/■I. 
 
STARS 
 
 IN - - ■■■ 
 
 SAINT DOMINIC’S CROWN 
 
 BEING 
 
 LIVES OF SOME OF THE SAINTS AND BLESSED 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ®rber of jfriar preacJiero 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS AUSTIN DYSON . 
 
 PRIEST OF THE SAME ORDER 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 “THE LIFE OF ST. THOMAS AQUINAS,” “LIVES OF SOME OF 
 THE SONS OF ST. DOMINIC,” AND “THE LIFE OF 
 ST. PIUS THE FIFTH” 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 D. & J. SADLIER & COMPANY 
 33 Barclay Street 
 Montreal: 1669 Notre Dajvie Street 
 1897 
 
 c 
 
APPROBATIONS 
 
 Nos infrascripti Revisores Ord. Praed. pro scriptis excuden- 
 dis fidem facimus quod attente perlectum opusculum cujus 
 titulus “Stars in Saint Dominic’s Crown, by Thomas Austin 
 Dyson, Priest of the same order,” compilatum, typis mandari 
 posse censemus. 
 
 In quorum fidem his propria manu subscripsimus, Benetiae, 
 die 17 Aprilis, 1890. 
 
 Fr. Antoninus Rooney, O. P. 
 
 Fr. Benedictus McGovern, O. P. 
 
 Imprimatur, 
 
 r. ViNCENTIUS ViNYEZ, 
 
 Vicarius Cong. Calif. O. P. 
 
 Imprimatur, 
 
 Fr. Aloysius Spencer, 
 
 Pr. Prov. S. Joseph, O. P. 
 
 Nihil Obstat. 
 Nov. 30, 1890. 
 
 H. A. BRANN, 
 
 Imprimatur, 
 
 Michael Augustine. 
 
 Arch’op Neo Ebnracensis. 
 
 Dec. 2, 18^. 
 
1 
 
 
 
 LIVES OF THE DOMINICAN 
 SAINTS AND BLESSED. 
 
 By THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 THE LIFE OF THE ANGELIC DOCTOR, ST. 
 THOMAS AQUINAS. Small octavo, $i.oo. D. & 
 
 J. Sadlier & Co. 
 
 LIVES OF SOME OF THE SONS OF SAINT 
 DOMINIC ; containing the lives of Blessed Jordan of 
 Saxony, Antony Neyrot, James of Ulm, Giles of Santa- 
 rem, Bertrand of Garrigue, etc., etc. Small octavo, 
 $1.00. D. & J. Sadlier & Co., New York. 
 
 THE LIFE OF SAINT PIUS THE FIFTH, etc., 
 
 including the lives of St. John of Gorcum, Blessed Petci 
 Gonzalez, Augustine of Nocera, Francis de Posadas, Benii'- 
 dict the Eleventh, Simon Ballachi, Albert of Bergamo, 
 James of Bevagna, and Amferose of Sienna. Small 
 octavo, $1.00. D. & J Sadlier & Co., New York. 
 
 16868 
 

 
 ■'i 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
INDEX. 
 
 rAGE 
 
 January lo.— Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, . 9 
 
 January 19. — Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, . 31 
 
 January 23.— Saint Raymond of Pennaforte, . . 43 
 
 January 24. — Blessed Marcolino of Forli, . , 87 
 
 P'ebruary 9. — Blessed Bernard Scammacca, . • 97 
 
 February 12. — Blessed Reginald of Orleans, . 107 
 
 February 14. — Blessed Nicolas Palea, . . >131 
 
 February 18. — Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, . 149 
 
 February 19. — Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, . . 163 
 
 February 21. — Blessed Aimo Taparelli, . . 181 
 
 February 25. — Blessed Constantius of Fabriano, . 191 
 
 March I.— Blessed Christopher of Milan, . 205 
 
 March 2. — Blessed Henry Suso, .... 215 
 March 6. — Blessed Jordan of Pisa, . . . 251 
 
 March 10. — Blessed Peter Geremia, . , .267 
 
 For life of Blessed Jordan of Saxony, February 15, see 
 “ Lives of some of the Sons of St. Dominic;” March 7, see 
 “ Life of St. Thomas Aquinas,” and for that of Blessed Am- 
 brose of Sienna, March 22, see “ Life of St. Pius V.” 
 

BLESSED GONZALVO OF 
 AMARANTH E. 
 
BLESSED GONZALVO OF AMA- 
 RANTHE. 
 
 JANUARY lO. 
 
 There are few lives of the saints which 
 read more pleasantly than that of Blessed 
 Gonzalvo. From beginning to end it is as 
 beautiful as a poem, interesting as a tale. 
 
 Gonzalvo Pereira was born about the year 
 1187 at Arriconha, a small Portuguese village 
 near Guimaraens in the Arch-diocese of Braga, 
 of noble parents. His youth led every one to 
 foretell his future holiness. It was noticed on 
 returning to his father’s house after his bap- 
 tism that nothing but a crucifix could appease 
 his cries. He looked at it, stretched forth his 
 little hands so eagerly towards it, that many 
 were the surmises that he would become a 
 very holy child, and serve God in great perfec- 
 tion. These hopes were perfectly fulfilled. 
 
 One day his nurse carried him to Mass. On 
 entering the church he fixed his eyes earnestly 
 
lo Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe. 
 
 on the sacred pictures, and stretched forth his 
 arms towards the Crucifix as if to embrace it, 
 and cried most piteously when taken out of 
 church. A like thing happened on another 
 occasion when he was crying very much in the 
 church. His nurse went to kneel before the 
 Altar of the Blessed Virgin. The child looked 
 at the statue a moment, bent its little head as 
 if taking farewell, and allowed the nurse to 
 cany him home at once without any further 
 crying. The sight of holy pictures and images 
 always dried his tears. So, his nurse, not be- 
 ing able to calm him at home, adopted the 
 custom of carrying him to the church, and 
 always with the same result. 
 
 His parents consecrated him to the service 
 of God, and kept him at home to study, at first 
 under the direction of a holy priest, and after- 
 wards confided him to the care of the Arch- 
 bishop of Braga, whose episcopal palace was a 
 seminary in which students for the ecclesias- 
 tical state were educated. The charming 
 character of the young man, his docility and 
 innocence, soon attracted the Archbishop’s at- 
 tention, and gained for the young student his 
 esteem and admiration. His progress in study 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, Ji 
 
 was as remarkable as was his piety, and, in due 
 time, he was ordained priest. 
 
 Soon after his ordination, he was appointed 
 parish priest of the church of Saint Pelagius, 
 one of the most important and the richest in 
 the diocese. Although quite young when he 
 entered on this charge, he soon showed all the 
 wisdom of a man of advanced age and mature 
 experience. Before taking formal possession 
 of his sacred charge he paid a visit to a church, 
 and prostrate before the Altar of the Blessed 
 Virgin, implored her to guide and direct him 
 in the pastoral duties laid upon him ; after 
 which he set out for Saint Pelagius to take 
 charge of his parish. 
 
 His life as parish priest was most exemplary. 
 Far from thinking that active duties in his 
 parish dispensed him from a life of penance, 
 he fitted himself for his pastoral duties by 
 prayer and austerity. He was very affable to 
 his parishioners, always receiving them pa- 
 tiently and consoling them with so great a 
 charity that they forgot their sorrows and 
 sufferings while speaking to him. He visited 
 them regularly that he might have an intimate 
 knowledge of their state of life. He remained 
 
12 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amur ant he. 
 
 a long time with the sick, animated them to 
 patience, and took great pains to prepare them 
 for death when he saw that there was 3 no 
 chance of recovery. . > : ; . 
 
 Mindful of his good name and fearful of the 
 wiles of the evil one, he never allowed any 
 woman to enter his abode, and when obliged 
 to converse with females it was done with his 
 eyes bent towards the ground, and in very 
 few words. By these means he preserved him- 
 self chaste until his death. He fasted and ab- 
 stained rigorously. From his ordinary food 
 which was always the most meagre, he re- 
 trenched not only luxuries, but also necessi- 
 ties. He gave much to the poor, devoting the 
 revenues of his benefice to their relief. His 
 house became the resort of pilgrims, and an 
 asylum for the unfortunate. He distributed 
 alms in secret to those who were ashamed to 
 go begging in public. 
 
 After he had spent many years of his life as 
 a good parish priest, his constant meditation 
 on the passion of our Redeemer, created in his 
 heart a great desire to make a pilgrimage to 
 the Holy Land, that he might visit those 
 places sanctified by the presence of the in- 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, 13 
 
 carnate God. For a long period he combated 
 this desire, thinking that his duties as a parish 
 priest required him to remain at home; but 
 after long and earnest praying to God, and 
 after much fasting and penance, he resolved to 
 submit the matter to the decision of his Arch- 
 bishop. His Grace allowed him to carry out 
 his desire, but would not accept the resigna- 
 tion of his parish, and required him to find 
 some zealous priest to take his place until his 
 return. 
 
 Gonzalvo had a nephew, a priest, whom he 
 had educated and severely tried in the way of 
 virtue. He lived with his uncle, and was re- 
 markable for his piety. Gonzalvo thought he 
 saw in him every quality of a good parish 
 priest, and set about instructing him in the 
 duties of that office, before he confided the 
 parish to his care. When at length he in- 
 stalled him, he solemnly recommended him to 
 be full of zeal, frugal in his habits, but above 
 all things to be kind and charitable to the 
 poor. He especially bade him devote the 
 greater part of the revenues of the parish to 
 the relief of their necessities. The young 
 priest listened to his advice, and promised to 
 
14 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amarantke, 
 
 carry out all his wishes, even confirming his 
 promises by an oath. 
 
 Having his mind at ease with regard to the 
 parish, Gonzalvo clothed himself in the habit 
 of a pilgrim, and set out on his journey. First 
 he went to Rome to visit the tomb of the 
 Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, then to Ven- 
 ice, where he went on board ship, and after a 
 prosperous voyage landed at Jaffa, and took 
 the road to Jerusalem. He visited everyplace 
 sanctified by the presence of the Incarnate 
 Son of God during his mortal life on earth, 
 remaining in each sufficiently long to satisfy 
 his tender devotion. 
 
 When he arrived at Mount Calvary, where 
 Our Divine Lord was crucified, his heart was 
 so inflamed with love that he desired to die, to 
 make some return for the love which crucified 
 the Son of God for love of us. Absorbed in 
 the contemplation of the mysteries of Christ’s 
 passion, he passed whole days and nights on 
 the holy mountain, inflicting penances on him- 
 self in humble imitation of the sufferings of 
 the Saviour of the world. He remained three 
 years in the Holy Land, and would willingly 
 have ended his days there had he not been 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe. 15 
 
 bound by the command of the Archbishop to 
 return to his parish in Portugal, to take charge 
 again of those souls committed to his care. 
 He therefore tore himself away from the holy 
 places he loved so much, and returned to his 
 own country by the same route he had 
 come. 
 
 When he arrived at Saint Pelagius, his 
 nephew either did not or pretended not to 
 know him. His austerities had changed his 
 features, he had made a long and weary 
 journey, was clothed in ragged garments, and 
 his nephew had a very plausible excuse for his 
 pretence. He had forgotten all his pious 
 promises, and had plunged into many disor- 
 ders. The parochial revenues, which he had 
 agreed to distribute among the poor he had 
 spent in luxurious living ; he had filled his 
 stables with thoroughbred horses, and now 
 kept a pack of hounds. He had industriously 
 circulated a report of his uncle’s death, and 
 pretended to have letters giving a detailed ac- 
 count of his last moments, and on the strength 
 of these letters he had been appointed parish 
 priest by the Archbishop. Feeling secure of his 
 position he had turned the priest’s house, once 
 
1 6 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, 
 
 the abode of piety and holiness, into a resort 
 for hunters and gamblers. 
 
 When Blessed Gonzalvo presented himself 
 at the presbytery door he was rudely turned 
 away like a common beggar. He humbly 
 begged alms from the servants, but the dogs 
 in the yard set upon him, bit him, and tore 
 his clothes. He sent a message to his nephew, 
 who went to the door and treated him as an 
 impostor. The holy man could not restrain 
 his tears and cried out, “ Is this the effect of 
 the care I took of your education? Is this 
 the use you make of the church revenues I 
 gave into your care ? Is this the charity you 
 show to the poor of Christ I so earnestly 
 recommended to you?” His unnatural 
 nephew became more furious on hearing 
 these reproaches, threw himself on his uncle, 
 snatched his pilgrim’s staff out of his hand, 
 dealt him several blows with it, set his dogs at 
 him again, and left him to be torn to pieces. 
 But the servants, more compassionate than 
 their master, saved his life by calling. the dogs 
 away. 
 
 Covered with blood, Gonzalvo sought refuge 
 in a house near at hand, where he dressed his 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of AmaraniRe. ,17 
 
 wounds. He did not make himself known to 
 any of his former flock. Many doubtless would 
 have recognized him. Fourteen years of fer- 
 vent meditation in the scenes of our Divine 
 Lord’s passion had taught him patience, and 
 he blessed God for deeming him worthy of 
 imitating him so closely in suffering and 
 shame. So he prayed for his nephew’s con- 
 version, and determined to embrace the life of 
 a hermit in order to imitate the solitude, pen- 
 ance, and prayer of, his Divine Master. 
 
 He soon found a suitable place at Amaranthe, 
 a wild and unfrequented district where there 
 is now a town of considerable population. 
 Here he built a little cell and a chapel dedi- 
 cated to the Blessed Virgin Mary; occupied 
 himself in pious reading, meditation, and man- 
 ual labor. He passed the night in chant- 
 ing the divine office, and early in the morning 
 celebrated the Holy Mass. 
 
 Desiring not to separate the labor of the 
 Apostolate from the sweetness of contempla- 
 tion he went among the people to instruct the 
 young and ignorant. The success which 
 crowned his efforts caused him to be regarded 
 as a saint ; his hermitage became a place of 
 
1 8 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, 
 
 pious resort, which many visited to secure his 
 prayers or to be instructed in piety and the 
 way of salvation. Alms were given him in 
 such abundance that he was able to bestow 
 much on the poor. Yet this life, holy and 
 useful as it was, did not wholly satisfy the 
 longings of his heart, and he often begged God 
 that if, after having renounced the world and 
 all its hollow pleasures, a still more perfect 
 life was possible mercifully to make it known 
 to him. Prayer and fasting were the principal 
 means he employed to learn God's holy will. 
 During the forty days of Lent he ate and 
 drank nothing but bread and water. On the 
 night before Palm Sunday he was praying 
 very earnestly at the Altar of the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary, when the Divine Mother ap- 
 peared to him, in the midst of dazzling, bright- 
 ness, and told him she wished him to abandon 
 his present way of life, and enter into that 
 religious order in which it was the custom to 
 begin the office by the Angelic salutation — 
 Ave Maria, gratia plena, “ Hail Mary, full of 
 grace ; ” told him that the order was very dear 
 to her, and under her especial protection, and 
 that he would end his days in it. 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, 19 
 
 Joyfully he began to visit the neighboring 
 monasteries to find the Order the Blessed 
 Virgin desired him to enter. After a search 
 of several months he arrived at the town of 
 Guimaraens. He was very tired, for he had 
 been all day on foot, and went to seek an 
 asylum at an hospital near the town gates. 
 This hospital was under the spiritual care of 
 some Fathers of the order recently instituted 
 by Saint Dominic. Although it was not a 
 regular Monastery they followed all the mo- 
 nastic observances exactly the same as if living 
 in the strictest community. 
 
 Their modest behavior, spirit of recollec- 
 tion, and their fervent zeal greatly impressed 
 Blessed Gonzalvo, and it was with the greatest 
 impatience that he waited to hear them com- 
 mence the recitation of the divine office. 
 Behold ! the first words they uttered were 
 Ave Maria gratia plena, the words he so 
 longed to hear. One can understand his joy. 
 This was the order the Queen of Heaven 
 loved so much, this the habit he was to wear 
 until death, this the holy rule he was to follow. 
 
 Next morning, he saw the Prior, Blessed 
 Peter Gonzalez, and narrating his vision asked 
 
20 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amur ant he. 
 
 and obtained the habit of the sons of Mary 
 and Dominic. 
 
 The community soon learned what a treas- 
 ure God had given them in the Novice-priest^ 
 and they rejoiced all the more when they 
 were told how holy had been his life, and what 
 he had done for God. After he had taken 
 his vows, remembering the good he had 
 accomplished at Amaranthe, his superior sent 
 him, accompanied by a fellow-Dominican, to 
 dwell again in his old hermitage. 
 
 As soon as it became known that he had 
 returned and resumed his apostolic work of 
 preaching, a greater crowd than before flocked 
 to hear him, and when he went to preach a 
 mission many were not content unless they 
 accompanied him. Houses began to spring up 
 all around the hermitage, and what had before 
 been a desert became a town, built on both 
 sides of the river Tamage. In some places the 
 river was exceedingly rapid, especially in 
 winter when it was dangerous to cross it. In 
 attempting the passage some were drowned, 
 and those who had built houses on the side 
 opposite his hermitage were unable to avail 
 themselves of his spiritual services in winter 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amar ant he. 21 
 
 time. He resolved to construct a bridge. It 
 is said that an angel appeared to him and 
 showed him the place, immediately opposite 
 his little chapel. At that spot the water was 
 exceedingly rapid, and every one said it was 
 impossible to erect piers. He did not hesitate, 
 and although old age was creeping on him, 
 began the necessary works. As soon as the 
 people saw that he had commenced, they be- 
 came enthusiastic about the project. Some 
 cut down timber, others obtained stone, and 
 those who had money contributed towards the 
 laborer’s wages. God blessed their charity 
 and zeal. In spite of many difficulties the 
 bridge was built. He himself seemed super- 
 naturally endowed with strength, so heavy 
 were the stones he carried on his shoulders. 
 
 One day when he was collecting money for 
 this object he encountered a gentleman whom 
 he tried to interest in the good work. He 
 met with a refusal ; but the gentleman finally 
 referred him to his wife, giving him a letter of 
 introduction, assuring him that she would con- 
 tribute to the good work. This was only a 
 ruse; in the letter he told his wife to give as 
 much money as would balance the weight of 
 
22 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amur a^tt he. 
 
 the paper on which he wrote. The lady 
 smiled when she read the letter, and told 
 Gonzalvo that it was only a polite refusal. 
 Blessed Gonzalvo, much astonished, begged 
 her to obey her husband’s wishes, and see how 
 much the letter would weigh. When it was 
 placed on the scales, coin after coin became 
 necessary to balance it, and thus he carried 
 away a considerable amount. 
 
 There being no pure water at hand the holy 
 man, like a second Moses, struck a rock with 
 his staff, and a fountain sprang forth, which 
 supplied all the workmen with an abundance 
 of sweet water. The pilgrims who now go to 
 his tomb drink this water from devotion, and 
 miracles have frequently been granted to them 
 in reward of their piety. 
 
 The supply of wine having also failed, Gon- 
 zalvo struck the same rock on the other side ; 
 it opened in an instant, and a stream of wine 
 began to flow ; but it soon ceased, except at 
 meal' times. Some of the peasants living in 
 the neighborhood heard of this wonderful 
 miracle, and ran with as many bottles as they 
 could carry to take a supply of wine home 
 with them. But God intended that the wine 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Aniaranthe. 23 
 
 should only be for the necessities of those 
 laboring in the good work of building the 
 bridge, so they were disappointed in not ob- 
 taining any. As soon as the bridge was com- 
 pleted the miraculous supply of wine ceased 
 entirely. 
 
 When provisions failed the holy man knelt 
 on the river bank, made the sign of the cross 
 over the water, and commanded the fishes to 
 come to him. They obeyed. As many as 
 he needed he took, gave his blessing to the 
 others and sent them away. 
 
 During all the time it took to build the 
 bridge he contented himself with preaching 
 on Sundays and feast-days. But as soon as 
 it was finished he resumed his daily preaching 
 and with blessings still more abundant than 
 formerly. Learning that several bad catholics 
 laughed at excommunication, he wished to 
 explain its nature and effects to the people, 
 and as he had to treat with the simple and 
 uneducated he chose to do so by a striking 
 example. He pronounced the words of ex- 
 communication over some loaves of white 
 bread a woman passing by carried in a basket, 
 and in a moment they became as black as 
 
24 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe. 
 
 coal ; then to teach that the church never 
 rejects penitent sinners but restores them to 
 their former state upon their repentance, he 
 removed the excommunication and immedi- 
 ately the loaves became as white as they were 
 before. Thus he spent his days in instructing 
 the ignorant and exhorting sinners to repent- 
 ance, again and again returning to his be- 
 loved retreat at Amaranthe to prepare him- 
 self anew for fresh labors. 
 
 The day of his death was revealed to him. 
 He was seized with a fever which confined 
 him to bed. As soon as his illness became 
 known crowds ran to receive his last blessing 
 and to recommend themselves to his prayers. 
 The charity which had always burned so 
 brightly in his heart gave him strength to 
 overcome the weakness of his body, and 
 his death-bed became a pulpit from which 
 he preached to those who came around 
 him. 
 
 When the people expressed their heartfelt 
 sorrow at his approaching death he told them 
 that it would separate his body only from 
 them, and that he would always be present 
 with them in spirit, and would be of more use 
 
Blessed Gonzalvo of Amur ant he . 25 
 
 to them in heaven than he had been while on 
 earth. 
 
 He received the last sacraments of God’s 
 holy church with touching dispositions, after 
 wiiich he was favored with a heavenly visit 
 from the Blessed Virgin, and hosts of the 
 Blessed. God’s holy mother sweetly invited 
 him to enjoy the reward her Divine Son had 
 prepared for him. He received the invitation 
 with transports of joy, during which he gave 
 his soul into the hands of his Creator and in 
 the company of the Saints and their glorious 
 Queen went to heaven. It was the tenth day 
 of January, 1259. He had passed seventy-two 
 years on earth. 
 
 In all the neighboring villages a voice was 
 heard calling the people to his funeral. They 
 ran to his hermitage, bathed his holy body 
 with their tears, and after reciting the office of 
 the dead, buried it under the Altar of his own 
 little chapel. 
 
 Pilgrimages to his tomb began at once. So 
 universal was the opinion of his eternal happi- 
 ness, and so absolute the conviction that he had 
 at once entered heaven, that the people had 
 recourse to his prayers in all their necessities. 
 
26 
 
 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe. 
 
 When any one fell sick he was at once car- 
 ried to the tomb of Blessed Gonzalvo ; in all 
 their bodily and spiritual wants they turned to 
 him, and their confidence was not misplaced, 
 for many and remarkable were the answers to 
 their simple and confiding prayers. 
 
 Father Sampeyo, who lived in the sixteenth 
 century and who wrote his life, declares in his 
 preface that he himself was miraculously cured 
 of a deadly sickness by the blessed man, and 
 assures us that in his time tlie Portuguese 
 made pilgrimages to his tomb with the 
 same trust and devotion as they had in 
 the intercession of St. James patron of 
 Spain. 
 
 The number of miracles wrought by Blessed 
 Gonzalvo is very great, and there is no sick- 
 ness which he has not cured. A long list is 
 given by the Bollandists. One miracle de- 
 serves mention. In the year 1400 when the 
 waters of the river Tamage rose to an unex- 
 ampled height, the astonished inhabitants be- 
 held Blessed Gonzalvo appear over the rushing 
 flood, carefully guiding the branches of trees 
 washed down by the flood through the arches 
 of the bridge he had built, which would other- 
 
Blessed Goitzalvo of Amaranthe. 27 
 
 wise have been broken down by the force of 
 the shock against the piers. 
 
 So many miracles at length led the Domini- 
 can Order to petition the King of Portugal, 
 John IIP, to give the care of the chapel at 
 Amaranthe into their own hands. He con- 
 sented, 1540. He also built a monastery for 
 the Fathers near the chapel. He and several 
 of his successors warmly solicited the Hoi}’ 
 See to canonize Gonzalvo. Pope Pius IV. 
 allowed the Dominican Fathers and secular 
 clergy in all Portuguese possessions to cele- 
 brate Mass and to say office in his honor. 
 Clement X., at the request of the Portuguese 
 Ambassador and the Master-General of the 
 Dominican Order, Father John Thomas 
 Rocaberti, extended this privilege to the 
 whole Dominican Order. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Antiphon. O Gonzalvo, admirable confessor 
 of Christ, unwearied preacher of the Truth, 
 graciously intercede for us who sing thy 
 praises, and help us, O Father, with th}^ loving 
 prayers at the throne of the eternal Majesty. 
 
 Pray for us, O Blessed Gonzalvo. 
 
28 Blessed Gonzalvo of Amaranthe, 
 
 That we may be made worthy of the prom- 
 ises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who didst wonderfully inflame the 
 mind of Blessed Gonzalvo, Thy Confessor, 
 with the love of Thy holy name, grant we 
 beseech Thee that treading in his footsteps we 
 may ever think on Thee and with fervent zeal 
 ask those things that are agreeable to Thee, 
 Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED ANDREW OF PESCHIERA 
 
BLESSED ANDREW OF PESCHIERA. 
 
 JANUARY 9. 
 
 The lives of some of the saints are crowded 
 with dramatic incidents while others are 
 almost devoid of ordinary human interest, the 
 perfection of virtue to which man aided by 
 God’s grace can attain, being the sum of their 
 lives on earth ; but from every saint we can 
 learn some holy lesson or impress some ster- 
 ling truth on our minds by reading the record 
 of their lives. 
 
 In the life of Blessed Andrew of Peschiera 
 there is little of merely hir-nan interest to 
 chronicle ; yet it teaches us the golden truth 
 that a man who devotes all the faculties of his 
 mind and the energies of his soul to the good 
 of his fellow men, is precious in the sight of 
 God, and that great beyond conception will be 
 his reward. 
 
 Andrew Grego was born at the beginning of 
 the fifteenth century. Peschiera, a village on 
 
32 Blessed Andrew of Peschiera. 
 
 the borders of the lake of Gardo, in the north 
 of Italy was his birthplace. His parents were 
 poor, pious and edifying in their life. As a 
 proof of the truth of the saying that “ the 
 child is father of the man ” little Andrew was 
 a saintly boy, and many there were who fore- 
 told that his after life would be remarkable for 
 holiness. 
 
 At a very early age he imitated the saints in 
 their self-denial and habits of prayer. He did 
 not care to join children of his own age in 
 their simple amusements, but chose to go 
 aside to pray in silence and solitude. At 
 meals he contented himself with the coarsest 
 and commonest food. He fasted the whole 
 Lenten season on bread and water, a custom 
 he continued until death. As he grew older 
 the beauty of his features, and the spiritual 
 beauty of his soul increased. The world 
 offered him many seducing pleasures ; he 
 spurned them all to give his heart entirely to 
 God. A very advantageous marriage was 
 offered him ; he declined it, for he had already 
 determined to live in perfect chastity. 
 
 His father died, confiding the care of the 
 family to him. His brothers ill-treated him. 
 
Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, 33 
 
 and frequently forced him to sleep in the open 
 air. He bore their ill-treatment meekly, never 
 complained, or showed any resentment. His 
 pious mother, who loved him tenderly, pitied 
 him but was powerless to protect him from his 
 brothers’ cruelty. 
 
 At length he became conscious of a divine 
 vocation to enter the Dominican order, and 
 having obtained his mother’s blessing he 
 started for Brescia, where he hoped to find 
 an entrance into the order. His brothers ac- 
 companied him to the city gates to say fare- 
 well. When the time of parting came, forget- 
 ting their unkindness, he knelt down before 
 them, and humbly besought them to bless 
 him, and gave them his stick, the only thing 
 he had taken with him from his father’s house. 
 It was preserved, and in after times became 
 gifted with miraculous power. 
 
 He was received into the order at Brescia, 
 and from thence sent to study in the famous 
 monastery of Saint Mark in Florence. 
 
 It was at the time Blessed Andrew da 
 Chiesa was forming a congregation in which 
 the rule of the order was observed in its origi- 
 nal strictness, and which was afterwards erected 
 
34 Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, 
 
 into a province. Trained in this school of 
 sanctity he became very perfect, being espe- 
 cially remarkable for his spirit of obedience. 
 He never failed in this virtue, and was often 
 heard to say that to be obedient is the same as 
 to be a saint. He was no less admirable in 
 his studies, and like all true Dominicans loved 
 exceedingly to study the Scriptures. 
 
 Raised to the dignity of the priesthood, all 
 on fire with love for God, consumed with 
 desire to save souls. Blessed Andrew com- 
 menced to preach and immediately became 
 remarkable for his success in combating error 
 and vice. Obedience soon made known to 
 him the future scene of his apostolic labors. 
 Several of his Dominican brethren were sent 
 under the leadership of Father Dominic of 
 Pisa to evangelize the Valtelina, a fertile valley 
 enclosed by the Alps and watered by the river 
 Adda. Two centuries before Saint Dominic 
 had preached throughout this valley. It had 
 now become a prey to the Manichean heresy, 
 and needed such men as the little band of holy 
 Fathers who accepted the invitation of Benigno 
 Medici to rescue the people from eternal 
 loss. 
 
Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, 35 
 
 Blessed Andrew was one of the Fathers 
 chosen for this labor by the Donainican supe- 
 riors. He gave himself to it heart and soul. 
 He devoted himself to the poor, visited their 
 homes, often passing the night under the roof 
 of their humble cottages, sharing their frugal 
 repasts of coarse bread, chestnuts, and water 
 and sleeping on branches of trees. Regarded 
 as a saint, he obtained great influence over the 
 people ; one word from him was sufficient to 
 quell those popular tumults which the passions 
 of men stir up from time to time. All dis- 
 putes were referred to him and his decision 
 was always obeyed. 
 
 Heretics bowed their proud wills, and 
 abandoned their false doctrines before his 
 teaching, overcome more by the sweet charity 
 and irresistible charm of sanctity than by argu- 
 ments. Every one loved this holy priest so 
 austere to himself, but so mild towards others. 
 Every one called him a saint, “ the father of 
 the poor.” 
 
 Nor were miracles wanting to bear addi- 
 tional testimony to the truth of the religion he 
 preached, to heighten the opinion of his 
 sanctity. One day as he was disputing with 
 
36 Blessed Andrew of Peschiera. 
 
 some heretics, a volume was given him ; it was 
 full of errors against the Catholic faith espe- 
 cially against devotion to the saints. When 
 he opened it, lo ! a deadly viper escaped from 
 its leaves as if to testify to the poison of its 
 false doctrines. 
 
 Like a prudent workman in the vineyard of 
 the Lord, Blessed Andrew made provision 
 for the future of the people confided to his 
 charge. Knowing the weakness of men, their 
 natural proneness to fall into sin and to em- 
 brace errors, he built many churches, founded 
 new parishes, established several monasteries 
 in the Valtelina. Among these was the re- 
 nowned Dominican Monastery of Morbegno 
 which he filled with zealous and learned priests 
 to act as a perpetual rampart against the insid- 
 ious advances of heresy and vice. This mon- 
 astery was his favorite home, and when 
 fatigued from his apostolic journeys he retired 
 there to obtain the rest and repose he so much 
 needed. 
 
 Never could he be induced to accept any 
 office in the order. He cherished in his heart 
 a very tender devotion to the passion of our 
 Divine Lord, wore every Friday a crown of 
 
Blessed Andrew of Peschiera, 37 
 
 sharp thorns on his head concealed under the 
 Capuce or hood of his religious habit. He is 
 represented in ancient pictures with a crucifix 
 in his hand, which is supposed to have refer- 
 ence to some miraculous favor received by him 
 from God. 
 
 He dwelt in the Valtelina more than forty- 
 five years evangelizing the people, travelling 
 from place in spite of the heavy snows, until 
 having learned of his approaching death by 
 Divine revelation, he returned to the Monas- 
 tery of Morbegno, where receiving the last sac- 
 raments he resigned his holy soul into the 
 hands of his Maker, January 18, 1485. 
 
 His body, which sent forth a sweet perfume, 
 was buried without special ceremony, nor was 
 any monument erected over his tomb, until 
 several miracles having been wrought, his relics 
 were solemnly transferred, in the year 1497, to 
 the Chapel of Saint Roche, and placed in a 
 costly tomb. Over the altar was painted a 
 picture of the Saint surrounded by rays of 
 light, and bearing the following inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 “ Pray for us, Blessed Andrew of Peschiera.” 
 
38 Blessed Andrew of Peschiera» 
 
 A century and a half later, in the year 1630, 
 the plague broke out in the Valtelina. The 
 magistrates of Morbegno made a vow in the 
 name of the inhabitants to pay the expense of 
 translating the relics of Blessed Andrew to a 
 still more beautiful shrine. The plague entirely 
 ceased, and in grateful fulfilment of this vow 
 the Biohop carried the relics around the town, 
 which was richly decorated for the occasion, 
 after which they were again deposited in the 
 Dominican Church. His cultus was approved 
 by Pope Pius VII. in the year 1820. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant, This saint is worthy to be had in re- 
 membrance by men for he hath now passed to 
 the joy of the angels. 
 
