Conrad of Piacenza

ON BL. CONRAD OF PIACENZA, HERMIT, AT NOTO IN SICILY, OF THE THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS, PATRON FOR THE CURE OF HERNIA

YEAR 1351

Preliminary Commentary.

Conrad the Hermit, at Noto in Sicily, and at Piacenza in Italy (Bl.)

By the author I. B.

Section I. The annual celebration of Bl. Conrad, his Acts, miracles at his Relics.

[1] There is a city of Sicily, formerly called Netum and Neetum, in Greek Neeton and Neton; now commonly known as Noto, in the diocese of Syracuse, nearer to the promontory of Pachynus than to Syracuse itself. This city, says Thomas Fazellus in Decade I of Sicilian Affairs, book 4, chapter 2, The celebration of Bl. Conrad at Noto on account of miracles is today ennobled especially by the miracles of St. Conrad of Piacenza at his sepulchre, clear especially around those who suffer from hernia, which continue daily. He is venerated there and at Piacenza on the 19th of February. And indeed at Noto, as Roccus Pirrus of Noto writes in volume 2 of the Notice of the Churches of Sicily, page 215, public markets are opened for eight days in his honor; and twice a year they appoint a solemnity for him: on the day of his death, February 19th, and August 28th, in memory of the first faculty obtained from the Pope, when it was published among our countrymen. To this latter celebration were transferred those solemn eight-day markets, which in the winter season were less well-attended and convenient.

[2] On the 19th of February, Octavius Caietanus, our fellow member, thus recorded the memory of Bl. Conrad in the Sicilian Martyrology: "At Noto, St. Conrad, Hermit and Confessor." And Philip Ferrari in his general Catalogue of Saints: "At Neetum in Sicily, St. Conrad, Hermit." His name in the Martyrologies on February 19 The same writer mentions him in the New Topography of the Martyrology under the word "Neetum," and more fully in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy. Arthur of the Monastery, in his Franciscan Martyrology for the same day: "Among the Netines in Sicily, Bl. Conrad, Confessor, Tertiary, who, shining with the splendor of noble birth and virtues, glows with the gift of prophecy and most frequent miracles in life and after death even to the present day." He has not yet been inscribed in the rolls of the Saints by solemn ceremony; yet he is commonly called St. Conrad by writers and even by Urban VIII himself in a diploma, which Wadding recites in part 4 of the Annals, page 20. What veneration has thus far been permitted or decreed for him, we shall say presently.

[3] Very many have committed his pious deeds to writing. Besides the Lessons from the Proper of the Saints of the Church of Piacenza, conceded and approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in the year 1608; Acts written by various authors and besides the epitome of the Life which Ferrari compiled from these and the writings of the people of Noto; the following have come into our hands: The history of Bl. Conrad, briefly summarized by Vincent Littara of Noto, Doctor of Theology, published at Palermo in the year 1593, which we shall give here. The same work composed in Italian by Roccus Pirrus of Noto, published at Palermo in 1595. Another Italian work, much more prolix, by the author Petromaria Campo, Canon of the Cathedral Church of Piacenza, a pious and learned man, published at Piacenza in the year 1614. Then what Luke Wadding wove into his Annals of the Seraphic Order, chiefly from this last, in volume 3 at the year 1315, number 21 and following, and volume 4 at the year 1351, number 22 and following. And what Odoric Raynaldus narrates in volume 16 of the Ecclesiastical Annals at the year 1351, number 8.

[4] Other works are cited concerning the deeds of St. Conrad, committed to writing by various persons; and especially the Conradias of the same Vincent Littara, written in heroic verse and divided into ten books, published posthumously. While Roccus Pirrus, Doctor of Theology and examiner of books, was reviewing this poem for publication, he was seized by a malignant fever, with present danger of death. When he perceived this, the relics prove salutary to a certain writer he obtained that some relics of St. Conrad be brought to him; by the touch of these, suddenly as if recalled from death to life, he first took a peaceful rest, then that same night he composed these verses in testimony of the benefit received, which Petromaria Campo recites in chapter 17:

"When the heart of the Priest was touched, malignant fever Seized me, and a constricted throat delivered me over to death: While I read this book, here by the flesh of Conrad I am touched again, And to my throat life itself and health are restored."

[5] Bl. Conrad died on the 11th day before the Kalends of March in the year 1351. His body, placed in a chest in the sacristy of the principal church, which is dedicated to St. Nicholas, the throngs that come to them remained at Noto for many years. Great were the throngs of people who came to venerate it, offering prayers, candles, and votive gifts. Yet the hope which the people of Noto had conceived from the beginning of obtaining from the Supreme Pontiff permission to invoke him publicly at the altars seemed gradually to be cut short by the adverse circumstances of the province. Then around the year 1485 the memory of the immense benefits which their forebears had often obtained from God through the merits of Bl. Conrad entered the minds of certain persons. miracles renewed Therefore they too implored his aid in their own affairs, and found it readily granted. Inflamed thenceforth with fresh zeal, they besought the Bishop of Syracuse, Dalmatius, recorded in writing to order that the prodigies which had recently occurred be seriously examined and recorded in official acts for perpetual memory. The Bishop assented to their pious requests.

[6] In that year, the people of Noto most honorably erected a special structure with gilded stones in a high place over the sepulchre of St. Conrad. The body found intact after 134 years When the sepulchre was opened, the sacred body was found intact, with a wonderful fragrance of scent emanating, as Roccus Pirrus writes in the Notice of the Church of Syracuse, page 214. Littara also reports this in his book on Netine affairs, page 129, in the following manner: "The same year, fourteen hundred and eighty-five, reminds us that we should not pass over in silence what we have found committed to writing: that Giovanni Capello, Giovanni Landolina, Calcerando Salonia, and Giacomo Speciale, the Jurors, together with Giovanni Battista Sapia, then the urban Praetor, opened the tomb of Bl. Conrad, and beheld the body still intact and uninjured in every part, with a wonderful fragrance of scent emanating therefrom." He adds further matters, which we shall report below, concerning an arm then removed from it. Pirrus likewise reports for that year that the body was placed in a silver chest skillfully wrought, and that it was established by public decree that on the anniversary of his death all should abstain from servile works, and that St. Conrad should be invoked along with the other Saints in the public Litanies. A feast established by the people And this was thus established in common, with a certain simple piety, without the Roman Pontiff having been in any way consulted, as would have been proper.

Section II. The veneration of Bl. Conrad permitted to the people of Noto and Syracuse by Pope Leo X.

[7] From that time onward, both the throng of mortals flocking to venerate his relics and the heavenly prodigies at those relics increased. At length, as Wadding writes from Petromaria Campo, having sent Brother Bernardino of Brescia of the Order of Preachers, they obtained from Pope Leo X that his relics might be celebrated and venerated with solemn cult. Leo X permits him to be publicly venerated as Blessed; his Brief lost on the way But as Bernardino was joyfully returning to the people of Noto and opened his traveling bag near the city to extract some garments, he saw that the Pope's diploma was missing and that he had lost it. Anxious and sorrowful at the unexpected loss of the Apostolic letters for which he had been sent, he hesitated, uncertain whether to proceed shamefacedly into the city, or to go back again, either to search for the lost diploma or to have it reissued at Rome. As he thus deliberated and grieved, a venerable Hermit appeared, clad in the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, and consoling the sorrowful man, pointed out a bundle of papers lying on the ground not far away. found when the Blessed one himself pointed it out Joyfully picking it up, he found enclosed within it the Apostolic Brief he had lost, while the Hermit immediately vanished from his sight. So reports Wadding, and much more diffusely Campo, who also recites the Brief itself translated into Italian. Wadding gives it in Latin, and it has seemed fitting to present it here.

