E00518: Gregory of Tours, in his Glory of the Martyrs (33), tells of a woman, who in 577/585 experienced while fully awake a vision of *Stephen (the First Martyr, S00030), accompanied by other saints, in the crypt of a church of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) in Bordeaux (south-west Gaul), where relics of unspecified saints were housed; Stephen, who had just rescued a ship at sea, dripped sea water on the floor; absorbed by the woman into a cloth, this acted as a powerful relic and was used by the bishop of Bordeaux in the consecration of churches. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 580/594.

Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs 33

In Bordeaux, an old woman whose task it was to light the lamps in the church of Saint Peter, was accidentally locked overnight in the crypt of the church, where there was an altar with relics of saints (cum sanctorum pignoribus). She knelt to pray.

In qua oratione excubans, vidit circa medium fere noctis, patefactis ostiis, omnem basilicam inmenso lumine effulgere. Et ecce chorus psallentium, qui ingressus basilicam! Postquam, dicta Gloria Trinitati, psallentii modolatio conquievit, audivit viros conquerentes inter se atque dicentes: "Moram nobis sanctus levita facit Stephanus. Iam enim alias debebamus adire basilicas et non possumus, nisi ille prius qui praestolatur adveniat". Haec enim crebre repetentibus, advenit vir subito in veste alba, cuius personam omnis illa venerans multitudo salutavit humiliter, dicens: "Benedic nobis, sacer ac sanctae levita Stephane". At ille iterum salutans, data oratione, interrogatus ab eis, cur a visitatione locorum sanctorum paululum retardasset, respondit: "Navis enim in mari periculum dimersionis incurrerat, ibique invocatus adsteti, erutamque, ecce adsum! Et ut ipsi probetis esse vera quae loquor, vestimentum, quod indutus sum, adhuc guttis stillantibus marinis, fluctibus cernitur umectatum".

Haec mulier, cum tremore magno opprimens pavimentum, intente suspiciebat. Quibus discedentibus, rursum ostiis divinitus obseratis, haec ad locum in quo sanctus steterat accedens, sudario guttas, quae in pavimentum delapsae fuerant, diligenter collegit et Bertchramno, qui tunc episcopatu urbem regebat, manifestavit. Quod ille cum gaudio et admiratione magna suscipiens, secum retenuit. De hoc enim sudario multi infirmi sanitatem experti sunt, ac plerumque et ipse pontifex de eo decerpens pignora, ubi eclesias consecrabat, fideliter collocavit. Haec autem ab ipsius episcopi relatu cognovimus.

She stayed awake while praying; and about midnight she saw the doors open and the entire church shine with a great light. And behold, a choir of men chanting psalms entered the church. Then, after they had recited the Gloria in honour of the Trinity and stopped chanting psalms, she heard them talking and complaining among themselves: "The deacon St Stephen has delayed us. For we ought already to be entering other churches, but we cannot until he whom we await first arrives." As they frequently repeated this complaint, suddenly a man dressed in white arrived. The entire group of men respectfully and humbly greeted him and said: "Bless us, St Stephen, holy deacon." He returned the greeting and offered a prayer. They asked him why he had been a bit tardy in visiting the sacred shrines. He replied: "A ship faced the danger of sinking at sea; after being summoned I went and rescued [the ship]. Behold, now I am here! And so that you may verify what I am saying to be true, the garment I am wearing was clearly drenched by the waves, because salt water is still dripping [from it]."

Although pressed shivering to the pavement, the woman was intently watching all these events. After the men left and the doors by divine command were again locked, the woman went to the spot where the saint had stood and carefully soaked up in a handkerchief (sudarium) the drops that had fallen on the pavement. She showed the handkerchief to Bertram, who was then ruling the city [of Bordeaux] as bishop. With great joy and amazement he took it and kept it with him. Many ill people received their health from this handkerchief; the bishop himself often snipped relics (decerpens pignora) from it and faithfully placed them where he consecrated churches. I learned about these events from an account by the bishop himself.'

Text: Krusch 1969, 59. Translation: Van Dam 2004, 32-33, lightly modified.