 V, Pray for us O Blessed Andrew. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst adorn 
 Blessed Andrew, Thy Confessor, with the 
 Apostolic spirit, grant that in imitation of him, 
 
Blessed Andrezv of Peschiera. 39 
 
 our words and example may be so profitable 
 that we may bear abundant fruit thereby. 
 Who livest and reignest God world without 
 end. Amen. 
 
■3,V 
 
SAINT RAYMUND OF PENNAFORTE, 
 THIRD MASTER-GENERAL OF THE 
 ORDER OF FRIAR PREACHERS. 
 
SAINT RAYMUND OF PENNAFORTE, 
 THIRD MASTER-GENERAL OF THE 
 ORDER OF FRIAR PREACHERS. 
 
 JANUARY 23. 
 
 Like many of the Dominican saints Saint 
 Raymund is as widely known for his learning 
 as for his sanctity. The four characteristic 
 marks of the true Dominican ; devotion to the 
 Blessed Virgin, consummate holiness, elevated 
 learning, and burning zeal for the salvation of 
 souls are to be found in him in perfection. 
 
 He was born, 1175, in his father’s castle of 
 Pennaforte, a few miles from Barcelona, a city 
 of Catalonia, in Spain. The castle was built 
 on rocks which rise from the waters of the 
 river Monjos. A Dominican monastery, built 
 in 1601, on the site of the castle, still remains, 
 but with the exception of one tower the castle 
 has gone forever. Saint Raymund’s family 
 was noble, even royal, being allied to the race 
 of the kings of Aragon. From his infancy he 
 
44 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 
 
 was blessed by God. “ Although in years a 
 child his heart was that of an old man,” says 
 one ancient author. It was a pious custom in 
 those days for Catholic parents to dedicate one 
 or more of their children to God’s service in 
 some monastery or cathedral, leaving them full 
 liberty to choose, when old enough to do so, 
 either the ecclesiastical state or to return to 
 the world. Thus a double advantage was 
 gained. The church obtained ministers, 
 formed from youth in the ecclesiastical spirit 
 and well grounded in Christian virtues, and in 
 many cases received the wealth which would 
 have been their fortune in life. Acting in the 
 spirit of faith Saint Raymund’s parents dedi- 
 cated him to God in his earliest years, and 
 sent him to Barcelona to be placed among the 
 youths in the cathedral school. 
 
 In the deserted monastery of Saint Dominic 
 at Pennaforte may yet be seen two paintings. 
 In one Saint Raymund is represented as a boy 
 of six or seven years, listening to his father. 
 His mother stands behind him and seems to 
 be uniting her exhortations to those of her 
 husband. The other picture represents him at 
 twelve or thirteen years of age, clothed in 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 45 
 
 clerical dress. His father tenderly blesses 
 him, as he bends down and kisses his hand ; 
 while his mother stands aside, weeping silent 
 tears of joy. An angel, in the costume of a 
 traveller, touches the young cleric on his 
 shoulder, and appears to be urging his depart- 
 ure. In the background is a Moorish servant, 
 holding a beautiful horse by the bridle, ready 
 for the journey. This picture evidently repre- 
 sents young Raymund’s departure from the 
 home of his ancestors for the studious cloisters 
 of the cathedral of Barcelona. 
 
 In that home of piety and knowledge the 
 youth learnt to despise the vain and hollow 
 pleasures of this world, and to value that 
 heavenly wisdom which is alone learned at the 
 foot of the cross. He received the seed of 
 sound Catholic doctrine in good and fertile 
 soil. His progress in learning was so great 
 that when only twenty years old he began to 
 teach the liberal arts. (1196.) His disinter- 
 estedness was such that his lectures were free 
 of charge. His holy life edified all who were 
 so happy as to know him, and his pious ex- 
 ample was as eloquent as his teaching. Eight 
 years were passed in this way. We find Ray- 
 
46 Saint Rayinund of Pennaforte, 
 
 mund in 1204 arbitrating in a case submitted 
 to the decision of the Bishop of Barcelona. 
 Herein was found the first indication of his 
 aptitude for Canon Law, or law of the church, 
 in those days almost as universal as civil law ; 
 men of the highest talent and reputation glory- 
 ing in possessing a knowledge of ecclesiastical 
 as well as civil jurisprudence. 
 
 The universities of Paris and Bologna were 
 attracting students from all parts of the Chris- 
 tian world at that time. Yielding to the com- 
 mon impulse Raymund gave up his classes, 
 and leaving his native land for the love of 
 knowledge set out for Bologna. He was not 
 alone on his journey. A cleric, Peter Ruber, 
 who afterwards entered the Dominican order, 
 accompanied him. The two travellers follow- 
 ing the ancient Roman road from Spain to 
 Italy, which passed through Arles and Turin, 
 arrived one day at Briangon, at the foot of 
 Mount Genevre. There they heard of a great 
 miracle which had just taken place in a village 
 called Saint Mary of Elbeza, a little distance 
 from the road. Shortly before their arrival a 
 young man on a pious pilgrimage to the shrine 
 of the Blessed Virgin in Albeza, was attacked 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 47 
 
 by his deadly enemies. They cut off his 
 hands, and in their ferocious hate gouged out 
 his eyes. He continued on his pilgrimage, 
 having an additional motive to lead him as a 
 suppliant to Mary’s feet. The young man’s 
 mother hurried to the shrine, to join her 
 prayers to his for a complete cure. She passed 
 the whole night in prayer at the feet of the 
 Mother of God. The “ comforter of the 
 afflicted,” who was never known to turn a deaf 
 ear to a sincere prayer, granted what she 
 asked. The bloody sockets were suddenly 
 filled anew with eyes, and hands began to 
 form themselves in place of those so barbar- 
 ously cut off. Saint Raymund saw these eyes 
 and the hands which were not yet completely 
 formed. Many years later he wrote an 
 account of what he saw, in a letter, addressed 
 to John of Vercelli, Master-General of the 
 Dominican order, beginning thus: “ I, Brother 
 Raymund of Pennaforte, the least of the order 
 of Preachers, in the present year, 1271, and 
 the 1 8th of August, have written the present 
 account at the wish of my brothers, and for 
 the honor of the most holy Virgin Mary, 
 Mother of our Lord, Saviour and Redeemer 
 
48 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 
 
 Jesus Christ.” It happened, he says, sixty 
 years before, which would make the date of 
 their journey 1210. This letter is to be 
 found in the edition of the “ Summa ” of Saint 
 Raymund, printed at Verona. 
 
 With his heart full’ of love for Mary, Saint 
 Raymund continued his journey and in due 
 time arrived in Bologna. He was now thirty- 
 five years old. He concealed his talents and 
 fame, and set himself to acquire a full knowl- 
 edge of those branches of science of which he 
 was as yet destitute. It was by no means un- 
 usual in those times for men of his age and 
 reputation to become pupils at the great 
 European universities. Thus we are told that 
 when later on he began to teach in Bologna 
 
 the principal nobles and literati went in 
 crowds to his lectures.” Bologna was then at 
 the height of its glory, and had as many as 
 ten thousand students. 
 
 Saint Raymund paid special attention to 
 the. study of law, civil and ecclesiastical, excel- 
 ling in both, and after six years spent in per- 
 fecting himself, and having taken the degree 
 of Doctor of those sciences he began a second 
 time to lecture, and again with great success. 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 49 
 
 In Bologna, as in Barcelona, his lectures were 
 free to all. The senate of Bologna, having 
 been told of his disinterested conduct donated 
 a large sum to him every year, wishing to keep 
 him in the city. Saint Raymund accepted the 
 money but only that he might increase the 
 abundant alms he distributed. When he had 
 been teaching three years, Beranger de Palon, 
 Bishop of Barcelona, returning from Rome to 
 his diocese, passed through Bologna. He 
 heard nothing spoken of but the new order of 
 Preachers, which Dominic Guzman, a noble 
 Spaniard, had founded, and the extraordinary 
 fame of Raymund, a professor from his own 
 diocese. Charmed with the holy lives of the 
 Dominican Fathers, and thinking of the needs 
 of his flock, the Bishop obtained some of them 
 to found a monastery in Barcelona, and at the 
 same time persuaded Raymund to return with 
 him. 
 
 To establish the Dominicans, the Bishop, on 
 his return to Barcelona, gave the ground on 
 which the famous monastery of Saint Cather- 
 ine the Martyr was built, provided a supply of 
 v/ine, and made a present of a Bible with mar- 
 ginal notes ; the latter a princely gift in those 
 
50 Saint Rayinuiui of Pennaforte. 
 
 days. Authentic documents which are still 
 extant, give us the history of the foundation 
 of this monastery ; when the church was com- 
 menced and finished, when the various chapels 
 were erected, the dormitory, chapter room, 
 hospice or infirmary, and all the various parts 
 of a house of regular observance. Alas! noth- 
 ing now remains but the memory of this beau- 
 tiful monastery and church, which despite 
 their architectral beauty could find no favor 
 in the eyes of the revolutionists of 1835, who 
 utterly destroyed them. 
 
 On his arrival in Barcelona in 1219, Ray- 
 mund met with universal respect and admira- 
 tion. The cathedral canons consented to the 
 bishop’s wish that he should become one of 
 their number. But all the honors so freely 
 bestowed upon him only made him more 
 humble, and caused him to lead a more 
 retired life. His fervent devotion to the 
 Blessed Mother of God inspired him to insti- 
 tute a more solemn celebration of the feast of 
 the Annunciation, for which he always paid 
 the expenses. But if he allowed his devotion 
 to Mary to become known by this act of piety, 
 he strove to hide his virtues from the knowl- 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 5 ^ 
 
 edge of the busy world. Yet all in vain. 
 None who knew him could fail to admire his 
 modesty, his charity, mortification, fervor and 
 regularity in attendance at the divine office in 
 the cathedral choir. He inspired such confi- 
 dence in his impartiality and justice that 
 many asked him to act as arbitrator in difficult 
 disputes ; and the archives of the cathedral of 
 Barcelona still preserve an agreement made by 
 his advice between two canons of the cathe- 
 dral who referred a dispute which had arisen 
 to his decision. 
 
 Not content, however, with the means of 
 sanctification the state of a secular priest 
 afforded him, Raymund now began to long 
 for a more perfect life. The holy and apostolic 
 life of the sons of Saint Dominic in Bologna 
 and Barcelona, no doubt had greatly impressed 
 him, and caused him to wish to join them. 
 We remember that while Saint Raymund was 
 teaching in Bologna the disciples of Saint 
 Dominic were preaching there, and that by 
 the sweet charm of their holy lives no less 
 than by their eloquence, they had stirred up 
 the whole city. The new order founded by 
 Saint Dominic, confirmed in 1215 by Pope 
 
52 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 Innocent III., had already obtained a solid 
 foundation, and made rapid progress. In 
 1218 Saint Dominic sent John of Navarre, one 
 of his first sixteen disciples, Brother Bertrand, 
 and Brother Richard to Bologna, and after a 
 little time Michael de Uzero and Dominic of 
 Segovia, and lastly the famous Blessed Regi- 
 nald of Orleans, who soon captured the city 
 by his fervid eloquence. Day after day he 
 gained new disciples ; Brother Clair, Roland of 
 Cremona, Brother Moneta, numbers of jurists 
 and philosophers gave, way before the force of 
 his eloquence. Then came the holy patriarch 
 Dominic. He arrived in Bologna in August 
 of 1219. Bologna was to become the centre of 
 his apostolic work, the favorite city of his heart, 
 the place of his death, and the custodian of 
 his relics. Vocations followed in rapid succes- 
 sion ; John the Teuton, Blessed Sadoc, St. 
 Peter Martyr of Verona, and many others 
 entered the order there. Among the pro- 
 fessors who became Dominicans in Bologna 
 were Paul of Hungary, the first Dominican 
 Provincial of that country, also Martin Fano, 
 who born in a palace, gave up his high rank 
 to devote himself to teaching, and after he 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 5 3 
 
 had entered the order refused a Bishopric, and 
 died in the reputation of sanctity, and John of 
 Vincenza, a famous preacher of the order, who 
 finding the churches too small for his immense 
 audiences preached in the open air. 
 
 Although we find no mention of any meet- 
 ing between Saint Raymund and Saint Domi- 
 nic in Bologna, yet as we know that Bishop 
 Palon persuaded Saint Raymund to return to 
 Barcelona at the same time that he obtained 
 from Saint Dominic some of his disciples to 
 found a monastery in Barcelona, we may feel 
 sure that these two saints must have met at 
 that time. 
 
 “ The Brothers having been established a 
 short time,” says an ancient author, “ Ray- 
 mund consideieJ their holy life and the fruits 
 of a ministry which the Lord had made fertile. 
 He, likewise, desired to walk in the footsteps 
 of Him, Who, being rich, embraced poverty 
 for our sake, and Who gave Himself for the 
 salvation of souls. Wisely laughing at the 
 world’s seductions, he turned a cold shoulder 
 on unstable advantages, and on Good Friday 
 entered among the Friar Preachers.” This 
 was in 1222, a few months after the death of 
 
54 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 
 
 Saint Dominic. He was forty-seven years of 
 age. 
 
 An interesting relic of Saint Raymund 
 remained in Barcelona at the beginning or this 
 century. On the road leading to the house of 
 the Gruny family, who were always bene- 
 factors to the Dominicans in Barcelona, was 
 a large stone on which it is said Saint Ray- 
 mund rested when on his way to the Domini- 
 can Monastery; doubtless to calm himsell and 
 to brace himself up for the sacrifice he was 
 about to make. 
 
 His example induced many learned clerics 
 and nobles to receive the Dominican habit. 
 His advanced age and noble birth seemed to 
 be an impediment to his carrying out the rule 
 of an order which obliged its members to 
 silence, severe penance, and rigid self-denial. 
 The great doctor of canon law, for whose 
 presence two cities had contended, the arbitra- 
 tor of difficult disputes, the pride of the 
 learned chapter of the cathedral, appeared all 
 at once in the humble habit of a Friar 
 Preacher, a novice learning in true humility 
 the way of the spiritual life with the docility 
 of a little child. 
 
Saint Raymund of Pejinaforte, 55 
 
 O how beautiful is the life of a Dominican 
 religious who is filled with the spirit of his 
 order! From morning till evening it is a 
 series of holy acts ; small perhaps in them- 
 selves, but great in virtue of their dedication 
 to the service of God. In his little cell, so 
 still and calm, even though it be in the heart 
 of a great city, all his thoughts are turned to 
 God, and directed towards the salvation of 
 souls. His nights are spent in prayer, and his 
 days passed in study and apostolic labor. 
 
 Let us endeavor to learn how Saint Ray- 
 mund spent his time at Saint Catharine’s 
 Monastery in Barcelona. 
 
 It is the recreation after the evening meal. 
 Night draws near. The sound of the church 
 bell rings through the air to call the commu- 
 nity to Complin ; that of all parts of the daily 
 office the most beautiful. The Fathers rise 
 and go through the cloisters in silence to the 
 choir. Complin having been recited the 
 “Salve Regina” is sung in solemn procession, 
 after which all retire to rest. In the middle 
 of the night the bell again calls the commu- 
 nity to prayer. All arise, pass through the dark 
 and silent cloisters to the choir where they 
 
56 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 
 
 chant the office, and again retire to rest. 
 Only a short sleep is allowed them, for early 
 in the morning they are all in the choir for 
 meditation, the community Mass, and another 
 part of the Divine office. The morning is 
 spent in labors of various kinds. The Fathers 
 study the Holy Scriptures and prepare their 
 sermons, or each one attends to the duties of 
 his office ; the novices study, or attend lectures 
 on Holy Scriptures, Philosophy, and Theology, 
 while the Lay Brothers labor in different parts 
 of the monastery, cooking, washing, gardening 
 and the like. 
 
 Dinner of fish and vegetables is served in 
 the refectory at noon. All are seated, hooded 
 and silent, in a row at each side of the apart- 
 ment, while one novice slowly and distinctly 
 reads from some pious book at a lectern ; so 
 that while the body and its forces are strength- 
 ened with needful food, the soul may be 
 refreshed with sound doctrine and maxims of 
 Catholic piety. The afternoon is spent in 
 much the same way as the morning; and 
 Complin coming round again completes the 
 happy day. 
 
 This was the life, pious, calm, and peaceable 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 57 
 
 which Saint Raymund embraced when he 
 entered the Dominican order. But his 
 biographers have left us some charming 
 details of his personal life. They tell us that 
 ‘tie was often awakened from sleep by an angel 
 At time for Matins, that he said the Divine 
 office, one of the chief duties of a religious of 
 the ancient monastic orders, very devoutly, and 
 whether he said it in choir or elsewhere always 
 said it with the same devotion, the same 
 pauses, and bodily inclinations. They tell us 
 he was very careful also to avoid interruptions, 
 and everything in the way of distraction. We 
 learn from them that he spent much time in 
 prayer after Complin and again after Matins. 
 Many of the Fathers were accustomed to go 
 into the church or cloisters at those times to 
 take the discipline, or to pray in silence and 
 recollection. Saint Raymund always made a 
 visit to every altar in the church, prostrating 
 himself before each, and frequently chastising 
 his body with disciplines. Sometimes his sor- 
 row for his sins was so great that his groan- 
 ing could be heard by the whole community. 
 His biographers tell us that his abstemiousness 
 in eating and drinking was very remarkable, 
 
5B Saint Raymu7id of Pennaforte. 
 
 even in a monastery of strict observance. Ex- 
 cept on Sundays he took but one meal a day. 
 In recreation time his conversation was pious 
 and edifying. Never would he allow the absent 
 to be criticised or unfavorably mentioned in 
 his hearing, and he took great pains to defend 
 any one whose conduct was attacked. He con- 
 fessed his sins every morning before saying 
 Mass. He once said that if anything took 
 place to hinder his saying Mass he felt un- 
 happy the whole day. A column of fire 
 descended from heaven one day when, he said 
 Mass. It enveloped his head and shoulders 
 and lasted from the consecration until he had 
 consumed the host. 
 
 He did not hide his talents in the cloister. 
 He studied assiduously, and gave all his free 
 time to the careful study of Holy Scripture ; 
 and he, the eminent canonist of European 
 reputation, did not disdain to attend the 
 courses of lectures given in the monastery 
 by professors of less renown than himself. 
 When any one consulted him on obscure 
 points of canon law, or on any case of con- 
 science, instead of trusting to his own opinions 
 he searched the works of authors of weight to 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 59 
 
 find if his private opinion was warranted by 
 authority. But when he had come to a deci- 
 sion, founded on sound reasons and supported 
 by standard authors, he gave his opinion with 
 such firmness and confidence that they who 
 had consulted him felt safe in following his 
 advice. 
 
 On entering the order his first care had 
 been to beg his superiors to impose a severe 
 penance on him that he might make some 
 satisfaction to God for the sins of his youth. 
 In answer to this request the Provincial of 
 Spain, Father Suero Gomez, commanded him 
 to make a collection of cases of conscience, for 
 the guidance of confessors. The work he 
 wrote in obedience to this command is called 
 the “ Summa of Saint Raymund,” and is be- 
 lieved to have been the first of its kind. 
 
 Instead of finding obscurity in the cloister, as 
 he wished, his fame increased every day ; and 
 among those who learnt to value his advice 
 and direction was James I., King of Aragon, 
 who chose him for his confessor, and profited 
 by his wisdom in carrying out a glorious design 
 inspired by God. It was the institution of the 
 Order for the Redemption of Captives. For 
 
6o Saint Rayrnund of Pennaforte, 
 
 many years the Moors, all zealous Mahome- 
 tans, and fierce enemies of the Christian re- 
 ligion, had held possession of many Spanish 
 provinces. Much of the coast line was under 
 their baneful power, and woe to the Christian 
 who fell into their hands. No cruelty was 
 spared to force him to deny his religion, and 
 every inducement held out to lead him to 
 apostatize. Every day news came to the 
 Catholic cities of barbarous torments the 
 Christians had to suffer from the ferocious 
 disciples of Mahomet. 
 
 On the night of the first of August Saint 
 Rayrnund was praying for those who had 
 fallen -into the hands of the Turks, when the 
 Blessed Virgin appeared to him and told him 
 she desired that a religious order should be 
 founded devoted to the work of redeeming 
 Christian captives from the Moors. The 
 Queen of Heaven appeared the same night to 
 King James for the same purpose, and also to 
 a holy Frenchman, Saint Peter Nolasco, who 
 for several years had labored with great zeal 
 and devotion in this good work. Saint Peter 
 Nolasco belonged to one of the first families of 
 Languedoc. He was born in the year 1189, in 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 6i 
 
 the village of Mas-le-Saintes-Puelles, between 
 Toulouse and Carcasonne, in the south of 
 France. Saddened by the sight of the rav- 
 ages made by heresy he left his native country 
 for Spain, and served some time under the 
 banner of Simon de Montfort ; and when 
 Peter, King of Aragon, confided the care of 
 his son, afterwards King James the First, to 
 Simon de Montfort, Simon appointed Peter 
 Nolasco the young Prince’s Governor. Peter 
 taught him to love God with all his heart, to 
 value justice aright, in a word to be a truly 
 Christian Prince. He himself lived a very 
 holy life at court. He spent four hours in 
 prayer every day, and two every night. He 
 read the Holy Scriptures assiduously, and did 
 much penance. But when again and again, 
 tidings came of the sufferings inflicted on the 
 unhappy Christians who fell into the power of 
 the Moors, he resolved to devote his whole 
 fortune to their ransom. What was his de- 
 light then, as he was preparing to carry out 
 his pious resolution, to be favored with a 
 vision of the Mother of God, who told him 
 that it was God’s holy will that he should es- 
 tablish a religious order for this grand work, 
 
62 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 Fearing to be deceived he hastened to consult 
 his spiritual director, Saint Raymund, and 
 told him of his vision. His delight was in- 
 creased when he learned that Saint Raymund 
 had also received the same command from the 
 Blessed Virgin. Raymund proposed that 
 they should go to the king to ask his assist- 
 ance for the great work. When admitted to 
 the king’s presence, to their great joy and sur- 
 prise they learned that he likewise had re- 
 ceived the same command from the same 
 heavenly lips, and none of them could any 
 longer doubt that the visions were from God. 
 
 About thirty years previous several Cata- 
 lonian gentlemen had formed themselves into 
 a confraternity for ransoming Christians from 
 the Saracens, attending hospitals, visiting 
 prisoners, and guarding the sea-coast against 
 infidel invaders. Nearly all the members of 
 this confraternity and the priests attached to 
 it joined the new order. The Order of the 
 Redemption of Captives was solemnly insti- 
 tuted in the cathedral of Barcelona, August lo, 
 1223. King James, his whole court, and the 
 city Magistrates were present. The Bishop 
 of Barcelona officiated, and Saint Raymund 
 
Saint Raymund of Penyiaforte, 63 
 
 preached, and in his sermon narrated his 
 vision. After preaching he went to the altar, 
 and taking a habit, which had been prepared, 
 presented it to King James and the bishop, 
 who taking the front of the scapular, Saint 
 Raymund holding the other end, Saint Peter 
 Nolasco was by them invested with the habit 
 of the new order of our Lady of Redemption. 
 The habit consisted of a white tunic, scapular, 
 and mantle. On the scapular was the arms of 
 the Kings of Aragon. Saint Peter then gave 
 the habit to thirteen members of the confra- 
 ternity, six priests and seven chevaliers. In 
 addition to the three vows of poverty, obedi- 
 ence, and chastity, a fourth was added, to 
 devote themselves to the work of the redemp- 
 tion of captives. The rule of the order was 
 compiled by Saint Raymund, and was based 
 on the rule of Saint Augustine and the Domin- 
 ican Constitutions. The king gave Saint 
 Peter Nolasco the hospital of Saint Eulalia for 
 the first monastery of the order, and several 
 nobles assisted him with donations to endow it. 
 The or ler thus founded was formally approved 
 by Gregory IX. in 1235, under the name of 
 “ The Order of our Lady of Redemption," 
 
64 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 About this time Gregory IX. sent John 
 Halgrin, called John of Abbeville, Benedictine 
 Abbott of Besangon and Cardinal of Santa 
 Sabina, into Spain as legate, to obtain the ob- 
 servance of some decrees of the Council of 
 Lateran, to preach a crusade against the 
 Moors, and to investigate the validity of the 
 marriage of King James of Aragon with 
 Eleanora of Castile, entered into when he was 
 only thirteen years of age, when although they 
 were related in the degrees forbidden by the 
 church no dispensation had been obtained for 
 the marriage. Arriving at Barcelona it was 
 not long before the legate heard of the 
 learned Father Raymund, the Dominican 
 Friar. He at once consulted him on the 
 object of his legation, and being so pleased 
 with him, ordered him to accompany him on 
 his journey. Saint Raymund, by the legate’s 
 wish, assisted at the Council of Tarragona, in 
 which the king’s- marriage was declared to be 
 null; and he afterwards accompanied him on 
 his mission to organize the crusade, when he 
 fully justified his reputation for holiness and 
 wisdom. He strictly observed all the fasts and 
 days of abstinence of his order on his journeys, 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 65 
 
 and as far as he could observed every monastic 
 rule. He went in advance of the legate, on 
 foot, with a fellow religious given to him as a 
 companion, begging food and lodging as he 
 went along. He prepared the people to gain 
 the indulgence of the crusade, and the Apos- 
 tolic blessing of the Pope’s envoy ; and suc- 
 ceeded so well that the legate found nothing 
 left for him to do, and thus the end of the 
 mission was obtained. 
 
 When the Cardinal was about to return to 
 Rome he was sincerely grieved to part with 
 Raymund, so charmed had he been with him, 
 and desired to take him to Rome with him. 
 But the humble Friar Preacher excused him- 
 self, and the Cardinal feared to push his re- 
 quest further. But he could not refrain from 
 making known to the Pope the great services 
 rendered him by Saint Raymund. Gregory 
 at once sent for him, and soon found that his 
 worth had not been exaggerated. He made 
 him his own confessor, and Grand Penitentiary 
 of the Roman Church, an office which at the 
 present day is held by none but a Cardinal. 
 In his office of confessor Raymund gave the 
 Pope for a penance an obedience to expedite all 
 
66 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 matters relating to the poor ; and when Greg- 
 ory found that he could not discharge all those 
 duties in person he made Saint Raymund his 
 agent in all such matters, appointing him, as 
 Blessed Humbert de Romanis tells us, “ Expe- 
 ditor of the causes of the Poor.” He also 
 commanded him to make a collection of all 
 the decretals of his predecessors in the chair of 
 Saint Peter, and to write an explanation of the 
 most difficult. Three years were spent in this 
 enormous work, and when completed the Pope 
 was so pleased with it that he ordered its ex- 
 clusive use. 
 
 It was during his residence in Rome that 
 Saint Raymund from zeal for the preservation 
 of the true faith, procured the establishment 
 of the Inquisition in the kingdom of Aragon. 
 For a long time the Albigensian heretics, fly- 
 ing from justice in Languedoc, had taken 
 refuge in Aragon and Catalonia, where they 
 attempted to propagate their pernicious errors. 
 
 Gregory the Ninth nominated Saint Ray- 
 mund to the Archbishopric of Tarragona, as a 
 public acknowledgment of his talents, and the 
 services he had rendered the church ; but with 
 tears in his eyes Raymund begged his re- 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 67 
 
 lease, recommending for that office William 
 de Mongrin, of Gerona, a virtuous ecclesi- 
 astic. At first the Pope was inexorable in 
 maintaining his nomination, but when the 
 saint sickened from grief he reluctantly re- 
 voked it. Raymund also refused the Arch- 
 bishopric of Braga in Portugal, and several 
 other exalted dignities ; saying always that it 
 was a sufficient dignity for him to be a good 
 religious in the order he had entered. 
 
 After five years in Rome in the service of 
 the church and in most responsible and fatigu- 
 ing duties without having diminished his 
 penances and austerities, he felt that his 
 strength was failing, and his physician de- 
 clared that he must return to his native land. 
 The Pope gave his consent, but on condition 
 that he retained his office of Grand Peniten- 
 tiary. 
 
 After a pleasant voyage Saint Raymund 
 landed at Tossa, a small Spanish port about 
 thirty-six miles from Barcelona. He was ac- 
 companied by four Dominican Friars, who 
 thus became witnesses of a remarkable miracle. 
 A peasant, called Barcolo, working in the har- 
 vest field, was suddenly struck by apoplexy, 
 
68 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 deprived of the use of speech, and became 
 quite insensible. At the sight of the unfortu- 
 nate man Saint Raymund thought of his soul 
 and began to pray, begging all around to join 
 him in his prayers that he might recover suffi- 
 ciently to make his confession before he died. 
 After several moments the saint arose, and ap- 
 proached the man. “ Barcolo,” he said to 
 him, “ do you desire to confess?’' The dying 
 man opened his eyes, and distinctly answered, 
 “ Yes, I do, and have much desired it.” Saint 
 Raymund heard his confession, but hardly had 
 he absolved him than he lost his voice again. 
 The other Fathers approached and saw him die 
 quietly and calmly, amid universal gratitude to 
 God for the grace He had granted this poor 
 man in answer to Saint Raymund’s prayers. 
 
 In the Bull of his canonization we find the 
 following account of a miraculous grace 
 granted to his merits, evidently about this 
 time. A lay brother, before his entrance into 
 the order had led a very licentious life. The 
 remembrance of the sins of his youth frequently 
 raised most annoying images of unlawful 
 pleasures in his mind. One day as he was as- 
 sisting at St. Raymund’s mass he sent up a 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 69 
 
 fervent prayer to God to deliver him from 
 these temptations. At the consecration he 
 saw in the host a beautiful child, enveloped in 
 light, and at the same moment all the evil de- 
 sires vanished never again to return, and he 
 felt a delicious calm penetrate his senses. 
 Another lay brother, called Martin, had suf- 
 fered continual headache for more than two 
 years, and could not bear the least noise. He 
 went one day to Saint Raymund and en- 
 treated him to lay his hands on his head and 
 cure him. Saint Raymund did so; the head- 
 aches ceased at once and forever. A lady, of 
 the name of Elisende Eymerich, had for a 
 long time been afflicted with a quartan fever. 
 Saint Raymund, accompanied by Brother Wil- 
 liam Pons, paid her a visit. The sick woman 
 had great confidence in Saint Raymund, and 
 asked him to restore her to health. He pre- 
 tended not to understand her, too humble to 
 allow any one to think him a saint. But she 
 persisted until he gave way and cured her. 
 
 At home once more in his beloved monas- 
 tery at Barcelona he soon recovered his health. 
 He kept the rule as strictly as before, prayed 
 and studied incessantly, and most conscien- 
 
70 Saint Rayniund of Pennaforte. 
 
 tiously observed the silence commanded by 
 the Dominican constitutions. But he soon 
 found that even in his monastery he could not 
 live the retired and secluded life he loved so 
 much. His renown was so great that he was 
 consulted on matters of all kinds by all classes 
 of men. Kind and affable to all he solved 
 every difficulty submitted to his judgment, 
 and was much sought after. He found that 
 his office of Grand Penitentiary absorbed too 
 much of his time, and wrote to the Pope to be 
 released from its duties; alleging as a reason 
 that the facility with which he could be ap- 
 proached diminished the respect due to the 
 Holy See. But to preserve and increase the 
 brotherly love which existed between the 
 Franciscan and Dominican orders he asked to 
 be allowed to retain his office so far as con- 
 cerned the two orders. About this time he 
 wrote a work on pastoral visits by desire of 
 the Arragonese Bishops, and another, in 
 answer to the request of several merchants, on 
 the lawfulness of certain business practises. 
 He also assisted at two celebrated national as- 
 semblies, at Moncon, in 1236, and at Tarra- 
 gona the year following. 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. /l 
 
 Saint Raymund loved the quiet and peace- 
 ful seclusion of his beloved monastery ; it was 
 for this he had left the world and the honors 
 it showered upon him. It was the same holy 
 longing for monastic rest that had caused him 
 to return from Rome. But God’s providence 
 was again to call him forth into public life. 
 The sad news of the death by shipwreck of 
 Blessed Jordan of Saxony, the immediate suc- 
 cessor to Saint Dominic in the government of 
 the order, having become known, a General 
 Chapter assembled in Bologna, May 28, 1238. 
 On this grave occasion the fathers of the 
 chapter gathered round the tomb of Saint 
 Dominic, praying him to make known to them 
 him whom God had chosen in His wisdom to 
 be his successor. An ancient author gives the 
 following account of the election of Saint Ray- 
 mund to the office of Master-General of the 
 order. 
 
