John Gualbert

ON ST. JOHN GUALBERT, ABBOT,

FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF VALLOMBROSA, IN THE MONASTERY OF PASSIGNANO IN ETRURIA.

In the year 1073.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

John Gualbert, Abbot and Confessor, founder of the Order of Vallombrosa, at Passignano in Etruria (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

§ I. The fatherland, name, and lineage of the Saint.

The most holy founder of the Order of Vallombrosa, and at the same time the most keen assailant of the simoniacal heresy, according to the most common opinion of the historians was born at Florence, a celebrated city of Italy. He had as father Gualbert; but as mother, as some hold, Willa or Camilla, St. John anciently had the name Gualbert added. of whom nevertheless the ancient writers of the Life did not make mention. To the name of St. John I have added in the title Gualbert, although Didacus Franchi in his Life of him published in Italian, book 1, page 9, says that he is only by moderns so called: For that anciently also the name of Galbert or Walbert, which his father bore, was given to him, is plain from number 127 in the Life written by Bl. Andrew, where Zenobius the presbyter, wishing to light a lamp, thus exclaims: if the things which I have seen and heard concerning Walbert John with my own eyes are true, in his name I command you, that quickly kindled, you remain unextinguished. The same is confirmed from the chapter celebrated in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 1127, in which it was decreed, that it should be lawful for no one to sing except what our Elders are known to have sung, namely what is found in the Antiphonary of Dom John Gualpert. These things suffice concerning the fatherland and name of our Saint; now the splendor of his birth must be treated a little more fully.

[2] It is established enough that St. John Gualbert was sprung from a noble stock; but in embellishing and determining his nobility certain ones seem to me to have been too solicitous. His lineage is joined with the family of Peter Igneus and Gregory VII. Among others the Reverend Lord Tiberius Petraccius erected a genealogical tree, in which he derives his maternal race from the Carolingian stock of the Franks, and then through that branch connects it with the illustrious family of the Uberti, which he judges, with Ricordano Malaspina and others, to have proceeded from the august race of the ancient Romans. But the paternal stock he asserts to arise from the kings of the Lombards. Whence he shows various degrees of consanguinity between St. Peter Igneus, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church of the Order of Vallombrosa, St. Bernard Uberto, of the same Order, bishop of Parma and Cardinal, and finally between St. Gregory VII the Pontiff and St. John Gualbert, so that all these were joined not only by the bond of profession or sanctity, but also of blood, as is more fully explained in our Acts, volume 6 of May, in the life of Gregory VII.

[3] The nobility of St. Peter Igneus by Baronius, Whatever be the case concerning so ancient an origin of St. John Gualbert, which we desire to be solidly proved, concerning the branches of this genealogical tree we shall relate the opinions of others, that a fair estimator of things may more easily judge concerning the whole tree. Baronius in the Ecclesiastical Annals, volume 11, at the year of Christ 1063, treating of Peter Igneus, says cautiously enough, that he was of a noble race sprung from the stock of the Lords Aldobrandini, as is asserted in his Life lately published. But this Life lately published has little or no authority, unless it brings forward documents of the ancients; by which it may vindicate so ancient a nobility to Peter. Which since Baronius omitted to indicate, I suspect that such were lacking. If nevertheless anyone shall assign solid instruments in this matter, we shall embrace them, as they say, with both arms.

[4] and by others, The History of Ciacconius on the Roman Pontiffs and the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, edited and augmented by our Oldoinus, thus relates from the opinion of others this nobility of Peter Igneus and his connection with St. John Gualbert, volume 1, column 862. When in the sacred desert of Vallombrosa St. Gualbert had laid the foundations of a new Order under the rule of St. Benedict, the fame of his miracles and sanctity was spread far and wide not only through Etruria, but through remote and distant regions of places. Wherefore many flowed together to him daily from everywhere, that under the institute of so great a father, leaving the pomps of the world and the blandishments of the age, they might diligently and with a sincere heart serve God. To whom in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1018 (this year we shall afterward examine) among the first of the disciples there ran not slothfully a certain young man of Florence, Peter by name, sprung, as they report, from the illustrious stock of the Aldobrandini, joined and related to the holy Father himself.

