§21Talem fuisse credendum est illum Iohannem monachum, quem de belli ciuilis euentu maior Theodosius consuluit imperator: habebat quippe etiam prophetiam.
It is to be believed that the monk John was such a person, whom the elder Emperor Theodosius consulted about the outcome of the civil war: for he also possessed prophecy.
neque enim singulos singula munerum istorum, sed etiam plura unum habere posse non ambigo.
Nor do I doubt that one person can have not just one of these gifts individually, but even several of them.
Iohannes ergo iste cuidam mulieri religiosissimae inpatienter eum uidere cupienti atque ut hoc inpetraret per maritum suum uehementer instanti, cum ille nollet, quoniam id numquam permiserat feminis, uade, inquit, dic uxori tuae, uidebit me nocte proxima, sed in somnis. et factum est: monuitque illam quidquid fidelem coniugatam moneri oportebat.
Therefore, this John, to a certain very religious woman who was impatiently desiring to see him and was vehemently urging this through her husband—since he was unwilling, because he never permitted this to women—said, "Go, tell your wife, she will see me tomorrow night, but in her dreams." And it came to pass: and he advised her of whatever a faithful married woman ought to be advised.
quae cum euigilasset, talem se uidisse hominem dei uiro suo, qualem ille eum nouerat, et quid ab illo audierit, iudicauit.
When she awoke, she declared to her husband that she had seen such a man of God as he had known him to be, and what she had heard from him.
qui hoc ab eis conperit, retulit mihi, uir grauis et nobilis et dignissimus credi.
The man who learned this from them reported it to me, a grave and noble man, and most worthy of belief.
sed si illum sanctum monachum ipse uidissem, quia, sicut fertur, patientissime interrogabatur et sapientissime respondebat, quaesissem ab eo, quod ad istam pertinet quaestionem, utrum ipse ad illam feminam uenisset in somnis, id est spiritus eius in effigie corporis sui, sicut nos ipsos in effigie nostri corporis somniamus, an ipso aliud agente uel, si dormiebat, aliud somniante siue per angelum siue quocumque alio modo in mulieris somnio talis facta sit uisio, atque id futurum, ut ipse promitteret, prophetiae spiritu reuelante praesciuerit.
But if I myself had seen that holy monk, since, as it is said, he was interrogated most patiently and answered most wisely, I would have asked him what pertains to this question: whether he himself had come to that woman in her dreams, that is, his spirit in the likeness of his body, just as we ourselves dream of ourselves in the likeness of our body, or whether, while he was doing something else or, if he was sleeping, dreaming of something else, such a vision occurred in the woman's dream either through an angel or in some other way, and he foreknew that this would happen, as he himself promised, by the revealing of the spirit of prophecy.
si enim ipse interfuit somnianti, mirabili gratia utique id potuit, non natura, et dei munere, non propria facultate; si autem ipso aliud agente, siue dormiente et uisis aliis occupato, cum mulier uidit in somnis, profecto tale aliquid factum est, quale illud est, quod in apostolorum Actibus legimus, ubi dominus Iesus loquitur Ananiae de Saulo et indicat ei, quod Saulus uidit ad se uenientem Ananiam, cum hoc Ananias ipse nesciret.
For if he himself was present to her dreaming, he was able to do this indeed by a wonderful grace, not by nature, and by the gift of God, not by his own power; but if, while he was doing something else, or sleeping and occupied with other visions, the woman saw him in her dreams, surely some such thing happened as that which we read in the Acts of the Apostles, where the Lord Jesus speaks to Ananias about Saul and indicates to him that Saul saw Ananias coming to him, although Ananias himself did not know this.
quodlibet horum mihi responderet ille homo dei, et de martyribus ab illo pergerem quaerere, utrum ipsi adsint in somnis uel quocumque alio modo uidentibus eos in qua figura uoluerint, et maxime quando ab eis se torqueri daemones in hominibus confitentur et rogant eos, ut pareant sibi, an ista fiant dei nutu per angelicas potestates in honorem commendationemque sanctorum ad utilitatem hominum illis in summa quiete positis et ad alia longe meliora uisa uacantibus seorsum a nobis orantibusque pro nobis; nam Mediolani apud sanctos Protasium et Geruasium martyres expresso nomine sicut defunctorum, quos eodem modo commemorabant, adhuc uiuum daemones episcopum confitebantur Ambrosium atque ut sibi parceret obsecrabant illo aliud agente atque hoc cum ageretur omnino nesciente; an uero aliquando per ipsam praesentiam martyrum fiant ista, aliquando per angelorum; et utrum possint uel quibus signis possint a nobis duo ista discerni, an ea sentire ac diiudicare non ualeat, nisi qui habeat illud donum per dei spiritum diuidentem propria unicuique prout uult: dissereret mihi, ut arbitror, ille Iohannes haec omnia, sicut uellem, ut aut eo docente discerem et ea quae audirem uera et certa esse cognoscerem, aut ego crederem quae nescirem illo dicente quae sciret.
Whichever of these that man of God would answer me, I would go on to ask him about the martyrs, whether they themselves are present in dreams or in some other way to those who see them in whatever figure they wish, and especially when the demons in men confess that they are being tormented by them and ask them to spare them, or whether these things happen by the will of God through angelic powers in honor and commendation of the saints for the utility of men, while they themselves are placed in the highest rest and are vacant for other far better visions, praying for us apart from us; for at Milan, at the relics of the holy martyrs Protasius and Gervasius, the demons confessed Bishop Ambrose—who was still living, while they commemorated the dead in the same way—explicitly by name, and begged that he would spare them, while he was doing something else and was entirely ignorant when this was done; or whether indeed sometimes these things happen through the presence of the martyrs themselves, sometimes through that of angels; and whether these two can be distinguished by us, or by what signs they can be, or whether no one can perceive and judge these things except him who has that gift through the Spirit of God dividing proper things to each as He wills. That John, as I think, would discuss all these things for me as I would wish, so that either by his teaching I would learn and know those things which I heard to be true and certain, or I would believe what I did not know, while he spoke what he knew.
quodsi mihi forsitan de sancta scriptura responderet ac diceret: altiora te ne quaesieris, et fortiora te ne scrutatus fueris, sed quae tibi praecepit dominus, illa cogita semper, id etiam gratanter acciperem.
But if he should perhaps answer me from the Holy Scripture and say, "Seek not things higher than yourself, and search not things stronger than yourself, but those things which the Lord has commanded you, think upon them always," I would accept even that gratefully.
non enim paruus est fructus, si aliqua obscura et incerta, quae conprehendere non ualemus, clarum saltem certumque sit nobis non esse quaerenda, et quod unusquisque uult discere putans prodesse si sciat, discat non obesse, si nesciat.
For it is no small fruit if, concerning some obscure and uncertain things which we cannot comprehend, it is at least clear and certain to us that they are not to be sought, and what everyone wants to learn, thinking it is profitable if he knows, he learns that it is not harmful if he does not know.