 “When Brother Jordan of happy memory, 
 the second master of the order of Friar 
 Preachers and the successor of Saint Dominic, 
 had passed from this world to a better life, the 
 Brothers were called to Bologna to choose a 
 Father and Pastor, and to celebrate the Gen- 
 
72 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 eral Chapter. According to the custom and 
 law of the order their sessions commenced on 
 Whitmonday. After they had devoutly in- 
 voked the Holy Ghost, the religious of the 
 Lombardese Province and those who had 
 come from other Provinces accompanied the 
 Electors with great marks of deference to the 
 hall prepared for the election. The electors 
 having been locked up, the other Brothers re- 
 turned to the church, where they sent forth 
 fervent prayers to obtain from God a fitting 
 pastor. They were to be seen in the choir, 
 and especially at the tomb of our holy father 
 Saint Dominic; some weeping, others sending 
 ardent sighs to heaven ; others like doves, 
 groaned within themselves ; all were recol- 
 lected in prayer. 
 
 Now a very devout brother kneeling near 
 the tomb of our Blessed Father, the hand of 
 the Lord having touched him, he there saw 
 in a vision the electors coming forth in a body 
 from the hall where they had been confined. 
 Having come to the church they seemed to 
 join in adoring a marble pillar, sweating, from 
 base to summit, with little drops of blood, and 
 inasmuch as this pillar rested on the pavement 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 73 
 
 and arose to the vault it appeared to support 
 the building. Seeing this the brothers and 
 many secular persons present made their joy 
 heard and gave thanks to God for the erection 
 of so precious and beautiful a pillar. The vis- 
 ion then faded away. Soon after, in about 
 the time necessary for saying one nocturn of 
 the divine office, the electors came out of the 
 cenacle, called the religious to chapter, and 
 announced to them that Brother Raymund, of 
 Pennafort, had been elected Master of the 
 order, without any debate and unanimously. 
 Great was the joy of the Brothers to whom 
 God had given a Father so holy, and so univer- 
 sally venerated ; still greater was the joy of the 
 students, who applauded the election of so 
 learned a master and one so justly appreci- 
 ated. It was remarked that on this day, by a 
 coincidence in no way foreseen, that the reader 
 in the refectory lit upon this text of Joel, 
 “ And you, O children of Sion, rejoice, and be 
 joyful in the Lord your God, because He hath 
 given you a teacher of justice. (Joel, Cap. 
 iii., V. 23.) Truly this man was a pillar of 
 marble very precious, elevated in the midst of 
 the church, and empurpled with a bloody 
 
74 Saint Rayniund of Pe7tnaforte. 
 
 sweat. These words are faithful and true. An 
 eye witness related them, and this witness is 
 Brother Stephen de Salagnac, of Limoges.” 
 
 This narrative of a contemporary is taken 
 from documents collected in the fourteenth 
 century by Cardinal Rosell, a Dominican, 
 which was produced on the occasion of the 
 canonization of Saint Raymund. A copy has 
 been preserved in the Archives of the congre- 
 gation of Rites. 
 
 St. Raymund was not present at the chapter. 
 The Fathers, who well knew his modesty and 
 unfeigned humility, feared greatly that he 
 would decline the honor. They therefore sent 
 a deputation to Barcelona to announce his 
 election to him, and to beg him to accept the 
 office. They were Hugh of Saint Cher, Pro- 
 vincial of France, afterwards Cardinal, and well 
 known for his Commentaries on Holy Scrip- 
 ture ; Pontius de Sparra, Provincial of Prov- 
 ence ; Philip, Provincial of Syria ; Stephen, 
 Provincial of Lombardy, and several others. 
 When told of his election it drew tears from 
 his eyes, but fearing to resist God’s holy will 
 he accepted. 
 
 He governed the order two years, during 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 75 
 
 which time he made admirable laws and rear- 
 ranged the Constitutions of the order, dividing 
 them into two parts. The first part contains 
 regulations for the religious conduct of the 
 Fathers and Brothers ; the second has reference 
 to exterior occupations, the various commu- 
 nity officials, etc. On his journeys to make 
 visitations he always Avent on foot. When it 
 became necessary to correct or reprimand any 
 religious he did it in the kindest way, and by 
 his charity and kindness Avon all hearts. 
 
 After two years of hard Avork for the good 
 of his brethren in the order he convoked a 
 General Chapter to meet at Bologna, 1240, in 
 which he resigned his office, pleading his great 
 age, seventy, as his reason. At first all the 
 Fathers refused to accept his resignation, but 
 when he implored them to listen to his re- 
 quest they gave way. This caused such sor- 
 row and indignation in the order, that in the 
 General Chapter of 1241 a laAV Avas passed, 
 that for the future the resignation of the Mas- 
 ter-General should not be accepted, unless he 
 was entirely unable to perform the duties of 
 his office. And in the next General Chapter 
 of 1242 it was declared that those Provincials 
 
76 Saint Raymiind of Pennaforte. 
 
 who had accepted Saint Raymund’s resigna- 
 tion should be deprived of their office. Freed 
 from the burden of government he returned to 
 Barcelona. He lived nearly thirty years 
 longer, persevering in the holy and peniten- 
 tial life he had led from the day he had taken 
 the habit. His old age was as fruitful in 
 labors as his vigorous youth. He was a son of 
 Saint Dominic who had instituted his order 
 for the salvation of souls, and his heart was as 
 full of zeal for the salvation of all : Moors, 
 Jews and heretics. At his suggestion the 
 Kings of Castile and Aragon founded two 
 monasteries with colleges attached to them, 
 for the study of Hebrew and Arabic ; one at 
 Murcia, the other at Tunis, arid a number of 
 Dominican Fathers were sent to Tunis to 
 labor for the conversion of the misguided peo- 
 ple. Writing to Blessed Humbert de Roma- 
 nis, General of the order, he tells him of the 
 immense number of conversions among the 
 Moors and Turks by the religious of those 
 two monasteries. It was also at his request 
 that the Angelic Doctor, Saint Thomas 
 Aquinas, the glory of the Dominican order for 
 all ages, wrote his immortal work against the 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 77 
 
 same false religion, entitled the “ Summa con- 
 tra Gentiles.” 
 
 Honors were bestowed on Saint Raymund 
 in rapid succession. Popes gave him offices 
 which appeared to belong to none but them- 
 selves ; such as the nomination of bishops, 
 examination of the causes of prelates, with 
 power to depose, absolve or excommunicate 
 them, to dispense with irregularities, and such 
 like. Saint Raymund most strenuously op- 
 posed the elevation of Dominicans to the 
 episcopate, and he requested Popes never to 
 raise any of them to the dignity of prelates. 
 The Bishop of Barcelona, Beranger de Palon, 
 ordered that the executors of his last will 
 should take no steps whatever to carry it out 
 without first consulting Saint Raymund, and 
 obtaining his approbation for all they did. 
 King James I. of Aragon always consulted 
 him in every important state business. He 
 sent him to Rome to treat with Urban the 
 Fourth on several national matters; and on 
 his return was so satisfied that he chose him 
 for his confessor and director, and took him 
 with him to Majorca to obtain the conversion 
 of the Moors of that island. Like so many 
 
78 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 
 
 kings, James had allowed his evil passions to 
 master him. In sincere attachment to the 
 church, and in unfeigned assent to her doc- 
 trines, this prince was worthy of admiration ; 
 but lust had enslaved him, and he took the 
 miserable partner of his crime with him to 
 Majorca on this occasion. Saint Raymund 
 boldly reproved him several times, and bade 
 him dismiss the miserable creature. But when 
 he saw that all his remonstrances were useless 
 he told the king that he could remain with 
 him no longer. James, who in spite of his sin- 
 ful conduct really loved the saint, and knew 
 that he could ill afford to lose his sage advice, 
 forbade him on pain of death to return to Bar- 
 celona without his permission. Saint Ray- 
 mund said to his companion, a Dominican 
 Father, “You will soon see that the King of 
 heaven will confound the wickedness of this 
 earthly king, and provide me with a ship.” 
 He went to the sea-shore, took off his cappa, or 
 black cloak, and spread part of it on the water, 
 while he fastened the other part to his staff, 
 like a sail to a miniature mast. Then he fear- 
 lessly knelt down on that part which floated 
 on the water, and invited his companion to do 
 
Saint Rayrnund of Pennaforte. 79 
 
 the same. This Father’s faith, however, was 
 not so strong, and he declined to do so. Saint 
 Rayrnund bade him farewell, and charged him 
 to recommend him to the good will of the 
 Prior and community of the monastery of 
 Majorca. Making the sign of the cross he 
 pushed off from land, and quickly sailed awa}' 
 on his cloak. Swift as an arrow he shot past 
 the port which was filled with ships. Some 
 sailors, who had refused him a passage, saw 
 him sailing away, and set up a great shout of 
 astonishment. The king was told of the 
 miracle and hastened to the shore, where from 
 a ship he saw the saint, now already at a dis- 
 tance, swiftly sailing away. He was so 
 touched by this wonderful miracle that he re- 
 pented of his sin, and began to lead a chaste 
 and holy life. Saint Rayrnund sailed along 
 even more rapidly than if he was on board the 
 swiftest vessel. He made one hundred and 
 eighty miles in six hours. On nearing Barce- 
 lona the people who happened to be near the 
 shore, noticed the frail vessel, and at first 
 thought it was a stray spar from some ship- 
 wreck. But when it cam_e nearer what was 
 their astonishment to behold a man, robed in 
 
8o Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 Avhite, kneeling on a cloak spread on the sur- 
 face of the waves, sailing along in perfect 
 safety ! Hearing their exclamations of aston- 
 ishment a crowd quickly assembled. Every 
 one ran to see the wonder. They soon recog- 
 nized their fellow-citizen, the holy Dominican 
 Friar, Father Raymund, of Pennaforte. On 
 reaching the shore he stepped on land, and put 
 his cloak round his shoulders ; it was as dry as 
 if it had never touched the water. When he 
 came to the monastery the gates opened of 
 themselves to allow the saint to enter. In 
 memory of this astounding miracle a tower 
 and chapel were built on the spot where Saint 
 Raymund landed. 
 
 Six years after this, the saint, whose life had 
 become one long infirmity, on account of his 
 fasting and the austerity of his habits, felt his 
 strength rapidly failing. Some time before 
 this he had petitioned Pope Clement IV. not 
 to burden him any longer with public duties, 
 and his wish having been granted he passed all 
 his time in preparation for death. When his 
 end came near he was visited by the King of 
 Castile, Alphonsus the Wise, and by James 
 the Conqueror, Kin^ of Aragon. They had 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 8 i 
 
 loved and honored him as a Father, and now 
 came to beg his blessing for the last time. 
 They could not withhold their tears as the holy 
 old man raised his emaciated hand to beg for 
 them the blessing of Heaven. Having received 
 all the sacraments of the church, with a devo- 
 tion which profoundly moved his fellow relig- 
 ious, Saint Raymund calmly and sweetly died. 
 It was seven in the morning of the feast of the 
 Epiphany, 1275. He was ninety-nine years of 
 age. 
 
 His funeral was attended by the Kings of 
 Aragon and Castile, attended by their whole 
 courts. He was buried in the Dominican 
 church of Saint Catherine the Martyr, in Bar- 
 celona. Numerous miracles set the seal on his 
 sanctity. His body was translated into a 
 magnificent tomb, one hundred and five years 
 after his burial. It was opened by command 
 of Clement the Eighth in 1596, when the dust 
 taken from it was sent to all parts of the 
 earth ; and although a large quantity was thus 
 carried away it was noticed that it never 
 diminished. 
 
 Saint Raymund was beatified by Pope Paul 
 V. and canonized by Clement VHI. “The 
 
82 Saint Raymund of Pennaforte. 
 
 feast of Saint Raymund,” says Touron at the 
 end of the life of this saint, “ was at first kept 
 on the seventh of January, but was afterwards 
 fixed for January 23, by a bull of Clement X. 
 We will not speak here,” he continues, “ of 
 the great number of miracles with which God 
 seems to have taken pleasure in making known 
 the glory of His servant, or of his credit in 
 heaven in favor of those who have recourse to 
 his prayers, Bollandus has filled fifteen pages 
 with them. But the glory of his heavenly vir- 
 tues and great deeds, the writings full of light 
 and learning which he has left us, that odor of 
 sanctity he spread among the secular clergy 
 and in the cloister, the example of charity and 
 firmness to all the ministers of the sacrament 
 of penance, the number and wmrth of those 
 who, formed by him and following in his foot- 
 steps, have made the monastery of Barcelona a 
 seminary of saintly and learned men, always 
 ready to announce to the people the truths of 
 salvation and to defend Catholic doctrine 
 against the enemies of the faith — all this is not 
 less glorious to Saint Raymund’s memory 
 than miracles.*’ 
 
Saint Raymund of Pennaforte, 83 
 Prayer. 
 
 Ant. Lead us forth, O Lord, through Ray- 
 mund’s loving prayers, from the house of the 
 bondage of sin into the liberty of the glory of 
 Thy sons. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O Blessed Raymund. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 O God, who didst choose Blessed Raymund 
 for a glorious minister of the sacrament of pen- 
 ance, and didst guide him wonderfully across 
 the waves of the sea, grant that through his 
 intercession we may bring forth worthy fruits 
 of penance, and at length reach the haven of 
 salvation, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED MARCOLINO OF FORLI. 
 
J 
 
BLESSED MARCOLINO OF FORLI. 
 
 JANUARY 24. 
 
 In the year 1397 a Dominican Father, 
 eighty years of age, died in his monastery at 
 Forli in Romagna. When his brethren in the 
 order gathered around his yet warm body, a 
 child of exquisite beauty but unknown to 
 every one, and believed to have been an angel 
 in human form, was seen going through the 
 streets of the town, and heard to cry aloud 
 everywhere, “ Go quickly to the Dominican 
 Monastery, Father Marcolino is dead.” 
 Among those who heard the child was a 
 woman bedridden for thirty years, who full of 
 belief in Father Marcolino’s sanctity, ex- 
 claimed, “ O my God, if it is true as I believe 
 it to be, that you have called away Father 
 Marcolino to heaven, give me back my 
 health,” and while she yet spoke she was 
 suddenly and miraculously cured. 
 
 The people ran in crowds to the monastery 
 
88 Blessed Marcolino of Forli. 
 
 — all hoping to obtain something to treasure 
 as a precious relic. It was not possible to 
 bury him that day, according to the custom 
 of the order. The crowd was so great the 
 Fathers were obliged to defer the funeral 
 until nightfall, and when the people had 
 dispersed, and the doors of the church were 
 closed, the remains were consigned to the 
 Monastery Crypt. Next morning the people 
 finding the holy body removed went to the 
 vault and carried it again to the church. A 
 sweet odor confirmed the universal opinion 
 that he whose earthly body lay there, was 
 already enjoying the happiness of heaven. 
 As long as the body lay in the church it was 
 continually surrounded by the faithful. His 
 habit was cut to pieces and had to be replaced 
 no less than three times. The hope of obtain- 
 ing a miracle by his intercession was their 
 object, and their piety did not go unrewarded. 
 So many miracles took place that when an 
 inquiry was made into the proofs of his 
 sanctity the ecclesiastical notaries attested that 
 they had taken evidence of no less than 
 eighty, among which was the resurrection of a 
 dead person to life. 
 
Blessed Marcolino of Forli. 89 
 
 These wonders were regarded as testimony 
 from heaven to the Father’s sanctity, and led 
 every one to call him a Saint. And yet the 
 annals of his life contain little of what is 
 remarkable. His was a quiet life passed in 
 holiness, hidden in God. No extraordinary 
 events diversified its even tenor. Except b}' 
 the eye of the Creator it was unnoticed, and it 
 was only when it had ceased in death that it 
 became known how fair it had been, and how 
 perfectly on earth this hidden soul had ful- 
 filled his mission. 
 
 His sanctity, which is Blessed Marcolino’s 
 sole title to our admiration and reverence, 
 may be summed up in few words ; he was 
 a perfect religious. Wanting in nothing that 
 is contained in holiness, he passed his life in 
 the monasteries of his order, content to be 
 known to God alone. Although a priest we 
 read nothing of his apostolic labors in the 
 scanty records we possess of his life. 
 
 Some few intimations of the beauty of his 
 soul, a few dates and ordinary events, are all 
 that is recorded, and yet he is held up for our 
 admiration and proposed as a model for our 
 pious imitation. 
 
90 Blessed Marcolino of Forlu 
 
 Marcolino Amanni was born in Forli, a little 
 town in Romagna. He came of a remarkably 
 pious family. He entered a Dominican monas- 
 tery in his native town when he was ten years 
 of age. In the novitiate he made solid progress 
 in the way of perfection, and soon began to be 
 regarded as a model of sanctity, although so 
 young in years and in the religious life. He 
 observed the rule of the order to the letter, 
 and in its most minute details, never accept- 
 ing any dispensation. Throughout his whole 
 life he kept a perpetual fast, even in extreme 
 old age. He allowed himself little sleep, 
 seated in a chair or resting on a bare board. 
 Religious poverty, obedience, and chastity he 
 observed with rare fidelity. Humility, the 
 touchstone of true sanctity, filled his heart 
 and influenced all his actions. It caused him 
 to hide the spiritual graces bestowed on him 
 by God, and led him to seek the lowest place, 
 to associate frequently with the Lay Brothers, 
 and to undertake the humblest labors in the 
 monastery. He was always calm, modest and 
 exceedingly recollected. Very sparing with 
 words, but ever ready with kind and char- 
 itable deeds ; attentive to the wants of 
 
Blessed Marcolino of ForlL 91 
 
 every one, especially to those of humble 
 degree. 
 
 But his love for prayer and contemplation 
 was what distinguished him from his fellow 
 religious. His life was spent in prayer and 
 sweet communings with God. His knees 
 became hardened and covered with scales, as 
 was attested after his death. When he prayed 
 he became absorbed in God, losing the use of 
 his senses, but it was noticed that when the 
 bell was rung at the elevation in the Mass, he 
 returned to himself at once, and ran in haste 
 to adore his Divine Saviour in the Most Holy 
 Sacrament. He seemed, when at prayer, as 
 as if asleep, but it was the sleep of which 
 the spouse in the Canticle speaks, when she 
 says, “ I sleep, but my heart watches.” In 
 contemplation his soul lost itself in the 
 immensity of God. He fell into ecstasy at all 
 times and in all places; sometimes in the 
 refectory, but most frequently at the altar 
 during the celebration of Holy Mass, which he 
 always celebrated in tears. The people often 
 wondered how the Father could sleep during 
 so holy an action, but those who knew him 
 could testify that it was no sleep but a most 
 
92 Blessed Marcolino of Forli. 
 
 sweet communing with God which filled his 
 whole being with holy rapture. It often 
 became necessary to call him to take his 
 meals: he forgot bodily wants when he became 
 absorbed in God. ^ 
 
 He was remarkable for his devotion to the 
 Blessed Virgin Mary. The only property he 
 had was a little statue of the Blessed Virgin. 
 In his great simplicity he often spoke to it ; 
 and tradition tells us that it frequently 
 answered him. After his death it was care- 
 fully preserved as a precious relic. 
 
 He loved the poor tenderly and gave them 
 all in his power to dispose of. Above all, he 
 delighted in the society of little children. He 
 frequently prophesied, and knew the secrets of 
 hearts. 
 
 He wrought several miracles. An inhabi- 
 tant of Forli, dangerously wounded on his head 
 bethought himself of the Blessed Priest, and 
 earnestly recommended himself to his prayers. 
 Blessed Marcolino appeared to him in a vision 
 during the following night, touched his wound 
 several times, after which he disappeared and 
 the wounded man found himself cured. An- 
 other time a mother who had lost her son and 
 
Blessed Marcolino of Forli, 93 
 
 had heard nothing of him for three days, 
 begged Blessed Marcolino to recommend him 
 to God. He promised he would do so, and 
 while he prayed it was revealed to him that 
 the unfortunate youth had been cruelly 
 murdered, and his body thrown into a ditch, 
 where it lay hidden covered by branches of 
 trees. He told the disconsolate mother who 
 found the body in the very place he de- 
 scribed. 
 
 Blessed Marcolino was actively engaged in 
 the work of reformation in the Dominican 
 Order which the ravages of the Black Pest in 
 1348 had rendered so necessary. Blessed 
 Raymund of Capua, the Master-General of the 
 order, employed him in this difficult work, 
 which required as much prudence as zeal. 
 Before his death, he had the happiness to see 
 the desired reform accomplished. 
 
 He died in the year 1397. Sixty years 
 afterwards the Bishop of Recanati, a native of 
 Forli, caused his holy body to be raised from 
 the grave and placed in a beautiful marble 
 tomb. It was found incorrupt. Miracles 
 continuing in great numbers, Benedict XIV. 
 approved his cultus in the year 1750, and 
 
94 Blessed Marcolino of Forli. 
 
 allowed the clergy of Forli and the Domini- 
 cans to celebrate his feast. 
 
 Ant. “ Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant, because thou hast been faithful in a few 
 things, I will set thee over many things. 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Marcolino. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 O God, to whom the prayer of the humble 
 and meek hath always been pleasing, grant 
 that we may profit by the prayers and exam- 
 ple of Blessed Marcolino, that becoming truly 
 meek and humble of heart we may the more 
 readily receive Thy gifts. Through Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED BERNARD SCAMMACC^ 
 

BLESSED BERNARD SCAMMACCA. 
 
 FEBRUARY 9. 
 
 Blessed Bernard Scammacca was born 
 in the beginning of the fifteenth century at 
 Catania, a city situated at the foot of the 
 volcano of Mount Etna in Sicily. 
 
 He had the good fortune to receive a truly 
 Christian education, for he came of parents as 
 pious as they were noble. But when he began 
 to grow up he forgot the religious teaching he 
 had received in his youth, and let himself be 
 drawn away from the path of piety by the 
 seductions of society, letting loose the rein to 
 all his evil passions. Yet although he blindly 
 plunged into every sinful amusement and 
 pleasure, the mercy of God re'^arded him with 
 pity. Struck by the hand of God, like another 
 Saint Paul, he arose to become a vase of elec- 
 tion for the glory of God and for an example 
 to His people. He received a serious wound 
 and was forced, for a time at least, to interrupt 
 
98 Blessed Bernard Scammacca. 
 
 the course of his disorderly life. During the 
 long days and sleepless nights to which his 
 accident condemned him, he began to reflect 
 on the evil state of his soul. He saw the 
 danger he was in. The pious lessons of his 
 childhood came back to his mind, and suddenly 
 moved by divine grace, strong and sweet, he 
 felt a better will arise in his soul, and resolved 
 to give himself unreservedly to God by enter- 
 ing a religious order. Restored to health he 
 lost no time in carrying out his holy intention. 
 He did not feel content with merely endeavor- 
 ing to avoid sin, like so many who are con- 
 verted from wickedness, but with generous 
 ardor he aspired to the perfect life, and with- 
 out delay humbly asked to be allowed to enter 
 as a novice in the Dominican Monastery in 
 Catania. His petition was duly granted and 
 the habit conferred upon him. It was soon 
 seen that his conversion was genuine, and so 
 solid that it led him to love with his whole 
 heart the austere life of the order he had 
 chosen. Emulating the virtues of the most 
 perfect among the religious of the monastery 
 he soon began to excel them. He was re- 
 markable for true obedience, sweetness of 
 
Blessed Bernard Scammacca. 99 
 
 character and manners, but especially for his 
 unfeigned humility. 
 
 Like the thirty years of the human life of 
 our Divine Lord in the holy house of Naza- 
 reth, his life passed away almost unrecorded. 
 He lived and died a good religious ; said Mass, 
 preached, heard confessions ; in a word ful- 
 filled the holy duties of his state of life in a 
 holy manner. But when we reflect on his con- 
 version to God in his youth we can conceive 
 how zealous he was for the conversion of sin- 
 ners, and what pains he took to lead them to 
 a better life. The mercy God had shown him 
 taught him to be patient with those, who, 
 although they had wandered away from God, 
 earnestly sought to be reconciled to Him. 
 
 A man of prayer. Blessed Bernard was so 
 filled with love for God, and so deeply pene- 
 trated with gratitude to Him, that he was 
 almost continually in profound contemplation. 
 He gave full play to the ardor of his love, and 
 often retired into the quiet monastery garden, 
 which he found conducive to prayer. No 
 sooner had he begun to commune with his 
 Creator, than the birds flew around him, perch- 
 ing on his hands and shoulders. And the 
 
lOO 
 
 Blessed Bernard Scammacca. 
 
 sweet sounds of their songs reminded him of 
 the joyous melodies of heaven and the songs 
 of the saints around the throne of God. The 
 birds hushed their voices as his blessed soul, 
 leaving his mortal frame, became united to 
 ’God in deep contemplation. They remained 
 near him until returning to himself again he 
 gave them his blessing, upon which they flew 
 away. 
 
 He once fell into an ecstasy, when a religious 
 going to speak to him, found him kneeling in 
 prayer before a crucifix, his body raised from 
 the ground. Another night Blessed Bernard 
 was called out of the monastery on an errand 
 of charity. The brother porter, going to his 
 door and rapping at it received no answer. 
 But seeing a bright light streaming out of a 
 chink in the door, he peeped in and saw 
 Blessed Bernard holding an open book in his 
 hand, ravished in ecstasy, and near him he saw 
 a beautiful child, holding a flaming torch, 
 which emitted a brilliant light. Surprised at 
 what he saw the good brother ran to the 
 Prior’s cell, to tell him what was taking place. 
 The Prior called the whole community to 
 show them so extraordinary a sight, and to 
 
Blessed Bernard Scainmacca. 
 
 loi 
 
 make known to them what favors God in His 
 goodness, bestows on truly humble and peni- 
 tent souls. 
 
 God granted everything Blessed Bernard 
 prayed for, and to aid him in his efforts to save 
 souls gave him the gift of prophecy. He 
 went one day to the residence of the President 
 of Catania to warn him that his son was in 
 danger of assassination. The president was at 
 dinner when Blessed Bernard asked to see him. 
 Waiting until the dinner was over. Blessed Ber- 
 nard began to pray, and fell into an ecstasy, and 
 it was with great difficulty that the president’s 
 servant could restore him to himself. “ It is 
 quite useless,” he said^ “there is no longer any 
 need to speak to him,” and he went away 
 without any explanation except that the 
 young man would die that evening, which 
 came to pass. 
 
 A lady who was unceasingly pursued by a 
 libertine, asked Blessed Bernard to protect her 
 against his evil designs. One day soon after 
 as he was on a journey with a fellow Domini- 
 can, he suddenly began to pray, then ceased 
 for a moment, sighed heavily and said, 
 “Brother! let us return to our monastery. 
 
102 
 
 Blessed Bernard Scamrnacca. 
 
 God is about to punish that wicked man for 
 his obstinacy.” Three days afterwards the 
 libertine died an impenitent and unprovided 
 death. 
 
 Prayer to God and charity towards his fel- 
 low creatures occupied Blessed Bernard’s 
 whole life. Like St. Paul, while he preached 
 to others he feared that he himself was a cast- 
 away, and imitated that great penitent in his 
 bodily mortification. He never forgot the sins 
 of his youth, and strove to redeem the crimi- 
 nal pleasures he had wallowed in, by severe 
 penances. He wore an iron chain round his 
 waist, and frequently took the discipline. 
 
 Nothing more remains to be told of him 
 except that he died in the year i486. 
 
 As soon as it was known in Catania that he 
 was dead a crowd gathered at the monastery 
 to venerate his body, for all deemed him a 
 saint, and all were desirous to obtain a share in 
 his intercession with God. 
 
 Fifteen years after his death Blessed Ber- 
 nard appeared to the Prior of the monastery, 
 and told him to translate his body from the 
 place where he had been buried, and to place 
 it in the Rosary chapel. The Prior obeyed, 
 
Blessed Bernard Scammacca. 103 
 
 and it was found incorrupt. Many miracles 
 took place during this translation. One para- 
 lytic having touched the holy body was cured 
 in sight of all the people. 
 
 During the ceremonies the church bells rang 
 of themselves. The Count of Montegialino 
 hearing them suspected the fathers of a pious 
 fraud. “ Let us go and see the new saint the 
 Dominicans have found among themselves,” 
 he scornfully said ; but when he tried to 
 mount his horse, he fell and wounded his leg. 
 The wound mortified, and the physician fear- 
 ing gangrene refused to attend him. But as 
 soon as he repented of his incredulity and 
 prayed to Blessed Bernard to take pity on his 
 sad state, he was immediately cured. 
 
 These and other wonderful miracles caused 
 very great devotion to Blessed Bernard, and 
 one nobleman resolved to steal his body and 
 keep it in his own castle^ One night the saint 
 appeared to several of the community in the 
 dormitory, and warned them that thieves were 
 stealing his body. They ran to the church 
 just in time to find a number of armed men, 
 who had opened the tomb, and had carried the 
 sacred relics as far as the church door ; there 
 
104 Blessed Bernard Scammacca. 
 
 they became so heavy that they could move 
 them no farther. When they saw the Fathers 
 they fled, and the relics became light again, 
 and were carried back to their place in the 
 Rosary chapel. 
 
 His cultus was confirmed and approved by 
 Pope Leo XII. in 1825. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant, Blessed is this saint who trusted in the 
 Lord ; he preached the commandment of the 
 Lord, and is now established upon His holy 
 mountain. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O Blessed Bernard. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who didst mercifully bring back 
 Blessed Bernard from the vices of the world 
 and didst lead him into the way of perfection, 
 grant through his merits and intercession that 
 we may likewise bewail our sins and turn with 
 pure minds unto Thee. Through Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED REGINALD OF ORLEANS. 
 
1 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 J 
 
 I 
 
 
BLESSED REGINALD OF ORLEANS. 
 
 FEBRUARY 12. 
 
 The memory of Blessed Reginald has 
 always been held dear by all who love the 
 Dominican Order, for it was to him that the 
 Blessed Virgin first gave the white scapular, 
 the distinctive part of the Dominican habit. 
 
 He was born about the end of the twelfth 
 century; but neither the year of his birth, nor 
 the town in which he was born is known. He 
 was certainly a native of France. Some of 
 his biographers say that he came into this 
 world at Saint Gilles, a small town near Arles, 
 on account of which he is often called Regi- 
 nald of Saint Gilles ; but others say that it 
 was at Orleans. 
 
 He went to study at the University of Paris 
 about the year 1193, and gained the degree of 
 Doctor of Canon Law in 1206, when he was 
 about thirty years of age. He lectured on 
 Canon Law in Paris for five years, after which 
 
io 8 Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 
 
 his renown for learning and piety having be- 
 come known to the canons of Saint Aignan in 
 Orleans, they chose him for their Dean. This 
 was about 1212, for his name as Dean is found 
 in a deed made in that year. The cartons of 
 Saint Aignan lived under the rule of Saint 
 Augustine, and had always been remarkable 
 for learning. They lived in community, and 
 being immediately subject to the Holy See, 
 were exempt from Episcopal jurisdiction. 
 The kings of France had loaded them with 
 honors and gifts. They possessed ample reve- 
 nues, and enjoyed the patronage of many rich 
 church benefices. Thus we see Vvhat an im- 
 portant and honorable office was conferred on 
 Blessed Reginald and we learn in what es- 
 teem he must have been held since the canons 
 were induced to elect him their superior. 
 
 On his arrival in Orleans he found the chap- 
 ter in confusion. The canons had opposed 
 the late dean, and he had led them into litiga- 
 tion with the bishop. In a few weeks, by 
 moderation and a spirit of reconciliation, Regi- 
 nald had restored harmony to the chapter, and 
 made peace with the bishop, with whom he 
 became so fast a friend that one writer says, 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 109 
 
 “ These two were so strictly united that one 
 would think the dean was the bishop and the 
 bishop the dean.’* The duties of his office 
 and the quasi-monastic life led by the canons 
 would have satisfied the aspirations of hearts 
 less noble or less pious than his. But he, in 
 the greatness of his love for God, was not con 
 tent. The voice of his Divine Master seemed 
 ever to be whispering in his ears, ' The har 
 vest is great but the laborers are few. ” The 
 thought of so many souls wandering away 
 from God, oftentimes for the lack of a guide 
 to show them the way of truth, was ever in 
 his mind. In the fulness of his manhood, as 
 well as in his youth, he had always dreamed of 
 the apostolate, and had yearned to spend his 
 life in laboring for the salvation of souls in 
 some religious order, vowed to penance, prayer 
 and preaching. But could such an order be 
 found ? 
 
 While he was thus unsettled in his mind the 
 Bishop of Orleans invited him to accompany 
 him on a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy 
 Land. Reginald readily agreed, and they set 
 out early in the year 1218. They arrived in 
 Rome about Easter. While in the Eternal 
 
no Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 
 
 City Reginald became the friend of a Cardinal, 
 to whom he opened his heart and made known 
 to him the state of his soul and its aspirations. 
 He told him of his longing to give up all for 
 Christ’s sake, and being poor in deed as in 
 heart to go about preaching the gospel to the 
 poor. The Cardinal answered that in the 
 newly founded order of Friar Preachers he 
 would find all he desired, and told him that 
 the founder of the order, Dominic Guzman, 
 famous already for his holiness and miracles, 
 was in Rome preaching daily to large crowds 
 of people. As soon as Reginald heard this he 
 ran to find Saint Dominic, and soon fell under 
 our most holy Father’s influence, attracted by 
 his sanctity and charmed by his conversation 
 and preaching; and finding in the new order 
 all he desired he determined to enter its ranks. 
 
