The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

The Whitby Life of Gregory the Great (BHL 3637)

For an overview of this work, see E05872.

Chapter 3
... De quo librum scribere cupientes cum pauca eius de gestis audivimus signorum, nec fastidium sit legentibus precamur, si aliquid de laude tanti viri loquamur uberius. Multi igitur a miraculis vitam quidem sanctorum solent considerare, atque a signis sancta illorum merita metiri, et hoc nec inmerito. Nam sepe eos Deus qui est mirablis in sanctis suis quos pre ceteris amat, iam miraculis facit coruscare pre ceteris.

'... We wish to write a book about him, though, in the record of his deeds, we have heard of few miracles (signa): but we pray our readers not to feel distaste if we praise the great man somewhat exuberantly. For many are accustomed to judge the lives of saints by their miracles and to measure their merits and holiness by the signs they perform; nor is this unreasonable, for often God, who is glorious in his saints that he loves beyond other men, makes them shine above other men by the miracles they perform.'

Chapter 4
Unde nostrorum nonnulli mirabilem virum sanctum Gregorium papam Romam, et ut ita dicam, apostolicum, signis divinis apte suspicantur, que et mira dicuntur merito fulsisse. Quibus etiam est pure agnoscendum, quia ut ille sanctus vir, "Sunt," inquit, "plerique eui, etsi signa non faciunt, signa tamen facientibus dispares non sunt." Hinc namque de signis proprię virtutis suę quas fecit Veritas, a se minoribus maiora id est apostolis concessa divinis ostendit, maiora horum facietis. Eos quoque non esse omnibus per merita maiores, alibi testantur, ubi de Johanne Baptista inter natos maior non surrexisse dicebat. Quem nequaquam talia ut apostolus signa fecisse didicimus, eum tamen potuisse talia non dubitamus ...

'Therefore some of our people rightly suppose that this wonderful man St Gregory, the Pope of Rome and, if I may say so, the apostolic Pope, deservedly gained renown by holy signs which can even be called miracles. Such men clearly recognise that there are many, like this holy man, who, as Gregory himself said, do not perform miracles but are not unequal to those who do. For He, the Truth, showed that in the matter of signs which He performed by His own power, it was granted to lesser men than Himself, namely the holy Apostles, to do greater – "Greater works than these shall ye do." Further He showed elsewhere that the Apostles were not greater than all other men by their merits; when speaking of John the Baptist, he said, "Among them that are born of women there have not risen a greater." Yet we have never heard that John did such miracles as any of the Apostles did, though we do not doubt that he could have done such ...'

Chapter 6
... Unde ipse de istis in eius loquitur evangelii omeliis dicens, "Quę nimirum miracula tanto maiora sunt quanto spiritalia": et iterum, "que tanto securiora sunt quanto spiritalia." Et hoc contra eos qui gloriantur in signis, et illic audituri sunt, "Discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem." Plus igitur Christus per sanctum loquendo proficit Gregorium, quam quod Petrum apostolum per undas fectir ambulare, vel quod per Paulum eius co-apostolum cecitate malignum percussit magum.

'... This is how he [Gregory] deals with the subject in his Homilies on the Gospels: "Miracles," he says, "are the greater, the more spiritual they are"; and again, "If they are spiritual they are so much the surer." These, too, are his words against those who boast of their wonderful works here and who there are going to hear from Him, "Depart from me all ye workers of iniquity." Therefore Christ avails us more as He speaks through St Gregory than when He made the Apostle Peter walk on the waves; or when through Peter's fellow-Apostle Paul He struck the evil magician with blindness.'

Chapter 30
... Sed neque et illud moveat quemquam si quid horum de alio quolibet sanctorum fuisset effectum, cum sanctus apostolus per mysterium unius corporis membrorum, sanctorum scilicet vitam conparando concordat ut simus ad invicem alter alterius membra...

'... Let no one be disturbed even if these miracles were performed by any other of the saints, since the holy Apostle, through the mystery of the limbs of a single body, which he compares to the living experience of the saints, concludes that we are all "members one of another" ...'


Text and translation: Colgrave, 1968, 76-81.

Composing and translating saint-related texts

Observed scarcity/absence of miracles

Considerations about the nature of miracles

Source

Discussion

Bibliography