Letter on the Conversion of the Jews

To the most holy and most blessed lords, bishops, presbyters, deacons, and to the whole brotherhood of the entire world, Severus, bishop, in need of the mercy of God and the least of all, in Christ our Redeemer, eternal salvation.

Since the archangel Raphael admonishes that it is honorable that the works of God be revealed and confessed, surely to be silent about or to conceal the works of Christ is dangerous: yet in recounting them, the grace is greater if they are related in common and simple speech. For the most beautiful comeliness of virtue is in a certain way concealed, if it be surrounded and painted with too abundant eloquence. Wherefore I too undertake to relate the great deeds which Christ has wrought among us, not with a composed, but with a truthful discourse. The island of Minorca is one of the Balearic Islands, whose name is well known to all peoples, even in the writings of secular authors. This island, situated between Mauritania Caesariensis and Spain, at almost the midpoint of the sea, is enclosed within quite narrow bounds, having a length of thirty and a breadth of three thousand paces.

I have now mentioned this so that it might be recognized that things contemptible in the world are chosen by the Lord not only among men, but also among places. In this island, then, which is the last of all lands in smallness, aridity, and roughness, there are two small towns, given names by the Phoenicians, founded facing each other in the region: Jammona looks toward the West, Magona toward the East. In these, upon me, the last of all mortals, the burden of priestly office has recently been imposed. But Jammona still retains even now an ancient gift from God, that Jews are by no means able to dwell in it. For antiquity relates that many who rashly dared to attempt this were either overtaken by illness, or repelled, or slain by sudden death, or even struck down by lightning: so much so that the widespread fame of this matter has instilled fear even in the Jews themselves, that they should not rashly dare it further.

Nor do we consider this unworthy of belief, since we see that wolves and foxes and all harmful animals are lacking there as well: whereas there is a great abundance of those wild creatures which are good for eating. This too is even more wondrous, that there are very many snakes and scorpions, but they have entirely lost the violence to harm. Since, then, no Jew, who by ferocity and wickedness are rightly compared to wolves and foxes, dares to approach Jammona even by right of hospitality: Magona alone, as it were, was seething (as was said) with snakes and scorpions, so that the Church of Christ was daily bitten by them. But that ancient carnal benefit has recently been renewed for us spiritually; so that that generation of vipers, which raged with venomous bites, suddenly compelled by divine power, cast off that deadly poison of unbelief.

For in almost those very days in which I attained, though unworthy, the name of so great a priesthood: a certain presbyter of outstanding sanctity, coming from Jerusalem, tarried at Magona not a long time, who, after he was unable to cross over to Spain, as he desired, resolved to return again to Africa. Then, since he had determined to carry to Spain the relics of blessed Stephen, which had lately been revealed: these he placed, doubtless at the martyr's inspiration, in the church of the aforementioned town. Which done, at once that fire, which the Lord came to send upon the earth, and which He greatly desires to burn, was kindled by his charity. At once indeed our lukewarmness grew hot, and our heart was made burning on the way. For then that zeal was already burning in faith, then it was raised up by the hope of saving the multitude.

Finally, at once even the offices of ordinary greeting were cut off, and not only was the custom of familiarity torn apart, but even the harmful form of inveterate affection was turned to temporal hatred, but for the love of eternal salvation. In every square battles of the law were waged against the Jews, in every house conflicts of faith were carried on.

The Jewish people relied especially upon the authority and power of a certain Theodorus, who was outstanding not only among the Jews, but also among the Christians of the same town, both in intellect and in worldly honor: for among them he was a teacher of the law, and (to use their own word) a father of fathers; while in the city he had already discharged all the duties of the Curia, and had already been Defender, and now held the patronage of the municipium.

The Christians, however, though humble both in heart and in strength, but superior in the strength of truth, besought the patronage of the patron Stephen: until both armies, having already agreed upon a day of contest, then parted with a truce granted, the Jews greatly expecting this, namely that Theodorus, upon whose strength the whole synagogue leaned, should return from the island of Majorca, to which he had by chance gone for the purpose of selling a property. He indeed, as soon as an embassy was sent to him, returning, terrified many by his authority, but did not extinguish, only lulled the fire of contention: for straightway it blazed up with greater violence, and the flame of faith seized upon the neighboring town as well. And that this saying of Solomon might be fulfilled: "A brother helping a brother shall be exalted like a strong and lofty city"; many servants of Christ resolved, in no way refusing the labor of the journey, to devote all the strength of their spirit to this war.

