Laurentius Giustiniani

CONCERNING BLESSED LAURENTIUS GIUSTINIANI, FIRST PATRIARCH OF VENICE.

Year of Christ 1455.

Laurentius Justinianus, Patriarch of Venice (B.)

From various sources.

Section I. The Origin of the Congregation of St. George in Alga.

[1] There flourishes in many illustrious cities of Italy and Portugal ^a religious order of Secular Canons, called St. George in Alga by the Italians and St. John the Evangelist by the Portuguese; adorned with innumerable privileges by the Supreme Pontiffs; so amplified by Blessed Laurentius Justinianus that he may be considered its parent and author. Clement VIII, in the year of Christ 1602, in his constitution which begins "Quae ad Religiosorum," in order to remove an abuse introduced regarding ^a habit contrary to the ancient institute, prescribes that the Religious must everywhere and at all times wear ^a garment of sky-blue color, The habit of that congregation. called ^a "Pallanda," according to the constitutions of that same congregation and after the manner of the one which Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, the Institutor of that same Congregation, wore. He is also called the Founder of that Congregation by the same Clement VIII and Paul V, whose Briefs are cited by Daniel Rosa in the book entitled: "A Century of Testimonies of Supreme and Most Holy Pontiffs, Illustrious Men, and Pious Fathers, Concerning the Life, Sanctity, and Miracles of Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, Patriarch of Venice" (Venice, 1614). Since nothing is handed down about this foundation in his life, ^a few things must be stated here in advance.

[2] Alga, or Alega, is an island two thousand paces from Venice toward the west, not far from the Italian mainland. Here Blessed Laurentius, in the year of Christ 1400, at the age of 19, as below in the life at number 9, betook himself to his uncle Marinus, into the religious order of the collegiate Canons who are called St. George in Alga; The Church of St. George in Alga. at which time the church of St. George was still ^a monastery of the Augustinian institute, which in the year of Christ 1404, by the authority of Boniface IX, Ludovicus Barbo the Prior and two lay brothers, Honoratus the Venetian and Ludovicus the Florentine — who alone, and indeed having professed tacitly, were then living there as Religious — resigned into the hands of Angelo, Bishop of Kissamos, to whom Boniface IX had entrusted this matter. He, having maturely discussed the matter and with the consent of the Prior of the monastery, established in it ^a collegiate Church of secular Canons and Clerics living in common, who were then using the hospitality of the same Prior. The leader and author of that discipline for them was Antonio Corario, whom Paul Morigia writes had previously been ^a regular cleric of the Jesuati order, The beginning of the congregation. book 1, History of Religious Orders, chapter 43, from ^a very ancient codex of the Jesuati monastery at Venice, and others from him. Gabriel Condulmerius was his helper and minister of excellent counsel. Silvester Maurolycus, book 5 of the Historical Ocean of Religious Orders, writes that this congregation was first begun in the house of Antonio Corario; then augmented in the episcopal palace of Angelo Corario, then Bishop of Venice: from which, when they had resolved to move to the monastery of St. Nicholas on the Lido, they were invited by Prior Ludovicus and went to the monastery of St. George in Alga. There were then present, already previously admitted into the fellowship of the same manner of life, Its first members. Stephanus Maurocenus, Franciscus Barbo of Venice, Matthaeus de Strada of Pavia, Romanus de Roduillo of Milan, Lucas Philippi of Este, Priests; Marinus Quirino, uncle of Blessed Laurentius, Michael Condulmerius, Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, Joannes de Pizzinardis, Simon de Persicis of Cremona, Hieronymus de Mussis of Pavia, Deacons; Augustinus de Gastaldis of Pavia, Angelus Serdonati of Culcitrano, Marcus Condulmerius, Dominicus Maurocenus of Venice, Subdeacons. To all of these the rights of the said Church were transferred, temporal possession of it was granted, and the form for electing the Rector General and other constitutions were prescribed. All of which were then confirmed by Gregory XII in the year of Christ 1407, in the constitution "Illis quae pro divini," in which the constitutions of Boniface IX and Bishop Angelo are fully reported. Another collegiate monastery soon followed, namely the Priory of St. Augustine, to which the Priory of SS. Firmus and Rusticus de Leonico, of the Order of St. Benedict, in the diocese of Vicenza, was canonically united. These were the beginnings of the congregation.

[3] Blessed Laurentius was initiated into the priesthood when his age permitted, and began to be called John out of humility, Blessed Laurentius, called John. so that he might be less known to the world, which he had utterly renounced in mind and in fact, as Daniel Rosa interprets. Not long after, upon the withdrawal of Gabriel Condulmerius, he was named Prior of the monastery of St. Augustine, in the year of Christ 1406, as is evident from the Apostolic letters of Gregory XII to the Bishop of Verona, which the same Rosa cites. He becomes Prior. Then Pope Gregory, uncle of Antonio Corario and uncle of Gabriel Condulmerius — both parents of this congregation, and each hardly to be torn from the other — summons them to himself; and makes Antonio his Chamberlain, and Gabriel ^a Clerk of the Chamber and Treasurer: soon he puts the former over the Church of Bologna, the latter over that of Siena. The Sienese resisted the Pontiff's decree for some time, denying that it was lawful for ^a foreigner to hold the supreme sacred office among them; but at length they were compelled to acquiesce. Then in the year 1408, on June 2, the Pontiff enrolled both in the number of Cardinals — Antonio (who was also Patriarch of Constantinople) with the title of St. Chrysogonus, Gabriel with that of St. Clement. The former was afterwards Bishop of Porto, Ostia, and Velletri; the latter eventually became Pope Eugenius IV. When Gregory had earlier ordered that from the revenues of the Priory of the monastery of St. Augustine three hundred gold pieces be paid annually to Gabriel, while he administered the office of Treasurer, for the support of his household, he, when he was created Cardinal, transferred these to Blessed Laurentius and his successors in perpetuity, in the year of Christ 1408, December 15.

Section II. The Generalate of Blessed Laurentius. Monasteries of the Order.

[4] In the year 1413, Blessed Laurentius was elected Prior General of the Congregation of St. George in Alga, Twice General of the Order. and again in the year 1421. Rosa reports the decree of both elections. He so administered that office and so adorned the congregation entrusted to him with the innocence of his life, the excellence of his doctrine, and his distinguished enactments, that he began to be considered its first founder, even though Antonio Corario and Gabriel Condulmerius deserved the credit for its beginning: "Not otherwise," says Paul Morigia, "than St. Bernard is venerated as the Patriarch of the Cistercian order, which, however, had begun before him under Blessed Robert." Morigia adds that the constitutions prescribed by Blessed Laurentius were received with the supreme consent of the entire order, He writes its rules. and approved by Eugenius IV and subsequent Pontiffs; and that from the observance of these the congregation, its fame having spread far and wide, was augmented with new collegiate monasteries and filled with not ^a few Canons conspicuous for the highest birth, learning, piety, dignity, and every virtue.

[5] Daniel Rosa writes that in the year 1592, in his Congregation (of which he was then the Rector General), he counted thirteen collegiate monasteries, Monasteries of the order. which made their profession according to the prescription of Pius V in the year 1569, under the Rule of St. Augustine. Three of these are in the Papal dominions: in Rome, St. Salvator de Lauro; in Rimini, St. Julian; in Bologna, St. Gregory. The remaining ten are in Venetian territory: St. George in Alga outside Venice, from which the rest derive their beginning and name; St. Mary of the Garden in the city of Venice; in Padua, St. Mary in Vantio and St. James on Monte Silice in the same diocese; in Vicenza, St. Roch and St. Augustine outside the city, and SS. Firmus and Rusticus in Leonico in the same diocese; in Verona, St. George in Braida and St. Angelo on the Mount; in Brescia, St. Peter. Another congregation of the same institute in Portugal, of St. John the Evangelist, is administered by ^a particular Rector General, who in the year 1593 was Michael of the Holy Spirit, under whom were these eight monasteries of that Congregation: St. John the Evangelist outside the walls of Lisbon, near the bank of the Tagus; St. Salvator of Villar de Frades in the diocese of Braga; St. Eligius at Lisbon in the royal citadel, the most elevated place in the city; St. Mary of Consolation in the city of Porto; St. John the Evangelist at Evora; St. Mary of the Assumption in the town of Arraiolos in the diocese of Evora; St. George of Raciano outside the walls of the city of Lamego; and (which was then being built) in the town of Feira in the diocese of Porto. One college of Theologians at Coimbra. Also two hospitals, one at Coimbra and the other in the town of Caldas da Rainha. Silvester Maurolycus in the Historical Ocean of Religious Orders says there are fourteen monasteries of this order in Portugal, and very many in Sicily, of which the principal one is St. James della Mezzara at Palermo. There are also certain other houses of the same order among the Ligurians and the people of Lombardy. But those who preside over the congregation take deliberate care lest the number grow too much, reckoning that in ^a great multitude of houses and men, it could more easily happen that something of the rigor of the original discipline would gradually be relaxed.

Section III. The Patriarchate of Venice.

[6] Blessed Laurentius is celebrated with the illustrious title of Proto-Patriarch of Venice. For besides the four ancient and primary Patriarchs — of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Jerusalem — there are other lesser ones, who either by the indulgence or institution of the Roman Pontiff, or by ancestral usurpation, retain the name of Patriarchs today. Of this number is the Patriarch of Aquileia, The Patriarch of Aquileia. formerly the Metropolitan of Istria and Venetia. Paul the Deacon mentions Paul, Patriarch of Aquileia, book 2, chapter 10, and Miraeus, book 1, Notice of Bishoprics, chapter 14. That even before the coming of the Lombards into Italy, he was called Patriarch by his own people, after the manner of the Greeks and Orientals, is shown by Augustinus Barbosa, book 1, Universal Ecclesiastical Law, chapter 6, number 41, and part 1, On the Office and Dignity of ^a Bishop, title 3, chapter 8, number 3. When Attila, King of the Huns — or certainly Alboin, King of the Lombards, more than ^a century later — took Aquileia, the Bishop of Aquileia fled to the island of Grado, and from one see two were made. Not yet in the age of Attila had they claimed for themselves the Patriarchal name: they began to do so ^a little before the coming of the Lombards. To Grado, whether then for the first time or following the example of his predecessors, Paul, or Paulinus, fled, and there met his end. Grado was then called The Gradensian. New Aquileia, as Leander Albertus testifies from others in his account of Friuli. After the See of Aquileia was restored, the Bishop of each Church began to be called Patriarch. But both by the tumults of wars and by the schism of those who engineered these things over the celebrated Three Chapters, as we shall show elsewhere, it happened that perhaps at first everything was done somewhat less legitimately, without the authority of the Apostolic See; which, however, the most prudent Pontiffs afterwards decided should be ratified, or at least not overturned, for the sake of peace. For Leo IX, Supreme Pontiff, in Epistle 2, declared Grado, the new Aquileia, to be held perpetually as the metropolis of all Venetia and Istria, and called its Bishop the Patriarch of New Aquileia, although this was five centuries later. Onuphrius in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle records Candidian as the first Patriarch of Grado in the year 611.

[7] At that time Venice did not yet have its own Bishop: to whom, around the year of Christ 777, the first was given by Pope Adrian, Bishop of Venice. concerning which Bernardus Justinianus writes thus in book 12 of his Venetian History: "A Synod was accordingly convened of the entire clergy and people, with the Doge and the Patriarch (of Grado) assisting, and the first Bishop created was Obeliatus (called by others Obelaltus Marinus), son of the Tribune Eneagrus Matheumacenus. The episcopal see was established on the island of Castellana, which was called Olivolus, whence the Bishop always retained the name 'Castellanus.'" Ursus Particiacus (or Participatius), who held that bishopric in the third place, erected the church which still stands, worthy of the city and its Bishop; he dedicated it to the most Blessed Apostle Peter. He is called Ursus Badoarius by Leander and others, and is counted as the fourth Bishop, created in the year 841. At length, the fifty-fourth Bishop of this Castellan or Olivolan see was Blessed Laurentius, installed on September 5 in the year 1433. Upon the death of Dominicus Michaelis, the last Patriarch of Grado, Blessed Laurentius, the first Patriarch of Venice. Pope Nicholas V, having transferred the dignity of the Church of Grado to the city of Venice, augmented him with the Patriarchal title; and having suppressed both titles, the Gradan and the Castellan, he created him the first Patriarch of Venice in the year 1451, on October 8. All the bishops of these three sees — Aquileia, Grado, and Venice — are recorded by Claudius Robertus in part 2 of the Appendix to his Gallia Christiana. In the Constitutions of the Canons of St. George in Alga, cited by Daniel Rosa, it is said that he so excelled in the Patriarchate in religion, learning, and holiness that, from the renown of this most holy man, it became the custom of the Venetians for many years to select their Pontiffs from the same religious order.

Section IV. Writers of the Life of Blessed Laurentius.

[8] When Blessed Laurentius departed this life on January 8 in the year of Christ 1455, By whom his life was written: his successor from the same Congregation of St. George in Alga was Maphaeus Contarenus; under whom, or certainly under his nearest successors, Bernardus Justinianus wrote the life of his uncle, Blessed Laurentius. This Bernardus served as ambassador of the Venetian Republic to Pope Sixtus IV in the year 1471. He also wrote the life of St. Mark the Evangelist, and on the translation of his body to Venice; then ^a history of the origin of Venice, which we have cited above, and this he did, as Jovius judges in his Eulogies of Learned Men, elegantly. On him one may consult Philippus Jacobus Bergomas in his Supplement to the Chronicle, year 1471; Trithemius in his Catalogue of Writers; Vossius, book 3, On Latin Historians; Daniel Rosa in the aforesaid Century; Antonius Stella, ^a Venetian Cleric, who composed his life, as cited by the same Rosa.

