Pseudo Celestinus

and he laid it upon the sick man, saying, 'Healing shall come to thee this day.

And the saint said unto him, 'God hath removed thy sin, and this shall be unto thee a sign that he hath done so.

But do not sin again, or evil which is worse than this shall befall thee;

Remember that thou art not like unto thy Lord, but that thou hast been sent to live upon the earth for one day only, and that thou art like unto a hireling, who is hired daily.

and do not thou shew thyself haughty towards the poor.'

And whether thou eatest, or whether thou drinkest, or whether thou fastest, or whether thou art hungry, or whether thou art thirsty, the sun wall set every day, and the period of thy life will become less day by day.

When thou risest up tomorrow morning open the door of thy wine-cellars and taste thy wine, and thou shalt find that it hath turned to a proper, settled condition. Thus shalt thou know that God is able to do everything, and that it is the blessing of God which maketh men rich; but what God truly loveth in a man is for him to choose a right course of action.

And the sick man answered and said with trepidation, 'My lord, who art thou that appearest in this form?

And when the number of thy days shall be fulfilled, there shall not be added to thee a single hour.

God is not in need of thy gifts and charities and of thy offerings, but He doth desire that a right course of action should be displayed by thee in respect of Him.

I have never before seen any one like unto thee, whether it be Emperor or whether it be general in the Palace.'

Hast thou never heard that which is written, 'He who sheweth mercy unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord,' and 'Pay thy vows to God,

Man is absolutely a thing of naught.

And he answered and said unto the man, 'I am Victor, the general of the King of heaven.'

and let every one who is round about Him take a gift unto Him?'

He is a man today, tomorrow he is dust and ashes.

And when he had said these things unto him the man ceased to feel pain, and he ejected a mass of pus which was so abundant that it overflowed and soaked all his bed; and he ceased to swell up,

Man is a creature who eateth and drinketh this day, but tomorrow his mouth is closed.

Now, therefore, take heed to thyself and do the things which have come forth from thy month.

And I will make supplication unto God on thy behalf that He may make thy riches to be as great as those of thy father.

He who eateth at this momenta, and who batheth in the bath, and who anointeth himself this day with sweet-smelling unguents of the finest quality, is tomorrow rolled into the tomb,

and became like unto a man who had never suffered from any skin disease at all.

And when thou shalt go forth from the body thy soul shall not be set apart for punishment, because I will carry it as a gracious thing into the presence of God, and He will give into it the good things of the kingdom which is in the heavens.

wherein dust taketh the place to him of sweet-smelling unguents.

And he leaped up on his feet, and stood up,

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

He who today sleepeth on the roof (or, verandah) of his house clothed in garments of byssus is tomorrow cast forth into the tomb among the dead animals,

Hast thou never heard what is written, 'The supplication of the righteous man is exceedingly mighty and effecteth (much)?'

And dost thou not know that the martyrs endured all (their) sufferings without reward?

which surround him with their bodies,

And when the multitudes who were gathered together inside the martyrium they cried out, saying, 'Blessed are we, because we are held to be worthy (to have) this pearl in our city, for he healeth our sicknesses and our diseases.'

Now, therefore, O my son, watch thyself well from this day pife forward. And farewell!

And the man gave gifts to the shrine of Saint Victor, both gold and silver, so that they might be distributed among the poor and the destitute.

and he is left in a state of misery.

And he departed to his house ascribing glory to Grod, and he took care for his soul unto the day of his death.

And when the saint had said these words unto the man he ceased to see him.

What can I say about the miracles which thou hast performed, O thou wearer of the crown of the Christ?

And straightway he woke up in his dream, and was very much moved, and he told the things which he had seen to his people, and they marvelled.

And when the morning had come he opened the door of his winecellar,

And what tongue of flesh is there that is able to describe thy blessed estate, O thou valiant general?

Verily, if I were to pass the whole of my time in going through the miracles which thou hast wrought, I should be wholly unable to recount even a very small portion of them.

and he found that his wine was exceedingly excellent, and he was disturbed in his mind.

O thou confessor and invincible athlete, who is there that is able to comprehend the full extent of thine honourable estate, and the wonderful things that have taken place in thy martyrium?

And he proclaimed the mighty deeds of Saint Victor throughout the whole city.

For as it is impossible for a man to estimate the honourableness of this holy man so also is it impossible (to declare) the mighty deeds which have gone forth from his sanctuary,

And he summoned the steward of the saint to him,

O thou veritable crown-bearer of the Christ, thou youth whose wisdom vanquished that of the trained orator!

and he gave unto him the half of his produce and of his wine, which he was to expend in the service of the shrine, and on the poor and on strangers, even according as he had vowed to the saint.

And from that day onward he became a very zealous man, and he was exceedingly anxious about the salvation of his soul.

O thou who didst despise a kingdom in this world in order that thou mightest receive one which was more excellent and belonged to heaven,

great is the glory which God hath given unto thee both in heaven and upon the earth!

