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306 806 ST. WULFRIDA fervour so alarmed her that she fled, leaving her sleeve in his hand. Im- mediately after this she took the veil, and the king, convinced of her enthusias- tic goodness, thenceforth " held her as a thing enskied and sainted" and made her abhess of Barking, giving to that monastery considerable estates. Wul- filda bestowed upon it twenty villages of her own and founded another monastery at Horton. Both these houses she governed with great ability and set an excellent example to the inmates. Queen tilfleda or Elthrida became envious, and on the death of the king ejected her from her monasteries, as she had herself fore- told. She was restored under Ethelred II. and died at Barking, in his reign. Her virtues in life and the cures wrought at her tomb at Barking raised her to the level of her two great predecessors there, Etheliutuga (2 ) and Hildklid. She is confounded with St. Wulfrida. The Bollandists think they are the same; Hutler and Stanton consider them two different persons. The point cannot be settled by referring to William of Mal- mosbury and the twelfth-century writers, for the stories are inextricably mixed. Parker says that Horton church in Dor- setshire still retains its dedication in her name, Wolfrida or Wulfhild; she may have had Wolfrida for an alias. St. Wulfrida, July 22, perhaps Sept ) (WiLFRBDA, WiLPRIDA, WiLFRITH, WoiiFKIDA, VlL^FBBTBUrr, VlLl^FK^TUIT, perhaps Vilfetbuy, VuLFBTBtiDis, Vul- FBiDis), died about 998 or 1000. She was a member of a noble family among the Anglo-Saxons, and was mother <^ St. Edith (6) by King Edgar. Wul- frida was a nun at Winchester and was seduced by the king. Great was the scandal, for the nun's habit was the one thing that must be respected. St Dnn- stan condemned the king to abstain from wearing his crown for seven years. After the death of his wife, Edgar tried to persuade Wulfrida to leave her conyent and be married to him, but she preferred to remain with her daughter at Wilton, and became abbess there. Butler, ^ St EdiiW* Sept. 16, Britannia Sanda. Hill, English Monasteries, Stanton, Menolotjif. In Watson's English Mart, she is called the "wife of the holy King Edgar." (Compare St. Wulfilda). St. WulfninOi Dec. 29, a religious matron, founder of Wolverhampton. Brit, pia. St. Wulvellai Wklvbla. St. Xantippe or Xanthippe, Sept 2.'i. 1st century. Xantippe and her sister St. Polyxena are honoured as disciples of St. Paul. They were natives of Spain. Xanti2)pe was married to Pro- bus, a man of high rank in that country, and her beautiful young sister Polyxena lived with them. Xantippe first heard of the teaching of St. Paul from a servant who had been sent to Eome with letters. She longed exceedingly to know more about the Christian doctrine. To the grief of her husband, she became un- happy and restless and thin. While she was in this anxious state, St. Paul came to Spain and to the town where they lived. They received him into their house, and first Xantippe and then Probus was converted and baptized. Soon after this, Polyxena, who was still unbaptized, was carried off dnring the absence of her sister, by a powerful, wicked man. She had a series of extra- ordinary adventures. She was taken to Greece, where she was rescued by St Philip and taken care of by one of his disciples. Threatened with recapture, she fled to the woods and mountains and shared with a friendly lioness the shelter of a hollow tree. Betuming to the road, she met St Andrew and they were joined by a young Jewish slave, named Bebecca. The apostle baptized them both. After passing through many other dangers and wonderful adventares, the two young women were taken to Spain by Onesimus, and there was great joy when Probus and Xantippe had their