On the Holy Places 1 part 4/4

The emperor Constantine, having gathered an infinite multitude of men, and having collected from every side, at infinite expense, almost to the nakedness of all the cities, began to build a city that should be a sharer of his name, in the part of Asia—that is, in Cilicia—with the sea lying between, which in those parts separates Asia and Europe. But on a certain night, when innumerable armies of workmen were sleeping in their tents throughout the immense breadth of the camp, all kinds of iron tools which the craftsmen of various works were accustomed to use were suddenly carried off—how, no one knows.

When concerning their sudden and hidden removal very many of the workmen, troubled with grief, had brought a complaint to the emperor Constantine himself early in the morning, the king accordingly inquired of them, saying: 'Have you heard of any other things being taken away from the camp?' 'None,' they say, 'except all the iron tools of the works.' Then thereupon the king gave command, saying to them: 'Go quickly, and going about hither and thither, survey the maritime shores of the bordering regions.

And if perchance in some place of the fields you find your iron tools, keep them there meanwhile and do not carry them back here, but cause some of you to return to me, that I may know for certain about the finding of the tools.' Having heard these things, the workmen obey the words spoken by the king, and going out, as they had been commanded, having surveyed the bordering fields near the sea on this side and that, behold, in the part of Europe beyond the sea they find a heap of iron tools gathered together in one place between two seas. When this was found, some of them, sent back, come to the king and announce that the tools were found in such a place. When this was learned, the king at once commands the trumpeters around the circuit of the camp to sound with their trumpets, and to move the army, saying to it:

'Let us depart hence to build a city in the place divinely appointed for us.' And at the same time, when ships had been made ready, he crossed over with his whole army to the place where the iron tools had been found—the very place which, by such a discovery of them, he understood to have been prepared and marked out for him by God. There he forthwith founded a city, which by a name compounded from his own name and from the appellative Greek designation of a city is called Constantinople, so that the name of the founder might cling to the first part of such a compound. Let what has been set down concerning the site and condition of that royal city suffice. III. CONCERNING THAT CHURCH IN WHICH THE CROSS OF THE LORD IS KEPT.

Moreover, we ought not to be silent concerning the most renowned round stone church of that same city, of marvellous size. As holy Arculf relates—who frequented it for no short time—it rises from the very bottom of its foundations upon three walls, and being triple, lifted up still higher above them, most perfectly round and exceedingly beautiful, it is completed with a single vaulted roof. Supported upon great arches, between each of the aforementioned walls it has a wide space, suitable and convenient either for dwelling in or even for praying to the Lord.

In the northern part of the inner building there is shown a very large and exceedingly beautiful cabinet, in which is kept a wooden chest, which is likewise closed over with a wooden lid; and in it is kept that saving wood of the cross, on which our Saviour, for the salvation of the human race, was hung and suffered. This praiseworthy chest, as holy Arculf relates, is lifted up upon a golden altar, together with such a precious treasure, on three continuous days after a full year has been completed. This altar, indeed, stands in that same round church, being two cubits in length and one in breadth.

On three successive yearly days only, I say, the cross of the Lord is placed lifted up above the altar—that is, on the Supper of the Lord (Maundy Thursday), on which day the emperor and the host of soldiers, entering the church and approaching that altar, kiss the saving cross when that most sacred little chest has been opened. First, before all, the emperor of the world kisses it with bowed face; then, according to the order of ranks or of ages, one after another approaching kisses the honourable gibbet. Then on the next day—that is, the sixth feria (Good Friday) before the Pasch—the queens, the matrons, and all the women of the people approach in the said observed order, kissing it with all veneration.

On the third day—that is, the Paschal Sabbath (Holy Saturday)—the bishop and all the clergy after him approach in order, with fear and trembling and all reverence, kissing the victorious wood placed in its chest; and when these holy and joyful kissings of the most sacred cross are finished, that venerable chest is closed over and carried back, together with such an honourable treasure, to its cabinet.

But this too is not to be observed carelessly: that there are kept there not two, but three short pieces of the cross's wood—that is, the transverse piece, and the long piece cut and divided into two equal parts. From these three honourable pieces of wood, when that chest is opened, a fragrance of marvellous odour arises, as though full of the wonderful sweetness of all flowers gathered there, satisfying and gladdening all who are placed in the open within those inner walls of the church, who at that same span of time stand having entered;

for from the knots of those three pieces of wood a certain fragrant liquid, as it were pressed out in the likeness of oil, makes all who have entered—gathered from diverse nations—perceive that aforementioned fragrance of most sweet odour. Indeed, if even some tiny little drop of this liquid be placed upon the sick, then, by whatever weakness or disease they were afflicted, they recover full health. But let it suffice to have described these things concerning these matters. IV. CONCERNING GEORGE THE MARTYR.

