De Miraculis Sancti Martini Episcopi

OF SAINT GEORGE FLORENTIUS GREGORY, BISHOP OF TOURS, FOUR BOOKS ON THE MIRACLES OF SAINT MARTIN THE BISHOP.

BOOK ONE.

CHAPTER ONE.

That Severus wrote the Life of Saint Martin.

There are many who have written down the virtues of Saint Martin, whether in verse or in prose. The first of these was that Severus Sulpicius, whose fervor of love for the saint of God was so great that, while he was still living in this world, he wrote one book concerning the wonders of his life, and afterward, after the blessed man's passing, he wrote two books which he wished to be called Dialogues. In these he inserted several accounts of the virtues of hermits and anchorites, as related by Posthumianus. But in no one could he find Martin to be inferior, whom he equated with the apostles and the saints of old, so that he even said that Greece was indeed fortunate, which deserved to hear the Apostle preaching; but neither were the Gauls forsaken by Christ, to whom the Lord granted to have Martin.

CHAPTER 11.

That the blessed Paulinus also composed the same life in verse.

The blessed Paulinus also, bishop of the city of Nola, after the verses he wrote concerning his virtues, which Severus set forth in prose, included in five books those miracles which happened after his deeds and passing, that is, in the sixth book of his work. For he says: When demoniacs were being carried through the railings of the basilica in aerial flight, and often, by the impulse of the demon, were torn away and cast into the well which is in that same basilica, they were afterward taken up unharmed, with the people looking on. And we have seen this done in that same well even in our own times. Another demon, too, dragged a vessel it had acquired headlong to the river, as if about to plunge into it the prey it had seized. But the help of the blessed Confessor did not fail the one who was about to perish. For entering the river and seeking the farther bank, he received no harm, but came out even with his garments dry; and when he had reached the cell of the monastery of Majoris, he appeared cleansed. This man, too, Paulinus testifies, was accustomed to utter many cries, and very often to speak in the tongue of unknown peoples, and to confess the temptations and confess his crimes. But, as we have said, after he touched the threshold of the Saint, he departed sound. Egidius also, when he was besieged by enemies and, with comfort shut off from him, was troubled and assailed, was freed by the invocation of the blessed Man, once his enemies were put to flight.

And the demoniac confessed in the middle of the basilica, at the very hour in which it had happened, that this had been granted through the intercession of Saint Martin. A certain girl, weighed down by the fluid of paralysis and, what is worse, entangled in the error of fanatical worship, sought the blessed man's tomb, and after vigils had been celebrated, she was restored to health. But when she had been recalled again to the vomit of idolatry, she incurred a second time the illness from which she had been freed by the blessed Pontiff's favor. A certain rabid Hun, driven by the instigation of a demon, violently seized the crown of the tomb which declared the Saint's merit. Soon deprived of light, he restored the plunder under compulsion of pain, and received back the light he had lost. But a certain man, stirred up by the tempter, drew his sword and, when he attempted to strike someone in the atrium of the Confessor, his anger was straightway turned back upon himself, and with the swift judgment of God following, he pierced himself through with that same blade. Then, when the people joyfully desired to bring columns for the adornment of the blessed temple, a certain man who was envious of and opposed to this work, shut up in his boat, threatened many things because he did not provide any assistance to those seeking help for the wagons. And when in his pride he struck his horse, he was hurled headlong into a small stream, and in the bosom of the watery gulf, suffocated by his own blows, he died. Then, with a young man going ahead, the columns were carried all the way to the blessed temple. Also, as often as oil had been placed at the blessed tomb, they report that they saw it increased.

But the holy bishop Perpetuus, rightly to be proclaimed a disciple of the Blessed one, brought a flask of oil to the holy tomb, so that the power of the righteous man poured into it might sanctify it. And when the dust had been scraped from the marble that covers the holy limbs and mixed into the liquid, the oil overflowed from it to such an extent that the priest's garment, fragrant with a nectar-like odor, was drenched with a wave of oil. And many sick persons recovered health from this. Indeed, storms were often kept away from the fields purified by this liquid. But when a certain devout man full of faith had come to the holy church, and thirsting for the grace of the Saint, was considering what he might take away from the blessed shrine for healing, drawing near to the tomb, he begged the sacristan to grant him for a little while some of the blessed wax from the tomb. Taking it, he departed joyful; he placed it with confidence on the field in which he had sown his crop. But when a most savage storm came, which in previous years had often laid waste the crop in that region, it was kept away by this blessing, and it did no harm there any longer, as it had been accustomed to do. And when the magnificent and longed-for festival of Easter arrived, the people came devoutly to the blessed one's little cell, in which he had often dwelt with angels.

And kissing and bedewing with tears each place where the blessed man had sat or prayed, or where he had taken food, or had given rest to his body after many labors, having prepared a fleet of ships, he makes ready to cross the river, so that he might approach the blessed tomb and, begging pardon with weeping, prostrate himself before the Confessor. But as they were sailing, the wind being stirred up by the impulse of the tempter, the fleet is sunk in the deep, and both sexes are torn away by the river. And when they were being whirled about amid the storms of the waves, and all hope of escaping had perished, one voice from all is raised in a cry, saying: O merciful Martin, snatch your servants, men and women, from the present destruction! At these words, behold, a gentle breath of air, lifting up the limbs of the drowned from the waves unharmed, restored them all to the shore they desired, with the wave serving them: nor did any one perish; but all were saved, and passed the paschal feast with the greatest exultation. For that power was not lacking which, dividing the Jordan, led the people through beneath the masses of waters with the riverbank dry, when Joshua, taking twelve stones from the bed of the river and bearing the apostolic signs, consecrated them on the shore to which he had come; or that power which, embracing the perishing Peter with its pious right hand, snatched him lest he perish; or which drew the sailor of the drowned, invoking the Lord of Martin, from the deep of the sea to the shore he desired.

A certain man, seeking for a blessing to take something from the holy shrine, received a little wax from the tomb of the Saint and stored it within the inner chambers of his house as a heavenly treasure. It happened, however, that by the envy of the tempter a fire was kindled and the house was encircled by devouring flame, and spreading through the dry timbers it laid everything waste. Meanwhile a cry is raised to heaven, and the aid of the blessed Martin is implored. He remembered also the little piece of wax brought from the Saint's temple. This was found and thrown into the fire, and it immediately extinguished the whole conflagration, and by a new miracle the wax, which was accustomed to feed fire, suppressed the violence of the fire by the power of holiness. Paulinus wrote these things in the sixth book of his work in verse, having received a brief account of them from the holy bishop Perpetuus. But when the document of this brief account had come to him, his grandson was held by a grievous affliction. And he, trusting in the power of the Saint, said: If it pleases you, blessed Martin, that I should write something in your praise, let it appear upon this sick one. And having laid the document upon his breast, with the fever immediately departing he was healed, who had been sick. But also the priest Fortunatus wrote the whole work of his Life in four books in verse.

Drawn by these examples, though unskilled, we shall nevertheless attempt to recount to memory, as far as we are able to discover, certain of the virtues of the holy and most blessed Martin which were performed after his death: because this will be the zeal of writing which is not found inserted in that work of Severus or Paulinus.

CHAPTER III.

Concerning the ordination and passing of the blessed Martin.

Lucidus and glorious throughout the whole world, the lord Martin, as the world was already passing away, rising like a new sun, as the earlier History narrates, born at Sabaria in Pannonia, is directed, with God's help, to the salvation of the Gauls. Illustrating them with virtues and signs, in the city of Tours he received, unwilling, with the people compelling him, the honor of the episcopate: in which, leading a glorious and almost inimitable life, for five five-year periods, with twice two months besides and ten days, in the eighty-first year of his age, in the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus, at midnight he rested in peace. It is therefore most manifest that his glorious and praiseworthy-to-the-whole-world passing was on the Lord's Day, and this we shall prove in what follows by certain testimonies. And it is reckoned to have been of no small merit that the Lord received him into paradise on that day on which the same Lord and Redeemer had risen victorious from the dead; and that he who had always celebrated the Lord's solemnities undefiled should, after the pressures of the world, be placed in rest on the Lord's Day.

CHAPTER IV.

How the passing of the saint was revealed to the blessed bishop Severinus by those singing.

But the blessed Severinus, bishop of the city of Cologne, a man of honorable life and praiseworthy in all things, while on the Lord's day he was going around the holy places according to custom after the morning hymns with his clerics, at that hour at which the blessed one died, he heard a choir of singers on high. And having summoned the archdeacon, he asked whether the voices which he himself heard attentively struck his ears. He answered: By no means. Then he said: Listen more carefully. But the archdeacon began to stretch his neck upward, to prick up his ears, and to stand on the very tips of his toes, supported by his staff. But I believe that he was not of equal merit, by whom these things did not deserve to be heard. Then, having prostrated themselves on the ground, both he and the blessed bishop together beseech the Lord that divine piety permit him to hear this. But when they had risen, the old man again asks: What did you hear? He said: I hear the voices of those singing as if in heaven, but what it is I do not know at all. To whom he said: I will tell you what it is. My lord Martin the bishop has departed from this world; and now angels are carrying him on high with singing. And so that there might be a little delay, so that these things might be heard, the devil with his wicked angels tried to hold him back, and finding nothing of his own in him, he went away confounded. What then will there be for us sinners, if the enemy part wished to harm so great a priest?

While the priest was saying this, the archdeacon noted the time and swiftly sent men to Tours to inquire carefully into the matter. When they arrived, they learned most clearly that the blessed Martin had passed away on that very day and hour on which Saint Severinus heard the choir singing. Moreover, if we turn to the History of Severus, he himself wrote that it was revealed to him in the book of life at that same hour.

CHAPTER V.

How the same passing was shown to the blessed Ambrose.

At that time the blessed Ambrose, whose flowers of eloquence are fragrant throughout the whole Church today, was bishop over the city of Milan. He had this custom for celebrating the Lord's day: when the lector came with his book, he would not presume to read before the saint had ordered it by a nod. It happened, then, that on that Lord's day, after the prophetic reading had been recited, with the lector already standing before the altar who was to bring forth the reading of the blessed Paul, the most blessed bishop Ambrose fell asleep over the holy altar. Many saw this, and since no one at all dared to wake him, after a space of nearly two or three hours had passed, they woke him, saying: The hour has already passed. Let my lord bid the lector read the reading; for the people are waiting and are by now very weary. But the blessed Ambrose answered, saying: Do not be disturbed. For this sleep has greatly benefited me, to whom the Lord has deigned to show such a miracle.

For know that my brother Martin the priest has departed from the body, and that I performed the office of his funeral, and when the service had been completed according to custom, I did not finish the little cap, as you urge me. Then they, astounded and likewise marveling, noted the day and the time, carefully inquiring. And they found that it was the very day and time of the saint's passing, which the blessed confessor had said he had attended in his obsequies. The blessed man, at whose passing the number of the saints sings, the chorus of angels exults, and the army of all the heavenly powers runs to meet him: the devil is confounded by his presumption, the Church is strengthened by his virtue, priests are glorified by the revelation; whom Michael received with the angels, Mary welcomed with the choirs of virgins, paradise holds him joyful with the saints! But why do we attempt to speak in his praise, when we are not able to accomplish it? For he himself is his praise, whose praise never departed from his mouth. For would that we might be able to set forth even a simple history.

CHAPTER VI.

Concerning the translation of the blessed body of Saint Martin.

For it is worthwhile also to include in our reading how his holy little body was, with the angel's consent, translated to the place where it is now adored. In the sixty-fourth year after the passing of the glorious lord Martin, the blessed Perpetuus obtained the chair of the dignity of the see of Tours. And having attained this summit, with the great consent of the devoted faithful, he resolved to lay the foundations of a temple, larger than they had been, over the blessed limbs; and applying himself to this with keen zeal, he wondrously brought it to completion. Concerning this building there was much that we might say; but because it stands before us, we have thought it better to be silent about it. Therefore, when the desired time had come for the priest that the temple should be dedicated and the holy little body should be transferred from the place where it had been buried, the blessed Perpetuus summoned for the feast day the neighboring bishops, and also no small multitude of abbots and various clerics. And because he wished to do this on the Kalends of July, after keeping vigil one night, at daybreak they took up a hoe and began to dig out the earth that was over the holy tomb. When it was uncovered, they laid hands on it to move it, and there the whole multitude laboring accomplished nothing at all through the whole day. Then, after keeping vigil another night, trying in the morning, they could do nothing whatsoever. Then, disturbed and terrified, they did not know what to do.

One of the clerics said to them: "Know that after this third day the anniversary of his episcopate has customarily fallen, and perhaps he admonishes you that on this day he ought to be translated." Then, persisting in fasts and prayers and continual psalmody day and night, they spent those three days without interruption. On the fourth day, however, approaching and laying hands on it, they were wholly unable to move the tomb. But when all were struck with terror, and were already standing at this point, about to cover again with earth the vessel they had uncovered, there appeared to them an aged man of venerable white hair, bringing forth whiteness like snow, saying that he was an abbot, and he said to them: "How long will you be troubled and delay? Do you not see lord Martin standing ready to help you, if you put your hands to it?" Then, throwing down the pallium he was wearing, he placed his hand on the sarcophagus with the rest of the priests, with crosses and candles made ready, and the antiphon having been imposed, they all raised their voices in psalmody on high. Then at the old man's effort the sarcophagus was at once moved with the utmost ease, and by the Lord's consent it was brought to the place where it is now adored. When it had been arranged according to the priest's wish, and masses had also been said, when they came to the banquet, seeking the old man carefully, they found him nowhere. Indeed, there was no one at all who had seen him leave the basilica. I believe there was some angelic power, which both declared that it had seen the blessed man and thereafter appeared to no one.

In that place, from that day, many miracles were performed which have not been written down through negligence; but we have been unable to keep silent about as many as we either saw happen in our own time or certainly learned had happened.

CHAPTER VII.

Concerning Theodemundus the mute.

