Ss Peter & Paul

From The Golden Legend of Blessed Jacobus Voragine (ca. 1260) translated by William Caxton in 1483.

HERE FOLLOWETH OF ST. PETER THE APOSTLE

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St. Peter the apostle among all other, and above all other, was of most fervent and burning love, for he would have known the traitor that should betray our Lord Jesu Christ, as St. Austin saith: If he had known him he would have torn him with his teeth, and therefore our Lord would not name him to him, for as Chrysostom saith: If he had named him, Peter had arisen and all to-torn him.

Peter went upon the sea; he was chosen of God to be at his transfiguration, and raised a maid from death to life; he found the stater or piece of money in the fish's mouth; he received of our Lord the keys of the kingdom of heaven; he took the charge to feed the sheep of Jesu Christ. He converted at a Whitsuntide three thousand men, he healed Claude with John, and then converted five thousand men; he said to Ananias and Saphira their death before; he healed Æneas of the palsy; he raised Tabitha; he baptized Cornelia; with the shadow of his body he healed sick men; he was put in prison by Herod, but by the angel of our Lord he was delivered.

What his meat was and his clothing, the book of St. Clement witnesseth, for he said: Bread only with olives, and seldom with worts, is mine usage, and I have such clothing as thou seest, a coat and a mantle, and when I have that, I demand no more.

It is said for certain that he bare always a sudary in his bosom with which he wiped the tears that ran from his eyes; for when he remembered the sweet presence of our Lord, for the great love that he had to him he might not forbear weeping. And also when he remembered that he had rented him, he wept abundantly great plenty of tears, in such wise that he was so accustomed to weep that his face was burnt with tears as it seemed, like as Clement saith. And saith also that in the night when he heard the cock crow he would weep customably. And after that it is read in Historia Ecclesiastica that, when St. Peter's wife was led to her passion, he had great joy and called her by her proper name, and said to her: My wife, remember thee of our Lord.

On a time when St. Peter had sent two of his disciples for to preach the faith of Jesu Christ, and when they had gone twenty days' journey, one of them died, and that other then returned to St. Peter and told him what had happened, some say that it was St. Marcial that so died, and some say it was St. Maternus, and others say that it was St. Frank. Then St. Peter gave to him his staff and commanded that he should return to his fellow, and lay it upon him, which he so did, then he which had been forty days dead, anon arose all living.

ST. PETER'S DISPUTATION WITH SIMON MAGUS

That time Simon the enchanter was in Jerusalem, and he said he was first truth, and affirmed that who that would believe in him he would make them perpetual. And he also said that nothing to him was impossible. It is read in the book of St. Clement that he said that he should be worshipped of all men as God, and that he might do all that he would. And he said yet more: When my mother Rachel commanded me that I should go reap corn in the field, and saw the sickle ready to reap with, I commanded the sickle to reap by itself alone, and it reaped ten times more than any other.

And yet he added hereto more, after Jerome, and said: I am the Word of God, I am the Holy Ghost, I am Almighty, I am all that is of God.

He made serpents of brass to move, and made the images of iron and of stone to laugh, and dogs to sing, and as St. Linus saith, he would dispute with St. Peter and show, at a day assigned, that he was God. And Peter came to the place where the strife should be, and said to them that were there: Peace to you brethren that love truth. To whom Simon said: We have none need of thy peace, for if peace and concord were made, we should not profit to find the truth, for thieves have peace among them. And therefore desire no peace but battle, for when two men fight and one is overcome then is it peace.

Then said Peter: Why dreadest thou to hear of peace? Of sins grow battles, where is no sin there is peace; in disputing is truth found, and in works righteousness.

Then said Simon: It is not as thou sayest but I shall show to thee the power of my dignity, that anon thou shalt adore me; I am first truth and may flee by the air; I can make new trees and turn stones into bread; endure in the fire without hurting; and all that I will I may do.

St. Peter disputed against all these, and disclosed all his malefices. Then Simon Magus, seeing that he might not resist Peter, cast all his books into the sea, lest St. Peter should prove him a magician, by his books, and went to Rome where he was had and reputed as a god.

HE TRAVELS TO ROME

And when Peter knew that, he followed and came to Rome. The fourth year of Claudius the emperor, Peter came to Rome, and sat there twenty-five years, and ordained two bishops as his helpers, Linus and Cletus, one within the walls, and that other without. He emended much to preaching of the Word of God, by which he converted much people to the faith of Christ, and healed many sick men, and in his preaching always he praised and preferred chastity. He converted four concubines of Agrippa the provost, so that they would no more come to him, wherefore the provost sought occasion against Peter.

After this, our Lord appeared to St. Peter, saying to him: Simon Magus and Nero purpose against thee, dread thee not, for I am with thee, and shall give to thee the solace of my servant Paul, which to-morn shall come in to Rome.

Then Peter, knowing that he should not long abide here, assembled all his brethren and took Clement by the hand and ordained him a bishop, and made him to sit in his own seat. After this, as our Lord had said tofore, Paul came to Rome, and with Peter began to preach the faith of Christ.

SIMON MAGUS, BELOVED OF NERO, ENGAGES PETER AND PAUL IN DISPUTATIONS

Simon Magus was so much beloved of Nero that he weened that he had been the keeper of his life, of his health, and of all the city. On a day, as Leo the pope saith, as he stood tofore Nero, suddenly his visage changed, now old and now young, which, when Nero saw, he supposed that he had been the son of God. Then said Simon Magus to Nero: Because that thou shalt know me to be the very son of God, command my head to be smitten off and I shall arise again the third day.

Then Nero commanded to his brother to smite off his head, and when he supposed to have beheaded Simon, he beheaded a ram. Simon, by his art magic went away unhurt, gathered together the members of the ram, and hid him three days. The blood of the ram abode and congealed. The third day he came and showed him to Nero, saying: Command my blood to be washed away, for lo I am he that was beheaded, and as I promised I have risen again the third day.

