The Author’s letter to Thietmar, Abbot of Gemblagensis #

¹ The life of the most pious confessor of Christ, Maclovius—who is also called Machutes—had been carefully written, according to the truth of the history, in the style of the ancients. But because it had been arranged with too little order, composed with too little refinement, and was besides excessively confused by barbarisms and solecisms, it lay hidden under the long neglect of forgetfulness and carelessness to such an extent that, as though worthy of no one’s hearing, it had already passed from the memory of men. But considering that a precious metal does not entirely lose the estimation of its value, even though it lies buried in the roughness of the earth or is discolored by the corrosion of rust, it pleased your paternity, venerable Father Thietmar, to command my littleness that, having examined the text of the history and, as far as possible, having erased the accumulation of faults, I should improve it with whatever small polish of language I could. I, who ought not to oppose the command, have carried out the task imposed upon me—not indeed as I wished, but as I was able according to the slenderness of my ability. For I have undertaken the work assigned to me in the manner of a rustic smith: who, by blowing the bellows and striking with hammers, draws off the dross from the crude mass of precious metal, so that it may be rendered more ready for the hand of a skilled craftsman, showing to others the brightness of the material; so that, if anyone should wish to exercise the power of his craft, he may find the material prepared for his use.Therefore I shall do what seems easy to accomplish—namely, that I may remove what is superfluous, correct what is faulty, and restore order to what is confused; yet in no way shall I depart from the truth of the history, so that I may seem to have done nothing new, since I appear only to have renewed the old by filing and polishing it.

Prologue #

¹ The praises of the saints—which are precious in the eyes of the Lord—are by no means to be kept silent, but rather to be handed down to all memory [Ps. 116:15 (Vulgate 115:15)]. Nevertheless, it must be believed that the miracles of the saints were worked by the power of Almighty God on account of their blessed life, which had first been placed in their hearts by heavenly generosity. Therefore the life of the friends of Christ must first be investigated, so that, while we strive to imitate it, our admiration of their virtues may profit us. For indeed it profits us nothing to marvel at miracles without the fruitful imitation of a blessed life. Now therefore let the life of the blessed man be brought forth, so that, while we are stirred to his imitation by recalling his merits, we may deserve to obtain the grace of his intercession in times of need.

Chapter 1 #

¹ Saint Maclovius, therefore—illustrious among his own people by the nobility of his parents, and not insignificantly renowned among the men of the world—was born near the coast of the British Sea. His father, named Guent, was a count, who was the founder of the city called Gimicastrum. We have received that his mother was called Darual. And because the dispensation of God is never absent in any event of things, it was also manifest in the beginning of the birth of this holy man. For he was born on the holy day on which the whole world celebrated the joys of the Paschal solemnity, so that on the day which the Lord made, that we might rejoice and be glad in it, the grace of divine mercy might add this joy also to mortals [Ps. 118:24 (Vulgate 117:24)]. At that very moment of the day, moreover, thirty-three other boys were born in the same neighborhood. Because this was believed to have happened by the ordering dispensation of God, it pleased the parents of them all that those who by birth had obtained the beginning of the same time together should hold a single companionship of life in Christ. For all together with Saint Maclovius they were instructed in the studies of learning, and all together they were devoted to the service of God.

Chapter 2 #

¹ Therefore the boy of good disposition, chosen by God for the carrying out of works of blessedness, was already then divinely inspired with what Holy Scripture says: A child is known by his doings, whether his works are pure [Prov. 20:11]; and, Blessed is he who has borne the yoke from his youth [Lam. 3:27]. For from the very years of infancy he renounced the occupation of worldly vanity and joined himself to the freedom of divine service. And so that he might more fully possess knowledge of doctrine and understanding of God, he devoted himself more strictly to the instruction of the holy Scriptures; in the pursuit of which idleness, which is the enemy of the soul, is restrained; in the meditation of which God is recognized; in the practice of which eternal life is acquired. He sought that knowledge which builds up through the humility of charity; he avoided that which puffs up through the arrogance of vanity. Also beginning to chastise his body and to bring it into the service of the spirit [1 Cor. 9:27], he accustomed himself to be content with simple food and clothing, despising the cold that afflicted the body and considering it unworthy to be swollen with an abundance of food, lest in any way the wantonness of the flesh should rule over his soul through indulgence in bodily necessity. Therefore, except for those things which the simple necessity of nature required, he spent everything else on works of almsgiving.

Chapter 3 #

¹ God therefore, who sometimes even knows how to sanctify his servants and prophets in their mother’s womb [Jer. 1:5], did not delay to adorn his servant in his earliest childhood with virtues and signs [Luke 1:15], since even in the simplicity of infantile age he did not cease, by good intention, to prepare himself to serve God. When one day he had gone out with boys of his own age to the shore of the sea for the sake of play, while the others were occupied in the idle business of play, he, reclining his head upon the ground, began to give himself to sleep. When suddenly the tide of the returning sea came flooding in—which, according to the course of the moon, is customary to occur in the sea of Britain—the other boys took flight for the sake of their lives, not running to awaken him who was sleeping in so great a danger. But from the boy who had been born for the salvation of many the protection of God was not far off, brought about by a great miracle. For although the waters flowed around on every side, and the waves rising and swelling with heat roared about him as they came in, yet, though they drew a circle all around, they did not dare to touch the place in which the boy lay. The omnipotence of God caused an island to rise there, which, extending by its height even to the surface of the sea, rescued the future bishop of Christ from the danger of death. When so unexpected a miracle appeared in the sight of all, a boat having quickly been procured through the efforts of his parents, the boy pleasing to God was brought out from the danger of the sea. And lest the novelty of this deed should ever fall from memory, and that through it the holiness of the blessed man might shine forth more clearly, the Divinity caused that same island to remain even to the present day; and, as we believe, posterity will have it as a testimony even to the end.