A certain young man came, Theodemundus by name, with the passage for hearing and speaking blocked; he kept running back day after day to the holy basilica, and bowing down in prayer, he moved only his lips. For he could utter no voice, though his mind was sound, but he was afflicted in the function of speech. He seemed to pray so earnestly that he was often seen to weep amid those silent words. If anyone, out of regard for a reward, gave him something in alms, he immediately distributed it to similar poor people, and asking a coin from others by a nod, he handed out payments to the needy. And when he had stayed in that holy place in this devotion for the space of three years, one day, admonished by divine mercy, he came before the holy altar; and standing with his eyes raised to heaven and his hands, there burst from his mouth a stream of blood with putrid matter. And spitting on the ground, he began to groan heavily and to cough up certain parts, I know not what, with blood, so that it seemed as if someone were cutting his throat with a blade. But also a foul discharge hung from his mouth like bloody threads.

Then, the bindings of his ears and throat having been broken, he raised himself up and again lifted his eyes and hands to heaven, and with his mouth still bloody he first broke forth into this utterance: I give you great thanks, most blessed lord Martin, because, opening my mouth, you have made me after a long time loosen my words in your praises. But with all the people marveling and astonished at such a miracle, they asked whether he had also received hearing at the same time. He answered that he freely heard everything, with the people bearing witness. Therefore, restored to health in this way, he was taken up by Queen Chrodechild for the virtue and reverence of Saint Martin, and placed in school, and he committed the entire series of the psalms to memory. God, making him a perfect cleric, permitted him to remain in the service of the Church for many years afterward.

CHAPTER VIII.

Concerning Chainemunda, a blind woman.

A certain woman, by name Chainemunda, deprived of the light of her eyes, not knowing how to keep to the road by sight unless led by another, very devout and full of faith, came to the venerable temple of the blessed bishop Martin. But she was not only, as we said, blind, but also full of ulcers over her whole body. For putrefaction with pustules had beset all her limbs, and she was of a miserable appearance and horrible to see, so that she was thought by the people to be leprous. And when she had been running to the church of the glorious bishop by feeling her way each day, after nearly three years, as she stood before the tomb, her eyes were opened, so that she clearly saw all things.

And with all weakness of his limbs removed, and the moisture that flowed from his body dried up, and new skin coming over it, she was restored to her former health in such a way that not even a trace of the infirmity remained in her body. And she, living many years thereafter, continually gave thanks to almighty God, because He had thus restored her to soundness through His blessed Confessor.

CHAPTER IX.

Concerning the blessed Bishop Baudinus.

I will not omit how the stormy sea, invoked by the present name of him, was calmed. When the blessed Baudinus, bishop of the city of Tours, was crossing to a country estate, a boat carrying him, suddenly there came a most dreadful storm-cloud with violence of wind, and the calm sea was stirred by the blast of the gale, and the ship was thrown into confusion by the mass of the waves. First the prow is lifted into the waves, then it is plunged down amid the gaps of the waters. Some hang on the slope of the watery mountain, others are swallowed into the depths as the waves open: but not even the yardarm remained, which bore the sign of the blessed cross. Then, their limbs loosened with fear, and all prepared to die without hope of life, the old man prostrated himself in prayer with tears, and stretching both palms to the stars, he implored the aid of the blessed Martin, and cried out that he should deign to be present with him swiftly. But one of the faithless said: That Martin whom you invoke has already abandoned you, nor does he help you in this necessity. Truly I believe that this voice was uttered by the tempter, so that he might disturb the blessed priest from prayer.

But he, repelling this dart of faith with the breastplate of faith, begged more and more for the protection of the holy man, and at the same time urged that all should pray. And while these things were being done, suddenly there came over them a most sweet odor, like balsam, in the ship, and as if someone were walking about with a censer, the fragrance of incense spread abroad. At that odor the violence of the winds gave way, and the masses of the waters standing against them being broken, the sea was restored to calm. All, already given over to death, marvel at the peace of the waves, and straightway, serenity being granted, they are brought back to the shore. Which no one doubts was calmed by the coming of the blessed man. Then all together give thanks to the Lord, because by the invocation of their Bishop he had deigned to free them from this danger.

CHAPTER X.

Concerning him who carried the relics of the Saint to Cambrai.

In his time a certain man from the church of Cambrai sought the relics of blessed Martin. Having received them in the evening, when he set out singing psalms, and when he had crossed the river Loire, it grew late, and suddenly the sky was darkened; and behold, great lightning and great thunder came down. While these things were happening, two lances of the boys, sending forth fiery lights, provided light for those going. And the flashing spears went along, presenting no less a marvel than a benefit to the travelers, and showing the power of the blessed Bishop.

CHAPTER XI.

On the conversion of the king and people of Galicia, or, On the Suevi.

The barren tongue fails, desiring to recount such great virtues. The son of a certain Charraricus, king of Galicia, was gravely ill, and had fallen into such a torpor that he throbbed only with his breath alone. But his father had subjected himself, together with the inhabitants of that place, to the foul Arian sect. Moreover, that region was defiled with leprosy more than other provinces. And when the king saw his son pressed to the last extremity, he said to his men: Tell me, I pray, of what religion that Martin was, who they say shone with many virtues in Gaul? They said to him: While still in the body, he guided the people of the catholic faith with pastoral care, asserting that the Son ought to be venerated with the Father and the Holy Spirit in equal substance and omnipotence; but even now, seated in the assembly of heaven, he does not cease to provide for his own people by constant benefits. He said: If these things that you report are true, let my faithful friends run all the way to his church, carrying many gifts; and if they obtain healing for my little son, then, having inquired into the catholic faith, I will believe what he believed. Therefore, having weighed out gold and silver to the weight of his son, he sent it to the venerable place of the tomb. When these things had been brought there, with the gifts offered they entreated at the Blessed One's tomb for the sick boy. But since the sect still sat in his father's breast, he did not immediately deserve to receive complete healing.

But the messengers returned and told the king that they had seen many miracles at the blessed tomb, saying: "Why your son has not been healed, we do not know." But he, understanding that his son could not be healed before he believed Christ equal with the Father, built a church in honor of blessed Martin; and when it was completed with wondrous work, he proclaimed: "If I am deemed worthy to receive the relics of the righteous man, whatever the priests preach, I will believe." And so he again sent his men with a greater gift; coming to the blessed place, they asked for relics. And when these were offered to them according to custom, they said: "We will not do it that way, but, we ask, let leave be granted us to place down what we may afterward take up again." Then they placed a hanging piece of silk cloth upon the blessed tomb, saying: "If we find favor before the patron we have sought, what we have placed down will weigh more than what follows, and what has been placed down for us will be for a blessing, and what has been sought through faith." So after keeping vigil one night, at daybreak they weighed what they had placed down. Into these such grace of the blessed man was infused that they lifted the airy balance on high as long as the moment could allow it to rise. And when the relics had been lifted up with great triumph, they heard the voices of those singing who had been thrown into prison in the city, and marveling at the sweetness of the sounds, they asked the guards what this was. They said: "The relics of lord Martin are being sent into Galicia, and for that reason there is such singing.

Then those men, weeping, invoked Saint Martin, that he might free them from the prison's dungeon by his visitation. And when the guards were terrified and put to flight, and the bars of the chains were broken, the freed people rose from their bonds, and so came, with the crowd looking on, to the holy relics, weeping as they kissed the blessed remains, and at the same time giving thanks to blessed Martin for their release, because he had deigned in his mercy to save them. Then, when their offenses had been pardoned by the judge through the priest, they were dismissed unharmed. Seeing this, the bearers of the relics rejoiced greatly, saying: "Now we know that the blessed bishop deigns to show himself favorable to us sinners." And so, giving thanks, with a prosperous voyage, with the protection of their patron attending them, with gentle waves, with the blasts of the storm, with sail hanging, with the sea calm, they swiftly reached the port of Galicia. Then a certain man, named Martin, from a distant region, who is now held as a priest in that same place, was warned by God and arrived. But I do not believe that this happened without divine providence either, that he set out from his homeland on the very day on which the blessed relics were lifted from their place, and thus entered the port of Galicia together with those same relics. Receiving these relics with the utmost veneration, they confirmed their faith by miracles. For the king's son, all sickness having been dismissed, hastened healthy to meet them.

But blessed Martin, having received the high priesthood by the grace of the sacerdotal office, and King [Chlothar?] having confessed the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, was anointed with his whole household. The foulness of leprosy is driven away from the people, and all the sick are healed, nor ever afterward up to now has the disease of leprosy appeared upon anyone there. And the Lord bestowed such grace there at the coming of the blessed patron's relics, that the miracles which were done there on that day would be long in recounting. For the people there are now so ready in the love of Christ that all would most willingly undergo martyrdom, if a time of persecution were at hand.

CHAPTER XII.

Concerning Queen Ultrogotha.

For indeed Ultrogotha the queen also, having heard of the miracles which are done at the place where the holy limbs rest, as if she were coming to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sought with devout heart to look upon them. Abstaining therefore from food and sleep, and with most generous alms going before her, she came to the holy place, and having entered the basilica, fearing and trembling, she did not at all dare to approach the blessed tomb, proclaiming herself unworthy, and that she could not approach there, her sins standing in the way. Yet, having been led on in vigils and prayers and flowing tears for one night, in the morning, after many gifts had been offered, she asked that masses be called forth in honor of the blessed Confessor.

While these things were being celebrated, suddenly three blind men, who had for a long time sat deprived of light at the feet of the blessed bishop, were surrounded by an exceeding brightness and received the light which they had once lost. At this deed a shout is raised to heaven by those magnifying God. To this miracle the queen runs, the people run together also, all marvel at the faith of the woman, all marvel at the glory of the confessor; but above all things our God is praised, who bestows such power upon his saints that he deigns to work such things through them, assigning among the other lights of this world the blessed Martin as a vast star, through whom its darknesses shine forth; who truly, like a fruitful olive tree, day by day yields fruit to the Lord from the conversions of the wretched.

CHAPTER XIII.

Concerning him who was afflicted by a pustule and brought to the last extremity.

But neither must it be passed over in silence, which I record that my venerable fellow servant the priest Fortunatus reported. A certain man in Italy, while he was so afflicted by a poisoned pustule and brought into danger that he despaired of living, asked some people, in the name of the blessed Martin, who he was. Then one of those standing by asserted that he had been [him]. The sick man asks what he had brought from there as a blessing. He denies that he had presumed to take anything. He asks him again what garment he was then wearing when he had come to the church of the Saint. He replied that it was the one he was then wearing upon himself. Then a piece cut from the garment was faithfully laid upon the pustule.

As soon as he touched the sick man's limbs, the poison's force lost its power over the pustule's wound; and this remedy both displayed the Saint's power and restored the sick man to health. Declaring that this special healing flourishes among the Italians, he says that if anyone is struck by the wound of a pustule, he should take refuge at the nearest oratory of the blessed Martin that there may be, and whatever is first snatched—whether from the veil of the door or from the little cloths that hang from the walls—if it is placed upon the sick man and clings to him, it becomes healing. This remedy, as he himself, the witness of his own father, asserts, delivered his own father in the flesh from the death of the pustule.

CHAPTER XIV.

Concerning the castle of Italy called Tertium.

He also reported in these words that on the summit of a castle in the region of Italy which is called Tertium, an oratory of the blessed Martin was founded; and there, at the neighboring tower, whenever by the treachery of the enemy an incursion of barbarians approached by night ambush, whoever among the watchmen in the tower had a lance, or a sword, or a knife, or drew a stylus from its sheath, for nearly the space of an hour such light was given off from the whole blade as if that iron were turned into a wax candle. And presently the guards, warned by this very sign and more intent upon their watches, drove out the lurking enemies with stones. This is reckoned, by right judgment, to be by the aid of the holy Martin, who by his nearness showed diligent and present guardianship to the peoples devoted to him. And this power we learned from the aforesaid Fortunatus.

CHAPTER XV.

Concerning the oil of the lamp above the picture of the Blessed [Martin].

He also confessed that for himself at Ravenna, and for his companion in rhetoric, Felix, light was restored when they touched their eyes with the oil that burned in the lamp beneath the painted image of the blessed Martin.

CHAPTER XVI.

Concerning Placidus the procurator.

Likewise in the aforesaid city, when Placidus the procurator, given up by the physicians, fled to another oratory of the maidens near to him, and lay in the atrium, the blessed Martin came by night to the abbess in a dream; and when she asked what he was doing, he said that he was resting. The Saint said to her: "I had already [begun] to return to Gaul, but on account of this man who lies outside in the atrium, I confess that I have been delayed." Then the abbess arose, and relating the vision, she made the man believe that he would be freed from danger, which he certainly deserved to obtain. But, as the aforesaid presbyter asserts, it is much more desirable to venerate Martin's glory in the regions of Italy than, if it be said, in the place where his own limbs lie buried: to such an extent that the abundance of miracles is neither gathered in scattered words, nor are things so infinite hidden away in pages.

CHAPTER XVII.

Concerning what was done at Amiens.

At the gate of Amiens, where the blessed man once wrapped the shivering poor man in his cut cloak, an oratory has been built by the faithful, in which religious maidens now serve in honor of the holy bishop, having but little means, except that the devotion of the devout often sustains them. At one time, however, they had a few beehives, which had been given to them; and when a certain envious man had seen them, he said within himself: "If only I could carry off something from these hives." The following night, urged on by the demon, he took away three hives and loaded them onto a boat, so that, having crossed the river, he might more easily secure for himself what he had stolen. But, I believe, this theft proved a hindrance to him, as was afterward clearly shown. So when at sunrise men were hurrying to the river's landing place to cross over, they see the boat at the shore, and the bees swarming out in crowds from the hives, and the man lying prostrate apart. But thinking him overcome by sleep, since they had already learned from the maidens that the theft had been committed, they hasten as quickly as possible to bind him; but on approaching they find him dead. At once they make the matter known to the maidens, and restore to their cells what had been carried off by theft, marveling that the sentence of divine vengeance had fallen upon the man so swiftly.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Concerning the Oratory at Siroialense.