[5] Then, after the synopsis of his Life is handed down, he subjoins the following: At Rome in the hall of the new Vatican buildings, next to the hall called the Clementine, Bl. Peter Igneus and St. Bernard Uberto, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, being related, is exploded by Ughelli. with brief elogia added, are seen expressed in colors; Clement VIII commanded them to be painted. Peter, John Matthew Cariophilus, Archbishop of Iconium, celebrated with this epigram.

TO BL. PETER IGNEUS CARDINAL ALDOBRANDINO.

Elijah had said; here is the altar, here the double victim; let the fire consuming from heaven come to whichever it may conquer. But Peter Igneus does not end the strife by altars, but passes through the rapid fires unharmed. Burning zeal is in each, but Peter's victory is greater, that one conquered the fires, but this one his own.

Ferdinand Ughelli roundly explodes this opinion as a fable, thus writing in volume 1 of Italia Sacra, column 291. For the rest, Baronius in volume 11 of the Ecclesiastical Annals, deceived by a certain modern writer, who published the life of this Saint in the times of Clement the eighth, seems to insinuate that this Peter Igneus drew his origin from the Aldobrandine race; and so the favorable fable pleased, so that Peter himself Cardinal Aldobrandino, otherwise a most wise prince, took care that the Vallombrosan Peter should be painted in the new Clementine hall with the arms of the Aldobrandine race, and an elegant epigram composed by John Matthew Cariophilus Archbishop of Iconium.

[6] Now let us hear how concerning the other shoot of the same stock, Oldoinus proves the nobility of Gregory VII from a Sienese inscription, namely concerning the nobility of Gregory VII, the authors dissent. Our Oldoinus in the additions to the history of Ciacconius, volume 1, column 855, thus writes. Hildebrand, an Etruscan by nation, a Sienese by fatherland, or better a Sovanese, which is a city of Etruria near Siena, had as parent Bonicius, not a carpenter, which we know his adversaries objected to him by way of ignominy, but of the noble and ancient family of the Aldobrandeschi, counts of Sovana, as Platina, Sansovino, Tomasi, Maccabruni and others write, from the arms of this family and the following inscription, which is had in the Metropolitan church of Siena.

HERE IN THE YEAR 1059, ILTPRAND ILDEBRANDESCO THE ARCHDEACON TAKING CARE, WHO AFTERWARD [WAS] GREGORY VII, AN ECUMENICAL COUNCIL WAS CELEBRATED, WHERE, THE ANTIPOPE BENEDICT BEING ABROGATED, GERARD THE ALLOBROX, BISHOP OF FLORENCE, WAS ASSUMED, CALLED NICHOLAS THE SECOND.

[7] Of what age or author this inscription is, I do not know; but it does not seem accurate enough to me. which seems little accurate. For among other things I observe, that at that time against Benedict the antipope no council was celebrated at Siena, much less an ecumenical one. I find indeed that Nicholas II was elected Pope at Siena, but that after the election peacefully performed at Siena, there was held in the year 1059 the council of Sutri, in which the pseudo-pope Benedict, surnamed Mincius, was deposed and deprived of all priestly office, as the collectors of the councils hand down after Baronius from the Vatican codex, which is entitled the Book of Censuses. The same the ancient deeds of the Roman Pontiffs testify in the Labbean collection of councils, volume 9, which Nicholas of Aragon the Cardinal collected in these words: The election therefore having been celebrated in peace (as was said) at Siena, the said Nicholas the Pontiff held counsel with the Archdeacon and Cardinals, that for the cause of the already-mentioned Velletri intruder, he should celebrate a synod at Sutri, to which he should convoke not only the bishops of Tuscany and Lombardy, but also the great Godfrey and Guibert the chancellor. Which was done without delay. But the aforesaid Mincius, when he learned that Pope Nicholas with the persons who had assembled at Sutri was sitting in synod, left the see which he had invaded, his conscience gnawing him, and returned to his own house. Let the reader think of this Sienese inscription what he pleases. I hitherto recognize only eighteen ecumenical synods, and of these I know of none celebrated at Siena.

