispensation dispositione 2, 3, dante gratia 4. it came about that, as it had its road alongside a certain small estate, an oak trunk stood nearby; to which, lest the animals should damage the crops of the field, a bar repagulus 4. had been hung appensus 4. long ago; and this, rotted and dried up by the rains and the heat of the sun, was wasting away from its great number of years; passing close beside transitus 3. it the axle of one of the wheels struck, drove against it and dashed it. At its touch soon, as in a certain fringe of the Lord's garment, a power was openly seen (p. v.) videbatur p. 4. to have gone forth. Wonderful to say, the stake which age had now changed into touchwood h is moistened in the sight of all; its greenness vigore 4. resumed, it is covered with bark, with leafage in a moment, and clothed with a load honestate 3. of acorns. This tree certain persons still remaining in the flesh testify that they have seen, and they confess that they have received this token of the sanctity of the virgin from an ancestral vita 3, aurita 4. and faithful fidelium 4. narrative. And so que omits 4. up to the place predestined for her by God, in the estate that is called Alem i, on the bank of the Meuse, she is reverently received by Count Otto, who also gave her body, as was fitting, honorably to ecclesiastical burial, and there in her honor ordered a quite fitting basilica to be built, supplying the necessary expenses, which he furnished with clergy clericis 4. and ministers, and, for the remedy of his soul, endowed by generously giving from his own allodial patrimony. In which place the Lord through Blessed Odrada has deigned to manifest frequent signs of miracles. How many blind received sight there, how many deaf hearing, how many weak the power to walk, how many kinds of diseases healing, is both too long to recount and in the error of errorem 2. the opinion opinionem 3. of falsehood (et op. m. in err. est) omits 4.. These things now, by the just judgment of God, the sins of the peoples deserving it, there as elsewhere have for the most part quieverunt et adds 4. come to rest.
[11] By a long comparison Through the action and outcome of this virgin the inquisitive reader, as I think, will be able to find a mystical instruction. For I would say not incongruously that the ark of the covenant is a type through this virgin, for in her we find spiritually all the things that are recorded to have been in that ark materially, with this exception, that she gives life spiritually in the soul, while that killed according to the letter. For it is read that omits 2, 3. when erat adds 3., captured, it was being carried about by the people of Accaron, the hand of the Lord's great slaying fell on the several cities, where the Lord struck viros adds 3, populum adds 4. each city from the small to the greatest; of the Bethsamites vero adds 3., merely because they had seen it, seventy men and fifty thousand quingentos 4. of the people, and also Oza, who however, moved by piety, when the ox, kicking in its wantonness, tilted it aside, he slew. This our ark indeed, with the fragrance of good work, shining with the example of a chaste conscience, has not ceased to give life in the soul to those dead in sin. Nor is it a wonder, since this blessed virgin, or rather more truly the Lord through her, made a trunk long since dead, as has been previously said, to live with vegetative life and to sprout. For ours is not found, as that one formerly was, compacted and fashioned fabricata 4. of incorruptible setim wood, but no faithful person doubts that mystically she has most sweetly fed on the wood of eternally enduring life, of which it is promised by the Lord that he who conquers shall eat.
