Pseudo Celestinus

with his wing[s] spread out,

Be not thou careless of thy salvation, O man, because of the material things of this life, for they will not assist (?) us in this world to the (end). But there is a (worse) evil that can be, namely, when we have come forth (from this world), we may become as if we had never entered into it.

Remember thou the hour wherein the sickness of death shall come upon thee. Thou shalt cast thyself down on thy bed, and thou shalt say, 'I am sick this day.'

and his eyes were filled as it were with fire,

And they said unto him, 'Verily we marvel at this wine, and wonder what hath happened to it since thy father hath become blessed.

After a very short interval the sickness shall become more severe on thee, and a violent fever shall lay hold upon the wretched flesh of thy body, and such excruciating pains and sufferings shall seize thee that thy normal condition of mind and body shall be disturbed. And thy tongue shall shrink to nothing in thy throat, and thy words shall dwindle in thy mouth,

Perhaps it is that thou hast neglected it; in any case we know not what hath happened to it.'

and he struck me with what he had in his hand, and threw me down.

and thy throat shall close up, and no nourishment whatsoever shall be able to pass through it. And the light in thine eyes shall become less and less, and the sweat shall break out and cover thy face, and very great and bitter bile shall fill thy body, and the treatment of thine eyes by the physician shall cease to be effective, for they shall turn round, and become crooked, and little by little they shall become blind to the light.

And whilst I was falling down, behold a man of light who was wearing the apparel worn by men of royal rank, and whose face was shining like the sun,

And thus saying the merchants took the gold from him again

laid hold of my hand before I could reach the earth:

And thou shalt ask those who come to visit thee, saying, 'What time is it?' for thy perception of things shall cease within thee.

and returned to their own country.

And the man was very sad indeed, and grieved exceedingly.

and he came up with me, and brought me into this place,

For darkness and mistiness shall cover over thine eyes,

and thy face shall change its colour and become greenish-grey,

And after some days the man became conscious of the sin which he had committed, and that it was Saint Victor who had destroyed his property because he had neglected to supply his holy offering.

and he made the Sign of the Cross over me, and he removed fear from me, saying, 'Be not thou afraid, for I am Victor, on whose martyrium thou art working.'

And straightway I ceased to see him.'

and thy hair shall perish,

And he was saying, 'Woe is me, because I did not listen to the words of my father, and because I allowed avariciousness to blind my eyes.

And when the multitude had heard these thing's they cried out, saying, 'One is the God of Saint Victor!'

I wished to bring the offering of the martyr into his hand,

and the veins, and tendons, and sinews of thy hands and feet shall dry up,

and thy heart and thy soul shall lose their strength by imperceptible degrees.

and behold, he hath destroyed all the possessions which were in mine.

And thus by the zeal of the God-loving Emperor, and the might of Saint Victor, the decoration of the woodwork in the chamber of the altar of sacrifice with fine gold and its inlaying with Literally 'porcupine'. very costly stones were completed.

What shall I do from this time onwards? I know not.'

And thou shalt gaze out of thine eyes and shalt see the Powers with frightful faces which have come for thee, and they shall make haste to carry thee to Him that created thee.

And now, O my beloved, ye see how great are the mighty deeds and wonders of Saint Victor, whose festival we are celebrating this day.

And to every man who shall make supplication unto him with his whole heart, no matter what kind of sickness it is from which he is suffering, the saint will graciously bestow upon him healing.

And during that night Saint Victor came unto the man in glory unspeakable,

And when thou shall see them thou shalt open thy mouth, and thou shalt deliver up thy spirit into the hands of him that shall come for thee.

And again, there was a certain man in this city who was a patrician (in the service) of the Emperors, and who fell ill of a certain kind of sickness which was incurable;

O what a marvellous thing is this! O how terrible is this necessity, which is more awful than any other necessity that is upon the earth!

and he said unto him in a very threatening manner, 'Since the love of money hath shut thine eyes,

and his whole body swelled up to such a degree that he resembled a pillar.

O how terrible is this tribulation, which is the greatest of all tribulations, and which is more fearful than death itself!

and thou hast stolen the offering which thy father used to give unto God in my name,

And finally they will take thy soul, and will set it before the awful throne of God, and it shall receive according to what it hath done, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

behold I, even I, destroyed all the produce of thy vineyard,

And to see this man in such a state of wretchedness made one's heart to ache, for he lived in great tribulation,

O Paul, thou wise man of the Apostles, thy words are exceedingly sweet!

he suffered excruciating pains, which were well nigh unbearable. Often it would happen that thou wouldst find him sitting (on the ground),

and I made thy wine to become full of worms and putrid.

And I will destroy thy vineyard also, and it shall not yield thee its fruit because of thy audacity.

