Constantius of Lyon, in his Life of *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455), recounts how during his visit to Britain in 429, Germanus' injured foot was miraculously healed when he had a dream vision of an angel. Written in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul) between c. 460 and c. 480.
E07553
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Constantius of Lyon, Life of Germanus of Auxerre 16
For a full account of Constantius' Life of Germanus, see E05841.
This incident takes place in Britain, during Germanus' visit in 429, after he and his colleague Lupus of Troyes have defeated the British Pelagians and visited the shrine of St Alban at Verulamium. It follows immediately on Germanus' miraculous preservation from a fire (E06862): the 'poor man's hut' in the passage is the one saved from the fire by Germanus' presence.
Excubabat diebus ac noctibus ante tugurium pauperis turba sine numero, hi animas curare cupientes, hi corpora. Referri nequeunt, quae Christus operabatur in famulo qui uirtutes faciebat infirmus; et cum debilitati suae nihil remedii pateretur adhiberi, quadam nocte candentem niueis uestibus uidit sibi adesse personam, quae manu extensa iacentem uideretur adtollere eumque consistere firmis uestigiis imperabat. Post quam horam ita, fugatis doloribus, recepit pristinam sanitatem ut, die reddito, itineris laborem subiret intrepidus.
'Day and night a countless throng lay around the poor man's hut, some wanting healing for their souls, others for their bodies. It would be impossible to record all that Christ did through his servant, who exercised these powers when impotent himself. But, although he would allow no one to bring remedies for his own infirmity, one night he saw before him a shining figure in snow-white garments, which stretched out its hand to him as he lay there and raised him up, telling him to stand firmly on his feet. From that moment the pain left him and he so completely recovered his soundness of limb that, when day returned, he resumed the toil of his journeyings without a qualm.'
Following Germanus' recovery, he and Lupus return to Gaul: E05846.
Text: Borius 1965.
Translation: Hoare 1954.
Miracle during lifetime
Miracles experienced by the saint
Healing diseases and disabilities
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Unspecified miracle
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Angels
Crowds
Source
Germanus of Auxerre (PCBE 4, 'Germanus 1', pp. 878-883) was the most important and revered episcopal saint of 5th-century Gaul. The Life of Germanus was written some years after his death (traditionally dated to 448, but perhaps earlier) by Constantius, a literary figure, possibly a cleric, attested in Lyon in the 460s and 470s (PCBE 4, 'Constantius 3', pp. 521-522). The precise date when he composed the Life is not documented, but it must have been sometime between the 460s and the early 480s. For full discussion of the authorship and date of the Life of Germanus, see its overview entry: E05841.Bibliography
Editions:Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre (Sources chrétiennes 112; Paris: Cerf, 1965), with French translation.
Levison, W., Vita Germani episcopi Autissiodorensis auctore Constantio, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici V (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 7; Hannover and Leipzig, 1919), 246-283.
English translation:
Hoare, F.R., The Western Fathers (London, 1954), 283-320. Reprinted in T.F.X. Noble and T. Head (eds.), Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 75-106.
David Lambert
15/05/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Certain |
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