[8] Baronius and others think Gregory VII sprung from a father a carpenter. But lest we here leap beyond the olives, let us return to the aforesaid nobility of Gregory VII. Besides Binius, Riccioli, Labbe, and others, who judge him born of a father a carpenter, Baronius, the distinguished vindicator of the Roman Pontiffs, in volume 11 at the year of Christ 1073 thus begins to describe the life of St. Gregory VII. About to speak of him, let us begin from his birth and race, whom some hand down to have been a Sovanese, others a Sienese. The more constant opinion is that he was by fatherland a Sovanese from a city of Tuscany, born in a humble place, his parent a carpenter, which we find his adversaries objected to him by way of ignominy, whereas on this side he was rather to be praised, because from these there shone forth in him more evident signs of a true apostolate; since the Apostle says: see your calling, brethren, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but the foolish things of the world God has chosen, that he may confound the wise, and the weak things of the world God has chosen, that he may confound the strong, and the base things of the world, and the contemptible God has chosen, and the things which are not, that he might destroy the things which are, that no flesh may glory in his sight. Thus the Apostle: whereas otherwise human pride too proudly rejects that title of birth, with which God willed his Son made man to be distinguished, that he should be called the carpenter's son. But they add those things about the carpenter's son; that when the boy was playing at the feet of his father hewing wood, from the rejected fragments, though he knew not letters, by chance he formed those letters, from which, joined together, that Davidic oracle was expressed: He shall have dominion from sea even to sea; whereby it was signified, the hand of the boy being guided by the deity, that his authority in the world would be most ample.

[9] A different opinion of writers I know that this opinion of Baronius is not so certain but that various things can be opposed to it, especially since he cites no one for it. At least concerning the fatherland of this holy Pontiff, Hugo of Flavigny in the Chronicle of Verdun opposes most, which our Labbe published in volume 1 of the New Library of manuscript books, where, folio 206, that ancient writer concerning Gregory VII affirms these things in express words: He was born therefore in the city of Rome, of parents Roman citizens and, what is greatest, religious, to be enrolled a citizen of the heavenly court. From this variety of opinions it appears that the genealogical tree devised by the Reverend Lord Tiberius Petraccius does not rest on altogether firm roots. And indeed it would be nothing new, that undue titles of nobility should be feigned for Saints, since in the Roman Breviary printed at Antwerp in the year 1636, at Plantin's, concerning St. Catherine of Siena the following was read: Catherine the virgin of Siena, sprung from the Benincasa together with the Borghese family proceeding from the same stock, born of pious parents, obtained the habit of blessed Dominic, which the Sisters of Penance wear. But now, the titles of these families being prudently omitted, we read thus: Catherine the virgin of Siena, born of pious parents, obtained the habit of blessed Dominic, which the Sisters of Penance wear.

[10] Yet I would not wish that anyone from these and other things said before should judge, renders the genealogy of St. John Gualbert uncertain. that I wish to oppose the noble genealogy of St. John Gualbert and others: For since in the ancient monuments I have found nothing certain for settling this controversy, the aforesaid lineage I neither admit nor reject. And so, since race and ancestors, and the things which we ourselves have not done, can scarcely be called our own, and the ornaments of virtue are to be more highly esteemed than those of blood, let us pass to the heroic clemency, by which St. John Gualbert gave a beginning to a holier life, and to the Christian world an example of imitation.

§ II. The clemency of the saint toward his enemy, the prodigious inclination of the Crucifix, and its description.

