PL 20 · cols. 181–184

Sulpicius Severus, Three Letters (on St Martin)

Letter III

PL 20:181

EPISTOLA III.

LETTER III.

Ad Bassulam socrum suam.

To Bassula, his mother-in-law.

Quomodo beatus Martinus ex hac vita ad immortalem transierit.

How blessed Martin passed from this life to the immortal [life].

Sulpicius Severus Bassulae parenti venerabili salutem.

Sulpicius Severus to Bassula, his venerable parent, greeting.

Si parentes vocari in jus liceret, te plane expilationis furtique ream ad praetoris tribunal justo dolore traheremus. Quid enim non conquerar quam a te patior injuriam? nullam mihi domi chartulam, nullum libellum, nullam epistolam reliquisti: ita furaris omnia, ita universa divulgas. Si quid ad amicum familiariter scripsi; si quid forte, dum ludimus, quod velim tamen occultum esse, dictavi, omnia ad te prius pene quam fuerint scripta aut dictata, perveniunt. Nimirum obarrhatos habes notarios meos, per quos tibi nostrae ineptiae publicantur; nec tamen adversum eos possum moveri, si tibi parent, qui in jus nostrum ex tua potissimum liberalitate venerunt, seque adhuc tuos quam meos esse meminerunt: tu sola es rea, tu sola culpabilis, quae et mihi insidiaris, et illos fraude circumvenis, ut sine delectu ullo familiariter scripta, aut negligenter emissa, illucubrata tibi penitus atque impolita tradantur. Nam, ut de reliquis taceam, rogo quemadmodum tam cito ad te epistola illa potuit pervenire, quam nuper ad Aurelium diaconum scripseramus. Ego enim Tolosae positus, tu Treveris constituta, et tam longe a patria filio inquietante divulsa, qua tandem familiarem illam epistolam occasione furata es? namque accepi litteras tuas, quibus scribis, in eadem epistola qua de obitu domni Martini fecerim mentionem, ipsum beati viri transitum exponere debuisse. Quasi vero ego illam epistolam aut legendam alii praeterquam ipsi ad quem missa videtur, ediderim, aut ego tanto sim operi destinatus, ut omnia quae de Martino cognosci oportet, me potissimum scribente notescant. Itaque, si quae de obitu sancti episcopi audire desideras, ab illis potius qui interfuere, cognosce: ego tibi statui nihil scribere, ne ubique me publices; tamen si das fidem, nulli te esse lecturam, paucis tuae satisfaciam voluntati: itaque praestabo te his quae mihi sunt comperta, participem.

If it were lawful to summon parents to court, I would certainly drag you, with just resentment, before the praetor's tribunal, guilty of plundering and theft. For why should I not complain of the injury I suffer from you? You have left me no scrap of paper at home, no little book, no letter: so do you steal everything, so do you publish all things abroad. If I have written anything familiarly to a friend; if perhaps, while amusing myself, I have dictated anything which I should nevertheless wish to be kept hidden, all of it reaches you almost before it has been written or dictated. Plainly you have my secretaries bound to you by earnest-money, through whom my trifles are published to you; and yet I cannot be moved against them if they obey you, since they came into my ownership chiefly by your liberality, and remember that they are still yours rather than mine: you alone are the accused, you alone are to blame, who both lay snares for me and circumvent them by fraud, so that things written familiarly without any choice [of words], or sent off carelessly, are handed over to you wholly unpolished and unrevised. For, to say nothing of the rest, I ask how that letter could have reached you so quickly which I had lately written to Aurelius the deacon. For I being placed at Toulouse, and you settled at Trier, and torn so far from your native country by your son's troubling, on what occasion, pray, did you steal that familiar letter? For I have received your letter, in which you write that, in the same letter in which I made mention of the death of the lord Martin, I ought to have set forth the passing of the blessed man itself. As though I had published that letter to be read by any other than him to whom it appears to have been sent, or as though I were appointed to so great a work, that all that ought to be known about Martin should become known with me above all as its writer. And so, if you wish to hear anything about the death of the holy bishop, learn it rather from those who were present: I had resolved to write nothing to you, lest you publish me everywhere; yet if you give your word that you will read it to no one, I will satisfy your wish in a few words: so I will make you a sharer in the things which have come to my knowledge.