Arculf, a holy man, who related to us all these things concerning the cross of the Lord, which he himself beheld with his own eyes and kissed, brought us also another account concerning a certain confessor named George, which he learned in the city of Constantinople from certain knowledgeable citizens, who, accustomed to relate it in this manner, were saying to him: In the city of Diospolis there is, set up in a certain house, a marble column, against which, bound in the time of persecution, a certain confessor George was scourged; upon it his likeness is depicted. He, however, after the scourging, being loosed from his bonds, lived many years.

Now on a certain day, when a certain hard-hearted and unbelieving little fellow, sitting on a horse, had entered that same house, and seeing that same marble column, asks those who were present there, saying: 'Whose is this image formed on the marble column?' When they answered and said: 'This is the figure of George the confessor, who was bound and scourged at this column'—on hearing which, that most stupid little fellow, exceedingly enraged, at the devil's instigation struck with his lance against the insensible thing, the likeness of the holy confessor. And that lance of the adversary, penetrating that stone column easily and in a marvellous manner, as though through a soft ball of snow, pierced it through on its outer part.

Its iron point, sticking fast within, was held there and could in no way ever be drawn back; but its shaft, dashed against the marble little image of the holy confessor, was broken off on the outside. The horse also of that wretched little fellow, on which he was sitting, at that same moment fell dead under him onto the pavement of the house; and he himself, the wretch, falling at the same time to the ground, put his hands upon that marble column, and his fingers, entering as if into fine flour or mud, became fixed and stuck fast in that same column.

Seeing this, the wretch—who could not draw back to himself the ten fingers of his two hands, fastened and inserted in the marble likeness of the holy confessor—doing penance, invokes the name of the eternal God and of that same confessor, and, weeping, prays that he might be loosed from that bond. His tearful penitence the merciful God received—He who wills not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted and live—and not only loosed him from that present, visible, marble bond, but also, coming to his aid in mercy, set him free, saved by faith, from the invisible bonds of his sins.

Hence, therefore, it is plainly shown how great and of what kind was the honour that George his confessor enjoyed amid his torments in the sight of the Lord: whose carven image, by its power, He made penetrable in a thing impenetrable by nature; and the lance of the adversary, equally impenetrable by nature, He marvellously rendered penetrable; and the weak fingers of that same little fellow He powerfully made penetrating in that same thing impenetrable by nature—fingers which, fastened in the marble, at first even that hard man could not draw back, but at that same moment, greatly terrified and thereafter softened, doing penance, by God's mercy he drew them back.

Marvellous to tell, even to this present day there appear the marks of those ten little fingers of his, inserted right down to the roots in the marble column; in the place of which holy Arculf inserted his own ten fingers, likewise entering right down to the roots. The blood, too, of the horse of that same little fellow—whose haunch was broken into two parts as it fell dead upon the pavement—could in no way be washed away or wiped out, but that same equine gore remains indelible upon the pavement of the house even to our times.

Holy Arculf also imparted to us another sure account concerning the same George the confessor, which he learned without doubt from certain sufficiently fit narrators, who had themselves experienced it, in the aforesaid city of Constantinople; who were accustomed to declare concerning that holy confessor in this manner, saying: A certain worldly little fellow, sitting on a horse, entered the city of Diospolis at that time when many thousands of peoples were gathering together from all sides to make an expedition; approaching, he entered into the house in which stands the aforementioned marble column, having depicted on it the image of the holy confessor George; and to it, as though to George present in person, he began to speak, saying:

'To you, George the confessor, I commend both myself and my horse, that by the power of your prayers we may both, delivered from all the perils of wars and diseases and waters, return safe and sound to this city after the time of the expedition; and if the merciful God shall thus grant you a prosperous return for us according to the wish of our littleness, I will offer this my horse, which I greatly love, to be given to you as a gift, assigning it in the sight of your image.' When these little words were quickly ended, that little fellow, going out of the house, journeying among the multitude of the army with his other tent-companions, sets out in the company of the expedition; who, after many and diverse perils of war—amid which many thousands of wretched little men, set in the midst, had perished—he himself, sitting on that same beloved horse of his, delivered from all hostile mishaps according to the aforesaid commendation through the Christ-worshipper George, by God's gift returns prosperously to Diospolis; and carrying with him gold for the price of his horse, he gladly enters that house in which was the image of that same holy confessor, and addresses holy George as though present, saying:

'Holy confessor, I give thanks to the eternal God, who through the steadfastness of your exalted prayer brought me back safe. Therefore I bring you these twenty gold solidi as the price of my horse, which, at first commended to you, you have preserved for me unto this present day.' Saying this, he lays down the aforesaid weight of gold before the feet of the holy confessor's image, loving the horse more than the gold; and going outside, his act of kneeling finished, sitting upon that beast he urges it to depart—but in no way could it be moved. Seeing which, that little fellow dismounts from the horse, and returning enters the house, brings ten other solidi, saying:

'Holy confessor, you were indeed to me, a horseman, a gentle protector amid the perils of the expedition; yet, as I see, you are hard and grasping in the bargaining over the horse.' Saying this, adding ten upon the twenty solidi, he says to the holy confessor: 'And these solidi I add to you, that you may be appeased toward me and may release my horse to walk.' This said, going out, again mounting the horse, he urges it to move; but it stood as though fixed in that same place, nor could it move even one foot. What more?