Chapter 4 #

¹ Afterwards Saint Maclovius, passing from advanced infancy into boyhood, the more abundantly he drew in the grace of divine inspiration with the increase of age, the more eagerly and earnestly he prepared his heart for the pursuit of the holiness of the angelic life. And knowing from the mouth of the Lord that the blessedness of seeing God is promised to the pure of heart [Matt. 5:8], from the very beginnings of boyhood he devoted himself to works of purity. For wishing to please God in body and spirit, he chose to spend all his life in the celibacy of virginity. For just as a new vessel retains for a long time the odor with which it has once been imbued, so also it seemed useful to him to adapt the unformed vessel of his body as soon as possible to sanctification and honor, lest it should be corrupted by the passion of carnal desire. And that he might carry this out more freely and perfectly, through the devotion of his parents and by his own will he assumed the habit of the monastic order. There, being placed under the guard of regular discipline, how vigorous and ready he showed himself beyond the others in obedience may at least be proved from this, that he could not be free from the envy of his equals, which always arises from the progress and glory of others and wastes away within itself. For he suffered among his companions what Joseph once suffered among his brothers. Joseph, having been given a coat of many colors by his father and loved by him more than all his brothers, because he reproved the faults of his brothers, had stirred up their envy [Gen. 37:3–4]. He also, because he deserved from God the long robe of perfection and variegated with the colors of virtues, could not escape the envy of his equals. It is the custom of that order for the boys in turn each week to carry a lamp with a light before their instructor when during the night they enter or leave the oratory. Therefore when the week of the fortunate boy arrived, his companions extinguished the fire with which the lamp had to be lit, wishing that at least for this offense he might suffer the blows of the master. What was the simplicity of the boy to do? He ran to the workshop where beer was made from grain by pouring in water and boiling it, and he asked the servant there to give him fire. But even in the rough breast of the rustic the malice of diabolical envy was not lacking. For despising the humility of the supplicating boy, he refused to give a supply of fire. He, pressed by fear of the master, placed burning coals from the hearth upon his garment and was hurrying back with quick step to light the lamp. But finding it already divinely lit, he shook the coals from his clothes, which nevertheless appeared unharmed to all. The instructor, astonished at the double miracle, fell on his knees before his pupil. And afterwards, being held in due veneration, although he surpassed all in glory, yet he was dear to all.

Chapter 5 #

¹ The holy man, because he was to be a priest of Christ and knew that both the head and the tail of the victim ought to be offered in sacrifice to God, advanced from day to day from virtue to virtue and labored to climb step by step by the ladder of good works to the summit of perfection. For whatever in his tender age he faithfully vowed to God, this at the proper time he sincerely fulfilled. Before all things he devoted himself to the purity of chastity, knowing that unless the vessel is pure, whatever is poured into it becomes tainted. Therefore, having his loins girded with this virtue of chastity, he also held a burning lamp in his hands, since by good works he showed to his neighbors examples of light [Luke 12:35]. Thus faithfully and prudently doubling the talents entrusted to him by God—of understanding and of action [Luke 12:48]—whomever he could draw by word and example to the purpose of a holy life he gathered to himself as companions and partners in climbing the path of perfection. Now indeed how friendly frugality was to him, how pleasing moderation was to him, and how, with the rope of temperance drawn tight on both sides, he always held the middle path of virtues in all things, was sufficiently shown by this, that he happily reached the highest summit of holiness. By the uprightness of whose life the whole people were not a little directed to the improvement of their morals, and greatly delighted by the glory of his miracles, and they caused him to be promoted to the order of the episcopate, so that they might deserve to be more abundantly sanctified by his blessings.

Chapter 6 #

¹ Fame, which is accustomed to speak of things done and undone, reported that there was a certain island in the sea which, besides the other advantages of its prosperity by which it was said to abound above other lands and islands, was declared to possess this remarkable wonder, that the citizens of heaven were said to dwell there. But if the truth of the matter be considered, this happiness of life was attributed to those islanders because among them the integrity of moral uprightness in no way went astray, indeed the holiness of the natural law powerfully reigned in all things. The blessed man therefore, delighted by so favorable a report, was wholly moved in mind to seek out so praiseworthy an island. For since his conversation was already in heaven [Phil. 3:20], and while he lived among the scandals of the world the multiplicity of human injustice offended him, he at least desired to spend his life there where he heard that the traces of justice still remained. The example of his teacher and abbot Brendan also encouraged him in this, whose whole intention burned no less for seeking the happy island, since he was the instigator and author of this new pilgrimage, as the writing of his life shows. If anyone wishes to read it, let him learn from the judgment of the wise what he ought to think about it. Therefore, setting aside the sweet love of their homeland, they undertook the uncertain labor of the desired pilgrimage. Whether the will alone of seeking a blessed dwelling persuaded them to undertake this journey, or whether in some measure the pleasure of human curiosity crept into their minds, our rashness does not presume to examine. Yet we sufficiently understand that this journey did not displease God, because even during this time of pilgrimage he did not cease to adorn this his servant with wondrous miracles.

