The following story is taken from pages 241-243 of Sir E. A. Wallis Budge's One Hundred and Ten Miracles of Our Lady Mary: Translated From Ethiopic Manuscripts (London: Humphrey Milford, Publisher to the Oxford University Press, 1933). According to Sir Budge's Introduction, this comes from the oldest of the British Museum's portion of Britain's National Library of Ethiopic Manuscripts and was written in the fifteenth century A.D. (pg. xxvii).

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THERE was a certain JEW in the city of CONSTANTINOPLE, the city of the king, and he had a great friend who was a CHRISTIAN, whom he loved exceedingly; but that JEW hated the Christian Faith, and he cursed the CHRISTIANS with evil words. And that JEW went into a church [with his friend] according to his wont, and he turned round and saw in a niche a picture of our Lady MARY, which was painted on a tablet. And he said unto his friend, "O my friend, I adjure thee to tell me whose picture is this on the wood." And the CHRISTIAN said unto him, "This is a picture of our Lady MARY, the boast of virgins, pure and radiant and excellent, the crown of the daughters of EVE, the adornment of the children of ADAM, the mother of mercy, the light of believers, the mother of our God JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, Who shall judge the living and the dead." And when the JEW heard this he became furiously angry, and he said unto the CHRISTIAN, "Art thou not ashamed to mention the name of one who is detested among us?" And in his exceedingly great wrath he rose up from his place, and took the picture and threw it down into the latrine. And at that moment a devil seized him, and tore his tongue out of his mouth, and the Enemy snatched him away and put him in SHEOL. And when the CHRISTIAN saw what had happened to the JEW, he was greatly afraid; and he went down into the

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latrine, and picked up the picture, and washed it and cleansed it, and scented it and censed it, and set it in a clean place, and lighted a lamp before it. And pure oil used to run out of that picture, and everyone who anointed himself therewith was healed [of his sickness] by the command of God and by the prayer of our Lady MARY, the worker of signs and wonders.

A Latin version of this story will be found in VINCENT of BEAUVAIS, Spec. Hist., lib. VII, cap. 119, p. 266, and in NEUHAUS, Die lat. Vorlagen, p. 61. GAUTIER DE COINCY (col. 423) makes St. JEROME the authority for the story, but it is not to be found in any of St. JEROME'S printed works. In some of the French metrical versions the picture is said to have belonged to a church, where it was covered with a curtain. This curtain rose of its own accord every FRIDAY evening, and the picture remained uncovered for twenty-four hours, i.e. till the eve of SATURDAY. The French version given below is from MILOT, Miracles (ed. WARNER, No. XVI, p. 13).

En la cite de CONSTENTINOBLE fut vne foiz vng JUIFZ, qui loua vne maison pour demourer, en la quelle maison il trouva vng tableau pendu a vne paroit, ou quel estoit pourtrait et painct limaige de la VIERGE MARIE. Ce JUIFZ print le tableau par grant despit et felonnie, et par linstruction du deable le porta et getta ou plus ort retrait de celle maison, puis fist son ordure dessus ou despit de la VIERGE MARIE et de son filz. Mais certes il en fut tantost pugny; car il morut illecques miserablement, et fut deliurez en la puissance du deable. Tantost aprez la VIERGE MARIE reuela ceste chose a vng bon preudomme chrestien, et lui dist quil alast en celle maison et quil traisist son ymaige hors du retraict. Cilz y ala et fist tant quil trouua lymaige dedans le retraict. Il la nettoya tresbien tout incontinent; et aduint, si tost comme lymaige fut nettoye, quil en commenca huilla a de-

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goutter, si que long temps depuis lymaige degouttoit huille souuent, du quel huille on garissoit de toutes maladies ceulx qui en foy et en charite sen oinguoyent a la louange de la VIERGE MARIE.