[8] Pope Leo X. To our Venerable Brother, the Bishop of Syracuse, or his Vicar General in spiritual matters.

Venerable Brother, greeting and the Apostolic benediction. Our beloved sons, all the inhabitants and residents of the territory of Noto in the diocese of Syracuse, have lately caused it to be set forth to the people of Noto, on account of many miracles that already one hundred and sixty years ago and more, Conrad of Piacenza, of blessed memory, sprung from noble stock, coming to the said territory, led a hermit's praiseworthy life in a certain hermitage situated in a certain wood near the said territory until the end of his life; and that through his intercession, both before and after his death, our Lord Jesus Christ has wrought there many and diverse miracles, and continues to work them in the present, as is said to be more fully contained in various instruments or public documents drawn up at your command or that of the then Bishop of Syracuse. and attested to Wherefore the aforesaid inhabitants and residents, on account of the many miracles wrought from that time forward, have venerated and continue to venerate the same Conrad as Blessed, and observe the day of his death or another certain day as a feast; those who venerate Bl. Conrad and it would be in a manner impossible to recall them from such veneration and observance. But since it is lawful for no one to venerate anyone as Blessed without the authority of the Apostolic See, and since they therefore fear that they have incurred excommunication and other sentences, and those who seek this to be approved by the Pontiff censures, and ecclesiastical penalties, the said inhabitants and residents have caused us to be humbly petitioned that we would deign to make suitable provision in these matters out of Apostolic benignity.

[9] We therefore, inclined by these supplications, he entrusts this to the Bishop or his Vicar by these presents commit and command your fraternity to inform yourself diligently concerning the matters set forth to us, and if, all due observances having been observed, you shall find the aforesaid to be true, to absolve the same inhabitants and residents, and each of them, from such transgressions in the form customary to the Church; and to grant them, as well as any other faithful of Christ, perpetual license and faculty that he may lawfully establish this to venerate the same Conrad as other Blessed ones not yet canonized are venerated, to celebrate his feast on a day to be appointed by you, and to do freely and lawfully all and singular other things necessary or in any way opportune in the aforementioned matters and around them. Notwithstanding any Apostolic constitutions and ordinances, whether special or general, issued in provincial and synodal councils, and anything else whatsoever to the contrary. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, under the Ring of the Fisherman, the 12th day of July 1515, in the third year of our pontificate.

[10] When this Pontifical diploma was brought to Sicily, James Humanus (whom Littara and others call Humana), Bishop of Scodra in Dalmatia, that is Scutari, Abbot of the Holy Spirit near Caltanissetta, Vicar General of William Raymond, Bishop of Syracuse, went to Noto and carried out what the Pope had commanded, as he himself attests in the public acts which he then caused to be drawn up and which are extant, at the place cited, in Wadding. Among other things he states: "Wishing to obey the Apostolic mandates humbly, as we are bound, for the execution of the aforesaid Apostolic rescript, we diligently examined the witnesses presented to us, likewise received faithfully by command of Dalmatius, then Bishop of Syracuse, he examines here the old testimonies concerning the miracles numbering more than fifty from thirty years before, and upon reviewing them we found that they, being most worthy of trust, had deposed concerning the sanctity of life of the aforesaid Conrad, and concerning the innumerable and diverse miracles which our Savior Jesus Christ has deigned to work through his merits and intercessions, from the time then reckoned at most sixty years, but now ninety. We add also that we rightly knew the aforesaid witnesses, for the most part then in old age, while we were in childhood -- Christians, that is, who feared God, who under no agreement, for no reason or cause, would have given any testimony unless it were true and most certain. Nevertheless, so that we might have the whole matter most thoroughly explored, and lest any suspicion of doubt should arise from any quarter whatsoever, we commanded that some additional witnesses be received, he receives others concerning more recent miracles who should depose concerning more recent miracles in this time confirming the sanctity of the same Conrad -- so that just as from the old witnesses and those of more than thirty years, so also from modern and living persons, we might learn of miracles declaring the life and sanctity of the same Conrad. Many witnesses, almost innumerable, were presented to us, from whom we selected only seven, who bore testimony in writing, because they had experienced in their own persons most evident miracles, through devotion to the said Conrad, and had received from our Redeemer Jesus Christ great and wonderful healing of diverse illnesses, through the merits and intercessions of the said Conrad."

[11] Recognizing all these things, we were unwilling to linger further in this matter; we wished at last to meet the truth, and most manifest truth at that, lest we should appear to be calumniators rather than seekers of the truth. We have known, we have seen, and by experience itself we have perceived the sanctity of life, the virtue, and the prerogative of so great a man. He absolves the people of Noto who had rashly dared to venerate him Wherefore, wishing to carry out the Apostolic mandates -- and we wished no less than we ought -- we have, by Apostolic authority, in which capacity we act in this matter, absolved the citizens, inhabitants, and residents of this noble city of Noto, gathered in the greater church of St. Nicholas, and each of them of both sexes, who, having venerated the body of the same Conrad, albeit Blessed, without the authority of the Apostolic See, had fallen under ecclesiastical censures, from all such transgressions, in the form customary to the Church.

[12] Thence, proceeding with the Clergy and people in procession to the chest in which the body of the same Conrad had been deposited for more than one hundred and sixty years, the scent diffused from the chest we ordered the chest itself to be opened. When it was unsealed, so great a fragrance of scent was diffused throughout that entire temple that all the perfumes of aromatics seemed to be stored away therein. We saw and with our own hands touched the head and one arm only, which were separated from the body (which arm indeed, covered with a silver case, the body found clothed in flesh after 164 years had been customarily displayed to the people in his honor). The rest of the body, however, with its other members intact, cohering and attached to one another, was clothed in flesh from the day of the deposition and death of the same Conrad, more than one hundred and sixty years, as was said above. These blessed relics, again enclosed in the same chest, we ordered to be carried forth in procession with the Clergy and all the people and to be honorably conducted to the church of the most holy Crucifix, [he orders them to be carried about in a procession, in which hernia sufferers are healed] where our Savior Jesus Christ deigned to display most evident miracles. For some who suffered from fractures and visceral hernias in the groin, devoutly praying beneath the chest of relics, immediately received the benefits of health.

