Life of Saint Patrick by Jocelin Ch 178 to 193

CHAPTER CLXXIX.

How the Saint appeared unto Colmanus while singing his Hymn.

A certain abbot, a disciple of Saint Patrick, named Colmanus, was accustomed frequently to repeat this hymn; and when he was asked of the disciples why he would not rather sing the appointed offices and psalms, inasmuch as once to sing this hymn ought to suffice him, he continually beheld the face of his beloved father, Patrick, nor could he ever be satisfied with the contemplation thereof. This, though happening long after the death of Saint Patrick, we have written and recorded among his acts; that we may show how this hymn was esteemed among the people of Hibernia, and how ready was he in the hour of necessity and tribulation to aid those who honored him, and who frequently celebrated his memory.




CHAPTER CLXXX.

The Admirable Contemplations of the Saint.

As Saint Patrick, the preacher of truth, while yet living in the flesh, recalled and incited by his example and conversation many living men, who yet were dead, unto the true life, so did he by his prayers bring many who were buried unto the land of the living. For divers which were deceased, he by his powerful prayers snatched from the depths of eternal punishment, and from the roaring lions which were prepared for their food, and bringing them to the expiatory place, restored them unto salvation. And he, being often made the contemplator of the divine mysteries, beheld the heavens opened, and the Lord Jesus standing in the middle of the multitude of angels; and this, while he offered the holy immolation of the Son of God, and devoutly sang the Apocalypse of John, did Patrick merit to behold. For while in his meditations he admired these admirable visions, unto the sight of their similitude was he lifted up in the Lord. And the angel Victor, so often before named, thrice in each week appeared unto him, and comforted and consoled him with mutual colloquy.




CHAPTER CLXXXI.

Saint Patrick beholdeth the Souls of the Rich
and of the poor Man sent unto different Places.

Oftentimes did the saint behold the souls of men going forth of their bodies, some unto places of punishment, others unto places of reward; one instance whereof we think worthy to record, inasmuch as the saint was wont to relate it for the purpose of edification. There was a man who had a great name, according as names are in this world accounted great; and he had flocks of sheep, and herds of oxen, and his possessions increased on the earth. And this man died; and a long assembly of his children and his kindred celebrated his obsequies with much pomp and honor according to the estimation of men, and so committed him unto the common mother. And they who account blessed the man unto whom these things are given, declared him happy, whose life was so fortunate, and whose death so honorable; and they thought that he very much had pleased the Lord. But the other man was a beggar, who having lived all his life in wretchedness and in poverty, went the way of all flesh. And his body long time lay without the ministry of the funeral rites, unburied, and mangled by the birds of prey; and at length was it dragged by the feet into a pit-hole, and covered with turf; and they who judge according to outward show esteemed this man most miserable and unfortunate. But the saint pronounced the opinion of men to differ from the righteousness of Him who searcheth the reins and the heart, whose judgments are a deep abyss; and he declared that he saw the soul of that rich man plunged by the demons into hell; but the spirit of the poor man, whose life was accounted as foolishness, and his end without honor, was reckoned among the children of God, and his lot of blessedness was among the saints. "Truly," said he, "the sons of men are vain, and their judgments are false in the weight; but the just God loveth justice, and his countenance beholdeth righteousness; and in the balance of his righteousness weigheth he the pleasures and the riches of this evil man, and the sins of this poor man, haply whereby he hath merited the wrath and the misfortunes which he bore; and the one from his honor and his glory he adjudged unto present torment; and the other, which had atoned in the furnace of poverty and of affliction, mercifully sent he unto the heavenly joys." Nor did the saint behold this of these men only, but often of many others did he behold and relate such things. Thus what the word of truth had before told of the rich man clothed in purple and the poor man covered with sores did this friend of truth declare himself to have beheld of other.




CHAPTER CLXXXII.

Saint Vinvaloeus is miraculously stayed by Saint Patrick
from his purposed Journey.

