Prologue. #

¹ Considering, reverend Brother, with my inward eyes the leafy forest into which you bid me enter, frail as I am, I tremble. Yet by what reasoning I might escape the obedience owed to so great a man, since what you ask is worthy, I cannot discover. For with your customary simplicity — anointed as you are with the balsam of charity and suffused with the incense of spiritual sweetness — you ask that I should bind into one volume the life and miracles of the blessed Confessor Fursey, which the wondrous God worked through him in His saints even before he was formed in his mother’s womb, according to the most ancient sheets which you have gathered from many places; and that, preserving their sense unharmed, I should with art correct what has been corrupted by the fault of scribes or made discordant by the variety of languages. Assuredly you lay upon my shoulders a burden beyond their strength. But because charity supplies what strength denies — that my mouth may speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh may bless His holy name for ever — upheld by the merits of the saint aforesaid and aided by your prayers, I shall set about so great a work, as the Holy Spirit shall teach me.

Chapter One. #

¹ In the time, then, when King Fundloga ruled the kingdoms of Munster in the island of Ireland, which borders upon Scotia, and King Brendin, the third of brothers, held the sceptre of Magmurtennica, heavenly clemency, providing for the salvation of many peoples yet to come, granted to King Fundloga a son named Philtan, and to Brendin’s younger brother, called Aelfiud, a daughter named Gelgehe.

² Philtan, King Fundloga’s son, praiseworthy enough in boyhood, when he reached the age of youth left his father’s realms and went to King Brendin, to serve him as a soldier. The king received him gladly; and finding him fair of body, eloquent of speech and glorious in spirit, he set him almost as his own equal in his kingdom.

³ Afterwards, by the prompting of divine providence, he left Brendin, to whom he had honourably clung, and bent his way to Brendin’s younger brother, called Aelfiud, a man of great name. From him he won no less favour than he had had from the brother. For he was endowed with industry of good disposition and trained in all the services of war. These things being thus accomplished by God’s working, it happened that on a certain day Gelgehe the king’s daughter, second to no mortal maiden in beauty, came to the spectacles for the sake of walking; and among other words she asked a few of her people about the qualities of Philtan — who he was and why he had come.

⁴ While the maiden and certain of her people were conversing about him, Philtan by chance drew near; and delightful to behold and melodious of speech as he was, he addressed the maiden in words of this kind: “It is the custom of well-bred youths, fairest maiden, to seek the prize of their soldiership through the diverse realms of the earth, and to merit the acquaintance of noble maidens. Wherefore, coming to these parts and having won the favour of your father and mother, I desire the more earnestly to win yours also, and if I may I long to be first with you. For I live in exile for no other cause than the compelling will of my soul: I am the firstborn son of Fundloga king of Munster, and by the laws of my country must succeed him in the kingdom. Therefore I wish in my youth to learn the customs and habits of many realms, and to be known and beloved of many kings and princes, so that I may both prudently administer and bravely defend what shall come to me by hereditary right, and subject the rest to myself as the case shall be.”

⁵ To whom she said: “The working of the divine ordering is great, most handsome youth, by whose governance all things are ruled that are in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the deeps. If you faithfully and firmly entrust your hope to it by believing, the glory which you desire and the prize which you seek you will without doubt attain, both in the present and in eternal felicity.” Having often held discourse of this kind together, and already agreeing in Christian religion of manners and speech, they came by God’s guidance to this: that with indissoluble love and a stable bond — their fathers ignorant, but certain of the wiser of their own attendants present — they were united in lawful blessing according to the institution of the Gospel.

Chapter Two. #

¹ Philtan therefore knew his wife Gelgehe in secret from her father; and she soon conceived — as the outcome of the matter proved — a boy worthy of God. Not long after, the fruitfulness of the daughter reached her father’s ears; who, stirred to wrath by the fierceness of his soul, burst out in vehement anger and adjudged his daughter to be burned with fire. When the little boy still shut in his mother’s womb understood this, while all who were present stood astonished, he spoke up to his raging grandfather: “It is surely unworthy for a man of any dominion to give his own daughter to the fire, unless a weighty and reasonable cause demands it.”

² This miracle will truly seem absurd to those who less believe that all things are possible with God. Let them remember, I beg, what the Psalmist said: “Whatsoever the Lord willed, that He did in heaven and on earth.” Did not He who gave the barren and aged Elizabeth to conceive, nature refusing, and granted the conceived John to leap for joy in her womb at His advent — His own mother likewise abiding in the Virgin’s womb; who taught the blessed Nicholas, still hanging at his mother’s breasts, to suck the teats but once a day twice in the week, that is on the fourth and sixth days of the week; who loosed the tongue of a brute animal into human words — could He not also give power of speech to this boy in his mother’s womb? Let them believe, let them believe, I say, the mighty works of God, incomprehensible to human senses, and let them rather praise than rashly blame the wondrous works of the almighty Creator God, above all in His saints.

³ Hearing therefore the words of the speaking boy, Aelfiud believed it a phantasm, and ordered three pyres to be kindled at once. Whereupon the gathered report settled upon the ears of King Brendin, and told him of the mournful crimes which his brother was preparing to commit. He, startled by the ill report, ran to his brother and declared that the thing was of God; and weeping and wailing he begged that the pyres be destroyed. But the fierceness of Aelfiud in no way yielded to his brother’s entreaty. You might have seen the people gathered for the damnation of the young woman, in so great a distress of sobs and heartfelt tears that you could hardly count the persons of both sexes lying upon the ground for sorrow, bereft of cheerfulness of heart and mind. You might have seen Philtan, setting aside fear for himself, torn by love and grief for his wife. You might have seen the tender breast of the young woman sighing, and so choked with sobs that she could scarce utter a word.

⁴ At last, as best she could, stretching her hands to heaven she broke forth into prayers of this kind: “Fount of goodness, O God,” she said, “whose loving-kindness and mercy is without number; who deigned to be born of the undefiled Virgin for the salvation of the human race; who alone know that I joined myself to a lawful husband at Your command, not for fleshly pleasure but to beget offspring devoted to You — if the destruction of my body is foreordained, work Your mercy with me, that the child which I carry in my womb, which at its first conception I, Your servant, vowed to You, may not perish, I implore You.” When the pyres were laid — indeed, kindled — Gelgehe was led to the burning. She, beholding the flames, terrified after the manner of women, poured out a very great rain of tears to the ground. And as the earth grew moist with her rivulets, by the working of almighty God’s power an overflowing spring of water burst forth, which abundantly quenched those three pyres.

