法蘭克人史 第 2 章

BOOK ONE. CHAPTER ONE. That Severus wrote the Life of saint Martin. Many there are who have written the miracles of saint Martin, whether in verse or in prose style. Among whom the first was that Severus Sulpicius, whose ardor of love for the Saint of God was so great that, while the Saint was yet living in the world, he wrote one book on the Wonders of his life; thereafter, after the passing of the blessed man, he wrote two books which he wished to call Dialogues. In these he inserted some things concerning the virtues of the hermits and anchorites, on the report of Postumianus.

But in nothing could he find our Martin inferior; whom he set on a level with the apostles and the holy men of old, so that he even said: «Greece is indeed fortunate, which was counted worthy to hear the Apostle preaching; but neither have the Gauls been forsaken by Christ, to whom the Lord granted to have Martin.» CHAPTER 2. That the blessed Paulinus composed the same Life in verse. The blessed Paulinus also, bishop of the city of Nola, after the verses written about his virtues—those which Severus had set forth in prose—comprehended in five books those miracles which were done after his passing, that is, in the sixth book of his work. For he says:

When those possessed by demons were being carried through the lattices of the basilica in an aerial flight, and were often, by the impulse of the demon, dragged away and cast into the well that is in that very basilica, they were thereupon, unharmed, with the people looking on, drawn up again. And this we have seen done in that same well even in our own times. Another demon also drove a possessed little vessel (a possessed man) headlong to the river, as though about to drown the prey which it had seized. But the help of the blessed Confessor was not lacking to the one about to perish. For having entered the river and seeking the farther bank, he received no harm, but even came out with his garments dry; and when he had reached the cell of Marmoutier, he appeared cleansed.

He testifies also that this man was wont to utter many voices, and very often to speak in the tongue of unknown nations, and to confess his trials and to acknowledge his crimes. But, as we have said, after he touched the threshold of the Saint, he departed whole. Egidius also, when he was besieged by enemies, and, cut off from any solace, was being assailed in confusion, was delivered, the enemies being put to flight, through the invocation of the blessed Man. And this a man possessed by a demon, in the midst of the basilica, at the very hour in which it had been done, professed to have been granted through the intercession of saint Martin. A certain girl, weighed down by the humor of paralysis, and—what is worse—involved in the error of fanatical worship, sought the Blessed one's tomb, and, the vigils being celebrated, was restored to health.

But being again recalled to the vomit of idolatry, she once more incurred the languor from which, by the protection of the blessed Pontiff, she had been freed. A certain rabid Hun, instigated by the prompting of a demon, violently seized the crown of the tomb which declared the Saint's merit. Soon deprived of sight, compelled by pain, he restored the plunder, and received again the sight which he had lost. But a certain man, stirred up by the tempter, having drawn his sword, when he tried to strike a certain man in the atrium of the Confessor, his wrath being immediately turned back upon himself, the swift judgment of God following, pierced himself through with that very blade.

Finally, when the people, rejoicing, desired to carry columns for the adornment of the Blessed one's temple, a certain man, who was envious of and hostile to this work, made many threats by the riverbed there shut off, because he would not furnish any help with carts to those who asked for it. And when, in his pride, he struck his horse, being cast headlong into the small stream, in the bosom of the waters of the eddy, suffocated by his own blows, he perished. Then, a youth leading the way, the columns were brought all the way to the blessed temple. Also, whenever oil had been placed at the blessed tomb, they report that they have seen it increased. And the holy bishop Perpetuus, worthy to be proclaimed a disciple of the Blessed one by his merit, brought an ampulla with oil to the holy tomb, that

the virtue of the just one, infused into it, might sanctify it. And from the marble by which the holy members are covered, dust having been scraped off and mixed with the liquid, from this the oil so overflowed that the garment of the priest, fragrant with a nectar-like odor, was drenched with the oily wave. And many from this experienced healing of their infirmities. But storms also were often warded off from the fields purified with this liquid. Now when a certain man, full of devout faith, had approached the holy shrine, and, thirsting for the grace of the Saint, was pondering what he might take from the blessed sanctuary for his salvation, drawing near the tomb, he begged the sacristan to grant him for a little while some blessed wax from the tomb. Receiving it, he departed joyful; and trusting in it, he placed it on the field in which he had sown his crop.

But when a most savage tempest came on, which in the preceding years had often laid waste the neighborhood, it was warded off from this field by that blessing, nor did it any longer harm there as it had been wont. Now when the magnificent and longed-for Paschal festivity drew near, the people came devoutly to the Blessed one's cell, in which, while dwelling there, he had often kept company with the angels. And kissing each place, or wetting it with tears—the place where the blessed man had formerly sat, or prayed, or where he had taken food, or granted rest to his body after many labors—a fleet of ships being prepared, the people made ready to cross the river, that they might reach the blessed tomb, and, with weeping imploring pardon, might prostrate themselves before the Confessor.

But as they were sailing, the wind being stirred up by the impulse of the tempter, the fleet was sunk in the deep, and both sexes were dragged about by the river. And when they were being whirled among the storms of the waves, and all hope of escaping had perished, one voice of all was uttered in a cry, saying: «Merciful Martin, snatch your menservants and your maidservants from the present destruction!» When these words had been said, behold, a gentle breath of breeze, lifting the limbs of the submerged ones unharmed from the waves, restored them all to the shore which they desired, the wave serving them; nor did anyone perish; but all, being saved, completed the paschal feasts with the highest exultation.

For that virtue was not lacking which, parting the Jordan, led the people across under the masses of the waters on a dry margin, when Joshua, eager for apostolic signs, consecrated to the shore at which he had arrived the twelve stones taken from the bottom of the river; or that which, embracing the perishing Peter with its loving right hand, snatched him away lest he perish; or that which drew up from the depth of the sea to the shore which he longed for the sailor of the submerged ones who invoked Martin's Lord. A certain man, demanding to take something from the holy shrine for a blessing, received some wax from the Saint's tomb, and within the inner chambers of his house laid it up as a heavenly treasure.

