Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/123

111 B. NOTBURG 111 christen her babes, she told her faithful maid to take her stick and strike the rock, whereupon a clear stream gushed forth, even to this day it heals many diseases. Unfortnnately, one of the children died before they could baptize it; however, they christened the remaining eight, and they, with their mother Notbnrga, lived and died in great sanctity. The only one whose name is preserved is St. HiXTA or YxTA, who was buried near Bnella at Jestelen, where a chapel and altar were dedicated in her name ; and before the Beformation, many persons went there to worship this St. Hixta. AA.88. Eckenstein. B. Notburg (4), Sep. 13 or 14, Nov. 16, NOTHBURGA, NoPPURG, NuPPEBURO, NuppiJRG, 1265 or 1266-1313. Patron of Brizen in Tyrol, of women in labour, and of cattle, and a favourite saint of the peasantry throughout Bavaria. Represented (I ). with a sickle, cither in her hand or suspended in the air, a bunch of ears of com in her hand, a bunch of keys at her girdle ; (2) sur- rounded with children, because she took care of her master's numerous family. Notburg*s parents were vassals of the lords of Rottenburg in the Tyrol. At the age of eighteen, she went as cook into the service of Count Henry of Rottenburg and his wife Gutta ; and after their death remained with their son Henry and his wife Odilia. The old count and countess had encouraged Notburg to give the remnants of the food of the house- hold to the poor, but Odilia and her husband were very stingy and uncharit- able, and forbade the poor to come to the castle. Notburg, however, saved her own food on Fridays, and took that to the poor. One day Count Henry de- tected her, and said, ^* What are you carrying ? " She confessed and showed him, but he saw instead of food, shavings ; and instead of wine, soap-suds. He then turned her out of the house, but just as she was going, Odilia suddenly fell sick of an illness from which she never re- oovered, and so Notburg stayed to nurse her and procured her conversion and happy death. But as soon as the wicked countess was dead, the good maiden took service with a peasant farmer, under the express condition that she should be allowed to go to church on vigils, directly the bell rang. The place was Ebon, between Metz and Valers, not far from a chapel dedicated io St. Rupert. Once, on a Sunday in harvest time, when the corn was ready to be bound into sheaves, the farmer urged Notburg to go on working, although she heard the chapel bells ringing; the damsel lifted up her eyes to heaven, saying : ^' God be the Judge, this sickle will be the witness of the agreement that I was to go." Having thus spoken, she lifted it on high, and it was suspended in the air, like a lance-head hung on a nail, so that the reapers could see and take note of it. Then the farmer took the work-people home until Notburg had finished her prayers in St. Rupert's chapel. She never neglected the smallest of her duties, and was particularly atten- tive to the animals ; she is, therefore, much resorted to by pious peasants as the protector of cattle. Countess Odilia, after her death, was compelled to haunt the pig-stye, grunt- ing, because she had ordered Notburg to give the broken meat to the pigs instead of to the poor. After Notburg left the service of Count Henry of Rottenburg, everything went wrong with him. His lands were laid waste by civil war and he was reduced to poverty. His conscience told him that it served him right, for dismissing Notburg. Accordingly, he begged her to return to his service, promising that she should be a mother to the poor and give away as much as she chose. She was sincerely attached to the family, and yielded to his per- suasions. So he presented the holy maid-servant to his second wife, Mar- garet of Hoheneck, and from that time all went well with him : in five years he grew rich. Notburg served him as housekeeper for nineteen years, then she died. Two oxen were harnessed to the cart on which her coffin was laid ; no one guided them, but they took their sacred burden at once to the chapel of St. Rupert near Eben, where the saint used to resort for her devotions.