Of the numerous legends having as the dominant theme the inability of the person concerned to restrain his animal passions the best developed is the story of the clerk who was much given to women. One night while in the room with one he suddenly saw thru the window the lights of a church of the Virgin. Never having seen them there before he left to investigate, but finding nothing returned. This time the woman herself closed the window fast but almost immediately a strong gust of wind blew it open, and again the church was seen. With this he recognized his error, repented, and became a monk. A little later, when his former conduct was criticized and he was brought to account for it before the church council, the Virgin cleared him of all charges (No. 151).
It will be noted that often in the foregoing miracles, and often in those that are to follow, the Virgin appears in dreams or visions, but the feature of the vision has usually been only incidental. In all we have only two examples (Nos. 261 and 288) of a true mystical vision granted for the sake of the experience alone. One of these (No. 261) recounts how a very devout woman was desirous of seeing a perfectly virtuous man and woman. Communicating her desire to the priest, he told her to return home and to remain alone in fasting and prayer. This she did and after nine days she saw a bright light followed by those who said they were saints. These in turn were followed by the Virgin and her Son. Upon seeing them she had no further desire to live and prayed to be taken with them, which request was granted. When the priest was told of her death, and undertook to prepare her body for burial, he found it giving off an odor more delicate and pleasing to the senses than the perfumes of the Orient.
The usual purpose of the vision is to give commands, or to strengthen the weakhearted or discouraged.[48] There are one or two accounts, however, in which the vision itself is enlarged upon and the cure or command or lesson, as the case may be, sinks into minor importance. The scene is that of a deeply grieved mother sitting beside the bed of her very religious son, a deaf mute, who was dying of a serious illness. His mother saw him suddenly rise up in his bed and begin to talk to some person unseen and unheard by her. It was the Blessed Mother who had visited him in a vision and healed him (No. 269).
At other times the vision seems to be a kind of clairvoyance thru which the recipient sees what is happening at a distant place at that very moment. In relating one of his own experiences Alfonso declares (No. 345) that when D. Nuño de Lara abandoned Jérez, in spite of the fact that reenforcements had been sent him, the Moors entered, destroyed the chapel, and tried to burn the image of the Virgin but could not. At that particular time both the king and the queen were taking their siesta at Seville and each dreamed of the Virgin and her Child fleeing from the burning chapel of Jérez. On awaking they learned of the disaster and hastened to retake the city, after which the royal couple, together with their children, restored the church.
Similar to this in so far as the character of the vision is concerned tho in an entirely different setting is No 15 in which Emperor Julian was the victim. In this particular case we are presented with two versions of the legend—one in Las Cantigas, originally told supposedly by an eye witness of the events as they happened at the tomb of the saint, and the other in the Primera Crónica General. In brief they are as follow:
(Version according to Las Cantigas, No. 15)
Emperor Julian had to pass thru Caesarea, where, angered by San Basilio, he promised to return and destroy the city after the conquest of Persia. After much prayer and fasting by the entire city San Basilio had a vision in which he saw the Virgin appear and order San Mercurio, whose tomb and armor were in that church, to avenge her and her son of the evil emperor. Upon awaking an excited fellow priest hastened to report that the arms of San Mercurio had disappeared. San Basilio then called together the people to tell them the news and together they went to examine the tomb. To their surprise the arms were again in their place red with blood. While they were still gazing, astonished, at the bloody weapons, Libano de Sur rushed in and confirmed the news of the emperor’s death.
(Version in the Primera Crónica General, p. 201)
Emperor Julian, on setting out to conquer Persia, promised to sacrifice to his gods if they would give him victory all the Christians, especially all the bishops, he should find. As he was returning victoriously from the East he was about to lose many of his host thru lack of water. Against the advice of his counselors he took as a guide one of the men of the country and, unaccompanied, went with him in search of water. Suddenly a strange knight appeared before the two, killed the emperor and instantly disappeared. As he expired the emperor took some of his blood in his hand and throwing it heavenward as tho throwing it in the face of someone cried out “Ya uenciste, Galileo, ya uenciste.” (He always referred to Jesus as Galileo). The compilers add that some histories say the emperor was killed by one of the enemy knights but in reality it was San Mercurio, for in the church where his body lay it was noticed that his shield and sword disappeared that very day and hour and that they were back in place the next day stained with blood. Because of this it was known that the strange knight was none other than San Mercurio who had killed the great enemy of the faith.
In this last version the vision motif is entirely lacking.