Prologue. To my most beloved father and lord, and likewise most reverend bishop, Walkelin, the least of monks, Brother Folcard, offers his service with all devotion.
I had no previous merit in life, but on the contrary, alas! while I was living in my sins, I found myself, under the pretext of pastoral care, in the monastery of Thorney. There I was captivated by the loveliness of my most distinguished abode, and I held fast to the very delight of that place.
Various things came to mind which inclined my unwilling and sinful mind to love it. First of all, because the place is named after the Blessed Mary, the Mother of God. She is known as the Mother of Mercy by those who have fallen and want to be restored. So she is held up as the first and foremost refuge to obtain forgiveness. In next place, there is that solitude, the friend of holy religion, impervious to carelessness, and watered by the most pleasant woodlands, continuous marshes, and interflowing streams. It is also ennobled the most devout bishop in God, Ethelwold, loved it and wanted to be there, and it was enriched through his pious zeal with very many relics of the Saints. They say, and it is quite believable, that he chose to end his days there as a monk.
So I was tied there by these worldly motives just like a donkey or an ox to the manger of the Lord. Now that I am his donkey, I intend to remain always, until my sin passes away through His grace.
But I saw the saints resting in the same basilica, recommended by no written record, and I was jealous for times past. So I wanted to offer those things that I was able to learn about them to your ears first. Otherwise an ignorant account, unsupported by any defender, would be exposed to mockery, and might get a guffaw of laughter rather than a hearing. However some of it has been found in old books, although badly written. Some bits were briefly recorded by the foremost bishop himself among the privileges of the same monastery. The rest were gathered from the stories of the older monks, which they learned from those older still.
However, I present everything to you, distinguished Father, out of the devotion of my heart and to be examined by your judgment. So if any rival should raise his dog-like hackles against our effort, then may the paternal shield of your authority protect the little work of our humility.
1. The benevolence of almighty God is compassionate towards the error of the human race. This was stripped by the ancient serpent of the glory granted to it by heaven and is now condemned to the darkness of ignorance. God’s benevolence wished to display the riches of His mercy and restore the human race. This is so that it can return to the glory of the light from which it blindly strayed, through the Light which He bestowed upon it, by His ineffable grace.
For the fall of the first man blocked up the entrance to Paradise with a cherubim guard and a flaming sword. This entrance was unlocked by the forgiving mercy of the eternal Father by means of the passion of His Christ, and He illuminated most brightly the gates of the heavenly Jerusalem through the radiant splendour of glittering precious stones. So, illuminated by their light, and cleansed from the old darkness, we can into the hall of the heavenly banquet which the grace of our King has made us able to receive forever. His grace gives light to those precious stones of infinite brightness. These are in fact the examples of the saints, set before us so that, by imitating their teaching and life, we can join them.
Among those He exalted for their preeminent virtues, out of free mercy, are the fathers Adolph and Botolph, of venerable life. We try to celebrate their merits today with praises and acclamations. This is so that, learning from them, we can follow in their unerring footsteps along the path they trod. Let us first declare, as the grace of God has granted, and the justifiable fame of this world sometimes teaches, who they were, and how they completed life’s course in our present theatre.
2. Before the Christian religion had spread widely in Britain, [these two], born of noble blood, bound together by brotherly kinship and affection, were already initiated into the studies of heavenly matters. They were born of the Saxon race, which had conquered Britain by martial prowess, and had learned the faith of the Christian religion through various teachers, but as yet, being undeveloped, it had not attained perfection in heavenly instruction and the higher life. So all the nobles sent their offspring to Saxony, the ancient homeland of their race, so that there they might learn more fully both the glory of the holy faith, and the discipline of holy communal living in apostolic institutions. In this way, they both crossed the sea, and, just as bees for the sake of honey eagerly settle on various flowers, so did they seek out the monasteries of the saints, requested meetings, and obtained instruction. There, therefore, soaked in the monastic rules and trained in the disciplines of the stricter holy life, they finally put off the habit of the world and put on the armour of God; ready, that is, to resist the attacks of the devil. After tonsuring the hair of their heads, they climbed up the step of holy orders, and by the grace of God, they acquired the ability among more perfect men, not only to be taught, but to teach.
