troublesome to the reader. But I have God as my authority, who knoweth all things even before they come to pass, as the Divine response very frequently admonished me though but a poor unlettered orphan.
36. Whence to me this wisdom which was not in me, who neither knew the number of my days nor relished God? Whence to me afterwards that gift so great, so saving, to know and love God but so as to lose fatherland and parents?
37. And many gifts were offered to me with weeping and tears. And I displeased them, and also, against my will, some of my seniors, but under the guidance of God I did in no wise consent or yield to them. It was not my grace but God who prevaileth in me, and He resisted them all, so that I came to the heathen Irish to preach the Gospel and to suffer reproaches from unbelievers, so as to hear the reproach of my journeying abroad and endure many persecutions even unto chains, and that I should cede my freedom for the benefit of others. And if I be worthy I am ready to give up my life without hesitation and most willingly for His name's sake, and I desire to spend it there, even unto death, if the Lord permit me.
38. Because I am greatly indebted to God who bestowed such grace on me, that many people should through me be regenerated to God, and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics should be ordained for them everywhere, for a people newly come to the faith, whom the Lord took from the ends of the earth, as He formerly promised through His prophets: The Gentiles shall come to thee from the ends of the earth, and they shall say: As our fathers have got for themselves idols and there is no good in them. And again: I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