[12] with the ark of the old law St. Odrada In the former ark too two cherubim of beaten gold, with their wings spread out one toward the other, are read to have overshadowed the ark. These are not lacking desiere 3. spiritually in ours: for ours is found distinguished by two cherubim, that is, by the precept of twin charity, namely the love of God and of neighbor (which charity, by the witness of Blessed John, is God, who is also the way and Christ, through whom, as if on feathered wings, there is an ascent to God who is the Father, dans adds 3. the prize and reward of eternal blessedness [(r. aet. b.) haec nostra archa remuneratione perpetuae beatitudinis opere pro bono 3.]). But also as formerly in that ark, so in this one I find a golden urn preserving manna, namely a solid vessel of gold auro 3., adorned with every kind of virtue as with precious stone, not the manna which the fathers ate in the desert and died, but the living bread itself, Christ, who said: I am the living bread, who came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. In both I find the law of the decalogue, in the ark of the covenant inscribed on tablets of stone by the finger of God, which fullness of the law I find here also not only depicted by carving, but the knowledge taught by the finger of the Holy Spirit, with the fulfillment of both the New and the Old Testament. Why say more? Both utraque 3, 4. are reported to have been drawn (d. r.) deducta refertur 4. on a new wagon. What then do we more fittingly take the wagon to mean than the faithful peoples of both Testaments, to whom both arks were sufficiently made known? In the old Mosaic Judaism, namely, they were cleansed from original sin by the legal sacrifices and ceremonial decrees, through all of which, however,
the entrance of the heavenly kingdom was not opened pandebantur 2.; in the New Testament, however, through this our ark Odrada, who was the mirror and pattern of chaste display and the good odor of Christ, by her prayers to God, through baptism and penance remission of sins is unceasingly given (d. r.) dat remissionem 4., and the blood poured out with water from the opened side of Christ has laid open the kingdoms of heaven. This wagon, because it is moved from place to place by the turning of four wheels, designates the unstable world, which never abides in the same state, spread out in the four regions of the earth: or which is governed by the four cardinal virtues, which quae 4., walking at an equal pace, the one does not exceed the other. And it is said to be new for this reason, that those who desire to experience the assistance of this ark, according to the Apostle ought to put off the old man with his acts, and shall hasten to put on the new man, who is created according to God here 3 ends.. And therefore she is believed to have been raised on two bullocks that are coupled, bound by a yoke, of whom one refuses to bear the yoke without its accustomed partner, designating the two Testaments, of which it is impossible for one to be profitably observed without the other; for the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old.
[13] the writer concludes his narrative. In order, then, to take away the tedium of wasteful prolixity from fastidious hearers, since I have foreknown and not doubted that in this tiny little work I shall have rivals, which I think must be attributed not so much to the file humanae 4. of correction as to the zeal of envy, lest the little boat of our small page be seduced by the flatteries of the alluring sirens, lest it be torn and rent by the teeth and detractions of the dogs of Scylla, lest it be swallowed by the gaping whirlpool of Charybdis and be driven by unseasonable blasts beyond the bounds of my capability, let the sails be lowered and the anchor of completion be fixed in the desired harbor of the shore, and let the little work opusculum quoque 4. end in him who is alpha and omega o 2., the beginning and the end, namely the eternal Father, the Son eternally begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from both without beginning, without end, who in the unity of substance, in the distinction of persons, one God lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
That spring, and even the memory of the place where it had arisen, had long since ceased to exist when, in the year 1686, that pious devotee of St. Odrada, John de Rover, parish priest of Macharen, came to Millegem to inquire about it. On his initiative the inhabitants began to dig under a certain sandy hill, such as by the nature of the soil are seen in no small number in that region, situated at the far end of the road which by an old name was called the watery street (waterstraat), and soon, on the feast day of St. Andrew, the 3rd of November of that year 1686, to the very great joy of all the spring was found. Lest it be buried again by the sand, a brick well was built in that place, from which the neighbors are accustomed to draw water for domestic uses, and indeed very welcome to drink, while in all other parts of the village it is altogether unpleasant. They say that that well has never been exhausted, even when elsewhere through long dryness of the air water was everywhere failing. So it happened that in the year 1858, in a very hot and dry summer, they ran there from the surrounding villages on every side and every day hundreds of casks filled from the water of the well were carried away, and yet the quantity of water in the well was never seen to decrease Ibid., pp. 81, 100..
Popular tradition reports another prodigy worked by St. Odrada on that journey. If we believe it, when the virgin was entering the enclosure where the untamed horses were shut up, she plucked a linden branch to use as a rein for guiding the horse she should pick from the herd. When she arrived at Millegem, she fixed that branch in the ground. It at once put down roots and soon grew into a tree, which then was held in great honor and is often recorded in the instruments of the advocacy of Mol under the name of the Linden of Millegem, as marking the boundary between this advocacy and the territory of Geel. When, however, at the beginning of the eighteenth century (that is, at least six centuries after it sprang up) it perished of old age, from its wood was made a cross which is still preserved in the rectory of Millegem together with a quite large part of the trunk, from which pilgrims are eager to receive small fragments cut off, to be kept among them in memory of St. Odrada Ibid., pp. 53, 101..
