De sancto HBriccio
The Prophetic Warning
Saint Martin discerns the pride of his deacon Briccius and prophesies his future trials.
Briccius, a deacon of Saint Martin and a frequent follower of his example, often heaped insults upon the saint; for when a certain poor man was looking for Martin, Briccius said to him, "If you're looking for that madman, look over there—that's him, staring at the sky like a lunatic." After the poor man received what he had asked for from Martin, the holy man called Briccius over and asked, "Briccius, do I seem like a madman to you?" When Briccius, out of shame, denied having said it, Martin replied, "Weren't my ears right next to your mouth when you were saying that from a distance?" "I tell you the truth, I have obtained from the Lord that you will succeed me as bishop, but you should know that you'll suffer many hardships in that office." Hearing this, Briccius laughed it off. He said, "Didn't I tell you he was a madman?"
The Trial of Innocence
Bishop Briccius faces a scandal and proves his innocence through a miracle, yet suffers exile as foretold.
After Martin's death, Briccius was elected bishop; from then on, he devoted himself to prayer, and although he was still proud, he remained chaste in body. In the thirtieth year of his episcopate, however, a woman who dressed in religious habit and washed his clothes became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then the people gathered at his door with stones, saying, "Out of respect for Saint Martin, we have overlooked your immorality, but we can no longer kiss hands that are so polluted." Briccius, however, firmly denied it, saying, "Bring the infant to me." When the child was brought—he was thirty days old—Briccius said to him, "I adjure you by the Son of God to tell everyone here whether I am your father." He said, "You are not my father." But when the people insisted he ask who his father was, he replied, "That’s not my concern; I’ve done what was required of me." The people, however, attributed all of this to magic arts, saying, "You will never rule over us under the false name of a shepherd." Then, to prove his innocence, he carried burning coals all the way to the tomb of Saint Martin for everyone to see; and when he threw the coals down, his garment appeared unharmed, and he said, "Just as this garment of mine remained unharmed by the coals, so is my body pure from the touch of a woman." But the people still didn't believe him; they heaped insults and injuries upon him and cast him out of his position, so that the word Saint Martin had spoken might be fulfilled.
Penance and Restoration
After seven years of penance, Briccius is restored to his see by divine providence and finishes his life in holiness.
Then Briccius, weeping, went to the Pope and stayed there for seven years, wiping away through penance whatever he had done wrong against Saint Martin. Meanwhile, the people appointed Justinianus and sent him to Rome to defend the bishopric against Briccius. As he was traveling there, he finished his life in the city of Vercelli, and all the people appointed Armenius in his place. In the seventh year, therefore, Briccius was returning with the authority of the Pope when he found lodging six miles from the city, and that same night Armenius breathed his last. Knowing this through a revelation, Briccius told his followers to rise and hurry with him to bury the Bishop of Tours. So as Briccius was entering the city through one gate, the dead man was being carried out through another. Once he was buried, Saint Briccius took up his see, presiding for seven years afterward and leading a praiseworthy life for forty-seven years in total. In that year of his episcopate, he rested in peace.
Read the original Latin
Briccius sancti Martini dyaconus ejusque plurimum exemplum multa eidem sancto convicia inferebat, Nam cum quidam pauper Martinum requireret, dixit ei Briccius: si illum delirum quaeris, prospice eminus, ille enim est, qui quasi amens coelum respicit. Cum igitur pauper a Martino, quae petierat, accepisset, vir sanctus Briccium ad se vocans dixit: an ego tibi deliras videor, Bricci? Quod cum ille prae verecundia se dixisse negaret, ait Martinus: nonne aures meae ad os tuum erant, quando hoc eminus loqueharis? Amen dico tibi, quia ab domino obtinui, ut mihi in episcopatu suceedas, sed scias, multa te in episcopatu adversa passurum, Quod Briccius audiens irridebat. dicens: nonne verum dixi, istum delirum esse? Post mortem igitur Martini Briccius in episcopum est electus, qui deinceps orationi vacabat et licet adhuc superbus, tamen corpore castus erat. Anno autem episcopatus sui XXX mulier quaedam religiose vestita, quae ejus vestimenta lavabat, concepit et filium peperit. Tunc omnis populus cum lapidibus ad ejus januam congregatus est dicens: din pietate sancti Martini luxuriam tuam dissimulavimus, sed jam nequaquam pollutas manus oscnlari valemus, lllo autem viriliter hoc negante: adducite, ait, ad me infantem, Quo allato, cum XXX esset dierum, dixit ad eum Briccius : adjuro te per filium Dei, ut dicas coram omnibus, si ego te genui.
Et ille: non tu, inquit, es pater meus, Populo autem urgente, ut, quis esset ejus pater, requireret, ille ait: non est hoc meum; feci, quod ad me pertinuit. Populus autem hoc totum magicis arlibus attribuebat dicens: nequaquam nobis falso pastoris nomine dominaberis. Tunc ille pro sui purgatione prunas ardentes usque d tumbam sancti Martini cunctis videntibus deportavit, projectisque prunis vestis ejus illaesa apparuit et ait: sicut hoc meum vestimentum à prunis mansit illaesum, sic corpus meum a contactu mulieris est mundum. Populo autem adhuc non credente sanctum Briccium contumeliis et injuriis afficiunt et à sua dignitate ejiciunt, ut verbum, quod sanctus Martinus dixerat, impleretur. Tunc Briccius flens papam adiit et VII annis ibidem permanens, quidquid ín sanctum Martinum deliquerat, poenitendo delevit, Populus antem Justinianum praefecit et Romam contra Briccium misit, nt episcopatum sibi contra Briccium defensaret. Quo cum tenderet, in civitate Vercellensi vitam finivit et Armenium loco ejus popnlus omnis praefecit. Septimo igitur anno Briccius cum auctoritate papae rediens sexto ab urbe milliario hospitium accepit et Armenius eadem nocte spiritum exhalavit, Quod Briccius per revelationem cognoscens ait suis, ut surgerent et secum ad tumulandum Turonensem episcopum properarent. Cum ergo Briccius per unam portam civitatem ingrederetur, ille autem per aliam mortuus efferebatur.
Quo sepulto sanctus Briccius sedem suam accepit et VII postmodum annis praesidens et vitam laudabilem ducens XLVII. anno episcopatus sui in pace quievit.
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