of the islanders daily wont to sing,
and from its repetition they affirm many and great wonders to have
happened; for divers, while singing this hymn, have passed unseen
through their enemies who were thirsting for their blood, and who were
stricken with that sort of blindness which physicians term acrisia.

CHAPTER CLXXVIII.

_The Soul of a Certain Sinner is by Saint Patrick freed from Demons._

And on a time a certain saint, named Kaennechus, saw in Hibernia troops
of demons passing along, armed with infernal instruments; whom having
adjured in the name of the Holy Trinity, he compelled to declare the
cause of their coming thither. And they, thus adjured, confessed,
though unwillingly, that they came to bear away the soul of a certain
most wicked sinner, who for his sins deserved to be carried into hell.
Then Kaennechus enjoined them in the name of the Lord to return unto
him, and to tell him what they had done. And after some hours had
passed, the demons returned with confusion, and declared that by the
power of Patrick they had lost their expected prey; for that this man
had in every year during his life celebrated with a great feast the
festival of Saint Patrick, and had every day repeated certain chapters
of the hymn which had been composed in his honor; and therefore, they
said, had Saint Patrick snatched him from their hands, as his own
proper right. Thus saying, the demons vanished into thin air; and
Kaennechus rejoiced in these things, and by the relation excited many
unto the frequent repetition of this hymn in honor of Saint Patrick.

CHAPTER CLXXIX.

_How the Saint appeared unto Colmanus while singing his Hymn._

A certain abbot, a disciple of Saint Patrick, named Colmanus, was
accustomed frequently to repeat this hymn; and when he was asked of the
disciples why he would not rather sing the appointed offices and
psalms, inasmuch as once to sing this hymn ought to suffice him, he
continually beheld the face of his beloved father, Patrick, nor could
he ever be satisfied with the contemplation thereof. This, though
happening long after the death of Saint Patrick, we have written and
recorded among his acts; that we may show how this hymn was esteemed
among the people of Hibernia, and how ready was he in the hour of
necessity and tribulation to aid those who honored him, and who
frequently celebrated his memory.

CHAPTER CLXXX.

_The Admirable Contemplations of the Saint._

As S