OFFICE OF ST. ODRADA
From a codex of the fourteenth century, formerly of Alem, now of 's-Hertogenbosch, published in A. Geboers and F. Van Olmen at the end of their booklet on the life and cult of St. Odrada. The psalms at Vespers, at Matins and at Lauds are indicated as the same to be recited and in the same order as in the present Roman Breviary for the office of virgins. All the lessons of the three Nocturns are taken from the Life of St. Odrada, the prologue being omitted, and the last ending with the words qui secundum Deum creatus est, induere festinabunt (Life, num. 13 end).
Odrada, virgin, in Brabant. (S.)
AT I VESPERS.
Ant. 1. The joyful day is here, — Shunning the pleasures of the world, — From the bilge of vices — May this medicine draw us. — Holy virgin, Odor of God, — That we be not damned by the fault of the guilty.
Ant. 2. The prudent virgin watched — Following the Bridegroom, and entered — The gate of the heavenly road, — Free from all evil strife, — Holding a vessel filled with oil — At the world's end.
Ant. 3. This seine, full of God, — Cast its net in the sea's vein, — Not corrupted but well built, — Drawn by the hand of the Deity, — Ever zealously taking hold — Of good work, without deceit.
Ant. 4. Worthy of praise be Odrada, — Sowing the grain she reaps the corn; — This trader spurning — The wealth of the world, a generous giver, — Cultivating the pearl in the field, — Has gained life for herself.
Ant. 5. Born of the stock of kings, the good — Virgin, with the belt of Christ God, — A lamp remaining unextinguished, — Ever singing to the God of heaven, — Like a hart to the water — Running that is not unsatisfied.
HYMN.
Jesus, crown of virgins, Give us heavenly manna By the merits of holy Odrada, Whom we venerate as suppliants.
She, born of royal stock And most beautiful in body, Is sought in marriage: She spurns the lineage of kings.
Bereft of her only mother, She suffers the harshness of a stepmother; God, who can do all things, Gave joys to his chosen one.
Her father, harshly rejecting her, Passing by the church of Millegem, Which was not dedicated, Takes a straying beast.
Her father, seeing it, with tears Dismounting from his horse, on bended Knees entreats his daughter; She grants pardon for the wicked fault.
As she prays in the church, Then an abundance of thirst Straitens her: going out of doors, She is fed, drawing from a spring.
Grant us, heavenly Father, With the Son, angelically, And with the Spirit the Paraclete, To be given drink from the heavenly spring. Amen.
CHAPTER.
Wisdom has overcome malice. She reaches therefore from end to end and orders all things sweetly. Her have I loved and sought out from my youth.
PROSE.
A countless choir of virgins, spurning the sweetness of the world, trampling the desires of the flesh, Found the spouse of chastity waiting for them. Worthy according to their merits for the marriage feast, carrying in their hands lamps with the oil of virtue with their companions to be crowned. Of whose college the blessed virgin Odrada was found to be, whom we implore as patroness with the blessed virgins. Found, etc.
At the Magnificat.
You who have enriched us and blessed us with the holy body
Of Odrada the Virgin, other holy relics being joined,
By which we are cherished in our church, kindly God of gods,
Grant us, O God, to climb to the choirs
Of the citizens of the heavens, singing psalms in one with you.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who for the thirsting people of Israel brought forth drinkable water from the rock, and who also at the prayers of your blessed virgin Odrada, from the dry ground of her thirst
you wonderfully granted refreshment; grant us, we beseech you, by the merits and intercession of this most sacred virgin this water, that we may not thirst forever. Through the Lord.
AT MATINS.
INVITATORY.
Let us praise the King of the holy women, into whose company
He has received the spirit of Odrada in paradise.
Hymn from I Vespers.
FIRST NOCTURN.
Ant. 1. A good root bears, and has sanctified the infant
With the sacred milk of her mother, so she grew by her father's care.
Ant. 2. Christ the Creator of all, comely in form,
Made this Odrada beautiful and subjected her to himself.
Ant. 3. The virgin comely in countenance is sought by many:
She seeks to be joined to the highest marriage in heaven.
℞. 1. Let us come with good mind, — Praises sound in our patroness — To God above all things. — Her, supported by sanctity, — Christ fixed in chastity, — Receiving divine gifts. — This people knocks at her with vows and all prayers.
℞. 2. The virgin adorned with good conduct — Lived ever a welcome life, — Lacking every stain. — And keep us your servants, — Laying low here the insolent enemies — With your mantle like an eagle. — With the wings of your prayer keep your flock from evils.
