St. Lydwine of Schiedam, virgin

St. Lydwine of Schiedam
Virgin

litijil ofrgtat.

FR. INNOCENTIUS APAP, S.Tn.M., O.P.
Censor Deputatus.

Imprimatur*

EDM. CAN. SURMONT,
Vic. Gen.

WESTMONASTERII,

Die 25 Martiii 1912.

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Virgin

BY
THOMAS A KEMPIS

Canon Regular of the Congregation of Windesheim

TRANSLATION AND INTRODUCTION BY

DOM VINCENT SCULLY, C.R.L.

Author of " Life of the Venerable Thomas k Kempis "

Supertorunt

BURNS & GATES

28 ORCHARD STREET
LONDON, W.

MAY 61969

To
ALL PATIENT SUFFERERS

Who share St. Lydwine s expiatory pains
One day to partake of her glory

CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION 9

PROLOGUE TO THE FIRST PART . 45

CHAPTERS OF THE FIRST PART . 49

PROLOGUE TO THE SECOND PART 105

CHAPTERS OF THE SECOND PART. 106

St. Lydwine of Schiedam

Virgin

INTRODUCTION

The Life of Lydwine, Virgin, is of all
the works of Thomas a Kempis cer
tainly the least original and to Eng
lish readers generally the least familiar.
The latter fact is most probably due to
the subject matter. That the work is
not original, Thomas himself is our
authority, when he states in his Pro
logue that he has read through the
" book of the life of the holy and most
patient virgin Lydwine," and has now
sent it on to his brothers, the Canons
Regular of Briel, composed in a style
more brief and clear, with certain omis
sions and his own division of chapters
and books. In fact, our venerable
Author contented himself with merely

9

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

editing the biography already published
by one John Brugman. A comparison
with the latter shows that almost
throughout a Kempis has retained even
the language of Brugman. This cir
cumstance has rendered the task of
translation somewhat ungrateful: but
a full compensation has been found in
the intense interest which a study of
the life itself of this servant of God
evoked.

The first sentiment that arises, as
one reads the unvarnished and detailed
account given by the ancient chroniclers
of the appalling sufferings which afflicted
Lydwine, may be one of very natural
repulsion. But a more attentive con
sideration of this pathetic figure, lying
motionless there in the darkened hovel,
enduring the most atrocious pains, with
never a murmur of complaint, never a
thought of self, embalms the soul with
the sweet fragrance of Christian virtue,
such a fragrance as refreshed the senses
of those who penetrated into her miser
able cabin. The thought of the active
works of charity, which this victim of
expiation initiated and carried out to
relieve miseries far less intense than
her own, fills the mind with admiration

10

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and amazement. And a further con
templation of the marvellous, mystic
delights, with which her soul was
almost habitually inundated, gives rise
to a sense of mingled awe and envy.

It is indeed a wonderful existence to
which we are here introduced : on the
one hand unexampled physical suffering,
wholly unrelieved by natural remedies,
wholly unsupported by natural nourish
ment, and on the other supernatural
visitations as unmeasured only as the
pains of the poor, tortured, worn-out
frame. So marvellous an existence may
well excuse a certain amount of pre
vious scepticism, and certainly it is such
as to call for proportionate proof. But
once that proof is forthcoming, for the
scientific and unprejudiced mind there
is nothing for it but to accept the facts,
be the explanation what it may.

These facts are of two orders. The
first regards the sufferings and absti
nence of Lydwine. However weird,
however varied, however intense, how
ever long continued, and under each and
all these heads, however inexplicable
from a natural point of view these ail
ments may be, in themselves they were
sensible facts, capable of being observed

II

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and tested by all, and by their very
strangeness evoking a more close and
detailed observation and criticism than
would be given to ordinary events of
daily life. The same is to be said of her
continued and absolute fast. Marvel
lous and miraculous as is the prolonga
tion of a human life despite such complex
and malignant maladies, and despite the
absence for so many years of all bodily
nourishment and sleep, the only other
hypothesis admissible contemplates an
alternative far more incredible, viz. that
the entire population of a country town
and who does not know the inten
sity and ingenuity and malevolence of
neighbourly curiosity in such centres?
-should either have been hoodwinked
itself, or should have entered into a vast
and meaningless conspiracy to deceive
the whole kingdom, princes, medical
men, skilled theologians, and strangers
of every conceivable quality and degree.
The second order of facts regards other
favours more directly supernatural.
Many of these enter into the same cate
gory as the first in so far as they fall
immediately under sensible observation.
Of the others, as the majority of the
raptures and visions recorded, Lydwine

12

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

herself is our sole authority. If these
are to be rejected, it can be only on the
supposition that the virgin was suffering
from delusion or that she was living a
lie : and how far such a theory tallies
with the ascertained facts of her charac
ter and her conduct may be safely left
to the unprejudiced mind to judge.

It would indeed be difficult to find a
biography, of which the details, incredible
as they may seem at first sight, are
presented to us with more convincing
authority. The Venerable a Kempis
himself was a contemporary of the
maiden whose saintly life he undertook
to edit ; he was born the same year, 1380,
and he passed away thirty-eight years
after her demise. For some of his facts
he quotes the authority of first or second
hand witnesses. For the rest, he has
followed very closely John Gerlac and
John Brugman; but that, as is suffi
ciently evident from the Prologue, not
without considerable deliberation and
discussion. Finally, the Author of the
Imitation was not likely easily to lend
the authority of his name to the recount
ing of unfounded extravagances.

John Brugman, whose Life our Author
chiefly uses, thus enumerates his sources

13

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

of information in his Introduction:
" Let the readers of this biography know
that I have received the greater portion
of it from the lips of Master John Walters
of Lyden : who for nearly eight years
was the confessor of that virgin, and
learnt these things from her : in part [I
have taken it] from the writings of John
Gerlac, a certain relative of hers who
lived in her house many years: and in
part from a letter which the Governors
of the city of Schiedam delivered as a
testimony of her ailments to Master John
Angels of Dordrecht, of the Order of
Premontre, of Marienwaer, who was
then Pastor of the town Church : and a
little [I have gathered] from the lips of
others worthy of faith : but the whole
[has been compiled] with the correction
or approbation of the aforesaid Master
John, the confessor of this virgin, and
of John Gerlac." The extract is cer
tainly of interest if only as showing that
hagiographers of the fifteenth century
were not unaware or careless of the exi
gencies of historical criticism.

The John Gerlac here mentioned as a
relative of the Saint and living many
years in her house, was an ascetic
writer of some repute and a Canon

14

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Regular of Windesheim, a fervent and
humble religious, according to the testi
mony of his contemporaries. He wrote
a biography of his holy kinswoman soon
after her death in German, and John
Brugman s first Life, the one later
edited by a Kempis, is little more than
a translation into Latin of this.

Subsequently John Brugman wrote
another biography with considerably
more detail and a good deal of expan
sion. John Brugman himself was a
Friar Minor, a friend of Denys the
Carthusian, and he is quoted by Wad
ding as one of the first preachers of his
day, a man remarkable alike for elo
quence and sanctity.

Both these biographies are edited and
annotated by Papebroch in the Bollan-
dists Acta Sanctorum, April, Vol. II.
There also is found a copy of the Letter
of the Magistrates of Schiedam, to which
John Brugman refers in the extract
above, and which he gives in extenso
in the Prologue to his second Life.
This curious document seems worthy
of a place here, both on account of its
own intrinsic interest and as a further
witness to the critical investigation to
which the actions and sufferings of our

15

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Saint were subjected. The most exact
ing in these days of boasted research
could hardly demand more. A com
parison of this Letter with Chapters
VI. and VII. of Part i of a Kempis
Life will show that he, as well as Brug-
man before him, made free use of this
authentic piece. The reader must for
give the involved phraseology for the
sake of a literal translation.

"We, the Baillif, 1 the Mayor, 2 the
BoUigmaestres, Sheriffs and Councillors
of the town of Schiedam, in the Duchy
of Holland, in the Diocese of Utrecht,
make known to all that we have seen
and read, in the year of the Lord 1421
on the twelfth day of September, the
Letter sealed with the seal of our town,
containing word for word as follows :

"To the faithful of Christ, all and
sundry, spiritual and lay, adults and
minors, nobles and commoners, to men
and persons of both sexes of whatever
state, rank or condition they may be,
within cities or without, on land or on
sea, or wheresoever they may tarry, or
have their home or place of habitation,

1 Appointed by the Prince.

2 Elected by the people.

16

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

whom the present letters may reach, the
Baillif, the Mayor, the Bourgmaestres,
Sheriffs and Councillors of the town of
Schiedam, in the Duchy of Holland, in
the Diocese of Utrecht, greeting with
ever humble salutation and witness to
the truth. Whereas right reason judges,
justice demands and requires that true
happenings and cases may be openly
published, reported and manifested, yea
ought justly to be published, reported
and manifested ; especially those where
in the praise, honour and glory of God
may be present and shine forth.

Therefore we certify and we make
known, and we desire the faithful of
Christ aforesaid all and sundry to know,
we publish, we report, and we witness
in truth to these writings, concerning
the facts and events most wondrous and
strange, which in the abovenamed our
city have happened and taken place, and
still daily take place and happen in a
certain virgin, named Liedwy Peters. 1
Be this known that the said virgin and
maid was grievously sick, and very
greatly tormented in her bed, whereon

1 i.e. Liedwy (daughter) of Peter : her father was
called Peter, his surname Johns, i.e. of John, after
his father, who was a John Peters.

17 B

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

also she lies and has lain well twenty-
three years on the Feast of the Purifica
tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary last
passed. And within the same time she
has never taken or received save one
half a pint of wine a week or there
abouts, with a little water, or a little
sugar, or a very little cinnamon well
ground; except that within the first
three years of her ailment, occasionally
and between times, she took a small
piece of apple or bread, and sometimes
ate or drank a little fresh milk: but
within the seven years last passed she
has used no food or drink at all, nor
does use any at present.

"She does not sleep, nor for all the
above-written seven years has she ever
slept, except very little, and scarcely
for the space of two nights, all reckoned
together. And she lies now so pitiably
and miserably, that she has lost her
intestines and is deprived of the same.
And grey worms, full of water of the
same colour, thick as a spindle-end,
about as long as the joint of a finger,
eat and gnaw her flesh, without any
fetor or ill odour arising thence, (the
which we write with the leave and

reverence of all). And when in times

18

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

past she was wont to be moved or
handled, then it was necessary to bind
her body well above about the shoulders
with bandages, or with a towel, or with
some such thing : otherwise the whole
body would have fallen into small portions
and would have utterly dropped to pieces.
But now in later times she cannot in
any way be moved, nor could she be
within the seven years last passed,
during which she has lain and still lies
on her back, and cannot move save her
head and one arm. 1

"And sometimes at intervals from her
mouth, nose, ears and other passages
she sends forth much blood, notwith
standing that she takes no food or drink,
nor has taken save as above described.
And the same virgin and maid within
the same seven years aforesaid had and
still has every third day a great and
grievous tertian fever, which first comes
to her with an unutterable heat : and
not long after this comes a terrible cold :
and then again heat and cold by turn.

1 It seems that the right arm was quite withered
and shrunken, holding- to the body by a single nerve,
the consequence of an attack of that strange and
terrible malady of the Middle Ages, known as the
Sacred Fire, or St. Anthony s Fire.

19

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

And this lasted thus for well half a year :
but after this period she has cold en
during: for a time and then heat. And
when she is freed from this fever, then
is she quite unconscious for ten or
twelve hours. And when she has and
suffers the aforesaid fevers, then she
vomits or sends out by the mouth at
night much red water, so that a quart
vessel is filled thereof in a week : and
moreover in addition within the year
she also vomits and throws up well two
measures full of this water

"The aforesaid virgin and maid has
also in her body three openings : of
which each is well as large as the inner
hollow or bottom of a common cup, and
they are as black as pitch, as appears
to those who look in and see. And from
one of them, which is in the stomach
of that virgin and maid, there run and
overflow at intervals as many sometimes
as two hundred together of the aforesaid
worms; and upon it is placed a kind
of plaster mixed and made of honey and
fresh flour of the best wheat : and there
from those worms suck and take their
nourishment, otherwise they would tor
ment her even to death : and if this
flour were old and not fresh, those worms

20

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

would not have such, or use that plaster.
All these things have been proved and
found thus by experience : and now
those openings are closed.

" Every fortnight also the above-named
virgin and maid receives the most holy
and venerable sacrament of the altar,
the Eucharist ; and the priest who com
municates her must needs use skill and
care when he communicates her : other
wise she could not receive or swallow
the Eucharist. And then he gives her
very little water : which also she cannot
very well pass, or swallow, but first she
works it in her throat for a time, as
one who gargles; and sometimes he
gives her no water on account of the
difficulty of passing or receiving the
same. 1 Moreover, this virgin and maid
from below even to the stomach is
utterly and wholly putrefied; and it is
needful to close this wound with a little
cushion of wool made especially for the
purpose, about the size of a fist : other
wise her intestines and lower parts would
quite fall away. And thus in truth the
marvels and portents, which in the said

1 This giving of a little water after the Com
munion of the sick is in accordance with a. prescrip
tion of the Roman Ritual.

21

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

virgin and maid have been wrought and
are still daily wrought, are exceedingly
great and so numerous and varied, that
they cannot be clearly and fully written,
or described by the pen. The oft-named
virgin and maid was also fourteen years
of age, when her ailment first overtook
and befell her.

"And whereas we, the Baillif, the
Mayor, the Bourgmaestres, Sheriffs and
Councillors aforesaid have been well and
fully informed and certified of the above
written details, yea daily well perceive
and witness them : therefore we seal
the present letters for a plain and true
testimony, with our seal which we use
for cases, appended in the year of the
Lord, 1421, on the eve of the Blessed
Mary Magdalene, the twenty-first day
of the month of July."

In common with the hagiographers of
his time, our Author does not follow the
chronological order in his Life. More
over, he gives us very few dates. The
same negligence is observable in other
details, as for instance in the names
of personages who figure in the story.
In fact, he wrote simply for the edifica
tion of his brothers in religion, and for
this purpose doubtless he considered

22

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

such items superfluous, even when he
did not regard them as already known.
Nevertheless he had a very definite
scheme of his own in the arrangement
of books and chapters. In the First
Book he narrates, and that in a roughly
consecutive order, an account of the
progress and variety of Lydwine s physi
cal sufferings, and a history of her
corporal works of mercy, together with
the miraculous favours whereby God
showed His appreciation of her charity.
The mention of her poverty leads him
to speak of the spirit of poverty and
other virtues, and of the death of her
father. This induces him to digress
further and dwell on the good qualities
of her grandfather, and finally of the
passing away of her mother. Moreover,
it must not be forgotten that these
successive bereavements were a part and
a very sensible part of the afflictions of
the saint ; for she was tenderly attached
to the members of her family, and one
after another she saw them taken away
from her. The Author returns to this
subject also in the Second Book. This
Second Book treats more directly of
the inner, spiritual life of the Saint,
and of the prodigious graces of which

23

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

she was finally the object. Here again
he roughly outlines the progress from
the innocence, not free from thought
lessness and other faults, of childhood
to the ripe perfection attained after long
years of patient suffering and almost
uninterrupted union with God. The
three miracles, with which he fittingly
closes his history, he received, as he
tells us himself, directly from Dr. William
Sonderdank, an eyewitness and a medical
man.

As, however, it may assist the modern
reader to a better appreciation of the
affecting story of this servant of God
to have an idea of the chronological
sequence of events, I give here a brief
epitome of the biography, arranged
according to the few dates which a
Kempis and Brugman have supplied.

1380. The Saint s mother is pain
lessly delivered of a daughter during
the singing of the Passion, Palm
Sunday, March iSth.

1380-1394. Lydwine passes a bright
childhood in a poor, but very Christian
household, and is remarked for her
piety and other rich gifts both of nature
and grace. Her father receives on her
behalf some very advantageous offers

24

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

of marriage, but the child declares her
intention of remaining; always a maid.
About her fourteenth year she is stricken
with illness, and then, before she is quite
recovered, she receives a fatal fall upon
the ice, February 2nd, 1394.

1394-1397. These three years are a
sad period of material and spiritual
neglect. One malady succeeds another :
the child suffers and frets. At this
time she receives Holy Communion
once a year, at Easter-tide, when she
is carried to the Church for the pur
pose. However, the miracle narrated
in Chapter V. shows that even then
the maid must have been possessed of
remarkable purity and singleness of
purpose.

1398. About this time her confessor,
John Pot, taught the invalid how to
meditate upon the Passion of Christ.
This she finds very difficult at first,
but with persevering efforts and especi
ally with the grace brought by a fervent
Communion, she acquires great recol
lection, and now begins to feel happi
ness in her pains, recognising therein
God s will and her special vocation. At
the same time the Confessor commences
to communicate her twice a year.

25

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

1400. Lydwine took to her bed, never
again to touch the earth in life or
after death.

1402. About this date Lydwine s
mother, Petronilla, died. This event
marks a real epoch in the Saint s life,
for, having- generously ceded all her
merits to her dying mother, she now
regarded herself as under a necessity
to compensate for this loss by renewed
efforts and redoubled penance.

1405. It was about this time that the
Saint commenced that series of wonder
ful ecstasies, which were to continue
with but few interruptions until her
death.

1406 is marked as a year of a very
severe winter, during which Lydwine
suffered indescribably from the cold.

1413. About this time commences
Lydwine s complete fast from all food
save the Holy Eucharist, although in
deed hitherto her nourishment had been
so scanty as scarcely to deserve the
name. From the same epoch dates her
entire freedom from sleep.

1421. This is the date of the magis
terial inquiry, the result of which has
been given above. In this document
her confessor is mentioned as com-

26

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

municating her once a fortnight. But
henceforth until her death she received
habitually in the intervals of two days
between her quartan fevers.

1423 is the date of the death of her
brother William, over which Lydwine
grieved so intensely as to be deprived
for some time of her wonted spiritual
consolations.

1425. The sufferings endured by Lyd
wine at the hands of the Duke of
Burgundy s mercenaries merit for her
a martyr s crown.

1426 witnesses the death of the Saint s
beloved niece Petronilla, and therewith
the snapping of the final cord of an affec
tion, which, however pure and blame
less, was not entirely for her Divine
Spouse.

1433. April I4th, the Saint s happy
death.

1434. A chapel is built in the cemetery
by her tomb.

A few words now to bring the story
of our Saint to the present day.

In accordance with her own wish
Lydwine s house was transformed into
a hospital, or home for aged females, by
Dr. William Sonderdank, a physician
remarkable for his piety and generosity,

27

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and devotion to the holy maid. 1 It
seems that this hospice was placed in
the charge of Franciscan nuns; for
Molanus says that these Sisters had a
convent on the spot, with a chapel and
altar in the very bedchamber of the
virgin. "But," he adds, "the enemies
of the Faith and of all piety utterly
destroyed all this in the year [i5]72."
The destruction, however, does not ap
pear to have extended to the building
itself, for this was used as an orphanage
again in 1605, and was rebuilt in 1771.

To prevent the profanation of the
Saint s relics during the religious
troubles of the sixteenth century, the
Catholic party under the Archduchess
Isabelle and Prince Albert bought Lyd-
wine s mortal remains from the Re
formers, 1615, and translated them to
Brussels, where Matthias, Archbishop
of Mechlin and Primate of Belgium,
after due authentication, authorised
their veneration, granting to the same
effect an indulgence of forty days. A
copy of the Metropolitan s Act, dated
Jan. I4th, 1616, is to be found in the
Bollandists, loc. cit.

The same year, 1616, the Archduchess

1 See Note, page 211.
28

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

made a present of a portion of the holy
relics to the Canonesses Regular of
Mons, in Hainult, on the occasion of a
plague which was devastating that city.
Ten years later a further and very con
siderable portion of the relics was be
stowed by the same Princess on the
Carmelite Nuns of Brussels, whose con
vent she had founded in 1606. Finally,
at Isabellas death, the remainder of the
relics were transferred with great pomp
to St. Gudule s, the Cathedral Church
of Brussels.

The official documents concerning all
these translations and of these various
marks of public honour paid to the relics
were happily never lost an exact copy
is given in the Bollandists and thus it
came to pass that when within the last
fifty years advances were made at Rome
to obtain Papal recognition and appro
bation of the veneration of the faithful
to the holy maid Lydwine, there was no
difficulty in proving the fact of the cultus
ab immemorabili tempore.

It was on the strength of this imme
morial cultus that, after all the tedious
process and scrupulous details where
with such grave matters are ever regu
lated in the Eternal City, Pope Leo XIII

29

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

issued a short Decree, dated March I4th,
1890, solemnly approving the veneration
paid to the virgin Lydwine under the
title of Blessed, or Saint. At the same
time an Office and Mass of the Saint
were approved for the Diocese of Har
lem; and the Carmelites of Brussels
were requested to bestow a portion of
her relics on the Church of Our Lady of
the Visitation, Schiedam, one of the
three Churches, which to-day minister
to the spiritual needs of the ten thousand
Catholics who now dwell in St. Lydwine s
native town.

It was there that the present writer
had the happiness of seeing and vener
ating the holy relics, in the July of 1906.
Ever since I had taken up the study of
the life and times of the Venerable
Thomas a Kempis, I had longed to pay
a visit to the scenes amid which his
days were passed. I read with intense
interest the graphic account of such a
visit given by Sir Francis Cruise in his
Thomas a Kempis (Kegan Paul & Co.,
1887), and I promised myself that if the
opportunity should be mine, I also would
pass over the same holy ground. The
opportunity presented itself in 1906 and
pocketing Dr. Cruise s work as my

30

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Baedeker, and a more reliable guide
could not be desired, I made a little
a Kempis pilgrimage by way of Kempen,
Deventer, Zwolle, this last of course in
cluding Agnetenberg and Windesheim,
and finally, in the interests of the present
volume, Schiedam.

With regard to my visit to the first
three named towns there is little to add
to what has been already so well de
scribed in the treatise just cited. I note
merely that at Kempen, the oil painting
of the Venerable Thomas, which Sir
Francis Cruise found in the old Fran
ciscan Church, now hangs in the Study
Hall of the splendid Collegium Thom-
maeum, a Convictus or Boarding House
for scholars from a distance who attend
the courses in the fine Grammar School
opposite. Likewise the portrait for
merly hung in the Town Hall is now
preserved in the Kempen Museum, to
gether with another portrait and several
engravings and editions of a Kempis.
In the Grammar School Library there is
a fine a Kempis collection, the initiative
of which is due to Dr. Pohl, the pains
taking Editor of the new critical issue
of the Omnia Opera, from which the
present translation is taken.