3. By means of this grace the older of the brothers, namely St. Adolph, became famous in the court of the king, and so, by his favour and at the petition of the people, he was raised to the episcopal chair, and he became foremost in labour and teaching in the church of Christ. Then, once enthroned in the dignity of the church of Utrecht he did credit to the honour that he had received by worthy hard work. For he was vigilant, like a wise man, over the commandments of the Lord, keeping watch over his flock with unceasing care, in case the lurking wolf by some harmful means should offer insult to the flock committed to his care. He devoted himself to works of mercy, feeding the poor, clothing the needy, correcting the erring, and comforting the sorrowful, so that he might obtain from the Lord the same reward of piety, as promised in the Gospel. “Blessed,” He says, “are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” He accompanied his fasting with vigils, he extended his vigils with psalm-singing, he sanctified the psalm-singing with pious tears, he prefixed his doctrine with works, leading a holy life in all things. Finally, to bring an end to our account, in everything he showed himself as befits a servant of God.
4. But the blessed Father Botolph, preserved by the divine mercy so that he might benefit his native land by this teaching and this holy way of communal living, after becoming more perfect by the grace of God and by his long fervour for holy religion, now resolved to return to England out of eagerness to do good. Now in the same monastery where he was staying there were two sisters of King Ethelmund, who then ruled over the southern English, and they valued Father Botolph as a leading teacher of holiness and chastity, and especially on account of his zeal for his nation. For while still very young, they had been sent beyond the sea, to learn the discipline of heavenly wisdom in the monastic gymnasium. But on hearing that their blessed and beloved teacher wished to return home, sorrowfully they entrusted him with instructions to be carried to their brother the king and to their mother the queen, who was named Siwara, and jointly held the sceptre of the kingdom, because of the immature age of her quite young son. When at length he arrived in his native land, father Botolph brought to the hitherto uninformed the standard of the regular life, and, as a great legislator on monastic observances, he taught this previously unknown approach. He was then received honourably by the king and queen, who, after hearing and seeing him, approved in reverence of his religious life, and in devout goodwill they contributed generous support for his necessary expenses.
5. But once the petitions and instructions of his sisters were heard, [asking] that he grant some land to him for building a monastery, out of love for a divine reward, and as the queen whom we mentioned earlier strongly was interceding [for him], he became increasingly beloved, both by the king himself, and all the nobles of the kingdom. For, in order to encourage His servant, God stirred up the king’s heart with His grace, and made him well-disposed towards his petition and desire. At the same time the other kings of the Angles, Ethelhere and Ethelwold, kinsmen of the same Ethelmund, had come together, and they suggested to him that he should agree to the petition of the man of God. They also wanted to offer and bestow upon him lands from their own estates, with a devout intention for the service of heavenly worship, if he would accept them. But the blessed religious man Botolph, to avoid causing trouble to anyone on his account, and because his own carnal relatives at court were handling royal property confidentially under the same king, persisted in his own petition. For he simply asked, not that anyone should be deprived of their hereditary right for his sake by royal violence, but rather that he should grant him only something out of his own uncultivated lands, or those lacking an owner, to build a church to God and in it be able to gather brothers to serve there under divine laws, whose God-pleasing way of communal living and devout intercessions would strengthen his kingdom in this world, and eternally would repay him in heaven with everlasting rewards. What more need be said? At length the most gracious King assented to his pious petition, and granted him a free choice to build a monastery wherever the grace of God might show him.
6. Accordingly the tireless traveller, the blessed father Botolph, traversed regions laid waste by men and deserted, and while surveying them minutely from all sides, at last Ikanho by the mercy of God was found acceptable to establish the monastic life there, once appropriate buildings had been constructed. Now the same wilderness as it was forsaken by Christians, so it was occupied by demons, whose baseless apparition, on the arrival of so mighty a soldier of Christ, was from that time onwards banished, and devout way of life of the faithful introduced; so that, where the deceit of the devil had hitherto always abounded, the grace of our most gracious Originator would henceforth abound even more.
