and day. The suffering of our men was so great there that they were
compelled to eat the foulest food, the flesh of horses and donkeys.

One day, when the leaders of the army were standing before the
citadel they were besieging, and were gravely worried about the
misery they were suffering, a priest presented himself before them,
and said, "Leaders and elders, I shall relate a vision of your
excellence which, if you give it credence, may offer you some
consolation, as I hope. While I was asleep one night in the church
of the blessed mother of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, together with
his most blessed mother and the blessed leader of the apostles, Peter,
appeared standing before me and said, 'Do you know who I am?' 'Not
at all,' I said. He spoke, and lo in a cloud above his head a cross
appeared, like those one sees in paintings. Again questioning me,
the image of the Savior repeated, 'Now do you know whom you see?' I
said, 'O lord, I can recognize your identity only because I see above
your neck the figure of the cross, which customarily represents your
image wherever it is painted.' He said, 'you are not wrong. I am he.
' Aware of how much we have suffered, I threw myself immediately at
his feet and urgently begged him to relieve the suffering of those
who were fighting for our faith. 'I have seen what you have endured,
' he said, 'and I shall not now hesitate to bring you help. At my
instigation you vowed to undertake this expedition; you have captured
the city of Nicea with my support; under my leadership you have won
many victories; having brought you this far, I have grieved for the
sufferings you endured in besieging the city of Antioch, and which
you are suffering even now within the city itself. However, after I
raised you up with so much help and with so many victories, and I
granted you victory in the city, preserving you safe and unharmed,
you have behaved badly towards Christians, and have entered into