Do not place your confidence in your youth, nor think that you have a very fixed term of life, For the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. On this account he has made our end invisible, so that we might demonstrate clearly our diligence and forethought. Do you not see men taken away prematurely day after day? On this account a certain one admonishes, don’t delay in turning to the Lord, and don’t put things off from day to day,^[1] lest at any time, while you delay, you are destroyed. Let the old man keep this admonition; let the young man heed this advice. Indeed, are you in insecurity, and are you rich, and do you abound in wealth, and does no affliction happen to you? Still hear what Paul says: when they say peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them. Affairs change often. We are not masters of our end. Let us be masters of virtue. Our Master Christ is loving.

So what is this day which the Lord has made? Live good lives, and you will be this day yourselves. The apostle, you see, was not talking about the day which begins with sunrise and ends with sunset, when he said, Let us walk honorably, as in the day;^[1] where he also said, For those who get drunk are drunk at night. Nobody sees people getting drunk at the midday meal; but when this does happen, it is a matter of the night, not of the day which the Lord has made. You see, just as that day is realized in those who live godly, holy and righteous lives, marked by moderation, justice, sobriety. So too on the contrary, for those who live in an ungodly, loose-living, proud and irreligious manner—for that sort of night, the night will undoubtedly be a thief. The day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

And so that you may learn by another thing that the Lord’s silence on this matter is not a sign of ignorance on his part, take note of something else in addition to what we have mentioned. But as in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that the flood came and took everything away, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be.^[1] He said these things in order to show that he would come suddenly and unexpectedly, and precisely when a majority of people would be living luxuriously. Paul also said this when he wrote, When they shall speak of peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come upon them, and to show how unexpectedly, he said, as travail upon a woman with child.

The woman who is pregnant knows that she has a fetus in the womb but does not know when birth will occur. So it is with us as we know that the Lord will come, but we do not teach the time itself with certainty.

Therefore, not to know the times is something different from decay of morals and love of vice. For, when the apostle Paul said, Don’t allow your thinking to be shaken nor be frightened, neither by word nor by epistle as sent from us, as if the day of the Lord were at hand,^[1] he obviously did not want them to believe those who thought the coming of the Lord was already at hand, but neither did he want them to be like the wicked servant and say, My Lord is long in coming, and deliver themselves over to destruction by pride and riotous behavior. Thus, his desire that they should not listen to false rumors about the imminent approach of the last day was consistent with his wish that they should await the coming of their Lord fully prepared, packed for travel and with lamps burning.^[2] He said to them, But you, brothers, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief, for all you are the children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night nor of darkness.

Now if the good God sees that a man’s heart has not inclined to any of these things (as David said, indicating the same, Thou hast proved my heart, Thou hast visited it in the night, Thou hast tried me by fire, and unrighteousness was not found in me,^[1]) then God will help him and deliver him. Why does he say in the night and not in the day? Because the enemy’s deceptions are a night, as Paul also said, We are not children of the night but children of the day, since the Son of God is the Day, but Satan is night.

On the verse: This is the day which the Lord has made.^[1] What we have sung to our Lord let us put into practice with his help. To be sure, every day has been made by the Lord, but with good reason has it been said of a particular day, This is the day which the Lord has made. We read that when he created heaven and earth, God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light, and God called the light Day, and the darkness Night.^[2] But there is another day, well established and definitely to be commended by us, concerning which the apostle says, Let us walk becomingly as in the day. That day, commonly called today, is caused by the rising and setting of the sun. There is still another day by which the word of God shines on the hearts of the faithful and dispels the darkness, not of the eyes, but of evil habits. Let us, therefore, recognize this light; let us rejoice in it; let us pay attention to the apostle when he says, For we are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of night nor of darkness.

If you wish to see Jesus transfigured before those who went up on the mountain with him, behold with me the Jesus in the Gospels as more simply understood. This is Jesus, as one might say, known according to the flesh by those who do not go up through uplifting words and works to the holy mountain of wisdom. Behold him with me as known in his divinity by means of all of the Gospels, beheld in the form of God according to the knowledge that his companions had. For before them Jesus is transfigured, but not to any of those who are below. But when he is transfigured, his face also shines as the sun, so that he may be manifested to the children of light. These have put off the works of darkness and have put on the armor of light^[1] and are no longer the children of darkness or night, but have become sons of the day and walk honestly as in the day. Being manifested, he will shine for them not only as the sun, but as the son of righteousness.