31

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Finally, since the date of Dr. Cruise s
visit, there has been erected in the close
of the Parish Church, and within view of
the site of the birthplace of a Kempis,
a magnificent statue in bronze, on a
massive pedestal in black marble, re
presenting our venerable Author in the
habit of a Canon Regular, seated with a
volume of the Imitation open in one
hand and a pen in the other. On the
front of the pedestal is engraved :
Thomas von Kempen. On the back the
words in Dutch : Raised by the Thomas
Institute to the great son of Kempen,
1901. On Thomas left the verses from
the Imitation, book iv (iii) ch. i :
" Happy the soul that heareth the Lord
speaking within her; and from His
mouth receiveth a word of consolation.
Happy the ears that receive the accents
of the divine whisper, and take no notice
of the whisperings of the world." On
the other side, the further quotation :
" If thou didst know the whole Bible by
heart and the sayings of all the philo
sophers, what would it all profit thee
without the love of God and His grace ?
Vanity of vanity, and all is vanity, save
loving God and serving Him alone." It
is really a striking and most impressive

32

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

monument, and one cannot but rejoice
that the Venerable Thomas is thus re
membered and honoured in his native
town.

At Deventer I found things exactly as
described by Sir Francis Cruise. There
I had the consolation of gazing upon
the skulls of Gerard Groote and Flor-
entius Radewyn, which having been
rescued from the old Parish Church in
the time of the Reformation riots, are
now reverently preserved in the sacristy
of the Broedern Kirk. If I may add a
personal note, I must say that I can
never forget the intelligent courtesy and
homely kindness of the Sacristan, or
Koster, of this church. Indeed through
out my pilgrimage I met with the same
consideration on all sides, which was in
truth the more welcome, as "greatly
daring " I had undertaken this tour alone
and quite unconversant with either
German or Dutch.

The interest of the pilgrimage culmi
nated at Zwolle, in which district the
Venerable a Kempis passed by far the
greater portion of his long, laborious
career. But here also everything has
been so thoroughly described before me
by my friend, Dr. Cruise, that once more

33 c

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

I must content myself with referring the
reader to his interesting pages. Since
his date, however, a magnificent monu
ment has been erected in the Church of
St. Michael to enshrine the relics of a
Kempis. This is minutely described in
my Life of the Ven. Thomas a Kempis,
(Washbourne, 1901) ; and I need not go
over that ground again. There has
been some talk recently of founding an
a Kempis Museum in Zwolle, which is,
by the way, one of the neatest and
prettiest little towns I have ever seen.
While awaiting funds and a suitable
locality for this purpose, two valuable
portraits and many other items of in
terest are preserved in the central hall
of an ancient hospice for the aged,
named Emmanuel Huis; these were
shown me with the utmost courtesy by
M. Th. Heerkens, of Zwolle, a prominent
member of the Upper Chamber of the
States-General and an ardent a Kempist.
Finally, there is a movement on foot to
erect a statue to the Ven. Thomas in
the public square of the town.

On my visit to Windesheim I was
kindly accompanied by the Rev. B. M.
Brom, Curate of St. Michael s, Niew-
straat. Of the famous Canonry nothing

34

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

remains, save part of the Infirmary, now
used as the Protestant temple of the
little village. Let into the wall of this
chapel are two tombstones, one with
the recumbent figure of a priest, with
chalice, &c., and an almost illegible in
scription deciphered by F. Haefer, Pre
sident of the Society of Thomas a
Kempis, and furnished me by Fr. Brom,
as follows: (Hie jacent) venerabiles
et devoti viri Theodorus de Herxen
et dominus (Gerardus Scatte de
Calkar).

I come now to the last stage of my
pilgrimage, and that which more directly
concerns the present volume, Schiedam,
the native town of St. Lydwine. Here I
parted company with my genial guide,
Sir Francis Cruise, but I knew that an
other, J.-K. Huysmans, had been here
also before me. 1

The first object of my inquiry was the
Church of the Visitation, where, as re
lated above, the relics of St. Lydwine
are preserved. I called upon the Pastor
and explained the motive of my visit,
expressing at the same time a desire to
celebrate holy Mass at the shrine of the

1 See his very original and intensely interesting
Sainte Lydwine de Schiedam. Paris : Stock.

35

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Saint. Unfortunately, this privilege was
just then impracticable: the Church
was undergoing one of those thorough
"spring cleanings" of which the good
Hollanders are so prodigal, and one
altar only was available for the holy
Sacrifice. The Pastor, however, con
soled me by promising to have the relics
exposed for my veneration on the
morrow. He was as good as his word,
and the next morning I had the happi
ness of praying before the exposed relics
of the holy maid, whom I had learnt to
reverence and love, as I unravelled the
story of her sufferings, virtues, and re
wards from the quaint Latin of a
Kempis.

The relics are enshrined in a very fine
altar, constructed in an exquisite little
chapel off the south aisle. In bas-relief
over the centre stands a figure of the
Saint, holding a crucifix, and before her
an Angel presenting her the traditional
rose-branch. 1 On the right hand of the
reliquary is another bas-relief, repre
senting Our Divine Saviour, attended
by Angels and Saints, administering the
last rites to the dying virgin : 2 on the
left, the Saint, as found by her neigh-
See Note, page 191. 2 See Note, page 190.

36

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

bours immediately after death, her
hands joined upon her breast, all traces
of long years of disease banished, all
and more than all her youthful freshness
and beauty restored. 1 Below, occupying
the whole length of the altar, the Saint
reclining, earnestly studying her crucifix,
the Angel hovering near with the rose-
branch.

Round the walls of the Chapel are
depicted, with considerable verve and
skill, seven epochs from the life of the
Saint. The Statue of Our Lady of
Schiedam smiles upon her in her child
hood (Part I, chap. ti). The fateful
fall on the ice (Part /, chap. iv).
John Pot earnestly exhorts the sick
maid to essay meditation upon the
Passion of Christ (Part II, chap. t).
The Miraculous Host (Part II, chap,
xxii). Her ecstatic voyage to the
Holy Land and vision of the Passion
(Part II, chap. ii). The multiplica
tion of bread, meat and money given in
alms (Part I, chaps, xx, xxii}. The
brutal assault of the mercenaries of
Picardy, in which an Angel is seen
hovering above the Saint, holding ready
a martyr s crown (Part II, chap. vii).

1 Part II, chaps, xxvii, xxviii.

37

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Finally, the fire of Schiedam, where
Angels again appear protecting the
Saint (Part II, chaps, v, xvi).

Anent this last incident, it is worthy of
note that the Saint is regarded by all,
Catholics and Protestants alike, as the
Guardian of the town against fire. It is
certainly a remarkable fact that since
her death no more than a single house
has been burnt at a time, a significant
record considering the inflammable
material stored in such abundance in
this town, known the world over for its
Hollands, or Schiedam schnapps.

After I had duly noted these various
points, the good Pastor further devoted
a considerable portion of his much occu
pied time in showing me from the Parish
Archives a collection of various docu
ments, ancient and modern, connected
with the history of the Saint and especi
ally with the process of her recent
canonization. It is not necessary to go
into these details here : they would be
more in place in a full and modern
English life, such as that already quoted
of J.-K. Huysmans in French, or that
other which M. 1 Abbe" Cordurier so
charmingly composed for the comfort
and edification of his " dear incurables

38

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

of the Hospital of Bourg." 1 What
chiefly interested me at the time was
an old Dutch translation of a Kempis
Life of the Saint, and a series of twenty-
two quaint little woodcuts, depicting-
various incidents from her story.

The Curd also informed me that
devotion to St. Lydwine is very popular
in the town, and that in his Church there
is a special service in her honour every
Thursday evening, for which is used a
manual of prayers compiled for the
purpose by his predecessor. I noticed
statues of the Saint in the two other
Catholic Churches of Schiedam, served
by Dominicans, who in fact ministered
to the spiritual needs of this district
even through the Reformation days.

One other most interesting relic I was
also conducted to see, the ancient marble
slab which formerly covered the Saint s
tomb. This, it is said, was placed face
down the figure of the Saint is sculp
tured thereon in the pavement of the
now Protestant Church to prevent
Catholics coming to pay their devotions
to it. Another account asserts that
Protestants themselves out of respect

1 Vie de la Bienheureuse Lidwine, Vierge, Models
des Malades et dcs Infirmes. Paris : Retaux.

39

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

would walk round rather. than tread
upon it. Be that as it may, one dark
night the precious slab disappeared from
its dishonoured resting-place. Through
inability or connivance the authorities
made no active pursuit. And now the
stone with its figure and its inscription,
giving the date of Lydwine s death in
old Dutch, may be seen in the tiny
Chapel of the Dominican convent, close
to the Church of the Visitation. While
I was examining it there, the old ladies
who are tended and sheltered by the
gentle Sisters in their destitution or in
firmity, dropped in one by one to pay
their visit or tell their beads, and the
thought passed through my mind how
pleased St. Lydwine must be that this
relic should be preserved in a Christian
home for the poor and aged, such as she
had destined her own house to be.

I visited also the ancient parish Church
of St. John the Baptist, rebuilt after the
fire in St. Lydwine s own days, and for
so long the resting-place of her holy
remains. On my way I noted a gay
wedding party issue from the portals of
the Town Hall, and this incident, in
contrast with the utter void of the huge
empty white-washed building of St.

40

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

John s its whole furniture the bare
wooden benches ranged round the organ
and reading desks seemed to me a
striking illustration of the sad changes
wrought by the religious revolt of the
sixteenth century.

It is round this venerable Church that
what remains of ancient Schiedam still
survives, and as I wandered about amid
its narrow streets, quaint bulging build
ings, frequent canals and wooden draw
bridges, it was not so difficult for the
imagination to people and animate the
scene again with the personages and
incidents of the Life of St. Lydwine.

But, for the rest, it is well understood
that Schiedam is not a town of which
Dutchmen boast, or to which tourists
crowd. Its staple industry is gin, and
the whole atmosphere is impregnated
with the odour of the boiling grain used
in the manufacture ; and were it not for
the redeeming native virtue, this town
alone of all that I had seen in the Nether
lands would be positively dirty.

To conclude, the text, on which the
following translation is based, is that of
Dr. Pohl, edited from the autograph of
a Kempis, which is preserved in the
University Library, Louvain. There the

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

original may be seen bound in one volume
with Thomas Sermons to the Novices
Regular , the caligraphy still beautifully
clear and legible.

The footnotes throughout are the
Translator s.

St. Ives, Cornwall,

All Hallows, 1910.

1 Translation. London : Kegan Paul. 1910.

42

Life of Lydwine, Virgin
Part I

LIFE OF LYDWINE, VIRGIN

PART I

PROLOGUE TO THE LIFE OF
LYDWINE, VIRGIN

To the Religious Brethren, Canons
Regular of the monastery of St. Eliza
beth, near Briel in the country of Zee-
land. Brother N., a poor pilgrim,
humbly begging the suffrages of your
prayers. Most beloved brothers in
Christ, since we profess the same Order
and Rule, it is just that according to
the saying of St. James the Apostle
we pray for one another, and adorn
our faith with good works, and keep
the bond of charity in true love. May
your fraternity then deign to know that
at the request of your brethren I have
read through the book 1 of the life of the

1 Drug-man s first Life, founded chiefly on John
Gerlac s German MS. See Introduction.

45

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

holy and most patient virgin Lydwine:
and as you have long desired I now
out of charity send you the same to
read composed in a style more brief
and clear. Do not take it ill that I
have delayed ; nor attribute to presump
tion what I have done: because the
counsel of your venerable Prior came
and urged me to the doing. For what
seemed at first difficult to me, by the
help of God through your prayers has
at length arrived at completion. I have
divided the whole matter of the book
into two parts, and to each part I have
prefixed its own chapters. Also by the
advice of certain religious I have omitted
many things which seemed liable maybe
to cause doubt or nice questioning to
some simple souls. I have chosen
therefore from many things to write
and gather rather those which might
instruct in virtue and clearly show a
way of humble imitation to those who
should read. But they are almost all
fit subject for wonder, surpassing my
experience ; and I leave the judgment
of them to my betters. But I trust
that the prayers of the humble will be
more pleasing and acceptable to God

and the holy virgin herself, than to

46

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

search into lofty things, and foolishly
gossip of the secrets of God. Let it
not disturb anyone if the name is spelt
sometimes Lydia or Lydwine, for this
is found in other histories of the saints :
as Agna is suitably written for Agnes,
Walburga for Walburgis. We read of
a Lydia in the Acts 1 of the Apostles,
whom Paul the Apostle converted, and
in whose house he received hospitality ;
and our Lydia willingly received many
religious to discourse of things divine :
and taught by a holy angel she very
often brought the grace of heavenly
comfort to the troubled of heart.

1 Acts xv 14, 15.

47

THE CHAPTERS OF THE FIRST
PART OF THIS BOOK OF THE
LIFE OF LYDWINE, VIRGIN

Chap. Page

I. Of the birthplace and birth of the
virgin Lydwine, and the probity of

her parents 51

II. Of her devotion to the image of the

Blessed Virgin .... 54

III. Of her strong purpose in the state of

virginity 56

IV. Of the beginning of her weakness,

and the occasion of her long illness 58
V. Of the opinion of a certain doctor,

and the miracle that befell her . 60
VI. Of the scantiness of her nourishment

for many years .... 63
VII. Of the various illnesses and pains that

tormented her day and night . 65
VIII. Of the severity of her fever, and a

fresh disease in her leg ... 70
IX. Of the hardness of her bed, and the

cold she suffered in winter . . 73
X. Of her watchings and struggle

against sleep .... 76

49

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

XI. Of the poverty and endurance of her

father 79

XII. Of the illusion of Satan who cast her

father into a ditch . . . .81

XIII. Of the death of her father on the vigil

of the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin Mary . . . . 83

XIV. Of the death of John Peters her

grandfather, and his long conti
nence 85

XV. Of the death of Petronilla her mother 87
XVI. Of her state after her mother s death,

and her pity for the poor . . 89
XVII. Of the burning of her bed, which she
put out with one hand without any

injury 90

XVIII. Of the ashes ministered to her by an

angel at the beginning of Lent . 91
XIX. Of the wine miraculously placed in

her cup 93

XX. Of the money paid for her brother,

and multiplied in her purse . . 95
XXI. Of the ham given to the poor, and

miraculously replaced by another . 97
XXII. Of the meat and peas given to the

poor, and multiplied ... 99
XXIII. Of the vision of a heavenly table, filled

by the alms of the poor . . . 101

CHAPTER I

OF THE BIRTHPLACE AND BIRTH OF
THE VIRGIN LYDWINE, AND THE
PROBITY OF HER PARENTS

On the western coast of Holland is
situated a certain city called from a
neighbouring stream 1 Schiedam, which
God, Who is mighty and wonderful in
His saints, adorned with the wondrous
and unexampled patience of a certain
holy virgin. This virgin was rightly
called in effect and name from her much
suffering Lydwine; 2 because, scourged
by divers sicknesses, she became most
pleasing to her heavenly Spouse Christ.
By the lovers of the world, while she
lived, she was deemed poor and mean ;
but by the Creator of Heaven she was
chosen as a most precious pearl out of
the waves of the sea, and in the heavenly
kingdom placed most high with the holy
virgins. Her origin was noble from
a military family ; but it was made more

1 The Schie. 2 Lydcn, to suffer.

51

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

noble and illustrious by the grace of
the Holy Ghost coming upon her. Her
father was called Peter ; who, although
he was noble of lineage according to
the dignity of the world, nevertheless
by the permission of God he had come
down to such poverty that in the time
of Duke William, the son of Albert
Duke in the County of Holland, he
sought food and the necessaries of life
by keeping the night watches of the
city; whereby to support himself and
his family decently. This Peter, when
after the manner usual with men in the
world he had earned his livelihood in
simplicity in much toil for some years,
took to wife one Petronilla, a woman
of great probity and virtue, befitting
his name and nobility; who by the gift
of God flourished with the seed of many
children, and, fearing God, strove to rule
her house religiously. She begot eight
sons, and one daughter named Lydwine,
whom certain Latinists call Lydia, con
cerning whom the present discourse
intends to relate the many marvels
which God wrought by her before many
witnesses. Although, therefore, being
the mother of so many children she
had suffered the greatest labour in the

52

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

birth of each, nevertheless in the bring
ing forth of this daughter she felt almost
no pain. For having entered the Church
on Palm Sunday, feeling that the time
of her childbirth was at hand, with
speed she returned home; and almost
without any great pain she brought
forth this child of election during the
reading of the Lord s Passion, in the
year of the Lord s Incarnation, one
thousand three hundred and eighty, 1 on
the fifteenth of the Kalends of April 2
on the morrow of Gertrude Virgin, 3 in
the time of Pope Urban the Sixth, the
third year of his pontificate, the reverend
prelate Florentius, dear both to the
clergy and the whole people, sitting in
the See of lower Utrecht. This daughter
then, having been born in the fifth
place in the order of children, and re
generated in the baptism of Christ,
received the name of Lydwine, or Lydia,

1 The year which also witnessed the birth of the
Venerable a Kempis himself.

2 March i8th.

3 St. Gertrude of Nivelles, daughter of Pepin of
Landen, Duke of Brabant and ancestor of Charle
magne. Her feast is kept in the Lowlands on
March i8th. This Saint must not be confounded
with the Benedictine St. Gertrude, whose feast falls
Nov. 15th.

53

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

given her by her parents. She was
truly an ornament among- the daughters
of men and a mirror of modesty; but
by the ordinance of God from eternity
she soon became a devout contem-
plator of the Lord s Passion and con
formed to the crucified by many wounds
of bodily sickness.

CHAPTER II

OF HER DEVOTION TO THE IMAGE
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

When this maiden, then, was seven or
eight years of age, by the inspiration of
God she commenced to have a great
devotion to the image of the blessed
Virgin Mary, which stood in the church
of Schiedam. The townsmen of that
city relate that this statue was obtained
very miraculously and bought for a small
sum from a certain man, the sculptor
of the said image. For when he, wish
ing to go to the fair at Antwerp and sell
the image there at a better price, had
gone on board ship, taking the image
with him, the image became of such a
great weight that twenty or more men

54

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

could not move the boat from the shore.
Seeing this, the seamen in amaze con
sidered that the difficulty of moving- the
vessel came from the presence of the
image, and that it wished to have the
place of its dwelling there. After a brief
counsel, then, the artist sold the image
to the citizens, who for reverence set
aside a special choir to it in the church.
And later in honour of the blessed and
glorious Mary ever a Virgin many of
the townspeople of both sexes associat
ing together instituted a certain confra
ternity. And this image was of wood
and so light that one man could easily
have borne it. This image therefore the
young maiden, when she had carried
their dinner to her two brothers who
went to school, before she returned home,
entering the church, lovingly visited;
and she devoutly strove to honour the
same as best she could by the angelic
salutation. And this good and praise
worthy beginning indeed was remark
able in her childish days, and it was
a presage of greater grace in the future,
from the years of her youth even to the
end of her life. When therefore she
was reproached by her mother for her
late return, the dove without gall replied,

55

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

that she had entered the church to greet
the blessed Virgin, and that she in turn
had smiled upon her. Hearing which
her mother was satisfied, and gently con
tented ceased to trouble her. For she
was a dear and only daughter ; and she
was found worthily engaged in the work
of God and the praise of the blessed
Virgin, and was not therefore to be
restrained from her devotion.

CHAPTER III

OF HER STRONG PURPOSE IN THE
STATE OF VIRGINITY

Having passed the years of infancy,
when she was now advancing in the
age of girlhood, she was endowed with
such beauty of body and quickness of
mind and other gifts of nature bestowed
on her by God, that when she was twelve
years old she was sought by many in
marriage. To the which her father ex
horted her; the mother would by no
means agree because of her ignorance
and youth, but rather dissuading, asked
him not to disturb her. Then she with
constancy answered her father, that he

56

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

would never induce her to this ; yea, that
if there were no other means of escape
she would treat herself in such wise
that no one would seek her in wedlock.
Wherefore she daily besought the Lord
that He would take all harmful and
fleshly love away from her heart, that
she might be able to love Him alone, her
God and Lord, with pure heart and body.
Whose prayers and desires the loving
and merciful Lord heard without delay,
Who had chosen her from eternity a
spouse unto Himself; and providing by
a wondrous dispensation, He accom
plished her will in much bodily suffering,
according to that saying of His holy
word. " Every branch that beareth fruit
My Father will purge it ; that it may
bring forth more fruit" (John xv 2).
For the earth was good, producing the
flowers of modesty ; but lest the vanities
of the world or the delights of the flesh
should violate the seal of virginity,
Christ hedged it round with thorns and
most grievous pains, that it might not
be fit for any nuptial bed.

57

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER IV

OF THE BEGINNING OF HER WEAK
NESS, AND THE OCCASION OF HER
LONG ILLNESS

When therefore she was in her fifteenth
year, lest she might begin to wander
after the flocks of her worldly com
panions, 1 the physician of souls, Christ,
lovingly visited her for the salvation of
her soul and fettered her with a certain
bodily weakness, from which afterwards
she partially recovered. It happened
then at the end of the fifteenth year of
her age about the feast of the Purifica
tion of the blessed Virgin Mary, 2 that
she was invited by her girl companions
to go with them upon the ice shod with
skates ; when one of her comrades going
along over the ice at a rapid pace, and
unable to stop herself, caught Lydia by
the hand ; and before long she suddenly
fell upon some fragments of ice, and,
seriously hurt, broke a small rib in her
right side. From which fracture many
pains befell her, and increased. For
first a hard abscess grew round the place
of the broken rib; and although her

1 A reference to Canticles i 6. 2 Feb. 2nd.

58

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

parents expended much to heal it,
nevertheless they were not able to ob
tain the wished for cure. And when
no one could heal her, and she had
been frequently moved from place to
place, from bed to bed, as the violence
of her disease demanded; at length in
the sixteenth year of her age, on the
vigil of St. John Baptist, 1 when her
father had come to her to console her,
she, starting up from the place where
she lay, in her weakness fell doubled
up upon the knees of her father. And
in this brusque movement the abscess
was broken, and the matter flowed in
abundance through her mouth with
vomiting; and thereupon she became
so feeble that she was thought to be
almost dead. From that time forward
she now began to be afflicted with con
stant infirmities, in which, before she
had the taste of things spiritual, she
accepted human and bodily remedies,
as need required; although they pro
fited but little, and did not relieve her
pain. And so for the first three years
of her sickness at Eastertide she was
taken or carried to the church for Holy
Communion ; and as she could not stand
or walk upon her feet she used a stick

1 June 23rd.

59

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

or a crutch, creeping- along inside or out
of doors. Often also she drank copiously
of the cold water of the ditch, although
it was muddy ; or, coming to the fire, she
would take it hot or warm from the
saucepans, which nevertheless she im
mediately threw up from her weakened
stomach. For want then of human
counsel, and with an increase of care
less management, her body wasted
away; but the soul in its vessel of
clay was preserved by a hidden grace
for great merit hereafter, that in her
might be accomplished what is read
of blessed Job. " Behold, Satan, he is
in thy hand: but yet save his life
(Job ii 6).