So too at the oratory of Siroialense, whose altar the blessed Confessor's own hand consecrated, while many obtained the benefits they sought, a certain paralytic came, and having kept a wax candle burning all night at the height of his own stature, when morning came and light was restored to the world, he, with his steps loosed, leaped up sound before the witnessing people.

CHAPTER XIX.

Concerning Bella, the blind woman.

Nor shall I pass over in silence what he conferred on blindness, when a devout woman sought the blessed man's tomb. A certain woman from the territory of Tours, by name Bella, having lost the light of her eyes, was gravely afflicted. And when she was pressed day and night by unceasing pains, she said: If I were led to the basilica of the lord Martin, I would at once receive health. For I trust that he can pour light into my eyes, who was able to heal the poor man's leprosy by kissing him. Then, with someone leading her by the hand, she came to the holy place, and there persisting in fasts and frequent prayers, she deserved to receive the sight she had lost. And she was so healed that she who had come blind, led by another, returned as one who would henceforth be a guide to the blind in abundance. Afterwards she took a husband and bore sons, and, restored to health, gave thanks to her restorer.

CHAPTER XX.

Concerning Ammonius Cast Down.

And since two or three times we have told of miracles wrought and dangers calmed by the invocation of the glorious name alone, I shall now unfold how the blessed Pontiff, when invoked, gave support to a certain man perishing on the very brink of death. A certain Ammonius, a steward of the holy basilica, while coming from a supper soaked with wine, was struck by the enemy and cast down from a high cliff that adjoins the road. Now the depth of that place was nearly two hundred feet. And as he was whirled through the depth of that precipice and flew downward without the beating of wings, he cried out for the aid of Saint Martin at every moment of his descent. Then, as if shaken from his mount by the hands of others, he was thrown down upon the trees that were in the valley. And so, descending little by little through each branch, he came all the way to the ground without peril of death. Yet, so that the work of the plotter might not seem altogether frustrated, he lightly injured one of his feet, which had been begun. But coming to the church of the glorious lord Martin, and applying himself to prayer, he lost all the force of his pain.

CHAPTER XX.

Concerning another man hanged.

I do not think it superfluous to insert into the reading how the invocation of his name restored life to a man about to die. In a certain place a man was seized for the crimes of theft, and after being subjected to severe beatings, he was led to the gallows to be condemned to hanging. And when he had come to this end, with death now near, he asked for time to pray. Then, just as he was, with his hands bound behind his back, he threw himself prone upon the ground and began with tears to invoke the name of the blessed Martin, that even if he should not come to his aid in this necessity, he might at least excuse him from his sins thereafter. And when his prayer was finished and he had been hanged, the soldiers [the attendants] withdrew from that place; but he, with his mouth half open and his lips moving a little, was ever striving to implore the aid of Saint Martin. Yet when they had departed, at once his hands and feet were loosed. And as he hung thus for two days, it was revealed to a certain religious woman that she should take him down. She came and found him still alive. Then, with the help of the blessed Martin, she took him down from the gallows and brought him safe to the church; and there those who saw him were stunned and marveled, saying: How does he live? And they asked him how he had been freed. But he said: The blessed Martin freed me from present death and has preserved me until now.

I consider this power shown in this man, according to the understanding of my own mind, to be no less than the raising of a dead man: for the blessed Confessor, having broken, so to speak, the gaping maw of death, drew him back from its mouth and restored him to life. And he is kept alive in the world to this day as a testimony to the power of the blessed man.

CHAPTER XXII.

Concerning Leomer, who was crippled.

I will not pass over what was also done in the diocese of Condat. That place is made illustrious by frequent miracles. For from this place the blessed man, having cast off the burden of the flesh, departed to the Lord. Now a certain servant of a man of Angers, named Leomer, having been struck down by a flow of blood, was stiffened with a contracted hand and a bound tongue; and having been held in this weakness for a long time, he performed no work either for himself or for his master. He, admonished by faith, when he had kept vigil at the blessed man's basilica, with his hand made straight and his tongue freed from every impediment, testified to the peoples the miracle of the blessed Martin, saying: "Behold, what the saint of God has wrought this night, prove, with me as witness." But when he had returned to his master, he told him all that had been done. But he, believing the power of the glorious Pontiff not at all, assigned him to his usual service. And when he had begun to work, he was again reduced to weakness.

But his master, understanding that this was a mystery of God, sent him again to the holy place to which he had gone before; and there, spending the night in the greatest devotion, when day came he was restored to the health he had previously merited.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Concerning Wiliacharius, loosed from chains.

I judged it worthy and not to be omitted from my account, what I heard Wiliacharius the priest relating. At the time when the same Wiliacharius, through the treachery of Chramnus, had incurred the anger of King Chlotar, he fled to the basilica of Saint Martin, and there, placed in chains, he was kept under guard; but by the power of the blessed Bishop the chains were shattered and could not hold. Yet I know not by what negligence, as it was drawing on, he was seized outside the atrium. Laden with iron and with his hands bound behind his back, they were leading him to the king. But he began to cry out with a loud voice and to pray that the blessed Martin would have mercy on him, and not suffer him to go away captive, who had devoutly sought his temple. And straightway, at his cries, while the blessed Bishop Euphronius prayed from the wall of the city opposite the basilica, his hands were loosed, and all the links of the chains were broken and fell down. But when he had been brought all the way to the king, there again he was held bound in fetters and chains. Yet when the name of the oft-mentioned patron was invoked, all the iron upon him was so shattered as if you might think it had been like the clay of a potter.

This alone remained in his bonds, that he could not be loosed from the chain until he had invoked that most sacred name; but once it was invoked, all things were loosed. Then the king, of a deeper understanding, seeing the power of Saint Martin at work there, both freed him from the burden of his chains and restored him to his former liberty. I learned that this was done in the presence of many witnesses from the mouth of the priest Wiliacharius himself. Would that the blessed Confessor deign to manifest himself to me in such power, and so loose the bonds of my sins, as he crushed the vast weight of chains upon him.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Concerning Alpinus, the lame count

Alpinus also, count of the city of Tours, when he had been grievously consumed for a whole year by a pain in one foot, and had no rest day or night, and amid the very cries of his torment continually implored the aid of the blessed Martin, the blessed Confessor appeared to him in a vision by night, smiling with a cheerful countenance and bearing his accustomed arms; when he had placed the blessed sign of the holy cross upon the infirm foot, straightway all the pain was put to flight, and he rose sound from his bed.

CHAPTER XXV.

Concerning Charigisilus, who was contracted.

After these things had been experienced, Charigisilus, referendary of King Chlothar, whose hands and feet were contracted from a humor, came to the holy basilica, and applying himself to prayer for two or three months, visited by the blessed Bishop, he deserved to obtain health for his feeble limbs; he afterward was a domestic of the aforesaid king, and rendered many benefits to the people of Tours and to those serving the blessed basilica.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Concerning Aquilinus, the demented.

I shall tell also that, how the madness of diabolical art is laid bare at his basilica. A certain man, by name Aquilinus, while he was exercising hunting with his father in the forests of Francia, incurred a most grievous terror, with the enemy lying in wait. For there was in him a trembling of the heart, and meanwhile he seemed to be deprived of his senses. But his parents, understanding that he was disturbed by the devil's injection, as is the custom of rustics, brought him ligatures and potions from soothsayers and diviners. But when these availed nothing, according to custom, they promptly sought the aids of Saint Martin, with grief compelling them, saying: He can lay bare the malice of snares, who uncovered the great shadow, as we have heard, adored under a false name of religion. Him, stirred from the region, they sent to the holy basilica, and there, containing himself in prayer with the utmost sparingness, he was assiduously demanding the aid of the Saint.

And when he had remained there for a long time in this faith, all fear having been removed, he recovered the senses he had possessed before, and forgetting his parents, to this very day he serves in that place for the benefit he received.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Concerning Charivaldus, who was disabled.

But also a certain Charivaldus, having fallen into similar snares through hunting, had lost one side, with his hand and foot disabled. He was carried by the hands of servants to the glorious temple, and submitting himself to continual fasts and prayers throughout a whole year. When he had done this, having received the health of all his limbs, he returned rejoicing to his own home. And therefore we warn that no one should consult soothsayers, because they will never profit the sick at all. For a little of the dust of the basilica is worth more than they are with the medicines of madness.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Concerning the cut rope.

Concerning the dust, or the wax of that place, or whatever anyone was able to take away from the tomb, who could ever investigate or know how many virtues are continually performed, or have been performed? Nevertheless, one manifest miracle, which I learned from the faithful, I thought it a crime to keep silent. A certain man full of faith secretly sought to carry away some token from the basilica of the Saint; and having tried many times, he was never able, since he did not presume to do so publicly. But desiring to return, at night he came to that rope by which the sign is rung; and having cut off a small piece from that rope with a knife, he carried it away with him.

And returning to the house, he thereafter granted health to many sick persons, so that it was beyond doubt that the sick man would escape, who had merited faithfully to kiss that pledge. Behold, O holy one, what you bestow upon the faithful who piously seek your walls. Through you are saved those who have devoutly brought pledges, and with your help following, they are set free. But faith, strong faith, works all these things, as the Lord says: Your faith has saved you (Luke 18:42).

CHAPTER XXIX.

Concerning King Charibert, who seized ecclesiastical property.

It seems that this too should not be passed over in silence: how the blessed man applies the protections of his servants for their defense in every way he commands. King Charibert, when, hating the clergy, he neglected the churches of God, and despising the priests, had turned aside more to luxury, it was brought to his ears that a certain place, which the basilica of Saint Martin had held for a long time, should be restored to the rights of his fisc. Now ancient antiquity had given that place the name Navicellae. And he, having accepted wicked counsel, quickly sent servants to subject that little property to his dominion. And when he did not rightly possess it, he seemed to have it, he ordered stablemen with horses to be directed to that place, and there he commanded the horses to be fed without any order of equity. So the servants, approaching, take the hay that had been heaped up for the expense of the horses. And when the enjoined service was being carried out diligently, and the horses had begun to consume the hay set before them, they are seized by madness.

And raging against one another, with their reins broken, they leap out over the plains and are put to flight; and thus wretchedly scattered, some are blinded, others are hurled headlong from rocks, others thrusting themselves into hedges are run through by the points of stakes. At length the grooms, understanding the anger of God, drive a few beyond the boundary of the place, as many as they could overtake, and receive them back sound, reporting to the king that that matter was most unjustly withheld. And therefore, when they had suffered these things, they said: Let it go, and you will have peace. He, filled with fury, is reported to have said thus: Whether justly or unjustly it ought to be restored, while I reign, this church shall not have it. And he, straightway receiving his passing by divine command, rested. But when the most glorious King Sigihert came into his kingdom, at the suggestion of the blessed Bishop Eufronius he restored this into the domain of Martin's estate, which is possessed by his church to this day. Hear these things, all you who have power. So clothe others that you do not despoil others; add this to your riches, that you bring no loss upon the churches. For God is a swift avenger of his servants. And therefore we warn that whoever of those in authority reads these things not be angry. For if he is angry, he will confess that it was said of himself.

CHAPTER XXX.

Concerning Eustochius of Poitiers.

In a like case the blessed Confessor showed himself in matters unjustly taken from him. A certain Eustochius, since he repeatedly pressed the holy bishop Eufronius with lawsuits concerning the inheritance of his kinsman Baudulf, who had made the basilica of Saint Martin his heir, the blessed pontiff, stirred by his continual injuries, restored to him something of those properties. But as he was carrying this to his own house, his only son straightway fell into a fever, and burning more grievously for one day and night, he breathed his last. So present was the onset of death to him, as swiftly as his father was made master of things not owed to him. He, after the example of Gehazi, possessed gold and silver, but—what was more precious to him—having acquired the leprosy of the soul, he lost also the lily; nor did he ever afterward deserve to obtain another.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Concerning him who committed perjury in the sacred portico.

I shall not keep silent about how present and swift divine vengeance came upon another man, who had perjured himself in the holy portico, so as to check the audacity of the faithless. Since at that matricula which the Saint by his own beneficence feeds daily from the alms of the devoted, the necessities are supplied by the faithful, the blessed poor have the custom that when many of them have dispersed in various directions, they leave behind a custodian there to receive whatever has been offered. A certain devout man, therefore, brought one triens with a view to a reward, which the custodian of the place, having collected it, did not fear to conceal from the brethren. But when the poor came together at the sixth hour, they asked the aforesaid custodian what the blessed pastor, in his accustomed mercy, had sent for them; for they had heard that something had been bestowed there. And he said with an oath: By this holy place and the powers of the lord Martin, no more than one silver coin has come here. And indeed he had not yet finished his words—the speech was still hanging on his lips—when immediately, trembling, he fell to the ground, and restored to his bed, he began to sob grievously. When asked by those standing around what was the matter with him, he answered: That triens which the poor were seeking, I swore falsely about, and therefore present vengeance scourges me; but I beg you, take it and give it back to the matricula. When it had been returned, he immediately gave up the spirit—wretched man, who, thus overtaken by wicked greed, perished in such a way that he both lost the gain of life and did not possess the losses of the money he had acquired.

But to what end does accursed greed not drive mortal hearts? You who once, in envy, sold the kingdom of heaven to a widow for two small coins, now cast this man down to the depths for a single triens. And you who hanged Judas with a noose in the betrayal of the Master, now plunge this man into Tartarus for a small coin. Let what has been said suffice, then, to check the rashness of the wicked.

CHAPTER XXXII.

How the power of the saint restored me to health from sickness.

Therefore, these matters being concluded which were done concerning others, I shall undertake to tell what the power of our present patron accomplished concerning me, unworthy as I am. In the 163rd year after the assumption of the holy and praiseworthy man the blessed Martin, bishop, while the holy bishop Eufronius was governing the church of Tours in the seventh year, in the year of the most glorious king Sigibert, I fell into sickness with grievous pustules and fever, and with the use of drink and food denied me, I was so afflicted that, all hope of the present life being lost, I thought only of the necessities of burial. For a persistent fever with burning laid siege to my limbs, seeking to drive the soul from the body. Then, already greatly exhausted, having invoked the name of the blessed Martin, bishop, I recovered a little, and with my strength still slow I began to prepare for the journey; for it had settled in my mind that I ought to visit the place of the venerable tomb. From this I was affected with such desire that I did not wish to live if I had set out too late. And I, who had scarcely escaped from the burning of my affliction, began again to be inflamed with the fever of desire.