So that you may know that the prayers which are uttered in time of affliction would have the best chance of being heard, hear what the prophet says, In my affliction I cried to the Lord, and he listened to me.^[1] Therefore, let us stir up our conscience to fervor, let us afflict our soul with the memory of our sins, not so that it is crushed with anxiety but so that we may make it ready to be heard, so that we make it live in sobriety and watchfulness and ready to attain heaven itself. Nothing puts carelessness and negligence to flight the way grief and affliction do. They bring together our thoughts from every side and make our mind turn back to ponder itself. The man who prays in this way, in his affliction, after many a prayer, can bring joy into his own soul.

We should sleep half-awake. . . . A man who is asleep is not good for anything, any more than a man who is dead. Therefore, even during the night we should rouse ourselves from sleep often and give praise to God. Blessed are they who have kept watch for him, for they make themselves like the angels whom we speak of as ever watchful.

Wherefore, let us honor this sacred day, the day on which the author of our salvation appeared. Whom the wise men revered as an infant in his crib, let us worship as all-powerful in heaven. Just as they offered to the Lord mystical kinds of gifts from their treasures, let us bring forth from our hearts things that are worthy of God. Although he himself bestows all good things, he nevertheless asks for the fruit of our effort. For the kingdom of heaven comes not to those who sleep but to those who work and watch according to the Lord’s command. If we do not render his gifts ineffective, we may deserve to receive what he promised through the very things which he has given.

The winged messenger of day

Sings loud, foretelling dawn’s approach,

And Christ in stirring accents calls

Our slumbering souls to life with him.

Away, he cries, with dull repose,

The sleep of death and sinful sloth;

With hearts now sober, just and pure,

Keep watch, for I am very near. HYMNS 1.1-8.

But if we must also examine the statement, And it was night,^[1] so that it has not been interjected to no purpose by the Evangelist, we must say that the perceptible night at that time was symbolic, an image of the night that was in Judas’s soul when Satan, the darkness that lies over the abyss, entered him. For God called the darkness night,^[2] of which night, indeed, Paul says we are not children, nor of darkness, when he says, Therefore, brothers, we are not of the night, nor of darkness, and, But let us who are of the day be sober.

You see, I wish and pray that you would all hold fast to right order as teachers, that you would not simply be listeners to what is said by us but also transmit it to others, casting your net for those still in error so as to bring them to the way of truth—as Paul says, Edify one another, and With fear and trembling work out your own salvation.^[1] In this way we will have the satisfaction of seeing the church grow in strength, and you will enjoy more abundant favor from above through the great care you show for your members. God, you know, does not wish Christians to be concerned only for themselves but also to edify others, not simply through their teaching but also through their behavior and the way they live. After all, nothing is such an attraction to the way of truth as an upright life—in other words, people pay less attention to what we say than to what we do.

Do you see how everywhere Paul puts the health of the community into the hands of each individual? Exhorting one another daily, he says, while it is called today.^[1] Do not then cast all of the burden on your teachers, and do not cast everything on those who have authority over you. You are able to edify one another. He says this in writing to the Thessalonians, Edify one another, just as you are doing. And again, Comfort one another with these words.^[2] If you are willing, you will have more success with one another than we can have. For you have been with one another a longer time. You know more about one another’s affairs. You are not ignorant of one another’s failings. You have more freedom of speech and love and intimacy. These are helpful for teaching. . . . You have more ability than we do to reprove and exhort. Furthermore, because I am only one person, but you are many, you will be able to be teachers to one another.

Of course, even good men can be sick, suffering from that disobedience which is the penalty of a primal disobedience which, therefore, is a wound or weakness in a nature that is good in itself. It is because of this wound that the good who are growing in grace and living by faith during their pilgrimage on earth are given the counsels, Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ,^[1] and elsewhere, We exhort you, brothers, reprove the irregular, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that no one renders evil for evil to any man.. . . It is in this way that citizens of the City of God are given medicine during their pilgrimage on earth while praying for the peace of their heavenly fatherland. And, of course, the Holy Spirit is operative internally to give healing power to the medicine which is applied externally, for, otherwise, no preaching of the truth is of any avail. Even though God makes use of one of his obedient creatures, as when he speaks in human guise to our ears—whether to the ears of the body or to the kind of ears we have in sleep—it is only by his interior grace that he moves and rules our mind.