Now it came to pass that, by the envy of the tempter, a fire being sent in, the house was encircled by a devouring flame, and, scattered through the dry boards, was laying everything waste. Meanwhile a cry was raised to heaven, and the help of blessed Martin was implored. That man remembered also the particle of wax brought from the Saint's temple. Which, being found and cast into the fire, immediately extinguished the whole conflagration, and by a new miracle the wax, which was wont to feed fire, by the power of holiness crushed the violence of the fire. These things Paulinus wrote in verse in the sixth book of his work, having received from the holy bishop Perpetuus a brief account of them. But when the document of this account had come to him, his grandson was held by a grave malady. But he, trusting in the virtue of the Saint:

«If it please you, blessed Martin, that I should write something in your praise, let it appear upon this sick one.» And the document being placed upon his breast, immediately, the fever receding, he who was sick was healed. But Fortunatus the presbyter also wrote the whole work of his Life in four books in verse. Drawn on by these examples, we too, though unskilled, will nevertheless attempt to recall to memory some things concerning the virtues of the holy and most blessed Martin which were done after his death, as much as we are able to find: for this will be the aim of our writing, which is not found inserted in that work of Severus or of Paulinus. CHAPTER III. On the ordination and passing of blessed Martin.

The radiant lord Martin, glorious and shining throughout the whole world, was sent forth—now that the world was already declining, like a new sun rising—to the salvation of the Gauls, by the help of God; for, as the earlier History relates, he was born at Sabaria in Pannonia. Illuminating those lands with his virtues and signs, he received in the city of Tours the honor of the episcopate against his will, the people compelling him; and therein, leading a glorious and almost inimitable life, after five times five years, with two further pairs of months and ten days besides, in the eighty-first year of his age, in the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus, at midnight he rested in peace.

It is most manifest, then, that his glorious passing, praiseworthy to the whole world, took place on the Lord's Day; and this we shall prove in what follows by sure testimonies. It is reckoned to have been of no small merit that the Lord should receive him into paradise on that very day on which the same Lord and Redeemer had risen victorious from the dead; and that he who had always celebrated the Lord's solemnities undefiled should, after the pressures of the world, be placed in rest on the Lord's Day. CHAPTER IV.

How his passing was revealed to the holy bishop Severinus by those chanting psalms. Now the blessed Severinus, bishop of the city of Cologne, a man of upright life and praiseworthy in all things, while on the Lord's Day, according to his custom, he was going about the holy places with his clergy after the morning hymns, at that very hour in which the Blessed One died, heard a choir of singers on high. And calling the archdeacon, he asked whether his ears were struck by the voices which he himself was attentively hearing. He answered: 'By no means.' Then he said: 'Listen more carefully.' So the archdeacon began to stretch his neck upward, to prick up his ears, and to stand upon the very tips of his toes, supported by his staff.

But I believe that he was not of equal merit, by whom these things did not deserve to be heard. Then prostrate upon the ground, both he himself and the blessed bishop alike, they besought the Lord that His divine mercy might permit the archdeacon to hear this. And when they had risen again, the elder asked once more: 'What did you hear?' He said: 'I hear voices of those chanting psalms as though in heaven, but what it is I am utterly ignorant.' To him the bishop said: 'I will tell you what it is. My lord Martin the bishop has passed from this world; and now the angels with their singing are bearing him on high. And that there should be a little delay, so that these things might be heard, the devil with his wicked angels attempted to hold him back; but finding nothing of his own in him, he withdrew in confusion.'

'What then shall become of us sinners, if the hostile party wished to harm so great a priest?' As the bishop spoke these things, the archdeacon noted the time, and swiftly sent men to Tours to inquire carefully into these matters. When the messenger came, he learned most plainly that the blessed Martin had passed on that very day and hour in which the holy Severinus had heard the choir chanting psalms. And indeed, if we turn again to the History of Severus, he wrote that at that very hour it had been revealed to him in the book of his life. CHAPTER V. How the same passing was shown to the blessed Ambrose. For at that very time the blessed Ambrose, whose flowers of eloquence are fragrant today throughout the whole Church, was presiding as bishop over the city of Milan.

It was his custom in celebrating the feast of the Lord's Day that, when the reader came with his book, he should not presume to read before the holy man had given the signal by a nod. Now it happened that on that Lord's Day, when the prophetic lesson had been recited and the reader was already standing before the altar who was to deliver the lesson of the blessed Paul, the most blessed prelate Ambrose fell asleep over the holy altar. Seeing this, many—since none at all dared to rouse him—after almost two or three hours had passed, woke him, saying: 'The hour is now passing. Let the lord bid the reader read the lesson; for the people, already greatly wearied, are waiting.' But the blessed Ambrose answered: 'Do not,' he said, 'be troubled.'

'For it has greatly profited me to have slept thus, to whom the Lord has deigned to show such a miracle. For know that my brother Martin the priest has departed from the body, and that I rendered the service of obsequies at his funeral; and when the service was completed according to custom, only the closing versicle, while you were rousing me, I had not finished.' Then they, astonished and likewise marveling, noted the day and the time, carefully inquiring. And they found that very day and time of the Saint's passing which the blessed Confessor had said he had attended at his funeral rites. O blessed man, at whose passing the company of saints sings, the choir of angels exults, and the army of all the heavenly powers comes forth to meet him!

The devil is confounded in his presumption, the Church is strengthened by his power, the priests are glorified by revelation; him Michael took up with the angels, Mary received with the choirs of virgins, paradise holds joyful among the saints! But why do we attempt to praise him, when we are insufficient to accomplish it? For his praise is He whose praise never departed from his mouth. Yet would that we might unfold even the simple narrative! CHAPTER VI. Of the translation of the blessed body of holy Martin. For it is worth the effort to insert this also into our reading: how his holy little body was translated, at an angel's bidding, to the place where it is now venerated.

