The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

We have been unable to add many new full-text translations to our database, through a lack of resources; but we are delighted to offer here the first English translation of a key text: the anonymous Latin translation of the discovery of the relics of Stephen. See E07606 for the first translation of the same story by Avitus of Braga. Both translations are by Philip Beagon.


Revelatio Sancti Stephani ('Recension B')

1. Domno sancto et venerabili Hymesio episcopo, humillimus et omnium infimus Lucianus presbyter de villa Caphargamala in territorio Hierosolymitano, in Christo Iesu perpetuam salutem.
I. 2. Revelationem quae mihi ostensa est dignum duxi ut Vestrae panderem Sanctitati, non iactantia quidem sed ad confirmationem audientium.

II. 3. Tertia enim vice mihi ostensum est, dum quiescerem in basilica baptisterii in stratu meo, die sexta feria illucescente, circa horam tertiam noctis, cum adhuc vigilarem, tamquam in excessu mentis effectus,
4. vidi virum aetate senem, statura procerum, vultu decorum, prolixa barba, in vestitu candido, amictum pallio in cuius summitate erant tamquam aureae cruces intextae (et manu habebat virgam auream), calciatum caligis in superficie deauratis, deambulantem coram me et tacentem.
5. Et cum hoc viderem, haesitans intra memetipsum dicebam: ‘quis putas est? De Deo est an ex adversa parte?’ Nec enim oblitus fueram verbi Apostoli dicentis: ‘nam et ipse Satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis’. Cum ergo viderem eum deambulantem cogitare coepi in corde meo et dicere: ‘si hic homo de Deo est, tertia vice me nomine meo clamabit; quod si semel vocitaverit, non ei dabo responsum’. Qui nihil dubitans, dissimulata deambulatione, venit ad me, et virga quam manu tenebat pulsans me tertio nomine meo clamavit dicens: ‘Luciane, Luciane, Luciane’.
6. Cui ego respondi: ‘Quis es, Domne?’ Et dicit mihi: ‘surge, vade et die Ioanni episcopo hierosolymitano: ‘Usquequo clausi sumus? usquequo non aperis nobis? Maxime cum temporibus tuis revelandi sumus.
7. Aperi nobis velocius ut per nos aperiat Deus generi humano ostium misericordiae suae.
8. Instat enim tempus ut hic mundus intereat prae multitudine iniquitatum suarum quas quotidie faciunt.’
Et ait: ‘Non solum mei causa sollicitus sum, sed et pro istis qui mecum sunt (digni enim sunt maximis honoribus cumulari); quia locus in quo iacemus valde despectus est’.

