El Monje Ebrio - or The Drunken Monk - is the story of a monk who overindulges in wine but is saved from the Devil through the intercession of Our Lady.
One day a good monk was tempted by the Devil to drink too much wine. Realizing his sin, the monk's first impulse was to go straight to the Church to ask forgiveness. On the way,
however, the Devil appeared in hideous forms to kill him and take his soul. The monk cried out to the Blessed Virgin. Each time the Virgin appeared and sent the Devil fleeing.
El Monje Ebrio is number 47 of the 420 poem-songs – Cantigas de Santa Maria – written under the aegis of King Afonso X the Wise in honor of Our Lady. Written in the 13th century, these cantigas are sung in the Galician dialect, which is still to be found in some areas of the Northwest Spain and Northern Portugal.
It is here sung by the Eduardo Paniagua.
Listen to El Monje Ebrio
Lyrics:
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Ca ele noit' e dia punna de nos meter,
Per que façamos erro, porque a Deus perder,
Ajamo-lo teu Fillo, que qui por nos sofrer,
Na cruz paxon e morte, ouvessemos paz.
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
E desto, meos amigos, vos quer' ora contar,
Un miragre fremeso, de que fix meu contar,
Como Santa Maria foi un monge guardar
De tentacon do demo, a que do ben despraz.
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Este mong' ordynado era, segund' oy,
Muti, e mui ben sa orden tia, com' apprendi;
Mas o a demo arteiro o contorvou assy,
Que o fez na adega bever do vyn' assaz.
Pero beved' estava muit', o monge quis s' ir,
Dereit ' aa eigreja; mas o dem' o sair,
En figura de touro o foi, polo ferir,
Con seus cornos merjudos, ben como touro faz.
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Quand esto viu o monge, feramen s' espantou,
E a Santa Maria mui de rijo chamou,
Que ll' appareceu log' e o tour' ameaçou,
Dizendo: "Vai ta via, muit' es de mal solaz."
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Pois en figura d' ome pareceu-ll' outra vez,
Longu' e magr' e veloso e negro come pez;
Mas acorreu-lle logo a Virgen de bon prez,
Dizendo: "Fuge, mao, mui peor que rapaz."
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Pois entrou na eigreja, ar pareceu-ll' enton,
O demo en figura de mui braco leon;
Mas a Virgen mui santa deu-lle con un baston,
Dizendo; "Tol-t', astroso, el logo te desfaz."
Virgen Santa Maria, guarda nos, se te praz,
Da gran sabedoria que eno demo jaz.
Pois que Santa Maria o seu mong' acorreu,
Como vos ei ja dito, e ll' o medo tolleu,
Do demo e do vinno, con que era sandeu,
Disse-ll'; "Oy mais te guarda e non sejas malvaz."
English translation:
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
For day and night he struggles to lead us,
Into error, because to not lose God,
We found your Son, Who wanted to suffer
His passion & death on the cross to bring us peace
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
About this, my friends, I want now to tell you,
An amazing miracle of which I made my song,
It is how Holy Mary protected a monk,
From the temptation of the Devil, who despises the good.
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
He was an ordained monk, so I heard,
And very, very faithful to his Order, I was told,
But the wily Devil caused such a turmoil in him,
Which made him drink a lot of wine in the cellar.
But even as drunk as he was, the monk went
Straight to the Church. But the Devil appeared,
In the form of a bull, in order to wound him,
With his sharp horns, the way a bull does.
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
When the monk saw this, he truly was surprised,
And so strongly called out to Holy Mary,
That she appeared to him & threatened the bull,
Saying: "Go away, you are very bad."
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
Then, he appeared again, taking the shape of a man,
Tall and skinny and black as pitch,
But the Virgin soon came to him, saying: "Go away, evil one, worse than a rapacious wolf."
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of the Devil.
He entered the Church and the Devil appeared,
To him in the form of a ferocious lion,
But the Most Holy Virgin hit him with a stick, saying, "Take this, deceiver, and be gone from here."
Holy Virgin Mary, protect us, if you will,
From the great astuteness of he devil.
After Holy Mary came to rescue her monk,
The way I just told you, and took away his fear
Of the Devil & of the wine that made him drunk,
She told him: "Listen, be more vigilant and do not be wicked."
Medieval manuscript depicting the story of the Drunken Monk
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