Such a stern and simple structure was this Priory Church of St.
Wilfred of Aescendune.
It was the hour of nones, and the strains of the hymn of St.
Ambrose, "Rerum Deus tenax vigor," were pealing from the
Benedictines in the choir: which has been thus paraphrased:
"O strength and stay, upholding all creation:
Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide,
Yet, day by day, the light, in due gradation,
From hour to hour, through all its changes guide.
"Grant to life's day a calm unclouded ending,
An eve untouched by shadow of decay,
The brightness of a holy death bed, blending
With dawning glories of the eternal day {xxxi}."
His thoughts full of the ideas suggested by the solemn strain,
Wilfred followed Etienne into the south transept.
There, upon a plain altar tomb of stone lay the effigy of an aged
matron, her hands clasped in prayer, and beneath were the words:
HILDA
IN PACE
BEATI PACIFICI {xxxii}.
The "rival heirs" stood by the tomb, their hands clasped, while the
tears streamed down their cheeks. It was she indeed, who by her
simple obedience to the Divine law of love, which is the central
idea of the Gospel, had reconciled jarring hearts, and brought
about, in Aescendune, the reign of peace and love.
"I strove," said Etienne, at last breaking the long silence, "to be
a son to her, in place of the ill-fated boy whom I so cruelly slew;
nor were my efforts in vain, or my repentance unaccepted.
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