The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick/The Life and Acts of St. Patrick/Chapter 121

The Prophecy of the Saint on a Certain Village.

And Saint Patrick went unto a certain village, near the island of Inchenn, and he found therein a place fitting for the erection of a church; the which when he had begun, a crowd of rustics issued from the village, and impeded the work. Then the saint, being filled of the spirit of prophecy, foretold unto them with the voice of truth, "Since ye have made yourselves a hindrance unto me, that I may not build a habitation to the Lord my God, never shall the smoke go out of the houses which ye or your generation shall build in this place." And the testified proof of the words of the saint even to this day evinceth its truth, for many have oftentimes begun to build houses there, but for the rudeness of these men never could they be finished.