The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick Part 11

CHAPTER XXII.

_How he dwelt with the blessed Germa.n.u.s, and how he received the Habit from Saint Martin._

Being thus instructed and directed of heaven, though both his parents resisted and would have detained him, he, with the faithful Abraham, quitted his country, his kindred, and his father's house, and, pa.s.sing through his native Britain, he went into France. And lest his labor should be fruitless, or that he might not attempt to teach what he had not thoroughly learned, he attached himself to the blessed Bishop Germa.n.u.s, and, for his greater progress in the Christian faith and learning, abided with him for the s.p.a.ce of eighteen years, reading and imbibing the Holy Scriptures (as in the acts of the blessed Germa.n.u.s is recorded). And each had received the divine command--Patrick that he should abide with Germa.n.u.s, and the holy bishop that he should retain and instruct the youth. For he was a prelate, in his descent, in his n.o.bility, in his life, in his learning, in his office, and in his miracles most ill.u.s.trious; and from him the several degrees of the holy orders, and at length the sacerdotal dignity according to the canons, did Patrick receive. With the like purpose did he some time abide with the blessed Martin, Archbishop of Tours, who was the uncle of his mother, Conquessa. And as this holy luminary of the priesthood was a monk, he gave to his nephew, Patrick, the monastic habits and rules, the which he most devoutly a.s.sumed, and adorned by his life, and persevered therein. And bidding farewell, they departed the one from the other, forasmuch as Martin was enjoined by the angel to go into a certain island. And Saint Patrick, returning to the blessed Germa.n.u.s, remained with him many days.

CHAPTER XXIII.

_Of the Flesh-meat changed into Fishes._

But Patrick, having now become a monk, forgetting all things that were past, applied to the future, and, as if little accounting his former conversation, hastened to the height of perfection. For by incredible abstinence, by his lengthened fasts, and by the exercise of his other virtues, he afflicted himself, and continually bore in his heart and on his body the mortification of that cross which his habit displayed.

But the most high Pastor, who intended to raise him to the head of the holy Church, that he might learn to think humbly of himself, to walk with the lowly, and to bear with the weak, permitting him to feel his own inferiority; so that the more deeply he was fixed on the foundation of true humility, the more firmly he might stand in the height of perfection. For a desire of eating meat came upon him, until, being ensnared and carried away by his desire, he obtained swine's flesh, and concealed it in a certain vessel, thinking rightly that he might thus satisfy his appet.i.te privily, which should he openly do he would become to his brethren a stone of offence and a stumbling-block of reproach.

And he had not long quitted the place when, lo! one stood before him having eyes before and eyes behind, whom when Patrick beheld, having his eyes so wonderfully, even so monstrously, placed, he marvelled who he was, and what meant his eyes fixed before and fixed behind, did earnestly ask; and he answered, I am the servant of G.o.d. With the eyes fixed in my forehead I behold the things that are open to view, and with the eyes that are fixed in the hinder part of my head I behold a monk hiding flesh-meat in a vessel, that he may satisfy his appet.i.te privily. This he said, and immediately disappeared. But Patrick, striking his breast with many strokes, cast himself to the earth, and watered it with such a shower of tears as if he had been guilty of all crimes; and while he thus lay on the ground, mourning and weeping, the angel Victor, so often before mentioned, appeared to him in his wonted form, saying, Arise, let thine heart be comforted; for the Lord hath put away thine offence, and henceforward avoid backsliding. Then St.

Patrick, rising from the earth, utterly renounced and abjured the eating of flesh-meat, even through the rest of his life; and he humbly besought the Lord that He would manifest unto him His pardon by some evident sign. Then the angel bade Patrick to bring forth the hidden meats, and put them into water; and he did as the angel bade; and the flesh-meats, being plunged into the water and taken thereout, immediately became fishes. This miracle did St. Patrick often relate to his disciples, that they might restrain the desire of their appet.i.tes. But many of the Irish, wrongfully understanding this miracle, are wont, on St. Patrick's Day, which always falls in the time of Lent, to plunge flesh-meats into water, when plunged in to take out, when taken out to dress, when dressed to eat, and call them fishes of St. Patrick. But hereby every religious man will learn to restrain his appet.i.te, and not to eat meat at forbidden seasons, little regarding what ignorant and foolish men are wont to do.

