A vast majority of miracles recorded in late medieval Europe were cures. There was a culturally established pattern for a proper miracle narrative, and various emotions were used to highlight its central aspects. A core element of a miracle was the presence of a severe situation that no human remedy or assistance could resolve. Other important features were the idea to ask the saint for assistance, the actual petition, the miracle and, finally, its joyous aftermath. In terms of healing miracles, the dire situation was typically a fatal illness, accident or chronic/long-term infirmity that caused the patient significant functional hindrances, pain and/or other discomfort. The narratives often point to the severity of the situation by referring to the emotions it caused for the future ‘miraculé’ (miraculously cured person) and/or for his or her family members. At the same time, hope and trust in the saint’s ability to help were inherent in the narratives. Personal devotion, including a firm belief in the saint’s powers, was crucial for obtaining a miraculous cure. Eventually, proper devotion resulted in the hoped-for situation – the miracle and its after-math – followed by great joy and gratitude.

By nature, miracle narratives are therefore emotional scripts. In her book on medieval affective meditation, Sarah McNamer defines such scripts as ‘quite literally scripts for the performance of feeling’. Miracle narratives are a different type of source than affective literature, but some clearly were meant for public or private reading. They are also known to have been popular topics for dinner-table conversations and other social situations. The circulating stories guided people in their emotional practices and in the ways they later reported their experiences.

In this chapter, I discuss one rare but striking way that the need for a healing miracle was presented: a wish that the infirm person would die. Most often these wishes appeared in descriptions that emphasised the severity of the ‘miraculé’s’ medical condition. There is also a small group of cases in which the petitioner asked the saint to liberate them or their children from their infirmity to either a healthy state or death. These narratives put the emotions of the persons involved in focus in an unconcealed, obvious manner.