CONCERNING ST. PEREGRINUS, CONFESSOR,
AT THE ALPS, BETWEEN MODENA AND LUCCA, IN ITALY.
CRITICAL COMMENTARY.
The Saint's constant cult, fictitious Acts.
Peregrinus, conf., not far from Modena in Italy (S.)
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
I name the place which Ferrarius pre-marked for me in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, Almost owed to Ferrarius expressing it a little more distinctly in the general Catalogue, with this position: On Mount Lethus, of St. Peregrinus the hermit. Hear the explanation: Mount Lethus, of which Livy makes mention, where he speaks of the crossing of Hannibal, is part of the Apennine mountain between Mantua & Lucca, near the borders of the region of Caferonia, whose head is Castrum novum. But he adds the common name Le Alpi di S. Pelegrino. He proceeds further: There exists for him a sacred edifice on the ridge of the aforesaid mountain, to which the neighboring peoples flock on this day to venerate his body: so that those must be mistaken who feign that the sacred body was deposited at Lucca. For the rest, you understand that the cult of St. Peregrinus is here alone described, whose other monuments outside Italy are not at all to be sought. But from these things the famous Scottish Martyrologists Dempster & Camerarius avidly took what was theirs; the former on this day, the latter on the contrary on the 26th of this month, to the rest of the things which are fabulously circulated concerning St. Peregrinus adding also this; that, where the Acts of whatever kind proclaim [him] the son of a Roman king of the Scots, so he himself announces him: St. Peregrinus, servant of St. Romanus, son of the king of the Scots. Where I would also have you observe this, that Romanus is called holy, who in the nature of things never existed.
[2] But this is not the chief thing which here makes business for us. what things are handed down concerning the Saint's cult: Another witness of the cult of St. Peregrinus you have in Jacobilli on the Saints of Umbria, where, on the occasion of another of the same name, of whom he speaks on 1 May, he pursues this our Saint too with due praises, whom he records to have flown to the heavens after harsh penance in the year 364, or, as others, 543: subjoining there other things concerning his Peregrinus of Nocera, which gave our Elders occasion, in tome 1 of the already-said month of May page 157, to discourse on the nomenclature of various holy Peregrini those things which here would be altogether to be repeated, unless they were found there abundantly explained. Concerning ours Franciotti hands down this: that his church, destroyed by wars & pestilence & almost deserted, was restored by the family of the Nobili of Lucca in the year 1462, as is expressed in the monuments reported by him page 122 & 598. And these things concerning the cult, hitherto persevering, are certain enough, to which many other things the people of Modena & of Lucca add, as is to be seen in the popular historians Vedriani & Franciotti,
concerning the ownership of the estate, whether it is to be ascribed to the dominion of Modena or of Lucca, contending not obscurely.
[3] Pious contentions of this kind, if indeed they can be settled sufficiently among lovers of the saints, all the rest unknown. we leave to them to compose: this more entangles us, that both the people of Lucca & of Nocera & others wished their holy Peregrini—concerning whom this alone was established, that they lived unknown to the world, & spent a solitary life in mountains & desert places, after death illustrious for signs & miracles—that concerning these, I say, they adorned Legends after the fact, as if they had beheld with their own eyes the origin, birth, peregrinations, age & absolutely all the deeds. Concerning which simplicity rather than fraud, since our Elders have so many times elsewhere deservedly complained, there is no reason that I should undertake to re-sing the same dirge here. To express my opinion of today's St. Peregrinus in few words & candidly: That they said he was a Scot—the pious fabulists too in this part—or the son of the king of Scotland, are empty inventions, merely devised for the favor of the common people avidly seeking illustrious deeds of the Saints whom they venerate, or compiled after the example of other Legends of that kind. If he had lived in our Belgium, I would by no means fear to apply to him all the same things which I noted long ago concerning St. Guthagon in tome 1 of July page 669.
