The Miraculous Ox of Villers

When that winter exhausted all food and hunger became evident among the guests, the monks turned to their final reserves. Starvation seemed inevitable. But on the morning of the third day of their gravest need, a magnificent, well-fed ox suddenly walked through the abbey’s gates. The animal was elegant and healthy, as if it had been waiting for precisely this moment of utmost desperation.

The abbot and the monks saw this as a sign of God’s goodness. After consultation, they decided to slaughter the animal to feed the hungry masses. In the abbey kitchen, the ox was processed into food that would last at least two weeks.

But what happened in the stables the very next morning? The monks who came to clean stood frozen in shock. There, where only bones and ash should have remained, stood the ox again. Completely alive, entirely unharmed, standing in the same stable as before.

This did not happen once, but three times in succession. Each night the animal disappeared in living form; each morning it appeared anew. The third time, however, the abbot spoke his pronouncement: ’This is a sign of God’s almighty power. No more slaughter shall touch this creature.’

The miraculous ox was thereafter held in honor and remained in the abbey’s stables for many years. Remarkably, neither the monks nor the guests wanted for food as long as the ox dwelled there. Pilgrims from distant lands came to witness the miracle with their own eyes.

The legend of this ox spread throughout Brabant and beyond. Many saw the animal as evidence of God’s protection over the poor and hungry. To this day, Villers-la-Ville remembers this story, a testament to compassion and faith.