7. At the entrance of the blessed teacher Botolph, therefore, the foulest-smelling smoke billowed forth, and, realising that its exile was at hand, with horrendous shrieks it screamed, “We have inhabited this place for a long time, we thought we would inhabit it forever, since we have nowhere else. Why, O Botolph, most savage visitor, do you drive us out of these dwellings? We have offended you in nothing, we have disturbed nothing belonging to you. What do you seek through our expulsion? What do you intend to prepare for yourself in this land of ours? When the whole world is illuminated by your merits, why are you probing into our dark corners? You are behaving inhumanely, and after disregarding all compassion, because you are driving us wretched ones out, banished from every corner of the world, from even this wilderness.”
8. But the blessed Botolph, that excellent athlete of Christ, firmly restrained the empty mob with a preliminary prayer, and making the sign of the cross, put them to an unwholesome flight, and by the mighty power of his words he barred them from the land which had been divinely granted to him. So the minions of temptation were expelled by means of the cross of Christ, and the standard of heavenly authority was set up at the front, and a hall of divine residence was constructed. A short time had not yet passed when he completed the work that he had begun, following the model of the monasteries in which he had practised the way of communal living in the regions of Gaul, and the divine mercy worked with him in all things.
9. Then like a good shepherd he gathered Christ’s sheep into the heavenly fold, and, leading them through life-giving pastures, he taught them to avoid the divisions of hell, and to prepare for the joys of the paradise which flourishes for eternity. The most mighty labourer devoted himself in the vineyard of Christ to cultivating it faithfully, working therefore day and night unceasingly, to cutting back with the sickle of heaven whatever was growing unprofitably, and to cleansing more studiously the faults of life, so that, from his more abundant fruit he might rejoice in eternal delight. For observing with unwavering diligence the apostolic teaching and the institutions of the Holy Fathers in himself, he exhorted and taught his disciples by example, to avoid being condemned for failing to keep to his own teaching. What he had learned in lands beyond the seas about the stricter life and regular practice of the monks, repeating from memory, he accustomed his disciples to, through daily instruction, with his usual gentleness. Yet where circumstances demanded, with pastoral authority he summoned them and enforced the commandments of salvation, compassionate, like the apostle, to the obedient, but more stern towards those more lax and neglectful. Following the example of the blessed father Benedict, mixing the old with the new, and the new with the old, he taught his disciples now the institutions of the ancients, now things understood by himself, and established them in every path of truth and holiness.
10. He was valued by all, as much by those who knew him across the seas, as by the native inhabitants of his homeland, because he had demonstrated by his pious example the actions which he was preaching by his speech and words. He was never arrogant, never puffed-up, even when pointing out what was wrong, but in everything he was notably gentle and humble, pleasant and approachable. It was often reported by those who were trained under his discipline and who enjoyed his presence while he lived, by what great signs of miracles he became conspicuous through the grace of God; by what a great spirit of prophecy he shone forth as a truthful seer so that sometimes, instructed by God, he revealed future things as if already past; and also by what a great weakness of body he was oppressed, yet he nevertheless persisted most patiently in giving thanks, just like the blessed Job. He was always holding a discussion about the progress of souls; always there was a eulogy resounding in his mouth about the joy of eternal happiness, lest at any time, when unoccupied with these things, he should seem to have neglected the organ of the tongue. So in such arguments and teaching of life he passed his days, and in such a way did the Angelic Father reach a worthy old age.
11. But as the end of his life drew near, and his illness grew more serious, his pious resolve did not fail. But he admonished his dear sons, whom he had begotten for Christ through divine teaching, with a kindly word, and he found it pleasant and delightful to frequently repeat [the instructions] about observing the rules of the monastery, which he, as a pilgrim, had sought out. But this unwearied soldier of Christ, distinguished by his long pursuit of the virtues, this glorious old man, who lingered even in long illness among the brothers, at last, by God’s summoning him, was released from his prison of flesh, from the earthly man, while his disciples stood around, and following his departure with heavenly funeral rites and tender lamentations. Accompanied by their groans and tearful sighs, after the long labours of this world, he was carried up to heaven to be crowned, so he was found worthy to hear that joyful voice of his Lord in the heavenly places, (saying), “Well done, good and faithful servant, I will set you over many, enter into the joy of your master!” He was then buried by his disciples in the same monastery that he had built, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of July, where through his intercession many glorious miracles take place, to the praise and glory of Almighty God, who lives and reigns forever and ever.
