“ And Saint Patrick coming into the territory of Mogharnd, went toward the town of Domnhach Maghin, over which a man named Victor ruled. And he hearing of the saint's arrival, yet loving darkness rather than light, concealed himself in the shades of a thick grove, for much he feared, lest being driven from the darkness of his unbelief, he should though unwilling be compelled to believe in the true light. But the shadows of the night season came on, nor yet did Patrick the son of light therefore delay his journey. ”

“ Whereby was it plainly given to be understood that the darkness of night obscured not Patrick, the son of life, the inhabiter of eternal brightness, while the night was to him the illumination of his joys, while he ascended unto the light without spot, the day without night, the sun without eclipse. ”

“ The holy prelate, having first prayed, signed the sepulchre with the staff of Jesus, and awakened from the dust the buried man. Then stood one before them horrible in stature and in aspect; and he looked on the saint, and, bitterly weeping, said unto him: "How great thanks do I give unto thee, O beloved and chosen of God! who even for one hour hast released me from unspeakable torments and from the gates of hell!" And he besought the saint that he might go along with him; but the saint refused, for that no man for very terror could stand before his countenance. ”

“ Wherefore Patrick, the beloved and the elect of God, is suffered by the divine will to be grievously tempted of Satan, to increase the confusion of the tempter and the glory of him who was tempted, and lest he should be lifted up by the greatness of his miracles or his fastings. For in the night season the prince of darkness rushed on him, and oppressed him as with the weight of a huge stone, and, falling on him, the tempter took from him all sense and motion, causing to him darkness and heaviness, and for the space of three days ceased not to torment and lash him beyond human power to endure. ”

“ Is He beautiful, or have many fostered His son, or is His daughter handsome, and dear to men of the world?" St. Patrick, full of the Holy Spirit, responded, "Our God is the God of all, the God of heaven and earth, the God of the seas and rivers, the God of the sun and moon, and all the other planets; the God of the high hills and low valleys; God over heaven, in heaven, and under heaven; and He has a mansion, i.e., heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them. He inspireth all things. He quickeneth all things. He enkindleth all things. ”

“ And hence it is that the life of the most glorious priest Patrick, the patron and apostle of Ireland, so illustrious in signs and miracles, being frequently written by illiterate persons, through the confusion and obscurity of the style, is by most people neither liked nor understood, but is held in weariness and contempt. Charity therefore urging us, we will endeavor, by reducing them to order, to collect what are confused, when collected to compose them into a volume, and, when composed, to season them, if not with all the excellence of our language, at least with some of its elegance. ”

“ But he, that more wicked he might become from day to day, laughed to scorn the monition of the saint, and waxed stronger in his sins, in his crimes, in his falsehoods and in his cruelties. The which when Patrick heard, taught by the Divine Spirit, he knew that the vessel of evil was hardened in reprobation, prepared in no wise for correction, but rather for perdition; and thus he prayed unto the Lord: "O Lord God, as thou knowest this vulpine man to be monstrous in vice, do thou in a monstrous mode cast him forth from the face of the earth, and appoint an end unto his offences!" ”

“ As the people of Tara were thus, they saw the consecrated Easter fire at a distance which Patrick had lighted. It illuminated all Magh-Bregh. Then the king said: "That is a violation of my prohibition and law; and do you ascertain who did it." "We see the fire," said the druids, "and we know the night in which it is made. If it is not extinguished before morning," added they, "it will never be extinguished. The man who lighted it will surpass the kings and princes, unless he is prevented." ”

“ But the saint in his tribulation cried unto the Lord, thrice in His name invoking Elias, the prince of prophets, unto his aid. And Elias, being sent of the Lord with a great brightness, freed him from the pressure of the enemy that hemmed him round, and, wonderfully illumining him both within and without, refreshed the powers of his limbs and his senses. And the enemy of mankind, being put to confusion, was compelled to own himself vanquished by Patrick, and that ever after he could have no power to prevail against him. ”

“ As Saint Patrick, the preacher of truth, while yet living in the flesh, recalled and incited by his example and conversation many living men, who yet were dead, unto the true life, so did he by his prayers bring many who were buried unto the land of the living. For divers which were deceased, he by his powerful prayers snatched from the depths of eternal punishment, and from the roaring lions which were prepared for their food, and bringing them to the expiatory place, restored them unto salvation. ”

