Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series • VOLUME 11
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins & John Cassian
SECTION 1
A SELECT LIBRARY
Title: NPNF-211. Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian Creator(s): Schaff, Philip (1819-1893) (Editor) Print Basis: Edinburgh, T & T Clark Rights: Public Domain CCEL Subjects: All; Early Church; Proofed LC Call no: BR60 LC Subjects: Christianity Early Christian Literature. Fathers of the Church, etc. A SELECT LIB…
1,398 wordsSECTION 2Preface to Desiderius.
Preface to Desiderius. Severus to his dearest brother Desiderius sendeth greeting. I had determined, my like-minded brother, to keep private, and confine within the walls of my own house, the little treatise which I had written concerning the life of St. Martin. I did so, as I am not gifted with much talent, and shrank from the…
1,857 wordsSECTION 3Chapter II.
Chapter II. Military Service of St. Martin. Martin, then, was born at Sabaria [3] in Pannonia, but was brought up at Ticinum, [4] which is situated in Italy. His parents were, according to the judgment of the world, of no mean rank, but were heathens. His father was at first simply a soldier, but afterwards a military tribune.…
1,252 wordsSECTION 4Chapter IV.
Chapter IV. Martin retires from Military Service. In the meantime, as the barbarians were rushing within the two divisions of Gaul, Julian Cæsar, [12] bringing an army together at the city [13] of the Vaugiones, began to distribute a donative to the soldiers. As was the custom in such a case, they were called forward, one by o…
966 wordsSECTION 5Chapter VI.
Chapter VI. The Devil throws himself in the Way of Martin. Martin, then, having gone on from thence, after he had passed Milan, the devil met him in the way, having assumed the form of a man. The devil first asked him to what place he was going. Martin having answered him to the effect that he was minded to go whithersoever th…
1,025 wordsSECTION 6Chapter VIII.
Chapter VIII. Martin restores one that had been strangled. Not long after these events, while Martin was passing by the estate of a certain man named Lupicinus, who was held in high esteem according to the judgment of the world, he was received with shouting and the lamentations of a wailing crowd. Having, in an anxious state …
767 wordsSECTION 7Chapter X.
Chapter X. Martin as Bishop of Tours. And now having entered on the episcopal office, it is beyond my power fully to set forth how Martin distinguished himself in the discharge of its duties. For he remained with the utmost constancy, the same as he had been before. There was the same humility in his heart, and the same homeli…
868 wordsSECTION 8Chapter XII.
Chapter XII. Martin causes the Bearers of a Dead Body to stop. Now, it came to pass some time after the above, that while Martin was going a journey, he met the body of a certain heathen, which was being carried to the tomb with superstitious funeral rites. Perceiving from a distance the crowd that was approaching, and being i…
1,006 wordsSECTION 9Chapter XIV.
Chapter XIV. Martin destroys Heathen Temples and Altars. Nor did he show less eminence, much about the same time, in other transactions of a like kind. For, having in a certain village set fire to a very ancient and celebrated temple, the circle of flames was carried by the action of the wind upon a house which was very close …
1,156 wordsSECTION 10Chapter XVII.
Chapter XVII. Martin casts out Several Devils. At the same time the servant of one Tetradius, a man of proconsular rank, having been laid hold of by a demon, was tormented with the most miserable results. Martin, therefore, having been asked to lay his hands on him, ordered the servant to be brought to him; but the evil spirit…
702 wordsSECTION 11Chapter XIX.
Chapter XIX. A Letter of Martin effects a Cure, with Other Miracles. Further, Arborius, an ex-prefect, and a man of a very holy and faithful character, while his daughter was in agony from the burning fever of a quartan ague, inserted in the bosom of the girl, at the very paroxysm of the heat, a letter of Martin which happened…
1,014 wordsSECTION 12Chapter XXI.
Chapter XXI. Martin has to do both with Angels and Devils. It is also well known that angels were very often seen by him, so that they spoke in turns with him in set speech. As to the devil, Martin held him so visible and ever under the power of his eyes, that whether he kept himself in his proper form, or changed himself into…
903 wordsSECTION 13Chapter XXIII.
Chapter XXIII. A Case of Diabolic Deception. There was a certain man, Clarus by name, a most noble youth, who afterwards became a presbyter, and who is now, through his happy departure from this world, numbered among the saints. He, leaving all others, betook himself to Martin, and in a short time became distinguished for the …
1,198 wordsSECTION 14Chapter XXV.
