CHAPTER 56: Our patron falls sick and St Michael appears to him [705]
CHAPTER 56
Our patron falls sick and St Michael appears to him [705]
ON the way home our holy bishop became gravely ill. At first he went along on horseback but later had to be carried in a litter. His friends mourned and wept over his condition and called upon God for aid. They brought him into Meaux scarcely alive and were convinced he was dying, for he was still breathing and warm to touch but unconscious. Nothing had passed his lips for the last four days, but on the fifth day, as dawn was breaking, an angel of the Lord in shining raiment appeared to him. ‘I am Michael, messenger of the Most High God,’ he announced. ‘I have come to tell you that through the prayers of the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God, and the tears of your followers, several years have been added to your life, as a sign of which your health will improve daily until you are completely well, you will reach your native land in safety, all your precious possessions will be restored to you and you will end your days in peace. I will visit you four years from now: be prepared. You have built churches in honour of St Peter and St Andrew but for the Blessed Mary, ever-virgin, who is interceding for you, you have built nothing. Rectify this omission by dedicating a church in her honour.’ The angel of the Lord was taken up and disappeared from his sight. Our holy bishop arose as though he had just awoken and sat down with his friends who were weeping and chanting prayers for him.
‘Where is our priest Acca?’ he asked.
Acca was called in and rejoiced and thanked God with the rest of them at the sight of his master sitting up and talking. Wilfrid asked the brethren to withdraw and leave him alone with his faithful chaplain. He revealed the vision detail by detail. Acca, being a man of acute intelligence (he is now a bishop), at once recognized the parallel between this favour and that accorded Hezekiah, King of Judah, and thanked God accordingly.1 Wilfrid’s life was spared at the intercession of the Mother of God and his own followers: Hezekiah’s life was lengthened by fifteen years, five because of his father David, five through the prophet Isaiah’s prayers in the temple, and five of his own goodness and because he had turned his face to the wall and wept.