Charta

Charter of Saint Patrick. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I, Patrick, humble little servant of God, in the year of the same Lord's incarnation four hundred and twenty-five, sent as legate to Ireland by the most holy Pope Celestine, by the grace of God converted the Irish to the path of truth. And when I had established them in the Catholic faith, I finally returned to Britain, and, as I believe, with Him who is the life and the way (John 14:6) as my guide, I came upon the island of Ynswytrym, in which I found a holy and ancient place, chosen and sanctified by God, in honor of the undefiled Virgin, the Mother of God, Mary. And there I found certain brothers instructed in the rudiments of the Catholic faith and of pious conduct, who had succeeded the disciples of the holy Phaganus and Diruvianus, whose names, for the merits of their life, I truly believe are written in heaven (Philippians 4:3). And because the just will be in eternal memory (Psalm 111:7), since I had come to love these same brothers dearly, I wished to commit their names to my writing, which are: Brumban, Hyregaan, Bremwal, Wencreth, Bantommeweng, Adelwolred, Loyor, Wellias, Breden, Swelwes, Hinloernus, and another Hyn. These, being born of noble lineage, desiring to adorn their nobility with works of faith, chose to lead an eremitic life. And since I found them humble and quiet, I chose rather to be lowly with them than to dwell in royal courts (Psalm 83:11). But because all of them had one heart and one soul (Acts

IV, 32), we all chose to dwell together, to eat and drink alike, and to sleep in the same house. And thus, though unwilling, they set me over themselves. For I was not worthy to loose the strap of their sandals (Mark 1:7). And as we were leading the monastic life according to the rule of the approved Fathers, the aforementioned brothers showed me the writings of Saints Phaganus and Diruvianus, in which it was contained that twelve disciples of Saints Philip and James built that ancient church in honor of our aforementioned Advocate, by the teaching of the blessed archangel Gabriel. Moreover, that the Lord had dedicated that same church from heaven in honor of His Mother, and that three pagan kings gave the twelve twelve portions of land for their sustenance; and I also found in more recent writings that Saints Phaganus and Diruvianus had obtained from Pope Eleutherius, who had sent them, thirty years of indulgence. And I, Brother Patrick, obtained twelve years in my own time from Pope Celestine of pious memory.

After a long time, however, taking with me my confrère Wellias, with great difficulty we climbed through the density of the forest to the summit of the mountain which rises on that same island. When we had arrived there, an old and nearly ruined oratory appeared, yet suitable for Christian devotion and, as it seemed to me, chosen by God. When we had entered it, we were filled with such a sweetness of fragrance that we believed ourselves placed in the pleasantness of paradise. Therefore, going out and re-entering, and searching the place more diligently, we found a volume in which were written the Acts of the Apostles, together with the acts and deeds of Saints Phaganus and Diruvianus, for the most part consumed; yet at the end of that volume we found a writing which said that the aforementioned Phaganus and Diruvianus, by revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, built that same oratory in honor of the archangel Michael, so that he might have honor there from men, whom he, by God's command, is to lead into eternal honors. And since that writing delighted us, we strove to read it to the end. For that same writing said that the venerable Phaganus and Diruvianus stayed there for nine years, and that they themselves had also obtained an indulgence of thirty years for all Christians visiting that place in pious devotion in honor of blessed Michael.

I found, therefore, so great a treasure of divine goodness, and I and brother Wellias fasted for three months, devoting ourselves to prayers and vigils, and commanding demons and beasts appearing in many forms. But on a certain night, when I had given myself over to sleep, the Lord Jesus appeared to me in a vision, saying: "Patricius, my servant, know that I have chosen this place for the honor of my name, and that here they may honorably invoke the aid of my archangel Michael. And this shall be a sign to you and to your brothers, that they too may believe: your left arm will wither until you have announced what you have seen to the brothers who are in the lower cell, and have returned here again." And so it came to pass. From that day we established two brothers there in perpetuity, unless future pastors should decide otherwise for a just cause. And to Arnulphus and Ogmar, Irish brothers who had come with me from Ireland, because at my exhortation they began to dwell humbly in the said oratory, I have entrusted the present charter, retaining another similar one in the area of Saint Mary, as a memorial for posterity. And I, brother Patricius, by the counsel of my brothers, grant one hundred days of indulgence to all who, with pious intention, have felled the forest on every side of the aforementioned mountain (Paul. LXXIII, 6) with axe and adze, so that an easier approach may be prepared for Christians, and to those who piously visit the church of the blessed and perpetual Virgin.