Pseudo Celestinus

and strangers reap the benefit of their labours, and they themselves depart to the throne of God being naked.

And the woman became greatly disturbed,

And at length he fell ill of the sickness of which he died.

And ho called his son and said unto him, 'My son, behold I am going the way of all the earth.

and she answered with fright, 'Who art thou who appearest in such a wonderful form, and surrounded with such great glory?'

They have not sent on one good work before them, neither is there any gift in their hands,

and they curse the day in which they were born into the world.

Do thou be zealous in giving gifts to the poor, and to every one who is in need, even as thou hast seen that I have been in the habit of doing, and do thou take especial care in respect of the offering to my Lord Saint Victor.

And he made answer in a gentle (or, sweet) voice, saying, 'I am Victor, the general of the Great King';

Thou shalt not diminish aught therefrom, nay, thou shaft add to it; for it is he who hath blessed us, and hath given to us these great riches, and this multitude of possessions.

and when he had said these words she ceased to see him.

Say not in thy blindness of heart, 'When I am about to go forth from the body,

And straightway she awoke from her dream,

And let thy charities and gifts be multiplied, for they shall open unto thee the treasure-houses of the kingdom which is in the heavens.'

I will write my will so that my children and my kinsfolk may give alms on behalf of my soul.'

And his son answered and said, 'Everything that thou sayest I will do'; thereupon the man sank back fainting and died,

and she smelled a very strong sweet smell which filled the whole martyrium. And she said within herself, 'Verily this man who spake unto me was Saint Victor;

O thou senseless one, thou very great fool, dost thou not know that when thou shalt go forth from the body, thou wilt not be like even unto the man who is lord of one obolus? and moreover, no man will ever remember thee again.

and was gathered to his fathers.

Thou wilt not have with thee the money which thou hast heaped up.

I am a sinful woman.'

Thou wilt not have with thee the granary which is full of grain.

And his son took possession of his weath and goods of all kinds,

And straightway she woke up her men,

Thou wilt not have with thee thy vineyards.

and told them her dream.

but his heart was not perfect with God as was his father's, even as it is written concerning Solomon, and he was not charitable towards the poor.

And finally he treated with contempt his father's will and testament,

Thou wilt not have with thee the houses which thou hast built. Nay, thou wilt be a stranger unto them all.

And when the morning had come she went to the elder in the martyrium,

and he gave her a little of the oil which was in the lamp.

They will have ceased to be thine,

and he did not observe the commands which he had given to him.

and will have become things which belong to others.

He diminished the charities and gifts which his father used to give,

And when she had taken it into her hand she smeared her breasts therewith, saying, In the Name of the God of Saint Victor, whose glory I have been held worthy to see; do graciously grant unto me healing.'

If they wish they will give to thee; if they wish not they will not give to thee.

he ate and drank delicately,

And immediately the demon became terrified,

and he leaped out of her breasts in the form of a gryphon, and all the people saw him, and he was like unto a flame of fire. And straightway her breasts assumed their usual shape,

Hast thou never hearkened unto the holy man Job,

and he put away from him the fear of God and the precepts of his father.

and she cried out, saying, 'One is the God of Saint Victor!'

saying, 'When I came out of my mother's womb I was naked, and I will depart naked.'

And when the season of the vintage arrived, the steward of Saint Victor sent certain of the clergy to him to receive the offering of first-fruits, according to the custom of his father,

And she gave splendid gifts to the martyrium, gold and very much silver, as a memorial of the healing which had taken place in her.

the son would not give them but said (to himself), 'Verily my father hated the things which belonged to him,' and he spake out loud with evil words, saying, 'It is not Saint Victor who drinketh the wine, but it is the clergy who drink it;

Also the Apostle crieth out, saying, 'We brought nothing with us into this world, and we shall take nothing (with us when) we depart.'

Afterwards she went to her house to her kinsfolk, giving glory to God and to His holy martyr.

And David saith, 'When their spirit cometh out of them they return to their earth.'

moreover, every time they wish to communicate I will send unto them offerings and first-fruits that they may communicate.

O wretched man, how and in what way art thou benefited by all these cares and all these anxieties?

