Himelin was a priest of great holiness, said to have been from Ireland. While returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, he passed through Vissenaeken, Belgium, where he fell gravely ill on the road. Suffering from thirst, he asked for water from a maid carrying a water pitcher to the rectory of a priest who employed her. At first, she refused his plea out of fear of a plague that was gripping the region. But moved with pity, she invited Himelin to come to the rectory, promising to provide him with food and drink there. Himelin, however, insisted upon simply drinking from the pitcher, assuring her that the priest to whom she was bringing the water would be "well satisfied." The maid finally acceded to his request. When, after the maid had reached the rectory, the priest was astonished to discover that the water in the pitcher had turned to fine wine, she told him about Himelin. At once, the priest went out to find the invalid and take him back to his rectory, where he tended the dying stranger. Himelin insisted upon having only a pile of hay for his bed. At the hour of his death, the church bells pealed miraculously of their own accord.