Book I
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2023
Summary
Here begins the prologue of the miracles of Saint Mary of Rocamadour
As I begin to write the miracles of Mary, the Blessed Mother of God and perpetual Virgin of Rocamadour, I call upon the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, for assistance. I do so especially because there has been such a Yast number of miracles before our own day that it has been impossible to hold them in our memory or write them down; not even the greatest eloquence can retrieve them for the telling. So we propose to limit our narration to what we have seen with our own eyes or what we have learned from reliable people with sure accounts to give. And yet who can really try to make known those things which the effigies and models worked in wax that are to be found in this church reveal to those who behold them? Anyone can be amazed at the sight. Let him believe that many have been revived through the merits of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and let him be in no doubt that innumerable people have had their sight restored. Let him also believe that those who have been mortally wounded by swords and pierced by lances, knives and arrows have been restored to perfect health. May you see those hit in the throat able to breathe, others struck in the chest, with their lungs burst asunder, giving thanks for their recovery to the Blessed Virgin. You may wonder at people whose entrails have poured out and yet live, at others whose intestines or groins have been run through and yet they bear witness to their deliverance. And who can properly describe with due praise and admiration the prisoners who carry their heavy chains, more often doing so from afar rather than nearby? Everyone is saved from dangers both on land and sea. They are led out of prisons. They are restored to health. This is so of all those who come to the door of the Mother of gentleness and mercy, and with a faithful heart do not hesitate to knock earnestly on it.
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- The Miracles of Our Lady of RocamadourAnalysis and Translation, pp. 97 - 136Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 1999