 But before he could carry out his intention 
 he fell sick of a fever, which brought him to 
 the verge of death. When Saint Dominic 
 heard of it he was afraid he would lose a disci- 
 ple in whom he had placed great hopes of in- 
 creasing his infant order ; and he began to 
 pray very earnestly to the Blessed Virgin to 
 spare Reginald’s life. She heard his prayers ; 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, ill 
 
 for as Reginald was lying on his bed of sick- 
 ness, momentarily expecting death, the Blessed 
 Mother of God appeared before his eyes. She 
 was accompanied by two beautiful maidens, 
 one holding a vase of precious perfumes, while 
 the other carried a long white scapular in her 
 hands. The Queen of Heaven drew near him 
 and said, “ Ask of me what you wish <and I 
 will grant it.” But when Reginald hesitated, 
 one of the two saints told him to leave it to 
 the Blessed Virgin to give what she chose, to 
 which he willingly agreed. Then the holy 
 mother of God taking the vase of heavenly 
 oil, anointed him on the eyes, ears, nostrils, 
 mouth, feet and loins, saying a prayer for 
 each, as is the custom of the church in admin- 
 istering the sacrament of Extreme Unction. 
 All the words she said have not been recorded, 
 but when she anointed his feet she said, “ Let 
 thy feet be shod for the preaching of the gos- 
 pel of peace ; ” and when she anointed his 
 reins she said, “ Let thy reins be girt with the 
 girdle of chastity.” Then taking the wliite 
 scapular from the hands of the attendant saint 
 she gave it to him, saying, “ Behold the habit 
 of thy order,” Immediately afterwards the 
 
1 12 Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 
 
 vision faded away. He was cured. Thus did 
 she who healed the sins of mankind cure her 
 servant in his need. 
 
 Saint Dominic saw all this while in prayer, 
 and the next morning^ went to visit Reginald, 
 and found him in perfect health. Three days 
 later this vision was repeated in the presence 
 of Saint Dominic and a monk of the order of 
 Hospitallers of Saint John. The holy virgin 
 anointed Blessed Reginald anew, and a second 
 time gave him the white scapular. From that 
 time no immodest temptations troubled him, 
 and he felt not the least sting of the flesh 
 which could draw his mind away from God. 
 Saint Dominic having been a Canon of Saint 
 Augustine in the Cathedral of Osma, and hav- 
 ing adopted the rule of that Saint for his 
 order, had till then worn the habit of an 
 Augustinian Canon : a white tunic, and white 
 linen surplice. But, says Bernard Gui, after 
 this heavenly vision, and the showing of the 
 scapular Brother Dominic and his Brethren 
 took off their surplice and put on the white 
 scapular, retaining the cloak and tunic which 
 heretofore they had worn as Regular Canons. 
 “ Blessed are those,” says Thierry of Apoldia, 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 1 1 3 
 
 “ who have been found worthy to be clothed 
 with this habit, symbol of a threefold grace, 
 and woven by the strong woman for the guests 
 of her house.” 
 
 Having recovered his health by a miracle 
 Reginald made his profession in the Domini- 
 can Order, and then went to the Holy Land 
 to fulfil his vow, leaving Rome in May, arriv- 
 ing in Sicily in October of the same year. In 
 Sicily he founded a monastery at Agosta, near 
 Syracuse. In the garden of that monastery 
 there is still to be seen the withered trunk of 
 a Cyprus, from which there exhales a pleasant 
 perfume. It is held in great veneration ; and 
 the sick, especially those attacked by fever, go 
 to it to obtain health. More than one mirac- 
 ulous cure has rewarded their faith. It is held 
 for certain that this tree, of which only the 
 trunk now remains, was a staff given by Saint 
 Dominic to Reginald at starting on his pil- 
 grimage, and which Reginald planted in the 
 ground when he arrived at Agosta, and which 
 took root and blossomed. To this day it is 
 called Saint Dominic's tree. 
 
 After satisfying his devotion at the shrines 
 of the Holy Land Reginald returned to Rome. 
 
1 14 Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 
 
 Saint Dominic being about to visit Spain ap- 
 pointed him his vicar in his absence from 
 Italy, and sent him to the newly founded 
 monastery of the order at Bologna. Reginald 
 arrived in that city December 21, 1218. The 
 Brothers, who had been sent there in the pre- 
 vious spring, were living in the direst poverty. 
 Saint Dominic visiting them on his way to 
 Spain found them without bread, and renewed 
 the miracle he had worked in Saint Sixtus in 
 Rome. At his prayer two angels appeared in 
 the refectory and served the brothers with 
 bread of marvellous whiteness and exquisite 
 taste. Taking farewell he comforted them by 
 telling them that he would send them help in 
 their need. He alluded to Reginald, their 
 new vicar, who as soon as he arrived in 
 Bologna began to preach and quickly gained a 
 hearing for the little community unknown till 
 then. His fiery eloquence soon set the city in 
 a ferment. Every one ran to hear the new 
 Paul ; in one week Reginald was the most re- 
 markable man in Bologna. Ecclesiastics of 
 all ranks, professors and students of the uni- 
 versity soon entered an order which hitherto 
 had been unknown, or if known despised. 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 115 
 
 So numerous were the sudden and unlooked- 
 for conquests of Reginald’s persuasive voice 
 that many were afraid to go to listen to him 
 for fear of being led to give up the world and 
 join the Dominican Order. Among them was 
 a certain Master, or Professor, of the Univer- 
 sity, called Moneta. In the “ Vitse Fratrum” 
 Father Gerard de Frachet gives us an account 
 of his vocation. 
 
 “ When Blessed Reginald, of holy memory, 
 formerly Dean of Orleans, was fervently 
 preaching in Bologna, and attracting many 
 clerics and professors, Master Moneta, at that 
 time lecturing in arts, who was famous in all 
 Lombardy, having witnessed the conversion of 
 many began to fear much lest he too should 
 be caught by Reginald’s words ; for which 
 cause, as far as lay in him, he dissuaded all his 
 scholars by word of mouth, and by his own 
 example, from going to his preaching. But 
 on Saint Stephen’s day, when his scholars in- 
 vited their professor to the sermon, as he 
 could not excuse himself, neither on account 
 of his lecture nor for any other reason, he said 
 to them, ‘Let us first go to Saint Proculus to 
 hear Mass.’ They went and heard not only 
 
Ii6 Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 
 
 one Mass but three. This he did to pass 
 away the time, so that it would be too late to 
 go to the sermon. On their insisting he said, 
 ‘ Let us now go to the sermon.’ They went, 
 therefore, and found Reginald already preach- 
 ing, and the nave of the church so full that 
 they could not enter. Standing at the church 
 doors and listening he was caught at the first 
 words. ^ Behold,’ said Reginald, ‘ I see the 
 heavens are now open. Every one who wishes 
 can enter by the open doors. May the un- 
 happy, negligent souls see and fear lest God 
 should close His heart, mouth, hands, and the 
 Kingdom of Heaven so that they cannot 
 enter. Why do you delay, O beloved? Be- 
 hold the heavens are opened ! ’ 
 
 “ After the sermon the aforesaid professor 
 went to Reginald, touched by the word of 
 God, and declared his state and occupations, 
 and made his profession to him ; but because 
 he was hindered in many ways, he remained 
 for a year and over by Reginald’s permission 
 in the secular habit ; yet not unprofitably, for 
 as he had formerly turned away many by his 
 words, so afterwards he led many, not only to 
 hear Reginald’s sermons but also to enter the 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 117 
 
 order. He took them to the sermon, and led 
 now one now another into the order, and 
 seemed to renew his own profession with each 
 one. Having himself entered the order it is 
 not easy to describe how holy he was in word 
 and doctrine, and how he excelled in refuting 
 heresy.” (Vitoe Fratrum. Pars 4, Cap. 10.) 
 
 Blessed Reginald received as many as one 
 hundred into the order in the short space of 
 six months, and his sermons drew such a 
 crowd to hear him that he was frequently 
 obliged to preach in the squares and streets. 
 The Dominican Fathers had no church of 
 their own in Bologna. On their first arrival 
 the Benedictines of Saint Proculus gave them 
 permission to say the divine office in that 
 church. Some time afterwards the Spanish 
 regular canons of Roncevaux gave them 
 asylum in their hospice, and the charge of the 
 church of Saint Mary of Mascarella. Like 
 their Divine Master they had no place whereon 
 to lay their heads, and were dependent on the 
 charity of strangers. But in the spring of 
 1219, through the influence of Cardinal Ugo- 
 lino, Papal Legate, they obtained the church 
 of Saint Nicolas of the Vines, outside the city 
 
Ii8 Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 
 
 walls, the parish priest of that church entering 
 the order. A monastery was soon built, and 
 the Fathers had a home of their own. But 
 before they entered it a great difficulty arose. 
 The noble family of Andaio, one of the most 
 powerful in the north of Italy, possessed the 
 right of patronage over the church of Saint 
 Nicolas, and the head of the family steadily 
 refused to cede it to the Dominicans. The 
 same family owned the land round the church 
 and obstinately declined to sell it. But God, 
 who often allows those who labor for Him to 
 be harassed with difficulties in the beginning 
 of their enterprise, also graciously smoothens 
 the way when all hope seems to be lost. 
 Diana, a daughter of this noble house of 
 Andaio, charmed by Blessed Reginald’s elo- 
 quence, came to their aid, and persuaded her 
 kinsfolk to sell the land and donate their 
 rights to the struggling community of Friars. 
 She entered the second order of Dominican 
 Sisters, lived and died holily, and her name 
 having always been held in religious venera- 
 tion, the process of her beatification is now 
 before the Holy See. 
 
 Successful in his endeavors to establish the 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 1 1 9 
 
 community of Bologna on a solid footing, 
 Blessed Reginald was no less so in the govern- 
 ment of the Friars, and in his efforts to lead 
 them to a high degree of sanctity, both by ex- 
 ample and by his loving exhortations. First 
 and foremost he upheld the strict observance 
 of the Dominican rule and constitutions. Let 
 us hear Father Gerard de Frachet : 
 
 “ It happened at Bologna that when a cer- 
 tain Brother had received some coarse cloth 
 without permission, and it having come to the 
 knowledge of Blessed Reginald, of happy 
 memory, he gave the Brother a severe disci- 
 pline in the Chapter, and burnt the cloth in 
 the cloister publicly before all. But when the 
 said Brother did not acknowledge his fault, 
 nor wished to humble himself to receive the 
 discipline, but rather murmured, the man of 
 God told the Brothers to prepare him by force 
 for the discipline. Which having been done 
 Reginald, his eyes turned towards Heaven, 
 said with tears, ‘O Lord Jesus Christ who 
 didst grant to Thy servant Benedict the power 
 to drive the devil from the heart of one of his 
 monks, grant I beseech Thee that by the vir- 
 tue of the discipline the temptation may be 
 
1 20 Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 
 
 expelled from the soul of this Brother.’ He 
 therefore gave him a discipline so great that 
 the Brothers were affected to tears. But the 
 weeping Brother arising said, ‘ I thank you, 
 Father, for you have truly expelled the devil 
 from me. I distinctly felt a serpent go out of 
 my reins.’ And continuing in these holy dis- 
 positions he became a very good and humble 
 Brother.” 
 
 Gerard de Frachet continues thus, ‘‘A cer- 
 tain Brother, at Bologna, tempted to leave the 
 order and caught when he was going out of 
 the monastery, was led to the chapter before 
 Blessed Reginald, and acknowledged his fault. 
 Blessed Reginald told him to prepare for the 
 discipline. He disciplined him severely, and 
 striking him forcibly he said three times, 
 ‘ Come out of him, O demon ! ’ Then turning 
 to the Brothers he said, ‘ Let us pray. Brothers, 
 that by the discipline and prayer the devil 
 may fly from his heart.’ When he had prayed 
 a long time the Brother cried out, ‘ Listen to 
 me. Father,’ who answering, ‘ What do you say, 
 my son ?’ the Brother said, ‘ I assure you that 
 the devil has gone out of me, and I promise to 
 persevere.’ Which having heard the Brothers 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans. I2i 
 
 were glad, giving thanks to God ; and the 
 Brother, confirmed in his vocation, remained 
 in the order.” (Vitae Fratrum, Pars. IV. Cap. 
 2 -) 
 
 It was thus that the love of a true father 
 and zeal for monastic discipline led Reginald 
 to practise a severity, which will be condemned 
 no doubt by those who love pleasure more 
 than their souPs welfare, but which all true 
 Christians and lovers of the cross can readily 
 understand. Sometimes, however, although 
 encouraged and sustained in their vocation by 
 Reginald’s lofty spirit, the Brothers were sub- 
 jected to many trials and doubts about their 
 vocation. At one time a tide of spiritual dis- 
 couragement threatened to engulph them. 
 Gerard de Frachet recounts what passed on 
 Ash Wednesday, 1219. “In the times ” he 
 says, “ when the order of Preachers was like a 
 young flock and like a young plant, in the 
 monastery of Bologna a movement of tempta- 
 tion arose among the Brothers, which so cast 
 them down with fear, that many of them con- 
 ferred among themselves as to which religious 
 order they could transfer themselves, fearing 
 that the Dominican order, an institution, new 
 
122 Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 
 
 and as yet but little established, would come 
 to naught. This was the cause of such an ex- 
 citement that some of the principal Brothers, 
 to wit, Brothers Theobald of Sienna, and Nic- 
 olas Campanus, thinking that they could not 
 continue in the order obtained permission to 
 pass to a Cistercian monastery, from Ugo, 
 Bishop of Ostia, at that time Legate of the 
 Holy See, and afterwards Gregory IX. ; which 
 letters of permission they presented to Master 
 Reginald. He called the Brothers together, 
 and very sad and grieving, made known to 
 them the whole affair ; and the aforesaid com- 
 motion began to increase. While Master 
 Reginald raised his eyes to heaven, and spoke 
 in his heart to God in whom was his whole 
 hope. Brother Clair (a good and learned man, 
 who had taught all the liberal arts while in the 
 world, and was skilled in canon law and 
 civil law, a man of great authority, and after- 
 wards Prior Provincial in the Roman Province, 
 and Penitentiary and Chaplain to the Pope), 
 began to speak to the Brothers, and in many 
 ways and by many reasons to comfort them.” 
 
 “ Hardly had he ended speaking when be- 
 hold ! Master Roland, of Cremona, who was 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 123 
 
 Regent of studies in Bologna, whose fame for 
 physics was spread through the whole of Lom- 
 bardy, who later on was the first among the 
 (Dominican) Brothers to teach in Paris, trans- 
 ported by the Spirit of God, fleeing from the 
 world, and carrying with him only a scarlet 
 dress with which he was clothed, came all 
 alone to the Brothers, and knocked at the door, 
 and entering, like a man drunk with the Holy 
 Ghost, at once, without any other words, asked 
 to be received into the order. But Master 
 Reginald, from too great joy, not waiting till 
 some one could seek for a habit took off his 
 own capuce, clothed him at once, and Brother 
 Guala, who was then sacristan having rung the 
 bell, which was worth only twenty imperial 
 pennies, and the Brothers chanting the “ Veni 
 Sancte Spiritus ” (Come, O Holy Spirit) as was 
 our custom, although on account of the abun- 
 ance of tears and exuberance of joy, they 
 could hardly sing, there was a great crowd of 
 men, women, and students, and a wonderful 
 excitement in the whole city.” 
 
 “A great devotion was again stirred up 
 towards the Brothers ; they were universally 
 praised, and all the former temptations van- 
 
124 Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 
 
 ished. But the two Brothers, prostrating them- 
 selves in the middle of the chapter room ac- 
 knowledged that they had done wrong, humbly 
 confessing their fault with tears, gave up their 
 letters and persevered in the order.” (Vitae 
 Fratrum, Pars. I. Cap. 5.) 
 
 About August of the same year (1219), the 
 holy Father Saint Dominic, returning from 
 Spain, came again to Bologna. He was re- 
 joiced to find so large a community, and that 
 he had not been mistaken in the abilities of 
 Reginald his vicar. He sent him to Paris, 
 believing that he would do still more for the 
 order in his native land, among his own peo- 
 ple. We can gain an inkling of the esteem 
 Blessed Reginald was held by his brothers 
 from the testimony of one historian of the 
 Dominican order, who tells us that, although 
 Saint Dominic himself, their founder and most 
 beloved father, took up his abode among them 
 in Bologna, yet Reginald was deeply regretted 
 after his departure for Paris. 
 
 But whereas tears fell from their eyes as he 
 left them the little community in Paris was 
 filled with joy when he arrived. This joy, alas ! 
 was of short duration. He had returned to 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans. 125 
 
 his beloved France to die. Soon after his 
 arrival, although his strength was impaired by 
 his long journey, he began again to preach and 
 again drew many into the order. His voice 
 worked wonders. But it soon became evident 
 that he could not continue such labors, and at 
 the same time live so penitential a life. The 
 Prior, Father Matthew, warned him and asked 
 him how he could practise penances so severe 
 when he had been raised in luxury, and had 
 enjoyed every delicacy in his youth money 
 could procure. Reginald answered, I do not 
 think I have merited anything in the order, for 
 I have always been so happy in it; ”_and he 
 continued his apostolic labors without soften- 
 ing any of his austerities. 
 
 Six months after his arrival in Paris he was 
 reduced to great weakness and came to the 
 door of death. Father Matthew suggested 
 that he should receive the sacrament of ex- 
 treme unction without delay. “ I do not fear 
 death,” answered Reginald ; “ I await it with 
 joy. I also am awaiting the Mother of Mercy 
 who anointed me in Rome, with her own hands, 
 in whom I place all my hope. But for fear 
 that I might seem to despise the ecclesiastical 
 
126 Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 
 
 unction I am glad to receive it, and humbly 
 beg you to administer it to me.” After he had 
 received that sacrament, in the presence of all 
 the Brothers devoutly kneeling in prayer, he 
 calmly slept in the Lord. It was in the begin- 
 ning of Febuary, 1220. 
 
 As the Dominicans had as yet no right of 
 burial in the church of Saint James, his body 
 was buried in the church of Notre Dame des 
 Champs. For four centuries his tomb was a 
 place of pious pilgrimage, and became famous 
 for miraculous cures. His body was taken up 
 between 1605 and 1608, found incorrupt, and 
 placed in a shrine. In 1614 the church of 
 Notre Dame des Champs was given to the Car- 
 melite Sisters, and, his tomb, being within the 
 enclosure, became forgotten, except by the 
 Dominicans and the Carmelite Sisters. During 
 the great French revolution the holy relics dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 The immemorial cultus paid to him was con- 
 firmed by Pius IX. in 1875. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant, I will liken him to a wise man who built 
 his house upon a rock. 
 
Blessed Reginald of Orleans, 127 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Reginald. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let ns pray. 
 
 Almighty and everlasting God, Who hast 
 given Thy blessed Confessor Reginald to Thy 
 most holy Mother by a special protection, 
 grant that by his merits and prayer, we may 
 be strengthened by the perpetual help of the 
 same glorious Mary, ever a virgin. Through 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 

 f, 
 
 
 ‘ wV, 
 
 :.' pli -: ■_-. ifte* 
 
 ■ ‘ ■i' ’ V ■ i ' 
 
 i>.'- ' vv- ■ 
 
BLESSED NICOLAS OF GIOVA- 
 NAZZO. 
 
BLESSED NICOLAS PALEA 
 OF GIOVANAZZO. 
 
 FEBRUARY I4. 
 
 Unlike the children of this world, who 
 mourn on the anniversary of the death of 
 their friends and relations, and rejoice on that 
 of their birth, the Catholic Church passes by 
 unnoticed the birthdays of her saints, but 
 joyfully commemorates their death, because 
 for a saint, death is the birth of a new and 
 happier life. 
 
 He whose entrance into heaven we celebrate 
 to-day was one of the disciples of St. Dominic, 
 receiving the habit from his holy hands, and 
 being privileged to be his companion on many 
 of his missions. He labored successfully for 
 forty years, preaching missions, instructing 
 the ignorant, and many times working wonder- 
 ful miracles. 
 
 He was born in 1 197, at Giovanazzo, near 
 Bari, in the kingdom of Naples. At baptism 
 
132 Blessed Nicolas Pale a of Giovanazzo. 
 
 he received the name of Nicolas, in honor of 
 St. Nicolas of Myra, greatly venerated at 
 Bari. His father, Blase, was of the noble 
 family of Palea. His mother’s name was 
 Catharine. They taught him the holy fear of 
 God, and had the dear consolation of knowing 
 that their lessons were not lost on him. An 
 ancient chronicle says of him, “ Hardly eight 
 years old he already gave up the use of meat, 
 and his rigorous abstinence went so far that 
 he would not eat it on Christmas day. His 
 father’s chaplain, who was also his tutor, 
 soundly reproved him for his singularity of 
 life, and told him* that to continue would 
 offend God, and probably undermine his 
 health. Young Nicolas listened respectfully, 
 but when his tutor paused in his reproof 
 knelt down, crossed his hands over his breast, 
 and said, “ Master ! one day when I was all 
 alone in my father’s house, a young man, of 
 rare beauty, came to me. He sent forth a 
 heavenly perfume, and his appearance led me 
 at once to love him. He said to me, “ Son of 
 obedience, I desire you to deprive yourself of 
 flesh meat, because you will belong to a reli- 
 gious order that observes perpetual absti- 
 
Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo, 133 
 
 nence.” After this he was allowed to continue 
 in his penitential life. 
 
 When a few years older he was sent to 
 study at the famous University of Bologna. 
 St. Dominic was preaching there at that time. 
 Nicolas went to hear him, and was so im- 
 pressed by the eloquence and spiritual unction 
 of the saint that he at once sought an 
 interview with him, and modestly begged to 
 be admitted into the number of his spiritual 
 children. Nicolas was about twenty-one 
 years of age. St. Dominic saw in him a true 
 vocation, discerned a soul after his own heart, 
 and gave him the habit with his own hands. 
 He sent him to the monastery of Canosa, near 
 Bari, to make his noviciate, after which he 
 took his vows. The ancient chronicle recounts 
 a miracle he worked even when he was a 
 novice. “ During his noviciate,” the writer 
 says, “Blessed Nicolas with several of his 
 brethren passed near a town one day. A 
 woman, whose arm had withered up and had 
 become insensible without any life, was seen 
 on the road. The holy novice was touched 
 with compassion at this sight, and cried out, 
 ‘ Poor woman ! what have you done to your 
 
134 Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 
 
 arm ! ’ At this his fellow novices chid him 
 for having broken the silence by talking to a 
 secular person. 
 
 “ ‘ I gave way to a feeling of pity and char- 
 ity,’ answered the novice. Then turning 
 towards the woman he said, ‘ Have confi- 
 dence in God, and believe that He will grant 
 you the gift of perfect health.’ ‘ Do you 
 think so,’ said the woman. ‘Yes,’ continued 
 Blessed Nicolas, ‘your faith will save you, 
 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost.’ Hardly had he 
 ceased speaking when the woman received the 
 use of her arm again.” 
 
 St. Dominic became warmly attached to 
 Blessed Nicolas; his angelic purity made him 
 especially dear to him, and several times he 
 took him with him as companion on his 
 apostolic journeys in Italy. 
 
 Shortly after his entrance into the order 
 Blessed Nicolas paid a visit to Giovanazzo, 
 his native town. He was accompanied by 
 Brother Masulio of Venice. On entering the 
 town they saw a crowd of people gazing at a 
 sad scene. A woman was wildly lamenting 
 the sudden death of her child. It had fallen 
 
Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 135 
 
 into a well and was drowned. “ Have confi- 
 dence,” the Blessed youth said to her, “your 
 little son will be restored to you safe and 
 sound.” The sorrowful mother fell on her 
 knees, and begged him to give her child back 
 toiler. “What is your little child’s name,” 
 he asked. She answered that its name was 
 Andrew. “ For the future you will call him 
 Nicolas,” the saint answered, and then, in a 
 loud voice, he commanded the inanimate body 
 of the child to appear. “ Nicolas,” he said, 
 “ In the name of the Lord, arise ! ” At the 
 same moment the body arose to the surface of 
 the water, and Blessed Nicolas taking it into 
 his hands, gave the child alive to his joyful 
 mother. 
 
 He also worked several other remarkable 
 miracles later on in Giovanazzo, his native 
 town. His sisters Collette and Angelica 
 dwelt there. Collette had a son dumb from 
 his birth. When he was fifteen years of age 
 she bethought herself to ask her holy brother 
 to obtain a miraculous cure for his nephew. 
 Having been eye-witness of many miracles he 
 had worked, Collette reminded him that he 
 ought to have as much care of those of his 
 
136 Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 
 
 own blood as of strangers. One day she sent 
 her dumb son to the monastery to take the 
 fathers some bread. Blessed Nicolas took the 
 bread and asked his nephew from whom it 
 came. At the same moment the boy’s tongue 
 was loosed and he answered, quite distinctly, 
 “ It was my mother;” and from that day he 
 could speak without difficulty. 
 
 Another time a little girl born blind was 
 taken to him to be cured. He blessed her, 
 and the child having taken hold of his cloak 
 placed it on her eyes, and at once she obtained 
 the precious gift of sight, hitherto denied her 
 by God. 
 
 Blessed Nicolas was the founder of several 
 monasteries of his order. He preached one 
 Lent in Trani, a town in Apulia. His preach- 
 ing excited so much devotion towards the 
 order that the citizens asked him to build a 
 monastery in their town. He consented, and 
 bade them spend a day in prayer, to ask God 
 to make known to them on what site it was to 
 be built. The Archbishop, his clergy, and all 
 the people acceded to his pious request, and 
 consecrated a day to prayer to learn the holy 
 will of God. The next morning a cross of fire 
 
Blessed Nicolas Pa lea of Giovanazzo. 137 
 
 was seen in the air over the site on which the 
 monastery was eventually built. Everyone 
 recognized in this apparition of the fiery cross 
 a clear sign of God’s will, and it was unani- 
 mously decided to commence the work without 
 delay. Alms flowed in, and when completed 
 it was dedicated under the name of Holy 
 Cross. For many years a picture commem- 
 orating this miracle was to be seen hanging iu 
 one of the cells in the monastery dormitory. 
 It represented Blessed Nicolas holding in 
 his right hand a church, a fiery cross resting 
 on the summit, and in his left hand a book, 
 on whose open page was written, “ Blessed 
 Nicolas of Giovanazzo, founder of the Holy 
 Cross in Trani.” 
 
 He was next elected Provincial of the 
 Roman Province, after the death of the 
 venerable Clare of Sexto. This was in 1229, 
 or 1230, as is known from a Bull addressed 
 to him by Pope Gregory IX. Blessed Nicolas 
 at once called together all the religious put 
 under his charge, and earnestly addressed 
 them, recommending them to live in great 
 charity and peace one with another, and, as 
 the author of the “ VitcE Fratrum” tells us 
 
13B Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 
 
 narrated to them the following anecdote to 
 illustrate his meaning. “A certain Brother,” 
 he said, “ had given me much trouble without 
 any cause, and died a few days afterwards not 
 having begged my pardon. But one night, 
 I, being unwell, he appeared to me in a dream, 
 and asked me to pardon him. Knowing that 
 he was dead I said to him, ‘ Go, Brother, and 
 ask pardon of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose 
 hands you now are.’ Going away from me 
 when he had asked pardon from Christ as I 
 bade him, our Lord said to him, ‘ I will not 
 pardon you until you have first obtained the 
 pardon of him you have offended.’ He 
 returned to me the same night, and repeating 
 our Lord’s words, he again begged my for- 
 giveness which he obtained. After which he 
 said to me, ‘See Brother Nicolas, how evil it 
 is to offend one s Brother, and how grave a 
 fault it is not to please him.’ ” (Vitae Fratrum, 
 Pars. 4, Cap. 22.) 
 
 Blessed Nicolas was a prudent Provincial. 
 He gained all hearts by sweetness and wisdom. 
 He gave the habit to a very large number of 
 novices, who in their turn founded monaster- 
 ies, and labored zealously and successfully for 
 
Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 139 
 
 the salvation of souls, and the increase of the 
 order. He did not interrupt his apostolic 
 labors, and being as the chronicler has it, “a 
 most gracious preacher,” converted many sin- 
 ners to the path of virtue. 
 
 In the year 1231, Pope Gregory IX., who 
 constantly availed himself of the members of 
 the two orders of mendicant Friars, Francis- 
 cans and Dominicans, for difficult diplomatic 
 missions, commanded Blessed Nicolas to make 
 a visitation of all the monasteries and convents 
 of Tuscany, and associated with him. Blessed 
 John of Salerno, Prior of Florence, and 
 another Dominican Father, Frederick by 
 name. In the same year Blessed Nicolas went 
 to Naples to take formal possession of a new 
 monastery built there by Father Thomas de 
 Lentino, later on Patriarch of Antioch. It is 
 at this time that we must place the following 
 anecdote related by Father Gerard de Frachet 
 in the “ Vitae Fratrum.” “ A novice,” he says, 
 “ of the monastery of Naples, having fallen 
 sick, the devil, transfigured into an angel of 
 light, appeared to him and persuaded him not 
 to speak to any one. But the novice remem- 
 bered a grave fault which he had never yet 
 
140 Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 
 
 confessed. For fear of speaking he did not 
 wish to say the hours of the divine office, nor 
 even to answer any question put him. Per- 
 ceiving that he was under some delusion the 
 Fathers took the sick novice to Father Nico- 
 las. By force of reason and examples Father 
 Nicolas proved to the sick novice that his 
 silence was inspired by the seduction of 
 the demon, who desired to catch him in 
 his net, and to draw him with himself into 
 the eternal pit. The venerable Father’s 
 words and the prayers of the other Fathers 
 saved the unfortunate youth from the mon- 
 ster’s jaws. He consented to speak, made his 
 confession, and understood the devil’s artifice. 
 He died a short time afterwards in holy dispo- 
 sitions.” 
 
 Blessed Nicolas went to Perugia in the year 
 1233, where he founded another Dominican 
 monastery, afterwards famous. Malvenda, 
 citing an old work by Father Vincent Hercu- 
 lano, says, “It is a tradition come down from 
 age to age that Saint Dominic came to 
 Perugia, and that he met Saint Francis there 
 one day in the street which leads to the gate 
 of the holy angels, and that the two saints. 
 
Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo, 14 1 
 
 united in the love of Jesus Christ, tenderly 
 embraced each other in that place. Yet the 
 Dominican order had no monastery in Perugia 
 during the lifetime of the blessed patriarch 
 Dominic. It was not until 1233, twelve years 
 later, that a monastery of our order was 
 founded there. The cause which led to its 
 foundation was as follows. A young noble- 
 man of Perugia, of the illustrious family of 
 Herman de Staffa, studying at that time at 
 Bologna, moved by the preaching of Blessed 
 Nicolas, gave up the world and all he possessed, 
 took the habit, and entered the order of Friar 
 Preachers. Some time afterwards Blessed 
 Nicolas went to Perugia. As soon as he 
 began preaching he excited the pious admira- 
 tion of the crowds who ran to hear him, and 
 set them on fire with the love of virtue. 
 
 It thus happened, thanks to the fervor of 
 Brother Christian’s parents, for such was the 
 name the young nobleman took on entering 
 the order, and principally by that force of 
 persuasion which his burning exhortations 
 possessed, that the foundation of a monastery 
 was decided on. The Podesta, or chief magis- 
 trate of Perugia, with the common consent of 
 
142 Blessed Nicolas Pale a of Giovanazzo. 
 
 the citizens placed in the hands of Blessed 
 Nicolas a standard, on which was represented 
 the arms of the city ; a griffin of silver on a 
 field of gold, and declared that wherever he 
 planted it, there the city would build a mon- 
 astery of the Friar Preachers. Nicolas took 
 the standard and planted it at Saint Peter’s 
 Gate, on a beautiful site, where one can see 
 the smiling valley of Valliano and Assissi. 
 Without delay they began to build a monas- 
 tery and a magnificent church on that spot.” 
 A picture of Blessed Nicolas holding a church 
 in his hands hangs in the monastery cloister. 
 
 In the same year Blessed Jordan of Saxony, 
 second master-general of the order, called a gen- 
 eral chapter at Bologna, during which the body 
 of our most holy father Saint Dominic was sol- 
 emnly translated. In his office as Provincial of 
 the Roman Province, Blessed Nicolas took part 
 in this chapter. The evening before the transla- 
 tion he was earnestly praying to God to grant 
 some remarkable miracle on the occasion. 
 That night in a vision, a venerable man ap- 
 peared to him and said, “ He will receive the 
 blessing of the Lord, and the mercy of God his 
 Saviour.” On the following morning, the day 
 
Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo. 143 
 
 of the translation, Blessed Nicolas had the in- 
 estimable consolation of seeing once more the 
 body of his father in God, and. of finding it 
 incorrupt, emitting a most delicious perfume. 
 
