After some while spent in this office he was sent to serve in the
kitchen as assistant, and he afterwards became chief cook, in which post
he served all the Brothers faithfully for above thirty years. At length,
wearied with years, he was relieved from his labours and slept in peace,
being an old man and full of many days.

In the same year, within the Octave of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and on the Feast day of the holy martyrs Protus and Hyacinthus, at
noon died Gerard Hombolt of Utrecht, a Donate of our House, who was fifty-
nine years old. He was very zealous, faithful, and devout in the service
of God, particularly in the things which pertain to the glory and honour
of the Blessed Virgin Mary; moreover, he procured a most fair image of
her, and a corona of polished brass holding many candles, and certain
other ornaments that are set above the altar of the Blessed Virgin. These
things he did out of his great devotion, and with a pious intention of
adorning our church in honour of the Blessed Virgin and St. Agnes.

First he was Hospitarius and afterward Refectorarius to the Brothers, and
all things that were committed to his charge he kept honestly and in
cleanly fashion, seeing to the provision of all needful vessels, napkins,
and towels. On a time when many guests had come to the House he bade the
cook provide all things necessary for them; but the cook, being troubled
at this unaccustomed number, was heavy at heart, for he feared lest he
might not be able to satisfy all as he fain would do, but Gerard Hombolt,
putting his trust in the Lord, said, "Make the sign of the Holy Cross
over the pots and the cooked food and God shall give His blessing and a
sufficiency." So the cook did as Gerard had said, and blessed the
provision again and again in faith, and behold the good Lord, seeing
their faith, gave them an increase so that all had enough; and when the
meal was done there was abundance left over, insomuch that the fragments
that remained sufficed for a full meal at supper.

In his youth, and before he entered the monastery, Gerard, out of his
great devotion, visited the Holy Land--Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the
other places hallowed by our Saviour; and he was disposed, if it should
be allowed him, to visit them once again before his death. But the good
Lord changed his love for the earthly Jerusalem to love for the Jerusalem
which is in Heaven, into which he entered (as I hope) through the
inte