Paulinus of Périgueux, in Book 6 (Miracle 8) of his verse Life of Saint *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), recounts how Bishop Perpetuus of Tours mixed dust from the tomb of Martin at Tours (north-west Gaul) into some oil; and how this oil miraculously increased in volume and was able to cure people. Written in Latin, presumably in Périgueux, 458/471.
E08133
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Paulinus of Périgueux, Life of Saint Martin, Book 6, verses 298-319 (Miracle 8)
Perlatum obtulerat felix antistes olivum
incunctante fide, quod spiritus ille rigaret
et nova contigui perfunderet aura favoris, 300
Perpetuus, Domini non solum nomine cultor
et praegressa pii sectans exempla magistri.
hanc cum vellet opem veneratus ferre saluti
expertumque bonum cunctis adhibere medellis,
abrasus propere benedicto e marmore pulvis 305
admixtus sancto vires duplicavit olivo,
ut sic resperso virtus geminata liquori
augeret contacta fidem, sociata salutem.
verum ubi vel modicam sensit vicinia micam,
gratia contactum velox suspendit olivum 310
et tumor exundans efferbuit. auxit abundans
copia quod coram prolato munere crevit.
celsior ore suo diffusio claustra rigavit.
et tamen exundans non fecit gratia damnum,
et subiecta fluens et semper plena repletis. 315
non maculat umquam madidas haec gloria vestes:
maiorem haec retinent inspecta Siloa nitorem,
quae tantum testantur opus. non abluat ullus,
quae virtus tanto indicio perscripta notavit.
'The fortunate bishop Perpetuus, one who revered the Lord not only in name, and following in the footsteps of his gracious teacher, Martin, used to consecrate oil that had been brought to him with an unhesitating faith, in order that that famous spirit might bedew it, and a new air of a nearby grace might imbue it. When the venerable man wished to produce this remedy, and to make use of this good, well-known for all kinds of healings, [305] he quickly scraped dust from the blessed marble. When mixed with the holy oil this dust doubled the oil’s powers, so that thus the besprinkled fluid’s doubled potency, when touched, would increase faith; when shared, would increase health. But when indeed oil sensed the proximity of the scant grain, [310] swift grace raised the level of the olive oil upon contact, and swelling in volume it boiled over and overflowed. In the sight of all the oil’s abundant plenty grew when the bishop added the holy gift of the powder. Rising higher than the mouth of its container, the diffusion of oil moistened the outside of the flask. Yet nevertheless, the overflowing gift did not sustain loss. [315] It both shot upwards, flowing, and yet was always replenished. This splendid oil does not stain the moistened vestments of the bishop at all. Upon inspection these vestments, which testify to such a great miracle, retain a splendour greater than that of the mystery of Siloam. Let no one wash off that which the recorded miracle has noted by means of such a great sign.'
Text: Petschenig 1888.
Translation: Maurus Mount.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesMiracle after death
Healing diseases and disabilities
RelicsContact relic - dust/sand/earth
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Source
Very little is known about Paulinus of Périgueux, all of it from his writings: he himself tells us he was called Paulinus, and manuscripts of his Life of Martin label him as 'of Petrocordium' (ancient Périgueux), though these are all from centuries after his death, so there is doubt over the accuracy of this statement. From his verse it is clear that he had enjoyed a thorough literary education, so must have come from a wealthy family; and from one of his poems we learn that he had an adult grandson and considered himself old in the mid- to late 460s. It is also, of course, clear that he was devoted to Martin of Tours, whom he describes as his patron. In a letter to Perpetuus, bishop of Tours (458/9-488/9), he refers to the bearer of the letter as 'my deacon' (see E08121), which suggests Paulinus was a priest, or even a bishop, at the time of writing. For the details of what is known of his life, see Labarre 1998, 14-18, and Pietri and Heijmans 2013.Paulinus' principal surviving work is his substantial six-book Life of Saint Martin (De vita Sancti Martini) written in hexameters (E06355). This is based on the writings of Sulpicius Severus, except for the final volume, Book 6 (from which this extract comes), which consists of an account of posthumous miracles of the saint. Other than the Life of Martin, the only known works of Paulinus are a letter to Perpetuus of Tours, accompanied by two poems, both also related to Martin (see E08121 for a full text and English translation of these).