CHAPTER XXIV.

_How in his Journey to Rome he Found the Staff of Jesus._

And being desirous that his journey and all his acts should by the apostolic authority be sanctioned, he was earnest to travel unto the city of Saint Peter, and there more thoroughly to learn the canonical inst.i.tutes of the holy Roman Church. And when he had unfolded his purpose unto Germa.n.u.s, the blessed man approved thereof, and a.s.sociated unto him that servant of Christ, Sergecius the presbyter, as the companion of his journey, the solace of his labor, and the becoming testimony of his holy conversation. Proceeding, therefore, by the divine impulse, or by the angelic revelation, he went out of his course unto a solitary man who lived in an island in the Tuscan Sea; and the solitary man was pure in his life, and he was of great desert and esteemed of all, and in his name and in his works he was Just; and after their holy greetings were pa.s.sed, this man of G.o.d gave unto Patrick a staff which he declared himself to have received from the hands of the Lord Jesus.

And there were in the island certain other solitary men, who lived apart from him, some of whom appeared to be youths, and others decrepit old men, with whom when Patrick had conversed, he learned that the oldest of them were the sons of the youths; and when Saint Patrick, marvelling, enquired of them the cause of so strange a miracle, they answered unto him, saying: "We from our childhood were continually intent on works of charity, and our door was open to every traveller who asked for victual or for lodging in the name of Christ, when on a certain night we received a stranger having in his hand a staff; and we showed unto him so much kindness as we could, and in the morning he blessed us, and said, I am Jesus Christ, unto whose members ye have hitherto ministered, and whom ye have last night entertained in His own person. Then the staff which He bore in His hand gave He unto yonder man of G.o.d, our spiritual father, commanding him that he should preserve it safely, and deliver it unto a certain stranger named Patrick, who would, after many days were pa.s.sed, come unto him. Thus saying, He ascended into heaven; and ever since we have continued in the same youthful state, but our sons, who were then infants, have, as thou seest, become decrepit old men."

And Patrick, giving thanks unto G.o.d, abided with the man of G.o.d certain days, profiting in G.o.d by his example yet more and more; at length he bade him farewell, and went on his way with the staff of Jesus, which the solitary man had proffered unto him. O excellent gift! descending from the Father of light, eminent blessing, relief of the sick, worker of miracles, mercy sent of G.o.d, support of the weary, protection of the traveller! For as the Lord did many miracles by the rod in the hand of Moses, leading forth the people of the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt, so by the staff that had been formed for His own hands was He pleased, through Patrick, to do many and great wonders to the conversion of many nations. And the staff is held in much veneration in Ireland, and even unto this day it is called the staff of Jesus.

CHAPTER XXV.

_How he Journeyed unto Rome, and was made a Bishop; and of Palladius, the Legate of Ireland._

The G.o.d of our salvation having prospered Patrick's journey, he arrive at the city which is the capital of the world; and often, with due devotion, visiting the memorials of the apostles and the martyrs, he obtained the notice and the friendship of the chief Pontiff, and found favor in his sight. In the apostolic chair then sat Pope Celestine, of that name the first, but from the blessed Apostle Peter the forty-third; but he, keeping Saint Patrick with him, and finding him perfect and approved in faith, in learning, and in holiness, at length consecrated him a bishop, and determined to send him to the conversion of the Irish nation. But Celestine had sent before him, for the sake of preaching in Ireland, another doctor named Palladius, his archdeacon, to whom, with his coadjutors, he gave many books, the two Testaments, with the relics of the Apostles Peter and Paul and of numberless martyrs; and the Irish not listening to, but rather obstinately opposing, Palladius in his mission, he quitted their country, and, going towards Rome, died in Britain, near the borders of the Picts; yet, while in Scotland, converting some to the faith of Christ, he baptized them and founded three churches built of oak, in which he left as prelates his disciples Augustine, Benedict, Sylvester, and Sulomus, with the parchments and the relics of the saints which he had collected. To him with more profitable labor did Saint Patrick succeed, as is said in the Irish proverb, "Not to Palladius, but to Patrick, the Lord vouchsafed the conversion of Ireland." And the Pope, being certified of Palladius's death, immediately gave to Patrick the command, which hitherto, keeping more secret counsel, he had delayed, to proceed on his journey and on the salutary work of his legation.