CHAPTER V

OF THE OPINION OF A CERTAIN
DOCTOR, AND THE MIRACLE THAT
BEFELL HER

A certain doctor from Delft, Master
Andrew by name, 1 visiting her, told her

1 The author has here followed John Brugman in
his Life translated from Gerlac : but in his later and
corrected work Brugman attributes these remarks to
Godfrey of Hague, who is mentioned in ch. iii, and
whose son, also a doctor, appears in Book II.

60

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

parents as in prophecy, that by no
means would she obtain health, even
if they should expend a large sum of
English nobles for her. The same ex
perienced Master, to console her parents
and kinsfolk, also added that God would
work such and so great supernatural
wonders in her, that for a weight of
gold the size of the maiden s head he
would wish that she were his daughter :
for from such an offspring he would hope
to receive the greatest joy.

And there befell, in the aforesaid three
years while the maiden, was lying abed
ill, a thing very miraculous, which God
deigned to manifest to the glory of His
name and to make known the virgin s
merit. Two men in the city excited in
mind against one another began to
quarrel, and one pursued the other with
a drawn sword to strike and wound,
or kill him. The other of them there
fore in terror fled to the house and
chamber of this maiden, that hiding
there he might escape the hands of
his pursuer. Whom the other following
soon after, asked of her mother Petron-
illa whether he had entered the house.
And she, wishing to save the fugitive
by her lie and to hinder the pursuer

61

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

from shedding blood, answered him that
he had not entered. But he, not believ
ing the words of the mother, went into
the inner room of the sick girl. And
when he had asked her whether he had
entered her chamber, the holy virgin
with hope in God confidently replied
in the affirmative. At which answer her
mother, being angry, gave her daughter
a blow, as if she had added to her misery
the treason of malice by her incautious
words. Then the daughter replied to
the mother with constancy: "I there
fore told the truth, because I hoped that
the truth would conceal him who fled
to it." Which also happened, by the
providence of God. For he who was
sought unto death stood before the eyes
of his pursuer, and was quite unseen.
He departed therefore, giving over the
pursuit of the fugitive, not knowing that
the power of God had been there. Seeing
which, her mother extolled the faith of
her daughter far exalted above her faith,
or rather her want of faith ; and hence
forth she conceived a fuller love towards
her, and began to bear her infirmities
more kindly.

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CHAPTER VI

OF THE SCANTINESS OF HER
NOURISHMENT FOR MANY YEARS

After this her maladies increased and
multiplied so much, that deprived of all
strength of body she was entirely con
fined to her bed, so that for the space
of thirty-three years before her death
she did not touch the ground. And her
nourishment after the first three years
until the nineteenth year of her sickness
was of a food slight and little, and that
cannot be conceived sufficient for the
sustenance of so very ailing a human
life. Sometimes she took a small piece
of apple warmed over the fire, some
times a little bread with a slight sip
of white beer, sometimes a little fresh
milk. Afterwards,. however, she could not
take such things for weakness of body ;
for some years she drank through the
week half a pint of pure wine, without
any admixture, which nevertheless later
for some years it was necessary to mingle
with water. Sometimes also she would
eat a little spice of sugar or cinnamon,

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or musk, or grapes. But when she
could no longer take these eating or
sucking, she took only water, namely
half a pint of the water of the Meuse
a week ; which by a special gift of God
brought her such sweetness, that it sur
passed all flavour of wine ; for the which
she used to give great thanks to God.
At the same time she received this favour
from God, that by taste alone she dis
tinguished between the water of the
Meuse when the tide was in and when
the tide was out, when she took the
cup brought her, with a draught there
from. 1 For many years there was that
also which is more to be wondered at,
that she had no sleep and took no bodily
food or drink except the body of Christ,
the sole remedy of all her pains, and a
most sweet solace, most savoury to her
above all food. 2

1 Schiedam is at a sufficient distance from the sea
to have the Meuse water there usually fresh ; but at
full moon it would be salty enough when the tide
was in to make a noticeable difference to the poor
sufferer who took no other drink

2 This abstinence from all food was made the
subject of a rigorous inquiry by the town authorities.
See Introduction. For the rest, as Huysmans re
marks, no inquiry could be more critical than that
which would be provoked in such a case by the
curiosity or envy of neighbours.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER VII

OF THE VARIOUS ILLNESSES AND
PAINS THAT TORMENTED HER
DAY AND NIGHT

In this virgin was accomplished what
is read of blessed Job. " In the night
my bone is pierced with sorrows; and
they that feed upon me do not sleep:
with the multitude of them my gar
ment is consumed" (Job xxx 17). And
so with the failure of medical arts and
of the nourishment of food, her weakness
daily grew worse. And the maiden
pitiably afflicted lay upon a hard couch
and was eaten by worms which, rising
from her virginal body out of the putre
faction, consumed her flesh : and never
theless no stench proceeded from them.
These worms were of a grey colour full
of grey water, having black heads, large
as the thickness of the end of a spindle,
long as the measure of the small joint
of a man s finger.

She had also, disciple of the holy
Trinity, in her body three large open
ings, from one of which in the stomach

the aforesaid worms sometimes flowed

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

abundantly. To this wound was placed
a plaster made up of fresh wheat and
honey, that the g-enerated worms might
feed on this mixture and other in
gredients; for else they would have
eaten her even to death. And when
these plasters were taken off to be
changed, there remained on them little
grey worms with black heads, giving
forth from them no bad odour, but offer
ing" a sweet smell to those who beheld
them. The same virgin then was cor
rupt in the lower part of the body with a
permanent and large wound; and that
her holy bowels might not altogether
fall out, they closed the opening with
some soft bandage.

It happened at that time that the
famous physician of the Duke of Holland,
Master Godfrey of Hague, came to visit
this maiden with the Duchess Margaret,
to examine the cause of her maladies;
in order to give the maiden some whole
some remedy if he could. Who, as was
permissible and befitting, having seen
some of the intestines of her stomach
which were taken from her body and
placed in a dish, found that the aforesaid
worms came from the putrefaction of the
spinal cord of her back ; and that that

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putrefaction was caused by a natural
consequence, because she ate no salt.
After which, seeing that he could do no
good for her, he bade that the intestines
be replaced again in her stomach. The
same doctor also remarked, that in a
short time she would be dropsical. And
she contracted this dropsy about nine
teen years before her death, during
which she took neither food nor drink
nor sleep. And as she received no
nourishment, so she voided no natural
superfluities.

About the year of the Lord, 1412, this
sacred plant of God, dug about by the
long hoe of suffering, from the vehe
mence of her pains vomited by little
pieces her lung and liver, with several
intestines, but without any stench, as
was proved by many. For those who
touched them with their hands, felt a
sweetness cling to their hands for nearly
a day. From the fourteenth year until
the twenty-first she could nowise move
or turn herself ; and she lay on her back
that seven years and after even to death,
nor could any part of her body move,
except her head and left arm with the
shoulder. But when she was moved or
turned in bed, then it was necessary to

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

bind round her shoulders with a cloth
or soft bandage; otherwise there was
a danger that she would fall to pieces.

Very many other maladies also the
virgin of Christ girded with most cruel
scourges suffered ; which were inflicted
upon her not to the loss of her soul, but
to her greater merit as on holy Job, so
that afterwards she might be the more
capable and meet for angelic and
heavenly consolations, the more dis
tressed and desolate she lay upon earth.
She often had excessive headaches even
unto death, very often manifold tooth
ache even unto death, divers fevers
also even unto death, a long dropsy even
unto death, at the time of pestilence
three abscesses, a very great stone also
before death, with which likewise she
paid the debt of death. All this for very
many years she suffered most patiently,
that her soul might be saved for ever,
and with Christ exult in the delights of
Paradise. For the more bodily sick
nesses abounded in her, so much the
greater grew in her the love, strong as
death, of God and her neighbour. For
from the plenitude of her chanty and the
urgency of her internal fervour, she
dared in a certain way to provoke the

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Lord to multiply upon her miseries and
pains. And the Lord hearkening: to her
prayers, when she had two abscesses in
her body, added a third on her breast.
In fine, she suffered from all the common
infirmities wherewith men are usually
afflicted, the which she lovingly bore
with wondrous and unparalleled patience
for the love of Christ, mindful of all His
even greater dolours. There was
scarcely any part of her body which did
not waste away with some special afflic
tion of suffering. For on her forehead
she had a fracture extending to the
middle of the nose; likewise on the
lower lip and chin a cleft congealed with
blood, and because of this malady she
could hardly speak. Her right eye was
altogether sightless; and her left re
mained so weak, that it could make use
of no material light by day or by night,
yea even she felt torture from any bright
ness of light. Wherefore she constantly
lay in darkness; and a simple curtain
surrounded and veiled the place of her
bed, so that seldom was she openly seen
by men. But yet she very often saw an
angel of light to the comfort of her ex
ceeding great torture.

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CHAPTER VIII

OF THE SEVERITY OF HER FEVER AND
A FRESH DISEASE IN HER LEG

This rose of Christ suffered long and
divers fevers, often quartan, often tertian,
and often daily. Amid which thorns of
affliction she simply gave up her body to
the will and chastisement of God to be
crucified ; at Whose bidding all things
were ordered unto the good of her soul,
and much better than any man could
foreknow or design. And in fact the
tertian fevers she endured for seventeen
years and more : which for the salvation
and redemption of souls, she was will
ingly ready to bear even to death. The
attacks of these fevers was as follows.
For first she felt an indescribable heat,
which was followed by an indescribable
cold. Then again the aforesaid heat
and afterwards the intense cold returned :
which vicissitudes lasted for nearly half
the year. But afterwards she would
have the same fever the other way ; for
first she was in a great and indescrib
able cold, and then in an immense heat,
which lasted until the torture finally

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ceased. But when the fever gave over
she would be so insensible that, uncon
scious of herself, she could neither hear
nor speak. For when she felt the attack
of the fever she applied herself to exer
cise of the Lord s Passion, commending
herself and her sufferings to the Passion
of Him in Whom all bitter things are
sweetened. Who often withdrew her by
excess of mind from corporal things so
that she noticed neither herself nor
anything else whatsoever. And during
this fever, she sent out a certain red
water from her mouth; and when she
was questioned whence such matter
came, seeing that she took neither food
nor drink, she answered by a question
thus. "Tell me whence so much sap
comes in the vine ; which during winter
seems withered and almost dead?"
But the virgin of Christ was comforted
exceedingly in her so weak body by
taking up a good meditation on God;
and she was much more refreshed
thereby than another would have been
by most costly foods. And if the presence
of men and her maladies had not hin
dered her, she would not have wondered
if on account of the abundance of divine
grace each month, she had fattened the

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

flesh in her body beyond the measure
of a Hamburg vat.

Once also before the beginning of the
fast, while the people were amusing
themselves in the square near her cell,
she grieved much over these vanities,
and prayed God that if it were pleasing
to Him in her regard, or if He Himself
wrought those things in her which she
suffered, He would deign to show her
this by the sign of a new illness. And
the Lord, hearing her prayers, gave her
in one of her legs a fresh troublesome
disease. With which malady indeed she
was so grievously afflicted until the next
Easter, that conscious of her weakness
she did not dare to beg for a further
increase of her infirmities. But she was
wont to say in her daily sicknesses to
some who constantly assisted her, that
she was quite willing to bear them for
forty years ; yea even to the end of the
world for the conversion of any sinner,
or for the deliverance of any faithful
soul from the pains of Purgatory. For
although she was weighed down by such
great maladies, she retained the full use
of her senses, and a quick intelligence
and memory, so that to many who came
from distant parts to visit her asking

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advice, she afforded comfort in spiritual
things as well as healing in bodily needs.
Many women also labouring in childbirth,
she relieved by loving compassion and
the assistance of her counsel. In the
midst of these divine gifts she was not
puffed up, nor did she presume loftily
concerning her future glory, but bowing
down her heart in humility, she most
patiently bore all her burdens in charity,
and feared as if she were to suffer
Purgatory after this life. But she
merited such grace with God that the
holy angels numbered the steps of those
who visited her for the sake of devotion.
Wherefore she used to console her
visitors, who sometimes complained of
the weariness of their journey ; that they
should not grieve for their fatigue,
because God would render them a good
reward for their toil.

CHAPTER IX

OF THE HARDNESS OF HER BED
AND THE COLD SHE SUFFERED
IN WINTER

Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
commending St. John Baptist amid

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many virtues for his rough raiment
and abstinence, added also this. " For
they, that are clothed in soft garments,
are in the houses of kings" (Matt,
xi 8). But this virgin was not
nourished in a royal palace; but in
her father s house, oppressed by divers
and grievous maladies, she used for a
time under the stress of her exceeding
great weakness a small feather bed, not
to caress the flesh by softness, but to
support the weakness of nature a little
in order that it might serve the spirit.
But when from the multitude of her
wounds she could not bear a bed of
feathers, because the feathers hardened
by the oozing matter tormented her as
she lay, the easy bed was taken away
and for a time she lay upon the bare
straw; for three years she even rested
uneasily with her naked back upon a
hard plank taken from the bottom of a
bin. Lying therefore upon wretched
straw, the poor virgin full of sores, the
sister of the beggar and poor man
Lazarus, left her bed to the son and
daughter of her brother for their rest ;
who day and night by mutual charity in
turn ministered to her needs.
About the year of the Lord, 1408, so

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severe a cold reigned through the world
the whole winter, that in duration and
bitterness it afflicted men much more
than usual, and destroyed the plants of
the earth and the fishes under the
water. In this most terrible winter the
sick slave of Christ covered with wounds
was frequently so frozen from the fear
ful cold and her nakedness, that her
limbs became black, and the tears of
her eyes congealed ; so that she was
unable to see except by melting them
with the application of heat. Very
many other pains also she suffered at
that time from the presence of the cold,
such as could scarcely be endured by
the strong, and if the Author of nature
had not supernaturally cared for and
preserved her, she would undoubtedly
have lost her life. In the accumulation
of all these so many miseries and needs
of her own, as a kind mother and loving
nurse she was ever mindful of other poor,
taking away from her own necessaries
in order to aid them in their want.
However, the rich of this world who live
in luxury, and exult in much wealth to
the loss of their souls, were entirely
forgetful of her, and stretched not a help
ing hand to the poor sufferer. Many

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also not knowing her holiness despised
her, and deeming her mad mocked at her
mental ecstasies. Then was fulfilled in
her, that which is read of holy Job. " The
simplicity of the just man is laughed to
scorn ; and the lamp despised in the
thoughts of the rich " (Job xii 4, 5).

CHAPTER X ^

OF HER WATCHINGS AND STRUGGLE
AGAINST SLEEP

It seems very wonderful and almost in
credible to many, how the weak flesh
could last in so many sufferings and
pains, which for so long a time was
nourished by neither food nor drink nor
sleep. But if we remember the divine
power, which makes possible the impos
sible, [we can understand that] the maid
was able to bear all things in Him Who
strengthened her ; for that which is be
yond nature was brought to pass by the
work of God. Witnesses are the many
martyrs and virgins thrown into the
flames, who by God s ordering and pro
tection were found not only very patient
in their torments, but even full of joy ;
and what is more, they remained un-

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harmed amid blows, swords, and fires.
The hand of God then is not shortened,
nor the arm of the Almighty feeble to
save them that hope in Him; but in
every place and time the Lord is near
them that call upon and love Him in
truth. In this feeble servant of God
therefore let the work of the Divinity
be acknowledged, and the weakness of
man cease to distrust. Which, while
it depends upon its own opinions for
natural reasons, very often fails and is
blinded in its search. For nature must
needs be silent when the divine speaks ;
and earthly things yield when the
things of Heaven are treated. This
virgin, then, lying so long on the bed of
pain, was not forgetful of her Creator,
but mindful of the name of the Lord day
and night, she gave herself fervently to
holy meditations and prayers; and
especially at the time of the Divine
Office and the celebration of the High
Mass. Whence how strongly she
struggled against and overcame sleepi
ness, is worth the telling and pleasant
to hear. It is commonly the habit of
many men, to be more tempted to sleep
at the time of the Divine Office, whether
from their own weakness or from the

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suggestion of the devil, who ever strives
to oppose man s salvation and devout
prayers. When therefore the scholar
of Christ, having learnt to pray often,
felt herself more than usually weighed
down and tempted by the spirit of torpor
and drowsiness at the time of the
Divine Office, although she was wont
to sleep very little at that period, never
theless she grieved much within herself
over this temptation of sloth, and dared
not yield to it. Her confessor therefore
fearing that danger threatened her if
she did not sleep, urged her with a view
to her health not to resist drowsiness
any more, but whatever feast might
come at whatever time or hour to set
herself to sleep. On a certain Easter
Sunday, then, when the same temptation
coming grievously molested her; she
mindful of the Lord very strongly re
sisted the drowsiness, according to what
is written. " Resist the devil and he
will fly from you." Having then gained
this one victory over sleep, she was so
strengthened against it by God, that she
never slept after that until her death,
nor was ever tempted with drowsiness.
For as the holy angels, resisting the first
temptation of pride, were confirmed in

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

grace, and those who consented were
cast out of Heaven, so to this victorious
virgin was given the gift of inviolable
fortitude in many watchings and in
stripes afflicting her beyond measure;
by which she was proved as gold is tried
in a burning furnace (Wisdom iii 6).

CHAPTER XI

OF THE POVERTY AND ENDURANCE
OF HER FATHER

This holy virgin s father, Peter Johns
above named, although he had come to
such poverty, that he toilsomely obtained
the necessaries of life by keeping the
night watches in the city, nevertheless
he was so honest and conscientious that
in his need he was unwilling to spend
the alms of his daughter, saying that
they would be the sins of men. There
fore he wished and he persuaded his
beloved child, that she would use her
self what was offered for God s sake,
and expend it on pious purposes. It
happened then in the aforesaid severe
winter, that his limbs were numbed
in the night watches from the excessive
cold, and the big toe of the right foot

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was frostbitten. In which case indeed
the probity of the man is shown ; since
he chose rather to endure the rigour
of the cold, and to support himself by the
labour of watching, than to eat up the
alms of the poor. For it is written.
" Thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands :
blessed art thou and it shall be well
with thee."

At the same time Duke William, with
the Duchess Lady Margaret and a large
company, entered the city of Schiedam ;
and noticing the poverty of Peter, a
most noble man of a military family,
moved with a pious compassion, out of
reverence for the holiness of his
daughter, he bade him ask with con
fidence from him, as much as he
thought would suffice for his yearly
expenses and needs. Who replying
simply, asked for twelve crowns of
France. The Duke himself marvelled
at the modesty of the petitioner, and
ordered that these crowns should be
given him every year; declaring that
he was ready to give double the amount,
that he might not longer suffer such
want. And this money was at first
indeed faithfully paid ; but afterwards
it was bestowed on him less willingly,

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for the favour of man is quickly ex
hausted in giving: blessed therefore
the man who has his treasure in
Heaven. And receiving this alms from
the aforesaid Duke William, Peter, not
elated because of the benefit bestowed
on him, but grateful to God, constantly
visited the church, intent on devout
prayer as best he could, perfectly
contented with his daily food and a
moderate raiment.

CHAPTER XII

OF THE ILLUSION OF SATAN WHO
CAST HER FATHER INTO A DITCH

And when this devout Peter was so
weak from old age, that he could
scarcely walk without falling frequently
from any slight cause and returning
home injured, nevertheless he did not
refrain from visiting the church on
account of his bruises and falls, but as
if still possessed of youth, drawn by
fervent devotion visited the temple of
God, even against the wish of his
daughter. For the holy child was

anxious for her father s safety, more

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

grieving and fearing for his danger than
for the scourge of her own disease.

On one occasion, going out on the
vigil of Pentecost to hear Vespers, he
met the devil, who appeared to him in
the likeness of one he knew, as it
seemed outwardly. Who, wishing to
deceive the simple man, suggested that
they should go for a stroll outside the
city, alleging that they would return
in good time for the hour of Vespers.
And he, not knowing that it was Satan,
agreed, and they went together beyond
the city gate to the place called
Damlaen. Then the devil showing the
wickedness of his deceit, suddenly
rushed upon Peter, and before he saw
or knew, cast him into a ditch and
disappeared. And as he was there
beginning to drown and there was no
one at hand to aid, by divine providence
a certain carter, an acquaintance of his,
contrary to his wont came by the same
way from the country with his waggon,
wishing to enter the city, and he saw
Peter lying in the ditch, and quite un
able to help himself. And being moved
with compassion he at once drew him
out of the mud ; and setting the injured
man upon his cart, brought him back

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safe to the town. And immediately a
false report unexpectedly assailed the
ears of all ; as if Peter had been drowned
and was dead. And this news so
afflicted the ears of his daughter, that
she could never afterwards recall that
vigil without deep anguish because of
the suffering of her father. For the
crafty enemy reckoned to cause a great
catastrophe to the virgin, if he added
her father s distress to the pain of her
own wounds. But God, the helper in
afflictions and the comforter of the
sorrowful, in a short while turned the
father s weariness into rest, his grief into
joy, his poverty into heavenly riches.
For, consoled by the blessed virgin, he
was snatched by a speedy and blissful
end from the troubles of this world and
the guiles of the devil.

CHAPTER XIII

OF THE DEATH OF HER FATHER ON
THE VIGIL OF THE CONCEPTION OF
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

A few days before the Conception of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, the devout

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

maiden Lydwine, the daughter of Peter,
foreknew that her father was about to
pass from this world. For she said that
she had heard in secret from her father,
that the Blessed Virgin Mary had
entered into a pact with him, and had
promised that she would call him from
the present world about this festival.
Which also came to pass as she fore
told. The most faithful maiden there
fore warned Master John the priest
who had come to her for advice ; that
the same day he should go to Ouderschie
to celebrate, so that on the morrow
nothing might be wanting for her
father s funeral. After these words the
death of her father took place on the
vigil of the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin, according to the vision and
prophecy revealed before.

