Later Santa María ordered a monk well versed in the art to aid the man recover his voice. Another pretty story is that of a little girl with deformed feet who was taken to the altar of Santa María del Puerto, where, falling asleep, she suddenly cried out with a sharp pain. In answer to the questions of her father and those near her she said the Virgin came down from the altar, broke her feet, and then returned. They hastily examined them only to find them in perfect condition.

As well as curing the ordinary ills of nature to which the human body is subject, the Blessed Mother may also cure those due to acts of man if they are unjustly inflicted, as in the case of the servant whose master put out his eyes because of false accusation. The servant, knowing he was innocent, procured his eye-balls, had a surgeon put them back in their sockets, and then went to Santa María de Salas, where his sight was restored (No. 177). A miracle showing a strong trace of mysticism—another instance of the relief of suffering due to no conscious fault of the victim—is No. 315. A laboring woman went into the field to work and left her child—with a prayer for its safety—tied to a sheaf of wheat. While she was gone the child swallowed a head of the grain and became very ill. The mother, thinking it had swallowed some insect or had been bitten hastened with it to Madrid where after many days of unsuccessful treatment she was advised to take it to the Church of Atocha. On arriving she undressed the child before the altar for examination and to the astonishment of all present the head of wheat, intact, came out thru the left side of the child, who recovered immediately. No. 146 shows the influence of a well-known legend of the Middle Ages of a father who cut off the hands of his daughter because she insisted on being true to her new faith, Christianity. Later in life, when, because of misfortunes and persecutions, her hands were necessary for the care of her child, they were miraculously restored, growing out of the old stumps.[32] In the cantiga the object of the miracle is a boy who wished to go on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Albeza. His mother hesitated because of his enemies but at last he was permitted to go. He did, indeed, fall into their power and they put out his eyes as well as cut off his hands. He was found, however, by some fellow-pilgrims, taken to the shrine, and there, upon his praying the

Altho the Virgin did alleviate bodily ills for good cause she was not alway a saint of mercy. At times she was a saint of vengeance. Even more, her devotees were sometimes given the privilege of seeing this vengeance brought down at their own request upon the enemies of the faith because of some impious act. One Christian while kneeling at prayer before her shrine was bitten by a large dog that happened to pass that way. As he arose to pick up a stone to drive the animal away he was greatly incensed at seeing two Jews laughing at him. Not being able to restrain his anger he called upon the Virgin to avenge herself of such an affront with the result that the wall by which they were standing fell upon the unbelievers (No. 286).

Such vengeance as this is usually only meted out to infidels and, even tho Saint Mary loves vengeance and desires to please her followers, more than once has she to temper this very human desire on their part. One woman asked that the one who had stolen her husband’s affections be stricken with some serious illness, but the Virgin, considering the punishment too severe, by a vision caused the unlawful rival to repent and ask forgiveness of the wife, which the latter finally granted (No. 68).

In many respects more important, tho perhaps making a less lasting impression, are those miracles of prevention from harm. These are almost as numerous as the above, tho they offer less variety and less opportunity for dramatic effect. Among the most common are rescues from the sea, and in No. 236 there is the added element of walking on the water. A pious woman and her child are in a boat that sinks. She cries out to the Virgin who appears, takes her by the hand, and together they walk on the water as tho it were land until they arrive at Marseilles.

Those engaged in making objects for the glory of the Virgin, together with the products of their art, receive special protection. A stone mason working at a great height in the church of Santa María de Castrogeriz felt his legs weaken and began to fall. Calling on the local saint he miraculously caught on an edge of one of the stones and altho a very large man his fingers were strengthened, enabling him to hold on a greater part of the day until aid came (No. 242). At another time a painter who habitually drew the Devil as ugly as possible and the Virgin as beautifully as he was able received a visit from his satanic majesty in person complaining of the treatment, but the artist refused to change his pictures. The Devil, greatly offended, set loose a terrible hurricane, which entered the church; but, appealing to the Virgin, both the painter and his work escaped unharmed (No. 74). Ten instances, most of which bear a striking resemblance to similar stories in the New Testament, are told of miraculous release from prison.[33] In one of these (No. 227) Saint Mary appeared surrounded by a bright light and led the captive, invisible to his captors, from the dungeon. In nearly all such releases the victim had been unjustly imprisoned.