[4] But now, lest I seem to have rashly determined anything concerning the Legend of this St. Peregrinus, But the Legend it will not be out of place to adduce here the words of Ferrarius himself, in the general Catalogue tacitly retracting what he had given in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, sincerely confessing: That his Life was indeed printed at Modena, but one which contains many improbable things, no mention being made of time, although he is read to have died in the year 543 in Caesar Franciotti's book on the Saints of Lucca. In this alone perhaps the Modenese editor is to be praised, that he abstained from marking the time; for the things which Franciotti hands down are neither true nor probable, some noting (more truly you would say, feigning) the 4th century, others the 5th, others the 6th, others the 7th; since, as I insinuated above, neither concerning St. Peregrinus's people or birth, nor concerning his age, nor concerning his deeds is anything handed down which a prudent & sober [man] would dare to admit; in which I shall adduce a witness beyond all exception, most celebrated even in vindicating fables which pertain to the glory of his own nation, that Dempster, so many times chastised by us elsewhere; who nevertheless here, pressed by the evidence of the thing, seems to have been wise, writing more modestly than usual in his Ecclesiastical History of the Scottish nation page 530, in these very words:
[5] or even by Dempster himself St. Peregrinus, his surname taken from his life, son of Romanus & Plantula, kings of Scotland, a man of incomparable sanctity, who, after a Jerusalem pilgrimage, inhabited the desert forty-two whole years, & caused a part of the Apennine to be called by his name, where also a temple sacred to him is frequented with a huge concourse, in the dominion of Modena; but his body rests at Lucca, as Sylvanus Razzi in the Lives of the Etruscan Saints, & Caesar Franciotti in the work on the Saints of Lucca have handed down. His Life an anonymous Italian, & not a learned one, gave, & Peregrinus Capius published it at Reggio & Bologna: but it is justly suspect to me, because it is stuffed with old-wives' fables, & contains nothing of good grain. This he truly proclaims; but what he inserts concerning the dominion of Modena, & also from Sylvanus Razzi & Franciotti concerning the body resting at Lucca, you will seek in vain in them: concerning the Acts here is the sole question, whose aberrations, several, he recounts in order. The Life published by Capius we have not seen, nor indeed is there need, since our Mss. & that which was published by Franciotti savor of the same fetid source, & are sprinkled with the same soot. Lo now the chief heads of Dempster:
[6] by many arguments I. Of Romanus & Plantula, kings of Scotland, neither the Scottish Annals nor any wandering writers made mention. II. Called to the kingdom, he spurned the diadem, & dispensed his whole patrimony, that is, the annual revenues of the kingdom, to the poor. III. While he visited the holy places at Jerusalem, he approached & adored the place where the Virgin Mother of God was purified by baptism. IV. He is bidden in Egypt to adore Mahomet, who two hundred years from the death of St. Peregrinus was scarcely born. V. After he had, unharmed, sustained the harmless flame for ten hours, he purified the Sultan of Egypt with his whole kingdom at the sacred font of Baptism; whereas still in that age Egypt was under the Roman empire, nor was the name of Sultan heard for many centuries afterward. Dempster does not here enumerate all things incoherently connected, in whatever century at last they be understood to have been done. Nor are the following less absurd. A charming history, further, concerning the Saint's arrival in Italy, when, a tempest arising, the sailors, struck with peril, when they see that they have in vain unburdened the ship of its merchandise, at last rush upon St. Peregrinus & cast him into the sea: but he, having his "sclavinia" [*] for a ship, his staff as it were for a mast, sending his wallet for a sail, most tranquilly puts in at Ancona. Let us proceed with Dempster.
[7] it is plainly overthrown. VI. While from Ancona (whither he had put in from the Jerusalem pilgrimage) he seeks Rome, on the way he visits as a suppliant the shrine of St. Michael on Mount Gargano, with a double error indeed: for Mount Gargano is situated neither in that tract, but in Apulia near the city of Siponto, nor was at that time yet instituted the solemnity of the apparition of St. Michael on that mountain, who is said to have appeared in the year 387, as Sigebert will have it, or 492, as at the day 8 May in the Roman Martyrology Baronius teaches from a Ms. history of that matter, which is had in the Vatican library, & he will have this done in the year 537. See the place. VII. That he was canonized in the year of salvation 464, whereas many centuries afterward the ceremonies of enrolling among the Saints or of canonization were introduced, as I remember to observe in ecclesiastical history. However that Life was written by an unskilled [man], it is nevertheless agreed that he was a man of great sanctity, & a singular exemplar of pious life to anchorites; at whose burial were present, as that same ignoble author hands down, Geminianus bishop of Modena, & Alexius bishop of Pisa with all the other bishops of Etruria & the clergy. St. Severinus archbishop of Ravenna with all the prelates of Cisalpine Gaul, twenty-seven in number indeed.
