De sancto Ruadano confessore
The Arrival of Saint Ruadán
The visionary moment opens as Saint Ruadán the confessor appears and greets the soul with tender, joyful love.
And so it was. Then Saint Ruadán the confessor appeared.1 With great joy he greeted her, and embracing her tenderly in the depths of love, he said:2
A Psalm of Blessing
Ruadán pronounces a scriptural blessing over the soul's journey, echoing Psalm 120.
'The Lord guard your going out and your coming in, from this moment forth and forever.3
The Patron Revealed
Ruadán identifies himself as the soul's patron to whom burial is owed, then falls silent.
'I am Ruadán,' he said, 'your patron, to whom you are rightfully bound for burial.'45 And when he had said this, he stood without speaking another word.
Read the original Latin
Cum autem ita esset. affuit el sanctus Ruadanus confessor. cum magna leticia salutans eam; et amplectens eam intime caritatis visceribus ait. 'Dominus custodiat introitum tuum et exitum tuum; ex hoc nunc et usque in seculum. Ego sum' ait 'Ruadanus patronus tuus; cui iure debitor es sepulture.' Et cum hoc dixisset; stetit nil amplius dicens.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin reads 'affuit el sanctus Ruadanus confessor.' The form 'el' is uncertain — possibly a scribal error, abbreviation, or gloss. It is omitted in translation as unintelligible on its own; the sense of the sentence is clear without it.
- 2 ↩caritatis visceribus rendered as 'in the depths of love' to capture the intimate, heartfelt force of viscera (inmost parts/bowels) paired with caritas, without resorting to literal 'bowels of charity'.
- 3 ↩Quotation of Psalm 120:8 (Vulgate 119:8): 'Dominus custodiat introitum tuum et exitum tuum; ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.' Final clause of the psalm verse is cut off in the source text — the quotation mark is never closed and the expected 'Amen' or closing is absent.
- 4 ↩The form 'sepulture' (for expected sepulturae) is unusual — likely a dative or genitive of sepultura with a scribal variant. Rendered as 'for burial' to convey the sense of obligation to burial at his church/shrine.
- 5 ↩The claim 'you are rightfully bound for burial' reflects the medieval patron-saint relationship: the visionary owes burial at the saint's church by right of patronage or local custom.
Visions of Tondal (Les Visions du chevalier Tondal) companion
Tondal came back and changed how he lived daily. That's the whole point.
Chosen Portion builds the daily practice Tondal's vision demanded: a morning reading that keeps eternity in view.
The Visio was written 'for the edification of many' as a spur to daily amendment of life, and Chosen Portion supplies that daily spur with a morning reading and evening examen.
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