Those who are especially devout are saved even tho at times it is necessary to bring down the heavenly hosts. One good knight (No. 233) fleeing on a swift horse before his enemies arrives at the church of the Virgin of Pena Cova. His pursuers, unbelievers, on arriving at the church, see a battalion of heavenly soldiers drawn up in front of it and, thus admonished, they repent and naturally no longer desire his life.[34] When Bondoudar, the Sultan of Egypt, laid siege to Tortosa de Ultramar there were but few defenders within its walls, but when the Sultan arrived he saw a great host in the city. One of his advisers told him:

On hearing this the Sultan withdrew, saying he would not fight against the Virgin and later even sent much money to those in the city (No. 165). No. 49 reads almost like a fairy tale. A band of pilgrims journeying to Santa María de Soissons lose their way in the mountains and in answer to their prayers she appears to them with a shining wand in her hand and leads them safely to their destination.

The idea of bargaining, one of the fundamental elements of all primitive religions,[35] and one which even yet has by no means disappeared, was present in a very striking manner. In this respect, indeed, the people were so naïve at times that they made the Blessed Mother human in the extreme and sometimes they seemed almost to lose sight entirely of her divinity. In no less than nineteen[36] cantigas is the record of wax being offered in exchange for divine favors and in ten of these the wax was promised in the prayer of supplication; and altho this may not at all times have been consciously offered as a bribe or as a kind of barter yet there is no doubt that unconsciously the feeling was there. Wax was by far the most popular of all offerings. It was offered in bulk, or in the form of an image of the Virgin or of the object desired, or often in candles. One account which is very interesting because of the well-known historical personages involved is No. 376. During a conversation with the Infante Don Manuel, Alfonso showed him a beautiful ring and offered it to him as a gift. The king sent a servant to deliver it to the house of the Infante, but on the way he lost it. He immediately appealed to Santa María del Puerto; offering her six pounds of wax for her church if she would help him recover the ring. A little later a man voluntarily handed it to the messenger saying he had found it on the street.

Altho we might consider wax a suitable offering for a miracle of the type just mentioned, it does cause some surprise to find it accepted in return for even such an important act as the restoration of life. But there was a woman of Zaragoza whose children were always stillborn, so after the third sad experience she offered a child of wax to the Virgin. The fourth child was also born dead but, confident now, she implored Santa María de Salas, and even while the prayer continued the child came to life. In addition to wax many other kinds of gifts were acceptable such as a garland of roses; or when roses were unavailable an “Ave María” might be substituted for each rose in the bouquet (No. 121); or nails were offered for a temple (No. 106); or a promise was made of the most beautiful thing captured from the enemy during a battle, which in No. 374 was a beautiful cloth of gold and scarlet.

More curious than these, and a miracle in which the moral lesson is not to be considered, is No. 214, in which two men, one very rich while the other possessed only a church building, were rolling dice. The wealthy man played high stakes, the poor man, having only the church, played it. The rich one rolled and three sixes fell. His companion, trembling, in his turn rolled. As he did so he offered the church to the Virgin should he win. To his astonishment, and to the wonder of the bystanders, one of the dice fell in two, three sixes and one ace appearing.

Aside from material gifts such as the above, offers of service such as the promise to go on a pilgrimage to some shrine are also very effective.[37]

The naïve elements become almost startling at times in their childishness. For instance in No. 8 a singer, after singing a “lais” to Santa María, asked that one of the candles of her shrine light him while he ate. The candle was miraculously placed on his instrument, but a monk seeing it out of place became angry, thinking it bewitched, and put it back where it belonged. This was repeated three times until the people witnessing this repetition intervened, while the monk, convinced he had witnessed a miracle, repented.[38] Again, at Rocamador, nine pilgrims ordered nine pieces of meat prepared for their meal. When they drew near the table only eight pieces were brought in, the servant having stolen one. They prayed Santa María to show them where the ninth piece was and at once heard a noise in a chest. It was the piece of meat jumping around to attract their attention (No. 159). Even more peculiar were the actions of a paralyzed mule which was ordered killed and skinned by its master. The servant boy before beginning the task stopped to eat and upon finishing his meal was astonished to find the mule healed and going toward the shrine of the Virgin of Torena. On reaching the church it ran around it three times rapidly, entered and kneeled before the altar, then returned home with the servant (No. 228).