Whom Nero seeing, was abashed and trowed verily that he had been the son of God. All this saith Leo.

Sometime also, when he was with Nero secretly within his conclave, the devil in his likeness spake without to the people. Then the Romans had him in such worship that they made to him an image, and wrote above, this title: To Simon the holy God.

Peter and Paul entered to Nero and discovered all the enchantments and malefices of Simon Magus, and Peter added thereto, seeing that like as in Christ be two substances that is of God and man, so are in this magician two substances, that is of man and of the devil. Then said Simon Magus, as St. Marcelle and Leo witness, lest I should suffer any longer this enemy, I shall command my angels that they shall avenge me on him.

To whom Peter said: I dread nothing thine angels, but they dread me.

Nero said: Dreadest thou not Simon, that by certain things affirmeth his godhead?

To whom Peter said: If dignity or godhead be in him let him tell now what I think or what I do, which thought I shall first tell to thee, that he shall not mow lie what I think.

To whom Nero said: Come hither and say what thou thinkest. Then Peter went to him and said to him secretly: Command some man to bring to me a barley-loaf, and deliver it to me privily.

When it was taken to him, he blessed it, and hid it under his sleeve, and then said he: Now Simon say what I think, and have said and done.

Simon answered: Let Peter say what I think.

Peter answered: What Simon thinketh that I know, I shall do it when he hath thought.

Then Simon having indignation, cried aloud: I command that dogs come and devour him.

And suddenly there appeared great dogs and made an assault against Peter. He gave to them of the bread that he had blessed, and suddenly he made them to flee. Then said Peter to Nero: Lo! I have showed you what he thought against me, not in words but in deeds, for where he promised angels to come against me he brought dogs, thereby he showeth that he hath none angels but dogs.

Then said Simon: Hear ye, Peter and Paul; if I may not grieve you here, ye shall come where me it shall behove to judge you. I shall spare you here. Hæc Leo.

Then Simon Magus, as Hegesippus and Linus say, elate in pride avaunted him that he can raise dead men to life. And it happed that there was a young man dead, and then Nero let call Peter and Simon, and all gave sentence by the will of Simon that he should be slain that might not arise the dead man to life. Simon then, as he made his incantations upon the dead body, he was seen move his head of them that stood by; then all they cried for to stone Peter.

Peter unnethe getting silence said: If the dead body live, let him arise, walk and speak, else know ye that it is a fantasy that the head of the dead man moveth. Let Simon be taken from the bed.

And the body abode immovable. Peter standing afar making his prayer cried to the dead body, saying: Young man, arise in the name of Jesu Christ of Nazareth crucified.

And anon, he arose living, and walked.

Then, when the people would have stoned Simon Magus, Peter said: He is in pain enough, knowing him to be overcome in his heart; our master hath taught us for to do good for evil.

Then said Simon to Peter and Paul: Yet is it not come to you that ye desire, for ye be not worthy to have martyrdom, the which answered: That is, that we desire to have, to thee shall never be well, for thou liest all that thou sayest.

Then as Marcel saith: Simon went to the house of Marcel and bound there a great black dog at the door of the house, and said: Now I shall see if Peter, which is accustomed to come hither, shall come, and if he come this dog shall strangle him.

And a little after that, Peter and Paul went thither, and anon Peter made the sign of the cross and unbound the hound, and the hound was as tame and meek as a lamb, and pursued none but Simon, and went to him and took and cast him to the ground under him, and would have strangled him. And then ran Peter to him and cried upon the hound that he should not do him any harm. And anon the hound left and touched not his body, but he all torent and tare his gown in such wise that he was almost naked.

Then all the people, and especially children, ran with the hound upon him and hunted and chased him out of the town as he had been a wolf. Then for the reproof and shame he durst not come in to the town of all a whole year after. Then Marcel that was disciple of Simon Magus, seeing these great miracles, came to Peter, and was from then forthon his disciple.

THE DEATH OF SIMON MAGUS

And after, at the end of the year, Simon returned and was received again into the amity of Nero. And then, as Leo saith, this Simon Magus assembled the people and showed to them how he had been angered of the Galileans, and therefore he said that he would leave the city which he was wont to defend and keep, and set a day in which he would ascend into heaven, for he deigned no more to dwell in the earth. Then on the day that he had stablished, like as he had said, he went up to an high tower, which was on the capitol, and there being crowned with laurel, threw himself out from place to place, and began to fly in the air.

Then said St. Paul to St. Peter: It appertaineth to me to pray, and to thee for to command.

Then said Nero: This man is very God, and ye be two traitors.

Then said St. Peter to St. Paul: Paul, brother, lift up thine head and see how Simon flyeth.

Then St. Paul said to St. Peter when he saw him fly so high: Peter, why tarriest thou? perform that thou hast begun, God now calleth us.

Then said Peter: I charge and conjure you angels of Sathanas, which bear him in the air, by the name of our Lord Jesu Christ, that ye bear ne sustain him no more, but let him fall to the earth.

And anon they let him fall to the ground and brake his neck and head, and he died there forthwith.

And when Nero heard say that Simon was dead, and that he had lost such a man, he was sorrowful, and said to the apostles: Ye have done this in despite of me, and therefore I shall destroy you by right evil example. Hæc Leo.

ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL ARE PERSECUTED AND MARTYRED

Then he delivered them to Paulin, which was a much noble man, and Paulin delivered them to Mamertin under the keeping of two knights, Processe and Martinian, whom St. Peter converted to the faith. And they then opened the prison and let them all go out that would go, wherefore, after the passion of the apostles, Paulin, when he knew that they were Christian, beheaded both Processe and Martinian.

The brethren then, when the prison was opened, prayed Peter to go thence, and he would not, but at the last he being overcome by their prayers went away. And when he came to the gate, as Leo witnesseth, which is called Sancta Maria ad Passus, he met Jesu Christ coming against him, and Peter said to him: Lord, whither goest thou?

