Sybil the prophetess saw a vision of the Virgin Mary holding her child within a circle around the sun and the Emperor of Rome erected an altar in his palace

Summary

The emperor of Rome ruled over the earth, and his subjects abased themselves before him. All this adoration disturbed the emperor, who felt it was not right for a flesh-and-blood man like him to be worshiped like God. The emperor summoned a wise woman named Sabela, who prayed to God for guidance. At noon on the third day of prayer, Sabela saw in the sun a vision of Mary with the child Christ in her lap. After the emperor witnessed this same vision, he called for a great altar to be built in his home, where he offered incense in honor of Christ.

Translation

Translated by Wallis Budge from BOr (BL) 652, ff. 32v–33v, in 1933.

There was once a great, glorious, and mighty king who ruled over all the earth. All peoples were subject to him and served him as vassals, and great and mighty kings abased themselves before him.

Now he was a wise and understanding man, and because of their great love for him the people gathered and said, “You know that you are great, that you rule to the uttermost ends of the earth, and that your power is mighty. Behold: we love to serve and worship you!”

He said to them, “This [adulation] is not appropriate for me,” and they began to weary him with their words.

He meditated in his heart and said, “I am a man, a creature of the dust, mortal—it is not right for them to worship me like God, the Most High.”

He was sorrowful in his mind and did not know what to do.

He sent for a certain wise woman whose name was Sabela [Sybilla] and who dwelled in that city.

When she arrived, he secretly took her to his quarters. He told her what the people were saying about him and [how] they were wearying him.

She said to him, “Wait for just three days,” and then she continued to beseech God—who is to be praised!—about what he should do.

At noon on the third day [of prayer], she saw a vision. The sun stood in the middle of the heavens with a ring of gold encircling it, and he saw a virgin who was brighter than the sun, and in whose lap was a little child, whose face was brighter than all lights.

The wise woman said to the king, “Look at the sun.” The king lifted his eyes to heaven, and God showed him everything that the prophetess had seen.

The king said to her, “What is this vision? And who is the maiden, and who is the child?”

The wise woman said, “This Virgin is the altar of heaven, and the child is the king of the heavens and the earth: he is God and man perfect, and to him service and worship are proper.”

The king said, “What sacrifice—what offering, and what gift—ought the people to offer him?”

The woman said, “He does not love offerings of beasts, but he does love fine and pure incense.”

The king commanded [his people] immediately to make an altar in his quarters, and there he took pure incense and offered it up.

That altar is called the “heavenly altar,” and it exists in the city of Rome to this day. It was this altar that saved the king from wickedness that day.

May the prayer of Our Lady Mary, Holy Twofold Virgin, to whom this great honor was fitting, [be with us]! She was the abode of him whose praise is great. May he protect us, and not reject us. May he increase our food, ward off the power of those who are hostile to us, and bring us to the Port of Salvation, forever and ever. Amen.

Note: This English translation was composed by Wallis Budge in the early 1900s but updated by the PEMM team for modern readers. We have replaced old-fashioned terms (e.g., thee, thou), stripped old-fashioned word endings (e.g., striketh), and corrected offensive language (e.g., lame, barren). However, Budge made some of these translations from a peculiar manuscript, which often had missing words and sentences, so the translations don't always do justice to the story in its original, earliest form. We hope to retranslate the story from better manuscripts in future. His translations are from what he calls MS A, which is PEMM MS B-Oslo (SCOL) 248; MS B, which is PEMM MS B-Dublin (CBL) 914; and Brit. Mus. Orient. No. 652, which is PEMM MS BOr (BL) 652.

TO CITE THIS TRANSLATION

Wallis Budge. 1933. "ID 137: The Emperor of Rome who erected an altar in his palace." One Hundred and Ten Miracles of Our Lady Mary, edited by Wallis Budge, page 347–48. Updated by PEMM Copyeditor Taylor Eggan. From BOr (BL) 652, ff. 32v–33v. https://pemm.princeton.edu/stories/137.