[9] This life of Blessed Laurentius, when Sixtus IV in the year 1474 ordered that the process of his canonization be undertaken, was printed at Venice on May 10 in the year 1475, and shortly after in Italian by Nicolaus Manerbius the Camaldolese: published many times: we have not seen these editions. We have, however, seen both editions published by Daniel Rosa in the Century of Testimonies; it was also prefixed to the works of Blessed Laurentius published together in folio at Basel by the Froben press in the year of Christ 1560, at Venice by Bartholomaeus de Albertis in 1606, at Cologne by the Quentel press in 1616, and finally at Lyon by Chevalier in the year 1628; it was also inserted in the Lives of the Saints, volume 1, on this day, by Laurentius Surius, and reported by Abraham Bzovius in volume 17 of the Ecclesiastical Annals; from all of which, carefully collated, we present it here. The same life, but in abridged form, was published by Franciscus Haraeus, Zacharias Lippelous, and Petrus Ribadineira in the Flower of the Saints, translated from Spanish into nearly all the languages of Europe; more briefly narrated. in Italian, besides the cited Manerbius, Paulus Morigia, and Silvester Maurolycus, by Joannes Petrus Maffaeus of the Society of Jesus in his book of lives of seventeen illustrious Confessors of Christ; and Gabriel Flamma in the first book of the Lives of Saints which he annotated. Shorter but not inelegant summaries of his life are found in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy by Philippus Ferrarius, in the Marian Fasti dedicated to the Duke of Bavaria, and in the Office of the same Blessed Laurentius, which by indult of Clement VIII is recited in the said congregations of St. George in Alga throughout Italy, and of St. John the Evangelist throughout Portugal, on this eighth of January and the following days; in which office the following Collect is read concerning him: "Grant, we beseech thee, almighty God, that we who rejoice in the merits of Blessed Laurentius, thy Confessor and Pontiff, may be instructed by his examples and teachings. Through our Lord." This office Paul V, having granted indulgences of three years, permitted them to recite on every Thursday not impeded by another feast.

[10] The memory of this same Blessed Laurentius is celebrated by very many writers everywhere, Testimonies of others concerning him. who from that time have either illuminated sacred history, Italy, or the Venetian Republic, or have interwoven his illustrious doctrine into their ascetical treatises and drawn from him ^a certain hidden spirit. Daniel Rosa enumerates ^a hundred of them. Omitting these, we shall give only some more recent miracles, described by the same author at the end of his work, together with the Bull of Clement VII by which he enrolled him among the Blessed in the year 1524, from which time his name has been inscribed in nearly all martyrologies. Molanus in his Additions to Usuard: "On the same day, Blessed Laurentius Justinianus." Galesinianus, Ferrarius, and the German martyrology say nearly the same thing. Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus, who saw the times of Blessed Laurentius, long ago wrote in Enneade 9 of the Universal Chronicle, book 9, that he was held among the number of the Blessed by posterity, Long since called Blessed, and in Enneade 10, book 2, that on account of the holiness of his life and certain miracles which occurred around him at his death, he was enrolled in the number of the Blessed. Raphael Volaterranus in Anthropology, book 21, records that certain men of probity among the Regular Canons of St. George in Alga at Venice undertook ^a manner of life under Gregory XII, whose leader was Laurentius Justinianus, ^a man of patrician birth, numbered among the Blessed, who dedicated himself and his entire patrimony to that place. In the same manner, although he has not yet been enrolled in the register of Saints by ^a public solemnity of the Church, and Saint. the title of Saint is nevertheless attributed to him by very many and most weighty writers: Gilbertus Genebrardus, Joannes Garetius, Petrus Canisius, Petrus Busaeus, Ludovicus de Ponte, Zacharias Lippelous, Philippus Ferrarius, and others, and especially by Clement VIII in an Apostolic Brief in which he grants ^a plenary indulgence to the faithful of Christ who, having confessed and received Holy Communion, shall visit any of the churches of the said Congregation on the feast of Saint (as he calls him) Laurentius Justinianus, etc. Rosa should be consulted.

Section V. Sacred Honors Paid to Him.

[11] That the first altar was dedicated to him in the Church of St. Mary in the Garden, erected by the Most Illustrious Senator Federicus Renerius, Statue and altars erected to him. is recorded by Petrus Justinianus in book 7 of the Venetian History, and by Galesinianus in his Notes on the Martyrology. Then in the Patriarchal church, in which his sacred relics, celebrated for miracles, have been preserved with the highest honor up to this time, ^a chapel was dedicated to him and an altar erected above his tomb; ^a marble statue was placed with this inscription: "Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, first Patriarch of Venice, January 8, 1455." So Franciscus Sansovinus in his description of Venice, as cited by Rosa. A new chapel for him in the same cathedral church of St. Peter of Castello, by far the most magnificent, has been begun; into it his body will thereafter be transferred, which is meanwhile kept in the Patriarchal palace. In the Congregation of Sacred Rites it was decreed on February 1, 1597, that the Patriarch of Venice, Laurentius Priolus, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, should, according to his prudence and piety, as he should judge expedient, elevate and translate the most sacred bones of Blessed Laurentius; but, intercepted by death, he was unable to accomplish this, as Rosa observes regarding that Brief. Moreover, there is hardly any basilica in Venice in which some altar has not been erected to him, nor hardly ^a house that lacks his image: so great is the devotion of the people toward him.

[12] When ^a terrible plague was raging at Palermo in Sicily in the year 1625, the patronage of Blessed Laurentius was publicly implored, Adopted as Patron of Palermo on account of the plague being quelled. with ^a vow made by the Magistrates that they would henceforth regard him as the protector of their city, that they would religiously visit his altar every year on January 8 — the altar placed in the church of St. James de Mazara of the Congregation of St. George in Alga — and would offer ^a pious gift. They then obtained from the Sacred Congregation of Rites the following decree: "Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, concerning the faculty granted to the city of Palermo to celebrate the office of Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, of the Congregation of Secular Canons of St. George in Alga, in the kingdom of Sicily, of the Secular Canons of St. James la Mazara, Protector of the same city of Palermo, on the feast day of the said Blessed, January 8. Since the city of Palermo was oppressed by ^a grievous plague in the past years, it chose as its Protector Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, formerly Patriarch of Venice, in order to avert the wrath of God; the instrument of this election having today been exhibited in the Sacred Congregation of Rites, the Senate of Palermo has pressed for the confirmation and granting of the office of the said Blessed; and the Sacred Congregation of Rites has granted it for the city of Palermo, according to the Rubrics, on February 26, 1628."

Joannes Baptista Cardinal Detus.

[13] The same city placed the following inscription beneath an image of Blessed Laurentius:

BLESSED LAURENTIUS JUSTINIANUS,

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS

FOUNDER OF THE CELESTINE FAMILY

OF CANONS,

GREAT PILLAR OF THE WORLD,

THE PIETY OF PALERMO,

DEVOTED TO THE MERITS

OF SO GREAT A PRELATE,

HAVING ENROLLED HIM AMONG THE PATRONS

OF THE CITY,

WILLINGLY CONSENTS

TO HAVE HIM ENROLLED AS ITS PILLAR,

COUNTING ITS HAPPINESS ASSURED

IN HIS NAME.*

\* A word appears to be missing.

LIFE

BY BERNARDUS JUSTINIANUS.

Laurentius Justinianus, Patriarch of Venice (B.) BHL Number: 4749

By Bernardus Justinianus.

PREFACE TO THE CARTHUSIANS.

[1] Although I do not doubt, venerable Fathers, that Patriarch Laurentius, just as he was accustomed to do while living, will also be received by you after his death with every office of piety, I nonetheless thought that his arrival would be more welcome if you should learn the manner in which this most agreeable and delightful guest comes to you. For since I had loved him from my tender years, even more than ^a parent, and grieving at his departure I longed for some consolation, I desired (as is the way of those who love) some image of him — not one fashioned by the hands of Lysippus or Apelles, but rather one that would express his character, his deeds, and his words; things which could not be faithfully and perfectly represented except by the living picture, as I may call it, of letters. This alone, therefore, I desired; this I longed for: that his singular and heavenly virtues, rightly comparable to those of any of the ancient Pontiffs, should be illuminated by the writings of some distinguished mind. And while I often discussed this with myself, I also often discussed it with those venerable Fathers of yours who are among us, and especially with Franciscus Tarnisanus, ^a man of angelic spirit, the Superior of your monastery. The author at first declines to write the life of Blessed Laurentius. There arose between us ^a certain contention full of dutiful piety: for I implored him, and he in turn implored me, to write something about the life of our Pontiff. I told him that he had the authority, he had the learning; that he had spent many years in the company of Laurentius, had seen much, had known much; that he had been bound to him by singular charity and reverence. Moreover, I said that I feared that, if I were to write, the kinship of blood might perhaps injure the cause of Laurentius, and that (as is customary in the courts) the testimony of ^a nephew in the case of an uncle would be regarded with suspicion.

[2] But he pressed me all the more urgently with those same arguments of ability, familiarity, and love, turned now against me; and (as that excellent man is given to doing) he bade me look to St. Ambrose, who encompassed the praises of his brother Satyrus in two books; to look to St. Bernard, who, among those most noble homilies on the Canticles, devoted ^a special place to the praises of his brother Gerard. Sermon 26 on the Canticles. Nor did he cite the Latins alone, but the Greeks as well. For St. Chrysostom composed the life and praises of his parent, and Basil those of his sister, just as our St. Augustine did for his mother St. Monica. Franciscus Tarnisanus persuades him to do it. "Furthermore," he said, "if you see strangers and men of foreign birth running daily to his tomb, bringing statues, flowers, or candles as testimony of their veneration, what then must be done by you — his nephew by kinship, his son by devotion, one bound by such great benefits from him? I have certainly heard you say that he often assisted you with his present power in great labors, just as he himself promised you while departing this life. Should you not therefore devote to his honor and glory (unless you wish to be and to be considered most ungrateful) whatever ability, talent, zeal, and diligence you possess?" When he said these things, no less wisely than kindly, he indeed brought to mind that the same thing had happened in practice through nearly every age. For I pass over those ancient pagans — Cato, Caesar, Thucydides, and Xenophon — of whom the latter illuminated their deeds in Greek, the former in Latin letters: so far were they from hesitating to write not about friends or kinsmen, but about themselves. I shall speak of our own. Certainly those holy men Athanasius wrote the life of Antony, Severus that of Martin, Bernard that of Malachy, Gregory that of Basil, and Chrysostom that of Gregory — all of them either disciples or the closest of friends.

[3] And so I could no longer resist the examples of the highest authority; but above all I could not resist that argument which he had recalled concerning his benefits toward me. For that most excellent Father departed at the very time when the most turbulent waves and storms were assailing me and my family in various ways, so that we would have been utterly overwhelmed (thou knowest, good God) had not that most kind Father, always invoked by me, obtained thy help amid such great evils and dangers. Therefore, that there might remain some office of ^a grateful heart — which indeed could not have been omitted without sin by ^a nephew toward an uncle — I applied my mind to writing. What we shall narrate, we can truly say with the Apostle: that we have not only heard from the most faithful witnesses, but most of it we ourselves have seen with our own eyes, and our hands have handled; especially since from the beginning of his Pontificate to the very last day of his life, we scarcely ever departed from his side, as they say. It pleased me, however, to dedicate this especially to you, He dedicates it to the Carthusians. most illustrious athletes of Christ. For since I have among you the ashes and bones of my father Leonardus — ^a pledge of the outstanding regard and piety of our family toward you — why should I not bestow upon these excellent and dearest brothers, who loved each other with incredible devotion, an equal dwelling together, as far as it lies in my power? Therefore Laurentius comes to you, ^a Father holy in life, learned in doctrine, and resplendent with miracles: to which adornments I see nothing that can be added. All of these are of the highest order, and they still dwell in the eyes of all people: from which you may derive both pleasure in reading and fruit in imitation.

CHAPTER I.

Of what family and what parents he was born, and how as ^a young man he set out toward monastic life.

[4] Laurentius was born, then, at Venice, of his father Bernardus Justinianus and his mother Quirina. Concerning the nobility of both families, neither to say much The homeland of Blessed Laurentius: his noble lineage: nor to be entirely silent is permissible without injury to him. For just as it is the mark of arrogant frivolity to glory in these gifts of fortune, so to have bravely despised them, as Laurentius did, is the mark of the highest seriousness. It is famous, then, and it stands in the ancient records of Venice, that the Justinian family descended from the posterity of Justinian: three brothers, driven from Constantinople by sedition, came to Italy and settled at Venice. The valor of this family shone forth both in many wars and especially in that one which was waged by Doge Vitalis Michaelis against the Emperor Emmanuele of Constantinople, with ^a more favorable beginning than outcome. The Venetian Doge fitted out ^a most noble fleet of one hundred triremes and twenty ships in one hundred days and put it to sea; and when it had recovered the entire coast of the Illyrian Sea, then the harbors of Epirus and Achaea, and then nearly all the islands of the Aegean Sea, and finally, having captured and despoiled Chios, it turned aside to the island now called St. Panagia and went ashore for water (whether it was ^a pestilence from the corrupted air of the region, or, what is more widely believed, waters poisoned by the enemy), the fleet was devastated by an incredible plague. All the Justinians who were old enough to bear arms All the Justinians except one perished at once. had boarded that fleet, as if seeking to reclaim their ancestral homes by war; but an unhappy end overtook so great an undertaking. For to ^a man they were all destroyed, by God's will, either by the sword or by disease. At home, besides ^a few old men too cold for begetting offspring, it happened by chance that only one young man survived, Nicolaus by name, living among the monks of St. Nicholas. Nicolaus the monk, with the Pope's assent, takes ^a wife:

[5] Doge Vitalis, dragging back ^a battered fleet, empty of both soldiers and rowers, returned to his homeland; and since, besides other public misfortunes, he was regarded as the cause of the near-destruction of that family which had been most dear to the entire city, he fell into the hatred of the people. And in order that he might somehow be reconciled, he resolved not only to restore that family to prominence but also to bind it to himself by blood. He obtained from Pope Alexander III permission for the young monk to be released from his religious vow in order to restore the offspring of his race; and he betrothed to him his only daughter, Anna by name. The marriage was blessed. The Lord endowed them with six sons and three daughters. Nicolaus, rejoicing in such prosperous offspring having begotten children, he returns to the monastery: and giving thanks to God, not forgetful of his former vow and his religious life, returned to the monastery, having first built near Amiano ^a convent of virgins under the name of St. Adrian, in which his wife Anna also took up the monastic life. He lives holy, as does his wife. Both were distinguished by many miracles, and their images at the Church of St. Nicholas survived as ^a testimony of their holiness even to our own age. And lest this seem surprising to anyone, at the same time the same Pope Alexander granted Constantia, the daughter of William, King of Sicily — both ^a nun and more than forty years old — in marriage to the Emperor Henry, son of Frederick Barbarossa, to raise up offspring for her father William, who had been most dear to the Sicilians.