And he said to him: I go to Rome for to be crucified again.

And Peter demanded him: Lord, shalt thou be crucified again?

And he said: Yea.

And Peter said then: Lord, I shall return again then for to be crucified with thee.

This said, our Lord ascended into heaven, Peter beholding it, which wept sore. And when Peter understood that our Lord had said to him of his passion, he returned, and when he came to his brethren, he told to them what our Lord had said. And anon he was taken of the ministers of Nero and was delivered to the provost Agrippa, then was his face as clear as the sun, as it is said.

Then Agrippa said to him: Thou art he that glorifiest in the people, and in women, that thou departest from the bed of their husbands.

Whom the apostle blamed, and said to him that he glorified in the cross of our Lord Jesu Christ. Then Peter was commanded to be crucified as a stranger, and because that Paul was a citizen of Rome it was commanded that his head should be smitten off.

And of this sentence given against them, St. Dionysius in an epistle to Timothy saith in this wise:

O my brother Timothy, if thou hadst seen the agonies of the end of them thou shouldst have failed for heaviness and sorrow. Who should not weep that hour when the commandment of the sentence was given against them, that Peter should be crucified and Paul be beheaded? Thou shouldst then have seen the turbes of the Jews and of the paynims that smote them and spit in their visages. And when the horrible time came of their end that they were departed that one from that other, they bound the pillars of the world, but that was not without wailing and weeping of the brethren. Then said St. Paul to St. Peter: "Peace be with thee that art foundement of the church and pastor of the sheep and lambs of our Lord." Peter then said to Paul: "Go thou in peace, preacher of good manners, mediator, leader, and solace of rightful people." And when they were withdrawn far from other I followed my master. They were not both slain in one street.

This saith St. Dionysius.

And as Leo the pope and Marcel witness, when Peter came to the cross, he said: When my Lord descended from heaven to the earth he was put on the cross right up, but me whom it pleaseth him to call from the earth to heaven, my cross shall show my head to the earth and address my feet to heaven, for I am not worthy to be put on the cross like as my Lord was, therefore turn my cross and crucify me my head downward.

Then they turned the cross, and fastened his feet upward and the head downward. Then the people were angry against Nero and the provost, and would have slain them because they made St. Peter so to die; but he required them that they should not let his passion, and as Leo witnesseth, our Lord opened the eyes of them that were there, and wept so that, they saw the angels with crowns of roses and of lilies standing by Peter that was on the cross with the angels.

And then Peter received a book of our Lord, wherein he learned the words that he said. Then as Hegesippus saith: Peter said thus: Lord, I have desired much to follow thee, but to be crucified upright I have not usurped, thou art always rightful, high and sovereign, and we be sons of the first man which have the head inclined to the earth, of whom the fall signifieth the form of the generation human. Also we be born that we be seen inclined to the earth by effect, and the condition is changed for the world weeneth that such thing is good, which is evil and bad. Lord, thou art all things to me, and nothing is to me but thou only, I yield to thee thankings with all the spirit of which I live, by which I understand, and by whom I call thee.

And when St. Peter saw that the good Christian men saw his glory, in yielding thankings to God and commending good people to him, he rendered up his spirit. Then Marcel and Apuleius his brother, that were his disciples, took off the body from the cross when he was dead, and anointed it with much precious ointment, and buried him honourably.

Isidore saith in the book of the nativity and death of saints thus: Peter, after that he had governed Antioch, he founded a church under Claudius the emperor, he went to Rome against Simon Magus, there he preached the gospel twenty-five years and held the bishopric, and thirty-six years after the passion of our Lord he was crucified by Nero turned the head downward, for he would be so crucified: Hæc Isidorus.

That same day Peter and Paul appeared to St. Dionysius, as he saith in his foresaid epistle in these words: Understand the miracle and see the prodigy, my brother Timothy, of the day of the martyrdom of them, for I was ready in the time of departing of them. After their death I saw them together, hand in hand, entering the gates of the city, and clad with clothes of light, and arrayed with crowns of clearness and light. Hæc Dionysius [Thus wrote Dionysius].

THE TYRANNIES AND DEATH OF NERO

Nero was not unpunished for their death and other great sins and tyrannies that he committed, for he slew himself with his own hand, which tyrannies were overlong to tell, but shortly I shall rehearse here some.

He slew his master Seneca because he was afraid of him when he went to school.

Also Nero slew his mother and slit her belly for to see the place where he lay in. The physicians and masters blamed him, and said the son should not slay his mother that had borne him with sorrow and pain.

Then said he, "Make me with child, and after to be delivered, that I may know what pain my mother suffered." Which by craft they gave to him a young frog to drink, and grew in his belly, and then he said, "But if ye make me to be delivered I shall slay you all." And so they gave him such a drink that he had a vomit and cast out the frog, and bare him on hand that because that he abode not his time it was misshapen, which yet he made to be kept.

Then for his pleasure he set Rome afire, which burned seven days and seven nights, and was in a high tower and enjoyed him to see so great a flame of fire, and sang merrily.

He slew the senators of Rome to see what sorrow and lamentation their wives would make.

He wedded a man for his wife. He fished with nets of gold thread, and the garment that he had worn one day he would never wear it ne see it after.

Then the Romans seeing his woodness assailed him and pursued him unto without the city, and when he saw he might not escape them, he took a stake and sharped it with his teeth, and therewith stuck himself through the body and so slew himself. In another place it is read that he was devoured of wolves. Then the Romans returned and found the frog, and threw it out of the city and there burnt it.

THE RELICS OF ST. PETER AND ST. PAUL

In the time of St. Cornelius the pope, Greeks stole away the bodies of the apostles Peter and Paul, but the devils that were in the idols were constrained by the divine virtue of God, and cried and said: Ye men of Rome, succour hastily your gods which be stolen from you!