III. 9. Cum igitur audissem, aio ad eum: ‘dicito mihi domne, tu quis es et qui sunt tecum?’ Et dicit mihi: ‘Ego sum Gamaliel qui nutrivi Paulum, qui et postea apostolus factus est.
10. ‘Qui autem iacet mecum, ipse est Domnus Stephanus qui a Iudaeis Hierosolymis lapidatus est; ubi die noctuque in exopylis iacuit civitatis euntibus Cedar, iussu impiorum sacerdotum ut a bestiis et avibus devoraretur. Et tamen nec canes eum nec aves tangere praesumpserunt.
11. 'Ego autem Gamaliel, cum scirem sanctitatem viri et fidem et devotionem eius, credens me partem cum eo in resurectione habere, misi ad religiosos viros et fideles, et vocavi eos ad me; qui cum venissent, dixi illis: rogo vos, secundum devotionem vestram et fidem, nullum formidantes, acquiescite consiliis meis, et colligite corpus beati Stephani et deferte ad possessionem meam quam nomine meo appellavi Caphargamala, et deponite eum in monumento meo novo, et facite consueta solemnia par dies quadraginta in ipsa possessione, quae est in vicesimo secundo lapide. Et quaecumque in expensis solemnibus erogata fuerint, de meo praeberi faciam.
12. 'Ille vero alius qui cum ipso iacet, ipse est Nicodemus nepos meus qui nocte ad Dominum Salvatorem veniebat ut veritatis verba cognosceret et renasceretur per aquam et Spiritum Sanctum. Qui cum verba Domini audisset, baptizatus est a sanctis apostolis Petro et Ioanne.
13. 'Pro quo baptismate indignati sunt principes sacerdotum et cogitabant ocidere eum; sed propter honorem meum et ius consanguineitatis non fecerunt. Attamen plagis eum multis afficientes semi-mortuum reliquerunt, et anathematizaverunt et foras civitatem miserunt diripientes omnem substantiam eius.
Ego vero et hunc feci colligi, et ad possessionem meam deduci, praecipiens dispensatori meo ut quidquid illi necessarium fuisset praestaret. Qui cum paulum supervixisset, dormivit in Domino. Ouem feci sepeliri ad pedes beati Stephani tamquam pro nomine confessoris.
14. 'Ille vero tertius qui mecum iacet, ipse est Abibas filius meus qui mecum pariter credidit in Christi praeceptis et mecum pariter baptisma consecutus est a supradictis apostolis, vicesimum circiter agens annum, legis plenissimam habens scientiam, castus corpore et nullam mulieris sciens maculam, sed semper templo Dei vacans cum Paulo discipulo meo. Praecesserat enim ad Deum immaculatus. Iuxta quam positi sunt de quibus supra locutus sum, cum quibus et ego iaceo.
15. Nam coniux mea Ethena et primogenitus filius meus Selemias qui noluerunt in Christum credere, recesserunt a nobis et in possessione sua materna sepulti sunt quae possessio Capharselemia dicitur; quia indigni habiti sunt societate nostra. Ut autem credas, cum coeperis fodere, invenies locum uxoris meae et filii vacuum'. (Et ita ut dixit invenimus).
16. Et cum ego humillimus interrogassem, dicens : 'ubi vos inveniemus domne?' dicit mihi: 'in possessione mea invenies nos quae nunc lingua syriaca dicitur Delagabria sive Debatalia, quod interpretatur Possessio virorum Dei sive bellatorum. Et cum haec omnia dixisset, evanuit: ex oculis meis.