Without delay, while I was still only a little strong, I set out on the journey with my companions, and after two or three days' stages we entered the woods; then I fell back into fever and began to be so gravely ill that everyone thought I would lose my life. Then my friends came near and, seeing me utterly worn out, said: "Let us return home; and if God wishes to call you, die in your own house; but if you recover, you will more easily complete the journey you have vowed. For it is better to return home than to die in the wilderness." But when I heard this, I wept bitterly; and lamenting my wretchedness, I spoke to them, saying: "I adjure you by almighty God and by the day of judgment, to be feared by all the guilty, that you consent to what I ask. Do not desist from the journey we have begun; and if I am found worthy to see the basilica of Saint Martin, I give thanks to my God; but if not, then carry my lifeless body and bury it there, because my resolve is not to return home unless I am found worthy to be present at his tomb." Then, weeping together as one, we undertook the journey we had begun. So with the protection of the glorious lord going before us, we came to his basilica.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Concerning our cleric who was out of his mind.

At that time one of my clerics, by name Armentarius, well instructed in the spiritual Scriptures, for whom it was as easy to grasp the modulations of sounds that you would not think he was pondering this but writing it, very vigorous in service and faithful in what was entrusted to him. But he, with the poison spreading, had lost all his senses from evil pustules, and had been reduced to such a state that he could understand or do nothing at all. But on the third night after we came to the holy basilica, we arranged to keep vigil, and this we fulfilled. When morning came, the signal having been given for matins, we returned to our lodging; resting in our beds, we slept until nearly the second hour. Having awakened, therefore, with all the weariness and bitterness of heart removed, I perceive that I have received my former health, and, rejoicing, I summon the household boy who was to serve me. But Armentarius rose up quickly and stood before me, and said: Lord, I will prepare whatever you command. And I, thinking that he was still out of his senses, said: Go, if you can, call the boy. And he said: I will fulfill whatever you command. Astonished, I asked what this was. And he said: I understand that I am thoroughly well, but there is one confusion in my mind, that I do not know from what direction I came here. And beginning, he rendered me service just as he had been accustomed before his illness.

Then I, exulting and gnashing my teeth for joy, gave thanks to almighty God both for myself and for him, because through the intercession of the patron he had restored me sound in body and him sound in mind, and a single encounter had, by faith, granted healing even to another madman, who did not even know how to ask. But I will not pass over this either, that after forty days, on that same day, I first took delight in drinking wine, when until then, because of the discomfort it caused, I had held it in loathing.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

That the power of the same man kept a storm from our field.

But we, returning, carried away wax tapers for the blessing of the blessed tomb; and how many miracles were wrought from that wax upon the feverish and other sick persons, it would take long to recount. But I will bring forward one miracle out of many. A certain field of our estate the hail had been accustomed to ravage year by year, and it raged so severely that, when it came, it left nothing there. Then I, choosing in those vineyards one tree that was taller than the rest, placed some of the holy wax upon it. But after that day, up to the present time, no storm has ever fallen there, but coming, it passed by that place as if fearing it.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Concerning the wood of the blessed lattice brought to us.

At the prompting of faith, a certain man among our people, without my knowledge, had carried off a venerable piece of wood from the lattice of the bed which is at the monastery of Saint Domnus, and was keeping it in his little lodging for his own safety. But, I believe, because it was not honored or cherished as was fitting, his household began to fall gravely ill. And since it was not known at all what this was, nor was any remedy applied, but day by day matters grew worse, he saw in a vision of the night a fearsome figure saying to him: Why are you thus dealt with? He replied: I do not know at all whence this has come about. The figure said to him: The wood which you took from the bed of the lord Martin you are carelessly keeping here with you; for this reason you have suffered these things. But go now, and bring it to Gregory the deacon, and let him keep it with him. And he, without any delay, presented it to me. I gathered it up with the utmost veneration and placed it in a worthy place. And so his whole household in that house was healed, so that thereafter no one there suffered any harm.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

That his power held back our enemies from us.

It came about at a certain time that, for the sake of visiting, I was traveling to Burgundy to my venerable mother. Now when I was passing through those forests which lie beyond the river Berber, we ran into robbers. Surrounding us, they wanted to despoil and kill us. Then I, fleeing to my accustomed aids, implored the protection of Saint Martin. He, promptly and graciously standing by me, so terrified them that they could do nothing against us. But by a reversal, those who had come to be feared began to fear, and to flee with the swiftest course. But I, not unmindful of the Apostle who says that our enemies ought to be fed with drink and food (Rom. 12:20), ordered drink to be offered to them. They, not waiting at all, fled as fast as they could. You would think they were being driven with clubs, or compelled unwillingly to run beyond the ability of their horses; and so, with the Lord granting it and the patron of youth aiding, we arrived where we were heading. From how many tribulations and hardships he snatched me, in how many necessities his mercy stood by me, or how many bitter troubles he restrained in me by his power, it is long to tell—not to say to write.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Concerning those with dysentery.

What shall I say concerning those with dysentery, where the remedy is found as swiftly as it was faithfully sought? For I saw a woman gravely afflicted with dysentery for five months, so that when necessity compelled her, she was carried by hand to the necessary places, and she had lost both the strengthening of food and the strength of her little body through excessive passing of waste; at my urging, I know that she kept vigil at the basilica. But when day was restored after the night's darkness, the dust of the blessed tomb having been scraped off, she both drank down the remedy and the cup at once; and she returned home on her own feet, who had come supported by others.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Concerning the possessed and the feverish.

Or what shall I tell concerning the possessed or the feverish, for whom, if frugality and faith have truly been joined together, presently, with the patron aiding, all snares are removed? Thus many of the feverish, while they are sorely shaken by the violence of fever, lying all day between the altar and the holy tomb, but at evening having drunk the dust from the blessed sepulcher, straightway merited to receive health. For Paul, a possessed man, who was said to have a legion of demons, with the enemy pressing upon him, climbing onto the structure that was near the holy chamber, is reported to have said: Let the vessel perish, which I, burned up, inhabit.

And struggling and throwing himself down, he was by the blessed one's power so gently laid upon the pavement that he did not dash any limb of his condemned little body.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Concerning Leomeria, a blind woman.

A certain Leomeria, blind and crippled, living wretchedly for a long time, while she made use of that road by the hands of others in frequent visits, as far as the blessed one's basilica, at length looked upon by his loving-kindness, lying at the holy entrance, she received both light and the power of walking. If all these things were made public, because each person, when they ask faithfully, receives secretly, and the conscience of many keeps hidden what has been obtained, because health sought in secret by faithful asking was attained. But if all these things, as we have said, were made public, I think that not only books, but not even the world itself, as the evangelist says concerning the Lord, could contain them (John XXI, 35).

CHAPTER XL.

Concerning Securus, a cripple.

And since a discourse seeks its conclusion, I shall relate to you one more glorious miracle before the book comes to an end. A certain young man, by name Securus, coming forth from his mother's womb, brought out a withered hand and foot, and so had he stiffened with the whole frame of his limbs dried up, that he resembled some monstrosity; he was also bound under the yoke of servitude. When his masters saw that for seven years now he could make no progress at all, carrying him in their hands they placed him before the blessed tomb, so that he might at least be fed by those passing by, since he could not be nourished by his own labor. But as he lay in that place for many days, his foot which had been weak was made straight, and his withered hand, its veins having been infused with blood, was healed; and so in his whole body, having received the aid of the blessed Confessor, he was formed [healed], so that you would think he had been born anew. This little boy was redeemed by Count Justinus and set free as a freeborn man; and afterward, having obtained baptism, he has remained safe to this day under the patronage of the holy church. Who could ever so inquire into these things in order, or report them, as to be able to praise them worthily? Nevertheless, as far as we have been able to investigate, we have striven to write faithfully, hoping to receive this recompense of reward, that while these things are read in praise of the most holy Priest, refreshment may perhaps be granted to us for our sins, as the poet says: Perhaps it will be a joy even to remember these things one day.

The first book ends here.

BOOK TWO. CONCERNING THE VIRTUES THAT WERE MADE AFTER WE CAME.

Prologue.

Since, having written down the virtues of Saint Martin which we have seen, or which we have been able to discover from faithful men concerning past time, we were burning greatly with this thirst, that what the Lord deigned to work in praise of His bishop should not be handed over to oblivion, we have finished the first little book; we desire also to narrate those things which we marvel are done in our own time, leaving no small material to the more eloquent, but taking up the mighty works of virtues in our own writings, so that what skill does not expand on the pages, the abundance of virtues may extend in heaps.

CHAPTER ONE.

How I was rescued from fever and dysentery.

In the year after the passing of the blessed Martin, bishop, when the most glorious King Sigibert was reigning in his twelfth year, after the death of the holy bishop Eufronius, not by my own merit, since in conscience I am most foul and wrapped in sins, but by the favor of the faithful God, who calls those things that are not as though they were, I unworthily received the burden of the episcopate. But in the second month of my ordination, when I was at my estate, I fell into dysentery with a violent fever, and I began to be afflicted in such a way that, with death imminent, I despaired utterly of living.

I was constantly discharging the offices of digestion, which could not take in what was unexpended, and there was a horror of food; and when the strength of my stomach was failing from hunger, fever was the only nourishment for my body. For no strengthening sustenance came to me at all; there was also a severe pain penetrating my whole belly and descending to the flanks, consuming me by its torture no less than the fever had exhausted me. And when matters were such with me that no hope of life remained, but everything was being reckoned toward a funeral, and the physician's remedy was utterly of no avail for one whom death had claimed to destroy, I myself, despairing of myself, called Armentarius the chief physician and said to him: You have spent all the skill of your art, you have already tested the power of all medicines, but nothing profits a man who is about to perish from the things of this world. One thing remains for me to do: I will show you a great theriac. Bring out dust from the most sacred tomb of the house of Martin, and from it make me a potion. But if this does not avail, all refuges of escape are lost. Then, a deacon having been sent to the aforementioned tomb of the blessed bishop, he brought out some of the sacred dust, and having diluted it they gave it to me to drink. When I had drunk it, all pain was immediately assuaged, and I received health from the tomb. In this the benefit was so immediate that, when this was done at the third hour, I walked out healthy to the banquet on that same day at the sixth hour.

It seemed good to insert this also into my account: how God reproved me, so that I would not allow foolish and easygoing men to disparage the sacred solemnities before me. On the next day, after I had recovered, coming to Mass on the Lord's day, and not wishing to tire myself, I ordered one of the presbyters to celebrate the glorious solemnities. But when that presbyter brought forth certain festive words in a rustic manner, many of our people began to mock and rebuke him, saying: "It would have been better to be silent than to speak so uncouthly." But on the following night I saw a man saying to me: "There is to be no disputing at all about the mysteries of God. I call God to witness that this was not composed by me, but the very words that I heard, I have set before you. Therefore, most beloved, let no one presume to dispute about this mystery—even if it seems to be spoken in a rustic manner—because before the majesty of God pure simplicity avails more than the subtlety of philosophers.

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the illness of Justinus.

I judged it fitting not to omit this as well, which escaped me in the earlier book. For when I had related about those candles which I took from the tomb of the blessed bishop, by which I said both storms were calmed and other illnesses warded off, while I kept these with me, Justinus, the husband of my sister, fell into ill health. For as the fever grew stronger, with pains in all his limbs, he began to be brought to the utmost extremity. A messenger, having been sent to me, reported these things, earnestly entreating that if I could find any remedy, I would send it to the dying man, lest he perish. But I, trusting in the power of the blessed bishop, send one of the candles by a boy, saying: Light it before him, and in contempt of the light let him pour out a prayer to the Lord, and beseech the omnipotence of the bishop, that he may come to his aid. The boy who was sent carried what I had given. When it had been lit before the sick man's bed, they scrape off with a knife the ash of the rush, which the fire had already consumed, and, having diluted it with water, they hold it out to the sick man to drink. And when he had drunk it, he straightway received health, and was restored whole. Afterwards he explained to us how the power of the blessed bishop came to his aid.

For he was accustomed to relate that as soon as the radiance of the advancing light from the candle drove away the darkness of night from his eyes, straightway, at the contemplation of the flame, the fever receded from his body, and the stomach, which had long languished from fasting, demanded the food of consolation; and he who had been accustomed to drink only pure water to quench the burning of the fever now desired wine. This the power of the Bishop brings about, which often grants help to the wretched with overflowing compassion, and bestows remedies upon the sick.

CHAPTER III.

Concerning Maurusa, the woman with the gout in her hand.

I fear lest, presuming to go too far, my rather rustic speech may grow stale upon the page. A certain Maurusa had been afflicted by the pain of a gouty humor in the hand so severely that, with her feet twisted back toward her legs, she could in no way raise herself up. For she had also been deprived of the light of her eyes; and she, suffering grievously for a long time, was thought to be a living corpse rather than alive, and she had no hope of nourishment unless someone extended a hand of mercy to her. Each day, however, looking to the regard of the devout, she begged for the necessities of life. It came about, moreover, that at a certain time she was suffering more grievously than usual, and she could not discern anyone with her limbs, save only that breath of breathing moved about in her breast. And now, all but lifeless, she asked that they carry her to the feet of the blessed Martin. When she had been brought to that place by the hands of the faithful, compelled by pain, she cried out and prayed for the aid of the blessed man, that he would have mercy on her.

At last that compassion which never customarily sends the poor away empty, looking upon her, on her own festival the cords of her withered sinews were loosened, and thus with her right hand, which she had not been able to use for six years, making the sign of the saving cross over her mouth, she was restored on her feet, so that she returned to her little lodging without the aid of anyone, though she had not received the light of her eyes. After two years, however, coming again to the tomb of the blessed patron, she began to pray more intently, as was fitting; presently, with her eyes opened, she rose in renewed light. We have written this miracle here for this reason, that she was enlightened after we arrived here. For beforehand she had been healed of her weakness.