While then the battle hung in the balance, what manner of weapons we prepared is shown by the memorandum appended to this letter; which indeed we did not wish to publish for the instruction of certain persons (since we ourselves are utterly in need of it, and rather hope for it from your blessedness), but so that it might be observed that we undertook no small concern, according to the measure of our capacity, in the contest we had taken up; but that Christ, whose kingdom is not in speech but in power, while we uttered not even a word, accomplished everything by His own strength, and granted to His army, without any sweat of struggle, this victory, which no one dared even to wish for, or was able to hope for. The Jews, then, exhorting themselves by the examples of the time of the Maccabees, desired even death in defense of their laws.

And so they began not only to turn over their books, but also to bring to the synagogue stakes, sticks, javelins, and every kind of weapon, so that they might repel the battle-line of the Christians, fortified by the power of the Holy Spirit, even by bodily strength, should the matter require it.

Meanwhile, while these preparations were being made, and the coming war was being organized on both sides with great zeal: both armies were stirred on either side by indescribable and most complete dreams: of which, if I made absolutely no mention, I should seem to have covered over no small part of the divine glory. For thus Luke inserted into sacred history the dream of St. Paul the Apostle, saying that a Macedonian man stood before him in a vision of the night, beseeching that he be helped by him; and that the Apostle, forewarned by this vision, turned the course of a journey destined elsewhere toward Macedonia. How much greater, then, is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He deigned to reveal this to the least and most unworthy servants, which the Scripture was unwilling to conceal even when shown to the blessed Apostle! Therefore, for the sake of brevity, lest weariness perhaps be produced in your blessedness, I shall insert only two dreams.

Among us there is a certain devout and most religious woman, named Theodora, who, both by virginity of body and by the devotion of her purpose, and by the interpretation of her name, would deserve to bear the type of the Church; she saw in a vision of the night a most noble widow send to me, who serve as priest not through merit, but through the generosity of a divine gift, letters delivered by herself, in which she suppliantly offered to me all her fields for sowing. By a similar dream she was also deemed worthy to gird and admonish even me, the least of sinners, for sowing. For another certain most noble widow, who without doubt bore the likeness of the synagogue, was beseeching me to take up her uncultivated fields, and diligently to till them when the time of sowing pressed. But who is this other noble widow, except she who, by impiously destroying Christ, most cruelly widowed herself? This dream of both is one and the same.

It is clear that we saw it about thirty days before it was fulfilled, and that, although we did not know its solution, we nevertheless made it known to the brethren.

Among the Jews too, by a wondrous order of divine dispensation, so that the association of the name Theodorus and of my office might coincide in one man, Theodorus, who was the high priest of the faithless people, made known the dream he had seen, not only to the Jews, but also to a certain kinswoman, a leading matron of that same city, and to many other Christians as well, a good while before it was fulfilled, in these words: "As I was going," he said, "into the synagogue, twelve men met me with outstretched hands, saying: Where are you going? A lion is there.

When, therefore, upon hearing the name of the lion, I began to tremble; yet while I prepared my flight, I found a place from which to look in, and I saw monks there singing psalms with wondrous sweetness: still greater terror was added to me; and had I not entered the house of a certain man named Ruben, and thence flown in headlong course to a kinswoman who was a mother, I should by no means have escaped the peril of that deadly terror. She, cherishing me, half-lifeless, in her bosom, delivered me alike from the danger and from the fear." This dream of his is very clear, and needs no interpretation. For who is the lion, but He of the tribe of Judah, the root of David? Who is that kinswoman, but she of whom it is written: "One is my kinswoman"?

This alone, then, seemed obscure, that he entered the house of Ruben the Jew, when terrified by the lion: which indeed was afterwards most clearly explained to us by that very lion, who terrified in order to save; which we shall explain hereafter in its proper place. Now, however, I shall pursue the order of the matter I have begun.

From the city of Jammona, for the setting-out of the servants of Christ, a multitude gathered which was thought to reside in that very town: and they completed the labor of so difficult a journey with such eagerness, that they flew over the thirty miles more joyfully than if they had been invited to some most pleasant suburb for a banquet. And so we arrived at Magona. At once I, having sent clerics, announced my arrival to the Jews, and asked that they deign to come to the holy Church. But they, sending back an unexpected message to us, had ordered that it was not fitting for them to enter the church on that same day (lest, I suppose, they be polluted): for it was the day of the Sabbath, whose festivity they had themselves already corrupted by their actions.