It is to be remarked also that while the miracles usually do contain a moral lesson—in fact some have no other purpose than to teach a moral, No. 155,—occasionally they are much less concerned with the moral than with the really important fact, the miracle, which shows the goodness, power and mercy of Santa María. Bent on emphasizing this they become at times realistic in the extreme. We must remember also that the conception of what is moral and what is immoral changes constantly and that therefore it is imposible to measure the 13th century by the standards of the 20th. But even so, we can say this for Alfonso el Sabio; whenever he does include such accounts in his collection he handles them with his accustomed brevity and never dwells upon the immoral act nor enlarges upon it. With a few strokes he paints the picture and then comes to what, for him, is the all important part, the miracle. One such, very popular thruout all Europe in the Middle Ages, is the legend of an abbess, accused by those under her of being with child, who was called to account before the authorities. She prayed earnestly to the Virgin, who during her sleep brought the child and spirited him away to Saussonna. She was then examined and found innocent.

No. 201 is even more interesting, being the story of a beautiful young woman who vowed eternal chastity and then, falling in love with a young gallant, became the mother of three of his children and killed each one soon after its birth. Later in life she repented and tried to kill herself with a knife but did not die; she then swallowed two poisonous spiders[39] and still she could not die. Finally she prayed the Holy Mother, who appeared to her and with her own divine hand cured her. The sinner obtained forgiveness by a long life of penance. In this case the immoral element of protecting the sinner from just punishment has entirely disappeared, for while the Virgin shows mercy toward her and cures her ills—the result of a self-imposed penance—yet she does not forgive her terrible sin. All she can do is to change the form of the penance.

One of the phases of the belief of the time which at first glance seems to us today to be sacrilegious, or to say the least quite startling, is the part that the breasts of the Virgin and her sacred milk played in the religion of Medieval Spain. In this belief can be seen how very real and how very human the Mother of Christ was to the people. This race, which has produced some of the greatest mystics of the world, to whom everything had a mystical meaning, saw in the sacred milk of the Virgin the symbol of healing and of life, and the breasts which had nourished the Christ-child were to them the symbol of the fountain of life.

In No. 138 Alfonso tells how San Juan Boca de Oro, exiled by the Gentiles, was first blinded and then put out on the highway and told to leave the country. Wandering, he soon fell into brambles, when, calling on “á Rëynna esperital” for aid, she came, restored his sight and led him out into the road again. In the conversation which ensued he asked her what was the thing that Jesus loved most when He came into the world. She left without answering, but appeared to him again that night with the child Jesus playing with her breasts. Turning to the him she said,

The milk poured by the Blessed Virgin herself from her sacred breasts cured an infirmity of the face and neck which had caused long years of suffering to one of her faithful monks (No. 54). Similar to this is No. 93, an account of how God chastened a man of Burgos with leprosy for three years because of his sins. After he had recited a good thousand “Ave Marías” Saint Mary at last took pity on him, and bathed him in her own milk, which cured him immediately.

And after all, when considered reverently, and in the light of the fact that the Virgin was the most important and most beloved personage in the religion of the period, what more beautiful and sublime symbol could there be than this!

Possessions are constantly being restored thru the agency of the Holy Mother, who is never unmindful of the needs of her children, and who is just as quick to respond to the needs of the rich, if they are real needs, as to those of the poor. Altho such service is quite often performed in return for some gift, as indicated in the discussion of Bargaining,[40] it is by no means limited to this. Often the simple faith and earnest prayer are sufficient.