For which thing the good Christian people understood that they were the bodies of Peter and Paul. And the paynims had supposed that it had been their gods. Then assembled great number of Christian men and of paynims also, and pursued so long the Greeks that they doubted to have been slain, and threw the bodies in a pit at the catacombs, but afterward they were drawn out by Christian men.

St. Gregory saith that the great force of thunder and lightning that came from heaven made them so afraid that they departed each from other, and so left the bodies of the apostles at the catacombs in a pit, but they doubted which bones were Peter's and which Paul's, wherefore the good Christian men put them to prayers and fastings, and it was answered them from heaven that the great bones longed to the preacher, and the less to the fisher, and so were departed, and the bones were put in the church of him that it was dedicate of.

And others say that Silvester the pope would hallow the churches and took all the bones together, and departed them by weight, great and small, and put that one-half in one church, and that other half in that other.

MIRACLES OF ST. PETER

The Crippled Woman

And St. Gregory recounteth in his dialogues that, in the church of St. Peter, where his bones rest, was a man of great holiness and of meekness named Gentian, and there came a maid into the church which was cripple, and drew her body and legs after her with her hands, and when she had long required and prayed St. Peter for health, he appeared to her in a vision, and said to her: Go to Gentian, my servant, and he shall restore thy health.

Then began she to creep here and there through the church, and enquired who was Gentian, and suddenly it happed that he came to her that him sought, and she said to him: The holy apostle St. Peter sent me to thee that thou shouldest make me whole and deliver me from my disease.

And he answered: If thou be sent to me from him, arise thou anon and go on thy feet. And he took her by the hand and anon she was all whole, in such wise as she felt nothing of her grief nor malady, and then she thanked God and St. Peter.

A Vision of Saints Peter and Paul

And in the same book St. Gregory saith when that a holy priest was come to the end of his life, he began to cry in great gladness: Ye be welcome, my lords, ye be welcome that ye vouchsafe to come to so little and poor a servant, and he said: I shall come and thank you.

Then they that stood by demanded who they were that he spake to, and he said to them wondering: Have ye not seen the blessed apostles Peter and Paul and as he cried again, his blessed soul departed from the flesh.

THE TIME AND PLACE OF THEIR DEATHS

Some have doubt whether Peter and Paul suffered death in one day, for some say it was the same one day, but one a year after the other. And Jerome and all the Saints that treat of this matter accord that it was on one day and one year, and so is it contained in an epistle of Denis, and Leo the pope saith the same in a sermon, saying: We suppose but that it was not done without cause that they suffered in one day and in one place the sentence of the tyrant, and they suffered death in one time, to the end that they should go together to Jesu Christ, and both under one persecutor to the end that equal cruelty should strain that one and that other. The day for their merit, the place for their glory, and the persecution overcome by virtue. Hæc Leo.

Though they suffered both death in one day and in one hour, yet it was not in one place but in diverse within Rome, and hereof saith a versifier in this wise: Ense coronatus Paulus, cruce Petrus, eodem-Sub duce, luce, loco, dux Nero, Roma locus. That is to say, "Paul crowned with the sword, and Peter had the cross reversed, the place was the city of Rome." And howbeit that they suffered death in one day, yet St. Gregory ordained that that day specially should be the solemnity of St. Peter, and the next day commemoration of St. Paul, for the church of St. Peter was hallowed that same day, and also forasmuch as he was more in dignity, and first in conversion, and held the principality at Rome.

HERE BEGINNETH THE LIFE OF ST. PAUL THE APOSTLE AND DOCTOR

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St. Paul the apostle, after his conversion, suffered many persecutions, the which the blessed Hilary rehearseth shortly, saying:

Paul the apostle was beaten with rods at Philippi, he was put in prison, and by the feet fast set in stocks, he was stoned in Lystra. In Iconia and Thessalonica he was pursued of wicked people. In Ephesus he was delivered to wild beasts. In Damascus he was let by a lepe down of [freed by leaping down from] the wall. In Jerusalem he was arrested, beaten, bound, and awaited to be slain. In Cæsarea he was enclosed and defamed. Sailing towards Italy he was in peril of death, and from thence he came to Rome and was judged under Nero, and there finished his life.

This saith St. Hilary.

HIS MIRACLES

Paul took upon him to be apostle among the Gentiles. In Lystra was a contract which he lost and redressed. A young man that fell out of a window and died, he raised to life, and did many other miracles.

At the Isle of Melita a serpent bit his hand, and hurted him not, and he threw it into the fire. It is said that all they that came of the progeny and lineage of that man that then harboured Paul may in no wise be hurt of no venomous beasts, wherefore when their children be born they put serpents in their cradles for to prove if they be verily their children or no.

In some place it is said that Paul is less than Peter, otherwhile more, and sometimes equal and like, for in dignity he is less, in preaching greater, and in holiness they be equal.

Haymo saith that Paul, from the cock-crow unto the hour of five, he laboured with his hands, and after emended to preaching, and that endured almost to night, the residue of the time was for to eat, sleep, and for prayer, which was necessary.

ST. PAUL IN ROME

He came to Rome when Nero was not fully confirmed in the empire, and Nero hearing that there was disputing and questions made between Paul and the Jews, he, recking not much thereof, suffered Paul to go where he would, and preach freely. Jeronimus in his book, De viris illustribus, [says] that the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, second year of Nero, St. Paul was sent to Rome bound, and two years he was in free keeping and disputed against the Jews, and after, he was let go by Nero, and preached the gospel in the west parts. And the fourteenth year of Nero, the same year and day that Peter was crucified, his head was smitten off. Hæc Jeronimus.

The wisdom and religion of him was published over all, and was reputed marvellous. He get to him many friends in the emperor's house and converted them to the faith of Christ, and some of his writings were recited and read tofore the emperor, and of all men marvellously commended, and the senate understood of him by things of authority.

