.
Milburga became a nun at the monastery of Wenlock (Shropshire), founded by
her father and Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, on the borders of Wales,
under a French Abbess, Liobinde of Chelles. Milburga eventually succeeded
her in this office.
Shortly afterward, a neighbouring prince attempted to compel her to become
his wife and, with that intent, pursued her with an armed force. She fled
across a river, which at once rose into an impassable flood and
discouraged her pursuers.
A poor widow came to her in her oratory, bringing the body of her little
dead son. Throwing herself at the feet of the abbess, she besought her to
raise the child to life. "You must be mad!" exclaimed Milburga, "How can I
raise your child? Go and bury him and submit to the bereavement sent to
you by God!"
"No," said the sorrowing mother, "I will not leave you till you give me
back my son!" The abbess prayed over the little corpse and, while doing
so, she suddenly appeared to the poor supplicant to be raised from the
earth and surrounded by lovely flames - the living emblem of the fervour
of her prayer. Within a few minutes, the child had recovered.
Milburga's monastery was destroyed by the Danes; but, in the twelfth
century, it was rebuilt and inhabited by Cluniac monks
