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Cantiga CSM 208 of the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X

The Heretic who Placed a Host in a Beehive

Folio 118 verso of codex Florencia Ms Banco Rari 20

   There used to be many heretics in Toulouse. Although they didn’t believe in God or the Virgin, to disguise their apostasy, they attended mass and took communion.
   One Easter, a heretic took communion and hid the consecrated host in his mouth.
   He stuck it in a beehive in his orchard and charged the bees to eat it.
   When the time came to extract the honey, he opened the hive. Inside he saw a chapel with an altar on which a statue of the Virgin was enshrined. He smelled an odour so fragrant that he converted on the spot.
   He went to the bishop, confessed his sins in front of the clergy, and told them about the miracle.
   They went in a procession to examine the beehive and marvelled at it. Then they carried the chapel back to the cathedral so that the miracle would be widely known.
Source: BNCF, Banco Rari 20


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