¹ Here begins the Life of Saint Aidus, Bishop. The second day before the Calends of March.

² There was a nobleman in the province of Connaught named Sedia, who had a wife called Eithne, of the lineage of Amolgida, descended from the Maccuates. As this man and his wife had no children, they came to certain religious people dwelling at Driumlethan and asked them to pray to the Lord Christ on account of their barrenness. Those religious people then entreated the Lord of Heaven to grant them the conception of a good son, and they said to them, “Go in the name of the Lord, and return to your marital union.” On the following night the elderly couple lay together, and Sedia saw a white star falling from heaven onto the mouth of his wife Eithne, while she likewise, in a vision, saw a bright moon falling onto his. When they awoke, they told one another what they had seen, and after some time their visions were fulfilled, for God granted their request. The barren woman conceived a son, full of the grace of God and of miracles, as is shown in his life.

³ For before he was born, when the mother of Saint Aidus was travelling in a chariot near an assembly of her people, a certain magician who heard the sound of the chariot said, “That chariot sounds as though it isars either a king or the grace of God,” because he was then in the womb of his pregnant mother. Saint Aidus was born on the island of Brercimaige, and on that island light has not been lacking to the present day.

⁴ There was also a great king, Ammerus, who was hard-hearted towards the common people subject to him and held the sons of men as hostages. Fifty-three boys were delivered to him, and Aidus was one of them. Aidus then came on his hands towards the king, and when King Ammerus saw him he said, “That is my boy; he shall come to my side.” The boy replied, “If you will protect me, O king, protect the other boys with me.” Then the boy Aidus delivered himself and the fifty-three boys from the power of the king, and afterwards he liberated the kings of Connaught.

⁵ At another time the same holy boy, Aidus, was a shepherd, caring for eight sheep and eight wethers. One day, when Aidus saw eight very hungry wolves approaching, he took pity on them so that they might eat the wethers, and at once the starving wolves devoured them. Shortly afterwards, when the boy saw his aunt—that is, his mother’s sister—coming towards him, he feared her because of the wethers and cried out to the Lord, saying, “Lord, help me.” The Lord heard the prayer of the holy boy and sent eight wethers back to the eight sheep, just as they had been before.

⁶ At a certain time, the aforementioned religious people asked the Lord whether he would show them the place of their resurrection. An angel came to them and said, “A holy boy who lives among you, named Aidus, will show you the place of your resurrection.”

⁷ Then they asked the boy, who said to them, “Have you ever heard the sound of a bell?” They replied, “We have not.” And the boy said to them, “Come with me.” He led them through dense woodland brought them to the place of their resurrection, and showed them the spot.

⁸ On another day the holy boy Aidus was reading aloud in the fields, and at that very hour a certain hunter was swiftly chasing a stag through those fields with his dogs. When the stag grew weary in its flight and heard the voice of the boy, it turned towards him and, seeking his help, fell to the ground on its knees before him. Saint Aidus placed his book upon the stag’s horns and continued to read, and although the dogs ran about, they could not see the stag, which thus escaped unharmed.

⁹ Again, on another day, Saint Aidus and Saint Molassus, who were companions, were reading together in one place and agreed to set out on a journey, though they did not know where they should go. At that moment two large sticks lay before them, and, inspired by God, they said to the sticks, “In the name of the Lord, reveal to us what we shall do, and show what is appointed for us.” Immediately the two sticks fell to the ground, one towards the north and the other towards the south, and by this they understood that one of them, namely Molassus, should go southwards to the island of Boum, and Aidus to the right, to the borders of the people of Leinster.

¹⁰ Again, on another occasion, when the holy boy Aidus was on the mountain called Mount Betho, at the end of the day he would go to the place where Aired Siniuch dwelt. Then angels came to him and, taking him up in their hands, carried him to that place and set him down near the cross in the middle of his enclosure before nightfall.