[8] No less here is the fabulous biographer deceived, when he feigns some names of bishops & connects disparate ages. What things concerning the age No Severinus of Ravenna, but Severus, who died 348; no Alexius at Pisa, in whose place some Alexander, by the authority of the pretended Peregrinian canonization, has been intruded for the year 643. Geminianus of Modena is referred to the year 397, so that here too Dempster could exercise his criticism. What he adds to have been written by the Saint, namely orations & a manner of praying in book 1, then Meditations, which they say, written by his hand on the bark of trees, are even today preserved in book 1; savor of the rest of the web of the Acts, found I know not where by Dempster. Lest I leave anything untouched, have also the last clause, refuted by himself above: He died in the year 464, in which also he was enrolled in the album of the Saints & a temple dedicated to him on 1 August, on which the people of Bologna, Modena, Lucca, & other peoples of Italy keep his solemn commemoration, & celebrate as it were his birthday. Compare these things with Franciotti, in whom the Saint both died & was canonized in the year 643: but again I would have you combine with these things those which Vedriani refers to the 4th century page 33: everywhere darkness, everywhere anachronisms, everywhere ignorance & confusion.
[9] Nor could I easily say on what faith those things rest which Nicolaus Bartolinus wrote to Papebroch in the year 1675, & the others narrated adducing another exemplar of the same Legend, Ms., which does not agree with the rest; but proceeds to narrate—his words they are—how, to those offering an alms for the building of the church, the bishops conferred indulgences, namely those which, in the centuries said above, the simple barbarism of the copyists, as he himself speaks, one must have found in the Alps: then, the fame, he says, growing widespread through frequent miracles, among the rest a certain Puccius of the city of Prato was freed from robbers & the gallows, his name being implored; & another, Zacharias by name, from a like peril of life: & they subjoin some other miracles, among which a nephew of Frederick Barbarossa was rescued from the vexation of a demon through the Saint's merits, & thence to Frederick himself & Pope Alexander an occasion of showing munificence toward the church of St. Peregrinus was thrust in & seized. Which will plainly be lacking in other Mss. As truly they are lacking in ours equally as in Franciotti. The appendix, glorious to the Saint, I gladly embrace, but whether its author distinguished the times sufficiently, to discuss at more length I do not think worth the while.
[10] Nor does the praised Bartolinus more elucidate our entangled affairs by what he subjoins: they are equally inept. Besides, I have another Life written in verse a hundred thirty years ago by Baptista Merulus of Quinzano, who in a letter to the reader (whether the book has ever yet undergone the press is hidden from me) professes that the aforesaid ancient exemplar of the church of St. Peregrinus was seen by him & faithfully expressed in verses; which also, rendered in Italian rhythm, perhaps by the same or an anonymous author, I keep, & will transmit to you at leisure with notes, to say nothing of the Modenese edition, which is circulated in prose. Most rightly indeed I find that I have spared myself that labor: for if, from the Italian rhythm which is in our hands, one may make a conjecture about the Latin meter, they all savor of the same things, so that we do not think it will greatly matter whether, in bound or loose speech, the series of deeds, more like a mere drama than history, be here reported, concerning which you will be able to pass judgment when you shall have more accurately weighed the already so many times mentioned Acts here subjoined, & you yourself shall have observed those things which to note here at more length would be exactly the same as to waste labor & oil. This alone we contributed, that we should eliminate the excessive barbarism here & there.
Notes* i.e. understand a "cento" (a patchwork cloak).
FABULOUS ACTS
From two similar Mss.
