Saint Wivine

It was not enough for our Saint to live like an angel in the midst of a corrupt world; she also wished to follow the example of the holy patriarch Abraham, and leave her father's house to withdraw to some place that Providence would prepare for her. She well foresaw that the execution of this design would be very difficult; her great youth, the danger of exposing herself all alone or of confiding in some of her companions without being discovered, the difficulty of escaping the watch of those charged with guarding her; all these things were so many obstacles that must have seemed insurmountable to her. Moreover, she knew that her parents would be inconsolable and that they would make such extensive searches the moment she disappeared that it would be almost impossible for her to escape their diligence; but Wivine was already filled with the Spirit Wivine Virgin and founder of the monastery of Grand-Bigard in the 12th century. that had animated the holy patriarch, whom she had proposed to imitate. She hoped against all hope, to use the terms of Scripture, and believed that God, who had inspired her with the design to withdraw, would provide her with all the necessary means. She had with her a holy girl who served her with much affection, who never abandoned her, and in whom she placed all her trust. Often they spoke together of the nothingness of human grandeur, of the falsity of pleasures, and of the dangers to which one is exposed in the world. One day she shared with her the design she had conceived of withdrawing; Enteware, for that was the name of this virtuous girl, was und oubtedly Enteware Servant and faithful companion of Saint Wivine in her retreat. surprised; but she dared not contradict her mistress. Moreover, she had an inclination for retreat and for penance, so she had no difficulty in making up her mind and promised to favor her design and to accompany her.

The world, which apprehended the consequences of such a generous resolution, used its ordinary artifices to prevent its execution; but Saint Wivine was unshakeable and firm as a rock. A young lord of the country, called Richward, had such a violent love for her that he thought day and night only of the means to s atisfy h Richward A young nobleman whose advances were rejected by Wivine and who eventually converted. is brutal passion. He neglected no opportunity to captivate her heart, and had very advantageous proposals made to her, which her parents seemed quite disposed to accept, which made the temptation even more violent. He finally solicited her himself, and spoke to her in terms that were capable of softening the most insensitive hearts; but all these steps greatly displeased our Saint. She did not, however, let anything show, and contented herself with making him understand that he was asking for an impossible thing and that all his steps would be useless. "I am," she said, "the spouse of Jesus Christ, I have pledged myself to Him from my tenderest youth, and I shall have no other spouse. You cannot, therefore, think of me without offending Him, for He is a jealous spouse." These words were accompanied by great sweetness, although uttered with much firmness; but they were like a thunderbolt for the young lord. He withdrew without insisting further, and conceived such great sorrow from this refusal that he fell dangerously ill a few days later. He was already abandoned by the doctors when Saint Wivine was informed of his illness. She appeared deeply touched by it, and as if she had been guilty of the disorder of his heart, she imagined herself to be the sole cause of his misfortune; then she shed a torrent of tears, fasted on bread and water, redoubled all her ordinary austerities, and spent several days and nights in continuous prayer to obtain at least his conversion. "I hope, Lord," she said, "that You will hear me, although I am unworthy; for You do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live." Richward soon felt the effects of this humble and fervent prayer, and saw himself out of danger in a very short time. His mind was enlightened, he wept for his disorders, grace took hold of his heart and stifled the impure flames with which he was inflamed. He loved Saint Wivine with a chaste love, and took pride in becoming her disciple. For he was hardly recovered when he followed the salutary advice she gave him to withdraw into some solitude to weep for his wanderings.

The danger from which our Saint had just escaped made strange impressions on her mind. She could not think without shuddering of the importunate pursuits of which she had been the object. The diabolical springs that had been set in motion to seduce her formed such a frightful idea of the danger to which her chastity had been exposed that she no longer dared to appear before a man, fearing such attacks more than death. A light glance, an indifferent word, a useless visit, everything became suspect to her; and without thinking of the great victories she had won on this occasion, she occupied herself only with her weakness, attributing everything to the grace of God, of which she found herself very unworthy. On the other hand, the example of the one she had just seen at death's door and his penitent life made her reflect seriously on her conduct, and were new motives that determined her to execute without delay what she had long resolved. Although she was still only twenty-three years old, she accused herself of cowardice for having delayed so long, and imagined that she was resisting the attraction of the Holy Spirit. Unable, finally, to remain any longer in such a violent state, she left her father's house and went out with Enteware, to abandon herself for the rest of her days to the care of Providence, to unite herself more intimately to her Spouse, and to serve Him in a perfect detachment from all earthly things.

Saint Wivine and her companion stopped near a fountain whose waters have since that time been very salutary for all kinds of illnesses, in a very solitary place, although not far from the city of Brussels. As this place was surrounded by woods, they built a small hermitage there with tree branches, where they remained for the space of three years, unknown and without having any commerce with men; they spent their days and nights there in the almost continuous exercise of prayer and penance; this place still retains the name of Grand-Bigard today.

