Paulinus Petricordiae, De Vita Sancti Martini

\'desinat antiquus plangendis manibus error

‘Let the ancient error cease, upon shades that should be mourned,

addere supplicium, titulum reddendo alienum,

to add punishment, by giving them a title not their own,

ne, cui poenarum satis est de crimine solo,

lest one for whom the penalties of his crime alone are enough

hoc onus adiecto duplicato crescat honore.

should have this burden grow, doubled by an added honour.

atque utinam sancti, quibus hoc pro iure refertur

And would that the saints, to whom by right is rendered this

obsequium, nostras tenui respergere gutta

homage, would deign to sprinkle with a slender drop our

dignentur iuges miserorum incendia flammas.

unceasing flames, the fires of the wretched!

illi perpetua gaudentes luce fruuntur,

They, rejoicing, enjoy perpetual light;

nos chaos aeterna horrendum caligine sepsit.

us a dreadful chaos has hedged in with eternal gloom.

longe est a meritis lucis confusio noctis.\'

Far from the deserts of light is the confusion of night.’

haec uox multorum late peruenit ad aures,

This voice reached the ears of many far and wide,

sed species soli Martino est prodita, cuius

but the form was revealed to Martin alone, whose

mens leuior fragilis transibat pondera carnis,

lighter mind passed through the weight of frail flesh,

corpoream molem transmittens lumine cordis.

seeing through the bodily mass by the light of the heart.

protinus amoto altari depellitur omnis

At once the altar is removed, and driven out is all

uana superstitio ritus mentita sacrorum.

the empty superstition that had counterfeited sacred rites.

translata ad ueros migrant mysteria cultus.

The mysteries, transferred, pass over to true worship.

quid simile his titulis tandem conferre ualebit

What, after all, comparable to these glories will be able to offer

ars magicis infecta dolis uel tincta uenenis,

an art tainted with magic tricks or steeped in poisons,

carmina conpositis texens mendacia uerbis

weaving lying spells in contrived words

extaque perspectis rimans faetentia uenis,

and probing stinking entrails with their veins inspected,

ut per tartareae quaesita silentia noctis

so that through the sought-out silences of Tartarean night

mugiat insanus fallaci murmure daemon,

a mad demon may bellow with deceiving murmur,

adsumens fictum tenui sub imagine uultum?

taking on a feigned face under a thin image?

hic certe simplex animus et sola precantis

Here, surely, a simple soul and the devotion alone of one

religio infernae dissoluit uincula legis,

at prayer undid the bonds of the law below,

et quamvis artus premerentur mole sepulchri,

and though the limbs were pressed by the weight of the tomb,

attamen ad praesens tempus confessio uixit.

yet for that present time the confession lived.

nec uero hic finis titulis, nec tempore saltim

Nor indeed is this the end of his glories, nor, broken off

intercisa breui uirtutum stemmata cessant.

even for a brief time, does the chain of his miracles cease.