And in Lesser Britain lived a venerable man, named Vinvaloeus, who was even from his infancy renowned for signs and wonders; for as his acts are recorded, very many exceeding great miracles are attested to have been done by him. And he, the south wind so blowing that all his perfumes breathed forth, heard the holy name of Saint Patrick, and earnestly desired he to hasten unto the odor of his virtues. And long time he pondered and desired; and at length determined he to leave his country and his parents, and to go unto Hibernia to serve Christ under the discipulate and disciplinate of Saint Patrick; but when the night came, with the morrow whereof he purposed to begin his journey, he beheld in a vision that most illustrious man standing before him, clothed in his pontifical vestments; and then said he unto him: "Know thou me, beloved Vinvaloeus, to be the Patrick unto whom thou purposest to travel; yet weary thou not thyself, nor seek thou him whom thou canst not find; for the hour of my dissolution draweth nigh, when I shall go the way of all flesh. Therefore it is the will of God that thou leavest not this place; but by thy conversation and example shalt thou endeavor to gain over a people acceptable unto him, and which shall follow good works; forasmuch as the crown of life is yet to be seen, which he hath promised unto those who love him." Thus saying, the vision disappeared, and Vinvaloeus did as he was bidden of heaven. Now let the hearer admire his perfection, who by the spirit which was in him saw the desire of the holy man dwelling in Armorica, and thus wondrously changed him from the purpose of his intended journey.




CHAPTER CLXXXIII.

The Daily Prayers and Genuflexions of the Saint.

And now, the cloud of unbelief, by whose eclipse the people of Hibernia so long had wanted the warmth and the light of the true sun, being dispersed, now did the tongue, the life, the virtue of the blessed Patrick, so long as the breath and the Spirit of God were in his nostrils, avail unto the things which were begun, continued, and ended in the Lord; giving the knowledge of salvation, affording the example of holiness, extending the remedy of all diseases. And verily, this peculiar habit of life, which he exercised in secret, was daily and perpetual; inasmuch as every day was he wont diligently to sing the entire Psaltery, with many songs and hymns, and the Apocalypse of the Apostle John, and two hundred prayers before God; three hundred times did he bend his knees in adoration of the Lord; every canonical hour of the day did he one hundred times sign himself with the sign of the cross. Nevertheless did he not omit every day worthily and devoutly to offer up unto the Father the sacrifice of the Son; and never ceased he to teach the people or instruct his disciples.




CHAPTER CLXXXIV.

How he passed the Night Season.

And in a wondrous manner dividing the night season, thus did this wakeful guardian and laborer in the Lord's vineyard distinguish that also. For in the earliest part thereof having with two hundred genuflexions and one hundred psalms praised God, then applied he unto study and in the latter part, he plunged himself into cold water, and raising his heart, his voice, his eyes, and his hands towards heaven, offered he one hundred and fifty prayers. Afterward he stretched himself on a bare stone, and of another stone making a pillow, he rested his most sanctified body with a short sleep; or, that more clearly we may speak, he refreshed himself unto the labor of his continual conflict. With such rest indulging, he girded his loins with roughest hair-cloth, the which had been dipped in cold water; lest haply the law of the flesh, warring in his members against the law of the Spirit, should excite any spark of the old leaven. Thus did Saint Patrick with spare and meagre food, and with the coarsest clothing, offer himself a holy and living sacrifice, acceptable unto God; nor suffered he the enemy to touch in him the walls of Jerusalem, but he inflicted on his own flesh the penance of perpetual barrenness; and that he should not bring forth children which might hereafter be worthy of death, made he his spirit fruitful of abundant fruit.




CHAPTER CLXXXV.

The Habit, the Bearing, and the Acts of Saint Patrick.