I shall certainly not give away this large quantity of wine, but I will put it aside, and will devote it to the needs of the community and to those of my own workmen.'

And again it is necessary for us to tell you of another great miracle which took place through this holy man.

And it came to pass that when the Emperor Honorius saw the healing which had taken place in his sister through Saint Victor he rejoiced exceedingly,

In this way did he foolishly withdraw the offering from the saint,

Now, thou dost know the place where thou wast born, but thou dost not know the place where thou wilt die.

Thou knowest how many years thou hast lived up to this present time, but thou hast no knowledge of how many thou hast yet to live.

and it pleased him to restore the apse of the altar chamber, and to decorate the woodwork of the martyrium with fine gold, as a memorial of the glory of the saint.

and he did not remember that which is written, 'Charity seeketh not its own.'

And he caused handicraftsmen who were masters of their craft to be brought,

Thou knowest in what way thy parents who begat thee died, (but thou dost not) know in what manner thou wilt die,

So he gathered in the grape harvest according to his father's custom,

Now, therefore, O man, take advice, and let my counsel be pleasing unto thee.

and they began their work of decorating the chamber of the altar of sacrifice with gold.

and he discovered that the wine was so great in quantity that he could not measure it.

And he had it carried into storehouses, saying, 'I will keep it until the time when the merchants of Palestine come [to visit] my father this year, and I will give it to them, and will take in exchange from them much goods,'

And whilst they were working on the woodwork, the Devil, who hateth that which is good, overturned one of the workmen whilst he was at work,

Do thou redeem thy sins by charity, and thy lawlessness by gifts of alms to the poor, in order that thou mayest have enjoyment in the riches which do not come to an end.

Send on gifts in front of thee before thou dost go forth from the body, so that thou mayest depart to meet the Christ with joy.

and he fell to the ground.

And what did Saint Victor do unto him that had neglected to give him his offering through love of possessions?

For when a man is about to meet a king of this world, and he would find favour before him,

Quite suddenly he made the wine which, only a very little time before, had been very choice, to change, and it bred worms, and it became putrid and sour.

And the other workmen were afraid,

he sends all gifts on before him, so that the king may receive his person.

And all the man's affairs went backward, but he did not know that it was the hand of God that was upon him because of his contemptuous treatment of Him,

and they cried out, saying, 'Lord, have mercy upon us.' And the Emperor and the other men who were below were greatly disturbed because of what had taken place.

Howmuch more is it meet for us to send on before us gifts and alms to the King of the Universe, who is surrounded by terror and trembling,

And it came to pass that on a certain day the merchants arrived, and they brought him a large quantity of gold wherewith they wished to buy some of his wine;

And behold, at the very moment (when the workman began to fall), Saint Victor appeared from heaven arrayed in great glory,

and he laid hold of the hand of the workman before he reached the ground, and when he was still three cubits above it, and he held him suspended there.

Solomon said, 'Cast all thy possessions before thee.

(and when they had tasted the wine) they found that it was very bad indeed,

and very thin in quality, and that it had bred worms,

Give alms according as thou hast the power.

Then he went up with him to the woodwork,

Say thou not, I have nothing to give.'

and they marvelled exceedingly.

and set him down on his feet in front of the woodwork by the side of his fellow workmen;

and the workman had suffered no injury in any way, and no man had seen Saint Victor, with the exception of the workman.

Remember the poor widow woman who cast the two mites into the treasury,

And afterwards they opened (other skins) in the doorway of the wine storehouse,

and they found that the wine in them was worse than that which tliey had tasted before;

and the Christ justified her, saying, 'She hath given all her means of living,'

And when the Emperor and the multitude had seen the mighty miracle which had taken place they were afraid, and they cried out, 'One is the God of Saint Victor, and besides Him there is no other god, either in heaven or on the earth.'

And when the workman had recovered from the attack of terror which had come upon him, he proclaimed to the Emperor and to all the people, saying, 'I saw a huge creature

in short, they tried all the wine,

And again He said, 'Whosoever shall give one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, Amen I say unto you, that he shall in no wise lose his wage.'

and they found that it was quite worthless.