Martinus igitur obitum suum longe ante praescivit, dixitque fratribus dissolutionem sui corporis imminere. Interea causa exstitit, qua Condatensem dioecesin visitaret; nam clericis inter se ecclesiae illius discordantibus, pacem cupiens reformare, licet finem dierum suorum non ignoraret, proficisci tamen itiusmodi ob causam non recusavit: bonam hanc virtutum suarum consummationem existimans, si pacem ecclesiae redditam reliquisset. Ita profectus cum suo illo, ut semper, frequentissimo discipulorum sanctissimoque comitatu, mergos in flumine conspicatur piscium praedam sequi, et rapacem ingluviem assiduis urgere capturis. Forma, inquit, haec daemonum est: insidiantur incautis, capiunt nescientes, captos devorant, exsaturarique

Martin, then, knew of his death long beforehand, and told the brethren that the dissolution of his body was at hand. Meanwhile a cause arose for him to visit the parish of Candes; for, since the clerics of that church were at variance among themselves, he desired to restore peace, and although he was not unaware of the end of his days, he nevertheless did not refuse to set out for a cause of this kind, thinking it a good consummation of his virtues if he left peace restored to the church. Having set out thus with that very large and most holy company of his disciples, as always, he observes cormorants in the river chasing the prey of fish and plying their greedy gullets with incessant catches. This, he said, is the form of the demons: they lie in wait for the unwary, they seize them unawares, they devour those they have seized, and to be glutted

Editors' notes and page, col. 181

Page

running head: EPIST. III. AD BASSULAM SOCRUM SUAM. (page head spanning cols 181–182)
marginal letters: A ‹EPISTOLA III.› (level with the caption); B ‹ad te prius pene quam fuerint›; C ‹tandem familiarem illam epistolam›; D ‹praescivit, dixitque fratribus›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: Letter III begins at the head of col. 181 with its caption, sub-caption (italic) and salutation. One printed paragraph from 'Si parentes' to the column end; the file divides it at 'Martinus igitur' for pairing only (no break on the page). 'itiusmodi' set as printed (misprint, for istiusmodi/ejusmodi). Column ends 'exsaturarique' with no break in a word.

PL 20:182

non queunt devoratis. Imperat deinde potenti virtute verborum, ut eum cui innatabant gurgitem relinquentes, aridas peterent desertasque regiones: eo nimirum circa aves illas usus imperio, quo daemones fugare consueverat; ita grege facto, omnes in unum illae volucres congregatae, relicto flumine montes silvasque petierunt, non sine admiratione multorum, qui tantam in Martino virtutem viderent, ut etiam avibus imperaret. Aliquamdiu ergo in vico illo, vel in ecclesia ad quam ierat, commoratus, pace inter clericos restituta, cum jam regredi ad monasterium cogitaret, viribus corporis coepit repente destitui: convocatisque discipulis, indicat se jam resolvi. Tum vero moeror et luctus omnium, vox una plangentium: Cur nos, pater, deseris? aut cui nos desolatos relinquis? invadent enim gregem tuum lupi rapaces: et quis nos a morsibus eorum, percusso pastore, prohibebit? scimus quidem desiderare te Christum; sed salva tibi sunt tua praemia, nec dilata minuentur: nostri potius miserere, quos deseris. Tunc ille motus his fletibus, ut totus semper in Domino misericordiae visceribus affluebat, lacrymasse perhibetur: conversusque ad Dominum, hac tantum flentibus voce respondit: Domine, si adhuc populo tuo sum necessarius, non recuso laborem: fiat voluntas tua. Nimirum inter spem amoremque positus, dubitavit pene quid mallet: quia nec hos deserere, nec a Christo volebat diutius separari: nihil tamen in voto suo ponens, aut voluntati relinquens, totum se Domini arbitrio potestatique committens. Nonne tibi his paucissimis verbis dicere videbitur: Gravis quidem est, Domine, corporeae pugna militiae, et jam satis est quod huc usque certavi; sed si adhuc in eodem labore pro castris tuorum stare me praecipis, non recuso, nec fatiscentem causabor aetatem; munia tua devotus implebo; sub signis tuis, quoadusque ipse jusseris, militabo; et quamvis optata sit seni missio post laborem, est tamen animus victor annorum, et cedere nescius senectuti. At si jam parcis aetati, bonum est mihi, Domine: fiat voluntas tua: hos vero quibus timeo, ipse custodies. O virum ineffabilem, nec labore victum, nec morte vincendum, qui in nullam se partem pronior inclinaverit, nec mori timuerit, nec vivere recusavit! Itaque cum jam per aliquot dies vi febrium teneretur, non tamen a Dei opere cessabat: pernox in orationibus et vigiliis, fatiscentes artus servire spiritui cogebat, nobili illo strato suo in cinere et cilicio recubans. Et cum a discipulis rogaretur, ut saltem vilia sibi sineret stramenta supponi; non decet, inquit, filii, Christianum nisi in cinere et cilicio mori; ego si aliud vobis exemplum relinquo, ipse peccavi. Oculis igitur ac manibus in coelum semper intentus, invictum ab oratione spiritum non relaxabat; et cum a presbyteris, qui tum ad eum confluxerant, rogaretur, ut corpusculum lateris mutatione relevaret: Sinite, inquit, sinite me, fratres, coelum potius respicere quam terram, ut suo jam itinere iturus ad Dominum spiritus dirigatur. Haec locutus,