Hence, as far as concerns us, who are not able to distinguish those who are predestinated from those who are not, we ought on this very account to will all humanity to be saved. Severe rebuke should be medicinally applied to all by us that they neither themselves perish nor may be the means of destroying others. It belongs to God, however, to make that rebuke useful to them whom he himself has foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. We do not abstain from admonishing for fear lest by rebuke a person should perish. So why do we not also rebuke for fear that one should rather perish by our withholding admonition? For there is no greater act of compassion on our part than when the blessed apostle says, Rebuke those that are unruly; comfort the feeble-minded; support the weak; be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil.

It was to the laity and to women and not only the clergy that the apostle said, Reprove the irregular, comfort the fainthearted, support the weak. Provided that you are willing to rebuke one another in case of sin, the Enemy will be able to take you by surprise only with difficulty or not at all. If he does take you by surprise, the evil which was done is easily amended and corrected. Then is fulfilled in you what was written, A brother who helps his brother will be exalted,^[1] and again, he who helps a sinner to be brought back from the misguided way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins.^[2]

If we are to hate ungodly and lawless men, we shall go on also to hate sinners. Thus, in regular succession, you will find yourself cut off from most of your brothers, indeed, from all of them. There is not one of them without sin. If it is our duty to hate the enemies of God, we would have to hate not only the ungodly but backsliders^[1] as well. Then we would be worse than wild beasts, shunning all and puffed up with pride, just like the Pharisee. Paul commanded us differently. Admonish the disorderly, encourage the faint-hearted, support the weak, be long-suffering toward all.

Let us then bravely bear the ills that befall us. It is in war that heroes are discerned; in conflicts that athletes are crowned; in the surge of the sea that the art of the helmsman is shown; in the fire that the gold is tried. And let us not, I beseech you, have concern for only ourselves, but let us rather look out for the rest, and that much more for the sick than for the whole, for it is an apostolic precept which exclaims, Comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak. Let us, then, stretch out our hands to them that lie low, let us tend their wounds and set them at their post to fight the devil. Nothing will so vex him as to see them fighting and smiting again.

What does ‘See that none of you repays evil for evil’ mean? The old man said. . . ‘Passions work in four stages—first, in the heart; secondly, in the face; thirdly, in words; and fourthly, it is essential not to render evil for evil in deeds. If you can purify your heart, passion will not come into your expression; but if it comes into your face, take care not to speak; but if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil.’

For no one is going to turn away from sin and start behaving righteously unless he thinks about what he is doing. Not until he has been straightened out by practicing godly behavior will he actually possess the reward of faith: the crown of righteousness that Paul possessed, having fought the good fight. That crown is laid up not just for Paul but for all who are like him in this respect. This sort of meditation and exercise in godliness should be familiar to us, as it was to the saints of old. It should be especially so in the season when the divine word calls upon us to keep the feast.^[1] For what, after all, is the feast but continual worship of God, recognition of godliness and unceasing prayer all done from the heart in full agreement with each other? St. Paul, wanting us to be so inclined, urges us, Always rejoice, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things.

Then, because he [David] had been delivered from great danger,^[1] he sent up this prayer of thanksgiving to God who had rescued him. I will bless the Lord at all times.^[2] Having escaped death, as if he were setting up norms for his life, he molded his soul to an exact manner of living, so that he ceased at no time from praise but referred the beginning of affairs, great and small, to God. I will not think, he says, that anything was done through my diligence nor happened through spontaneous chance, but, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times,’ not only in prosperity of life, but also in precarious times. The apostle, learning from this, says, Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks.

Sing with jubilation to God, all the earth. The prophet was troubled for the faithful people in case they believe they are to serve the Lord with gloomy anxiety, so he began at once with jubilation, for ministering to the Lord with happiness of mind constitutes the perfect devotion of the just man. As Paul warns us, Always rejoice: pray without ceasing: in all things give thanks.

