the mystical temple of god 644 he had sold his clothes and furniture, and having received in this way four hundred golden coins, he offered it to relieve another’s misery.179 Just consider how highly God values you, who value your own wealth as nothing, if you offer it to the poor. The very law of nature bids us cover the naked. For how can we bear uncovered flesh of our flesh? That woman Thaumaturge of Sienna could not bear it: she stripped herself of her under-garment to cover a pauper and for that reason, as a gift from Christ, she never felt cold again.180 Martin could not bear it; being still a catechumen, he covered a naked man, I should have said Christ, with half his soldier’s cloak.181 John Gamrat, bishop of Cracow, could not bear it: he — otherwise not holy — used to be followed by carts loaded with clothes, which he used to place on any needy people he met, and for that reason he deserved to be warned at the right time by the grace of God concerning his death, so that he could add penitence to his mercy and be saved.182 And as for you, who are immersed in the filth of sins, will you not release yourselves by the clothes given to the poor? 179 This event falls under the category of legend. Theodulos is recorded as “the name of a legendary hero, ... According to this [legend], Theodulos abandoned his office as town-prefect at the age of 42. He lived for 48 years in the neighborhood of Odessa on a pillar. He wanted to know who could equal him in supernatural merits; he was informed in a vision that it is the mimic actor Cornelius in Damascus. He went there and found him in rather high society, but learned that he had once helped a poor woman with his wealth. The Legend offers no historical point of support”; cf. Kötting B., Theodulos: LThK (1965), X, 53. Cf. Jarra, p. 40, footnote 9. 180 This probably refers to St. Catherine of Siena (d. 1380). 181 St. Martin of Tours (d. 397), who in the depth of winter met a half-naked beggar. Having no money left, he took his sword, cut his own soldier’s cloak in half and gave one half to the poor man. The following night in a dream he saw Christ, clad in the half of his soldier’s cloak, who said to the angels: “Martin, although still a catechumen, covered me with this coat”: Lahach, Jacques, Martin, Bishop of Tours, Saint: BS VIII, 251. 182 Here the author probably confused Peter Gamrat, the bishop of Krakow, (d. 1545) with his brother John. The words “otherwise not a holy man” probably refer to the bishop’s “long-time friendship with Dorota Dzierzgowska, neé Sobocka, confident of Bona, ... as well as his excessive lavishness, his inclination for a cavalier lifestyle ... .” Hartleb, Kazimierz, Gamrat Piotr, of the Arms Sulima: PSB VII, 266. The bishop’s mercy is confirmed by the following words: “Gamrat was a squanderer but he was generous and merciful.” Gall Stanisław, Gamrat Piotr: PEK XIII-XIV, 39.
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