[6] From this holy stock, therefore, Laurentius was born. The parents of Blessed Laurentius. His father Bernardus was taken away in his youthful age in the midst of ^a great career of honors. His mother Quirina, herself also of most illustrious birth, having lost her husband in the twenty-fourth year of her age and having borne five children, lived the remainder of her life in celibacy, governing her household, to use the words of the Apostle, and raising her children in the fear of God and his commandments, persevering in prayers day and night; and lest living in luxury she should be dead, she wore ^a hair shirt and ^a chain of bronze around her loins as long as she lived, Quirina his mother, ^a widow, lives holy. chastening her youthful age with fasts and vigils; but above all she was merciful and generous to the poor, and one who always instructed her children toward almsgiving both by word and by example. 1 Timothy 5:9. To the extraordinary distinction of Laurentius there was added that memorable pair of blood brothers, Marcus and Leonardus, the requisite mention of whom long kept me undecided whether I should write something here about their lives and characters; but since the matter seemed to require ^a great work, I preferred for now to devote my attention to Laurentius alone. This one thing, however, I shall not pass over in silence, with the kind indulgence of the reader: that three such brothers, endowed with such great virtue, holiness, and knowledge of all the liberal arts (at least as far as appears in the records of writers), scarcely any age has ever produced. And I know that I am neither deceived by love nor do I deceive.

[7] Laurentius was born near the end of that greatest and most dangerous Genoese war; and he was born on the very day when, for the notable victory at Chioggia, the entire city was overflowing with processions and every kind of rejoicing. When Laurentius was born, and by what vow of his mother. His mother Quirina used to say that, while she was giving birth amid that celebration, suffused with ^a certain joy of spirit, she first gave thanks to God that the child she had carried through such great labors and dangers she was bringing into the light amid such great rejoicing of the city; then she humbly prayed to God that he might someday be ^a terror to enemies and ^a salvation to the citizens — which we have certainly seen come to pass in the Milanese war, as we shall relate in its proper place. And immediately in his earliest age he displayed ^a singular elegance of character. Nothing was more graceful or more lovable than he: he was glad to be with his elders, The character of the boy, easy with his equals, and embracing of those younger than himself. Moreover, he seemed to be of an outstanding greatness of soul, always intent on the highest things. Nothing of an idle or frivolous nature delighted him, as is usual with other young men; rather, divine wisdom was drawing him toward great things, so that at one time his mother Quirina, fearing lest that ardor of spirit might break out in another direction and he might embrace the honors of the world more than was right, said: "Why do you not put aside this madness, my son? That pride savors of Hell." To which Laurentius, smiling as if in jest, said: His presentiment about himself. "Fear not, mother: you will yet see me ^a great servant of God." This boyish presentiment about himself the Lord fulfilled not long after.

[8] He was in his nineteenth year, that is, at that age in which the enticements of the flesh are wont to make the path of human life uncertain; but the Lord Jesus, wishing to lay his hand upon him, appeared to him, as he himself recalls in that little book which is entitled "The Bundle of Love." We shall subjoin his own words: "I was like you, seeking with burning desire peace in outward things, and I was not finding it. At length ^a certain Virgin, more splendid than the sun, appeared to me, Divine Wisdom appears to him in the form of ^a Virgin. whose name I did not know. She, drawing nearer with ^a lovely countenance and gentle speech, said: 'O beloved youth, why do you pour out your heart and, pursuing peace, wander through so many things? What you seek is in my keeping; what you have desired, I promise you, if only you are willing to take me as your bride.' When I most eagerly desired to know her name, her origin, and her dignity, she said she was the Wisdom of God, who for the reformation of mankind had taken on human form. I assented, and having given the kiss of peace, she departed in joy."

[9] Shaken, therefore, by this vision, he brought the matter to Marinus, his mother Quirina's kinsman, He consults Marinus, who was ^a man most holy both in life and in learning. Although Marinus perceived that something great was portended and understood the young man to be burning toward every form of the most exalted life, he nonetheless preferred to probe his soul more thoroughly and to test the weakness of his body. He changed nothing about his dress, lest ^a more sordid appearance betray the resolve of his mind; but from his mother, who loved him too much, the secret could not be kept. He begins to live more austerely. For she, besides other suspicions, had discovered that he was laying rough planks upon his bed and sleeping upon them; and (as ^a mother's nature is more tender) fearing that her son did not sufficiently understand the difficulties of the religious life, she resolved to test his purpose and to arrange ^a marriage. And indeed, ^a maiden was offered, distinguished in beauty, nobility, and ample riches, whom I myself knew in her old age. When the son perceived this and saw that his brothers had conspired with his mother, he hastened his flight and betook himself to his uncle Marinus in the religious order of the collegiate Canons who are called St. George in Alga. He used to say that at the beginning of his conversion he had set before his mind, He spurns marriage and flees to the monastery. on the one hand, all the goods of fortune — nobility, magistracies, honors, ^a wife, children, money, and pleasures of every kind; and on the other hand, hunger, vigils, heat, cold, and servitude. Then he had sat like ^a judge between these things and examined himself thus: "Consider now, again and again, Laurentius, what you are doing. Do you think you can endure these things, or despise those?" Then he had turned to the Cross of the Lord: "Thou art, O Lord, my hope: there thou hast set thy most sure refuge." Thus strengthened in spirit, having left his mother and brothers, having moreover trampled upon wealth, honors, and the allurements of his flourishing youth, he set out for the heavenly warfare.

p. Egnatius, book 4, in the title "On Conjugal Love," reports that this triumph occurred on the Kalends of July. Sabellicus relates that the Venetian Doge Andreas Contarenus recovered Chioggia on June 25, and that having settled affairs there he returned to Venice, where he was received by all orders of the city with immense joy and applause. That year was the year of Christ 1381.

q. This apparition is recorded by our Petrus Thyraeus in his treatise on the impersonal apparitions of Christ, chapter 3, where he enumerates various such apparitions.

r. Others read "Martinum."

CHAPTER II.

On thirst, hunger, vigils, and every bodily mortification; on his tolerance of pain as displayed throughout his entire life.

[10] First, then, he established for himself ^a battle against the enticements of the body, He fights against pleasures. the shortest path to which he judged to be this: to concede nothing soft to them, but to wage war as if against ^a mortal enemy. I shall say nothing of his sparing use of food, which he never measured by satiety but scarcely by the bare necessities of life; nothing of his endurance of thirst, His fasting, thirst, and vigils. by which he was never seen to be so parched that, whether through fasting, manual labor, pilgrimage, or illness, he could be induced to ask for drink; indeed, if he was invited by the brethren, he would say: "How then shall we endure the fires of Purgatory if we cannot endure this small thirst?" He not only observed the vigils instituted by the Fathers so faithfully that he was the first to arrive at Matins and the last to leave, but whereas it is the custom of many monks to return to sleep after Matins until the sun rises, Laurentius throughout his entire life never left the church until the brethren assembled for Prime. In the biting cold of winter he was never seen to approach ^a fire, His endurance of cold: which was all the more admirable on account of his bodily weakness. It happened, however, that ^a certain Father invited him to the fire; when he refused, the Father felt his hand, and finding it stiff with cold, he said in amazement: "O son, great is the fire by which you burn within, if you do not feel the cold by which you are frozen stiff." And what of this — that he never even went into the garden for the sake of relaxing his mind, His station in the church. which is accustomed to be the one remedy of monks?

[11] He stood firmly on his feet while the divine offices were being sung, leaning neither to the right nor to the left on the seats — ^a posture he always maintained while singing the psalms. These things may perhaps seem less admirable to those who never experience them. But you, noble athletes of Christ, who daily undergo the trial of these things, I know you judge them more difficult to do than to tell. In this resolve and constancy he persevered until the very end of old age, so that even in his illnesses he would scarcely give any comfort to his body by ^a more relaxed regimen. For when ^a physician urged him, already nearly seventy and suffering, to eat meat during Lent, and in order to persuade more easily, brought the example of ^a certain Saint from recent times who, on account of an illness no greater, had eaten pheasant on the day of Our Lord's Passion, Laurentius first asked The sick man refuses to eat meat in Lent. whether he could abstain without danger to his life; when the physician did not deny it, he said: "Let each one abound in his own sense; but to tell the truth, the examples of the ancient Saints greatly delight me. For I see that Confessors strove toward the heavenly homeland through the mortification of the flesh, and Martyrs through the shedding of blood."

[12] And so, to return to his earlier years, when with advancing age he had become more feeble, the Fathers compelled him by ^a decree of the Chapter to use food, sleep, and clothing more moderately. He is ordered to afflict himself less. Bearing this with difficulty, as if he were being driven to luxuries, he said: "Command as you please; I shall obey your orders. But know this: for him who has resolved to suffer for Christ, the way of suffering will not be wanting." I asked the Father who related these things what he had meant by those words. He believed it was the disciplines — that is, the blows and stripes with which he was accustomed to afflict himself more vehemently. Indeed, marks and stains of blood had very frequently appeared. He not only overcame these common necessities of nature, but everywhere displayed an admirable patience in the face of pain. At the beginning of his religious life he fell ill with fistulas, which the physicians are accustomed to call scrofulas. His entire neck was covered with them. He suffers from scrofula. The physicians despaired of the young man's recovery. They offered one remedy: if horse-hairs were frequently drawn through his neck crosswise to draw off the corrupted humors, and the wounds were then cauterized with ^a red-hot iron. But they feared he could not bear the pain. Laurentius, however, with his ever-even countenance, said: "Why do you hesitate, brothers? Let the physician cut and burn as he pleases. Can not the Lord give me strength, He bravely endures cutting and cauterization. who gave it to the three youths in the blazing furnace?" Daniel 3. And so he was pierced, cut, and cauterized. In this, what was worthy of admiration was that, apart from ^a single cry of "Jesus" uttered once, he was never heard to emit even the slightest groan thereafter. This would have been incredible to us had we not seen with our own eyes, in his extreme old age when he was Pontiff, the same firmness of spirit; and when his throat had swollen to an extraordinary degree and recovery appeared slower and more difficult, and the most pious Father was distressed in spirit that, shut in at home and in his chamber, he could not attend to his flock, he stood utterly immobile at the stroke of the surgeon's knife, saying to the fearful physician: "Cut boldly, for your razor will not surpass the blades that the Martyrs endured."

CHAPTER III.

On humility and meekness, on contempt for disgrace, on love of poverty, on the gift of prayer and constancy.

[13] So much for the mortification of the body — and indeed but ^a few things out of many. But let us come to the soul, where there appears to be more at stake. His remarkable humility. We shall begin with humility, which he himself called the queen of all other virtues. If he was the rector of ^a monastery, as if that office were ^a matter of contempt rather than honor to him, he loved the very lowest tasks, which are even unworthy of mention: he spoke of nothing but his sins, abhorred his own deeds, desired to be despised and scorned, and constantly spoke of the humility of the Lord Jesus or of the Most Blessed Virgin. But setting aside these daily things, consider, Fathers, how he bore insults. When the business of the monastery was once being discussed in Chapter, ^a certain Brother of simpler intellect accused Laurentius of I know not what wrongdoing. Although Laurentius understood the man's temperament and could easily have cleared himself of the accusation, he first stood still as if he had not heard; then, advancing with gentle step into the midst, he knelt down and said: "Forgive me, Fathers. I have sinned against heaven and before you; behold, I shall do whatever penance you assign." Touched with remorse, that Brother ran to Laurentius and, begging pardon, threw himself at his feet. On another occasion, when something similar was falsely charged against him, Laurentius clamped his teeth upon his tongue and said nothing — lest ^a false confession set ^a bad example, or ^a denial breed harmful contention — discerning most wisely the times for speaking and for keeping silence.

[14] How magnificently, moreover, he subdued the pride and arrogance of the world! Contempt of worldly pomp. I do not mean that he left behind wealth and honors — for it is not so great ^a virtue to despise honors as to seek contempt. For it is more to disregard being treated badly than not to desire being treated well. But this is the mark of the highest perfection: to desire to be treated badly. And so I shall not pass over in silence what Maphaeus the Patriarch, who succeeded him and had been his disciple, related to me. For when they had gone out as was their custom to beg for bread, it happened that they entered the more crowded parts of the city. Laurentius perceived that Maphaeus was troubled by the bustle of the place and wished to avoid people. "Maphaeus," he said, "why are you troubled? Let us walk with ^a firm step. For we have accomplished nothing if we have left the world in word only, unless we also demonstrate it in deed. Let us go with these sacks as with crosses, and let us today bring home ^a glorious triumph over the world."

[15] But what shall I say of his love of poverty? Love of poverty. It happened by chance that the roof of the monastery caught fire, where the brethren had stored all their provisions in hope for the year. Laurentius was away that day. When the sorrowful brethren brought him the sad news upon his arrival, Laurentius said with ^a cheerful face: "Come now, sons, what evil has befallen us? He is unmoved by temporal loss. Did we not vow poverty? Blessed be God, who makes us partakers of our vow. He who gives seed to the sower will also provide bread for eating: only let us not lose our confidence, sons, which, as the Apostle says, has ^a great reward." Hebrews 10:35.