Peregrinus, conf., not far from Modena in Italy (S.)
BHL Number: 6630
FROM THE MSS.
In a marvelous manner To the praise, therefore, & glory of almighty God, who is not enclosed by time, but in all time remains firm & true, at whose nod the divine brightness has irradiated the climes of the world, divided by distinct kinds of tongues, &, enervating the superstitions of idols, has instilled the true light into the minds of the faithful. This light is called the light of lights, since all lights receive from it their increase; namely, visibly illuminating the world, striking the extremities of the world, it came even to Scotland—to the knowledge of which, Scotland is situated to the North—in which a certain [man], Romanus by name, who held the primacy of the said kingdom of Scotland, who, distinguished as much in morals as in nobility of stock, rich with the opulence of possessions & of much wealth, who, since he had no son, with his wife, named Plantula, who by divine providence had been associated with him in consortium as much for the generosity of morals as for nobility, began to call upon the divine
power, & to say: O how unspeakable is the mercy of God! O ineffable providence of the Most High; who deserves to render to thee worthy proclamations of praise, who is worthy to receive thy benefits?
[2] it is obtained by prayers. When with these & like words, for the obtaining of an heir, with harsh sobs they were beseeching the divine clemency, God from on high regarded their vows, & lo, in dreams they saw a certain little infant begotten of them, fighting against the ancient enemy, & conquering him. But when the said vision had departed from their eyes, & they were wholly awake, a voice was brought to them, saying: You shall have a son, on whom you shall impose the name Peregrinus. What more? The offspring being born, so great joy & exultation was made in that kingdom, that no mortal tongue, so to speak, could express it; but when he received holy baptism, &, as is the custom, the presbyter pronounced the Lord's Prayer, lo, the little infant suddenly began to answer, & to say Amen, & thus confessed the Lord's Prayer, & the creed, as if he had been of twenty years; nor is it less wonderful, if he was the herald of Him by whom he was sent into the world; because it is written: Out of the mouth of infants & sucklings thou hast perfected praise; but when the priest had heard this, he was vehemently afraid, & said: If this little infant shall live, he will be something great.
[3] From his early age, therefore, dedicated to God, instructed by Christian citizens, & at fifteen he begins to go on pilgrimage. & imbued, in the house of God, attenuating his body with assiduous fastings & prayers, he passed the night chanting psalms; renouncing also secular riches, he began to invite the people of God, by word & work, to the way of salvation. But when he was fifteen years old, & bereft of both parents, lo, there come barons & citizens to the palace, that they might exalt the said Peregrinus to the royal dignity; but when the blessed Peregrinus had perceived this, he began to say to his companions: This crown, which you offer me, how long will it last? To whom answering they said, it will last until death. To whom the blessed Peregrinus said: I see this crown to be mortal; wherefore I wish to exchange it for an immortal one. But when he was pressed by the barons of the kingdom that he not draw out delay in the matter; he says: Bring me a crown, & the Gospel of Christ; who, when he had opened the book, found the place where the Lord says: If thou wilt be perfect, go, & sell all that thou hast, & give to the poor, & come follow me. Hearing this, the blessed Peregrinus, before all, placed the temporal crown beneath his feet; & whatever he had, he began to dispense wholly to the poor, orphans & widows; which being distributed, in the silence of night, in the habit of a pilgrim, unrecognized, he withdrew.
[4] But if the commendable eloquence of Tully & the Virgilian subtlety supported me, Most ill received on the way, it would be difficult, having undertaken [it], to enumerate the individual things, how great, which this Saint suffered in his pilgrimage. Whence, as he was journeying toward the Lord's sepulcher, it happened by chance to fall out that he came into the hands of robbers, who, having made an assault upon him, wore him down with blows & stripes, & left him as if dead: & when their arms failed in striking, the athlete of Christ himself, ever exulting in the Lord, said: Thy rod & thy staff, they have comforted me. And when the aforesaid robbers reckoned him as a fool, & wished him to depart, lo, the divine vengeance was present, who, straightway struck by God, lost their hands, feet, & legs, & likewise their sight. Who began to cry out & say: Have mercy on us, lord servant of God, & pray for us, because we are tormented. Then the blessed Peregrinus, a pious father, began to invite them to penance. But so great was the efficacy of his words in preaching, that they, all things being dismissed, began to cling to the footsteps of the blessed Peregrinus, saying: Father, what thou commandest we are ready to fulfill. To whom he said: Go, set your little houses in order; which when they had done, confirmed in the Lord, they followed the footsteps of the blessed Father to the Lord's sepulcher, who, when they had made some days' stay together, license being had of the holy Man, with joy came to their own homes, glorifying God in their hearts with his saints.
