of that see, when
Aldred was translated to that of York. Though not very learned, he
delivered the word of God with so much dignity and unction, as often to
move his whole audience to tears. He always recited the psalter while he
travelled, and never passed by any church or chapel without going in, to
pour forth his soul before the altar with tears, which seemed to stand
always ready in his eyes for prayer. When the conqueror had deprived the
English, both nobility and clergy, of the posts of honor they possessed
in the church and state, in favor of his Normans, on whose fidelity he
could depend, Wulstan kept his see, though not without a miracle, as St.
Aelred, Florentius, and Capgrave relate, as follows: In a synod, held at
Westminster, in which archbishop Lanfranc {182} presided, Wulstan was
called upon to give up his crosier and ring, upon pretext of his
simplicity and unfitness for business. The saint confessed himself unfit
for the charge, but said, that king Edward, with the concurrence of the
apostolic see, had compelled him to take it upon him, and that he would
deliver his crosier to him. Then going to the king's monument, he fixed
his crosier to the stone; then went and sat down among the monks. No one
was able to draw out the crosier till the saint was ordered to take it
again, and it followed his hand with ease. From this time the conqueror
treated him with honor. Lanfranc even commissioned him to perform the
visitation of the diocese of Chester for himself. When any English
complained of the oppression of the Normans, he used to tell them, "This
is a scourge of God for your sins, which you must bear with patience."
The saint caused young gentlemen who were brought up under his care, to
carry in the dishes and wait on the poor at table, to teach them the
practice of humiliation, in which he set the most edifying example. He
showed the most tender charity for penitents, and often wept over them,
while they confessed their sins to-him. He died in 1095, having sat
thirty-two years, and lived about eighty-seven. He was canonized in
1203. See his life by William of Malmesbury, in Wharton, t. 2, p. 244.
Also, a second, by Florence of Worcester, and a third in Capgrave; and
his history, at length, by Dr. Thomas, in his History of the Cathedral
of Worcester.

ST. BLAITHMAIC,

SON of an Irish king, and abbot in the isle of Hij, in Scotland. He was
martyred by Danish pirates, to whom he refused to betray the treasur