SOME SAXON SAINTS OF WIMBORNE. 209 



away sense," she used to say ; though whilst she slept, whether 

 at night or in the middle of the day, she would have some of 

 the young nuns to take their turn at sitting by her bedside 

 and reading aloud from the Holy Scriptures. If any mistake 

 was made by the reader the mother would instinctively 

 open her eyes, correct her, and go to sleep again. When 

 Boniface gave up his Archbishopric and went to Frisia, he 

 commended Lioba to his successor Lul, and bade him and the 

 heads of the monastery to treat her with all reverence and 

 honour, declaring it to be his will that after her death her 

 bones were to be laid in his tomb in order that they might 

 rise together at the Day of Judgment. She worked in Germany 

 long after the death of her relative. She was venerated by 

 the kings and held in the very highest esteem by the 

 bishops, who because of her learning and her wisdom 

 frequently consulted her in ecclesiastical affairs. She exer- 

 cised a general oversight of the convents in her district. In 

 her old age she gave up the superintendence of these nun- 

 neries and went with a company of women to live at 

 Schornsheim, a few miles from Mainz. 



Hildegard the wife of Karl loved her as her own soul. 

 The last time they met was at Aachen, shortly before Lioba's 

 death. The farewell was a most touching one. They 

 embraced most affectionately, and, as she lay in the 

 Queen's arms, she kissed her upon the mouth, the eyes, 

 and the forehead, and exclaimed " Fare thee well to all 

 eternity, lady and sister most loved. Fare thee well, thou 

 precious portion of my soul. May Christ our Creator and 

 Redeemer grant that in the day of judgment we may see 

 without confusion of face. But in this world we shall never 

 see each other again." Lioba returned to Schornsheim, and 

 feeling that her end was near, she received the last Sacrament 

 at the hands of an English priest, the venerable Torthat, or 

 Torabert. She died on the 28th of September, 780, and was 

 buried at Fulda, though not in the sepulchre of Boniface ; for 

 it was thought that it would have been an act of impiety to 

 have opened that shrine. 