[13] We therefore, by the Apostolic authority in which capacity we act in this matter, have perpetually granted license and faculty both to the said inhabitants of the aforesaid city of Noto and to all other faithful of Christ of both sexes, to venerate the same Bl. Conrad as other Blessed Confessors not yet canonized are venerated, and to celebrate his feast on the 19th day of the month of February, on which day he departed hence to the Lord, permission to venerate him as Blessed on February 19 appointed by us, and to do all and singular other things necessary or in any way opportune in the aforesaid matters and around them, freely and lawfully. We have also granted that the said blessed body may be carried forth and conducted in procession through the city of Noto itself, and to be carried in procession whenever and as often as it shall seem necessary or opportune to the Vicar with the Clergy and the Magistrate with the people of the said city for the time being. Notwithstanding, etc. Given in the noble city of Noto, in the house of our customary residence, on the 28th day of the month of August, in the 3rd Indiction, 1515. Part of this diploma is recited from Wadding by Odoric Raynaldus. The miracles performed in the procession are treated at greater length by Petromaria Campo in chapter 14.

[14] At this time the verses inscribed on the tomb appear, which Pirrus recites on page 214:

"Sacred is what you behold, and the venerable bones of Conrad verses then inscribed on the tomb in the year 1515 Are entombed together in this place. Already thrice a hundred lustra had the year accumulated, The thirteenth, and to these twice also was a harvest joined."

For one thousand five hundred is indicated in the penultimate verse, and fifteen in the last. In the year 1515 his veneration was permitted and his relics were publicly carried about.

Section III. The miracles of Bl. Conrad in 1516. His cult permitted to all Sicilians by Paul III. To the entire Order of Friars Minor by Urban VIII.

[15] What happened thereafter Wadding briefly summarizes in number 32: "On account of these letters, in the following year, on the aforesaid day of the month of February, the solemnity of Bl. Conrad was carried out with the greatest applause of all and with due magnificence. His sacred relics were also carried about through the entire city, with the sick or those afflicted coming from everywhere. On February 19, 1516, healed in the procession: a deaf woman, two paralytics In the church of St. Clare he caused a deaf woman to hear. In the church of St. Michael he healed a paralytic woman. Near the church of St. Peter Martyr he restored to health a man of Hybla, half-dead and deprived of the use of his limbs. In that same church, when a wall collapsed from the multitude of people and many were buried under the rubble, those rescued from a wall's collapse; speech obtained no one was injured. In the church of St. Francis he restored speech to a mute man and health to a woman suffering from dysentery. At the shrine of Christ Crucified, when the devoted image of the Cross was uncovered, all who were present -- those with hernia, paralytics, the mute, the deaf, and those afflicted with other diseases -- recovered, very many sick healed to the immense astonishment of all."

[16] "That was peculiar and remarkable: that while the sacred body was being carried from the church of St. Peter the New to the church of St. Peter Martyr, the relics become immovable before the doors of a certain old woman the weight so increased that it had to be set down, nor could it be moved from there. Until, with all astonished at the novelty of the event, the old woman sprang forth into the midst and handed the Bishop a staff, saying: 'Perhaps Bl. Conrad is demanding back this pledge of his. This was his staff. My great-grandfather obtained it, I know not by what fortune; his son, my father, always held it in great esteem. They would apply it to the sick, who would immediately feel well. As for me, he now judges me unworthy to have so great a thing in my possession; therefore I consign it to you, to be guarded together with the body.' until the Saint's staff was added to them Her expectation did not deceive her: for when the staff was placed alongside the bier, what had been heavy before began to become so light that it could easily be carried forth."

[17] "Moved, or rather terrified, by this miracle, those who had rosaries or prayer beads of the blessed man a rosary also brought forth, and other items brought them to the Bishop, and they are religiously preserved in the same church. At last the body was returned to the church of St. Nicholas and was placed in a beautiful and magnificent chapel built in his honor, in a gilded sepulchre and silver chest." Thus far Wadding; and all these things are described more diffusely and most elegantly in Italian by Petromaria Campo.

[18] The same Wadding continues in number 33: "As devotion toward him of the entire Sicilian people grew by the day, the Magistrate of Noto saw fit to send an envoy to Paul III to request that everywhere outside the city of Noto and the diocese of Syracuse, to which his cult seemed to be restricted by the diploma of Leo, it might be permitted to decree to him the honors of a Blessed Confessor. At Rome, a hernia healed by his relics The envoy obtained this, preceded by a miracle: for when he explained his mission and desire to a certain Count, a familiar of the Pope, and the latter heard of the blessed man's power in curing the herniated, he earnestly commended to him his own son, who was suffering from the same affliction. When the relics of Conrad's garment were applied to the boy, he received him back immediately healed. He aided and promoted the cause before the Pope by reporting the miracle, and the Pope willingly extended his cult to the rest of the Sicilians." Petromaria Campo writes that it was not relics of Bl. Conrad's garment that were applied to the boy, but a small piece of cloth made sacred by contact with the holy man's members.

[19] Wadding recites the letters of Paul III, by which he granted that outside the said town, the veneration of him permitted to all Sicily by Paul III city, and diocese of Syracuse, those residing in any cities, towns, and territories might henceforth venerate the same Conrad and celebrate his feast; the declaration of this matter being committed to the Vicar General of the Bishop of Syracuse. From the same letters it is clear that the envoy who obtained this faculty from the Pope was Sanctorius de Monaco, Abbot of the monastery of "della Venia" of the Order of St. Benedict in the diocese of Messina, then residing in the city of Noto. The letters of Paul III were dated at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1544, the 3rd day before the Kalends of November, in the tenth year of his pontificate. "When his cult was permitted everywhere in Sicily," says Wadding in number 35, "many altars, chapels, and entire churches were erected in his honor, and his name became celebrated throughout all cities and towns."

[20] "At length in our own age," says the same writer, "as miracles continued to multiply, to the entire Order of Friars Minor by Urban VIII and with the General and the religious Capuchin Fathers interceding, Urban VIII granted to all followers of St. Francis, wherever they might be, the faculty of reciting the Office and Mass in his honor." Wadding exhibits the Pontifical diploma, given at Rome at St. Mary Major, under the Ring of the Fisherman, on the 12th day of September 1625, in the third year of his pontificate. In it he is perpetually called Saint Conrad, the title of Saint given to him and it is decreed that concerning the same St. Conrad, on the day of his feast, all and each of the religious of the Order of Friars Minor of St. Francis, wherever they may be, may freely and lawfully recite the Office under the rite of a semi-double of the common of one Confessor not a Bishop, according to the Rubrics of the Roman Breviary. Arthur of the Monastery observes that his Lessons for the second Nocturn (which has befallen no other of the Blessed of the same Seraphic institute) are proper, from the Ordinary of the Saints of the Church of Piacenza itself. In the Proper Offices of the Order of Friars Minor, published for the 19th of February, it is noted: "On the feast of St. Conrad, Confessor, of Piacenza. Semi-double." Then the prayer "Adesto" is added, and the proper Lessons of the second nocturn.

[21] And indeed long before the pontificate of Urban VIII, images with the appended title of "Saint" existed everywhere in Sicily, nor could the people's devotion toward him be restrained as had long been the case in Sicily so as to be content with the appellation of "Blessed." And the connivance of the Apostolic See was added, as Petromaria writes in chapter 15, chapels and altars erected to him where he enumerates a great many churches, chapels, and altars erected under his name, not only at Noto and in the surrounding region, but also at Syracuse, in the fortress of the promontory of Pachynus, which is now called Capo Passaro, likewise at Catania, images everywhere Palermo, Agrigento, and in other cities. In the territory of Noto, moreover, there is scarcely a church, scarcely a house in the city itself, where some image of him is not to be seen. Indulgences for his feast Indulgences also were granted by Clement VIII and Paul V at various times in honor of Bl. Conrad to the people of Noto, Syracuse, and Palermo, as the same Campo records in chapter 15.

