CHAPTER 4: Archbishop Dalfinus makes him most welcome
CHAPTER 4
Archbishop Dalfinus makes him most welcome
BLESSED be God, who protects and defends his servants and sends good men to help them. In this city lived Archbishop Dalfinus 1 of happy memory. As soon as he set eyes on the gentle Wilfrid and saw that his peaceful looks indicated a saintly mind, he took a liking to him, and put up both him and his companions as guests with all hospitality. He treated them as though they were his own, provided them abundantly with all they needed, and expressed the wish to adopt Wilfrid as his own son.
‘Stay with me and be trustful,’ he said, ‘and I shall give you a good part of Gaul to govern in perpetuity and my own niece to be your wife. I shall adopt you as my son and you shall have me for a father and faithful helper in all things.’
The servant of God replied as wisdom had taught him.
‘I have made my vows to the Lord and I shall keep them, leaving, like Abraham, my kinsfolk and my father’s house to visit the Apostolic See, there to learn the laws of ecclesiastical discipline so that our nation may grow in the service of God. I yearn to receive the reward God promised to those that love Him when He said: “Everyone that hath forsaken father or mother shall receive a hundred fold and shall inherit everlasting life.” 2 If with God’s help I am still alive, I promise to come back to see you.’
From this and other signs the holy bishop realized that he was a true servant of God and filled with the Holy Spirit He provided him with his requirements for the Journey and sent him off, as he wished, to the Apostolic See with guides and supplies.