“ I am greatly despised. Lo! thy sheep are torn around me, and plundered by the above-mentioned robbers, aided by the soldiers of Coroticus: the betrayers of Christians into the hands of the Picts and Scots are far from the charity of God. Ravening wolves have scattered the flock of the Lord, which, with the greatest diligence, was increasing in Ireland; the sons of the Irish and the daughters of kings who are monks and virgins of Christ are too many to enumerate. Therefore the oppression of the great is not pleasing to thee now, and never shall be. ”

“ Therefore, O impious man! said the saint, out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, and prove that thou art the worker of wickedness and minister of Satan; thou who canst cause evil only, and canst not at all produce good. Then raising his consecrated hand, blessed he the plain and all the places around in the name of the Holy Trinity; and forthwith all the fantastic snow which could not melt in the accustomed manner vanished. And all around marvelled, confessing the hand of the Lord working in Patrick, and detesting the deceitful works of the magician. ”

“ And there was a time when Patrick was about to consecrate two virgins in a field within the territory of Cregrus, and a veil sent from heaven dropped into the bosom of the saint, the which, devoutly receiving, he offered unto the virgin so soon as she was consecrated. But she, deeming herself unworthy of a commendation so holy, said unto him: "Since this most excellent and powerful gift, descending from the Father of Light, is not sent unto me a sinner, I account it right that thou, on whom it has fallen, shouldst keep it or bestow it on another who is worthier than me." ”

“ And Saint Patrick in his journeying passed with his people through a forest in Midernia, and he met therein certain slaves that were hewing wood; and these men were under the yoke of a hard and cruel master, named Tremeus; and they hewed the wood with blunt axes, nor had they whetstones nor had they any other means whereon to sharpen them. Wherefore their strength failed, their arms stiffened, and the flesh fell from their hands, and the naked sinews were seen, and the miserable men wished rather for death than for life. ”

“ Is there anything more?" asked Patrick. "Yes," said the angel; "you shall have one man for every hair in your casula from pains on the Day of Judgment." "Which of the other saints who labor for God," said Patrick, "that would not bring that number to heaven? I shall not accept that," said Patrick.
"What will you accept, then?" asked the angel. "Here it is," said Patrick: "that I should bring from hell on the Day of Judgment seven persons for every hair in this casula." "It shall be granted to you," said the angel; "and depart from this Cruachan." ”

“ And while Saint Patrick earnestly pursued his preaching of the divine Word, certain armed men of Callria met him, and violently expelled this angel of peace from their borders. But what the man of God beheld of them in the Spirit, deemed he that should not be concealed in silence. "Since ye have raised your arms against an unarmed man, and driven from your borders him announcing unto ye peace and preaching salvation, ye and your seed shall turn your backs in the day of battle." ”

“ I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and least of all the faithful, and most contemptible to very many, had for my father Calpornius, a deacon, the son of Potitus, a priest, who lived in Bannaven Taberniae, for he had a small country-house close by, where I was taken captive when I was nearly sixteen years of age. I knew not the true God, and I was brought captive to Ireland with many thousand men, as we deserved; for we had forsaken God, and had not kept His commandments, and were disobedient to our priests, who admonished us for our salvation. ”

“ But an illustrious man named Enda, the friend of the holy prelate, observing the treachery of these wicked men, sent unto them his own son named Conallus, that he might prevent their endeavor, and repulse their violence from the man of God. And the son did even as his father commanded, and stood, the son of light, among these sons of darkness. And Saint Patrick, warned of heaven, knew these ravens under the wings of the dove, these wolves under the fleece of the lamb ”

“ But I hope that which I am bound to do, but I trust not myself as long as I am in this body of death, for he is strong who daily tries to turn me from the faith, and from the sincere religious chastity to Christ my Lord, to which I have dedicated myself to the end of my life, but the flesh, which is in enmity, always draws me to death—that is, to unlawful desires, that must be unlawfully gratified—and I know in part that I have not led a perfect life like other believers. ”