CHAPTER IV.

Concerning the servant of Simon the presbyter.

The servant of Simon, our most faithful fellow presbyter, by name Veranus, who was prompt in the duties entrusted to him and approved in his ways, while he sat at the guard assigned to him, was deprived of the use of his feet when a gouty humor came upon him. And when he had been vexed for a whole year by such afflictions that he even disturbed the neighborhood situated nearby, his sinews being suddenly contracted, he was completely disabled. Seeing this, his master, grieving over the fate of his faithful little slave, ordered him to be carried to the feet of the blessed Bishop, promising a vow and saying: If you restore him to health, most merciful lord Martin, on that day, released from the bond of my service, with his hair shaved low, he shall be assigned to your service.

Podtus therefore lay at the feet of the most precious lord, motionless, for five days; on the sixth day he was overcome by sleep. And as he slept, it seemed to him as though he were a man accustomed to stretch out his foot in bed. Waking, however, he rose sound from all weakness. With his head shorn and having received his freedom, he now serves the needs of the blessed lord in that same place. O admirable redemption of the blessed man! Who ever redeemed from a thousand talents as this present advocate for our sins did? Who in one stroke and one moment, without a coin of gold, both freed the body from weakness and released a slave's condition from its burden.

CHAPTER V.

Concerning the paralytic of Auxerre.

A certain man from the town of Auxerre, by name Manlulfus, was cast down at the blessed Martin's tomb by the hands of those carrying him. Devoting himself to continual prayer and fasting, he suddenly brought back the feet which he had presented twisted, restored to health and directed to their customary use; and so by the power of the saint he was reformed in that very moment, so that he who was carried by the hands of others rose up healed, strengthened on his own feet, in our presence.

CHAPTER VI.

Concerning the paralytic of Orléans.

But another paralytic, carried in a cart from the territory of Orléans, came to the holy basilica; and lying for many days at that door which opens toward midday beside the baptistery, he implored the aid of the blessed Bishop. It came to pass, then, that one day as he lay he was tormented more grievously than usual, so that the neighbors nearby ran together at his cries. For the ligaments of his nerves were being loosened and drawn straight, and on that account the pain was intolerable; and so, with the patron granting it, he rose up on his feet, weeping for joy, and stood up with the people as witness. He was at once made a cleric, and being confirmed in health, he returned home.

CHAPTER VII.

Concerning the paralytic from Bourges.

But also another, weak in walking, by name Leuboveus, already a cleric, arriving and dragging himself along the ground, because through poverty he had no one to carry him, day after day sought the threshold of the blessed Martin. And when one day he wept outside at the feet of the Saint, with his knees and feet made straight, he received health while the people looked on. It is established that these three miracles were performed on that very day when Sigibert, the most glorious king, crossing the Seine, made peace with his brothers without the clash of armies. Let no one doubt that this also was a victory of the blessed Bishop.

CHAPTER VIII.

Concerning a blind man enlightened.

At that time also a certain blind man, who begged alms from those who give to the poor, and who had nothing else for his sustenance unless someone out of compassion stretched out a hand to him, nor had he any support at home except the mercy of the devout, on one day, while he stood with fixed steps before the holy tomb, suddenly a pain seized his eyes; and when he was being grievously consumed by this pain, his eyes began to emit foam. And thus, with blood bursting forth from his eyelids, reborn into new light, he deserved to see the light which he had once lost.

CHAPTER IX.

Concerning another blind woman.

A certain Gunthedrudis, from the territory of Vermandois, had lost the light of her eyes; she, leaving her home and homeland, urged on by faith, came to the holy basilica, and there serving for many days, she deserved to receive the sight of one eye. She, soon forgetful of her husband and sons, and having changed her garment, passed over to the religious life of the church, with the Lord inspiring her.

CHAPTER X.

Concerning a woman freed from a flow of blood.

But neither will I pass over in silence how, as it were from the garment of our Redeemer, the flow of blood was dried up at the blessed tomb. A certain woman, coming from the Auvergne with her husband, from the district of Tnansalium, was ill with a flow of blood, and she had a lodging beside the atrium of the basilica. Lying each day at the threshold of the holy Confessor, she would plead, prostrate, for the help of healing. It came about, then, that one day, approaching the holy tomb, praying and kissing it, she touched her ears and eyes with the pall that was laid over it. Straightway the stream of blood was dried up, and she was so healed that she thought she had touched the fringe of the Redeemer. Her husband, falling into illness, was laid by others at the door of the basilica, and praying faithfully, once his fever had been quenched, he recovered. And so together, this one healed of her affliction and that one of her flow of blood, giving glory to God, they returned to their own home.

CHAPTER XI.

Concerning a lame woman.

The wife of Animius the tribune, by name Mummola, terrified one night by a fright, had lost the use of one foot; and she had fallen into such weakness that she was held upright by the hands of others whenever she wished to go out. She was laid at the feet of blessed Martin, and all through the night she held a wax candle in her hand according to her vow, while we kept vigil in the basilica. But when morning came and the signal for matins was rung, she stood upon her weak foot, so that with all her weakness calmed she returned to her own dwelling on her own feet, with no one supporting her, free.

CHAPTER XII.

Concerning a man with dysentery healed.

At a certain time, when blessed Germanus, bishop of the city of Paris, was coming to the festival of the blessed bishop, Hagnimodus, then a deacon, now a bishop, came to serve him, laboring grievously from dysentery. But blessed Germanus first came to the estate of his church, which is situated in that territory. So when he had begun to arrive at Tours before the night of the vigil of his solemnity, he ordered the deacon to remain at the estate, saying: Lest perhaps you be wearied by going, and something worse happen to you. But he said: It is the power of God that orders us to suffer according to our deserts: for I will not set out otherwise than to the basilica of the blessed bishop; for I trust that if I touch his tomb, I shall be saved. And at once, having mounted a horseman [that is, a horse], he came to the basilica.

In the morning, however, after taking a draught made from the dust of the tomb, her weakness was at once relieved and she recovered.

CHAPTER XIII.

Concerning the blind man who was given light.

Now a certain blind man, Ursulfus, from the city of Tours, from the district across the Loire, devoutly sought the aid of the blessed Martin. Serving continually at his church for two months, he persevered in fasts and prayers. It came to pass, then, on one day of the Lord's resurrection, while he was at the feet of the lord [Martin] and, together with the rest of the people, was following the solemn rites of the Mass, that suddenly, with his eyes opened, he began to see all things clearly, so that he came to the holy altar to receive communion with no one leading him. Now I shall tell what was the cause of his blindness. On the first day of Easter he was ordered by his master to go around a field and to close up a gap that had been found, through which the cattle were entering. While he was trying to close it, he was struck blind. Then, as I have said, coming to the tomb, weeping and wailing, he kept begging for the sight he had lost. But on that day, while the grace of the Lord's body was being given to the people, the blessed bishop deigned to restore light to him, and as the sun shone bright, the stars of his eyes gleamed. Who, I ask, could ever be found to be such a physician, who in a single affliction bestowed two remedies?

Behold, in one blind man two powers were shown: to him He first opened the eyes of the body to contemplate earthly things, and now He enlightened the eyes of the heart so that he should not desire them; and He deigned to call him His servant, whom, so to speak, He made to be born again into the world.

CHAPTER XIV.

Concerning the paralytic girl.

But neither will I pass over in silence what this patron wrought on his own feast day. A certain girl of the palace, stricken by the humor of paralysis and badly deprived of the use of walking, had lost it, so that with the sinews of her knees contracted she joined her heels to her shins. Her father, carrying her to Tours, devoutly laid her before the feet of the blessed Martin, and there, lying for three months, she begged a coin from passersby. It came to pass, however, on the day of the renowned solemnity of the blessed Man, that while we were saying Mass, she prayed faithfully in the place we named above. And when we, duly celebrating the sacred solemnities, were recounting the testimony concerning the virtues of the holy lord, suddenly she began to cry out and weep, indicating that she was being tormented. But when, the testimony being finished, all the people cried out "Holy" in praise of the Lord, at once the sinews that had been bound were loosed, and she stood upon her feet, with all the people watching, and so, with the Lord showing favor, she came to the holy altar to communicate by her own steps with no one supporting her; and she remains sound to this day.

CHAPTER XV.

Concerning the blind man enlightened.

A certain Merobaudus from the district of Poitiers, while he was laboring at his work, was struck by a most grievous blindness, the attacker being sent in upon him. When he had endured in this harsh infirmity for six years, faring badly, he came to the holy shrine of the blessed Martin, and there applying himself assiduously to prayer, on the next day, the day of the holy festival, while he stood at the feet of the blessed Martin, suddenly it seemed to him that something like a flash of lightning shone around him; and at once, his eyes being opened, he saw all things clearly. He was immediately made a cleric in that same place, and departed healed.

CHAPTER XVI.

Concerning those things which the sailor reported.

That too was a notable miracle, when on the day of the Epiphany, by the intercession of the blessed Bishop, the Lord brought forth Falernian wine from the waters, and drew wine from the bottom of the riverbed for a poor man—He who once turned water into wine. Therefore, when at a certain time we were making a journey in the district of Balbiacum, we came as far as the river Loire. And when we diligently asked the sailor, who was to carry us across to the other bank, in what places we should go to fish, he indicated the place, saying: "Let the blessed Martin be with you as your helper." But our men received these words ungratefully, saying that in his name a catch had never been seen to come. But he said: "Let there be no doubt, for his power grants this. For I will tell you," he said, "the things that happened to me this year, and how by the invocation of his name, with the Lord's aid, I obtained what I desired.

Finally, it was the day of the Epiphany, and having entered the storeroom, I found nothing to drink that I might draw, and going out I prayed, saying: Most holy Martin, send me in this sacred solemnity some wine, lest while others feast, I remain fasting. And while I was praying these things silently, I heard a voice on the farther bank calling me, that I should bring the boat to a man who was making a journey. But when, having taken up the poles, I began to cleave the river with force in that direction, before I reached the middle, suddenly a great fish, shaken out from the swirling water, fell into the boat; having immediately pressed on past it and ferried the men across, I returned home, and having sold the fish for a measure of wine, I was refreshed together with the others. Therefore know how swiftly he will appear in that matter in which he has been invoked, if he is asked faithfully. But I call God to witness that I learned this from the very mouth of the boatman.

CHAPTER XVII.

Concerning Gunthram the duke.

On a certain day, while Gunthram Boso was crossing the river Loire opposite the village of Ambasiacum, and now with darkness rushing in a dreadful night was holding the world, suddenly with a contrary wind the boatmen were thrown into confusion on the water, and the boats which supported that bridge having been separated and filled with water up to the top, all descended with the boats themselves into the deep up to their waists, yet in no way were the boats drawn away from their feet.

But when everyone was terrified, Boso, crying out not in a hoarse voice, proclaimed the aid of the blessed Martin and prayed that he would come swiftly to free them, saying confidently to his companions: Do not be afraid, for I know that the right hand of the holy man is especially ready to extend aid in times of need. As he said this, the ships were directed by God, and the contrary wind was changed to a favorable one; with no one perishing, they reached the shore, where the help of the blessed Confessor came so promptly that they even recovered the silver which they had lost when the river swept it away, since the river itself finally restored it to the shore.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Concerning Landulf the lunatic.

A certain man from the territory of Vienne named Landulf was grievously afflicted by the infestation of a lunatic demon, so that often, thinking himself surrounded by the enemy, he would fall to the ground and, emitting bloody foam from his mouth, was considered as if dead. The authority of skilled physicians called this kind of disease epileptic; but the country folk called it the falling sickness, because he would fall. And when the aforesaid man saw himself afflicted in this condition, having heard the fame of the blessed Bishop, he went to his holy basilica, so that the favors of his presence might come to his aid. But when he had come to that place full of faith, the audacity of the savage demon attacked him more fiercely; nor was he able to leave the atrium because of the public infestation of the demons; in the atrium, however, he was not harmed at all.

For they came visibly with a great clashing of arms and tried to pierce him through with the points of their weapons. And if he lowered himself to the ground, a horrible multitude of frogs seemed to leap down upon him. But voices were also heard openly from them reproaching him and saying: Martin, whom you have sought, will be able to bring you no help, because you are bound over into our dominions. But he, confident and unmoved at these things, opposing the sign of the cross, put them to flight terribly through the thin air. After these empty and vain assaults, however, when the enemy saw that he could not claim him for himself, he tried to mock him with deceits. For fashioning himself in the appearance of a veteran soldier, he came to him, saying: I am Martin, whom you invoke; rise, and adore before me, if you wish to receive health. To whom he said: If you are the lord Martin, make the sign of the cross over me, and I will believe it. But he, hearing the name of the sign ever contrary to himself, vanished like smoke. After these things, however, standing at the feet of the glorious Lord, he was made in a stupor of mind, and he saw the blessed basilica shining with a new light; from which the Saint, going out, said to him: Your prayer has been heard, and behold, you shall be healed from the infirmity which you suffer. And thus, making the seal of the blessed cross over his head, he departed. But he, returning to himself, with all ambushes removed, felt that he had received whole health.

Yet after he had recovered his health, when he had begun to use wine to excess and his body, long abstinent, had been soaked by a shower, his side was contracted together with one foot and hand. But devoting himself again to abstinence and shaving his head, he was once more restored to health by the power of the Blessed one.

CHAPTER XIX.

Concerning Theudomer the blind deacon.

