July 8. withburga, saint of gushing springs and gushing does
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Died 743
Withburga, a former princess, was foundress of a tiny nunnery. Once, when she had no victuals, she could not feed the workmen who were building her convent. She prayed, and the Virgin Mary appeared, urging her to send two milkmaids to a particular fountain each morning. There they would find two wild does who would "stand to be milked." As one account puts it, "one by one they submitted to the hands of the milking girls and filled up their vessels, sufficient for two men to carry." The town's reeve or overseer, upon growing envious, rode up on horseback and sicked his hounds on the miracle deer, hoping to halt their magic. The overseer was punished, presumably by God, and his horse became spooked and threw him, spearing him with a fence stake and breaking his meddlesome neck. Upon her death, Withburga was buried in the churchyard. 55 years later, she was exhumed and found to be incorrupt. One townsman was bold enough to stroke her well-preserved cheek, and onlookers say the "fair maiden"/corpse blushed at the sacrilege. Years later, a corrupt abbot swiped, stashed, and relocated dead-but-still-flexible Withburga. A holy spring gushed out of her fresh raided tomb. It may or may not have magical properties and it still gushes today. FURTHER INQUIRY: DEER MILK I found, as I often have, that the internet is a vile and dark cellar. Here are the yields of my Google search:
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