And when Abba Benjamin was dying, he quoted a text to his disciples, Be joyful at all times, pray without ceasing, and give thanks for all things. He told them, Do these things and you can be saved.

When the mind is freed from lust, established in tranquility and does not waver in its intention toward the one supreme good, the monk will fulfill the precept of St. Paul, Pray without ceasing, and In every place lifting up holy hands without wrath and controversy.^[1] By purity of heart the mind is drawn away from earthly feelings and is reformed in the likeness of an angelic spirit. Then, whatever thought the mind receives, whatever it considers, whatever it does, will be a prayer of true purity and sincerity.

And who observed and noticed the cause of his [i.e., the psalmist’s] groaning? All my desire is before You.^[1] For it is not before men, who cannot see the heart, but is before You that all my desire is open! Let your desire be before him, and the Father, who sees in secret, shall reward you.^[2] For it is your heart’s desire that is your prayer. If your desire continues uninterrupted, your prayer continues also. For it was not without meaning, when the apostle said, Pray without ceasing. Are we to be without ceasing in bending the knee and prostrating the body and lifting up our hands, such that he says, without ceasing? If that is what without ceasing means, then I do not believe it is possible. There is another kind of inward prayer without ceasing, which is the desire of the heart.

For prayer and psalmody, however, as also, indeed, for some other duties, every hour is suitable, that, while our hands are busy at their tasks, we may praise God sometimes with the tongue (when this is possible, or, rather, when it is conducive to edification); or, if not, with the heart. . . . Thus we acquire a recollected spirit—when in every action we beg from God the success of our labors and satisfy our debt of gratitude to him who gave us the power to do the work, and when, as has been said, we keep before our minds the aim of pleasing him. If this is not the case, how can there be consistency in the words of the apostle bidding us to pray without ceasing, with those other words, we worked night and day.^[1]

Why did Paul say, Pray and do not grow weary? As long as he is a servant, he indeed prays; but once born of the Spirit in the world of prayer, he is a son of God, and he has authority over riches, being an heir; thus he does not merely ask.

Most appropriately have we all this day sung together, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who only does wondrous things.^[1] For marvelous, and beyond all expectation, are the things which have happened. A whole city, and so great a population, when just about to be overwhelmed—to sink under the waves, and to be utterly and instantly destroyed—he has entirely rescued from shipwreck in a single moment of time! Let us give thanks, then, not only that God has calmed the tempest but that he permitted it to take place. Not only did he rescue us from shipwreck, but he allowed us to fall into such distress and permitted such an extreme peril to hang over us. Thus also Paul bids us in every thing give thanks. But when he says, In every thing give thanks, he means not only in our deliverance from evils but also at the time when we suffer those evils.

We can thus see why Paul, not wanting the grace of the Spirit given to us to grow cold, exhorts us, Do not quench the Spirit. The only way we can continue to be partakers of Christ is to cling until the end to the Holy Spirit, who was given to us at the beginning.^[1] Paul said, Do not quench not because the Spirit is under the power of men but because evil and unthankful men certainly do wish to quench the Spirit. Demonstrating their impurity, they drive the Spirit away by their unholy deeds.

As fire requires fuel, so grace requires our prompt response, that it may be ever fervent. I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God that is in you by the putting on of my hands, that is, the grace of the Spirit, which you have received, for presiding over the church, for the working of miracles and for every service. For this grace it is in our power to kindle or extinguish. For this reason Paul elsewhere says, Do not quench the Spirit.

On this account Paul says, Do not quench the Spirit, that is, the gift of grace, for it is his custom so to call the gift of the Spirit. But an impure life extinguishes the gift of grace. For as anyone who has sprinkled both water and dust upon the light of our lamp extinguishes it. . . . So it is also with the gift of grace.

Learn from the apostle that we are the ones who grieve the Spirit, extinguishing him in our hearts. He says, Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecy; and again, Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption.^[1] We introduce these testimonies not as if to suggest that every man who has been baptized and obtained grace is henceforth immutable and no longer in need of repentance, but to say that through baptism, according to Christ’s gift, the complete grace of God is granted to us for the fulfillment of the commandments. Henceforth each one who receives baptism mystically and yet does not fully perform the commandments, is activated by sin in proportion to their failure—the sin not of Adam but of the one who is negligent.

