And Saint Patrick went unto a certain village, near the island of Inchenn, and he found therein a place fitting for the erection of a church; the which when he had begun, a crowd of rustics issued from the village, and impeded the work. Then the saint, being filled of the spirit of prophecy, foretold unto them with the voice of truth, "Since ye have made yourselves a hindrance unto me, that I may not build a habitation to the Lord my God, never shall the smoke go out of the houses which ye or your generation shall build in this place." And the testified proof of the words of the saint even to this day evinceth its truth, for many have oftentimes begun to build houses there, but for the rudeness of these men never could they be finished.
CHAPTER CXXII.
The Sentence prophetically declared.
A certain man named Dengo, who was wicked and perverse, and powerful in iniquity, prevented the saint from building a church in a convenient place; to whom the saint attesting his Judge, nay, prophesying, said, "In a short time shall thine house be destroyed, and thy substance wasted away; and thy sons that issue from thine impious loins shall of the greater part defile themselves by mutual fratricide; while the remnant of them shall never attain unto dignity or power, but shall be strangers and wanderers on the earth." And the prophecy of Saint Patrick was proved by the subsequent misery visited on the man and on his children.
CHAPTER CXXIII.
The Prophecy of the Saint on a Certain Bishop
and on the one who consecrated him.
A certain powerful man had endowed with lands and possessions a church that he was about to build on his own estate; the which to govern, Saint Patrick would have appointed one among his disciples who was able unto the gaining of souls. But the man refused, saying that in his own family he had a priest whom he willed to place over his own church. Then the saint, deeming it unworthy to contend for such a matter, departed from the man. And he on the morrow brought unto the saint his son, desiring that he might be consecrated unto the bishopric of that church. And for that the saint apart from his companions pursued in solitude his studies and his prayers, the man, turning from him, went unto two of his disciples, who were elsewhere appointed bishops, and addressed them for the consecration of his son. And one of them denied his request, saying that he could do no such thing without the consent and the approbation of the saint; but the other, induced either by entreaty or reward, presumed to do what the man required. The which having discovered, Saint Patrick, afflicting the presumer with the affliction of penance sufficiently severe, foretold that through all his life he should suffer the want of bread. And he declared that the bishop so consecrated was worthy of degradation and contempt, and that his church should be exceeding poor, so that it should not be able to defend itself even from two men. And that which the saint foretold unfailingly came to pass—whereby a prudent man may take heed, lest misled by ambition he should ever attempt the like.