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List of Cantigas de Santa Maria
Cantigas de Santa Maria Main Page
A priest praised the Virgin and always said her hours. He was the steward of the bishop of Auvergne. A beautiful young woman also lived there. She too served and praised the Virgin. She prayed to Holy Mary, asking her how she could protect herself from the devil. The Virgin counselled her to say the Ave Maria.
The priest fell in love with the young woman and determined to win her.rnHe tried to seduce her, but she wouldn’t listen to him.
Through sorcery, he summoned some devils and ordered them to put the young woman in his power that night. They harassed her, but accomplished nothing because the Virgin protected her.
When they returned to the priest, he chided them and despatched them again. This time, they succeeded because they caused the woman to forget her prayer to the Virgin. On account of the devil, the woman fell ill. She went crazy and asked for the priest to be summoned. She was mad with love and insisted on marrying him. The next day the couple were married.
Then the Virgin caused the priest to go to the church to say the hours, as he had been accustomed. While he was doing this, she appeared to him and berated him for consorting with devils. She commanded him to return at once to the priesthood.rnSimilarly, she appeared to the woman as she lay sleeping. She chided her also and told her to leave her husband and to enter a convent.
When the maiden woke up she told her parents what had happened and asked them to put her in a convent. The priest told the bishop, a man named don Felix, that the devil had deceived him and that he wished to become a monk. The bishop placed them both in religious orders, according to the Virgin’s wishes.
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