[22] With what joy and splendor both his solemnities are celebrated at Noto, he describes at length in chapter 16: what concourse of peoples takes place there, celebrated with immense joy what is the magnificence, piety, and order of the procession, what the cheerfulness of the citizens throughout the eight days, what the sound of musical instruments, what the abundance of flowers at the crossroads, the fires by night, the incense in the churches, and the other tokens of religious joy. He adds this, which I do not know whether it is practiced elsewhere: throughout the entire month in which each celebration falls -- namely February and August -- the bells of the entire city are rung every day at the second hour of the night, and meanwhile various cannons are discharged, to excite public piety and joy.

Section IV. The celebration of Bl. Conrad at Piacenza. His relics there and elsewhere.

[23] The honors due to the citizens of heaven are also paid to Bl. Conrad at Piacenza, his native city, though later than where he had died. Claudius Rangonius, Bishop of Piacenza, moved by the fame of the things being done in Sicily, Piacenza also honors him with an ecclesiastical office obtained from Pope Paul V that it might be lawful for the people of Piacenza to venerate their fellow citizen with an annual celebration, with a proper office, which the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved. When the Magistrates of Noto, unaware of this, nevertheless sought to propagate the honors of their Patron elsewhere, and especially in the place from which he had once come to them, they sent Vincent Littara's Conradiad on November 8th of the year 1610 to the Senate of Piacenza, and to Ranuccio Farnese the Duke, as well as to the Bishop. The three letters were delivered belatedly, in the month of April of the following year. Campo recites them, along with the most gracious replies written by the Duke on the last day of April, by Bishop Rangonius on the 11th day of May, and by the Magistrate on the 14th. Then images of Bl. Conrad were eagerly painted in colors and engraved in copper there, with images, altars altars and chapels were erected in his name. Petromaria commemorates these at the end of the last chapter, saying that he was then stimulated to publish the Life of Bl. Conrad.

[24] At the same time a magnificent chapel began to be built in the Cathedral basilica, which, when Campo published his history, was not yet completed. A nobleman born of the same stock as Conrad, John Louis Confalonierius, a magnificent chapel undertook this pious work, making no small expenditures on it and other religious works of this kind. This circumstance served to inspire his kinsmen, both those living at Milan and those at Piacenza, to seek the decoration of Bl. Conrad, their clansman, with sacred honors. John Louis himself appeared to have obtained by divine providence, through the patronage of the Saint, that upon the death of his wife he should embrace an ecclesiastical way of life, and devote his whole mind entirely to piety, following in some measure in the footsteps of Conrad.

[25] Pope Paul V, as Roccus Pirrus writes in volume 2, page 215, to which the Pontiff granted indulgences on January 13, 1614, granted an indulgence to those who should visit the Cathedral Church of Piacenza and the chapel of St. Conrad situated therein (which we mentioned) on the feast day of the same saint. There also, as the same author Pirrus reports, the hand and part of the arm of the same St. Conrad, which was preserved at Noto in silver cases, some relics sent there is venerated with the greatest piety. This sacred gift, with the permission of the Pope, was distributed by the Senate of Noto in the year of Salvation 1616 to the most serene Prince, the Duke of Parma.

[26] For at Noto the arm and hand had long since been detached from the body. Pirrus himself so testifies on page 181: "Dalmatius, Bishop of Syracuse," he says, "by Apostolic authority, with great devotion and piety, opened the sacred tomb of Bl. Conrad, at Noto the arm and hand were formerly enclosed in a silver case and found the sacred body intact and uninjured in every part after 134 years from the day of his death, and suffused with a great sweetness of heavenly fragrance. Then he permitted Antonio Caruso, Lord of the town of Spaccaforno, to enclose the entire arm with the hand of the same Saint in silver cases, for the Church of Noto, as it is still seen." Littara narrates this somewhat more precisely in his work on the affairs of Noto, page 129, in the following manner: "In this same year, 1485, Antonio Caruso, Lord of the Inspica estate, son of Nicolo and grandson of Antonio, who flourished under Alfonso, one freed from kidney pains immediately recovered from kidney pain through the touch of St. Conrad's arm, when the priest Antonio Mineo applied the relics to the afflicted area. Wherefore, having obtained his health, to the joyful acclaim of all, he ordered the arm and hand, as they are seen today, to be enclosed in silver cases. These things we have gathered from the documents of the greater Church." Thus far Littara.

[27] Hence above in Section 2, number 12, it was related from the acts drawn up by James Humana, Bishop of Scutari, that when he opened the chest in which the body of Bl. Conrad had been deposited in the year 1515, he found that the head and one arm were missing from it. This arm, namely, had previously been enclosed separately in a silver case. The head, however, is said to be preserved at Molfetta in Apulia, the head at Molfetta set upon a silver bust. So the above-cited Pirrus: "In Apulia also, in the city of Molfetta, he is magnificently venerated under the title of Tutelary and Protector. Nor does he enjoy this title in vain, since he once freed the city from the incursion of French enemies, appearing upon the walls, and has often sent copious rain to those suffering from a shortage of water. There the sacred head, brought there by stealth, is held in great veneration." Other writers report the same things. or perhaps of another St. Conrad But there are those who write that it is not this Conrad of Noto who is venerated there, but another, a Frenchman by nationality, who is said to have led an anchoritic life in the same region. We have not yet seen any documents from Molfetta from which we could determine anything with certainty.

[28] At Avola also, or Avula (a town distinguished by the title of Marquisate under the dominion of the Duke of Terranova, called Hybla by Littara and others, at Avola, a chapel with relics as we shall say below), there is a chapel under the title of St. Conrad within the church of St. John, as Campo reports. A confraternity of laymen has been established there, who carry a statue of the Saint and some relics in procession on his solemn day, when very many miracles usually occur, especially in the cure of the herniated. Those who are still of such a tender age that they cannot follow the procession on foot are carried, at which miracles occur seated on another bier behind that statue, until they obtain the health they seek -- as we shall presently say happens also at Noto.

[29] "At Palermo also," says Pirrus, "in the chapel of the confraternity of St. Conrad, relics at Palermo in the little church of St. Mary of the Angels of the Observant Friars Minor, and in my own possession, notable relics from the arm of the same saint are venerated, which the Marquis of Villena, Viceroy of Sicily, having obtained faculty from the Supreme Pontiff, transferred and distributed." So says Pirrus. But Petromaria Campo in chapter 15, page 126, writes that at Palermo, in the quarter called "della Calza," in the street called Vetrera, there is to be seen a fine church of St. Conrad, and that a confraternity of laymen has been established in it, who are called the Knights of the Cross of St. Conrad. By these the relics of St. Conrad are carried about with great splendor and devotion, brought there in the year 1608 and not rare miracles occur through them. The same author, on page 137, writes that the Viceroy who brought those relics to Palermo, when he had come to Noto, ordered the sacred chest of relics to be opened for him, from which once again a most sweet odor was exhaled. Then by his authority he took for himself some relics from it, asserting that this had been granted to him by the Supreme Pontiff. Part of those relics he gave to the aforesaid confraternity at Palermo, and part he carried off to Spain. Because of such losses, the chest is not rashly brought out, much less unsealed, unless perhaps some Prince of great name should request it; but then careful guard is kept, lest anything be pilfered.