NERO'S BUTLER WITNESSES TO CHRIST

It happed on a day that Paul preached about evensong time in a loft, a young man named Patroclus, butler of Nero, and with him well-beloved, went for to see the multitude of people, and the better for to hear Paul he went up into a window, and there sleeping, fell down and died, which when Nero heard he was much sorry and heavy therefor, and anon ordered another in his office.

Paul, knowing hereof by the Holy Ghost, said to them standing by him that they should go and bring to him Patroclus, which was dead, and that the emperor loved so much. Whom when he was brought, he raised to life and sent him with his fellows to the emperor, whom the emperor knew for dead, and, whiles he made lamentation for him, it was told to the emperor that Patroclus was come to the gate. And when he heard that Patroclus was alive he much marvelled, and commanded that he should come in.

To whom Nero said: Patroclus, livest thou?

And he said: Yea, emperor, I live.

And Nero said: Who hath made thee to live again ?

And he said: The Lord Jesu Christ, king of all worlds.

Then Nero being wroth said: Then shall he reign ever and resolve all the royaumes of the world?

To whom Patroclus said: Yea, certainly, emperor.

Then Nero gave to him a buffet, saying: Therefore thou servest him.

And he said: Yea, verily, I serve him that hath raised me from death to life.

Then five of the ministers of Nero, that assisted him, said to him: O emperor, why smitest thou this young man, truly and wisely answering to thee? Trust verily we serve that same King Almighty.

And when Nero heard that he put them in prison, for strongly to torment them, whom he much had loved.

PAUL'S DISCOURSES WITH NERO

Then he made to enquire and to take all Christian men, and without examination made them to be tormented with overgreat torments. Then was Paul among others bound and brought tofore Nero, to whom Nero said: O thou man, servant of the great King, bound tofore me, why withdrawest thou my knights and drawest them to thee?

To whom Paul said: Not only from thy corner I have gathered knights, but also I gather from the universal world to my Lord, to whom our king giveth such gifts that never shall fail, and granteth that they shall be excluded from all indigence and need; and if thou wilt be to him subject, thou shalt be safe, for he is of so great power that he shall come and judge all the world, and destroy the figure thereof by fire.

And when Nero heard that he should destroy the figure of the world by fire, he commanded that all the Christian men should be burnt by fire, and Paul to be beheaded, as he that is guilty against his majesty. And so great a multitude of Christian people were slain then that the people of Rome brake up his palace and cried and moved sedition against him, saying: Cæsar, amend thy manners and attemper thy commandments, for these be our people that thou destroyest, and defend the empire of Rome.

The emperor then dreading the noise of the people, changed his decree and edict that no man should touch ne hurt no Christian man till the emperor had otherwise ordained, wherefore Paul was brought again tofore Nero, whom as soon as Nero saw, he cried and said: Take away this wicked man and behead him, and suffer him no longer to live upon the earth.

To whom Paul said: Nero, I shall suffer a little while, but I shall live eternally with my Lord Jesu Christ.

Nero said: Smite off his head, that he may understand me stronger than his king, that when he is overcome we may see whether he may live after.

To whom Paul said: To the end that thou know me to live everlastingly, when my head shall be smitten off, I shall appear to thee living, and then thou mayest know that Christ is God of life and of death.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. PAUL

And when he had said this he was led to the place of his martyrdom, and as he was led, the three knights that led him said to him: Tell to us, Paul, who is he your king that ye love so much that for his love ye had liefer die than live, and what reward shall ye have therefor?

Then Paul preached to them of the kingdom of heaven and of the pain of hell, in such wise that he converted them to the faith, and they prayed him to go freely whither he would.

God forbid, brethren, said he, that I should flee, I am not fugitive, but the lawful knight of Christ. I know well that from this transitory life I shall go to everlasting life. As soon as I shall be beheaded, true men shall take away my body; mark ye well the place, and come thither to-morrow, and ye shall find by my sepulchre two men, Luke and Titus, praying. To whom when ye shall tell for what cause I have sent you to them, they shall baptize you and make you heirs of the kingdom of heaven.

And whiles they thus spake together, Nero sent two knights to look if he were slain and beheaded or no, and when thus St. Paul would have converted them, they said: When thou art dead and risest again, then we shall believe, now come forth and receive that thou hast deserved.

And as he was led to the place of his passion in the gate of Hostence, a noble woman named Plautilla, a disciple of Paul, who after another name was called Lemobia, for haply she had two names, met there with Paul, which weeping, commended her to his prayers. To whom Paul said: Farewell, Plautilla, daughter of everlasting health, lend to me thy veil or keverchief with which thou coverest thy head, that I may bind mine eyes therewith, and afterwards I shall restore it to thee again.

And when she had delivered it to him, the butchers scorned her, saying: Why hast thou delivered to this enchanter so precious a cloth for to lose it?

Then, when he came to the place of his passion, he turned him toward the east, holding his hands up to heaven right long, with tears praying in his own language and thanking our Lord, and after that bade his brethren farewell, and bound his eyes himself with the keverchief of Plautilla, and kneeling down on both knees, stretched forth his neck, and so was beheaded. And as soon as the head was from the body, it said, "Jesus Christus!" which had been to "Jesus" or "Christus," or both, fifty times. From his wound sprang out milk into the clothes of the knight, and afterward flowed out blood. In the air was a great shining light, and from the body came a much sweet odour.

Dionysius, in an epistle to Timothy, saith of the death of Paul thus:

In that hour full of heaviness, my wellbeloved brother, the butcher saying, "Paul, make ready thy neck," then blessed Paul looked up into heaven, marking his forehead and his breast with the sign of the cross, and then said anon, "My Lord Jesu Christ, into thy hands I commend my spirit, etc." And then without heaviness and compulsion he stretched forth his neck and received the crown of martyrdom, the butcher so smiting off his head.

The blessed martyr Paul took the keverchief, and unbound his eyes, and gathered up his own blood, and put it therein and delivered to the woman. Then the butcher returned, and Plautilla met him and demanded him, saying: Where hast thou left my master?

