CHAPTER XII.

_Of the Religious Conversation of Saint Patrick._

And the boy Patrick grew up precious in the sight of the Lord, in the
old age of wisdom, and in the ripeness of virtue. And the number of
his merits multiplied beyond the number of his years; the affluence of
all holy charities overflowed in the breast of the boy, and all the
virtues met together made their dwelling in his youthful body.
Entering, therefore, and going forward in the slippery paths of youth,
he held his feet from falling, and the garment that nature had woven
for him, unknowing of a stain, he preserved whole, abiding a virgin in
the flesh and in the spirit. And although the divine unction had
taught him above all, the fit time being now come, he was sent from his
parents to be instructed in sacred learning. Therefore he applied his
mind to the study of letters, but chiefly to psalms and to hymns and to
spiritual songs, and retaining them in his memory, and continually
singing them to the Lord; so that even from the flower of his first
youth he was daily wont to sing devoutly unto God the whole psaltery,
and from the vial of his most pure heart to pour forth the odor of many
prayers. Thus wearing out his tender body in fastings, in many
watchings, and in the pious exercise of holy labors, he offered up
himself a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God; and thus
passing his days in the flesh, against the flesh, and above the flesh,
in his conversation he represented an angel.