Again I asked that they should await me at the synagogue instead, if they preferred, since entering the church seemed to them pollution: that we by no means compelled them, on the day of the Sabbath feast, to servile labor; but that a most honorable debate concerning the law would follow, and that quarrels should not be stirred up nor idle tales mixed in; or, if they did not cunningly flee the contest, and offered a plain excuse, let them show the precept forbidding speech to be exchanged on that day. When to this they had, in every respect, returned the most obstinate contradiction, at length, compelled by the terror of that lion, they flocked to the house in which I had taken lodging. There I said: I beg you, brothers, why have you gathered heaps of stones and every kind of weapon, as though against robbers, especially in a city subject to Roman laws? Do we desire to gain, do you desire to destroy?

It is not (as I judge) fair that we should labor against one another in so varied a strife: but you (as I see) thirst for our blood, while we thirst for your salvation.

At this they, somewhat terrified, denied the deed: our people affirming that it was so, they still resisted even under oath. Then I, to cut through the knot of the contention begun, said: Where the matter can be proved by the eyes, what need is there of an oath? Let us go, then, to the synagogue, and whether your assertion rests on fault or on truth will be proved, with you yourselves as witnesses.

We began, then, to proceed to the synagogue, and sang a hymn to Christ through the square out of the joy of the multitude: and the psalm which was chanted with wondrous delight even by the Jewish crowds was this: "Their memory has perished with a crash, and the Lord remains forever." But before we reached the synagogue, certain Jewish women (by God's ordering, I believe), presuming boldness, so that the gentleness of our people might be provoked, began to hurl the most enormous stones down upon us from a higher place: which (wondrous to relate), though they fell like hail upon the most crowded multitude, harmed none of our people, not even by touch, let alone by a blow.

At this, that terrible lion, now enraged, took away a little of his gentleness: for all of them, though we cried out against it, seized stones, and, setting aside the admonition of their pastor, since one single resolve, suggested rather by zeal for Christ than by anger, urged them all, they judged that the wolves should be met with horns; although no one doubts that this was done by the will of Him who alone is the good shepherd. Finally, lest he seem to have granted a bloody victory to his flock, no one of the Jews so much as pretended to have been struck, not even out of envy (as is customary). Indeed, since we ought in every way to avoid falsehood, one was found, out of the whole number of Christians, who, wishing to be like that Achan, who under Joshua son of Nun coveted the spoils of the thing accursed: for the servant of a certain Christian, alone, while desiring to snatch something from the synagogue, struck against the stone of stumbling.

But one of our own, as though against a Jew, threw a stone; which, striking him on the head, admonished him to remember his head, that is, Christ: which wound, although it was not dangerous, nevertheless compelled him to confess his desire for plunder, and by the immediate punishment terrified all others lest they fall in like manner.

Therefore after the Jews had yielded and he had taken possession of the synagogue, no one from our number took anything, I do not say stole, but did not even think of plundering: fire consumed all its ornaments, together with the wall itself, except for the books and the silver: the holy books, lest they suffer injury among the Jews, we removed; the silver, however, lest they complain either of plunder by us, or of loss from their own goods, we returned to them. So, with the synagogue overthrown, while all the Jews stood stupefied, we proceeded to the church with hymns; and giving thanks to the author of our victory, we poured out prayers, beseeching that the Lord would storm the true dens of perfidy, and that the unbelief of darkened hearts might be convicted by the light.

A certain Jew named Ruben was chosen by the Lord, that he might be made the firstborn of all: for, rejoicing the hearts of many with a most holy cry, he begged to be freed from the bonds of Jewish superstition; and immediately, made a firstborn like Jacob, he received the sign of salvation; and thereafter clinging to our sides and counsels, he joined with us in rebuking the most obstinate hardness of all the rest. Three days (if I am not mistaken) had passed, during which our people persisted in prayer, and the Jews in their perfidy. After this Theodorus came, surrounded by a throng of his multitude, to the place where alone the walls of the synagogue (which were afterward, when the Jews believed, thrown down) still seemed to stand; to which place a multitude of Christians likewise gathered. There Theodorus, boldly discoursing about the Law, was mocking and twisting everything that was objected to him; the Christian people, seeing that he could not be overcome by human words, implored help from heaven.

So all together, crying out with the utmost roar of unified voice, said: Theodore, believe in Christ. By the wondrous mercy of our most indulgent Lord, small things were still being asked, and He had already granted greater ones. Indeed it is no wonder concerning the Almighty that a miracle should occur. For He Himself changed the force of this cry in the ears of the Jews, He who once caused the four lepers to take possession of the camp of the king of Syria who had besieged Samaria, and who through Gideon threw the hosts of the Midianites into confusion, and gave to his three hundred men a mighty victory without labor, causing through terror that the multitude of enemies should be laid low by mutual wounds.