Chapter 7 #

¹ The world was keeping the joy of the Paschal solemnity, when holy Church is accustomed more solemnly to recall the memory of our redemption, which in these days was accomplished through the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord. While the others therefore conducted themselves more festively, St. Maclovius conducted himself more devoutly, giving himself to psalms, hymns, and prayers, since he ought to intercede with God not only for his own sins but also for the transgressions of the people. Wishing therefore to celebrate the solemnities of the Mass, since he did not have a place suitable for it (for, casting his sight around as far as the horizon permitted, he saw nothing except above the sky and below the liquid of the waters), turning with his whole heart to God he prayed more earnestly that a suitable place might be offered to him by Him. The hearing ear of almighty God was readily present to the prayer of one asking useful things: and He who formerly prepared a certain thing for the salvation of the endangered Jonah [Jonah 1:17], here also now caused a whale to be present at hand. Its body had such vastness that it might be thought by men to be a rock; moreover such immobility underlay it that it might be believed to be a stable island. Therefore, when the order of the sacraments had been solemnly celebrated by the priest, and the viaticum of the Lord’s Eucharist had been devoutly distributed to all—by which single aid among all they might be fortified against the adversities of each man—having cheerfully loosed the ship’s cable, they committed themselves to the undertaking of sailing which they had taken up. Now in that company there were about one hundred and eighty men. When therefore they were already holding the deep, secure with faith filling the sails, then at last, turning their gaze back, they understood from how great a danger the merciful power of the Lord had rescued them, who had prepared the whale for them as an island in the midst of the sea and had laid it beneath them with such stable immobility that it caused them no danger. Who then could doubt that all would have incurred inevitable danger of death, if the most monstrous beast had given movement to its body? Therefore all, singing a joyful sea-chant, cast their voices of thanksgiving with one accord to the stars.

Chapter 8 #

¹ Greater miracles follow upon great ones, and by their novelty they more vehemently increase the devotion of the faithful to praise the mighty works of God. When they were laboring so greatly in seeking that island of praiseworthy fame, it happened that they put in at another island, God so disposing it: and having gained the wished-for shore, while they were exploring each place in order to relieve the weariness of sailing, they came upon the mound of a buried man, whom the observed quality of the bodily size showed to have been of gigantic mass and stature. Therefore the pious man, moved by the pity of human compassion, and moreover animated by the vigor of heavenly inspiration, with magnanimity of faith and tearful contrition of heart, invokes the name and power of the Holy Trinity, and opening the enclosure of the tomb, raised him from the dead. After he had been restored to the full function of life, the priest addressed him with pious speech, asking who he was, from where he had come there, where he had now been, and whether he had ever believed in Christ. He replied that he had been killed by his parents and had received the place of burial there in the tomb. Moreover, that he had been assigned to the infernal prisons and had endured dreadful and endless torment. And the man of God added: “Therefore among you, whom unbelief has assigned to the penal prison of hell, is there any confession of faith, is there any knowledge of the holy and undivided Trinity?” And he said: “Indeed, the knowledge of the Holy Trinity exists among us, but now to know or confess it profits us nothing; rather, because in life we were unwilling to know it, it mortally harms us. Therefore I beg that at least now I may deserve to be reborn by the saving baptism: so that I who until now have been condemned to eternal death may now be rescued from infernal destruction.” The saint of God, having heard these things, entered upon the way of apostolic preaching, and when he had instructed and catechized him in the rudiments of the Catholic faith, he consecrated and regenerated him with the sacraments of baptism, and fortified him with the viaticum of the Body and Blood of the Lord. He lived on for fifteen days, and having been rescued from the death of the soul, he was returned to bodily death and placed again in the same tomb, to rise again with Christ more happily in the general regeneration of all.

² These are, good Jesus, the wondrous works of your divinity; these are the magnificent gifts of your promise, by which your mercy consoles those who faithfully believe in you. “He who believes in me,” He says, “the works that I do, he also shall do, and greater than these shall he do” [John 14:12]. That such things could indeed be done through a man would scarcely obtain belief among men, unless it had been promised by the Lord who became man that these things would be done through a faithful man.

Chapter 9 #

¹ After the long labor of navigation had been exhausted in vain, when no hope of finding the desired island breathed upon their pious desire, having reconsidered the matter together, they resolved to make an end of so long a return. For already they had completed seven years in this pilgrimage, and had solemnized seven recurrences of the Paschal celebration, and through certain labor they still had nothing certain in mind. Therefore the holy man, having returned to the land of his fathers, restored to his parents his long-desired presence after so long a time; and because he had not been able to find on earth the island of desired happiness, he gave continual effort night and day that in heaven he might deserve to have a homeland of perpetual blessedness. God, who precedes a man by His grace so that he may will the good, and follows so that he may be able to accomplish it, made him the possessor of his desire. For when he was wholly intent on this, that he might now and at once take up the path of perfection, when according to custom he was present at the mystery of the ecclesiastical office, he heard the Gospel proclaimed by the deacon: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” [Luke 14:26]; and: “Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple” [Luke 14:33]. And seizing the word from the mouth of the deacon, believing that this counsel had been commanded to him in its time from the mouth of the Lord Himself, from that very occasion of the reading he approached his father, set before him the message of the Lord’s command sent to him through the deacon, and humbly asked from him permission to renounce himself and all that was his, and declared that he wished to undertake a pilgrimage across the sea for Christ. But the father, loving his son with too much carnal affection, who rejoiced that he had returned from so long a pilgrimage, wished to oppose his good intention. And running ahead to the shore of the sea, after the ships had been removed everywhere, he strongly forbade all the sailors that any of them should in any way grant his son the opportunity of crossing the sea. But the man of apostolic life, knowing that the Lord had commanded: “If your right hand or your foot or your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and cast it from you” [Matthew 18:8–9], preferred to enter life alone rather than, with his parents dearly but ruinously loved, be cast into Gehenna. Therefore, setting aside every affection of carnal relationship in preference to the love of Christ, he renounced his father, he renounced his paternal property, he even renounced himself, so that naked and unencumbered he might follow as a disciple the footsteps of the Master.