[16] Just as, therefore, all the allurements of the flesh and of the world had become worthless to him, His contemplation and ecstasies. so his one pleasure was never to leave the church or his cell. And in the gift of prayer and contemplation no one surpassed him. For what veneration seized the soul when you beheld him at the altar! What immobility of body, what intentness of countenance, what tears! I heard from ^a certain brother, an especially close companion of his, that while he was celebrating Mass on the night of the Lord's Nativity, after the consecration of the Eucharist he was dissolved into an ecstasy of mind; and when he persisted for ^a long time, the Deacon approached once and again. He remained immobile. At length, pulled by his chasuble by the brother, as if awakening from sleep, he said: "See, I continue, Brother. But what shall we do about this little infant so beautiful? How shall we leave him alone and naked in such cold?"

[17] His constancy was truly admirable. Constancy. After he had followed God, he never entered the home of his mother or brothers. I remember, when I was still ^a boy, seeing him knocking at the door of our house, begging bread, yet not entering the house or crossing the threshold of the door, but standing outside waiting for the bread. His mother, moreover, finding it difficult to bear that her son should wander through the city so long burdened with such ^a heavy load, ordered her servants to fill his sack with bread. Laurentius always refused, and departed content with two loaves, so that he might practice the labor of humble begging and not of domestic profit. He attends his dying mother. He thought it ^a duty of piety to be present at his mother's death; and there he spent the night, in order to fulfill the commandment of ^a mother's love. Worthy of remembrance is the fact that he was able to watch his mother, whom he loved above all, die without tears; and while others wept, he with dry eyes performed the last rites. He was the same everywhere: no one ever saw him elated by joy, stirred by anger, or loosened by relaxation of spirit. Nor was there any trace of fear, desire, grief, or pleasure.

CHAPTER IV.

On the gift and efficacy of his speech, how he aided the temptations of the brethren, on the spirit of prophecy, and on his calling to the Pontificate.

[18] The quality of his discourse. His constancy was tempered (as rarely happens) with ^a wonderful gentleness and reverence at the same time. His speech was sweet, brief, and full of substance; and (as it is written) the word that went forth from his mouth did not return empty. Isaiah 53:11. In his youth he had ^a particular companion, distinguished both by birth and wealth. This man happened to be away, transacting business in the East, when Laurentius followed the Lord Jesus. When he heard this, being young and ignorant of what ^a mind inspired by the divine spirit might be, he went to the monastery with singers and musicians and with some armed men, having no doubt whatsoever that he could lure his companion back; and if the brethren should refuse, he was prepared to use force and arms. He summoned Laurentius; and when he saw him changed not so much in the garb of his clothing as in his face, gestures, and bearing, He converts ^a companion who had come to seduce him. he was struck with amazement. Laurentius, having greeted him kindly, began first to handle his mind with gentle speech, then little by little to lead him from the things of the world to the things of heaven. In brief, he won over the young man; and he who had laid ^a snare to catch his friend fell unexpectedly into the net himself. Answering Laurentius, he said: "Brother, you have the words of eternal life; and since my hope has been frustrated and I cannot lead you from this place, you indeed can lead me from this world to yourself. It is resolved: to live with you and to die with you."

[19] He lacked the faculty for preaching to the people, because he was not strong either in wind or in his lungs; but nothing was sweeter than to hear him seated among the brethren. Of this, indeed, you yourselves, venerable Fathers, are the best witnesses, by whom he was often summoned. Where once I heard from your brethren He dispels ^a storm raised by the art of the devil. that when they had sat down in the shade of ^a spreading beech and he was preparing to speak, the sky suddenly seemed to be thrown into confusion with incredible roaring, storms, and thunder. While the brethren on the one hand feared rain and hail and on the other resented being deprived of the desired sermon, Laurentius began to smile and to gesture with his hand, saying: "Be still, Brothers. These are the tricks of Satan, who was ^a liar from the beginning and did not stand in the truth. Can he bind the word of God?" Scarcely had he begun his discourse when the sky seemed to open, and ^a most joyful day rendered the most compliant service to the pious desire of the brethren.

[20] With no less care, moreover, he attended to the brethren: consoling the sorrowful, caring for the sick, aiding those who labored, seeking out their thoughts and the snares of the devil. A brother was harassed (as he told me) by ^a spirit tempting him to return to the world; He strengthens one wavering in his vocation. and although he had been confirmed several times by Laurentius, the devil did not cease to urge him on. He could bear the temptation no longer. Betaking himself to Laurentius, he said: "I am giving way, Father; help me. If you do not come to my aid, I shall return to the world." Then Laurentius: "Wait ^a moment, my brother, only do not leave today. Tomorrow you may decide as you wish." A single night spent in prayers and tears so put the devil to flight that he never dared to attack him again. But what follows is more admirable — which indeed I would hesitate to relate, had I not received it from ^a Father of venerable trustworthiness and authority. When ^a certain brother was oppressed by ^a similar instigation and had recourse to the most sure help of Laurentius, Laurentius took ^a sprig of laurel which, having been boiled in water, had been left in ^a small vessel. Turning to the brother, he said: Likewise another, by ^a dried laurel reviving. "Take this, brother, and plant it in the garden; and if indeed it revives, be confident of your perseverance." He went and planted it, and it revived; and rejoicing at the miracle, he recalled the memory of the rod of Aaron and the palm of Macarius.

[21] Moreover, the Lord endowed him with ^a most abundant measure of the spirit of prophecy; and this was so famous and widely known that people flocked to him as to an oracle. I could tell of innumerable cases, and we shall mention some in passing where the subject requires it. In the meantime, we shall choose one from among many — most outstanding either for the person in whom it occurred, or for its manifold variety, or for the certainty of the matter. Fantinus Dandulus, I know, was known to you: ^a man most illustrious in birth, rank, life, and learning, who was recently Bishop of Padua. While he was still ^a layman He shines with the spirit of prophecy. and held ^a leading position in our Republic, on the first day of Lent he came forward to receive ashes in the customary manner. Having received the ashes and the blessing, Laurentius said: "Remember, Brother, that in the coming year it will be you who performs this office of ashes for others." When he heard this — ^a layman, and more than fifty years old — he rose in astonishment; yet he asked nothing further there, out of reverence for the solemnity of the place, but waited for Laurentius as he passed through the cloister. Drawing nearer to him, he asked what he had meant by those words. Laurentius paused for ^a moment, as if deep in thought, then added: "I tell you, brother, that you will not indeed impose ashes, but you will certainly distribute olive branches to the people." Fantinus, although he was held by even greater astonishment as to how this could come to pass, nevertheless suspecting that something else lay hidden beneath these words, departed. But behold, not long after, upon the death of Martin, Eugenius, ^a Venetian Pontiff, was elected. Fantinus was appointed ambassador to him by our Senate. Eugenius received him with the greatest honor and initiated him into holy orders. Finally, before the year was out, he sent him as Apostolic Legate to Bologna. When he arrived there and it was necessary on the first day of Lent to impose ashes on the people, the Legate was invited to perform that office. He refused, on the ground that it could not lawfully be done by anyone other than ^a priest. They pressed him more earnestly, saying that this office had always been exercised by Legates. Fantinus held firm in his resolve and with no small effort declined that duty, still noticing nothing about the words of Laurentius. But on Palm Sunday, when ^a similar dispute arose and the Canons asked him to distribute olive branches to the people, and he used the same excuse of the priesthood out of humility, at last the Canons pleaded with the greatest urgency that, if he was unwilling to act as Legate in the matter of ashes, he should at least not refuse the office of the olive branches. In short, Fantinus was won over and performed that office with his own hands, just as Laurentius had foretold.

[22] When Pope Eugenius heard of these virtues of the holy man, he resolved to give the Venetians ^a Bishop. Judge, if you can, with what spirit he received this news. He is designated Bishop. Twice he took the impulse to flee and to withdraw to some hidden places; twice he was held back and finally decided to abide by the judgment of his Fathers. Among these there were those who counseled that one must not resist the Supreme Pontiff, but must obey the Vicar of Christ. Some, however, urged that he should by no means accept, citing the pride of the world, unaccustomed burdens, and his bodily weakness. There were also those who advised him to flee, and each brought examples of Saints who had either accepted, or refused, or fled unrecognized. Nevertheless, having proclaimed ^a solemn fast and prayer, the Fathers decreed to attempt, both by letters and by messengers, to persuade Eugenius not to take from them their Father and leader, without whom their community would plainly be imperiled. Twice they sent; twice Eugenius wrote back — and two of his letters survive — He deprecates the office. in which with the sweetest words he consoles those Fathers. Moreover, with the weightiest arguments and with the examples of the Holy Fathers, he admonishes them not to set themselves against the divine will. He could not, therefore, disobey ^a Pontiff who commanded three times.

CHAPTER V.

On the assumption of the Pontificate, his household, his dress, diet, and contempt for money.

[23] In the fifty-first year of his age he entered upon the Episcopate, and indeed without any pomp or escort, so that he did not even wish his own blood brothers to be present, He becomes Bishop without any pomp. and the entire neighborhood learned that the new Prelate had arrived sooner than they had almost expected his coming. He spent that night sleepless, praying to God with prayers and tears that, if he had accepted this office for His honor — unwilling and reluctant as he was — He would not forsake him; that he knew what ^a great charge he was undertaking; that he was well aware of the multitude of the people, the diversity of the orders, the extent of the secular principality; what and how frequent the disputes had been with previous Bishops; whereas his own strength, on the other hand, was slight and feeble, having been exercised nowhere except in monastic cells. And when he poured out these and many other things with tears, he said that he had been filled with such light of soul that he thereafter discharged the duties of that Episcopate no differently than those of some monastery.

[24] The character of his household. He organized his household thus: he chose two brethren from his own community, one of whom he employed for the divine offices, while with the other he shared the greater cares. He had, besides, five servants during the twenty-three years he held that Pontificate; although he used to say with generous humor His dress: that his household was ^a great one, by whose care he was burdened — meaning the poor of Christ. He wore ^a garment of the color called sky-blue, of the proper length. Tapestries, hangings, and all other furnishings of the house he utterly disdained. His table: His table was not mean, but of the utmost cleanliness, at which, in the monastic fashion, reading was done; there was no silver at all. He ate from glass and earthenware; always using common food, he liked eggs, because they were agreeable to the stomach and did not arouse appetite. He neither craved nor rejected anything; whatever was set before him, he took. It happened once that the cup-bearer, deceived by the color, served vinegar instead of wine. When Laurentius put it to his lips and perceived it was vinegar, he made no complaint but finished his meal without drink. When the cup-bearer noticed, he humbly begged pardon for his mistake. Laurentius, with ^a calm face, said: "Come now, attend more diligently to your duty henceforth." His bed. His bed was scarcely six feet long, stuffed with straw, and covered with ^a blanket — what the ancients called ^a cento, and our people ^a sclauina; everyone was always excluded from his chamber, so that he might be more free for tears and prayer.

[25] He restores the cathedral and other churches. He immediately set about ensuring that the Pontifical church, neglected through the carelessness or avarice of previous Bishops, should be adorned in ^a manner worthy of the see. He restored the order of Canons, which had been reduced to nothing, added Priests, and established singers. He applied the same care to other churches, so that very many in which Mass was scarcely celebrated now appear to be Pontifical. He then undertook to correct the morals of the clergy He reforms the clergy. and published most excellent constitutions concerning them. But there was nothing he could not easily obtain through the liberality and goodness of his nature. For he was not otherwise severe. He allowed the clergy to enjoy their revenues, so that he never imposed any burden upon them. He pursued with equal care the monasteries, He fosters monasteries, especially of virgins. especially those of sacred virgins, on account of the weakness of their sex, whom he suffered to lack nothing, whether for the necessities of the body or for regular discipline. He restored those that had fallen and built new ones. A fine testimony to this: whereas at the beginning he had received about twenty under observance, at his death he left thirty-five. With no less zeal did he exercise the care of his other sheep. It was incredible what ^a daily throng of the sorrowful and the afflicted there was — those who wished to be consoled, to be helped with assistance, prayer, or counsel. All flocked to him. He was diligent in admonishing the parish priests that they would one day render an account of their own office.

[26] Moreover, he despised money as, I believe, no one has ever despised it more. He despises money. His house was open to all; every store was available to the poor. If the steward brought the accounts, he looked at nothing beyond what was lacking or what remained, considering it altogether beneath his dignity that one who had been placed in charge of the business of souls should sit at accounts. His first rule concerning money was this: that he should have absolutely no dealings with his brethren on that score, because he considered nothing more effective for winning the love of his people and establishing trust than to remove from the minds of all every suspicion on this matter. And that he might be even further from it, when his brother Leonardus once commended ^a poor man seeking alms to Laurentius, he said: He gives nothing to friends. "Go and answer Leonardus in my name: let him help you himself, since the Lord has given him the means to give from his own." He retained this one thing as ^a sign of brotherly love: that at Easter, at Christmas, and on the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, he would give them two loaves of bread made from the finest flour. After the death of his brothers, he always paid me the same tribute; indeed, he himself was assisted by his brothers with ^a large sum of money for the Apostolic bulls of the Episcopate, and afterwards by me with no less, especially when he was elevated to the Patriarchate.