That is to say, do not grieve him by sin, otherwise his light will be quenched from your soul—a light which, when kindled within you, gives you the possession of a power that is beyond expression; and you will be able to contend with principalities and powers,^[1] and fight against the evil spirits under heaven, and reject all the world with its pleasures and pains. All are effected by the fervor of the Spirit within us.

On this subject the Lord says, When you come into the land to which I bring you and when you eat of the food of the land, you shall present an offering to the Lord. When you separate the firstfruits of your barn floors, you shall also give the firstfruits of your dough to the Lord.^[1] We are a composite of diverse elements mixed together, cold with hot, and moist with dry. This mixture is the source of many pleasures and manifold delights of the flesh. But these are not the firstfruits of this body of ours. Since we are composed of soul and body and spirit, the first place is held by that mixture in which the apostle desires that we find sanctification.^[2] And may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This, therefore, is perfection in the Christian life in my judgment, namely, the participation of one’s soul and speech and activities in all of the names by which Christ is signified, so that the perfect holiness, according to the eulogy of Paul, is taken upon oneself in the whole body and soul and spirit, continuously safeguarded against being mixed with evil.

In another way,^[1] it is possible to take the woman for the church, the leaven for the Holy Spirit and the three measures for body, spirit and soul. These three are sanctified by the leaven of the Holy Spirit, so that by the Holy Spirit they become one lump, in order that our whole body and spirit and soul may be kept blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul says.

In the wicked sin reigns over the soul, being settled as on its own throne in the mortal body, so that the soul obeys its lusts. . . but in the case of those who have become perfected, the spirit has gained the mastery and put to death the deeds of the body. It imparts to the body of its own life and there arises a concord of the two, body and spirit, on the earth. . . . But still more blessed is it if the three [i.e., body, soul and spirit] be gathered together in the name of Jesus, that this may be fulfilled, May God sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The vision I saw, my brethren, was of the following nature. . . . [An] old woman approached, accompanied by six young men. . . . [And] she said to me . . . “Lo! Do you not see opposite to you a great tower, built upon the waters, of splendid square stones?” For the tower was built square by the six young men who had come with her. But myriads of men were carrying stones to it, some dragging them from the depths, others removing them from the land, and they handed them to these six young men. . . . [And the woman said:] “The tower that you see being built is myself, the Church. . . . It is built upon the waters . . . because your life has been and will be ‘saved through water’ [1 Pt 3:20–21]. . . . The six young men . . . are the holy angels of God. . . . The other persons who are engaged in carrying the stones . . . are also holy angels of the Lord . . . [And] when the tower is finished and built, then comes the end”.

For the prophetical gifts remain with us [Christians], even to the present time. And hence you [Jews] ought to understand that [the gifts] formerly among your nation have been transferred to us.

And while he was praying, a vision presented itself to him three days before he was taken; and, behold, the pillow under his head seemed to be on fire. Turning to those who were with him, he said to them prophetically, “I must be burned alive.” . . . Speaking thus, they cried out, and asked Philip the Asiarch to let loose a lion upon Polycarp. But Philip answered that it was not lawful for him to do so, seeing the shows of wild beasts were already finished. Then it seemed good to them to cry out together that Polycarp should be burned alive.

Polycarp was . . . bishop of the Catholic Church at Smyrna, and a teacher in our own day who combined apostle and prophet in his own person. For indeed, every word that fell from his lips either has had or will have its fulfillment.

Likewise we hear of many brethren in the Church who possess prophetic gifts and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages and who bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God.

I again, Pionius, wrote them from the previously written copy, having carefully searched into them, and the blessed Polycarp having manifested them to me through a revelation, even as I shall show in what follows. I have collected these things, when they had almost faded away through the passing of time, that the Lord Jesus Christ may gather me along with his elect into his heavenly kingdom, to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be glory forever and ever. Amen.