Chapter XXV. Intercourse of Sulpitius with Martin. For since I, having long heard accounts of his faith, life and virtues, burned with a desire of knowing him, I undertook what was to me a pleasant journey for the purpose of seeing him. At the same time, because already my mind was inflamed with the desire of writing his life,…
958 wordsSECTION 15Chapter XXVII.
Chapter XXVII. Wonderful Piety of Martin. No one ever saw him enraged, or excited, or lamenting, or laughing; he was always one and the same: displaying a kind of heavenly happiness in his countenance, he seemed to have passed the ordinary limits of human nature. Never was there any word on his lips but Christ, and never was t…
2,225 wordsSECTION 16Letter II. To the Deacon Aurelius.
[52] Halm here inserts "vere." Letter II. To the Deacon Aurelius. Sulpitius has a Vision of St. Martin. Sulpitius Severus to Aurelius the Deacon sendeth greeting,-- [53] After you had departed from me in the morning, I was sitting alone in my cell; and there occurred to me, as often happens, that hope of the future which I c…
1,885 wordsSECTION 17Letter III. To Bassula, His Mother-In-Law.
Letter III. To Bassula, His Mother-In-Law. How St. Martin passed from this Life to Life Eternal. Sulpitius Severus to Bassula, his venerable parent, sendeth greeting. If it were lawful that parents should be summoned to court by their children, clearly I might drag you with a righteous thong [64] before the tribunal of the pr…
2,238 wordsSECTION 18Chapter I.
[73] "potenti virtute verborum": Halm reads simply "potenti verbo." [74] A singular and obviously corrupt reading is "quis eos a morsibus nostris prohibebit?" Halm's reading has been followed in the text. [75] Lit. "as he always flowed with bowels of mercy in the Lord." [76] "spes" seems here to mean "longing of heart." [77]…
707 wordsSECTION 19Chapter II.
Chapter II. "Truly" said I, "you have clearly proved how much a sincere love can accomplish, inasmuch as, for my sake, you have traveled over so many seas, and such an extent of land, journeying, so to speak, from the rising of the sun in the East to where he sets in the West. Come, then, because we are here in a retired spot b…
1,049 wordsSECTION 20Chapter IV.
Chapter IV. I therefore bent my steps toward the hut which I had beheld from a distance. There I find an old man, in a garment made of skins, turning a mill with his hand. He saluted and received us kindly. We explain to him that we had been forced to land on that coast, and were prevented by the continued raging of the sea [90…
781 wordsSECTION 21Chapter VI.
Chapter VI. "After he had kindly accepted our gifts, on the sailors calling us back to the sea, we departed; and after a favorable passage, we arrived at Alexandria on the seventh day. There we found a disgraceful strife raging between the bishops and monks, the cause or occasion of which was that the priests were known when as…
898 wordsSECTION 22Chapter VIII.
Chapter VIII. Accordingly, setting out from that place, I made for the town of Bethlehem, which is six miles distant from Jerusalem, but requires sixteen stoppages [95] on the part of one journeying from Alexandria. The presbyter Jerome [96] rules the church of this place; for it is a parish of the bishop who has possession of …
871 wordsSECTION 23Chapter X.
Chapter X. "Not far from the desert, and close to the Nile, there are numerous monasteries. For the most part, the monks there dwell together in companies of a hundred; and their highest rule is to live under the orders of their Abbot, to do nothing by their own inclination, but to depend in all things on his will and authority…
831 wordsSECTION 24Chapter XII.
Chapter XII. "In this monastery I saw two old men who were said to have already lived there for forty years, and in fact never to have departed from it. I do not think that I should pass by all mention of these men, since, indeed, I heard the following statement made regarding their virtues on the testimony of the Abbot himself…
1,129 wordsSECTION 25Chapter XIV.
Chapter XIV. "We found another equally remarkable man living in a small hut, capable only of containing a single person. Concerning him we were told that a she-wolf was accustomed to stand near him at dinner; and that the beast could by no means be easily deceived so as to fail to be with him at the regular hour when he took re…
1,260 wordsSECTION 26Chapter XVI.
Chapter XVI. "There was also an illustrious name of another anchorite in those regions, a man who dwelt in that part of the desert which is about Syene. This man, when first he betook himself to the wilderness, intended to live on the roots of plants which the sand here and there produces, of a very sweet and delicious flavor; …
802 wordsSECTION 27Chapter XVIII.