¹¹ At another time there was a boy near the pool of Eruc, named Bosargente, son of Echdach, whose mother was Oruntham, and that boy, together with two others, was drowned in the depths of the pool. The mother of the boy, lamenting, went around to all the holy people, begging them to restore her son to life. She came to Saint Molassus, who said to her, “Go and wait by the pool in which your son was drowned, and Saint Aidus, who is travelling, will come to you; ask him, and he will raise your son for you.” The mother did so, and when Aidus came to her she wept before him. Then Aidus walked over the pool with dry feet and went to the place where the boys had been drowned, and there, praying, he restored the three boys to life. King Cuchait then offered his son, together with all his household, to Saint Aidus for ever; and Saint Aidus gave that same son, with all his household, to Saint Molassus.

¹² And when Saint Aidus wished to leave his own people and country and go into exile, the king of his nation, named Albus, would not allow him to go. To him the holy man said, “Let me go into exile, and I will give you the kingdom of heaven, and you shall receive the new tonsure from my hand, and you shall remain under that tonsure until old age and death.” The king said, “It pleases me that you should go, if you will stay with me until the time of the tonsure, so that we may see whether the hair will grow again.” Saint Aidus remained with him until that time, and then the king allowed him to set out on his journey, and the king remained under the new tonsure until his old age.

¹³ Saint Aidus came to the borders of the people of Leinster, and, desiring to study the Holy Scriptures, he sailed across the sea to the lands of the Britons. There he studied in the city of Saint David, where he stayed for a long time and worked many miracles. On a certain day, while Saint Aidus was reading there, the steward came to him and said, “Get up and take a cart, so that you may go with the brethren to carry loads of what is needed.” The obedient boy rose at once and, in his haste, left his book open; and although heavy rain fell, the book was not damaged until David himself came to it.

¹⁴ The steward then told the holy boy to hold two wild and untamed oxen, and immediately the oxen became gentle and obedient under the boy’s hand. The steward also gave him a yoke without straps, and the yoke clung to the necks of the oxen as though it had been securely fastened with straps. The boy then asked the steward for a wooden peg to fix to the cart, and the steward said to him, “Put your finger in place of the peg.” The obedient boy did so, and yet his finger was not harmed. Therefore all the workmen went on ahead, and he remained behind with a small boy. The boy said to him, “It is right that we should set out on our journey.” Aidus replied to the boy, “Watch your eyes, and follow me,” and they crossed very wet ground and kept to a path which remains to the present day. Aidus went ahead of the workmen with their carts.

¹⁵ At that same time David went to the seashore with his household and said there to the holy boy, “Why did you leave your book open to the rain?” When the boy Aidus heard this, he fell on his knees and prostrated himself before David and would not rise until his elder, David, should command him; and David did not then say to him, “Rise.” The brethren went back to the house, and the boy remained prostrate on the shore. Afterwards David asked, “Where is the boy?” and the brethren said, “We have not seen him, except when we saw him lying prostrate on the shore.”

¹⁶ Then David sent his household to the shore and found the sea at full tide, with the boy lying in the water, while the sea rose in a ring around him. They drew him into the ship with a rope. At another time the steward, stirred by envy, planned to kill the holy boy Aidus. On a certain day he sent the boy with a layman and a cart to fetch wood from the forest, and persuaded the layman to kill the boy there. After yoking the oxen, the layman and the holy boy went together into the woods, and when the boy bent down to lift a log, the layman raised his axe to strike him on the head, but his hands, lifted up, withered in the air. The layman then confessed his crime, and through the prayer of the saint he was restored. This event was reported to Saint David, who rose at once and ran. The brethren were disturbed when they saw their elder walking with only one shoe, the other foot bare, and they followed him. The holy boy came with the cart to the river called Cleddde, and when David saw the boy approaching, he stopped there and said to the brethren, “Do not follow me,” for David saw countless hosts of angels around the boy. When the boy saw David waiting for him in the distance, he came swiftly through the river and by short paths on which no one had ever walked before, straight to the place where he saw David standing, where a cross was set up and remains to this day. When the brethren returned home, David began to rebuke the steward, but the holy boy said, “It is not necessary for you to rebuke him, for if you do so, he will soon die, and no one will see his grave.” And so it came to pass.

¹⁷ On another day the holy boy Aidus was carrying a tribute vessel filled with ale to the city, and when he came to a difficult stretch of road near a valley, the cart with the vessel and the oxen fell down into the valley. The holy boy made the sign over the vessel and the oxen, and not a single drop was lost from the vessel, and it was brought safely in the cart back onto level ground.

