Paulinus of Périgueux, in Book 6 (Miracle 12) of his verse Life of Saint *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050), recounts how a candle from the shrine of the saint in Tours (north-west Gaul) saved a house from burning down. Written in Latin, presumably in Périgueux, 458/471.
E08136
Literary - Hagiographical - Collections of miracles
Paulinus of Périgueux, Life of Saint Martin, Book 6, verses 467-499 (Miracle 12)
Quidam de sancto repetens sua limina templo
praesidium domui credens se ferre salutis
detulerat secum sanctam ad penetralia ceram,
fidens quod tanti benedictio iuncta patroni 470
tam iustae fidei meritis virtutis adesset.
et iam tempus erat prodi documenta favoris.
forte per elapsum serpens incautius ignem
flamma vorax, vires augens per pabula ligni,
urguebat iam clade domum. vapor undique in auras 475
plurimus undantem glomerabat turbine molem.
arida sorbebat rapiens atque obvia lambens
et solas linquens de tanta clade favillas.
nec spes effugii propius flagrante periclo.
sepserat incumbens propter penetralia terror 480
et tam contiguam vicina pericula praedam.
ad sanctum rediere preces. clamore fideli
poscitur atque iterant crebrae pia nomina voces.
ipse erus accensae rutilantia lumina cerae,
unguine felici blandam fundentia lucem, 485
praetrepida velox rapit ad penetralia dextra,
atque inter medias statuens flagrantia flammas
ignis praesidiis urguentem reppulit ignem.
haesit turbo furens. vastator protinus hostis
terga dedit rabiemque ignis scintilla fugavit. 490
non ita, si totos iecissent nubila nimbos,
desuper infusae possent prodesse procellae,
aut si certantes rapuissent flumina coetus,
quilibet haec quirent exhausto flumine fontes
tam celeri praestare bono, quam vera potestas. 495
ignis praetrepidans refugit sua pabula ceras
altoresque favos concors natura pavescit.
virtute interimit flammam, quam lumine nutrit,
nectare perspicuo redolens pinguido liquoris.
A certain fellow returning home from the holy church believed that he was bringing to his house a salutary defence. He had taken with him a holy candle, and brought it to his inner chambers, [470] confident that the blessing of such a great patron would be effective when joined to such a just faith in the merits of the saint’s virtue. And now it was time for a proof of its grace to be made public. Perchance by means of an unwatched fire escaping containment, a creeping voracious flame increased its power, fuelling itself on timber. Before long it began to threaten the house with destruction. [475] From all sides of the abode much smoke began to form its undulating mass into a ball by means of a whirlwind. The rapacious fire swallowed up what was dry, lapping up all that was in its way and leaving only ashes in the path of its great destruction. There was no hope of escape for the inhabitants, since the fire was burning closer by. [480] Imposing terror hedged in the inner chambers, and nearby danger hemmed in its prey close at hand. The inhabitants’ prayers reach the saint. They invoke him by means of a faithful cry, and frequently repeat holy names.
The master of the house himself hastens quickly to his inner chamber and snatches with trembling right hand [485] the blessed candle with its glowing red flame that pours a pleasant light fuelled by its fruitful oil. He places the burning candle in the midst of the flames and with the assistance of the candle’s fire he repelled the fire pressing upon them all. The raging whirlwind of flames was brought to a standstill. Straight away the devastating enemy [490] turned tail, and the spark of the blessed candle put this raging fire to flight. Not if all the clouds had ejected all their rainstorms, could the resulting tempests from above have been as effective against the fire. Nor had contending crowds quickly scooped up the waters of a river, would all of its torrents—once the floods of the river had been exhausted—[495] have been able to provide these results with such swift benefit as the true power of Saint Martin. Fire shudders and flees back from its nourishment of wax. Fire comes to fear the nourishing honeycomb that its nature ordinarily desires. The scented wax with its fair liquid nectar by its power kills the very flame that it nourishes in its light.
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.As in one of the other miracles described by Paulinus, whereby a field is saved from hail (E08134), it is wax brought from Martin's shrine that saves this man's house, in this case from fire. Since Paulinus describes the light that it gives off (at verses 484-6), it is clear in this instance that the 'wax' (cera) which effected the miracle was a full candle, and not a drip of wax from a candle burning at the shrine. Presumably candles were available for pilgrims to purchase when they visited Martin's grave.
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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