And until the five and fiftieth year of his age, wherein he was advanced in Hibernia unto the episcopal degree, did he after the manner of the apostles continually travel on foot; and thenceforth, by reason of the difficulty of the journey, he used a chariot, according to the manner of the country. And over his other garments he was clothed with a white cowl, so that in the form and the candid color of his habit he showed his profession, and proved himself the candidate of lowliness and purity. Whence it came to pass that the monks in Hibernia following his example, for many years were contented with the simple habit which the wool of the sheep afforded unto them, untinged with any foreign dye. And he kept his hands clear from any gift, ever accounting it more blessed to give than to receive; therefore when any gift was given unto him by any rich man, he hastened so soon as might be to give it unto the poor, lightening himself thereof as of a heavy burden. In his countenance, in his speech, in his gait, in all his members, in his whole body, did he edify the beholders; and his discourse was well seasoned, and suited unto every age, sex, rank, and condition. In four languages, the British, the Hibernian, the Gallic, and the Latin, was he thoroughly skilled; and the Greek language also did he partly understand. The little Book of Proverbs, which he composed in the Hibernian tongue, and which is full of edification, still existeth; and his great volume, called Canoin Phadruig, that is, the canons of Patrick, suiteth every person, be he secular, be he ecclesiastic, unto the exercise of justice and the salvation of souls. Whensoever he was addressed for the exposition of profound questions or difficult cases, always, according to the custom of his lowliness, did he answer: "I know not, God knoweth "; but when great necessity compelled him to certify the word of his mouth, he always confirmed it by attesting his Judge. So excellent was he in the spirit of prophecy that he foretold divers future things even as if they were present; things absent he well knew, and whatsoever fell from his lips, without even the smallest doubt did that come to pass. So evidently did he foretell of the saints which for an hundred years thereafter would be born in Hibernia, but chiefly in Momonia and Conactia; that he showed even their names, their characters, and the places of their dwelling. Whomsoever he bound, them did the divine justice bind; whosoever he loosed, them did the divine justice loose; with his right hand he blessed, with his left hand he cursed; and whom he blessed, on them came the blessing of the Lord; whom he cursed, on them came the heavenly malediction; and the sentence which issued from his lips, unshaken and fixed did it remain, even as had it gone forth of the eternal judgment-seat. Whence doth it plainly appear, that this holy man being faithful unto God, was with Him as one spirit. Yet though in his manifold virtues he equalled or excelled all other saints, in the virtue of lowliness did he excel even himself; for in his epistles he was wont to mention himself as the lowest, the least, and the vilest of all sinners; and little accounting the signs and the miracles which he had wrought, he thought himself to be compared not to any perfect man; and being but of small stature, he used often to call himself a dwarf. And not seldom, after the manner of the Apostle Paul, he toiled with manual labor, fishing, and tilling the ground; but chiefly in building churches, to the which employment he much urged his disciples, both by exhortation and example. Nevertheless, right earnestly did he apply himself unto baptizing the people and ordaining the ministers of the church. Three hundred bishops and fifty did he consecrate with his own hand; seven hundred churches did he endow; five thousand clerical men did he advance unto the priestly rank. But of the other ministers whom he appointed unto the inferior orders, of the monks and the nuns whom he dedicated unto the divine service, God alone knoweth the number.




CHAPTER CLXXXVI.

Of the Sick whom he healed, and the Dead whom he raised;
and of his Disciples who recorded his Acts.

Therefore under this most sanctified rule of life did he shine in so many and so great miracles that he appeared second to no other saint. For the blind and the lame, the deaf and the dumb, the palsied, the lunatic, the leprous, the epileptic, all who labored under any disease, did he in the name of the Holy Trinity restore unto the power of their limbs and unto entire health; and in these good deeds was he daily practised. Thirty and three dead men, some of whom had many years been buried, did this great reviver raise from the dead, as above we have more fully recorded. And of all those things which so wondrously he did in the world, sixty and six books are said to have been written, whereof the greater part perished by fire in the reigns of Gurmundus and of Turgesius. But four books of his virtues and his miracles yet remain, written partly in the Hibernian, partly in the Latin language; and which at different times four of his disciples composed—namely, his successor, the blessed Benignus; the Bishop Saint Mel; the Bishop Saint Lumanus, who was his nephew; and his grand-nephew Saint Patricius, who after the decease of his uncle returned into Britain, and died in the church of Glascon. Likewise did Saint Evinus collect into one volume the acts of Saint Patrick, the which is written partly in the Hibernian and partly in the Latin tongue. From all which, whatsoever we could meet most worthy of belief, have we deemed right to transmit in this our work unto after-times.




CHAPTER CLXXXVII.

The Angelic Voice showeth unto Saint Patrick of his Death
and of the Place of his Burial.

And Patrick, the beloved of the Lord, being full of days and of good works, and now faithfully finishing the time of his appointed ministry, saw, as well by the divine revelation as by the dissolution of his earthly tabernacle, that the evening of his life was drawing near. And being then nigh unto Ulydia, he hastened his journey toward the metropolitan seat, Ardmachia; for earnestly he desired to lay in that place the remains of his sanctified body, and in the sight of his sons whom he had brought forth unto Christ to be consigned unto the common mother. But the event changed the purpose of the holy man; that all might know, according to the testimony of the Scriptures, that the way of man is not in his own power, but that his steps are directed of God. For the Angel Victor met him while on his journey, and said unto him: "Stay thou, O Patrick, thy feet from this thy purpose, since it is not the divine will that in Ardmachia thy life should be closed or thy body therein be sepultured; for in Ulydia, the first place of all Hibernia which thou didst convert, hath the Lord provided that thou shalt die, and that in the city of Dunum thou shall be honorably buried. And there shall be thy resurrection; but in Ardmachia, which thou so lovest, shall be the successive ministry of the grace which hath been on thee bestowed. Therefore remember thy word, wherewith thou gavest hope unto thy first converts, the sons of Dichu; when, instructed of heaven, thou didst foretell unto them that in their land thou wouldest die and be buried." And at the word of the angel the saint was grieved; but quickly returning unto himself, embraced he the divine Providence with much devotion and thanksgiving, and submitting his own will unto the will of God, he returned into Ulydia.