[5] He himself visited all the holy places in which our Lord Jesus Christ was announced, yet he presses on to Jerusalem; born, baptized, dead, & buried; the place of the ascension, & the upper room in which the Holy Spirit appeared with divided fiery tongues; &, that I may speak more briefly, the holy places beyond the sea, both the oratory of blessed Catherine & others, he devoutly visited; but when he had come to the place of the desert which is called Quarantana, in which our Lord Jesus Christ had fasted forty days & forty nights, he began to water the earth with tears, to strike his breast, & to bewail the sins of men as if they had been his own. So great was in him the roughness of clothing, the abstinence of foods, that he appeared not a man, but a spirit. Of his bed what shall I say? since he showed a sepulcher rather than a bed. He was assiduous in praying, clear-sighted in watching, strenuous in fighting, knowing that the life of man is a warfare upon the earth; knowing indeed that for men there is a wrestling not only against flesh & blood, but against the princes & rulers of these darknesses; that is, of the demons. Who when on a certain day he prayed alone, lo, the devil appeared in the appearance of the Crucified, & saying: Peregrinus, Peregrinus, for every sin in which a man has offended God, pardon can be obtained, except that anyone shorten his own life before its time.
[6] To whom the blessed Peregrinus thus answered: It is also written: where he suffers many things from the demon. Fight for justice even unto death, & I will give thee the crown of life. And when he ran on into many other things, the devil, seeing that he could not deceive him, struck the Saint horribly on the jaw; but the Saint, wishing to fulfill the divine commandment, offered him the other also to be struck; but when the enemy could not endure such humility, he began clearly to say: Peregrinus, thy humility has conquered me above all, & if here I do not prevail against thee, the time will come when I shall insult thee: & the habit being changed, he appeared as he was. And lo, suddenly so great a disturbance of the air was made, that the earth trembled, & the whole place seemed to be burned up; but, a prayer being made, & the sign of the Cross given, that machination & ruin vanished, & the demon himself, confounded, vanished. But he drew out no little stay in the place, since he remained in the said wood for forty years, & as the people of Israel wandered forty-two years, that it might enter into the land of promise; so that he might enter the joys of eternal life, he observed the said number, unknown to every human creature.
[7] By the Sultan His vow, therefore, being brought to effect, that in the divine services he might continue labor to labor, he determined to go to the infidels. But when at his departure he had poured out frequent prayers to God, how vigilantly & devoutly did he strike his breast with the application of his hands, & repeatedly prostrated himself on the ground, giving thanks to God, for that he had looked upon the holy land & the places dedicated to God, which is borne witness in the discourse. When he had come into the court of the Sultan & king of the Saracens, a lamp began to shine forth above the candlestick, & to illuminate hearts remaining in darkness: & this Saint began ardently & with great affection to pronounce the word of God, & to provoke all to penance. But when he had openly proved that none is to be worshiped except only God, who was born of the Virgin Mary: hearing this, the infidels drew him out from the pulpit where he was preaching, & like rabid dogs, gnashing their teeth, & dreadfully striking him, put a rope on his neck; & dragging him out, they led him to the mosque, that is, to their synagogue, to the temple of their god, that there he might offer incense to Mahomet.