⁵ The people standing round, perceiving the wondrous sign which divine power had worked for His servant — the more it had paid tribute of weeping with all the strength of heart and mind, so much the more did it grow glad and exult in glorifying God — tuned and sang with sweet melodies of voice: “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous; praise befits the upright.” And had not ecclesiastical authority forbidden it, since it is lawful for none to resist the royal power, the people standing with one consent would have risen up to punish him. Aelfiud therefore, seeing his daughter delivered from the fire by divine clemency, and not daring to vex her further, ordered her with her husband and household to cross the sea at once, never to return.

⁶ Now Philtan had as his godfather on the island of Esbre a venerable bishop named Brendan, distinguished in God’s service by a twofold knowledge and honesty of manners, who had built a monastery on the island called Chynnaferta, where he himself dwelt with the religious monks living there and gave himself much to reading and prayers. To him his kinsman Philtan hastened with his wife and household; and, his words broken by much sobbing, he told him all that had befallen him in his youth, and with most humble prayers implored a remedy for his straits and relief for his needs. The venerable bishop, moved with compassion for their sufferings, received them in the guest-house which was held suitable, and refreshed them with many dishes and choice foods, though the common fare would have sufficed.

⁷ On the following night, while their weary limbs were restored by the quiet of sleep, so great a light shone from heaven over the house where they lodged that the steward of that guest-house, beholding the brightness — had he also felt the fiery heat — would without doubt have thought the whole dwelling was being consumed. Terrified, and as it were in an ecstasy of mind, he rose and ran breathless with hasty course to the bishop, whom he found praying on bended knees at his customary night vigil; and he related to him with trembling lips the thing he had seen in order. The man full of God, understanding that a heavenly guard was with the guests he had received, called together under silence the more religious of the monks and clergy and hastened to the guest-house; and coming there he saw the brightness throughout, yet felt no fiery heat nor hurt of fire. Entering in, the bishop reverently found them sleeping; and rejoicing and glad, he blessed them round about with the sign of the holy cross, and then step by step returned to the monastery and gave himself to his accustomed prayers, as one devoted to God.

⁸ When the next day’s morning-star had risen, though it was not yet morning, a strange rumour struck the ears of the country-folk, publishing to them that Philtan the son of King Fundloga had come with his wife, King Aelfiud’s daughter. Wherefore her kinsfolk — many of whom were there — and the nobler inhabitants made haste, and with a great array of gifts visited, honoured and enriched the happy new-comers.

⁹ While these things were going on, her months being accomplished Gelgehe gave birth, and offered the blessed child to the venerable bishop to be baptised in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity. The holy bishop, since he had already perceived by revelation the gifts of the Holy Spirit poured into the child, appointed a three days’ fast with all his clergy and people, received the boy diligently, and having regenerated him at the font of most holy baptism named him Fursey — which is interpreted in our speech from the Irish tongue as ‘of virtues’.

¹⁰ Whom he thereafter cherished not only with earthly riches, but also, applying the pages of divine doctrine most readily to him, fully instructed, and moreover trained him in the monastic disciplines. Happy therefore in both, the boy, filled with heavenly grace, showed himself lovable to men and docile in studies beyond human hope; and what he had learned with prudent wit from the blessed doctors he stored away faithfully in the pious repository of his heart. And lest the wisdom in him be condemned as hidden, or lest he displease his Lord by burying the money entrusted to him for multiplying, he strove by continual preachings — so far as his youthful age could bear — to make the divine words fruitful and to extirpate the vices that in any way choke Christ’s harvest, and fulfilled by examples of good works what he taught by preaching. For beyond the strength of mortals he showed himself food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, medicine to the sick, shelter to guests, joy to the sad, refuge to the desolate, help to the weak; to the contrite he was consolation, to the falling strength, to the oppressed defence, to the wretched enrichment. And to sum up the rest briefly, a genuine imitator of the Apostle, he was made all things to all men that he might gain all.

Chapter Four. #

¹ It came to pass meanwhile that the son and daughter of a certain kinsman of King Brendin, whom — as often happens — his wife had borne at one birth, died together; and because they were of youthful age and great beauty and goodness, so great a grief arose among their countrymen that their bodies could in no way be buried, since all who sought them, suffering frenzy for sorrow, tore them limb from limb. The counsel of the wise at last was that the bodies be secretly sent across the sea to the blessed Bishop Brendan for burial, and carried there by bearers by night. They to whom the task was given came, and according to the king’s command laid the young bodies in their ship and took their way; yet they came not at all where they had intended, though the breeze was favourable. For their purpose being changed by the divine will, they drew near to blessed Fursey’s cell, and — he unknowing — brought the tender bodies out of the ship and laid them before the door of his cell, and at once hastened back. Behold, at earliest dawn the blessed youth Fursey, wishing to go to the monastery as was his custom, when he had opened the little door, saw before him the naked bodies of those of his own age; and prostrating his whole body he tearfully implored God, in whom all things live, that in the regard of His mercy, according to the multitude of His compassions, He would cause their souls to return to the dissolved bodies. His prayer not yet wholly finished — sooner than said — the youths sprang up eagerly from the ground; and seeing one another, and seeing none except the saint, they marvelled and blushed within themselves. The servant of God shut them in his little cell until he gave them the clothing they needed; then he led them with him to the church, to the praise and glory of God’s name, where he gave due thanks to the Lord God the whole day.

² Which being done, the man of God asked the youths what mind they had; and they confessed that they desired to return to their own country, except that they had no boatman, and tearfully begged with suppliant prayers that it might be so. Nor is it to be wondered at: born of royal stock, nobly brought up among their palace-folk, until then ignorant of all want, placed they knew not by what chance among strangers — how they might do, or to whom they should appeal or be subject, or what should become of them in unknown parts, they sighed, afflicted with heartfelt anxiety. Fursey, moreover, touched to the marrow by their affliction, cast into the sea the wooden shaft of a writing-rule which he held in his hand, and commanded it to stretch towards the parental haven for the tender exiles; and he commanded them, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ — who walked upon the sea with dry feet and gave the same footsteps to blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, coming to Him — follow it without any hesitation. A thing to be wondered at and recounted to the Creator’s honour! At once, as though it were a reasoning creature, the rule went before them at the saint’s command. Following it boldly, they reached their native shores and recognised their kinsfolk; who, hastening to meet them in troops, at first sight halted their steps in bewilderment, and soon after, proving the truth of the thing, were astonished. And why not? Those whom but the day before yesterday they had mourned as bereft of life, they now beheld exulting so soon against the law of nature, glad and unharmed, walking by a footpath upon the sea’s surface; and they knew not to whom to ascribe so unusual and so wondrous a sign.

