GC 5a

English

The same saint and the tomb of the virgin Vitalina

Often I have heard old men saying that a similar event happened at Artonne, a village in the temtory of Clermont. A nun named Vitalina was buried in this place. The blessed Martin came to her tomb and gave a greeting. But she requested that he might deign to bless her. After they prayed, the blessed man turned and said: ‘Holy virgin, tell me, have you already deserved [to be in] the presence of the Lord?’ She said: ‘One misfortune that seemed insignificant in the world is an obstacle for me. On the [Good] Friday when we know that the redeemer of the world suffered, I washed my face in water.’ As the blessed confessor left the tomb of the virgin, he said to his companions: ‘Woe to us, who live in this world! If this virgin who was dedicated to Christ incurred this obstacle because she washed her face on [Good] Friday, what are we to do, whom a deceitful world every day persuades to commit sins?’ In that village the blessed man performed many deeds that I think it would take too long to include.

When the man of God left the village of Artonne, he journeyed to Clermont. The senators of that city, who in that place were then distinguished by a pedigree of Roman nobility, heard that the holy man was approaching the city. In order to meet him they went out with horsemen, coaches, chariots, and wagons. Martin was riding a donkey and seated on a very plain saddle. When he came to the summit of a ridge at Saint-Bonnet from which the location of the village of Riom was visible, he saw these people approaching him in this procession. He said: ‘What do these people who are approaching us with this magnificence intend for themselves?’ A man who had arrived earlier replied: ‘The senators of Clermont are coming to meet you.’ Martin said to him: ‘It is not my [intention] to enter their city with this ostentatious parade.’ Immediately he turned the bridle of the donkey around and began to depart on the road by which he had come. But the men [of Clermont] followed him and humbly begged that he visit their city; they said: ‘We have heard about the reputation of your holiness. For there are many ill people whom you ought to visit.’ Although they were unable to convince him, Martin laid his hands on the ill people who had come and restored them to health. He returned to the village of Artonne. Even now there is a railing around the spot where the saint is said to have stood.

Latin

Simile huic facto apud Arthonam Arvernensim vicum referre saepius senes viros audivi. Vitalina quaedam religiosa in hoc loco quiescit, ad cuius beatus Martinus, tumulum veniens, dedit salutationem. Et illa, ut sibi dignaretur benedicere, flagitavit Postquam autem expleverunt orationem, conversus vir beatos: 'Dic', ait, ' sanctissima virgo, si iam Domini praesentiam meruisti?' Quae ait: 'Restetit mihi una causa, quae facilis in saeculo videbatur. Sexta enim feria, qua Redemptorem mundi passum novimus, aquis ablui caput'. Recedens autem beatus confessor a tumulo virginia, ait suis: 'Vae nobis, qui in hoc mundo versamur! Si haec virgo Christo sacrata hinc offendiculum meruit, quod sexta feria abluit caput, quid nos faciemus, quos cotidie fallax saeculum peccare persuadit?' Multa enim in eo vico vir beatus operatus est, quae insequi longum putavi. Egressus autem vir Dei ab Arcthonensim vicum, ad urbem Arvernam gressum direxit. Audientes autem senatores urbis, qui tunc in loco illo nobilitatis Romanae stimmate refulgebant, quod scilicet vir sanctus adpropinquaret urbi, egressi sunt in occursum eius cum equitibus et carrucis, cum curribus atque rhedis. At ille asello inpositus, super stratum vilissimum resedens, cum advenisset in cacumine montis Belenatensisi, de quo vici Rigomagensis positio contemplatur, vidit hos cum his pompis ad se accedere, dixitque: 'Quid sibi volunt hi qui nobis cum hoc apparatu [saeculi] adpropinquant?' Respondit unus, qui prior accesserat, quia: 'Senatores Arverni veniunt in occursum tui'. Cui ille: 'Non est meum', inquid, 'ut cum hac iactantia ingrediar urbem eorum'. Et confestim retorto retrorsum aselli freno, viam qua venerat regredi coepit. At illi consequentes eum, suppliciter deprecabantur, ut ad urbem accederet, dicentes, quia: 'Audivimus famam sanctitatis tuae. Multi enim sunt infirmi, quos te oporteat visitare'. Cumque obtenere non possent, inpositis manibus super infirmos qui advenerant, sanitati restituit; et ad vicum Arcthonensim regressus est. Extat nunc in hoc loco [ille] cancellus, in quo sanctus dicitur stetisse.

Notes

• rewriting the narrative, and reordering, again with chronology