Baring-Gould’s sources: Galilean Martyrologies on this day and on Jan. 15th. Venerated especially in the diocese of Beauvais on this day; at Tours on Jan. 15th. The Bolla n d i sts do not admit them into their Collection, as no trustworthy account exists. The following account is from Guerin and Giry, who give it as though it were bona fid* history.] “ The devotion of the town and diocese of Beauvais to these Saints, and the extraordinary graces received through their intercession, invite us,” say Guerin and Giry, “to give here an abridgment of their lives.” That abridgment shall be here further condensed. Maura, probably Mawr, and Bridget, were virgin twin-sisters, daughters of Ella, king of Scotland and Northumberland, and Pantilomena his queen. 1 Pantilomena died in giving birth to the maidens. As she was being baptised, the infant Maura declared to all present that her mother was in heaven, and Bridget 1 Guerln a* 1 * 1 Giry Rive Maura and Brijget the $th cent, as their date. Ella was king of Northumberland in 866, and never king of Scotland at all j but let that paw.
July x 3 issued from the font surrounded by dazzling light. Both babes, we are gravely told, were given to one nurse to suckle, and as she had milk in only one breast, both little sisters were reared at the same one. Ella, we are also informed, was then in his capital, Edinburgh. “ Some authors affirm, that for this cause, Edinburgh Castle has been called Agnetes, or the Castle of the Maidens.”
At the age of thirteen, these twin-sisters took the vow of virginity, and rejected all the offers of marriage urged upon them by their father. He died soon after, and — let Scottish historians note the fact — left his crown and kingdom to Hispadus, or Espian, his son. 1 But Espian had no natural love of rule; consequently he offered to resign his sceptre into the hands of his twin-sisters; but they declined the honour, and all three resolved to run away from Scotland. Accordingly, one night they left Edinburgh, traversed England, and sailed for France. On their way south, various adventures befell them. Maura’s face shone at night, so that she had no need of a candle to go to bed with. She lodged one night with a widow; the son of the widow admired her, but was dazzled by the light from her face, and fell blinded at her feet. One night a ruffian broke into the bedroom of the sisters, in a little inn, to rob and maltreat them. He was much surprised to find the room already occupied by an angel in the form of a priest, with a smoking censer in his hand, and retired in surprise and alarm. From France the maidens and their brother went to Rome, to visit the tombs of the Apostles, where they met with one named Ursiscinus, and started with him 1 These Saints are quite unknown to Scottish Martyrologists, and do not appear in any Scottish K al e nda r. S. Espian U venerated at Beauvais along with his sisters. (Jtriyx* and their brother for Jerusalem. On their return the two maidens landed with their brother at Marseilles, being still accompanied by Ursiscinus. He broke his leg in Anjou; but S. Maura wrapped her veil round it, and when Ursiscinus tried to hop after the sisters, he found his leg completely healed. He fell sick of fever shortly after, and in vision saw the crowns and palms of martyrdom prepared for the damsels and their brother. They healed and set him on his legs again, and he followed them with docility to Angers, though he knew they were rushing upon certain death. At Angers they lodged with a widow named Aldegund, who had just lost her son. S. Maura resuscitated the dead youth, and the mother was so grateful that she joined the holy company, and went with them to the tomb of S. Martin [St. Martin of Tours (d. 397), soldier turned bishop]. On their way, S. Maura revived a young man named Joel, son of Gerontius, who had been killed by an arrow, and prophesied for him a martyr’s death twenty-two years later. The house of Gerontius has since been changed into a church, and is now called S. Maure; it is situated near S. Catherine de Feribois, in Touraine.
At last, having reached Balagny, near Creil, in the diocese of Beauvais, the whole party was attacked by a horde of brigands or barbarians, Alans, Vandals, Suevi, or other Northern nations — the biographers are not certain which. By these they were massacred. S. Espian put himself in attitude to defend his sisters, but was cut down before he had made up his mind to strike a blow. S. Espian then picked up his head, carried it, and laid it at the feet of S. Maura, where it piteously concluded the Pater Nos ter, which had been cut short by the sword of the barbarian* The amputated head July i3 said, tl Libera nos a malo,” and the sisters lifted up their voices and intoned Amen.
The widow Aldegund, her son John, and the two princesses, fell next beneath the swords. Ursiscinus, finding his leg perfectly healed, made nimble use of it, before the tragedy was accomplished, having a premonitory conviction that there was danger, and that therefore he had better keep out of the way. He, informed the villagers of Balagny of what had occurred, and the glorious company of martyrs was reverently entombed. The bodies were, in the following century, ordered to be translated by Queen Bathild to the monastery of Chelles; but oxen refused to draw the wagon containing the sacred relics [the bodily remains of a saint, or objects they used, kept with honor], and they remained in the church of Nogen t. Pope Urban III., in 1185, ordered the bishops of Beauvais and Senlis to enshrine the precious relics, and gave plenary indulgences to all who should visit the church of Nogent, venerate and invoke these martyrs between the Sunday in the Octave of the Ascension and the Feast of S. John the Baptist. The village, on account of these Saints, is called Nogent-lesVierges.
To this amazing story we must add that Gregory of Tours [bishop and historian of the Franks (d. 594)], in the 18th Book of his “ Glory of the Confessors,” tells a different tale of S. Maura and S. Bridget. According to him their bodies lay near Tours, and were discovered on a little hill, by a man finding a burning wax candle amidst some brambles. He related what he had seen to the bishop, Euphronius, who dug there, and found the bodies. Next night the virgins appeared to the bishop, and told him their names and sex. But Gregory is able to tell us nothing of their history. The bodies of these virgin saints were long preserved in a church dedicated to them near Tours. tl«iy ij.