So also now this cry was received by the Jews standing around in a manner far different from that in which it was sent forth by our people: for all of them thought it was said, "Theodorus has believed." And so, thinking that the prince of their perfidy had been converted to the faith of Christ, all together, trembling, were terrified where there was no cause for fear: their women, with hair disheveled, running to meet them with a savage wailing, accused the name of Theodorus with repeated cries, saying: O Theodore, what have you done? But the men, some fled to remote glens and clefts of the mountains; others ran through the very alleys of the town, eager to find a place in which to hide.

Theodorus himself, struck with astonishment, saw the divine sentence being fulfilled among his own people. The impious man fled, with no one pursuing him—and yet not with no one: for that terrible lion was pursuing them, who from the site of the synagogue (as had been revealed to Theodore) had, through the monks, sent forth a roar, by which he made his resisting enemies tremble. Theodorus therefore stood in the very same place where formerly, in a dream, the terror of the lion had been cast upon him; and when he inquired the cause of such great trembling, and heard only the name of our lion, seeing there no ferocity (as had been reported), he beheld only monks chanting psalms; and, forsaken by the whole multitude of his own people, and preparing himself to slip away, he too was looking about for a path for his feet.

When the most holy Ruben saw him seized with horrible dread, deprived not only of the color of his face but even of the use of his voice, he quickly approached, and, addressing him with a gentle word as he trembled, urged him to the faith of Christ; and, offering him, in support, the example of his own belief brought on by fear, seemed to answer, in a manner, for the figure of the house to which he had fled in terror of the lion.

But, that we may relate everything faithfully, and that you, who seek not ornament of speech but truth, may listen the more gladly: I shall set down Ruben's own words, taking nothing away from the simplicity of what he said. For he said: What do you fear, lord Theodore? If you truly wish to be secure and rich, believe in Christ, as I too have believed. Now you stand, and I sit with the bishops; if you will believe, you too will sit, and I will stand before you. Theodorus, receiving these words deep in his mind, said to us: I will do what you wish; hold, he said, to this promise. But allow me first to address my people, so that I may gain a greater reward for my conversion also from the rest.

This pledge of his was received with inexpressible rejoicing on the part of all: some rushing upon him affectionately, caressed his face and neck; others embraced him with soft arms; others were eager to join right hand to right hand, and to engage in conversation.

Theodorus then proceeded to his own courtyard, joyful because of every kindness shown him by our people, yet not entirely free of anxiety. For although he was already coming, by his own promise, into Ruben's house, his entering was even then still fearful, because he had not yet come to his kinswoman, who after three days received him into her maternal bosom, and freed him from all disturbance of trembling. We, however, proceeded to the church with hymns as usual. Blessed be the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, who gave water to our head, and to our eyes a fountain of tears, that we might weep for the wounded of our people.

When the mysteries had been completed, going out of the church, we saw that no small multitude of Jews had gathered to meet us. All with one accord begged that they might receive the character of Christ from me, unworthy pastor though I am. Returning therefore to the church, and giving thanks to the Lord with our whole heart, we forthwith traced the sign of salvation upon their foreheads. But as for what was done by the power of Christ among those who had fled to the woods or to caves, what tongue shall tell? Especially since each one of them has his own particular story of conversion. As therefore it is impossible for us to tell everything, so it would be thankless to pass over everything. Wherefore I shall unfold, aided by your prayers, one miracle of Christ, which we learned then from faithful and most trustworthy men.

Two leading men among the Jews, Meletius, brother of Theodore, and Innocentius, who, having recently fled the disaster of the Spains, had come with his household to this island (as they themselves now even confirm with the terrible interposition of oaths), came together to a certain cave, or rather a crag, joining themselves to two other Jews of humble origin, who had chosen these two as leaders of their common flight. When, therefore, they had sat down there a little while, trembling and out of breath, they sent back the two who were young and bold, to the town, to reconnoiter, and were left alone there. Then Meletius first said: What is it, brother, that I cannot tear from my heart this word, which (as our religion teaches) is blasphemous? For ever since the Christian people cried out that my brother had been converted, nothing else is suggested to my heart, except this word, utterly unknown to me until this day: CHRIST, In thy name.