[30] The chest is of pure silver, of a length sufficient to contain the body of a tall man (such as Conrad was), At Noto the body is carried in procession in a great silver chest wrought with remarkable craftsmanship, with statues of the twelve Apostles arranged along its sides. Priests clad in sacred vestments carry it in procession; the Magistrates and other illustrious men follow, holding torches in their hands. Behind comes another bier, or elongated wooden structure, splendidly decorated and divided into three tiers. In the middle of these stands a small column, atop which is set the arm of Bl. Conrad in a silver case, and other relics separately together with the Saint's staff and his rosary beads. Around the tiers sit the sick, especially boys suffering from hernia, in such numbers that sometimes forty men or even more are needed to carry the structure. The herniated boys are first carefully examined by physicians, lest there be any room for fraud. Since the procession is interrupted at certain stations -- either by entering churches or by pausing at houses which the familiars of Bl. Conrad once inhabited -- wherever the bier becomes so heavy that it cannot be moved from the spot, then several boys are removed from it, overcome by a sweet slumber as proof of their recovered health. innumerable persons are then healed Other sick persons too, as they approach closer to the sacred chest, having obtained their desired health, burst into thanksgiving. The confidence of others is excited by this outcome. New sick boys are continually presented by their parents and placed upon the structure, with equal success, so that on that day and the seven following, sometimes a hundred are restored to health.

Section V. Some illustrious miracles of Bl. Conrad.

[31] Who then could recount all the miracles which, as has been said, occur almost without number? Campo briefly touches upon some in passing, which it would scarcely be worthwhile to pursue at such length. Three, however, we have judged should by no means be omitted. The first occurred in the month of February 1612. There was at Noto, in the convent of Mons Virginis, of the Cistercian order, a nun named Lucia, two demoniacs freed at his relics daughter of the Baroness Formica, granddaughter of Dalmatius, the Royal Secretary of Syracuse (so they call the King's Treasurer), who for a year had been cruelly tormented by an evil demon residing in her. One day the demon declared through the girl's mouth that he did not fear being driven out from there, unless perhaps by the old man of Piacenza, Conrad the Hermit. Friends implored the Bishop of Syracuse either to grant the nun permission to go to the tomb of Bl. Conrad in the church of St. Nicholas, or to allow his relics to be brought to her. For some years before, a certain matron, when she had come from Calabria to Noto, had been freed from many evil spirits. The Bishop granted neither request, urging them to wait for the February solemnity, which was not far off, since on that occasion the sacred chest would be brought as usual into the parish and religious churches -- whereas in the month of August, because of the intense heat, it is carried only to the church of the Holy Crucifix. When therefore on the 19th of February the sacred chest was brought into the church of the said nuns, the demon began to shriek and rage in a horrible manner and to vomit curses against Bl. Conrad; but as Mariano Laurentius, a Canon, and Peter Sero, the Confessor of the monastery, assailed him with sacred exorcisms and repeated the name of St. Conrad, the demon dashed her to the ground and left her half-dead. Shortly afterward she rose up free and whole, and gave thanks to God and to her Savior, St. Conrad.

[32] Not many years before, a certain Neapolitan had come to Noto, begging alms from door to door for his sustenance, a beggar suffering from an enormous hernia but pressed by so enormous a hernia that his intestines hung down to the very ground, so that he was forced to hold them up with a huge mule's girth tied around his neck, not without great pain and difficulty in walking. A certain Priest, when he was not far from the basilica of St. Nicholas, which he was then serving, caught sight of that wretched man and, moved by compassion, said: "Come, enter this church with me and with firm faith invoke St. Conrad, whose remains are preserved here, renowned for very many miracles, and especially for the cure of the affliction from which you suffer." He, having drawn a great measure of confidence, approached the altar of the Saint, took oil from one of the lamps hanging before it, anointed the afflicted parts with it, and at the same time with the most fervent prayers and copious tears besought St. Conrad for no small space of time to obtain health for him from God. Suddenly, relieved of all his affliction, he cried out in a loud voice: "Mercy, mercy!" Those who were in the sacristy with the Priest, the author of this salutary counsel, roused by his cry, hurried over and found the man healed. They gave thanks to God and to the Saint. When the report spread through the city and the matter was verified, the bells were rung and cannons were discharged as a sign of joy.

[33] The last prodigy is of value both for inspiring terror and for building confidence. There is to be seen at Noto, in the street of the Tailors, a most ancient image of St. Conrad, which is believed to represent his living features quite aptly, a gambler takes away the lamp lit before his image formed on a wall beside the workshop of the man whose son he had once healed of hernia by the sign of the Cross, as is narrated in the Life, chapter 2, number 9. Before that image a lamp burned by night. Now when not far from there, among the public watchmen, a Spaniard, gambling by night with a certain fellow soldier, saw fortune favoring him but the candle nearly consumed, and could find no shop open from which to buy another, yet greedy to continue his winning, he darted to the lamp we have mentioned and tore it away, adding impious words to his sacrilegious deed: "What," he said, "does this old man need with a light burning now? He will see just as much without it as he sees at present." So he carried off the lamp and brought it to the guardhouse and continued his game. But divine power soon made him atone for this crime with a heavy penalty, and taught others through him how great a reverence is owed not only to God's own name but also to the images of the Saints. soon punished with a dangerous hernia First the fortune of the game turned, and he lost not only what he had won but whatever money he had previously had in his purse. Then, returning home, he threw himself upon his bed to take his rest. But in the middle of his sleep his groin ruptured with such violence and pain that he not only woke up but, as the affliction grew worse by the moment, believed death was upon him. Friends and neighbors, aroused, came running to the man. Among them a simple old woman said: "Implore the aid of St. Conrad." "Who," said the soldier, "is this Conrad?" "The Protector," she said, "of our city, renowned for very many miracles, especially in curing the affliction which you now suffer. In the principal basilica of the city his body is preserved. His is also that image of the aged hermit which I imagine you have often seen, in the street of the Tailors, before which a lamp is customarily lit at night. healed by his help If you devoutly invoke him, you will obtain the desired remedy." The man perceived why this wound had been inflicted on him by God. He prayed to the Saint with the greatest humility for pardon for the injury he had done to his image that night; he added vows, and recovered complete health. and thereafter he honors him diligently Thereafter he was an outstanding devotee of St. Conrad, and as long as he was stationed at Noto he frequently visited the image of the Saint to whom he had done injury, honored it with flowers and candles, swept the area before it, and would not allow any uncleanness to be there, or anything that might otherwise obstruct those who came to see and venerate the image. And let these things, drawn from the more prolix history of Petromaria Campo, suffice.

LIFE

by the author Vincent Littara.