Chapter 10 #

¹ Therefore, having gathered all those who held with him the purpose of the monastic order, and having also brought along his master, the abbot Brendan, the companion of the former pilgrimage, he came to the shore of the sea. There, since the ships and all the sailors had been removed according to the prohibition of his father, and no means of crossing the sea was available, he recalled that saying of the Psalmist: “It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man” [Psalm 118:8]. And while he lifted his heart to God alone, look, he saw a ship empty of men standing ready at hand, which Christ Himself was steering, though the holy man believed him to be a boy. And the boy immediately invited him to sail and asked him to what place he wished to direct his journey. He answered that wherever the will of the Lord wished to direct his journey, there he was willing to follow. The boy added: “In the bosom of this sea there is a certain island which a man well proven in the monastic life inhabits. He is called Aaron, and from him also the place is called the Island of Aaron. To him I shall direct you, and I shall cause you to be received by him most kindly and treated with hospitality.” By this turn of speech the man of God at last understood that the boy with whom he was speaking was He whom he had invoked, God. And when he hastened to fall at the knees of the one speaking, more quickly than the word itself he vanished from his sight.

Chapter 11 #

¹ Therefore, having undertaken the course of a more fortunate voyage, he was directed by favorable winds and a straight course to the Island of Aaron, and according to the promise of the Lord he was received with attentive hospitality by the servant of God. There the holy man lived holily, and dealt innocently with the innocent, and having become each the mirror of the other, if they saw anything in themselves that ought to be corrected or added, each improved through the other with a charitable zeal. Therefore the pilgrim of this world remained there for a certain time, until it pleased the divine omnipotence to grant him, even in this world, a reward for his labor, reserving for him in the future the fullness of recompense.

Chapter 12 #

¹ Now fame had everywhere made his name celebrated; now it was on the lips of all the people that this pilgrim was endowed with the power of miracles and abounded beyond other men in the richness of doctrine. Now the whole people had turned toward love for him, because they saw in him both the affection of a pious father and the authority of an eloquent teacher. Therefore, with divine grace cooperating with them, they caused him to be enthroned in the episcopal chair in the city which is called Aleth, which was not far from the Island of Aaron. This city the river named Rinctus washed on one side, and on the other side the sea washed it. In those regions the filth of demons still lay foul, and although the grace of the Gospel now reigned everywhere, the traces of idolatry still remained there. Therefore the man of God, girded with the sword of the word of God, showed how faithful he was to his king by undertaking for his love to wage war against the kingdom of the devil, nor did he cease until by the wondrous power of miracles and the abundance of teaching he compelled the hearts of unbelievers to believe, and having driven them away from the kingdom of the devil he subjected them to the yoke of Christ. In that neighborhood Saint Samson dwelt, who was a kinsman of the blessed Maclovius. He labored not a little in the territory of the city in which he exercised the episcopate, so that he might drive paganism out from the kingdom of his Lord and enlarge Christianity for the praise of God. Thus in that region, through the strong soldiers of Christ, the power of the opposing side was diminished, and the magnificence of Christianity was spread far and wide.

Chapter 13 #

¹ The Christian people were celebrating the vigil of Easter, and the priest was intent on celebrating the mysteries of the Mass. And look, the sad funeral rites of a dead man were presented, and the tears of those lamenting moved the minds of the hearers to compassion. More than all the others the priest himself was moved, who was wholly given to mercy, and he ordered that they should wait until the Mass was finished. With a crowd of people standing around, he admonished all to call upon the clemency of the Lord, that He who rules over death and life might deign to pour back the vital warmth of the soul through the stiffened limbs. Nor was it long; and He who said, “All things are possible to him who believes” [Mark 9:23] was present to the devotion of the faithful: the dead man rises, and strikes terror into all, and plainly showed that God indeed favors those who faithfully ask. When he stood alive, he asked that a cup of wine be brought to him. What was the holy man to do? He had no wine to offer to the thirsty man; the thirsty man refused to touch the cup of water that was offered. Again strengthened in faith, he returned to the fountain of mercy, asking that He who had granted the greater thing to the prayer of the faithful might also deign to grant the lesser. Immediately, having at hand a marble vessel, lifting his hand blessing it, he turned it into a vessel of glass; and pouring water into the vessel, through the power of the holy blessing he also changed it into the nature of wine. And thus, offering in a glass vessel the cup of new wine to the man restored to life, he showed to all no small miracle of divine mercy. O truly pious and magnificent worshiper of the Holy Trinity, whom according to the faith of his heart the divine power on one day illuminated with three miracles, while in the name and power of the Holy Trinity he raised the dead man, and made glass from marble, and made wine from water. Therefore the man whom a cart had brought there with the hands of others to be buried, he himself joyfully drove home, and as long as he lived he proved a fitting witness of his own resurrection.

