Bl. Roger of Ellant

As a monk of the French monastery of Lorroy, Roger, an Englishman, manifested an exceptional fidelity to the Cistercian rule. In 1156 he was sent to found a new monastery at Ellant. Once, while traveling, as Roger pulled out his breviary to begin the Divine Office, it slipped from his hands and tumbled into a river. Grieved to lose his breviary, the abbot prayed that God would restore the book to him, if it was his will. Suddenly a young boy ran to Roger and handed him the lost book, which amazingly was undamaged by the water. Near the monastery, there lived a woman, who at her wedding had received a ring she cherished so highly that she never took it off. But with time, her ring finger became so chubby that the ring began to strangle the finger, causing her unbearable pain. After learning from the doctors that there was no way to remove the ring short of amputation, she sobbed and begged Christ, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, have mercy on me." At the suggestion of her friends, she appealed to Abbot Roger. Coming to her, the abbot made the sign of the cross over her hand and then effortlessly pulled the ring from her finger, ending all her pain.