[27] In investigating the needs of the people, he was accustomed to employ certain widows of proven virtue and faithfulness, He inquires into the afflictions of the people. because that sex was both more fervent in works of mercy of this kind and more apt at tracking down hidden poverty — especially of those who had fallen from wealth into destitution, ^a class of people for whom he felt the greatest compassion. He preferred, moreover, sometimes to be deceived rather than to be too exacting in his investigations, so that if error were to be made in one direction or the other, he would rather give to one who did not deserve it than fail to give to one who did. He gave more willingly the necessities of human life than money, The kind of alms he gave. and more willingly several smaller sums than larger ones, so that his beneficence might be more widely shared among so great ^a populace. A kinsman of his, not so poor as to need money, once asked Laurentius to assist him with ^a sum for his daughter's dowry. Laurentius replied: "Consider, I beg you, brother: if I give little, it is not what you need; if much, I shall defraud many in order to satisfy one; and besides, whatever it is that we have, it was entrusted by the Church rather for the food of the poor than for braided hair or pearls. Therefore forgive me if I cannot give."

[28] But nothing was more welcome to the city He distributes firewood in winter. than the barges laden with firewood which he distributed to the poor when winter raged. Money flowed to him daily from sources you would not believe. I saw once, when alms were sought from him and he could not satisfy with money, that he would satisfy with ^a promise; often, when he had left nothing at home, he would contract debts. And when the steward asked him on what hope he did so, he would say: "On the hope of my Lord, who can easily pay on my behalf." He contracts debts for almsgiving. Nor did his hope deceive him, for the Lord would immediately send him money unexpectedly from many places. It is incredible how much goodwill and authority he acquired among all classes by these habits and this discipline.

CHAPTER VI.

On the grace of his speech, counsel, wisdom, prudence, justice, conscience, and infused knowledge, together with his writings.

[29] Dear to all. He had this gift divinely bestowed upon him: that all those with whom he dealt he always dismissed contented and at peace, and he satisfied everyone. Good and bad, modest and wicked, almost without any distinction, revered him. His words, his eyes, his gestures, and everything he either said or did (so great was the power of his virtue and grace) drew the minds of all into love.

[30] He restrains the adornment of women. At the beginning of his Pontificate, when he had published ^a decree concerning the adornment of women — ^a decree unwelcome to certain married husbands — our Doge, deceived by their complaints, as if fearing for secular liberty, ordered him to be summoned. He complained about the matter in rather sharp words, being by nature quite vehement. Then Father Laurentius, responding at once gently and gravely, so softened his spirit that the Doge, turning to those standing by and not holding back his tears, said: "An angel, not ^a man, has spoken. Go, Father, and carry out your office." Thereafter he venerated him as an Apostle, so that he sometimes used to say in jest that, apart from Laurentius, there was no mortal with whom he would exchange his soul.

[31] He excels also in human affairs. He was consulted in doubtful matters, and although people came to him as to ^a man responding by divine rather than human spirit, he nevertheless seemed to understand human affairs, both public and private, which he had not yet had occasion to experience (since he had fled to solitude before his twentieth year and returned in his fifty-first), just as if he had always handled them — so that I would not hesitate to say that he seemed to me no less prudent than good, if indeed prudence is not ^a part of goodness. As for his wisdom in administering justice, His equity in administering justice. let those who saw it speak — and especially the Roman Curia, which never allowed any judgment of his to be overturned. His decisions were regarded as beyond appeal; and although he was considered more merciful in imposing penalties, his justice was such that it could be bent neither by entreaties nor by tears. His dining room or his chamber was closed to no one. He could not be wearied by the multitude of cases or by the impudence of litigants. He stood like an immovable rock amid the storms of litigation, by which scarcely any Church in the world, I think, is more buffeted, on account of the size of the city and of the clergy. His brevity of response was especially welcome, by which he both resolved matters in few words and more easily gave satisfaction to those who came to him.

[32] But with what light of justice he came to render judgment, especially in greater cases, the following testimony which we shall report will make sufficiently clear. A matrimonial dispute arose at Padua between families of no small standing. It was brought before Bishop Fantinus, of whom I have spoken. He, having heard the case and finding that the laws favored the woman — who claimed to be ^a maiden — pronounced in her favor. The young man, who firmly denied the engagement, conscious of his innocence, obtained Laurentius as the second judge against ^a judge of such great authority. Laurentius, although he saw that ^a most wise and otherwise excellent judge had ruled in favor of the woman, was nevertheless moved by the tears of the young man imploring help and could not refuse to take up the case. He betook himself to prayer, Prayer serves him as the best counselor. which in graver cases he used as his most faithful counselor. Having prayed more diligently, he judged in favor of the man. The woman's kinsmen no less vigorously sought ^a third judge and obtained the Bishop of Treviso. He too pronounced in favor of the woman. The sentence of Laurentius seemed to stand in jeopardy against two adverse judgments, and all were watching more attentively for the outcome of so great ^a contest, when God himself, the most just judge, was pleased to act as the fourth His judgment is divinely confirmed. and to settle the entire dispute. He brought to light the woman's incest: she, pregnant by ^a cousin who was also ^a cleric, and no longer able to conceal her pregnancy, lost her modesty; and with her disgrace laid bare, she confessed that the judgment of Laurentius had been divine, not human.

[33] His conscience was open, pure, and upright, directing everything by equity. His knowledge, moreover, could seem to be divinely infused rather than humanly acquired. For he scarcely learned the first elements from ^a teacher, Knowledge divinely infused in him. and yet there was nothing disputed in Holy Scripture about which he could not give the weightiest answer. I shall relate what I remember having occurred. A theologian came to him who had heard of his learning, and especially that he had learned without ^a teacher. He is tested by ^a theologian. He wished to hear him and to put him to the test. He posed to him ^a question about the divine relations. Laurentius answered. The theologian, praising the response, pressed further, as if he were dealing with ^a sophistical juggler. Then Laurentius said: "It is written, Brother: 'Avoid contentions and strifes about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.' Titus 3:9. I have said what I think. If I have satisfied you, well; if not, seek someone who can answer you more wisely." The man, touched with compunction and giving thanks, asked for his blessing and departed.

[34] He wrote fifteen volumes and forty sermons. His use of Scripture was frequent, his exposition devout, his style copious and flowing; His writings. and had he devoted himself to pagan literature, he could have been counted among the elegant writers. The titles of the volumes are these: The Tree of Life. On the Discipline of the Monastic Profession. On the Spiritual and Chaste Marriage of the Word and the Soul. On Humility. On the Spiritual Death of the Soul. On the Triumphant Struggle of Christ the Mediator. On the Interior Conflict. On the Lamentation of the Church. On the Body and Blood of Christ. On the Solitary Life. On Contempt of the World. On the Discourse of the Lord at the Supper. On the Pastoral Office. On Obedience. On the Degrees of Perfection. As for the titles of the sermons, I did not judge it worthwhile to list them.

CHAPTER VII.

On meekness and the gift of tears, and on his bodily appearance.

[35] The more he grew in authority and glory, the humbler he became day by day. His outstanding gentleness. Hear his gentleness. When ^a Prelate of great authority -- more on account of his money than his manner of life -- driven by envy, daily tore at him with various calumnies, he convoked an assembly of many distinguished men in learning and rank, as if to dispute some theological question. But instead he proposed certain theses contrary to the decrees Laurentius had published concerning the expense and adornment of women. Some of those present laughed, others marveled at the purpose for which they had been summoned. Those who thought more seriously were quite indignant that this spectacle had been staged not by the honor of God, but by ^a desire for slander. At length the good Pastor, signaling for silence with his hand, gave ^a long oration in defense of the women; and when at its conclusion he sought to move them to pity and tears, laughter arose in several places at once. Thanks were given to those who had come; the disputants were invited to supper, and so they departed. A certain beloved spiritual son of our Father was present, who, wonderfully moved that ^a petulant man had assailed the most holy man with insults of this kind, hurried to Laurentius. I happened to be present when this man, exhausted both by anger and the journey, said: "And what, Father? Will you allow your honor to be torn apart by these wicked men?" Then Laurentius: "What is it, my son?" The man told the whole story as it was -- not only with words but with face, eyes, and hands so full of indignation that he could easily have moved not only the person against whom those things had been hurled, but anyone else free from injury. What then of Laurentius? Do you think he showed any sign of an angry spirit? I call the Lord Jesus as my witness: though I fixed my eyes intently upon him for that one thing, I could perceive no change in that countenance. His detractor is divinely punished. He felt no pain, made no complaint; indeed he refused to know who had been present, who had spoken; he never gave the slightest sign by brow or face of ^a more disturbed mind. But to console his grieving son, he said with ^a calm countenance: "Do not distress yourself, my son. The Lord Jesus, whose business this is, will himself attend to his own honor." Nor was he wrong in this. For within ^a few months the ringleader, together with his accomplices, were punished -- some with exile, some with chains, and some with death.

[36] Although nothing seems possible to add to this gentleness, I am uncertain whether what happened again in ^a similar instance was not even more admirable. For when the Sacrament of the Eucharist was being carried in solemn procession on the feast of Corpus Christi, with ^a very large escort of the entire populace as is customary, ^a certain glutton -- who had more shamelessly defended the vices of clerics condemned by the Bishop -- standing before the door of his own house as Laurentius passed by, with no fear of the God who went before his eyes, said: "Behold the man who is venerated as ^a Saint! O madmen, who adore such ^a man!" Laurentius heard. But what do you think? He continued at the pace at which he was walking; Another slanderer punished. he turned neither his face nor his eyes from the Sacrament. And when some pious men, moved by the indignity of the thing, wished to rush with torches upon the man's house, they were barely restrained by me, who was then present. This crime, however, was avenged shortly after by the Senate, to the greater glory of Laurentius; and among other penalties inflicted, that wretch was made to confess his lie publicly from the pulpit in the Pontifical church before ^a packed crowd. The Lord, moreover, vied with our Senate in the punishment. For shortly after, the man was expelled from the city and now wanders far from home and children, ^a destitute beggar. But the testimonies of such gentleness are almost infinite.

[37] The moderation of his words and deeds. His measure of words and actions was so great that, if it be right to compare lower things with heavenly (for his spirit was certainly heavenly), I could scarcely believe the motions, revolutions, and orbits of the heavens to be governed with greater order and measure. He himself revealed to ^a disciple that it had been given to him by God that, whenever and wherever he wished to collect himself and raise his mind to heaven, he always could. If, however, he was troubled by certain images, as sometimes happens, he said he dismissed those phantasies no differently than if he were shooing flies hovering before his eyes. In the turmoil of those cases and actions he was always calm and immovable. You would say he heard nothing: as if his mind were in heaven and his body on earth. On the other hand, if he had given himself to writing or speaking and was interrupted, as often happens, by someone approaching, you would see him without any annoyance, setting aside the work begun, receiving the visitor with ^a cheerful face as if he were at leisure, and listening as long as the visitor wished -- with such peace of mind that it sometimes seemed angelic rather than human. Only the meditation on divine goodness could soften such admirable constancy.

[38] I said above, when I spoke of his mother's death, that at her funeral he did not shed ^a tear. See, Fathers, where his tears flowed. The gift of tears. For he had the gift of tears as scarcely anyone else. When after lunch he was sitting and holding ^a familiar conversation about divine things, as was his custom, turning to those present with ^a certain more fervent emotion of mind, he said: "What shall I do, brothers? What shall I do when I am led before the Judge? What have I done, wretch that I am, in which I can hope? I have nothing, except that I will throw myself at the foot of that most holy wood and weep." When he had said this, he dissolved entirely into tears; and when he had poured them out more copiously and, having composed himself, saw that we who were present were moved and wondered at those tears, fearing lest any human praise might creep in, he said: He diminishes his tears with words. "Do you see these tears? They were emotions of ^a certain sensibility, not of true devotion, from which I am very far removed."

[39] And how beautifully had the divine goodness given him ^a dwelling place befitting his spirit! Set aside his virtues and the name of sanctity; suppose you were then seeing him for the first time: you would have believed him an Angel, not ^a man. His distinguished bodily appearance. He was taller in stature than average, with rather slender limbs, of fair complexion, erect and lofty in bearing, with ^a most handsome face in every respect. His eyes so governed his entire body that they seemed to breathe veneration and sanctity on every side.

CHAPTER VIII.

On brotherly love; on prophecy; on the casting out of demons; on mercy; on the nun to whom he communicated the Eucharist in spirit.

[40] But since I have said nothing thus far about his brothers Marcus and Leonardus, let no one suppose that any men ever loved each other with greater charity. They visited him daily; they brought to him all public and private matters; but almost all their conversations were about eternal life. How he was moved by the divine spirit in all his actions appeared in the last hours of their lives. Marcus had suffered from ^a long illness and had not left the house for ^a year; he desired to see his brother, than whom he held nothing dearer on earth. Laurentius refused to come, for as we said before, he always kept away from his brothers' house, just as from his mother's. But Marcus begged more earnestly and implored him by the rights of brotherly affection not to let him die without his blessing. Laurentius consoled him and promised to come, but kept delaying. His father Leonardus went to him, and I went, begging him to come if he wished to find him alive. He said we should be of good cheer; He visits his dying brother, having been asked in vain before. he would come when the time required it. And indeed several times Marcus seemed to improve. But when the hour appeared which he had been awaiting, he did not wish to deceive his dearest brother. Behold, he came when we least expected. Marcus was already near the release of his spirit. Entering and leaning over his brother's bed, he greeted him with the sweetest words, as if he had come to fulfill ^a promise. Marcus, turning with ^a more cheerful face and showing his joy at his arrival, amid his embraces, happy and with his wish fulfilled, rested in the Lord.

[41] Likewise the other, whose time of death he foreknew. Lest anyone suppose this happened by chance or accident, he did precisely the same thing nine years later with Leonardus. For nearly five months his father had been unable to leave the house or see Laurentius. I went or sent someone to say that his brother was breathing his last. But he replied that the hour had not yet come. For many days we continued thus -- I going or sending, he deferring. At the hour he had promised, he came; and when his father had received him with the greatest joy, on the evening of that day he happily breathed forth his spirit in his arms. I shall add this too, for his glory and my consolation. He prayed for his brother with the most ardent prayers during those days; and when after some days I came to him, still afflicted by fresh grief, after the first words of greeting he said: "Rejoice, Bernardus my son; He indicates his salvation to his son. your father Leonardus is saved." When I received this with immense joy, I said: "And how do you know, Father?" "He is saved," he said, "and trouble yourself no further." O sweet tears, full of joy and affection, which I poured out there at his feet, when so faithful ^a messenger had brought such joyful tidings!