with those devoured. Then he commands them with the mighty power of words that, leaving the flood in which they were swimming, they should make for dry and desert regions: using towards those birds, to be sure, the same command with which he had been accustomed to put demons to flight; and so, forming a flock, all those birds gathered together into one, left the river and made for the mountains and woods, not without the wonder of many, who saw so great a power in Martin that he gave commands even to birds. Having stayed for some while, then, in that village, or in the church to which he had gone, peace being restored among the clerics, when he was already thinking of returning to the monastery, he began suddenly to fail in bodily strength: and calling together his disciples, he tells them that he is now being released. Then indeed there was the grief and mourning of all, and one voice of those lamenting: Why, father, do you desert us? or to whom do you leave us desolate? For ravening wolves will invade your flock: and who, when the shepherd is struck, will keep us from their bites? We know indeed that you long for Christ; but your rewards are safe for you, and will not be lessened by being deferred: have pity rather on us, whom you are deserting. Then he, moved by these tears, since he always overflowed wholly in the Lord with the bowels of mercy, is said to have wept: and turning to the Lord, he answered those weeping with this word only: Lord, if I am still necessary to Thy people, I do not refuse the labour: Thy will be done. Placed, to be sure, between hope and love, he almost doubted which he would prefer: for he wished neither to desert these nor to be separated any longer from Christ: yet placing nothing in his own wish, nor leaving [anything] to his will, he committed himself wholly to the judgement and power of the Lord. Will he not seem to you to say in these very few words: Heavy indeed, Lord, is the fight of bodily warfare, and it is already enough that I have striven until now; but if Thou commandest me still to stand in the same labour for the camp of Thy [people], I do not refuse, nor will I plead my failing age; I will devotedly fulfil Thy duties; under Thy standards, until Thou Thyself shalt bid, I will serve; and although discharge after labour is longed for by an old man, yet the spirit is victor over the years, and knows not how to yield to old age. But if Thou now sparest my age, it is good for me, Lord: Thy will be done: but these for whom I fear, Thou Thyself wilt guard. O man beyond words, neither overcome by labour nor to be overcome by death, who inclined himself more readily to neither side, who neither feared to die nor refused to live! And so, when he had been held for some days by the force of fevers, he did not however cease from the work of God: spending whole nights in prayers and vigils, he compelled his failing limbs to serve the spirit, lying on that noble bed of his, in ashes and haircloth. And when he was asked by his disciples to allow at least some poor straw to be put under him, It is not fitting, he said, sons, for a Christian to die except in ashes and haircloth; if I leave you any other example, I myself have sinned. With eyes and hands therefore ever intent upon heaven, he did not relax his unconquered spirit from prayer; and when he was asked by the priests, who had then flocked to him, to relieve his poor body by changing his side: Let me, he said, let me, brethren, look rather at heaven than at earth, that my spirit, now about to go to the Lord, may be directed on its own way. Having said these things,

PL 20:183

diabolum vidit prope assistere. Quid hic, inquit, astas, cruenta bestia? nihil in me, funeste, reperies. Abrahae me sinus recipiet.

he saw the devil standing near. Why do you stand here, he said, bloody beast? You will find nothing in me, deadly one. The bosom of Abraham will receive me.