After mounting and dismounting the horse four separate times, entering the house, bringing ten solidi with him each time, and returning to the immovable horse, again going back into the house, he ran here and there; and so long was that horse of his unable to be moved by any urging, until the number of gathered solidi reached sixty. Then thereafter, repeating the aforementioned speech concerning the holy confessor's gentle kindness and safe guardianship in the expedition, and concerning his apparent hardness and even greed in bargaining—which words, as is reported, he repeated on each of the four separate occasions on returning into the house—at the last he addresses holy George in this manner, saying:

'Holy confessor, now I know for certain your will. Therefore, according to what you desire, I offer you the whole weight of gold as a gift, namely sixty solidi, and also my horse; which I had first promised to bestow upon you after the expedition, now I bestow upon you—though it be bound with invisible bonds—but soon, as I believe, to be loosed through your honour in God.' When this speech was ended, going out of the house, at that same moment of the hour he found the horse loosed; and leading it with him into the house, he assigned it as a gift to the holy confessor in the sight of his image; and thence, rejoicing, magnifying Christ, he departed.

Hence it is plainly gathered that everything whatsoever that is consecrated to the Lord, whether it be a man or an animal, according to what is written in the book of Leviticus, can in no way be redeemed or changed. For if anyone shall have changed it, both that which was changed and that for which it was changed shall be sanctified to the Lord and shall not be redeemed. V. CONCERNING THE IMAGE OF SAINT MARY. The oft-mentioned Arculf also related to us, without doubt, a sure account concerning a panel-image of Saint Mary, the mother of the Lord, which he learned in the city of Constantinople from certain experienced witnesses, saying:

In that same metropolitan city, an image of blessed Mary, figured on a short wooden panel, hung suspended on the wall of a certain house; concerning which, when a certain stupid and hard-hearted man inquired whose likeness it was, he learned from one who answered that it was the likeness of the face of Saint Mary, ever-virgin.

'Hearing this, that unbelieving Jew, at the devil's instigation, in great wrath took down that same image from the wall and ran to a neighbouring house, where human excrement, discharged through the openings of long boards, is wont to be deposited beneath the bellies of those sitting there; and there, for the dishonouring of Christ born of Mary, he threw down her image through the opening upon the human excrement lying below, and himself, sitting over it, purging his belly through that same opening, voiding the dung of his own belly upon the panel of blessed Mary deposited a little before therein, acting most stupidly, poured it out; and after that most filthy purging of his belly, that most unhappy man departed.

But what he afterwards did, or how he lived, or what kind of end of life he had, remains unknown. Therefore, after the departure of that wicked man, another came—a fortunate man from the people of the Christians, zealous for the things of the Lord—who, knowing what had been done, sought out the image of Saint Mary, and finding it hidden among the human excrement, lifted it up, and carefully wiping it off and washing it, cleansed it with the purest waters, and kept it honourably placed in his house. Marvellous to tell, from that same panel of the image of blessed Mary there always distils a true bubbling oil, which Arculf, as he is wont to relate, beheld with his own eyes. This marvellous oil attests the honour of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, concerning whom the Father says:

'With my holy oil have I anointed him.' Likewise the psalmist speaks to the very Son of God, saying: 'God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' These things, then, which are above—concerning the site and condition of Constantinople, and also concerning that round church in which the saving wood is kept—and the rest, we have learned attentively from the mouth of the holy priest Arculf, who in that same chief city of the Roman empire remained from the Paschal solemnity until the Lord's Nativity, and afterwards, seeking Rome from thence, sailed away. VI. CONCERNING MOUNT VULCAN, WHICH ALWAYS THUNDERS.

A certain island is found in the great sea toward the eastern region, distant twelve miles from Sicily, in which Mount Vulcan thunders like thunder all days and nights, so greatly that the land of Sicily, set further off, is thought to be moved by a terrifying tremor; but it seems to thunder more on the sixth feria (Friday) and on the Sabbath (Saturday). At all times it is shown to flame by night, but to smoke by day. Arculf dictated these things to me as I wrote concerning that same mountain, he who beheld it with the gaze of his own eyes—fiery by night, smoky by day; and likewise he heard its thunderous sound with the hearing of his own ears in Sicily, while lodging there for several days.

I therefore beseech all, whosoever shall read these short little books, that on behalf of the same holy priest Arculf they may entreat the divine mercy—he who, as a frequenter of the holy places, most gladly dictated to us these proofs from those holy places—which I too, although placed amid the laborious and almost unsupportable occupations of ecclesiastical solicitude, crowded together from all sides the whole day long, have set forth in writing, however in poor speech. I therefore admonish the reader of these proofs not to neglect to entreat Christ, the judge of the ages, on behalf of me, a wretched little sinner, the scribbler of these same things.