Our Saint would have like d to spend t Grand-Bigard Site of the hermitage and later the monastery founded by Saint Wivine. he rest of her days in obscurity; but God had other views: a life so pure and so austere soon became known in the surroundings, and people came in crowds to her hermitage. The pious visitors were at first frightened by her extreme poverty, for she had brought from her father's house only a psalter which was kept in her monastery: she had no furniture, and the earth served as her bed. She fed only on herbs and roots that she found in the woods, and she drank only the water that she drew from the fountain of which we have already spoken. One noticed, however, still, under such an apparently wild exterior, some vestiges of her greatness. She had a majestic air that made her respected; her words were words of life, and she always accompanied them with such great sweetness, even when declaiming against vice, that they always produced some effects in even the most hardened hearts. Those who came to hear her never returned without being consoled; there were many girls of all ages and all conditions who, the first time they had seen and heard her, could not resolve to separate from her, and, without consulting their weakness, proposed to follow her example.

Whatever attraction Saint Wivine had for solitude and the exercise of contemplation, she suffered with patience this great concourse of people, because her charity for her neighbor was boundless. Far from rebuffing those young women of whom we have just spoken, she wished to take advantage of their good dispositions to win them to God and keep them by her side. For this, it was necessary to build a monastery, and the place seemed quite suitable; but this undertaking seemed bold to her for a young woman who had renounced everything! It was, moreover, in some way returning to the world that she detested. She also foresaw that she would be obliged to leave her solitude from time to time, to go to Brussels where the court was, to present herself to the prince to ask for his consent and his protection.

Enteware, whom she no longer regarded as a servant, but as her own sister, encouraged her sa propre sœur Servant and faithful companion of Saint Wivine in her retreat. on this occasion; together they offered extraordinary prayers, and fasted for three days to be more certain of the will of God. Finally, the resolution was taken, and Saint Wivine went out with her companion for the first time, after a retreat of three whole years. They went to Brussels, to Godfrey the Bearded, Count of Brabant. The latter, having already heard of Godefroid le Barbu Count of Brabant and protector of Saint Wivine. our two solitaries, was charmed to see them, and granted them the place they requested to build a monastery; but he wished, moreover, to pay all the costs of the construction of the new edifice himself; he assigned to her for this purpose large revenues, and permitted the Saint to make new acquisitions.

The letters of foundation having been dispatched, Saint Wivine returned promptly to Grand-Bigard, laid the foundations of her monastery, and arranged, as the works progressed, everything that was necessary to establish a strict regularity there. But as she mistrusted her own lights greatly, she did not wish to establish anything before having consulted some person of probity, and who had experience of the monastic life. The Abbot of Afflighem appeared to her as such. She obtained from the Count the permission to pla L'abbé d'Afflighem Abbey whose abbot guided Saint Wivine in monastic life. ce herself under his guidance and to submit her monastery to his discipline. A short time later she made profession of the Rule of Saint Benedict, and all her daughters followed her example.

It seems that God wished to reward our Saint a hundredfold for having left everything to dedicate herself to His service, by placing her at the head of a holy and numerous community. This dignity, which she had not sought, brought no change to her conduct: she remained equally poor in her clothing and in her cell, equally humble and detached, equally penitent. We have already noted that in her retreat she lived only on wild fruits or roots; she lived much the same way while abbess. She contented herself every day with a little barley bread and drank only water: sometimes she even spent entire days without taking any food. Such examples made a great impression on all the nuns; they strove to imitate her and led a life more angelic than human. However, our Saint believed that it was not enough for a superior to instruct only by example those whom Providence had entrusted to her, but that she was also obliged to instruct them with her words; which she did with great zeal, nourishing them with the truths that God has deigned to reveal to us in the Holy Scripture.

During the governance of her community, she knew so well how to arrange her time that she always found some for prayer, not to mention that which she stole from her rest; and even in occupations that usually cause the most distraction, she always maintained the presence of God. It is to this spirit of prayer and orison that we must attribute the profound humility of this Saint; for it is in prayer that we converse with God, and that by contemplating the great perfections of this infinite being, we are penetrated by our nothingness and the vanity of everything below Him.

The humility of Saint Wivine had no bounds; she could not bear the marks of respect and deference that the most distinguished persons sometimes gave her, nor understand the blind submission that all the nuns showed, on every occasion, to everything she seemed to require of them. She had such a low opinion of herself that she would not take a meal, however light it might be, without accusing herself of gluttony and sensuality. If her body, exhausted by almost continuous fasts and weakened by some long labor, seemed to succumb and ask for rest, this need appeared to her as cowardice; in a word, she found great motives for humiliation in her most innocent actions.

