mantle and laid it upon the stream of the said well, and from thence it was brought unto this holy man Beuno, through the waves of the sea, by the purveyance of God. After this, the blessed virgin Winifred increased from day to day in great virtue and goodness, and specially in holy contemplation with her sisters, moving them into great devotion and love of Almighty God. And when she had abode there seven years, she departed thence and went to the monastery called Wytheriacus, in which were both men and women of virtuous and holy conversation. And when she had confessed and told her life unto the holy abbot Elerius, he received her honourably and brought her to his mother, Theonia, a blessed woman which had the rule and charge of all the sisters of that place; and when Theonia was deceased out of this world, this holy abbot Elerius delivered to this holy virgin Winifred the charge of the sisters; but she refused it as long as she might. But by constraint she took the charge, and lived afterward a virtuous life and more straiter and harder than she did tofore in giving good ensample to all her sisters. And when she had continued there in the service of God eight years, she yielded up her spirit to her maker, to whom let us pray to be a special intercessor for us. Amen.