CHAPTER CLXXXVIII.

The Place of his Sepulture is foreshown by a Light from Heaven.

And after a few days Patrick, the most holy old man, rested on a place not far distant from the mother church of the city of Dunum; and with him was Brigida, the spotless Pearl of Hibernia, and no small assembly of religious and ecclesiastical persons. And while the saint discoursed unto them of the glory of the saints, a great light descended from heaven, and poured round a certain spot on the eastern side of the cemetery; at the which marvelling, they enquired of the saint what meant that light, and the holy prelate bade the blessed Brigida to explain to them the meaning thereof. Then the virgin openly declared that the so great light denoted and sanctified the burial-place of a certain saint most illustrious and dear unto God, who therein would shortly be buried. And the holy woman, Ethembria, who first of all the nuns in Hibernia had been consecrated by Patrick, privily enquired of Brigida who was the saint. And she answered that Saint Patrick himself, the father and apostle of Hibernia, would soon be buried in that place, but that in process of time he would be removed from thence; and further she pronounced that she would be happy if she might enshroud his most holy body in a linen cloth, which she had made with her own hands and woven for his obsequies. This said she secretly unto her sister nun, nor deemed she her words overheard of any. Then the light which appeared from heaven was taken up from their eyes, and foreshowed the ascension of the saint unto heaven.




CHAPTER CLXXXIX.

Saint Brigida bringeth unto Saint Patrick the Garment
which was to enshroud his Body.

And Saint Patrick, being instructed of heaven, understood the desire of the heart of Brigida, and the words of her mouth, and her preparation of the garment, and that she would enshroud therewith his body, as the spiritual token of their mutual love in Christ. And he himself returned unto the monastery of Saballum, which he had filled with a fair assembly of monks; and there, down lying on the bed of sickness, awaited he with a happy hope the termination of his life, nay, rather of his pilgrimage, and his entrance into the life eternal. And the venerable virgin obeyed the word of her father and bishop; and she went unto the monastery, and took the garment, and with four virgins in her train hastened she to return unto the saint; but forasmuch as they were afflicted with too long abstinence and with the difficulty of the journey, for very weariness they stayed on their way, nor could they speed thereon as they had purposed. Yet the saint, while in Saballum, knew at the revelation of the Spirit the weariness of the virgin; and he commanded his charioteer to meet them on their way with four chariots, and the charioteer obeyed, and met them at the place exceeding wearied, and brought them unto the saint. And they offered unto him the garment, the which he kindly received; and kissing his feet and his hands, they obtained his benediction.




CHAPTER CXC.

The Death of Saint Patrick.

