Severus, Sulpicius, Vita Sancti Martini

dehinc super sepulchrum ipsum adstans orauit ad Dominum, ut quis esset uel cuius meriti esset sepultus ostenderet. tum conuersus ad laeuam uidet prope adsistere umbram sordidam, trucem: imperat nomen meritumque loqueretur. nomen edicit, de crimine confitetur: latronem se fuisse, ob scelera percussum, uulgi errore celebratum: sibi nihil cum martyribus esse commune, cum illos gloria, se poena retineret.

Then, standing over the tomb itself, he prayed to the Lord to show who the buried man was, or of what merit. Then, turning to his left, he sees a filthy, savage shade standing near; he commands it to tell its name and merit. It states its name and confesses its crime: that it had been a robber, executed for its misdeeds, honoured through the error of the common people; that it had nothing in common with the martyrs, since glory held them, and punishment held it.

Frequenter autem diabolus, dum mille nocendi artibus sanctum uirum conabatur inludere, uisibilem se ei formis diuersissimis ingerebat. nam interdum in Iouis personam, plerumque Mercuri, saepe etiam se Veneris ac Mineruae transfiguratum uultibus offerebat: aduersus quem semper interritus signo se crucis et orationis auxilio protegebat.

Often, moreover, the devil, trying to delude the holy man with a thousand arts of harm, thrust himself visibly upon him in the most varied forms. For sometimes he presented himself transformed into the person of Jupiter, very often of Mercury, often too into the faces of Venus and Minerva; and against him, always undaunted, [Martin] protected himself with the sign of the cross and the help of prayer.

audiebantur plerumque conuicia, quibus illum turba daemonum proteruis uocibus increpabat: sed omnia falsa et uana cognoscens non mouebatur obiectis.

Insults were often heard, with which a crowd of demons assailed him in shameless voices; but, knowing all of it to be false and empty, he was not moved by what was thrown at him.

Animaduersum est tamen, eodem fere tempore fuisse in Hispania iuuenem, qui cum sibi multis signis auctoritatem parauisset, eo usque elatus est, ut se Heliam profiteretur.

It was observed, however, that at about the same time there was a young man in Spain who, after he had won authority for himself by many signs, was so carried away that he declared himself to be Elijah.

Non praetereundum autem uidetur, quanta Martinum sub isdem diebus diabolus arte temptauerit. quodam enim die praemissa prece et circumiectus ipse luce purpurea, quo facilius claritate adsumpti fulgoris inluderet, ueste etiam regia indutus, diademate ex gemmis auroque redimitus, calceis auro inlitis, sereno ore, laeta facie, ut nihil minus quam diabolus putaretur, oranti in cellula adstitit.

It seems, however, that I should not pass over with how much art the devil tempted Martin in those same days. For one day, after sending a prayer ahead, and himself surrounded by a purple light, so that he might deceive more easily by the brilliance of the radiance he had assumed, clothed also in a royal robe, crowned with a diadem of gems and gold, his shoes overlaid with gold, with a serene countenance and a glad face, so that he might be thought anything rather than the devil, he stood beside him as he prayed in his cell.

cumque Martinus primo aspectu eius fuisset hebetatus, diu multum silentium ambo tenuerunt. tum prior diabolus: \'agnosce\' inquit, (Martine, quem cernis: Christus ego sum: descensurus ad terram prius me manifestare tibi uolui\\

And when Martin had been dazed at the first sight of him, both kept a long silence. Then the devil spoke first: "Recognize, Martin," he said, "whom you see: I am Christ. As I am about to come down to earth, I wished first to show myself to you."

ad haec cum Martinus taceret nec quidquam responsi referret, iterare ausus est diabolus professionis audaciam: \'Martine, quid dubitas credere, cum uideas?

When Martin was silent at this and made no reply, the devil dared to repeat his bold claim: "Martin, why do you hesitate to believe, when you see?

Christus ego sum\\ tum ille, reuelante sibi spiritu, ut intellegeret diabolum esse, non Dominum, non se' inquit cIesus Dominus purpuratum nec diademate renidentem uenturum esse praedixit: ego Christum nisi in eo habitu formaque, qua passus est, nisi crucis stigmata praeferentem uenisse non credam .

I am Christ." Then he, as the Spirit revealed to him so that he understood it was the devil and not the Lord, said: "The Lord Jesus did not foretell that he would come clad in purple or gleaming with a diadem. I will not believe that Christ has come unless he comes in the dress and form in which he suffered, unless he bears before him the wounds of the cross."

ad hanc ille uocem statim ut fumus euanuit et cellulam tanto foetore conpleuit, ut indubia indicia relinqueret diabolum se fuisse. hoc itaque gestum, ut supra rettuli, ex ipsius Martini ore cognoui, ne quis forte existimet fabulosum.

At this word he at once vanished like smoke and filled the cell with such a stench that he left unmistakable signs that he had been the devil. This event, as I related above, I learned from the mouth of Martin himself, so that no one may think it a fable.