¹ Blessed Patrick was born of the stock of the Britons: his father was Calpurnius, and his mother was called Conches. When he was sixteen years old, he was led into captivity with the rest: and serving a certain heathen king for six years, he fed his swine. A hundred times in the day and a hundred times in the night he begged God. And look, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, named Victor, who, frequently visiting him, said: “You fast well: soon you shall go out to your country: look, your ship is ready and awaits you.” And the angel stood upon the earth: and his footprints remain to this day. And again he said to Patrick: “Go and see the place where that pig digs the earth with its snout: and what you find there, give to your master in redemption of your servitude.” And it was done so. After Patrick had gone out, a late repentance seized the king that he had let go his best servant: he went to bring him back. And not finding him, on returning to his house he found not the weight of gold for the redemption of him who had been taken.

² Now having crossed the sea with many heathens, they walked for twenty-eight days in deserts: and food failed them. And a certain heathen said to him: “You say that your God is great: why therefore do you not pray to him for us? for we are perishing of hunger.” And Patrick said: “Be converted in your whole heart to my Lord, for nothing is impossible to him, that he may send us food on our way.” And Patrick prayed for them: and look, a herd of pigs appeared to them on the way: and they killed many of them; and they found wild honey. Who, giving thanks to God, told him to eat with them: but he did not eat, because they had offered the food to their idols. And Patrick remained with them thirty days neither eating nor drinking; yet he persevered cheerfully. And when he slept, he was grievously tempted by Satan: and the devil fell upon him for three days and nights, and heavily oppressed him like a huge stone, so that he could not move. Then Patrick called upon Elias with a doubled voice for aid: and Elias came and delivered him. And the devil said to him: “From this day I have no power over you until the day of your death.” And at once God cast out from him all torpor and heaviness, and his strength was restored.

³ Moreover on a certain day he saw in a dream a man coming to him as though from the island of Ireland with many letters; and he gave him one of them: and he read it. Now the beginning of the letter was this: “This is the voice of the Irish.” And while he read this beginning, he heard at the same moment the voice of infants from the wombs of their mothers of the diverse regions of Ireland, and they cried out as with one mouth: “We pray you, holy father, that you come and walk among us.” And Patrick, hearing this, was straightway pricked in heart, and could read the letter no further; and awaking, he gave thanks to God, knowing most certainly that the Lord had called him to save those who invoked him.

⁴ And he purposed to leave the land that he might learn the holy scriptures: and he came to St Germanus bishop of Auxerre, and abode with him forty years, reading and fulfilling the divine scriptures; and he remained a virgin in body and spirit: and afterwards coming to blessed Martin, he abode with him forty days. From there Patrick, setting out for Rome, came on the journey to a certain hermit dwelling in a desert place, from whom he received a staff which had been in the hand of our Lord Jesus Christ, that supported by its aid he might have a prosperous journey. It is called “the Staff of Jesus”, and remains to this day in St Patrick’s city. And he turned aside to a certain holy bishop named Amatus: and received the episcopal degree from him.

⁵ When therefore he had entered Rome, he found glory and honour with Celestine, bishop of the city of Rome. Who sent him to convert the island of Ireland — for he had before sent Palladius, but the inhabitants received neither him nor his doctrine, and he, returning into the land of the Britons, died. Now when Patrick had come to the sea, he found a leper upon the shore, who asked them to take him with them in the ship; but Patrick’s company — namely thirty-four men of the pilgrims — refused. Then St Patrick cast his stone altar into the sea: on which the leper sat, and until they came to harbour in the bounds of Leinster, the stone departed not from the ship. And finding fishermen with nets, they asked a gift of fish: and they refused to give. At which the saint being displeased, that river, in vengeance for this crime, shall not have fish for ever. Then Patrick went up into the land called Anathailtan: but the people of that region, gathered together, drove him back. On account of this the sea filled all that land, and it is not inhabited for ever.

⁶ From there he sailed to the northern part, to the man with whom he had been in servitude: where he saw a multitude of people, for through many times the magicians and prophets had foretold Patrick’s coming, saying: “A man shall come with his wood, whose table shall be in the east part of his house, and his people backward: and he shall sing from his table, and his household shall answer him amen. When he shall have come, he will destroy our gods, overthrow the temples, slay the kings who resist him; and his doctrine shall reign for ever and ever.” Now the king of that province, named Leogaire, commanded his people that, solicitously awaiting his coming, they should drive him from their coasts. And when Patrick came to land, the heathens let loose a most fierce dog to devour him. But that dog stood fixed and immovable like a stone. And a certain giant named Dichu, seeing this, arose with a sword to slay the saint: and he likewise withered, and could move neither hand nor foot. But Patrick preached the word of God to him and converted him to the faith. Who gave him the field on which they stood, and asked that the church’s length should not be turned from west to east, but from north to south. And it was done so.

⁷ On another day, when Patrick was celebrating mass, a certain magician spilled his chalice: and straightway the earth, opening its mouth, devoured him. But Rus, Dichu’s brother, a very old man, seeing that his brother had believed in Christ, fought against Patrick and would not believe. To whom the saint said: “Why do you fight for this life, which fails you? For all your senses have failed: your eyes see not well, your ears hear not well, the number of your teeth is diminished; and likewise your other members. If therefore anyone shall renew your youth again, would you believe him?” Rus answered: “If you do this, I will believe you.” Then, Patrick praying, Rus was renewed into the age of a most beautiful and strong youth: and at once believed and was baptised, with his three sons and many others. And Patrick said to Rus: “Choice is given you whether you live again a long time in this present life, or go now to heaven.” Rus answered: “I choose now to go out to eternal life”: and at once, having received the sacrifice, he departed to the Lord.

⁸ Then Patrick went to King Miluch, with whom he had been in servitude, to convert him to the faith. Which he hearing, gathered all his substance and set it on fire over himself, and was there burnt: choosing death rather than that he should remain as it were subject to his servant. And Patrick, seeing this from a neighbouring mountain, sighing and weeping for two hours said: “Because this king has given himself to the fire lest he should serve the eternal God, none of his sons shall sit as king upon the seat of his kingdom, but his seed shall serve for ever.” And afterwards it was done so.

⁹ And Patrick came to the house of a certain noble man, and preaching Christ to him, baptised him: and found with him a son who pleased him, and gave him the name Benignus. And that boy clasped Patrick’s feet to his breast with his hands, and would not sleep with his father, but wept unless he slept with Patrick. And when in the morning Patrick mounted his chariot and lifted one foot into it, the boy held the other with tight-clasped hands, saying: “Let me remain with Patrick my own father.” Then the saint said: “Baptise him, and lift him into the chariot: for he is an heir of the kingdom of God.”

