The Virgin Mary

Propter quod elegerunt quendam Sacerdotem ydoneum dictam ymaginem super quodam equo in brachiis suis honorifice apportare. Et revertentes ad dictam civitatem cum ymagine supradicta, dicta sacra Dei Mater, dum vidit & appropinquavit ad dictam civitatem, adeo sibi exosam reputavit, & totaliter peccatis sanguinolentam, quod post tergum reversa, non tantum intrare noluit in civitatem, sed ipsam aborruit oculis intueri. Propter quod tellus aperta extitit in profundum, & equus, super quo dicta Dei matris ferebatur ymago, fixus & immobilis extitit sicut petra, & precedere, vel retrocedere non valebat.

They chose a worthy priest to carry the image with honor in his arms, riding on a horse. As they came back toward Messina with the image, the holy Mother of God saw the city and drew near it. She found it so hateful, so stained with the blood of its sins, that she turned her back on it. Not only would she not enter the city; she could not bear to look at it. At that the earth split open deep down. The horse carrying the image of the Mother of God stood fixed like a rock and could neither go forward nor back.

Populus Messanensium talia miracula intuentes, ululando cum mestis suspiriis, & crebris lacrimis, beatam Virginem deprecarunt, ut ab eis de commissis eorum peccatis recentem non sumeret ulcionem; ad quorum preces Virgo, Christi sacra sponsa, humilibus eorum precibus sacras domino porrexit petitiones. Quapropter tellurem clausam, que primitus aperta extiterat, equus incedit: & dum pervenisset ad portam civitatis, sacra Dei mater omnimode recusabat ingredi in eadem. Tandem piis orationibus sibi porrectis, ad Ecclesiam majorem civitatis Messane, videlicet ad beatam Mariam la nova ingressa extitit. Quam ymaginem mulieres Messanenses pannis sericis, & jocalibus pretiosis obruunt.

When the people of Messina saw these miracles, they wailed and sighed and wept. They begged the blessed Virgin not to take fresh vengeance on them for the sins they had committed. Moved by their humble prayers, the Virgin, holy bride of Christ, carried their petitions to the Lord. The earth that had opened closed again, and the horse walked on. But when it reached the city gate, the holy Mother of God still refused to go in. At last, after many devout prayers to her, she entered the great church of Messina, Saint Mary la Nova. The women of Messina covered the image with silk cloths and precious jewels.

Notre Capitaine voyant la pitié et maladie ainsi esmeue, fit mettre le monde en prières et oraisons, et fit porter une Image et remembrance de la Vierge Marie contre un arbre, distant de notre Fort d'un traict d'arc, le travers les neiges et glaces, et ordonna que le Dimanche ensuivant l'on diroit au dit lieu la Messe, et que tous ceux qui pourroient cheminer tant sains que malades, iroient à la procession, chantans les sept Psaulmes de David, avec la Litanie, en priant la dite Vierge qu'il luy plust prier son Cher Enfant qu'il eust pitié de nous : et la Messe dite et chantée devant la dite Image, se fit le Capitaine Pélerin à Nostre Dame, qui se fait de prier à Rocquemadou ; promettant y aller, si Dieu luy donnoit grace de retourner en France. Celuy jour trépassa Philippe Rougemont, natif d'Amboise, de l'âge d'environ vingt ans.

Our captain saw our misery and how the sickness had spread, and he set everyone to praying. He had an image of the Virgin Mary taken over the snow and ice and set against a tree, a bowshot from our fort. He ordered that Mass be said there on the following Sunday. All who could walk, sick or well, were to go in the procession and sing the seven Psalms of David with the Litany. They were to pray the Virgin to ask her dear Child to have pity on us. After the Mass was said and sung before the image, our captain made a vow. If God gave him the grace to return to France, he would go as a pilgrim to Our Lady, who is prayed to at Rocquemadou. That day Philippe Rougemont died, a native of Amboise, about twenty years old.