GM 105

English

The woman who hoarded money

I have heard about something that happened years ago in Gaul. Under the guise of religious sincerity a woman devoted herself to fasting, applied herself to praying, kept vigils without fail, and, pretending to be pious, often visited the holy shrines. Because she persisted in the appearance of a just life, she acquired much wealth from many people. Every day she collected gold, and what Christians in their piety offered for ransoming prisoners she hid in secret places. Whatever was given as a benefit for the dire straits of the poor she concealed in her wicked moneybags. The woman dug out the earth and put an enormous jar in the middle of her cell, and whenever something was given her she carefully put it there [in the jar]. To prevent anyone from finding her secret [cache] she covered it with a stone on top. 0 greediness, three and four times to be cursed, you who cheat men of the light and plunge them into darkness! Why say more? When the jar was filled with coins, the moment of revelation came for this woman. She died [before] God, migrated to the underworld, and was buried. After her funeral the clerics who were present asked her servant girl what the woman had done with so much money and whether there had been sufficient time for her to spend it. The servant girl replied that she had never seen the woman extend a hand of compassion to any poor person. She admitted that she did not know what had happened to the money that had been given to the woman. She said: 'I know only one fact, that I never saw anything that was taken into the cell brought outside again.' As the clerics listened they were surprised at what they heard, and they carefully inquired about what had become of the money. They repeatedly tapped on the floor. The spot where the money lay hidden returned an echo of the blow and with a hollow sound it revealed what was hidden. Immediately they removed the stone and found the pile of gold. The clerics were stunned at the perversity of such ingenuity and asked the bishop what had been done. The bishop was upset and ordered the woman's tomb to be opened and the money thrown on top of her lifeless body. He said: 'What you have collected for yourself is to be yours; the poor of Christ will not lack sustenance.' Shortly afterwards, when people first fell asleep during the night, shouts were heard from the tomb along with crying and loud screams. In the midst of this shouting this [cry] especially echoed out, that she who was being consumed by molten gold was a miserable wretch. After these shouts had gone on for three days at nightfall, the people could not tolerate them and went to the bishop. The bishop came and ordered the lid of the tomb to be removed. When the lid was removed, he saw that the gold, as if it had been melted in a furnace, had trickled into the woman's mouth along with its sulphurous flame. Then the bishop prayed to the Lord that, since the woman's evilness had been exposed to the people, the Lord should order the punishment of her body to stop. After the tomb was covered, he left. The woman's shouts were no longer heard.

Latin

Nam audivi praeteritis annis gestum in Galliis. Mulier quaedam sub specie religionis vacabat ieiuniis, orationibus insistebat, vigilabat pertinaciter ac loca sancta devotione simulata circuibat assiduae. Cumque in hoc colore iustae vitae duraret, inmeusas opes a multis suscipiebat; congregabat aurum cotidie, et quod devotio christiana pro redemendis porregebat captivis, loculis abdebatur occultis; et quae dabantur inopum necessitatibus profutura, iniquis marsupiis condebantur. Nam effossam mulier humum in medio cellulae ollam inmensam inposuit, ibique cum aliquid datum fuisset recondebat diligenter, et lapide superposito claudens, ut nulli pateret occultum. O terque quaterque exsecranda cupiditas, quae luci fraudans homines dimergis in tenebris! Quid plura? Cum olla impleta fuisset a nummis, huic mulieri tempus resolutionis advenit; mortua vero Deo, migrans inferno sepulta est. Post cuius exsequias sacerdotes qui aderant puellae eius familiari interrogant, quid de tanta fecisset pecunia, aut si ea eroganda temporis sui permisit spatium. At illa respondit, numquam se vidisse, quod ulli inopum manum misericordiae porrexisset; aut quid pecunia data devenisset, ignorare se confitetur. 'Unum tantum scio', ait, 'quod in cellula deportatum regressum foris ultra non vidi'. Haec audientes clerici, stupent auditu , et quid ex hoc factum fuisset, diligenter inquirunt; totumque crebris ictibus pavimentum, locus, in quo occulta iacebat pecunia, tinnitum dedit inpulsus, cavoque resonans, prodidit quae latebant. Et statim remoto lapide, invenitur auri congeries. Et clerici stupentes tantae subtilitatis perversitatem, episcopo quid actum fuerat indicant. Ille vero commotus, iussit reserato sepulchro pecuniam super corpus exanime proici, dicens: 'Sint tua tibi quae congregasti; pauperibus vero Christi non deerit, unde sustententur'. Nec mora, cum prima quies nocturno tempore data fuisset, audiuntur voces a tumulo, fletus et ululatus inmensus; inter quas voces hoc maxime resonabat, se miseram, se infelicem, quae auri consumebatur incendio. Denique cum per triduum haec voces adveniente nocte resonarent, populis non durantibus, ad sacerdotem venitur. At ille accedens, iubet tumuli operturium amoveri, submotoque videt aurum quasi in fornace resolutum in os mulieris ingredi cum flamma sulpurea. Tunc sacerdos oravit ad Dominum, ut, quia malitia eius populis fuerat declarata, tandem Dominus poenam cessare iuberet a corpore, et operto tumulo, discessit; vocesque mulieris amplius non sunt auditae.