³ At length, their parents and friends asking from where and by what guidance they had come, and by whose medicine they had come back to life, they pointed out the blessed youth Fursey, by whose merits they were restored to life; and they begged that their guide — the shaft of the rule that had gone before them through the perils of the sea — be kept and venerated in the church, to the praise and glory of almighty God and the memory of their patron Fursey. Hearing therefore of the aforesaid saint’s worthiness and name, the king and the natives and the neighbouring people visited him with great array, and commended themselves to his holy prayers day and night.

⁴ At this the wasting enemy of the human race subverted the hearts of the island monks, and drove the stings of envy and hatred to burn against the just and innocent man. The pious man therefore, perceiving their madness, received leave from the blessed Bishop Brendan and, taking his own counsel and theirs, crossed to another island called Rathmath, on which, beside a place called Ebre, he built a venerable monastery with the cells it needed, and established there a great congregation of religious monks, God bestowing it.

⁵ Meanwhile the fame of so great a man truly told stirred up his unworthy grandfather Aelfiud; who, suppliant and humble, his savagery softened by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit’s grace, came most laudably with his brothers — Brendin and Feradach — and many of his chief men; and seeing the saint, cast himself on the ground with his company, and with head sprinkled with dust and body covered with sackcloth, begged pardon for his past sins, and most of all for the outrage which, ill-advised, he had committed against Gelgehe his venerable daughter. The holy man at first sharply rebuked him for his savagery, then gently soothed him with divine discourse. He, having at once obtained pardon from his aforesaid daughter and deserved the absolution of his holy grandson, brought back his daughter with her husband Philtan and their household with him to their own land, glad and rejoicing. In the same season Fundloga, king of Munster, entered the way of all flesh and put off his humanity; and the venerable Philtan, being sought by the chief men of the realm, succeeded to his father’s kingdom.

Chapter Five: Various things seen in ecstasy. #

¹ The blessed Fursey, full of the grace of good works, denying his country and kinsfolk, and rather devoting himself to the study of Holy Scripture in the monastery which he had built in the aforesaid place, while religious men flocked to him from every side, took care in pious solicitude to summon some of his kinsfolk, and even his own brothers Foillan and Ultan, and to imbue them with heavenly teaching.

² Wherefore, when he had now purposed to visit his country and his other kinsfolk, that he might sow in them the seeds of the sacred word in spiritual discourse, on a certain day he was seized by the distress of bodily sickness and returned to his own monastery, at his companions’ entreaty. And while he was being carried to his cell, his people weeping, he was rapt in spirit from the ninth hour of the day until the first cockcrow of the night; and he seemed to see an immense density of air, and two angels covered with snow-white wings bearing him up in their hands. Their hands he saw, but their bodies, covered by wings, he could not see for the exceeding brightness. Of their wings, as in the prophet Ezekiel’s vision, two stretched towards heaven and two covered their bodies. A third angel also he discerned through that density of air, who went before them armed with a white shield and a flaming sword. These, fragrant with an inexpressible sweetness, bearing him up through that darkness as was said before, sang with inexpressible sweetness of voice that verse of the incomparable harper: “The saints shall go from strength to strength; the God of gods shall be seen in Sion.” When that delightful melody was ended, they said to him with one voice: “What you see and hear, understand with spiritual intent; and from now on, your body being restored, be a diligent worker in the Lord’s harvest.” So saying, they restored his soul to his body and, departing though he was unwilling, promised that they would return to him shortly.

³ And now, when all were nearly despairing of his life, the servant of God arose; and when morning came, having called together the congregation and all the people, he set forth in order what he had seen and heard in the spirit. For he had gathered that the very darkness through which he had been led was the world enwrapped in the gloom of original sin; and that the three angels whom he had beheld, of one face, one brightness and one harmony, were the holy and undivided Trinity in unity, to be believed according to the faith of the patriarch Abraham. He had gathered that their bodies, wrapped in snow-white wings which he could not fully behold, were that of which John the apostle and evangelist, feeling the depth of the most high divinity, said: “No one has seen God at any time,” as He is. He had understood that the two wings which covered their bodies were the fear of the faithful and penitent — of which fear the Apostle says: “I am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God”; and of that penitence: “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.” He had likewise understood that the two wings which stretched towards heaven were love and hope — of which love the same Doctor of the Gentiles exulting says: “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”; and blessed Gregory: “The love of God is never idle; for it works great things, where it is.” And of hope the oft-named Apostle says: “Our citizenship is in heaven.” He had understood also that the white shield and the glittering sword were the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With this armour he admonished the people to resist the snares of the devil, and taught them in sweet discourse to be watchful in it. The verse which the angels had sung he likened to the ladder which the patriarch Jacob saw set up; whose stiles are raised up by love of God and neighbour, and whose rungs are built of patience, charity, concord, humility and the other virtues. According as each faithful soul embraces these, an ascent to heaven is granted to it.

⁴ After the holy man had thus fed those who stood round with these and other sacred addresses of the like, and foretold — as the angels had promised him — that a greater contest against the assaults of the demons was at hand for him, he gave the people leave to return to their own homes, with his blessing. Remaining in his little cell, he revolved in a stricken mind the angelic brightness which he had beheld and the sweetness which he had felt; and he pondered anxiously, again and again, indeed continually, the charge laid upon him concerning those subject to him. Moreover he grieved and lamented that he had not with him some man of such dignity and wisdom, from whom he might seek counsel needful for the salvation of both, lest the returning angels should find him unprepared for the promised contest. At length, after many sighs sent up from his inmost heart, and prayers tearfully poured out to the eternal God with knees again and again bent — as though he were at the point of death — he devoutly asked for the viaticum of his soul, the communion of the sacred body and blood of Christ, and devoutly received it; and he passed three days in vigils and fasts and holy prayers, though the health of his body was not yet fully restored.

Chapter Six: Another ecstasy; what was seen in it. #

¹ On the third night, at midnight, while his parents and kinsfolk and many neighbours were visiting the illustrious man, darkness rushed in; his feet grew stiff with cold, and with hands outstretched in prayer he joyfully received death at that hour.