Conrad the Hermit, at Noto in Sicily, and at Piacenza in Italy (Bl.)

By the author Vincent Littara.

THE AUTHOR'S DEDICATORY EPISTLE.

Vincent Littara, to the illustrious man Charles Iavanti, Lord of the fiefs of Buxello, Saccollino, Ciarramio, and Plana, sends greetings.

That a religious piety is innate in all souls -- one which teaches both to worship God above all things to Charles Iavanti and to venerate those Saints who have attained the glory of God -- the greatest Philosophers and Theologians have taught. This piety, moreover, among the other kinds of your virtues, has so firmly established itself in you that it has produced the most evident effects of a devout heart. For (to omit other things) in cultivating the solemnity of our Patron, Bl. Conrad, you have always shown yourself so dutiful, a pious man and you still labor so for his celebration, that you have gained for yourself not only popular esteem (which is indeed a common thing, though also a duty owed to virtue) but also the most efficacious patronage of the Saints, which we hope will benefit you both in the prosperity of your fortunes and in the enjoyment of the highest good. Among other things, moreover, he sought a Latin epitome of the life of St. Conrad that pertain to honoring the memory of St. Conrad, it has been your concern that his entire history be committed to Latin letters in a very brief compendium, so that when needed it might be read through without weariness by all, especially by preachers. For although many small works have been published on this subject, none has yet appeared that, in both elegance of language and brevity of style, would be considered worthy of so great a man. Wherefore I, having long desired to serve you, and though I do not trust that I have equally achieved the first quality, nevertheless I believe I have attained the second to the best of my ability. For I have brought it about that the desired handbook should be available, so that I might summarize all the deeds of Conrad, taken from the most faithful exemplars, in the Roman language and in a moderate style of writing -- indeed prepared to produce a greater and ^a heroic work, if both your approval should concur and the aid of St. Conrad should cut down all the obstacles of the wicked. the Author dedicates Accept therefore now this little gift of your Littara, more fittingly dedicated to none other than to you, by whose favor it was composed -- a most certain token of my regard for you and of your piety toward the Patron of the people of Noto. Farewell, Palermo, the Kalends of August.

CHAPTER I.

The occasion of St. Conrad's conversion, his withdrawal from the world, his journey to Sicily.

[1] Conrad, a knight of Piacenza, noble by birth, having been stripped of his earthly wealth on account of hunting, in which he took a wondrous delight, applied all his effort to acquiring heavenly riches. For it happened Conrad the hunter that, having pursued wild beasts with a great array of equipment, because they fled unharmed into woods and thickets choked with brambles, he could not at any point achieve his desire. He therefore ordered the place to be opened up with fire. he sets fire to the lairs of the beasts, with great damage But the fire, from small beginnings, grew into so great a conflagration by the force of the winds that, spreading farther than could be extinguished at will, it consumed everything. They returned to the city secretly and in fear; and not long after, the report of the burned forests followed.

[2] Those to whom the damage had been done begged the Governor of the city for soldiers by whom the discovered author of the fire might be thrown into chains. They found no one but a lowly man of the common people, whom they happened upon by chance. They rebuked him, seized the trembling man, and charged the one already struck dumb with fear with the crime of starting the fire. a certain man condemned to death on this account Brought to trial, he confessed to the crime of which he was innocent, either from sheer wickedness or from some other cause. Without delay, condemned to the gibbet, he was being dragged to execution.

[3] But God, who does not fail the just, pricked Conrad's conscience. Hearing the unfortunate man's fate, he frees him he boldly freed him from the hands of the executioners, kept him in his house, and dismissed the lictors, telling them that a fault committed by another's misfortune was not to be expiated by the death of an innocent man. and confesses his own deed Summoned also by the Emperor's Vicar, he voluntarily confessed the same, asserting that it was not by deceit but by the desire for hunting that he had fallen into such an unexpected misfortune. And he conducted himself so aptly and wisely in his speech that they pardoned what he had sinned through imprudence, and admitted his promise that he would make satisfaction for the damage inflicted. This was also pleasing to all the people, to whom he was most dear by reason of his virtues. and repairs the damages Then he disclosed his plan to his wife, a woman worthy of such a husband, who willingly offered even her own dowry to repair the losses of the people. The next day, therefore, he paid everyone in full.

[4] Not long after, having considered the vanity of the world, he resolved to devote himself entirely to the service of God (which is the singular privilege of Christians). He therefore begged his wife that he might be allowed to carry out his conceived piety. She, being as pious as her husband, having professed the religious rule of ^d nuns with his consent, his wife imitating him and having distributed their remaining goods between what had been damaged and the monastery, sent her husband forth with a brave heart. Departing by night, alone and poor, he left behind his country and his kindred; and was received into ^e a certain place where pious men devoted themselves apart from the pomp of the world to divine worship. There, he leaves the world clothed in the habit of the Religious who are called Tertiaries of St. Francis, he was imbued with ^f the most holy precepts of life.

[5] Leaving that place, however, on account of its proximity to his homeland, he goes to Rome he made his way to ^g Rome, visited ^h the sacred churches. Departing thence, he arrived at ⁱ Palermo on a Ligurian ship. There, learning of the uprightness of the Sicilians, he heard that the peoples of the Noto Valley and the citizens of Noto surpassed all others in both piety and charity. thence to Sicily He therefore went there; but at the very boundary of Noto's territory, having passed by ^k Palazzolo, he experienced things contrary to what he had heard. ill-treated by shepherds For, weary from the toil of the journey, he hoped to find refreshment in a nearby sheepfold. ^l But the rustic and brutal impiety of the shepherds took the man's arrival badly. Wherefore, yielding to the insult, he turned aside from the place; and although they set their dogs upon him, he nonetheless ^m reached Noto unharmed.

[6] Lodged in the hospice of St. Martin, he begged for alms, until, through the assistance of Giovanni Meneo, desiring to rest apart from the crowd, he was commended to Guglielmo Buccherio. At Noto he lives with a pious man This man had indeed been of robust strength, as later he was of wonderful sanctity; and while bearing aid to Frederick, ⁿ King of the Sicilians, whose horse was being attacked by a boar, he was struck by the tusked beast and fell twice, nearly lifeless. At length, treated generously by the King, who promised him everything, he obtained some small houses at the upper entrance to the city of Noto, in which he gladly received pilgrims. Here Conrad dwelt for some years, pleasant to all, though hateful to certain inflated persons. hateful to some For Peter, the son of Guglielmo, whose sole act of piety was that he fed and visited his crippled father, bore it ill that his father, captivated by the most sweet conversation of Conrad, would spend time at the guest's lodging. ^o

CHAPTER II.

The solitary life, miracles, and temptations overcome by Bl. Conrad.