A certain Don Domingo of Santa María del Puerto lost thirty sheep in the mountains. His devout wife appealed to the local Saint to save them from the wolves. Three days later they were found surrounded by wolves, which instead of harming them were guarding them from harm (No. 398). In the incident of a woman of Toledo (No. 212) we catch a glimpse of some of the customs of the times as well as find an entertaining story. This woman had the habit of loaning a lovely string of pearls to the poor girls of her acquaintance for their wedding ceremony, because

But her husband for some reason forbade her to do so any longer. Soon after this another poor woman came begging for the pearls, and because she asked “in the name of the Virgin” the lady could not withstand the plea and loaned them surreptitiously. While the girl was bathing, a servant stole them, but note—

The bride was heartbroken and the lady, very much grieved but still more frightened, went to the church of the Virgin, where from sheer weakness caused by her anxiety she fell asleep before the altar. While there still asleep, the woman who had stolen the jewels passed thru the church with them hidden in her bosom. The sleeping woman awoke at that moment and, miraculously given to know that this one had her pearls, forcibly recovered them.

Legends of necessities being miraculously supplied are not lacking. There is one concerning a church in Jerusalem built under the guidance of the Virgin that reminds us of the widow’s cruse of oil. The community was about to have to leave owing to a severe famine. As a last resort they met and prayed all night, and when morning came they found all the bread boxes full. Later a similar famine occurred and again they prayed all night, and this time they found a large sum of pure gold on the altar. (No. 187). Miracles similar to the one performed by Jesus at the wedding feast in Canaan of Galilee (John 2: 1-11) are Nos. 23 and 351. The first is the simple story of a woman who was out of wine when the King came to visit her, so she asked the Virgin to help her in her perplexity, and immediately the wine casks in the cellar were filled. The second, on a larger scale and with an element of humor, maintains that at the great annual feast in honor of the Virgen de Agosto one year a great hogshead of wine was supplied for the public, but, sad to relate, it did not last long. After it became exhausted the crowd was slow to go away and someone suggested that they look again to see whether it was entirely empty. To their surprise they found it was full of miraculous wine supplied by the Saint, and it had the quality not only of delighting those who partook of it but also of curing ills.

Altho such benefits and protection are usually bestowed only upon Christians, and more especially upon those who are particularly devoted to the Mother of Christ, occasionally she will hear the requests of those who belong to another faith provided they are ready to accept Christianity. A vagrant Jewess was cast from a high rock in punishment for her misconduct, but, on appealing to the Virgin, she fell harmlessly beside a fig tree. In gratitude she was baptised and remained constant to the faith thru life (No. 107). The Virgin’s mercy was also great enough to restore life to the child of a Moorish woman who, because she had heard of the miraculous power of Santa María de Salas, took the dead body of her little one to the shrine. After the mother had remained there all night in prayer the child was brought back to life altho it had been dead three days (No. 167).

There is another small group of miracles recorded in which the response is not to prayers but to threats—cases in which the believer loses control of himself and defies both God and man. No reason is given why the threats are effective after prayers and requests have been of no avail. Does it imply that the Holy Mother was to them such a human personality that, like an earthly lord, she might be susceptible to fear?

One case in point (No. 76) is that of a devout woman, the mother of a criminal, who became desperate when her son was hanged. Snatching the form of the child Jesus from the arms of the image in the church she threatened to keep it as a hostage. The Virgin became merciful—(or fearful)—and brought from the other world to the distracted mother her criminal son, who, now truly penitent, reprimands his mother for her sacrilegious act. So greatly was she impressed by the experience that she became a nun.

The most surprising miracle of the entire collection so far as the behavior of Saint Mary is concerned and her show of fear is the following, from which I shall quote freely. The young son of a baron fell with his horse from a high bridge. The father saw the accident and cried out aloud to the Virgin:

This is the first and only reference I have found to this peculiar fear on the part of the Virgin.

