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E00159: Gregory of Tours, in his Life of *Patroclus (hermit of Berry, ob. 576, S00064), recounts how Patroclus exposed a trick of the devil: pretending to be *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), the devil had appeared to a woman in a time of plague with objects that supposedly could save people; in central Gaul, probably in 571. From Gregory's Life of the Fathers, written in Latin in Tours (north-west Gaul), 573/594.
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posted on 2014-11-08, 00:00 authored by BryanGregory of Tours, Life of the Fathers 9.2
This passage follows a particularly difficult exorcism achieved by Patroclus:
Nam sicut hos qui vexabantur emundabat, ita et quae inmittebat occultae atrocia auctor criminis repellebat crucis sacratissimae per virtutem. Nam Leubellae cuidam feminae, cum per luem illam inguinariam diabolus Martinum mentitus oblationes, quibus quasi populus salvaretur, iniquiter obtulisset; haec ad sanctum dilatae, non solum, revelante Spiritu sancto, evanuerunt, verum etiam ipse incentor malorum sancto teterrimus apparens, quae nequiter gesserat est professus. Transfigurat enim se saepe diabolus in angelum lucis, ut hac fraude decipiat innocentes.
Just as he cleansed those who were possessed, so he repelled by the virtue of the holy cross the terrible assaults which the author of every crime let loose in secret. During that bubonic plague, the devil, falsely appearing as St Martin, had wickedly brought to a woman named Leubella, offering which would, he said, save the people. But as soon as they had been shown to the holy man, not only did they vanish by a revelation of the Holy Spirit, but the terrible instigator of this crime appeared to the saint and admitted all his evil deeds. Often, indeed, the devil transfigures himself into an angel of light to deceive the innocent.
_x000B_Krusch 1969, 254. Translation: James 1991, 68, lightly modified.
This passage follows a particularly difficult exorcism achieved by Patroclus:
Nam sicut hos qui vexabantur emundabat, ita et quae inmittebat occultae atrocia auctor criminis repellebat crucis sacratissimae per virtutem. Nam Leubellae cuidam feminae, cum per luem illam inguinariam diabolus Martinum mentitus oblationes, quibus quasi populus salvaretur, iniquiter obtulisset; haec ad sanctum dilatae, non solum, revelante Spiritu sancto, evanuerunt, verum etiam ipse incentor malorum sancto teterrimus apparens, quae nequiter gesserat est professus. Transfigurat enim se saepe diabolus in angelum lucis, ut hac fraude decipiat innocentes.
Just as he cleansed those who were possessed, so he repelled by the virtue of the holy cross the terrible assaults which the author of every crime let loose in secret. During that bubonic plague, the devil, falsely appearing as St Martin, had wickedly brought to a woman named Leubella, offering which would, he said, save the people. But as soon as they had been shown to the holy man, not only did they vanish by a revelation of the Holy Spirit, but the terrible instigator of this crime appeared to the saint and admitted all his evil deeds. Often, indeed, the devil transfigures himself into an angel of light to deceive the innocent.
_x000B_Krusch 1969, 254. Translation: James 1991, 68, lightly modified.
History
Evidence ID
E00159Saint Name
Patroclus, hermit from Berry in Gaul, ob. 576 : S00064 Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 : S00050Related Saint Records
Type of Evidence
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives of saintLanguage
- Latin