St Patrick and the misplaced holy Cross

He came to Findmag in the territory of the Uí Maini and found there the sign of the cross of Christ and two new graves, and from his chariot the holy man said: 'Who is it that is buried here?'

And a voice answered from the grave: 'I am a pagan.'

The holy man replied: 'Why has the holy cross been placed beside you?' and again he answered:

'Because the mother of the man who is buried beside me asked that the sign of the cross be placed beside her son's grave. But a stupid and foolish man placed it beside me.'

And Patrick leaped from his chariot and took hold of the cross and pulled it from the pagan grave and placed it over the head of the baptized man, and mounted his chariot and prayed to God in silence.

When he had said 'Deliver us from evil', his charioteer said to him: 'How is that,' said his charioteer, 'why did you (merely) talk to the unbaptized man? For I pity a man without baptism. It would have been better in the eyes of God to bless him as in baptism and pour the water of baptism over the dead man's grave.'

And (Patrick) did not answer him; I think he left the man (as he was) because God did not want to save him. Let us return to our story.
Tírechán 41