E00627: Gregory of Tours, in his Glory of the Martyrs (83), tells how his father acquired, in 533, relics of unnamed saints and was protected by them; how his mother repelled fire with them; and how he himself was saved from a storm by them, and was subsequently taught a lesson in humility. Written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 580/594.

Gregory of Tours, Glory of the Martyrs 83

Gregory relates three stories of the relics that were the personal possession of his family; how they offered protection first to his father, then to his mother, and finally to Gregory himself:

Quid vero et de his reliquiis, quas quondam genitor meus secum habuit, fuerit gestum, edicam. Tempore, quo Theodobertus Arvernorum filios in obsidatum tolli praecepit, pater meus nuper iunctus coniugio, voluit se sanctorum reliquiis communiri, petivitque a quodam sacerdote, ut ei aliquid de hisdem indulgeret, quo scilicet in viam longinquam abiens tali praesidio tutaretur. Tunc inclusos in lupino aureo sacros cineres circa eum posuit; sed ignarus vir nominum beatorum. Referre enim erat solitus, se a multis tunc periculis eruto; nam et violentias latronum et pericula fluminum, inprobitates seditiosorum et adsultus ensuum saepius se evasisse horum virtutibus, testabatur.

'I will now narrate what happened with regard to the relics (reliquiae) that my father once carried with him. At the time when Theudebert ordered the sons of Clermont to be sent off as hostages, my father had been recently married. Because he wished himself to be protected by relics of saints, he asked a cleric to grant him some of these, so that with their protection he might be kept safe as he set out on this long journey. He put the sacred ashes (cineres) in a gold locket (lupinus aureus) and carried it with him. Although he did not even know the names of the blessed men, he was accustomed to recount that he had been rescued from many dangers. He claimed that often, because of the powers of these relics, he had avoided the violence of bandits, the dangers of floods, the threats of turbulent men, and attacks from swords.'

The next miracle, involving Gregory's mother, is set in the Limagne, a fertile plain in the territory of Clermont:

Quid tamen ego de his viderim, non silebo. Post genitoris mei obitum mater mea haec pignora super se habebat. Igitur segitum advenerat sectio, et congregati in areis frugum acervi fuerant magni. In illis autem diebus, cum iam semina triturarentur, et sicut Lemane vestitum segitibus nudum habetur a silvis, intercedente gelu, cum non esset unde ignis accenderetur, ab ipsis paleis focos sibi adhibuerant excussores. Interea recedent omnes ad capiendum cibum. Et ecce inter incrementa sua coepit per paleas paulatim ignis spargi. Nec mora, flante notho, acervi ab igne conprehenduntur; fit magnum incendium, insequitur clamor virorum strepitusque mulierum, ululatus infantum. Haec autem agebantur in agro nostro. Quod sentiens mater mea, quae haec pignora collo adpensa gestabat, exilit de convivio, elevatisque sacris pignoribus contra ignium globos, ita omne cessit incendium de momento, ut vix inter moles exustarum palearum vel semina ignis invenirentur; nihil tamen fruges quas adprehenderat nocens.

'I will not be silent about what I witnessed regarding these relics. After the death of my father, my mother carried these relics with her (haec pignora super se habebat). It was the time for harvesting the crops, and huge piles of grain had been collected on the threshing floors. The Limagne though clothed in crops is bare of trees, so in those days when the seeds were being threshed, when a frost came, the threshers made fires for themselves of the straw, since there was no wood there to burn. Then everyone retired to eat. And behold, the fire gradually began to be spread through the straw bit by bit. At once, fanned by the wind, the fire spread to the piles of grain. The fire became a huge blaze and was accompanied by the shouts of men, the wails of women, and the crying of children. This happened in our field. When my mother, who was wearing these relics around her neck (collo adpensa), learned of this, she rushed from the meal and held the sacred relics in front of the balls of flames. In a moment the entire fire so died down that no sparks were found among the piles of burned straw and the seeds. The grain the fire had touched had suffered no harm.'

The third and final miracle relates to Gregory himself, and includes a lesson in humility:

Post multos vero annos has reliquias a genetrice suscepi; cumque iter de Burgundia ad Arvernum ageremus, oritur contra nos magna tempestas, coepitque crebris ignibus micare caelum validisque tonitruorum fragoribus resonare. Tunc extractas a sinu beatas reliquias, manu elevo contra nubem; quae protinus divisa in duabus partibus, dextra laevaque praeteriens, neque nobis neque ulli deinceps nocuit. At ego, ut iuvenilis fervor agere solet, vanae gloriae inflari supercilio coepi et tacitus cogitare, non haec tantum sanctorum meritis quam mihi propriae fuisse concessum, atque ad socios itineris iactans, ac proferre, quae innocentiae meae Deus praestiterit, ut haec mererer. Nec mora, elapsus subito sub me equus, ad terram elisit; in quo casu tam graviter sum contractus, ut vix surgere possim. Intellexi enim, mihi ista a vanitate evenisse, satisque fuit dehinc observare, ne me ultra vanae gloriae stimularet aculeus. Nam, si evenit ut mererer deinceps aliqua de sanctorum virtutibus contemplare, Dei illa munere per sanctorum fidem praestita praeconavi.

'Many years later I received these relics from my mother. While I was travelling from Burgundy to Clermont, a huge storm appeared in my path. The storm frequently flashed with lightning in the sky and rumbled with loud crashes of thunder. Then I took the holy relics from my breast (a sinu) and raised my hand before the cloud. The cloud immediately divided into two parts and passed by on the right and the left; it threatened neither me nor anyone else. Then, as a presumptuous young man is expected to behave, I began to be inflated by the arrogance of vainglory. I silently thought that this concession had been made especially for me, rather than because of the merits of the saints. I boasted to my travelling companions and insisted that I had deserved that which God had bestowed upon my naiveté. Immediately my horse suddenly slipped beneath me and threw me to the ground. I was so seriously bruised during this accident that I could hardly get up. I understood that this accident had happened because of my pride; and it was sufficient to note that afterwards the urge of vainglory did not bother me. For if it happened that I was worthy to observe some manifestations of the powers of saints, I have proclaimed that they were due to the gift of God through the faith of the saints.'

Text: Krusch 1969, 83. Translation: Van Dam 2004, 79, modified in part.