And after his death, although the
maiden, deprived of the temporal solace
of her father s presence, had asked and
had been assured of the salvation of her
father, the perverse demons, the enemies
of all the good, sometimes saddened her
exceedingly, asserting that they had her
father with them in the state of damna
tion. Whereupon she commenced to
weep inconsolably, as if what she had

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heard from the demons were true.
Whence also when questioned by the
members of the household why she wept
so much, she answered, "I know that
all is very well with my father, and
nevertheless the demons say that he is
lost." On one occasion, therefore, when
she was being conducted by a holy
angel to the gardens of paradise, the
demons besetting her path, showed her
a devil transformed into the likeness of
her father, mocking and tormenting,
saying, "Ah, ah, look here, we have
thy father." Then she, knowing that the
act of the devil was a vain illusion and
not the truth, said that this could not be
her father. And at once they vanished
as smoke; and the maiden joyously
continued her journey with the angel
guide.

CHAPTER XIV

OF THE DEATH OF JOHN PETERS
HER GRANDFATHER AND HIS LONG
CONTINENCE

We must not pass over in silence the
righteousness and continence of John

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Peters, who was the grandsire of this
virgin and the parent of her father, to
the praise of God and to exalt the
dignity of this good family. This John
Peters, then, of praiseworthy repute and
life, after the death of his wife remained
a widower more than fifty years, until
he attained the ripe old age of nearly
ninety. And he practised such conti
nence and abstinence, that as a solitary
turtledove and lover of chastity, after the
death of his wife he never knew woman.
Moreover, for the preservation of this
continent life he fasted twice a week on
bread and water, and once only, to wit
on Sunday, he took meat at dinner.
And at his death Satan the malignant
ensnarer, seeing that he could not
approach him, set up such a tumult in
other parts of the house, that the
earthenware vessels were broken, but
without any loss or spilling of the butter
which was kept in one of these jars.
Nor is it strange if the devil dared beset
and harm the most faithful servant of
Christ, who inflicted the annoyance of
temptations on Christ in His fast ; from
whom nevertheless he departed van
quished and put to shame, for the

fraudulent one was unable to deceive

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the Almighty. And as the holy angels
after the departure of the temptation
drew near to Christ, so it is to be
piously believed that the soul of John
Peters was guarded by angels, and after
the death of the flesh blissfully con
ducted to Christ whom he served in life.

CHAPTER XV

OF THE DEATH OF PETRONILLA
HER MOTHER

It seems fitting also to insert in the
present page the passing away of the
noble woman Petronilla, the mother of
this holy virgin, and to associate the
woman to these noble men in due order
of virtue. After eight years then had
passed from the commencement of the
virgin Lydwine s illness, her mother
Petronilla, who had been most attentive
to her ailing daughter, also fell into a
sickness of the body ; of which, as of one
of the children of Eve, she died. When
therefore she was nearing death, and
giving heed to her imperfection, mourned
that she had not lived righteously
enough, she begged of her beloved child

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whom she knew to be pleasing and dear
to God, that she would aid her when
departed by her merits and prayers.
And she, casting- all her thought and
hope upon the Lord, said that she was
quite willing to die, renouncing her own
choice so much, that she would not that
the smallest little worm should die in
her stead. Hearing this, the holy and
faithful daughter, deeply touched, and
compassionating her mother from her
heart, urged her with holy words to
trust in the goodness of God ; so as to
bear with patience the scourge of the
Lord and death which none can
escape. And therefore for her succour
she most willingly offered her, and
utterly resigned whatever meritorious
good she had hitherto gained in the
exercise of virtue, in toils and the
endurance of patience. When her
mother had heard and gratefully
accepted this, trusting in the mercy of
God she commended herself into the
hands of her Creator. And the virgin,
abiding faithful to her mother through
all unto death, and considering what
she had now done, and deeming her
self as emptied of all her former good
works, to commence afresh a new pen-

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

ance, girded herself with a hair girdle,
hard and broad, adding new pain to the
old, that God might be propitious to her
and to every faithful soul. But after some
years the virgin girded with the hair
cloth, when on account of the dropsical
humours of her body, the first girdle was
rotted, again with mighty zeal girds
herself with another new one, and suc
cessively with many others that were
laid aside as worn out, until with the
last she passed from this life.

CHAPTER XVI

OF HER STATE AFTER HER MOTHER S
DEATH, AND HER PITY FOR THE
POOR

After the death of her mother, the
virgin, mindful of her mother s love, to
pay the debt of filial affection, did not
bury the talent entrusted to her in the
earth; but the few silver ornaments,
and all the other household utensils left
by her mother for her use because of her
pressing need, she sold at a low price ;
and the sum gained thereby, she so
generously distributed to the poor, that
in consoling the wretched she was

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

brought to the utmost poverty. Those
things also which she received from the
faithful in alms, she passed on so cheer
fully to the poor, as if she seemed to
have no thought at all of temporal
things. Thence from the money she
had and from what was given for her
needs, she sent to divers poor persons
bread, meat, dried fish, and cheeses, and
a measure of beer with a jug which her
loving mother had left her ; and if God
bestowed anything further upon her,
she faithfully gave it away. And while
she sent these things by her attendants,
in the meantime she gave herself to
the leisure of devout prayers, rendering
thanks to the giver of all good things,
who had granted her something for
the use of the poor.

CHAPTER XVII

OF THE BURNING OF HER BED WHICH
SHE PUT OUT WITH ONE HAND
WITHOUT ANY INJURY

On one occasion the brother of this
virgin, who after his father also kept
the night watches, set a lighted candle
near the head of her bed in a high place

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

of the corner and went out. And this
falling- on (the straw burnt a great portion
of the bed, but she with her face covered
was engaged in her usual devotion. At
length coming to herself and opening
her eyes, she saw herself lying in the
midst of a fire and no one near to put it
out; by the help of God with her left
hand she extinguished all the flame
without any injury to her hand, to the
great wonder of all who, coming in the
morning to her, saw what had happened
in the burning of the bed while the virgin
remained unharmed. Nevertheless she
at that time did not use a bed, but the
children of her brother did, who were
devoted in serving her; for she herself
in her illness lay upon straw.

CHAPTER XVIII

OF THE ASHES MINISTERED TO HER
BY AN ANGEL AT THE BEGINNING
OF LENT

The most devout maiden, after the
manner of other Christians, was wont on
the Wednesday of the beginning of Lent
to receive with humble reverence from

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

the hand of her confessor blessed ashes
which he, taking from the church,
brought with him to sign her. One
Lent, therefore, on Ash Wednesday, her
confessor coming in to her, asked her
whether she wished him to bring ashes
with him from the church. The virgin
answered saying, " It may be good that
you do so. However God has provided
me with ashes." For the angel of the
Lord had been with her a little before,
and had signed her forehead with ashes.
But that her confessor might be assured
of this ; taking his hand she placed it
upon the ashes so that he might touch
them, and he found that beyond doubt
it was so. Moreover, that he might
share in so great a favour, with her per
mission he brought his forehead in touch
with hers. The angel of the Lord also
taught her that those who receive the
holy ashes should receive them with a
light and a cross to wit, a burning candle
with the cross on the penny brought to
the altar as a sign that they offered
themselves with the light of faith by
true subjection and mortification to
God. 1

1 The Bollandists remark that they can find no
trace of the custom here mentioned.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XIX

OF THE WINE MIRACULOUSLY
PLACED IN HER CUP

A certain poor woman afflicted with the
falling sickness was begging* a drink
from door to door. And when from
horror of her infirmity all avoided her
and shut their doors, the virgin, com
passionate and shunning no one in
misery, learning of her sad case, gave
word that the beggar, who was near
her house, should be called to her and
brought in. Coming in then to the
virgin, she begged the alms of a drink.
Then the sick virgin, pitying the poor
beggar, since she had nothing better
at hand to give her, bade her take the
cup of wine standing on a shelf and
drink it. "Take that cup, child," she
said, "and drink what wine is in it."
And when, having emptied this, the
thirsty woman asked for still more,
the virgin answered that she knew not
what other drink there would be in
the house. But that she might not go
away sad and unsatisfied, she gave her
a penny to buy a drink therewith at a

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

tavern. After this, as evening drew on,
the virgin s lips became parched with
thirst. She therefore asked her father,
who was living at that time, to hand her
a little wine to refresh the dryness of
her thirst. He answered, "Certainly,"
and taking the aforesaid cup to fulfil
his daughter s request, at once he
spilled over himself the wine which by
God s will had been placed therein.
And so for the little which she had
graciously given to the poor woman
in her need, she received from God
wine of a much better sort and in
greater quantity. And when the father
told his daughter this, she in wonder
gave thanks to God from her heart.
And this wine was red and so well
tempered, that it was not necessary
to mingle water with it, as she was
wont to do with the other. And this
wine lasted from the feast of St.
Remigius 1 until the feast of the Con
ception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 2
At which time she received a visit from
a certain good matron named Catherine
Simons, who was accustomed from a
special devotion to supply her with
wine. She, not knowing the mystery of

1 October ist. 2 December 8th.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

the wine given by God, wishing to
provide some better and fresh, as
thinking this wine spoilt from being
there too long, poured it all out, and thus
she no longer enjoyed that heavenly
favour. Nevertheless the virgin told
her friend, the aforenamed Catherine,
before she poured out the wine, that
this wine was quite suitable and
sufficient for her, and that she had
never tasted the like before. This sign
of grace was wrought for her in the
year of the Lord one thousand and
four hundred and twelve, while she
still drank half a pint of wine a week.

CHAPTER XX

OF THE MONEY PAID FOR HER
BROTHER AND MULTIPLIED IN
HER PURSE

After this, in the year of the Lord 1423,
the brother of this virgin, William
Peters, died, and he left after him
certain debts which his children could
not pay. When the most compassionate
virgin learnt this, having sold the
jewelry left her by her mother s legacy,
she amassed a sum of eight Holland

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

pounds, which she had changed into
pieces of one coin which she knew
better, and placed in a purse by her
side. One day, therefore, towards
evening" she called Nicholas her kins
man who was dwelling* with her, and
sent by his hand to pay her brother s
debts to all his creditors, where she
knew that they lived. Having there
fore paid all the debts which she knew
were due, she told Nicholas to look
into the purse, if anything had remained
in it. Who answered, that most
certainly much money was left in it.
At once she bade him count the same.
And when he had counted, he said
that he found the first eight pounds,
and that there was something over.
Then she forbade him count more,
and giving thanks to God for His
wonderful gift, she declared that that
purse should henceforth be called the
purse of Jesus, and that from it what
was needful should be given to the poor.
From this therefore she distributed
freely to the needy, when she had not
other money. But if sometimes she
had some money either her own or
received in alms, she would first give
this, but when she had not any other,

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

she gave so generously from this purse
of Jesus, that little remained in it.
But the mercy of God Almighty pro
vided, that always for the use of the
poor all sufficiency abounded therein,
as at the word of Elias the cruse of
oil failed not in the widow s house.
Sometimes also she handed this money
to one of her special friends to be
counted, and when he had counted it a
second or a third time, he always
found that it had increased by three,
or four, or five pieces. Having there
fore paid her brother s debts from this
purse, she distributed more than forty
pounds from the same, as she revealed
to some of her very familiar friends.
And by this miracle God made evidently
known, that [even] an accountant
might have strong faith in the gifts
of God which were wrought in her.

CHAPTER XXI

OF THE HAM GIVEN TO THE POOR,
AND MIRACULOUSLY REPLACED
BY ANOTHER

When on one occasion the pious and
pitiful virgin Lydwine had learnt that

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

some poor people had not eaten meat
for a long time because of their want,
and as she had not at that moment any
flesh meat to give them, she sent to the
house of a certain friend, begging him
to boil a ham and send it to her.
Which he willingly did, and sent. And
she divided the meat cooked and pre
pared into parts, and without delay
sent it on to the aforesaid poor whom
she knew to be in need. But the
almighty and merciful God, Who knows
the hearts of all and leaves no good
unrewarded, rendered a swift return to
the charity of this benefactor even in
the present. For entering his house,
and looking up by chance to the pieces
of meat that were hanging, he saw,
which is wonderful to relate, in the
place of the ham taken away and sent
to the virgin for the refreshment of the
poor, another hanging better and finer.
Which many hearing, rendered thanks
to Almighty God; and thereafter were
much more devoted to her, willingly
giving whatever white meats the virgin
asked of them to feed the poor.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXII

OF THE MEAT AND PEAS GIVEN TO
THE POOR, AND MULTIPLIED

It likewise happened once in autumn
that the virgin had a quarter of a heifer,
which she had bought, salted in the
fourth part of a barrel, and also half a
certain measure of peas she procured
for the need of the poor, wishing with
these to succour during the winter some
poor people who lived at home. When
therefore she had sent of the aforesaid
meat to nearly thirty-six poor families,
her messenger returning to her, said
that he had distributed as much as he
had first salted in the vessel, and that it
was still diminished but little. In a like
manner he had done with the peas;
which also seemed to be very little
lessened. Hearing which, the virgin
considering the great goodness of God,
and giving thanks to her heavenly
Provider, said to the messenger : " O
how great is the power of our Lord God,
O how willingly we ought to give alms
to the poor ! " And of the aforesaid meat

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and peas ate also all who were in her
house. So much had God blessed the
above food, that when Easter was over
about a half thereof remained. And all
the winter she bade them prepare and
cook a great pot of peas once or twice
a week, and to give thereof to the poor
with the aforesaid meat; imitating the
example of Eliseus the prophet, who
gave word that a pottage should be
made ready for the sons of the prophets
in a pot. And seldom did she send aught
of this to anyone, but she added a coin
small or great; if however she could
have one. But neither did she give
bread, without adding above some dish
to be taken with the bread, or money to
buy some condiment for the food. And
not only the poor, but the rich also
when they besought, she succoured from
charity with her alms. It would be too
long to recite each instance of what
with unstinted hand, as she was able to
possess, she gave to the sick, the weak,
to men, and to women in childbirth.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXIII

OF THE VISION OF A HEAVENLY
TABLE FILLED BY THE ALMS OF
THE POOR

And how pleasing to God were the
alms of this virgin was revealed to her
in ecstasy by a certain heavenly vision.
Whence when she was rapt into Para
dise she often saw first tables set, and
covered with cloths of green silk, then
her alms as if set by the citizens of
heaven placed upon the same, never
however lessened at all, but rather
increased. But the liquor which she
was wont to give in stone jars, she saw
there presented in transparent vases as
it were of crystal, and the dried fish
given for her departed niece Petronilla
likewise set. She saw also a glorious
gathering of the blessed, all in their
rank in different grades, approach the
table in due time as if to take refresh
ment; and the priests holding aloft
chalices, and the rest according to their
dignity bearing befitting escutcheons,
and herself also sometimes assist, and
serve, or sit down with the guests ; and
drink given to them that were seated

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and to herself, and all filled with un
speakable joy and gladness, over such
great charity shown them by her. If
ever on those tables she saw nothing of
her own almsgiving represented, she
was greatly ashamed, as if all had
brought their respective portions, but
she herself had contributed nothing.
Whence both for the sake of increasing
the glory of almsgiving, and because of
the confusion suffered, she made haste
afterwards to add to her alms. Some
times, however, the angel her guide led
her to a certain cell apart and spacious,
in which he served her her refreshment.
This refection, even if she felt it to be
ineffable, nevertheless as much as she
was able to describe it, she said was
a certain heavenly and divine light,
whereby she was divinely refreshed and
inebriated. Sometimes also by prayers
she obtained of the angel that she might
take one of those who were familiar and
dear to her to taste these things; and
although seeing in their sleep, they felt
that something of the kind was happen
ing to them, nevertheless it was in a
very different and inferior manner than
befell herself.

Here endeth the First Part of the Book.

102

Life of Lydwine, Virgin
Part II

PART II

PROLOGUE TO THE SECOND PART OF
THE LIFE OF THE SAME VIRGIN

Having spoken briefly of the many
diseases and sufferings of this virgin,
and also of the gracious works of her
mercy and of certain miraculous deeds
to the praise of God Almighty; now
also in due course of her spiritual gifts
and divine consolations and frequent
raptures, somewhat must be said and
humbly related to the edification of the
religious.

105

THE CHAPTERS OF THE
SECOND PART OF THE SAME

Chap. Page

I. Of the beginning of her spiritual
consolations through the recollec
tion of the Lord s Passion . . 109
II. Of her rapture into the Holy Land,
and to the sacred places of the city
of Rome ..... 113

III. Of the wonderful brightness and

sweetness appearing in her cell . 116

IV. Of the vision on Christmas night,

and the abundance of milk in her

breasts 118

V. Of the cypress rod which an angel

brought her from Paradise . . 121
VI. Of the bereavement of the angelic
brightness on account of the pre
sence of another hiding in her

cell 125

VII. Of her rapture to the regions of
Purgatory, and to the joys of
Paradise, whence she brought
back a veil given her by the
Blessed Virgin . , . .128

106

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

VIII. Of the glorious crown prepared for
her because of the insults and
wounds inflicted on her by the men

of Picardy 133

IX. Of the patience and death of

Petronilla, this virgin s niece . 140
X. Of the withdrawal of divine consola
tion, which the virgin suffered on
account of her grief for her dead
niece ...... 143

XI. Of the devout youth Gerard who had
become a hermit, and of the pil
grims who visited him . . . 147
XII. Of the happy end of Master Werm-
bold, priest, this virgin s faithful

friend 153

XIII. Of her divers raptures and her know
ledge of the state of certain re
ligious 157

XIV. Of the appearance and knowledge of

the angelic brightness about her . 161
XV. Of the wonderful manner of her
interior pain before the rapture of

her spirit 163

XVI. Of her spirit of prophecy, whereby
she revealed to others many hidden

things 165

XVII. Of a certain departed sacristan and

many other dead . . . .167
XVIII. Of her caution and prudence con
cerning the revelation of the state
of the departed . . . .170
XIX. Of the temptation of a certain man
delivered by the advice of the virgin
from the snare of the devil . . 172
107

CONTENTS

Chap. Page

XX. Of a woman freed by the merits of
the blessed Virgin Mary from the
gulf of despair .... 174
XXI. Of her grace of great compunction
and abundant shedding of tears
in the Communion of the body

of Christ 176

XXII. Of her insatiable desire to communi
cate often, and of the appearance
of a child crucified .... 179

XXIII. Of the fever of the child Baldwine,

and of, Master John her con
fessor 185

XXIV. Of her suffering from stone, and her

foreknowledge before the day of

her death 187

XXV. Of the grace on Easter night and the

prophecy of her death . . . 190
XXVI. Of her happy death and sufferings

at the last . . . . . 192
XXVI I . Of the wonderful placing of her arms,

and the shrouding of her body . 195
XXVIII. Of the wonderful beauty and aspect

of her countenance . . . 199
XXIX. Of the flocking of visitors to her

dead body 201

XXX. Of the stains which she contracted

from the touch of unclean men . 202

XXXI. Of her reverential burial . . . 203

XXXII. Of the miracles after her death . 206

XXXIII. The narration of three miracles . 206

108

CHAPTER I

OF THE BEGINNING OF HER SPIRI
TUAL CONSOLATIONS THROUGH
THE RECOLLECTION OF THE
LORD S PASSION

As of old through the mouth of the
holy prophets God spoke His secrets
to the comfort of His elect, so now
also He speaks to them by the writ
ings of the learned, and the examples
of the good, lest perchance troubled by
the divers tribulations of the world, or
torn by scourges, they fall away from
the hope and expectation of the joys
to come. For holy David, to whom
God revealed the hidden things of His
wisdom (Ps. 1 8), says that he frequently
received the consolations of God amid
many adversities. "According to the
multitude of my sorrows in my heart,"
he saith : " Thy consolations have
given joy to my soul" (Ps. xciii 19).
This sentence of Scripture God truly
and manifestly fulfilled to the letter in

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

this holy virgin, whom first He cleansed,
inebriating by divers pains and bitter
nesses; but afterwards, amidst the
bruises of many wounds visiting her,
He poured in manifold consolations
and rejoiced her. To repeat therefore
something of what has been already
said, after the first three or about four
years from the beginning of her malady
the virgin Lydwine was still impatient
of the divine discipline, and not yet
freely submissive to God, by Whom
however nothing is done upon earth
without cause; and when she saw her
companions visiting her healthy and
glad, and herself grievously sick, she
desired rather health of body with the
rest, than blessedness of soul through
the virtue of patience. And because
she did not yet savour spiritual things,
and knew not what was more accept
able to God, therefore sometimes she
complained, and grieved much over her
pains, and wept so very bitterly, that
she would accept comfort from no one.
Going in to her, therefore, Master John
Pot her confessor, who was wont to
communicate her twice a year, strove
to induce her by his words of consola
tion to moderate somewhat these tears

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and set a measure to her grief.
Whence he persuaded her by a gentle
exhortation to give and conform her
self to the divine will, and to exercise
herself in meditating upon the Lord s
Passion, promising that by the means
and aid thereof she would easily receive
good consolation. Asking therefore
the manner of this holy exercise,
and having received from the priest
the method of wholesome meditation,
when she was desirous of exercising
herself therein according to the formula
given her, and did not immediately
discover thence honey flowing from the
rock, nor taste therein the bread of
the prophet : overcome by weariness
she soon cast aside as bitter absinthe
that which she had received in her
heart without fixedly rooting it therein.
But when the same priest further in
sisted and urged her most strongly to
do violence to herself and persevere in
her beginnings, and overcome her dis
taste by a pious struggle, she, in
structed by this excellent advice, easily
yielded assent to the counsel of her
priest. And at length the good habit
of meditating upon God, gained by
violence, brought her in due course of

in

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

time such sweetness with the aid of
heavenly grace, that denying herself
perfectly she freely used to say, that if
it were possible to recover the full
health of her body by one Hail Mary,
nevertheless she would not do it or
desire it. Truly this was a change of
the right hand of the Most High
(Ps. Ixxvi n); Who opened His hand
to the needy (Prov. xxxi 20), and com
forted her in her long languishing by
nights on the bed of her sorrow. For
drawn and enticed by the hidden sweet
ness of the Lord s Passion, day and
night at fixed intervals she used to
turn over in thought the history of the
same most sacred Passion divided into
seven parts, according to the number
of the Seven Canonical Hours ; and
finding therein a hidden manna, she
was filled with the joy of such sweet
ness, that now not herself but Christ,
Whose Passion she contemplated,
seemed to endure what she had hither
to appeared to suffer in the body.
Then taught of the Spirit by experi
ence, she could fully say with Isaias,
" Verily Thou art a hidden God " (Is.
xlv 15). And again exclaim: "My
soul hath desired Thee in the night;

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

yea, and with my spirit within me in
the morning early I will watch to
Thee" (Is. xxvi 9).

