CHAPTER 35: How he gave water the flavour of wine simply by tasting it
CHAPTER 35
How he gave water the flavour of wine simply by tasting it
WHEN he had gone through the upper districts of the diocese in order, he came to a convent of virgins close to the mouth of the Tyne, a place we have already mentioned. Abbess Verca, a devout and, in the eyes of the world, a noble woman, gave him a magnificent welcome. When the after-dinner rest was over Cuthbert said he felt thirsty and would like a drink. They asked whether he wanted wine or beer.
‘Give me water,’ came the reply.
It was drawn from the well and brought. He blessed it, drank a little, and gave it to his priest, who gave it to the man who had brought it, a priest of the monastery. He asked if he might drink from the cup which the bishop had just used.
‘Of course. Why not?’ Cuthbert answered.
The priest drank, and it seemed to him that the water had taken on the taste of wine. Eager to have witnesses of so great a miracle he handed the cup to a brother standing by. He drank and thought he had wine in his mouth, not water. They gaped at each other in astonishment and afterwards, when they had a chance to talk, confessed that they had never tasted better wine. One of them later came to stay in our monastery at Monkwearmouth, lived with us a long time, and was peacefully buried there. I had the story from him.