Chapter 14 #

¹ The often-named man, in whom faith lived through good works, gave in small matters indeed not small miracles, so that through him the glory of Christ might grow in all things. When at some time he was traveling through the region of Britain, in order to sow the seed of the divine word in the field of the Lord’s cultivation, he encountered a swineherd in a field whom a great bitterness of sorrow was tormenting. For while guarding a herd of pigs, when he was trying to drive away from the neighbors’ crops a sow that was greedily and persistently ravaging the grain, he had killed her by the careless blow of a stone. For this offense he feared his master, whose anger he believed would be especially inflamed because seven piglets, wandering about, were trying as usual to draw milk from the teats of their dead mother, but could find no nourishment of life in the lifeless body. Maclovius, whom compassion had wholly claimed for itself, could not see the tears of the swineherd without tears; and after pouring out a prayer to God, he placed his staff upon the ears of the dead sow, and when she was restored to life at the mere touch he returned joy to the grieving man. The swineherd reported the matter to his master and spread abroad the praises of the servant of God through the mouths of all. The master, mounting his horse, gave thanks face to face to the holy man and granted one estate to the church for the use of the servants of God under him.

Chapter 15 #

¹ He also did another somewhat similar deed, very worthy of praise even for the sake of piety alone. Imitating the apostle Paul, to whom his own hands supplied what he lacked by working [Acts 20:34], he himself also applied himself to the labor of his hands whenever he was free from the duty of preaching the Gospel. When one day he was laboring with the brothers in pruning a vineyard, he laid aside his cloak in a hidden place so that he might work more easily. When the work was finished and he wished to take back his cloak, he found that a little bird, which is commonly called a bitrion, had laid an egg upon it. And since he knew that the providence of God is not lacking even for birds—indeed not one of them falls to the earth without God the Father [Matthew 10:29]—he left the cloak there until, the eggs having been brooded, the bird in due time hatched the chicks. In this matter there was also this marvel, that during the whole time the cloak lay there no rain damaged it. Whoever heard this magnified the power of God with thanksgiving, and praised the piety of the man of God.

Chapter 16 #

¹ In the district of the city of Aleth, over which the venerable Maclovius presided, a certain very noble man had a daughter whom the intolerable suffering of a diabolical infestation miserably tormented. For she attacked with bites all who touched her, nor did she spare even her parents. Nor could the violence of this evil sickness be restrained or calmed unless so monstrous a madness were bound fast with iron chains. The father, for whose mind nothing could be pleasant while his daughter was ill, invited the blessed Maclovius to heal his daughter, whom he had formerly heard to be renowned for the effectiveness of cures. Nor did he delay mercy, but believing that it is easy for God to grant a remedy to one who faithfully asks, he went to the girl; and wishing to restrain the deceit of diabolical malice, he cast his handkerchief upon the neck of the raging girl. Then indeed one might have heard the horrible voices of the demons reproaching the servant of God in these words: “O dweller from across the sea, could your own land not endure you, that you came here to seek what is another’s and to drive us from our region?” The disciple of Christ, despising these reproaches of the enemy and rejoicing that they were shared with his Master and Lord, to whom the demons cried out in deceitful confession, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of the living God? Have you come before the time to destroy us?” [Matthew 8:29], by the example of the Lord’s rebuke restrained their vain false speech. And knowing that this demon was of that kind of which the Lord says, “This kind cannot be cast out except by prayer and fasting” [Matthew 17:21], after pouring out a prayer of exorcism over water and adding an episcopal blessing, he gave it to the girl to drink. Through the cup of blessed water, with the power of the blessing infused through the limbs of the girl long crushed by the demonic assault, the girl fell to the ground as if dead. A little later, her breath having returned, she rose up healthy and joyful, the assault of the most wicked invader having been driven away, and she gladdened the others by the complete restoration of her health. The father, seeing that his desires had been fulfilled, enriched the holy Church of God with estates and precious gifts in thanksgiving. Because glory either rarely or never lacks envy, the cunning of the ancient enemy did not long endure so great a glory of Maclovius; but lest the favor of a good soldier should grow still greater in the kingdom of Christ, he stirred up armed enemies against him through the deceit of injustice, and these were moreover strongly supported by secular power.

