them on the seashore, bade them sing a hymn to the Most
High and dismiss all fears of the ocean, for she had been gifted with a
divine knowledge of navigation and would guide them safely on their way.

Accordingly St. Ursula dismissed all the seamen, and standing on the
deck of the principal vessel, she gave orders to her eleven thousand
maiden followers, who, under the influence of inspiration, flitted over
the ships dressed in virgin white, now tending the sails, now fixing the
ropes, now guiding the helm, until they reached the mouth of the Rhine,
up which they sailed in saintly procession to Cologne. Here they were
received with great honours by the Roman governor of the place; but soon
they left the city to ascend the stream to Basel on their way to Rome,
to which holy city St. Ursula had determined upon making a pilgrimage.
Wherever upon their journey they met the officers of state they were
received as befitted their heavenly mission, and from Basel were
accompanied by Pantulus, who was afterward canonized, and whose portrait
is to be seen in the church of St. Ursula. Once at Rome Pope Cyriacus
himself was so affected by their devoted piety that, after praying
with them at the tombs of the apostles, he determined on abdicating the
pontifical office to accompany them on their return down the Rhine to
Cologne.

At Mayence they were joined by Prince Coman, the son of Agrippus, who
for love of his betrothed at once forsook the errors of his pagan
faith and was baptized. The eleven thousand virgins, with their sainted
leader, her husband, and Pope Cyriacus, passed rapidly to Cologne,
where, however, they were not long destined to live in peace. A horde
of barbarians from the North invaded the place, and having gained
possession of the city, they slew the virgin retinue of St. Ursula,
the venerable Pope, the saint herself, and her spouse Coman, after
inflicting the most horrible tortures upon them. Some were nailed living
to the cross; some were burned; others stoned; but the most refined
cruelties were reserved for the most distinguished victims. Look on
the walls of the church of St. Ursula and you will see depicted the
sufferings of the young martyr and of her youthful husband. Her chapel
yet contains her effigy with a dove at her feet--fit emblem of her
purity and faith and loving-kindness; while the devout may, in the same
church, behold the religiously preserved bones of the eleven thousand
virgins.

Saint or