IV. 17. Ego vero post hanc orationem surrexi et prostratus orationi rogavi Domini misericordiam et dixi : 'Domine Jesu Christe, si haec revelatio sive visio ex voluntate tua est, praesta ut iterum et tertio manifestetur mihi ut confisus fiducialiter adnuntiem reve- lationem servorum tuorum'.
Et coepi ex ilia die ieiunare et ab omnibus me abstinere ((et)) praeter panem et sal in escam non sumere et aquam bibere, sicut solemus in diebus quadragesimae facere.
18. Insequenti vero sexta feria denuo venit sanctus Gamaliel in ipso habitu sicut prius venerat et in ipsa noctis hora, ad ((huc)) me nec valde soporatum, et dicit mihi: 'quare dissimulasti, carissime. et non perrexisti et retulisti Ioanni episcopo?
Numquid non vides quanta siccitas est et tribulatio in toto mundo? Et tu negligenter agis. Surge ergo et vade et die illi ut aperiat nobis et faciat locum orationis, et per intercessionem nostram misereatur Dominus populo suo'.
19. Ego vero aio ad eum: 'non egi dissimulanter, domne mi, sed rogavi Dominum et dixi: Domine Iesu Christe, si ex te est haec revelatio, secundo et tertio appareat mihi. Et nunc, domne, ecce secunda vice venisti et laetificasti me; si autem tertio veneris, plenius me exhilarabis'.
20. Et cum haec audisset, de manu signincavit dicens: 'ignosco, ignosco, ignosco'. Et cum haec dixisset, dixit mihi: 'audi, presbyter'; cui ego respondi et dixi: 'loquere domne, quia audio'. Et dicit mihi: 'quia haesitasti in animo tuo dicens: si fuerit ut inveniam locum, putas in uno loco positos omnes inveniam? Quod si ita evenerit, quemadmodum potero discernere reliquias singulorum? Haec ergo intra temetipsum cogitabas'.
21. Cui ego negare non potui et dixi: 'verum est domne, ita volvebam in animo meo. Omnia nosti et nihil te latet'. Et dixit mihi: 'non sumus, ut putas in uno loco positi, sed unusquisque nostrum suum locum habet. Animadverte itaque quae dico tibi et intende animo'.
22. Et respiciens vidi extendentem illum manus suas ad coelum et orantem. Et statim deposuit inde quatuor calathos, tres aureos et unum argenteum, plenos rosis. Et unus ex ipsis plenus erat croco; unus vero de tribus calathis rubentes valde rosas habebat tamquam sanguinem, quem ad dexteram meam posuit. Alii vero duo pleni erant rosis albis in modum lilii, sed rosae erant. Et quartus calathus crocum habebat cuius odor fraglabat suavissimus.
23. Et posuit illos in conspectu meo et dicit mihi: 'vides hos calathos?' Et aio ad eum: 'Etiam Domne'. Et dicit mihi: 'isti sunt loculi nostri in quibus iacemus, et hae rosae reliquiae nostrae sunt; et sicut vides hunc calathum rosas pulcherrimas habentem ad dexteram tuam positum, ita, cum aperire coeperis locum, invenies ostium sepulcri, et introgressus reperies in dextera parte introitus loculum: ipse est sancti Stephani. Et ne dubitare velis: quia ipse solus e nobis martyrio meruit coronari, ideo in orientali parte positus est.
'Ille vero loculus qui ad partes Boreae, id est Aquilonis, positus est, ipse est Nicodemi neophyti.
24. Alius vero loculus qui pautulum eminentior est, ipse est meus et filii mei, quia et nos neophyti fuimus.'
Et ego aio ad eum: 'Rogo, domne mi, quare unus calathus argenteus est?' Et dicit mihi: 'quoniam filius meus castus et immaculatus excessit e mundo, propterea in similitudinem argenti mundissimi apparuit. Numquid non vides crocum qui in ipso est suavissimi esse odoris?' Et cum haec dixisset, denuo ex oculis meis evanuit.

V. 25. Cumque expergefactus fuissem, gratias egi Deo omnipotenti, et consuetis ieiuniis operam dedi usque ad tertiam revelationem. In tertia igitur septimana, eadem die et hora, venit supradictus vir, comminans et fremebundus, et dicit mihi:
26. 'Quare usque nunc dissimulasti et noluisti pergere et dicere Ioanni episcopo quae tibi dicta sunt et ostensa? Quam excusationem apud Deum habebis, aut quam veniam pro hoc contemptu sperabis in die iudicii? Numquid non vides quanta siccitas est et tribulatio in toto mundo? Et tu negligenter agis.
27. Numquid non consideras quia multi meliores te sunt per eremum sancti viri, quos praetereuntes per te voluimus inotesci. Ideo namque te ex alia in hac villa voluimus esse sacerdotem, ut per te manifestaremur'.
28. Et cum ad verba eius intremuissem, dixi: 'non negligens fui, domne mi, sed praestolabar tertio adventum tuum. Nunc vero, sine, crastina die pergam, omnia quae mihi mandasti dicturus'.
29. Et cum indignans adversus me staret, videbar mihi quasi in alterum mentis excessum devenisse Hierosolymis et quasi in conspectu adstarem Ioannis episcopi narrans ei omnem visionem.
30. A quo videbar audire: 'Si haec ita se habent ut dicis, carissime, et Dominus tibi revelavit haec temporibus nostris, opportet me colligere de possessione ilia bovem ilium maximum aratorem qui et carro et aratro aptus est, et dimittere tibi possessionem cum ceteris omnibus'.
31. Ad quem aio: 'Ut quid possessio est domne mi, si non habeo bovem ilium per quem regatur et alatur possessio?' Et dicit mihi episcopus: 'ita placuit carissime, quoniam civitas nostra vehiculis ministratur et unum bovem ad ilium maximum carrum minus habemus, quem tu dicis in possessione tua celare. Opportet namque ut in civitate celeberrima sit quam in parvula possessione. Numquid non tibi sufficiunt duo residui boves minores et unus vitulus et utensilia bovis maioris ad excolendam terram vehiculi tui?'

