CHAPTER CLXXVIII.

_The Soul of a Certain Sinner is by Saint Patrick freed from Demons._

And on a time a certain saint, named Kaennechus, saw in Hibernia troops

of demons passing along, armed with infernal instruments; whom having

adjured in the name of the Holy Trinity, he compelled to declare the

cause of their coming thither. And they, thus adjured, confessed,

though unwillingly, that they came to bear away the soul of a certain

most wicked sinner, who for his sins deserved to be carried into hell.

Then Kaennechus enjoined them in the name of the Lord to return unto

him, and to tell him what they had done. And after some hours had

passed, the demons returned with confusion, and declared that by the

power of Patrick they had lost their expected prey; for that this man

had in every year during his life celebrated with a great feast the

festival of Saint Patrick, and had every day repeated certain chapters

of the hymn which had been composed in his honor; and therefore, they

said, had Saint Patrick snatched him from their hands, as his own

proper right. Thus saying, the demons vanished into thin air; and

Kaennechus rejoiced in these things, and by the relation excited many

unto the frequent repetition of this hymn in honor of Saint Patrick.

The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick Including the Life by Jocelin, Hitherto Unpublished in America, and His Extant Writings · 第 178 / 196 章