What follows agreed almost word-for-word with the first Life, from chapter 2, no. 7, to chapter 7, no. 39; the sequel is narrated here thus.

Chapter Twelve: His deeds in Gaul, his death and translation. #

¹ Sent over to the shores of Gaul, he set sail with all things in order; and there, being honourably received by Clovis king of the Franks and by the patrician Erchinoald, he built a monastery in the place called Latiniacum, whose name signifies how God willed it to lie hidden from troubling incursion. For on one side it is covered by a most shady forest, on another it is graced by the waters of the Marne; on one side a manifold and delightful plain of meadows, on another a dense flourish of most fertile vineyards. Resplendent as with certain gems of beauty’s gifts, the aforesaid place appeared most delightful to the eyes of the man of God, who assigns it in part to himself, presents it and honours it. For he builds churches on the aforesaid estate, one of which he consecrates in honour of the Lord Saviour, another in memory of blessed Peter prince of the apostles; and a third he builds of humble workmanship indeed, but makes wonderful to this day by the daily amplitude of miracles — which, dedicated by later generations in honour of this same blessed Fursey, grants many gifts of salvation to souls and bodies alike.

² Among the other spectacles of this holy man’s virtues, almighty God adorned the aforesaid place of Latiniacum with wondrous glory through this His most faithful servant; from which the fame of his growing renown spreads through many regions of the lands. For, that the power of our Lord might show how great a privilege of merit this man had with Him, when this blessed man fixed his staff in the dry soil beside the monastery he had built, at once a most clear and delightful spring welled up, which fails not to this day — waters which have served many, and in the present serve, for the receiving of manifold benefits of health, through the wondrous power of our God and the laudable grace of this holy man. These we do not wish to touch upon in the present, since we are waiting — aided by his most holy merits — to narrate them in the account of the miracles of this most beloved man of God, Fursey, which the divine power worked through him after he ascended to the stars of heaven. And passing over many titles of miracles with which he honoured the aforesaid place while yet abiding in the frailty of the flesh, we add this wonderful thing: that while on a certain day this blessed man was dwelling at Latiniacum, he saw two demoniacs coming to him, whose misery, by the sign of the cross, he restored to the gifts of their lost health.

³ For these so great virtues the fame of the holy man, spread abroad on every side, came at last to the ears of the most noble patrician Erchinoald — what things almighty God had willed to accomplish through His servant in the aforesaid place; and fired with exceeding love he hastened to come to the saint of God as quickly as might be, and gave many thanks and praises to almighty God that Latiniacum had pleased blessed Fursey among his other possessions.

⁴ Now while the aforesaid patrician stayed some days with the blessed man, he opened to him the desire of his heart: that he wished, namely, to return to the palace of Péronne, to build there something of beauty, so that if perhaps the blessed man should come and the place should please him, he might subject it to his sway for ever, and that his bodily presence might ennoble what should live there — where the patrician, if God permitted, ordered that he himself should be buried at his life’s end. Hearing this man’s laudable resolve, he rejoiced with great joy, and commanded that his words be carried out with redoubled zeal. And confirming the patrician with blessings, he sent him back rejoicing to the aforesaid place with great exultations; and he himself, remaining at Latiniacum, began daily to excel in noble virtues, serving God always and everywhere.

⁵ And so the most unconquered athlete of the Lord Jesus was extolled with high praises not only through all Gaul and Saxony, but even that native Irish soil rejoiced that it had borne such a lord; whose fame of holiness, when it heard, moved some to come to know it. For the blessed Emilian, most rich in all simplicity — having long since learned the holiness of the beloved Fursey, and hearing that it increased daily, and desiring to know it for himself as soon as might be — took certain brethren and hastened devoutly to visit the blessed one’s presence. And at last, after long traversing of ways, that blessed company of Irish pilgrims came to Latiniacum and saw the man of God flourishing with virtues greater than they had heard; whom he, receiving with joyful heart, formed there for some while in the service of Christ the Lord.

⁶ In the succeeding time, after our God had honoured that same place through the blessed man’s merit with a great number of worthy men, it was that same blessed man’s will that, returning to Saxony, he should visit his noble companions Foillan and Ultan. Setting the holy man Emilian over the congregation of Latiniacum, he hastened on his journey and lodged at the estate of Duke Haimo, called Macerias, where once the Lord, favouring his prayers, had raised that prince’s only son and restored the hope of consolation to his father.

⁷ There, staying a little while, he was weighed down by a heavy sickness; and because almighty God had already decreed that His faithful one be rewarded with a worthy recompense, after the consolation of the Gospel visitation and after receiving the life-giving body and blood of the sacrifice, He placed his soul in the heavenly palace, and honouring his body on earth with many occurrences of miracles, consecrated this present day especially to his holy memory.

⁸ But his body was retained by the illustrious patrician Erchinoald for the sake of the church which he had built for himself with great labour, and is laid in the town called Péronne. And because the dedication of that church was being prepared within thirty days, the holy body was meanwhile kept with the greatest care in a certain place in the porch; and after so many days it was found as unharmed as though the soul had departed this light that same hour. So, reverently, after the custom it was laid near the altar, and there it remained for nearly four years.

⁹ And a little chapel being built on the eastern side of the altar, after so many years the immaculate body was transferred there without any corruption by the most reverend bishops Eligius and Autbert; where also his merits shine forth in divine powers to those who ask in right faith — our Lord Jesus Christ helping, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Book Two: The Miracles of Saint Fursey #

Prologue. #

¹ The life of the glorious Confessor Fursey, venerable Brother, having been written down continuously, so far as my knowledge went, with a pen dipped in truth across three sheets, you urge me — an unlearned man — to gird myself to his miracles also, which on a fourth sheet appear partly eaten away by age, partly corrupted by the scribe’s sloth; that I may proclaim, as far as I am able, the arm of the Lord to every generation present and to come. A just exhortation indeed, but burdensome even to a most prudent man — much more to me, who am of a dull wit; especially since if any wise man should wish to commit all his miraculous works to memory and should begin in the very flower of his youth, so great a matter would not fail him even when he reached decrepit age. Yet I, bearing your gracious insistence with a willing mind — after the manner of one who draws a few drops from the immensity of the sea, touching a few out of many in following the history — will gird myself to correct the faulty parts, so far as God shall grant.

