DLH IV.36b

English, p.231-2

Bishop Priscus, who succeeded Nicetius, began, with his wife Susanna, to persecute and even put to death many of those who had been the close associates of this godly man, not through any sin which they had committed, not because they were guilty of any crime, not for some theft for which they had been apprehended, but through the envy which burned within him, for he was jealous of their loyalty to his predecessor. Priscus and his wife did all they could to calumniate the Saint. Although it had been a rule long observed be earlier bishops that no woman should go into the church-house, Susanna and her young women used to enter the very cell in which Nicetius had slept. In the end God in His majesty took vengeance on the family of Bishop Priscus for these sins. His wife Susanna was possessed of a devil. In her madness she ran through the whole city, with her hair loose about her shoulders, confessing that this holy man of God, whom she had denied while she still had her wits, was in fact Christ's friend, and calling upon him to spare her. The Bishop was seized with a quartan ague and began to shake. When he recovered from his ague, he continued to tremble and was dull-witted. His son and his whole household became white in the face and lost their wits, too, and it was clear to all that Saint Nicetius had struck them with his miraculous power. Bishop Piscus and the members of his family had constantly criticized the holy man of God, maintaining that anyone who was prepared to spread scandal about him was their friend. At the beginning of his episcopate he had ordered a storey to be added to the church-house. There was a deacon who, during his lifetime, God's Saint had not only deprived of communion for the sin of adultery, but had often caused to be flogged, without ever being able to reform him. This deacon now climbed to the roof of the church-house and began to take the tiles off. 'I thank you, Jesus Christ,' said he, 'that I have been permitted to walk on this roof now that that wicked man Nicetius is dead.' He had hardly finished speaking when the beam on which he was standing collapsed beneath his feet, and he fell to the ground and was crushed to death.

While the Bishop and his wife were misconducting themselves in this perverse way, Saint Nicetius appeared in a dream to a certain man. 'Go,' said he, 'and tell Priscus to stop behaving so badly and to mind his ways. Also say this to the priest Martin: "Since you support Priscus in what he is doing, you, too, will be punished; and if you do not give up your evil way of life, you will die." ' When he awoke this man went to a deacon of his acquaintance and said to him: 'You are well received in the Bishop's house. I beg you to tell what I have seen either to the Bishop himself or to the priest Martin.' The deacon promised to take the message, but he changed his mind and would not do it. That night when he had fallen asleep the Saint appeared to him. 'Why have you not reported what the priest told you to say?' he asked. Then Nicetius began to hit him in the throat with his clenched fists. When day dawned, the deacon's throat was painfully swollen. He went off to the two men concerned and told them all that he had heard. They made light of what they had been told and pretended that it was all empty dreams. The priest Martin immediately became ill with a high temperature, but he recovered from his sickness. He continued to flatter the Bishop, supporting him in his evil deeds and the abuse which he heaped on Saint Nicetius. He fell ill a second time with a fever and so died.

Deutsch, S.247, 249

Der Bischof Priscus aber, der ihm folgte, fing mit seinem Weibe Susanna an, viele von denen zu vergolgen und zu töten, die die Vertrauten des Gottesmannes gewesen waren, ohne daß man sie einer Schuld überführt, ihnen ein Verbrachen bewiesen, sie bei einem Diebstahl ertappt hätte ; nur war er voll Bosheit und Haß gegen sie, weil sie Avitus treu gedient hatten. Auch stießen er und sein Weib oft Lästerungen gegen den Heiligen Gottes aus ; und obwohl es seit langer Zeit stets von den früheren Bischöfen so gehalten worden war, daß kein Weib das Kirchenhaus betreten durfte, ging diese doch mit ihren Mägden selbst in die Zelle, wo der heilige Mann geruht hatte. Aber die Majestät Gottes, hierob erzürnt, strafte den Frevel endlich an dem Hause des Bischofs Priscus. Denn sein Weib wurde von einem bösen Geiste ergriffen und im Wahnsinn mit fliegenden Haaren durch die ganze Stadt getrieben ; sie rief den Heiligen Gottes an, er möge ihrer schonen, und bekannte jetzt, was sie bei gesunden Sinnen geleugnet hatte, daß er bei Christo in Gnaden stehe. Der Bischof selbst wurde von dem viertägigen Fieber ergriffen und bekam das Zittern. Auch als das Fieber ihn verlassen hatte, blieb er noch zitternd und stumpfsinnig. Sein Sohn und seine ganze Dienerschaft bekamen ebenfalls ein bleiches und blödes Aussehen, so daß niemand zweifelte, sie seien von der Wunderkraft des heiligen Mannes getroffen. Denn immer noch schmähten der Bischof Pirscus und sein Haus den Heiligen Gottes mit den abscheulichsten Worten und sagten, der sei ihr Freund, der Schimpfreden gegen jene ausstieße. Nicetius hatte aber im Anfange seines bischöflichen Regiments das Kirchenhaus stattlicher aufführen lassen ; und ein Diakon, den der Heilige Gottes, als er noch am Leben war, wegen Unzucht häufig von der Gemeinschaft ausgeschlossen, auch öfters hatte geißeln lassen, den er jedoch niemals zur Besserung bewegen konnte, der stieg jetzt auf das Dach jenes Hauses, begann es abzudecken und sagte : "Ich danke dir, Jesus Christus, daß ich nach dem Tode des schändlichen Nicetius dies Dach unter meine Füße treten dark." Und noch schwebten diese Worte auf seinen Lippen, da entschwand der Balken, auf dem er stand, ihm plötzlich unter den Füßen, er fiel zur Erde, wurde zerschmettert und starb. Da so der Bischof und sein Weib viel Unvernünftiges verübten, erschien der Heilige endlich einem Manne im Traum und sprach : "Gehe hin und sage dem Priscus, er solle sich bekehren von seinen bösen Werken und seine Werke mögen gut werden. Auch dem Priester Martinus sage; ,Weil du zu diesen Werken zustimmst, sollst du gezüchtigt werden ; und wenn du dich nicht bekehren wirst von deiner Verstocktheit, wirst du sterben.'" Aber als er erwachte, sprach jener Mann zu einem Diakon: "Gehe du hin, ich bitte dich, da du im Hause des Bischofs befreundet bist, und sage dies alles dem Bischof und dem Priester Martinus." Der Diakon versprach es auszurichten, aber nachher ward es ihm leid, und er wollte es nicht sagen. Als er sich aber nachts zum Schlaf gelegt hatte, erschien ihm der Heilige und sagte: "Warum hast du nicht gesagt, was der Abt zu Dir gesprochen hat?" Und mit geballten Fäusten begann er ihm den Hals zu bearbeiten. Da ging jener am Morgen mit geschwollener Kehle unter großen Schmerzen zu jenen Männern sagte ihnen alles, was er gehört hatte. Aber sie achteten wenig auf das, was sie vernommen hatten, und sagten, es sei ein leeres Traumgesicht. Der Priester Martinus verfiel jedoch sofort in ein Fieber, von dem er aber wieder genas ; da er jedoch immer von neuem dem Bischof schmeichelte und seinen bösen Handlungen und den Lästerungen zustimmte, welche sie gegen den Heiligen ausstießen, verfiel er abermals in ein Fieber und starb.

