De morte Scumandi.

The Conversion and Holy Death of Scumandus

Scumandus, once a fierce persecutor of the Church, is marvelously converted by divine grace and, on his deathbed, attributes his salvation to a single act of reverence toward a desecrated image of the Virgin and Child.

See what a remarkable conversion and turning by the right hand of the Most High: this Scumandus, who before had persecuted the church of God beyond all measure, has now become a zealot for the faith, a glorious leader of the Christian people.^✦ When he was drawing near to death, he was asked by Brother Conrad, a priest from Balga, how he had deserved such great grace in the faith of Christ from the Lord. He answered: I never did anything good before my conversion, except this one thing — that when unbelievers had desecrated the image of the blessed Virgin Mary and her Son in Poland, and had cut it in two, I lifted it from the ground and cleaned it with my garments, and placed it in a suitable place. After saying this, he fell asleep in the Lord, happy.^✦