In the sixty-fourth year after the passing of the glorious lord Martin, the blessed Perpetuus obtained the chair of the dignity of the see of Tours. And having attained this summit, with the great consent of the devout, he resolved to lay foundations of a temple larger than they had been over the blessed members; and persisting in this with shrewd zeal, he wonderfully brought it to effect. Of which building there would be much for us to say; but because it is present before us, we judged it better thereupon to keep silent.

When therefore the time desired by the priest had come for the temple to be dedicated and the holy little body to be transferred from the place where it had been buried, the blessed Perpetuus summoned to the feast-day the neighboring bishops, and also no small multitude of abbots and various clergy. And because he wished to do this on the Kalends of July, after one night had been kept in vigil, when morning came, taking a mattock, they began to dig up the earth that was over the holy tomb. When it was uncovered, they laid hands upon it to move it; and there the whole multitude, laboring, accomplished nothing at all the whole day. At last, another night having been kept in vigil, attempting in the morning, they were able to do nothing whatever. Then, disturbed and terrified, they knew not what to do.

One of the clergy said to them: 'You know that after three days from now used to be the anniversary of his episcopate; and perhaps he is admonishing you that he ought to be transferred on that day.' Then, persisting in fasting and prayers and continual chanting of psalms by day and by night, they passed those three days continuously. But on the fourth day, approaching and laying on their hands, they could not move the sepulcher at all. Then all, terrified with dread, while they stood at this point—that they should cover again with earth the little vessel which they had uncovered—there appeared to them an old man of venerable hoariness, displaying a whiteness like snow, saying that he was an abbot, and he said to them: 'How long are you troubled and delay?'

'Do you not see lord Martin standing ready to help you, if you put your hands to it?' Then casting off the cloak which he was wearing, he put his hand to the sarcophagus together with the rest of the priests; and with crosses made ready and candles, and the antiphon begun, all gave forth the voices of those chanting psalms on high. Then at the old man's effort the sarcophagus was at once moved with the greatest lightness, and—with the Lord's assent—was brought to the place where it is now venerated. When it had been set in order according to the priest's will, and Mass had also been said, when they came to the feast, anxiously seeking the old man, they could not find him at all. Nor indeed was there any man who had seen him go out of the basilica.

I believe it was some angelic power, which both declared that it had seen the blessed man, and thereafter appeared to no one. In this place, from that day, many miracles were wrought, which through negligence have not been written down. But we have been unable to keep silent about as many as in our own time we either saw happen or certainly knew to have happened. CHAPTER VII. Of the mute Theodemund. A certain young man named Theodemund, the passage of hearing and speaking being blocked, used to come daily to the holy basilica, and bending himself in prayer, he moved only his lips. For he could utter no sound, though his understanding was whole; but he had been deprived of the function of speech.

He seemed to pray so readily that he was often seen to weep amid those very silent words. If anyone, with a view to reward, bestowed on him any alms, he immediately distributed this to other poor people like himself; and begging alms from others by a nod, he handed out the doles to the needy. And when he had stayed in that holy place in this devotion for the span of three years, on a certain day, admonished by the divine mercy, he came before the holy altar; and standing with his eyes and hands lifted to heaven, there burst from his mouth a stream of blood with corruption.

And spitting upon the ground, he began to groan heavily and to cough up I know not what portions together with blood, so that it was thought as if someone were cutting his throat with an iron tool. And gore hung from his mouth like threads of blood. Then, the bindings of his ears and throat being burst asunder, raising himself and lifting again his eyes and hands to heaven, with his mouth still bloody he broke forth first into this utterance: 'Great thanks I render to you, most blessed lord Martin, that by opening my mouth you have made me, after a long time, loose words in your praises.' And while all the people marveled and were astonished at such a miracle, they asked whether he had likewise recovered his hearing. He answered, with the people bearing witness, that he heard all things freely.

Being thus restored to health, he was taken up by Queen Chrodechild on account of the power and reverence of holy Martin, and placed in school, and committed the whole sequence of the psalms to memory. And God, making him a perfect clerk, permitted him to remain in the service of the Church for many years thereafter. CHAPTER VIII. Of the blind woman Chainemunda. A certain woman, named Chainemunda, deprived of the light of her eyes, unable to keep to the road by sight unless led by another, very devout and full of faith, came to the venerable temple of the blessed bishop Martin. Now she was not only blind, as we have said, but also full of sores over her whole body.

For corruption with pustules had beset all her members, and she was of a wretched countenance and horrible to behold, so that she was thought by the people to be, as it were, a leper. And when day by day she would hasten by groping to the house of the glorious Prelate, after nearly three years, while she stood before the sepulcher, her eyes were opened, so that she beheld all things clearly. And when all the languor of her members had been removed, and the humor that flowed from her body had been dried up, with new skin coming over her, she was so restored to her former health that not even a trace of her infirmity remained in her body. Living many years thereafter, she rendered thanks to almighty God assiduously, because through His blessed Confessor He had thus restored her sound.

CHAPTER IX. Of the blessed bishop Baudinus. How the present invocation of his name calmed a stormy sea, I shall not omit. When the blessed Baudinus, bishop of the city of Tours, was crossing to an estate borne by a ship, suddenly, a most fearsome storm-cloud coming on with the violence of the wind, the calm sea was stirred up by the blast's onset, and the ship was tossed by the mass of the waves. The prow is first lifted up into the surges, then sinks down between the gaping waves. Now they hang on the scene of a watery mountain, now they plunge into the depths through the parted waters; nor did the yardarm stay still, which bore the sign of the blessed cross.

Then, their limbs unstrung with fear and all now prepared to die without hope of life, the elder prostrated himself in prayer with tears, and stretching his twin palms to the stars, besought the help of the blessed Martin, and cried aloud that he would deign to be present quickly. But one of the faithless said: 'That Martin whom you invoke has already abandoned you, nor does he come to your aid in this need.' Truly I believe this voice was uttered by the deceiver, to disturb the blessed priest from his prayer. But he, repelling this dart with the breastplate of faith, more and more entreated the protection of the holy man, and at the same time exhorted that all should pray.