 Blessed Nicolas was freed from his duties as 
 Provincial in 1235. He spent the remainder of 
 his life preaching in the chief cities of Italy. 
 Many miracles were worked by him during 
 these fruitful years. At Massa, Margaret, a 
 noble lady, was suddenly cured by him of deaf- 
 ness of nine years duration. At Arezzo, 
 another lady of high rank, called Louisa, took 
 her little daughter who was afflicted with two 
 ulcers, to him to be cured. Falling on her 
 knees she tearfully begged him to take pity 
 on her child, and to obtain a miracle from 
 God. He made the sign of the cross over it 
 saying ; “ In the name of Jesus ; and spoke 
 to the mother thus: “The Lord Jesus will 
 grant you the grace you ask.” Louisa returned 
 to her home rejoiced, and the day after her 
 child was so completely cured that there was 
 not even a sign of any wound. As he was 
 going to Milan one day to preach he saw a 
 number of devils surrounding the city. He was 
 seized with fear ; but making the sign of the 
 
144 Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo, 
 
 cross they vanished. Many conversions ac- 
 companied his preaching. Preaching at an- 
 other time in the Cathedral of Brescia to an 
 immense crowd, two young libertines amused 
 themselves by immodest gestures. The 
 Blessed Father cried out, “ Young men ! listen 
 to me,” and then drew a fearful word-picture 
 of the punishment of libertines in hell ; and 
 perceiving that they heeded not his warning he 
 cried out, “ O Eternal God ! they despise your 
 holy word to indulge in immodest thoughts ! ” 
 and he left the church, the people following 
 him. When he came to a hill he went up and 
 stood on the summit, and cried out : “ Seeing 
 that men harden their hearts so far as to reject 
 the word of God, In the name of Jesus Christ 
 my Saviour, birds of heaven come and listen 
 to it ! ” Thousands of birds answered his call ; 
 they surrounded the holy preacher, and hush- 
 ing their songs seemed as if listening intently 
 to him. For some time he poured out a 
 stream of inpassioned eloquence, the birds and 
 the astounded people breathlessly listening to 
 him, until he dismissed them both with his 
 blessing. 
 
 He was again elected Provincial in 1255, but 
 
Blessed Nicolas Pale a of Giovanazzo. 145 
 
 died the same year in the monastery he had 
 founded in Perugia. True to his vocation as 
 a son of Saint Dominic, he was very devout to 
 the holy Virgin Mary; and she, true to her 
 office of special protector of the Dominican 
 order watched over him in life and favored 
 him at the hour of death. A Dominican 
 father named Rao, who had been dead some 
 time, appeared to him in a vision*. “ He 
 appeared,” says Father Gerard de Frachet in 
 the “Vitae Fratrum,” to Blessed Nicolas, 
 Prior Provincial of the Roman Province and 
 said to him; “ Dearest Brother Nicolas, the 
 Virgin Mary counsels you to prepare yourself, 
 because a crown of glory is now ready for 
 you.” Blessed Nicolas at once told his vision 
 to his most intimate fellow religious, and a few 
 days afterwards died a most holy and religious 
 death. It was in the year 1265. He was 
 sixty-eight years of age. He was buried in 
 the old church, and for a long time his body 
 reposed beneath an altar erected in his honor ; 
 until, during some repairs made to the build- 
 ing it was removed to the High Altar. The 
 miracles obtained by invoking his intercession, 
 and continual cultus paid to him led to a 
 
146 Blessed Nicolas Palea of Giovanazzo, 
 
 formal approbation by Pope Leo XII. in 
 1828. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant. The Lord mercifully heard his saint 
 when he called upon Him ; the Lord merci- 
 fully heard him and established him in peace. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O blessed Nicolas. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 Mercifully infuse into us, O God, the spirit 
 of Blessed Nicolas Thy confessor, that as Thou 
 didst adorn him with singular grace for preach- 
 ing Thy Word and procuring the salvation of 
 his neighbor, so Thou would’t grant us 
 through his prayers even to remain in the 
 same holy vocation. Through Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED LAURENCE OF RIPA- 
 FRATTA. 
 
7 
 
 J 
 
BLESSED LAURENCE OF RIPA- 
 FRATTA. 
 
 FEBRUARY 1 8 . 
 
 In the middle ages the Republic of Pisa owed 
 much of its safety and protection from the 
 attacks of the Florentines and the citizens of 
 Lucca, to the fortified castle of Ripafratta, 
 built on the summit of a hill, at the foot of 
 Mount Pisano. At the present day, although 
 in ruins, it still preserves a threatening appear- 
 ance, and seems to lord it over the small town 
 of some six hundred inhabitants nestling 
 beneath its foundations. It was in Ripafratta, 
 March 4th, 1359, that Blessed Laurence was 
 born. He belonged to the illustrious family of 
 the Nobili, which later on produced the 
 Ronciori, whose descendants still exist in the 
 city of Pisa. 
 
 He was preserved in his youth by the grace 
 of God from those sins which ruin so many 
 youthful souls. It seems probable that he 
 
1 50 Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 
 
 went to study at Pisa with the intention of 
 giving himself to the service of God in the 
 religious state. He entered the Dominican 
 Order, being then in Deacon’s orders, about 
 the year 1379, in the Monastery of Saint 
 Catherine, in that city. He was about thirty- 
 eight years of age. His novice-master was a 
 holy and learned man eminently qualified to 
 direct him in the ways of perfection. 
 
 At this time Blessed John Dominic, a cele- 
 brated Dominican preacher, came to Pisa. 
 His renown was so great, that when St. 
 Vincent Ferrer was invited by the Florentines 
 to evangelize Tuscany, he expressed his aston- 
 ishment that they should seek elsewhere for a 
 preacher when they possessed so great a one as 
 Blessed John Dominic. His eloquent sermons 
 had a great effect on his hearers, but especially 
 on young men, many of whom, despising the 
 honors and pleasures of this present life, 
 abandoned the world to enter the cloister. So 
 that, like Blessed Jordan of Saxony, he became 
 the terror of selfish mothers, who fearing to 
 lose their sons forbade them to go to his 
 sermons. For some time he had been labor- 
 ing to effect a reform in the Dominican order. 
 
Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, 15 1 
 
 It will be well to explain here, in a few words, 
 why it had become necessary to institute such 
 a reform. The plague of 1348 which had 
 ravaged Europe had almost depopulated the 
 Italian monasteries. A schism had also 
 desolated the church, and divided the mem- 
 bers of the religious orders into antagonistic 
 bodies, throwing everything into fearful con- 
 fusion. One of these causes alone would have 
 been sufficient to ruin the most fervent relig- 
 ious order ; united they almost destroyed the 
 religious life. But God in His mercy, did not 
 abandon the monastic institutions, and raised 
 up many chosen souls to repair the ruins made 
 by the plague and schism. 
 
 St. Catherine of Sienna had excited in the 
 heart of her confessor. Blessed Raymund of 
 Capua, an ardent desire to reform the Domin- 
 ican order, which had suffered like the rest. 
 As soon as he was placed at the head of the 
 order, he made a powerful appeal to all who 
 loved God and the order they had embraced. 
 He obtained a noble response. Numbers of 
 saintly men appeared in the order, and 
 labored zealously and successfully for its revi- 
 val on principles of primitive observance. 
 
152 Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 
 
 In Germany there was the Venerable Con- 
 rad of Prussia, and in Italy Blessed John 
 Dominic, Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, and 
 many others no less holy than zealous. Blessed 
 Clara Gambacorti reformed her own monastery 
 in Pisa, and sent out sisters to do the same 
 work in Genoa, Parma,and Venice. 
 
 Blessed John Dominic, meeting with a very 
 strong opposition in the monasteries of Flor- 
 ence and Pisa, began by reforming that of St. 
 Dominic in Venice. From that community the 
 reform spread to the large monastery of Saints 
 John and Paul in the same city, and to St. 
 Dominic’s in Citta di Castello, in Umbria. In 
 the latter monastery he was materially assisted 
 by Blessed Laurence. Blessed John Dominic 
 soon learnt what a valuable coadjutor he had 
 found in Laurence of Ripafratta. Every one 
 acknowledged his holiness. To a life of an- 
 gelic purity, he added a very rigid austerity, a 
 burning zeal for the salvation of souls, and an 
 inviolable regularity and fidelity in observing 
 the rule of the order. To all these virtues was 
 joined so deep an acquaintance with the Holy 
 Scriptures and so profound a perception of 
 their meaning, that he merited the name of 
 
Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, 153 
 
 “Ark of the New Testament;” a name also 
 given to Saint Antony of Padua. 
 
 Blessed John Dominic saw quickly that in 
 order to insure the continuance of his reform, 
 it was necessary to form a good novitiate. 
 He intended to confide the important but 
 difficult office of Novice Master to Father 
 Michael Tosi, a young Pisan whom he had 
 converted from a life of licentiousness to the 
 service of Christ. But this father died in the 
 flower of his age, a victim to the charity with 
 which he nursed the brothers sick of the 
 plague. He then chose Blessed Laurence of 
 Ripafratta, who was eminently fitted for that 
 office. 
 
 The novitiate was established at Cortona on 
 the borders of Tuscany, in the midst of a fertile 
 country, under a delightful sky. This was an 
 admirable situation for the spiritual exercises 
 of the novitiate. Soon after this had been 
 done. Blessed John Dominic was made Arch- 
 bishop of Ragusa and eventually raised to the 
 Cardinalate. Blessed Laurence became Novice 
 Master between 1402 and 1405. Among his 
 novices were several who have left their mark 
 on the footprints of time. In 1405 a young 
 
154 Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 
 
 Florentine, bearing the warmest recommenda- 
 tions from Blessed John Dominic, knocked at 
 the monastery gate, and falling at Blessed 
 Laurence’s feet, begged to be admitted as a 
 choir novice. It was Saint Antoninus of 
 Florence, hardly sixteen years of age. He 
 was followed soon after by Blessed Peter 
 Capucci, who having received the habit in 
 Citta di Gastello, his native town, went to 
 Cortona to place himself under the direction of 
 the holy novice master. In the year 1407 two 
 artists, from Mugello, joined the novitiate. 
 They were Fra Angelico and his brother P'ra 
 Benedetto. In the direction of his novices 
 Blessed Laurence showed marvellous tact. He 
 trained them in the path of mortification, avoid- 
 ing that excess of sweetness and indulgence by 
 which so many young souls are ruined ; while at 
 the same time he restrained them from the fervid 
 excitement which is so apt to deceive beginners 
 in the paths of perfection, and by which so many 
 undermine their health, and condemn them- 
 selves by indiscreet penance to a life of useless- 
 ness. Thus, although his own life was peniten- 
 tial, he softened the austerities of the rule as 
 much as lay in his power, without destroying 
 
Blessed Laurence of Ripaf rat ta, 155 
 
 discipline or departing from the spirit and aim 
 of the order. By means of frequent spiritual 
 instructions he fanned the flames of divine love 
 in the novices’ hearts. Another quality in 
 Blessed Laurence, worthy of the highest 
 praise, was the wisdom with which he under- 
 stood and cherished the special vocation of each 
 of his novices. While he never allowed them to 
 lose sight of the chief end of the order, pen- 
 ance and zeal, he seconded them in the full 
 development of each one^s peculiar talents 
 To Blessed Peter, whose inclinations sympa- 
 thized with his own, he opened the ways of 
 contemplation. To Saint Antoninus he coun- 
 selled the investigation of the infinite field of 
 science, human and divine. He allowed Fra 
 Angelico and Fra Benedetto to devote their 
 talents to painting, but revealed to them 
 heavenly models to guide their artistic inspira- 
 tions. “ Dear Brothers,” he often said to them, 
 “ I beseech you to whom God has not given 
 the gift of knowledge, to follow the career of 
 painting, in which you will be none the less 
 true Friar Preachers. For it is not only by 
 words that we persuade men to love virtue and 
 flee from vice, it is also by the example of a 
 
156 Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 
 
 stainless life, and by the arts which are the 
 outward expression of men’s inward thoughts ; 
 sublime arts, among which music and painting 
 hold the first place. It will undoubtedly come 
 to pass that many sinners, whom the preaching 
 of the Fathers of our order will not influence, 
 touched by looking at the pictures you place 
 before their eyes, will be converted. You 
 have an advantage of which the preacher is 
 deprived. Words cannot reach those who are 
 afar olT, and the most eloquent voice can- 
 not speak from the tomb to the sinner. 
 But your heavenly pictures will have an im- 
 mortal influence, for centuries they will re- 
 main as efficacious preachers of religion and 
 virtue.” 
 
 We do not know how long the happy disci- 
 ples remained under Blessed Laurence’s direc- 
 tion. During his long residence in Cortona, 
 he was often sent to preach in the neighboring 
 towns and villages. The word of God fell 
 from his pure lips like it fell from the lips 
 of the Apostles and prophets. St. Anto- 
 ninus, more than once in his works ex- 
 pressed his admiration for Blessed Lau- 
 rence’s preaching, and does not hesitate to 
 
Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 15/ 
 
 compare him with St. Paul the Apostle of 
 preaching. 
 
 But the great virtue and prudence which 
 characterized Blessed Laurence could not 
 remain always buried in obscurity. He was 
 appointed Vicar General of the reformed 
 Congregation, he had so faithfully served. In 
 the new sphere of usefulness in which he now 
 found himself, he manifested new gifts of 
 prudence. He took up his residence in the 
 Monastery of Saint Dominic at Pistoria. He 
 was now much more free to attend to the 
 ministry of souls. He preached continuously, 
 catechized the poor in the country places, vis- 
 ited and consoled the sick, particularly those 
 stricken down by the plague, and abandoned 
 by their relations and friends. 
 
 H is former novice, Saint Antoninus, having 
 been raised to the Archiepiscopal See of Flor- 
 ence, he frequently consulted Blessed Lau- 
 rence in all his difficulties and trials. Saint 
 Antoninus was very unwilling to accept so 
 exalted a dignity, one which brought with it 
 such an alarming responsibility. Neither the 
 supplications of the Magistrates of Florence, 
 nor the well-known wishes of the Pope 
 
158 Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, 
 
 could persuade him to give his consent. But 
 when Blessed Laurence told him it was God’s 
 holy will he withdrew all opposition and was 
 consecrated Archbishop. What St. Bernard 
 did for Pope Eugcnius the Third, Blessed 
 Laurence now did for St. Antoninus of Flor- 
 ence. He wrote frequent letters to his former 
 novice, full of heavenly wisdom, instructing 
 him on the office and duties of a Christian 
 Bishop. He descended to the smallest details, 
 the management of his episcopal palace, and 
 such like. He knew that the households of 
 the great are too frequently little regulated, 
 and advised him to watch over all under his 
 care, so that no scandals could arise. He 
 advised him not to allow women or children in 
 his palace except in case of necessity. 
 
 Blessed Laurence was now near his hun- 
 dredth year. Exhausted by a laborious and 
 penitential life, he also suffered much from an 
 ulcer in his leg. But he enjoyed the rare hap- 
 piness of seeing so many of his novices orna- 
 ments to the church and to the Dominican 
 Order. Three of his novices have been placed 
 on our altars, by the infallible voice of the 
 church, and many others who did not receive 
 
Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta, 159 
 
 that honor, have left behind them an eternal 
 renown. Another great happiness granted him 
 was to see the reform of the order blessed by 
 God and extended to all parts of Italy. 
 
 H is death was like his life. When his end 
 drew near he received the sacraments of holy 
 church with great piety, and then, turning 
 towards his Brethren, he exhorted them to 
 labor unceasingly for the salvation of souls, 
 and to keep the Dominican rule faithfully, to 
 become models of holiness in their own persons; 
 so that the people, seeing the holiness of their 
 lives, might be encouraged to walk in the 
 paths of virtue. He died in the Lord, 
 September 28, 1457, aged ninety-eight. 
 
 It was not long before God made his sanctity 
 certain by many miracles at his tomb ; but he 
 was not beatified until the year 1851. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant. Planted in the house of the Lord, in the 
 courts of the house of our God, he shall spring 
 up like a lily, and shall flourish forever before 
 the Lord. 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Laurence. 
 
i6o Blessed Laurence of Ripafratta. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 O God, who madest Blessed .Laurence, Thy 
 confessor, to shine forth with zeal for regular 
 discipline, and didst inflame him with the 
 ardors of divine love, grant at his intercession, 
 that ever following after the more perfect 
 ways, we may attain to everlasting joys. 
 Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED ALVAREZ OF CORDOVA. 
 
BLESSED ALVAREZ OF CORDOVA. 
 
 FEBRUARY IQ. 
 
 The historians of the Dominican Order do 
 not agree on the place where Blessed Alvarez 
 was born, whether it was in Lisbon or Cordova, 
 in which latter city he spent the greater part 
 of his life. All assert, however, that he was 
 of noble family. He entered the order in the 
 monastery of St. Paul in Cordova, in the 
 year 1368. Having sanctified himself during 
 his novitiate by penance and prayer he be- 
 gan his ministry with wonderful success, 
 and soon converted numbers of sinners from 
 an evil life. He evangelized Andalusia, at the 
 same time that the great Dominican preacher 
 and miracle-worker, St. Vincent Ferrer, was 
 in the midst of his labors in Castile. From 
 Spain Blessed Alvarez went into Italy, and 
 preached there with success equal to that he 
 obtained in his native land. 
 
 We next hear of him in Palestine, occupied 
 
164 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 in the same labor of the conversion of sinners. 
 His deep devotion to the Passion of Our 
 Divine Lord caused him to remain a long 
 time in the Holy Land. His love for preach- 
 ing found ample scope in Palestine, peopled as 
 it was with Turks, Schismatics, and bad 
 Catholics from every land ; and the sadness of 
 his heart at the sight of so much sin on the 
 very site of the redemption of mankind caused 
 him to shed bitter tears of grief and indig- 
 nation. In 1405 he returned to Spain, and 
 found his native land on the eve o^ a struggle 
 with the Moors. The Moorish King of Gra- 
 nada had refused to pay tribute to the King 
 of Castile, to which he was bound by ancient 
 treaties, and having taken forcible possession 
 of the town of Ayamonte was busily preparing 
 for new conquests. Don Henry IL, King of 
 of Castile, protested in vain against the infrac- 
 tion of the treaties and could obtain no 
 satisfaction. 
 
 Blessed Alvarez went about preaching 
 penance, and endeavored to impress on the 
 people’s mind that the victory of the Christians 
 over the Moors depended on a change of 
 manners among themselves. The fame his 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova. 165 
 
 holiness had acquired, the eloquence of his 
 sermons, and his patriotic appeals made a 
 vivid impression on their souls, and in a short 
 time a truly marvellous change was seen in 
 Andalusia. He constantly reminded them 
 that when the Spanish people were faithful to 
 God and to the duties of religion, they had 
 always conquered their enemies ; but that God 
 had delivered them up to the horrors of war, 
 famine, and the disgraceful yoke of their 
 enemies when they had abandoned themselves 
 to the gratification of their passions, despising 
 the teachings of their holy religion. 
 
 Don Henry, finding himself forced into a 
 war with the Moors, convoked the Cortes at 
 Toledo, that he might consult the Grandees 
 of his kingdom as to the best means of carry- 
 ing it out with success. In answer to his 
 appeal they assembled at Toledo from all 
 parts in great numbers ; but they arrived in 
 time only to celebrate his funeral, for the 
 young king died on Christmas day, 1406. 
 
 His death left the kingdom in danger from 
 enemies without and factions within. The 
 Grandees endeavored to crown the late king’s 
 brother, Don Ferdinand, putting aside the 
 
1 66 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 3^oung Prince Juan, son of Don Henry. 
 Queen Catherine, the late king’s widow 
 begged Blessed Alvarez to come to her aid, to 
 secure her son’s rights and thus insure peace to 
 the kingdom. He acceded to her wishes, and 
 employed all his remarkable talents of persua- 
 sion to inspire the Grandees with the sole 
 desire of securing the good of the kingdom, 
 and at the same time to suggest to the queen a 
 spirit of moderation. God blessed his efforts. 
 The baby-prince, Don Juan II., was pro- 
 claimed King of Castile, and the regency 
 divided between Queen Catherine and Don 
 Ferdinand. Blessed Alvarez became the 
 queen’s confessor and adviser, and in this 
 double office acquitted himself with universal 
 satisfaction, and when the young prince was 
 old enough to receive advice he labored to 
 instil into his mind solid principles of religion, 
 morality and justice, and taught him to be a 
 true father to his people and the supporter 
 and defender of the church. 
 
 As soon as Castile was at peace within, the 
 war against the Moors was undertaken, and 
 crowned with success. All the towns which 
 had been captured by the Moors were re- 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 167 
 
 gained, and the baneful power of the Mussul- 
 man effectually checked. 
 
 Blessed Alvarez also worked a great refor- 
 mation in the morality of the court and 
 courtiers. His holy and self-denying life was 
 a silent lesson to those nobles, who, as is 
 usual in the courts of princes, loved the 
 pleasures of this life and the pomp of earthly 
 power more than they loved God. Respecting 
 him on account of his genuine and unfeigned 
 virtues, they soon learned to restrain their 
 inordinate pride, and to practise all the virtues 
 of true Christians. But the peace of the king- 
 dom was again disturbed, and this time Blessed 
 Alvarez was powerless to avert the dissensions 
 which arose. The regency was divided, Old 
 Castile was given to the queen, while Don 
 Ferdinand took charge of New Castile. 
 Blessed Alvarez now found himself much 
 freer than before; he was no longer obliged to 
 remain at court, and was enabled to resume 
 the work of preaching so long interrupted. 
 He set out to preach, and visited eveiy part 
 of Old Castile and Leon, everywhere doing 
 grand work for souls. 
 
 Three years after the division of the regency 
 
1 68 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova. 
 
 Don Ferdinand became King of Aragon, an« 
 Queen Catherine obtained the sole regency in 
 Castile. 
 
 She earnestly requested Blessed Alvarez to 
 assist her in governing the country by his wise 
 advice, but he begged to be entirely free to 
 practise the studies of his holy ministry. He 
 had long formed the intention of founding a 
 community of primitive observance of the 
 Dominican Rule. If he wished he could have 
 built a magnificent monastery and amply 
 endowed it : for the queen and Castilian 
 nobles would readily have furnished him with 
 the necessary means. A true disciple of St. 
 Dominic, he chose rather to begin in the 
 strictest poverty, and desired to build a 
 monastery such as St. Dominic himself would 
 have built. Wishing to make it a true home 
 of prayer, retirement, and study, he chose a 
 a solitary site, far enough from the haunts of 
 men not to be disturbed, and yet sufficiently 
 near to a large town to carry out the Domini- 
 can vocation of preaching. The site selected 
 was on a mountain a few miles from Cordova. 
 He called it “ Scala Coeli,'' or the “Ladder of 
 Heaven,” to remind those who dwelt in it 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 169 
 
 that Heaven should be the sole wish of their 
 hearts, and that all their studies and monastic 
 duties were only to be the means of attaining 
 that eternal bliss. 
 
 The new monastery was soon filled. Many 
 Fathers came to him from all parts of Spain, 
 desiring to be taught by him the secrets of 
 perfection. They were all filled with his own 
 spirit, and Scala Coeli soon became famous as a 
 seminary of sanctity, learning, and piety ; and 
 the holy missionaries it sent forth did much 
 for the honor and glory of God and the con- 
 version of sinners. 
 
 Perhaps the most important service rendered 
 by this monastery to the church was the part 
 the Fathers took in reuniting the people in 
 obedience to the authority of the legitimate 
 Pope. In fighting against the Anti-Pope 
 Peter de Luna, Blessed Alvarez knew that 
 he had to encounter the influence of many of 
 the powerful of this world, and that money 
 and authority would be employed against him. 
 He foresaw the difficulties wliich he and his 
 newly founded community would have to face, 
 and yet he did not flinch, because he saw 
 that it was his duty. St. Vincent Ferrer, 
 
170 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova. 
 
 his fellow-Dominican, on withdrawing from 
 obedience to Peter de Luna, had caused the 
 King of Aragon to submit to the decrees of 
 the Council of Constance, and to the authority 
 of Martin V., who was elected by the Fathers 
 of that council. Blessed Alvarez, animated 
 with the same zeal for the peace of the church, 
 resolved to lead the court of Castile to follow 
 the example of the King of Aragon. Every- 
 thing was against him. Passion, intrigue 
 prejudice, interest, and the Grandees, all were, 
 at first arrayed on the side of the Anti-Pope. 
 
 Queen Catherine of Castile had sent ambas- 
 sadors to the Council of Constance, and having 
 consented to abandon Peter de Luna she sent 
 a second embassy of Bishops, which took 
 away the last obstacle to the peace of the 
 Church. 
 
 The queen died soon after this happy event. 
 Thus the influence which Blessed Alvarez 
 always possessed over the queen, his fervent 
 prayers and fasts and continual preaching led 
 the Kingdom of Castile to acknowledge the 
 true Vicar of Christ. 
 
 After this happy event Blessed Alvarez, in- 
 stead of taking repose, which his labors and 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 171 
 
 now advanced age merited him, again entered 
 with new ardor into the work of preaching. 
 Catechising, instructing the poor and ignorant, 
 healing the sick, consoling the afflicted, destroy- 
 ing superstitions, reconciling enemies, — such 
 were the holy occupations to which he again 
 gave himself, and which he continued until the 
 end of his life ; and to these already sufficiently 
 arduous labors he added many severe penances 
 and spent many hours in prayer. After pass- 
 ing the whole day in preaching and administer- 
 ing the sacraments in the Andalusian moun- 
 tains, he returned to his beloved monastery of 
 Scala Coeli, where he spent nearly the whole 
 night in prayer at the foot of the altar, knock- 
 ing unceasingly at the door of Divine Mercy to 
 obtain new graces to enable him to continue 
 the work of the ministry. Clothed in hair- 
 cloth, with an iron chain around his loins, he 
 subjected his body to the law of the spirit, and 
 obtained a continued victory over all his pas- 
 sions ; and in proportion as his age and labors 
 continued he lengthened his nightly watches, 
 and his fasts became more frequent and severe. 
 He had blotted out his high rank from his 
 memory, and delighted in serving the lowliest 
 
172 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 members of the community. He and his 
 brethren lived on alms. It was his deli£fbt to 
 go out and beg. He often went into the great 
 square of Cordova, when the merchants were 
 met together for commerce, and there he 
 would address them, and conclude his dis- 
 course with these words: “ My dear Brethren, 
 the poor friars of St. Dominic in the moun- 
 tain recommend themselves to your charity,” 
 and he always succeeded in his appeal. 
 
 God sometimes allowed the community to 
 be reduced to great necessity, that he might 
 show how dear to him were the virtues of his 
 servant Alvarez. One day there was not a 
 crumb of bread or food of any kind in the 
 monastery. The Procurator went to the Prior 
 and told him there was only a lettuce, which 
 remained from the evening meal of the day be- 
 fore. Blessed Alvarez exhorted the fathers and 
 brothers to trust in God, and to go to the refec- 
 tory when the dinner bell rang, although there 
 was nothing to serve. When the time came 
 he gave the customary blessing, and then be- 
 gan to pray God to have pity on his servants 
 reduced to so great need. And while he prayed 
 the monastery bell rang, and the porter found 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova. 173 
 
 a man there with a mule laden with provisions, 
 bread, wine, fish, and all manner of food. He 
 ran to tell the Prior, who bade him thank their 
 benefactor; but on the brother’s return he had 
 gone, and they were never able to learn who 
 had sent the provisions. 
 
 When building the monastery of Scala Coeli 
 materials several times failed. Blessed Alva- 
 rez began to pray, and during the night a great 
 noise was heard, as if stone was being cut and 
 wood sawed. In the morning everything was 
 found on the ground prepared for building, and 
 it was never discovered who had set it there or 
 whence it had come. 
 
 One day, as Blessed Alvarez was passing 
 through the principal street of Cordova, on his 
 way home after preaching, he found a poor 
 man covered with ulcers in a dying condition. 
 With his cloak he covered the man, and carried 
 him on his shoulders to the monastery. As he 
 was passing through the cloisters one of the 
 Fathers asked him what load he bore. He an- 
 swered, “ It is a poor dying man I found in 
 the street abandoned by all. I brought him 
 here to take care of him ; my heart would not 
 let me leave him there in that condition,” 
 
174 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 He laid his burden on the floor and uncovered 
 it, and behold they saw not a man but a figure 
 of Christ on the cross. This crucifix was after- 
 wards hung in one of the chapels of the mon- 
 astery church, where it is still an object of uni- 
 versal devotion. 
 
 His penances, always severe, became more 
 so as his life drew near to an end. He disci- 
 plined himself to blood, and undertook a pen- 
 ance very hard to practise. He often walked 
 on his knees, disciplining himself all the while 
 to a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Virgin of 
 Pity. The road was rocky, and the angels of 
 God frequently accompanied him, clearing 
 away the little rocks and upholding him by the 
 arms. After his death, the Fathers who had 
 been privileged to see these heavenly favors, 
 caused a picture to be painted representing the 
 holy man kneeling, his bared shoulders welted 
 with the cruel discipline and attended by an- 
 gels who knelt all around him. This picture 
 is still to be seen at Cordova. The great devo- 
 tion to the Passion of our Divine Lord which 
 had led him to visit the Holy Land, also in- 
 spired him to build several small chapels in 
 the monastery of Scala Coeli, in which he 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 175 
 
 caused the different scenes in the Passion of 
 Jesus Christ to be painted. In the first was 
 the Agony in the Garden of Olives; in the 
 second, Judas betraying Our Lord, kissing Him 
 with a traitor’s kiss ; in the third, the bloody 
 flagellation at the pillar ; in the fourth the 
 crowning with thorns ; the Ecce Homo in 
 the fifth; in the next Jesus carrying His cross 
 to Calvary; in the seventh the crucifixion and 
 in the last the dead Christ in the arms of His 
 sorrowful mother. 
 
 This last chapel was called Our Lady of 
 Pity, and this was his favorite place for prayer 
 and penance. One evening, when he had shut 
 himself up in one of these chapels, the rain 
 came down in such torrents, that a little brook 
 which divided the garden from the monastery, 
 had become so swollen that he could not 
 cross it. The bell rang for Matins, the 
 midnight office in the choir; what could 
 he do? 
 
 He raised his eyes to God, took off his black 
 cloak, spread it on the running waters, stepped 
 upon it and safely walked to the other side ; 
 then he put it on again and went to Matins in 
 the choir. 
 
176 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 He was several times endowed with the gift 
 of prophecy. 
 
 A holy life was crowned by a holy death. 
 He died February 19, 1420. He was buried 
 in the monastery church, but the miracles 
 which were wrought every day at his tomb 
 caused Martin de Mendoza, Bishop of Cordova, 
 to enshrine his relics in a costly case, and place 
 them in a chapel where they could be easily 
 approached. Ecclesiastics of all ranks went 
 there to say Mass, and many of them deposed 
 that delicious perfumes exhaled from the holy 
 relics. An authentic record of all the miracles 
 was written and received the Bishop’s ap- 
 proval. 
 
 The Fathers of our order remained in the 
 monastery of Scala Coeli until John of Toledo, 
 a Dominican Bishop of Cordova, gave them the 
 Church of the Holy Martyrs, in his diocesan- 
 city. As soon as they had established them- 
 selves in their new monastery they set about 
 to transfer the relics of Blessed Alvarez into 
 their new church ; but when the two Priors of 
 St. Paul’s and the Holy Martyrs, accompanied 
 by a crowd of pious people, went to the Church 
 of Scala Coeli, and attempted to carry away the 
 
Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 177 
 
 coffer in which the body reposed, a thunder- 
 storm burst forth, and they replaced it on the 
 altar and then the storm immediately ceased. 
 It burst forth again on their endeavoring a sec- 
 ond time to remove the relics. Every one 
 deemed it to be the will of Heaven and of the 
 holy rrian himself that his body should remain 
 in the church of the monastery he had founded 
 and had so dearly loved. 
 
 Desolate for nearly a century, Scala Cceli 
 was restored by the celebrated Dominican 
 Father Lewis of Granada, and once more the 
 divine worship of praise ascended to heaven 
 from the long deserted church, and the Friars 
 of St. Dominic again meditated in the clois- 
 ters, and observed all the sweet monastic ob- 
 servances in the monastery Blessed Alvarez 
 had built. Then took place a great revival of 
 popular devotion to Alvarez, which having 
 continued. Pope Benedict XIV. approved his 
 cultus in 1741. 
 
 Prayer^ 
 
 Ant. O good and faithful servant, enter thou 
 into the joy of thy Lord. 
 
178 Blessed Alvarez of Cordova, 
 
 V, Pray for us, O blessed Alvarez. 
 
 R, That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who didst endow Blessed Alvarez 
 Thy confessor with the graces of penance and 
 divine love, grant that by his intercession we 
 may ever bear the mortification of Christ in our 
 bodies, and Thy love in our hearts. Through 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED AIMO TAPARELLf. 
 
