Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 1.djvu/241

Rh ring, and the clasp of the sword-belt which usually begirt him, "Take charge of these vanities," said he, "for I abjure them; and as long as it shall please God, keep them in remembrance of me: may the Almighty guide us." He then provided a sum of money, and the same night embarked in a ship bound for Laodicea. From thence he proceeded to Edessa, a city of Syria. It was here that the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, wrought upon linen by supernatural hands, was preserved. On reaching this place he distributed whatever he had brought with him to the poor; and putting on a worn and tattered garment, joined himself to a number of mendicants who sat in the porch of the temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He now constantly solicited alms; but of all that he received, only the smallest portion was retained,—an unbounded charity leading him to bestow the residue upon his more needy, or more covetous brethren.

The father of Alexius, however, was