VP 2.1

English

When the holy Illidius was strong in the sanctity of his perfect life and had accumulated in himself the gifts of various graces granted by the Lord, he deserved to receive the one thing that had up to then been lacking to the consummation of his sanctity: that, by God's inspiration and the people's choice, he be elected the bishop of the church of Clermont and shepherd of the Lord's sheep. The renown of his holiness, which had risen through various steps of graces, not only extended to the boundaries of the territory of Clermont but even crossed into those of nearby cities.

Hence it happened that this glory reached the ears of the emperor at Trier, whose daughter had been seized by an unclean spirit and was being sorely harassed; he had not been able to find anyone to cure her until he found out about the blessed Illidius's fame. Faster than a word can be uttered, the emperor sent messengers who found the holy old man in the aforementioned city (Clermont) and quickly brought him to the mighty presence of the emperor. After he had received the holy man with great respect, he bewailed his daughter's dire condition.

Illidius trusted in the Lord and prostrated himself in prayer; after having spent the night singing sacred hymns and spiritual songs, he put his fingers in the girl's mouth and drove the evil spirit out of her tormented body. When the emperor saw this miracle, he offered the bishop great heaps of gold and silver. He, however, cursed and refused this, and obtained the concession that the city of Clermont, which paid its taxes in wheat and wine, would from then on pay them in gold, because the commodities could only with difficulty be transported to the imperial depot.

The saint, they say, having fulfilled the time of his present life, migrated to Christ during that journey, was brought to his city by his retinue and buried there.

Latin

Sanctus igitur Illidius cum perfectae vitae sanctitate polleret ac diversarum in se gratiarum carismata, largiente Domino, congessisset, illud quod adhuc sanctitatis culmini deerat, Deo inspirante ac populo elegente, promeruit, ut sacerdos Arvernae eclesiae et dominicarum ovium paetor elegeretur. Cuius sanctitatis fama dum per diversos gratiarum evehitur ascensus, non solum ipsos Arverni terreturii terminos, verum etiam vicinarum urbium fines adivit. Unde factum est, ut haec gloria Treverici imperatoris aures attingeret, cuius filia cum ab spiritu inmundo correpta graviter vexaretur, et non inveniretur a quo possit erui, beatum Illidium fama detexit. Et dicto citius ab imperatore directi pueri, sanctum senem in antedicta repertum urbe potestati regiae celeriter repraesentant. At ille, venerabiliter exceptum, de exitu infelicis conquiritur filiae. Ille vero confisus in Domino, in oratione prosternitur, noctemque cum sacris hymnis canticisque spiritalibus ductam, inmissis in os puellae digitis, nequam spiritum a corpore abegit obsessae. Quod miraculum imperator cernens, inmensos auri argentique cumulos sancto offert sacerdoti. Quod ille exsecrans ac refutans, hoc obtenuit, ut Arverna civitas quae tributa in specio triticea ac vinaria dependebat in auro dissolveret, quia cum gravi labore poenu inferebantur imperiali. Sanctus vero, ut aiunt, impleto vitae praesentis tempore, in ipso iteneris curriculo migravit ad Christum, a suisque delatus, in urbe sua sepultus est.