I 
 
 .1 
 
 III f li M rfii'i 
 
BLESSED AIMO TAPARELLL 
 
 FEBRUARY 21. 
 
 Many saints adorned the church towards the 
 end of the fourteenth and the commencement 
 of the fifteenth centuries. The church was 
 passing through great trials. Numerous 
 causes had led to a general relaxation in 
 discipline and morals. The plague which had 
 carried away so many of the priests of the 
 church had worked no less havoc among the 
 members of the religious orders. The old 
 laborers were dead, and the few who yet 
 remained were so discouraged by the difficul- 
 ties they encountered, that the sacred fire of 
 fervor and apostolic zeal was smouldering in 
 its ashes. Yet it was not dead, God did not 
 abandon His church. The Queen of Confes- 
 sors still knelt in supplication at the foot of 
 the throne of mercy, and as of old, in times of 
 need, a crowd of saints began to fill the 
 Christian church. And like the holy Mother 
 
Blessed Aimo Taparellu 
 
 182 
 
 of God, the apostolic Dominic, whose preach- 
 ing had saved the church two hundred years 
 before by destroying heresy, rose again in his 
 miglit, in the person of his sons, saved the 
 grand order he had founded, and once more 
 materially aided in saving the church. 
 
 Blessed Aimo is little known at the present 
 day, and the records of his life are but scant. 
 He is like those little streams which flow on 
 forever, a continual source of sweet verdure to 
 the land around, but whose name is known to 
 none but to the inhabitants of the hamlets 
 through which they pass. He is no less a star 
 in Saint Dominic’s crown, and his heroic sanc- 
 tity has been proclaimed by the church. 
 
 He was a native of Savigliano, a town of 
 seventeen thousand inhabitants in Piedmont, 
 and was born in the castle of the Count of Lag- 
 nasco. Piety and learning were instilled into 
 him while yet a boy. Though gifted with an 
 intelligent mind, and possessing a handsome 
 face he avoided all the snares to vanity. Per- 
 ceiving the emptiness of human delights he 
 yearned for the happiness of heaven. Seeing 
 the need of laborers in Christ's vineyard, he 
 gave himself to God and the service of His 
 
Blessed Aimo Taparelli. 183 
 
 church by entering the order of Friar Preachers. 
 He received the habit in tlie monastery of his 
 native town. From that time he had but one 
 thought, to render himself worthy of the 
 apostolate by prayer, penance, and study. 
 Piety without solid learning is insufficient for 
 him who is the guide of souls, while learning, 
 unless sanctified by prayer and seasoned with 
 penance, is still more hurtful. So he studied 
 and prayed, and thus he became a saint. 
 
 In due time, from a scholar he was made 
 master, and employed in teaching in the Uni- 
 versity of Turin, an honor and distinction 
 conferred on only the most eminent among the 
 Dominican professors. He was also an inde- 
 fatigable preacher, and led many hardened 
 sinners back to God and penance, and had the 
 great satisfaction of persuading several heretics 
 to return to God’s holy church. 
 
 His reputation for learning, eloquence, and 
 holiness having become known to Blessed 
 Amadeus, Duke of Savoy, he invited him to 
 preach at his court, and it is supposed that the 
 prince confided his conscience to his care, the 
 greatest mark of esteem one saint can give to 
 another. 
 
1 84 Blessed Aimo TaparellL 
 
 Blessed Bartholomew Cerverius, having 
 fallen a martyr to the rage of the heretics, 
 Blessed Aimo was chosen to succeed him in 
 the ofifice of commissary of the holy Inquisi- 
 tion, and was invested with the office of Vicar 
 General of Savigliano, with the duty of watch- 
 ing over the purity of the faith in Alba, 
 Mondovi, Saluzzo, and the neighboring coun- 
 try. Soon afterwards he was nominated 
 Inquisitor General in Upper Lombardy and 
 Liguria, a laborious and difficult office which 
 he kept until his death. He was frequently 
 elected Prior of Savigliano, and more than 
 once Vicar Provincial. His personal example 
 and his eloquent exhortations powerfully 
 contributed to the maintenance of religious 
 discipline. During his priorate the body of 
 Blessed Antony of Pavia was solemnly trans- 
 lated to Savigliano. This Dominican martyr 
 met with his death at the hands of the Vau- 
 dois, having attempted to combat their deadly 
 errors in Piedmont. 
 
 In the midst of his multiplied labors he 
 lived in continual recollection and peace of 
 soul. He had these words, “ To serve God is 
 to reign,” continually on his lips. He caused 
 
Blessed Aimo Taparelli. 185 
 
 them to be written on the door of his cell, and 
 on the fagade of the monastery church ; and 
 his whole life was one practical application of 
 his favorite motto. Sometimes he retired 
 into a solitary place on a mountain near 
 Saluzzo, where he could give himself without 
 hindrance to prayer and contemplation. His 
 familiarity with the holy angels was known to 
 all. He continually conversed with them, 
 and once on the feast of Saint Hyppolitus 
 and his fellow martyrs, when saying the 
 Divine office, he came to these words of 
 the psalms, “ Exultabunt sancti in gloria,” 
 “ The saints shall rejoice in glory,” the 
 angels answered him: “ Lsetabuntur in cii- 
 bilibus suis,” “ They shall be joyful in 
 their beds ” (Psalm cxlix. v. 5), from which 
 he knew that his own death was near at 
 hand. 
 
 He slept in the Lord two days afterwards, 
 the Holy Mother of God, wliom he had so 
 much loved and served so f.. i’lfiilly, obtaining 
 for him the grace to die on the feast of her 
 glorious Assumption into heaven. Embracing 
 the crucifix, which he held tightly in his hands 
 _for a long time after his soul had been reunited 
 
1 86 Blessed Aimo Taparelli, 
 
 to his Creator, he died, August 15, 1495, in 
 his hundredth year. 
 
 An immense crowd gathered round his 
 mortal remains. Everyone desired to obtain 
 some pious relic, and there was but one opin- 
 ion about his sanctity, but it was not until the 
 present century that the formal approbation of 
 the church was asked and obtained for his 
 public worship. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Ant. Blessed is this saint who trusted in the 
 Lord; he preached the commandments of the 
 Lord, and is now established upon His holy 
 mountain. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O Blessed Aimo, 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 Almighty and most merciful God, to serve 
 whom is to reign, grant through the merits 
 and intercession of Blessed Aimo, Thy con- 
 fessor, whom thou madest a famous champion 
 of the Faith, that, keeping Thy command- 
 
Blessed Aimo Taparellu 
 
 187 
 
 merits faithfully on earth, we may deserve to 
 enjoy Thy eternal kingdom with him in 
 heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED CONSTANTIUS OF 
 FABRIANO. 
 
•( 
 
BLESSED CONSTANTIUS OF FABRL 
 ANO. 
 
 FEBRUARY 25. 
 
 To write the life of a saint, to sketch in 
 words what has passed in the heart, to give 
 an account not so much of the man or his ac- 
 tions, as of his motives, to propose his sanctity 
 for imitation, is a task in which indeed it is 
 easy to fail. But when little is known of his 
 life, it is well-nigh impossible to do justice to 
 so high a theme. 
 
 Such is the case with him who sets himself 
 to write the life of Blessed Constantins, so few 
 records and such scanty details have been 
 handed down to posterity. 
 
 Among the wise ordinations made in the 
 fifteenth century, by Raymund of Capua, 
 Master General of the order, for the restora- 
 tion of primitive discipline, was one that 
 recommended that there should be in every 
 Dominican Province at least one monastery of 
 
192 Blessed Constantins of Fabriano, 
 
 strict observance of the rule. The Fathers of 
 the monastery of Saint Lucy at Fabriano 
 hastened to carry out this ordination, and 
 merited the happiness of obtaining for Prior 
 Blessed John Dominic, and Blessed Laurence 
 of Ripafratta ; and it seems probable that it 
 was from the hands of the latter that Blessed 
 Constantins received the habit. 
 
 At the beginning of the fifteenth century, 
 near the monastery of Saint Lucy in Fabriano, 
 there dwelt the pious family of Bernard de 
 Servoli. Constantins, one of his sons, was 
 noted for his truly remarkable piety, which 
 gained for him the name of “ Friend of the 
 good God.’’ Chosen by God for the service 
 of the altar, many signs made known His holy 
 will. He had a sister nine years old, who had 
 passed seven years of her brief life in a sick- 
 ness declared by physicians to be incurable. 
 One day, Constantins led his parents to his 
 sister’s bedside, and begged them to kneel 
 down with him to implore God to grant a 
 cure. They did so, and as soon as their sim- 
 ple prayer had risen to heaven her pains 
 ceased, her weakness vanished, never to return, 
 and she was restored to health. This was 
 
Blessed Constantins of Fabriano, 193 
 
 regarded as a miracle, and ascribed to the 
 merits of his prayers and holiness, and caused 
 him to be regarded as a saint. 
 
 Bernard and his wife often asked each other 
 if^ instead of a son, God had not sent them an 
 angel to show them the way to heaven, more 
 especially when they happened to hear Con- 
 stantins exhorting sinners to repentance, by 
 reminding them of the shortness of life, the 
 nearness of death, and the judgment of 
 God, and earnestly begging them to live in the 
 fear of God, obedient to His holy laws, and in 
 the practise of Christian virtues. His words 
 were so forcible that the most hardened sin- 
 ners were obliged to listen, and when they 
 listened their hearts were changed. The 
 nothingness of this fleeting world, the hollow- 
 ness of human pleasures, the sad inclination 
 to sin man finds within himself, the malice of 
 the devil, such were the great truths he medi- 
 tated on in his youth, and by which he never 
 failed to lead sinners to repentance. 
 
 When Constantins arrived at the age of 
 fifteen he felt that God had given him a voca- 
 tion to enter the Dominican order, and in the 
 unsullied whiteness of his baptismal innocence 
 
194 Blessed Constantins of Fabriano. 
 
 he went to the monastery in Fabriano, and 
 having humbly asked to be admitted, received 
 the holy habit. Of his novitiate and the years 
 immediately following we have only a few 
 words of record, which tell us, that like a true 
 Dominican, he loved to pray, delighted to 
 meditate on the Holy Scriptures, and that 
 he excelled in his studies ; also that he wrote 
 several commentaries on Aristotle. 
 
 After his ordination he taught in the Domin- 
 ican schools of philosophy and theology, in 
 the principal Italian cities, with unusual profit 
 to his pupils. His style was brief, clear, easy 
 yet solid, and his lectures were distinguished 
 for elevation of thought. He seems to have 
 been one of the first of those generous souls 
 who began the reform of the celebrated mon- 
 astery of San Marco in Florence. While 
 engaged in teaching in that city he predicted 
 the death of one of his students, and the event 
 proved the truth of his prophecy. Among 
 those who attended his lectures was a young 
 man, a native of Genoa, One day the saint 
 told him not to bathe, because if he did he 
 would be drowned. The young student neg- 
 lected the warning, went to bathe as usual, 
 
Blessed Constantins of Fabriano, 195 
 
 and was no sooner in the water than he lost 
 his depth, and sank, never again to rise. 
 
 Going one day from Florence to Pisa he 
 found a man in the middle of the road, who 
 had been thrown by his mule, and so badly 
 hurt that he had broken one arm, and put his 
 ankle out of joint. He begged the father to 
 take him to the nearest place where he could 
 pass the night. Blessed Constantins tenderly 
 bade him place his confidence in God’s power 
 and goodness. Then having knelt a moment 
 in earnest prayer he blessed him, and when 
 he arose the man was cured. 
 
 Unlike the greater number of Dominican 
 saints, who were remarkable for their pious 
 gayety of heart and joyousness of manner, 
 Blessed Constantins was usually sad and very 
 grave. He was constantly in tears, and his 
 face bore marks of Christian melancholy. 
 Asked one day why he seldom laughed, he 
 answered, “Alas Brother! I do not know 
 whether my deeds are pleasing in the sight of 
 God.” In the chronicle of the monastery of 
 Perugia, of which monastery he was Prior, he 
 is described as “a man of admirable penance.” 
 To the long fast of the order, which com- 
 
Jg6 Blessed Constantins of Fabriano, 
 
 inencing on the 14th of February does not 
 cease until Easter Sunday, he added a fast on 
 bread and water on all the Fridays of Lent; 
 and he observed the Dominican Rule of per- 
 petual abstinence from flesh meat so strictly, 
 that even in old age he never broke it. His 
 sleep was short, and he wore a shirt covered 
 with iron nails, which was religiously perserved 
 in the monastery of Ascoli until its suppres- 
 sion in 1866. His confessor testified after his 
 death, that he kept intact the flower of his 
 virginity. After reciting matins at midnight 
 in the choir he never retired to rest, but re- 
 mained near the altar in prayer until morning. 
 His tears bedewed the pavement, and his fervor 
 was such that his cries and groans often dis- 
 turbed the slumbers of the other Fathers of the 
 monastery. God gave him prophetic light. 
 Thus he predicted the sack of Fabriano, in 
 151/0 To prophecy, God joined the power of 
 working miracles, which, as we have already 
 seen he enjoyed in his childhood. He cured 
 a Brother of the order of a sickness incurable 
 by medicine, restored sight to a blind man, 
 and more wonderful still, recalled a dead man 
 to life. This man’s parents and those wbo 
 
Blessed ' Const antius of Fabriano, 1 97 
 
 were present, turned him into ridicule, and 
 accused him of tempting God, when he said 
 to the dead man, “In the name of Jesus 
 Christ, arise I ” But when the dead man arose, 
 obedient to the saint’s voice, they fell at his 
 feet in fear. He bade them rise and said, 
 “ Never despise any of God’s servants. Call to 
 your mind our Blessed Saviour’s promise : 
 ‘ They who believe in me, shall do the works I 
 do, and much greater.’ ” The death of Saint 
 Antoninus was revealed to him at the time it 
 took place. After the matins of the second of 
 March, 1459, remained according to his 
 custom, in the choir, when just at daybreak, 
 he saw the souls of two Dominicans leaving 
 this world. One descended into Purgatory, 
 but the other, which he recognized as that of 
 novice master, St. Antoninus, rose at once to 
 glory. Pope Clement VII. in his bull of the 
 canonization of St. Antoninus mentions this 
 vision : “The opinion which every one had of 
 the goodness and holiness of the Archbishop,” 
 says the Pope, “ was still more increased by 
 the visions with which were favored a Cister- 
 cian monk of Florence, and Constantins of 
 Fabriano, a professed religious of the Order of 
 
198 Blessed Constantins of Fabriano. 
 
 Friar Preachers, no less illustrious by the holi- 
 ness of his life, than by his science and 
 doctrine. At the same hour as the death of 
 Blessed Antoninus, both saw the angels carry- 
 ing his soul to heaven.” Clement VII. had 
 known Blessed Constantins when he was 
 appointed Governor of Fabriano by his cousin 
 and predecessor, Leo the Tenth. 
 
 Blessed Constantins was accustomed to say 
 the office of the dead every day, and very 
 often the whole of the psalms of David. This 
 seems to have been a favorite devotion among 
 the Dominican Saints of olden times. Until 
 late years the constitutions required the nov- 
 ices to learn the whole of the psalms by heart, 
 not only that they might the more easily recite 
 the divine office without books in the choir, 
 but also that the words of the royal psalmist 
 might ever be on their lips. Blessed Con- 
 stantins, faithful to the spirit of his order, 
 knew the psalms by heart, and loved to season 
 his words with extracts from them. And we 
 are told that when he desired any great favor 
 from God, he said the Psalter for that inten- 
 tion, and to invite his fellow Dominicans to 
 love and practise the same devotion, he told 
 
Blessed Const antius of Fabriano, 199 
 
 them one day, that he never completed the 
 recitation of the Psalter without obtaining 
 what he prayed for. In 1473 the Turks 
 attacked Greece; some one asked him to say 
 the Psalter that they might repulse their 
 enemy. Several times he commenced to say 
 it for that intention, and as many times was 
 hindered from completing it, when he told his 
 brothers that God had given him a sign that 
 he wished to punish the Greeks for their sins. 
 
 He was several times Prior of Fabriano and 
 Perugia, and always proved a prudent superior. 
 His great attraction to prayer and recollec- 
 tion did not hinder him from taking a promi- 
 nent share in public events. He reconciled 
 factions, and appeased popular tumults. He 
 rebuilt the monastery of Ascoli. It still 
 remains and is a model of a religious house, 
 humble in its style and severe in its architec- 
 ture. The city council several times aided 
 him with means to continue the building when 
 funds were wanting, to show their esteem and 
 veneration for the holy Prior. He assisted in 
 1474 at the Provincial chapter at Mantua of 
 the Dominican congregation of Lombardy. 
 His reputation and tlie fame of the miracles he 
 
200 Blessed Constaiitius of Fabriano. 
 
 had wrought had preceded him, and the ven- 
 eration in which he was held broke out in a 
 popular demonstration on his arrival. To see 
 him or speak to him, to touch him or his habit 
 seemed an inestimable favor all were anxious 
 to enjoy, and large pieces of his habit were cut 
 off which were carefully preserved as relics. 
 
 The following year the inhabitants of 
 Fabriano made endeavors to persuade his 
 superiors to send him to spend the remaining 
 years of his life in his native town, but he 
 obtained permission to remain in Ascoli, and 
 thus escape so much honor and veneration. 
 On the Sunday before Sexagesima, 1481, Feb- 
 ruary 24, every one was surprised to see a 
 number of little children running through the 
 streets of Ascoli, and to hear them crying out, 
 “ The holy Prior is dead, the holy Prior is 
 dead.'’ The Blessed Father was indeed dead. 
 He slept in the Lord on that day. The 
 Senate and town council assembled on the 
 news of his death, and “considering” as the 
 words of the records of its deliberations have 
 it, “ that his death was a public calamity,” 
 resolved to assist at his funeral, and to defray 
 part of the cost of the ceremony. God also 
 
Blessed Const antius of Fabriano. 261 
 
 wished to honor his faithful servant, and the 
 staff which the Blessed Father had used in his 
 old age became a miracle worker. Many 
 miracles were the divinely given reward of 
 prayers in honor of Blessed Constantins, more 
 especially in Ascoli, Fabriano and Perugia. 
 
 Although miracles through his intercession 
 have continued without ceasing, and the voice 
 of a grateful people has continually proclaimed 
 him a saint, it was only recently, in i8ii, that 
 the church formally sanctioned his cultus. 
 After that time miracles multiplied at his 
 tomb in Ascoli, until 1866 when the cruel 
 revolution drove the Fathers away from the 
 monastery. Since then his venerable relics 
 cry to God in the solitude of the silent shrine. 
 His head was taken to Fabriano in 1529 by a 
 Dominican Father, and confided to the care 
 of the Carmaldolese monks of the monastery 
 of St. Sebastian. It still remains there, the 
 object of popular veneration. 
 
 Blessed Constantins wrote ‘‘ The Life of 
 Blessed Conrad of Brescia,” his novice master; 
 also lives of some other Blessed of the order, 
 and “ Sermons ‘ De Tempore ’ and ‘ De Sanc- 
 tis.’ ” 
 
202 Blessed Constantins of Fabriano, 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant, This saint shall dwell, O Lord, within 
 Thy tabernacle : he hath wrought justice, he 
 shall rest upon Thy holy mountain. 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Constantius. 
 
 R, That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who didst make Blessed Constantius, 
 Thy confessor, glorious amongst the people 
 for his continual exercise of prayer and his 
 zeal in the promotion of peace, grant at his 
 intercession, that always walking in the paths 
 of justice, we may attain to everlasting peace 
 and glory, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
BLESSED CHRISTOPHER OF MILAN. 
 
■ I. ^ 
 
BLESSED CHRISTOPHER OF MILAN. 
 
 MARCH I. 
 
 Blessed Christopher received the Domin- 
 ican habit in the Monastery of St. Eustor- 
 gius, Milan, about the end of the fourteenth 
 century. 
 
 To quench his thirst for holiness he drank 
 deeply of penance and prayer, those two 
 fountains of sanctity, purifying both by long 
 fasts and severe abstinence. To these means 
 of arriving at holiness he added a very rigid 
 observance of the vow of poverty he had 
 taken at his religious profession, and a con- 
 tinual practise of humility, and its offspring, 
 virginal chastity. Unruffled patience, and well 
 tried prudence, combined with every Christian 
 virtue and monastic perfection, made him in 
 truth a very holy man. To all these acquired 
 virtues were joined a fine intellect and ready 
 comprehension, with many other natural 
 talents of no mean order. Powerful in words 
 
2 o 6 Blessed Christopher of Milan. 
 
 and deeds, Blessed Christopher soon after his 
 ordination became well known, and his fame 
 was universal in the north of Italy. He was 
 an apostolic preacher, and by his sermons 
 converted many sinners, and worked a great 
 moral change wherever he went. Neither 
 difficulties nor fatigue could daunt him ; a 
 messenger of the mercy of God he was always 
 ready to go at once when called to any labor 
 for the good of souls. The difficulty of 
 travelling, much greater in those days than 
 now, could not hinder him, even when he had 
 to pass through wild districts in which roads 
 were few, and often exceedingly dangerous. 
 
 He evangelized many parts of Italy, but 
 more especially Liguria. In 1406 he went to 
 preach at Taggia, where his success was even 
 greater than usual. The inhabitants were so 
 charmed by his sanctity and preaching, that 
 they determined to build a monastery and 
 church for him. They were speedily erected 
 and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
 under the title of Mother of Mercy, and were 
 built on a site made known to him in a vision. 
 A marked improvement was soon seen in the 
 people of Taggia, and many of the mo$t 
 
Blessed Christopher of Milan. 207 
 
 prominent citizens, bidding adieu to the 
 pleasures of life, entered the Dominican Order, 
 that under his guidance they might make real 
 progress in the ways of true perfection. 
 
 God endowed him with prophecy. One day 
 he saw the people dancing in the square at 
 Castellano. “ I see you now,” he said, “danc- 
 ing merrily ; yet your ruin is not far off, and 
 your joy will soon be changed into grief.” 
 And in fact a fearful plague carried off the 
 greater part of the population of the town 
 only a few years afterwards. He predicted 
 that the town of Trioria would be burnt down, 
 which happened when the French invaded 
 Italy. They gave the town up to pillage, set 
 it on fire, and reduced it to ashes. A famine 
 predicted by him happened soon after his 
 death. To the inhabitants of Taggia he fore- 
 told that they would flee from the town, 
 although not pursued, and that the river which 
 flowed through its walls would leave its bed, 
 and destroy their gardens. When they seemed 
 incredulous he said, “ You yourselves will see 
 it, and many other misfortunes which I do not 
 now make known to you.” Both these pre- 
 dictions were verified to the letter. About 
 
2o8 Blessed Christopher of Milan. 
 
 seven years before he spoke, Constantinople 
 had fallen under the Turkish yoke, and Italy 
 was menaced with invasion. But as the 
 danger seemed far off nothing was done to 
 avert it. In 1480, twenty years after Blessed 
 Christopher had uttered this prophecy, a Turk- 
 ish fleet appeared in sight of the Italian 
 coast, and finding no opposition the troops 
 were landed at Otranto. Twelve thousand 
 Christians were killed or made prisoners, and 
 every priest was slain. A Dominican Father 
 of Otranto was in the pulpit preaching when 
 the Turks entered the town. He continued 
 his sermon; The Turks rushing into the 
 church commanded him to come down ; and 
 on his refusal he was cut in two, and died 
 murmuring! “Holy faith! holy faith, holy 
 faith ! ” Italy was convulsed with fear at 
 the news of this invasion. Taggia like many 
 other towns was deserted, and thus the 
 first part of Blessed Christopher’s prediction 
 came true. ' The flood also happened as he 
 said. The neighboring mountains partially 
 crumbled away ; immense rocks rolled down 
 their sides and falling into the bed of the river 
 forced the water to overflow the plains, cans- 
 
Blessed Christopher of Milan. 2og 
 
 ing the utmost destruction. The smiling 
 valley became a sad picture of desolation, 
 houses were ruined, gardens destroyed, and 
 the walls of the town broken down. 
 
 Blessed Christopher’s holy life and his fer- 
 vent preaching gave him a wonderful influence 
 over the hearts and affections of the people. 
 But, as his biographers are careful to tell us, it 
 was the solidity of his doctrine that caused his 
 great success. His sermons were full of dogma, 
 and it may be truly said of him that he fed 
 the people with the bread of life, and an- 
 nounced to them the pure word of God. 
 When he was Prior of Taggia, he ordered that 
 all the Fathers of the monastery should study 
 the Holy Scriptures every day ; also that they 
 should read the works of the Holy Fathers of 
 the church, especially those of the angelic 
 Doctor Saint Thomas Aquinas, instead of 
 spending their time in reading the works of 
 popular authors, so that their sermons, like 
 his own, might be full of sound doctrine, and 
 that the intellects as well as the hearts of the 
 people might be convinced by their sermons. 
 He was very indignant at those preachers who, 
 disdaining the Gospel of the day, and neglect- 
 
210 Blessed Christopher of Milan. 
 
 ing the Holy Scriptures, preached new-fangled 
 notions of their own. His own sermons were 
 models in this respect, full of the words of 
 Holy Scripture and quotations from Saint 
 Thomas Aquinas and the Fathers of the 
 church. This was chiefly due to his constant 
 study of the “Catena Aurea,” or “Golden 
 Chain,” written by Saint Thomas, comprising 
 selections from the Greek and Latin Fathers. 
 
 He himself compiled four large volumes for 
 the use of preachers, which were preserved in 
 the monastery library. The first and second 
 volumes contained sermons for all the Sundays 
 and feasts of the whole year ; the third con- 
 sisted of sermons for the feasts of the Saints ; 
 while the fourth was a collection of extracts 
 from the Fathers. 
 
 In 1484 he went to preach a course of ser- 
 mons during Lent at Pigna, near Ventimiglia, 
 during which he fell sick, and feeling conscious 
 that his death was drawing near he begged to 
 be taken to Taggia without delay, so that he 
 might die surrounded by his dear Brothers in 
 religion. Overtaken by a severe storm he 
 arrived at the monastery wet to the skin. 
 The Prior immediately administered to him 
 
Blessed Christopher op Milan. 21 1 
 
 the last sacraments, and soon after he gave his 
 holy soul into the hands of his Creator. Mir- 
 acles rendered his memory illustrious, and 
 from that day he has always been honored as a 
 Saint. He was not beatified however until 
 1875 - 
 
 Faithful to his baptismal vows Christ reigned 
 in his heart; His name was ever on his lips, 
 and He lived again in all his actions ; and 
 having been an example to us on earth he now 
 makes intercession for us with Christ in 
 heaven. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Ant. I will liken him to a wise man who 
 built his house upon a rock. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O Blessed Christopher 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who hast rendered Blessed Christo- 
 pher, Thy confessor, worthy*to be Thy servant, 
 grant that by his merits, and by imitating him 
 we may carry Christ in ourselves by the whole 
 intention of our minds and affections of our 
 hearts, who live^t and reignest, etc. Amen. 
 
BLESSED HENRY SUSO. 
 
BLESSED HENRY SUSO. 
 
 MARCH 2. 
 
 He who attempts to write the life of Blessed 
 Henry Suso would do well to imitate the 
 piety of the quaint authors of olden times, 
 who began their labors with a prayer for 
 heavenly guidance, and closed them with a 
 pious petition to their readers not to forget the 
 writer in their prayers. He also who reads it 
 should do so, not to pass away an idle hour, 
 but from an earnest desire to learn something 
 for the good of his soul. “ Worldly minded 
 men,” says Touron, “ will not enjoy his life 
 and writings ; while the pious will always find 
 in them new motives which will lead them to 
 tend to that perfection which dwelt in the 
 heart of this servant of God.” 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso was born at Uberlingen, 
 near Constance, in Suabia, March 21, 1300. 
 He was of noble family. His name before he 
 entered religion was John de Berg de Mon- 
 
2I6 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 teze ; but he chose to be called Henry Suso, 
 Suzo being the Latinized form of Saiissen, his 
 mother’s family name. She was a saintly 
 woman who suffered much from her dissolute 
 husband. She had a great and tender devo- 
 tion to the Passion of our Divine Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, upon which she made a 
 tearful meditation every morning. Her love 
 for God was so great that her weak body could 
 not bear the strain her exalted piety put upon 
 it, and she underwent many a long and severe 
 sickness, which she bore so patiently, that her 
 household was much edified. One day, kneel- 
 ing before a picture of Jesus taken down from 
 the cross, her grief became so extreme that 
 she fell fainting on the ground. She was car- 
 ried to her bed, which she never again left. 
 It was at the beginning of Lent, and on Good 
 Friday, at the same hour at which her Divine 
 Redeemer died on the cross she passed away 
 from this world. 
 
 Some years afterwards, when Blessed Henry 
 had entered the Dominican Order and was mak- 
 ing his studies at Cologne, his mother’s soul 
 appeared to him in a vision, and said in a joyful 
 tone, “ My son, love the Almighty God, for it 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 217 
 
 is certain that He will never abandon thee in 
 any adversity. Although I have left this 
 world, nevertheless I am not dead. I live in 
 God for all eternity.” She embraced him 
 tenderly, and after blessing him disappeared. 
 
 At another time he saw his deceased father 
 among many other suffering souls. He was in 
 great pain, and described to his son the tor- 
 ments of purgatory. He told him what he 
 should do to relieve him, and when Blessed 
 Henry had done all that he requested, ap- 
 peared to him a second time and told him that 
 he was delivered from all suffering and was 
 now happy in heaven. 
 
 Blessed Henry, profiting by the pious educa- 
 tion given him by his holy mother, from his 
 childhood felt called to the religious state. 
 He entered the Dominican Order in the monas- 
 tery at Constance, built on a small island 
 where the Rhine flows out of the beautiful 
 lake of the same name. It is still in existence, 
 but no longer used for its original purpose, 
 and now serves for a manufactory. From the 
 window of his cell the young novice could see 
 the beauty of the works of God ; everything 
 his eye fell on was fitted to lead his mind to 
 
2I8 
 
 Blessed Henry Susa, 
 
 the author of nature, to draw away his 
 thoughts and affections from earthly things, 
 and to fix his heart and mind on God. 
 
 After he had made his profession he was 
 sent to the Dominican monastery at Cologne, 
 that he might study at the University, and 
 was about to be raised to the degree of Doctor 
 in Theology when he was interiorly admon- 
 ished by God not to accept that dignity. 
 “ Thou already knowest,*' said this heavenly 
 voice, “ how to give thyself to God, and to 
 draw other men to Him by preaching.” 
 
 For several years after his entrance into the 
 monastery he seems to have made little effort 
 to live as a true religious ; but in his eigh- 
 teenth year a great change took place in him. 
 The account of this, the turning point of his 
 life, cannot be better given than in words 
 from his autobiography. “ The first beginning 
 of the Servitor’s perfect conversion to God 
 took place in his eighteenth year; and 
 although he had worn the religious habit for 
 the five previous years his soul was dissipated 
 within him, and it seemed to him that if God 
 only preserved him from weightier sins which 
 might tarnish his good name, there was no 
 
219 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 need to be overcareful about ordinary faults. 
 Nevertheless he was so kept by God the while 
 that he had always an unsatisfied feeling 
 within him, whenever he turned himself to the 
 object of his desires, and it seemed to him 
 that it must be something quite different that 
 could bring peace to his wild heart, and he 
 was ill at ease amid his restful ways. He felt 
 at times a gnawing reproach within, and yet 
 he could not help himself, until the kind 
 God set him free from it by converting him. 
 His companions marvelled at the quick 
 change, wondering how it had come over him, 
 and one said this, and another that, but as 
 to how it was no one guessed or came near to 
 guessing ; for it was a secret illumination and 
 drawing sent by God, and it speedily wrought 
 in him a turning away from creatures.” 
 
 It was however a hard struggle for him, as it 
 is for many a soul, but he weathered the storm 
 which his spiritual enemy raised around him, 
 and saved himself from the shipwreck which 
 threatened his salvation. The devil made 
 every effort to hinder him from carrying out 
 the good resolutions the Spirit of God inspired 
 into his heart. He whispered to him, “Re- 
 
220 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 member it is easy to begin, but almost 
 impossible to persevere/' But Blessed Henry, 
 strong in the grace of God, and resolute in his 
 holy purpose, answered, The Holy Ghost, 
 who calls me is all-powerful. He can do in me 
 what is easy and what is difficult." But again 
 the tempter whispered to him, “No one can 
 doubt God’s power, but can you count on 
 corresponding to His grace?" Blessed Henry 
 replied, “ God who calls me will not abandon 
 me ; He invites me to serve Him, and will not 
 refuse me needful help.” Then the devil 
 plied him with all the old arguments he 
 makes use of to hinder souls from giving 
 themselves to God with all their heart and 
 soul : that his conversion was too sudden and 
 would not last ; that moderation is the best 
 means of success ; that no one becomes a 
 saint all at once ; that although religious are 
 free to live a strict and mortified life in private 
 yet in public they ought to conform to the 
 ways of the world, and so on. But on the 
 other side the spirit of heavenly wisdom said 
 to him : “ He who thinks he can subdue his 
 body and reduce it to the law of the spirit 
 whilst living delicately and indulging the 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 221 
 
 senses is very foolish ; for it is impossible to 
 enjoy worldly pleasures and serve God faith- 
 fully at the same time. He who desires to 
 serve God must begin by renouncing his own 
 self-will.” 
 