Chapter One: The miracles of Saint Fursey in Ponthieu. #

¹ Now the noble Confessor of Christ, Fursey, having most usefully ordered the churches which he had built in Ireland and in the neighbouring regions of the islands — moved by a desire to visit the Apostolic See, leaving his country and his kinsfolk, and crossing through the realms of the islanders with a few companions of his disciples, sowing everywhere without ceasing the seeds of the divine word — came by a favouring breeze to the British province which is called by the moderns Normandy, He guiding him to whom the winds and the sea obey. And coming through the district of Ponthieu into a certain possession of Duke Haimo, which was called Macerias and Majoc, he heard no small voices of lamentation. Moved by them, he came to the duke’s hall and there found his only son dead; for whom, moved with compassion for the grief of the father and mother and the assembled people, he at once made prayer with tears and raised him from the pit of death.

² The duke, marvelling beyond what can be said, glad and rejoicing, praised the Lord God in His saints; and taking counsel above all with his wife and all the people standing by, he laboured much with suppliant words to keep the holy man of God: and setting before him many and precious gifts of gold and silver together with that possession itself, he purposed to grant him all to hold for ever. But the man full of God, who for the love of Christ had despised his paternal realms and all the glory of the fleeting world, affable as he was in sweet speech, opened to those who entreated him for what reason he had directed his journey to those parts; and leaving all that was set before him, he purposed to go to where he had set out. The illustrious duke, his own and all the people’s sighs turned to grief at the blessed man’s departure, cast himself sorrowful at his feet, and begged that he would make mention of him and his in his holy prayers; and added that, God protecting him, when he had accomplished the pilgrimage he had begun, he should return and illumine them with his presence at least once during his life; or if before that — God forbid — he should pass from the corruption of this frail life to the incorruption of heavenly glory at God’s call, and he himself, though unworthy, should survive him, he asked that he would cause it to be made known to him also in some manner. Then the man of God, abounding in pity, heard the suppliant’s vows, and gave him a sign: that in the hour of his departure he would clearly see three lights set before him. And giving his blessing to the duke and his wife, and to his only son lately drawn from the snare of death, and the rest, and bidding them farewell, he set out as a pilgrim for the thresholds of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul.

³ Now it came to pass that as the holy man was passing through the district of Amiens, he made his way near a town called Antoilum, upon the river Corbie; and there he met a wicked man of unbridled violence, who, beholding him walking simply, was driven by demoniac impulse and leapt upon him in a fury, and tore away the cloak with which he was covered, and — alas! — beat him grievously with cudgels, though he made no resistance; and carrying off the little garment he had seized, he flung it into the arms of his wife at home, exulting. Nor was there delay: at once that same evil spirit, by whose leading and suggestion he had hurt the holy man, turned upon him and his wife and one daughter that he had, and afflicted them most cruelly, and took from them the gift of speech, and deprived them alike of sight and hearing. But the man of the Lord, knowing their miseries through the Holy Spirit, followed after as though to seek lodging, and entering simply looked in; he saw them wandering through the house and tearing themselves. He cried out, and finding none to answer, groaned pitifully. At length, moved with mercy over the desolate house, he cast himself upon the ground and poured out to the Lord God prayers declaring the desire of his heart with manifold weeping. Having obtained pardon by these, he restored the wretched family to their former health; and he taught them the whole night with many words of the divine word to bestow their goods upon the poor for the love of Jesus. And in the morning, washed in the water of holy baptism which they had not yet received, he commended them to the Catholic faith, and bidding them farewell took up the way he had begun.

Chapter Two: The miracles in the Artois country; the journey to Rome. #

¹ The servant of God, setting out from there, hastened within the district of the Artois to a town which the inhabitants call Grandecourt; where, the sun now declining, wearied with the journey he sought from a certain matron — abounding exceedingly and beyond measure in a wealth of riches — lodging for a single night; which he could by no means obtain. For it is written: “Nothing is more intolerable than a rich woman.” And as the saint of the Lord withdrew, at once a demoniac spirit entering the house attacked the wretched woman and afflicted her grievously with various vexations. For the farther the man of God withdrew from that house, the more mortally the evil spirit choked the aforesaid matron, named Ermenfled. The wretched woman therefore, perceiving that she had offended the highest King in that she had refused to receive His servant, began to cry aloud after the saint of God with lamentable cries. Her servants seeing this — for they were many — followed the blessed pilgrim with hasty steps, wailing; and with many sighs and sobs, and many streams of tears, they made known to him — as though he knew not — what had happened, and begged that he would return and succour the woman languishing with a foreign sickness. But the blessed traveller would not turn back; trusting rather in that Lord who forsakes not them that hope in Him, whom he served day and night with all the intent of mind and heart, he sent back by one of his disciples the staff on which he leaned, and commanded that she be touched with it in the name of Jesus Christ. Which being done, the demon fled; and she, healed at once, rose quickly and ran after the man of God with all her household; and prostrate at his feet, with all her family and kinsfolk and friends, she vowed herself and whatsoever she seemed to possess to the Lord God; and abiding in his service she afterwards lived long and faithfully.

² The blessed man Fursey, pursuing the journey he had begun — through the stumbling-blocks of Burgundy, through the perils of Italy, through the assaults of Passerella, through the deceits of Pavia, through the perfidy of Sutri, through the snares of Carbonella — came rejoicing and glad without hindrance, visiting the holy things of the saints in the churches of the several cities and imploring them for the salvation of all the sinful people, until he stood at the Mount of Joy; and beholding the City, with many pilgrims standing round, he said, as is the custom: “O Rome, exalted above all by the triumphs of the apostles, adorned with the roses of martyrs, made white with the lilies of confessors, sweetened with the palms of virgins, strengthened by their merits, you who contain so many and so great bodies of the holy of holies — be greeted, that your authority may never fail, made firm until now by the dignity and wisdom of the holy fathers; by which the body of Christ, that is, the blessed mother Church, stands established.”

³ So speaking he bent his knees and hastened through all that valley as far as the steps of Saint Peter’s church; and there he gave out to the poor the little provision for the way which he had with him; and again bending his knees and watering the marble pavement, as it is, with streams of tears, he came even to the body of Saint Peter, and there poured out many petitions of prayer for himself and for the salvation of the whole world. Then going about through the City to each of the churches, and praying continually for the sinful people, he remained there many days. These things accomplished, anxious for the flocks whose care God had committed to him, he purposed to return; and having received from the apostolic man the blessing of absolution for himself and his people, and having drawn from him manifold counsel touching both lives, he turned his steps back.