[42] His various predictions. Why should I pursue innumerable other instances of the spirit of prophecy? He said the life of ^a most holy Abbess, given up by physicians, had been prolonged by the Lord; and within ^a few days she was freed. In the same monastery he bade those mourning ^a sister of wondrous sanctity, already almost lifeless, to be of good cheer; and within three days she escaped entirely. He warned ^a relative who had hired ^a galley to import goods from the Black Sea not to release his galley there. But the man not only released it but was also struck with ^a great shipwreck of his fortunes. Moreover -- the loss of children, profits and losses, honors and rejections, illnesses and recoveries, and other things both prosperous and adverse that occur daily -- he foretold innumerably. My own son, given up by physicians and breathing his last, I brought to him to consult about the place of burial. He, with his face and speech somewhat suspended, answered that the time for such counsel had not yet come. Since my family was away from the city on account of the plague, I was amazed at this response. "How," I said, "will I be able to deliberate in time, Father, when I believe he has already expired?" Again he said: "Return with good cheer; the time has not yet come." Returning home, I found the boy beyond all hope improving. Nor has that time, by the goodness of God, appeared to this day; and I hope that my son will think about my burial rather than I about his. Indeed, he predicted his own death to the Virgins of the Holy Cross some days before it occurred.

[43] He frees ^a woman possessed by ^a demon. Nor was the grace of expelling demons and discerning spirits any less in him. One who was present and saw it told me that ^a woman was brought to him, foaming at the mouth and gnashing her teeth. Seeing which, he said: "Have you brought me this demon, as if to an Apostle? Go, Brothers, and find someone holier than I: for I am ^a sinful man." But they pleaded all the more, falling on their knees. "Come then," he said, "let your faith avail, which profited the Canaanite woman and the centurion." Placing his hand on the head of the possessed woman, he said: "Why, evil demon, have you come to torment this poor woman? Where now is your pride, when you fell from heaven? Are you not ashamed to fight against ^a weak woman? Come, release her: the Lord Jesus casts you out headlong. She is marked with his sign." You could see amid these words that contumacy and the distortion of the twisted mouth smoothed out, and that trembling and pallor turned into ^a natural expression. With all marveling and giving glory to almighty God, she was freed.

[44] He knows the secrets of hearts. Where, moreover, did his discernment of thoughts appear greater? He had resolved to reform ^a monastery of nuns; and to achieve this more easily, he wished to assign them ^a faithful and holy man as Confessor. But that man, being good and simple, refused, fearing entanglement with women. After he had refused, he was touched with remorse and decided to return. When Laurentius spotted him coming from afar, before the Priest uttered ^a word or said why he had come, holding his belt in his right hand, he said: "You do well, Brother: I know for what you have come. But I would have you know that, just as this belt" -- for indeed he was holding his own belt -- "so you have been granted to me by God." Marveling at this and more deeply moved in his heart, the man said: "Accept me as your servant: I will never abandon your commands."

[45] He consoles ^a desperate man and converts him to better things. I shall not be silent about ^a certain Parish Priest, infamous for adultery, simony, theft, and every disgrace, who, reduced to the utmost destitution so that he could neither feed himself nor his children whom he secretly maintained, had resolved to lay impious hands upon himself. When Laurentius learned this in the spirit, he summoned him, told him what he knew, and consoled him with words full of charity. Then he explained that this had happened by the Lord's permission on account of his crimes; and that unless he repented, he threatened still greater things; yet he had compassion on his poverty. He then gave him some gold pieces. When the wretch saw such extraordinary charity -- since, being conscious of his evil life, he had expected punishments rather than alms -- he fell at his feet and, dissolving entirely into tears, could not be torn away, promising and swearing under oath to reform his life; and he indeed confirmed by deed what he promised. He lived thereafter for some years, fearing the Lord and walking in his commandments, to the great amazement of those who had known him before.

[46] I had resolved, excellent Fathers, to weigh miracles rather than narrate them. For I had chiefly undertaken to describe his character and his angelic way of life on earth. But as I came upon these things almost by accident, I could not keep silent. And since it has been necessary, I shall not omit this, which is distinguished in kind, rare in magnitude, and very well known by report. There was ^a certain sacred virgin of great sanctity. She had stood before the Lord for many years in abstinence, vigils, and prayers. It happened, however, He imparts the Eucharist to ^a certain absent nun. that on the solemnity of Corpus Christi neither the other sisters nor she herself could communicate in the divine mysteries; and since they bore this with difficulty -- she, the most holy woman, especially -- they sent to ask Laurentius (since the monastery was nearby) that if they could not have the grace of communicating on that day, he at least would deign, while celebrating, to pray for his handmaids. Laurentius promised. But while he was celebrating before the people, after the elevation of the Sacrament, he was carried outside himself; and the spirit bore him to that woman, enclosed in her cell and devoted to contemplation, who happened at that moment to be held by ^a wondrous desire of communicating; and he communicated the sacred mysteries to her -- whether in the body or outside the body, God knows. He did not, however, depart from the sight of the whole people until, having returned to himself from that office of piety, he completed the rest of the Mass. When the virgin reported to her Priest what had happened, and the Priest to the Patriarch, he ordered them to give thanks to almighty God, not to him; and never to reveal it while he lived.

[47] These things, Fathers, and many others of this kind, I believe the good God willed to be done by Laurentius -- whether that we should believe that his goodness and power are neither consumed by the ravages of time, nor changed by the malice of morals, nor diminished by the tepidity of our faith; or that also those things which have been recorded in the sacred monuments of literature, and which otherwise tend to seem impossible, might be more easily believed by us; since we have read that St. Ambrose, while he was at Milan, was present at the funeral of St. Martin in the farthest parts of Gaul; and that St. Severus, Bishop of Ravenna, likewise went in spirit to the funeral of St. Geminianus at Modena. The fame of so great ^a man began to grow daily and to spread more and more widely. Pope Eugenius often wished to have him with him; [He visits Pope Eugenius, often summoned. He is received honorably by the Pontiff.] he always excused himself, fearing lest the Roman Curia might do him some harm. But when Eugenius, expelled from the city, came to Bologna, having been urgently requested by him he could no longer refuse, since he could no longer plead the Alps or the length of the journey as excuses, as he had done before. He was received by the Supreme Pontiff, with many Cardinals present, with these words: "Hail, glory and ornament of the Bishops." And by the entire Curia he was held in the greatest veneration. Eugenius wished to keep him with him, but pleading the weakness of his body, he stayed only ^a few days, and returned thence more joyful than he had gone. He left behind ^a great fragrance of sanctity.

[48] With equal or even greater love, Pope Nicholas V, ^a most noble Pontiff, cherished him, Nicholas V made him Patriarch. so that he vied with Eugenius in honoring him. For just as the latter had made him Bishop as soon as he could, so the former created him Patriarch as soon as the occasion presented itself. For when the Patriarch of Grado had died, he transferred the Patriarchate from Grado, once ^a noble city, to Venice -- and this without either the knowledge or the request of our Senate, since he wished to honor the man no less than the city by this act. The news did not entirely please the Senate, which feared that the spiritual and ecclesiastical dignity, augmented with wealth and authority, might renew the old discords they had had with previous Bishops. But the gentleness of the most blessed Father easily resolved the doubt. For he immediately went to the Doge and the council, saying that for eighteen years he had been made Bishop against his will and cast from his quiet into these secular storms; that he now desired quiet, and wished the weight of the Bishopric to be diminished rather than increased; that it was his intention to deprecate this burden by whatever means he could, unless the Doge himself, to whom the dignity of his city pertained, perhaps felt otherwise -- for whose honor, since the city had so deserved of him, he ought to refuse no labor. Laurentius causes the Senate to approve this. The humility of the most holy Father, mingled with charity, drew tears from all. The Doge, who had taken this matter very badly before and had always opposed it when Eugenius had tried it, immediately, by his own judgment and that of the entire council, began earnestly to beg him to accept this office with ^a willing heart. Thus what had been invidious in the dignity became, from the most gentle character of the holy man, most welcome.

a This miracle is described in his letters by Pancratius Justinianus, ^a Knight and Count, who touched the last years of Blessed Laurentius, as cited by Daniel Rosa.

b These will be examined in their proper places in the lives of the individual saints. St. Severus is venerated on the Kalends of February, Geminianus on the day before.

c Ciacconius writes that this happened in the year of Christ 1438: "In which year," he says, "he went from Florence to Bologna, and built ^a fortress at that gate by which one goes to Ferrara, and fortified the buildings situated in his area, where the Legate now resides, with ^a very high and wide wall, especially at the back, and with towers."

d Created Pontiff on March 6, 1447; died March 24, 1455.

CHAPTER IX.

On his memorable sayings and the great celebrity of his name.

[49] But since we have thus far pursued his character and actions, His memorable sayings. we shall also subjoin some memorable sayings, as far as we could remember from domestic familiarity. He used to say that it was not the mark of ^a servant of God merely to avoid great sins -- for that was the mark of ^a secular man -- but to avoid small ones, lest charity grow cold. That one should not relax from abstinence as soon as the body was weakened; for that was precisely the reason for abstaining. That ^a monk needed three things: desire, moderation, and grace; for where any of these was lacking, perseverance could not exist. That humility was like ^a torrent, which in summer runs thinner, almost creeping; but in winter and spring overflows: so humility in prosperity should indeed be modest, but in adversity magnanimous. He did not at all approve of grand buildings in monasteries; and when he saw wider dining halls or more spacious cells, shaking his head, he would say: "Not so our fathers, not so." He himself made ^a dormitory at Leonico of wattle and plaster, although he could easily have built it of brick given the monastery's resources. For he said that ^a monk should look upon nothing in this world that might hold his desire. That the intentions of those entering religious life should be most carefully examined, lest while an unfit person is received, ^a fit one be corrupted. He said that when the number grew too great, the rigor of life and monastic vigor could no longer endure. The felicity of the monastic life. For perfection was rare. I remember that ^a noble youth had fled to the monastery; when Laurentius understood he had been enticed by excessive persuasion of the brethren, he returned him to his demanding father, saying: "Take back your son. The purpose of religion comes from the Holy Spirit, not from human persuasion; and it is far worse to fall away from the religious life than never to have taken it up."

[50] He celebrates daily. From the day he became ^a Priest, he celebrated Mass every day, unless prevented by ill health. He used to say that whoever, when he could enjoy his Lord, did not do so, clearly showed he did not care about his Lord. That chastity accompanied by carnal blandishments was nothing other than trying to extinguish ^a fire while throwing wood upon it. That no one knew how great the gift of poverty was except one who delighted in ^a private room and contemplation. That God had purposely hidden the grace of religious life from men: for if its felicity were known, all would flock to it. That no one truly knew what humility was unless God had given him the grace to be humble. For in nothing are men so deceived as in recognizing true humility. That true knowledge consisted in knowing these two things: that God is everything and oneself nothing. He often admonished that trust in God should never be lost -- that was the thing in which the life of the soul consisted. He said ^a rich man could not be saved except through almsgiving. That the office of Emperor or Duke was so much easier than that of ^a Bishop as it was more difficult to govern what you cannot see than what you can. Amid the public labors of wars, which were very many in his age, he would say to our Senators: "If you wish the Lord to have mercy on you, judge that you are and can do nothing of yourselves." He compared ^a good Prince to the head: for just as the head and tongue implore help for the rest of the body while it does not move, so the prayer of ^a Prince can placate the Lord even though the people attend to other things. He admonished that things impeded by many obstacles should be avoided: for the works of the Holy Spirit are easy and smooth, while those of the devil are rough and full of thorns. And when he spoke of secular rulers of cities, as if sympathizing with their labors, he thought it was not without the mercy of God that glory was the companion of virtue, and as it were ^a certain balm for labors and cares; but that ambition for glory should be forgiven only so long as it followed virtue like ^a handmaid, and did not precede it as ^a mistress. Innumerable other things he both said and thought wisely, which it would be endless to report.

[51] The celebrity of the holy man's name. He was now full of days, and his name and fame were spreading more widely every day. No one came to this city who did not, among the first sights, wish to see this Father. I pass over the common people and the nameless crowd, who, wherever he went, Many flock to see him. rushed through the streets and crossroads to see him, as if he were an Angel sent from heaven. All the Cardinals, Dukes, and Princes came to visit him at home, to investigate his way of life, to inspect his bedroom, bed, and dining room -- to scrutinize everything and venerate it. Franciscus Sforza, Duke of Milan, and his wife Blanca, when they sent their eldest son Galeatius, ^a boy of great promise still not yet grown, to Venice, commanded above all that the boy be brought to the holy man, that he might lay his hand upon him and commend him to his prayers. Bartholomaeus Collionus, the most illustrious military commander of this age, brought to him ^a great quantity of gold to distribute among the poor -- remarkable both in ^a military man for his devotion and in our Father for the esteem in which he was held. Already foreigners and pilgrims of every order and nation -- Hungarians, Germans, Gauls, Spaniards -- whether traveling to Rome or to the East to the Lord's tomb, hoped for favorable winds if they departed with this Father's blessing.