 One day, as he was weeping in the church 
 in great perplexity of mind God favored him 
 with a vision, in which, to encourage and 
 console him He made known to him the 
 inutterable joys of heaven. This was the 
 beginning of a series of visions of exquisite 
 poetic beauty, which continued throughout his 
 whole life. Hearing a part of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures read in the refectory, in which our Lord 
 is called the “ Eternal Wisdom,” he felt his 
 heart violently but lovingly attracted towards 
 the Eternal Wisdom, and from that moment 
 his life became a strong and earnest struggle 
 to possess it. My heart, young and ardent,” 
 he says, is drawn towards love. I cannot 
 live without loving. Created things cannot 
 please me, nor give me peace.” He much 
 loved to repeat those words of Holy Scripture, 
 which describe the pure joys of heavenly wis- 
 dom : “Wisdom is more beautiful than the 
 sun, and above all the order of the skies; being 
 
222 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 compared with the light she is found before 
 it.” (Wisdom vii. 29.) “ Her have I loved, 
 
 and I have sought her from my 3^outh, and 
 have desired to take her for my spouse, and 
 I became a lover of her beauty.” (Cap. viii. 
 2.) “ I purposed therefore to take her to 
 
 me to live with me, knowing that she will 
 communicate to me of her good things, and 
 will be a comfort to me in my cares and 
 griefs.” (viii. 9.) “ By means of her I shall 
 
 have immortality; and shall leave behind me 
 an everlasting memory to them that come after 
 me.” (Ver. 13.) 
 
 But the infernal serpent tried to rob his 
 young soul of the pure delight he found in the 
 love of the Eternal Wisdom. “What folly,” 
 he cunningly suggested, “ what folly to love 
 what you have never seen ! It is much wiser 
 to possess a small but certain good than to try 
 to get what at best is doubtful. The Eternal 
 Wisdom you so much long for demands of her 
 lovers that they become enemies of them- 
 selves, deprives them of sleep, starves them, 
 and destroys all their pleasures.” But Henry, 
 already enlightened and instructed in the 
 rnaxirns of heavenly wisdom, answered : “ It 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 223 
 
 is a law of love that he who truly loves must 
 suffer pain. See how much earthly lovers 
 undergo! ‘I have found a woman more 
 bitter than death,’ said Ecclesiastes , ‘ she is 
 the hunter’s snare, and her heart is a net, and 
 her hands are bands. He that pleaseth 
 God shall escape from her , but he that is a 
 sinner shall be caught by her.’ " (Eccles. vii. 
 27.) 
 
 Yet his heart, not yet perfectly cleansed 
 from things of earth, yearned to see the 
 heavenly Bride he had espoused ; and God, in 
 His fatherly goodness granted his desire. 
 She appeared to him, but afar off. Raised 
 on a column of cloud, of majesty unutterable, 
 shining brighter than the morning sun, like a 
 pure and charming virgin, she gained his heart 
 by her sweetness and pure attractions. He 
 threw himself in spirit at her feet, and cried 
 out, “ I have chosen you for my beloved, for 
 the queen of my heart.” Again and again 
 was this vision vouchsafed him, and again and 
 again the Eternal Wisdom delighted his pure 
 and virginal soul, and again and again he 
 chose her for his only Ipve and the spouse qf 
 his heart;. 
 
224 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 He had a very great devotion to the ador- 
 able name of Jesus. One day he took a sharp 
 pointed knife and pierced the holy name on 
 his flesh above his heart, so that at every beat 
 he might, as it were, pronounce this holy 
 name. And then, in a transport of love, he 
 cried out, “Ah Lord! my heart and soul’s 
 only love ! look now upon my intense desire. 
 Lord ! I cannot imprint Thee any deeper in 
 myself ; but do Thou, O Lord, I beseech 
 Thee, complete the work, and imprint Thyself 
 deep down into my very inmost heart, and so 
 inscribe Thy holy name that Thou mayest 
 nevermore depart from me.” 
 
 He kept this a secret, and, except to one 
 very intimate friend, revealed it to no one. 
 Whenever he was in any trouble he bared his 
 breast and gazed on the Holy Name written 
 there, and cried out, “ See, Lord, earthly 
 lovers write their beloved’s name upon their 
 garments, but I have written Thee upon the 
 fresh blood of my heart.” Once upon a time 
 he was wrapped into ecstasy, and saw a light 
 stream forth from his heart so brilliant that 
 although he drew his cloak over it, he could 
 not hide it. A cross of gold appeared over 
 
Blessed Henry Suso, 225 
 
 his heart, and the Holy Name of Jesus 
 sparkled from jewels set upon it. 
 
 Many years afterwards, a certain holy 
 maiden saw in a vision the Blessed Virgin, 
 holding a beautiful candle in her hand which 
 illumined the whole world. And all around 
 the light which streamed from the candle 
 she saw the Holy Name of Jesus. And the 
 Blessed mother told her that her Divine Son 
 had chosen Henry to spread devotion to His 
 Holy Name. This devout maiden wrote the 
 Holy Name of Jesus on a small piece of cloth 
 like a scapular and always wore it near her 
 heart. She also made many like it, and per- 
 suaded Blessed Henry to bless them, and to 
 lay them on his bare breast. It was revealed 
 to her that all who wore them, and said one 
 “ Our Father’* daily in honor of the Holy 
 Name, would be beloved by God on earth, 
 and would find grace at the hour of death. 
 
 It was Blessed Henry’s • custom to salute 
 Mary, the star of heaven, early in the morning, 
 singing in his soul a sweet canticle, in loving 
 imitation of the birds that greet the rising sun 
 in the summer morn. And as he was doing 
 so one morning he heard a melodious voice 
 
226 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 singing these words: “Mary, star of the sea, 
 has risen to-day;” and the glorious Queen of 
 Heaven said to him, “ The more thou dost 
 lovingly embrace me on earth, the more 
 tenderly I will embrace thee in heaven.” 
 
 Another morning, in Carnival time, after 
 spending the whole night in prayer, the angels 
 sang to him as the morn arose, “ Arise and 
 be illuminated, O Jerusalem.” (Isaias Ixi.) 
 This chant caused such a joy in his heart that 
 his frail body could not bear such a strain, and 
 the angels were forced to cease. The souls of 
 the dead often appeared to him and revealed 
 to him the state they were in. Among them 
 he saw the soul of the celebrated mystical 
 writer Echardt. He told Blessed Henry that 
 he was happy in heaven, inundated with joy, 
 and all transformed in God. Henry asked 
 him to tell him the most efficacious method 
 of arriving at perfect beatitude. Echardt 
 answered, “ It is to die to one’s self by detach- 
 ment ; to receive all that happens as if from 
 the hands of God ; and to be patient towards 
 all men, however selfish they may be.” 
 Blessed Henry also asked him about the mode 
 in which holy souls rest in God, and was 
 
Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 227 
 
 answered that no words could explain it. 
 From the soul of a Dominican Brother, John 
 de Furcrer, he desired to learn the greatest 
 and most meritorious suffering the just can 
 endure, and was told : “ It is when one finds 
 one’s self abandoned by God, when one for- 
 gets one’s self and bears this abandonment 
 patiently, thus leaving God for God.” 
 
 Blessed Henry had a very dear friend in 
 whom he confided much, and to whom he 
 revealed all his secrets, even showing him the 
 Holy Name of Jesus he had pierced over his 
 heart. One day they made an agreement that 
 whoever survived should say two Masses 
 every week as long as he lived for his friend’s 
 soul. Many years afterward the friend died, 
 when Blessed Henry, although he prayed for 
 his soul every day, forgot his promise to say 
 the Masses. One morning, as he was praying 
 in the choir, the soul of his friend appeared to 
 him, and said, “ Alas, my friend ! how soon 
 you have forgotten me.” Blessed Henry 
 answered, “Nay, for I remember you daily in 
 my prayers.” The soul answered: “This is 
 not sufficient ; fulfil what you promised about 
 saying the Masses for me, so that the precious 
 
228 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 blood of Christ may assuage the severity of 
 the sufferings of purgatory, and in this way 
 I may soon become free.” Blessed Henry did 
 so, and soon afterwards it was made known to 
 him that his friend was liberated from purga- 
 tory, and entered into heaven. 
 
 But it was not by visions and spiritual 
 graces alone that Blessed Henry became sanc- 
 tified. Every action of his life, no matter how 
 small, was part of a continual worship of God, 
 and was rendered a means of uniting himself 
 to his Creator, Whether he ate or drank, or 
 whatever he did, it was all for the honor 
 of God. The life of a conscientious relig- 
 ious, living in his quiet and peaceful cloister, 
 is a series of ordinary actions, beautified 
 however and sanctified by a holy inten- 
 tion. Blessed Henry has left us a record of 
 how he spent his days and hours. The cate- 
 chism tells us that we can, nay ought, to make 
 our ordinary actions, even our eating and 
 drinking holy ; and in the life of this great ser- 
 vant of God we learn how it may be done. 
 At table Blessed Henry placed himself in 
 spirit face to face with Jesus, and imagined 
 that his Divine Lord honored him by becom- 
 
Blessed Henry Suso^ 
 
 229 
 
 ing his guest. He turned the eyes of his soul 
 unceasingly to Him as he ate, and often bent 
 his head towards Him on the side of His 
 sacred heart. He offered to Him his food and 
 drink, begging him to bless them. When he 
 quenched his thirst, which he did very spar- 
 ingly, he drank five times in honor of the five 
 wounds of our beloved Redeemer, dividing the 
 last draught into two, in memory of the 
 double stream of water and blood which 
 flowed from our Saviour’s side as he hung on 
 the cross. He digested every mouthful with 
 some pious thought, but he always ate the first 
 and last piece in union with the heart most 
 loving on earth, and the most ardent seraphim 
 in heaven, and besought God to penetrate his 
 soul with these two loves. When he found 
 any food distasteful he hid it in the bleeding 
 heart of Jesus, and then courageously swal- 
 lowed it. 
 
 His devotion to the holy mother of God 
 was one of the motive powers of his soul, and 
 there are many examples of the way he prac- 
 tised it. But there is one so chaiacteristic 
 that it cannot be omitted. As he was out 
 walking one day in the country he met a poor 
 
230 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 woman, and the path being too narrow for 
 both to pass at the same time he stepped out 
 of the way, although in order to do so he had 
 to wet his feet. The woman turned round 
 and said, “ How comes it that you, a priest, 
 give way to a poor woman like me, who ought 
 rather to give way to you?” Blessed Henry 
 answered, “ For the sake of the gentle Mother 
 of God in heaven it is my custom to pay 
 deference to all women.” And the woman, 
 lifting up her eyes and hands to heaven, said, 
 
 May the Blessed Virgin not allow you to 
 leave this life until you have received some 
 special grace from her whom 3'’ou honor in 
 us women.” And he answered, “ May the 
 pure maiden and Mother Mary in heaven, 
 grant me this.” 
 
 Blessed Henry has left us in his autobiog- 
 raphy a beautiful example of the way in 
 which we can celebrate the feasts of the great 
 mysteries of our holy religion. For the feast 
 of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
 he prepared himself three days in advance to 
 receive her in the temple. He burnt a triple 
 candle on those three days in honor of her 
 virginity, humility, and motherhood, and said 
 
Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 231 
 
 the “ Magnificat ” three times each day. On 
 the morning of the feast, before the people 
 came to the church, he prostrated himself in 
 front of the high altar, and there meditated on 
 the glories of Mary at that time when she 
 carried her Divine Son into the temple. Then 
 in spirit he called upon all pious souls to sing 
 the hymn “ Inviolata ” with her at the door of 
 the temple. At the last words he prayed 
 Mary to have compassion on him, and then 
 rose and follov/cd her to the altar, carrying a 
 candle in his hands. When Mary offered her 
 Divine Son to Simeon, he humbly asked her to 
 show him her dear child, and to trust the Babe 
 to him for a moment. At last he returned the 
 child to its mother, and remained in spirit with 
 her until all was accomplished. 
 
 He kept two carnivals: one by meditation 
 on the folly of those who purchase for them- 
 selves an eternity of misery by indulging in 
 sinful pleasure, and he said the “ Miserere 
 as an act of reparation for all the dishonor 
 offered to God in the carnival time. The 
 other was a carnival of holy delight, in which 
 he made merry with God, and became full of 
 joy when he thought of heaven. As a reward 
 
232 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 for his piety God granted him an ecstasy, in 
 which he heard the melodious voice of a youth 
 of twelve, singing so sweetly that no human 
 voice could compare with it. When the song 
 ended, the youth, although invisible, presented 
 Blessed Henry with a basket of delicious fruit 
 like Ltrawberries. Afterwards, at Henry’s 
 earnest desire he made himself visible : it was 
 our Divine Lord Himself. He looked at 
 Henry very affectionately, blessed him and 
 then disappeared. 
 
 In the month of May, when young people 
 carried boughs of blossom, singing and danc- 
 ing, Henry chose the Holy Cross for his May 
 bough, thinking that neither the fields nor the 
 forests could produce so beautiful a tree, nor 
 one so laden with fruit or flowers. And as he 
 carried the cross for a May bough he sang the 
 beautiful Latin hymn from the office of the 
 church, “Salve Crux,” “ Hail, O holy cross! 
 hail, glory of the world ! ” adding, “ Hail, heav- 
 enly tree of eternal salvation, on which ripens 
 the fruit of wisdom ! ” 
 
 In the beginning of his turning to God with 
 all his heart he was favored with many heav- 
 enly consolations, but after a while God warned 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 233 
 
 him that he could not reach heaven except by 
 walking on the rough way of the cross. From 
 that time he retired every morning into a cor- 
 ner of the chapter room, to meditate on the 
 Passion of his Divine Saviour. Commencing 
 at the last supper he followed his Lord from 
 one place to another, attending at his judg- 
 ment, carrying His cross like Simon of Cyrene, 
 and kneeling to kiss the bloody footmarks of 
 his suffering God. He reflected that he ought, 
 after the example of Jesus, to be ready to give 
 up everything for God ; his friends, his goods, 
 and enjoyments; and that he ought to tram- 
 ple all honors under his feet. When he saw 
 our Divine Lord given up to death he saluted 
 the divine victim, and asked the grace to die 
 with Him. Then he turned his thoughts to 
 the Blessed Mother, who made so great a sac- 
 rifice for us, and after her sad farewell to her 
 Divine Son hanging on the cross, he tenderly 
 consoled her, and led her back to her home. 
 
 Meditation on the Passion of Jesus made 
 him practise most rigorous mortifications and 
 penances. He began by restraining his tongue, 
 the most difficult penance one can perform. 
 He observed the law of silence enjoined by 
 
234 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 the Dominican rule, and for thirty years never 
 spoke at table even outside the monastery 
 except once, when he dined on board a ship. 
 When called to the guest rooms he received 
 every one kindly, but quickly dismissed them, 
 and having sent them away consoled, he gladly 
 returned to his cell. He wore an iron chain 
 and a hair shirt, which later on in life he re- 
 placed by one made of cords, in which he fast- 
 ened a hundred and fifty iron points, so sharp 
 that his body became covered with wounds. 
 Before he went to sleep he tied his arms with 
 thongs of leather, and fastened them with a 
 padlock; but after some time he left his hands 
 free, and wore gloves covered with iron points ; 
 thus his hands were like bears’ paws, that 
 scratched him if he touched himself while 
 asleep. He also wore a wooden cross on his 
 shoulders, in which he placed thirty nails, in 
 honor of the wounds and bruises our Lord 
 suffered for us. He disciplined himself with a 
 severity greater than a bitter enemy could have 
 shown him. His bed was a door on which he 
 spread an old mat, only long enough to reach 
 his knees, and his bolster was a sack of oats. 
 He usually lay down to sleep clothed just as 
 
Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 235 
 
 he was in the daytfme, and with all his instru- 
 ments of penance upon him. For twenty-five 
 years he never went near a fire. He took only 
 one meal a day, ate neither fish nor eggs, con- 
 tenting himself with bread, beans, and fruits. 
 He drank wine only once a year, on Easter 
 Sunday, took but very little water, and then 
 only at dinner, no matter how thirsty he be- 
 came. This he found his greatest penance. 
 One day, suffering much from thirst, he heard 
 an interior voice saying, “ Remember how ter- 
 rible was My thirst when I hung on the cross. 
 Although I am the creator of all the fountains 
 of cool water I could only obtain gall and vine- 
 gar to quench My thirst. Bear then patiently 
 the thirst you now feel if you wishj;o follow in 
 My footsteps.” 
 
 When he had practised all these penances for 
 twenty years, God commanded him to abandon 
 them and to enter into a more perfect way, the 
 way of spiritual sufferings. “ I wish,” said our 
 Saviour to him, “to show you three crosses I 
 have prepared for you. The first will be this. 
 Heretofore you have struck yourself with your 
 own hands, and ceased when you took pity on 
 yourself. Now you will be in the hands of 
 
236 
 
 Blessed Henry Siiso. 
 
 others, without power to defend yourself. More- 
 over you will lose the esteem of many, and this 
 will be more painful than the cross full of nails 
 you wore on your back. You have been adiiiired 
 for your mortifications, henceforth you will be 
 despised and turned into ridicule by every one. 
 The second cross will be this. Although you 
 have born many cruel mortifications you have 
 kept your kind and loving heart, and have met 
 with affection from very many But just where 
 you have found confidence, esteem, and love 
 you will meet with great unfaithfulness ; and all 
 those who continue true to you will have to suf- 
 fer for it. And the last cross will be this. Until 
 now you have been like a child at the breast, 
 and have Sivum in divine sweetness like a fish 
 in the ocean. I will withdraw my graces and 
 co'nsolations ; you will be abandoned by God 
 and man, tormented by your friends as well as 
 by your enemies, and everything you will seek 
 to console yourself with will turn against 
 you. 
 
 But when Blessed Henry, hearing these 
 words began to tremble, a voice within him 
 said, “ Take courage ! for I wall be with you, 
 and make you victorious in all your combats.*’ 
 

 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 237 
 
 Still, when injured by his own friends he often 
 ; became discouraged. On one of these occa- 
 
 sions he heard this reproach in the centre of his 
 i. soul: “Did / turn away my head when men 
 
 I injured Me and spat in My face?” Then he 
 
 went to find those who had ill-treated him, and 
 spoke sweetly to them. The heaviest tempta- 
 tions he had to bear were those against faith, 
 the deep sadness he felt for eight years, 
 and the fear that after all he would be 
 damned. 
 
 God did not wish that this holy and fervent 
 ''' man should hide his talents in obscurity He 
 
 ; sent him to labor for the salvation of souls, 
 
 but tried him as before in the crucible of suf- 
 fering In the town of Constance there was a 
 \ crucifix of the exact size, it was said, of our 
 
 L Divine Lord. One day during Lent fresh blood 
 
 : was seen to fall from the wound in the side. 
 
 >' Blessed Henry went to see it, and took some of 
 
 I the blood on his finger to examine it. The 
 
 ^ bystanders asked his opinion whether it was a 
 
 w true miracle. He said he could not decide. 
 
 K Then his enemies spread about the report that 
 
 B he had cut his finger and pretended that the 
 
 B blood had come from the crucifix, to gain 
 
238 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 money from the people. This calumny spread 
 abroad into the whole country. The inhabi- 
 tants of Constance became embittered against 
 him, and for fear of his life he was obliged to 
 flee in the darkness of the night. His enemies 
 offered a large reward to any one who would 
 take him, alive or dead. When any of his 
 friends dared to defend him they were quickly 
 silenced, and they thought it prudent to hold 
 their peace. A pious lady of the city advised 
 him to draw up a legal document asserting 
 his innocence , but he said, “ Good lady ! if I 
 had no more to suffer than this I would will- 
 ingly do what you advise ; but I prefer to trust 
 myself to God alone, for my whole life is one 
 long suffering.” 
 
 When he went to the Netherlands to assist at 
 a chapter of the order he found a new cross 
 awaiting him. He was formally accused before 
 his superiors of having written books fulkof 
 heretical doctrine, and was severely repri- 
 manded, and threatened with punishment, 
 although he was entirely innocent. Yet more 
 was in store for him. On his way back he was 
 seized with a violent fever. An abscess formed 
 near his heart, and his state became so grave 
 
Blessed Henry Siiso. 239 
 
 that his companions believed that he was on 
 the point of death. 
 
 One night, which he passed in a strange 
 monastery, he could not sleep for thinking of 
 his sorrows, and lovingly complained to God. 
 And it seemed to him that his cell became 
 filled with legions of angels who sang sweet 
 songs to console him ; and as they sang one 
 angel came near him and said, “ Why do you 
 not sing with us?” Sighing, Blessed Henry 
 made answer, “ Do you not know how much I 
 am suffering? did you ever know a dying 
 man to sing ? Formerly I did sing, and joy- 
 fully too, but now all I wish for is to die.” 
 The angel answered, “ Be strong and do man- 
 fully. You will not die yet, you will live, and 
 then you will sing such a song that God will 
 be glorified by it, and many a sufferer will be 
 consoled.” In a moment Blessed Henry’s eyes 
 were filled with tears, the abscess opened, and 
 he was cured. 
 
 But another bitter trial befell him. His 
 sister, a nun, led away by love for company, 
 fell into grievous sin, and overcome by shame 
 fled from her convent. On his return Blessed 
 Henry was told of it, and went about as if out 
 
240 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 of his mind. He asked advice from the 
 Fathers, who all repulsed him, and seemed as 
 if ashamed of him. He did not lose courage 
 however, and set off to search for the lost 
 sheep and found her in a cottage. When he 
 saw her he fell fainting at her feet, from 
 emotion ; but having come to himself again, 
 he embraced her and conjured her to abandon 
 her sin, and by his kind and loving entreaties 
 led her back again to a convent of strict 
 observance, where by penance and prayer she 
 made amends for the scandal she had given, 
 led a saintly life, and died a holy death. 
 
 In truth, he had so many crosses to bear, 
 and so much to suffer that when they ceased 
 for a time, as sometimes happened, he used to 
 say that all was going badly with him. 
 
 One day as he was praying, he begged God 
 to make known to him what special graces are 
 fjranted to those who suffer much for His 
 sake. He was answered in a vision, “ Learn 
 that all my servants who are dead to them- 
 selves and risen again with me, enjoy three 
 special graces: First, All they wish for I grant 
 to their prayers. Second, I give them an 
 inward peace which neither angels nor men 
 
24 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 can take from them. The last grace is an 
 abundance of sweetness and divine caresses, 
 so that they become one with Me.” 
 
 On account of his eminent wisdom, great 
 virtue, and a particular gift of converting sin- 
 ners he was sent to preach in Germany. He 
 became one of the most celebrated preachers 
 of his time. His powerful words moved every 
 heart, turned the most vicious from their evil 
 ways, and persuaded them to embrace a vir- 
 tuous life. Touron, in his “ Lives of cele- 
 brated Dominicans,” says that Blessed Henry 
 preached thirty-seven years, from 1328 to 1365. 
 God granted him the grace of working miracles 
 during his apostolic missions. Preaching one 
 day at Cologne his face became thrice as bril- 
 liant as the sun, and all who saw it were filled 
 with astonishment. He restored a number of 
 sick people to perfect health, for every grace 
 he asked from God was granted. But he did 
 not enjoy the pure delights of the apostolate 
 without experiencing his usual trials. Having 
 learnt that a woman who was under his spirit- 
 ual direction, whom he believed he had con- 
 verted from an evil life, was secretly continu- 
 ing her sinful course, he felt obliged to discon- 
 
242 Blessed Henry Suso 
 
 tinue giving her alms as he had formerly done. 
 This wicked woman then publicly declared 
 that Blessed Henry was father to her child. 
 One of his friends took the child to him : he 
 received it into his arms. The babe smiled at 
 him : he caressed it and said, “ Poor child ! 
 your rfather will not acknowledge you, and 
 your cruel mother has abandoned you. God 
 wishes me to be a father to you ; I am glad to 
 obey. You shall be God’s child and mine. 
 May God bless you ! may the angels protect 
 you ! for God’s honor I will do all I can for 
 you.” And he adopted it from that day. In 
 course of tim.e the wicked mother, ashamed of 
 herself, went away. Nevertheless the calumny 
 was believed. The Master General of the 
 order heard of it, and this was Blessed 
 Henry’s cruelest suffering. He was tempted 
 to despair, and began to complain to the ten- 
 der heart of Jesus, who in due time made his 
 innocence known. The wicked woman came 
 to an evil end, and those who had believed the 
 calumny and had persecuted him died without 
 the sacraments. Among his enemies was a 
 prelate, whose soul appeared after death to 
 Blessed Henry and told him that God had 
 
Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 243 
 
 taken him from earth on this account, and that 
 he had to suffer a long time in purgatory for 
 having persecuted him. 
 
 He was once elected Prior. This is an 
 office full of grave responsibility ; but as th^ 
 monastery was heavily burdened with debt it 
 was more especially so at that time. In the 
 first chapter he held he declared that all must 
 confide in the promise made by Saint Dominic 
 as he was dying, never to abandon his children 
 in their needs. He ordered special prayers to 
 be said, and a Mass sung next day in honor of 
 Saint Dom.inic. Some of the Fathers mur- 
 mured, and one said, “See what a foolish man 
 this Prior is ! Does he imagine that God will 
 send down meat and drink from heaven 
 The Father to whom he spoke said, “ He is 
 not the only fool. We are all fools for having 
 elected him Prior, though we well knew that 
 he does nothing but gape up to heaven.” 
 The next morning while the Mass was being 
 sung, a pious canon, one of Blessed Henry’s 
 friends, came to the monastery and gave him a 
 large sum of money ; and during the whole time 
 he was Prior the community wanted for noth- 
 ing, and the debt was completely cleared off. 
 
244 
 
 Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 After having labored holily in the service of 
 God’s holy church; having made meditation 
 on the passion and death of Christ his daily 
 task; having loved God with the purest and 
 most disinterested love ; borne solitude, fast- 
 ing, penances, and temptations ; having been 
 defamed and slandered by everyone, friends as 
 well as enemies ; having, in one word, been con- 
 formed to the crucified figure of his Saviour, 
 Blessed Henry, despising life^and all on fire 
 with desire of heaven, died, in the midst 
 of universal regret, in the monastery of 
 Saint Paul in Ulm, rich in merits and fortified 
 with all the sacraments of the church, January 
 25th, 1365. 
 
 His holy body was buried in the cloister of 
 the same monastery, and many miracles were 
 worked there. The Dominican Order asked 
 his canonization at the same time that it 
 petitioned that of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In 
 the year 1613, two hundred and forty years 
 after his death, some laborers digging the 
 foundations of a new building, found his body, 
 clothed in the habit of the order, incorrupt, 
 and emitting a sweet smell. The Burgo- 
 rnaster ordered the tomb to be closed, and* all 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 
 
 245 
 
 trace of it has been lost. But, while the work- 
 men were absent, a devout person descended 
 into the tomb and cut off some pieces from the 
 cappa and scapular, and for many years these 
 holy relics were piously preserved. Pope 
 Gregory XVI. gave permission to the Domini- 
 can Order to keep his feast on the second day 
 of March every year. 
 
 Blessed Henry wrote several very valuable 
 spiritual works, which are held in the highest 
 esteem. The principal one, which was as well 
 knovvn in the middle ages as the “ Imitation of 
 Christ” is in our times, is the “Little Book of 
 Eternal Wisdom,” formally called, “ The Clock 
 of Eternal Wisdom.” It is a collection of 
 delightful teachings on the various phases of 
 spiritual life. He also wrote a “ Treatise bn 
 the Union of the Soul with God,” “The 
 Colloquy of the Seven Rocks,” in allegorical 
 form, some “Spiritual Discourses,” “Medita- 
 tions on the Three Hours of Agony,” “ A 
 soliloquy on the Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin 
 Mary, and on the dolours of Jesus and Mary,” 
 “ A Spiritual Exercise on the Eternal Wis- 
 dom,” “ Sentences from the Holy Fathers,” 
 and the “ Office of the Eternal Wisdom.” 
 
246 Blessed Henry Suso, 
 
 His letters have also been collected and pub- 
 lished. The writings of his spiritual daughter, 
 Sister Elizabeth Staglin, of the convent of 
 Saint Dominic of Thoecz, near Winterhiir are 
 extant. They consist of his life, written by 
 himself, and other remembrances of him. 
 All his works, except the “ Little Book of 
 Eternal Wisdom” were written in German ; 
 that he wrote in Latin. They have been 
 translated into Latin, French, Italian, and 
 some of them into English. Surius says of 
 them, “ I have read many books which lead 
 sinners to shed tears for their sins and cause 
 them sincerely to repent, but I have never 
 found any among them which so powerfully 
 excite the heart to higher perfection of the 
 spiritual life, nor so calculated to touch the 
 hardest hearts, as those of Blessed Henry 
 Suso, provided that one reads them care- 
 fully. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Ant, All wisdom is from the Lord God, and 
 hath ever been with Him, and is before all 
 time. 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Henry. 
 
Blessed Henry Suso. 247 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who didst make Blessed Henry, 
 Thy confessor, wonderful for charity and 
 bodily mortification, grant that in all our 
 works we may have the marks of the crucified 
 Christ upon us, and ever bear his love in our 
 hearts. Through the same Christ our Lord. 
 Amen. 
 

 
 
 k 
 
 ■ s 
 
 
BLESSED JORDAN OF PISA. 
 
BLESSED JORDAN OF PISA. 
 
 MARCH 6. 
 
 Blessed Jordan of Pisa was born about the 
 middle of the thirteenth century; but where, 
 or in what year, is not known. Neither have 
 we any details of his youth. But from the fol- 
 lowing passage in one of his sermons, it is con- 
 jectured that he was studying at the University 
 of Paris in the year 1276. In a sermon on the 
 saints in heaven he said: “Consider a man 
 who has gained the friendship of the King of 
 France; what honor is there he will not re- 
 ceive? I have seen such a man with my own 
 eyes. A man of mean and low extraction 
 learnt how to enter into friendship with the 
 king. The whole court, all the barons, bowed 
 before him, gave him incredible respect and 
 honor, merely because he was the king’s friend. 
 But, “added the holy preacher, the kings of 
 this world are only worms in God’s sight. If 
 then they who obtain their friendship receive 
 
252 
 
 Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 
 
 such honors, who can tell the honor and glory 
 which God will grant His friends?” These 
 words evidently refer to Peter de la Brosse, 
 who from being hairdresser to King Louis, 
 became the confidential friend of King Philip 
 the Hardy. 
 
 Blessed Jordan entered the Dominican 
 Order at Pisa in 1280. Having manifested 
 great talent he was sent to complete his studies 
 in the University of Paris, where he attended 
 the lectures of the most renowned masters. 
 
 On his return to Italy he taught philosophy 
 and theology in several Dominican monaster- 
 ies, and at length returned to Pisa, at that 
 time the principal house of studies of the prov- 
 ince. Here, as elsewhere, he became remark- 
 able as a profound theologian as well as a good 
 religious. We next find him preaching in 
 Florence; and in the Dominican Provincial 
 chapter held in Rieti, in 1305, he was appoint- 
 ed first lector or professor. He held that 
 office three years, and raised the studies to so 
 high a degree of excellence that the monastery 
 of Santa Maria Novella became famous through- 
 out Italy. 
 
 At the same time that he taught in the 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 253 
 
 Dominican schools of theology he gave him- 
 self with great energy to preaching. He was 
 in heart and soul a true Dominican, sowing the 
 seed of the word all around him. Without 
 preaching,” he once said in a sermon, “ who 
 knows into what darkness and heresies we 
 should fall ! We should be like the Greeks, 
 invaded by multitudes of errors, because they 
 have no preachers. We should become like 
 the Turks, Tartars, and pagans.” In a pan- 
 egyric on Saint Dominic, after praising his he- 
 roic virtues, the greatest praise he could give 
 him was for having instituted the Dominican 
 order, thus having procured for the people the 
 advantage of an order of preachers ; and he 
 often said that Saint Dorginic deserved to be 
 ranked next to the Apostles and to Saint Augus- 
 tine. In another sermon, he said, “One cannot 
 express how useful this servant of God, Dominic, 
 was to the church. Before him there were 
 scarcely any preachers: to day the world is full 
 of them. Hardly any schools of theology ex- 
 isted before his time; at the present they fill 
 the whole of Christendom. Every monastery 
 possesses its own school, a most useful thing. 
 Before him only Bishops announced the word of 
 
254 Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 
 
 God; it was their own proper office. Priest, 
 monks and hermits preached by example. 
 That was why the Pope was astonished 
 when Saint Dominic went to make known 
 to him his plans of establishing an order 
 of preachers. “What!” thought the Vicar 
 of Christ, “ does he wish to found an order 
 of which every member is a Bishop ! ” 
 and he hesitated to give his approbation. 
 But the following night he saw in a dream 
 the church of Saint John Lateran in dan- 
 ger of falling into ruins, but upheld by Saint 
 Dominic. Understanding from this the benefit 
 which the servant of God would confer on the 
 whole church by his preaching and by that of 
 his children, he granted the approbation which 
 had been asked from the Apostolic See.” 
 