Chapter Three: His deeds in England. #

¹ He understood, from very many reporting it, that a magnificent fame of himself for the virtues which the merciful Lord had worked through him had flown abroad through the parts of Gaul, and that a great multitude awaiting him deplored his absence, on account of the various sicknesses which they suffered partly in soul, partly in body. Wherefore, lest the people’s favour be turned from him into empty glory, he took care to decline it, and for that cause, turning back, bent his way towards the province of the East Angles — through Saxony, which lay under the rule of King Sigeberht. But because so bright and shining a star of the Lord could by no means be hidden under a bushel, the noble rumour of his coming struck the ears of the aforesaid king; who sent to meet him the more cunning of his scouts, lest he be deceived by his passing secretly; and the king himself, when he perceived him present in his own parts, went out to meet him eagerly with a great company of both sexes; and seeing him he so humbled the royal height that he cast himself to the ground before him and begged his blessing. Which being given, the benign king rose and went on foot with him, and reverently brought the saint of the Lord to his palace.

² Afterwards also he offered him many most precious gifts of gold and silver and worldly honours, and commended himself with all his kingdom to his holiness. But when the man full of God beheld the gifts set before him, he drew sighs from his inmost heart; and, grieving for the human race deceived by the greed of fleeting things, he said to the king and his chief men: “It is fitting for all, dearest, who are named by the name of Christ — who bids Himself be venerated in His poor — to know that such gifts are not fitting for the soldiers and athletes of the Lord Saviour: what the moth eats, age wears away and the thief consumes. Let these gifts therefore be carried back to those who, caught by the fickleness and allurements of the frail world, wander uncertain; who, not yet desiring the joys of eternal felicity, blinded by the darkness of fleshly things, do not sigh for them. For us, dwelling with you in this vale of tears for our sins — though yet dwelling here, yet breathing towards them so far as human frailty permits — let it please the king and his chief men to grant us some little place, where we may build a monastery for the service of God, whom we serve, at their own cost for their own salvation and the stability of their kingdom; and to call back some who sit in darkness and the shadow of death to the true Light — which is the Way, the Truth and the Life — lest they perish.”

³ The king and his courtiers, perceiving these and like words proceeding from the mouth of the holy man — which the Holy Spirit suggested (as the Lord promised His faithful: “When you stand before kings and rulers, give no thought how or what you shall speak; for it shall be given you in that hour what you shall speak”) — unanimously assented to his petition, and gladly chose a place near the sea, hemmed in by woods. And all the inhabitants, as each one’s means suggested, built and bestowed the necessaries for those serving God there, both for the present and the future; and they built a church within and without with a wondrous ingenuity of workmanship. To it some granted estates of villages, others wooded tracts of forest, others rivers for fishing, others folds for various cattle, others silken ornaments worked with gems and gold of diverse workmanship, others vessels of gold and silver fitted for the manifold office of the Church, others men-servants and maid-servants; and others gave themselves with all they possessed into the service of God, taking the habit of holy religion.

⁴ The monastery therefore being built, many of the nobles, hearing the Gospel reproach — “He who does not bear his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me,” and “He who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple” — renounced the ageing world and all that was theirs, and feared not to bear their cross and follow the footsteps of Christ, setting aside all the delights of the vain world; indeed, they hastened to be joined to the servant of the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, in heavenly glory.

⁵ Not long after, the blessed Fursey, unwilling to be an idle servant of his Lord, on a certain day called the king and his courtiers apart; and making use of their friendly affability, he appointed Foillan his brother, the elect of God, as abbot over that monastery with the diligent assent of clergy and people, and entrusted to him the care of the souls of the monks serving God there, and enriched the church with relics of many most precious saints, and honoured it with various cures of the sick and diseased. These things being done, he permitted his other brother Ultan — proved by a most honest life and religious manners among the monks — to go into the wilderness, for which he had long asked him. And the man full of God himself, desiring always to avoid human praises, having obtained the king’s consent, though unwilling, hastened to a wood where he might live as a hermit, far removed from the company of men. For he knew: “Those who please men are put to shame, because God has despised them.”

Chapter Four: His return to Gaul, and his deeds there. #

¹ This became known to Clovis, king of the Franks, and to his patrician Erchinoald; and they caused the man of God to be sought through the diverse byways of the ways until he should be found, and commanded that he be brought honourably to them — whom they received yet more honourably. To him the holy man unfolded over some days what the royal sublimity was, and what recompense was due in the palace of heaven to a king who bore himself well towards his subjects; and what hellish punishment was prepared by horrible ministers for one who neglected the Lord’s commands. “For the higher the degree,” he said, “the heavier the fall.” And he set before him the prophetic words in which it is said: “Your princes are companions of thieves; they all love gifts, they pursue rewards. In whose hands are iniquities; their right hand is full of bribes.” Which words he turned not so much upon kings as upon bishops and abbots and all who choke the harvest of Christ, whose labourers they ought to be, and root up the vineyard entrusted to them. Thus and in like manner very often exhorting the king, the holy man won very great favour in his eyes.

² The patrician therefore, perceiving the blessed man’s worthiness and wisdom, cast down his whole body before him and begged that, by leave of the aforesaid king, he would deign to come to his palace of Péronne, that the son whom he had in the cradle might be regenerated in the font of holy baptism by the laying-on of his holy hand. Which the king carefully granted on this condition: that he should return to him as soon as might be; and if anything in his kingdom pleased him, whether he heard it or saw it, he should ask it confidently, as one who would doubtless have it; nor should he wish to go forth any more from his parts. The holy man and the patrician therefore came to the aforesaid castle, where, being venerated more than usual, they accomplished what they had sought concerning the boy.

³ Now it befell that the blessed Fursey learned from certain reporters that six men bound in chains were shut up in prison in that same place, as though adjudged to condemnation; for whom he asked the patrician that they be released, but could not obtain it. Whereupon turning to the divine arms he said suppliantly: “The Lord lifts up those who are cast down; the Lord frees those who are bound.” And not long after, while they were merry at the feast — some with eating and drinking, others attending with various converse — as the holy man prayed, suddenly they saw those who had been held captive stand before them unharmed, loosed from their bonds by heavenly power, glorifying with loud voices the Redeemer of the human race, who by the prayers of His servant had freed them. The patrician, seeing this, was astonished as though in an ecstasy of mind; and brought to penitence by so great a miracle, he softened the hardness of his heart with frequent sighs and washed away his fault with his own tears; and going to the blessed man’s feet he asked pardon, which he obtained with absolution. Wherefore all who were afflicted by various troubles of sickness flocked to him; and all, of whatsoever region, receiving his blessing as an antidote, were made whole.