Latin, p.246, 248 (168/169)

Igitur Priscus episcopus, qui ei successerat, cum coniuge sua Susanna coepit persequi ac interficere multos de his quos vir Dei familiares habuerat, non culpa aliqua victos, non in crimine comprobatos, non furto deprehensos, tantum inflammante malitia invidus, cur ei fideles fuissent. Declamabat multa blasphemia ipse cum coniuge de sancto Dei ; et cum diu multoque tempore observatum fuisset ab anterioribus pontificibus, ut mulier domum non ingrederetur ecclesiae, haec cum puellis etiam in cellula, in qua vir beatus quieverat, introibat. Sed pro his commota tandem divina maiestas ulta est in familia Prisci epis/copi. Nam coniux eius daemone arrepta, dimissis crinibus per totam urbem insana vexabatur, et sanctum Dei, quem sana negaverat, amicum Christi confessa, ut sibi parceret, declamabat. Episcopus ille a tipo quartano correptus, tremorem incurrit. Nam cum typus ille recessisset, hic semper tremens habebatur ac stubidus. Filius quoque omnisque familia decolor esse videbatur ac stupida, ut nulli sit dubium, eos a sancti viri virtute percussos. Semper enim Priscus episcopus eiusque familia contract sanctum Dei nefariis vocibus oblatrabant, ipsumque sibi amicum esse dicentes, quicumque de eo inproperia evomuisset. Iusserat enim in primordio episcopatus sui aedificium domus ecclesiasticae exaltari ; et diaconus, quem saepe pro facinus adulterii sanctus Dei, dum esset in corpore, non solum a communione removerat, sed etiam saepius caedi praeceperat et numquam eum ad emendationem reducere potuit, hic ascendens super tectum domus illius, cum detegere coepisset, ait : ,Gratias tibi ago, Iesu Christe, quod post mortem iniquissimi Nicetii super hunc tectum calcare promerui'. Adhuc verba in orde pendebant, et statim subductus a pedibus eius rubor in quo stabat, cecidit ad terram crepuitque et mortuus est. Cum autem episcopus vel coniux eius multa contra rationem agerent, apparuit cuidam sanctus per somnium, dicens: ,Vade et dic Prisco, ut emendetur ab operibus malis, et fiant opera eius bona. Martino quoque presbitero dicis: "Quia consentis his operibus, castigandus eris ; et si emendare perversitatem tuam nolueris, morieris".' At ille evigilans, locutus est diacono cuidam, dicens: ,Vade, quaeso, eo quod sis amicus in domo episcopi, et haec loquere sive episcopo sive Martino presbitero'. Promisit se diaconus locuturum, sed retractans, noluit ea fari. Nocte autem cum se sopori dedisset, apparuit, ei sanctus, dicens: ,Cur non dixisti quae tibi abba locutus est?' Et clausis pugnis coepit guttur eius caedere. Mane autem dacto, inflatis faucibus cum magno dolore, accessit ad viros et omnia quae audierat intimavit. At illi parvi pendentes ea quae audierant, fantasiam somniorum esse dixerunt. Martinus vero presbiter statim inruit in febre et aegrotans convaluit; sed cum semper adolatorie episcopo loqueretur et consentiret in malis actibus ac blaphemiis, quae in sanctum evomebant, iterum in febre redactus, spiritum exalavit.

Notes:

- format of kings, good and terrible