The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick: Including the Life by Jocelin, Hitherto Unpublished in America, and His Extant Writings
History
The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick: Including the Life by Jocelin, Hitherto Unpublished in America, and His Extant Writings
Patrick, Saint, 373?-463?
One Sunday Patrick was in a cold, damp place, when great rain fell on the
earth, but it rained not in the spot where Patrick was, sicut in concha
et vellere Gideoni accederat. It was a custom with Patrick to place the
cross of Christ over himself one hundred times each day and night; and he
would go aside from his path, even though the cross were one thousand
paces away, provided that he saw it or knew it to be in his vicinity;
whether he was in a chariot or on a horse, he would proceed to each
cross. One day Patrick omitted to visit a cross which was on his way,
but he knew not that it was there. His charioteer said to him in the
evening: "You left a cross which was on your way to-day without
visiting." Patrick left his guest-house and his dinner, and went back to
the cross. When Patrick was praying at the cross, "This is a sepulchre,"
said Patrick; "who was buried here?" A voice answered out of the
sepulchre: "I am a poor pagan," it said, "and I was buried here; whilst
living, I was injuring my soul until I died; and I was buried here
afterwards." "What was the reason," asked Patrick, "that the sign of
Christianity--_i.e._, the cross--was placed over thy grave?" "This,"
answered the voice: "a certain woman that was in foreign lands, and her
son was buried here in this country in her absence; and she came from
foreign lands, and placed this cross over my grave. She thought it was
over the grave of her son it was placed; for she was not able through
grief to recognize her son's grave." "This is the reason that I missed
the cross," said Patrick--"_i.e._, its being over the grave of a pagan."
The cross was afterwards raised by Patrick over the Christian's grave.
One time Patrick's charioteer wanted his horses; he could not find them,
owing to the darkness of the night. Patrick lifted up his hand; his five
fingers illuminated all the place as if they were five torches, and the
horses were immediately found.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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