Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Life of St. Columba (Author: [unknown])

Chapter 27

How a wild boar was destroyed through his prayers

ON one occasion when the blessed man was staying some days in the Scian island (Sky), he left the brethren and went alone a little farther than usual to pray; and having entered a dense forest he met a huge wild boar that happened to be pursued by hounds. As soon as the saint saw him at some distance, he stood looking intently at him. Then raising his holy hand and invoking the name of God in fervent prayer, he said to it, ‘Thou shalt proceed no further in this direction: perish in the spot which thou hast now reached.’ At the sound of these words of the saint in the woods, the terrible brute was not only unable to proceed farther, but by the efficacy of his word immediately fell dead before his face.