CHAPTER XXVI.

_How he Saw and Saluted the Lord._

And shortly after he had received the episcopal dignity, the angel Victor appeared unto him, then abiding in Rome, and commanded him that he should hasten his journey into Ireland, that he might gain unto Christ the people of that country, as the Lord had willed. But Patrick, judging himself to be unequal to such a work and to such a labor, answered that he could not and would not attempt it unless he should first behold and salute the Lord. Therefore was he conducted by the angel unto the mountain Morion, bordering on the Tuscan Sea, nigh unto the city of Capua; and there, even as Moses, did he merit to behold and salute the Lord, according to his earnest desire. Who, I pray you, can estimate in his mind the merit of Patrick? What tongue can sufficiently praise him to whom, while yet living on earth, it was given to behold the King of Glory, whom the angels desire to behold face to face, and who was permitted to declare unto men what he had been taught from the lips of the Most Highest? And the Lord promised unto Patrick that He would hear his prayers, and that He would be his a.s.sistant in all his acts to be done by him. Therefore, being by the vision and by the divine colloquy strengthened unto the ministry enjoined to him of heaven and confided to him by our lord the Pope, he vehemently longed to complete the same, and speeded his journey toward Ireland with twenty men deputed unto his a.s.sistance by the Sovereign Pontiff, and who were renowned for their lives and for their wisdom.

Yet turned he out of his way unto the blessed Germa.n.u.s, from whom he received chalices, and priestly vestments, and many books, and other matters unto the divine worship and ministry pertaining.

CHAPTER XXVII.

_Of the Miraculous Voyage of the Leper._

When the blessed Patrick, speeding his journey toward Ireland; was about to embark with his disciples at a British port, a certain leper standing on the sh.o.r.e met the holy man, beseeching in the name of the Lord Jesus that he would carry him over in his ship. The man of G.o.d, abounding with the bowels of compa.s.sion, listened to the prayers of the poor leper; but the sailors and the others that were of the ship forbade him, saying that the vessel was already enough loaded, and that _he_ would be to them all at once an enc.u.mbrance and a horror. Then the saint, confiding in the power of the divine mercy, cast into the sea an altar of stone that had been consecrated and given to him by the Pope, and on which he had been wont to celebrate the holy mysteries, and caused the leper to sit thereon. But the pen trembles to relate what, through the divine power, happened. The stone thus loaded was borne upon the waters, guided by Him, the head-stone of the corner, and, diverse from its nature, floating along with the ship, held therewith an equal course, and at the same moment touched at the same sh.o.r.e. All, then, having happily landed, and the altar being found with its freight, the voice of praise and thanksgiving filled the lips of the holy prelate, and he reproved his disciples and the sailors for their unbelief and hardness of heart, endeavoring to soften their stony hearts into hearts of flesh, even to the exercising the works of charity.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

_How he beheld Devils._

And when the saint with his people drew nigh unto the sh.o.r.e, he beheld a mult.i.tude of devils gathered together in the form of a globe, surrounding the whole island, and setting themselves against him even as a wall to defend their own citadel and to oppose his entrance. But his heart was not moved, nor did he tremble at the presence of these deformed ones, knowing that there were many with him more powerful than with them, even unto his triumph and their overthrow. Therefore stood he fixed in faith as Mount Sion, because mountains of angels were around him, and the Lord encompa.s.sed His servant great and mighty unto the battle. And the holy prelate, knowing that all those enemies were to be quelled by him through the virtue of the cross of Christ, raised his sacred right hand, and made the sign of the cross, and, telling unto his people what he beheld, and confirming them in the faith, unhurt and unterrified pa.s.sed he over. Thus clothed with strength from on high, mightily did he exercise the armor of the power of G.o.d to the overturning of the powers of the air, who raised themselves against all height and against the wisdom of the Lord, being always ready to punish their disobedience and their rebellion, as will more plainly in the following chapters appear.