¹⁰ After this Patrick came to the plain of Breg to celebrate Easter; and he kindled a fire. Now there was a great solemnity in that place, in which the custom was that no one should kindle a fire in the whole province until it had first been kindled in that place. And when King Leogaire saw the fire, he said: “Who has dared to kindle a fire until it is first kindled in my house?” To whom a certain magician said: “Unless that fire be extinguished this night, he shall hold the principate in this island for ever, and those with whom his doctrine shall be.” And the king went with his army to extinguish the fire. And the magician said to the king: “Do not go out to that man, lest you worship him; but let him be called to you, and let no one arise at his coming.” But one of them nevertheless, named Dego, arose: and Patrick blessed him and promised him eternal life; and he believed in God.

¹¹ Now there was a certain magician who grievously resisted God: whose obstinacy the saint seeing, said to the Lord: “Lord who can do all things, this impious man blasphemes your name: lift him out, and let him quickly die.” This said, the magician was lifted into the air, and again sent down from above with a ball of snow, his head turned to a stone, was shattered and died. Then the king in wrath arose with his army to slay the saint. And straightway there was a great earthquake, and thunderings and fire and a violent wind; and many of them fell. And when the rest were fleeing here and there, the king remained with four men, hiding in a certain place in great fear. And the queen came to Patrick and said to him: “Righteous and mighty man, do not destroy the king: for he shall come and bend his knees and worship your Lord.” And the king came, drawn by fear, and bent his knee before the saint, and feigned to worship; but in heart he believed not.

¹² Now the next day Patrick came with eight men to the king’s house: and straightway the doors were opened before him, and while they dined he entered the banqueting-house, and no one arose before him. Then the king’s poet arose before him and believed in God. And when Patrick sat down, the king gave him his goblet to drink. Then a certain magician cast something from his vessel into that goblet. But Patrick seeing this, turned the goblet’s mouth to his palm: and the liquor stood in the goblet, and that drop alone fell which the magician had cast in: and he drank the drink, and they marvelled.

¹³ And after a little the magician said: “Let us perform signs.” Patrick answered: “What manner?” And the magician said: “Let us bring snow upon the land.” Patrick said: “I will not do against God’s will.” Then the magician by his incantations brought snow over the whole plain. The man of God said: “Remove the snow and cold from the men.” The magician said: “I cannot remove it until tomorrow at this hour.” Patrick said: “You can do evil, but not good.” And lifting his hand he blessed the plain: and at once the snow vanished without rain or wind. And all cried out and marvelled. Then the magician brought thickest darkness upon the land: and when he could not dispel it, St Patrick praying, the darkness being driven out the sun shone again upon the land. And all cried out and gave thanks.

¹⁴ Then, counsel being taken that the magician and Patrick’s boy Benignus should come together into one house, they appointed that the house should be set on fire, and Patrick’s cloak be about the magician and the magician’s cloak about Patrick’s boy. And they being sent into the fire, the pyre consumed the magician and half the house, yet the fire touched not Patrick’s cloak; but the flame burnt not his boy with the other half of the house, though the magician’s cloak about him was consumed. And the king was enraged at his magician’s death and wished to slay the saint: but the earth opened its mouth and devoured a great part of the people; and the few remaining were converted to the faith. Then the king, terrified with fear, promised that he would fulfil all that Patrick should say to him: yet he refused to be baptised. To whom the saint said: “I will leave you to your own will, because you have greatly resisted my doctrine and afflicted me. None of your seed shall reign after you for ever.” And the queen believed in Christ and was baptised.

¹⁵ And when Patrick had come to Conaldus, Leogaire’s brother, he converted him to the faith and his house. And he offered Patrick his whole house and dwelling, and said to him: “Make yourself a city of this dwelling, and I will make myself another dwelling before the gates of your city.” And it was done so. And Patrick said: “In this your dwelling many kings shall be, and blood shall not be shed in it; and you shall be blessed, and your throne firm for ever; and your brethren’s seed shall serve your seed for ever.” After this Patrick wished to go to the regions of Connacht: and he left in his city his stone altar, that it might be there for healing the sicknesses of the people. And as he went, look, that altar went out after him into the way, unwilling to be separated from its lord. And Patrick, seeing the altar, returned again. From that day that stone remains stable in that place, for the people’s profit, even to this day.

¹⁶ And when Patrick saw King Leogaire’s idol constructed of gold and silver, he prayed to the Lord: and straightway it was shattered. As Patrick drew near to the regions of Connacht, two magicians, the king’s dead brothers, heard the fame of his coming: and they purposed to hinder him lest he should be able to enter there, and brought thickest darkness over the whole plain for three days and three nights. But Patrick praying and fasting, that darkness was put to flight.

¹⁷ Now those magicians had brought up two daughters of King Leogaire: who, going out in the morning to wash at a spring, saw Patrick walking with his men; to whom they said: “Where are you from?” Patrick answered: “It will be better for you to believe in our God than to ask about our kindred.” And they: “Who is your God? and where is his dwelling, in heaven or in earth or in the sea? has he sons and daughters fairer than the men of the world? does your God live always? has he gold and silver?” Patrick answered: “Our God is the God of all men; God of heaven and earth and sea, and of all things that are in them; God of the sun, moon and stars; God above the heavens and in heaven and beneath heaven: and he has a Son like to himself and co-eternal. I wish therefore to join you to that heavenly King, since you are daughters of an earthly king.” Then Patrick preaching to them, they believed and were baptised: and they asked to see the face of Christ. And Patrick said to them: “Unless you taste death, you cannot see the face of Christ, and unless you receive the sacrifice.” And they answered: “Give us the sacrifice, that we may see the Son of God our bridegroom.” Then receiving the eucharist, they died. And those two magicians who had reared them came and spoke hard words to St Patrick: but he preaching, they were baptised.

¹⁸ After this Patrick entered a great council of those nations, where were the seven sons of Amolgith with their host. And a certain magician arose to slay the saint of God: and fire descended from heaven and consumed that magician before them all. And on that day those seven, with twelve thousand men, believing received baptism. On another day also a certain magician came to slaughter Patrick: and the earth opening its mouth devoured him. His brother seeing which, came to slay the saint: and him likewise the earth swallowed up to the ears. And he, crying out, promised that he would believe: and straightway was lifted up again, and believing is baptised.

¹⁹ And when St Patrick saw a certain round trench of earth where a certain woman had been buried, pouring out prayer to God he raised her up. On another day also a certain dead woman, having a son in her womb, was brought before him: and she being raised, he baptised her son. In those regions are two rivers, but one river had a multitude of fish, the other was barren without fish. And when the fishermen had denied fish to Patrick asking, from that day the fish departed for ever from that river and descended into the river that had no fish.

²⁰ Now when Patrick had converted many provinces of Ireland, fourteen thousand men returned with him as far as the place where dwelt Trian, a pilgrim bishop of the Romans: who, having one cow, killed it with its calf for the supper of St Patrick and the host; and two deer came from the wood and two boars: and these likewise being slain, Patrick fed the fourteen thousand men, many fragments being left. And the next day the cow was found whole in the field with its calf. For in that place St Patrick raised a certain man named Fota after ten years of his burial, and eighteen others in the same place from their sepulchres: who until death persevered with the holy bishop Trian doing penance in the monastic habit.