The Acts to be given after this commentary narrate that a certain kinsman of St. John Gualbert was slain by another. [Some hold that a brother of St. John Gualbert; but others that his father was slain.] But when the Saint afterward had the homicide meeting him in a narrow way, whom, surrounded by armed men, he could easily have slain; he clemently spared him for the love of Christ crucified. After this generous act of virtue he enters the temple of St. Miniato to pray, in which, while he sees the effigy of the Crucifix incline its head to him, he conceives a desire of a holier life, and even, his parent unaware, embraces the religious institute in the same monastery of St. Miniato. Now certain things occur to be observed concerning this history. The Roman Breviary and the writers of later centuries assert that a single brother of St. John, by name Hugo, was slain, and that John Gualbert on the holy day of the Parasceve forgave his slayer; both which assertions perhaps rest on ancient tradition: For the most ancient writers of the Life express neither the certain day of the meeting, nor any degree of consanguinity. But all openly contradict the Acts, who hold that the father of St. John Gualbert was slain by this enemy, among whom is

Louis Zacconi in the compendium of the Lives of all the Saints, which, collected from various hagiographers in alphabetical order, he published in Italian at Venice in the year 1612.

[12] Perhaps St. Peter Damian furnished the occasion for this error, To these latter perhaps St. Peter Damian furnished the occasion for erring, who sets forth a history similar in substance, but discrepant in the circumstances, thus in book 4, epistle 17: Whence we believe it not idle, if there be inserted in these words that which is spread abroad by some in a celebrated relation. A certain man, as is said, slew a man more powerful than himself, from whose son also, after the manner of the world, not by the laws of the Gospel, he suffered many troubles of wars: namely as avenger of his father's death, he panted after the slaughter of men, and carried off the spoils of frequent rapines. Amid these straits therefore the homicide, being caught, resolved to approach the imperial highness, if perchance he could find some solace for so many calamities. Which being learned, the avenger of his father's blood pursues him, and, whether to bind him by the law of the tribunals, or suddenly to overwhelm him with swords, accompanies him unwearied. But the Emperor was then in the Teutonic parts.

[13] When therefore, proceeding modestly, as if he walked secure, but the follower hastened more swiftly, at last it happened, who narrates a certain man forgiving his father's slayer, that, approaching one another mutually, each was led into mutual sight. But since he who was guilty of the homicide was supported by the help of scarcely four or five companions; but the son of the slain man was girded with the attendance of nearly thirty armed men, he exhorts his four to flee. He, seeing that he could not fly from the hands of the pursuers, sought the patronage of his soul, and made his refuge to the shelter of humility. His arms therefore being cast away, his arms also stretched out in the manner of a cross, he prostrates himself on the ground, and awaits either the pardon of the merciful or the blows of the strikers. But he, now victor, out of reverence for the cross restrained his hand and checked it, and even of his own accord forbade that he be struck by anyone. At last, making entire peace, to the honor of the holy life-giving Cross he granted not only life, but also the offense of his father's slaying.

[14] that he was thrice saluted by the image of the Crucifix with inclined head. This distinguished victory therefore having been accomplished; by which namely he had become the victor not so much of the other as of himself, and, so to confess, not so much of his enemy as of his own heart, he came to the King's court; because it was not far off; but presently as he enters the church to pray; a wonderful and greatly astonishing thing! The image of the Savior, which was seen expressed on the Cross, was seen to salute him three times with inclined head. O how glorious and distinguished a proclamation, that he should merit to be reverently received by the author of mercy, who for reverence of him had forborne to be avenged; and to receive from him the honor of salvation, for whom he had postponed the vengeance contrary to salvation! Which the Emperor immediately hearing, received him with honorable and affectionate affability, as was fitting, and enriched him with a copious liberality of gifts.

[15] but this author wrote many things from the opinion of the common people, It can happen that a similar miracle happened to another forgiving a parricide: But if Peter Damian would have his whole narration understood of St. John Gualbert, he certainly errs, as will be manifest to one reading the Acts of BB. Andrew and Atto. Nor would this be his only error; since that author, however holy, wrote other things, according to Bellarmine, in the Book on Ecclesiastical Writers at the year of Christ 1060, observation first, which are perhaps more similar to fables than to history. Perhaps Peter Damian, as he seems to intimate at the beginning of the narration, wrote this history from common fame, which grows much and is changed as it goes, as daily experience teaches us: Thence he handed down a true thing clothed with other circumstances.

