Page:The most ancient lives of Saint Patrick - O'Leary.djvu/326



And he preached the word of God unto a certain great man, to whom it seemed that fire issuing from the mouth of the saint entered into his ears and mouth, and filled him internally with its heat. And this fire was not consuming, but illumining; not burning, but shining; as he who so experienced related unto the saint, saying, "I behold a flaming fire to issue from thy mouth, and penetrate my body and my inmost heart." Then to him the saint: "Our God is the true light illumining every man at his entrance into the world; our God, who came to send upon earth that fire which He desireth should burn in the hearts of the faithful: for the word of the Lord is bright, and his speech is as fire; whereof by my preaching hast thou had in thyself the proof."

There was a noble and beautiful damsel, named Memhessa, the daughter of a prince who reigned in a certain part of Britain. And she, being occupied with the grace of the Holy Spirit, through the virtue which is innate in a good disposition, and from the divers species of all created creatures, understood the Creator; and Him, being so understood, she affected with all her heart and with all her soul; for the love and desire of the which affection she looked down on all the riches, and all the delights, and all the splendors, and all the charms of this world's glory, and she