There is considerable debate over the origins of Books 1-5 of the Life of Saint Martin: whether Paulinus wrote them independently as an act of personal devotion, or whether he wrote all, or some of them at the prompting of Bishop Perpetuus, who was very active at this time in promoting the cult of Martin, in particular by rebuilding and decorating on an elaborate and grand scale the saint's burial church (see, for instance, E02023, E02805 and E08119). But there is no doubt about the origins of Book 6, because in a poem on the subject (E08121, Poem 2) Paulinus tells us that Perpetuus had supplied him with a document (charta) with an account of twelve posthumous miracles of Martin, which Paulinus was to put into verse - these are the miracles that make up Book 6.
Because of the uncertainty over Bishop Perpetuus' role in encouraging the composition of the greater part of the Life of Martin, there is no reliable way of dating the writing of Books 1-5. Book 6, however, must post-date the beginning of the Perpetuus' episcopate in 458/459, and must have been complete, at the very latest, by 471, since it is referred to in a letter of Paulinus to Perpetuus (E08121), which accompanied a poem for the walls of Martin's new church, which was probably dedicated in that year. It may well have been written by 466, since, in his account of Miracle 3, Paulinus appears to refer to the Roman general Aegidius as if he were still alive, and he is known to have died in 465/466.
Discussion
For an overview of Book 6 of Paulinus' Life of Saint Martin, see E08130, with a brief summary of all twelve miracles that Paulinus recounts. Only the five stories that cast particular light on cult practice (as here) are also covered in individual database entries.This story offers important evidence of a practice well attested some hundred years later, in the time of Gregory of Tours: of scraping 'dust' (pulvis) from the tomb of Martin and using it for healing purposes. Perpetuus was mixing it with oil, which suggests it was used to anoint the sick; in Gregory's time it seems more usually to have been mixed with water or wine and drunk by the afflicted (see, for example, E03306).
The capacity for oil that has been in close contact with a saint to multiply is a commonplace of hagiography - see, for instance, E03178 and E03542, and, in particular, Sulpicius Severus, Dialogues 3.3 (E00845), a story of oil blessed by the living Martin of Tours. Less usual is the story of Perpetuus' robes being miraculously anointed by this holy oil. As told, the story suggests that these robes were kept unwashed as testimony to the miracle of the increasing oil.
Bibliography
Editions:Corpet, E.-F., Paulin de Périgueux, Oeuvres, Paris 1849. (Corpet's edition of the Latin is superseded by Petschenig and Labarre, but he also offers a French translation of the whole work, which is currently useful for Books 4-6.)
Labarre, S., Paulin de Périgueux, Vie de Saint Martin, vol.1 (Prologue and Books 1-3) (Sources chrétiennes 581), Paris 2016; with French translation. (Volume 2, at the time of writing, July 2021, is yet to appear.)
Petschenig, M., “Paulini Petricordiae quae supersunt”, in Petschenig, M. and others, Poetae Christianae Minores (Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 16; Vienna, 1888), 17-159.
Further reading:
Labarre, S., Le manteau partagé. Deux métamorphoses poétiques de la Vie de saint Martin chez Paulin de Périgueux (Ve s.) et Venance Fortunat (VI s.), Paris 1998.
Pietri, L., La ville de Tours du IVe au VIe siècle: naissance d’une cité chrétienne (Collection de l’École française de Rome 69; Rome 1983).
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013), vol. 2, 1450-52, 'Paulinus 6'.
Van Dam, R., "Paulinus of Périgueux and Perpetuus of Tours", Francia, no. 14 (1986): 567‑573.
Maurus Mount
13/07/2021
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Martinus | Certain |
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