¹⁸ On a certain day the king’s son, who was blind, lame, and deaf, was brought to the holy boy Aidus, and through his prayer he was cured of all his infirmities. Likewise, on another day, a man was brought whose face was plain, without eyes or nostrils, and Aidus blessed his face and gave him eyes and nostrils. At another time the Saxons came to make war against the Britons, and the holy boy, being asked, went with the Britons to the battle. When the Saxons saw him they were immediately put to flight, and the Britons pursued them for seven days, so that through the blessing of the holy boy not a single man fell on that day. As long as the boy Aidus lived in the land of the Britons with Saint David, the Saxons did not dare to come there. Certain Saxon vagabonds entered those regions of the Britons in order to harm someone if they could, but when Aidus learned of this they immediately became blind through his curse; having injured or killed no one, they returned home and remained blind for a whole year. A certain king of the Saxons came to test him, saying, “I am blind and deaf,” to whom Aidus replied, “On the contrary, you are neither deaf nor blind; but since you have lied in tempting me, from this day you shall not be a king, and you shall remain blind and deaf until the day of your death.” And so it was fulfilled.

¹⁹ After this Saint Aidus, with the blessing of Saint David, sailed to the island of Ireland came to the regions of Fothart of the Plain of Itha. As he approached the land, he saw upon the sea the killing of certain strangers who had come with their ships into that district and were being slain by the king of that people. Then Saint Aidus said to his companions, “Let us go quickly and help these wretched people who are now being murdered.” Aidus struck his bell upon the sea, and when the king heard the sound of the bell he said, “That sound is the bell of a man in favour,” and they ceased killing the strangers. When Aidus reached the harbour, the king sent one of his attendants, named Drinma son of Cainre, who received Aidus on his shoulders from the ship. The king offered him the district called Brentrocht, and at the same time he surrendered his own district with his son-in-law and offered it to Aidus for ever. When Saint Aidus was in that district, he reflected in his heart and said, “I regret that I did not ask my teacher who, in this island of Ireland, should be the friend of my heart.”

²⁰ Then he rose up, intending to cross the sea to Saint David; and when he had walked dry-shod upon the sea as far as the third part, look, an angel of the Lord met him and said, “There was great boldness in what you have done, in going on foot over the sea.” Aidus answered, “I have not done this through boldness, but through the strength of faith.” The angel said to him, “There is no need for you to have a friend of your heart, for God loves you, and between you and the Lord there shall be no intermediary; but if you wish to have a friend of your heart, you may have Molue, the mother of Choche.” Then Aidus returned to Ireland.

²¹ After these things Aidus came to the district called Ardladrand, and when he had returned to the place called Arcel, he remembered that he had forgotten his bell in the land of the Britons. When the proper hour came for him to ring his bell, he immediately saw it coming to him from Britain across the sea and being set beside him; and rejoicing at its arrival, he gave thanks to God. On another day Saint Aidus travelled in his chariot across the great sea, from the place called Ardladrand as far as Fin Dubuir Ierthnandesse, and the hooves of his horses and the wheels of his chariot were not dipped in the sea, for it was firm like the hardest ground.

²² After this Aidus came to a place called Dissert Nambri, and there lived with his brethren. He had two cows and one calf, and on a certain night, when Saint Aidus heard the noise of hungry wolves seeking food from their owner, he took pity on them and went and placed the calf of the two cows before the mouths of the wolves, and they devoured it. When morning came, the cook rose and asked after the calf, and Aidus said to him, “Do not look for it, for while you were sleeping I gave it to the hungry wolves.” The cook replied, “How can we appease the cows?” Aidus said to him, “Give me your head, that I may bless it.” He blessed his head and said, “Go and show your head to the cows,” and when the cows saw the head of the cleric they came and licked it, and so were calmed until they again produced calves. This miracle Aidus performed more than once, for when calves died he blessed the servant’s head, and the cows loved him as though he were a calf.