[16] St. Peter Damian himself does not deny that he relates certain things in his histories on the faith, such as it is, of others. Thus in book 1, epistle 9, he says: as he himself confesses I too do not saucily affirm what I have written, but whether it be true or not I decree must be left to the inquiry of the readers. In epistle 10 of the same book, he thus has it: These same deeds which we write, because it happened to us to hear them in passing, whether they hold the unoffended line of faith, we do not have certain in all things. In book 2, epistle 14, to Desiderius abbot of Monte Cassino, after various miracles narrated, he thus concludes: All these things, venerable Father, we describe not without great fear, lest either through our own forgetfulness or through the boldness of an unfaithful relation we deviate however little from the line of truth. Finally to the same Desiderius he thus writes in book 2, epistle 15. These things, venerable Father, and very many others I write not without the anguish of great dread, lest namely either my relaters have not held the path of pure truth, or I too, being unmindful of the relations in any particular, may have offended by forgetfulness. Since in so many other narrations Peter Damian confesses this happened to him, I not unjustly suspect that the same befell him in this history of the Crucifix. However it be, I with historical faith believe that the miracle of the Crucifix inclining itself happened to St. John Gualbert, and I judge that to call this into doubt is of the greatest obstinacy, not to say madness: For what at last will be historically certain? if it be permitted to doubt of some deed narrated by all the historians, and even the most ancient, contemporary or nearly so. Intolerable indeed is this obstinacy of mind, which certain Aristarchs of our time, and especially the heterodox, do not blush to call prudence or constancy.

[17] A certain modern Gallican Legendary, who is wont to pluck at all the Acts of the Saints even by slight conjectures, [A certain hypercritical Gaul dissembles the miracle of the Crucifix inclining itself.] left untouched this wonderful history of the image inclining itself; namely, which he could in no way impugn, he strives to obscure by silence or at least by a twisted explanation: For where he enumerates every minute deed of St. John Gualbert, this chief miracle he nearly thus skips over in French: He was praying before the Crucifix, and contemplating it turned over in his mind the incomprehensible love of Christ, which he had shown toward men by undergoing death, that he might snatch them from eternal death. This representation of the dying God so moved his heart, that he resolved thenceforth to live to him alone, who had willed to die for him. An artful transition indeed, by which he tries to cover the prodigy, which he could not but have read in Surius, whom he cites in the margin, and from whom, unless I am mistaken, he wove the life of St. John Gualbert. I marvel that so illustrious a miracle is dissembled by a Catholic man, which Rodolph Hospinian himself, the most hostile enemy of Catholics and especially of monks, in his Work on the Monks, otherwise filled with errors and calumnies, book 5, chapter 4, did not dare to suppress.

[18] I am not ignorant that some writers ran into the contrary vice, Others embellished the same history with false circumstances. and were excessive in embellishing this miracle, among whom can deservedly be numbered the before-mentioned Louis Zacconi, who in the Compendium of all the Saints cited above, without any testimony of the ancients, feigned, from his own brain as I suppose, a colloquy between the Crucifix and St. John Gualbert. These additions nevertheless do not deny the truth of the miracle, but rather confirm it, though by a hyperbole most to be reprehended. We, avoiding both rocks, wish neither to augment the matter nor to diminish it; but we believe those things which concerning this miracle men, to be commended both for antiquity and for sanctity, have left to posterity. Bl. Andrew abbot of Strumi, and Bl. Atto abbot of Vallombrosa and afterward bishop of Pistoia, testify that this miraculous effigy of the Crucifix was solicitously preserved in their time in the monastery of St. Miniato. But now I have learned that so precious a monument was not long ago translated to Florence, from Mabillon in the observations which he mixed into the life of St. John Gualbert published by him.