Chapter 17 #

¹ A certain Hailoch, who powerfully ruled over the whole of Britain, stirred by the prompting of diabolical malice, began to destroy a basilica which the blessed Maclovius had founded in the estate of his parish. The man of God pleaded with the prince with tears and prayers that he might deign to desist from the destruction of the church building. But he, made savage by the arrogance of conceived iniquity, could not be softened or restrained by any grace of pious admonition. Against the power of such secular domination, Maclovius took up patience alone as the protection and support of himself. But He who speaks to His faithful through the prophets, “He who touches you touches the apple of my eye” [Zechariah 2:8], and, “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay” [Deuteronomy 32:35], did not leave the injury of His poor unavenged; and just as He struck Saul, kicking against the goad, with three days of blindness [Acts 9:8–9], so that afterward he might illumine the whole world with eternal brightness, so He also struck this man with temporal blindness, that through passing darkness he might be freed from the obscurity of sins. Immediately returning to his senses and pierced with heartfelt repentance, he ran as quickly as possible to the bishop to make satisfaction, declaring himself guilty with bitter weeping and confessing with tearful complaints that he had been justly blinded. He who had learned from the Master of highest goodness that even enemies must be benefited and that we must pray for those who persecute and slander us [Matthew 5:44], quickly and mercifully remitted the guilt of the penitent. And, providing for the salvation of both the inner and the outer man, he sprinkled him with blessed water and anointed his eyes with holy oil, and thus restored to him his former sight; yet for the rashness committed he imposed a fitting manner of doing penance. The duke, seeing that his satisfaction was beneficial both to soul and body, assigned to the Church of God no small inheritance of lands and bestowed an abundant blessing in property and goods. Thereafter, as long as he lived, he loved the servant of God as a son loves a father with singular affection, and he was for him and for his people a timely protector and helper in all things.

Chapter 18 #

¹ Thus the ancient enemy, having been defeated in this first encounter, withdrew, yet he yielded not because he was weary. For just as formerly, when he had contended with the Lord Himself, he did not depart having been conquered by the first temptation, but dared again to renew his arms a second and a third time [Matt. 4], so also in the first victory of Maclovius the leader Ilailoch did not cease from his attempts. He, who had humbly bowed himself wholly to the service of Maclovius, and for his sake had mightily raised himself up for the protection of the Church of God—after he had entered upon the way of all flesh—by his death made room for the wicked to oppress the Church. For after him there arose an impious generation which, turning its face away from God, utterly withdrew from the counsel of righteousness. Hence the devil, having found an opportunity, and using such officials, rose up with a thousand devices against the man of God. Therefore the sons of Belial, harassing Maclovius with accursed hatred, hurled against him reproaches of this kind: “Who,” they say, “is this shameless stranger who has come into our kingdom and everywhere stirs up scandals for us? Who is this crafty sycophant who by his flatteries alienates the hearts of men from us? Who is this greedy seeker of inheritances who from our losses here procures his own advantages? Whereas with the apostles and the successors of the apostles nothing ought to be possessed on earth, this man under the pretense of poverty covers the vice of greed; and under the guise of alms practices the profit of avarice; under the pretense of long prayer he despoils the houses of widows [Mark 12:40]. He who falsely claims that he has left all things for Christ, and boasts that he possesses all things in Christ, disinherits us and our sons and greedily seizes our inheritances for himself. He who pretends not to care for his own things—why does he dispense those of others? Nothing therefore is more useful for us than now at last to consult our weary affairs and drive this man far from our kingdom, and again seize the inheritances unjustly handed over to the churches. Indeed he has left nothing for us and our sons, since he has usurped all our property for himself. He sells to us the sole hope of future things at the price of all our possessions, the usufruct of which he himself meanwhile enjoys in the present.” Often provoking the holy man with such injurious accusations, they embitter him with every kind of persecution, and torture his men with cruel beatings; by every sort of plundering they utterly devastate the Church of God.

Chapter 19 #

¹ How grievous and intolerable this persecution was may be perceived from a single example. His baker, by name Riman, having been unjustly seized, shamefully cast down, and bound like a four-footed beast with withy bonds so that he could be aided by no use of his limbs, they left him alone upon the shores of the sea so that, when the tide of the sea should come in, he might be swallowed into the deep. They also took away his horses from the holy man, so that he might not be able to go to his aid. They left only a mare to the bishop, thinking that by this they were doing him an injury if he should mount a lowly mare. The priest, as far as he could, assisted his servant in so great a danger by prayer alone. The Almighty was not absent from the praying bishop; by whose faith and prayer he who lay at the point of death was wonderfully delivered. For by the command of Him to whom all nature is subject, He held back the tide of the sea on every side for a mile far from where the baker lay, and the sea feared to touch the boy who had been innocently exposed to death. Therefore the bishop, going without delay to the baker who had been afflicted on account of his hatred, found him unharmed and brought him back with him rejoicing.

Chapter 20 #

¹ The bishop Maclovius, who wished to maintain righteousness without reproach before God and men, bore it more grievously than can be said that the little ones of Christ were so scandalized by the impious. He also grieved greatly for those sacrilegious men, so sharply goaded by the spur of avarice, whom no excuse of ignorance could absolve before God, whom greed dragged headlong though they saw and willed it. For from the very source from which their fathers had been good they had a wicked and envious eye of jealousy. For their fathers had redeemed their sins by giving alms; these men, by detracting from almsgiving, had heaped up their sins. He, taught to possess his soul in patience [Luke 21:19], said: “If my Lord Jesus avoided the treachery of the Jews by fleeing, why should not I, a mere little man, avoid the malice of these by yielding? Look, these have holes of deceit like foxes, and nests of vanity like birds, and we with the Son of Man have nowhere to lay our head among them [Luke 9:58; John 6; John 12]. Let us withdraw, and at least by fleeing remove from them the occasion of sinning against us. The dust must be shaken from our feet as a testimony against them. And because there are not here sons of peace with whom the peace of Christ may rest, let our peace return to us” [Matt. 10:13–14]. “When our Lord Jesus said: ‘When they persecute you in this city, flee into another’” [Matt. 10:23], he certainly foresaw that this occasion for flight would at some time be brought upon us. “Let us therefore act promptly, brothers; let us yield, I beg, with patience.” Thus the pious man, having condemned that most wicked generation, pronounced upon them the deserved curse, because they had removed blessing from themselves. Thus Moses, the most meek above all the men who dwelt upon the earth [Num. 12:3]; thus Isaiah; thus Jeremiah, offended by the stubborn hardness of an ungrateful people, bound them with a most severe denunciation—namely, praying because of their impenitence that God might not regard their vows or sacrifices. Elisha also cursed the boys who mocked him and consigned them to the punishment of the curse [2 Kings 2:24]. What shall I say of the Lord of lords, who in the fig tree—cursed by Him and withered because of its barrenness—subjected the perfidy of the Jews to a condemnation worthy of a curse [Matt. 21:19]? Following this example, the blessed Maclovius cursed his adversaries so that, delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, yet with the hope of salvation for their souls preserved [1 Cor. 5:5], they might cease from the work of iniquity; and that they who because of the hardness of their heart had stored up for themselves the wrath of God might at last, softened through repentance, reconcile to themselves the mercy of God.