²³ On a certain day, when Saint Aidus was in a mill grinding wheat flour, a man of the race of Ossan came to him and asked for flour. The same man then returned, having changed his clothes and blinded one of his eyes, and again asked the holy man of God for flour in the name of the Lord. Saint Aidus, knowing his deceit, said to him, “Why have you done this, coming again to ask? I will give you flour in the name of the Lord, but you shall be blind until the day of your death, and among your kindred there shall always be one blind for ever.” And so it was fulfilled.

²⁴ At another time, when Saint Aidus was in the place called Vuainmar, the common people of that district came to him to entrust their money to his keeping. When the king of the descendants of Neill, Aidus son of Ammereth, came with his army into that district, he was told that much of the people’s money had been entrusted to Saint Aidus. The king therefore came with his guards, wishing to seize the money. Saint Aidus set the mark of his staff between the enemy and the place where the money was stored. A herald came beyond the mark of the staff and said, “There is no cleric who can forbid me to pass.” As soon as he said this, he fell dead. When the others saw this, they did not dare to approach, but, struck with great fear, returned carrying the dead herald with them, and they glorified Saint Aidus.

²⁵ Saint Aidus also came to a place called Senbothendi, and while he lived there, on a certain day he saw a wolf roaming about, very hungry. He asked a boy who lived with him, “Do you have any food?” The boy replied, “I have one loaf and part of a fish.” Aidus took the loaf from him and gave it to the wolf, and the boy blushed. Aidus said to him, “Bring me a leaf.” When it was brought, Aidus blessed it and from it made a loaf, which he gave to the boy.

²⁶ After these things Aidus came to the harbour of Ferns and sat there under a certain tree. In that place there was no water, and Aidus said to his companions, “Cut down that tree.” Immediately a spring of water burst forth, which to this day is called Tipra Moedoc.

²⁷ Then a man named Bec, son of Cogin, came to him and granted him a site for a dwelling, and Saint Aidus remained there. Women, including the daughter of Bec, came to wash their clothes in the nearby river, and the sight of the women displeased the holy man, who said to them, “Go away.” But they replied, “We will not go.” Then one woman who was washing clothes, as she moved her feet and jumped up, suddenly found that her feet stuck fast in her shoes, and her shoes stuck fast to the ground; thus the woman was completely held fast and was close to death. When Bec heard of this, he came to the man of God and begged him to release his daughter. When she was freed, Bec offered his dwelling and his household to Saint Aidus for ever.

²⁸ At another time a herdsman lived near the place called Ferns, whose mother was afflicted with a grievous illness and near death. This herdsman came to Saint Aidus and asked him for blessed water for his mother. Saint Aidus rose and went with the herdsman to her, but the herdsman ran quickly ahead of the man of God and found his mother already dead. He returned to the holy man and said, “Man of God, do not trouble yourself, for my mother is dead.” Aidus replied, “Go and tell your mother to come and greet me.” The herdsman went and said to his mother, “Arise, Saint Aidus calls you,” and immediately she rose in health from death as from sleep, hastened to Saint Aidus, and gave thanks to God and to his saint.

²⁹ On another day Saint Aidus came with his disciples to holy Fintan son of Tulchan, and they were received as guests with great joy and honour. When supper was finished, Fintan said to his servant, “Go and tell Saint Aidus that tonight he should provide refreshment for us.” Aidus said to his servant, “What Fintan has said we will do; tell him that refreshment will be provided for all who live in that place in the same manner.” Fintan replied through his servant, “Tell Saint Aidus that we cannot all receive refreshment, for many of us are afflicted with very severe diseases, and because of these we cannot be refreshed.” Saint Aidus said, “God is able to give health to them all,” and as he spoke, at that very hour all the sick were healed, and not a trace of illness was found among them.

³⁰ On the third day, when Saint Aidus was about to depart from that place, Mundu said to him, “You shall not leave this place until you have returned to everyone the disease that he had before.” Aidus replied, “The Lord gave me their healing.” Saint Mundu said, “Even though the Lord granted you their healing, you shall not leave this place until you give back to each person his own ailment.” Then Saint Aidus transferred his own infirmity to each of them, and he departed with a blessing.

