CHAPTER 67: [The fire at Oundle]
CHAPTER 67
[The fire at Oundle]
ON another occasion the Lord made it clear that our great and worthy bishop was a saint. There was a group of exiles, noblemen too, going round with an armed band, ravaging the countryside out of revenge. They wantonly set fire to the monastery at Oundle where Wilfrid had been called to his fathers. They did their utmost with torches and firebrands to raze it to the ground, and succeeded – except for the room where the saint had died. Here the torches, instead of setting ablaze, guttered out. Thinking that the wet thatch on the roof might have damped them out, one of the marauders pushed his way into the room to light the dry straw inside. There within stood a young man in white holding a golden cross. The man rushed out in terror yelling:
‘Quick, away from here! An angel of the Lord is protecting the place.’
They quickly retreated.
There is another fact connected with the raid, which is very well vouched for. One side of the great thorn hedge round the monastery was set alight, and the flames raced along it burning all before them till they came to the place where the cross was standing, and then suddenly died out. The fire had also crept round the other side of the buildings along the parched hedge. When it reached where the corner of Wilfrid’s room jutted out, the flames died away. That was the only bit of hedge saved.
God’s punishment soon lighted on the evil-doers. Some of the most noble of them, going along at the head of their troops in the full light of day, were suddenly blinded. Taken unawares by their enemies they were hemmed in on all sides, thrown down and slain. Few of their companions escaped – only those who had crossed themselves.
These marvels were performed by God’s saint to avenge his wrongs.