1160 St Waltneof,
Abbot
of Melrose; Waltheof saw in his hands, not the form of bread, but the
radiant form
of the child Jesus. When he had laid the Host on the altar he saw
only the sacramental form.
Waltneof was second son of Simon, Earl of Huntingdon, and
Matilda or
Maud, daughter to Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror. His
elder brother was called Simon, and in their childhood it was the
pastime of this Simon to build castles and play at soldiers, but
Waltheof's to build churches and monasteries of stones and
wood.
When grown up, the
elder inherited his father's
martial disposition together with his title; but Waltheof had a strong
inclination for the religious life and was mild and peace-loving. Their
mother Maud, after the death of her first husband, was given in
marriage by King Henry I to St David I, King of Scotland, and Waltheof
followed his mother to that court, where he formed an intimate
friendship with St Ached, who
was master of the royal household at that time. When he went out
hunting with the king Waltheof used to hide himself in. some thicket
and there employ the day in meditation or reading. The king,
having one day surprised him at this, told the queen that her son was
not a man of this world, for he could find no satisfaction in its
diversions. Only once did it look as if his vocation might be
lost; he had attracted the attention of one of the ladies of the court
and accepted from her a ring, which he wore on his
linger. Such gages commonly have
more serious developments, but when a courtier, noticing the ring,
said, "Ha! At last Waltheof begins to take some notice of women
he pulled himself together, snatched off the ring, and threw it into
the fire.
Soon after he decided to avoid the life of a court
cleric and
become a religious. He left Scotland, and made his profession among
regular canons of St Augustine in their monastery at Nostell, near
Pontefract in Yorkshire. He was soon after chosen prior of
Kirkham, in the same county, and, realizing the obligations he now lay
under for the sanctification of others as well as for his own, he
redoubled his austerity and regularity of observance. In
celebrating Mass one Christmas day, after the consecration of the bread
he was favoured with a wonderful vision. The divine Word, who on
that day had made Himself visible to mankind by His birth, seemed
pleased to manifest Himself not only to the eyes of faith but also to
the bodily eyes of His servant. Waltheof saw in his hands, not
the form of bread, but the radiant form of the child Jesus. When he had
laid the Host on the altar he saw only the sacramental form.
Waitheof, impressed by the life and vigour of the
Cistercian
monks, became anxious to join them; naturally he was encouraged by the
advice of his friend St Aelred, then abbot of Rievaulx, and accordingly
he took the habit at Wardon in Bedfordshire. Waltheof found
Cistercian life excessively severe, and judged it to be therefore less
suitable for the salvation of souls than Augustinian discretion.
Nevertheless, only four years after profession, he was chosen abbot of
Melrose, recently founded on banks of the Tweed by King
David. Whenever he fell into the smallest
falling by inadvertence Waltheof immediately had recourse to
confession, a practice of perfection which the confessors found rather
trying, as one of them admitted to Jordan, the saint's biographer. Yet
cheerfulness and spiritual joy always shone in his face, and his words
were animated with a lire which penetrated the hearts of those that
heard him. His alms supported the poor of all the country
round his abbey, and he is said to have twice multiplied bread
miraculously. He once went to King Stephen in England, about affairs of
his community, carrying a bundle on his back. His brother
Simon, who was present, was very annoyed and said to the king, "See how
this brother of mine, and cousin of yours, disgraces his family."
"Not so," said the king. "If we understand what the grace
of God is, he does honour to us and all his kindred." In
1154 Waltheof was chosen archbishop of Saint Andrews; but he prevailed
on St Aelred to oppose the
election and not to oblige him to accept it. Once when
giving a conference to his community he had occasion to refer to a
vision of the glory of Heaven which had been vouchsafed to him, but he
spoke in the third person as of another; but at last by inadvertence he
spoke in the first person: he no sooner realized it than, cutting his
discourse short, he withdrew in tears, much afflicted for the word
which had escaped him. St Waltheof died at a great age on
August 3, about 1160.
Under the Latin form "Walthenus", a long life, attributed to
Joscelia, or Jordan, a monk of Furness (c. mc), is printed in the Acta
Sanctorum, August, vol. i. Though prolix, the narrative may be
considered fairly reliable. See also T. 1). Hardy, Descriptive
Catalogue of MSS. (Rolls Series), vol. ii, p. 285
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