The more I strive to drive this from my mind, the more violently and tenaciously it clings. To this Innocentius said: Not without cause, I think, is this word, which your heart (as is most well attested among all) never before thought or ever uttered, inserted so violently, as you say, into your mind; I believe this to be from God. Nevertheless strive, I beg you, and, these fancies set aside, drive off the intrusion of this troublesome thought.

Then Meletius began to make such an outcry, and to resound with confused clamors, that Innocentius perceived him wrestling with his own mind, not only by the movements of his face but even by the evidence of his whole body; and after he understood that this profited nothing at all, he added even this, that he uttered certain profane and shameful words, and now, with wrinkled nostrils, drawing in air, produced dishonorable noises, now burst into foul-smelling laughter: but this madness could not extinguish the name of Christ from his soul, because already the fire of health had pervaded all his marrow. What then, said he, brother Innocentius? These words are turned into their opposite: I cannot wring from myself the abolition of the name of Christ, neither by the scurrility of words, nor even by these obscene blasphemous sounds: rather, I feel something else given back to me, namely that the name of Christ, which I strive in vain to shut out from the ears of my heart, does not cease to press upon me with unceasing outcry.

To these words of Meletius, Innocentius replied thus: The Christian people have testified, in the hearing of these very ears, that your brother Theodorus, greater than you in learning, honor, and age, has been converted to the faith of Christ: can it happen, then, that you too, constrained by the example of your kinsman, should abandon the Jewish religion? Why then do we waste time longer in this terrible solitude? How long shall we be able to endure by laboring even amid want of food? What reason is there that we should waste away with hunger, dry up with thirst, grow stiff with cold? And at last (which we already suffer) be held fast in the horrible silence of this solitude of ours? Do we flee the chains of robbers, do we flee the swords of barbarians? Does so great and merciful a people, whom we have seen weeping for our sake, desire our blood?

Let us recall, I beg you, whom we have ever harmed by our violence, or at least done wrong to; let us return to enemies whom we have injured in nothing, and let what pleases God be done. To this Meletius replied: I think you, brother Innocentius, whom I know to be learned not only in Latin but also in Greek letters, and to meditate continually on the Law, have forgotten what the Lord says through the prophet Ezekiel: The soul that sins, it shall die. If you have read this, why do you suppose that I can be drawn to the faith of Christ by my brother Theodorus's example? He has his own soul, and so his own sin: which sin, indeed, will not harm me, if I do not abandon the Lord God.

I call to witness Him who led our fathers out of the land of Egypt, that, were it not for the violence of winter, I should wish, snatching whatever ship, to migrate alone to whatever lands; nor would love of possessions, nor affection of ties, hold me back, the loss of which is easy for me; only let me not be compelled to deny the God of my fathers. As for your counsel, unprofitable, that we should return to the city: I marvel that you, a most prudent man, do not foresee in your mind what you judge will become of us, if Theodorus, the pillar of our synagogue, in whom we placed all our trust, has been compelled to apostatize.

This therefore is the sounder course, that we go to my field, and thrust ourselves no further before the eyes of the Christians: for we can hide there meanwhile, until at an opportune time we may migrate to foreign parts; since in this island hatred for our religion has grown among all, so that whoever has not left his homeland cannot hold to the faith of his fathers. Why then should we not undertake a voluntary exile, to which (as the matter shows) we are destined by the hatreds of our fellow citizens, even if we do not wish it? With this counsel, then, the resolve of both being confirmed, they took up the labor of the journey they had determined on. But while they were entering upon a very narrow path, the darkness of their thoughts blinding the light of their eyes, they lost the very track which they were following, and remained in deserted and pathless places.

And when they were torn by thorns, or hemmed in by crags, after they had disfigured their bodies with long wounds, they came first to such great anxiety, then even to despair and dread, that they were compelled to confess that they were suffering this by the just judgment of God on account of their unbelief. Therefore, invoking the name of Christ, which before they had rejected even as it thrust itself upon them of its own accord, now with their legs torn, they seized upon the path which, against their will and purpose, drew them back to the town: but when they had come to the city, unwilling and trembling, and had inquired more closely into everything, they heard that Theodore was even now still a Jew, and had suffered no violence from the Christian people, as they had supposed.

Astonished, and not believing what had befallen them, they directed their steps to Theodorus's house: where, when he had received them, the meal being now nearly finished, he at once inquired the reason why they had departed from him and from the city; and he learned the whole course of what had happened, more with laughter than with wonder.