℞. 3. She, a beautiful Judith, — Pleasing in noble form, — Praying for the hope of grace. — Free the grateful people, — Betrothed to Christ the King, — With the keenness of faith. — That Holofernes may not harm them, nor do you so spurn them.
SECOND NOCTURN.
Ant. 1. From your shining merits, virgin, you are called the praise of God;
Leaving earthly things, you seek the pleasant places of paradise.
Ant. 2. The rose flower grows under thorns, very beautiful,
Whom eternal God chose from her mother's womb.
Ant. 3. Her mother dead, she then bore hatreds from her father,
Because of the new stepmother she makes for the ruling citadel.
℞. 4. Pious Esther, without delay — Appease the king and implore — With prayers of justice. — That we be not blamed, but make Assuerus — Pious through this clergy — From the evil vice of guilt. — Erase the writings of guilt, purge us with the gift of healing.
℞. 5. Fragrant rose among thorns, — Rosy Rachel, bearing — The medicines of friendship. — Her Jacob loved, truly — Giving her to drink of sweet wine — With the sign of chastity. — Ask, worthy virgin, for us with kindly voice.
℞. 6. Her father of the flesh hates her, — Under the stepmother's hand she digs, — Lacking the appearance of her mother. — The daughter presses, with broad prayer, — Going with them, dedicated, — To visit the regions. — She fitted the wild beast, swiftly she went after her father.
THIRD NOCTURN.
Ant. 1. With the mill of virtues the virgin grinds three grains,
With which, supported, she took up many teachings.
Ant. 2. Many she called, from the dregs of crimes she washed them,
You made the fountain-water of Christ drinkable.
Ant. 3. As a stream is drawn from a spring, you climb from the mountain;
Fair daughter of God you are called by the order of the matter.
℞. 7. He who fed the prophet with food, — Hid Daniel — In the underground pit — With gentle lions, — So you clothe your handmaid — With your bulwark. — Keep us from dire death, that we may praise your wonders.
℞. 8. She draws water, praise in the heavens, — After the manner of the people of Israel, — From a spring given from heaven. — She takes a draught, heals her thirst; — The virgin rises, soon it brings ill repute — The stream brought forth from the earth. — Wipe away the leprosy of your servants, holy one.
℞. 9. The ark of God covered with gold — Within and without, for holding — Ever the summits of the trophy, — That crown of pure gold — Skillfully made, reading the laws — Of Christ in the church. — Hear, pious virgin, you are this divine ark.
PROSE.
Let her sing with dancing, taken up to the throne of heaven.
Let us each venerate, bowing, holy Odrada,
Let us tell the virginal joy to the Lord,
Who wills to be born of a virgin mother for the crime of the world.
Therefore let us, sounding with harmonious songs,
Praise the threefold machine which the court of heaven praises.
AT LAUDS.
Ant. 1. Let worthy praises be given to God, — Who made Odrada strong — In the trophy, and cast down the enemy — Of all uncleanness.
Ant. 2. The virgin of Christ renounced — The pride of the world, whom God the Father, — Ruler of heaven, enriched — With the gifts of chastity.
Ant. 3. The Triune God for whom she thirsted, — She desired with pure heart, — Holding the body in a bond — Under the years of infancy.
Ant. 4. Let all things with a crown bless God — In our patroness, — He adorned her for the goods — Of the virtues of innocence.
Ant. 5. The holy women of God shall exult, — With glad mind they shall give voice, — They shall praise the King of kings, — The daughters of prudence.
HYMN.
Sharer of the Father's light, Bridegroom of the virgin Odrada, Singing, we pay our praises; Stand by those who make petition.
By the merits of Odrada take away The sins which we have committed, Give constancy in the virtues, Lest an evil end seize us.
May it be, O Christ, for us all, At the prayers of holy Odrada, That you show indulgence to believers, So that it may profit those who entreat.
Very often for the sake of those in heaven You loose from the bond of crime, Granting indulgence, Lest the underworld carry off your own.
Odrada, enjoying with the virgins The joys of the Beloved, Be mindful of us, we beseech, With the citizens of your Bridegroom.
Glory be, O Christ, most loving King, To you and to the Father, With the Spirit the Paraclete, For everlasting ages. Amen.
CHAPTER.