The knight answered: He lieth without the town with one of his fellows, and his visage is covered with thy keverchief.

And she answered and said: I have now seen Peter and Paul enter into the city clad with right noble vestments, and also they had right fair crowns upon their heads, more clear and more shining than the sun, and hath brought again my keverchief all bloody which he hath delivered me.

For which thing and work many believed in our Lord and were baptized.

And this is that St. Dionysius saith.

APPARITIONS AND MIRACLES OF ST. PAUL

The Apparition to Nero

And when Nero heard say this thing he doubted him, and began to speak of all these things with his philosophers and with his friends. And as they spake together of this matter, Paul came in, and the gates shut, and stood tofore Cæsar and said: Cæsar, here is tofore thee Paul the knight of the king perdurable, and not vanquished. Now believe then certainly that I am not dead but alive, but thou, caitiff, thou shalt die of an evil death, because thou hast slain the servants of God.

And when he had said thus he vanished away. And Nero, what for dread and what for anger, he was nigh out of his wit, and wist not what to do. Then by the counsel of his friends he unbound Patroclus and Barnabas and let them go where they would.

The Apparition to Nero's Knights

And the other knights, Longinus, master of the knights, and Accestus, came on the morn to the sepulchre of Paul, and there they found two men praying, that were Luke and Titus, and between them was Paul. And when Luke and Titus saw them they were abashed and began to flee, and anon Paul vanished away, and the knights cried after them and said: We come not to grieve you, but know ye for truth that we come for to be baptized of you, like as Paul hath said whom we saw now praying with you.

When they heard that they returned and baptized them with great joy.

The Miracle of St. Paul's Head

The head of St. Paul was cast in a valley, and for the multitude of other heads of men that were there slain and thrown there, it could not be known which it was.

It is read in the epistle of St. Dionysius that on a time the valley should be made clean, and the head of St. Paul was cast out with the other heads. And a shepherd that kept sheep took it with his staff, and set it up by the place where his sheep grazed; he saw by three nights continually, and his lord also, a right great light shine upon the said head. Then they went and told it to the bishop and to other good Christian men, which anon said: Truly that is the head of St. Paul.

And then the bishop with a great multitude of Christian men took that head with great reverence, and set it in a tablet of gold, and put it to the body for to join it thereto. Then the patriarch answered: We know well that many holy men be slain and their heads be disperpled in that place, yet I doubt whether this be the head of Paul or no, but let us set this head at the feet of the body, and pray we unto Almighty God that if it be his head that the body may turn and join it to the head.

Which pleased well to them all, and they set the head at the feet of the body of Paul, and then all they prayed, and the body turned him, and in his place joined him to the head, and then all they blessed God, and thus knew verily that that was the head of St. Paul. This saith St. Dionysius.

The Man That Fell in Despair

And St. Gregory telleth that there was a man that fell in despair in the time of Justin the emperor, and made ready a cord to hang himself, and always he cried on St. Paul, saying: St. Paul, help me.

Then came there a black shadow, saying to him: Hie thee, good man, make an end of that thou hast begun.

And he alway made ready the cord, saying: Most blessed Paul, help me. And when all was ready there came another shadow, as it had been of a man that said to him that stirred him: Flee hence, thou most wretched, for Paul the advocate is come.

Then the foul shadow vanished away, and the man coming again to himself, and casting away the cord, took condign penance for his offence and trespass.

THE LAMENT OF ST. DENIS

In the same epistle aforesaid, St. Denys bewailed the death of his master Paul with mild words, saying:

Who shall give tears to mine eyes, and to my brows a fountain of water, that I may weep day and night that the light of the church is extinct. And who is he that shall not weep and wail and clothe him with clothes of mourning and sorrow, and in his mind be greatly abashed? Lo, Peter the foundement of the church and glory of saints and holy apostles is gone from us, and hath left us orphans. Paul also, the teacher and comforter of the people, is failed to us, and shall no more be found, which was father of fathers, doctor of doctors, pastor of pastors, profoundness of wisdom, a trump sounding high things, and a preacher of truth.

I say verily, Paul to be most noble of the apostles, and never weary of preaching of the Word of God; he was an earthly angel, an heavenly man, image and similitude of divinity, and hath us all forsaken, needy and unworthy in this despised world, and is gone unto Christ his God, his Lord and friend.

Also my brother Timothy, best beloved of my soul, where is thy master, thy father and lover? From whence shall he greet thee any more? Lo, thou art made an orphan and remainest alone. Now he shall no more write to thee with his own hand, "my dearest son." Woe to me, my brother Timothy! What is happed to us of heaviness, of darkness, and harm! Because we be made orphans, now come not his epistles to thee, in which he wrote, "Paul the little servant of Jesu Christ." Now he shall no more write to the cities saying, "Receive ye my well-beloved son." Shut, my brother, the books of the prophets and clasp them, for we now have none interpreter of the parables ne paradigmes, ne their dictes.

David the prophet bewailed his son and said: "Woe to me! who shall grant me to die for thee my son?" And I may say, "woe to me, master mine, verily woe to me." Now the concourse of thy disciples coming to Rome and seeking, ceaseth and faileth. Now no man saith, "Let us go and see our doctors, and ask we them how us behoveth to rule the churches to us committed, and shall interpret and expound to us the sayings of our Lord Jesu Christ and of the prophets." Verily, woe to these sons, my brother Timothy, that be deprived of their spiritual father. And also to us that be deprived of our spiritual masters which gathered together understanding and science of the old and new law and put them in their epistles.

Where is now the renewing of Paul and the labour of his holy feet? Where is the mouth speaking, and the tongue counselling, and the spirit well pleasing his God? Who shall not weep and wail? For they that have deserved glory and honour towards God be put to death as malefactors and wicked men. Woe to me that beheld in that hour his blessed body all bewrapped in his innocent blood. Alas, my father and doctor, thou wert not guilty of such a death! Now whither shall I go for to seek thee, the glory of Christian men and praising of good, true men? Who shall stint thy voice that sounded so high in the church in preaching the Word of God? Lo, thou hast entered in to thy Lord and thy God, whom thou hast desired with all thine affection.

