TRIPARTITE LIFE of St. Patrick.
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PART I
The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and they who were in
the land and in the shadow of death received light by which came their
illumination.

Patrick, then, was of the Britons of Alcluaid by origin. Calpurnn was
his father's name. He was a noble priest. Potid was his grandfather's
name, whose title was a deacon. Conceis was his mother's name. She
was of the Franks, and a sister to Martin. In Nemtur, moreover, the
man St. Patrick was born; and the flag (stone) on which St. Patrick was
born would give forth water when any one swore a false oath upon it, as
if it were lamenting the false testimony. If the oath was true,
however, the stone would continue in its natural condition.

When the man St. Patrick was born, he was taken to a blind, flat-faced
man to be baptized. Gornias was the priest's name; and he had no water
out of which he could perform the baptism until he made the sign of the
cross over the ground with the infant's hand, when a fountain of water
burst forth. Gornias washed his face, and his eyes were opened to him;
and he, who had learned no letter, read the baptism. God wrought three
miracles through Patrick in this place--viz., the fountain of water
through the ground, his eyesight to the blind man, and his reading the
_ordo_ of the baptism without knowing a letter up to that time. And
Patrick was subsequently baptized. A church was founded, moreover,
over this well in which Patrick was baptized; and the well is at the

Many prodigies and miracles were wrought through Patrick in his youth,
but we shall only relate a few out of many of them. One time Patrick
was in his nurse's house, in winter time, when a great flood and rain
filled his nurse's residence, so that the vessels and furniture of the
house were floating about, and the fire was extinguished. Patrick then
cried to his nurse, as usual with children when desiring food. Then
his nurse said to him: "That is not what troubles us; there is
something else we would rather do than to prepare food for thee; even
the fire is extinguished." When Patrick heard these words, truly, he
sought a certain spot in the house to which the water had not reached;
and he dipped his hand in the water, and five drops fell from Patrick's
fingers, and they were suddenly changed into five sparks, and the fire
glowed, and the water rose not. The names of God and of Patrick were
magnified thereby. Another time, as Patrick was playing amongst his
companions, in the time of winter and cold in particular, he collected
his armful of pieces of ice, which he brought home to his nurse. Then
his nurse said: "It would be better for you to bring us withered
brambles to warm ourselves with than what you have brought." Thereupon
he said to his nurse:

"Believe thou, because God is powerful thereto, that even the sheets of
ice will burn like faggots." And no sooner were the pieces of ice
placed on the fire, and he had breathed on them, than they burned like
faggots. The names of God and Patrick were magnified through this
miracle.

sheep, the lambs came suddenly to their dams, as is customary with
them, to drink milk. When Patrick and his sister saw this, they ran
quickly to prevent them. The girl fell, and her head struck against a
stone, so that death was nigh unto her. As soon as Patrick perceived
that his sister was lying down, and that death was nigh unto her, he
wept loudly; and he raised her up immediately, and made the sign of the
cross over the wound, and it healed without any illness.
(Nevertheless, the signs of the "white wound" would appear there.) And
they came home as if no evil had happened to them. Another time,
Patrick was with the sheep, when a wolf took away a sheep from him.
His nurse reproved him greatly therefor. The wolf brought the sheep
whole to the same place on the morrow; and the restoration in this way
was wonderful--viz., the wolf's dislike regarding the habitual food.

When Patrick's nurse, therefore, saw him magnified by God in prodigies
and miracles, she used to love him very much, and would not wish to go
anywhere without him. One time his nurse went to milk the cow. He
went with her to get a drink of new milk. The cow [became mad] in the
_booley_, and killed five other cows. The nurse was much grieved, and
asked him to resuscitate the cows. He resuscitated the cows, then, so
that they were quite well, and he cured the mad cow; and the names of
God and Patrick were magnified through this miracle.

There was a great assembly held by the Britons. He went to the
assembly with his nurse and his guardian. It happened that his
guardian died in the assembly. All were hushed into silence thereat;
and his relatives cried, and his friends wept, and they said, "Why,
thou _gilla_, didst thou let the man who was carrying thee die?" As
regards the _gilla_ moreover, he ran to his guardian, and placed his