VI. 32. Cum hoc in exstasi (hoc est in excessu mentis) audissem, statim expergefactus benedixi Dominum et perrexi ad civitatem ad sanctum Ioannem episcopum. Et cum illi omnia quae videram narrassem, reticui de visione bovis, expectans quid audirem ab eo. Intellexeram enim quia sanctus Stephanus ipse esset bos ille maximus et quia carri illi de quibus dicebat sanctae essent ecclesiae, et Sion prima ecclesia ipsa esset carrus maior.
33. Et quia habebat sanctus episcopus a me petere sancti Stephani reliquias, ideo de visione bovis episcopo dicere nolui?
34. Cumque haec audisset Ioannes episcopus, prae gaudio lacrimatus est; et dixit: 'Benedictus Dominus Deus Filius Dei Vivi ! Si haec ut dicis, carissime ita vidisti, et Deus tibi revelavit, oportet me transferre inde beatum Stephanum primum martyrem et archidiaconum Christi, qui primus adversus Iudaeos dominica bella bellavit, et Deum in terris positus in caelovidit stantem, et tamquam angelus in contione hominum apparuit'.
35. Et cum hoc dixisset sanctus Ioannes dimisit me. Cumque venissem in villam, misi praecones ad omnes habitatores villae diluculo ut consurgerent et foderent in acervo.

VII. 36. Eadem verο nocte apparuit ipse sanctus Gamaliel cuidam monacho nomine Migetio innocenti ac simplici viro, ea similitudine qua mihi apparuit, et dixit ad eum:
37. 'Vade, dic Luciano presbytero: vane laboras in acervo illo, modo non sumus ibi, sed tunc ibi positi fuimus cum lamentarentur nos secundum consuetudinem antiquorum, propter quod ibi acervus in testimonium planctus factus est.
38. Sed quaere nos in alia parte in loco qui dicitur syra lingua Debatalia, quod interpretatur in graeco Andragathon, quod nos possumus dicere virorum bonorum ».
39. Diluculo vero consurgens ad hymnos, inveni monachum illum praedicantem omnibus fratribus. Hymnis deinde dictis, coepi dicere: 'eamus ad acervum illum et fodiamus in eo'. Tune quidam dixerunt mihi: 'audi primum quid dicat monachus Migetius'.
40. Et advocato monacho Migetio, exquisivi ab eo quid esset quod vidisset.
Ille autem universa signa quae videram Domni Gamalielis dixit mihi, et quemadmodum vidisset contra austrum agrum situm et monumentum in eo quasi neglectum et ruinosum, ubi tres lectos aureos stratos vidit, et unum ex eis altiorem ab aliis, in quo erant duo iacentes, unus senex et unus iuvenis, et in aliis duobus lectis erant singuli.
41. Et respondit qui erat in excelsiori lecto et dixit : 'vade, die presbytero Luciano quoniam nos domini loci istius fuimus; si vis magnum iustum invenire, ipse ab orientali plaga positus est'. Et haec audiens a monacho, glorificavi Dominum, quoniam inventus est alius testis in revelatione.
Haec autem omnia, ut vidi, ita evenerunt, et consona sibi apparuerunt universa.