Chapter 21 #

¹ Therefore, driven from his bishopric by the scandals of the impious, having prepared all the provisions for departure and having gathered also the faithful company of his monk-disciples, after completing a long course of navigation he at last reached the harbor of the region of Aquitaine and came to the parts of the city of Saintes. First of all he thought it necessary to inquire whether in those places the practice of Christianity flourished. It was answered to him—than which he could hear nothing more pleasing—that everywhere there the religion of Christian worship was fervently practiced. He proceeded to inquire who presided there over the episcopal see, and he gladly heard that Leontius of Saintes was overseeing the governance of the Church, a man endowed with the dignity of divine wisdom and human learning. He himself rejoiced that the first signs of the prosperity he had desired seemed to smile upon him, and from the harmony of circumstances he conceived hope that henceforth all things ought to turn out according to his wishes. Therefore he confidently sent chosen envoys from among his followers to the bishop, setting forth in order the cause of his pilgrimage and humbly requesting that a place to dwell might be granted to him. That bishop, filled with a prophetic spirit, rejoiced in his heart that he was being visited by God, since the comfort of fraternal fellowship had been provided. And stretching forth gladly the hand of his generosity, he granted him a suitable place of habitation, according to the precept of the Apostle [2 Cor. 8], ready from his own abundance to supply the other’s need. The local people also, delighted by the fragrance of his good manner of life, assisted him and his companions with many gifts, themselves also wishing to share in the fruits of another’s labor.

Chapter 22 #

¹ For it was being done not by chance, but by the disposing counsel of the Divinity, that the more widely the pilgrimage of so great a man was spread abroad in different places, the more widely the knowledge of his name might be magnified. The daughter of the count who ruled the district of Saintonge was walking with her attendants through her father’s garden; and while she went carelessly along, wounded by the venomous strike of a hidden serpent, she groaned and gave to all a great occasion for lamentation. The father mourned inconsolably, the mother did not know how to restrain her maternal grief, who saw the life of her daughter wavering between hope and fear. The whole household lamented; the entire city was afflicted with funeral sorrow. At last grief admitted this single counsel: that since no human help could avail, divine consolation should be sought from the blessed Maclovius. As it was resolved, so it was done. They came to the feet of Maclovius, and the vow of those faithfully asking was not disappointed. The bishop fled to the aid of prayer and blessed exorcised water; from it he moistened a leaf of ivy and placed the leaf upon the place of the wound. Against the power of the sacred blessing the force of the venomous plague could not stand. One might see the pestilent poison drawn out from the deepest entrails and contracting toward the place covered by the ivy leaf. And when it dripped down to the ground drop by drop, it left the girl’s body unharmed. Thus by the merits of Maclovius the girl’s safety was restored, joy was increased for her parents, and the newness of the miracle of Christ strengthened all who saw and heard. The father, not ungrateful for the benefit, granted a village of his own property to the servant of God, that he might have from which to give to those suffering need for Christ.

Chapter 23 #

¹ The venerable Leontius, seeing the blessed Maclovius glorified by merits and virtues, began to rejoice within himself no little that the divine mercy had willed to console him with so great and such a guest. Therefore, being about to visit his diocese, he compelled him with earnest prayers to go with him. They came accordingly to a village which antiquity had called Bream, nobly distinguished with two churches in honor of God. Leontius, in order to attach Maclovius more closely to himself, assigned one of them for his dwelling and retained the other for his own right. How much this pleased God was sufficiently shown by the fact that the Lord gladdened them there with a present miracle. When day dawned and the bishop wished to wash himself, a household boy ran quickly to draw water. While he carelessly drew it, his foot slipped, he fell into the well, and being overwhelmed by the mass of water he perished. Suddenly there arose shouting and groaning; a frequent gathering of people took place from all sides. The grieving father ran up; the wretched mother did not delay to be present, with neglected face and uncovered body and disheveled hair, moving all to compassion. He moved everyone, and especially his parents; for the boy was in the flower of a delightful age, already about twelve years old. The crowd of those running together increased the tumult, for the boy was of noble parentage. Leontius, pressing grief in his heare yout retaining hope and good faith in the Lord, ordered the body of the deceased to be carried into the church which he had assigned to the portion of Saint Maclovius. Until the dawn of the following day the parents kept watch around the body with solemn observance. But the servants of God, spending the night in prayer, did not despair of His goodness. When morning came, Saint Maclovius dismissed everyone from the church, retaining only two monks with him, with whom he might more familiarly beg the Lord. With them, therefore, having bent his knees seven times, he prayed to God as fervently as he could until he perceived the soul of the innocent boy returning to his stiffened limbs. When the boy arose and stood present as a witness of the miracle, what joy the bishops had, what amazement the people standing by experienced, what thanks all together rendered with one voice to the Almighty—it is superfluous to repeat with many words. For the miracle which the Divinity had shown to commend the holiness of His servant was more widely spread abroad by the nobility of the boy who had been raised, and was more gratefully received by the affectionate love of his parents. O man worthy of praise in all things! O holy man to be compared with the saints in the magnificence of miracles! who himself also, after the example of Jesus his Lord, raised three dead persons by the most powerful invocation of the Trinity.