³¹ At another time King Brandub, son of Cochae, came with a great herd of cattle along the shore of Echdromo, and look, a certain leper came and asked him for alms. King Brandub gave him a thin black handkerchief. The king then went with his herd to the river called Slane, and while he remained there that night, a grievous sickness close to death came upon him, and in the depths of that illness he saw a vision. He was carried to hell and saw all kinds of beasts entering the mouth of hell with gaping jaws. He also saw another great beast with its mouth open at the gate of hell, whose claw seized the king and dragged him towards it. When the beast was about to devour him, a certain cleric placed the thin black handkerchief into the beast’s mouth, and as it swallowed the handkerchief the king was drawn back from its jaws. Again the beast’s claw reached out after the king and pulled him back, and he was almost devoured, but the same kindly cleric struck the beast on the head with his staff, and it closed its fiery mouth, and so King Brandub escaped the peril of hell. The king was then carried, still sick, to the place called Bercrimtham, where he lay in great suffering. His friends said to him, “A certain man named the holy Aidus lives in this district; therefore send for blessed water to be brought from him to you.” The king replied, “I would rather go myself to the man of God.” He set out and came to the dwelling of Saint Aidus, and when King Brandub saw Saint Aidus approaching him from a distance, he said to his attendants, “This is the cleric who delivered me from hell.”

³² Then the king prostrated himself at the saint’s feet and said, “I repent of all the evil I have done. Everything that you have told me throughout my life I will fulfil, for you have delivered me from the pains of hell and its beasts.” At that very hour the king was healed of every illness, while the saint pronounced his blessing. Brandub gave much land to Saint Aidus, and throughout their lives they were close friends.

³³ On a certain day, when Saint Aidus was travelling from a place called Ardraland, he came to the rock of Druinne and saw six ploughs going astray near the harbour of Ferns. Raising his hand, he blessed them from afar, and one of the ploughmen fell between the coulter and the ploughshare and was not harmed. Nothing among them was damaged except a small strap, which Saint Aidus pointed out when his companions asked about it. At another time Saint Aidus went to holy virgins, daughters of Aidi son of Cohirber, and took with him a plough and oxen so that he might plough with them. When the oxen were yoked for ploughing, look, a leprous woman came and asked Aidus to give her an ox, and Aidus gave her the one chosen from the rest. The ploughmen said to him, “What shall we do, and how shall we plough?” Aidus replied, “Wait a little while for the ox that will soon come to us.” Suddenly they saw an ox coming towards them from the nearby sea, which lifted its voice and bellowed three times, then humbly placed its neck in the yoke with the other ox. It ploughed with them for the three months of spring, and at the beginning of each day it came from the sea to plough, and at the end of the day, after bellowing three times, it returned to the sea.

³⁴ At another time Saint David sent to Saint Aidus, asking him to come and greet him, and Aidus at once obediently went to the land of the Britons. When the time came for him to return, he said to Saint David, “How shall I cross the sea?” The blessed David answered, “Go to the sea, and whatever animal comes to you, ride upon it and cross the sea.” Aidus therefore went to the sea in the land of the Britons and saw a great animal in the likeness of a large horse. Sitting upon it, he crossed the sea to Ireland, to a place called Imber Cremthrain, and the animal returned again to the sea.

³⁵ At another time Saint Aidus remained for fifty days and fifty nights in his city, eating and drinking nothing, and yet his body increased and grew during his fast, for there was an enlargement along the whole length of his body and another at his waist. When he had completed his fast, God granted four requests in answer to his prayers: first, that whoever among the people of Leinster should sit in his seat would go with him to heaven; that hell should not be closed against his household after the Day of Judgement; and that each day he should deliver one man from hell until the Day of Judgement.

³⁶ On another day, when Saint Aidus was travelling in his chariot to the ford called Im Gout, the charioteer said to him, “Tell me who will sit in your seat after you.” Aidus replied, “The man who opens the gate of this ford for us will be the leader after me.” Then they quickly saw a great number of scholars with shields and spears in their hands, and it was winter and frost. As the scholars ran, they saw one of them leap out of his armour and open the gate, and the charioteer, seeing the young man open the gate without a key, was astonished and thought to himself, “Will not this man hold authority after Saint Aidus?” The scholar said to the saint, “I will go with you.” Aidus asked him, “Where are you from, and what is your name?” The scholar replied, “I am of the people of Munster, from the inhabitants of Hirlcore, and my name is Cronanus.” Aidus said to him, “It is fitting, Mochve Lochre, that you follow me,” and immediately he followed him. This Mochve Lochre was a holy and devout man, whom Saint Aidus appointed to hold authority after him.