VIII. 42. Statim igitur nuntiavi beato episcopo. At ille misit ad fratres suos episcopos. Qui cum occurrissent venerunt ad locum.
43. Quem cum iussissent fodere et pars terrae maxima fuisset egesta, invenimus lapidem in quo sculptum erat: Celiel, Nasoam, Gamaliel, Abibas, hebraica quidem verba, litteris autem graecis. Interpretatio vero nominum haec est: Celiel Stephanus dicitur, Nasoam vero Nicodemus, Abibas filium Gamalielis significat.
44. Cum autem pervenissemus deorsum, invenimus locum Sancti Stephani in parte Orientis, sicut audieram.
45. Et statim terrae motus factus est et tanta suavitas et fraglantia odoris inde egressa est quantam nullus hominum sensisse se meminit, ita ut putaremus nos in amoenitate paradisi esse positos.
46. Multitudo namque populi aderat nobiscum, inter quos plurimi erant infirmi variis languoribus. Et ipsa hora mox de odore suavitatis eius septuaginta et tres animae sunt curatae:
47. Ab aliis fugati daemones, aliorum fons restrictus est sanguinis, alii a strumis et furunculis liberati, alii a syringio sanati, alii a tertianis et quartanis; alios febris reliquit, alios morbus regius; alii a cephalargia curati et hemigranio; nonnulli viscerum occulto dolore liberati. Et multas alias curationes senserunt homines, quas enumerare longum est.
48. Aderant tum in illo tempore episcopi Ioannes hierosolymitanus et Eutonius Sebastenae civitatis et Eleutherius hierichontinus; hi omnes cum suo clero venerunt.
Et ita cum psalmis et hymnis asportaverunt reliquias beati Stephani in sanctam ecclesiam Sion, ubi et archidiaconus fuerat ordinatus, relinquentes nobis de membris sancti parvos articulos, immo maximas reliquias cum pulvere ubi omnis eius caro absumpta est.
49. Ex his ergo reliquiis transmisi Beatitudini Vestrae. Quas cum susceperitis, orate pro exiguitate mea ut dignus inveniar in conspectu Domini, adiutus meritis beati Stephani. Et vos mementote nostrae humilitatis et tamquam praesentem diligite,
50. regnante Christo Iesu Domino Nostro qui cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum.


Discovery of Saint Stephen (B)

1. The most humble and lowliest of all men, Lucianus, priest of the village of Caphargamala, in the territory of Jerusalem, sends eternal greeting in Jesus Christ, to the holy and venerable lord bishop, Hymesius. [This Hymesius is otherwise unknown.]

II.2. I have considered it right to make known to Your Holiness the vision, which was revealed to me, not to boast about it but rather for the confirmation of those listening.
3. The vision was revealed to me, as I lay quietly on my bed in the basilica of the baptistery, as the sixth day of the week was dawning, around the third hour of the night. Although awake, I was as if in a trance.
4. I saw an old man, tall in stature, stately in appearance, with a long beard and dressed in a white robe and a cloak, at the top of which were woven golden crosses. He had a golden rod in his hand and wore gilded shoes. He walked in front of me silently.
5. When I saw him, I hesitated and said to myself: ‘Who do you think he is? Is he from God or from the other side?’ For I remembered the words of the apostle: ‘Satan, too, changes himself into the angel of light.’ As I watched him walking about, I began to think to myself and said: ‘If this man is from God, he will call out my name three times. If he calls me only once I shall not answer.’ Without hesitation, he stopped walking around and approached me, and striking me with the rod in his hand, called out my name three times, ‘Lucianus, Lucianus, Lucianus’.
6. ‘Who are you, my lord?’ I replied. And he said to me: ‘Get up. Go and say to John the bishop of Jerusalem: How long are we shut up for? How long will you not open [the tomb] for us? We must be revealed during your time.
7. Reveal us swiftly so that, through us, God might open the door of mercy for the human race.
8. For time is pressing and the world might perish from the great evils happening each day.’ He continued: ‘I am not only concerned for my sake, but also for my companions, who deserve to be loaded with the greatest honours, because this place where we lie is disdained.’