I will confess, etc.
At the Benedictus.
Blessed on the throne of heaven be God the Father almighty, who miraculously established the glorious virgin Odrada as holy patroness at Alem: whom we piously ask to guard us by her prayers from the wolves of hell, that unharmed we may be able to enter paradise.
LET US PRAY.
O God, who sanctioned the merits of the blessed virgin Odrada, and in her increased the grace of your divine indwelling and not undeservedly compared her to the ark of the covenant of the Lord: mercifully grant to us your servants, the merits of this sacred virgin pleading for us, to be satisfied with the manna of heavenly consolation, and that we may be able to have a soul adorned with the fragrance of true virtues. Through the Lord.
FERIAL COMMEMORATION
The glorious virgin Odrada, who in the number of the wise virgins follows the Lamb wherever he goes.
AT THE HOURS.
Antiphons from Lauds.
AT TERCE. CHAPTER.
From the snare of the unjust tongue and from the lips of those working falsehood and in the sight of those standing by you have been my helper, and you have delivered me according to the multitude of the mercy of your name.
AT SEXT. CHAPTER.
I called upon the Lord, the Father of my Lord, that he not forsake me in the day of my tribulation and in the time of the proud, without help.
AT NONE. CHAPTER.
I will praise your name assiduously and I will praise it together in confession, and my prayer has been heard. For you have freed me from perdition and rescued me from the evil time; therefore I will confess to you and tell praise to your name, O Lord our God.
AT II VESPERS.
Antiphons from Lauds, but the fourth Ant. shall be: The glorious Virgin Odrada.
HYMN.
We release the organs of the heart in prayers; The prayers of your servants, in the citadel of the heavens, O Christ, the holy virgin Odrada Entreats you: receive them.
Giver of salvation, give salvation To all of us; the holy merits, Worthy of your praises, we sing Of the virgin Odrada.
Render blessed our soul, Reborn of the font; cleanse it of its stains. She sought the delights of heaven: Yield to Odrada.
Increase the devoted throng of the people, Lest it fall beneath the darts of the savage foe; Christ, lift us up: your bride Odrada we venerate.
Grant us to lead a holy life In tranquil peace; lest the storm Sink us in the hour of death, entreat for us, O virgin Odrada.
The angels in highest heaven praise The Three and One, now and for ever, In whose sight the company of the saints Stands with Odrada.
CHAPTER.
She considered a field and bought it, from the fruit of her hands she planted a vineyard. She girded her loins with strength and strengthened her arm. She tasted and saw that her trading is good, her lamp shall not be put out in the night.
At the Magnificat.
O piety of Christ, to be attended with all praise, who has consecrated the merits of his handmaid Odrada in body and soul. For by the flower of her body the axle clothed dry wood through its touch. Grant us, Christ, by her prayers, earthly things being cast away, to ascend to heaven with you with sheaves stuffed with virtues.
MASS.
INTROIT.
Alleluia. Blessed Odrada, adorned with the robe of glory, sees God with unveiled face.
SEQUENCE.
Recalling the praises of Odrada, let us imitate the virgin: she vowed in her childhood years to serve God.
With praiseworthy contempt she spurned earthly marriage; she prudently despised transitory worldly glory.
Avoiding girlish games, beautifying her race with good conduct, she visited the memorials of the saints, often wearing down the churches and praying. Assiduous in fasts, with fruitful hands lavished on the needy, she set off her time with labors.
Guarding against the wiles of the ancient serpent, leaving no work undone.
She adorned the inward glory, anxious to have the heavenly, with lamp prepared to await the coming bridegroom.
Blessed this bride, who, when the bridegroom comes, shall have thus met him.
Tested like gold burned in the fire, melted by the hatred of her stepmother. Relegated by her father to be torn to pieces, the counsels of the malign wicked woman are dashed by the sign of the cross, the wild beast tamed.
But the highest Father, not knowing how to give evil gifts to one asking, soon gave to her as she prayed the veins of a spring from the barren sand.
Foreknowing her passing from death to life, she breathed out the present life. With unveiled face she sees the king of glory, sitting by the fountain of eternal life.
By a wonderful drawing Alem received the deposit, to rise with shining dower, when each shall receive the prize according to his course. Grant, O Christ, yourself as our wage, by the prayers of Blessed Odrada.