³⁷ Saint Aidus himself, having performed many good works, desired in his venerable old age to depart to God with great joy and triumph, amid choirs of angels singing sweet hymns, and to be with Christ after the example of the blessed Paul; but the Lord willed that, for the sake of many, he should remain longer in the flesh.

³⁸ At another time Saint Aidus went to the borders of the people of Munster, into the territory of the descendants of Niall of Cluain Clabdig. There he released his neighbours from captivity and came to the door of the king, whose son-in-law was held prisoner. The holy man fasted for three days, and on the very night of the fast the king’s daughter died, though Saint Aidus had previously raised her at the queen’s request. Nevertheless, the king opposed the holy man with harsh words. When Saint Aidus began to curse the king, a boy who was standing nearby said, “Hail, master, pour your curse upon this rock.” When Saint Aidus directed his curse at the rock, it was immediately split into two parts. Seeing this, the king did penance, released his son-in-law, and gave him the farm of Cluain Claidbich.

³⁹ On another day Saint Aidus was in a cornfield with his brethren, fifty-three men in number, when King Brandub came to the harvest. Marvelling at the harmony and humility of so many people, he said, “This is wonderful.” Saint Aidus replied, “It is more wonderful still that among this number there is only one child of death.” The king asked, “Who is the child of death, that I may observe him?” Blessed Aidus answered, “You will know him at the hour of celebration.” When they had celebrated the third hour and had sung the Pater noster [Matthew 6:9–13; Luke 11:2–4], all bowed themselves to the ground except the child of death. The king then went out and asked him, “Why did you not bow with the others?” He replied, “My mind was occupied with other matters, for I am expecting my people to come and take me back to my province.” They did indeed come and carried him away, and before the end of the week he was slain.

⁴⁰ At a certain time Saint Aidus went to the land of the Munstermen, to the fortress of Cashel, and the horses stood beneath the chariot, unable to move. An angel came to him and said, “God wills that you should go another way, to the cell of the sons of Duach in the territory of Connaught, because King Guare is there, afflicted with a most grievous illness and near death, so that you may heal him.” Aidus replied, “I will not go.” The angel said, “Even if you do not wish it, go, because God so wills.” Then Aidus said to the charioteer, “Let the horses go wherever they choose,” and they turned northwards. When they came to a pool, they crossed it in the chariot with dry feet, as if over dry land. Afterwards they met two men on the road, and Aidus said to them, “Show us the way.” One replied, “If they are good clerics, they will make a smooth road out of rough places.” Then Saint Aidus blessed the road, and they passed over rough mountains and through woods and hillocks without hindrance, until they reached the cell of the sons. There he healed King Guare and said to him, “You shall hold your kingdom for thirty years, and at the end of your life you will again fall into sickness, so that you may receive the kingdom of heaven,” and so it came to pass.

⁴¹ A certain holy man named Molocca, son of Dimme, wishing to go abroad, came to Saint Aidus and said to him, “I desire to go into exile.” Saint Aidus replied, “I do not wish you to go abroad.” Molocca said, “If I do not go to Rome and to foreign lands, I shall die.”

⁴² Then Aidus took him with him in a fiery chariot, and together they went to Rome. After remaining there for one night, they returned again to the city of Ferns. Aidus said to him, “Have you not had your journey to Rome?” Molocca replied, “I will not go there again; I will return to my own people, but I am ashamed to go by the road by which I came.” Then Saint Aidus again took him with him in the fiery chariot, travelled with him, and left him at his dwelling among his own people.

