Paulinus of Périgueux, in Book 6 (Miracle 9) of his verse Life of Saint *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), recounts how wax taken from the shrine of the saint at Tours (north-west Gaul) protected a field of crops from hail. Written in Latin, presumably in Périgueux, 458/471.
E08134
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Paulinus of Périgueux, Life of Saint Martin, Book 6, verses 320-336 (Miracle 9)
Nec clausa est laus ista loco: sectata fideles 320
gratia sublimes titulos et in aëra misit.
ipsae etiam sancti meritum sensere procellae,
grandinis et terror densatis nubibus haesit
vastandisque locis clementior ira pepercit.
Quidam confidens veram se ferre salutem, 325
si quicquam e sancti licuisset limine templi
ad propriam deferre domum, benedicta salubris
congaudens famulus suscepit praemia cerae.
experta est gavisa fides, quid pectore toto
senserit: auxilium spes expectata revexit. 330
evasit protectus ager iacula illa liquoris
saxea et adstrictae glacialia verbera lymfae,
hac fructus satione tegens, quae condita terrae
extendit patulos votiva ad tegmina ramos.
indultum stupuit vicinia cuncta favorem 335
et patuit veris virtus iam cognita signis.
'This praise of Martin has not been confined to this place: Grace following the faithful has sent the Confessor’s sublime titles even into the air. The tempests themselves have also perceived the merit of the saint. Hail in terror clung fast to the dense clouds, and a merciful wrath spared places to be devastated. [325] A certain fellow believed that he would possess a real means of protection, if it had been permitted for him to take something from the confines of the holy temple to his own house. The servant rejoicing received the blessed reward of saving wax. His rejoicing faith experienced what he [330] felt in his whole heart: He brought back the aid he had hoped for. The man’s field was protected, and escaped those stony missiles of fluid and the frozen blows of constricted water. He covered the fruit of his field by planting the wax in it. Once buried in the field, the wax – as it were – grew into a tree, and extended its broad branches, thus providing the desired shelter for the crop. [335] The whole neighbourhood was amazed at the favour granted, and the already well-known power of Saint Martin was made manifest by means of true signs.'
Text: Petschenig 1888.
Translation: Maurus Mount.
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave
MiraclesMiracle after death
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Miraculous protection - of people and their property
RelicsContact relic - wax
Cult Related ObjectsOil lamps/candles
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.In this case, a devout follower of Martin, takes wax from the shrine (either a candle purchasable there, or a drip of wax from a candle burning near the grave), and buries it in a field - which is thereby protected from the ravages of hail. For a second miracle involving wax from the shrine, also recounted by Paulinus, see E08136.
Gregory of Tours in his Miracles of Martin I.34 tells a very similar story: how he himself daubed a vine in a vineyard he owned with wax from Martin's shrine, and thereby achieved similar protection.
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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