73. Towards the dusk of night, when now somehow the celebration of the day had been finished by us, Malachy had drawn near, not to dusk but to dawn. Was it not dawn to him[883] for whom the night is far spent and the day is at hand?[884] So, the fever increasing, a burning sweat from within him began to break out over his whole body, that, as it were going through fire and through water, he might be brought into a wealthy place.[885] Now his life was despaired of, now each one condemned his own judgement, now none doubted that Malachy's word[886] was prevailing. We were called; we came. And lifting up his eyes on those who stood round him, he said, "With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you;[887] I give thanks to the divine compassion, I have not been disappointed of my desire."[888] Do you see the man free from care in death, and, not yet dead, already certain of life? No wonder. Seeing that the night was come to which he had looked forward, and that in it the day was dawning for him, so to speak triumphing over the night, he seemed to scoff at the darkness and as it were to cry, "I shall not say, surely the darkness shall cover me, because this night shall be light about me in my pleasure."[889] And tenderly consoling us he said, "Take care of me; if it be allowed me I shall not forget you. And it shall be allowed. I have believed in God,[890] and all things are possible to him that believeth.[891] I have loved God; I have loved you, and charity never faileth."[892] And looking up to heaven[893] he said, "O God, keep them in Thy name;[894] and not these only but all them also who through my word[895] and ministry have given themselves to thy service." Then, laying his hands on each one severally and blessing all,[896] he bade them go to rest, because his hour was not yet come.[897]
1148, November 2
74. We went. We returned about midnight, for at that hour it was announced that the light shineth in darkness.[898] The house filled, the whole community was present, many abbots also who had assembled. With psalms and hymns and spiritual songs[899] we followed our friend as he returned to his own country.[900] In the fifty-fourth year of his age,[901] at the place and time which he had chosen beforehand and predicted, Malachy, the bishop and legate of the holy Apostolic See, taken up by the angels,[902] as it were from our hands, happily fell asleep in the Lord.[903] And indeed he slept. His placid face was the sign of a placid departure. And verily the eyes of all were fixed upon him;[904] but none could perceive when he departed. When dead he was thought to be alive, when alive, dead; so true was it that there was no difference which might distinguish death from life. The same vivacity of face, the same serenity, as commonly appears in one who sleeps. You might say that death robbed him of none of these things, but rather very greatly increased them. He was not changed; but he changed us all. In wondrous fashion the sorrow and groaning of all suddenly sank to rest, sadness was changed into joy,[905] singing banished lamentation.[906] He is borne forth, voices are borne to heaven, he is borne into the oratory on the shoulders of the abbots. Faith has conquered,[907] affection triumphs, things assume their normal course. All things are carried out in order, all proceed in the way of reason.
75. And in truth what reason is there to lament Malachy immoderately, as though his death was not precious,[908] as though it was not rather sleep than death, as though it was not the port of death and the portal of life?[909] Our friend Malachy sleepeth;[910] and I, must I mourn? such mourning is based on custom, not on reason. If the Lord hath given His beloved one sleep, and such sleep, in which there is an heritage of the Lord, even children, and the reward, the fruit of the womb,[911] which of these things seems to call for weeping? Must I weep for him who has escaped from weeping? He rejoices, he triumphs, he has been brought into the joy of his Lord,[912] and I, must I lament for him? I desire these things for myself, I do not grudge them to him. Meanwhile the obsequies are prepared, the sacrifice is offered for him,[913] all is performed according to custom with the greatest devotion. There stood some way off a boy whose arm hung by his side dead, rather burdensome to him than useful. When I discovered him I signed to him to come near, and taking his withered hand I laid it on the hand of the bishop, and it restored it to life. For in truth the grace of healings[914] lived in the dead; and his hand was to the dead hand what Elisha was to the dead man.[915] The boy had come from far[916] and the hand which he brought hanging down, he carried back whole to his own country. Now, all things having been duly accomplished in the very oratory of Saint Mary, Mother of God, in which he was well pleased,[917] Malachy is carried to his burial[918] in the eleven hundred and forty-eighth year from the Incarnation of the Lord, on the fourth of the Nones of November.[919] Thine, good Jesus, is the deposit which has been committed to us,[920] Thine is the treasure which is laid up with us.[921] We keep it[922] to be given back at the time when Thou shalt see fit to recall it; only that he may not go forth without his comrades, but that him whom we have had as our guest we may have also as our leader, when we shall reign with Thee, and with him also, for ever and ever.[923] Amen.
[821] I.e. "If I die in Ireland."
[822] In Armagh. See §§ 19, 65.
[823] All Souls' Day, November 2.
[824] Matt. v. 18.
[825] Ps. xlviii. 8.
[826] Note that the pall is called a sacrament.