CHAPTER III

Miracles Performed Voluntarily by the Virgin

Altho at times this study of Miracles may have the appearance of an examination of the character of the Virgin, which indeed it is in a certain sense, nevertheless it is such only in order that we may, by studying her acts as recorded in these miracles, come to a better understanding of what was considered supernatural in that period and what was not. Perhaps it will help in arriving at this result if, before beginning the study of the next group, we stop at this point to see what was Alfonso’s own judicial definition of “miraglo”, as the term is used in his Siete Partidas.[43] It reads as follows:

Next in extent after the group of miracles performed in answer to direct appeal is that in which Santa María comes to the aid of her followers voluntarily, owing, perhaps indirectly, to their prayers, but if so this is not so stated and the dominating thought is not that the act was in answer to prayer but rather it is to emphasize the kindness, care and eternal vigilance she ever has for those who have commended themselves to her keeping.

In our study of this division we shall follow the same classification as we did in the last, but shall cite examples only in cases where they differ materially in one particular or another from those mentioned above. Altho the actual number of miracles is less, here divine aid is manifested in an even greater variety of ways. These new elements will be considered under additional appropriate headings beginning on page 65. On the whole the general tone of the miracles is the same, and sometimes it seems as tho the poet merely forgot, or perhaps it was not convenient for him, to work into his verse the statement that a given case was one of direct answer to prayer. At other times, however, it seems that the prayer was answered in a manner entirely unlooked for, or again that the miracle was performed without supplication whatever on the part of the recipient.

Beginning again with the group composed of the greatest of all miracles, the restoration of life, it is noticed that here instead of being in response to a direct appeal on the part of some faithful servant, the miracle seems to be performed as a reward, without the bereaved person having thought such a thing possible. The fact that the soul of the person whose life is thus restored may be brought back from the regions of eternal happiness seems of minor importance. One of the most beautiful of these miracles is said to have taken place in “Inglaterra.” A widow had a young son who sang, as no one else could, the “Gaude Virgo María”. A jealous Jew killed him and put his body in a cellar, thinking that would be the end of it. The mother, not knowing what had become of her son, went thru the street calling “Where are you?” As she passed the house of the Jew she was answered by her resurrected child singing more beautifully than ever “Gaude María”. The Jew was put to death for his crime (No. 6).

The new element of temporary restoration is found in No. 311. A pious man and his friend set out on a pilgrimage to Nuestra Señora de Monserrat. His friend does not seem to be very well confirmed in the faith, and when, as they are passing thru Barcelona, a flash of lightning kills his devout companion, he curses the Virgin and taunts his dead fellow pilgrim with the worthlessness of his devotion. The next day at the burial the dead man rises in his coffin and vindicates his faith by saying that all is well now.

The Virgin plays an even more important part in the miracle (No. 323) which happened when Aben Yussef crossed the straits of Algeciras and made damaging raids into the territory of Seville. A poor man’s only son died, and, as the Moors were already in sight, all the father could do was to commend the body and his worldly possessions to the Blessed Mother as he hastily fled before the enemy. When the land was recaptured the old man, to his great astonishment, found his son alive and all his possessions safe. The boy told him that a lady had come to accompany him and for some reason the Moors had respected her.

Very close akin to these are those of life miraculously sustained when according to all laws of nature death was inevitable, as was the case (No. 131) when Emperor Alexius of Constantinople, while on a tour of inspection, was imprisoned in a caving mine along with many workers. All were killed except the emperor who was saved by a large rock which formed a protection for him. The empress and all at court gave him up for lost and spent much time in Masses for his soul. At the end of one year the Patriarch of the city dreamed the emperor was still alive and immediately took workmen and had the mine opened. Thereupon they found the emperor unharmed and learned that he had been fed and solaced by angels during the entire interval.

Even more dramatic is the experience of a German and his son on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santiago, who while lodging in the house of a heretic fall victims unawares to the old trick of having silver put in the boy’s bag in order to accuse him of theft. The boy is hanged, and the heart-broken father, still faithful, continues on his way and fulfills his vow. On his return he is impelled to pass by the gallows. To his surprise he finds his son still alive, having been sustained by the Virgin for three months. Hastening to the bailiff, the father secures the release of his boy and has the heretic duly burned (No. 175).