[7] Since the frequent company of men distracted him from his prayers, he asked his intimates Nicolo Vassallo and Bartolo Longo he withdraws to a hill to show him, if they knew of any wilderness far from the city, where it was. They pointed out ^a certain hills, which is called the Hill of St. Conrad which now bear the name of St. Conrad, although, unaware of his intention, they murmured among themselves. Wherefore, reluctantly released by Guglielmo, he made his way straight to the place with no one going before him. From there he scarcely ever departed, except for want of food. ^b

[8] There he was exercised with fasting, prayers, and other perfections of the monastic life. He slept on the ground and sustained his life now with bread alone, now with herbs alone. he lives austerely He resolved at some point to come into the city every Friday to adore ^c the Crucifix, whose image is most celebrated among the people of Noto. When he first did this, he was received at lunch by Antonio Sessa. But during their conversation Antonio was seized by ^d a most bitter pain in his side; he heals pleurisy by his prayers yet by the prayers of his pious guest he was relieved of its severity. Then, content with greens alone, he refused the rest.

[9] And departing thence, near ^e the Malfitania, a place once frequented by tailors, he found a friend whose infant was suffering from hernia. Asked to visit him, he did so and healed him by the sign of the Cross. he heals hernia by the sign of the Cross And with the miracle still unknown, he entered the church of St. Nicholas, and soon returned to his dwelling, although the father of the healed boy called out after him to give thanks.

[10] Nor were other things lacking by which the man's sanctity might shine forth more and more. ^f Bartolo sent him two wine vessels. But the drunken servant hid one for himself he reveals things absent and future and gave the other to Conrad. He, aware of the fraud, reproved the man and warned him of an impending danger: for a snake, coiled around the mouth of the vessel, would have bitten the youth had he not been forewarned and repelled it with a stick. This man was the witness and messenger of so great a matter.

[11] A certain man had gone out under a clear sky to visit him; he rescues a man from a divinely perceived danger yet during the journey a cruel storm arose, so that the cloudy sky thundered with rain and lightning. He took refuge in a cave and, wearied by his cares, fell asleep. Meanwhile it was revealed to Conrad that the man would perish from a bolt from heaven. Wherefore, having prayed to God for mercy, he went to the place, roused the man still sleeping, ^g warned him of what had happened, and sent him home unharmed.

[12] he frees a boy led to a precipice by a demon Lawrence Cardo charged his son to carry certain vegetables to Bl. Conrad. The enemy of the human race, jealous, caught sight of the boy and offered himself as guide to the man of God; but, as is his custom, having led him onto a high and precipitous cliff, he abandoned him and vanished. But when the boy implored heavenly aid, Conrad, divinely admonished, was at hand, and consoling the youth from the other side of the deepest valley, soon drew him out from that dreadful precipice and loaded him with holy precepts.

[13] He bravely overcame frequent ^h carnal temptations from the devil through the mortification of the body and constant prayer. he overcomes temptations of the flesh He also admirably overcame frequent blandishments of gluttony and enticements to eat lavish foods. ⁱ For when he was most ardently tempted by a craving for pork, a fat hen, and cheese pie, and of gluttony he so eluded the enemy's assaults that he would not touch the little gifts obtained from friends until, long left aside and swarming with worms, his very senses recoiled from them; whence that insane hunger was most easily driven away.

[14] When the early figs were ripening, he ceaselessly desired to taste the fruit of his own hands; therefore, to subdue his appetite, having removed his tunic, for these he rolls in thorns he rolled his bare limbs for so long in thorns and brambles until, with blood flowing, the fever of eating cooled down. When the devil saw this to be beyond his expectation, he openly assailed the blessed man with insults and abuse. But he, having conquered the contests, gave thanks to God, the author of his victory. Meanwhile Peter Buccherio, Guglielmo's son, ^k was seized with a chilling fever and, sent by his father to Conrad, was restored to his former health.

[15] he heals fevers; he knows things happening at a distance Once he asked his old friend Nicolo Vassallo for a form of cheese, which he ordered to be carried by his son, who, being the first godchild of Bl. Conrad in baptism, was called Conrad among the people of Noto. Although the wife had resisted, refusing to send the whole cheese. When Conrad the younger found Conrad the elder, he prevents quarrels the holy old man sent back the halved cheese because it was given against the mother's will, although the boy denied it; for he showed that he had foreknown whatever quarrel had arisen between the parents.

[16] In very many things it was evident that he possessed both the grace of healing and a prophetic spirit. he foretells many things Invited by a friend to lunch, he declined, both because he did not seek earthly fare and because the fish purchased for this occasion had been stolen by a cat. When the friend did not believe this, upon returning he was met with the scolding of his angry wife, and found the matter to be true exactly as he had heard.

CHAPTER III.

Various predictions of Bl. Conrad, and other miracles. The wicked punished. Grain obtained from heaven.

[17] The fame of Bl. Conrad -- his holy manner of life and the renown of his miracles -- was brought to ^a the Bishop of Syracuse. He is visited by the Bishop He, eager to learn the truth of the matter more certainly, came to Noto, went to the hermitage, admired the cave devoid of all furnishing, and soon encountered the Hermit himself, who prostrated himself at the Bishop's feet and received his blessing. Invited to supper by the Bishop, he ran ahead to his cell and brought four warm, white cakes, he receives food from heaven a thing wondrous to all. The Bishop, recognizing the man's sanctity and eloquence, joyfully returned to Syracuse and proclaimed the man's illustrious virtues.

[18] Already the sanctity of so great a Hermit had pervaded all of Sicily. When certain very wicked men mocked this, they resolved to deceive the man, namely by inviting him with the promise of fish but placing forbidden meat before him on a Friday. to confound his mockers The opportunity to carry out the plan presented itself when Conrad visited the church of the Crucifix according to his custom. They were all there ready, and with feigned expressions making a show of piety, they asked him to dine with them. The Blessed man, aware of the fraud, consented in words. Then they served roasted piglets at table and ate nothing else themselves. meats are turned into fish for him And while they either blamed the man's wickedness or mocked his simplicity, they revealed their impious designs -- that so great a man had eaten pork on a Friday. The Hermit denied it and declared that he had received the fish with which he had been invited. In proof of this, he uncovered the bones, thorns, and scales deliberately hidden under the tablecloth, and rebuked the men for their impudence. Returning to his cave, he kissed the hands of a farmer he met on the way and taught the man, who asked for instruction, to recite the Our Father and the Hail Mary frequently.

[19] After this he was assailed with insults by certain most wicked hunters and beaten with rods. But having prayed to God for mercy, beaten with rods he cheerfully distributed to each of his assailants bread prepared by the ministry of Angels. he gives his assailants bread brought from heaven They, marveling at the novelty of the thing, fled with silent step lest the injury they had inflicted become known. But the report of so great an outrage had preceded them; the matter was brought to the Magistrate, and when the perpetrators of the crime had been thrown into chains, Conrad, questioned, acknowledged the event but testified that he did not recognize the wrongdoers, and excuses them before the Judge since he saw them changed both in garb and in spirit. Nevertheless, though they were acquitted by temporal justice, eternal punishments were exacted from them; for they perished most wretchedly.

[20] The same man, having gone to Syracuse to the Bishop, was surrounded ^b near the palace by a great many small birds, he is honored by birds which seemed in a way to be congratulating the blessed man on his arrival. When this was reported by servants, the Bishop came down and received Conrad honorably. he confesses to the Bishop Conrad, having confessed whatever faults he had to the Pontiff, returned to his hermitage not long after.