And while these things were being done, suddenly there came upon the ship a most sweet fragrance as of balsam, and as though someone were going about with a censer, the odor of incense was wafted abroad. At which fragrance the cruel violence of the winds, having drawn near, gave way; and the masses of waters standing about being beaten down, the sea was restored to tranquillity. All, now given over to death, marveled at the peace of the waves; and immediately, serenity being granted, they were restored to the shore. Let no one doubt that this tempest was calmed by the coming of the blessed man. Then all in common rendered thanks to the Lord, because through the invocation of their bishop He had deigned to free them from this peril. CHAPTER X. Of him who carried the Saint's relics to Cambrai.

In his time a certain man from the church of Cambrai sought relics of the blessed Martin. Having received them now toward evening, when he set out chanting psalms, and while he had crossed the river Loire, it grew late; and suddenly the sky was darkened, and behold, great lightnings and great thunders came down. While these things were happening, two boys' lances, sending forth flaming beacons, gave light to those going on their way. And the lances went flashing, presenting to the travelers no less of a miracle than of a benefit, and showing forth the power of the blessed bishop. CHAPTER XI. Of the king of Galicia and his people converted; or, Of the Suevi. The barren tongue fails, desiring to recount such great virtues.

The son of a certain Charraric, king of Galicia, was gravely ill, and had fallen into such a wasting sickness that he palpitated with breath alone. Now his father had subjected himself, together with the inhabitants of that place, to the foul sect of Arius. And indeed that region was more sullied than the other provinces with the customary leprosy. And when the king saw his son pressed to extremity, he said to his men: 'That Martin, whom they say shines in Gaul with many virtues—of what religion, I ask, was the man? Tell me.' They said to him: 'While placed in the body, he governed with pastoral care a people of the Catholic faith, asserting that the Son is to be venerated with the Father and the Holy Spirit in equal substance and omnipotence;'

'but even now, placed in his heavenly seat, he does not cease by constant benefits to provide for his own people.' He said: 'If these things which you set forth are true, let my faithful friends run all the way to his temple, carrying many gifts; and if they obtain healing for my little child, having inquired into the Catholic faith, I will believe what he believed.' Having therefore weighed out gold and silver to the weight of his son, he sent it to the venerable place of the sepulcher. When these had been carried thither, they entreated at the Blessed One's tomb on behalf of the sick boy, the gifts being offered. But because the sect still resided in his father's breast, the boy did not immediately deserve to receive complete healing. And the messengers, returning, told the king that they had seen many miracles at the Blessed One's tomb, saying:

'Why your son was not healed, we do not know.' But he, understanding that his son could not be healed before he should believe Christ to be equal with the Father, built a church in honor of the blessed Martin; and when it had been completed with wondrous workmanship, he proclaimed: 'If I deserve to receive the relics of the just man, whatever the priests preach, I will believe.' And thus again he sent his men with a greater gift; and they, coming to the blessed place, asked for relics. And when these were offered to them according to custom, they said: 'We will not do so, but we ask that license be granted us to place down something, which we may thereafter take up again.' Then they placed a portion of silken cloth, weighed, upon the blessed sepulcher, saying:

'If we have found grace before the patron we have sought, what we have placed shall weigh more in the following, and they shall be set as a blessing for us, sought through faith.' Therefore, one night having been kept in vigil, when morning came, they weighed what they had placed. Into these such great grace of the blessed man had been infused that for a long while they lifted the brazen balance on high as much as the momentary counterweight had power to make it rise. And when the relics had been raised up with great triumph, those who in the city had been thrust into prison heard the voices of those chanting psalms, and marveling at the sweetness of the sounds, they asked the guards what this might be. They said: 'The relics of lord Martin are being sent into Galicia, and that is why the psalms are thus sung.'

Then those men, weeping, called upon holy Martin, that he by his visitation might free them from the dungeon of the prison. And the guards being terrified and put to flight, the bars of their fetters being burst asunder, the people rose up free from their bonds; and thus they came all the way to the holy pledges, while the people looked on, kissing with weeping the blessed relics, and at the same time rendering thanks to the blessed Martin for their release, because he had deigned by his mercy to save them. Then, their faults having been obtained from the judge through the priest, they were sent away unharmed. Seeing this, the bearers of the relics rejoiced greatly, saying: 'Now we have known that the blessed bishop deigns to show himself favorable to us sinners.'

And thus, giving thanks, with a prosperous voyage, the patron's protection accompanying them, with gentle waves, mild breezes, sail hung aloft, and the sea tranquil, they swiftly arrived at the harbor of Galicia. Then a certain man named Martin, admonished by God, from a distant region—who is now held there as a priest—came. Nor do I believe this happened without divine providence: that on the very day on which the blessed relics were raised from their place, he set out from his homeland, and thus together with those very pledges entered the harbor of Galicia. Receiving these pledges with the utmost veneration, they confirm faith by miracles. For the king's son, his whole sickness dismissed, hastens sound to meet them.

And the blessed Martin received the chief place of priestly grace; the king, having confessed the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, was anointed with chrism together with his whole house. The foulness of leprosy is driven from the people, and all the sick are healed, nor did the disease of leprosy ever appear there afterward upon anyone, even until now. And the Lord granted such grace there at the coming of the pledges of the blessed patron, that it would be far too long to recount the miracles which were wrought there on that day. For so prompt is that people now in the love of Christ that all would most gladly undergo martyrdom, were a time of persecution at hand. CHAPTER XII. Of Queen Ultrogotha.

For Queen Ultrogotha also, having heard of the miracles which take place at the spot where the holy members rest, just as if she were coming to hear the Wisdom of Solomon, sought to behold them with a devout heart. Abstaining therefore from food and sleep, with most generous alms going before her also, she came to the holy place; and entering the basilica, fearing and trembling, she by no means dared to approach the blessed sepulcher, proclaiming herself unworthy, and that she could not draw near there, her faults standing in the way. Yet, being led on in vigils and prayers and flowing tears through one night, in the morning, many gifts being offered, she asked that Mass be summoned to be celebrated in honor of the blessed Confessor.