For when all the men whom God hath created, from Adam, the first man, to the man who is begotten this day, shall go forth from the body,

and his servant would be obliged to carry him to his house; and his feet and his (other) members would burst from time to time, and eject large quantities of unclean matter.

And as for thee thyself, I have come to bring upon thee a great grief, and I would destroy thee, and thou shouldst die if it were not that I keep in remembrance the a righteousness of thy father.

And he gave very much money to the physicians,

their souls shall be taken and shall be set before the throne of God, whether they be the souls of children months old, or whether they be the souls of those who are years old, and they shall do homage to the Righteous Judge, and He shall pass sentence upon them before they are removed to the places of which they are worthy.

And again, in the Day of the Resurrection, their souls shall rise, having suffered not destruction, and the soul of every one shall return to his body, and they shall all receive according to what they have done, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

but gained no relief thereby.

And assuredly because thou didst neglect to give the offering to my shrine,

And we shall be examined and questioned concerning everything which we have done in this place of sojourning, even to the slightest word which we have uttered in jest.

I myself made all thy wine to perish.'

And besides this the Emperors of Rome sent the archiators (to treat him), for he was a nobleman of high rank in the Palace, and others also used every effort to cure him, but he failed to find any relief whatsoever.

And we shall be questioned, moreover, concerning the thoughts which have passed through our hearts, according to that which our Master Craftsman the Christ spake, saying, 'Let not any light, silly speech issue from your mouths, for ye shall be obliged to give an account concerning them in the Day of the Judgement.'

And the man was greatly moved, and he said, 'My lord, who art thou that thou art surrounded by such exceedingly great glory?'

And thus he continued to live, suffering these excruciating pains, until (one day) he heard of the mighty deeds and miracles which took place in the shrine of Saint Apa Victor.

And he answered and said, 'I am Victor the General.

Blessed shall they be who shall rise up in the Resurrection of Life, for they shall reign as kings with the Christ!

Then his servant lifted him up and carried him into the shrine of the holy man,

Woe be unto those who shall be condemned to die a second time because of their evil deeds!

I am he who blessed the possessions of thy father.

and he laid him down before the altar of sacrifice,

and he cried out by day and by night, 'O Saint Victor, look upon my humility and my sufferings, and graciously bestow healing upon me, for I am grievously tortured.

I miiltiplied for him his corn and wine.

When the Righteous Judge hath ascended the throne, what lie hath brought (?) shall be reckoned up (?),

Or let thy mercy come to me, and do thou make supplication to God on my behalf, so that He may take me out of this life (of suffering). Behold, thou seest my tribulation by day and by night.'

The tares shall be burned up in the tire which cannot be extinguished,

I doubled for him his flocks and herds, and his possessions and his goods, because of the alms and oblations which he gave to the poor, and the offerings which he made unto God in my name.

Thou, however, inasmuch as thou hast not obeyed thy father, and hast not remembered the fear of God, but hast been zealous in the stealing of the oflering from my martyrium,

And he lost consciousness for a short space of time.

but the wheat shall be gathered together into His granary, that is to say, into the kingdom which is in the heavens,

Now, therefore, let us turn ourselves, and let us repent of our sins before inquisition shall be made of us concerning them.

And behold, Saint Victor gave consideration to his miserable condition, for he is a lover of mankind.

I myself have punished thee,

Remember that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

And the sick man saw him in a dream apparelled in great glory,

and have destroyed thy labours.

Shew me what all these pains and all these sufferings are worth.

and he was wearing rich purple garments, and he was girded with a girdle of gold,

And in thee hath been fulfilled that which is written, saying, 'A city is founded by the compassion of a mighty man, and it is uprooted through the folly of the fool.'

Are not three cubits of earth (the length) of our everlasting abode?

and he shot forth from his person rays of light. And he said (unto the sick man) in the dream, 'Why art thou here in this condition?'

And when the man had heard these words he cast himself down upon his face, saying, 'Forgive me, O my lord, thou holy martyr.

I have sinned beyond the measure of all mankind's capacity of sinning,

And the sick man said unto him, 'Behold, thou seest my sufferings and my tribulations, and that I have drawn nigh unto death.'

Whom wilt thou gather together (therein)?

And the holy man said unto him with a joyful face, 'I am he who shall cure thee, for thou must know that I have the power to do everything through the grace of God which is with me.'

but count not up my sins, according to my folly, against me. And I will become thy servant, and will fear thee, even as did my father, until the day of my death.

To whom wilt thou act as an usurer?

And I promise thy holy splendour that, if thou wilt shew compassion unto me, and wilt forgive me my impudent deeds, I will give the one half of my substance and of my flocks and herds to thy shrine this year,

Whom wilt thou ill-treat?

And he stretched out the rod which was in his hand,

and the other half (I will give) to the community and to the maintenance of those who work (on my estate). And besides these I will add to the charitable gifts which my father used to make to the poor.'

Shew me who will send these things down unto thee in Amente?