“ Patrick was afterwards with illness of mind in Cruachan, without drink or food, from Shrove Saturday to Easter Saturday, just like Moses, son of Amra; for they were alike in many things. God accosted them both out of the fire; six score years was the age of each; the place of sepulture of both is uncertain. At the end of those forty nights and forty days the mountain around him was filled with black birds, so that he could see neither heaven nor earth. He sang cursing psalms at them, but they went not away from him. ”

“ On their intrinsic merits I am silent, except inasmuch as they breathe a firm belief in the omnipresence of God amongst men, strangely at variance with the lifeless, frosty indifference of our own day, and are, in addition, savored with a holy heat of charity and a high moral tone. Without comment, then, from me, I present to you in America, kind readers, Saint Patrick, the Apostle and Patron of Ireland and the Irish race, as I received him from my ancestors. ”

“ But the fountain flowing forward with a more abundant stream, even unto this day pouring forth its clear waters, sweet to the draught and wholesome to the taste, is honored with the name of Saint Patrick, and, as is said, gives health or relief to many laboring with divers diseases; and it rises near the seaside, and over it the devotion of posterity has erected an oratory, with an altar built in the form of a cross. ”

“ I am a servant in Christ unto a foreign people for the ineffable glory of eternal life, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord; though my own people do not acknowledge me: "A prophet is without honor in his own country." Are we not from one stock, and have we not one God for our Father? ”

“ ST. PATRICK'S EPISTLE TO THE CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS
OF THE TYRANT COROTICUS.
I, Patrick, a sinner and unlearned, have been appointed a bishop in Ireland, and I accept from God what I am. I dwell amongst barbarians as a proselyte and a fugitive for the love of God. He will testify that it is so. It is not my wish to pour forth so many harsh and severe things; but I am forced by zeal for God and the truth of Christ, who raised me up for my neighbors and sons, for whom I have forsaken my country and parents, and would give up even life itself, if I were worthy. ”

“ Riches, he saith, which the unjust accumulate shall be vomited forth from his belly, the angel of death shall drag him away, he shall be punished with the fury of dragons, the tongue of the adder shall slay him, inextinguishable fire shall consume him. ”

“ But he, disobeying and disbelieving the word of the saint from the faint-heartedness of his faith, thus answered: "Who is the man that may replace the bones which are broken in pieces, renew the nerves, and restore the flesh, recall the spirit to the body, and the life to the dead corpse? ”

“ And hearing the word of the saint, he obeyed, and carrying a hatchet on his shoulder, went forth to seek a fitting place for the erection of a church. Then the spiritual father observing him to go forth with the hatchet in his cowl, prophesied unto him with the words of consolation: "Do not, well-beloved Volchanus, doubt of a fitting place; but wheresoever thine hatchet shall fall, there securely build and inhabit, and there shalt thou be among a great nation paying worship unto God!" ”

“ For I am truly a debtor to God, who has given me so much grace that many people should be born again to God through me, and that for them everywhere should be ordained priests for this people, newly come to the faith, which the Lord took from the ends of the earth, as He promised formerly by His prophets: "Our fathers falsely prepared idols, and there is no profit in them, to thee the Gentiles come and will say." And again: "I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the utmost parts of the earth." ”

“ Then the saint departed, and the wretched man sank into the sleep of death. Thus when the sleeper, covered with the darkness of unbelief, refused to awake at the heavenly voice which called him from the dead, that he might be illuminated of Christ, he descended into the dark grave, there to remain for ever covered with the darkness of death. Therefore, even to this day, it is among the Irish a frequent imprecation on a feigned sleeper, Mayest thou sleep, as at the word of Saint Patrick Murinus slept! ”

“ Shall God forget to be merciful, and shut up his mercy in his displeasure?" And the angel said, "Look toward the northern side, and on the right hand of a height shalt thou behold the darkness dispersed from the face of the light which thenceforth will arise." Then the saint raised his eyes, and behold, he at first saw a small light arising in Ulydia, the which a long time contended with the darkness, and at length dispersed it, and illumined with its rays the whole island. Nor ceased the light to increase and to prevail, even until it had restored to its former fiery state all Hibernia. ”