CHAPTER II

OF HER RAPTURE INTO THE HOLY
LAND, AND TO THE SACRED PLACES
OF THE CITY OF ROME

While then the sick virgin earnestly
occupied herself every day in exercises
of the Lord s Passion, sometimes she
was rapt by a holy angel to the places
of the Holy Land in which Our Saviour
by His birth, life, and suffering wrought
the mysteries of man s redemption.
When therefore on Mount Calvary,
where the Lord was crucified, or at the
other holy places, she was admitted to
kiss the Lord s cross or His wounds;
and for the refreshment of her tribula
tions sucked honey out of the rock, and
oil from the hardest stone, and attained
to the embrace of the transfixed feet,
and to the expiring of her Spouse cruci
fied for love, then also after the example
of Him Whom she sought and loved,
she commended her spirit into His

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

hands. And although she often passed
from the wounds of the flesh to pene
trate the abysmal openings of the
divinity through the rapture of con
templation, so that for the abundance
of spiritual graces and sweetness she
ceased to feel the sufferings of the body,
nevertheless she was sometimes afflicted
by such great fresh maladies, that even
returning from those sweet kisses of
the Lord s cross and His wounds she
brought back certain ulcers imprinted
upon the lips of her mouth. Which
indeed by the ordinance of God was
wrought, so that not only according to
the multitude of sorrows in her heart
the divine consolations should rejoice
her soul within, but that also, according
to the multitude of the divine consola
tions, her tribulations and afflictions
suddenly arising should sadden and
humble her without ; that thereby openly
and frequently tried she might know by
contrary vicissitudes what things she
had received from God, and what she
had of herself. Then finally the angel
said to her: "These ulcers thou hast
therefore received in thy body, that thou
mayest know that thou art rapt also in

the body."

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Another time likewise, when she was
passing through the aforesaid most
happy regions, and for the slipperiness of
the path could not keep her footing, she
said that she felt in the body a certain
fall on the right foot, and that she
suffered pain from that fall and from the
sprain of the same foot. For from that
injury she contracted such a swelling
and blackening and pain in her ankle,
that even for several days she was
tormented thereby.

In a like manner she was once rapt to
the sacred places of the city of Rome.
And while she was going between some
of the chief churches, and was proceed
ing with outstretched arms between
shrubs and thorn bushes, from the
same bushes she received a thorn in her
fingers and brought it back with her,
from the pain of which, as from the other
maladies, she suffered not a little for
nearly two days. On account of these
bodily injuries then which thus she
brought back, she was wont to say, ac
cording to the word of the angel, that she
thought she had been rapt in the body
also. But how these bodily raptures
took place, the angel himself knew who
conducted her and bore witness thereof.

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

At times our Saviour Jesus Christ,
surrounded by the heavenly hosts,
entering her cell as a king with his
princes, set Himself at table, and seated
in order around her bed, they most
fully refreshed her with heavenly meats.
And what wonder if she needed not
bodily food, who was now nourished
with the angels on heavenly dishes,
as the Saviour Himself answered the
devil tempting Him over bread: "It
is written, not in bread alone doth man
live, but in every word that proceedeth
from the mouth of God" (Matt, iv 4).

CHAPTER III

OF THE WONDERFUL BRIGHTNESS
AND SWEETNESS APPEARING IN
HER CELL

Apart from her mental illumination,
over which great men of letters and
religious, versed in spiritual studies,
who often spoke with her, and not
understanding it wondered exceedingly,
very often by day and night when she
was visited by the angel, or returned
from the contemplation of the things
above, she was discovered by her

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

companions to be surrounded by so
great a divine brightness, that, seeing
the splendour, struck with exceeding
fear, they dared not approach nigh to
her. And although she always lay in
darkness, and material light was un
bearable to her eyes, nevertheless the
divine light was very agreeable to her,
whereby her cell was often so won-
drously flooded by night, that to the
beholders the cell itself appeared full
of material lamps or fires. Nor is it
strange if she overflowed even in the
body with divine brightness, who, ac
cording to the expression of blessed
Paul, beholding the glory of the Lord
with open face, was daily transformed
into the same image from brightness
to brightness as by the spirit of the
Lord (2 Cor. iii 18). And not only
was she wont to be surrounded by
divine brightness, but with a wondrous
sweetness also both herself and her cell
were found to be redolent, so that those
who entered thought that divers aro
matic simples had been brought in and
scattered there. And this wonderful
sweetness was perceived when she was
visited or touched by the Saviour or

by the angel, or when she returned from

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Heaven or the regions of Paradise.
Which most sweet odour indeed not
only breathed upon the scent through
the nostrils, but redounded also on the
taste of those who perceived it ; and as
strong a taste was felt upon the tongue,
and bit the palate, as if they had eaten
pepper or cinnamon. Chiefly, however,
from the hand a fragrance of wondrous
sweetness went forth when she had
been led thereby by the holy angel to
the joys above and thence brought
back.

CHAPTER IV

OF THE VISION ON CHRISTMAS
NIGHT, AND THE ABUNDANCE OF
MILK IN HER BREASTS

A certain widow of good repute, by name
Catherine, for some time dwelt in the
house of this virgin. To her once be
fore the nativity of Christ, it was made
known by a vision concerning this
virgin that on the Christmas night then
at hand the breasts of this virgin would
be filled with milk, and that Catherine
herself was to take the same milk.
When therefore the aforesaid widow

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had recounted this to the virgin, she
from humility strove in a certain way to
deny her words. At once the widow re
proached the virgin that she should dare
deny what had been revealed to her by
an angel. Then the virgin, constrained
by the widow s words, bade her prepare
herself to share in this grace. When
therefore she had devoutly prepared
herself thereunto, according to the
virgin s warning, she was not defrauded
of her desire promised her by Heaven.
For lo ! on the night itself of the most
sacred birth of the Lord, the virgin
Lydwine, rapt in spirit, saw an in
numerable multitude of maidens, at
the head of whom as queen and mistress
stood and presided the most holy
mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary,
among whom also she saw herself
admitted in the choir of virgins to
celebrate with joy the birth of Christ.
By these virgins stood also a multitude
of holy angels, as most noble clients
and comrades, offering devout service
to their friends, the virgins resplendent
in the virtue of chastity. When there
fore the hour of the Lord s birth arrived
wherein the child-bearing Virgin brought

forth the Christ, the breasts of all

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those virgins, and likewise of this virgin,
were seen to swell for abundance of
milk, and to have as much milk as the
Blessed Virgin received in her virginal
breasts to suckle Our Saviour when
she had brought forth Christ into the
light of the world. Therefore, after the
manner of the Blessed Virgin, the
breasts of all the others seemed to be
filled with milk, as a sign that all those
virgins were fit and worthy to suckle
the Lord. But there was, as the virgin
herself testified, so unspeakable a glory
there, such as eye hath not seen, nor
ear heard, nor hath it entered the heart
of man to conceive, so that all could not
be expressed by the tongue or written
by letters. Meanwhile the widow, mind
ful of the aforesaid promise, comes in
to the virgin, who, drawing her paps
with her hand, abounded with such a
flow of milk that the widow was
satiated with a triple application of
her lips, and for many days she re
mained without any desire to eat. And
if the virgin had not bidden her, she
would willingly have foregone bodily
food. After this also she received the
same grace and vision through con
templation two or three other years

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in her sacred breasts; but because
at the hour assigned no one was present
to witness it, therefore no one tasted
of the grace offered. Praised then be
Christ born of a Virgin, Who, to
strengthen the faith of believers by
works, made manifest in our days
certain stupendous miracles in this
ailing maiden.

CHAPTER V

OF THE CYPRESS ROD WHICH AN
ANGEL BROUGHT HER FROM PARA
DISE

This virgin in the time of her sickness
had a certain light twig with which to
open or close the curtain of her bed,
wherewith also she was wont to knock
in case of need and call one of the
household. It happened, therefore, on
the occasion of the burning of the city,
that many things were piled up round
her bed on account of the threatening
danger; 1 and thus by the carrying out

1 See Part II, Chap. XVI. John Brugman in his
second Life gives fuller details, from which it appears
that the townspeople, fearing that Lydwine s cottage
would take fire, stripped off the roof and left only
the bare walls standing. But then to protect the

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and the bringing back of things this rod
also was lost, but where it was the
virgin knew not. Afterwards, however,
on the night of St. Apollinaris, bishop
and martyr, 1 when the virgin for the
intensity of the heat could scarcely draw
her breath, she sought the rod to open
the curtain, and found it not. Dis
tressed therefore, she grieved much
hereat, for she could not help herself;
and there was no one else at hand to
aid her. At once then the angel of the
Lord appearing consoles her in her sad
ness, promising to restore another and
a better rod. And without delay, the
pain of her fever ceasing shortly after,
the angel as she felt gently placed a
stick about four feet long upon her
breast and retired. And taking it with
outstretched hand, in a certain sense
she thought little of it; inasmuch as,
twisted in appearance and heavy in
thickness, it was far from the lightness

weak eyes of the sufferer from the glare of the
summer sun, they made a roof for her bed with
planks, drew the curtains, and hurried away to
save what they could of their burning property. One
can imagine the suffocating heat from which poor
Lydwine suffered that terrible day and the follow
ing night.
1 July 23rd.

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of the lost rod, nor would it be for her
so light and manageable. Murmuring
therefore at this, she said silently to her
self: " Am I even now well content ?" But
what should she do, since she was as yet
unaware of the virtue of the wood ? She
then asks Master John, her confessor, to
go over to a carpenter, and ask him
to shape this stick with a plane to the
form of a yard measure. The priest
therefore enters the house of a certain
artisan, who of his many tools had
scarcely one plane fit for this work, the
rest having been already burnt in the
city fire. And when he had commenced
to shave the wood, and had set his
instrument well into it, such an odour
of sweetness evaporated therefrom, and
within it was bright with so fair a colour
after the fashion of wax, that although
outwardly it seemed ugly, nevertheless
without hesitation he declared that it
was cypress. Whereat both wonder
ing, since the priest could not tell the
carpenter of what kind was the wood
or whence it had come to the virgin,
they eagerly seized upon the shavings
and other pieces cut off. Then, by the
advice of the carpenter, the priest went
with the unpolished wood to another

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better workman, that he might finish
it off to a nicer shape. But when be
tween them they remarked in wonder
the same concerning the odour and
colour of the unknown wood, and for
reverence and the strangeness of the
thing appropriated the pieces cut off,
the priest in astonishment, not suffering
the wood to be further lessened, carried
it back in haste to the virgin. And
when he had asked her whence it had
come to her, and of what kind it was,
she confessed that she did not know its
species ; but she told the priest how she
had obtained it. Afterwards, however,
on the feast of St. Cyriacus, martyr, 1 the
angel coming back led her as usual to
the gardens of Paradise, and, reproach
ing her for her little esteem of the rod,
very clearly showed its worth and its
place and the tree whence he had
broken it. Then, coming back to herself,
she narrated in order to her confessor
what she had learnt of the angel, griev
ing that she had caused it to be cut
down. When therefore the news of this
sweet-smelling wood began to be noised
abroad, and many were wishful to see
and touch it, and because of it the

1 Aug. 8th.

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modest virgin suffered many visits, it
happened that on account of the touch
of a certain man, 1 the aforesaid wood
lost the fragrance of its most sweet
odour. And thereupon the virgin grieved
that it had been shown to another,
because of whose contact the heavenly
odour evaporated. But she was wont
to say that the devil would be chastised
by this rod, as she had learnt from the
holy angel. 2

CHAPTER VI

OF THE BEREAVEMENT OF THE
HEAVENLY BRIGHTNESS ON
ACCOUNT OF ANOTHER HIDING IN
HER CELL

On another occasion a kinsman of this
virgin, Nicholas by name, went in to visit
her with her confessor, and after they
had had some conversation the modest
virgin made known to them that she
would like to be alone in her cell for two

1 We learn elsewhere that this man was a
libertine.

2 In effect this rod was afterwards found most
efficacious in exorcising persons possessed.

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or three hours. She asked them there
fore to go out for a walk for a time,
hoping that in their absence, on account
of her interior recollection, she would
receive some special grace. 1 But in
particular she asked Nicholas not to
return before three or four hours.
While therefore he did as she requested,
the virgin s confessor without her know
ledge secretly entered her cell. The
virgin therefore, thinking that she was
alone in the secret of her chamber, at
once began to make herself ready to
receive the grace of the heavenly spouse
by devout prayers knocking at the inner
gates of Heaven. And about half an
hour after midday the angel of the Lord
came in to her, flying around the place of
the bed where the sick maiden lay, but
he did not draw nearer to her. The
virgin then, seeing that she could not
enjoy his gladsome presence, being
troubled, wept bitterly. She asked the
angel, therefore, whether she had

1 This reminds one of what is related by the
Ven. a Kempis himself. Conversing sometimes with
the brethren in recreation, he would suddenly break
off, and with the remark, " Someone awaits me in my
cell," gently take leave of them to entertain himself
alone with Jesus.

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offended the Lord by any fault whereby
she had not deserved to enjoy this grace.
But he answering, " By no means," said
he, "but on account of the presence
of him who is secretly seated in thy cell,
and strives to examine and experience
the grace prepared for thee." Having
said this, the angel departed from her.
Then the virgin, deprived of so happy a
solace, was exceedingly saddened, and
began to weep most bitterly, so that for
a time she was not rapt in ecstasy,
although she often enjoyed the grace of
the angel s visit. 1 Her confessor there
fore, hearing her weep thus, rising, told
her that he had been present. And
learning this, she was the more dis
tressed than if another had been there,
because she had so often revealed her
life to him, so that without any spying
he might believe the divine grace which
was wrought in her. When therefore
she had recovered from this trouble, and
had regained her peace, the loving and
compassionate Lord, as He had often

1 The sense seems to be that, on account of the
sadness, so intense as not to be without some im
perfection, to which the servant of God gave way
on this occasion, for some time afterwards she was
not favoured by a complete ecstasy.

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done before, so also afterwards raised her
in ecstasy above herself. Then was ful
filled in her what is said by the psalmist :
"Thou hast turned for me my mourning
into joy : Thou has cut my sackcloth,
and hast compassed me with gladness "
(Psalm xxix 12).

CHAPTER VII

OF HER RAPTURE TO THE REGIONS
OF PURGATORY, AND TO THE JOYS
OF PARADISE, WHENCE SHE
BROUGHT BACK A VEIL GIVEN
HER BY THE BLESSED VIRGIN

After this she was rapt by the spirit who
bore her to the regions of Purgatory,
where, amid others whom she saw in
manifold and grievous ways tormented,
she saw also the souls of her friends
punished, for whose deliverance and
relief she afterwards cruelly afflicted
herself in the body. When then she
had seen with grief these purgatorial
regions, and very many places of punish
ment wherein the souls were tortured
according to the diversity of faults, God
pitying her, she was led to contemplate

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the joys of eternal life. There indeed
she saw how God Almighty enjoyed His
own glory in Himself, according to that
" I am the first and the last " (Is. xli 4),
and " I will not give my glory to
another " (Is. xlii 8) ; she saw also how
the holy martyrs, confessors, prophets,
virgins, and other orders of the blessed
enjoyed their glory in themselves, and
for overflowing delights were mutually
transfused into one another. When
she had gazed upon these joys, many
saints addressing her sweetly comforted
her and, exhorting her to patience, spake
thus : " What trouble or harm is it to
those who are here now, that in the
world they suffered many adversities for
Christ ? " Then the most blessed Virgin
Mary approached her in great glory,
and kindly addressing her, questioned
her, saying : " Why, most dear daughter,
hast thou come with head uncovered
and unadorned ? " Then this virgin re
plied: "Most dear Lady Virgin Mary
this is the will of the Lord and my God,
and thus my conductor brought me here."
After many familiar colloquies then
of the Mother of God with this virgin,
the time coming wherein she should

return to her bodily senses, Christ s

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Mother addressed these words to her :
"Most dear daughter, do manfully,
and let thy heart be strengthened in
the bearing of sorrows ; because for
these things, which thou sufferest now,
thou shalt gain wondrous and great
glory." The blessed Virgin also added,
saying, "Wouldst thou have a veil
upon thy head ? " She replied : " I
cannot here have a will of my own."
When therefore she had looked to her
angel guide, and he, seeing that she re
signed her own will, had consented that
she should accept; "Receive," quoth
the Blessed Virgin, "this veil upon thy
head, which cannot be upon earth save
for seven hours. Give it also into the
hands of thy confessor; and tell him
that I require of him to believe the gifts
of the almighty Son of God, and to place
this veil upon the head of my image
which is in the church." After this had
taken place, the godly virgin returned
to her bodily senses, exultantly giving
thanks to God for a consolation so
joyful. But she was not aware that she
had received such a veil materially;
until at length, by the impulse of chance
or necessity, placing her hand on her
head she drew down a flower-bearing

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veil ; l which from its most sweet odour
she recognised as placed on her by the
hand of the Blessed Virgin, and almost
until the seventh hour of her return she
kept it by her. Now this veil was of a
yellow or golden colour, and of a texture
hitherto unseen by mortal eyes; and it
sent forth from itself an odour of
wondrous sweetness, and therefore as
long as she could she retained so beauti
ful and resplendent a veil by her. And
so before the seventh hour she bade
them rouse her confessor, and bring him
to her speedily, having some secret
things to relate to him. Who coming,
asked her what she desired. To whom
the virgin answered, that she had been
present at a certain feast, and that the
Blessed Virgin Mary had given her this
veil, to bring to earth and place in his
hands; that thereby he might believe
the gifts of God, and by order of the
Blessed Virgin receive this veil into his

1 The word used throughout by the author is
sertum, strictly, a garland; but other expressions in
the description apply only to a veil : the key to the
solution seems given by this clause florigenum sertum,
signifying a combination of veil and garland such
as is still the festive head-dress of peasant women
in the Low Countries.

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

hands; and in the morning enter the
Church which about that time had been
burnt, and place it upon the head of the
image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
And when the confessor asked how he
could enter the church, since it was not
yet day, and the church would be closed,
she answered him: "Going quickly,
ask the sacristan to open the church for
thee ; for the time presses wherein this
veil must be carried back thence whence
I brought it down." Then he: "How
shall I place the veil upon the head of
the statue, which is set in so high a
position ? " The virgin answered : " In
the great choir and in such a place you
will find a ladder ; taking it, go up and
place the veil on the head of the statue
of the Blessed Virgin." Then he, after
receiving this sign, going out, asked the
sacristan to rise quickly and open the
church. Which when he had willingly
done, the virgin s confessor finding the
ladder in the place which she had indi
cated to him, took it with him to the
statue and mounted. To whom the
sacristan : " What do you want there ? "
The priest replied: "What I do thou
canst not know now ; but the Lord will
grant that thou wilt know it hereafter."
Taking little heed of this answer, the

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sacristan, because he was not aware of
the mystery, at once departed. But the
devout confessor fulfilled the virgin s
desire; and having placed the veil on
the head of the sacred image, he carried
back the ladder to its former position.
When therefore he had prayed on bended
knees before the statue, and reverently
adored, and had fulfilled everything that
had been commanded him, before he
went forth from the church an angel of
the Lord carried back the same flower-
bearing 1 veil to its own place, whence
the virgin had first brought it down : as
she afterwards related to the afore
named widow Catherine.

CHAPTER VIII

OF THE GLORIOUS CROWN PREPARED
FOR HER, BECAUSE OF THE IN
SULTS AND WOUNDS INFLICTED
ON HER BY THE MEN OF PICARDV 2

Another time also, rapt in the spirit, she
saw a crown exceeding glorious pre-

1 Florigerum.

2 Stipendarii, quosvnlgus HollandiaePicardosvocat,
writes John Brugman, an expression which points
to the conclusion that the general term for the
mercenaries of the Duke of Burgundy was Picardi,
here translated literally.

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pared for her, which she was to receive
from the Lord after the toils and sorrows
of the present life, wherein nevertheless
there still seemed to be many things
wanting. Coming back to herself there
fore, mindful of the crown foreshown
her, she begged the Lord with much
urgency that in His compassion He
would deign so to work with her that
that crown might be perfectly completed.
At the same time also she asked of the
Lord, that in order to follow in His foot
steps He would bring her to Himself,
and after this union cast her forth with
kicks. While she was constantly and
most earnestly making this prayer, it
happened in the year of the Lord 1425
that Philip, Duke of Burgundy, entered
Holland with a large army of men from
Picardy and other soldiers, to force the
states to accept him as the master and
ruler of the country. When therefore
the most mighty duke had been received
with honour in many cities, he came
at length, about the feast of the holy
martyrs Gereon and Victor, 1 to the town
of Schiedam, where he was received in
like fashion by the citizens. After the

1 Oct. loth.
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refreshment of dinner, therefore, some,
as it said, doctors and surgeons of the
household of the aforesaid duke, ap
proached Master John Angels the Cure*
of the Church and asked him to take
them to the house of this virgin. Who,
suspecting no ill of them, consented
to their request. When then he had
entered with them to the virgin, there
followed a large body of their retainers,
who behaved riotously ; and as he strove
to quell their uproar lest they should
disturb the servant of God, they, throw
ing him aside angrily, bade him take
himself off, uttering disgraceful words
concerning his relations with her. The
Cure* therefore remained in her chamber
standing near the altar, very sad and
ashamed. Those perverse men, however,
when they saw that she was lying in
darkness, took away the curtain, lit a
candle, and taking off the coverlet
wherewith the dropsical virgin was
covered, entirely stripped the holy maid,
alas ! revering neither God, nor the
angels, nor the presence of men. This
when the daughter of her brother,
Petronilla, a young girl devoted to the
service of the virgin, beheld, she bore it
most ill; and on fire with the zeal of

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God, bravely threw herself upon them,
striving to protect the virgin s modesty.
For she deemed it unbeseeming that
the eyes of carnal men should behold
naked the hidden gem of Christ. Then
those wicked retainers, forgetful of
decency, roughly seize upon this child,
and casting her from them, violently
dash her against the foot of the altar :
so much so that most cruelly wounded
on the thigh she was lame until death.
Yea, and not satisfied with these evil
deeds of violence, they hasten to others
more grievous and criminal. For the
holy and inviolate maid they dared to call
a prostitute, they gabbled that she who
lived abstemious and without food in
dulged in banquets by night, and one of
them who held the light called her a beast,
whom beyond doubt her angel guardian
often carried off and led to Paradise.
Amid these so many and outrageous
words uttered by these impious men,
they add disgraceful deeds, which the
eyes of men would shudder to behold.
For, casting off all shame, with their
foul hands plucking and pinching the
maiden feeble and greatly swollen in the
skin on account of her dropsy, they
wounded her in three places, from

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which the blood flowed so freely that it
was necessary to drain off the fresh
blood from the bed with a bowl. And
after they had shamelessly committed
this crime, going out they washed their
hands of the blood which they had shed ;
and coming back, instead of the words
for forgiveness which they should have
implored, they again loosed their ac
cursed tongues unto words of outrage.
And thus was accomplished in this virgin
what the Lord said to the disciples:
" If they have persecuted Me they will
also persecute you, and if they have
called the good man of the house
Beelzebub, how much more them of his
household?" (Jo. xv 20; Matt, x 25).
Then the virgin, lying as an innocent
sheep upon her bed, bathed in her own
blood, ready for the slaughter, patiently
accepted all this for Christ s sake, and
to them that insulted and wounded her
she meekly answered with these words :
"Why have you not fear to interpret
the works of the Godhead in me so
evilly; ye who know not what kind of
judgment shall be yours from God?"
The duke departing the same hour,
those invaders also follow. But the
magistrates of the city, hearing that such

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enormous injuries had been done to the
virgin, as if for comfort of the ill done,
threatened that they would lodge a
complaint with the duke, that he might
exercise just vengeance against the
authors of so great a crime. Then the
virgin, mild and patient in adversity,
mindful of the word of the Lord, " Re
venge to Me, I will repay" (Rom. xii 19),
absolutely forbade them to wreak human
vengeance, for God will speedily avenge
this wrong. Which by the divine will
quickly came to pass, for they all died
in different parts the same winter. For
one of them, who had held the light 1 and
had uttered insults against the virgin,
going on board in the harbour by Rotter
dam, driven as by a violent wind from
one part of the ship to another, was
drowned by the prince of darkness and
drawn out dead with a broken neck : he
was buried in the cemetery. The second
going mad near Zerix, lest he should

1 Thrice the author refers to this matter of holding
a lighted candle over Lydwine s bed, because of the
peculiar cruelty of this action, since the virgin s
sight was so weakened that her one remaining eye
could endure no material light, Part I, Chap. VII,
and that it even bled in the presence of such light,
according to John Brugman.

