Saint Calupan

Finding himself daily subject to reproaches of this kind, our Saint cast his eyes upon a valley situated not far from the monastery, in the middle of which rose a natural rock, more than five hundred feet high, and completely isolated from the neighboring mountains. This valley was traversed by a watercourse that gently bathed the foot of the rock. It was in an opening of this rock, which had formerly served as a retreat in case of enemy invasion, that the holy hermit withdrew and established his dwelling.

He built himself a small oratory there, where, as he was accustomed to recount while shedding tears, snakes would often fall upon his head and, coiling around his neck, fill him with terror. Now, as the devil is known to take the form of this cunning animal, there is no doubt that it was he who was laying snares for him. Indeed, as he remained motionless despite this, and was not moved by the attacks of the small snakes, one day two enormous dragons headed toward him and stopped at a short distance.

One of them, stronger than the other, raised its chest and lifted its mouth to the height of the Saint's mouth, as if it wished to say something to him. The latter was so terrified that he became stiff as bronze, daring neither to move a limb nor to raise his hand to make the sign of the cross.

And after they had both remained in a long silence, it came into the Saint's mind to say the Lord's Prayer in his heart, since he could not move his lips. While he was doing so in silence, his limbs, which had been chained by the art of his enemy, were gradually untied, and when he felt his right hand free, he made the sign of the cross on his face, then, turning toward the beast, he made the sign of the cross against it again, saying:

— "Are you not the one who drove the first man out of paradise, who reddened a brother's hand with the blood of his brother, who armed Pharaoh to persecute the people of God, and who finally incited the Hebrew people to pursue the Lord with blind fury?

"Depart from the servants of God, by whom you have been so many times defeated and covered in confusion; for you were cast out in Cain and supplanted in the person of Esau; you were struck down in Goliath; you were hanged in the Caïn First son of Adam and Eve, murderer of his brother. person of the traitor Judas, and it is in the very cross wh ere the Goliath Philistine giant defeated by David. virtue of Our Lord has shone, that you have been Judas Biblical figure cited as an example of the defeat of evil. defeated and struck down with your powers and dominions.

"Hide your head, therefore, enemy of God, and humble yourself under the sign of the divine cross, because you have no part with the servants of God, whose inheritance is the kingdom of Jesus Christ."

While the Saint was saying these things and others like them, and as he made the sign of the cross at every word, the dragon, defeated by the virtue of this emblem, went to hide in the depths of the earth.

But, while these things were happening, the other serpent was insidiously coiling around the Saint's feet and legs. The latter, seeing it coiled at his feet, said his prayer and ordered it to withdraw, saying:

— "Go away, Satan, you can no longer harm me in the name of Christ, my Lord."

Indeed, this demon withdrew with a great noise; and, from then on, the Saint saw neither snake nor dragon again.

He was assiduous in the work of God and did nothing else but read or pray, and even when he took a little food, he was still praying. He fished from time to time, but very rarely, for fish in the river, and when he desired some, the fish appeared immediately, by the will of God. As for bread, he received it only from the monastery: if any devout person brought him bread or wine, he destined it all for the nourishment of the poor, at least those who asked to receive from him either the salutary sign of the cross or the relief of their infirmities; that is to say, to those to whom he had restored health through his prayers, he also gave food, remembering what the Lord says in the Gospel to that crowd he had healed of various diseases: 'I do not want to send these men away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'

And we do not think we should hide the benefit that divine goodness bestowed upon him in this place. As water was being brought to him from the bottom of the valley, from a distance of nearly ten stades, he prayed to the Lord that it might please Him to bring forth a spring in the very place where his cell was. He was assisted in this circumstance by the heavenly virtue that once made water gush from a rock to quench the thirst of an entire people; for, instantly, a spring leaping from the rock spread over the earth and formed streams of water on all sides. The Saint, delighted by this gift from heaven, hollowed out a small basin in the stone which served as a cistern and held nearly two congii, in order to preserve the water that was divinely given to him, and from which he received each day only the quantity necessary for himself and for the boy who had been charged to serve him.

We also went to this place, says Saint Gr egory of Tours, his his saint Grégoire de Tours Bishop and historian who mentions the martyrdom of Antolian. torian, with the blessed Bishop Avitu s, Bishop of évêque Avitus Bishop of Clermont who ordained Calupan as a priest. Clermont, an d of all Clermont Episcopal see of Saint Gal. the things we have recounted, we hold some from the Saint himself, and others we have seen with our own eyes.

Calupan was ordained deacon and priest by the pontiff we have just named.

He gave many salutary remedies to those who were afflicted with various illnesses. Yet he never left his cell to show himself to anyone, but he would extend his hand through a small window to give his blessing with the sign of the cross, and if he was visited by someone, he would approach that window and allow them to pray and speak with him.

Finally, he completed the course of his life in this religious practice, in the fiftieth year of his age, to go to the Lord.