Cum hac ergo voce fatigatum divinis operibus spiritum coelo reddidit: testatique nobis sunt qui adfuerant, jam exanimo corpore glorificati hominis vidisse se gloriam. Vultus luce clarior renitebat, cum membra caetera ne tenuis quidem macula fuscaret; in aliis etiam, et in illo tantum artubus non pudendis, septennis quodammodo pueri gratia videbatur. Quis istum unquam cilicio tectum, quis cineribus crederet involutum? ita vitro purior, lacte candidior, jam in quadam futurae resurrectionis gloria et natura demutatae carnis ostensus est. Jam vero in obsequium funeris, credi non potest, quanta hominum multitudo convenerit: tota obviam corpori civitas ruit; cuncti ex agris atque vicis, multique ex vicinis etiam urbibus adfuerunt. O quantus luctus omnium, quanta praecipue moerentium lamenta monachorum! qui eo die fere ad duo millia convenisse dicuntur, specialis Martini

With this word, then, he gave back to heaven his spirit, wearied with divine works: and those who had been present testified to us that, the body being now lifeless, they saw the glory of a glorified man. His face shone brighter than light, while not even a slight stain darkened the rest of his limbs; and even in the other limbs, not shameful in him alone [of men], there appeared in some way the grace of a boy of seven years. Who would ever believe that he had been covered with haircloth, who that he had been wrapped in ashes? So, purer than glass, whiter than milk, he was shown already in a kind of glory of the future resurrection and in the nature of changed flesh. But as to the attendance at the funeral, it cannot be believed how great a multitude of men came together: the whole city rushed out to meet the body; all from the fields and villages, and many even from the neighbouring cities, were present. O how great was the mourning of all, how great especially the laments of the grieving monks! who are said to have come together that day to the number of about two thousand, the special

Editors' notes and page, col. 183

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: Cum hac ergo voce› · call in col 183

Cum ab hisce verbis prope ad finem usque epistolae, majores quam usquam in Capitulari codice a Vulgatis discrepantiae occurrant, et quidem concinnior inde et simplicior fluat sensus; adeo ut suspicio mihi jam pridem subierit, posteriorem hujus epistolae partem, ut in Vulg. legitur, interpolatam ab aliquo fuisse: idcirco utrumque textum e regione sibi respondentem damus, ut lector uno intuitu videat quae in Vulg. redundat, et rectius judicare possit utra sit praeferenda lectio. EDITOR VERON.

From these words almost to the end of the letter the Chapter codex differs from the common printed editions more than anywhere else, and its sense runs more smoothly and simply. I have therefore long suspected that the latter part of this letter, as the common editions read it, was interpolated by someone. So we print the two texts side by side, so that the reader can see at a glance what is superfluous in the common editions and judge better which reading should be preferred. THE VERONA EDITOR.

(printed under page 95)

(b) ‹anchor: carnis ostensus est (Verona codex text, right sub-column)› · call in col 183

Leg. esset.

Read esset.

(printed under page 95)

In ms. frutecaverant.

The manuscript has frutecaverant.

(printed under page 95)

Parallel recension (Verona codex)

(Ex capitulari Veron. cod.)

(From the capitular codex of Verona.)

Cum hac ergo voce animam coelo reddidit: testatique nobis sunt qui ibidem fuerunt, vidisse se vultum ejus tamquam vultum angeli: membra autem ejus candida tamquam nix videbantur, ita ut dicerent, Quis istum unquam cilicio (vidit) tectum? quis in cineribus crederet involutum? jam enim sic videbatur, quasi in futurae resurrectionis gloria et natura demutatae carnis ostensus est. In obsequium vero funeris credi non potest quanta hominum multitudo convenerit; tota obviam corpori civitas ruit: cuncti ex agris atque ex vicis, multique de vicinis etiam urbibus adfuerunt. O quantus luctus omnium, quanta praecipue moerentium lamenta monachorum! qui eo die fere ad ĪĪ Convenisse dicuntur, specialis Martini gloria: ejus exemplo in Dni servitutem stirpes tantae fruticaverant. Agebat nimirum ante se pastor greges suos, sanctae illius multitudinis pallidas turbas, agmina palliata, aut emeritorum (supple laborum) senes, aut juratos Christi in sacramenta tirones; tum virginum chorus fletu abstinens prae pudore quam sancto dissimulabat gaudia quod dolebat! siquidem fides flere prohiberet: gemitum tamen extorquebat affectus; etenim tam sancta erat de illius gloria (et) exsultatio, quam pia de morte tristitia. Ignosceres flentibus, congratulare gaudentibus, dum unusquisque et sibi praestat ut doleat, et illi ut gaudeat. Haec igitur beati viri corpus usque ad locum sepulcri hymnis canora coelestibus turba prosequitur, etc.