Chapter XVIII. "I will relate two wonderful examples of almost incredible obedience, and two only, although many present themselves to my recollection; but if, in any case, a few instances do not suffice to rouse readers to an imitation of the like virtues, many would be of no advantage. Well then, when a certain man having lai…
743 wordsSECTION 28Chapter XX.
Chapter XX. "I will, however, still further give you an account of two extraordinary marvels. The one of these will be a notable warning against the inflation of wretched vanity, and the other will serve as no mean guard against the display of a spurious righteousness. "A certain saint, then, endowed with almost incredible pow…
991 wordsSECTION 29Chapter XXII.
Chapter XXII. "A certain young man from Asia, exceedingly wealthy, of distinguished family, and having a wife and little son, happening to have been a tribune in Egypt, and in frequent campaigns against the Blembi to have touched on some parts of the desert, and having also seen several tents of the saints, heard the word of sa…
1,019 wordsSECTION 30Chapter XXIV.
Chapter XXIV. "Indeed, Postumianus," replied I, "while I was listening attentively, all this time, to you talking about the excellences of the saints, in my secret thoughts I had my mind turned to my friend Martin, observing on the best of grounds that all those things which different individuals had done separately, were easil…
796 wordsSECTION 31Chapter XXVI.
Chapter XXVI. "Why do you," here exclaimed Postumianus, "speak to me in such a manner? As if I did not hold the same opinion as yourself, and had not always been of the same mind. I, indeed, as long as I live, and retain my senses, will ever celebrate the monks of Egypt: I will praise the anchorites; I will admire the eremites;…
1,000 wordsSECTION 32Chapter I.
Chapter I. "Well then, when first, having left the schools, I attached myself to the blessed man, a few days after doing so, we followed him on his way to the church. In the way, a poor man, half-naked in these winter-months, met him, and begged that some clothing might be given him. Then Martin, calling for the chief-deacon, g…
1,116 wordsSECTION 33Chapter III.
Chapter III. "In the same way, some time afterwards, we made a journey with him while he visited the various parishes in his diocese. He had gone forward a little by himself, some necessity or other, I know not what, compelling us to keep behind. In the meantime, a state-conveyance, full of military men, was coming along the pu…
701 wordsSECTION 34Chapter IV.
Chapter IV. "I have often noticed this, Sulpitius, that Martin was accustomed to say to you, that such an abundance [115] of power was by no means granted him while he was a bishop, as he remembered to have possessed before he obtained that office. Now, if this be true, or rather since it is true, we may imagine how great those…
1,327 wordsSECTION 35Chapter VI.
Chapter VI. "And as we have, once for all, entered the palace, I shall string together events which there took place, although they happened at different times. And, indeed, it does not seem to me right that I should pass unmentioned the example of admiration for Martin which was shown by a faithful queen. Maximus then ruled th…
1,027 wordsSECTION 36Chapter VIII.
Chapter VIII. "Admirably," exclaimed Postumianus, "does your speech bind those friends of ours from going beyond the example of Martin; but I own to you my belief that these remarks of yours will fall upon deaf ears. For if we were to follow the ways of Martin, we should never need to defend ourselves in the case of kissing, an…
999 wordsSECTION 37Chapter X.
Chapter X. "Moreover, it will be worth while to relate also some of his familiar sayings, since they were all salted with spiritual instruction. He happened to see a sheep [122] that had recently been sheared; and, See,' says he, she has fulfilled the precept of the Gospel: she had two coats, and one of them she has given to hi…
914 wordsSECTION 38Chapter XII.
Chapter XII. "I believe, my dear Sulpitius, that you remember with what emphasis he extolled to us (when you too were present) that virgin who had so completely withdrawn herself from the eyes of all men, that she did not admit to her presence Martin himself, when he wished to visit her in the discharge of duty. For when he was…
1,268 wordsSECTION 39Chapter XIV.
Chapter XIV. "But when we questioned him concerning the end of the world, he said to us that Nero and Antichrist have first to come; that Nero will rule in the Western portion of the world, after having subdued ten kings; and that a persecution will be carried on by him, with the view of compelling men to worship the idols of t…
1,005 wordsSECTION 40Chapter II.
Chapter II. "You have assembled, my pious and eloquent friends, to hear me; but, as I presume, you have brought to the task religious rather than learned ears; for you are to listen to me simply as a witness to the faith, and not as speaking with the fluency of an orator. Now, I shall not repeat the things which were spoken yes…
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Source & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.