After three days, when Theodorus was arranging to address his people and to invite them to the faith of Christ, he endured, of those who offered themselves of their own accord to the confession of Christ, even the uproar of the Jews. For there was scarcely anyone among them who did not openly attest that he had felt the power of Christ. For first, in their council, a certain young man, a cousin of Theodorus himself, by name Galilaeus—so that, as has been said, the mystery might be carried through to the end even in the fitting of names to the matter accomplished—began, with great envy, to cry out thus: I call you all to witness, said he, that I cannot remain in possession of Judaism; since I have among the Christians kinsmen, by whose hatred, if I should wish to persist in Judaism, I am perhaps likely to be destroyed.

I therefore, taking counsel for the danger to my life, will now go to the church, that I may escape the death that is being prepared for me. This Galilaeus said while preparing himself for flight at the time, as if to seem to give the reasons for his conversion, thinking nothing then of the death of the age to come, and unknowingly speaking the truth. To this speech, a man of honorable rank, and eminent not only among the Jews but even in the city, to such a degree that even now he has been chosen Defender of the city—Caecilianus—almost in passing, bore witness that Galilaeus spoke the truth, and that he himself had a like cause and feared like things: by which words he added such confidence to the aforementioned young man, that in the sight of all, with the swiftest course, he ran to the aid of our Galilaeus to obtain the prize of faith, and sought from our lowliness to be reckoned by his name thenceforth.

But Caecilianus, since he was a father of the Jews, having taken counsel with his brother Florinus, likewise an elder father of the Jews, addressed the synagogue with words such as these (as we have learned): I, said he, since I hold rank in the synagogue next after Theodorus, do not, like the young Galilaeus, consult and call all to witness as though trembling; but rather I exhort and admonish, declaring that, the error of the wicked path being abandoned, if it can be done, we should all together run alike to the faith of the Church.

But if so great a power does not draw you to Christ, I certainly, and my brother Florinus, since we cannot force so great a salvation upon you who refuse it, will, together with our whole household, abandon the mockeries of this religion, which we are unable to uphold, and will join ourselves to the number and faith of the Christians; who indeed would never fail to convince, by innumerable testimonies of the Scriptures, not only you, brother Theodorus, who seem more skilled than the rest, but even all of you, did they not follow the truth, which cannot be overcome. We have learned that Caecilianus addressed his people with such sentiment, and on the same day we received, with ineffable rejoicing, many of the Jews who ran together to the faith of Christ along with him.

Indeed, the prodigies which were then wrought from heaven, though I cannot approach speaking of them worthily, I do not dare to pass over in silence. About the seventh hour we began solemnly to celebrate the Lord's Mass: for while we were exhorting or enrolling those Jews who were coming to the faith of Christ (since indeed we wrote down their names), and the people, sated with the feasts of so great a joy, had no thought of bodily food, the greater part of the day had passed. When therefore, in the church which is situated in a somewhat secluded place a little way from the city, in which the relics of the holy martyr Stephen, recently deposited, now rest, the whole people together with us were awaiting the Mass; two monks indeed, whom the Lord had chosen beforehand as witnesses of his miracles, were reclining upon the grass in the field that stretches before the doors of the church.

But a man of rank, named Julius, going with a certain other man from the city toward the church, when he had begun to pass by them, was answered by one of the monks (a wondrous sign having been seen), and, disturbed, uttered a confused cry; and turning to himself, with hand outstretched, he showed what he saw, which he could not explain in words. It was a certain globe of most brilliant light, in height about equal to the stature of a man, in the manner of those vessels commonly called Orcae (jars), and of such brightness and splendor that it seemed to the brother who first noticed it (as we learned from his own account) that the sun itself seemed to be falling.

As it appeared to them, it was let down, as it were across the basilica in which the whole people sat together with us, in a slow descent; but he had thought it so near that the same brother, seized with astonishment, rushed forward at a run, thinking it had fallen behind the basilica; but, held back by that brother, he checked his step: for the other, though it had seemed the same way to him too, maintained, not as though certain, but as conjecturing, that it had been farther off. But certain Jewish women then, among whom was the wife of that Meletius mentioned above, watching from an upper room, affirmed that it had seemed to them as if it had fallen upon the basilica itself. But whether what was seen was an Angel, or Stephen himself, remains uncertain.