[52] In the greatest dangers to the homeland, our Doge and Senate took refuge in his prayers as in an oracle. The efficacy of his prayers. How much his prayer availed -- before I close this section, we shall relate one thing as testimony. Near Corfu there is ^a rough and uncultivated place where ^a man had lived as ^a hermit for more than thirty years, distinguished for the abstinence of his life, his prayers, and especially the spirit of prophecy. A certain man of ours, distinguished in birth and character, happened to be conducting business in Corfu when war was being waged with Philip, Duke of Milan, and our affairs seemed in ^a worse state. He approached the man of God and asked whether the Venetian Republic was, as was reported, in ^a desperate condition. The hermit said: Venice would have perished had he not prayed for them. "The fury of the Lord has been aroused against you, because you have cast away the word of the Lord; and were it not that the tears of your Bishop interceded for you, you would long since have perished like Sodom." Such was the testimony about Laurentius from ^a hermit amid the rocks and caves of Corfu -- to whom not only Laurentius but almost all mortals were unknown and unheard of.

[53] He prays constantly for his people. Moreover, the charity with which he pursued his flock could scarcely be conceived in the mind, much less expressed in words. His entire Pontificate was consumed amid the storms of the gravest times and the greatest wars. He was not content with his own prayer: he animated by exhorting, admonishing, beseeching, commanding -- so that assuredly even the smallest part of such charity and ardor could have done violence to heaven. And this, if I may say so, was without doubt the presage of his mother Quirina, which she prayed for at the birth of her son -- especially in those times when the Venetian empire was three or four times on the brink of ruin.

a A town of the diocese of Vicenza, 13 Italian miles from Vicenza, on the right bank of the river Novo, which Leander considers equal to many cities of Italy in wealth, multitude of colonists, nobility, and size. Commonly called Lonigo.

b The fourth Duke, crowned on the feast of the Annunciation in the year 1450; son-in-law of Filippo Maria, the third Duke, having married his daughter Bianca Maria, and his adopted son. He ruled for 16 years and died in 1466. Jovius describes his martial valor in book 3 of the Eulogies.

c Galeatius Maria Sforza, the fifth Duke, succeeded his father; killed in 1477. Jovius describes his life and death in book 3 of the Eulogies.

d Read the illustrious deeds of this man in war and peace in book 3 of the Eulogies of Jovius.

e An island of the Ionian Sea, today Corfu, scarcely ^a mile from the mainland of Albania, still under Venetian dominion. It has ^a city of the same name, an archiepiscopal see, formerly the Metropolis under the Patriarch of Constantinople.

f Filippo Maria Visconti, son of Giovanni Galeazzo the first Duke, father-in-law of Francesco Sforza; after the assassination of his brother Giovanni Maria, created the third Duke in 1412; he ruled for 35 years and died in 1447. Jovius describes these first three Dukes in book 2 of the Eulogies. This war is described at length by Sabellicus, decade 2, books 9-10, and decade 3, the first six books; and Petrus Justinianus, book 6 of the Venetian History.

CHAPTER X.

On his final illness, and what he said and did during it.

[54] He was in his seventy-fourth year, weak and thin in body, but with his senses intact and without any defect of health -- except that advancing age, combined with the hardships of fasting, vigils, and cold undertaken from adolescence itself, had equally worn down his whole body. We, more anxious about his life than about our own, urged him to lay down the burdens of hearing cases. To whom he said: "Do you wish me to abandon the post entrusted to me?" For as to fasting, vigils, and the mortification of the flesh, his body seemed to grow old while his spirit grew young; and he would cite St. Paul, who at ninety ate dates, or St. Hilarion, He writes to the very end of life. who at eighty ate meal, or another of the ancient Fathers. That nothing might be wanting to complete his glory, he persevered in writing up to that very day. He had just then completed the book On the Degrees of Perfection.

[55] While walking with me after dinner, as was his custom, he said: "How gladly would I depart, He wishes to die. if it pleased the Lord! For I am no better than my Fathers. But you, good Jesus, should obey not my will, but the welfare of your people." The Lord wished to hear his prayers. A few days later he was seized by ^a most severe fever. We prepared ^a bed; he, somewhat disturbed and seeming indignant: The sick man rejects ^a bed. "Do you prepare feathers for me? Those who are softly bedded are in the houses of Kings. My Lord did not lie on feathers, but on the hardest wood. Do you not remember what Blessed Martin said in ^a similar situation -- that it was not fitting for ^a Christian man to die except in ashes and ^a hairshirt?" We could do nothing then, and conquered, we carried him on his mat in our arms. When, moreover, neither physicians nor money were spared, and he saw the zeal of those ministering around him, he was stung in spirit: "Behold," he said, "how much is prepared for the health of this worthless sack! How much is wasted! While in the meantime the poor of Christ have no bread, no bed, no fire to warm themselves." The holy man understood that the day of his migration had arrived. "Until now, my sons," he said, "the matter has been handled in jest; now it is serious. The Bridegroom is near; we must go out to meet him." And raising his eyes to heaven, Confidence and humility at the approach of death. he said: "I am coming to you, good Jesus." It was observed by those who ministered to him that at times, full of spirit, he yearned to be borne to heaven by ^a certain ardor of spirit; at other times, casting himself into the depths of humility, he seemed to fear the divine judgment. For when I said to him, not without tears: "How joyfully you should depart, O Father, for whom the palm of heaven is prepared!" he said: "This palm, my son, is usually decreed for the brave, not for the idle and those like me." These are words of humility. But how full of confidence were the following! For when he saw us weeping, he said: "Away from here with your tears; this is ^a time for joy, not tears." Thus, reflecting Macarius in his confidence and Arsenius in his fear, he walked between the two, so as to fear with confidence and trust without losing fear.

[56] About to descend into the field against death, he asked to be armed with the Sacraments of the Church and to be carried to the chapel in others' arms. And when, raised from his bed and leaning on my shoulder, he could not control his failing limbs, he rested ^a little. I dissolved entirely into tears. Perceiving this, he said: "Why do you weep, Bernardus my son? Give me your right hand." He promises to be ever present to his nephew. When he had held it with both of his, he said: "Be confident and of good cheer: for I shall never abandon you." O voice at once sweet and bitter! I know not how my heart did not fail -- except that the grief was tempered by so certain ^a promise. Assuredly, most illustrious Fathers, I must recall that day, that place, all too frequently. The bequest which was left me by the most sweet Father I shall embrace with all faith and hope, as if sealed by Angels and signed by the blessed spirits -- ^a glorious and innumerable multitude of whom, come to receive the soul of ^a faithful fellow servant, I do not doubt filled that chamber.

[57] What furnishings, do you think, were found in his rooms? Do you suppose any gold or silver? This is even more admirable: He possessed no book. that he possessed absolutely no book. Although he read or wrote daily, he refused to own any book. His entire will was that he be carried out with no pomp to his monastery, He ordered himself to be buried without pomp. which lies two thousand paces outside the city, and there placed in the tombs of the brethren. Nor was he content to have given the order once. As if divining that there would be ^a dispute about his burial, he ordered us to be called again. "You know," he said, "what I have commanded about my burial? Do what I order; do not prepare ^a procession. For I am not the man you perhaps suppose." He imitated Saints Anthony and Hilarion, who wished to be buried in obscure places, lest they be venerated by their neighbors.

a In the editions of this life prefixed to his works, "centenarian" appears, erroneously. Consult the life of Hilarion himself, written by St. Jerome, chapter 39, and note 88 to it by our Rosweyde, book 1 of the Lives of the Fathers.

b Martinus Sanudo, in part five of the Venetian Chronicle, says that he celebrated Mass in pontifical vestments on Christmas in the principal church, and that on account of the extreme cold of that night he fell into ^a fever, by which he died on January 8.

CHAPTER XI.

On the oration he delivered before departing this life, and on two miracles.

[58] Having received the anointing of the sacred oil shortly before daybreak, he gave ^a discourse on the usefulness of death and on the heavenly life, with ^a wondrous depth and gravity of words. For as he lay on his back, he held his eyes fixed on heaven for some time. Then, half-closing them again, he began to speak in this vein (we shall also supply the words, as far as we were able to retain them): "You see, O sons, that my hour has come. Blessed be God, who willed it to come at last, since there is no other way that leads to heaven. For he came to us as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that for us wretched exiles, cast out of paradise, he might mark the way of returning to our homeland. For if in this life only we had hope, we would be the most miserable of all men. But far be from us such ^a foolish thought. For what is this life but ^a certain down (as he says) and as the remembrance of ^a guest of one day passing by? Wis. 5:15. Christ died for us, the firstfruits of those who sleep. Let us be ashamed to fear death, when our Lord willed to die for our sake. I have always had this day before my eyes; He was always mindful of his death. you know, O Lord -- although when I consider my life, it should rather be called my confusion than my life. But in ^a spirit of humility receive me, good Jesus, life and salvation of my soul. For I do not pour out my prayers before your face in my own justifications, but in your many mercies. I am that lost sheep; to you, my Shepherd, I return. I know your voice, not that of strangers. I ask, Lord, that you lead me back to the fold. Can you spurn the voice of one who cries out and takes refuge in you? Ps. 90:15. Are you not the one who said: 'He will cry out to me, and I will hear him; I am with him in tribulation'? Behold, I cry out more with my heart than with my mouth, Lord. Behold, tribulation is near, and there is none to deliver, save you, good Jesus. Yet I would not dare to aspire to the abodes of the blessed spirits, who behold the vision of the most holy Trinity. Yet some portion of your creature asks for the crumbs of your most sweet table. It would be too much for me, and alas how much too much, if beneath the shoes of the lowest of your elect you would not deny some small place to this little servant of yours."

[59] Then, turning slightly to those standing by, he said: "You meanwhile, brothers, keep the Lord's commandments. For all flesh is grass, and all its glory is as the flower of grass. Look upon me: behold, the grass has withered and its flower has fallen. Who will be able to escape this hour? But believe me, sons, there is nothing more excellent than to serve the Lord." When he had said this, raising slightly his arm, which he held bared, with eyes growing dim -- so that you would say you saw that ancient Isaac -- he said to those standing by, with the sign of the cross: "May the Lord Jesus bless you, brothers and my dear ones, and may he bless my sons who are absent, whom I have brought forth in the Lord. Gen. 27. May he give you ^a heart to worship him; may he open your minds in his law and not forsake you in time of trouble. He blesses all his people as he dies. May he bless our Prince and the entire Senate, that they may remember that the lot of the principate entrusted to them has been given for the honor of God and the common good of all orders. May he also bless my people, whose love, peace, and concord may the Lord deign to preserve and increase more and more from day to day."

[60] Dawn had begun to break, and already it had spread that he could not live much longer. The entire city, therefore, was stirred. The Canons indeed entered at first light; recognizing them most tenderly, he asked their pardon if he had not fulfilled his office. He commended to them the divine honor and the worship of the Church; then that they should preserve mutual charity among themselves. Finally he asked that they remember him in the divine offices. What tears, good God, what cries were uttered there! They called him father, lord, teacher, guide. Shortly after, the Procurators of St. Mark entered, and other leading citizens, priests, and religious men. No order of the city could be kept from the doors. He gives excellent instructions to each person approaching him. He spoke something of salvation to each one. To the Procurators and leading men he commended the poor and justice; to the priests, the honor of God; to the merchants, charity; to the lawyers, the causes of the poor; to each, in short, the duties of their offices. So that it was wondrous that those almost lifeless limbs, with the spirit always intent, could endure the labor of speaking and blessing throughout the entire two days (for that was how long he survived). Never did that purity and loftiness of spirit shine more brightly. He turned no one away; he received all with equal countenance, so that neither poor nor rich nor layman seemed to have any distinction in his eyes.

[61] Meanwhile he both predicted and did many things worthy of remembrance, of which we shall subjoin only two, to show that every part of this most holy life, He predicts the death of ^a certain Marcellus. just as in other virtues, also shone with signs and wonders. There was ^a son dearest to him in Christ, named Marcellus, distinguished in birth but more distinguished in life -- ^a good and just man. He so loved Laurentius that he openly said, if anything happened to him, he would by no means survive. When therefore he heard of his illness, he immediately hurried to him and was brought in. As Marcellus bent to kiss him, Laurentius said in ^a low voice: "Marcellus, why do you torment yourself over my departure? I indeed go before, but you will follow me in ^a short time. Thus it has pleased the Lord, that this Easter we shall embrace each other again." To another sick man he both predicts and restores health. Happier than sadder at such ^a word, Marcellus was seized by ^a severe illness at the beginning of Lent, and at Easter, as had been predicted, was carried out for burial. To his most beloved son Hieronymus, who was gravely ill, he both predicted and restored health. For when the physicians had given up on him and he was considered dead, and his mother and sisters had no hope left except in the prayers of this Father, the holy Father sent to them someone to say they should be of good cheer, for he would not die of that illness. And as he said, so it happened. For shortly after the fever left him, and he was restored to his former health.

CHAPTER XII.

The devout release of his spirit, and the long preservation of his unburied body.

[62] But now those most holy bonds of flesh and spirit were being dissolved, and what had lived in indissoluble peace and harmony for so many years -- by God's command -- the one was to be returned to the earth, He dies. the spirit to heaven. He began gradually to close his eyes with ^a somewhat more cheerful expression, and to relax all his limbs, as if about to pass from labor to rest. What throngs of Angels we would have seen arriving there, if that company could have been seen with bodily eyes! With such an escort, therefore, amid their heavenly voices and songs, that most happy spirit, like ^a little spark, flashed forth into heaven. This was the end of the most holy Father -- truly happy, truly blessed. O if I might now be permitted to give free rein to my tears and to lament more freely! I do violence to myself, Fathers. Tears burst forth, nor can I contain myself; but this is not the place. A private room is more fitting; there I shall repeat your promises, excellent Father, when necessity requires; there I shall call upon your right hand, especially since, often invoked before in the greatest dangers, you have aided me in wondrous ways.