Now, the sickness of his body increasing, age pressing on, or rather the Lord calling him unto his crown, the blessed Patrick perceived he was hastening unto the tomb; and much he rejoiced to arrive at the port of death and the portal of life. Therefore, being so admonished by the angel, his guardian, he fortified himself with the divine mysteries from the hand of his disciple, the Bishop Saint Thasach, and lifting up his eyes he beheld the heavens opened, and Jesus standing in the multitude of angels. Then raising his hands, and blessing his people, and giving thanks, passed he forth of this world, from the faith unto the proof, from his pilgrimage unto his country, from transitory pain unto eternal glory. Oh! how blessed Patrick. Oh! how blessed he, who beheld God face to face, whose soul is secured in salvation! Happy, I say, is the man, unto whom the heavens opened, who penetrated into the sanctuary, who found eternal redemption, whom the blessed Mary with the spotless choirs of virgins welcomed, whom the bands of angels admitted into their fellowship! Him the wise assembly of prophets attendeth, the venerable senate of apostles embraceth, the laurelled army of martyrs exalteth, the white-robed company of confessors accepteth, and the innumerable number of the elect receiveth with all honor and with all glory. Nor wondrous was it, nor undeserved; seeing that he was the angel of God, though not by his birth, yet by his virtue and by his office—he, whose lips were the guard of knowledge, and declared unto the people the law of life which was required of God. Rightly is he called the prophet of the Most Highest, who knew so many things absent, who foretold so many and such things future, as seldom have any of the prophets prophesied! Rightly is he called, and is, the apostle of Hibernia, seeing that all the people thereof, and the other islanders, are the signs of his apostolate! Rightly is he called a martyr, who, bearing continually in his heart and in his body the name of Christ, showed himself a living sacrifice unto God; who having suffered so many snares, so many conflicts, from magicians, from idolaters, from rulers, and from evil spirits, held his heart always prepared to undergo any and every death! Rightly is he called the confessor of God, who continually preached the name of Christ, and who by his words, his examples, and his miracles excited peoples, tribes, and tongues unto the confession of his name, of human sin, and of divine promise! Rightly is he called a virgin, who abided a virgin in his body, in his heart, and in his faith; and by this threefold virginity pleaseth he the Spouse of virgins and the Virgin of virgins! Rightly is he numbered among the angelic choirs and the assemblies of all saints, who was the sharer in all holy acts and all virtues!




CHAPTER CXCI.

The Number of the Years of his Life.

On the seventeenth day of March, in the one hundredth and twentieth and third year of his age, departed he forth of this world; and thus the years of his life are reckoned. Ere he was carried into Hibernia by the pirates, he had attained his sixteenth year; oppressed beneath a most cruel servitude, six years did he feed swine; four years did he feed with the sweet food of the Gospel those who before were swine, but who, casting away the filth of their idolatry, became his flock of unspotted lambs; eighteen years did he study under Saint Germanus, the Bishop of Auxerres. When he had reached his fiftieth and third year, he was invested with the episcopal dignity, and returned unto Hibernia, therein to preach; in the space of thirty and five years converted he unto Christ all that country and many other islands; and during the thirty and three years which remained unto him, leading a life of contemplation, abided he chiefly in Saballum, or in the monastery which he had founded in Ardmachia. Nor did he willingly leave those holy places, unless some cause of inevitable urgency called him forth; nevertheless, once in every year did he celebrate a council, that he might bring back unto the right rule those things which he knew to need reformation.




CHAPTER CXCII.

The Funeral Honors which Men and Angels paid
unto the Body of the Saint.

And as Saint Patrick expired, the surrounding circle of monks commended his spirit unto God, and enwrapped his body in the linen cloth which Saint Brigida had prepared. And the multitude of the people and of the clergy gathered together, and mourned with tears and with sighs the dissolution of Patrick, their patron, even as the desolation of their country, and paid in psalms and in hymns the rites which unto his funeral were due. But on the following night a light-streaming choir of angels kept their heavenly watch, and waked around the body; and illumining the place and all therein with their radiance, delighting with their odor, charming with the modulation of their soft-flowing psalmody, poured they all around their spiritual sweetness. Then came the sleep of the Lord on all who had thither collected, and while the angelic rites were performed, held them in their slumber even until the morning. And when the morning came, the company of angels reascended into heaven, leaving behind them the sweet odor which excelled all perfumes; the which, when the sleepers awakened, they and all who came unto the place experienced even for twelve succeeding days. For during that time was the sanctified body preserved unsepultured, inasmuch as the controversies of the people with the clergy permitted it not to be buried in that holy place.

CHAPTER CXCIII.

The Light continueth for Twelve Days.

And this was the reason of the controversy. A great and wondrous light appeared, such as never in any time preceding had been beheld. Over that whole country the light continued for twelve days, without any intervention of night; for the night was illuminated, and shone even as the day. Whereby was it plainly given to be understood that the darkness of night obscured not Patrick, the son of life, the inhabiter of eternal brightness, while the night was to him the illumination of his joys, while he ascended unto the light without spot, the day without night, the sun without eclipse. And this miracle seemeth like unto that ancient miracle which was wrought by Joshua in Gibeon, though much extended in its duration. For the sun, as is written, stood still over Gibeon, and the moon stood still over the valley of Ajalon, one day for the space of two days, gave by the divine virtue the victory unto a faithful people; and by the same power the continued shining of twelve days' light showed the merit of Patrick, triumphant over this world and the prince of this world.