[8] he is imprisoned, Who, when they had held & struck him even to the vitals, chained him most diversely with five chains, & led him back into a most foul & most dark place. Who, when he had stood without food & drink five days & nights, the Saint began clearly to say: Illuminate, O Lord, these who sit in darkness, & direct me in the way of salvation. But He, for whose love he was contending, gave forth such an answer: It is written: I am with him in tribulation, I will rescue him, & glorify him. And lo, suddenly so great a light & brightness from heaven shone in the said prison, that human tongue would not suffice to tell it; & what is wonderful, it was the very true light which illuminates every man coming into this world. Then Jesus Christ placed his hands upon his servant; & lo, suddenly those bonds of chains were reduced to dust & to stubble. Then without delay the blessed Peregrinus was freed from all tribulation, pain, & punishment; & lo, so great a fragrance of odor began to shine forth & to be redolent from that prison, as if it had been a garden of paradise. Then the guards, terrified by so great a light & odor, began to marvel, & to investigate the matter itself; but when they had found the truth of the matter, without delay they announced it to the Sultan the king; & the Sultan himself, hearing this, began greatly to marvel, & to say: Lead this Christ-worshiper to me, that I may prove his faith; & when they had led the blessed Peregrinus before the Sultan, the said Sultan began to inquire into the cause of the matter.
[9] Then the blessed Peregrinus began to speak to the Sultan & the bystanders a discourse concerning the Incarnation, & having suffered flames, & concerning the coming of the Son of God; which completed, the Sultan caused his priests to be summoned, who, when they had come, the Sultan said: I wish that you prove our faith with this Christ-worshiper by fire. Then the Sultan caused a copious fire to be kindled, & forthwith the blessed Peregrinus began to cry out, & to say: Bystanders, hear my word: I for my God will enter the fire; but if I shall be burned, impute it to my sins: but if by chance I come out, I wish that you promise to receive true Baptism for the salvation of your souls: who all promised. Then the blessed Peregrinus with tears fixed his knees to the earth, & with great confidence began to invoke the divine clemency, & to say: Regard not, O Lord, my offenses; but regard thy great mercy, & the faith of thy holy Church, to which I desire that these infidels be converted. Which prayer being finished, & fortifying himself with the sign of the Cross, boldly he entered into the said fire; & indeed he bore with him his cloak, his hat, his staff, his scrip, & his wallet. Marvelous thing! And when he had stood almost for three hours walking through the fire, & singing with the prophet, saying: We have passed through fire & water, & thou hast led us out into refreshment; so great was the mercy of God, that that fire did not burn him; but neither was anything of his garments burned.
[10] Seeing this, the priests of the Saracens began
to say, he comes forth untouched by them. & to exclaim: Lord king, be it known to you, that since the wools of the garments of this Christ-worshiper are of the Salamander, they can never be burned. Then the blessed Peregrinus put off all his garments with which he was clothed, & so entered into the fire, nor did he blush to appear naked for His love, who did not blush to go naked upon the Cross for us. What do I say? The holy man remained for about ten hours without any injury in the said fire; which all the priests of the Saracens perceiving, fled, fearing the fire. Then the Sultan, marveling beyond measure at so stupendous a thing, began to say: Truly these are the deeds of the great God of the Christians. Then the Sultan bade him come out of the fire, & that honors & moneys be shown to him. But when the holy Man held all such things cheap as dross, the Sultan said to the bystanders: Truly, as I see, this man seems not to be of this world. Then he said to the holy Peregrinus: Pray thy God for me. And all the Saracens too, who had assembled for the spectacle of so great a miracle, hearing & seeing such things, withdrew with the greatest admiration. And when he proposed to turn aside to other infidels; lo, a voice from heaven was brought to him, saying: Turn aside to Italy, because there will be thy victory & thy rest.
[11] Using his garment for a boat, When the Athlete of Christ had heard this, armed in the Lord, with great confidence he went off, & found on the shore ships subject to the journey, proceeding toward Italy, into one of which he entered, & with a prosperous wind they came by voyage in a month. But the envious enemy, the ancient foe, lo, sent so great a tempest & flashing with a most violent wind about the ship, that the mast & sails seemed to be broken; & when the sailors & all who were present began to despair of their life, they cast their merchandise into the sea, that the ship might be lightened; but when the aforesaid tribulation kept increasing, the malignant spirits began to cry out: Cast that Peregrinus into the sea, & the tempest will cease: because on account of him all things have befallen you. Hearing this, the sailors, & those who were present on the sea, without delay cast the blessed Peregrinus into the sea. Then the blessed Peregrinus, with great confidence commending himself to God, sent the cloak with which he himself was clothed upon the waters of the sea, & ascended upon it as if for a ship, but sent his staff as it were for a mast, his wallet for a sail. Marvelous indeed was the benignity of God toward him, that without any human aid he thus began to walk upon the waters of the sea, as if he were on most firm land.