 Nature and grace alike had formed Jordan for 
 a great preacher. Full of sound Catholic doc- 
 trine, well read in classic literature, versed in an- 
 cient and modern languages, the Holy Scrip- 
 tures familiar to him, and with the greatest 
 intricacies of theology at his finger ends, ener- 
 getic and zealous, it would have been strange if 
 he had not succeeded. Like all the saints and 
 learned men of the Dominican Order he con- 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 
 
 255 
 
 stantly and most lovingly studied the Holy 
 Scriptures, especially the Epistles of Saint 
 Paul. “ The more I read them,” he said, the 
 more delight and joy I find for my soul in them. 
 Saint Thomas Aquinas professed such respect 
 for them that when he saw the Book of the 
 Gospels in the sacristy he knelt down and 
 kissed it, and always showed it the greatest 
 respect. The epistles are so full of delight, so 
 sweet, and at the same time so profound, that 
 they are truly marvels. There is not a word in 
 them that is not like a burning coal, capable of 
 inspiring us with holy ardor. This Apostle 
 delighted in recalling Jesus Christ to mind, and 
 I find that he has mentioned him no less than 
 five hundred and thirty-two times.” Not con- 
 tent with reading the Holy Scripture assidu- 
 ously, Blessed Jordan used his extraordinary 
 memory by learning them by heart. “ He knew 
 by heart,” says Father Dominic de Peccioli, 
 in his chronicle of the Dominican Monastery 
 of Pisa, “the Breviary, the Missal, the greater 
 part of the Bible with the marginal commen- 
 tary, the second part of the Summa of Saint 
 Thomas Aquinas, and many other things.” 
 
 Blessed Jordan of Pisa then was very learned. 
 
256 Blessed Jorda 7 t of Pisa, 
 
 But learning alone will never make a preacher ; 
 holiness must accompany and chasten human 
 knowledge in him who desires to preach the 
 word of God worthily. He was as holy as he 
 was learned. His confidence in the goodness 
 of God and in the power of prayer was un- 
 bounded. His was the faith which moves moun- 
 tains. In one of his sermons he says, “ when 
 you pray thus I guarantee you, by the promise 
 of Christ, by the Holy Scriptures, by all the 
 Saints, and on my soul, that you will obtain all 
 you ask. The heavens and the earth would 
 perish sooner than your prayers would not be 
 heard.” The goodness of God was one of his 
 favorite subjects. One could preach thirty 
 sermons,” he said, on the blessings which 
 God showers down on us even in the natural 
 order.” 
 
 Towards Saint Dominic, the glorious foun- 
 der of the religious order he had entered, he 
 had an exceedingly strong and earnest devotion . 
 Saint Dominic’s name was always on his lips, 
 and he never lost an opportunity of praising 
 him and proposing his virtues for imitation. 
 But what can be said to describe his devotion 
 to the Blessed Mother of God! The chronicle 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 257 
 
 of the monastery, so scanty in details of his life, 
 is full of mention of his devotion towards the 
 immaculate Queen of Heaven. It tells us that 
 it was invariably Blessed Jordan who was the 
 first to commence the office of the Blessed 
 Virgin when it was said in the dormitory, and 
 that he said it in a voice so fervent, loud, and 
 clear, and so piously, that every one was filled 
 with the same fervor he himself felt. The 
 Blessed Virgin rewarded his filial devotion by 
 granting him many favors. One day, seated 
 in the refectory, he saw the Queen of Heaven 
 escorted by angels, carrying food to her devoted 
 children, the sons of Saint Dominic. In an ex- 
 cess of goodness she served at table. Those 
 hands that had in so many ways served her 
 divine Son when He was on earth now gave 
 food to her spiritual sons, the Friars. One can 
 easily imagine how Blessed Jordan’s heart was 
 inflamed with gratitude at the sight of so great 
 a favor from God’s own mother. 
 
 During his labors of teaching and preaching 
 he did not relax the fervor and regularity of 
 religious discipline and monastic observance. 
 Preaching once on the Last Judgment he was 
 led to speak of the rigor of observance in his 
 
258 Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 
 
 beloved monastery. ‘‘You secular people lit- 
 tle know what the judgment is. We religious 
 know it well. If you commit a sin, grave sin 
 although it may be, you are neither corrected 
 nor chastised ; no one will upbraid you. But 
 we are punished for the least fault, and appear 
 in judgment. Thus he who is conscious of 
 being guilty of some omission feels great fear 
 when he hears the chapter bell ring, for he 
 knows that he goes there to be accused. A 
 father of the order, forty years of age, once 
 said to me, “ I do not feel in fault, but I am 
 seized with vivid fear when I hear the chapter 
 bell ring.” 
 
 Naturally eloquent, solid in doctrine, rich in 
 virtue, beloved by the most holy Virgin, how 
 could Blessed Jordan fail to be a truly great 
 preacher? He made his voice heard in many 
 Italian provinces, and as he was in Germany 
 in 1301 it is thought that he preached there 
 too. But it was chiefly in Florence that he 
 gained his greatest renown as a preacher. He 
 preached there as often as five times a day, in 
 the churches and in the public squares. He 
 often commenced to treat a subject in the 
 morning in one church, continued it in another 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 
 
 259 
 
 in the middle of the day, and concluded it in 
 a third in the evening. The Florentines fol- 
 lowed him from church to church ; some of 
 them took notes of his sermons which have 
 been preserved. They show him to have been 
 a preacher of simple but powerful and instruc- 
 tive discourses. He preached Christ crucified, 
 and founded his sermons on doctrine, and illus- 
 trated his subject with choice examples from 
 Holy Scripture, and anecdotes from the lives 
 of the saints. He adopted the custom newly 
 introduced, of preaching not in Latin but in his 
 native Tuscan. He was a contemporary of 
 Dante, and contributed much to perfect the 
 Tuscan language. His sermons are regarded 
 as a precious treasure of the language of the 
 period. 
 
 He would have cared little, however, to be 
 considered one of the founders of modern Ital- 
 ian. All he wished was to labor for the con- 
 version of sinners. It was for that he studied 
 and preached. And he was bound to succeed. 
 If zeal is often sufficient, talent and zeal to- 
 gether are sure of success. But when God, 
 setting aside the ordinary laws of nature 
 worked miracles to show his approbation of 
 
26 o Blessed Jordan of Pisa.. 
 
 his servant’s preaching, then the effect was im- 
 mense. This was often the case. One day a 
 brilliant red cross appeared on his brow. Every 
 one saw it, and all were filled with amazement. 
 The effect of his sermons in Florence was truly 
 marvellous. Public morality was completely 
 changed. Thousands of evil livers abandoned 
 their sinful habits. Immodest women became 
 models of chastity, enemies were reconciled 
 and became fast friends. All this was lasting, 
 for he took care to ensure their perseverance, 
 by pointing out to them the means of perse- 
 verance ; such as hearing daily mass, receiving 
 the sacraments often, morning and evening 
 prayer, pious reading, the practise of calling 
 the presence of God to their minds, the remem- 
 brance of the vanity of this world, the eter- 
 nity which awaits us, the pains of hell and the 
 joy of heaven. Not a few of his penitents and 
 disciples, following his saintly advice, became 
 noted for sanctity. One of his disciples was 
 Blessed Silvester of Valdiseve, a Camaldulese 
 monk. Blessed Jordan often preached for two 
 hours, and was frequently completely ex- 
 hausted at the end of his sermons. Blessed Sil- 
 vester, whose name in .the world was Ventura, 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa. 26 1 
 
 taking compassion on him waited at the foot 
 of the stairs of the pulpit to offer him some 
 wine to refresh him after his exertions. They 
 soon became united in the bonds of a holy 
 friendship ; and in time Ventura entered as a 
 lay brother into the Camaldulese monastery 
 at Florence. 
 
 Blessed Jordan founded several confraterni- 
 ties in Pisa, one of them, that of the Holy 
 Saviour, has lasted till our own days, preserv- 
 ing its primitive constitutions. 
 
 In spite of the success he met with he re- 
 mained untouched by pride. Humility filled 
 his heart and animated all his actions; and he 
 never lost an opportunity of showing his utter 
 contempt of the world. One day as he and 
 several Dominicans were walking on the high 
 road they saw a strange and unusual sight ; 
 perfect happiness in the midst of profound 
 misery; a poor man half naked gayly singing 
 as he went along. He drank water from the 
 wells, and ate dry bread given him in charity, 
 and was perfectly content. Blessed Jordan 
 said to his companions, “ Do you see this man 
 contrary to what would appear he possesses 
 jewels so precious that a king cannot have 
 
262 Blessed Jordan of Pisa. 
 
 them, and which princes would willingly give 
 a hundred thousand crowns to possess.” 
 What are these precious stones ? ” asked the 
 Fathers. “One,” said Blessed Jordan, “is 
 Security. This poor man eats and drinks with- 
 out fearing danger, he does not dread poison 
 in his food. This is one precious stone which 
 a prince would willingly pay dear for if he 
 could buy it with money. Another precious 
 stone is that this poor man has no money, and 
 no one wishes him evil ; on the contrary, a 
 prince is surrounded by enemies who seek to 
 kill him. These are two precious stones. I 
 could mention many others, and oh ! how pre- 
 cious they are ! how beautiful ! This poor 
 man possesses them, princes can only long for 
 them.” 
 
 In 131 1 Blessed Jordan was sent to Paris, by 
 the Master General of the Dominican Order, to 
 teach theology in the famous monastery of 
 Saint James in that city; but he was taken 
 sick when he arrived at Piacenza, and died 
 there August 19th, 13 1 1. He had been a Do- 
 minican thirty-one years. As soon as the news 
 of his death reached Pisa many of the princi- 
 pal inhabitants went to Piacenza to carry back 
 
Blessed Jordan of Pisa, 263 
 
 his body to the city where he had lived and 
 labored so long. He was buried in the church 
 of the Dominican monastery at Pisa, near the 
 altar of Saint Peter Martyr. His relics re- 
 mained there until 1580, when they were trans- 
 lated to the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
 and in 1686 they were finally translated to the 
 Rosary Altar. His cultus was formally ap- 
 proved by Pope Gregory XVI. 
 
 Prayer, 
 
 Ant, Let all who hope in Thee, O Lord, be 
 glad, for Thou hast blessed the just man. Thou 
 hast crowned him with the shield of Thy good 
 will. 
 
 V, Pray for us, O Blessed Jordan. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray, 
 
 O God, who madest Blessed Jordan, Thy 
 confessor, a minister meet for preaching Thy 
 Gospel, grant that, in imitation of him, we 
 may do the works which Thou ordainest, and 
 so gain the fruit of eternal salvation through 
 Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 

BLESED PETER GEREMIA. 
 
/ 
 
BLESSED PETER GEREMIA. 
 
 MARCH 10. 
 
 The order of Friar Preachers, instituted for 
 the good of the Church, never produced so 
 many great men and saints as in the times of 
 her greatest need. During the great western 
 schism, which lasted forty years, our order 
 gave to the church three saints, famous for 
 all times, Saint Vincent Ferrer, Saint Anto- 
 ninus of Florence, and that truly wonderful 
 woman, Saint Catharine of Sienna. But the 
 order also rejoiced in numbers of others, whose 
 lives although not less holy, are not as widely 
 known. Among then must be placed Blessed 
 Peter Geremia, the subject of our present 
 sketch. 
 
 He was a native of Palermo, in Sicily. His 
 parents were illustrious for nobility and piety. 
 Andouin Geremia, his father, was Fiscal- 
 Procurator to Mary, Queen of Sicily, and his 
 mother, Constanzia, was of the noble family of 
 
268 
 
 Blessed Peter Geremia. 
 
 the Neri of Genoa. Having been born on the 
 feast of Saint Peter’s chains, August ist, 1381, 
 he was give the name of Peter at baptism. 
 As soon as he could speak his pious mother 
 taught him how to pray, and being accustomed 
 to make a daily visit to the Dominican church, 
 she caused him to be carried there also to 
 form him to habits of piety in youth. Little 
 Peter did not disappoint his mother’s pious 
 expectations, and learnt to love and fear God 
 from the earliest dawn of reason. He made 
 as much progress in the rudiments of learning 
 as he did in piety. After mastering grammar, 
 rhetoric, and logic, his parents, believing that 
 God had given them this child to raise the 
 prestige of their family, at the age of eighteen 
 sent him to study law in the University of 
 Bologna. He soon took the lead among the 
 students, and when the regent of studies was 
 obliged to be absent, he requested Peter to 
 take his place. In this position, so trying to a 
 young man, he acquitted himself with un- 
 doubted success. 
 
 Having completed his studies he prepared 
 himself to take the degree of Doctor of Laws. 
 But one of those unforeseen circumstances 
 
Blessed^ Peter Geremiu, 269 
 
 which completely change a man’s life, now 
 happened to him. One night he heard a tap- 
 ping at his bedroom window. It could not be 
 robbers, for he was in the third story. What 
 was it ? But while he was wondering at so 
 strange a thing he heard the same sound 
 repeated, louder than before. He was seized 
 with fear; his blood froze in his veins. Not 
 daring to arise he called out, “ Who is knock- 
 ing there?” Immediately he heard loud cries 
 of weeping, and a sad and tremulous voice 
 said, “ I am the soul of your kinsman,” men- 
 tioning the name. “After having taken the 
 degree of Doctor of Law I practised at the 
 bar, where I exercised the office of Advocate 
 with much success, and gained a high repu- 
 tation. Blind and unfortunate man that I 
 was, to gain wealth and fame, I undertook, 
 against my conscience, to defend unjust 
 causes. Before the awful tribunal of God I 
 found myself without any advocate, and hav- 
 ing nothing in my defence I was condemned 
 to eternal pain. I am damned, and damned 
 for all eternity! But before justice casts me 
 into hell, God has sent me to warn you. Fly 
 from the tribunals of men if you desire to 
 
Blessed Peter Geremta, 
 
 270 
 
 be acquitted before the awful tribunal of 
 God.” 
 
 Thoroughly alarmed Peter entered into 
 serious reflection on the dangers of the life he 
 was about to adopt, and shuddered when he 
 thought of his relative’s sad fate in the same 
 state of life. “ Why should I risk the salvation 
 of my soul and endanger my happiness in 
 eternity for imaginary honors, passing pleas- 
 ures, and hollow deceits?” he said to himself. 
 “ Oh Peter ! God has sent a dead man to 
 warn thee of the' dangers thou wilt encounter 
 in the most honorable employments, God has 
 sent thee a damned soul to tell thee that pos- 
 sessing a fortune on earth thou wilt perchance 
 render thyself the companion of his sufferings 
 in hell. Dream no longer of talcing the 
 Doctor’s degree, but betake thyself to a study 
 which will teach thee only the things of salva- 
 tion.” He conceived the resolution of conse- 
 crating himself to God, and made a vow of per- 
 petual chastity ; and to enable him to keep it 
 he went to a locksmith and bought an iron 
 chain, which he fastened round his waist. He 
 wore it fifty years, although it worked its way 
 into his flesh ^nd caused hirn excessive pain. 
 
Blessed Peter Gereniia. 271 
 
 He became aware of a religious vocation, and 
 earnestly prayed for guidance in making his 
 choice. In His wisdom God led him to 
 choose the Dominican order. He lost no time 
 in presenting himself to the Prior of Bologna, 
 and humbly asked to be received. The Prior, 
 who knew his piety and eminent qualifications, 
 in due time gave him the habit, and he began 
 his novitiate. He was in his nineteenth year. 
 His vocation was destined to meet with a 
 severe test. His father had hoped much from 
 his son’s talents, and was inconsolable when 
 he heard of his entrance into religion. He 
 went to Bologna to persuade him to ,return 
 home. When he arrived at the Dominican 
 monastery he demanded to see his son. The 
 Prior willingly gave permission, but the fervent 
 novice refused to see his father, fearing that 
 the voice of nature would overcome his resolu- 
 tion and tempt him to abandon his vocation. 
 He begged the novice master to excuse him, 
 beg his father’s blessing for him, and assure 
 him that he was quite happy and fully re- 
 solved, by the grace of God, to persevere in 
 the life he had chosen. His father was very 
 angry, and bitterly accused him of ingratitude. 
 
2J2 Blessed Peter Gerenim. 
 
 and threatened that if the Fathers did not at 
 once give him up he would obtain vengeance. 
 The novice master recommended him to wait a 
 few days, promising that he should see his son. 
 Grace began to work in his father’s heart. 
 “ If God,” he said to himself, “asks from me 
 the sacrifice of my son, He is the master, my 
 dear son belongs more to Him than to me. 
 May it never happen me to oppose the om- 
 nipotent God. The only grace I ask is to be 
 allowed to embrace him. I love him more than 
 I love myself.” And when he saw his son he 
 exhorted him to presevere in his holy vocation. 
 
 Thus freed from the temptation his father’s 
 love had cast in his way, Peter applied him- 
 self to acquire religious perfection. He made 
 his profession in due time, and then began his 
 ecclesiastical studies, and knowing well that all 
 true knowledge comes from the Father of light 
 He studied chiefly in the book of the cross, 
 and made as much progress in his studies by 
 prayer as by mental application. After hav- 
 ing been ordained priest he began to preach. 
 Inflamed with love for God, and consumed by 
 a burning zeal for the salvation of souls he 
 was a true Christian preacher. Spiritual 
 
Blessed Peter Geremia, 273 
 
 unction gave a wonderful force to his words, 
 and his sermons touched the hearts and con- 
 sciences of his hearers. He preached in all 
 parts of Italy, and the number of solid and 
 lasting; conversions he worked could not be 
 estimated. He became so famous as a 
 preacher that when Saint Vincent Ferrer 
 passed through Bologna in 1416, he desired to 
 see him. When they met Saint Vincent lov- 
 ingly embraced him, and exhorted him to con- 
 tinue preaching, to which it was evident God 
 had especially called him. 
 
 In 1427 he was deputed by Father Barthol- 
 omew Texier, Master General of the order, to 
 make a visitation of the Italian Dominican 
 monasteries, in which he was completely suc- 
 cessful, for he restored strict discipline in 
 every one he visited. He was summoned by 
 Pope Eugeniiis IV. to take part in the General 
 Council of Florence. As soon as his depar- 
 ture became known in Palermo, where he was 
 stationed at the time, the City Senate assem- 
 bled and wrote a letter to the king of Sicily, 
 begging him to ask the Pope and the Domini- 
 can General to allow him to remain in Palermo. 
 The king authorized the Senate to hinder his 
 
274 Blessed Peter Geremia. 
 
 departure, but the Pope would not consent 
 that his talents should be lost to the church, 
 and insisted that he should be present at the 
 council. He attracted much attention during 
 the council by his zeal and learning, and espe- 
 cially by his answers to the objections against 
 catholic doctrine made by the Greeks. The 
 Pope vainly attempted to induce him to 
 accept high ecclesiastical honors, so great was 
 his esteem for him. 
 
 After the council he returned to Palermo, 
 where he spent several years in the strictest 
 observance and in apostolic labors. He gave 
 several hours a day to prayer, and his pen- 
 ances were so severe that they deserve to be 
 compared with those of the ancient saints of 
 the desert. His sermons produced so much 
 effect that the island of Sicily was completely 
 changed. In Palermo the churches were too 
 few and too small to contain the immense 
 crowds which flocked to them at every ser- 
 vice, and when he himself preached it became 
 necessary to preach in the open air. And 
 what happened to many saints happened to 
 him. God caused his voice to reach a distance 
 beyond the power of man. Those as much as 
 
Blessed Peter Geremia, 
 
 275 
 
 a mile distant could hear him distinctly. One 
 day he was so exhausted that he could only 
 speak in a whisper, and was advised by the 
 Fathers not to attempt to preach. Have 
 confidence in God/’ he said, “ the Lord will 
 give words to those who preach the Gospel.” 
 His trust was not misplaced, and his faith not 
 in vain. His voice was at once restored to 
 him, and he could be distinctly heard by all. 
 Another time, as he was preaching in the 
 square in front of the Cathedral of Palermo, a 
 rich man, on his way to commit a murder, 
 passed at a great distance from where he was 
 preaching, yet he heard these words of the ser- 
 mon, “ Blind sinner, reflect on what you are 
 about to do I Be not overcome by passion, 
 flee from the sin your heart leads you to com- 
 mit.” Thinking that the woids were espe- 
 cially addressed to him he was enraged against 
 the holy preacher. But reflecting that he 
 could not have heard except by a miracle, he 
 repented of his evil intention, and when the 
 sermon was over went to seek the holy Father, 
 to whom he declared that he now pardoned 
 his enemy from his heart the injuiy he had 
 done him. 
 
2/6 
 
 Blessed Peter Geremia. 
 
 Having gone to preach on the Feast of the 
 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a 
 chapel on the summit of a mountain, he began 
 to pray before going into the pulpit. During 
 prayer he saw the heavens opened, and a num- 
 ber of angels descend to a cave close by. 
 They quickly returned to heaven, carrying 
 with them several souls. God revealed to him 
 that they were the souls of some young girls, 
 who having left their homes to hear the ser- 
 mon were captured by brigands, who not 
 being able to persuade them to consent to sin, 
 had brutally murdered them, hiding their bod- 
 ies in the cave. Thus these humble maidens 
 had merited the double crown of virginity and 
 martyrdom. Blessed Peter preached with a 
 power unusual even to him, and narrated his 
 vision. After the sermon he led the people in* 
 procession to the cave, where the bodies of 
 the virgin martyrs were found. They were 
 carried to the chapel on the mountain, and 
 buried with all the solemnity so holy a death 
 deserved. 
 
 Remaining in the choir one night after ma- 
 tins to pray, he saw a soul, pale, deformed, 
 and so feeble that it could scarcely rise from 
 
Blessed Peter Geremia, 277 
 
 its vault. ** Peter,” it said to him, I am the 
 Father who died ten days ago. I am now in 
 purgatory, where I am expiating the faults of 
 my life. I am condemned to remain there a 
 long time. But God, whose mercies are infi- 
 nite, will remit me the rest of the pain I ought 
 to suffer if you will but offer the Holy Sacri- 
 fice of the Mass for me. Dear Father, I con- 
 jure you have pity on me.” Blessed Peter 
 promised to say Mass as soon as it was day- 
 light, upon which the soul immediately van- 
 ished. He said Mass most fervently at day- 
 break, and prayed during the day for that soul. 
 The following night it appeared again, but oh ! 
 how different was its state. Clothed in pure 
 light, filled with joy, it thanked him for his 
 charity, and assured him that he also would 
 enjoy the glory of Paradise. 
 
 During the time when Blessed Peter was 
 Prior of the Monastery of Saint Zita, in Pa- 
 lermo, the Father-procurator went to him one 
 day and told him that there was no food in 
 the larder. The holy Prior strapped a wallet 
 on his shoulders, and walked to the seashore, 
 where he took a small boat and sailed out to 
 sea where many fishermen were fishing for tun- 
 
278 
 
 Blessed Peter Geremia, 
 
 nies. They had been very successful that 
 morning, and were in the best of spirits. He 
 asked them to give him some of the fishes 
 they had caught, but was rudely refused. He 
 bore this affront meekly, and getting into the 
 little boat again in which he had sailed out he 
 raised his eyes to heaven, and lovingly com- 
 plained to God, O my God,” he said, “ I have 
 done all I can to provide for the necessities of 
 my brothers, your faithful servants ; it now 
 belongs to you to assist them.” When he had 
 sailed about a mile towards the shore the tun- 
 nies caught by the fishermen broke their nets, 
 and swam in a shoal after the holy Father. 
 Astonished at what they saw the fishermen 
 understood that God wished to punish them 
 for their want of charity. They followed him, 
 begged him to forgive them, and entreated 
 him to return and bless their nets. Blessed 
 Peter did so, and made the sign of the cross 
 over the shoal of fishes, which immediately 
 swam back and re-entered the nets they had 
 left. The fisherman took more than a thou- 
 sand that morning, and sent as many to the 
 monastery as the Fathers needed. 
 
 He worked a much more wonderful miracle 
 
Blessed Peter Geremia, 
 
 279 
 
 by changing the heart of an impenitent sinner, 
 and leading him back to God by penance. 
 There was a man in Palermo, who lived so 
 wicked a life, that all were scandalized. 
 Blessed Peter conceived in his heart a great 
 pity for him, and tried to persuade him to 
 amend his life and to do penance for his sins. 
 In words, inspired by true charity, he warned 
 him of the danger of eternal loss, reminded 
 him of the scandal he was giving, described to 
 him the certainty and severity of God's judg- 
 ment, and told him that if he did not quickly 
 repent God would punish him as he deserved. 
 But instead of receiving this advice in the 
 spirit in which it was given the wretched man 
 resented it, and in his anger dared to strike 
 him. God, who always defends those who 
 labor for Him, withered up the hand and arm 
 which had inflicted the blow. The sinner fell 
 on his knees and begged the saint to obtain 
 for him the use of his arm again, promising to 
 abandon his sins, and to do penance for his 
 scandalous life. He was instantaneously cured, 
 when Blessed Peter prayed for him as he de- 
 sired. He kept his word and gave great edifica- 
 tion for the rest of his life by his genuine piety. 
 
28 o 
 
 Blessed Peter Gereniia. 
 
 It was Blessed Peter s custom to invite all the 
 poor of the city to a feast on Saint Zita’s day. 
 He served them himself at the monastery door, 
 and when, as not unfrequently happened, food 
 became scarce God miraculously increased the 
 store. These, and many other no less wonder- 
 ful miracles, made Blessed Peter very famous, 
 and numbers of young men were attracted to 
 the order by his holiness and took the habit. 
 
 When his office of Prior of Saint Zita in 
 Palermo expired he was appointed novice 
 master, an office which required great prudence, 
 tact, and charity, joined to the rigorous observ- 
 ance of the rule. He was equal to all required 
 of him, and remained novice master until 
 1444, when he petitioned the Provincial Chapter 
 to free him from so grave a responsibility, that 
 he might devote himself again to preaching. 
 His petition was granted, and he went to the 
 monastery of Catania, where he worked much 
 good by his sermons. While there an eruption 
 of Mount Etna took place, and the town and 
 its inhabitants were threatened with utter de- 
 struction. Blessed Peter, who confided in the 
 intercession of the holy martyr Saint Agatha, 
 took the veil which covered her tomb and pre- 
 
Blessed Pete7' Gerernia. 
 
 281 
 
 sented it to the flames, praying God to have pit}’ 
 on his people. And as he prayed the flames 
 stopped, and the eruption ceased. Every one 
 attributed this divine favor as much to Blessed 
 Peter’s prayers as to Saint Agatha’s merits. 
 
 Several years before his death the sea be- 
 came so rough that no ships could come into 
 harbor and a famine set in among the poor. 
 They had recourse to Blessed Peter in their 
 misery. “ Banish all sadness he said to the 
 Magistrates, who went to ask his prayers; “before 
 the sun sets Providence will send you wheat in 
 abundance.” They retired full of hope, and 
 Blessed Peter began to pray to God to take 
 pity on His people. As soon as he had finished 
 his prayer he turned towards the sea, and there 
 he saw the answer to his prayers — a ship on the 
 horizon. But the winds were so strong that 
 every one thought the ship would be dashed to 
 pieces on the rocks. As soon as Father Peter 
 began to pray again, the ship sailed safely into 
 port, contrary to all hope, and the famine was 
 at an end. 
 
 He raised the dead to life, and was often 
 seen surrounded by heavenly light. But in 
 proportion as God endowed him with spirit- 
 
282 
 
 Blessed Peter Geremia, 
 
 ual gifts he tamed his body by fasting and 
 penance. Subject to many bodily infirmities 
 he bore them with exemplary patience, and 
 was never sad or downcast, except when God 
 deprived him of sufferings for a time. He 
 regarded sickness and pain as God’s favors, 
 and when they were not bestowed on him he 
 thought he was in disgrace ; and once, when 
 he was asked why he was so sad, although he 
 was not suffering, he said: “ Because it seems 
 that God has withdrawn his hand from me.” 
 
 His great age, — he was now nearly seven- 
 ty, — and the wear and tear of his constant 
 preaching made it necessary to send him back 
 to Sicily, his native country. When he bade the 
 people farewell from the pulpit all were in tears, 
 and the crowd that gathered round the monas- 
 tery doors to beg his blessing for the last time, 
 was so great that he was obliged to put off his 
 departure for three days. The people set 
 guards at the door to hinder him from going 
 away, until he told them it was God’s will and 
 his superior’s commands, and that he was bound 
 to obey. And when at length he set off many 
 accompanied him along way on his journey. 
 They never saw him again, for as soon as he 
 
Blessed Peter Gerernia, 
 
 283 
 
 got to Palermo he fell sick, and the day of his 
 death was revealed to him. He said holy 
 Mass as often as he was able. Vesting one 
 morning in the sacristy, he told one of the 
 fathers that it was the last Mass he would say. 
 As soon as his Mass was over he was obliged 
 to return to bed. During his sickness he often 
 repeated the words of Saint Angustine. “ Here 
 burn, cut here, do not spare me, so that Thou, 
 O Lord, mayest spare me in eternity.” 
 
 On the day of his passage from this world 
 he asked that the last sacrament should be ad- 
 ministered to him. Before receiving the holy 
 viaticum he called all the fathers round his 
 bed, and earnestly exhorted them to persevere 
 in the love and service of God ; not to spare 
 themselves, to practice mortification, cultivate 
 brotherly love and the spirit of strict observ- 
 ance of the Dominical rule and constitutions. 
 Seeing them all in tears he endeavored to con- 
 sole them, and promised to visit them in spirit 
 when by the mercy of God he should be enjoy- 
 ing the bliss of heaven. And when, some time 
 later, a great increase of fervour was mani- 
 fested in the community, it was universally 
 attributed to his prayers. He died March 3d, 
 
284 Blessed Peter Gere^ttia* 
 
 1452, In his seventy-second year. When the 
 Fathers were washing his body they saw a sin- 
 gular swelling round his loins, and made an in- 
 cision to see what was its cause. They found 
 the iron chain which he had put on immediately 
 after his conversion, fifty years before, on the 
 night, when as we have narrated, a damned 
 soul appeared to him to warn him of the dan- 
 ger of eternal loss. By continual penance he 
 had preserved his virginity intact. How 
 differently do we ! we desire to be holy it is 
 true, but we shrink from penance, and our 
 good resolutions and holy desires are of 
 but short duration. We easily give way to 
 temptation because we do not imitate the 
 saints by constant prayer and a life of 
 penance. 
 
 His holy body was laid on a bier, and placed 
 in the church, where it was venerated by all. 
 After his burial, miracles took place at his 
 tomb and it was not many days before pilgrims 
 came to pray there. Only a month had passed 
 when the Fathers were obliged, in answer to 
 the people’s request, to open his tomb. His 
 body was perfectly incorrupt. The iron chain 
 was taken from it, and kept as a sacred relic, 
 
Blessed Peter Gereniia, 285 
 
 and miracles were obtained by many who 
 touched it. 
 
 Blessed Peter was beatified in 1784 by Pope 
 Pius VI. He left behind him several literal*}- 
 works : a volume of sermons, a treatise on the 
 passion of Jesus Christ, treatises on faith, on 
 the creed, and on the Lord’s prayer, all of 
 which have several times been printed. Five 
 volumes in manuscript are also preserved in 
 the church of Saint Dominic in Palermo, and 
 two others in the archives of Saint Dominic’s 
 Monastery in Bologna, comprising treatises on 
 Moral Theology and Canon Law. 
 
 Prayer. 
 
 Ant. O Lord our God, how marvellous is 
 Thy name through all the earth ! For Thou 
 hast crowned Thy saint with glory and honor, 
 and hast set him over the works of Thy hands. 
 
 V. Pray for us, O Blessed Peter. 
 
 R. That we may be made worthy of the 
 promises of Christ. 
 
 Let us pray. 
 
 O God, who by the prayers and exhorta- 
 tions of Blessed Peter, Thy confessor, didst 
 
286 
 
 Blessed Peter Geremia. 
 
 mercifully cause many wanderers to return to 
 the path of righteousness, enlarge our hearts, 
 we beseech Thee, through his holy intercession, 
 that we may ever run in the way of Thy com- 
 mandments, through Christ our Lord. Amen. 
 
t 
 

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