[63] When the next day dawned, the entire city poured out in an incredible throng; the doors were almost broken by force, so that it was necessary to carry him suddenly into the church to satisfy the eyes of the people. But immediately so great ^a multitude surrounded the bier that, from the steps of the choir where he had been placed, he was then carried off -- not by human hands but solely by the press of the crowd pushing and shoving one another -- His relics. all the way to the doors of the church. His garments were torn, his shoes taken; everything was seized for veneration. Moreover, as certain firstfruits of sanctification and ^a public testimony began to appear, those four most celebrated associations (for so we call them), not as if going to ^a dead man The opinion of his sanctity. but to one living and holy, came with ^a great crowd of men and with ornament and pomp -- not indeed mournful or funereal, as is customary in the carrying out of the dead, but as in processions and supplications when public thanks are rendered to God -- thus, with no one publicly or privately ordering or urging it, they came of their own accord, so arrayed, with gilded candles and every sign of honor and joy. What ^a testimony also that two of your brethren, when they had gone to that office like the rest, seemed to hear the sweetest songs and unheard melodies! And as they were returning to the monastery, with those songs not ceasing, one said to the other: "Do you hear, brother, these melodies?" "How could I not?" said the other. The song of Angels was heard. "This seems to me ^a plainly angelic harmony, not human." Another began to affirm the same. Both therefore marveling, those songs never fell silent until they reached the monastery.

[64] When the offices were completed and the time for burial had come, behold, by ^a certain special judgment of God -- then hidden, but soon to be revealed to all -- A dispute over his sacred body. ^a dispute began to arise between the Patriarchal Canons and the Brethren of St. George. The latter, citing the precept of our Father, demanded what he had commanded about the place of burial; the former brought forward the sacred canons, that Prelates should be buried in their own churches, and that the ordinances of the deceased should not always be obeyed -- citing the example of Pope Marcellinus, who, though he had ordered his body to remain unburied under anathema, it had nevertheless seemed good to the holy Fathers to have regard not so much for the man as for the Pontiff. Meanwhile, that sacred body was placed in the sacristy of the church, as if to await the outcome of the dispute.

[65] There then occurred something unheard of in all previous ages -- with due respect to all other Saints -- at least as far as their records attest. For when that body was placed there, The body remains incorrupt for 67 days and breathes forth ^a sweet fragrance. on the second and third day neither corruption nor stench appeared. Likewise on the fifth and sixth day it remained no less intact. Aroused by the marvel of so great ^a thing, the whole city came running; they examined and investigated more diligently whether it had been anointed with unguents; they felt all his limbs. There was no trace of ointment or artifice, no stiffness in the limbs, and still less any stench; rather, those limbs seemed to breathe forth ^a most sweet fragrance. Marvel was added to marvel. For after two days the cheeks began to redden, and living blood began to be visible through the limbs. And now the sacristy could not contain the throng pouring in and pressing upon one another, so that on the eighth day it became necessary to carry him publicly into the church to satisfy the eyes of the people. Then indeed there was astonishment, wonder, and outcry. Those who were disputing pressed their claims all the more insistently and guarded the body more diligently. It was placed again in the sacristy, where it remained incorrupt and intact for forty days. Throughout all those days it was never left unvisited; the sacristy was never closed to any who wished to see and venerate it, until on the sixty-seventh day, when it did not seem possible to preserve it conveniently otherwise, it was committed to burial with rites and honors -- not those with which others are customarily treated, about whose virtue and merits there may be doubt, but as if the relics of some Saint, it was placed with every honor on March 17, He is buried on March 17. having departed to the Lord on January 8.

[66] Many came not only from Italy but also from Illyria and Epirus, setting out from home for this marvel. All the physicians, and especially Gerardus of Verona, the most distinguished physician of our age, who had visited him in this illness, testified that by no force of nature could this have happened, especially since he had suffered from ^a putrid fever. For the putrid and corrupted humor spread through the veins must necessarily have corrupted the rest of the body, so that it was utterly impossible, in the absence of natural heat, for it to remain intact and incorrupt even for ^a short time. How great and how admirable ^a spectacle this was, let others judge. For if it was given to the Most Blessed Bernard as an honor (as it should have been) that his body remained unburied for three days, what must be attributed to our Laurentius, who survived intact and incorrupt for so many days, indeed nearly months? The city, stirred by the marvel of so great ^a thing, wished to ensure that the Patriarchal church should not be despoiled of such an ornament -- namely, the relics of its first and most holy Patriarch. By this act there was recalled the memory of the Most Blessed Martin, Bishop of Tours, who, when he had died at Condé, ^a town of the Pictonians, and the people of Poitiers, where he had died, wished to keep him, while the people of Tours demanded their own Bishop, the matter was disputed for so long until Very frequent miracles at his sepulchre. he was taken by stealth by the Tourangeaux and restored to his own Church. What miracles have since occurred, and occur daily, at that tomb for those who implore divine aid, I thought it better not to undertake to describe, since they are innumerable. Perhaps they will one day be investigated more diligently by those whose authority is greater and whose office is more solemn; for I would scarcely believe it possible that God should allow the splendor of so great ^a light to lie longer in darkness.

BULL OF POPE CLEMENT VII

BY WHICH HE ENROLLED BLESSED LAURENTIUS JUSTINIANUS

IN THE NUMBER OF THE BLESSED,

GIVEN IN THE YEAR 1524.

Laurentius Justinianus, Patriarch of Venice (B.)

[1] To our Venerable Brother Antonio, Patriarch of Venice, Pope Clement VII sends greeting and the Apostolic benediction. Venerable Brother: Though unworthy, holding the place on earth of Him who is ever wonderful in His Saints, we gladly assent to the pious wishes of the faithful, especially of Dukes and Nobles, which are recognized to redound to the praise and glory of God and the veneration of the Saints, and we willingly support them with appropriate favors. Our beloved son Marcus Foscarus, Ambassador of the Venetian Dominion sent to us on behalf of our beloved son the noble Andrea Gritti, Doge, and the said Venetian Dominion, has set forth to us that, although from the process regarding the canonization of Blessed Laurentius Justinianus, Various processes for his canonization begun. undertaken by command of our predecessor Pope Sixtus IV of happy memory at the most urgent entreaties of the then Doge and Venetian Dominion, and transmitted to the Roman Curia, it could reasonably be believed that all things necessary for the canonization of the said Blessed Laurentius had then been fully and sufficiently proven; nevertheless, since the process itself had by some accident been destroyed by fire, our predecessor Pope Leo X, also of pious memory, at the supplication of the said Doge and Venetian Dominion, commissioned his then Nuncio and the Bishop of Cremona of blessed memory, then living and residing in the city of Venice, by his letters in the form of ^a brief, with the advice of his Venerable Brethren (of whose number we then were), to proceed to an inquiry into the business of the said canonization. When they had begun to proceed with this inquiry, and the said predecessor Leo had departed this life, as it pleased the Lord, our predecessor Adrian VI, of revered memory, at the supplication of the Ambassadors of the said Venetian Dominion who had been sent to the Apostolic See to render obedience, commanded you, Brother Patriarch, and our Venerable Brethren Thomas, Bishop of Feltre and Apostolic Nuncio, and Paulus, Bishop of Nemours, by his letters in the form of ^a brief, to continue the process of canonization that had previously been begun, just as if the said letters of Pope Leo had been directed to you.

[2] When, however, our aforesaid predecessor Adrian died with the said process by no means completed, and this process cannot so easily be expedited, the same Ambassador Marcus, on behalf of the said Doge and Dominion, has humbly petitioned us that, for the praise and glory of the eternal King, and out of reverence for the said Blessed Laurentius, Bishop and Confessor, and for the adornment of the Church, the splendor of the Catholic faith, and the devotion of the peoples of the said Dominion, it should be permitted that each year on the day on which the said Blessed Laurentius departed to the Lord, ^a feast and an office of one Patriarch Confessor, with the prayer of one Bishop Confessor, under the name of the same Blessed Laurentius the Patriarch, be celebrated by all in your church and in the other churches of the said Venetian Dominion. We, who gladly encourage all the faithful, as far as we are able, toward the veneration of God's Saints The Pope permits ^a sacred office to be celebrated of him. and ^a constant devotion toward them -- since at present we are hindered by other grave impediments and affairs and cannot attend to the business of this canonization -- inclined by the devout supplications of the said Doge and Dominion, grant by Apostolic authority, by the tenor of these presents, the license and faculty that in your Patriarchal church, of which the said Blessed Laurentius was Patriarch, as well as in any other cathedral, metropolitan, collegiate, and parochial churches of all places, including those of Religious, throughout the entire Venetian Dominion, the office in memory of the same Blessed Laurentius the Patriarch, of one Bishop Confessor, under the name of the same Blessed Laurentius, may be celebrated each year on the day he departed to the Lord; and that in their Masses, Matins, and Vespers ^a commemoration under the name of Blessed Laurentius the Patriarch may be recited by all who wish to celebrate and recite it; and that his image may be painted in churches or in the houses of the Christian faithful -- without, however, ^a halo, and not as of one canonized but as of one Blessed -- freely and lawfully. Notwithstanding any Apostolic constitutions and ordinances, and any other things to the contrary whatsoever. We wish, moreover, that on account of the foregoing, the said Blessed Laurentius shall by no means be considered as enrolled in the catalogue of Saints. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, under the Ring of the Fisherman, on the 18th day of ... 1524, the first year of our Pontificate.

RECENT MIRACLES

From Daniel Rosa, and from the letters of the Venerable Lord Octavius Gualdus, ^a Canon of the same Order at Rome.

Laurentius Justinianus, Patriarch of Venice (B.)

From various sources.

[1] By the merits of Blessed Laurentius, ^a disability was cured. A certain woman had for many years walked supported by crutches, her limbs debilitated either by contracted sinews or by some harmful humor. When she learned that the holiness of Blessed Laurentius was widely celebrated, she implored his patronage and vowed to act as procuratrix so that ^a sacrifice might be offered to God in his honor at the Church of St. Mary of the Garden at Venice. She was present at the sacrifice, and upon its completion she immediately recovered her health, having hung up her crutches at the altar, where they are still seen to this day.

[2] Franciscus Michaelius, ^a Canon and Penitentiary of the Patriarchal Church at Venice, who served as confessor to the nuns of the convent of St. Anne, a lethal disease, was seized by ^a lethal disease in the year 1607 and shortly afterward given up by the physicians. A certain old woman named Anna, ^a Religious of the same convent, of singular devotion toward Blessed Laurentius, made ^a vow to him for the recovery of the Confessor; his full health was restored, which he was still enjoying in the year 1613.

[3] In the year 1611, ^a carbuncle that had broken out under the arm of Joannes Conversa had brought him into immediate danger of death, a carbuncle, which, upon invoking the aid of Blessed Laurentius, was suddenly dispelled.

[4] a flux of blood. The same woman, nearly killed by ^a flux of blood, upon making ^a vow, experienced the same aid of Blessed Laurentius.

[5] At Rome in the year 1613, ^a boy was born cold and dark, A dead child revived. so that he was believed to be entirely without life. Vows were made to Blessed Laurentius on his behalf; he revived and thrived. Dorotheus Baronius, Visitor of the Congregation of St. George de Alga, testified to this.

[6] Joannes Petrus Sennenzius, ^a distinguished professor of surgery at Bologna, after being afflicted for many months with ^a daily fever, A fever dispelled. at last offered ^a vow to the blessed Patriarch, and was immediately freed of all distress.

[7] A long-standing illness, Laurentius Bernardius of Bologna, Rector of the Church of St. Bartholomew at Bondanello in the diocese of Bologna, exhausted by ^a prolonged illness and brought to extremity, when the physicians had given up all hope, on January 17 in the year 1605 made ^a vow to Blessed Laurentius and recovered.

[8] again on another occasion, The same man, in the year 1607, by ^a similar vow, was suddenly freed from ^a most grave illness.

[9] The same man, in the month of May in the year 1611, had set sail from Vigilia, ^a city of the Kingdom of Naples, danger of shipwreck, bound for Ravenna. He was then tossed by ^a terrible storm near that coast of Apulia where Mount Garganus lies, and bound himself together with the other passengers by ^a vow to Blessed Laurentius. Having returned to Bologna, he undertook at his own expense to magnificently adorn the altar dedicated to Blessed Laurentius in the new Basilica of St. Gregory, also assigning an annual endowment. He then testified to all of these things in ^a written declaration presented to the Cardinal of St. Eusebius, Protector of the Congregation of St. George, at Rome.

[10] Blasius Marangon suffered so gravely from sciatica that he was forced to support his steps with crutches. One day, with great feeling of soul, sciatica, he lay prostrate on the ground before the altar of Blessed Laurentius in the church where his body is devoutly preserved, and poured out his prayers. He arose whole, hung up his crutches, and suffered no further trouble thereafter.

[11] Marina Gritti, ^a most illustrious lady, aged 70, in the month of December in the year 1612, developed ^a dark and foul ulcer on her breast the size of ^a large egg. The physicians judged it to be gangrene, gangrene, and the violence of the disease was already surpassing their skill. Having been fortified with the last rites -- confession, the Eucharist, and sacred unction -- she awaited death. For five full days she could neither speak nor take any nourishment, except that ^a small amount of wine was dropped into her mouth with ^a feather. When she was believed to be on the point of death, Blessed Laurentius presented himself to her sight, drove away the gangrene, and bestowed upon her complete health.

[12] In the year 1612, on November 13, when ^a terrible storm was lashing the sea, danger of shipwreck, there suddenly arose (says and confirms under oath the Author) ^a cry and wailing of boys. I rushed to the window of my cell and caught sight of ^a certain man named Sanctius, ^a servant of the House of Contareni, in peril in ^a skiff. I implored the aid of our Holy Father Laurentius, reciting the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic Salutation; and immediately the storm drove the skiff back to shore, and Sanctius escaped unharmed.

[13] erysipelas. I was tormented by ^a severe case of erysipelas that attacked my right knee, so that I could obtain no rest day or night for an entire week. One day, just before the morning twilight, having devoutly prayed to our Blessed Father, I was soon seized by sleep; and upon awaking ^a short time later, I noticed that all the pain had subsided, to such ^a degree that the next day I offered the sacrifice of the Mass to God in thanksgiving.