Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/259

 and sung  this  psalm  with  exceeding  joy,

Ad te  leuaui  oculos  meos,  qui  hahitas  in  celis,  et  cetera.     That is  in  English,

'To Thee  I  lift  up  mine  eyes,  O Lord,

Thou that    dwellest   in    the    heavens,'  and   they  sung  the   whole psalm.

Lo, then! at midnight   came  the  Almighty  Lord

from the  high  heaven,  and  visited  His  saints,

and spake  these  words  that  are  here  written:

'He who  truly  believeth  on  the  living  Father,

and on  His  only-begotten  Son,  and  on  the  Holy  Ghost,

though he  be  dead,  nevertheless  he  shall  live;

be heartened,  and  be  Jiot  afraid  of  the  torments  of  the  heathen,

which are  but  transitory;  be  patient  for  this  while,

that ye  may  be  crowned  with  glory  in  the  eternal  world.'

Then the  saints  continued  watching  until  morning

in heavenly  bliss,  through  the  Saviour's  coming.

Then in  the  morning  the  magistrate  bade  fetch  them,

and they  all  said  as  if  with  one  mouth,

'Do now  by  us  that  which  the  Lord  will.'

Then came  also  the  devil,  and  had  a  serpent  in  one  hand

and a  sword  in  the  other,  thus  saying  to  the  judge,

'Thou art  my  own,  begin  now  right  well;'

as if  he  had  said,  '  Overcome  these  Christians

through sharp  tortures  that  they  may  submit  to  me.'

Then it  came  to   [the   minds   of]   the  persecutors,  in  their   evil thought,

that they  would  lead  God's  saints  in  heavy  chains

to a  broad  mere  with  ignominous  taunts.

At that  time  there  was  a  very  severe  winter,

and the  foresaid  mere  was  covered  over  with  ice,

and the  winterly  wind  raged  as  well  as  the  frost.

Then the  heathens  shoved  the  saints  into  the  mere,

into the  middle  of  the  ice,  all  unclothed,

and set  vigilant  men  for  warders  over  them,

that none  of  them  might  escape  by  flight.