On the same day, at about the fourth hour, that is, a little before this sign was displayed, a very fine hail, which the inhabitants of that island call in their native tongue Abgistinum, fell down, not everywhere in abundance: this, when a scent of honey began to breathe forth from it, was tasted by many whom it had struck along the way, and was found sweeter than honey. Many wise men, therefore, when on that same day they saw the sons of Israel going forth from Egypt, from their unbelief and from bondage, compared these things that had happened to those signs which we read in Exodus, believing that manna was being renewed for this people, who, gazing upon God with believing heart, deserved even the very name of Israel: they judged also that the pillar of fire, which went before the fathers in the wilderness, had been shown in order to provide guidance unto life also for the sons who had gone forth from a true Egypt and iron furnace.

And indeed the likeness of the signs is by no means at variance. For that which we believed to have been snow was equal to the seed of small coriander, and bore the taste of honey: and it is manifest that this which appeared had the appearance of a pillar of fire. We know moreover that both signs were revealed also to the brethren dwelling at Jammona: for many, to whom the understanding to inquire and the ability to recognize by taste were given, tested the rain of honey: and the pillar of that most brilliant light presented itself to the sight of many whom the Lord judged worthy. Whence it is given to be understood that the Jews throughout the whole world are to be visited by the light of the faith: since indeed so great a splendor of heavenly grace shone upon us, who dwell in this island and in this little (so to speak) world, that the sight of the signs reached even to the farthest bounds of your land.

On the following day, therefore, the utmost expectation of all urged that Theodorus should fulfill his promise: he, believing (as it seemed) with just pleas that the wishes of all should be deferred, saying that he wished first to bring hither his wife, whom he had left on the island of Majorca, lest perhaps, if she should learn that her husband had been converted without her consent (as often happens), her obstinate unbelief, being especially deranged by the persuasion and counsels of her mother, who still survived, might depart from union with her husband in matters of religion. When Theodorus had disclosed this to the Christians, who were now acquiescing, while the Jews who had been converted resisted with the sharpest agitation, the delay of postponement being cut off, he himself joyfully flew, as he had seen in his sleep, into the bosom of his kinswoman mother. After him the whole synagogue, as if an obstacle had been removed, flowed together to the Church.

Wondrous to tell, those doctors hardened in that old law believed without any dispute of words, without any contest of Scriptures; being asked only whether they wished to receive the faith of Christ, they professed that they believed in Christ, and desired to become Christians. A certain man, having, as they assert, a hundred and two years of age and of his unbelief, without the threat of three words, cheerful in hope of the life to come, decrepit as he was, expressed the wish that at the end of his days he might return through the faith of Christ to spiritual infancy; and he presented to us his limbs, already decayed by old age, that they might as quickly as possible be regenerated through baptism. There were certain Jews who, passing through, having put in there, were watching for the opportunity of time and of the winds: these, when opportunity for sailing was granted, preferred to believe.

Only three women, however, but of the noblest of the Jews, did Christ permit for a little while to remain in the hardness of their unbelief, for the enlarging of the glory of His power. Artemisia, the daughter of Lectorius, who lately governed this province, and is now said to be a count, being moved by the conversion of Meletius's wife, leaving her husband's house with almost one friend and nurse and a few maidservants, forgetting feminine weakness, made her way to a certain cave, situated indeed in a vineyard, but in a somewhat more remote spot. In it there was a small and new wine-press, and a newly made vat which seemed in some manner to bear the figure of the believing people: for we believe and see that these have received the new wine of the New Testament not like old wineskins, but like new vats.

In that place, then, when the matron, offended with her husband, had remained inexorable for two days; as soon as the third day dawned, she ordered her maid to draw water: when she perceived that it gave back the sweetness of honey in scent and taste, at first indeed she began to be angry with the servant, and indignantly demanded why she had put honey into the same pitcher; but afterward, in order to convict her, as it were, of denial, she went to the vat, from which, drawing a little with her cupped hands, she found the water, which she had used for two days, changed into the sweetness of most delightful honey. Calling together, therefore, all who were present, she asked them to taste, lest perhaps a deceptive flavor should feign the sweetness only in her own mouth. All who tasted were affected with wonderful delight, so that they judged it not water anointed with the taste of honey, but the purest honey, having only the appearance of water.

Struck with amazement, therefore, while they were preparing to return to the city, acting more curiously, they found even the dew which was on very many of the plants, when tasted, to be similar. The aforementioned matron, then, going to the city, related these things to her husband, and through him made them known to all; and immediately consented without resistance to the faith of Christ. But on that same day on which the wife of Meletius was compelled by honey to cast off the bitterness of unbelief—on that same day, I say, on which the aforesaid daughter of Israel, as if placed in the desert, perceived that ancient lake of Marah, with the wood of the Cross cast into it, become sweet: so wondrously and truly with a heavenly fragrance did the whole Church breathe, that almost the entire brotherhood felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, which even before we had felt a few times, but very few of us.