²¹ Now there was a certain king having a daughter whom he wished to give to a husband: but Patrick purposed to join her to the heavenly bridegroom. And the girl’s father said: “I will give my daughter to a husband, O Patrick, unless you promise me for her the heavenly kingdom, and do not compel me to be baptised.” And the saint promised him this. But after a long time the king fell sick, and when he was near death, said to his people: “Do not bury me until St Patrick comes to me: for he promised me heavenly life.” And the king dying, Patrick came: and prayed to the Lord with tears, and raised him, and baptised him; and said: “Tell us all that you have seen, whether of the pains of the impious or of the blessedness of the saints: that those to whom I preach may believe the things I say are true.” And when he had related all in order, Patrick said: “Choose for yourself one thing: to live again in this life, or to go now to heaven.” The king answered: “If the kingdom of the whole world were given me, I would count it for nothing and despise it as empty smoke in comparison with the eternal joys which I saw: but I beg that I may return as quickly as possible to that joy which I saw.” In the same hour, having received Christ’s body, he departed to the Lord.

²² Patrick came into the plain of Connacht and found there the sign of Christ’s cross and two new sepulchres, and said: “Who is buried here?” And a voice from the sepulchre answered: “I am a heathen man.” To whom the saint: “Why is the holy cross fixed beside you?” And he: “He who is buried beside my side believed in the God of heaven: and a foolish man came and set the cross beside me.” Then Patrick ordered the cross to be placed over the baptised man’s sepulchre.

²³ When a certain most wicked man named Foilgus had slaughtered Patrick’s charioteer before him, and had died in the same month, his soul was carried off by malign spirits to hell: and the devil entered into his body and dwelt in it, as a living man among men. After a long time Patrick came to Foilgus’s house, and when he was before the door, he asked one of his servants, saying: “Where is Foilgus?” And he: “I have just now left him in his house.” Patrick said: “From the time when he slaughtered my charioteer before me, he is placed in hell; but the devil came to make sport in his body, that not only might his soul be tortured in hell, but his body also be filled with a demon among men.”

²⁴ A certain king named Oengus met Patrick, and believing was baptised. And when Patrick had blessed the king’s head, the point of his staff was fixed in the king’s foot: but the king, greatly desiring the blessing, counted the pain of his foot as nothing. Seeing which, St Patrick blessed the foot: and it straightway received health.

²⁵ St Patrick found in a certain way a great sepulchre of a hundred and twenty feet. And the brethren seeing this said with great wonder: “We do not believe there was a man of this length.” And Patrick said: “If you wish, you shall see him.” And they asked that they might see him. Then Patrick signed the sepulchre with his staff: and look, a man of wondrous size arose, saying: “Well be it with you, man of God, because for one hour you have freed me from pains,” and he wept most bitterly; and said: “If it be permitted, I will walk with you.” And Patrick said: “You cannot walk with us, nor is it expedient, because men cannot look upon your face for fear: but believe in the God of heaven and receive baptism, and you shall not return to the places of pain where you have been; and tell us who you are.” And he: “I am Glass, who was swineherd to King Logir, and Fian Maicon slew me a hundred years ago.” And Patrick baptised him and restored him to his sepulchre.

²⁶ A certain band of laymen said to a woman washing flax: “When that Patrick comes to you, lift up your voice and say that part of your flax has been stolen by them, and we, straightway coming upon them, will slay them.” And when the woman had done this, and the robbers bursting from the woods had judged them worthy of death, St Patrick raised up one buried in the same place, to whom he said: “Give testimony of the truth in this question wherein my people are blasphemed.” He answered: “O holy Patrick, your people are innocent, but that woman by the counsel of laymen hid her flax in the neighbouring wood.” And so it was found. And thus Patrick with his people was delivered.

²⁷ It was St Patrick’s custom that wherever he saw on the way the sign of the holy cross, he turned aside to it, descending from his chariot to touch the cross with his hand. Now on a certain day he did not see one cross which was set beside the way, but passed it by. And the charioteer saw it: and when he had told Patrick, he saw a sepulchre beside the cross: and asked who was in it. And it answered: “I am a heathen, but a Christian is buried beside me, whose mother was not in the province when her son died and was buried.” And Patrick said that he had not seen that cross for this reason, because it had been set beside a heathen.

²⁸ A certain man stole the kid which used to carry water for St Patrick on its shoulders, and ate it, and afterwards denied that he had eaten it. And when he most vehemently affirmed that he had not laid his hand on the kid, the kid, the betrayer of the theft, gave a bleat from his belly.

²⁹ When Patrick and a certain holy man named Winnocus sat in one place and were speaking of God in mutual words, a cloak was sent down between them from heaven. Then Patrick said: “O Winnocus, take your cloak, who for God have forsaken all things of the world.” To whom he: “O Patrick, this cloak is sent to you by God, who, though you have much, yet are poor; and though you clothe many, leave yourself naked.” And while a pious contention went on between them, the cloak was lifted up from them into heaven, and two cloaks were sent down to them.

³⁰ The evil deeds of a certain king of the Britons named Ceretic, a cruel tyrant, a persecutor and slayer of Christians, were reported to St Patrick. And Patrick purposed to convert him: and sent a letter to him; which he mocked, together with his doctrine. And Patrick prayed to the Lord and said: “Lord, if it can be done, expel this most wicked man from the present world and from the world to come.” And look, while the king was set in the midst of the marketplace, he was straightway changed into the form of a little fox before them all, and from that hour nowhere appeared on earth.

³¹ There was a certain man in the region of Ulster named Maguil, a heathen, very malign and a tyrant. When he had seen Patrick, he said to his companions: “See that deceiver: let us go and tempt him, that we may see his power.” Then they set a healthy man under a cloak, feigning mortal sickness, and said to the saint: “Approach and chant over him some of your incantations, that he may be made whole.” Who, knowing their deceits, said: “No wonder if he is sick.” Then his companions found him dead: and astounded said among themselves: “Truly this is a man of God.” Maguil seeing this believed in God and was baptised. And he said to Patrick: “I repent that I tempted you: look, now I will do whatever you shall say to me.” Patrick said: “I cannot judge you, but God shall judge. Yet now go to the sea, taking nothing of your substance with you save a mean garment: mount into a boat of a single hide, without rudder and without oar, and bind your feet with an iron fetter and cast its key into the sea: and into whatever land the wind shall bear you, there serve God.” And he: “So will I do as you have said.” Then Patrick raised the man who lay dead. And on that day Maguil departed to the sea and mounted into the boat: and the wind bore him to the Isle of Man. And he found there two holy bishops: who, seeing him, marvelled and had pity on him. And they lifted him from the sea with joy: and he abode there with them, and afterwards received the episcopal degree; and in those regions a great city of Bishop Maguil is held even to this day.

