ieved in no life but the present life; for he
thought that he had lost his brother, who, believing in Christ, labored
with all his strength after the glory to come, which he had revealed to
his followers. Therefore for many days he opposed and troubled
Patrick, and strove to stop his mouth, lest he should spread abroad the
Word of God, and increase the number of the believers. But the saint,
desiring to gain him unto Christ, met him with true and lively
arguments, persuading him from the very kinds and natures of all
created things to believe that God was the Creator of all; and, that he
might the more thoroughly lead him into the way of truth, he promised
unto him a miracle, saying, "Now that the power of all thy limbs and of
all thy senses fail thee, and are nearly dead, and that thy life is
almost gone from thee, if Christ should restore unto thee the strength
of the grace of thy early youth, wouldst thou not be bound of right to
believe in Him?" And the man answered: "If thou canst through Christ
perform on me such a miracle, forthwith will I believe in him." Then
Saint Patrick prayed, and, laying his hand on him, he blessed him, and
immediately he became beautiful and strong, and flourished again as in
his early youth. And great marvel seized on all who witnessed this
miracle, and their mouths were opened to the praise of Christ and to
the veneration of Saint Patrick.

CHAPTER XXXV.

_Of the Death of Rius._

And Rius, being renewed outwardly in his body and inwardly in his
spirit, brought with him his three brothers, and came with very many to
be purified at the healing font. And after these things, Saint
Patrick, observing him to be thoroughly freed from sin, and knowing how
sin besets the slippery path of human life, inspired of the Holy
Spirit, said unto him: "Choose, now, whether in this valley of tears,
this world of tribulation and sorrow, shall thy years be prolonged, or
whether, the misery of this life being instantly ended, thou wilt be
carried up by the angels of light, and enter into the joy of the Lord
thy God." But he, trusting that he should behold the mercies of the
Lord in the land of eternal life, answered: "I choose, and I desire to
be dissolved, and to be with Christ for ever, rather than to continue
in the habitations of sinners." And he received the sacrament from the
hands of the holy bishop, and, commending his spirit unto the Lord, he
was brought unto eternal rest.