⁴³ On another day Saint Aidus was standing by the cross at the door of the abbot’s house, writing psalms for a certain boy. The boy’s father saw Saint Aidus suddenly ascending by a golden ladder set between heaven and earth, carrying with him the boy’s book, or wax tablet. When he returned again after a long time, the boy could not bear his appearance or his countenance. Aidus said to the boy, “Take care that you tell this to no one while I live.” The boy replied, “If you will tell me where you went, I will keep secret what I saw.” Aidus said to him, “I went to the rejoicing that the household of heaven made at the arrival of a dove who was my friend.”

⁴⁴ On a certain day the steward Mochve Lochre came to Saint Aidus to ask what he should do with a small quantity of ears of corn remaining in the barn, whether they should be sown in the ground or given to the household. Aidus answered, “Sow it quickly in the earth, and give generously each day to the brethren, and that small amount will not fail until new bread comes again.” And so it happened, for at the end of the autumn the quantity of ears of corn was found to be undiminished.

⁴⁵ On another day the cook came to him and said, “Today I have in the kitchen only a modest vessel of milk and a small amount of butter. Should it be given to the guests or to the brethren?” Aidus replied, “Give to all, and distribute as generously as though you were drawing from a mountain or a river.” Then the cook set aside his vessel and distributed the food to everyone, as much as each wished to take.

⁴⁶ Certain crafty and deceitful men hid their clothes in the woods and asked him for clothing. Aidus said to them, “Wait a little while, until you receive clothing.” Then Aidus secretly sent his servant to the place where their clothes had been hidden, and their garments were brought back to them. When they recognised their own clothes, they went away in confusion, having gained nothing.

⁴⁷ At another time a man named Saran killed Brandub, king of the people of Leinster. When Aidus heard this, he said, “I wish that the hand which killed Brandub may fall from the man’s side, but only after repentance,” and so it happened. For Saran lay beside the king’s tomb with his hands closed day and night, until the king spoke to him from the grave, saying, “O Saran, you brute, what you have done is forgiven you.” At that moment Saran’s hand fell from his side. Saint Aidus then went to the tomb of King Brandub and raised him from it. The king said to him, “If you will grant me the kingdom of heaven, I ask that I may now go there.” Then, having received the sacrament, he went to heaven and was buried in the city of Ferns.

⁴⁸ A certain poor man, from whom the king demanded heavy tribute, came to Saint Aidus to ask for help. At that time Aidus was sowing seed in the ground, and he placed half a bushel of barley in the petitioner’s cloak, which was immediately turned into gold. Aidus said to him, “Give this to the king, and you will be free.” When the king saw the gold, he said to his servant, “Who gave you so much gold?” He replied, “Saint Aidus gave it to me.” The king said, “I will not accept this gold, but I give it to God and to Saint Aidus, and I set you free for ever.” Then the servant returned to Aidus, and Aidus sowed the grain in the earth.

⁴⁹ At another time, when Saint Aidus wished to build an oratory and had no builder, he blessed the hands of an untrained man named Gobban, and at once he became a most skilful craftsman. He built an excellent oratory that would endure until the Day of Judgement, and Saint Aidus said that it would not fail, which indeed came to pass.

⁵⁰ On a certain day Saint Aidus went out to wash his hands at a spring, and some of the brethren who were watching said among themselves, “No one can provoke Saint Aidus to anger.” Then one of them, a coarse fellow, said, “I can provoke him.” Saint Aidus was clothed in fox skins, and the brutal man went out and threw him into the spring. Aidus said to him, “You are a most brutal young man for having done this.” When the young man saw that Saint Aidus’s clothes were dry, without a single drop of water, he said, “I repent of what I have done.” The saint replied, “You have done well to declare your repentance, for if you had not repented, the earth would have swallowed you up; now you will obtain heaven, and on the fortieth day you shall die.”

⁵¹ On another day a steward named Mochoe Locram came to him and said, “What shall we do, for we have already had the materials for a church cut in the woods, but we have no men to carry such numerous and heavy loads?” Aidus replied, “Go home, and whatever you hear in the night, do not disregard.” That night they heard a great noise in the city, and no one dared to look. However, a certain layman peered through a keyhole and saw a multitude of handsome youths with golden hair reaching to their shoulders, carrying the timber, and those angels measured out the foundations of the church.