While we write succinctly each several miracle of the blessed man, and do not expand them into a longer discourse, proceeding on our begun journey with great reverence and fear, lest perhaps it be said by the more prudent: A skilled man could extend these things greatly. But for us who are engaged in the threefold ecclesiastical doctrine, it seems that the history which pertains to the edification of the Church, setting aside verbosity, should be woven in brief and simple speech, so that it may both display the power of the blessed bishop and not impose disgust upon the wise. By this means both the reader is provoked to reading, and the Saint is displayed in his work. Theudomer the deacon, since from a humor of the head, with cataracts falling, he had the passages of his eyes grievously closed for four years, came to the cell of Condat, in which the blessed man had passed. And prostrated at his little bed, the whole night spent in tears and prayers, motionless he wet the ground with weeping, and the venerable wood of the lattice grew warm with his sighs; but as day dawned, the cataracts of his eyes having been opened, he merited to see the light.

What ever did doctors accomplish like this with their instruments, when the business of pain did more than the remedies, when with the eye distended and pierced by needles, they first represent the torments of death before they open the light? In which if their caution fails, it prepares eternal blindness for the wretched man. But for this blessed Confessor, the will is the instrument, and virtue alone is the ointment.

CHAPTER XX.

Concerning Desiderius, the demoniac.

In that same cell, when Desiderius, a demoniac coming from Clermont, had raged the whole night, when morning came, he began to cry out that blessed Martin was burning him. Amid these cries, vomiting up some purulent matter with blood, with the demon cast out, he was cleansed; and leaving behind the dust infected with gore, he departed from the cell healed.

CHAPTER XXI.

Concerning a man who had a contracted hand.

A certain man in the same place brought a withered hand with contracted fingers, so that his nails were fixed into his palm, with blood sometimes flowing, generating excessive pain for him. This man, throwing himself down at the aforementioned little bed of the glorious lord, weeping and praying, urged on as much by pain as by devotion, on the following day, with his fingers straightened, received his hand whole.

CHAPTER XXII.

Concerning Remigia, a married woman.

Remigia, a married woman, having contracted a similar illness, came with great devotion to the blessed cell. Persisting in vigils and prayers, when she was feeding the little mother, that is, the women gathered there, she brought forth her withered arm with contracted fingers, made whole, to mix [the food] for the saints. And so, serving the blessed poor all day long, she returned home safe and sound. Thereafter she furnished sufficient sustenance to the aforesaid brothers every year. It came about, moreover, that on one occasion one of her maids was badly shaken by a quartan-type fever. But when, coming according to custom, she was bringing food to those poor, she implored the aid of the holy man. And after lying for four days at the blessed cell in continual prayer and fasting, the girl, healed of every fever, returned home with her household, magnifying God.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Concerning Vinastus, the blind man.

While he was doing such things, a certain man named Vinastis received his sight, namely while he was supplying those poor men with the necessities of food. For he, having been weighed down by the greatest blindness for very many years, had it as a habit that, coming from his own region to the aforementioned cell of the Saint, he would provide those poor men with the most abundant nourishment, and after celebrating vigils most devoutly, he would satisfy them to fullness; and he himself, as far as he was able, served them like a servant. When, therefore, he had been bestowing these things for many years, as we have said, on a certain occasion, having fulfilled his vow and at the same time his service, he prostrated himself at the grating of the saint's bed, and while praying and bidding farewell, he wished to return. But after he had completed his prayer, rising up, with his eyes opened a little, he saw a silk curtain hanging from the grating; and he said: I see something like a silk pallium hung here. Those with him said to him: We know that you see truly. But he began again to weep and pray that the blessed Confessor would graciously complete the work he had begun. And while he was praying more earnestly, he fell asleep; and a man appeared to him in a vision, saying: Go to the basilica of the lord Martin, and there you will obtain full health. He, delaying nothing, led by the hands of his servants, as soon as he touched the threshold of the blessed Confessor, received full sight, with the faith aiding him.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Concerning a man whose every limb was contracted.

In Dijon as well there was a certain woman who, having conceived, gave birth to a son whose knees had drawn up to his stomach and whose heels to his shins; his hands, moreover, clung fast to his chest, and his eyes were also closed. He resembled some monster rather than the appearance of a man. And since he was looked upon not without the mockery of many, and his mother was reproached for why such a son had come forth from her, she confessed with tears that she had conceived him on the Lord's night. Not daring to kill him, as is the custom of mothers, she raised him as though he were a healthy boy. But when he had grown up, she handed him over to beggars, who took him and placed him in a cart, and dragging him about showed him to the peoples, receiving much payment through him. While these things were being done over a long period, in the eleventh year of his age [Bec., the fortieth] he came to the festival of the blessed Martin, and, cast down by the thieves before the tomb, he lay there pitifully. But when the festival had passed, he received sight and hearing. Then, brought back to his usual custom, he begged for alms. After nearly a year or more he came again to the solemnity, and he was placed in the place in which he had lain before, and when the festivities of the solemnity had run their course, with all his limbs straightened, he obtained the fullest health. Lest these things perhaps seem unbelievable, I myself saw him sound; and I learned them not from what I heard from anyone, but from what was narrated by his own mouth.

But because I have said that this happened to his parents on account of sin, through the violation of the Lord's night, take heed, O men, who are joined in marriage. It is permitted on other days to give yourselves to pleasure; but pass this day undefiled in the praises of God. For those who come together as husband and wife on it, from this are born children either contracted, or epileptic, or leprous. And let what we have said be a warning, lest the evil that is committed in one night be paid for through the span of many years.

CHAPTER XXV.

Concerning a paralytic healed.

That miracle, more to be wondered at than the rest, I shall set forth to you as you pray, which, after an immense accumulation of grief, opened up great joy to us, in that it both brought forth the power of the Blessed one and raised up what was tottering, and strengthened the wavering hearts of the people with the abundant firmness of stability. For when, on the venerable night of the Lord's Nativity, having passed it in most sacred vigils, we were making ready to go from the church to the basilica of Saint Martin, a certain one of the possessed, more savage than the rest, began to rage exceedingly, and tearing at himself and dashing himself about, cried out: In vain do you seek the threshold of Martin, in vain do you approach his shrine, because he has abandoned you on account of your many crimes, and behold, he abhors you. At Rome he works wonders. There he pours light into the eyes of the blind, there he directs the steps of paralytics; but on other diseases too he imposes an end by his power.

At this voice of the devil all the people were thrown into confusion, and not only were the hearts of the lesser members overwhelmed, but we ourselves also were shaken with fear. But as we entered the basilica with great weeping, we all prostrated ourselves on the pavement praying that we might be granted the presence of the holy man. And behold, one named Bonulfus, whose both hands together with one foot had been contracted three years earlier by reason of an excessive fever, and who was limping at the festival of the blessed man with his hands straightened but his foot still weak, was laid before the holy altar, praying that he who had restored to him his withered hands might by a like power also straighten his contracted foot. But during this prayer he was seized by an excessive fever, and as if stretched upon a rack he was tormented by the pain of his sinews. Meanwhile the pain roused the stubborn man from his supplication, and he who had come to seek healing began to bring a complaint. For he kept saying: Lord Martin, I sought health from you, not torments. If I do not deserve it, at least let me not be afflicted with pains. And while we stood around with weeping awaiting the coming of the blessed man, and in the meantime while the holy solemnities were being celebrated, the sacred gifts having been offered upon the altar, and the mystery of the body and blood of Christ having been covered with the pall according to custom, the contractions of the sinews were softened, and when the skin of the diseased knee had burst, with a stream of blood flowing out, he stretched forth his foot whole.

Seeing this, I gave thanks to almighty God, and wetting the threshold with my tears, I burst forth with this voice to the people: Let all fear depart from your hearts, because the blessed Confessor dwells among us, and do not at all believe the devil, who has never brought forth anything true. He was a liar from the beginning, and did not stand in the truth (John 8:44). And as I was saying this, the mourning of all was released into joy. Even the sick man himself, rising up before us, stood restored on his feet. But when all the people saw these things, raising a cry to heaven, they clapped their hands, saying: Glory to God in the highest, who, as once he glorified the shepherds by angelic light, so today has glorified us by the presence of the blessed Confessor, and has shown that he is present with us by his present power. And so, all snatched away from the fear of the enemy, they were strengthened by the protection of Christ.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Concerning Piolus the mute.

Nor did the blessed man appear with dissimilar power on the holy day of the Epiphany, when he opened before the people the closed mouth of a certain mute man. A certain cleric of Condat named Piolus, coming forth from birth, brought into the laborious world hands closed and useless for the work of labor. And why this happened—whether this man or his parents sinned (John 9:2), so that he was born thus maimed—is not for our judgment to resolve. We know only one thing: that in him, as also in the other infirm, the grace of the Priest was shown.

For when he had reached the age of ten and, as his nails grew, was suffering severe pain in his hands and could not bear it, he went to the threshold of the blessed Confessor. And having stayed there for many days with the utmost frugality, he returned with his fingers straightened and his hands healed. But after nearly five years he suffered a most grievous affliction, and while he was being consumed by the violence of a very high fever, he was deprived of the faculty of speech, and once freed from the fever he remained without the function of speech; but his mouth had been so obstructed that he could not emit even any sort of moan; rather, fastening three tablets together with a strap, he carried them in his hand, striking them against one another, and what he could not bring forth from his mouth, he expressed with the tablets as "Good." This device is useful to vintners when they try to defend their vineyards from flocks of troublesome birds. But when the aforementioned man had come to the basilica of the Saint on that night on which our Lord Jesus Christ, drawing draughts of water, turned them into wine, he resolved to keep vigil at the feet of the Blessed one. But after the time of midnight had passed, he fell asleep. And when he perceived in a vision some danger or other, terrified with fear, he first opened his obstructed mouth to this utterance: Lord Martin, free me. And so, bursting forth from his mouth and throat, blood came out, and he received both hearing and speech.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Concerning the paralytic woman.

Now when, after King Sigibert had been killed (in the year 575), Chilperic, having been snatched from imminent death, had begun to reign, Ruccolenus with the Cenomanians was grievously oppressing the city of Tours, so that, devastating everything, he left no hope of sustenance in the houses of the church or in the poor men's shelters. But on the following day he sent envoys to the city, that the men who, on account of a fault by no means unknown to us, were staying at the basilica of the Saint might be dragged out from the clergy: and if this were delayed, he promised to burn everything with fire. And we, hearing these things, went very sorrowfully to the holy basilica and implored the aid of the Blessed one. And immediately the paralytic woman, who had been contracted for twelve years, was made straight. But Ruccolenus himself, having attacked the further bank, was at once stricken with the royal disease, and, afflicted by the Herodian infirmities, which it seems long to recount; and, like wax flowing drop by drop from the face of fire, on the fiftieth day, swollen with dropsy, he died. But I will not be silent about this either, that at that time the channel of the river, by the nod of God, or by the power of the blessed man, was filled without floods of rain, and prevented the enemy from crossing, lest he harm the city.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Concerning the blind woman.

Now on that day of the recurring solemnity on which the Lord, about to suffer for the salvation of the world, after the betrayer disciple had been confounded, ministered the feast to the apostles, when all were hastening to the church to pay their longed-for vows to the Lord, a certain woman weighed down by long-standing blindness, when she was in the village, began to weep and to say: Woe to me, because, blinded for my sins, I do not deserve to behold this festivity with the rest of the people. Then, prostrate alone with great weeping, she invokes the name of the blessed Confessor; and when the prayer was completed she is restored to her former light. Moreover, having recovered her sight, to give thanks to God she came to the blessed basilica with wondrous clarity of her eyes. But also one of the possessed was healed on that day by the power of the Saint.

CHAPTER XXIX.

Concerning two blind men.

Two blind men coming to him at Biturigum, with their eyelids withered and joined together by a glue-like substance, lay at the feet of the blessed lord, praying. Now it came to pass on the day of his festival, with the people standing by, while the mighty deeds of his life were being read, that a splendor like lightning came upon them, and the bonds that had closed their eyelids being broken, with blood flowing from their eyes and their sight spreading wide, they merited to perceive all things.

CHAPTER XXX.

Concerning the mute woman.

A certain woman, whose gaping mouth an excess of humor [Ed., pain] together with fever had closed up, so that she could not control her tongue, but could utter only a lowing like an animal, not speech like a human being, was stirred by faith and with great confidence of mind approached the courts of the blessed Confessor; and remaining there for many days, asking both for alms and for the opening of her mouth, at last she was looked upon by the power of the Saint. For on a certain Sunday, while the solemnities of the Mass were being celebrated, she stood in the holy basilica with the rest of the people. It came to pass, moreover, when the Lord's Prayer was being said, that she, with her mouth opened, began to sing the holy prayer along with the others. But she, who had been held bound under the yoke of servitude, was redeemed from the property of the blessed Confessor; and now, with the office of speech restored, she continues as a free woman.

CHAPTER XXXI.

Concerning another woman, disabled.

Nor did the blessed man show himself present, when invoked, with any lesser miracle. A certain religious woman named Apra, oppressed by the violence of fevers, had lost all use of her limbs, with only her tongue still serving her. For when she lay with hands and feet alike contracted, and day and night begged the aid of the Blessed One, it seemed to her one night that an old man had come to her, who with gentle touch stroked all her limbs. Waking in the morning, she felt that her feet together with one hand had been restored to health, and, astonished, she did not know what cause had done these things. On another day, however, warned in sleep, she set out for the blessed basilica without any delay.

That night was the vigil of the Confessor's passing. When midnight had already passed, she who was keeping watch was shaken by some terror I know not of, and suddenly her contracted hand was made straight. While the people stood amazed, she recounted everything she had previously endured, recognizing that it was the same power in the straightening of her hand which had formerly been clear in the setting right of her feet.

CHAPTER XXXII.

Concerning the oil that increased at the tomb of the Saint.

Since we daily behold such miracles as we have written, what will those wretched men say who declare that Severus lied about the holy Bishop? For I have heard a certain man, filled—as I believe—with a wicked spirit, asserting that it could not have happened that the oil increased under Martin's blessing. But neither could this be denied: that the flask, having slipped and fallen upon the marble pavement, remained unbroken. Therefore I shall make clear what was done recently, bringing many forward as witnesses. A certain one of our deacons was grievously tormented by a quartan fever; when I had often reproached him for not hastening to the Saint's basilica, and for not praying from his heart that the Bishop's power might come to his aid, at last, pricked by us, he cast himself trembling before the blessed tomb. Then, when the fire of the fevers had subsided a little, he asked that a flask half full of rose oil be brought to him. For already for that fever, although he had profited little from it, he had spent much, and it was very much diminished.