While these were being celebrated, suddenly three blind men, who had long sat deprived of light at the feet of the blessed bishop, surrounded by an exceeding splendor, received the light which they had once lost. When this was done, a cry was raised to heaven of those magnifying God. To this miracle the queen runs, the people also run together, all marvel at the woman's faith, all marvel at the Confessor's glory; but above all our God is praised together, who bestows such great power on His saints that He deigns to work such things through them, granting amid the other luminaries the blessed Martin to this world as an immense star, through whom its darkness might shine again:

who truly, like a fruitful olive tree, day by day offers fruit to the Lord from the conversions of the wretched. CHAPTER XIII. Of him who, set in extremity by a pustule, was suffering. Nor must I pass over what I recall my venerable fellow-servant the presbyter Fortunatus to have related. A certain man in Italy, while pervaded by the venom of a pustule and brought into such peril that he despaired of living, asked some who had been to the temple of the blessed Martin. Then one of the bystanders asserted that he had been there. The sick man asked what he had brought from there by way of a blessing. He denied that he had presumed to take anything. He asked him again in what garment he had been clothed when he had gone to the Saint's temple.

He answered that it was the one he was wearing at that very moment over himself. Then, faithfully cutting off a little portion of the garment, he laid it upon the pustule. As soon as it touched the limbs of the sick man, the wound of the pustule lost the force of its venom: which by such a medicine both displayed the power of the Saint and renders the sick man sound. Asserting that this special remedy is in force among the Italians—that if anyone be struck by the wound of a pustule, let refuge be had to the nearest oratory of the blessed Martin that there may be, and whatever be first snatched, either from the veil of the door or from the little cloaks that hang from the walls, if it adheres laid upon the sick man, it becomes healthful.

This remedy freed his own carnal father from the destruction of a pustule, as he himself, a witness of his father, asserts. CHAPTER XIV. Of the fortress Tertium by name, in Italy. The same man related in these words that on the summit of a fortress of the Italian region, which is called Tertium, an oratory of the blessed Martin was founded; and there, to the neighboring tower, as often as the enemy by an incursion of barbarians might approach through deceit by nocturnal ambushes, whoever of those keeping watch had had in the tower a lance, or a sword, or a knife, or had drawn forth a stylus from its sheath, for nearly the space of an hour such light was given off from the whole blade, as though that iron were turned into a wax candle.

And immediately, the watchmen being admonished by this very sign, more intent upon their vigils, dislodged with stones the enemies lurking in hiding. This is reckoned, by right judgment, to be by the help of holy Martin, who by his nearness displayed to the peoples devoted to him a diligent and present protection. And this miracle too we learned from the aforesaid Fortunatus. CHAPTER XV. Of the oil of a lamp over a painting of the Blessed One. He confessed that to himself also at Ravenna, and to his companion in rhetoric Felix, when they had touched their eyes with the oil which burned in a lamp beneath the image of a painting of the blessed Martin, the light returned. CHAPTER XVI. Of Placidus the procurator.

Likewise in the aforesaid city, when Placidus the procurator, despaired of by the physicians, fled to another oratory of maidens near to him, and was lying down in the courtyard, the blessed Martin came by night through a dream to the abbess, who, asking him what he was doing, he said that he was resting. The Saint said to her: 'I would already have returned to Gaul, but on account of that man who lies outside in the courtyard, I confess I have been delayed.' Then the abbess, rising and recounting the vision, gave the man assurance that he would be freed from peril, which assuredly he deserved to obtain. But, as the aforesaid presbyter asserts, Martin's glory is venerated far more longingly in the Italian places than, if one may say so, where his own members lie buried in the tomb:

to such a degree that the frequent miracles are neither, scattered, gathered up in words, nor, so infinite, stored away on pages. CHAPTER XVII. Of those things which were done at Amiens. At the gate of Amiens, where once the blessed man clothed a poor man shivering with the cold by cutting his cloak, an oratory was built by the faithful, in which now religious maidens serve for the honor of the holy bishop, having but little of means, except that the devotion of the devout often nourishes them. Yet they had at a certain time a few hives of bees, which had been given to them; and when a certain envious man had caught sight of these, he said within himself: 'Would that I might be able to carry off something from these vessels.'

On the following night, instigated by a demon, having removed three hives, he loaded a boat, so that, having crossed the river, he might more easily claim for himself what he had stolen. But, I believe, this theft was an impediment to him, as was afterward plainly proved. So when, at sunrise, men were hastening to the river crossing for the purpose of going over, they spied the boat at the shore, and the bees emerging in swarms from the hives, and the man lying apart, prostrate. But thinking him overcome by sleep, since they had already learned from the maidens that a theft had been committed, they hasten as quickly as possible to bind him; but drawing near, they find him dead.

And straightway they make the deed known to the maidens, and they restore to the little cell what had been carried off by theft, marveling that the sentence of divine vengeance had come upon the man so swiftly. CHAPTER XVIII. Of the oratory of Sirjueil. So too at the oratory of Sirjueil, whose altar the kindly hand of the holy Confessor consecrated, while very many obtained the benefits they sought, a certain paralytic, coming and keeping watch the whole night holding a candle to the height of his own stature, when morning came, as the light was restored to the world, he himself, with his steps set free, leapt up sound, with the people as witness. CHAPTER XIX. Of the blind woman Bella. Nor will I keep silent about what he conferred on blindness, when a devout woman had sought the blessed sepulcher.

A certain woman from the territory of Tours, Bella by name, having lost the light of her eyes, was suffering gravely. And when she was pressed day and night by unceasing pains, she said to her people: 'If I were brought to the basilica of lord Martin, I would immediately receive health. For I trust that He can pour light into my eyes, who was able to heal a poor man's leprosy by a kiss of his lips.' Then, with assistance leading her, she came to the holy place, and there, persisting in fasts and frequent prayers, she deserved to recover the sight she had lost. And she was so healed that she who had come blind, with another leading her, returned to be amply a guide for the blind. She afterward, taking a husband and bearing children, sound in body, repaid thanks to her restorer. CHAPTER XX.