Thus ye see, O my beloved, that the mighty deeds of Saint Victor, whose festival we are celebrating this day, are truly great, and that ray halting tongue is incapable of declaring one in ten thousand of his virtues and honours, and of the miracles which he hath worked.

Let us celebrate his festival this day in purity of heart and in purity of body. And he is sufficiently strong to pray for us to the Lord, to forgive us our sins;

As I have already said, the sweet odour of thee hath filled all the countries of the world, and men make mention of thy O name in every country, from the Camp wherein thou didst complete thy course even to the (region of the First) Cataract. And they ascribe glory unto thee throughout the world, saying that thou art the greatest of the martyrs,

the more so because God hath made the (fame of the) wonders and miracles to go forth from thy martyrium into every place. And the wonders of healing exist for those who shall believe on thy name, and this selfsame gift cometh forth from thy martyrium and goeth from one end of the inhabited world to the other.

for lie is gracious and merciful, and he is nigh unto God at all times.

If this be not so (in your opinion), hearken and I will shew you that it is.

Let us withdraw ourselves from every evil thing, and from every kind of fornication.

And it came to pass, they say, that in the beginning, when the God-loving Emperor Constantine built this very martyrium wherein we are assembled this day in honour of Saint Apa Victor, a certain great general fell sick of a very severe disease.

And let us not continue in our sins, so that our visitation may not come to an end.

Now he was sixty years of age, and he suffered great pain in his inward parts, and he was unable to sleep; and he was sick with the disease which the physicians call καλκηνωμα.

Remember that the world shall pass away and the desirable things thereof, but he who performeth the will of God shall live for ever.

He had given many large sums of money to one physician after the other,

Therefore let us not stablish ourselves upon the hope which is vain,

without feeling any benefit from their treatment. On the contrary, he was in imminent danger of dying.

for the Apostle saith, 'The hope which is seen is not hope,' that is to say, the riches of this world which shall pass away like the snow (or, frost).

Be not a man of violence, for no violent man shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Then he heard about the mighty deeds and miracles which took place in the martyrium of Saint Victor in Antioch,

and he rose up and went to Antioch.

Be not a man of strife, for it is said that there is no profit in any man of strife.

Be not a lover of money, for the root of all evil is the love of money.

And he passed two days in the martyrium there, and did not receive healing.

Be not a fornicator, for him who shall defile the temple of God will God destroy.

And on the night of the third day he felt a slight alleviation of the pain through the invincible power of God,

Be not a liar, for God shall destroy every man who uttereth lies.

and straightway Saint Victor came to him in a dream.

Be not a drunkard, for no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God.

He was in the form of a mighty general,

Be not a man of lust, for it is said, 'Whosoever shall look at a woman to desire her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.'

and his face shot forth rays of light,

and he said unto the sick general, 'If thou wishest to be made free of this disease, rise up quickly and depart to the martyrium (of Saint Victor) which is in Rome. Thou shalt drink the water which is in the vessel in the chamber of the altar of sacrifice, and thou shalt find healing.

Be not an adulterer, for the adulterer destroyeth his soul.

Was it because (my) martyrium which is in Rome is difficult (to reach) that thou didst come to this place? Didst thou not know that my power is in all the world,

Be not a lover of pleasure, for it is written, 'They loved pleasure more than they loved God.'

Be not a babbling gossip, for a gag of fire shall be thrust into the mouth of the babbler.

and that it is the selfsame gift of healing which is (to be obtained) in them all, by those who believe and do not halt between two opinions? Didst thou not know that this selfsame power permeateth my martyrium which is in Rome and that which is in Antioch?

Why didst thou bring upon thy head the vexatious trouble of journeying over a sea of ocean to come to this place?

Be not a hater of (thy) brother, for he who hateth his brother is a murderer.

Be not a man with a double tongue, for double-tonguedness is like unto a twoedged sword.

Didst thou not know that I have the power to heal in this place?

But I will not do this in this place, and unless thou goest to my martyrium which is in Rome thou shalt (not) find healing, so that every one may know my power.'

If thou wilt observe these things in thine own person, thou shalt be a servant of the Lord, and Saint Victor shall rejoice over the celebration of his festival.

Let us stretch out our hands to the poor in charity and compassion, for it is written, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'

And the sick general trembling answered and said, 'My lord, who art thou who appearest in this form, and art surrounded with such great glory?'

Let us visit the sick and those who are shut up in confinement, in order that God in His compassion may visit us.

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

I will heal thy body. I will give salvation to thy soul.'

Let us put clothing on the naked, in order that we may escape from the trouble and the gnashing of teeth.

And straightway he awoke from his dream, and he was trembling exceedingly.

Let us receive into our houses the poor, who have no houses, on the festival of Saint Victor, so that he may remember us before God, Who shall take us into His kingdom which is in the heavens.