And while [the Emperor Constantine] was praying with fervent entreaty, a most marvelous sign appeared to him from heaven, which might have been hard to believe had it been related by anyone else. But since the victorious emperor himself long afterwards declared it to the writer of this history [Eusebius], when he was honored with his acquaintance and society, and confirmed his statement by an oath, who could fail to credit the story, especially since the testimony of subsequent time has established its truth? He said that at about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw a trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “Conquer by This.” He was struck with amazement, and his whole army also, which had followed him on this expedition and witnessed the miracle. He said [to me], moreover, that he did not know the meaning of this apparition. And while he continued to ponder and reason on it, night suddenly came on; then in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies. . . . [B]eing struck with amazement at the extraordinary vision, and resolving to worship no other God save him who had appeared to him, he sent for those who were acquainted with the mysteries of [God’s] doctrines and inquired who that God was and what was intended by the sign of the vision he had seen.

[Anthony told his monks:] When, therefore, [demons] come by night to you and wish to tell the future, or say “We are the angels,” give no heed, for they lie. . . . But if they shamelessly stand their ground, capering, and change their forms of appearance, fear them not, nor shrink, nor heed them as though they were good spirits. For the presence of good or evil can easily be distinguished with the help of God. The vision of the holy ones is not fraught with distraction, “For they will not strive, nor cry, nor shall anyone hear their voice” [Mt 12:19; see also Is 42:2]. But they come quietly and gently so that an immediate joy, gladness, and courage arise in the soul. For the Lord who is our joy is with them, and the power of God the Father.

For even now miracles are wrought in the name of Christ, whether by his sacraments or by the prayers or relics of his saints. . . . The miracle that was wrought at Milan when I was there . . . [and when people] had gathered to the bodies of the martyrs Protasius and Gervasius, which had long lain concealed and unknown but were now made known to the bishop Ambrose in a dream and discovered by him.

A certain man by [the] name Curma [was in a coma]. . . . Yet he saw many things as in a dream; when at last after a great many days he woke up, he told what he had seen. . . . [He also saw] Hippo, where he was baptized by me. . . . After much else, he narrated how he had, moreover, been led into paradise and how it was said to him there, when he was dismissed to return to his own family, “Go, be baptized if you want to be in this place of the blessed.” He said it was already done. He who was talking with him replied, “Go, be truly baptized, for you only saw that in a vision.” After this he recovered, went his way to Hippo . . . was baptized [and] at the close of the holy days [of Easter] returned to his own place. . . . Why should we not believe these to be angelic operations through the dispensation of the providence of God?

[T]he martyrs, by the very benefits that are given to them that pray, indicate that they take an interest in the affairs of men. . . . For not only by effects of benefits, but in the very beholding of men, it is certain that the confessor Felix . . . appeared when the barbarians were attacking Nola, as we have heard not by uncertain rumors but by sure witness.

Gregory of Nazianzen presided over those who maintain the “consubstantiality” of the Holy Trinity, and assembled them together in a little dwelling, which had been altered into a house of prayer by those who held the same opinions and had a like form of worship. It subsequently became one of the most conspicuous in the city, and is so now, not only for the beauty and number of its structures, but also for the advantages accruing to it from the visible manifestations of God. For the power of God was manifested there, and was helpful both in waking visions and in dreams, often for the relief of many diseases and for those afflicted by some sudden change in their affairs. The power was accredited to Mary, the Mother of God, the holy Virgin, for she does manifest herself in this way.

[In Ireland] one night I heard in my sleep a voice saying to me, “You fast well; soon you will go to your fatherland.” And again, after a very short time, I heard the heavenly voice saying to me, “Lo, your ship is ready.” And it was not near at hand, but was distant, perhaps two hundred miles. And I had never been there, nor did I know any person living there. And then I shortly took flight and left the man with whom I had been for six years. And I came in the strength of God, who prospered my way for good; and I met with nothing to alarm me until I reached that ship.

And once more, after a few years, I was in Britain with my family. . . . And there I saw in a vision in the night of a man whose name was Victoricus coming from Ireland with countless letters. He gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of the letter, which was entitled “The Voice of the Irish.” And while I was reading it aloud, I thought I heard the voices of those who dwelled beside the Wood of Foclut [in Ireland], which is near the Western Sea. And they cried, as with one mouth, “We beseech you, holy youth, to come and walk once more among us!”.

Let those who will, laugh and mock. I will not be silent or conceal the signs and wonders that were shown to me by the Lord many years before they came to pass, since he knows all things even before the world’s beginnings.