And anointing his forehead and temples from this liquid, he asked that the little vessel also be placed beside the Blessed one's tomb. On the fourth day, however, when a fever pressed upon him, he sought the basilica and, prostrate for a very long time, prayed. Taking up the little flask, which he had left half full, he found it full, and marveling at the power of the blessed Bishop, he carried it home with fear and veneration. When he had been anointed from it again, immediately all the heat of his ailment subsided, and he was never broken by it again. What was also done afterward concerning this same little flask, we record not without deep sighing and wonder. For when it was hanging on the wall in the little lodging of the aforementioned deacon, through the assaults of the enemy lying in wait, it was struck and fell shattered into pieces, and the oil that poured out the earth quickly absorbed. Nevertheless, the boy who was present, when he saw what had happened, took a vessel and, pressing the earth itself, drew out a little oil, and gathering up the rose—that is, what had been poured out—together with the broken glass, he showed it to us. Taking it, I carefully transferred it into another little vessel. For the measure of the oil was, as it were, half a small cup; and yet in the vessel it made only the height of two fingers. On the next day, however, looking again, the height of the oil was, as it were, four fingers. I, astonished at the power of the holy liquid, left it fortified and covered with my seal. After seven days, however, looking again, I found there more than a sextarius.

Calling the deacon over and showing him this, I was amazed. But he affirmed with an oath that only as much had been lost then from the broken flask as was now seen in this wax. And this flask to this day, in God's name, bestows healing upon those who seek it. He himself also afterward anointed a similarly sick man with this ointment, and the oil increased, and he healed him, and thereafter restored many to health through it.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

Concerning Allomeris, a cripple.

Let the region of Angers also bring forth its own miracle. From it a certain Allomeris, crippled in feet and hands and weak in tongue as well, made his way to the church of the blessed Confessor. When he had sat there throughout the whole of Lent, praying and entreating without ceasing that the power of the holy Bishop might visit him, there came that Sunday before holy Easter on which our Lord Jesus, entering Jerusalem, came along roads strewn with the spoils of trees, with the crowd following and crying out: Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. On that day, then, when it had already grown late and he himself lay alone outside before the tomb, suddenly he was thrown into an ecstasy, and, terrified with dread, he lay as if dead.

When he had been oppressed, as he himself reports, for a space of two hours or more, waking as if from sleep, he suddenly returned to his senses and, raised up, marveled that he was sound; and watching there all night, in the morning he disclosed to us with his own mouth what had been done; and having been made a cleric, he returned safe to his little lodging.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Concerning the blind cleric.

Finally, in the same year, when the festival which is celebrated in summer, desirable to the peoples, had arrived, a certain cleric, whose eye a dark cloud had covered and prevented from seeing the light, went to the church of the blessed Confessor. Having kept vigil with the others through the night, as the sky grew light, while he was proceeding from the basilica, he merited to receive the sight which he had once lost. And indeed at the same festival three possessed persons, dashing themselves about greatly and crying out upon the blessed Bishop, confessing their crimes, and beseeching that the Saint would restore peace to them, at last threw out from their mouth some purulent matter or other, and thus were cleansed by the power of the Saint.

CHAPTER XXXV.

Concerning the prisoners released.

Now on the next day, that is, after the third day of the festival, there were four men bound in prison. And when the savagery of the judge so constrained them that no one was permitted to provide even the necessities of food to any of them, they besought the protection of the blessed Antistius with a pure heart. While they were thus devoutly doing this, at midday the beam by which their feet were confined and pressed together was suddenly split, and with their chains broken they feel themselves freed. Without delay they seek the door, and when it was opened, they entered the church of the Saint with no one forbidding them. But the guards were so utterly stunned that they did not presume even to rebuke them with words; and they too, following them, hid themselves with them in the church. But they, marveling, give the greatest thanks to God, because he had deigned to free them through the intercession of the Bishop.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Concerning the relics which Bishop Leodovaldus brought.

Many also, full of faith, carrying relics of the blessed Man, experience many miracles. For Leodovaldus, bishop of the city of Abrincae, devoutly sought the relics of the holy Domnus through his presbyter. When these had been received, and he had entered the territory of the aforesaid city, a paralytic, carried in the hands of those bearing him, met him while he was still situated among the wilderness places; and having faithfully kissed the veil with which the box of the holy relics was covered, he immediately stood upon his feet, and returned home on his own steps.

For you do these things, most blessed Confessor, nor is it enough for you to adorn your own seat with prodigies, unless you also make illustrious with dread virtues the various glades which you have not visited with your feet. But also thereafter a certain blind man, with a guide leading him, hastens more swiftly to meet them. But when he arrived at the time when the blessed relics were being placed upon the holy altar, the ceremony being completed, he merited to receive the sight of his eyes. But also another woman likewise, who had long been mute, received the use of speech.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Concerning the demoniac healed.

For in those days, to the basilica of the blessed man, a certain one of the demoniacs, when he cried out that he was enduring many torments of demons, and confessed that by the blessed Bishop he was being cast out by force from the vessel he had acquired, thrown down to the ground, began to spew foul blood through his mouth. And lying for the space of nearly two hours, with the demon expelled, he was cleansed and raised up.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Concerning the mute girl.

A certain little girl, a native of the city of Tours, came forth mute from her mother's womb. Her mouth was closed up to such an extent that she could not utter even those sounds which are produced in the time of the cradle. But her mother, anxious over such a sad offspring, while she grieved continually, was admonished through a vision to go to the tomb of the blessed Bishop. Roused, she goes to the church of the saint with the little girl, undaunted; and having laid her before the tomb of the Saint, when she had prayed for a very long time, she takes her up again with her. But when incense had been lit, while she held her above it, she asks her whether it made a good odor for her. She answered: Good. This first utterance of her daughter the grieving mother recognized. But having put upon her mouth water which she had once received from the blessed springs, she asks again what taste it gave her. She answered: Good. Then the mother with joy carries her daughter home safe, whom she had sadly brought to the tomb of the Blessed One, faithful in her prayer.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

Concerning the fact that Aredius the presbyter brought [water] for a blessing.

Aredius, a religious man from the territory of Limoges, came to Tours for the sake of devotion alone, and kissing the blessed tomb in prayer, he crossed the river and came to the holy monastery. And while he visits each place which the blessed man had either hallowed by praying or sanctified by singing psalms, and where he had given sleep to his weary body or food to himself when faint with fasting; and while he goes around and traverses all things, he came to the well which the Saint of God had opened by his own labor, and having poured out prayer, he drew water, and having put it into a small vessel, he carried it back home as he returned. And when he gave healings from it to many sick persons, on a certain occasion Renosindus, a brother, struck by the force of fevers from it, lay down on his bed. But on the eighth day, when he already lay with his eyes closed, so that he might breathe out his spirit, and the whole household was making loud lamentation, grieving the death of their master, or preparing what was necessary for the funeral, it came into the presbyter's mind to put a drop of the water of the blessed well into the mouth of the dying man. When it was brought in, as soon as it touched his mouth, the sick man at once opened his eyes, and with his tongue also released, he asked that more of it be given to him; and having received the cup, as he drank, immediately all the fever fled away; and so, with the household marveling, he was raised up healthy from the bed on which he lay.

CHAPTER XL.

Concerning Sisulfus the maimed.

But how can my smallness set forth these miracles, when the holy man of God, taken from the world, is still proclaimed as a preacher in the world? And though he cannot openly display himself to the peoples, he continually makes himself manifest by the wonders he reveals, now enlightening the blind, now healing the paralytic, and restoring the rest of the sick to their former health. But I, as I have often testified, count myself unworthy to bring forth the deeds of so great a man. Yet because I boldly dare, I beg pardon from the reader. For since love of my patron compels me, and since I have declared that he is still a preacher, I shall tell what happened recently. Sisulfus, a poor man from the territory of Le Mans, while he was sleeping at midday in his little garden, suffered I know not what mischief. Leaping up from sleep, with his fingers contracted into his palm, he raised his weakened hands with great pain, and as the pain itself pressed upon him, he was again dissolved into sleep; and he saw in a vision, and behold, a man stood before him in black garments, but with white hair. And turning to him, he said, "Why are you thus troubled with weeping?" And he said, "Behold, venerable lord, while I slept a little, I awoke in pain and have lost the work of my hands, and I know not what crime I have committed." Then that man, as the Lord did to his disciples concerning the man born blind—that neither he had sinned, nor his parents, but that the work of God might be made manifest in him (John 9:2)—said: "Your weakness indicates the torment of a sinful people.

Go therefore now through villages and towns, and press on even to the city; and preach that every man abstain from robberies, perjuries, and usuries, and that on the Lord's day he do no work, except the mystic solemnities. For behold, before the Lord we shall lie down in tears, beseeching pardon for the people, and there is hope of obtaining it, if amendment follow in the people. For hostilities, and sicknesses, and many other evils which the people endure, the wrath of the Lord stirs up. And therefore announce quickly, that they may strive to amend themselves, lest they perish cruelly in their crime. But when you have accomplished these things which I have commanded, hasten to Tours, to my basilica; and there, visiting you, I shall obtain from the Lord that you be healed. To whom he said: Tell me, I pray, lord, who you are, or what is your name? To whom the man said: I am Martin, priest of the people of Tours. At these words of the saint the poor man rose from sleep, and taking up his staff, he undertook the journey commanded him, and announced to the peoples the things that had been commanded him. But in the seventh month after these things were done, he came to the blessed basilica, and there, prostrate for three days, on the fourth day he was visited by the power of the saint. For already the flesh of his palms, which was held closed, had rotted within him. And when his fingers had been straightened out, blood burst forth from them. But when they had all been healed, with his own mouth he recounted the things which we have related.

CHAPTER XLI.

Concerning the blind man who was given light.

You act, then, most blessed Confessor, in your accustomed manner: you propitiate the iniquities of the people, and you heal the sicknesses of all, and all who faithfully invoke you you enlighten with your remedies; nor do you disdain strangers, in that you freely grant to them what is your own. A man, then, an inhabitant of the territory of Tours, about twenty-five years of age, when he was afflicted by a fever of the eyes, with the cataracts falling and his eyelids tightly closed, was greatly blinded. To this evil was added also this: that, struck by a club, with his sight ruptured, one of his eyes burst. For already for twenty-five years he had lived in this blindness. Warned, then, by a vision, he came to the tomb of the Blessed one, where, applying himself to prayer, on the third day he received the light of one eye. Then, encouraged by this remedy, he began to pray more intently; but on the fourth day the eye which had burst, with its sight restored, was opened. And although it is not seen to be as clear as the other, it nevertheless provides the benefit of light.

CHAPTER XLII.

Concerning a man's hand contracted.

A certain weak man, whose hand had been contracted, while he was praying at evening in the atrium that is situated before the blessed tomb, was visited on the saint's vigil; and with his fingers straightened, his hand was restored to its former use and grew strong.

CHAPTER XLIII.

Concerning a little boy raised up.

How often do we marvel that the mighty deeds of the prophets and of exalted men, which we read were done long ago, are renewed? But what am I saying? What many of these men accomplished while living in the world, this one alone renews daily, even after the tomb. What then do we do? Why are we silent? Why do we few conceal what many of the people proclaim? Let us no longer linger in this position. Let us bring forth a new Elisha for our age, who sent a dead man's corpse back alive from the tomb (2 Kings 13:21): this also the blessed Confessor accomplished in our presence. For I will explain what the occasion was, imploring the aid of the undivided Trinity. A boy was born, and when his mother's milk failed, he was given to a nurse to be fed. Since she, being barren of this liquid, did not abundantly supply the nourishment of milk as was fitting for that tender age, he who ought to have thriven began, as the day passed, to decline and to diminish, so that nothing remained in him beyond a thin skin, which covered only his little bones. After his mother died, he had drawn out nearly one year in this condition. For he was his father's only son, and a certain memorial of his wife's love.

To him, as his nourishment failed, as we have said, and he was already failing from starvation, a fever came on. But when the heat of it reached him, the father ran to the church, lest the child should die without the regeneration of baptism. He was baptized, but not strengthened in body beyond that spiritual remedy; and now with his eyes sunken and his eyelids slack and drooping, having no breath of life left at all, he was laid upon the blessed tomb while his father wailed. Nor was that heavenly power absent which once gave life to a little child in the hands of the blessed Confessor. But as soon as his covering garment touched the tomb, the little child breathed again at once. A wondrous miracle! You would see his pale cheeks gradually grow red as the divine power pressed upon him, and his drowsy eyes open in renewed light. Then, given life by the saint and received back by his father, he is kept safe to this day as a testimony of the saint's power.

CHAPTER XLIV.

Concerning another blind man who was illuminated.

But also a certain blind man from Poitiers, deprived of light for six years, praying for three days prostrate at the blessed tomb, received the light which he had long lacked, by the working of the accustomed power. This was done, moreover, during the festival of the holy patron, at which Maroveus, bishop of Poitiers, was present—not undeservedly to be proclaimed a disciple of the most blessed Hilary. When the solemnity was concluded, rejoicing with the fellow citizen who had been illuminated, he returned to his own city.

CHAPTER XLV.

Concerning two little boys healed.

At the village of Vultaconnum in the territory of Poitiers as well, while two little boys were resting at night on the Lord's Day in one bed, it seemed to them as though they had heard the bell that is customarily rung to rouse people for morning prayer; and rising from their bed, they made their way to the church. And when they had come into the atrium of the church, they found there companies of women singing. And greatly terrified, recognizing that it was a troop of demons, while they fell to the ground, they did not fortify themselves with the saving sign, as is the weakness of their age—one was deprived of sight, the other of both sight and the power of walking. And when for the course of many years they were afflicted with these infirmities, the one who had only lacked sight, coming devoutly to the basilica of the blessed Martin, as soon as he had completed his prayer, immediately received his sight. The other, having received sight in that same holy place, returning to his own home, still weak, walked with a limp.