[12] He puts in at Ancona. What more shall I say? Since in seven days he passed through the space of as great a journey as any sailor would have made in forty; nor is it a wonder, because he was borne by Him by whom both sea & winds were created; borne indeed by Him who led the people of Israel through the Red Sea with dry feet. But when, God working, he had put in at the port of Ancona, to so stupendous a miracle almost the whole city ran together, who all received him honorably with great joy; but he himself was lodged among the poor of Christ: who, when he had risen in the silence of night, a prayer being poured out, all, as many as were there sick, were healed; & lest vainglory should strike him, he withdrew from the place. At last the blessed Peregrinus determined to go to visit the thresholds of Peter & Paul the Apostles, & moreover the body of blessed Nicholas the confessor, & the venerable temple of St. Michael, which is situated on Mount Gargano: & when the Saint implored before the altar of the archangel Michael, lo, the angel spoke to the said holy Peregrinus, saying: Go to the shadowy wood, & there thou shalt make the way safe, because those passing through it are slain by demons, whom when thou shalt have put to flight from the said place, thou shalt come to the crown of eternal life.
[13] Then, having entered the woods, To whom, when the holy Peregrinus answered: I am ready; but the said place I know not, & the way I know not; the angel says to him: Follow the star. And lo, suddenly a marvelous star appeared in the midst of the air, flashing with excessive brightness, until it drew near the aforesaid wood, & when it had approached, the star disappeared. Then a voice was made from heaven, saying: Behold the place of the contest. Hearing this, the holy Peregrinus began boldly to enter the wood; who, when he had entered, found two corpses of men still warm, as if in the same hour they had died; which bodies indeed had been slaughtered by demons. Which seeing, the holy Peregrinus began to weep most bitterly, & to say: Deliver not to the unclean spirits the souls of those who confess thee: & casting himself upon the bodies of the dead, he prayed to God, &, the prayer completed, adjured them that they should straightway rise; & straightway they cast themselves at the feet of the Saint, giving him thanks, & saying: Father, we give thee manifold thanks: because from the way of darkness & of perdition thou hast recalled us, & to the way of salvation thou hast led us. For when we were at the divine judgment, & many crimes were being entangled about us, straightway thy benign entreaty to God was interceding for us; who straightway freed us from the hands of the enemies. Then the blessed Peregrinus began to invite them to penance; & the said [men] returned to their own homes glorifying God in their hearts.
[14] Then the blessed Peregrinus began to enter the said shadowy wood: he contends with the demons; who, when he had entered, began to hear horrible voices, most foul howlings of demons, & at the same time voices of those crying out, as if they had been in hell. Moreover, what shall I assert? Suddenly he was surrounded by so great a multitude of demons in divers appearances, that scarcely anything little of the air or earth appeared. To whom suddenly, clearly, with one voice they began to say: For what hast thou come hither? Why hast thou entered here, since this place & this wood, & everywhere all the districts, are dedicated & given to us to dwell in, that in them we might be able to exercise our malice & fury through torments; & moreover, on account of the sins of men having power over their labors, & to destroy them, through immense snows & innumerable hailstorms; who, if quickly & without delay thou depart not from this place, thou shalt experience our fury against thee. Then the blessed Peregrinus, seeing himself as a lamb among biting wolves, peril prepared against him, began to say: Help me, O Lord, avert evils, from my enemies protect me, & in thy will destroy them.
