Library › St Gregory of Tours › History of the Franks

History of the Franks

St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927

Book 6, 29. Of the Nuns in the Monastery of Poitiers

The envoys sent to Spain¹ returned without clear answer, because Leuvigild was still with the army, warring against his eldest son.²

In the monastery of the holy Radegund a certain girl named Disciola, niece of the blessed Salvius, bishop of Albi,³ died in the following manner. She had fallen ill, and the other sisters were nursing her, when the day came on which she should pass from the body. About the ninth hour, she said to the sisters: ‘Lo! now I feel myself made lighter; behold, I have no pain; now is no need more that with this tender care ye do me further service; leave me, rather, that I may more readily fall asleep.’ Hearing these words, the sisters withdrew awhile from her cell, but after a short time returned, and standing before her, waited to hear if she would say aught to them. But she spread out her hands, and asked a blessing from I know not whom, in these words: ‘Bless thou me, holy servant of the High God; to-day for the third time art thou troubled on my behoof. Wherefore, O holy one, endurest thou thus oft annoyance for the sake of a poor weak woman? ’ They asked her to whom she addressed these words, but she made them no reply. Then, after a short interval, she laughed out loud; and so gave up the ghost. And behold! a man possessed, who had come there to be healed for the glory of the blessed Cross, plucked his hair with his hands, and dashed himself against the ground, crying: ‘Alas, alas! woe to us who have suffered such loss! This soul should not have been thus snatched from us, and the chance denied us of seeking out evidence on our side.’ When those present asked him the meaning of his words, he answered: ‘Behold, the angel Michael hath taken this maiden’s soul, and himself now beareth it to the heavens. And our prince, whom ye call the Devil, hath no part in her.’ And later, those who washed her body told that it shone with a whiteness as of snow, so that the abbess could find in her store no linen that shone whiter. But she was wrapped in clean linen cloths, and committed to the grave.

Another nun of this monastery saw a vision which she related to the sisters. She said that she seemed to be making a journey, and longed as she walked that she might come to a living spring. And as she was without knowledge of the way, a certain man came towards her, who said: ‘If thou desirest to reach the living spring, I will guide thy steps.’ She thanked him, and followed him as he went before. So, walking on, they came to a great spring the waters of which gleamed like gold, while the grass shone as it were with the lively rays of various gems. And the man said to her: ‘Lo, here is the living spring that with so much toil thou hast sought. Drink thy fill of its streams, that it may become for thee a fount of living water springing to eternal life.’ But while she drank eagerly of the waters, the abbess came, who disrobed her and clothed her in royal apparel, so glittering with light and gold and jewels that it might scarce be conceived. And the abbess said: ‘It is thy spouse who sendeth thee these gifts.’ After seeing such a vision, the nun was moved to the heart, and a few days afterwards prayed the abbess that a cell might be prepared in which she might be shut up in solitude. So was it quickly done, and the abbess said: ‘Here is the cell prepared; what wouldst thou now?’ The nun asked permission to live as a recluse. Which being granted, all the virgins assembled with much chanting, having their lamps lighted; thus was the maid escorted to her place, the blessed Radegund herself leading her by the hand. So, bidding all farewell, and kissing each in turn, she was enclosed in her cell. The door by which she entered was filled in, and there she now devotes her days to holy reading and to prayer.

Previous · Contents · Next