III.9. When I heard this, I said to him, ‘Tell me, my lord, who you are, and who are your companions?’ And he said to me: ‘I am Gamaliel, who nurtured Paul, who subsequently became an apostle.
10. The one who lies with me is the lord Stephen, who was stoned by the Jews in Jerusalem. He lay, night and day, outside the gates of the city on the road leading to Cedar, at the command of the impious priests, so that he would be devoured by wild beasts and birds. But neither the dogs nor the birds presumed to touch him.
11. ‘Since I, Gamaliel, knew the faith, holiness and devotion of this man, and trusting that I would share in the resurrection with him, I summoned some faithful religious men. When they arrived, I said to them: I ask you, in accordance with your faithful devotion, and without fear, to agree to my plan and to collect the body of Stephen and bring it to my property, which I have called Caphargamala after my name, and place it in my new tomb. Make the customary offices for forty days at that property, which is at the twenty-second milestone. Whatever expenses are incurred in performing these duties, I shall provide for from my own resources.
12. The other who lies with him is my nephew, Nicodemus, who came by night to the Lord of Salvation, to know the words of truth and to be re-born through water and the Holy Spirit. When he heard the words of the Lord, he was baptised by the holy apostles, Peter and John.
13. The chief priests were outraged at his baptism and plotted to kill him. But they did not do so, on account of my status and the law of kinship. However they beat him severely, leaving him half-dead, cursed him and banished him from the city, depriving him of all his property. I took him in and brought him to my estate, ordering my steward to see to all his needs. He only survived a short time before falling asleep in the Lord. I had him buried at the feet of Stephen, as by name a confessor (tamquam pro nomine confessoris).
14. The third person who lies with me is my son, Abibas, who believed equally with me in the commandments of Christ and was baptised along with me, by the apostles mentioned earlier. He was about twenty years old, most learned in the law, chaste in body, knowing no stain of woman but always emptying himself as a temple of God, with my pupil Paul. He went before me to God, in purity. He and I were laid to rest close to those about whom I have spoken above.
15. My wife Ethena and my eldest son Selemias, who did not wish to believe in Christ, left us and they are buried on his mother’s estate, which is called Capharselemia, because they were considered unworthy of our company. That you might believe this, you will find the place for my wife and son empty, when you begin to dig.’ (We found it just as he said.)
16. Then I questioned him most humbly, saying: ‘Where will we find you, lord?’ He said to me: ‘You will find us on my estate in the place which is called Delagabria or Debatalia in the Syriac language, which translates as ‘the estate of the men, or warriors, of God.’ When he had said all this, he disappeared from my sight.

IV.17. After this speech I got up and, prostrating myself in prayer, I begged the mercy of God and said: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, if this revelation is in accordance with your will, see to it that it is shown to me for a second and a third time, so that, in full confidence, I might announce the discovery of your servants.’ I began to fast from that day and to abstain from all food, except bread and salt, drinking only water, as we are accustomed to do during Lent.
18. The same day the following week holy Gamaliel came a second time, in the same dress as he had come before, at the same hour of the night. I was only dozing, and he said to me: ‘Why have you kept this a secret, dear friend, and not gone and reported it to bishop John?
Do you not see the great drought and tribulation in the whole world? And yet you are idle. Rise up therefore and go and tell him to reveal us and make here a place of prayer, that the Lord might have mercy upon his people, through our intercession (per intercessionem nostram).’
19. Then I said to him: ‘I have not been neglectful, my lord, but I asked the Lord and I said, Lord Jesus Christ, if this vision is from you, may it appear to me a second and a third time. and now, my lord, you have come for a second time and made me glad; if you come a third time you will please me even more.’
20. When he heard this, he made a sign with his hand, saying, ‘I forgive you, I forgive you, I forgive you’, and after this he said to me, ‘Listen, priest.’ I replied saying, ‘Speak, my lord, because I am listening.’ And he said to me: ‘You have been pondering this problem; if it happens that you uncover the tomb, you will find us all placed together in a single place. In which case, how will you be able to know which remains (reliquias) are which? This is what you have been thinking to yourself.’
21. I could not deny this, and I said: ‘That is true, my lord. I have been considering that. You know everything and nothing escapes you.’ And he said to me: ‘We are not, as you think, situated in a single spot, but each of us has his own place. Pay careful attention to what I tell you.’
22. And looking back I saw him stretching out his hands to heaven and praying. And at once he put down four vessels (calathos), three of gold and one of silver, full of flowers. One was full of crocus; one of the three [golden] vessels contained blood-red roses, which he put at my right side. The other two were full of white flowers, which looked like lilies, but which in fact were roses. The fourth vessel, which held the crocus, gave off the sweetest of scents.
23. He placed them in my sight and said to me: ‘Do you see these vessels?’ I replied, ‘Yes, my lord’. Then he said to me, ‘These are our burial niches (loculi), in which we lie, and these flowers are our remains. Just as you see the vessel placed on your right, with the very beautiful [red] roses, so, when you find the place and discover the entrance to the tomb and go in, you will find a niche to the right of the entrance: that one belongs to the holy Stephen. Lest you be in any doubt, since only he among us is worthy of a martyr’s crown, he was therefore placed on the eastern side. The niche on the northern side, is that of the neophyte, Nicodemus.
24. The other niche, which is slightly raised, belongs to me and my son, because we too were neophytes.’ And I said to him: ‘Why is one vessel made of silver?’ He replied: ‘Because my son left this world, chaste and spotless, like the purest silver. Do you not see that the crocus within it is of the sweetest scent?’ After he said this, he vanished from my sight again.

