Apologia pro vita sua being a history of his religious opinions
Walburga. The contrary fact was stated on June 7, 1835. The cave was
opened on this day by chance, passengers longing to see it. To their
astonishment they found the stone so profusely dropping with oil, that
the golden vase fixed underneath was full to the brim, whereas at this
season never had been observed there any fluid. Some weeks later arrived
the long-wished-for royal decree which sanctioned the reopening of the
convent of St. Walburga; it was signed on that very 7th of June, 1835,
by his Majesty King Louis I.
"Moreover, let one try to gather water which is dropping from sweating
stone, or glass, or metal, and let him see if it will be pure and
limpid, or rather muddy, filthy, and cloudy. The oil of St. Walburga on
the contrary, is and remains so limpid and crystal, that a bottle, which
had been filled and officially sealed at the reopening of the cave after
the Swedish invasion, 1645, preserves to this day the oil so very clear
and clean as if it had been filled yesterday; an occurrence never to be
observed even on the purest spring-water, according to the testimony of
the royal circuit-physician (K. Bezirksarzt).
"To this testimony of a naturalist may be added that of a much higher
authority. The renowned naturalist, Von Oken, surely an unquestionable
expert, came one day, while he was Professor in the University of
Munich, to Eichstädt on the special purpose to investigate this
extraordinary phenomenon. The cave was opened to him, he received every
information he wished for, and having seen and examined everything, he
pronounced publicly without any reluctance that he could not explain the
matter in a natural way. He took of the liquor to Munich in order to
subject it to a chemical analysis, and declared then by writing the
result of his researches to be that he could take it neither for natural
water, nor oil, and that, in general, he was not able to explain the
phenomenon as being in accordance with the laws of nature.
"Let me add the testimony of a historical authority. Mr. Sax, counsellor
of the government (K. Regierungsrath), in his history of the diocese and
city of Eichstädt, after he has spoken of the origin, the properties,
and the effect of the oil of St. Walburga, concludes that 'they are of
such a singular kind, that they not only exceed far the province of
extraordinary nature-phenomena, but that they, in spite of the constant
discrediting and slandering by bullying free-thinkers, preserved the
great confidence of the catholic people even in far distant countries.'
"Now of the miracles. There are related by the people many thousands,
but, of course, few of them are attested. In the Pastoral paper of
Eichstädt, 1857, page 207, I read that Anton Ernest, Bishop of Brünn, in
Moravia, announces, under Nov. 1, 1857, to the Bishop of Eichstädt, the
recovery of a girl in the establishment of the sisters of charity from
blindness, and sends, in order to attest the fact, the following
document, which I am to translate literally:--
"'In the name of the indivisible Trinity. We, Anton Ernest, by God's and
the Holy See's grace, Bishop of Brünn. After we had received, first by
the curate of the establishment of the Daughters of Christian Charity in
this place, and then also from other quarters, the notice that a girl in
the aforesaid establishment had regained the use of her eyes
miraculously in the very moment when she had a vial, containing oil of
St. Walburga, offered to her, brought to her mouth and kissed, we
thought it to be our duty to research scrupulously into the fact, and to
put it beyond all doubt in the way of a special commission, by hearing
of witnesses and a trial at the place of the fact, if there be truth,
and how much of it, in the supposed miraculous healing.
"'About the report of this commission and the adjoined testimony of the
physician, we have then, as prescribes the Holy Council of Trent (Sess.
25), collected the judgments of our theologians and other pious men; and
as these all were quite in accordance, and the fact itself with all its
circumstances lay before us quite clear and open, we have, after
invocation of assistance of the Holy Ghost, pronounced, judged, and
decided as follows:--
"'The instantaneous removal of the most pertinacious eyelid-cramp
(Augenlied krampf), which Matilda Makara during many months had hindered
in the use of her eyes and kept in blindness, and the simultaneous
recurrence of the full eye-sight, phlogistic appearances still remaining
in the eyes, which occurred when Matilda Makara on Nov. 7, 1856, had a
vial with the oil of St. Walburga brought, full of confidence, to her
mouth and kissed, must be acknowledged to be a fact which, besides the
order of nature, has been effected by God's grace, and is therefore a
miracle.