³² One day Patrick sat in a certain commoner’s field: who, seeing Patrick’s horses in his field, drove them roughly out of the field. Which when it displeased Patrick, he filled that field with copious sand, and it became like the seashore, without fruit for ever.

³³ A certain magician came to dispute against Patrick and said: “Work some signs for us, that we may see the power of your God.” Then St Patrick made of one stone a most soft mass, like that wherewith milk is wont to be curdled. And of two masses of milk he made two stones: and they remain in the nature of stones for ever. And the magician seeing this believed and was baptised.

³⁴ There was a certain heathen king of the Britons, having a daughter named Munessa, whom he wished to give to a husband: but she would not consent. For though she was a heathen, yet by the law of nature she knew God and loved him: for she saw the sun, moon and heaven, and through those creatures acknowledged their Creator. Then her parents, hearing Patrick’s fame, came to him with their daughter and said to him: “We were compelled to come to you on account of our daughter, who with an excessive desire longs to see you.” Then St Patrick said to her: “Do you believe in God?” She said: “I believe.” And straightway being baptised, she yielded her soul into the hands of angels, and there died and was buried.

³⁵ After this Patrick went to Rome by a prosperous journey: and brought from there relics of the apostles Peter and Paul, and of the martyr Stephen, and a linen cloth on which was the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; and these relics are kept behind Patrick’s altar.

³⁶ Then Patrick, going out into the desert in Lent, was there sitting upon a stone, and four stones round him on four sides. Then a great multitude of black birds, that is, of demons, flew about him and grievously hindered his prayer. But Patrick struck his bell upon them and put them to flight beyond the sea: and straightway a multitude of angels filled the whole mountain in the forms of whitest birds, and sang sweet songs to him. Now his daily life was such: every day he sang the psalter with canticles and hymns and two hundred prayers, and offered Christ’s body, taught his disciples, preached to the crowds, and at every hour signed himself a hundred times with the sign of Christ’s cross. In the first part of the night he sang a hundred psalms and bent his knees two hundred times; and from cockcrow he stood in the waters until he had fulfilled his prayers. After this he slept upon a bare stone, another being placed under his head, and had a garment of skins about his loins, dipped in water. And when a hundred and thirty years had been fulfilled from his birth, he departed to the Lord.

³⁷ Now when the day of his going out from the body drew near, he began to make for the city of Armagh. And the angel Victor met him in the way, saying: “Look, the day of your going out draws near: do not go to the city of Armagh, for you shall not die there.” And he: “It is captivity to the end, that I cannot even choose the place of my burial.” But while he yet lived, St Patrick was comforted by frequent visitation of angels, and his own angel named Victor came on every seventh day of the week, and as a man speaks with a man, so they greeted each other. Often he saw the heavens opened, and Jesus Christ with his angels in heaven: therefore his heart burned with an incomparable fire of the love of God. And he died on the seventeenth day of March, and flourished about the year of the Lord four hundred and thirty-four.

³⁸ Now on the first night angels came to guard his body: and the clergy flocking together from all sides fell asleep, hearing the voice of angels around the body. And in the morning the departing angels left in the place a most sweet odour as of honey. And he was buried in the city of Down with great honour and glory.

³⁹ Now the things set down below I have excerpted at Glastonbury from the books of that monastery; whether they savour of truth I leave to the reader’s judgement. For from the time when the apostles were divided into diverse regions to preach the word of life, St Philip the apostle obtained by lot the region of Francia with his disciples: of whom he sent twelve into Britain, of whom the first was Joseph of Arimathea who also buried the Lord, in the sixty-third year from the Lord’s incarnation and the fifteenth from the assumption of St Mary: to whom twelve hides were granted by Arviragus, deceived by pagan errors. Who, serving God there, at the admonition of the archangel Gabriel built a church in honour of the holy Mother of God Mary. And when they constantly preached the faith of Christ, the barbarous king with his people, hearing things so new and unwonted, utterly refused to assent to their preaching, nor wished to change the traditions of his fathers; yet because they had come from afar, at their petition he granted them a certain island surrounded with woods and marshes to inhabit. For that portion was of twelve hides: and they built a certain chapel of twisted rods, as has been said, in the thirty-first year after the Lord’s passion. So giving themselves to vigils, fastings and prayers, after the courses of many years they were brought forth from the prison of the flesh in the same hermitage: and the place began to be a lair of beasts, which before had been a habitation of saints.

⁴⁰ At length there were sent by Pope Eleutherius, at the instance of Lucius king of the Britons, St Phaganus and Deruvianus: who converted the king with his people to the faith in the year of the Lord one hundred and sixty-six. And journeying through Britain, they came to the same Isle of Avalon: and found the ancient church built by the hands of Christ’s disciples. Now from the coming of Christ’s disciples and St Philip into Britain to the time of St Phaganus and his colleague there flowed a hundred and three years. And dwelling there in God’s service, they chose twelve of their companions and caused them to construct buildings in that island, King Lucius favouring, and to persevere even to the end of life. That place was afterwards named by a certain inhabitant of it Glasteing; afterwards it was called the Isle of Avalon, that is, the Isle of Apples — aval in British, apples in Latin.

⁴¹ At length St Germanus of Auxerre took St Patrick into familiar fellowship, and the same after some years, Pope Celestine commanding, he sent to the Irish as preacher. Who, coming to Glastonbury and finding twelve brethren living the anchorite life, gathered them together, and being made their abbot, taught them to live the cenobite life, as a writing which he himself composed in his time more manifestly declares, in which among other things it is thus contained: “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I Patrick, a humble little servant of God, in the four hundred and thirtieth year of his incarnation being sent by the most holy pope Celestine, by God’s grace converted the Irish to the faith of truth. And when I had established them in the catholic faith, at length I returned into Britain to the Isle of Avalon: and there I found twelve brethren leading the hermit life. And because I found them humble and quiet, I chose rather to be abject with them than to dwell in kings’ courts. And so, though unwilling, they set me over themselves as pastor. There in more recent writings I found that St Phaganus and Deruvianus obtained from Pope Eleutherius, who had sent them, ten years of indulgence. And I, brother Patrick, obtained twelve years from Pope Celestine of pious memory. After this we found on the mountain’s summit an ancient oratory, nearly ruinous: where I and a certain brother fasted three months, giving ourselves to prayers and vigils. Now on a certain night, when I had given my limbs to sleep, the Lord Jesus appeared to me in a vision, saying: ‘Patrick my servant, know that I have chosen this place to the honour of my name and of Michael my archangel. And this shall be your sign: your left arm shall wither, until you announce the things you have seen to your brethren and return here again.’ And it was done so.”