And this was wondrous to all, that during those same days, while the weather remained almost continually clear, very frequent showers were sent down, and rain preceded the Jews gradually coming to the faith of Christ: so that, noticing this, we would commonly say among ourselves, almost jokingly: Behold, it is now raining; know that some Jews are about to come to the faith of Christ. Wondrous to tell, frequently, while we were still saying such things, the door of the faith was being knocked upon by certain Jews; and not without reason, as it is written: The Lord shall set apart the voluntary rain for His inheritance. There were, however, above all, women who refused to run after the fragrance of Christ's ointments.

The wife of that Innocentius, of whom we have made mention above, a venerable widow, as the report goes, with her offspring, as soon as she saw that Innocentius, her sister's husband, had been converted, boarded a ship, not only with our permission, but even at our urging; because she could not be bent to the faith of Christ either by words or by miracles. But the wife of Innocentius, for nearly four days, received with hardened ears the word of salvation which we were pressing upon her. When she, rejecting every remedy, was oppressed by the incurable sickness of unbelief, and could be moved by none of her husband Innocentius's threats, prayers, or tears; the whole multitude of the brotherhood, at Innocentius's request, gathered at the house in which she dwelt, feeling great grief of soul that one woman should stand in the way of so full a joy, since she was now openly regarded as his sister.

When, therefore, for a long time we had pressed vain words upon deaf ears without any effect; we fled to the known aid of prayer, and turned to heavenly mercy the prayers which human impiety was rejecting. Thus, until nearly the third hour, the army of hymns and prayers labored in battle against Amalek the enemy, under Jesus our leader. Then, when we were almost (it must be confessed) despairing, and were preparing to give up; taking up our strength again, we appointed prayer to all; and, prostrate on the ground, we wept long: and when at the conclusion of the prayer the people had acclaimed, Amen, she added that she too believed, and wished to become a Christian. We, therefore, this woman also having been rescued from the snares of the devil, went joyfully back to our lodgings.

On the following day, that is, the eighth day since we had come to Jammona, we determined to return, bringing back the best joys of a glorious victory: but when we had already set out on the journey and were departing from the city, the Lord added to His people, as it were for a provision for the road, the joy which alone seemed to be lacking. For that widow, kinswoman of Innocentius, was brought back from the sea: she, suddenly throwing herself at my knees, begged with tears for the help of our faith. To whom I said: Woman, why did you wish, with such lightness of mind, to desert your brethren? To this she replied: Even Jonah the prophet wished to flee from the face of the Lord, and yet, though unwilling, he fulfilled the will of God. Receive, therefore, not only me, but also these orphans, and nurse them for Christ. And saying this piteously, she pressed her two little daughters upon me with weeping. Who did not weep for joy?

From whom did not the greatness of the gladness wring tears? I received plainly the sheep which we thought had strayed alone from the whole number; and with her twin offspring I called her back to the fold of Christ. Indeed, during these days, in which these things were done, before the beginning of Lent, the festival of Easter was celebrated by us: for it is established that five hundred and forty souls were added to the Church. Nor do I think it idle or superfluous, though I have omitted many things on account of their infinite abundance, to record at the end that no one out of so great a multitude of the Jammonensian people, who had come thirty miles some days before, preferred either the care of his house, or the provision of his substance, or the affection of desire, to this work.

This is more wondrous still, and more to be rejoiced at, that we now see that very land of the Jewish people, long barren, but now with the briars of unbelief cut away, and the seed of the word received, bringing forth manifold fruit of righteousness: so that we rejoice in the hope of such great new-broken fields, whence we have rooted out a notorious forest of unbelief, that there the most fertile works of faith are springing up. For first they themselves overturn the very foundations of the synagogue, then, for the building of a new basilica, they not only contribute expenses, but also carry stones on their shoulders. May your Beatitude know that this was begun on the fourth day before the Nones of February, by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and was accomplished within eight days from the same, after the eleventh consulate of lord Honorius, and Constantius being consul again.

Wherefore, if you deign to admit the word of an unworthy sinner, take up zeal for Christ against the Jews, but for the sake of God, and for their perpetual salvation. For perhaps that time already foretold by the Apostle has come, that, the fullness of the Gentiles having come in, all Israel may be saved. And perhaps the Lord willed this spark to be kindled from the end of the earth, that the whole world might blaze with the fire of charity.