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injure those who were with him was
thrown from the ship into a skiff, and,
taken out dead, was buried in the city.
The third, a soldier, perished wounded
in battle. The fourth, who called him
self a doctor, attacked by apoplexy at
Slusa, became dumb. Whereupon, re
minded by his servant of what he had
done with others against the virgin, and
asked whether he was sorry for the
same, showing some sign of repentance
to his questioner by touch of the hand
and movements of the mouth, he died.
And his servant coming afterwards to
the virgin, with tears besought and
obtained forgiveness for his master.
The holy virgin therefore wept long over
these injuries, not grieving for her
wounds, but for their perdition and the
crimes committed. And while the magis
trates of the city stood near her, the
virgin foretelling the future said to them,
"I indeed have now suffered these
things, but a judgment threatens you
of which you are unaware." And not
long after when some of them, charged
as betrayers of the city, feared to be
punished by the duke with death, they
said: "Lo this is the judgment which
Lydia foretold would befall us." After

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this the holy angel of the Lord, appear
ing to her and calling her sister, made
known, that by the shameless violence
done her by the men of Picardy she had
been set in the footsteps of the Saviour
as she had before besought, and by the
outrageous words which she had heard
from them, the jewels which remained
were now completely finished in her
crown.

CHAPTER IX

OF THE PATIENCE AND DEATH OF
PETRONILLA, THIS VIRGIN S NIECE

It is now befitting to relate something
also of the maiden Petronilla, this holy
virgin s niece. This young maid then
of seventeen years of age was the
daughter of the virgin Lydia s brother,
a lover and guardian of perpetual
chastity, taking care of her aunt day
and night in the so grievous trouble
of a long sickness. In the flesh a
relative, in the spirit a sister, by service
a handmaiden, she chose to serve the
virgin as a virgin, and with chaste
attentions to soothe most lovingly the
pains of the sufferer. In the persecu-

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tion of the men of Picardy, who most
grievously wounded holy Lydia, the
virgin pleasing to God, thereby to be
crowned with more ample glory, with
all her strength, as was said above,
she set herself for the defence of her
ailing aunt, that they might not harm
the innocent one. For she grieved
exceedingly with her who was injured,
and hearing many grievous insults and
threats, received and endured bodily
wounds also from the men of Picardy,
so that after ailing a long time she died
of her injury. A few days before her
death Lydia, set in great tribulation
and from persecution rendered more
fervent towards God, had the following
vision, a true presage of what was to
come. For on a certain night being
in an ecstasy she saw a solemn pro
cession of the heavenly citizens, wherein
they each proceeded in distinct orders,
to wit, the patriarchs together, the
prophets together, the apostles with
the apostles, but also the martyrs,
confessors and virgins, and priests and
clerics each shone in the rank and
dignity of his state. And they pro
ceeded from the church of the town of
Schiedam, preceded as usual by crosses

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and lights burning more brightly than
the sun, and they came to the door
of her house, from which taking a
coffin they bore it to the church. And
the virgin herself followed the bier with
crowns which had been given her, of
which she bore one on her head, the
others one in each hand. Coming
back to herself therefore, she suspected
that her own death was foreshadowed
by this vision, but at length she said
that it signified the death of her niece
Petronilla. Whereupon the virgin of
Christ, fearful concerning the passing
away of her niece, urgently besought
the Lord that He would so order her
fevers that she might be able to speak
to Petronilla for her comfort before
her departure, for she loved her ex
ceedingly with a sincere love. And
the Lord, hearing her prayers and
groanings and in pity for the one who
was about to die, forestalled the time
of the daily fever by the space of about
six hours, to the surprise of many who
were there, and thus the heat of the
fever being cooled, she recovered power
to speak with and console Petronilla,
who was shortly to pass from the
struggle of this world to Christ. Having

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received then divine comfort from the
holy virgin, the maid Petronilla, after
being often tried in anguish, as she
was the companion of the sufferings
of Lydia in life, so also she merited
to be the sharer of her comfort in
death. Therefore after the vision shown
before, and having gratefully received
consolation from her most dear aunt,
the devout virgin of Christ, Petronilla
departed to enter the heavenly court,
in the year of the Lord one thousand
four hundred and twenty-six, on the
nineteenth of the Kalends of February,
the feast of St. Pontianus, martyr. 1

CHAPTER X

OF THE WITHDRAWAL OF DIVINE
CONSOLATION, WHICH THE VIRGIN
SUFFERED ON ACCOUNT OF HER
GRIEF FOR HER DEAD NIECE

After the death then of the most chaste
dove the maiden Petronilla, the holy
virgin Lydwine herself, bereaved of the
companionship of so faithful and neces-

1 Jan. 1 4th. This Saint is distinct from St.
Pontianus, Pope and Martyr, whose feast is
celebrated Nov. iQth.

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sary a helpmate, fell into a hurtful sad
ness, grieving too much for the loss of her
most cordial lover Petronilla, with whom
bound by mutual love, she had kept
a compact of inviolable chastity. For,
loving one another in the love of Christ,
they lived together in such union and
peace that they could not be separated
from one another without grievous
sorrow. Which fond union indeed, ex
ceeding the bounds of discretion, was
even so displeasing to the Lord that, in
vengeance for this undue sadness, the
grief-stricken virgin was left without
divine consolation until the feast of the
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 1
She wept therefore most bitterly, not
only for the death of her lost niece, but
more for the bereavement of her wonted
grace withdrawn from her on account
of the want of measure in her grief. And
so to those who asked the cause of
these tears, she answered her friends:
"Why should I not weep, most dear
ones ? Lo ! now for the last eleven years
I have asked nothing of the Lord, but
I have been able easily to obtain it ; but
now in suspense for so long a time, I
receive no consolation at all, by a secret

1 July 2nd.
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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and righteous judgment of God given
forth against me." O terrible and un
searchable dispensation of God over the
sons of men ! Who turneth the sea into
dry land and rose blossoms into ab
sinthe, and from the right setteth on
the left, humbling the exalted even to
the earth. If, then, the Lord afflicted a
virgin so tenderly loved by Him because
she bewailed too intensely the lost pre
sence of her faithful niece, how severely
are those to be punished who foolishly
lament for carnal friends and worldly
companions. However, the Father of
mercies and the God of all consolation
was not unmindful of the tears of His
servant Whom He had chosen from
eternity, but after most bitter sorrow
He restored to her the most sweet com
fort of the Holy Ghost so often tasted
in the times past. Therefore the virgin,
desolate for a time and chastised by her
Father, about the feast of the Visitation
of the Blessed Mary, Virgin, received
a wondrous and superabundant consola
tion of divine grace, continuing for nine
or almost ten days in constant contem
plation and savour of things divine and
exultation of mind ; and with such great
sweetness was she bathed within that

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those who visited her marvelled, and
perceived the scent of a most sweet
odour without. When then they ques
tioned whence came an odour of such
sweetness, she, desirous out of humility
rather to be silent than to reveal the
secret, at length overcome by their
importunate prayers because the Lord
had made this known outwardly by
manifest signs, answered that the grace
of so inestimable an odour came from
the heavenly courts, which grace, as
she had merited habitually of old, so
now also having been visited afresh, she
brought back with her. In a like manner
a few years before, at the death of her
brother William Peters, she fell into a
great sadness and became so heavy with
grief that she said she had not known
hitherto that she was still so human.
Wherefore also a long time she was
bereaved of her wonted nourishment of
divine consolation, as was revealed to
a certain devout solitary in the country
of Egypt who had bravely entered the
desert by her advice. Of whose holy
life, well commenced and happily con
summated, is narrated in the following
chapter that which may give joy to hear.

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CHAPTER XI

OF THE DEVOUT YOUTH GERARD,
WHO HAD BECOME A HERMIT,
AND OF THE PILGRIMS WHO
VISITED HIM

There was a certain youth, by name
Gerard, a native of the diocese of
Cologne, urged by the desire of a soli
tary life. Hearing the repute of this
holy virgin, he resolved to come to her
first to unfold to her in person his
purpose, and commend to her prayers
the difficult path which he was about to
enter, that by the aid of divine grace he
might accomplish with saving persever
ance the resolution which he had con
ceived in his mind. And coming to her,
he made known to her the secrets of his
heart. And she, piously rejoicing in his
purpose, with prophetic spirit foretold
that for the first three days of his entry
into the wilderness he should suffer
want, and then, urging him to constancy,
she foretold that after the end of the
third day he should receive refreshment
from God. Which indeed afterwards
came to pass in order. For on the

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evening of the third day he received a
heavenly manna, God taking pity upon
his toilsome way. But the three days
foretold him by the virgin he went
through with such constancy that he
was ready, on account of her promise, to
pass them even with danger of his life.
After mutual conference then and recom
mendation in prayer and the compact of
fraternal charity, the new recruit, enter
ing upon the wars of a new combat,
went forth from the presence of the
virgin wisely instructed, henceforth
never again to see his country and
kinsfolk. Having wandered therefore
through the northern parts, he enters
upper Egypt, and, penetrating its
deserts, he finds a cell set in a tree
because of the wolves and ferocity of
the wild beasts. And he had brought
with him two companions, touched by
the grace of the same solitary manner of
life, who after a few days spent there
returned, alas ! to the former things ;
but Gerard, most constantly persevering
in the purpose he had undertaken, with
Christ as leader climbed the heights of
contemplation. And so after nearly
seventeen years passed in this vast

solitude, it happened meanwhile that a

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certain bishop from the country of
England came with two companions to
visit the places of the Holy Land, and
then went on with them to see the relics
of St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, on
Mount Sinai. Who, united by like
devotion, mindful of the life of the holy
fathers in Egypt, entered that land to
seek whether perchance they should
find any fathers of the hermit life. And
when wandering hither and thither they
had come even to its upper parts, they
find a little cell built in a tree not far
from the ground. And knocking at its
door, they see in the door opened to
them a man of angelic countenance
indeed, but of body so stout that he
would be deemed as one not mortified in
the desert but brought up amid the
luxuries of the world. When then they
asked whence he lived, he answered
that he was nourished by the grace of
God alone. For he was wont to gather
and eat the heavenly manna, which of
old the children of Israel fed upon in
the desert, which, coming down upon
his cell from above, he took with giving
of thanks. They asked also of him
whether there were still found other men
who lived without human food as also

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himself, to whom he replied thus : " In
the country of Holland, in the city of
Schiedam, there is a certain virgin, for
many years divinely scourged by divers
infirmities, who makes use of no bodily
food, who also has arrived at such a
height of perfection that she is long
ahead of me a hundredfold in holiness
of life and sublimity of contemplation.
Whence also I much wonder, since I
hear nothing of her passing away, what
has happened her, because for long I
have not seen her on the ladder of
contemplation, while formerly we were
frequently wont to be rapt together to
the heavenly secrets, each on a separate
ladder. For she, as by merit of life so
also by excellence of contemplation, was
wont to rise above me." Then this
devout hermit asked the aforesaid
pilgrims to visit this virgin in Holland
before they returned to their own parts,
and from his mouth put her these three
questions. First, how many years he
had passed in the desert; secondly, of
what age he was then when he entered
the wilderness ; thirdly, what reason had
befallen her that for long he had not
seen her in the wonted contemplation.
After this the pilgrims, much consoled

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and edified, bidding the hermit farewell,
returned to Holland and Schiedam.
Having entered, therefore, an inn of the
town, they ask their host to lead them
to the virgin s house. And set in her
presence, they make known the cause
of their coming and the person of the
hermit who had sent them, begging that
she reply to the questions put her. But
she, preferring to lie hidden through
humility than openly answer the ques
tions, gave only this response to her
questioners, as regards the time of the
dwelling of the hermit in the solitude :
" How could I know that ? It is the
Lord who knows." Then they, as re
proving her, object, why should she wish
to conceal the truth, since they asked
these things not of themselves but from
the mouth of the hermit. She answered,
therefore, that he had passed almost
seventeen years in the solitude. To the
second, however, she said that he was
nineteen years of age when he set out
for the desert. To the third also she
replied that she, living in the midst of
men, was stained in divers ways, but
that he, separated from men and living
with the angels, kept his purity un
touched. " Therefore it is not strange

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

if he excels me in the height of contem
plation." It is also said that the hermit
assigned the reason of the withdrawal
of grace in the virgin that she was
wont to grieve too much for the death of
her relatives. Which happened at the
death of her brother, who had passed
away in Schiedam about the same time
as the above was related to these pilgrims
by the hermit in Egypt. But the same
most devout hermit of happy memory, a
perfect despiser of earthly things and a
sublime contemplator of heavenly secrets,
passed away in the year of the Lord s
Incarnation, one thousand four hundred
and twenty-six, the twelfth day of the
month of October. His death and pass
ing to glory were revealed to the holy
virgin by a vision. For, rapt into Para
dise at the hour of his passing, she saw
his soul, freed of the body, borne by
angels to Paradise, and washed in a
fountain so limpid that she seemed to
be able to see its depth for nearly a
mile.

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CHAPTER XII

OF THE HAPPY DEATH OF MASTER
WERMBOLD, PRIEST, THIS VIRGIN S
FAITHFUL FRIEND

Among- many devout fathers and men
versed in spiritual grace, at Utrecht
in the days of the venerable lord bishop
Frederick, was a certain priest of
chaste life and zealous for souls, by
name Wermbold, beloved of God and
men, and known far and wide to many
religious in the diocese of Utrecht and
in the country of Holland. He was a
native of a certain town of Holland
near Goudam, and for many years he
shone as director and confessor of the
Sisters of the Third Order at St. Cecily
in Utrecht. Who, deeply versed in the
divine scriptures, often preached the
word of God in the church, and, fervently
watching in prayers and devout medita
tions for the purity of his heart he
merited also to be visited from on high
by frequent consolations and divine
revelations. To the knowledge of this
so famous a father, not by human
information but by divine revelation,

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the holy virgin Lydwine, still living in
poverty in a poor hut, attained in this
manner. For when on the feast of the
Lord s Annunciation 1 the aforesaid
virgin, having completed barely half
her illness, was rapt to contemplate the
things of Heaven, it happened also
that the most devout priest of Christ,
Wermbold, was likewise raised at the
same hour to behold heavenly things;
and then from having this one and
like contemplation, they both com
menced divinely that mutual acquain
tance which they had not had before.
Wherefore the same venerable father,
urged by an affection of pious devotion,
wished to know also and see with the
eyes of the body the servant of God,
whom he had known already in the
spirit. Coming in, therefore, to her
little house where she lay sick, and
beholding her misery wherewith she
was burdened, as the Samaritan in
the gospel he was moved with com
passion towards her, and wounded to
the heart with the arrow of pity. And
without delay, after holy converse on
God, he stretched out his hands to

1 Lady Day is thus named elsewhere also in the
writings of the Windesheimers.

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works of charity. And first he gave her
about thirty groats of Flanders to buy
two linen coverings. Then the priest,
set on fire with the spirit of God,
entered the church, and, mounting the
pulpit, made a discourse to the people,
in which with harsh reproaches he
chastised them as they deserved for
their niggardliness and want of mercy,
inasmuch as they did not succour
God s ailing creature who was lying
in such want and pain. And justly
indeed did the eloquent priest speak
with severity for the zeal of God, for
tried virtue reproves the foolish. After
wards, however, many moved to mercy
by the inspiration of God, with a
generous heart bestowed their alms
on the holy virgin. This reverend
father therefore, among other discourses
of charity with the sick virgin, who then
had accomplished about a half of her
diseases, began to say to her that
before Easter a revelation had somehow
been made to him as if he were to
pass to the Father before this Easter.
To whom the virgin replied, that he
would have to wait until the next
Pentecost, and that again after Easter
he should visit her. And how true

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was this saying the issue of the affair
proved. For he died shortly after these
words in the year of the Lord 1413,
on the vigil of Pentecost, at the twelfth
hour of midnight, on the third of the
Ides of June, on which day was kept
the feast of St. Barnabas, apostle. 1
And being dead, the devout and com
passionate father Wermbold was de
tained from the sight of the glory of
the divine countenance for nearly nine
days, as was divinely revealed to this
virgin. But when this venerable father
was speaking with the virgin before
his death, paternally consoling her,
and when she complained somewhat
that she was much burdened by the
number of her infirmities, the priest
responded, encouraging her to bear
more and, as it were, foretelling that
it would be necessary for her to em
brace still greater endurance, inasmuch
as perhaps she had barely fulfilled
half the term of her sufferings. And
this so befell as he foretold. For he
said that she had set in Heaven a
foundation very broad and wide, and
that the superstructure to be built
thereon could not be perfected in a

1 June nth.
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short while. And the virgin lived after
the death of this dear father twenty
years in the great pains and many
sufferings foretold her, whom God
nevertheless consoled and strengthened
with frequent raptures by the inspira
tion of the Holy Ghost and the visit of
heavenly citizens.

CHAPTER XIII

OF HER DIVERS RAPTURES AND HER
KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF
CERTAIN RELIGIOUS

And so this virgin, feeble in body, fervent
in spirit, was very often rapt into
ecstasy by excess of mind ; but in her
rapture it was not rara hora et brevis
mora (rare hour and brief delay). Once
a certain religious questioned her con
cerning her state and patience in her
afflictions which she endured daily.
To whom she replied that she was
burdened very excessively and above
her strength, and that, unless the loving
Lord supported her with the staff of
consolation, she might easily faint away
under the weight of her sorrows. For
she said that by the influx of the divine

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mercy almost every night for a long
period of one hour or more she was rapt
to behold things heavenly, by the de
light of which she was so refreshed that
all torment, even the most bitter, was
rendered for her not only bearable but
even pleasant. She was also rapt to the
regions of Purgatory and to the tortures
of Hell, that, seeing these horrible
punishments, she might more easily
endure present scourgings, and by in
terior compassion might willingly do
penance for those who needed deliver
ance. In these and the like blissful
raptures, for nearly thirty-four years
lying on a bed of pain, she was visited
and strengthened in spirit ; but at times
she was deprived of the divine raptures,
as has been said, from certain causes.
Finally, in His many dealings by contrary
events, God trying her often humiliated
her, and frequently visiting her raised
her the higher. By occasion therefore
of these raptures she knew many
churches and monasteries of religious
and the arrangement of places and the
building of churches ; religious persons
also, whom she had never seen, she
knew by name, and what divinely befell
them she sometimes narrated to others.

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She had said once to a certain Prior
that she knew his monastery and church
just as he did, and that at night while
the brethren were sleeping she was
wont to visit their dormitory, and that
she used to see holy angels standing by
the beds of the brethren. 1

There was a certain youth, Henry by
name, born at Hague, a town of the
duchy of Holland, whom the virgin had
never seen before, who, inspired by the
grace of God, without the knowledge of
his parents sought and obtained the
habit of holy religion in the parts of
Brabant near Diest. Whose father,
named William, knowing not what had
happened his son, came to the virgin
perhaps to ask some questions. Who,
at once addressed by her in his own name
and surname, heard the virgin wishing
all prosperity to his son, and rejoicing
over the good things done to him by
God. Whereupon he, wondering, de
manded the reason of these congratula-

1 We learn from Brugman that this monastery
was St. Elizabeth s of Briel, for the canons of which
Ven. Thomas a Kempis compiled this Life. The
community was incorporated into the Congregation
of Windesheim by the general chapter of 1406
(CJiron. Wind., Lib. II, c. 39).

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tions. And she, adding joyous tidings to
his astonishment replied that he had
been clothed in the habit of holy religion
in the aforesaid monastery.

There was also another religious, born
at Dordrecht, but professed as a regular
in Eymsteyn, who once entered the
virgin s cell silently to visit her, whom
she, calling by his own name, very
graciously greeted. And although per
haps she had seen him once before, at
that moment certainly she did not see
him bodily. 1 Whereat also he, being
astounded, asked whence she thus knew
him, to whom she replying simply said,
"The Lord hath granted." Let these
two examples be enough for the moment.
Brother Hugh, formerly Subprior in
Briel, heard them from the mouth of
those to whom they personally happened,
and he remains as a witness of their
truth.

1 The reader must remember again that the
servant of God had entirely lost the use of one eye
and almost entirely of the other, and that she
habitually lay in darkness.