And coming to the cell at Condat, in which the bed of the blessed man is kept, while the vigils of the Lord's day were being celebrated there, suddenly, as the people prayed, he sensed that divine power was present. And while the crowd looked on, dragging himself along the ground, he raised himself against the wall in which is held the window that was once the doorway of the blessed body. And praying, and weeping for joy, he was restored to complete health, nor did he afterward endure the heaviness of grievous infirmities.

CHAPTER XLVI.

Concerning a lame man made straight.

A certain little boy, Leodulf by name, weak in the left foot, while he went about with other beggars seeking alms, came to Tours. And when he had stayed there a little while, he tried to complete the journey he had begun. And having set out limping with his companions, at the tenth milestone from the city he was overcome by the force of pain. But abandoned by his companions, he alone was wailing on the bank of the river channel, crying out to the many who were running to the festival, and saying: Woe to me, because I was unwilling to behold the solemnity of the glorious man; therefore his power has struck me down. For this reason I ask you, most faithful Christians, who fear God, come to the aid of my ignorance, come to the aid of one oppressed and weak; and, if the fear of God remains in you, carry me all the way to the holy place. Therefore when he had implored this of many passersby, certain ones placed him on their cart and led him all the way to the holy basilica. There, continuing prayer for three days, with his feet restored, he departed sound.

CHAPTER XLVII.

Concerning the cripple whom an ox drew.

There was a certain cripple who, in the manner of a hermit, had one ox, which was once a comfort to him. With this ox yoked to a cart, he was drawn about from house to house, seeking alms from the devout. Therefore, when the festival of the Bishop of Tours was at hand, he had himself brought there, and prostrate before the tomb, and applying himself to prayer, he most devoutly implored the aid of the blessed Bishop; and being carried again by his own people, he was placed before the sacred apse of the tomb. And when the masses had been completed and the people had begun to receive the most holy body of the Redeemer, immediately, the knots that held his knees bound being loosed, he rose to his feet. While all marveled, giving thanks, he proceeded on his own steps all the way to the blessed altar, with no one supporting him, sound thereafter and living.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Concerning him who had his hands and feet contracted.

But from the district of Carnonacum, which is situated within the territory of Andegavum, a certain man, by name Floridus, with hands and feet contracted, was brought to the holy cell of Condat, from which the blessed Confessor departed to Christ. There, while he devoted himself to vigils and prayer for a few days, all his sickness was driven away and departed from his body. And so, with his limbs made straight, he returned home sound.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Concerning the man who brought a withered arm.

The festal day of the solemnity had come, on which many crowds of people had gathered together, and behold, a certain weak man with a withered arm was present. And while he kisses the blessed tomb with his lips, waters it with tears, and implores the aid of the blessed Confessor with his voice, not distrusting in faith he awaited the help of Martin. Then, when the priests who had come forward were proceeding to perform the solemn rites, and the lector, whose office it was to read, had arrived, and having taken up the book had begun to read the life of the holy Confessor (see above, chapter 29), straightway this man was raised up healed with his arm made straight, and while all looked on, he obtained the protections which he had faithfully sought.

CHAPTER L.

Concerning the blind man who was enlightened.

Thus also a blind man at the same festivity, suppliant, imploring the recovery of sight, as soon as he touched the little cloth which hangs on the outside from the wall at the feet of the Saint, presently, with blood bursting forth from his eyelids, as the people witnessed, he received his sight.

CHAPTER LI.

Concerning those suffering from dysentery.

When that dysenteric disease with hidden pustules was laying waste many cities, and among others the city of Tours was suffering more grievously, many were healed by taking a scraped powder from the blessed tomb and drinking it. Very many were freed by being anointed with the oil that is kept there; and for some, that water with which the tomb was washed before Easter served as a remedy. Therefore, when many benefits were bestowed upon many, I saw one man lying in despair from dysentery, and when he had been brought to the basilica, while others were celebrating vigils, he passed an unquiet night; but at daybreak, approaching the tomb, he drank the powder with wine and returned healthy from the tomb.

CHAPTER LII.

Concerning another man healed from a severe humor.

Another man also, seized by a violent fever, casting out poison from his mouth and flowing excessively through the lower part, lay upon his bed. Therefore, as the malady raged, a wound arose in the groin of the suffering man, and in an incredible manner it moved visibly all the way to the sole of his foot. For it was the size of a goose's egg. Then, returning upward, with excessive pain it ran through his sides, through his arms, and advanced all the way to his neck; then through the other side it was led down all the way to the sole; then returning backward, it came to that place where it had first arisen. And while it wandered in such a way through the limbs of the sick man, he did not know where it was tending or what he should do, except only to utter cries with weeping. For pain chose groaning, since such great pains rushed upon one little body.

At last, when these things had been reported to us, I point out that the usual theriac ought to be sought from the true physician, from whom the dying man was to have life; I confidently advise that dust be taken from the tomb. And the attendants, running with great haste, brought the dust taken up from the monument to the sick man, and offered it, having been moistened with wine, to be drunk. When this had been swallowed, all his pain was so put to flight that in that very hour he was restored to health.

CHAPTER LII.

Concerning a madman restored.

Countless people, hearing such things, seek the protections of the blessed Confessor from far-distant regions. In this matter that is especially to be wondered at, how the senses of men deceived by the devil's art are restored. A certain citizen of the city of Bayeux, therefore, while he was walking along the road disturbed by too much wine drunk, dust from the field is stirred up under the various winds blowing, and, mixed as usual with stubble, is lifted on high, and the whole air becomes one cloud of dust, from which this man, having lost his senses, is thrown from his horse. So after a little while he is found by his people and brought home raving. Then, made ungovernable, he kept trying to flee though no one pursued him. What more? He is bound fast with chains, pressed tight with fetters, and kept in custody. Gnashing his teeth because the freedom to flee was denied him, he tore himself with his own bites. But while we were on our way there, his parents, having been warned, brought him to the basilica of the Blessed One; and there, prayer having been made for a long time, he departed healed, vowing that he would come each year and pay his vows to the holy Confessor.

Then, at the monastery nearest to him, with his hair shorn in humility, he was ordained a presbyter and began to serve God strenuously, yet he did not repay what he had promised to the blessed Pontiff. In the fourth year, therefore, when power over him had, as I believe, again been given to the enemy, he once more fell into a recurring madness, and being bound in chains as before, he was brought back to the holy church; there, spending six days and more in vigils and prayers, and rendering what he had previously shamefully withheld, he returned home healed. But as his sins increased, being again often soaked with wine, he died in the same affliction.

CHAPTER LIV.

Concerning the blind girl of Lisieux.

If we were to pursue each and every deed that is done or has been done for the Confessor, we would heap up a great accumulation of marvels. A girl from Lisieux, already grown, had lost the light of her eyes; devoutly approaching the Saint's threshold, she prayed prostrate on the ground throughout the whole time of the festival. But on the third day after the holy festival, when her people urged her to return, she asked to be led to the Blessed One's tomb. And there, prostrating herself again and again, wiping her eyes with the pall that covers the holy tomb, and bidding farewell, she departed. And when she was already boarding the ship, she said: I give thanks to you, blessed Confessor, because, although I did not deserve to see your holy threshold, I have perceived it at least by touch. When therefore she had said these things with tears, while she wiped her eyes, she recovered her sight, and turning around she said: Perhaps this is the Blessed One's basilica?

Those who were near her say that this is how it happened. Then she said, "I will not return unless I give thanks to my patron for the health I have received." Many saw her as she returned, proclaiming the praises of the Bishop. When the prayer was finished, I departed rejoicing.

CHAPTER LV.

Concerning a little boy who had a withered hand.

At that same festival, another boy from Sens brought a withered hand. After the fourth day of the blessed solemnity, while he was standing at the feet [of the shrine] and praying, in the sight of the people his fingers were straightened; and the whole assembly of the people saw the mighty works of God, how the hand was infused with blood, and it rose gradually through the withered veins, and the hand was so moist that you would think a sponge long dried out had been plunged into water and was thirstily drawing in the liquid. So when the veins were filled and the sinews strengthened, and the skin growing red, he held out his pale hand healed.

CHAPTER LVI.

Concerning a woman who came with fingers contracted into her palm.

In a similar manner, a woman of Poitiers deserved to obtain healing. For she had her fingers contracted into the palm, and her nails fixed in the very bones, so to speak, and her whole hand was already putrefied; she came devoutly to the feast of the Saint, seeking the desired remedy. So, after the solemn rites had been celebrated in the customary manner, she said to her people: "We have indeed come with an whole heart to implore the aid of the Blessed One, but with our sins standing in the way, we have not obtained what we sought. Receive therefore now our prayer, and let us return to our homeland, trusting in the goodness of the Bishop, that a faithful prayer may profit the weak body for the soul." Saying these and similar things, and as if bidding farewell to the Saint, she departed. And as the day was turning toward evening, I received lodging near the bank of the river Clain. But around the middle of the night she awoke and gave thanks to God that she was, that she lived, that she was strong, and that she had touched the tomb of the blessed Bishop; and when she had uttered these things with the greatest weeping, she fell asleep again. And behold, a man with snowy hair, in purple raiment, carrying a cross in his hand, standing before her, said: "Now you shall be healed in the name of Christ our Redeemer." And taking her hand, he placed his finger between her fingers, which had closed her palm, and moving them, he straightened them. While she saw these things in her sleep, waking up with blood still flowing, she raised her sound hand in praise of God. At daybreak, however, she returned to the basilica, and having fulfilled her act of thanksgiving, she went back joyful.

CHAPTER LVII.

Concerning the woman who was weakened while she was working on the feast of Saint John.

On the feast of blessed John, when the people were gathering for the solemn rites of Mass, a certain woman took up a hoe and went to a field, so that, having uprooted the tares of the evil seed, she alone might cleanse the harvest; for she could not be fortified by divine consolation out of reverence for the Lord's Forerunner. And when she had begun to work, immediately her hands were seized by a divine fire. Her face also, as if emitting flames, and her whole body boiled over with blisters and pustules. The wretched woman burned no less with the pain of shame than of body, since, unwilling, she was betraying the things she had done in secret. Then, crying out and wailing, she quickly sought the basilica of blessed Martin; before his tomb, having lain prostrate in this torment for the space of a few months, with all the heat extinguished, she was made whole in the soundness of her body. For she was the maidservant of a certain citizen of Tours, who, when half the price had been granted, sought another.

CHAPTER LVIII.

Concerning the blind and the crippled.

A boy of Paris, whose trade it was to make garments, as his melancholy grew—that is, from the dregs of corrupted blood—was made a quartan ague sufferer, and as the humor boiled up, his whole body was so contracted with tiny pustules that he was thought by some to be a leper. But he also endured the worst pains throughout all his limbs, and was deprived of the light of both his eyes. So, having heard the fame of the blessed Bishop and his virtues noised abroad everywhere, he sought the city of Tours; and coming to the basilica of the Saint, fasting and praying for many days, he received his sight and was restored to his former health. For he was freeborn by birth. But when Leodastis, who at that time held the countship of Tours, heard that he was such a craftsman, he began to bring a charge against him, saying: "You are a runaway from your masters, and it shall not be permitted you to wander about any further." And he sent him bound to his own house to be guarded. But even there the power of the angelic Confessor was not absent. For when he had been seized, he was straightway afflicted with the infirmity from which he had been freed; and when he was faring very badly, the count, seeing that he could prevail nothing against him, ordered him, released from his bonds, to depart free. But he, returning to the basilica, was healed anew.

CHAPTER LIX.

Concerning another woman, who after obtaining her freedom was sold. Similar to this is that which happened when a woman, after she had earned her liberty, was sold again by the barbarian sons of her patron. But by the power of the saint, so that she might be more easily defended, she was weakened with her limbs contracted to the full. For the sinews of her knees were so twisted back that her calves touched her shins. Then, abandoned by the masters to whom she had been unjustly sold, she sought the patronage of the blessed Confessor. Having stayed no long time at his church, she was granted both liberty and health.

CHAPTER LX.

Concerning the pain of my eyes and head.

And because the former little book was begun from the time when Paulinus left, and it was complete in forty chapters, I determined to complete this one begun under sixty. Namely, that the blessed Martin, either having been widowed from this world kept the whole glory of virginity, and also triumphantly fulfilled martyrdom, whether in secret ambushes or in public injuries, to whom also was present the crown of the thirtyfold and sixtyfold and hundredfold fruit, might be increased in these hundred virtues. But my hope was that I would not be frustrated from the vow which in eight years, with the Lord commanding, I fulfilled—that is, the book itself having been begun from the virtue done upon me, I returned again to myself. Which I think was done not without the providence of the Godhead, that it should be finished at that point at which it is read to have been begun.

In this book, when I had described fifty-nine miracles and was still eagerly awaiting the sixtieth, suddenly the left side of my head was gripped by pains, and with my veins throbbing and tears flowing, such great torment threatened me that I pressed my eye shut by force lest it burst. When I had borne this grievously for one day and night, coming in the morning to the saint's basilica, I prostrated myself in prayer. When this was finished, I touched the place of pain with the veil that hung before the blessed tomb. At that touch, immediately both the throbbing of my veins and the flow of tears stopped. But after three days, a similar pain seized the right side of my head. My veins throbbed, and tears flowed abundantly. Again rising in the morning, having touched the veil in the same way as before, I departed sound in head. But after ten days had passed, it seemed good to me to let blood; yet on the third day after the bloodletting, a thought came to me—and, as I believe, injected by the tempter—that these things I had suffered had come from my blood, and that if a vein had been cut at once, these things would have ceased immediately. While I think on these things and turn them over, the veins of both temples leaped up, the pain that had been there before was renewed, and now it seized not one part of my head but my whole head. Moved therefore by the pains, I hurry to the basilica, and begging pardon for my wicked thought, I touched my head with the pall that covers the blessed tomb; soon, with the pain calmed, I departed sound from the tomb.