⁴² After these things, when some years had passed, he yielded to nature, and, an angel showing and a great flame bursting forth from the same place in the sight of all, he merited burial in the old church on the south side of the altar. Now blessed Patrick died in the hundred and eleventh year of his age, and the four hundred and seventy-second of the Lord’s incarnation, which was the forty-seventh year from his being sent into Ireland. For in the three hundred and sixty-first year of the Lord’s incarnation Patrick came into the light, and in the year of the Lord four hundred and twenty-five he was sent into Ireland by Pope Celestine. For this was the sixty-fourth year of his age: and in the year of the Lord four hundred and thirty-three he converted Ireland to the faith of Christ, and afterwards returning into Britain, abode thirty-nine years in the Isle of Avalon and, as has been said, in the year of the Lord four hundred and seventy-two departed to the Lord. And he rested in the old church where he was buried seven hundred and ten years. (And according to the opinion of the moderns St Patrick and St Benignus his disciple lie in one shrine on the south side of the high altar at Glastonbury.)

⁴³ For when the Danes were devastating Northumbria with fire and sword, Ticcea, abbot of those parts, came to Glastonbury and ruled that church by abbatial right in the year of the Lord seven hundred and fifty-four: and he brought with him the relics of St Aidan the bishop, the bodies of Saints Colfrid, Benedict Biscop, Esterwin, Sigfrid — abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow — of Bede the priest, of Ebba, Bega, Boisil and the abbess Hilda. Also St David bishop of Menevia with seven bishops, invited by the holiness of the place, came to Glastonbury to dedicate that old church in honour of blessed Mary. And look, on the night preceding the dedication the Lord appeared to the holy bishop David, and as though ignorant asked the cause of his coming. Which being expounded in order, the Lord, taking his right hand, said: “Let not this be done, beloved bishop; I myself consecrated this; this is the house of the beloved Virgin, I dedicated it to her as her own. And lest anyone should dare henceforth to repeat the sacrament, be this your sign” — and pierced the palm of his right hand with his finger; and caressing the head of the rigid and trembling priest, exhorts him not to fear, saying with a placid countenance: “Tomorrow, clad in pontificals, when you pronounce in the mass ’through him and with him and in him’, he who speaks with you working, through him in whom you trust with your sacred mouth, you shall see that the wound which you now shudder at is nowhere to be found.” He spoke, and in speaking withdrew. And when the saint had fulfilled the commands, he was made whole, as the Lord had foretold. And another church being built not far off, which is called “St Mary the Little”, he dedicated it.

⁴⁴ Now St David died in the year of the Lord five hundred and forty-six, and is buried in the Vale of Roses; and the stone which he had received from the patriarch of Jerusalem at his consecration, he, while yet living, assigned to the church of Glastonbury. Moreover a certain matron named Elswitha in the time of King Edgar, through a certain kinsman of hers, a bishop of Menevia, obtained the relics of St David, when the whole of that land was so wasted that scarcely any inhabitant of the place could be found; now this translation of St David’s body was made by the same matron to Glastonbury in the four hundred and twenty-first year after his death.

⁴⁵ I found also inscribed there in writings that in the time of Abbot Thurstan, in the fifteenth year of the coming of the Normans, when he compelled the monks, the Gregorian office being passed over, to learn the chant of a certain William, a monk of Fécamp, and they would not acquiesce, from words it came to blows. At which the monks, fleeing to the church, with streaming tears begged for peace, but at length, being compelled, with benches and candlesticks resisted their persecutors. And one of the abbot’s household, seeing a monk holding a cross covered with silver in his hands, aiming an arrow at him, wounded the image of our Saviour beneath the knee: and straightway blood began to flow, descending to the earth. Which seeing, that criminal, not enduring his own confusion, lost his bodily senses, and falling outside the church, expired with a broken neck.

⁴⁶ There is also there a cross, which once used to stand in the refectory, of which it is read that when King Edgar sat at table in the refectory with St Dunstan, and thoughts contrary to God’s will arose in his heart, the image of the Lord on the same cross shook itself with its whole body, so that its crown was seen to fall between the king and the bishop, all marvelling. And the king being asked by St Dunstan what he was thinking or purposed to do, confessed that in the same hour he had purposed to transfer the monks of that monastery to another place and gather nuns there. And when he had been kindly rebuked by blessed Dunstan, asserting that this by no means pleased God, the king with all humility recalled that design.

⁴⁷ For when Abbot Ailward, many years after King Edgar’s death having elapsed, had dug up his tomb, he found the king’s body conscious of no decay, but undefiled and whole. Which, whereas it ought to have bent him to reverence, raised him to audacity. For because the coffin which he had prepared threatened a difficult entrance on account of the body’s greatness, he violated the royal remains with an iron tool. At which blood straightway flowing out in waves, struck the hearts of the bystanders with fear. Afterwards the royal body was honourably placed beside the altar in a shrine bestowed on the same church by himself. And the violator of the sacred body soon lost his senses, and falling with a broken neck expired. At this king’s tomb the frenzied and the blind, having received health and rendering joyful thanks to God, returned to their own.

⁴⁸ For these things inserted above I have excerpted from the books of the same monastery. For the venerable Bede writes in the third book of the Deeds of the English, chapter twenty-six, that Colman, bishop of Lindisfarne, a Scot by nation, Finan’s successor and the third from Aidan, in the third year of his episcopate took part of Aidan’s bones with him on his return to Scotia, but commanded part to be laid up in the sacristy of the church of Lindisfarne. And below, in the life of St Cuthbert, it is related that about the year of the Lord nine hundred and thirty a certain priest named Elfred, a man of good deeds, admonished by a divine oracle, when many courses of years had elapsed after the same slaughter and devastation of the Danes, took with him the bones of the Saints Acca the bishop, Ebba the abbess, Boisil and Bede the priest from their places and sepulchres, and transferred them to the church of Durham newly founded.

⁴⁹ But in the things written before, and doubtful, and in some of the things that follow, I do not presume for myself the authority of deciding and defining; but as a simple reporter I communicate without envy the things which, as a sedulous inquirer, I have been able to find in diverse books and places with labour and difficulty, leaving arduous matters to be sifted by the skilled.

On the Purgatory of Saint Patrick #

¹ [Added in the Tiberius manuscript.] Now while blessed Patrick was preaching through Ireland and made but little fruit there, and wished to convert them to the faith by the terror of the infernal torments and the love of the joys of paradise: they said that they would never be converted to Christ, not even for the miracles worked by him, unless they could see the torments of the evil and the joys of the good, that they might be made more certain by things seen than by things promised and preached. St Patrick therefore asked the Lord to show some sign by which they might either be terrified into repenting. Then the Lord, visibly appearing to him, gave him a text of the gospels and a staff. Who at the Lord’s command marked out a great circle with the staff in a certain place: and the earth opened itself around the circle, and a great and deep pit appeared in the same place. And it was revealed to him by the Lord that there was a certain place of purgatory; into which whoever should wish to descend, no other penance would remain for him, nor would he feel another purgatory for his sins. And many entered who returned not; and for those who did return, it behoved them to make their stay there from morning until the next morning.