⁴ Meanwhile the noble confessor of Christ asked that a place suitable for dwelling be given him according to the king’s command; which pleased the patrician inexpressibly, and he furnished him three sagacious men to seek it, so that wherever it should be found by God’s bestowing it should be granted by them to him and his for ever. The saint went, and they went also, going round many places, until they came to the hill called Latiniacum; there they fixed their steps, for they beheld it tempered with wholesome air, beset with herb-bearing groves, pleasant with meadows and vineyards, laden with fertile fields, fair with healthful trees, set above the river Marne with its store of fish, and far removed from the approach of the multitude. That little place pleased the holy man above all others in his eyes: for he perceived that God had provided many wondrous signs to be worked there through him. Which, as is clearer in the aforesaid life of that holy man, the supreme power of God accomplished; but our littleness has passed them over in silence, lest they be wearisome to readers.

Chapter Five: His death, and the bearing of his body to Péronne. #

¹ The churches of Latiniacum therefore being built, as was said before, and his ineffable marvels of virtue being spread through the diverse realms of the earth, it chanced to come into the blessed man’s desire that he should go to Saxony and visit the brothers whom he had left there. Coming therefore to the possession of Duke Haimo called Macerias, which the duke had offered him when he had loosed his son from the bond of death in that same place, an angel foretelling it to him, he entered the way of all flesh; but first he rejoiced to hear the voice of the master of the household saying to him: “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Lord.”

² Nor was he unmindful of his promise: he appeared to the duke — who was far away — as he sat at dinner with two deacons; and three candles shining with fiery brightness being set before him, he vanished from his eyes. Then the duke asked those sitting and standing round whether any of them had seen the wondrous sign which he himself had seen. And when all denied that they had seen anyone there beyond the usual, the duke began to set forth his vision, and that the holy man, according to his promise, had shown him that he had departed this light. Hastening therefore he rose from dinner, and with all his house pressed on with spurring horses to bury the holy man of God. And when he came to Macerias, with all the country-folk gathered — monks as well as clergy and troops of virgins — he entered in reverently, with spices befitting the burial of the blessed pearl, and celebrated the great funeral rites with hymn-singing voices to God.

³ Now the illustrious man Erchinoald, hearing of the holy man’s death, gathered a great armed host and hastened with all speed to the holy body in the first watch of the night, and pressed on his way helmeted to seize it. And coming near Macerias he halted upon the river Authie; and since he understood that Duke Haimo was already guarding and watching the holy body with mailed soldiery, he sent envoys to him in these words: “The patrician asks and charges you that you do not delay to render up the body of the holy man, whom the king entrusted to him to baptise his son, and who built and hallowed for him the monastery of Latiniacum, full of heavenly power, and made it illustrious with manifold marvels of miracles — that he may present him, though dead, to the king who desires him, since he could not bring him back alive. But if you delay, know for certain that tomorrow it shall be proved in the trial of arms to whom our patron ought in presence to belong.”

⁴ To this Haimo: “The King of heaven,” said he, “brought him to me first, here where he lies: here he raised my son again; and it seems far greater to raise the dead than to baptise a boy. Hence he chose, as is plain, to hasten to the heavenly realms, and to show me his departure — though I was far away — as he had promised. Unworthy indeed it is that in the presence of him by whose merits we believe the sick are healed, the sound should be wounded; and in whose presence we believe the dead are to be raised, men should be slain in turn. Let two untamed oxen be yoked, therefore, if it please the patrician, and let a waggon be set to them with the blessed body; and wherever the divine providence shall have guided them, let us follow in peace.” The envoys, hearing this, returned in haste and reported the duke’s proposal to the patrician; to which all on both sides agreed with one consent, and urged the patrician that it be done quickly.

⁵ Now it came to pass, while the waggon was being fitted, that a certain woman of the country, known to all the country-folk, blind from the day of her birth, thrust herself among them as they prepared; who, as soon as she touched her eyes with the pall that covered the holy body, received her sight, and glad and rejoicing showed to the troops of watchers how great a mercy God had worked by the merits of His blessed confessor. Thereupon both hosts, casting down their arms, came together in prayer before the holy body, and rendered due thanks to the heavenly King in His saint Fursey.

⁶ At earliest dawn, with all the people prostrate in prayer, the oxen were yoked as had been agreed; who, by God’s disposing alone going before them, set out by the straight way for Péronne; whom Erchinoald and his men followed, exulting and rejoicing.

⁷ Meanwhile a lame man lying in the middle of the road called to those passing and following the blessed body with already hoarse cries, and begged them to carry him even to the waggon. Whom merciful men, bearing up in their hands, brought to the vehicle; and awaiting what should become of him, they halted the waggon. He, as soon as he touched the bier, received health entire; and casting aside the crutches he had used, and praising the power of the Lord God in blessed Fursey, he ran before to Péronne and made known to all what the merciful Lord had done for him by the intercession of His confessor.

⁸ Now it befell that while the people were still halting with the waggon in the same place and glorifying God for the miracle they had seen, Berchar, duke of Laon, flew up with unbridled violence with much mailed soldiery, and demanded the holy body, threatening the patrician with death unless it were granted him. For he said: “By right it fell to me to have his body, since I was the first this side of the sea to guide his journey, and at my own charges provided for him; and whatever of my substance there was, I granted to him and his followers to possess for ever for his incomparable love. Wherefore he wished while yet alive to come back to me, had you permitted.”

⁹ The more prudent of both parties therefore, perceiving Berchar’s fury, applied themselves to pacify him, and adjudged so great, so holy and so doubtful a cause fit to be tried by divine judgement. Which Berchar not refusing, he appointed two boys of seven years, giving them leave to take the waggon wherever they pleased. They, chosen by agreement from either side, loosed the oxen and seized the waggon as though they were twenty or thirty years of age, and with swift course, aided by divine power, drew it to the mount of Cygnopum; where both the duke and the patrician, stricken with many supplications, laid down the holy body, and honourably buried it in the porch of the church, which was not yet finished nor dedicated. Both therefore, acknowledging the disposal of God and of His holy confessor, refused to resist; but having made peace with one another they shed many tears there, and afterwards returned to their own homes, sad nevertheless.