There are no new elements presented in the various miracles in this group dealing with the curing of bodily ailments, beyond those already indicted on page 35. No 206 however describes the interesting spectacle of Pope Leo, very devout and austere, who became so much perturbed at being kissed on the hand by a beautiful woman at Mass that he could not forget the sensation nor concentrate on his work until he had his hand cut off. This did not give him peace because he was no longer qualified to say Mass. The Virgin, seeing his grief and having mercy on him, descended from heaven and applied a marvelous ointment to the stump with the result that the hand was restored.

In the methods by which the Blessed Mother prevents harm from befalling her devotees there is nothing new. The only difference being that here the act is performed more as tho it were the reward for faithful service while previously it was in answer to prayer.

As is to be expected the idea of bargaining is almost entirely absent from this group. The bargain idea found its birth on the part of man and not of the Deity. One legend only in the entire collection represents the Virgin as taking the initiative in a bargain (No. 307). This is when she appears to a virtuous man after an eruption of Mount Etna which had caused great damage and had lasted forty days. She told him if he wanted the eruption to cease to compose a hymn to her. This he did with the desired effect.

The number of the unmoral, in fact in some cases distinctly immoral, miracles here is greater than before. We must not forget, however, that, as mentioned above, often there was no very close connection between religious observances and morals in Medieval Europe.

On one occasion (No. 24) we are told that a very wicked man, a robber and a gambler, died and was refused a Christian burial, but during his life he had been devoted to the Virgin, so she appeared to the priest and demanded that his body be taken up and buried in sacred ground. When they opened the grave they found a rose in the mouth of the corpse[45]. No. 11 is the story of a licentious monk who was drowned one night while crossing a river on the way to visit his amour. The Devil appeared for his soul but two angels contested his claim. He convinced them of his right and they were about to retire when the Virgin arrived, routed the Devil, and ordered the soul to return to the body in order that the monk might repent and do penance. In this instance, it will be noted, the soul is simply restored to the body and given another chance, while in No. 24 above, the indication is that the soul of the evil doer is saved.

Then there are five quite similar, Nos. 55, 58, 59, 94 and 285, tho the moral lesson differs somewhat. In the first a young nun elopes with a monk to Lisbon where when she finds herself about to become a mother she is cruelly deserted. Not knowing what else to do she returns penitent to the convent. Angels attend her at the birth of the son during the night and no one suspects her. None had missed her during the absence because the Virgin had taken her place and it is not until one day in her old age when her son, now a handsome young man, appears in the choir singing “Salve Regina” that all is discovered because the worthy nun recognizes him publicly. No. 94 is apparently the same legend more fully developed. The nun, the treasurer of the convent, falls in love with a knight and on leaving the convent gives the keys into the keeping of the Virgin. She and her husband live together happily for years, being blessed with many children, and it is only in later years that she repents and returns to the convent, confessing all. To her astonishment, she found that the Virgin had taken her place during her absence and no one had ever known the difference. When it is learned that the Blessed Mother had performed such an act of kindness, all burst into a hymn of praise to her. In No. 285 we have the same setting of a young nun falling in love, this time with the nephew of the abbess, but the actions of the Virgin are quite different. On the first attempt to leave the convent Saint Mary stopped her. The next day she sent word to her lover that she had failed to keep her appointment because she had been ill but promised to meet him the next night, which she did, and the two made their escape successfully. They married and had children but even then she was not able to get away from the Holy Mother, who appeared to her in a dream and severely reprimanded her. This was too much. She at last told her husband and in repentance they both decided to enter the monastic life. In this legend the immoral element has disappeared, the Virgin no longer protecting the guilty. No. 59 is still another story with the same theme, but the punishment is still more severe. As the young girl was about to depart she went to take leave of the Saint. At the parting her image began to shed tears. The girl then drew near the crucifix, which, loosing one of its hands from the cross, struck her in the face, leaving the mark of the nail as a stigma. In No. 58 the girl concerned was about to elope, but two dreams of Hell and of eternal punishment were sufficient to make the heroine send for her lover and tell him that their union would be impossible.

Of the three instances in which the sacred breast or milk of the Virgin play a part, all involve an answer to direct appeals. See page 45.