² Now it happened in the time of Stephen king of England, about the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and sixty, that a certain knight named Owen came to the bishop of that place for the sake of confession. Whom when he rebuked for his sins and said that he had grievously offended God, he said: “Since, as you assert, I have so greatly offended my Maker, I will assume a penance heavier than all penances: I wish to enter St Patrick’s purgatory, that I may merit to receive remission of my sins.” And the bishop dissuaded this, saying that many had perished in it who entered that purgatory. And when he could not bend the knight’s mind, sending a letter by him he ordered the prior of that church to deal with him as with a man who would enter the purgatory ought to be dealt with. The prior, setting before him the perdition and peril of others in it, wished to turn the knight’s mind from his purpose: but because he had repented from the heart of having offended God, he could by no admonition be turned from his purpose.

³ The prior therefore led him into the church; in which for fifteen days according to custom he gave himself to prayers. And so, the brethren and the neighbouring clergy being called together for this, mass is celebrated in the morning; at which the knight, having communicated, sprinkled with holy water is led with procession and litany to the entrance of the pit. And the prior, opening the door, said thus before them all to the same knight: “Look, brother, here is that place which you desire to enter; if you assent to our counsels, you will altogether turn back from this purpose and take care to correct and amend your life in this world in another way. For many have entered here who never returned, because through inconstancy of faith and intolerable torments they utterly perished both in body and soul. But if you will enter, look, in the name of the Lord you shall enter: and through the hollow of the earth you shall walk so long, until you come out into a certain field, in which you will find a hall of most artful fabric. When you have entered it, you will straightway have messengers on God’s part who will piously tell you what to do, and leaving you alone, will go out of the hall. For so it is written to have befallen those who entered before you.”

⁴ But the man, bearing a manly spirit in his breast, feared not the peril which had even swallowed up others. For the force of his sorrow for his sins despised all things that could in any wise be shown him by words; the guilt which is felt within him despised the torments heard of without. For first commending himself to the prayers of all, with his right hand lifted up he impressed the sign of the holy cross on his forehead, and confidently and cheerfully entered through the door; and the prior, at once shutting fast the doors, returned with the procession into the church. The knight goes on boldly, though alone, and with darkness thickening, lost the light of all clearness. At length, a small light appearing through the pit, he came to the same field and hall. The light there was none other than as we have here in the evening hours in winter. And the hall had no whole wall, for it was constructed everywhere of columns and little arches, like a monks’ cloister. And when he had long walked around the hall wondering at its wondrous structure, he entered it, and sitting in a corner curiously cast his eyes here and there, admiring the beauty and array which he saw in it. For such an one had never been seen in the world.

⁵ And when he had sat alone a little while, look, fifteen men as it were religious, newly tonsured and clad in white garments, entered that house, and saluting him in the Lord’s name, sat down. And the others being silent, one spoke with him thus: “Blessed be almighty God, who sent a good purpose into your heart: and may he perfect in you the good which he began. And since you have come to this purgatory for your sins, that you may be purged from them, you will either be compelled by necessity to play the man, or through sloth you will perish both in soul and body alike. For as soon as we shall have gone out of the house, it will be filled with a multitude of unclean demons, who will bring upon you grievous torments, and threaten to bring more grievous. They will promise to lead you unharmed to the door through which you entered, that they may deceive you: and if in any wise you assent to them, you will perish both in body and soul alike. But if you set your hope in the Lord and despise the torments, threats and promises as nothing, you will not only be purged from your sins, but you will also see the torments prepared for sinners and the rest in which the just rejoice. Keep God therefore ever in memory, and when they torture you, invoke the Lord Jesus Christ: for by the invocation of this name you will straightway be freed from the torment in which you are. We cannot be here longer, but we commend you to almighty God.” And so, a blessing given, they departed from him.

⁶ And while the knight sat alone, he began suddenly to hear tumults around the house, as though the whole world were shaken. And so, unless he had been protected by the divine power and more perfectly instructed, by that very tumult he would have been driven mad. And look, visibly on every side a countless multitude of demons of deformed shapes began to rush into that house, with cackling and derision to salute him and to say: “Other men who serve us come to us only after death: from where the more ought we to render you thanks and give you a greater reward, in that you have willed so greatly to honour our company that while living you have taken care to deliver to us your body and your soul. You have come here to suffer torments for your sins: you shall have with us distresses and sorrows. Yet since you served us in the world, if you will assent to our counsels and be willing to return, we will do you this favour, that we will lead you unharmed to the door by which you entered, that you may live and still rejoice in the world; lest you utterly lose all that is sweet to your body.” But the knight was utterly silent, nor answered them so much as one word.

⁷ The demons, seeing themselves despised, raged against him, and built in the house a pyre of a very great fire; after this they bound the knight’s hands and feet, and casting him into the fire, dragged him crying aloud with iron hooks here and there through the flames. And when he had cried out, “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner”, the pyre of the whole fire was extinguished, so that not a spark of the whole fire was found. And the demons, going out, dragged the knight through a vast region, black and dark, in which was a wind which could not be heard, yet seemed by its rigour to pierce his body. They dragged him at length to a field, whose end he could not see, full of naked men of both sexes and every age lying on the earth, whose bodies and bodily members were stretched upon the ground, and with their bellies turned to the earth were miserably held fast by glowing iron nails driven into the earth through their hands and feet. Sometimes for the anguish of their pain they ate the earth, sometimes with weeping and wailing cried “spare, spare”. And the demons ran among and over them, smiting them with heavy scourges. And when at the demons’ persuasion he would not return, they cast him down upon the earth and strove to fix nails in him: but when Jesus’ name was invoked they could do no more.

⁸ They drag him to another field, filled with men of both sexes. Between these and the others there was this difference, that the former’s bellies, these men’s backs, cleaved to the earth. Fiery dragons sat upon them and tore them with fiery teeth as though devouring them. Others’ necks or arms or whole bodies fiery serpents surrounded, and laying their heads to the men’s breasts, fixed the fiery sting of their mouth in their hearts. Toads also of wondrous size and as it were fiery were seen to stand upon certain men’s breasts, and fixing their deformed beaks, strove as it were to draw out their hearts. And when the knight would not assent to them to return, they strove to fix him like the rest: but they could not, the name of Jesus Christ being invoked.