"'And that the memory of this Divine favour may be preserved, that to
God eternal thanks may be given, the confidence of the faithful may be
incited and nourished, this devotion to the great wonder-worker St.
Walburga may be promoted, we order that this aforegoing decision shall
be affixed in the chapel of the Daughters of Christian Charity in this
place, that it shall be preserved for all times to come, and that the
7th Nov. shall be celebrated as a holiday every year in this aforesaid
establishment.
"'Given in our Episcopal Residence at Brünn,
"'Nov. 1, 1857,
"'(L. S.) Anton Ernest, Bishop.'
"A second record about St. Walburga I find in the Eichstädt Pastoral
paper, 1858, page 192, from which I take the following: 'The Superioress
of the Convent of St. Walburga had received in summer 1858 the notice of
a miraculous cure written by the Superioress of the Convent of St.
Leonard-sur-Mer, Sussex. At request for an authenticated report, John
Bamber, chaplain of the Convent of the Holy Infant at St.
Leonard-sur-Mer, wrote about the following: "Sister Walburga had been
ill fifteen months, of which five bedridden. The physician pronounced
the malady to be incurable. Large exterior tumour, frequent (thrice or
four times a day) vomitings were caused by the diseased pylorus. The
matter was hopeless, when the Superioress on April 27 thought of using
the oil of St. Walburga. The chaplain brought it on the tongue of the
sick sister, and in the same moment she had a burning feeling which
seemed to her to descend, and to affect especially the sick part. In a
few minutes the inner smart ceased, the tumour fell off, she felt
recovered. Next morning she rose, assisted at the holy mass,
communicated, ate with good appetite. She was quite recovered, but
somewhat feeble, as people always are after a great disease. The
physician, a Protestant, abode by his opinion the malady to be
incurable, acknowledged, however, the healing. His words were: 'I
believe the healing to be effected by the oil of St. Walburga, but how,
I don't know.' As a Protestant he refused to give testimony that the
operation of the oil had been miraculous.'
"The report is authenticated by Thomas, Bishop of Southwark.
"Freising, Bayern,
"September 13, 1873."
NOTE ON PAGE 323.
BONIFACE OF CANTERBURY.
When I made the above reference in 1865 to Boniface of Canterbury, I was
sure I had seen among my books some recent authoritative declaration on
the subject of his _cultus_ in opposition to the Bollandists; but I did
not know where to look for it. I have now found in our Library (Concess.
Offic. t. 2) what was in my mind. It consists of five documents
proceeding from the Sacred Congregation of Rites, with the following
title:--
"Emo ac Revmo Domino Card. Lambruschini Relatore, Taurinen.
Approbationis cultûs ab immemorabili tempore præstiti B.
Bonifacio à Subaudiâ Archiepiscopi Cantuarien. Instante
serenissimo Rege Sardiniæ Carolo Alberto. Romæ, 1838."
Also Dr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark, has kindly supplied me with the
following extract from the Correspondance de Rome, 24 November, 1851,
adding "St. Boniface of Canterbury or of Savoy was beatified
_æquipollenter_ by Gregory XVI.:"--
"Le B. Boniface de Savoie, xi de ce nome, petit-fils d'Humbert
iii, Archevêque de Cantorbéry. Confirmation de son culte,
également à la demande du Roi Charles Albert, 7 Sept. 1838.
D'abord moine parmi les Chartreux, puis Archevêque de
Cantorbéry, consacré par Innocent IV. au Concile Général de
Lyons; il occupa le siége 25 ans. Mort en 1270 pendant un voyage
en Savoie. Son corps porté à Haucatacombe; concours des
populations; miracles; son corps retrouvé intact trois siècles
après sa mort. Son nom dans les livres liturgiques. Sa fête
célébrée sans aucune interruption. Sur la relation de Card.
Lambruschini, la S. C. des Rites le 1 Sept. 1838, décida qu'il
constait de cas exceptionnel aux décrets d'Urbain VIII. p. 410."