Chapter Six: The renewed translation of the body, and miracles. #

¹ Erchinoald therefore, exulting for so great a treasure granted him by God, bent himself with all zeal to enlarge the church, as he had promised the saint while yet in the flesh; which by God’s gift he accomplished within thirty days. Whereupon his wife Leutsinde, moved with rage, assailed the worthy man full of rancour, and furious to behold addressed him to his face in such words: “I ask,” said she, “you man of unsound mind, what madness has seized you, which drives you to disinherit your sons and me for I know not what stranger and unknown man, and draws you to beggary? This is not a mark of worthiness, I say, but rather of sloth and fickleness, since you confound the living for the dead.” To whom Erchinoald said: “It is foolish,” he said, “to keep stirring up useless words any longer. Weigh therefore, worst of women, and recall, you ignorant of all good, how greatly God, since I became familiar with him, has exalted us in all the prosperities of the world; and lastly with how great miracles He kept back the dukes who sought him, and bestowed him upon us sinners. Truly it is deservedly written: ’ever fickle and changing is woman.’ Repent therefore, foolish one, of having foolishly railed against the saint of God, and while it is permitted, lest he be angered, seek pardon most speedily.” To whom she said: “Know, my lord,” said she, “that him whom we saw buried dead thirty days ago today, and already in part putrefied, we count his wrath utterly as nothing.” To this Erchinoald said: “I trust,” he said, “in the power of him whom he served devoutly day and night, that his body still abides unharmed; which you yourself may now prove, when you see it carried into the church.” This said, the blessed bishops Eligius and Autbert, who had been called together for this, were present with an innumerable people, who consecrated the church with manifold solemnity, as is the custom. And while they desired with suppliant vows to draw the holy man’s body from the tomb and carry it into the church, Leutsinde hastened up with all her household, led by an erroneous suspicion, and ordered the body to be uncovered by the pall for her seeing; which hoping to see, she suddenly lost the light of her eyes.

² Terrified, she at once cried out with a mournful voice, and called each of the holy bishops by name, prostrate at their feet, and implored that they would appease the saint by pleading with him for her. For she confessed that she had been foolish beyond measure, and repented in her inmost heart. What more? While the holy bishops and all the people prayed with groaning and lamentation for so great a lady in distress, Leutsinde received her sight; and praising and glorifying God she granted herself and all she had to blessed Fursey for ever — whom she was found worthy to see unharmed, as though he had departed this light that same hour. The holy bishops reverently took the venerable body into their arms with hymn-singing voices, and buried it in the church beside the altar of the Prince of the apostles with many spices and redolent perfumes.

³ Erchinoald and his aforesaid wife established religious canons to serve God and His saints — and especially those whose presence was there had — according to the decrees of the blessed fathers, and enriched them with their most ample possessions. For in the first church which had been there, blessed Fursey had buried his holy companions Patrick, Bean and Meldan, whose souls he had seen in the vision in which he wonderfully endured the demons’ reproaches; and other patrons of God’s precious servants which he had brought with him — except those which, brought from the parts of Jerusalem, he had laid up in the monastery of Latiniacum under the firmest guard; by whose merits the heavenly King has honoured that place with many signs of virtue even to this day.

⁴ After four years the aforesaid patrician with his wife delivered their treasures — and those which the divine power had laid up as treasure in the aforesaid church — to blessed Eligius bishop of Noyon, and with all the clergy begged him to fashion from them a worthy shrine for Saint Fursey. Which the venerable man polished with wondrous and incomprehensible workmanship; and for the enthroning of the saint he called together the blessed man Autbert. They, approaching to lift the venerable body from the coffin, found it as unharmed as it had been on the day they laid it there; which, weeping for joy, they showed to clergy and people; and thereafter, seasoned with many fragrant spices, they shut it in the shrine with due veneration on the fifth day before the Ides of February, the day on which he entered the palace of heaven; and then they set it behind the high altar of the same church of blessed Peter prince of the apostles, beside which it had lain, towards the rising of the sun. Where from then to this day, whoever faithfully comes, whatsoever they ask in true faith they receive without any disappointment.

⁵ In the following year a hateful scarcity of wine disgraced all the Franks, so that it could scarce be found even for consecrating the Eucharist. Now it came to pass that a certain most noble matron of that same castle was held with a great part of her household by a most grievous sickness; and, now nearly despairing of her health, she awaited her last day as near at hand. On a certain night it was revealed to her in a vision that she should make her way to the church in which Saint Fursey rests in body, and ask that there be given to her and hers of the wine with which the ineffable Eucharist of Christ is daily consecrated. She at once called apart one of her servants fitter than the rest, and told him in order what she had perceived in the vision. He hastened to the church, and asked the sexton for the wine by which she was to be healed. But he, since it was scarce with him, utterly denied him. What was the servant to do? He neither dared nor ought to use force. He ran to the spring which is still there, drew a full vessel, offered it to his mistress, and declared that it was water. She, well believing, as soon as she tasted it perceived wine — than which she had never drunk better — and received health entire. Behold what two things the merciful God did for the merits of His servant Fursey: He both turned water into wine, and restored to health all the sick who tasted of it. The venerable matron therefore, rising up with all her noble household restored to health, went to the church with wax-tapers and other offerings of gold and silver; where she devoted herself, with all that belonged to her substance, irrevocably to the Lord God and Saint Fursey; and living worthily and laudably for the rest of her life she there ended it, the Three in One God granting it, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

Epilogue. #

¹ The life and miracles of the noble confessor Fursey being polished off, dearest brother, according to the four sheets so far as we could, we have wished it to be noted that we have not touched the vision — greater than the rest — except for the slips of names and words; because we learned that the Venerable Bede, who made most beautiful mention of him in his history of the English, passed over it — unpolished pen as it was. Which, though it appears written in uncultivated speech, yet to one who searches its usefulness more keenly it is proved most honourable for the salvation of all Catholics, and worthy to be held in tenacious memory. What that aforesaid prudent historian wrote of it, we have noted below for this reason: because we rejoice to set his testimony of that same vision as a shield of faith against carping slanderers. And yet there are very many examples of holy men — blessed Gregory the venerable pope witnessing in his Dialogue — which suffice to sever the tongues of detractors, wherever they are faithfully brought forward.