While there is only one account of possessions being restored without request (No. 228, which contains no new elements) there are several which tell of rare materials, or of materials delayed by storms at sea, etc., being miraculously supplied; or perhaps, as in the case of Emperor Constantine (No. 231), Santa María would help in the erection of buildings. The emperor had brought huge blocks of marble from Roumania for the altar and columns of a church to be dedicated to her. When they arrived they were so large no means could be found to hoist them into position. At last she appeared to the architect and told him to do away with all apparatus and use only three small boys to do the work. He did as he was bidden and they placed the blocks in position with ease.

These, however, do not give us as intimate a picture of the life of the common people as do other accounts, such as No. 273. In it we get a glimpse of the privations of the home life of the peasants and at the same time an idea of their innate pride in their local church. At Ayamonte there was a small and poor church erected to Santa María but in spite of the poverty of its communicants the altar decorations were rich. So great were their privations that even the Host was scarce. At the feast of the Virgen de Agosto some of the altar cloths needed mending and one of the devout men of the congregation offered to do it. He had a needle but no thread, and no one could provide him with it. While before the altar considering what he should do, he glanced up and saw two threads on his shoulder obviously supplied by the Saint. It is in such apparently incidental allusions as this—and the one, No. 211, where bees come into the church of their own accord and supply the wax for the candles because the congregation could not furnish any—that we can, from time to time, form an idea of how “the other half,” which did not consist of knights and nobles, really lived.

Following the same order as in the first group we now come to those accounts in which the Virgin comes to the aid of the enemies of the faith. Quite modern in tone is the story (No. 335) of a poor man who, altho entirely ignorant of Christianity and its teachings, gave even the little he had to the poor. The Holy Mother, knowing of his goodness, appeared to him as a poor woman with her child in her arms and asked him for a morsel of bread. Fearing he had none he went, nevertheless, to see if he could not scrape out just a little more flour from the barrel. When he returned with the last of his flour made into bread for her, she had gone. He made inquiry thruout the neighborhood describing her, and was finally advised to go and inquire of the Christians. There he recognized the Virgin and Child from her image and became a Christian. From the day she appeared to him the flour never failed in the bin.

Not only was mercy extended to those good at heart and living model lives and to those who did not believe simply because of ignorance, but opportunities for proselyting were quickly taken advantage of. A certain Jewess, (No. 89) dangerously ill at childbirth, was about to despair. Naturally she did not believe in the Virgin but she heard a mysterious voice bidding her call on Santa María, which she did. When those attending her heard this awful name they fled, calling her a heretic and a renegade, but she was cured. The mother and child both became Christians.

The Blessed Mother, however, knew mankind and did not use the same method with every one. With some, more persuasion was necessary than with others, and so when dealing with one hardened Jew, who had been robbed and beaten by Christians and was still being kept on a diet of bread and water in the hope of extorting even more from him, it was not enough that she should merely appear to him and bid him forsake his religion; she tells him that altho he is of the evil race she will show him what his people have missed. With that she takes him from prison to a high mountain where she shows him how the Jews are being tortured and then to another from where he can see the Christians surrounded with angels, and thence to a monastery, where, taking the hint, he gladly becomes a Christian (No. 85).[46]

The Christians themselves used rather persuasive methods of proselyting at times if we may trust the account of a Christian of Consuegra who disputed much with a Moorish captive of his concerning the Virgin. When he could not make the man believe by arguing he put him in prison, where his efforts were supplemented by the intervention of supernatural beings. The Devil tormented him for two nights and on the third the Virgin appeared to him and told him if he wished to be free from the Devil he would have to forsake the “dog” Mohammed. He told this vision to his master, was baptised, and from that time on was a faithful believer (No. 192).

In another (No. 205) we again find both human and divine persons interested in the unbeliever, but this time it is physical safety they are concerned about. The miracle was witnessed by two nobles mentioned by name, Don Alfonso Tellez and Don Gonzalo Eanes, Maestre de Cala, and their followers. They were attacking a Moorish castle and had set fire to it. On one of the towers they saw a Moorish woman with her child who by her pose reminded them of the Virgin and Child. The sight filled them with pity and inspired them to pray for the safety of the two. In answer the flames respected them, while the tower fell gently to the ground, allowing them alone of all those in the castle to escape unharmed. The mother out of gratitude asked for baptism for herself and her child.