Chapter 24 #

¹ Nor will I omit from the catalogue of so many virtues that which was also done in the district of Saintonge. A certain woman, named Bona, who lived her life praiseworthily in the continence of widowhood, had been overwhelmed with blindness for fourteen years. When she was faithfully presented to the sight of the holy man, she was restored to her former light.

Chapter 25 #

¹ But those men who in Brittany had embittered the man of God and by the wickedness of their obstinacy had endured that both they and their land were cursed by him could not escape the vengeance of the curse. For the land, cursed because of the works of the impious, was made barren and unfruitful both in crops and in the fruits of every kind. Its inhabitants moreover, consumed by a thousand kinds of diseases, began in various ways to be afflicted: some were stricken with weakness of their limbs, others were foul with leprosy, others grieved that they were deprived of sight; some lamented that they were deprived of the use of speech, others complained that their hearing was diminished. Nor was there any among them who escaped the judgment of heavenly vengeance. At length, recognizing their fault late through the punishment of their sin, and neither willing nor able any longer to endure the burden of the curse and vengeance, after taking counsel together they resolved humbly to implore pardon from the holy man. Therefore, having sent a delegation to him, they ask with contrition of heart that they be absolved from that curse, promising that, if he should deign to return to them, they would thereafter obey him without any contradiction. The lover of piety and mercy, Maclovius, when he received the repentance of his countrymen, referred the whole matter for counsel to the venerable Leontius of Saintes. Leontius judged that this ought to be referred to God Himself. Each of them therefore, having appointed for themselves a fast of three days, prayed that it might be revealed to them by the Lord what ought to be done in this matter. While they were praying, an angel of the Lord stood by Maclovius and suggested to him these words from the mouth of God: “It is necessary, O friend of God, to revisit Brittany, to remove every curse, to heal the people with a saving blessing, and to restore the fertility of the land. Afterwards you must return to the Santones, because there you are soon to die.” The holy man therefore, according to the angelic revelation, returned to his homeland, sanctified the land the people with his blessing, and by prayer commended them to God, the giver of all good things. Thus the whole land was filled with abundant plenty through his blessing, which before had been condemned through his curse. In this way it became plain to all that the pious bishop had not pronounced that curse through any excess of ill-will, but rather through a beneficial severity of goodwill, so that through that necessity they might at least unwillingly be drawn to repentance. Finally the Britons, having obtained the fulfillment of their request, the prince and nobles of the kingdom as well as the clergy and bishops gathered together as one and begged the blessed man, bowing down before him, that he would deign to spend the rest of his life among them, so that through living with him they might merit to obtain the grace of God. But he refused that this could be done, and at the same time humbly explained to them the reason for his inability and foretold that the time of his calling was drawing near, and said that he had learned from the words of the angel that this had been determined for him by God among the Santones. The Britons, weeping and fearing that the traces of heavenly wrath still remained, since they were not worthy either in life or in death to have such a patron, accompanied him with the joy of peace and affection and only with difficulty at last allowed themselves to be separated from him.

Chapter 26 #

¹ Therefore, having returned to the Santones, both by night and by day he labored the more vigilantly in watching over himself, the more certainly he had learned that the Lord was near, so that, at whatever hour He might come, he might open to Him who knocked, watchful and prepared. For he who through so long a time of life had fought the good fight and at last had finished the course demanded from religion the crown of righteousness which the just Judge had laid up for him [2 Tim. 4:7–8]. Therefore he returned to the earth what was its own; heaven with the rejoicing of its saints received his spirit. About to receive the reward of his labors, he was led on a wondrous way by the hands of angels. For he who on earth had lived an angelic life now rejoices eternally in heaven, sharing their fellowship. He lived one hundred and thirty years and died on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of September.

Chapter 27 #

¹ Leontius the bishop, rejoicing over the treasure divinely destined for him and to profit his successors forever, decreed to honor him with a noble rite of burial; and having built a new church, he buried his body in it with fitting reverence, as the instrument of the Holy Spirit. Nor could he be hidden on earth whose merit was already so great in heaven. For on the very day on which he was placed in the mausoleum, sight was restored to two blind men and a demoniac was freed from the assault of a demon. On the third day after the burial, healing was restored to a certain cripple and speech to a mute man. Afterwards, through the merits of Saint Maclovius, the Lord performed there so many miracles that neither tongue can recount them nor parchment contain them. Through the many and frequent intercessions of this saint may Almighty God assist us and all who celebrate his praises, He who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.