⁹ They dragged him into a third field, where men of both sexes lay fixed by glowing iron nails, so that from the crown of the head to the toes for the multitude of fiery nails no empty place could be found as great as the tip of a finger would cover. These, like men near death, could scarce utter a voice. For they seemed naked like the rest, and were tortured by a cold and burning wind and by the scourges of demons. And when they wished to fix him, the name of Jesus Christ being invoked, they could do no more. To a fourth field he was dragged, full of fires, in which he saw every kind of torment. Some were hung by chains by the feet, some by the hands, some by the hair, some by other members, their heads turned downwards and plunged into sulphurous flames. Others hung in the fires on iron hooks, fixed in the eyes, ears or nostrils, or in the throat, hands or privy parts. Others were burned in sulphur furnaces; others were fried as it were in pans; others were roasted on fiery spits, whom the demons turned when set to the fire; upon others they poured out diverse molten metals: the demons beating them with scourges, willed to spare none. All kinds of torments were seen in the same place. And he recognised certain of his former companions there tortured. And when he invoked the name of Jesus Christ as before, the demons could not hurt him.

¹⁰ Descending therefore, he saw before him a very great wheel of iron and fire, hedged about on every side with fiery waves, on each of which men hung fixed. And the one half of this wheel stood up in the air, the other half was in the earth below; and a flame of foul and sulphurous fire rose from the earth around it, and burned those hanging on it most miserably. And the demons on either side, thrusting iron bars between the spokes of the wheel, made it revolve with such swiftness that no one could in any wise distinguish one man from another by sight, for by the exceeding velocity of its course they seemed as it were one fire. And when they had placed him on the wheel and lifted him whirling through the air, at the wheel’s descent he invoked the name of Jesus: and straightway he came down from it.

¹¹ Proceeding from there he saw before him a great house smoking like a furnace, whose breadth was immense and length so great that its end could not be seen. And as he was being dragged horribly towards it, and was still somewhat far from it, for the exceeding heat that issued from there he could not, wishing to halt, proceed. They therefore said to him: “Why do you delay by halting? It is a bath that you see: whether you will or not, you shall go there to be bathed with those who are there.” And there began to be uttered from that house most wretched howlings, weeping and lamentation. For the floor of that house was full of round pits, and each was full of diverse metals and boiling liquors; in them was plunged a very great multitude of men of both sexes, of whom some stood in the boiling metal up to the eyebrows, some up to the eyes, some up to the lips, some up to the neck, some up to the breast, and so on down to the legs, some stood with only one foot, others held one hand or both in them. All alike cried out for pain and wailed miserably. “Look, " said the demons, “with these you shall be bathed, unless you will return.” And when they had begun to plunge him into one pit, the name of Christ being invoked, they ceased from there to proceed.

¹² And dragging him they made for a certain mountain, on which he saw a multitude of naked men of both sexes and every age sitting bent upon their toes, so great that all whom he had seen before seemed to him few in comparison with them. And all whom he saw there, as though awaiting death with trembling, were turned towards the north. And when he wondered what this multitude awaited, one of the demons said to him: “Perhaps you wonder what the people awaits with such trembling; unless you will return, you shall know it most certainly.” Scarcely had the demon finished the word, and look, from the north came a violent whirlwind, which seized both them and him whom they led, and all that people, wailing and lamenting, and cast them far away into a fetid and most cold river on the other side of the mountain, in which they were tormented with exceeding cold. And when they strove to rise from the water, the demons running upon the water immersed them all in the same river. But the knight invoked Christ’s name and straightway found himself on the other bank.

¹³ The demons come to him, dragging him southwards: and look, he sees before him a foul flame and fetid with sulphurous stench rising as it were from a pit, and casting upward into the air as it were naked and fiery men of both sexes like sparks of fire, who, the force of the flames failing, fell back again into the pit and into the fire. Approaching where, the demons said to the knight: “This flame-vomiting pit is the entrance of hell: in this place is our dwelling, and since you have served us until then, here you shall abide with us without end. For all who serve us shall abide here without end. And if you enter this mouth, you shall perish both in soul and body alike. Yet if you still assent to us that you may return, you shall henceforth be led back by us unharmed to the gate’s mouth.” And when he despised their promises, they cast themselves into the fire of the pit, and dragged the knight with them; and the deeper he descended into the pit, the wider he saw it within, and felt the heavier punishment. And in it the knight felt such straits that he almost forgot to invoke the Lord’s name; yet in heart, because he could not with his voice, he cried “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner”: and the force of the flame lifted him with the rest up into the air. And so he stood alone awhile beside the pit.

¹⁴ And look, other demons unknown to him came proceeding from the pit, who spoke thus: “That this was hell our comrades told you: but it is our custom ever to lie, that we may deceive by lying those whom we cannot deceive by the truth. This is not the place of hell: but now we will lead you to hell.” So from there with a great and horrible tumult they dragged the knight to one very wide river. Now the river was covered with the flame of a sulphurous fire and full of a multitude of demons. They therefore said to him: “Know that hell is beneath this flaming river.” And beyond the river a bridge was stretched. And the demons said: “You must now walk upon this bridge, and the wind which cast you into the other river shall cast you through us into this; and straightway you shall be seized by our comrades who are in the river and plunged into the depth of hell. Yet first you may prove what manner of walking there is upon this bridge.” And holding his hand they led him upon that bridge. And look, on that bridge were three things to be feared: first, that it was so slippery that none could fix his foot; another, that it was so narrow that none could stand or walk upon it with his feet; third, that it was so high that it seemed almost to touch heaven. “Yet,” they said, “if you assent to us, you shall be led back unharmed to the gate.” But he, thinking of how many perils Jesus had before delivered him from when his most holy name was invoked, confidently approached, and setting one foot upon the bridge began to say “Jesus Christ, Son of the living God” and the rest. Then he set the other foot and repeated the same words. At every step also he uttered the same words. And the more he walked upon the bridge, the more secure he was; and the further he proceeded, the broader he found the way. For ever as he walked, the breadth of the way grew on either side. And look, after a little the breadth of the bridge held a laden cart; and after a while the way was so broad that two carts might meet upon it. Moreover the demons who had brought him stood on the river-bank; and seeing the knight go free, they shook the air with their horrible cries, so that he was more shaken by the terror of the clamour than by the infliction of the torments with which he had before been racked. The other demons who were below in the river cast their hooks at him: but could not touch him. At length he proceeded securely, finding nothing to hinder him; and so, the breadth of the bridge increasing, he looked back upon the river on either side from afar.

¹⁵ Proceeding therefore free from the demons’ vexation, he saw before him a great wall raised on high from the earth into the air, of wondrous and incomparable structure. In which wall he saw one closed gate, which, adorned with metals and precious stones, shone with a wondrous radiance. And when he had approached it, and was still as it were the space of half a mile away, that gate opened towards him: and such an odour of sweetness issuing through it met him, that if the whole world were turned into spices, they would not conquer the greatness of its sweetness; and he received such strength from that sweetness that the torments which he had before suffered he could now, as it seemed to him, endure without anguish. And looking within the gate, he saw a country more splendid than the sun’s brightness, and desired to enter. And look, there came out against him, with crosses, banners and candles and as it were branches of golden palms, a procession such and so great as has never, he deemed, been seen in this world. He saw as it were forms of men of every order, of every age and either sex. He saw some as it were archbishops, others as bishops, abbots, monks, priests, and ministers of every degree of the church, clad in sacred vestments. And all were clad in such fashion of vestments as they had served God in during this life. And they brought the knight in with great veneration and joy, and two archbishops received him into their company, who blessed God, who by such constancy had strengthened his mind against the torments he had suffered. For as the light of a lamp is as it were obscured by the sun’s splendour, so the noonday sun, as it seemed to him, would have been darkened by the exceeding brightness of that country. And the end of the country could not be seen, save on the side of the gate by which he entered.