God wished to test our Saint for some time, and, indeed, something would have been missing from her virtue had it not been exercised by some trial. He permitted the spirit of division to slip into her holy house, where until then charity had always reigned. She noticed distance in some of her daughters, and a lack of trust. They disapproved of her great austerities, saying that they were excessive, that their abbess with all her virtue lacked discretion; that nevertheless this virtue is the mother of the others, that it is the mystical salt figured in Scripture by that which was necessary for sacrifices, and that finally it was impossible for such great fervor to be of any duration. They did not pay attention to the fact that our Saint had already been sustaining the same kind of life for several years, that her first retreat, everything she had done since, and all the other circumstances of her life since her birth, had had something supernatural about them, which clearly showed that she was guided only by the inspiration of God; and that finally her docility, the distrust she had of herself, and her profound humility were very tangible proofs of this.

Saint Wivine had enough light to perceive at once that all these murmurs came from the prince of darkness who wanted to trouble her and stop all the advantages she won over him every day. She warned her daughters of this with great gentleness, exhorted them to distrust themselves, and to persuade them that it was an illusion, she said to them: « God has sustained us until now, my dearest sisters, in our holy practices, I have established nothing before having taken counsel from virtuous persons experienced in the spiritual life; let us not stop at these bad thoughts, which make us consider what we do for our Spouse, but let us look upon ourselves as useless servants; the sweetness with which He does not cease to fill us every day amply compensates us for the small sacrifices we make to Him. You had so much fervor in the beginning: why do you stop this great zeal, and, after having been so submissive, do you abandon yourselves to murmurs unworthy of spouses of Jesus Christ; resume your first vigor and return to the happy state from which you have fallen ». These words made some impression on the minds of the more moderate; but God wished to convince them all, and to show them by a striking miracle, by changing water into wine, that He approved of the conduct of His faithful servant.

Saint Wivine had many other assaults to sustain against this prince of darkness; but she always triumphed over them. This is what he was forced to admit, in a transport of despair, to a holy hermit whom he had thought he could seduce in his cell. He added, moreover, that he had traveled the whole earth without finding anyone who was so opposed to him as Wivine and her companion, that they devastated him and that they threw at him from time to time like sharp arrows that penetrated him to the quick. One day he extinguished all the lamps of the church, to disturb at least once the holy offices of the night; but our Saint had already anticipated the hour, according to her custom, and rendered his evil designs useless by the efficacy of her prayer, which had the power to light a wax candle that served to relight all the others.

Saint Wivine had already been abbess of the monastery she had founded for thirty-four years when it pleased God to withdraw her from this world to give her the reward due to her merits. She was attacked by a slow fever that gradually undermined her, and finally feeling her last hour approaching, she summoned all her daughters, and with a confident face, which seemed more cheerful than usual because she looked at death with the eyes of faith, she tried to console them by inspiring in them a great trust in God. She recommended to them above all things to maintain great unity among themselves, and that fraternal charity which is the hallmark of true Christians. Having then received the last sacraments with great feelings of devotion, she passed from this life to a happier one, on December 17, 1179, at the age of seventy.

Saint Wivine is represented: 1° with a church in her hand, as a church founder; 2° holding a book and a candle that an angel lights; the devil flees.

[APPENDIX: CULT AND RELICS.]

The precious death of Saint Wivine was followed by a great number of miracles. The blind, the mute, the deaf, the lame, in a word, persons afflicted with all sorts of diseases came in crowds to her tomb and obtained their healing there.

Before being buried, her body was long exposed to the veneration of the people who flocked from all parts and even from the most distant regions; it exhaled a celestial perfume of the sweetest and most pleasant kind. Saint Wivine was buried with great solemnity in the unfinished church of her monastery, next to the high altar. This building having been completed around the year 1177, Alard, Bishop o f Cambrai, consecrated i Alard, évêque de Cambrai Bishop of Cambrai who consecrated the monastery church. t the same year. After the ceremony of the dedication, he charged the Abbot of Afflighem, Arnoul, to perform the elevation of the body of our Saint the following Sunday.

The translation of these precious relics took place amidst a great gathering of the faithful, and was accompanied by several striking miracles, which inspired in all a new confidence in the merits of the Saint. In 1804, these precious bones were deposited in the church of Notre-Dame-a u-Sablon, in Brussel Notre-Dame-au-Sablon Site of the relics of Saint Wivine in Brussels since 1804. s.

Saint Wivine was particularly invoked against burning fevers, throat swellings, the plague, pleurisy, eye ailments, and all sorts of infirmities and diseases, and also against the diseases of horses, cows, and other animals. A great number of miracles came to confirm the faithful in their belief in the powerful protection of their patron saint.

A Confraternity was erected under her invocation, with the goal of practicing various works of piety and charity, of being better able to participate in the merits of the Saint, and of obtaining her powerful aid in sickness. Pope Urban VIII granted several indulgences to the members of this Co Le pape Urbain VIII Pope who beatified Josaphat. nfraternity.

Taken from a very old brochure, printed in Brussels, under this title: *The Life and Miracles of Saint Wivine*, by a nun of Sigarden.