GC 13

English

The heretic who wished to restore a man’s sight

When the aforementioned king [Leovigild] heard of the miracles that were worked through the servants of God who belonged to our [Catholic] faith, he summoned one of his own [Arian] bishops and in secret said to him: ‘Why do you, in accordance with your faith, not display miracles to the people just like those who call themselves Christians?’ The bishop said to him: ‘Often I have restored sight to the bliid and hearing to the deaf. I am now able to accomplish these things that you suggest.’ The bishop summoned one of the heretics and said to him in private: ‘Take these forty gold pieces, close your eyes, and sit down in a place where I pass by. When I pass by with the king, cry out loudly that I might restore your lost sight by means of my faith.’ The man took the money and did what had been ordered of him. The new Cyrila walked at the right hand of the king, surrounded by a crowd of heretics. The man who had been blinded by the money shouted that he might recover [sight in] his eyes by the faith of the bishop. With great arrogance the bishop placed his hands over the man’s eyes and said: ‘In accordance with my faith, let this happen for you.’ As he said this, the man’s eyes were closed up so painfully that not only did he lose his sight but he also confessed the deceit that he had contrived for the sake of greediness.

Latin

Cernens autem praefatus rex tanta miracula per servos Dei, qui nostrae religionis erant, fieri, vocavit unum episcoporum suorum, dixitque secretius ad eum: 'Quam ob rem vos, ut isti, qui se christianos dicunt, non ostenditis signa in populos secundum fidem vestram? Dicit ei episcopus: 'Saepius ego caecis lumen reddidi et surdis auditum, nunc autem possum haec facere quae dicis'. Et vocatum ad se unum de hereticis, clanculo ait ad eum: 'Accipe quadraginta aureos, et clausis oculis, resede in loco unde nobis est transitus; et praetereunte me cum rege, exclama in virtute, ut perditum lumen mea tibi credulitate restituam'. Cumque hic, accepta pecunia, fecisset quod sibi fuerat imperatum, procedit novus Cirula regis ad dexteram, constipatus hereticorum caterva; exclamat et iste caecatus pecunia, ut fide episcopi reciperet oculos suos. At iste cum non minima arrogantia inponens manus super oculos eius, ait: 'Secundum fidem meam fiat tibi'. Haec eo dicente, ita obserati sunt oculi hominis cum dolore, ut non solum visum perderet, verum etiam dolum, quem, avaritia inpellente, finxerat, publicaret.