V. 25. When I awoke, I gave thanks to almighty God and undertook the customary fasting until the third vision. In the third week the same man appeared again, on the same day, at the same time. He spoke to me in a threatening growl.
26. ‘Why have you kept this a secret till now and not gone to the bishop John to tell him what has been revealed and said to you? What excuse will you have before God? What mercy will you hope for on the Day of Judgement for your contempt? Surely you have seen how great is the drought and tribulation in the whole world? And yet you are idle.
27. Do you not realise that we have passed over many holy men better than you living in the desert, having wished to be made known through you? We wished you to be the priest in this village, that we might be made manifest through you.’
28. I trembled at his words and said: ‘I have not been idle, my lord, but I was waiting for your third appearance. Now I shall go, not waiting for daylight, and tell everything that you have commanded me.
29. As he stood opposite me, indignantly, in my mind’s eye I seemed to see myself having gone down to Jerusalem, standing before bishop John, telling him all about the vision.
30. He appeared to say to me: ‘If the situation is as you say, my dear friend, and the Lord has revealed this to you in our time, it is right for me to take from that place that mighty ploughing ox, suitable for both wagon and plough, and give up the property to you with what remains.’
31. I replied: ‘But what use is the property to me, my lord, if I do not possess the ox by which it is guided and nourished?’ And the bishop said to me: ‘Dear friend, I have made my decision, since our city is served by wagons and we lack one ox for the greatest of them, the one you say is hiding on your property. It is right that it should be in a very famous city rather than on an obscure little estate. Surely the two smaller oxen and the calf, along with the equipment of the mighty ox, are enough for you to cultivate your plot of land?’

VI.32. After I heard this in my dream I awoke at once and blessed the Lord. Then I went to the city to see the holy bishop, John. I told him all I had seen, but I remained silent about the vision of the ox, knowing what I would hear from him. For I had understood that saint Stephen was the mighty ox and that the wagons about which he spoke were the holy churches, and that Jerusalem, as the first church, was the greater wagon.
33. Since the holy bishop intended to seek from me the relics of saint Stephen, I reluctantly told him about the vision of the ox.
34. When bishop John heard this he cried for joy and said: ‘Blessed is the Lord God, Son of the Living God! If God has revealed to you, dear friend, what you say you have seen, it is right for me to bring from there, the blessed Stephen, the first martyr and archdeacon of Christ, who was the first to fight the Lord’s war against the Jews. Placed in the earth, he saw God standing in heaven, and he appeared like an angel amongst the assembly of men.
35. And when he had said this, John dismissed me. When I came to the village, I sent word to all its inhabitants to rise at dawn and to dig in the mound.