Jerusalem and Rome be evil friends, for they be equal in ill. Jerusalem hath crucified our Lord Jesu Christ, and Rome hath slain his apostles. Jerusalem serveth him that they crucified, and Rome in solemnising, glorifieth them that it hath slain.

And now, my brother Timothy, these be they whom thou lovedst and desiredst with all thine heart, like as Saul and Jonathan that were not departed in life ne in death, and so I am not departed from my lord and master, but when ill and wicked men depart us. And the separation of one hour shall not be always, for his soul knoweth them that love him though they speak not to him which now be far from him. And at the day of the great resurrection they shall not be departed from him.

Hæc Dionysius.

ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM'S PRAISE OF ST. PAUL

St. John Chrysostom saith in the book of praising of St. Paul, and commendeth this glorious apostle much, saying:

St. Paul's Sacrifices

What [tongue] is founden sufficient in commendation of him, sith all the goodness that is in man the soul possesseth it only, and hath it in him, and not only of a man, but also of the angels? And in what manner we shall say to you hereafter, Abel offered sacrifice, and of that he was praised, but we shall show thee the sacrifice of Paul, and it shall appear greater, inasmuch as heaven is higher than the earth.

For Paul sacrificed himself every day, and offered double sacrifice in heart and in body, which he mortified. He offered not sheep ne meat, but he sacrificed himself in double wise, and yet that sufficed him not, but he studied to offer to God, all the world. For he environed all the world that is under heaven and made angels of men. And moreover men that were like fiends he changed them to angels.

Compared to Abel

Who is he that is found pareil or like to this sacrifice, which Paul with the sword of the Holy Ghost offered up to the altar which is above heaven? Abel was slain by treason of his brother, but Paul was slain of them whom he desired to withdraw and save from innumerable evils. His deaths were so many that they may not well be numbered. He had as many as he lived days.

Compared to Noah

Noah, as it is read, kept himself, his wife, and his children in the ark, but Paul in a more perilous and older flood, in an ark not made with boards, with pitch and glue, but with epistles made for boards, delivered and saved the universal world from the floods of error and of sin. This ark or ship was not borne to one place, but it was sent through the universal world, ne limed with pitch ne glue, but the boards thereof were anointed with the Holy Ghost. He took them that were worshippers of reasonable beasts, almost more fools than unreasonable beasts, for to be the followers of angels. He overcame that ark in which was received the crow, and sent him out again, and closing a wolf therein whose woodness he could not change. But this Paul took falcons and kites, and made of them doves, and excluded all woodness and ferocity from them, and brought to them the spirit of meekness.

Compared to Abraham

Some marvel of Abraham that at the commandment of God left his country and kindred, but how may he be compared to Paul, which not only left his country and kindred, but also himself and the world also. He forsook and despised all things and required to have but one thing, and that was the charity and love of Jesu Christ. Ne he desired things present, ne things to come, etc. But Abraham put himself in peril for to save his brother's son, but Paul sustained many perils for to bring the universal world from perils of the devil, and brought others to great surety with his own death. Abraham would have offered his son Isaac to God, but Paul brought neither friend nor neighbour, but offered himself to God a thousand times.

Compared to Isaac

Some marvel of the patience of Isaac, for he suffered the pits that he made to be stopped, but Paul not beholding the pits stopped with stones, ne his own body beaten only, but them of whom he suffered great pains he studied to bring to heaven, and the more this well was stopped, so much the more it flowed out streams in shedding of water of scripture, of meekness and of patience.

Compared to Jacob

Of the patience of Jacob scripture marvelleth, which abode seven years for his spouse, but who hath that soul of an adamant that may follow the patience of Paul? For he abode not only seven years for Christ his spouse, but all his lifetime. He was not only burnt with the heat of the day, ne suffered only the frost of the night, but suffering temptations, now with beatings, now stoned with stones, and always among his torments caught the sheep and drew them to the faith from the mouth of the devil.

Compared to Joseph the Patriarch

And also he was made decorate and made fair with the chastity of Joseph. And here I doubt lest some would take it for a leasing for to praise here Paul, which crucifying himself, not only the beauty of men's bodies, but all such things that were seen to be fair and clear that he beheld, set no more by them than we do by a little ashes or filth, and abode unmovable as a dead man to a dead man.

Compared to Job

All men wonder at Job, for he was a marvellous champion, but Paul was not only troubled by months, but many years enduring in agony, and always appeared clear. He put not away the woodness of his flesh with a shard or shell, but he ran daily, as the understanding mouth of a lion, and fought against innumerable temptations, which were more tolerable than a stone. Which not of three or four friends, but of all men and of his brethren he suffered opprobrium, and was confused and cursed of them all, and he took everything meekly and patiently. Job was a man of great hospitality, and had care of poor people, and that he did was to sustain the filth of the flesh. But St. Paul laboured to help the sickness of the souls. Job opened his house to every man that came, but the soul of Paul showed him to the universal world. Job had sheep and oxen innumerable, and of them he was liberal to poor men. Paul had no possession save his body, and with that he ministered sufficiently to them that had need, which in a place saith, "Unto my necessities, and to them that were with me, these hands have ministered." And to holy Job were given worms, wounds, and sores, which did to him much pain and sorrow; but an thou wilt consider Paul, thou shalt see betimes hunger, chains, and perils that he suffered of his known men and of strangers. He suffered of all the world, business for the churches, and burning for slanders. Thou mayst see that he was harder than any stone, and his soul overcame with infirmity, iron, and adamant. What Job suffered with his body, that Paul sustained with his mind, which is more grievous than any worm. And oft his eyes flowed of tears, not only on days, but also on nights. He was more tormented than a woman in the birth of her child, wherefore he said: "My little children, whom yet I bring forth."

