_Of the Holy Leper, of the New Fountain, of the Angelic Attendance, and
the Prophecy of Patrick thereon._
And Saint Patrick, induced by his holy custom, retained with him a
certain leper, unto whom with intent devotion he ministered all things
needful for the sake of Christ. Even with his own hands cleansed he
his sores, and refreshed in him either man with fitting food. For the
leper, the health of his body being almost destroyed, earnestly studied
to preserve the health of his soul, and was continually intent on
prayer and on rendering thanks unto God. But when wasted with his
leprosy, he feared lest he should become an offence unto all, and
privily and humbly he withdrew himself from society, and lived solitary
in a hollow tree that he by chance had found. And while he sat there
alone he beheld a certain man passing by, and he called the man unto
him, and asked him of his religion; whom, answering that he was a
Christian, he besought that for the love of Him in whom he believed he
would not delay to go unto the nearest place which was full of
bulrushes, and, pulling up the bulrushes by the roots, to bring unto
him a bundle thereof. And at his entreaty, or rather, at his
adjuration, the man went unto the place; he pulled up a bulrush, and
immediately a clear fountain burst forth; and he bore the bulrush unto
the leper, and related of the new fountain. Then the leper rejoiced
and gave thanks unto God, and said unto him: "Knowest thou not, most
dear brother, that our Lord Jesus Christ brought thee hither that thou
mayest wash my body in the water of that fountain, and bury me there?"
Thus the leper said, and, raising his eyes and his hands towards
heaven, he expired; and the man washed his body in the fountain, and
beheld no mark of leprosy thereon, and committed it without spot to the
sepulchre, and departed. And after some days Saint Munis, the devout
bearer of many relics of saints, was returning from Rome, and of
necessity abided there for one night. And in the silence of the
night-season he beheld a great light to cover the place, and he heard
angels hymning and watching even until the morn around the tomb of the
buried leper. And all these things reported he unto Saint Patrick,
saying that he wished to remove the body from that desert place. But
Saint Patrick forbade this to be done, foretelling that a certain son
of life, named Keranus, but as yet unborn, should there dwell, who
should fill that place with a worthy company of holy men, and exalt the
body of the saint with much honor. And what Patrick foretold in the
course of time came to pass; the place is between Midia and Connactia,
and therein is situated the city of Cluane, in which even to this day
is an episcopal seat.