E00027: Gregory of Tours, in his Life of *Illidius (bishop of Clermont, ob. 384/5, S00022), recounts how he placed relics of the saint in the altar of a newly established oratory in the bishop's residence at Tours (north-west Gaul), dedicated in 573/574, and how later, when the relics needed to be dried out, the woollen string wrapping them was not touched by fire. From Gregory's Life of the Fathers, written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 573/594.

Gregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers 2.3

(3) De reliquiis vero eius haec ipse praefatus scriptor, ut actum est, propria contemplatione prospexit. Dedicaverat igitur oratorium infra domum eclesiasticam urbis Toronicae in primo sacerdotii sui anno, in quo cum reliquorum sanctorum pignora huius antestitis reliquias collocavit. Post multos vero dedicationis dies admonitus est ab abbate, ut reliquias, quas in altari ipso locaverat, visitaret, ne ab humore novi aedificii umectatae, aliquid in his putredinis insederet. Quas cum requirens repperisset infectas, ablatas ex altari contra ignem siccare coepit. Verum ubi ligaturas illas singillatim conposuit, ventum est ad reliquias beati Illidii episcopi. Denique tenens easdem contra ignem, filum quo ligatae erant, quia erat valde prolixum, super ardentes decidit prunas et tamquam aeneum aut ferreum ab ardore ignis incanduit. Illo quoque parvi pendente, quid filum fieret, tantum sanctae reliquiae siccarentur, aestimans autem, eum iam in favilla fuisse resolutum, dehinc sequitur et filum inlaesum. Haec videns attonitus, valde beati antistitis virtutem admiratur. Qui non sine grandi metu unde haec abstulerat referens, gloriam eius omnibus revelavit. Filum autem illud erat ex lana.

'(3) As for what has happened with his [Illidius'] relics, this is what the writer has seen with his own eyes. He had dedicated an oratory in the bishop's house at Tours, in the first year of his episcopate, in which he put the relics of this holy bishop with those of other saints. A long time after the dedication he was warned by the abbot to check the relics which he had placed in the altar, for fear that the humidity of the new building had caused them to moulder. He did indeed find them to be damp, and so he took them from the altar and began to dry them at a fire. And he wrapped them each up in turn, and then came to the relics of the blessed bishop Illidius and held them to the fire. The string which bound them was too long, and fell onto the burning coals: like copper or iron it began to redden in the heart of the fire. Not worrying much about the string as long as the sacred relics were dried properly, he thought that it would have been burnt up in the flames; nevertheless when he draws it out the string is unharmed. Seeing this he is astonished, and marvels at the power of this truly blessed bishop. And it was not without great fear that he brought away news of this deed, and revealed his [Illidius'] glory to all. The string in question was made of wool.'

Text: Krusch 1969, 220-221. Translation: James 1991, 14-15.