[19] Wherefore, since the narration of this translation was lacking to us, The translation of the Crucifix, sought from Vallombrosa, I had recourse to Vallombrosa, hoping that those Religious, according to their accustomed kindness, would communicate it to me. My hope was satisfied as soon as possible by Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, priest of the same Congregation of Vallombrosa, who described the desired translation of the Crucifix, and transmitted it to us. But since that solemnity of translation is more prolix than that it can be conveniently inserted here, I have deferred it to the appendix, to follow after the miracles of St. John Gualbert. Meanwhile it will here suffice to have given an exact description of the miraculous Crucifix, which the praised Dom Angelo Maria Rivola prefixed to the translation described by him, prefacing the following:

[20] was sent by Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, and at the same time In the name of God. Amen. In the manuscript book of the Acts of the congregation of Vallombrosa of the Order of St. Benedict, marked on the outside with the letter N, page 131 and following, is related the grant of the most holy Crucifix, which inclined its head to the holy Father John Gualbert, the founder of the aforesaid Congregation, made to the same Congregation by the royal Highness of the great Duke of Etruria; and then is set forth the solemn translation of the same most holy Crucifix from the church of the fortress of St. Miniato near Florence to the church of the most holy Trinity of the same city, and of the same congregation of Vallombrosa. But because only the relation of the translation is desired, therefore this alone will be related, the more prolix narration of the grant being omitted, from which nevertheless the condition and quality of the aforesaid most holy image cannot be passed over in silence, which from the aforesaid book, page 136, is expressed in the following words. Thus far Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, to which he subjoins the following description of the Crucifix, extracted from the cited book of the Vallombrosan Acts, thus:

[21] the description of the same Crucifix. The wood in the first place, which for its antiquity was feared to be rotten and almost decayed, was found solid, stable, and in no part damaged. That panel, upon which, on cloth stretched, the image of the Crucifix is painted, is deep, or thick, half of the eighth part of a cubit, its length or height in a straight line is three cubits with two thirds, the length across is three similar cubits with two eighths, the breadth of the panel is two thirds of a cubit, but from the arms of the cross to the knees the breadth is one cubit with a quarter. At the top of the cross is the panel of the inscription; but in the lowest part the cross has as it were a mountain, as crosses are wont both to be sculpted and painted. Over a panel of this kind is stretched cloth, upon which is painted in the manner of the Greeks the image of Jesus Christ crucified to the natural height of a man, but with flesh very much attenuated and hair curled, and stretched down to the neck. The diadem is gilded, and in it are seen written these characters LUX. He has oblong drawers, which stretch from the loins to the knees and are painted with most delicate folds. On the right and left of the cross, in that somewhat broader part of the panel beneath the arms, is painted the image of the Virgin Mother and of St. John, but in a very small figure. But the whole cloth, especially from the breast of the Crucifix to all the rest of the lowest part, is so torn, that the painting is scarcely seen. These things were faithfully and authentically described from the aforesaid book. I had resolved

to pursue the thread of the Gualbertine history, and to illustrate it in a certain order with notes; but the notice of the writers must necessarily here be inserted, that the things which are to be treated and elucidated in the following paragraphs may be more easily understood.

§ III. Which authors wrote the life of St. John Gualbert, and whose writings are to be published by us.

Almost innumerable writers have made mention of the deeds illustriously performed by St. John Gualbert. Didacus Franchi, before the life of the same Saint published by him in Italian, placed an alphabetical catalogue of the manuscripts Very many wrote the life of St. John Gualbert, which he used in weaving his history. I have besides a manuscript catalogue, in which, besides twenty-two authors who professedly, as they say, consigned the life of St. John to writing, sixteen others are enumerated, who on occasion touched the same life in passing. The chief ones known to me I shall here recount in order of time. Bl. Theuzo, disciple of St. John Gualbert, is said by some to have first written the life of his holy Father. But whether the writing of Bl. Theuzo be genuine, Dom Aurelio Casari doubts, in a letter given to Papebroch in the year 1691, thus sincerely signifying: I found in some of our archives… a life of St. John Gualbert in the Tuscan tongue, whose author Dom Didacus de Franchi makes Bl. Theuzo, which I indeed do not easily concede. I do not doubt that that candid and erudite man had solid reasons for not easily conceding it. Since nevertheless it has not been permitted us to see this life at the source, we shall pass no judgment on an unknown matter.