Compared to Moses

Moses chose to be defaced out of the book of life for the health of the Jews, and offered himself to perish with others; but Paul would not only perish with his kindred, but, that all other should be saved, would be cast down from everlasting joy. And Moses repugned against Pharaoh, and Paul against the devil every day. He for one people of the Jews, and Paul fought for all the universal world, not by sweat, but by blood.

Compared to St. John the Baptist

St. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey, but Paul in the middle of the world was as straight in his conversation as St. John was in desert. Not only he was fed with locusts and wild honey, but with much fouler meat he was content. For oft he left his necessary meat for the fervent study that he had to preach the Word of God. Truly there appeared in St. John great constancy in preaching against Herodias; but Paul, not one, ne two, ne three, but he corrected innumerable men set up in high power, and also older tyrants.

Compared to the Angels

It resteth now that we compare Paul to angels, in which we shall preach a great thing, for with all charge, they obey unto God, which David saith, marvelling that they be mighty in virtue, and ever do the commandments of God. And also the prophet saith that he maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers fire burning. And all this we may find in Paul, that like to fire and a spirit he hath run throughout all the world, and with his preaching hath purged it. And yet he hath not sorted heaven, and that is wonderful, for he conversed such as in heaven, and was yet environed with his mortal flesh.

Compared to Us, His Fellow Men

Ah, Lord! How much be we worthy damnation, when we see all good things to be assembled in one man, and we study not to follow the least part of them! Ne he had in this world none other thing, ne none other nature, ne none other soul dissemblable to us, ne dwelling in none other world, but in the same earth, and the same region, also under the same laws nourished, and manners; and he surmounteth all men, that now be or have been, by virtue of his courage. Ne this thing is not to be marvelled in him only, that for the abundance of devotion he felt no pain, but he recompensed in him the virtue for his reward. And when he saw that his death approached, he called others to the delight of his joy, saying, "Make ye joy and rejoice ye with me."

His Embrace of Injuries and Travails

And certainly he hasted more to wrongs and injuries which he suffered for his true preaching, and was gladder thereof than he were bidden to a feast of great joy. For he desired more death than bodily life, and he desired more poverty than riches, and travail than rest, for in his rest he chose rather weeping than rest. He used to pray more for his enemies than others do for their friends. And above all other thing he dreaded the wrath of God, and had none other desire, but only to please God. And he forsook not only all present things, but all things that be for to come.

He refused all prosperities that ever were or ever shall be on earth, and if we shall speak of heavenly things, thou shalt see the love of him in Jesu Christ. And with this love he thought himself blessed. He coveted not to be fellow with angels ne archangels, ne with none order of angels, but he coveted more with the love of God to be least of them that be punished, than without his love to be among sovereign honours, and that was to him most greatest torment, for to depart from his love, for that departing should be to him a hell and pain without end. And on that other side, for to use the charity of Christ was to him life, world, and promission and all goods without number. And so he despised all that we dread, like as we despise a herb putrified and rotten.

He reputed the tyrants conspiring their fury into the apostles, like as bitings of fleas, and he reputed death, cruelness, and a thousand torments, but as a play or game of children whilst he suffered them for Christ's sake. He thought he was made more fair with binding of chains than he had been crowned with a diadem. For when he was constrained to be in prison, he thought he was in heaven, and he received more gladlier beatings and wounds, than others victories. He loved no less sorrows than meeds for he reputed those sorrows instead of rewards. And such things that be to us cause of sorrows were unto him great delight, and was ever embraced with great weepings. Wherefore he said: Who is slandered and I burn not? and who can say: I delight in sorrowing?

Many be wounded with the death of their children and take comfort when they may weep enough, and it is most grievance to them when they be restrained from their weeping. In like wise Paul night and day had consolation of his tears and weeping. There could no man weep ne bewail his own defaults as he bewailed other men's defaults, for like as thou weenest him to be in torment that weepeth the perishing for his sins, the which desired to be excluded from the joy of heaven, to the end that they might be saved, for he felt as much the perishing of other souls as he felt or trowed himself to perish.

To what thing may he then be likened, to what iron, or to what adamant? For he was stronger than any adamant, and more precious than gold or gems. That one matter he overcame with strength, and that other with preciousness. Then we may say that Paul is more precious than all the world and all that is therein, for he flew, as he had wings, through all the world in preaching, and he despised all labours and perils as though he had been without body. And like as he possessed heaven, so he despised all earthly things; and like as iron that is laid in the fire is made all fire, right so Paul, embraced with charity, was made all charity.

Common Father of All the World

And right as it had been a common father of all the world, so he loved all men, and surmounted all other fathers, bodily and ghostly, by curiosity and pity, and desired and hasted him to yield all men to God and to his kingdom, as though he had engendered them all.

This holy Paul that was so simple, and used the craft to make baskets, came to so great virtue, that in the space of thirty years he converted to the Christian faith the Persians and Parthians, them of Media, the Indians, the Scythians, the Ethiopians, and the Saromates and the Saracens, and moreover all manner men. And like as fire put in straw or in tow wasteth it, right so wasted Paul all the works of the fiend. And when he was led through the great sea, he joyed him as greatly as though he had been led to see an empire. And when he was entered into Rome, it sufficed him not to abide there, but he went into Spain, and was never idle ne in rest, but was always more burning than fire in the love to preach the Word of God, ne dreaded no perils, ne had no shame of despites, but was ever ready unto battle, and anon showed himself peaceable and amiable. And when his disciples saw him bound in chains, for all that he ceased not to preach whilst he was in prison. Wherefore some of the brethren considering his teaching, took the more strength to them, and were more constant against the enemies of Christ's faith.

And all this, and much more saith St. John Chrysostom, which were overmuch to write here, but this shall suffice.

Then let us pray unto Almighty God, that by the merits of St. Paul we may have forgiveness of our sins and trespasses in this present life, that after the same we may come to everlasting joy in heaven.