[21] Then near ^c Hybla, leaning against the wall of a sheepfold, he was likewise greeted by birds. A certain traveler, seeing this, wished to learn the man's name and way of life. Having most gladly received this information, he reported it to his fellow citizens of Hybla, among whom his name also enjoyed great renown, he is honored by the people of Hybla and Noto as indeed it did among the people of Noto. So great was the throng whenever the Hermit came to the city, and especially to the church of the Apostle St. Peter to visit his Confessor, that he had to come secretly to avoid the crowd.

[22] It happened that as he was tending to a stone carved out in his cave, where he was arranging a place in the manner of an altar for the image of the Crucifix, he summoned neighbors to help remove it. They, having offered their labor, were dismayed by the mass of the stone, which exceeded their strength. he easily moves a huge stone But Conrad, trusting in God, encouraged the men. He himself took one side, placed his helpers on the other sides, and then they drew out the stone, which proved lighter than expected. he receives bread from heaven As soon as they had left the cave, where they had left nothing shortly before, he brought out as many sweet and still-warm loaves of bread as would suffice for each of them. Moved by both miracles, they blessed the Lord.

[23] One of these men offered himself to Conrad as both a companion and disciple. Conrad, having set forth the difficulty of the undertaking, tested the man's resolve; when he found it firm, he wished him to be clothed in the Hermit's habit, and for two years found him energetic and obedient. he foretells the future to a departing disciple But the enemy of human salvation, burning with innate envy, so kindled the young man's passions that he confessed himself too weak and unfit to resist. Despairing of perseverance, he disclosed to Conrad his intention to leave the hermitage, being inflamed with the desire to take a wife. Although the holy man tried to deter him from that obscene thought with frequent and serious admonitions, he could not dissuade the cowardly man from his purpose. At last, dismissed without hope, three imminent dangers were foretold to him: that he would be bitten by a snake lurking in his shoe, that he would face a most evident risk of death in combat, and that he would face the same by falling from an inverted spear. Deafer than the sea, he returned to his vomit and is said to have ended his life with a most unhappy death.

[24] A most bitter famine had invaded Sicily, otherwise the parent of crops, in famine he wondrously feeds the poor so that wretched mortals, consumed by starvation, displayed the appearance of death before their eyes. Some fled to St. Conrad, by whom they were most generously received and fed with ^d heavenly bread. Then others in turn followed the same course of refreshment, and each was satisfied by bread created through divine grace.

[25] The prophet beloved of God perceived that ^e a certain young man was held in mortal sin and was about to undergo a most certain danger to his life. he knows hidden and future things He went to the father, who was laboring on his threshing floor, and charged him to admonish his son to be cleansed from a certain stain by sacramental confession. When the son had done this, returning to his father's threshing floor, he recognized in what great danger he had been held; for when a sudden tempest arose and a bolt of lightning fell from heaven nearby, he collapsed nearly lifeless. Conrad, foreknowing the matter, was present while the rains still hung in the air, consoled his friends, and deterred them from mortal sins. They recognized that the young man's life had been preserved by the prayers of the holy Hermit and gave thanks to God.

CHAPTER IV.

The death, burial, and veneration of Bl. Conrad.

[26] The longed-for day was now at hand on which, after so many victories, he would be called to the palm of heavenly glory. Admonished of the time by a divine oracle, he foretells his death he went to Noto to his Confessor, was refreshed by the sacrament of the Eucharist, and earnestly begged that pious Priest to come to his hermitage on the day after the morrow. When the Priest had done so, Conrad disclosed the approaching hour of his passing, predicted that both the people of Noto and those of Hybla would contend with arms over the possession of his body, and other things and that no harm was to come of it; and he said that he wished to be buried in the church of St. Nicholas. That man, most devoted to Conrad, could not contain his tears; and while he wept over the loss of so great a man, Conrad, seized with fever, knelt on bare knees before the Crucifix, commended himself and his people of Noto to the Lord, he dies in heavenly light and then, with a wondrous splendor illuminating the place, he gave his soul back to God. The Priest, terrified by the radiance, looked upon Conrad, still standing on bended knee, so that he believed him to be alive; but when he saw he was dead, he was tormented by a heavier grief.

[27] God willed that this should become known to the pious peoples in a wondrous manner. For the bells at both Noto and Hybla, with no one striking them, all rang so loudly and forcefully that the people anxiously sought out the cause of this novelty. the bells ring of their own accord They went to the dwelling of Guglielmo, whom, on account of his holy manner of life, all held dear and believed to be dead. But he directed them instead to inquire about Bl. Conrad. Immediately they flew there armed, and finding him still on bended knee as if praying, they thought he could be most easily carried away; yet they could not move him from the spot. The holy man's Confessor was present, and by him Conrad was placed in a chest, so that he might be borne more honorably. But behold, the people of Hybla arrived, and with overbold audacity they tried to snatch that most precious burden from the hands of the people of Noto. after a battle Both sides joined hands, and the fight was most fierce; yet such was Conrad's protection that no one was killed or wounded. Indeed, the weapons that had been thrown they found put back in their quivers.

[28] When they saw this miracle, the people of Noto, with whom the sacred deposit had always rested, announced, the body falls to the people of Noto now certain of the divine will, that four men from each of the two peoples should try to lift the chest from the ground -- the people of Hybla first -- and if they could, the others should yield; but if not, they themselves should try. The people of Hybla accepted the condition, yet were unable to lift the chest from the ground. The people of Noto succeeded, to whom the precious weight seemed so light that they set out for Noto cheerfully and without any hindrance.

[29] When they had entered the city, some were pleased that the body should be deposited in the church of St. Mary of the Castle, which now bears the name of the Crucifix; but while they tried to bring it in there, they lost all their effort. he is buried at St. Nicholas Wherefore Conrad's Confessor disclosed the Saint's wish: that he be carried to the church of St. Nicholas, which was the greater church, or at least was so at that time. And he was borne there most easily by two men, while the rest accompanied the funeral most honorably. illustrated by miracles So great was the piety and throng of people, and the grace of the Blessed one, that very many who were sick -- those with hernia, the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute, and those afflicted with other kinds of diseases -- were restored to health. All these things the Quattuorviri took care to have committed to writing by trustworthy ^a commissioners, for the memory of posterity.

[30] Finally, Leo X, in the third year of his pontificate, granted to the people of Noto that the relics of Bl. Conrad might be venerated, adored, and carried in procession through the city. he is publicly venerated Whence in the year of salvation 1516, the first solemnity of Conrad was begun. ^b James Humana of Noto, Bishop of Scutari, who was present at the rescript of the Apostolic See, collected the many miracles of that day. Paul III also granted that the feast of St. Conrad might be celebrated and venerated even outside the city of Noto and the diocese of Syracuse, in the manner of other Blessed ones whom the Church had not yet enrolled among the number of the Saints. The diploma was given at Rome in the year of salvation 1544, the 3rd day before the Kalends of November.

[31] Conrad was tall in stature, most elegant in appearance, magnanimous in aspect, grave and eloquent in speech. He yielded to nature on the 11th day before the Kalends of March in the year from Christ's birth 1351. his body is preserved in a silver chest His body, placed in a silver chest, is preserved at Noto in a most ornate tomb and chapel, where we daily experience the signs of divine power.