After examining these classes, which coincide more or less with similar ones of the first group, there still remain a number of other miracles which present entirely new elements. First we shall examine those in which Saint Mary aids her devotees in acts of worship or in restraining evil passions which prevent their undivided service.

A person sincerely trying to do his religious duty could always count upon aid from heaven when his temptations were becoming too great for him or when worldly cares caused him temporarily to neglect his regular worship. A very devout woman (No. 246) used to pray every Saturday evening at the shrine of Santa María de Mártires. Once she forgot, owing to household duties, until very late. On her arrival, altho the church doors were already closed they opened of their own accord, after she had begun her devotions before the portal. She entered and deposited her gift, and as she left the doors closed of themselves. Astonished, she returned to the city where the closed gates of the wall opened without the touch of a human hand. Just then a beautiful woman appeared and when the peasant asked her who she was she acknowledged herself to be the Virgin. The poor wretch tried to kiss her feet, but as she did so the Holy One disappeared.

Again, we learn (No. 156) of a clerk who persisted in chanting Mass in honor of the Virgin, thereby angering some heretics who cut out his tongue. Some time later the good man entered the church of Santa María de Cunnegro while the congregation were singing vespers. As he attempted to join in the song a new tongue was given him.[47]

Of the numerous legends having as the dominant theme the inability of the person concerned to restrain his animal passions the best developed is the story of the clerk who was much given to women. One night while in the room with one he suddenly saw thru the window the lights of a church of the Virgin. Never having seen them there before he left to investigate, but finding nothing returned. This time the woman herself closed the window fast but almost immediately a strong gust of wind blew it open, and again the church was seen. With this he recognized his error, repented, and became a monk. A little later, when his former conduct was criticized and he was brought to account for it before the church council, the Virgin cleared him of all charges (No. 151).

It will be noted that often in the foregoing miracles, and often in those that are to follow, the Virgin appears in dreams or visions, but the feature of the vision has usually been only incidental. In all we have only two examples (Nos. 261 and 288) of a true mystical vision granted for the sake of the experience alone. One of these (No. 261) recounts how a very devout woman was desirous of seeing a perfectly virtuous man and woman. Communicating her desire to the priest, he told her to return home and to remain alone in fasting and prayer. This she did and after nine days she saw a bright light followed by those who said they were saints. These in turn were followed by the Virgin and her Son. Upon seeing them she had no further desire to live and prayed to be taken with them, which request was granted. When the priest was told of her death, and undertook to prepare her body for burial, he found it giving off an odor more delicate and pleasing to the senses than the perfumes of the Orient.

The usual purpose of the vision is to give commands, or to strengthen the weakhearted or discouraged.[48] There are one or two accounts, however, in which the vision itself is enlarged upon and the cure or command or lesson, as the case may be, sinks into minor importance. The scene is that of a deeply grieved mother sitting beside the bed of her very religious son, a deaf mute, who was dying of a serious illness. His mother saw him suddenly rise up in his bed and begin to talk to some person unseen and unheard by her. It was the Blessed Mother who had visited him in a vision and healed him (No. 269).

At other times the vision seems to be a kind of clairvoyance thru which the recipient sees what is happening at a distant place at that very moment. In relating one of his own experiences Alfonso declares (No. 345) that when D. Nuño de Lara abandoned Jérez, in spite of the fact that reenforcements had been sent him, the Moors entered, destroyed the chapel, and tried to burn the image of the Virgin but could not. At that particular time both the king and the queen were taking their siesta at Seville and each dreamed of the Virgin and her Child fleeing from the burning chapel of Jérez. On awaking they learned of the disaster and hastened to retake the city, after which the royal couple, together with their children, restored the church.

Similar to this in so far as the character of the vision is concerned tho in an entirely different setting is No 15 in which Emperor Julian was the victim. In this particular case we are presented with two versions of the legend—one in Las Cantigas, originally told supposedly by an eye witness of the events as they happened at the tomb of the saint, and the other in the Primera Crónica General. In brief they are as follow: