DLH VIII.15

English, pp.445-447

As I travelled along I came to the town of Carignan and there I was welcomed kindly by the deacon Vulfolaic, 21 who took me to his monastery. This is situated about eight miles from the town, on the top of a hill. Vulfolaic had built a large church on the hillside and made it famous for its relics of Saint Martin and other saints. While I was there I asked him to tell me about the happy event of his conversion and how he, a Longobard by birth, had come to enter the service of the Church. At first he was unwilling to tell me his story, for he was very sincere in his desire to avoid notoriety. I adjured him with terrible oaths, begging him not to keep back anything of what I was asking him, and promising never to reveal what he told me to a living soul. He resisted me for a long time, but in the end he gave in to my prayers and my entreaties. '

When I was a small boy,' he said, 'I came to hear tell of the name of Saint Martin. I did not even know whether he was a martyr or just a famous churchman, what good he had done in this world, or which place had been honoured by receiving his sacred body for burial. Nevertheless I used to keep vigils in his name, and whenever I had any money I would give it as alms. When I grew a little older I made a great effort to learn to write. I first taught myself just to copy out the letters, and then I discovered what they meant when they were put in proper order. I became a disciple of Abbot Aredius 28 and with his encouragement I visited the church of Saint Martin. When the time came for us to leave, he gathered a little dust from the sacred tomb as a holy relic. He put it in a small box and hung it round my neck. On our arrival at his monastery near Limoges, he put this box away in his oratory. The dust increased in quantity until it not only filled the box but forced its way through the joints wherever it could find an opening. Inspired as I was by this miracle, my heart was filled with joy, with the result that all my hope for the future was placed in the Saint's miraculous power. I then moved to the neighbourhood of Trier, and on the hillside where you are now standing I built with my own hands the dwelling which you see before you. I found here a statue of Diana, which the credulous locals worshipped as a god. I myself set up a column, on which I remained standing with bare feet, no matter how much it hurt me. When winter came in its season, it so froze me with its icy frost that the bitter cold made my toenails fall off, not once but several times, and the rain turned to ice and hung from my beard like the wax which melts from candles. This district is famous for its harsh winters."

I was very curious to know what food and drink he took, and how he succeeded in destroying the idols on the hillside. 'AU I had to eat and drink was a little bread and green vegetables, with some water.' he answered. 'Crowds began to flock to me from the manors in the region, and I kept telling them that Diana was powerless, that her statues were useless, and that the rites which they practised were vain and empty. I made it clear that the incantations which they chanted when they were drunk and in the midst of their debaucheries were quite unworthy of them. Instead they should make a seemly offering of worship to God Almighty, who had made heaven and earth. Night and day I prayed that the Lord would vouchsafe to cast down the statue and free these people from their false idolatry. God in His mercy moved their rustic minds, with the result that they began to listen to what I had to say, to forsake their images and to follow the Lord. Then I called an assembly of some of their number and with their help I was able to destroy it myself. I had already overthrown the smaller idols, which were easier to deal with. A great crowd collected by Diana's statue: they tied ropes round it and began to pull, but all their efforts were of no avail. I hurried off to the church and lay prostrate and weeping on the ground, praying to God for help, that in His divine power He would destroy what human strength was powerless to overturn. When I had finished praying I came out again, went up to the workmen and took hold of the rope. At the very first heave which we gave the idol crashed to the ground. I had it broken to pieces with iron hammers and then reduced to dust.

'When I went home for some food I found my whole body from the top of my head to the soles of my feet covered with malignant sores, so that it was not possible to find the space of a single finger-tip which was free from them. I went into the church by myself and stripped myself naked by the holy altar. It was there that I kept a flask full of oil which I had brought borne with me from Saint Martin's church. With my own hands I anointed my whole body with this oil, and then I went to sleep. It was nearly midnight when I awoke. As I rose to my feet to say the appointed prayers, I found my body completely cured, just as if I had never had any ulcers at all. Then I realized that these pustules had been caused by the hatred which the Devil bore me. He is so full of spite that he does all he can to harm those who seek God.

'There came to me certain bishops whose plain duty it was to exhort me to press wisely on with the task which I had begun. Instead they said to me: "It is not right, what you are trying to do! Such an obscure person as you can never be compared with Simeon the Stylite of Antioch. The climate of the region makes it impossible for you to keep tormenting yourself in this way. Come down off your column, and live with the brethren whom you have gathered around you." Now, it is considered a sin not to obey bishops, so, of course, I came down and went off with those brethren and began to take my meals with them. One day a certain bishop persuaded me to go off to a manor which was some distance away. Then he sent workmen with wedges, hammers and axes, and they dashed to pieces the column on which I used to stand. When I came back the next morning I found it completely destroyed. I wept bitterly, but I have never dared to set up again the column which they broke, for that would be to disobey the commands of the bishops. As a result I have been content to live among the brethren, and here I have remained until this day.

Latin, pp.

15. De conversione Vulfelaici diaconi.

Profecti igitur in itenere, ad Eposium castrum accessimus, ibique a Vulfilaico diacono nancti, ad monasterium eius deducti, benignissime suscepti sumus. Est enim hoc monasterium quasi milibus octo ab antedicto castro in montis cacumine collocatum. In quo monte magnam basilicam aedificavit, quam beati Martini vel reliquorum sanctorum reliquiis inlustravit. Commorantes autem ibi, petere ab eo coepimus, ut nobis aliqua de conversionis suae bono narraret, vel qualiter ad clericatus officium advenissit, quia erat genere Langobardus. Sed nequibat exponere, vanam tota intentione cupiens gloriam evitare. Quem ego terribilibus sacramentis coniurans, pollicitus primo, ut nulli quae referebat expanderem, rogare coepi, ut nihil mihi de his quae interrogabam occoleret. Cumque diutissime reluctasset, victus tandem tam praecibus quam obsecrationibus meis, haec effatus est: 'Dum essem', inquid, 'puer parvolus, audito beati Martini nomine, nesciens adhuc, utrum martyr an confessor esset, vel quid boni in mundo gessisset, vel quae regio beatus artus tumulo meruisset accipere, iam in eius honore vigilias celebrabam ac, si aliquid inter manus numismatis advenisset, aelimosinas faciebam. Iamque in maiore aetate proficiens, litteras discere studui; ex quibus prius scribere potui, quam ordinem scriptarum litterarum scirem. Deinde Aridio abbati coniunctus ab eoque edoctus, beati Martini basilicam adii. Revertensque cum eo, ille parumper pulveris beati sepulchri pro benedictione sustulit, quod in capsulam positum ad collum meum dependit. Devectique ad monasterium eius Limovicino in termino, accepta capsula, ut eam in oraturio suo locaret, in tantum pulvis adcrevit, ut non solum totam capsam repleret, verum etiam foris inter iuncturas, ubi aditum repperire potuit, scatiret. Ex hoc mihi miraculi lumine animus magis accendit totam spem meam in eius virtute defigere. Deinde territurium Trevericae urbis expetii, et in quo nunc estis monte habitaculum quod cernitis proprio labore construxi. Repperi tamen hic Dianae simulacrum, quod populus hic incredulus quasi deum adorabat. Colomnam etiam statui, in qua cum grandi cruciatu sine ullo pedum perstabam tegmine. Itaque cum hiemis tempus solite advenisset, ita rigore glaciali urebar, ut ungues pedum meorum saepius vis rigoris excuteret et in barbis meis aqua gelu conexa candelarum more dependeret. Magnam enim hiemem regio illa persaepe dicitur sustenere'. Sed cum nos sollicite interrogaremus, qui ei cybus aut potus esset, vel qualiter simulacra montis illius subvertisset, ait: 'Potus cybusque meus erat parumper panis et oleris ac modicum aquae. Verum ubi ad me multitudo vicinarum villarum confluere coepit, praedicabam iugiter, nihil esse Dianam, nihil simulacra nihilque quae eis videbatur exercere cultura; indigna etiam esse ipsa, quae inter pocula luxuriasque profluas cantica proferebant; sed potius Deo omnipotenti, qui caelum fecit ac terram, dignum sit sacrificium laudis inpendere. Orabam etiam saepius, ut simulacrum Dominus dirutum dignaretur populum illum ab hoc errore discutere. Flexit Domini misericordia mentem rusticam, ut inclinaret aurem suam in verba oris mei, ut scilicet, relictis idolis, Dominum sequeretur. Tunc convocatis quibusdam ex eis, simulacrum hoc inmensum, quod elidere propria virtute non poteram, cum eorum adiutorio possim eruere; iam enim reliqua sigillorum, quae faciliora fuerant, ipse confringeram. Convenientibus autem multis ad hanc Dianae statuam, missis funibus, trahere coeperunt; sed nihil labor eorum proficere poterat. Tunc ego ad basilicam propero, prostratusque solo, divinam misericordiam cum lacrimis flagitabam, ut, quia id humana industria evertere non valebat, virtus illud divina destrueret. Egressusque post orationem, ad operarius veni, adprehensumque funem, ut primo ictu trahere coepimus, protenus simulacrum ruit in terra, confractumque cum malleis ferreis in pulverem redegi. Ipsa quoque hora, cum ad cibum capiendum venissem, ita omne corpus meum a vertice usque ad plantam pusulis malis repletum est, ut locus, quem unus digitus tegerit, vacuus invenire non possit. Ingressusque basilicam solus, denudavi me coram sancto altario. Habebam enim ibi ampullam cum oleo plenam, quam de sancti Martini basilicam detuleram; ex qua propriis manibus omnes artus perunxi, moxque sopori locatus sum. Expergefactus vero circa medium noctis, cum ad cursum reddendum surgerem, ita corpus totum incolomem repperi, acsi nullum super me ulcus apparuisset. Quae vulnera non aliter nisi per invidiam inimici emissa cognovi. Et quia semper ipse invidus Deum quaerentibus nocere conatur, advenientibus episcopis, qui me magis ad hoc cohortare debuerant, ut coeptum opus sagaciter explicare deberem, dixerunt mihi: ÏNon est aequa haec via, quam sequeris, nec tu ignobilis Symeoni Anthiochino, qui colomnae insedit, poteris conparare. Sed nec cruciatum hoc te sustenere patitur loci positio. Discende potius et cum fratribus, quos adgregasti tecum, inhabita". Ad quorum verba, quia sacerdotes non obaudire adscribitur crimini, discendebam, fateor, et ambulabam cum eisdem ac cybum pariter capiebam. Quadam vero die, provocans me episcopus longius ad villam, emisit operarius cum scutis et malleis ac securibus, et eliserunt colomnam, in qua stare solitus eram. In crastinum autem veniens, inveni omnia dissipata. Flevi vehementer, sed erigere nequivi quae distruxerant, ne dicerer contrarius iussionibus sacerdotum; et ex hoc, sicut nunc habito, cum fratribus habitare contentus sum'.

Notes:

• First section like the Kings of Israel who removed pagan idol statues.

• Bolded bit like Job.