⁵² Then Saint Aidus said to the angels, “Cease from this work,” for if a man had not looked upon it, the angels would have built the entire church; afterwards Gobban built it. At another time, when Saint Aidus was travelling in the territory of the Munstermen, not far from the cell of Saint Ita, he heard the prolonged sound of a bell, and when Aidus asked, “What was that sound?” he was told, “A pupil of Saint Ita has now died; therefore come and raise her.” Saint Aidus then sent one of his attendants with his staff, and when it was placed upon the girl she rose up alive and well.

⁵³ A certain thief stole the best of Saint Aidus’s cattle and ate it, and when he attempted to swear before Saint Aidus that he had not eaten the animal, an ear of the cow was seen protruding from his lips, and all who were present mocked him. On another day certain men arrived bringing with them a holy man who was bound, and as they passed through the woods a small thief, an enemy of theirs, met them. Fleeing in different directions, they abandoned the man who was bound, and he returned to Saint Aidus and was set free.

⁵⁴ On a certain day Saint Aidus stood for a long time in a corner of his church, and Saint Mundu, son of Tulchan, seeing him, said, “Tell me what it is that you see.” Saint Aidus then touched the eyes of Saint Mundu, and he saw the whole world from the rising to the setting of the sun. At another time, when Saint Aidus was travelling along the road, Colman, grandson of Fiacrach, met him, and at that very moment Colman’s horse died.

⁵⁵ Then Aidus gave his horse for Colman’s chariot, and when they parted, another horse, Jacinctus, sent by God, immediately came beneath Saint Aidus’s chariot. When Colman returned, his own horse rose up alive and well to meet him. On a certain day, when Saint Aidus planted apple trees in the ground, the man who brought him the apple seeds also brought barren trees among them, such as plum trees. Saint Aidus planted them all together, and he made even those barren trees fruitful with apples.

⁵⁶ At another time, great multitudes of the descendants of Niall, and of the Connaught people, the Vlathanensians, the Dál Riata, the Dál Araidi, and northern peoples from across the land came to plunder the region in revenge for Cummascaig son of Aed son of Amered. King Brandub went out to meet Aidus, who said to him, “Go to the conflict, and we shall all be there.” That night Aidus remained behind, while King Brandub joined battle, and the northerners fled. After twenty-four engagements in a single night, they were driven into full retreat.

⁵⁷ At a certain time a paralysed man came from Rome, who had sought healing for his affliction throughout the world and had not found it. And everyone said, “No one can cure you except Saint Aidus, who is in Ireland.” And when he crossed the sea, he found Saint Aidus dead, but the spittle which he found in his mouth cured him of all his ailments. There was a man in the borders of Leinster named Finan, who had been afflicted for thirty years. On the feast day of Saint Aidus, which is the eleventh day before the Calends of March, he saw a wondrous chariot descending from heaven to the city of Ferns, in which were a gracious cleric and a veiled woman. He asked them who they were, and the cleric replied, “We are Saint Brigid and Aidus, and we have come to bless our places and those who honoured us on the day of our departure with gifts and offerings; and be glad, for on the third day you shall go to heaven.” After this, the chariot went to Kildare.

⁵⁸ At another time Saint Molling, who then governed Ferns, went up to the bed of Aidus. A certain cleric said to him, “Do not go up to the bed of the holy man,” but Molling replied, “I will sleep in it.” When he lay down on the bed, he was immediately seized by a grievous illness. Then Molling said, “O Jesus, I beg that you may take away the sickness and pain that are upon me, beloved Son, so that I may not die of it,” but the pain did not cease to afflict him. Again Molling said, “O Jesus, I beg that you may heal me, since there is none after you who can heal us except yourself,” yet the pain still greatly tormented him. Again Molling said, “O Jesus, grant me protection, O Son of God, from every sickness, if there is any remedy under heaven that can heal me.” Then Molling rose from the bed and promised that he would never sleep in it again. And Molling said, “Not everyone is worthy to sleep in the bed of Saint Aidus; I will not sleep in it.”

⁵⁹ In this it was shown how great was the glory that Saint Aidus has in heaven, since no one could sleep in his bed on earth. For Saint Aidus feasts in heaven among choirs of angels and apostles and all the saints, in joy without sorrow, in a kingdom without end, in life without death, and in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.