With this word, then, he gave back his soul to heaven; and those who were there have testified to us that they saw his face as the face of an angel, while his limbs appeared white as snow, so that they said: "Who [ever saw] this man covered with sackcloth? Who would believe he had been wrapped in ashes?" For he already appeared as if he had been shown in the glory of the future resurrection and in the nature of flesh transformed. But how great a multitude of men gathered for the rites of the funeral cannot be believed. The whole city rushed out to meet the body; all from the fields and from the villages, and many even from the neighbouring cities, were present. O how great the grief of all, how great above all the laments of the mourning monks! They are said to have gathered on that day to the number of about two thousand, Martin's special glory: by his example such stocks had sprung up in the service of the Lord. The shepherd, indeed, was driving his flocks before him: the pale throngs of that holy multitude, companies in the pallium, either old men of discharged (supply: labours), or Christ's recruits, sworn into the oath. Then the choir of virgins, refraining from weeping for modesty, with what holy joy did it hide that it grieved! For though faith forbade them to weep, affection yet wrung out a groan; for the exultation over his glory was as holy as the sadness over his death was devout. You would have pardoned those who wept, rejoiced with those who were glad, while each grants both to himself that he grieve, and to him that he rejoice. This throng, then, tuneful with heavenly hymns, escorts the body of the blessed man to the place of the tomb, etc.

PL 20:184

gloria, cujus exemplo in Domini servitutem stirpes tantae fruticaverant. Agebat nimirum ante se pastor exstinctus greges suos, sanctae illius multitudinis pallidas turbas, agmina palliata, aut emeritorum laborum senes, aut juratos Christi in sacramenta tirones. Tum virginum chorus fletu abstinens prae pudore, cum laetandum potius illi esse sentiret quem jam suo Dominus gremio confoveret, quam sancto dissimulabat gaudio quod dolebat! siquidem fides flere prohiberet, gemitum extorqueret affectus; etenim tam erat sancta de illius gloria exsultatio, quam pia de morte confusio. Ignosceres flentibus, gratularere gaudentibus: quia et pium est gaudere Martino, et pium est flere Martinum; dum unusquisque et sibi praestat ut doleat, et illi debet ut gaudeat. Haec igitur beati viri corpus usque ad locum sepulcri hymnis canora coelestibus turba prosequitur. Comparetur, si placet, saecularis illa pompa, non dicam funeris, sed triumphi: quid simile Martini exsequiis conferetur? Ducant illi prae curribus suis vinctos post terga captivos: Martini corpus hi qui mundum ductu illius vicerant, prosequuntur; illos confusis plausibus populorum honoret insania: Martino divinis plauditur psalmis: Martinus hymnis coelestibus honoratur, illi post triumphos suos in tartara saeva truduntur: Martinus Abrahae sinu laetus excipitur; Martinus hic pauper et modicus, coelum dives ingreditur: illinc nos, ut spero, custodiens, me haec scribentem respicit, te legentem.

glory of Martin, by whose example so great a stock had sprung up in the service of the Lord. The shepherd, dead, was indeed driving his flocks before him: the pale crowds of that holy multitude, the cloaked bands, either old men of labours completed or recruits sworn to Christ in the sacraments. Then the choir of virgins, refraining from weeping out of modesty, since it felt that it ought rather to rejoice for him whom the Lord now cherished in His bosom, how it concealed with holy joy what it grieved over! since faith forbade weeping, [yet] affection wrung out a groan; for the exultation over his glory was as holy as the confusion over his death was dutiful. You would have pardoned those weeping, you would have congratulated those rejoicing: for it is dutiful both to rejoice for Martin and to weep for Martin; while each one both allows himself to grieve and owes it to him to rejoice. This crowd, then, loud with heavenly hymns, follows the body of the blessed man to the place of burial. Let there be compared, if you please, that worldly pomp, I will not say of a funeral, but of a triumph: what will be set beside Martin's obsequies as like them? Let those men lead captives bound, [their hands] behind their backs, before their chariots: Martin's body is followed by those who under his leadership had conquered the world; let the madness of the peoples honour those with confused applause: Martin is applauded with divine psalms: Martin is honoured with heavenly hymns; those men after their triumphs are thrust into cruel Tartarus: Martin is received rejoicing into the bosom of Abraham; Martin, poor and lowly here, enters heaven rich: guarding us from thence, as I hope, he looks upon me as I write these things, upon you as you read.

Editors' notes and page, col. 184

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: congratulare gaudentibus (Verona codex text, right sub-column)› · call in col 184

Forte congratularere.

Perhaps congratularere.

(printed under page 95)