¹⁶ Now the whole country was as it were pleasant meadows and green, adorned with diverse flowers, fruits and trees. Night does not darken it, for the splendour of a pure sky ever glitters over it with unspeakable brightness. And he saw there so great a multitude of men of both sexes as he believed he had never seen before in this life. Some in these, some in those places were distinguished in companies, and yet, as they wished, some passed with joy from these into those, others from those into these bands, so that some rejoiced in the sight of others, and others exulted in their visitation. Choir stood beside choir in the places, and with the harmony of a sweet concert praised their Creator. And as star differs from star in brightness, so was there a varied difference in the splendour of their garments and countenances. And some seemed clad in a vesture of gold, some of green, some of purple, some of hyacinth, some of blue, some of white; others went crowned like kings, others held golden palms in their hands. On every side he heard the concert of saints resounding the praises of God; each rejoiced in his own felicity, each exulted in each one’s joy and deliverance. And all blessed God for the knight’s coming, and as it were congratulated him on deliverance from a brother’s death. Everyone exulted in that country, on every side resounded the saints’ melody. Neither heat nor cold did he feel there, nor did he see anything there that could offend or hurt. All things there were peaceable, all things gracious, all things pleasing.

¹⁷ And the same archbishops said to the knight: “Look, brother, you have seen what you desired to see: for you have seen the torments of sinners, and here also the rest of the blessed. For this country is the earthly paradise, from where for sins the first man was cast out. For after he refused to be subject to God by obedience to his command, he could no longer see the heavenly joys which, placed in this place, he contemplated. And when through disobedience he fell, even the light of mind wherewith he was enlightened departed from him. From whose flesh we are all born in misery: yet through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which we received in baptism, we have returned to this country. Another life we believed to be through the Holy Spirit, which we could not know to be, as he did, by experience. Yet, because after the receiving of the faith we were entangled in many actual sins, we could come here only through the purgation of the torments through which you have passed. For the penance which we undertook before death or in death and in no way completed, we worked out in those penal places, some in a greater, some in a lesser space of time, according to the measure and quantity of our sins. For all who are in this rest were in those places for our sins; and so also all whom you saw in the several penal places, save those who are within the mouth of the infernal pit, shall come after purgation to this rest in which we now are, and shall at last be saved. And every day of the world some, purified from there, come here to us; and we go to meet them, as we did also for you, and bring them into this rest. But those who go out of the body well purified come to us straightway. None of those who are in the pains knows how long he shall tarry there. By masses also and psalms and prayers and alms, as often as they are done for them, their torments are either diminished, or they are transferred from those torments into lesser ones, until by such benefits they are utterly freed. And when they have come into this country, they know not how long they shall remain here, for none of us can know this of himself, how long he ought to be here. For as in the penal places they perceive the space of their tarrying according to the quantity of their sins, so also we who are here perceive the space of our tarrying here, less or more according to our good merits: and though we are freed and free from pains, yet we are not yet worthy to ascend to the heavenly joy above. For how long each shall tarry here, none knows of himself. Look, as you see, we are in great rest and joy: but after the space appointed by God for each, we shall pass hence. For our company daily increases, and daily decreases. For as daily some, purged from the torments, come here to us, so also from hence some, being appointed in the earthly paradise, ascend to the heavenly paradise.”

¹⁸ And the pontiffs led him up a mountain, and told him to look up. And he saw heaven like gold burning in a furnace. The bishops said: “This which you now see is the entrance of heaven and the gate of the heavenly paradise; when any depart from us, they ascend here into heaven. And while we remain here, the Lord feeds us once daily with heavenly food.” Scarcely had he ended the speech, and look, a flame of fire descended from heaven, which, as it seemed to him, covered the country and, descending as it were in rays over the heads of each, at last entered wholly into them. Upon the knight’s head also it descended and entered into him as into the rest. So great a sweetness of delight did he feel from there in heart and body, that he scarce knew whether he was alive or dead. But that hour soon passed.

¹⁹ And the bishops said: “Since you have now partly seen the rest of the blessed and the torments of the evil, it behoves you now to return. But if henceforth you live well, you shall return to us after death; but if not, you have seen what torments await you. On your return you shall by no means fear the demons.” Hence the knight, grieving, said: “I cannot depart, lest through frailty I commit something which may avail to hinder my entrance here.” “It shall not be as you wish,” they said, “but as he who made both us and you shall will.” Sorrowing therefore and lamenting he is led back to the gate, and when he had gone out, it is straightway shut behind him: and so he returned and came to the same hall. The demons, fearing him, fled, and the torments harmed him not. And the fifteen same men, praising God for his constancy, said: “By the labour which you have sustained, you are purged from your sins. Now look, in your country the dawn of light is brightening: and unless the prior, opening the door, finds you — doubting of your return — he will shut fast the door and go back.” And when he had received their blessing, at the same hour in which the prior opened the door the knight appeared; and entering the church, he remained in prayer for fifteen days. And after this, living long, he happily completed his life in good works.

²⁰ Now the place of St Patrick’s purgatory is named Reglis: and there are regular canons there. But Patrick, as Giraldus says in the Topography of Ireland, is reported among the rest of his works of signs to have worked three memorable things: one, that he cast out all venomous animals from the land of Ireland with his staff; another, that he instituted his purgatory in the same place; a third, that he obtained from God by his prayers that no Irishman shall await the coming of Antichrist. I have read also in a certain most ancient book, containing some of the deeds of St Patrick, that St Patrick founded three hundred and sixty-five churches in Ireland, and consecrated three hundred and sixty-five bishops and more, in whom was the spirit of God; and ordained three thousand priests. Vincent also says in his Mirror of History that the history of St Patrick’s purgatory is not received by many, chiefly on account of this, that it is there said that souls freed from purgatory do not at once fly to heaven, but remain for a time in the earthly paradise as in an intermediate place of rest, and from there at an appointed time pass over to the palaces of heaven — whereas on the contrary no middle place of souls between purgatory and the heavenly paradise is believed to exist. Yet to this opinion of Vincent that vision seems contrary which the venerable priest Bede writes in the fifth book of the Deeds of the English, chapter twelve, as is found above at the end of the life of St Adrian the abbot.