Of Ammonius cast headlong. And because we have twice or thrice recounted, from the mere invocation of his glorious name, both miracles wrought and perils calmed, I shall unfold how, when invoked, the blessed Pontiff offered support to a certain man perishing in the very headlong fall of death. A certain Ammonius, a steward of the holy basilica, while he was coming drenched with wine from supper, was cast headlong from a lofty crag, which adjoins the road, the enemy thrusting him. Now the depth of that place was nearly two hundred feet. And while he was rolled through the depth of that precipice, and flew downward without the rowing of wings, he kept crying out for the help of holy Martin at each single moment of his descent.

Then, as if flung from his beast by the hands of others, he was thrown down upon the trees that stood in the valley. And thus, descending little by little from branch to branch, he reached the ground without danger of death. Yet, lest the work of the one who lay in wait should seem to have been wholly thwarted in what had been begun, it slightly injured one of his feet. But coming to the church of the glorious lord Martin and devoting himself to prayer, he lost every force of his pain. CHAPTER XX. Of another who was hanged. I do not think it superfluous if it be inserted into the reading how the invocation of his name granted life to one about to die.

In a certain place a man, seized for the crimes of theft and beaten with heavy blows, was led to the gallows to be condemned to hanging. And when he had come to this end, death now drawing near, he begged for a space to pray. Then, just as he was, with his hands bound behind his back, he cast himself face down upon the earth and began with tears to invoke the name of blessed Martin, that, even if in this necessity he should not come to his aid, he might at least excuse him from his faults thereafter. And when, his prayer completed, he had been hanged, the soldiers [in the Gatianus codex: the attendants] withdrew from that place; but he, his mouth half open and moving his lips a little, strove ever to implore the help of holy Martin.

Yet when they had departed, at once his hands and feet were loosed. And as he hung thus for two days, it was revealed to a certain religious woman that she should take him down. Coming, she found him still living. Then, taken down from the gallows by the help of blessed Martin, she brought him unharmed to the church; and there those who saw him were astounded and marveled, saying: How is he alive? And they asked him how he had been freed. But he said: Blessed Martin freed me from present death and brought me hither. Truly this power shown in this man I judge, according to the understanding of my mind, to be no less than the raising of a dead man:

for the blessed Confessor restored to life one whom he had snatched, so to speak, from the very gullet of death, broken open and drawn back from its jaws. And to this day, as a testimony to the power of the blessed man, he is held alive in the world. CHAPTER XXII. Of Leomeris the cripple. What also was done in the diocese of Candes I shall not pass over. That place is illustrious for frequent miracles. For from this place the blessed man, having cast off the burden of the flesh, passed to the Lord. A certain man, then, named Leomeris, the servant of a man of Angers, struck by blood, with his hand contracted and his tongue bound, was stiff; and held for a long time in this disability, he could do no work either for himself or for his master.

He, admonished by faith, when he had kept vigil at the blessed basilica, his hand restored and his tongue freed from every impediment, testified the miracle of blessed Martin to the people, saying: Behold what the holy one of God has wrought this night; with me as witness, prove it. And returning to his master, he related to him all that had happened. But the master, in no way believing the power of the glorious Pontiff, set him to his accustomed service. When he had begun to work, he was again reduced to disability. But his master, understanding that this was a mystery of God, sent him again to the holy place to which he had gone before; and there, passing the night with the greatest devotion, when day was given he was restored to the health he had earlier merited. CHAPTER XXIII.

Of Wiliachar, loosed from his chains. I judged it worthy not to omit in the narration also this, which I heard the priest Wiliachar relate. At the time when this same Wiliachar, through the treachery of Chramn, had incurred the wrath of King Chlothar, he fled to the basilica of holy Martin, and there he was kept placed in chains; but by the power of the blessed Prelate the chains were shattered and could not hold. I know not, however, through what threatening negligence he was seized outside the courtyard. Him, laden with iron and his hands bound behind his back, they were leading to the king. But he began to cry out with a loud voice and to pray that blessed Martin would have mercy on him, and not allow him to depart a captive, he who had devoutly sought out his church.

And at once, at his cries, while the blessed bishop Euphronius was praying from the city wall opposite the basilica, his hands were loosed, and all the links of the chains broke and fell. But being led all the way to the king, there again he was held bound in fetters and chains. Yet when the name of the oft-mentioned patron was invoked, all the iron upon him was so shattered that you would have thought it to be like a potter's clay. This much only was within the intervals, that he was not loosed from his bond until he had invoked that most sacred name; but once it was invoked, all things were loosed. Then the king, of loftier mind, seeing the power of holy Martin working there, both released him from the burden of his chains and restored him to his former liberty.

This I learned to have been done from the mouth of Wiliachar the priest himself, in the presence of many witnesses. Would that the blessed Confessor might deign to manifest himself to me in such power, that he might so loose the bonds of my sins, as he shattered upon him the vast weight of chains. CHAPTER XXIV. Of Alpinus the count, the infirm. Alpinus also, count of the city of Tours, when for a whole year he was being grievously consumed by pain in one foot, and had no rest day or night, and amid the very cries of his torture continually implored the help of blessed Martin, the blessed Confessor appeared to him in a vision by night, smiling with a cheerful countenance and bearing his accustomed arms;

and when he had placed the blessed sign of the holy cross upon the infirm foot, presently, every pain being put to flight, he rose up healed from his bed. CHAPTER XXV. Of Charigisilus the cripple. Having learned of these things, Charigisilus, referendary of King Chlothar, whose hands and feet were contracted by a humor, came to the holy basilica, and devoting himself to prayer for two or three months, being visited by the blessed Prelate, deserved to obtain health for his weakened limbs: he afterwards became the steward of the aforesaid king, and conferred many benefits upon the people of Tours and upon those who served the blessed basilica. CHAPTER XXVI. Of Aquilinus the madman. I shall also relate that, how the frenzies of diabolical art are laid bare at his basilica.