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CHAPTER XIV

OF THE APPEARANCE AND KNOW
LEDGE OF THE ANGELIC BRIGHT-
NESS ABOUT HER

Clearly in this most approved virgin
was fulfilled that which of old the Lord
said to Moses and the children of Israel
entering the land of promise. " Behold
I will send my angel who will go before
thee and keep thee ever, and be the
guide of thy way" (Exod. xxiii 20). We
read in many books of the saints of the
appearance of angels, and now the like
can be proved in this lowly virgin Lydia
from the testimony of many religious.
For she was visited most frequently by
a holy angel; by whom also she was
touched as worthy of his companionship
and trusting in his protection, whom
she knew as personally as a friend
knows his friend. Likewise she knew
also the angels of her confessors, and of
others her acquaintance, and of many
outsiders. And the same angel appeared
to her under different forms : sometimes
in the shape of a most beautiful man,
always, however, with great brightness,

as an angel of light, the minister and

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standard-bearer of eternal light. Some
times, however, that brightness was so
great that if a thousand suns together
shone in their might, yet they would not
be able to equal this angelic splendour.
At times however he appeared less
bright, but always he bore the standard
of the Lord s cross upon his forehead,
lest perchance she should be deceived
by an angel of Satan, who, transfiguring
himself into an angel of light, often
appeared to her. If however on account
of the frequency of visitors she was
sometimes disturbed, or on account of
the presence or contact of some unclean
persons her purity was stained, lest
this slight fault should remain long on
the white fleece, or pass unpunished,
she was deprived of the aforesaid angelic
visits and divine raptures. Sometimes
also she was burdened in her conscience
with certain spiritual defects known
only to God and the angels : by reason
of these scrupulously chastised she was
also hindered from her wonted raptures.
Whereupon, bruised in the mortar of
her heart, she was wont to confess to
the holy angel her guide; and thus
cleansed by a humble confession, she
hastened to follow him as he went

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before to the places whither he led.
She was also taught by the same holy
angel what she ought to confess to
him and what to her confessor, for she
confessed her excesses daily, according
to that word of the psalmist: "I said
I will confess against myself my injustice
to the Lord, and Thou hast forgiven
the wickedness of my sin " (Ps. xxxi 5).

CHAPTER XV

OF THE WONDERFUL MANNER OF
HER INTERIOR PAIN BEFORE THE
RAPTURE OF HER SPIRIT

In that to us indescribable separation of
the spirit from the soul, before the holy
virgin was rapt out of herself, at first
she felt such anguish in the vital parts
of the breast and heart that, scarcely
able to breathe, she thought she was
about to die. But afterwards in these
spiritual raptures, accustomed by habit
she did not suffer so much pain. When
therefore she was rapt in spirit to the
aforesaid places, her body remained as
dead and soulless upon the bed, so im
movable that if anyone had touched it
she would not have felt anything. Some-

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thing similar is read in the life of St.
Thomas of Aquin, so that no one should
doubt of the truth of the novelty in this
virgin, whom God rejoiced by His in
effable raptures.

It happened therefore in a certain
rapture, that the angel having taken her
hand led her to the altar of the chapel
of the Blessed Virgin in the church of
Schiedam. And when she had prayed
there, devoutly greeting the Blessed
Virgin, the angel led her towards the
west by pleasant places of roses and
lilies, and set with every kind of flowers
and covered with spices. Approaching
therefore these places, she was invited
by the angel to enter but for reverence
thereof she dared not enter, lest she
should tread the flowery meadows with
her feet. At length when the angel
assured her that they would not be
downtrodden by her, entering according
to his counsel and invitation, she followed
him whithersoever he went before. But
at times those flowers were of such a
height and density that she said she
could not pass through them ; and then
the angel carried her over as of old
Habacuc the prophet, so that lifting her
he speedily carried her across with con-

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fidence through those flowers to the
place whither they wended.

CHAPTER XVI

OF HER SPIRIT OF PROPHECY,
WHEREBY SHE REVEALED TO
OTHERS MANY HIDDEN THINGS

And it is certain that this virgin also
knew many secrets concerning both
the living and the dead, of which some
she made known for the profit and
comfort of her friends, but many she
humbly kept back in silence. For
instance she is believed to have long
before foreknown the fire of the city
of Schiedam, because before it happened
she had ordered a store of planks to
be set against the wall of her house.
To those who asked why she did this
she said, because if the fire broke out
then they could more easily, having
removed the planks, carry her out and
bear her across the moat. 1

1 i.e. the little canal, or ditch that ran round the
house. Another, and as it seems the true reason is
given in Brugman s second Life for this storing of
planks, viz. that a rough shelter might be made
near her house for some of those who should be
rendered homeless by the fire.

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It happened then in the year of the
Lord 1428 that certain sailors of Schie
dam, before setting out for the fishing,
carefully made ready a great supper
for their comrades and friends to bid
them farewell on the feast of St.
Arnulph, bishop and confessor, rejoicing
indeed in present prosperity, fearing
nothing of the evils to come. When
therefore, having finished their supper,
they had covered the fire under a vessel
near a wall of reed, then lo ! about the
eleventh hour of the night gradually
a fire breaks out, which, raging for the
rest of the night, made such way that
nearly the whole city with the church
and the house of the sisters near the
church was burnt. When this had
come to pass, very many men of that
city held it for certain that this great
fire had befallen because of the sins of
certain individuals, who amongst other
crimes had shown irreverence to the
aforesaid image of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. Among whom was a woman
worldly and unrestrained, following
the broad paths of this world with the
dissolute. After whose death a certain
priest well known to this virgin asked
her to pray for him, that he might have

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some certain knowledge of the state
of the dead woman. And when the
virgin agreed and did accordingly, the
same priest, in a vision of the night
rapt to the infernal regions, saw that
the aforesaid woman was held bound
with iron chains in hell, which also he
related to this virgin with wonder and
grief.

CHAPTER XVII

OF A CERTAIN DEPARTED SACRISTAN
AND MANY OTHER DEAD

There was a certain sacristan Baldwine
by name, in the town formerly called
Oudershie, who falling sick died on the
night of the Conversion of St. Paul, 1 and
whose name this virgin did not know
before. But the same night the virgin,
absorbed in prayer, rapt as usual from
her senses, came to a certain mountain,
at the foot of which she saw a man then
unknown to her wishing to climb the
mount, but for weakness not able. And
when according to his request placing
him on her shoulders she had carried
him up, wondering at his weight she

1 Jan. 25th.
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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

asked by what name he was called.
Who answering said, " Baldwine de
Velde." The next morning Master
John the virgin s confessor, entering
her cell, found her breathing heavily
as from weariness of a great labour
and from fatigue scarcely able to draw
her breath. The priest therefore asked
the cause of this distress and weariness.
And she explained in order the thing
shown in the vision, and told the name
of the man before unknown that he
was called Baldwine. Whereat won
dering, that priest recalled to mind the
sacristan at Oudershie, who was called
Baldwine, but his surname he did not
know. After two days the same priest
came to that town to celebrate, asking
a certain woman about the condition
and surname of the same sacristan,
who gave his surname as it was
revealed to the virgin, declaring like
wise that he died on the same night
on which the virgin had carried him
from the foot of the mountain to the
top.

Another time also, rapt as usual, she
came by a certain mountain and she
saw divers persons wandering in

different ways, some at the foot of the

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

mount, others struggling higher up,
and some standing on a more lofty
part of the mount, wishing indeed to
climb the mountain itself but unable
and not having either any assistance
to aid them. The virgin therefore
understood what these things signified,
that they were souls of the departed
who needed prayers.

And when some of the solemn
festivals were at hand, for some days
before those feasts she would be rapt
to the regions of Purgatory, to see the
miseries of the afflicted who needed
help and were unable to assist them
selves, that she might faithfully pray
the Lord for them, who, tormented
with most grievous pains, were forced
to cry out with Blessed Job, "Have
pity on me, have pity on me, at least you
my friends, for the hand of the Lord
hath touched me" (Job. xix 21).
Returning to herself, therefore, when
she had willingly borne her daily fevers
for their deliverance and most bitterly
wept imploring urgently the divine
mercy, again in rapture on the feasts
themselves she exulted with such
great gladness over their redemption,
which she learnt, that she could

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

scarcely hold herself in for joy. And
although on other days she often
liberated great numbers, still on the
chief festivals by the favour of God
she delivered many more and in greater
abundance. But she so bitterly grieved
over their sufferings and frequently
wept that, natural tears failing in her,
tears of blood succeeded, which, con
gealed in course of time upon her
cheeks, her confessor scraped off,
softening them with the natural tears
that flowed, and placing them in a
bag he kept them by him in a casket,
and after her death, as she wished,
placed in the tomb under her head.

CHAPTER XVIII

OF HER CAUTION AND PRUDENCE
CONCERNING THE REVELATION OF
THE STATE OF THE DEPARTED

Very cautious and circumspect was this
virgin speaking of the state of the de
parted, although very often she was not
unaware of the secrets of God. Which
from the following example will appear
from her words as a warning for the

inexperienced, whom visions of the dead

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often deceive. After the death then of
William Duke and Count of Holland
and Zeeland, under whom this virgin
flourished and long lay sick, a certain
popular rumour was noised and came
to the ears of the Countess Margaret,
wife of the Duke now dead, that this
virgin had said that he was already
saved. She had also heard that this
virgin had been dead for three days and
had come to life again. The noble and
venerable lady then sent one of her
servants to her, to inquire into the truth
of this affair. Being questioned there
fore on each point by the messenger sent,
she thus replied to the one : " If I had
been dead three days the people of
Schiedam would long since have buried
me." But to the other, as she deemed
the question absurd, she replied after
a fashion saying : " If he were already
in eternal life then the Lord would
be doing me a wrong, who, held down
for seventeen years by most grievous
maladies, have not left my bed or
touched the ground. Wherefore I beg
that you do not sin by occasion of me."
And thus the messenger who came un
certain returned thence more uncertain.
However, of several departed religious

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

she sometimes gave certain information,
that they were saved and brought into the
joy of their Lord. But of the last days
and the coming of Antichrist she used to
say that she herself would see neither
of these.

CHAPTER XIX

OF THE TEMPTATION OF A CERTAIN
MAN, DELIVERED BY THE ADVICE
OF THE VIRGIN FROM THE SNARE
OF THE DEVIL

A certain citizen, an honourable man
and a counsellor of the town of Schiedam,
was grievously tempted by the devil to
cast violent hands upon himself by
hanging himself. But he had a priest
and a good chaplain, John by name,
adorned by the grace of God, who was
wont to celebrate Masses before him,
and pray for him. As often then as he
knew him to be tempted he could
scarcely persuade him not to inflict a
cruel death upon himself. But since he
could not resist the violence of the
temptation and his confessor could not
keep back the tempted man from the
rope, the priest, very anxious because of
the danger, came to the virgin for advice

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and asked what he should do with the
tempted man. Then she, knowing that
the devil could not bear that the arts of
his malice should be turned into arms of
salvation, counselled the priest that if
the tempted man could not resist the
suggestion of the devil he should place
upon him as a penance that which the
evil enemy suggested for his ruin.
Hearing which the confessor, fearing
lest he should be the cause of his perdi
tion, did not dare tell the tempted man
what he was advised. But she, trusting
in God, bade him do it with all confi
dence in his conscience. When then on
one occasion, the priest finding an oppor
tunity, did with the tempted man as the
virgin advised, the tempted one gave
thanks on bended knees that now at
length he merited to obtain what he
had so long desired. And at once re
turning home, fastening a rope to a
beam and passing it round his neck
he mounted a seat, that being tied he
might hang himself. But, O wondrous
clemency of God and unspeakable provi
dence of divine mercy Who turned the
snares of the devil unto the deliverance
of His servant on account of the obedi
ence of the priest consenting to the

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

advice of the virgin of Christ. The
demons therefore, seeing and grudging
that he should depart by such a death,
violently seizing him with the rope and
snatching him away, said, "You shall
not hang yourself now." And being
furiously enraged they threw him and
forced him down behind a chest, between
the wall and the chest. And after being
much sought for by his servants for the
space of nearly three hours, and at
length found there to the great astonish
ment of all, he was drawn out only by
the removal of the chest, and thereafter
he remained freed from that temptation.

CHAPTER XX

OF A WOMAN FREED BY THE MERITS
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
FROM THE GULF OF DESPAIR

In the city of Schiedam was a certain
woman timid and fearful whom the devil
had almost cast into the abyss of
despair. For he very often put before
her during sleep a sheet with a certain
sin formerly committed by her, as if not
yet forgiven by God nor to be forgiven,
although nevertheless she had very often

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

confessed it sacramentally, had received
absolution, and had performed the
penance enjoined. She often therefore
exposed the anguish of her heart to this
virgin, and she comforted the desolate
soul with loving counsels, and neverthe
less did not succeed with her as she
would have desired, because the prince
of death troubled her as before in sleep
with ever fresh terrors, saying : " By no
means shalt thou be able to escape my
hands, for by these letters I have thee
confirmed and subject to me." It
happened therefore on one occasion that
the virgin, engaged in prayer, rapt to
Heaven, saw the demon carrying this
very document in his hand, but by the
hand of the Blessed Virgin Mary it was
violently taken away and snatched from
his hand. For the merciful Lady was
able to destroy all the machinations of
the devil; and to comfort the sad soul
with the trust of a good hope. These
things afterwards the virgin, restored to
her bodily senses, related to her con
fessor John Walters, showing that the
devil s malice was frustrated by the
compassion of the Blessed Virgin.
After this the aforesaid woman as before
laid the complaints of her desolation

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

before the virgin; whom she, gently
consoling, without mentioning however
the destruction of the paper, bade to be
henceforth secure, nor to fear any evil
would befall her thereby. Yea and offer
ing herself a hostage for her conscience
on the day of judgment and trusting
through all in the divine mercy, she
rendered her free and at rest from all
the former fear.

CHAPTER XXI

OF HER GRACE OF GREAT COMPUNC
TION AND ABUNDANT SHEDDING
OF TEARS IN THE COMMUNION
OF THE BODY OF CHRIST

Now next something must be said of
the state of this most devout virgin, as
regards the holy Communion ; how by
the breathing of divine grace she gradu
ally made progress to higher gifts by
frequently receiving the sacraments of
the precious body of Christ. At that
time therefore of her dryness, when the
virgin, as yet unacquainted with spiritual
sweetness, lay sick upon a bed of most
bitter sorrow, there was a certain
devout priest named Master John Pot

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

who was accustomed to communicate
with her twice a year, and who first
formed her to meditation on the Lord s
Passion. He therefore, having a care
for the salvation of the sick maiden,
when one day he was about to communi
cate her, taking in his hands the sacred
and spotless host he bade her very
gravely and feelingly to look upon and
receive Him Whom he held in his hand,
knowing for certain that He was the
Lord God her Creator Who had been
made flesh, suffered and died for her,
Who would also most abundantly
recompense her for every affliction
which she bore and would soften every
pain. By which words she was at once
exceedingly touched, and as it were
wounded by certain fiery darts of love.
And as before for grief of heart and
impatience of feeling she could not
cease from many tears, so also now for
almost a fortnight or more she could not
withhold her weeping for greatness of
contrition and divine love. For she
grieved and wept much over the blind
ness of her past negligence and her
continued dullness, in which she had
been so long impatient and thoughtless
that she could not receive the consola-

177 M

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

tion of her mother or of any man nor
tell the cause of her tears to any. Now
henceforth, having received the saving
sacrament with great contrition, she
commenced to be refreshed with fre
quent divine consolations, although
she did not yet go into ecstasy by the
rapture of contemplation. And never
theless she did not wish to make known
the reason of her tears to those who
questioned her, that she might not lose
the hidden manna which she tasted,
but might keep it in her heart the more
safely by silence. And she enjoyed
these consolations by divine dispensa
tion for about eight years before she
began to be rapt in ecstasy out of the
senses of her body. With these two
aids then, to wit, the holy Communion of
the body of Christ and devout medita
tion on the Lord s Passion, as by two
loving arms she embraced her beloved
spouse Jesus Christ ; and therefore she
could confidently say with the spouse in
the canticle of love, whose grace of
ineffable sweetness she frequently felt in
herself by experience: "A bundle of
myrrh is my beloved to me, He shall
abide between my breasts " (Cant, i 12).
For as myrrh preserves the bodies of

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

the dead from rottenness, so also the
daily exercise of the passion of Christ
preserved her mind from impatience
and murmur. And as material bread
strengthens him who eats, so the receiv
ing of the body of Christ refreshing her
spirit brought her life and joy.

CHAPTER XXII

OF HER INSATIABLE DESIRE TO
COMMUNICATE OFTEN, AND OF
THE APPEARANCE OF A CHILD
CRUCIFIED

When our Saviour Jesus Christ was
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
Heaven, among many heavenly words
which He taught He uttered this most
saving word of faith concerning the
sacrament of His body. " He that eateth
Me, the same also shall live by Me"
(Jo. vi 58) ; to wit, eating Me either
spiritually only, or also sacramentally and
spiritually: or certainly he shall live
now in the life of grace, and hereafter
in the life of everlasting glory reigning
with Me; for this the sacred Com
munion of My body and blood signifies.
Which faithful promise was undoubtedly
fulfilled in this virgin, Christ most

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

lovingly working His wonders in her.
For although through nearly the first
half of the period of her maladies she
used very little nourishment and such
as could not support nature, as is related
in the first part of this book, and more
over although for all the rest of her life
she took almost no food or drink at all,
nevertheless this holy servant of God
could not entirely abstain from this living
food and life-giving sacrament of the
body of Christ. For as much as she
languished by corporal infirmities in the
body, and took less bodily food, so
much the desire of the heavenly and
divine food increased in her, and by
means thereof she was strengthened in
spirit and lived more spiritually within.
Whence in the beginning of her sick
ness for three or four years she was
wont to communicate once a year at the
feast of Easter, but afterwards with the
beginning of the divine consolation for
some years she received Christ twice a
year. After that, when her mother was
dead, so much did her desire increase,
and so much was she drawn to com
municate, that six times or more she
received the Lord s body with full faith
and special devotion unto the singular

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

solace and assistance of her soul ; and
she would have received the same more
frequently if the Curd of the church had
not refused her. Whence also, if some
times she asked to receive the holy
Communion of the body of Christ from
him, very grudgingly and against his
will he would come to her, over which
she grieved much. For the longer she
lay in her sickness the more she suffered
and languished in the body, and the
more she suffered in the body the more
she burned in divine love, and the more
she was on fire with divine love so much
the more the grace of Almighty God
worked in her.

After this a certain wondrous vision
appeared to the virgin, on fire with the
desire of communicating. For a certain
visible likeness of a crucified Child 1
with five wounds appeared to her lying
in bed, which afterwards changed into a
sacramental host with the same wounds
hung in the air over the sheet of her
bed, wherewith the virgin was in part

i John Brugman informs us that on this occasion
the Saint received the Stigmata, but that at her
request these signs of the divine favour were con
cealed by the partial covering of the wounds, which
nevertheless continued to cause intense pain.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

covered. She sent therefore a mes
senger to the Cure" of the church
that he should come to her, and see
Christ appearing to her in a host, which
also certain others saw with their own
eyes. Then she begged him to give her
this host in Communion and not to dis
trust her and the works of God. Hear
ing this, although doubtful, he gave her
the host of the vision, which the virgin
begged to receive and received with
reverence. 1 After the wondrous ap
pearance of this host and its devout
reception the heart of the virgin was
inflamed with so great a divine love and
desire for holy Communion, that for
many years she received the venerable
sacrament of the Eucharist every fort
night from the hand of the priest, who
also was obliged to use for this great
care and foresight, for otherwise she
would not have been able to consume it
for weakness. Afterwards, however, he
would offer her a little water for the
ablution, wherein, little as it was, she
suffered such difficulty in her throat
that she could scarcely swallow it. But

1 The author discreetly passes over in charitable
silence the disgraceful behaviour of the Parish Priest
on this occasion.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

sometimes he gave her no ablution,
on account of the too great difficulty of
receiving it. And this state as regards
her communion endured indeed until the
year of the Lord 1421. But from this
time until her death she commonly
suffered her quartan and sometimes
daily fevers for the freeing of souls
from Purgatory. During which period
she burned with so great a divine love
that usually, when at the time of the
quartan fever she was not suffering a
fever attack, she communicated from
the hand of her confessor two days
following. And this holy and venerable
sacrament of the body of Christ was for
the sick virgin, not only the spiritual
refreshment of her soul, but also a
certain relief and support of her afflicted
body. Especially, however, at the time
of the withdrawal of grace and bereave
ment of divine consolation she received
this most sacred banquet of the Lord s
body more frequently as her singular
support. For the interior grace of divine
consolation, which she very often felt in
abundance of spirit and joy of heart, was
to her refreshment of body and soul ; and
again, by its absence her body was
so weakened that without spiritual

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

nourishment she could scarcely subsist
and live in the body. Therefore, as has
been said, she burningly thirsted for the
body of Christ and received it as the
support of life, lest she should die of
weariness under the burden of suffering
in the present pilgrimage. In the re
ceiving of which she was frequently
illumined with so great a divine light,
that as with the bodily eyes she saw
materially, so also, bathed with this
supercelestial light, she saw all her
interior with the eye of the mind. This
same thing also befell her at other
times in the presence of the divine light
and the rapture of the contemplative
life. Whence also afterwards, in the
time of her dryness and the withdrawal
of consolation, when by divine ordinance
she did not experience this illumination,
she would say within herself: " O where
are now those days in which I was wont
to behold my interior with the interior
eye, as with the eye of the body I saw
bodily things ? " And thus was fulfilled
in her that saying of the Wise Man :
" In the day of good things be not un
mindful of evils; and in the day of
evils be not unmindful of good things "

(Eccl. xi 27).

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM
CHAPTER XXIII

OF THE FEVER OF THE CHILD BALD-
WINE, AND OF MASTER JOHN HER
CONFESSOR

Now the desolate virgin had with her
for some comfort in the latter days of
her illness the son of her brother, by
name Baldwine, a child of twelve years,
almost continually waiting upon her.
And that he might remember more
surely the wondrous things that were
wrought in her, and which he beheld by
frequent experience, she obtained for
him from the Lord the malady of a fever
by a wholesome affliction and a certain
loving miracle as a reminder of His
wonders. For the same young lad used
a certain cup from which she was wont
to drink. And so about the feast of the
birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1 in that
year before the day of her death, the
virgin when it was now evening bade
the same child to place his cup filled
with a light liqnor near her bed. When
morning came, calling the child, she
bade him take the cup and drink.
When therefore he had taken the cup

1 Sept. 8th.
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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

he found it by the gift of God filled with
a certain strange liquor, as if there were
in it a concoction made of a mixture of
cinnamon and other simples sweet smell
ing and delicious to the taste. But as
this virgin, according to the multitude
of afflictions wherewith she was daily
scourged, was also refreshed with divine
consolations, so on the other hand the
aforesaid child, having received and
drank as much as he would of the afore
said cup, on the same day began to
languish and to be troubled succes
sively with divers fevers until about the
feast of St. Martin, bishop, in the winter
time of the same year. 1 But from the
same miraculous cup divers men also
drank, but they did not however con
tract any maladies as the aforesaid child.
Likewise also different liquors poured
into the same cup for a whole week
gave to those who drank the savour of a
most sweet potation, without the afflic
tion of any disease. This cup then,
which to the child was a sign of scourg
ing, to others who tasted was the solace
of a fresh miracle. But when the child
was cured of his fevers, the hand of the
Lord was again stretched out to the

1 Nov. nth.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

priest of this virgin. For Master John
her confessor fell into quartan fever,
and on the same day on which the virgin
was usually attacked, he also being
struck suffered a severe fever. Seeing
this, Master John s sister asked the
virgin how long the fever of her brother
was to last. Who answered that he
would be freed about the first Sunday
of the following Lent, which also so
came to pass as she foretold. And when
the same Master John was sick with a
serious illness unto death, the virgin,
compassionating him, by the great
urgency of her prayers mercifully ob
tained for him from the Lord delay of
death and lengthening of life.