CHAPTER XXIX.

_Of the River sentenced to perpetual Sterility._

The man of G.o.d landed with the companions of his voyage within the borders of Leinster, in the port of Innbherde, where a river flowing into the sea then abounded with many fishes. And the fishermen were quitting the water, and drawing after them to the bank their loaded nets, when the servants of the holy prelate, being wearied with their travel and with hunger, earnestly besought that they would bestow on them some of their fishes; but they, barbarous, brutal, and inhuman, answered the entreaty, not only with refusal, but with insult. Whereat the saint, being displeased, p.r.o.nounced on them this sentence, even his malediction: that the river should no longer produce fishes, from the abundance of which idolaters might send empty away the worshippers of the true G.o.d. From that day, therefore, is the river condemned to unfruitfulness, so that the sentence uttered by the mouth of Patrick might be known to proceed from the face of the Lord.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

_How the Dry Land was turned into a Marsh._

And going forward, he arrived at a place which was called Aonach Tailltion, and there he made ready to refresh himself and his people, and to announce the office of his ministry. But the idolatrous inhabitants, not enduring the presence of the man of G.o.d, gathered together and violently drove him thence, as the light of the sun is intolerable to the weak-eyed. Yet the G.o.d whom Patrick bore about him, and glorified in his body, permitted not that an affront offered unto His servant for the sake of His name should go unpunished; but quickly did he bring on them his deserved wrath, inasmuch as for the wickedness of them who dwelt therein the Lord converted their fruitful land into a salt marsh; and the sea, with the foreflowing of an unwonted tide, covered it, and, that it might even for ever be unhabitable, changed the dry land into a plashy lake. Then the saint, going unto a small island not far from the main sh.o.r.e, abided there certain days, and it is called unto this time Saint Patrick's Island.

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

_Of his coming into Ulidia, and of the Prophecy of the Magicians on his coming._

And the blessed Patrick, embarking with his people, steered toward the northern parts of the island, that he might overcome the northern enemy, and expel him from those hearts where he had fixed his seat.

And the north wind fell, and the south wind arose, that he might go into the quarters of the north, and plant therein the garden of the Lord, breathing sweet odors; and the desire had come into his mind to bring unto the knowledge of truth the king, Milcho, who was yet living, to whom he had formerly been a servant, and to make him a servant of the true King, whose service is a kingdom. But forasmuch as the ways of man are not in his own power, but as his steps are directed of the Lord, he landed on the coast of Ulidia, that the vessels of mercy might there be gathered together. But Patrick being come forth on the dry land, a mult.i.tude of heathens met him who were waiting and expecting his coming; for the magicians and soothsayers, either by divination or by prophecy, had foreknown that the island would be converted by the preaching of Patrick, and had long before predicted his arrival in these words: "One shall arrive here, having his head shaven in a circle, bearing a crooked staff, and his table shall be in the eastern part of his house, and his people shall stand behind him, and he shall sing forth from his table wickedness, and all his household shall answer, So be it! so be it! And this man, when he cometh, shall destroy our G.o.ds, and overturn their temples and their altars, and he shall subdue unto himself the kings that resist him, or put them unto death, and his doctrine shall reign for ever and ever." Nor let it seem strange or incredible that if the Lord inspired or even permitted the magicians should thus foretell the arrival and the several acts of Saint Patrick, since the soothsayer Balaam and the King Nabuchodonosor plainly prophesied the coming of Christ, and since the devils that bore testimony to the Son of G.o.d. But when they said that he should from his table sing forth wickedness, evidently doth it appear that he who never stood on the truth, but who from the beginning was a liar and the father of lies, did in his blasphemy utter these things through their mouths.