VII.36. That same night, the lord Gamaliel appeared to a monk called Migetius, a blameless, honest man, exactly as he had appeared to me, and said to him: ‘Go, tell the priest Lucianus:
37. You are working in vain on that mound. We are not there now. We had been placed there when they mourned us, according to the custom of the ancients. For that reason the mound was created, as a witness to the mourning.
38. Look for us in another place, northwards, in the place which is called Dabatalia in the Syriac language. In Greek it is ‘Andragathon’, which we render as ‘of the Good Men’.
39. Rising at dawn for hymns, I found the monk speaking to all his brothers. When the hymns had been chanted, I began to speak: ‘Let us go to the mound and dig there.’ Then they said to me to listen first to what the monk Migetius had to say.
40. After Migetius had spoken, I enquired of him what he had seen. He described every detail of the lord Gamaliel which I had observed. And he told me how he had seen, opposite the southern field, an apparently ruined and neglected tomb. There he had seen three golden biers laid out, one of them on a higher level than the others. On this one there were two men lying, one an old man, the other a youth. The other two biers had a single occupant each.
41. And the one who was on the higher bier replied and said [to Migetius]: ‘Go and tell the priest Lucianus, how long we have been the lords of this spot. If you wish to find a great and noble man, he has been placed on the eastern side.’ Hearing this from the monk, I glorified God, since another witness to the revelation had been found.
All these things, as I too had seen them, occurred, and all was in harmony. [i.e. What Migetius and Lucianus saw and heard was in full agreement.]

VIII.42. I immediately informed the blessed bishop. He sent for his brother bishops and when they met, they came to the site.
43. When they gave the order to dig and a very large mound of earth had been piled up, we found a stone, on which was inscribed, in Greek letters, these Hebrew names: Celiel, Nasoam, Gamaliel, Abibas. The interpretation of the names is as follows: Celiel refers to Stephen, Nasoam is Nicodemus, Abibas is the son of Gamaliel.
44. When we got inside, we found the grave of saint Stephen on the eastern side, just as I had heard.
45. At once there was an earth tremor and a sweet-smelling scent came forth, the like of which none of those present could recall having experienced. We thought we had been placed in the bliss of paradise.
46. A large crowd of people was there with us, very many of whom were suffering from various illnesses. That very hour seventy-three souls were cured by the sweetness of the scent.
47. From some demons were put to flight; in others the flow of blood was staunched. Some were freed of their scrofulous sores and boils, others cured of fistulas. Some were cured of tertian and quartan fevers, others from fever and jaundice. Some were relieved of headaches and migraines, others from hidden intestinal pain. People also experienced many other cures which it would be tedious to relate.
48. On that occasion, bishop John of Jerusalem was accompanied by Eutonius, bishop of Sebaste and Eleutherius, bishop of Jericho, with all their clergy. And so, with hymns and psalms they carried the relics (reliquias) of the blessed Stephen into the holy church of Sion, where he had been ordained archdeacon, leaving behind for us a few small bones from the limbs of the saint, very precious relics, along with the dust where all his flesh had decayed (relinquentes nobis de membris sancti parvos articulos, immo maximas reliquias cum pulvere ubi omnis eius caro absumpta est).
49. I have sent some of these to Your Beatitude. When you receive them, pray for my lowly person that I may be found worthy in the sight of the Lord, helped by the merits of blessed Stephen. Be mindful of our humility and love us as if we were with you.
50. In Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who lives and reigns for ever in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit.


Text: Vanderlinden (1949),
Translation: Philip Beagon (2020, for this database).

Saint’s feast

Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Composing and translating saint-related texts
Burial ad sanctos

Miracle after death
Material support (supply of food, water, drink, money)
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Unspecified miracle

Bodily relic - entire body
Discovering, finding, invention and gathering of relics
Transfer, translation and deposition of relics
Touching and kissing relics

Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy

Source

Discussion

Bibliography