CHAPTER XXIV

OF HER SUFFERING FROM STONE AND
HER FOREKNOWLEDGE BEFORE THE
DAY OF HER DEATH

The Virgin of Christ, Lydwine, after
being tried in many pains that there
might not remain in her the stain of sin,
at length with still another most sharp
affliction was stricken and cleansed.
In the last year of her life therefore,

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

from the feast of the Purification l unto
the feast of the following Easter, to
gether with the other maladies which she
had before for a very long time, she was
afflicted with such a pain of the stone,
that two or three times, lying as almost
dead for nearly an hour, she could not
speak. And she endured this suffering
with a most intense toothache without
any expression of impatience, and at its
barely ceasing she was just able to utter
only a very few words. And she said
that the same stone, which was about
the size of a pigeon s egg, would cause
her death.

At that time also she was so seldom
visited of God by interior consolations
that she complained to Master John her
confessor with tears that she was in a
certain manner abandoned by the Lord
beyond all wont. In which desolation,
however, greater merit was added to
her by her patience, because she was
rendered more like to Christ suffering
on the cross, Who with a loud voice
called to the Father, saying, " My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? "
(Matt, xxvii 46). And this holy virgin, as
a true lover and bearer of the cross, per-

1 Feb. 2nd.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

severed and endured her maladies unto
death, which also she had foreknown
long before by a revelation from the
Lord. For when a certain religious
Prior called by her had come to her, to
wit, on the feast of the Chair of St. Peter 1
the same year in which she died, the
next day very early the same Prior was
bidden by Master John the virgin s con
fessor to enter her cell if he wished to
experience any spiritual favour in her
regard. When then he had entered her
cell he perceived therein such a fra
grance of a most sweet odour which the
virgin, then visited by the Lord and
borne to the heavenly regions, had
brought back with her, as if divers aro
matic herbs had been scattered in the
said cell. After mutual and divine con
verse then on those things wherefore
she had summoned the Prior, she
counselled him to return to her at Easter
to confer still about these things in the
best manner the Lord should grant.
But if he should not find her, that then
he should in charity pray for her. From
which words it is clearly evident that
she said this of her death, although she
did not express any mention of death.

i Feb. 22nd.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXV

OF THE GRACE ON EASTER NIGHT AND
THE PROPHECY OF HER DEATH

And when the Easter solemnity arrived,
on the holy night itself of the Lord s
resurrection about the fourth hour of
the breaking dawn, the aforesaid Master
John her confessor came to see the
virgin, and both from the scent of her
hands and from her words he clearly
perceived that she had been visited as
usual by her holy angel. For he found
such a sweetness upon her that she
seemed to have been anointed with the
oils of different spices. 1 Whereupon,
when he gave thanks to the Lord and
congratulated her, she, coming back to
herself after this visitation, confessed that
she had been divinely comforted, but
declared that most grievous afflictions

1 Brugman relates in his second Life that in this
Easter vision Lydwine received Extreme Unction
from the hands of Christ, quoting as his authority
certain private revelations : " id ab eis accepi, quibus
ipsa post mortem virgo devota Lydwine personaliter
dignata est revelare." This would explain why the
Saint, although she foreknew the hour of her death,
made no request for this sacrament, but wished to
die absolutely alone.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

were about to befall her, which she
would suffer during this festival. She
also said that on the same night she
had heard the Alleluia sung in the
Heavens, and she hoped that she would
shortly sing the same canticle Alleluia
with the heavenly spirits in greater joy
and consolation, and that she would
suffer less from those maladies if the
Easter festival were over. Which she
seems to have said of the passing of her
death, although she did not show that
she was soon to die. But each day, to
wit, on Easterday itself and the two
following, she said to those who came to
her that the pains which she was then
suffering would not last long; as after
wards the issue proved. 1

i There is another prophecy of her death which,
although it appears in John Gerlac s German MS.,
was not inserted in Drug-man s translation, and thus
seems to have escaped our author. Some years
before her death Lydwine related to her confessor
and friends that her angel had shown her in Paradise
a rose tree covered with buds, and had given her to
understand that when all these roses were in full
bloom the measure of her merits and her days of
exile would be accomplished. From time to time
her friends would ask how was it with her rose tree,
and she would sadly reply that it was as yet far
from its full flowering. But in the beginning of

IQI

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXVI

OF HER HAPPY DEATH AND SUFFER
INGS AT THE LAST

Therefore, when the Tuesday within the
octave of Easter dawned, the virgin,
mild and patient, wishing to recollect
herself more fully, asked Master John
her confessor, who came to her early,
that neither he nor any of those who
loved her should enter to visit her that
day except the child Baldwine, who
carefully waited on her unto death.
Which also was done, that according
to the desire of her heart she might die
in solitude and forsaken of men. For
the aforesaid her confessor related to
a certain religious that, four or five
years before her death, he had heard her
asking the Lord, that she might die
with none save Himself as witness and
not without her own knowledge. And
she had likewise begged that He would
multiply her pains and infirmities, lessen

1433, answering the same question, she had joyously
exclaimed : " Behold, all the roses are opened ; it
will not now be long before I die." The Saint is
sometimes represented holding a bouquet of roses.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

her days, hasten the hour of death, and
render the agony brief ; which also came
to pass as will shortly appear. All the
members of her household then having
been dismissed, and in the absence of
Master John, who was then saying the
Office of the dead for a certain departed
mother of the Sisters, the virgin ap
proaching her end in the presence of
only the aforesaid child, who held a bowl
for her and carried out her vomit, she
was so distressed in throwing up this
vomit that to the child her attendant
pitying her she said: "My most dear
child, would that my Master John knew
how much I am afflicted now." Nor is
it strange if she confessed herself afflicted
in these sufferings, when pain coming
upon pain increased in her. For from
the seventh hour of the same day in the
morning, until nearly the fourth hour
after midday before she died, she threw
up about twenty times a very green
matter, which she thought came from
the bitterness of the gall. And when
the aforesaid child, seeing and hearing
these things, asked her whether she
wished him to call Master John; at
length with the coming of the last vomit,
she suffered such difficulty in it that

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not being able to cast out the matter
gathered in her throat, she commenced
to choke with it. Seeing which the
innocent child, thinking that she would
die at once, weeping ran out and told this
to Master John and the others of the
household assembled there. And when
likewise weeping they hastened thither,
they found her in her agony. Then
Master John, taking her hand, asked
her for a sign whether she lived or
whether she wished to be anointed. And
when she made no reply, lighting a
candle and setting it in a lantern, the
priest placed the light behind her head,
for he thought that she was still living,
and therefore could not bear the light.
He found that she was dead, and that
she had escaped the wretchedness of
the present life. But from the time
when she last spoke until her expiry,
scarcely the space of three Misereres
intervened ; and thus her end was seen
to be short, as she had long before
asked of the Lord. But the most patient
virgin, pleasing to God and the angels,
died on the twelfth of the Kalends of
May, on the feast of SS. Tiburtius and
Valerianus; 1 in the year of the Lord s
incarnation 1433, on the Tuesday within

1 April I4th.
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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

the Octave of Easter about the fourth
hour after vespers, in the fifty-third year
of her age, which according to the cycle
of festivals had been completed on the
Palm Sunday before her death. And
very befittingly, God arranging the order
of seasons, she passed out of this world
in Easter week ; that she who had long
been a sharer of the sufferings of Christ
in meditation and compassion, might
also with Him on the holy paschal feast
of His most joyous resurrection pass to
the bliss of eternal life. And the chosen
virgin of Christ stricken by divers
scourges of afflictions passed away, after
accomplishing from the beginning of
her maladies thirty-eight years, in the
commencement of the thirty-ninth, being
worthy to be associated with the choirs
of angels, who from the years of child
hood strove to imitate the life of the
angels in chastity.

CHAPTER XXVII

OF THE WONDERFUL PLACING OF
HER ARMS, AND THE SHROUDING
OF HER BODY

And after her death certain marvels
were discovered about her body, con-

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

cerning which sure witness is possessed.
For her right arm, which for many years
had been so dead that she had not been
able to move it by herself, but after
wards through a sharp operation by a
certain surgeon it had become some
what movable, after her death, when
her holy body was uncovered, contrary
to all hope and knowledge, no one
knowing how it had come to pass, was
found beseemingly lying with her left
arm on her breast, with the hands as it
were joined and the fingers bent. For
she had been wont while still alive to
say to some that she hoped that yet
before her death she would praise God
with both arms outstretched, which also
came to pass and was clearly seen by
many after her death. For many years
also, and about thirty before her death,
she used many hair girdles to chastise
her flesh, girded with the last of which
for about three years, she ended her
last day. When therefore she was
dead, and having been uncovered for
the burial, was about to be clothed
again, those who were there found the
aforesaid girdle about her shoulders,
loosed from her body in a manner un
known to men, but whole and round

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

and not untied from the links of its
fastening. 1

She had also asked long before her
death of the above named Master John
her confessor that he would not suffer
her after her death to pass a long delay
upon the earth, but would at once see
that she was clothed, and according
to the manner arranged by her have
her buried. And although he would
willingly have done this, he was pre
vented by the violence of the magistrates
of the city, whom he could not resist.
For they had bidden him under penalty
of his goods and body not to remove
her from the place. The body therefore
remained until the morning of Wednes
day clothed in the wonted manner, and
placed in a wooden chest, and set in the
same place where it had lain for nearly
twenty years in life. And the same
venerable body was clothed after the
fashion of religious sisters in a robe of
wool, girded without by the hair girdle

1 Michael d Esne, Bishop of Tournai, in the begin
ning of the seventeenth century, says of this girdle :
"It is still preserved, fragrant with a wondrous
odour of sweetness. In fact I have handled it with
my own hands, and I know by experience that
the demons dread it exceedingly." Quoted by
Bollandists.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

which in life she had been wont to wear
next the flesh. Then above her head
was placed a round coif or a kind of
circular mitre made of vellum, on the
circle of which the glorious names Jesus
and Mary were written with black ink,
with which several hearts had been
depicted as if transfixed with arrows
or sharp darts. And all these things
necessary for her burial she had pre
pared many years before, and thinking
of her end she held them by her accord
ing to that word of the prophet, " Make
ready to meet thy God, Israel, for the
Lord shall come and He shall not be
slack to render to each according to his
works." But under her head, as she
had desired, was placed a certain bag
with her sweetly redolent tears of blood,
which she had called roses, which from
great charity and sorrow of heart had
distilled from her eyes. These indeed
flowing from her eyes in course of time,
and congealed upon her cheeks, Master
John her confessor, gently moistening
with her other common tears, had care
fully scraped off, and diligently storing
them in a bag had kept by him in a
clean casket.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXVIII

OF THE WONDERFUL BEAUTY AND
ASPECT OF HER COUNTENANCE

Now the virgin of exceeding humility
had said that she would die like other
men with very great sufferings, and
that no miracles would happen at her
death, which also befell as has already
appeared. But nevertheless, lest God
should seem altogether unmindful of the
pain and toil of His poor and humble
handmaid, and her praiseworthy patience
be taken from the mouth of men, He
also showed by undoubted signs before
the sight of men with how great merits
shone in Heaven the noble jewel long
lying in the prison of the flesh. For
her maiden face, which shunned the
sight of men to behold more clearly the
heavenly Spouse, presented no pallor or
horror of death ; but as if it had been
anointed with oil or some aromatic
liquor, shone with so great a brightness
and becoming whiteness that it seemed
to the beholders not as the common face
of a mortal man or of a dead corpse,

but as the likeness of a man glorified.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

For those who were present said that
they had never seen so beautiful a
picture. Whence also, although many
often approached to see her several
times they could never see her enough.
Likewise also the whole body shone
with the same whiteness and a similar
brilliancy, and all her members were
resplendent with such a flush of health
and beseeming fleshiness, as if she had
never suffered any infirmity. The cleft
also of her forehead seen formerly during
life utterly vanished; the feet likewise
and the legs, the hands and arms, and
the neck appeared corpulent, and the
whole body as entire as if there had
never been any injury or wound therein
before, except only that in the wound of
her right arm, and in one wound in
flicted upon her by the men of Picardy,
small scars like a thread appeared in
sign of the striking. Now the aforesaid
Master John had three sisters german,
who, when with other respectable
matrons they watched by this venerable
body, were filled with such grace by the
sight and presence thereof that the
whole time, to wit, from her passing to
her burial, they were troubled by neither
hunger, nor thirst, nor sleepiness.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXIX

OF THE FLOCKING OF VISITORS
TO HER DEAD BODY

But her death being known, and the
report of the glory of her body flying
far and wide, so great a concourse
of men flowed to visit her even to
midnight, all the days that she re
mained unburied, that from the different
states and towns of Rotterdam, of
Delft, of Leyden, and Briel, and from
other neighbouring towns and districts,
so many hastened to the sight of this
body that their certain number beyond
many thousands cannot be assigned
nor easily expressed. For children of
three or four years, as if accustomed
to walking, hastened with such eager
ness that they urged even men of adult
age to visit such great relics. Then
the virgin could say if she had lived,
" Suffer the little children to come unto
me, for of such is the kingdom of
Heaven" (Mark x 14). Having entered
then the house in which was the holy
bier, and because as children they were
of small stature and could not lift
themselves up to see the body in the

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

place where it lay, many of them crying
and grieving said: "Shall I not see
this virgin, for whom I have come from
so far?" Then the bystanders raised
them up to see the face of the virgin,
and after the sight sent them back to
their homes with an alms of white
bread. And what is more wonderful,
there was also there a matron with a
baby of one year and three months,
which infant indeed, with joined hands
and face turned towards the coffin,
fixed his eyes so reverently and gravely
thereon that the watchers and assis
tants of the sacred remains seeing
and wondering at the infant s devotion
were moved to tears.

CHAPTER XXX

OF THE STAINS WHICH SHE
CONTRACTED FROM UNCLEAN MEN

On account of the most brave endurance
of her sufferings, and her frequent
familiarity with angels and conversation
in Heaven, this virgin had arrived at
such purity that, touched on the hand
by unworthy and unclean men while
still living, she sometimes visibly con-

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

tracted stains, of which black marks
remained on her hands two or three
days, which had not been seen there
before. So also after her death some
thing of the like happened. For when
her face after her death shone as has
been said with such brilliancy, a certain
matron came with others to visit, and
passed her beads which she held in
her hand over her face out of devotion
as she thought, and immediately after
wards the maiden face from that
contact was noticeably darkened.
Wherefore, when her body had been
placed in the church and some of the
bystanders asked that it should be
shown and the coffin opened for them,
the rest, who knew of this darkening,
absolutely forbade this to be done,
fearing lest if it should be further
darkened by the onlooking of the un
worthy, others might be scandalised
thence.

CHAPTER XXXI

OF HER REVERENTIAL BURIAL

At length on the Friday within the
octave of Easter, which was the fourth

203

ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

day after her happy passing from this
vale of tears and from the enclosure
of the earthly dwelling, after the
sacrifice of the Mass had been most
devoutly celebrated she was given to
burial, at the twelfth hour at midday,
the sun shining brightly, and the day
declining to its close, after the example
of Christ, Who suffered on a Friday,
died at the ninth hour, and was buried
before sunset. To celebrate whose
funeral rites was present the religious
father Judocus, Prior of the Regulars
of Briel, who had very often familiarly
conversed with her in life, and had
wisely tested many of the secrets of
her sanctity. He persuaded for the
better, and urged the people to suffer
the servant of God to be buried in a
Christian fashion. And when he had
spoken the popular devotion agreed
with the Prior, and at once her coffin,
having been strongly fastened, the
body of the holy virgin was given to
burial after the example of Christ
buried in the bosom of the earth, to
be again raised by Him on the last
day and glorified with all the saints in
everlasting blessedness. And she was
buried the beloved spouse of Christ,

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

Lydia, white in virginity, deep in humi
lity, perfected in patience, burning in
charity, merciful, kind, excelling in
devotion, sublime in contemplation,
richly adorned with all the virtues and
gifts of the Holy Ghost : not wrapt in
silks, not enclosed in a marble tomb,
but in a grave of stones befittingly
formed with cement work; not in a
royal city, but in her native town called
Schiedam ; not in a choir of clerics nor
in a sanctuary of priests, but in the
common cemetery of the parochial
church of St. John Baptist, to the east
of the temple, where the grave of the
virgin may be seen and visited by all
the inhabitants : not, however, deep in
the earth nor covered above with earth,
nor lifted high above the earth, but on
beams of wood laid across within a
stone grave. And this indeed very
fittingly, that as for thirty years she
had not touched the earth in life, so
the earth should not touch her in death
nor a mound of earth cover the casket
of her body. Over whom is placed a
large stone of red colour, beseemingly
adorned within with divers red crosses,
raised about two cubits above the
mound of the grave.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

CHAPTER XXXII

OF THE MIRACLES AFTER HER
DEATH

After the burial of the venerable virgin,
as many faithful visited her grave and
honoured it with free offerings who
asserted that they had been cured of
various sicknesses and diseases the
rulers of the city and the authorities of
the church, having conceived a most
praiseworthy design for the increase of
the honour of God, the year following
had built a stone chapel with an altar
near her grave, about the feast of the
ten thousand Martyrs, 1 to the praise and
glory of God and the special memory of
the same virgin, in the year of the Lord

I434-

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE NARRATION OF THREE
MIRACLES

But now to prove this virgin s holiness
it seems altogether befitting at the end
of the book to adjoin, to the honour of

1 June 22nd.
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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

God and the praise of this holy virgin,
of many signs three most notable
miracles recently wrought by the co
operation of God, which are proved on
the faith of worthy men testifying to her
sanctity, and are reported by the lips of
many.

FIRST MIRACLE

There was in the city of Delft a certain
maiden who, continually keeping her bed
for eight years, was grievously sick.
This maiden four masters skilled in
medicine and famous of repute visited,
and moved by human pity, but urged
more by the love of God, then strove to
aid her. But the illness of this virgin
was altogether unknown to these now
mentioned masters, nor could any one of
them give a remedy which might profit
the sick girl. Among whom one of the
masters, Master William Sonderdank,
an approved doctor, wondering much,
said to the above named maiden : " Thou
hast not yet suffered so long a time
such great pains as that blessed virgin
Lydwine, because of whose merits the
Lord now works many miracles in our
parts." The sick virgin then hearing
this, of her own devotion, or rather urged

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

by divine inspiration, recited as many
times the Lord s Prayer, commonly
called the Our Father, as there are
members in the human body, to the
honour of God and this holy virgin Lyd-
wine. It befell therefore after this that
the happy virgin Lydwine visibly visited
the sick maiden, giving her a remedy of
medical art, and truly healed, she arose
sound, walking, eating, and doing the
works of maids in health. Whereat the
aforesaid master, very much astounded,
testifies that this is most true.

SECOND MIRACLE

The second miracle happened at
Gouda, a most noted city of Holland.
There was there in a cloister of virgins a
certain nun who had a contraction of
the nerves in one leg ; which leg was so
bent and shrunken that she could not
walk, nor stretch it in any way to the
length of the other by a space of two
palms. She would willingly have visited
this doctor Master William Sonderdank
abovenamed, who before had cured one
of the same house, sent to him in Delft,
with the remedies of his art and the
help of the grace of God in the space of

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

eight weeks, but she could not obtain
permission from her superiors. Sad
dened therefore, she wept bitterly several
days, because she would remain lame all
the days of her life, as she thought, ill
content to be thus. At length came
that blessed virgin Lydwine of a night
speaking with her, and saying that she
should ask of the sisters that every nun
of that house should recite five Our
Fathers and Hail Marys to the honour
of God and the virgin Lydwine herself;
and on the Sunday should have herself
carried to her own church, and thus she
should recover the health of the lame
leg. Which was done without delay.
For, having obtained leave of her con
fessor, she was carried to the church as
Lydwine had said to her by vision, and
during Mass she suddenly obtained the
perfect cure of her leg ; going out most
joyously by herself, and rendering the
greatest thanks to God, Who had
worked that miracle by the merits of
the most happy virgin Lydwine.

THIRD MIRACLE

But the third miracle happened at
Leyden, a well-known town of the country

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

of Holland. In this populous city there
was a certain religious virgin who had
in the neck a hard cancer about the size
of a large apple, so that she could
neither drink nor eat nor bend herself,
if she did not wish to be choked by the
exceeding difficulty of breathing. She
came without shoes and without linen l
to the grave of the aforesaid holy virgin
to implore the succour of health, and
not having gained it she returned with
great sadness, not knowing what good
things were to come to her. The night
following after her return from the tomb,
and awakened from her sleep, she was
entirely cured of that cancerous growth
which she had suffered for nearly eight
years, as was known to many. This
virgin miraculously cured the above
mentioned Master William Sonderdank,
doctor in medicine, saw with his own
eyes and touched her neck with his
hands ; who also gives most trustworthy
witness in his writing of all the foregoing,
saying: "I witness to God that these
three have been wrought within a short
time ; yea and many others which I have
seen with my own eyes it would be too

i i.e. with only the rough outer garment against
the skin by way of penance.

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ST. LYDWINE of SCHIEDAM

long to narrate." l These above written
miracles have come to pass by God re
newing wonders in our days, in the year
of the Lord one thousand four hundred
forty-eight, the most holy Pope Nicholas
the Fifth sitting in the apostolic See, in
the second year of his reign.

PRAISE TO GOD ALMIGHTY.

1 This William Sonderdank was the son of the
Godfrey of Hague, the Doctor who was the first to
recognise the supernatural nature of Lydwine s
ailments. This good Godfrey was accustomed to
heal the poor gratis, and in response to their earnest
Grootendank, Great thanks, he invariably answered
Sonderdank, No thanks. Hence he was commonly
known as Sonderdank, a title which his son was
proud to take as a surname. This son, William, is
also said to have built a hospital on the site of
St. Lydwine s house, in accordance with the wish
which she had once expressed when refusing the
offer of a better house for herself : she had said that
she would be well content if after her death her
house should be fitted up as an asylum for the sick.

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON <& Co.
Edinburgh 6 London

r\

Thomas a Kenrois EOT

2523
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St. Lydwine of Schiedam...