A certain man, Aquilinus by name, while he was hunting with his father in the forests of Francia, at the instigation of the enemy fell into the most dreadful terror. For there was in him a trembling of the heart, and meanwhile he seemed out of his senses. But his parents, understanding that he was troubled by the assault of the devil, as the manner of country folk is, brought him amulets and potions from sorcerers and soothsayers. But when these availed nothing as usual, they, eager for the aid of holy Martin, urged on by their grief, sought it, saying: He can lay bare the malice of these snares, who uncovered the great shadow which, as we have heard, was worshipped under the false name of religion.

Him, removed from his region, they sent to the holy basilica, and there, keeping himself in prayer with the utmost abstinence, he ceaselessly begged the help of the Saint. And when he had abided there in this faith for a longer time, every terror being removed, he recovered his understanding as he had had it before; and forgetting his parents, he serves in that place to this day for the benefit received. CHAPTER XXVII. Of Charivald the infirm. But Charivald also, a certain man, falling through the hunt into similar snares, had lost one side, with his hand and foot disabled. He, carried to the glorious church by the hands of his servants, submitting himself to constant fasts and prayers for nearly a whole year. When he had done this, the health of all his limbs being recovered, he returned rejoicing to his own home.

And therefore we admonish that no one be enticed by soothsayers, for they will never profit the infirm in anything. For a little of the dust of the basilica avails more than they [in another reading: than a thousand] with their medicines of madness. CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the rope cut off. Of the dust, or the wax of that place, or whatever anyone could carry away from the tomb, how great are the miracles that are constantly wrought, or have been wrought—who could ever investigate or know? Yet one manifest miracle, which I learned from the faithful, I thought it a crime to pass over in silence. A certain man, full of faith, sought to carry off some relic from the Saint's basilica more secretly; and though he attempted many times, he could never do it, since he did not presume to do it openly.

Wishing to return, he came by night to that rope by which the bell is moved; and a small piece cut from that rope with a knife he carried away with him. And returning home, he thereafter bestowed health on many sick people, so that there was no doubt that the sick man would escape who had merited to kiss that relic faithfully. Behold what you, O Saint, grant in your mercy to the faithful who devoutly seek out your walls. Through you they are saved, who have carried away your relics in fulfillment of their vows, and with your help following after, they are delivered. But all these things vigorous faith works, as the Lord says: Your faith has made you whole (Luke 18:42). CHAPTER XXIX. Of King Charibert, who seized ecclesiastical property.

It seems that this too should not be passed over in silence: how the blessed man grants aid to his servants and bids his property to be defended in every way. King Charibert, when, hating the clergy, he neglected the churches of God, and despising the priests, had rather declined into luxury, it was brought to his ears that a certain place, which the basilica of holy Martin had long held, should be restored to the rights of his treasury. To that place ancient antiquity had given the name Navicellae. He, taking iniquitous counsel, swiftly sent his servants to bring that little property under his dominion.

And since, not rightly possessing these things, he yet seemed to have them, he ordered grooms with riders [that is, with horses] to be directed to that place, and there, without any order of fairness, he commanded the horses to be fed. The servants, then, approaching, took the hay that had been heaped up for the horses' provision. And when the imposed service was being diligently performed, and the riders had begun to consume the hay set before them, they were seized by madness. And raging against one another, with their bridles broken, they bounded across the plains and turned to flight; and thus, scattered in evil case, some were blinded [in another reading: were killed], some were dashed down upon the rocks, others throwing themselves upon the hedges were of their own accord pierced through by the points of the stakes.

At length the grooms, understanding the wrath of God, drove out beyond the bounds of the place the few that they were able to overtake, and received them sound, reporting to the king that that property was being most unjustly retained. And therefore, when they had suffered these things, they said: Give it up, and there will be peace for you. He, filled with fury, is said to have spoken thus: Whether it ought to be restored justly or unjustly, while I reign this basilica shall not have it. He, presently receiving his passage by divine command, died. But when the most glorious King Sigibert came into his kingdom, at the suggestion of the blessed bishop Euphronius he restored this to the dominion of holy Martin, which is possessed by his basilica to this day. Hear these things, all you who hold power.

Clothe some in such a way that you do not despoil others: add this to your riches, that you inflict no loss upon the churches. For God is a swift avenger of his servants. And therefore we admonish that whoever of those in power shall read this, let him not be angry. For if he is angry, he will confess that it was said of himself. CHAPTER XXX. Of Eustochius of Poitiers. With a like condition the blessed Confessor appeared concerning things unjustly taken from him. A certain Eustochius, when he was frequently assailing holy bishop Euphronius against justice concerning the inheritance of his kinsman Baudulf—who had made the basilica of holy Martin his heir—the blessed pontiff, moved by him through continual injuries, restored to him something of those things.

But as he was carrying this to his house, presently his only son fell into a fever, and burning grievously for one day and night, he expired. To him the encounter of death was as present as swiftly as his father was made lord of things not owed to him. He, after the example of Gehazi, possessed gold and silver, but, what was more precious to him, having acquired the leprosy of the soul, he lost also his son: nor did he ever afterwards merit to obtain another. CHAPTER XXXI. Of him who perjured himself in the holy porch. How present and over another the divine vengeance proceeded, against one who had perjured himself in the holy porch, I shall not be silent, for the repressing of the boldness of the perfidious.

Since for that almshouse, which the Saint feeds by his bounty from the alms of the devout, necessities are daily provided by the faithful, the blessed paupers have a custom that, when many of them have departed to various places, they leave a guardian there, who may receive whatever is offered. A certain devout man, then, brought a single triens out of regard for merit, which the guardian of the place, having collected, did not fear to conceal from the brothers. But the paupers, gathering at the sixth hour, inquired of the aforesaid guardian what the blessed shepherd, regarding them with his wonted mercy, had sent them, for they had heard that something had been bestowed there. He said with an oath:

By this holy place and the powers of lord Martin, no more came hither than a single silver coin. He had not yet finished his words, but the speech still hung in his mouth, when at once, trembling, he fell to the earth; and being restored to his little bed by the hands of others, he began grievously to sob. Being asked by the bystanders what was the matter with him, he answered: That triens which the paupers were seeking, I perjured myself over it, and therefore a present vengeance scourges me; but I beg that, taking it, you restore it to the almshouse. When it was restored, he at once gave up his spirit. O unhappy man, who, thus forestalled by wicked greed, perished, so that he both lost the gain of life and possessed not the loss of the acquired money.