[15] Then the malignant spirits, with raging furies gnashing at him, these being conquered, left him; & lo, so great a density of snows & hail they cast upon him; then hugely they rushed upon him, who fell, & afflicting him with innumerable blows, leaving him half-alive they departed; & so, as if dead & buried among the snows & hail, for three days without food & drink he remained. Then, when the Saint could not speak from the affliction of the body, he began thus to say in his heart: O God, incline unto my help; O Lord, regard my prayer; free my soul, lest Tartarus absorb it. Which prayer being finished, a voice was made from heaven, saying: Peregrinus, be unwilling to fear, because I am ever with thee: knowest thou not that through many tribulations it behooves [one] to enter into the kingdom of God? Who without delay was freed from all tribulation & pain. Who, being freed, began to insult the demons, & to cast them out of the aforesaid wood. And thus indeed, by the merits of the most blessed Confessor, all those neighboring provinces were freed; namely the province of Lombardy, & the provinces of Tuscany, & of the Romagna; since before they were subject to those malignant spirits, who utterly devastated them through the immense multitude of snows & hail.
[16] Then the blessed Peregrinus, seeing that all that tribulation had departed, he undergoes other perils. offered immense praises to God: since he had labored for twelve years in driving out the aforesaid things. Then the blessed Peregrinus called the name of the aforesaid desert "Silva Romanesca," because through it the way was safe both to Romans & pilgrims, as to other travelers. After these things the blessed Peregrinus entered a certain cavern; which when he had entered, he found there a leopard suckling her leopards. Marvelous thing: straightway, when the brute animals saw the holy Man, without delay they went out of the said den, & prostrated themselves at the feet of the holy Man: who, when they had received a blessing from the Man of God, withdrew. Then for a very long time the Man of God remained in that den, unknown to every human creature; but if any of those brutes was struck by anyone, poisoned, or sick, straightway they came to the holy Man, & a blessing being received from him, went away healed. But what food & drink he had; I have heard, that only once in the day did he eat & drink: & certainly his sustenance was herbs & wild roots, which the said leopard brought every day; & his drink was of the dew of heaven.
[17] At last, nearly a centenarian, After many years, the blessed Peregrinus, going out of the said cavern, when he looked round about, saw a place fit for penance, & entered to a place where he found a tree hollowed to the form of a man; then the blessed Peregrinus entered into the said tree; & there for seven years he passed his life, nourished with heavenly food & drink. And when the blessed Peregrinus was ninety-seven years old, & nine months, & twenty-three days indeed, he wrote the whole course & series of his whole life in the "scortia," that is, in the strippings of the wood; who, when he had designated his nativity & nation, is reported to have made such an excellent prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, eternal Father, hear my prayers: thy majesty, therefore, I beseech, Jesus Christ, King of heaven & earth, who saidst to thy Apostles, Whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name, he will give you; And whosoever shall have my memory, in the face of hail & snows, the onset of pestilence, or in whatsoever tribulations shall devoutly invoke me; do thou, most benign, from heaven hear.
[18] he dies holily. And lo, from heaven suddenly with a great light a voice was made, saying: Peregrinus, faithful servant, rejoice & exult, because thy name is written in the book of life; whatever indeed thou hast asked, praying in my name, is granted thee by my heavenly Father. Now whoever shall have thee as his faithful advocate, whatever he shall have justly asked, he shall obtain. Then the blessed Peregrinus, giving manifold thanks to God, bent his knees as best he could, raised his hands & arms to heaven, & said: Lord Jesus Christ, be present, I pray, & succor, & into thy hands I commend my soul, receive my spirit. Which when he had said, he closed his last day, & delivered his soul to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, the blessed Peregrinus being led out of the workhouse of the body,
there ran to meet him a multitude of the heavenly host to lead him into the most delightful place of paradise; for which, in the present life too, he himself underwent the contest; & there among the saints & elect of God, in the place which he deserved, he was most gloriously placed. There was made a Canonization of the aforesaid most holy Confessor, & his translation, in the year of the Lord 143; but on the eleventh day of August, & also the dedication of the basilica. You will observe here a new chronological absurdity, expressed equally stupidly in both our Mss. The good weaver meant to mark the year 643, & 1 August; lest, besides so many others, he construct a new paradox.