The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-04-06
LEGEyBS OF ST. PATRICK.
some Strange Stories or the Saint.

. l-4s- LlAE lO4-t ~ aAl- queer Stories.
a When st. Patrick was carried int
y slavery he was sold for a kettle: bu
K when this kettle was placed over tn
e fire the water in it refused to boil, an,
the hotter the fire became the c0lde
grew the kettle.
The owner Of this refractory pot, be
coming, after repeated trials, thor
z Oughly disheartened, took st. Patriel
\ back and restored the kettle, which
never afterward refused to fulfill it
: mission Of boiling.
,, st. Patrick's nurse being III ans
u longing for some honey, he is said [,
! have changed water into the sweetes
D honey for her. He also restored nj,
: fOster-father 10 life to assuage tn,
q grief of this same nurse.
: Those who find it hard to deny
! themselves the pleasures of the tabl,
and to fast in q becoming manner du
{ ring Lent, may find some consolation
{ in knowing that the good St. PatricE
: himself was not free from the sieknes:
! of mankind and could not control the
: primitive wickedness, which is sup,
{ posed to be inherited in all mankind
enough to abstain from the wish t
! ! eat meat. Accordingly, he secreted g
l piece of tempting pork, that he might
/. indulge himself in this dainty upon
the first favorable opportunity. st.
Patrick evidently inherited none OF
the Jewish superstition concerning
pork.
Scarcely, however, had he concealed
the meat, when he met a man who
had not only pair of eyes in the
front, but also pair in the back of
his head. ST. Patrick, amazed at the
singular appearance of this individual,
with his apparently supertluOus eyes,
inquired Of him why he was thus
formed. He received the following
significant reply: II am the SER
want Of God. With the eyes in my
, forehead / see things open to view;
with my eyes behind / see a monk
hiding flesh meat in a vessel to satisfy
his appetite privately.
Having thus spoken, the stranger
disappeared as suddenly as he came.
st. Patrick was overcome with sorrow
and repentance for his sin, and be-
sought heaven for a sign that he was
pardOned. An angel appearing, told
him to put the meat into the water,
which he did, and it Immediately be-
came transformed into fishes
/ Whoever shall meet q man who is
| bearded like 4 goat may strongly sus-
peet him to be a lineal descendant of
I shat unlucky wight who, having stO-
| len q goat from st. Patrick, was ae-
cused Of the theft, but stoutly denied
/ it. The goat, however, hearing its
/ of the thief ald thus betrayed him.
I ID. I,a1n-.I khnN Ill -
| descendants of this man should be
marked with goats beard.
The natives of Ireland seem at first
TO have been exceedingly 10th to re-
ceive the man who came to rescue
them from heathenism, since they en-
deavOred repeatedly to prevent him
from landing upon their shores. At
one time, the chief king of the island
had ordered his subjects to prevent
him from leaving the boat as it ap-
preached the land, and they sent a
fierce dog to attack him. But the dog
when about to attack the saint, sud-
denly stiffened and became like a
stone. Then a great giant brandished
his huge shillaleh at the saint, but he
also Jared the fate of the dog. Con-
vineed of the power of St. Patrick, the
giant repenJed, and being released
from mis- punishment was baptized in
the new faith.
There is a river in Ileinster county,
in Ireland, which never produces any
fish, and the people assign as reason
that once, when some fishermen were
hauling their nets laden with fish, st.
Patrick asked them for some, which
request was refused. The saint then
cursed them and the river also; so that
the fish are supposed to have died, or
to have fled in dismay, since they
have never been found in those waters
since.
Perhaps these fish may have betak-
en- themselves to that famous river
which st. Patrick once desired to
cross, and having no boat to convey
him, he prayed that the water should
separate, and the waters obeyed his
voice. and divided, leaving free pass
age for this saint and his followers.
Then, in gratitude, he blessed the riv-
er, and sit abOunded with fishes above
all Others" Or, these fishes may have
deserted the river for the dry land, and
| been those referred to in the following
account of St. Mel. This saint had
been maligned by enemies, bat wish
ing to prove his innocence to st. Pat
rick, he took a ploughshare and
plOughing the earth took up large
fishes from the ground. By this mir
acle he seems to have convinced st.
Patrick of his holiness, but he was
commanded thenceforth to "plOugh
on the land and fish in the water"
1t may be that the fountain of per-
petual youth gushes somewhere
among the green Lills of Ireland, since
long ago, when an old man refused to
be moved by the eloquent preaching
of st. Patrick, he was asked if he
could be convinced of the truth by a
miracle. The old man assented to
this, and Immediately he was restored
to his former youth, regaining all the
beauty and strength of his early days.
As such an unwonted blessing could
not fail to move any human heart,
this man became a ready convert.
In the old church of Edrum there is
a staff still preserved which is called
tine ''fiying-staff7' which has a marvel
Gus history.
Once when MOchua, who was an
humble swineherd who had been re-
deemed from paganism, was cOnvers-
ing with st. Patrick, this staff de-
scended from heaven and fell between
them. st. Patricl- gave the staff to
M0chu for a pastoral wand, and con-
secrated him Bishop of Edrum.
One of the most curious incidents
which is said to have occurred in the
I life of this illustriOus saint is that re-
lated of one FOylge, who was an idol
ater, and who strangled the driver of
| ST. Patrickis chariot. For this sin he
was cursed by st. Patrick, and pierced
I by the "holy curse" he fell dead into
hell. That is, his soul descended into
the Internal regions, but the devil
[ took possession of his Intenanted
| body and went about the streets as
/ though he were FOylge himself. This
continued for some time, until il
/ chanced one day that st. Patrick call
/ ed at FOylge's house, and inquired for
I him and was told that he was at home
But he, knowing that the man was
dead, informed his family of the fact,
and ordered the devil to leave his stO-
/ len body. Satan was obliged TO obey,
and the dead man was then buried.
/ No Christian in the time of this
| good saint was buried without hav-
/ ing the sacred cross placed at the head
of his grave; and once, when he came
to two graves, one Of which had a
headstOne and the other none, st. Pat
rick asked the dead man to what faith
he had belonged, and a voice replied
/ from the grave that he who lay be-
meath the cross had been a pagan,
while be who slept near him was a
Christian. Then St. Patrick took up
the cross and placed it over the Chris
tian's grave before he went his way.
Even faith in the virtues Of ST. Pat
! rick seem to have been Of much avail,
since we are told that once when his
nephew, st. LamanUs, wished to make
/ a voyage, notwithstanding that both
wind and tide were against him, he
!resoIutely set sail, trusting to the mer-
I its of his sainted relative to bear him
on. And 80 miracle till then un-
heard and unknown! the ship, with
out any pilot, sailed against wind, and
stream, and the voyage ended pros
! perOusiy."
As st. Patrick seems TO have gov
erned both the wind and waves, so
one night when he and his cOmpan-
ions were unsheltered during a heavy
storm Of rain they remained untCuch-
ed by a single drop.
1 Upon the same night the darkness