The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick/The Life and Acts of St. Patrick/Chapter 35

Of the Death of Rius.

And Rius, being renewed outwardly in his body and inwardly in his spirit, brought with him his three brothers, and came with very many to be purified at the healing font. And after these things, Saint Patrick, observing him to be thoroughly freed from sin, and knowing how sin besets the slippery path of human life, inspired of the Holy Spirit, said unto him: "Choose, now, whether in this valley of tears, this world of tribulation and sorrow, shall thy years be prolonged, or whether, the misery of this life being instantly ended, thou wilt be carried up by the angels of light, and enter into the joy of the Lord thy God." But he, trusting that he should behold the mercies of the Lord in the land of eternal life, answered: "I choose, and I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ for ever, rather than to continue in the habitations of sinners." And he received the sacrament from the hands of the holy bishop, and, commending his spirit unto the Lord, he was brought unto eternal rest.