But to what does execrable greed not drive mortal hearts? You who once envied the widow as she purchased the heavenly kingdom with two mites, now hurl this man to the depths for a single triens. And you who hung Judas from a noose at the price of the Master, now plunge this man into Tartarus for a paltry coin. Let it suffice, then, that this much has been said to repress the rashness of the wicked. CHAPTER XXXII. How his power restored me unharmed from infirmity. Therefore, these things being finished which were done concerning others, I shall approach what the power of the present patron has worked concerning me, the unworthy.

In the 163rd year after the assumption of the holy and praiseworthy man, blessed Martin the bishop, while holy bishop Euphronius governed the church of Tours in his seventh year, in the second year of the most glorious King Sigibert, I fell into sickness with malignant pustules and fever; and, the use of drink and food being denied me, I was so afflicted that, having lost all hope of present life, I thought only of what was needful for burial. For a constant fever besieged my limbs with burning, desiring to drive my soul from my body. Then, now nearly lifeless, having invoked the name of blessed Martin the bishop, I recovered a little, and with slow effort I began to prepare the journey; for it had settled in my mind that I ought to visit the place of the venerable tomb.

Whence I was affected with such great longing that I did not even wish to live, if I should delay the journey. And I who had scarcely escaped from the burning of my ailment, began again to be set ablaze with the fever of desire. Without delay, still but little strong, I set out on the road with my companions; and when two or three stages had been accomplished and I had entered the woods, I fell again into a fever, and began to fare so grievously that all supposed I would lose my life. Then my friends, drawing near and seeing me very weary, said: Let us return home; and if God should wish to call you, die in your own house; but if you escape, you will more easily complete the journey of your vow. For it is better to return home than to die in the wilderness. But I, hearing these things, wept vehemently;

and bewailing my misfortune, I spoke with them, saying: I adjure you by Almighty God, and by the day of judgment to be feared by all the guilty, that you consent to what I ask. Do not desist from the journey begun; and if I deserve to see the basilica of holy Martin, I give thanks to my God; but if otherwise, then, carrying my lifeless body, bury it there, for my resolve is not to return home if I have not merited to be presented at his tomb. Then, weeping together as one, we set out upon the journey we had begun. And so, the protection of the glorious lord going before us, we came to his basilica. CHAPTER XXXIII. Of our cleric the madman.

At that time one of my clerics, Armentarius by name, well learned in the spiritual Scriptures, to whom it was so easy to grasp the modulations of melodies that you would not think he was studying this but writing it, very vigorous in service and faithful in what was committed to him. He, however, the poison infecting him, had lost all sense from the malignant pustules, and had been so reduced that he could utterly neither understand nor do anything. On the third night after we had come to the holy basilica, we resolved to keep vigil, which we also did. But when morning had come, the signal being sounded for matins, we returned to our lodging [in the edition: to sleep]; and resting on our little beds, we slept until nearly the second hour.

Awaking, then, with all the bitterness of languor and heart removed, I felt that I had recovered my former health; and rejoicing, I called the household servant boy who should serve me. But Armentarius, rising up, swiftly stood before me and said: Lord, I will prepare what you command. But I, thinking him still out of his senses, said: Go, if you can, call the boy. And he said: I will fulfill whatever you command. Astonished, I asked what this was. He said: I perceive that I am quite well, but one bewilderment is in my mind, that I do not know from what direction I came hither. And beginning, he rendered me service just as he was wont before his affliction.

Then I, exulting and weeping for joy, gave thanks to Almighty God both for myself and for him, that by the intercession of the patron he had rendered me unharmed in body and him in mind, and that one and the same encounter had bestowed health by faith even on the other madman, who knew not how even to ask. But I shall not pass over this either, that after forty days, on that same day, I delighted to drink wine for the first time, whereas through my ailment I had until then held it in loathing. CHAPTER XXXIV. That his power kept the storm from our field. But we, returning, carried three small candles as a blessing from the blessed tomb: of which wax how many miracles were wrought upon the fever-stricken and other infirm, it would be long to relate.

But I shall set forth one out of many miracles. A certain field of our possession the hail was wont to lay waste every single year, and it raged so grievously that when it came it left nothing there. Then I, choosing among those vines one tree which was taller than the rest, placed some of the holy wax upon it. But from that day until the present time no storm has ever fallen there, but coming, it passed by that place as though in fear. CHAPTER XXXV. Of the wood of the blessed railing brought to us. Faith admonishing him, a certain one of our people had, without my knowledge, carried off a venerable piece of wood from the railing of the little couch which is at the monastery of holy Domnus, which he kept in his little lodging for his preservation.

But, I believe, because it was not honored or cherished as was fitting for it, his household began grievously to sicken. And when it was utterly unknown what this was, nor was anything remedied, but day by day it was carried on worse, he saw in a vision of the night a terrible person, saying to him: Why is it thus dealt with you? He said: I am altogether ignorant whence this has come. The person says to him: The wood which you took from the couch of lord Martin, you negligently keep here with you; therefore you have incurred these things. But go now, and bring it to Gregory the deacon, and let him keep it with himself. And he, delaying not at all, presented it to me. Which I, gathered with the utmost veneration, laid up in a worthy place.

And thus all the household in his house was healed, so that no one there thereafter suffered any evil. CHAPTER XXXVI. That his power held back enemies from us. Now it happened at a certain time that out of zeal for visitation I was traveling to my venerable mother in Burgundy. But when I was passing through those woods which are across the river Bèbre, we fell among robbers. They, surrounding us, wished to despoil and slay us. Then I, fleeing to my accustomed help, implored the protection of holy Martin. Which, presently and graciously standing by me, so terrified them that they could do nothing against us. But, the case being reversed, those who had come to be feared began themselves to fear, and to flee with most swift course.