[23] Another disciple of the same holy Father is Bl. Andrew, by fatherland a Parmesan, and among them the chief are Bl. Andrew, Bl. Atto, and Benignus of Cesena. surnamed of Strumi, from the abbey of Strumi which he afterward governed, whose Life our Elders illustrated on the X of March. He toward the end of the 11th century, besides the life of St. Arialdus the martyr, wrote the Acts of St. John Gualbert, which, long lying hidden, the just-praised Aurelio Casari brought to light and transmitted to us with most courteous letters, which explain the occasion of the finding and the characteristic marks of the found treasure. Next to this, namely about the middle of the 12th century, Bl. Atto, from abbot of Vallombrosa bishop of Pistoia, wrote the deeds of St. John Gualbert, whose life Papebroch elucidated on the XXII of May. In the 14th century the Acts of the same Saint were written by Benignus of Cesena, as Aurelio Casari testifies in the aforesaid letter, and enumerating various manuscripts of the Laurentian library, among others he says that he found a life of St. John Gualbert in the Tuscan tongue most similar to the preceding one (he had treated of the life which is attributed to Bl. Theuzo) by the hand of Bl. Father N. Benignus of Cesena, hermit of the cells, in which place he wrote it, written on the III of January in the year 1374, in which he places a Catalogue of the general abbots of Vallombrosa up to the year 1373.

[24] Andrew de Sant'Ambrogio, a Benedictine monk, commonly called Andrew of Genoa, in the year 1419, Likewise Andrew of Genoa, whom Mabillon grossly confused with Bl. Andrew. as he himself indicates in the proem, collected from the ancient Acts the life of St. John Gualbert, and augmented it, which the former writers of the Life had omitted, with certain Chronological notes, and more prolix phrases. This Andrew of Genoa Mabillon wrongly confused with Bl. Andrew abbot of Strumi in the preliminary observations to the life of St. John Gualbert in the sixth Benedictine century, Part 2, page 266, thus noting: There, namely in Vallombrosa, John Gualbert fixed his seat, whose deeds Andrew of Genoa first consigned to writing, whose writing it was not permitted us to obtain. A gross error indeed, since the one wrote in the 11th century, the other in the 15th. If it were worth the trouble, we could clearly demonstrate this error from the very copy of Andrew of Genoa, which Dom Francesco Redi most courteously took care to have described for our Elders from the Ripoli Ms., and which we still diligently keep in our Museum, though not here to be published, lest so many Acts of St. John Gualbert affect the reader with tedium, and occupy the greatest part of this volume.

[25] St. Antoninus and others consigned the same life to writing. St. Antoninus archbishop of Florence in part 2 of the Histories, title 15, chapter 17, wrote the Life of St. John Gualbert more compendiously in the same century. Jerome of Raggiolo, who according to Franchi flourished in the year 1480, translated the life written in Latin by Andrew of Genoa into the Italian language. About the same time, or even a little before, Xantes of Perugia, abbot of Marradi, in composing the Acts of the same Saint used a more polished kind of writing, and gave effort to embellish the life of his holy Father in a rhetorical style. We have here a copy of this most learned writer, which we refer as received to the industry and labor of Dom Aurelio Casari, who described it faithfully with his own hand. Thaddeus Adimari, successor of Xantes of Perugia, took care to have the life of St. John Gualbert printed in the vulgar tongue at Venice in the year 1510 at Lucantonio Di Giunta of Florence.

[26] Who is the author of the life published by Surius. Laurentius Surius on the XII of July published the same life with the style changed. But who was its author, there is some controversy among the learned. Our Antonio Possevino in the Sacred Apparatus, volume 1, at the letter F, page 782, without any hesitation thus pronounces. Jacobus Fornerius or Furnius of Toulouse, of the Cistercian Order, who was the Supreme Pontiff Benedict X (commonly called XII) of this name, wrote the life of St. John Gualbert, which exists in Surius, volume 4, on the XII day of the month of July. This assertion of Possevino Gerard Vossius renders doubtful, book 2 on the Latin Historians, chapter 57, thus discoursing: We have the Life of Gualbert in Surius, volume 4, on the XII of July. But the name of the author was lacking in the Ms. Wherefore whether it be Fornerius's, or Blasius's, I could not easily say. But my mind inclines rather to this, that the monks of Vallombrosa less allowed the life of the founder of their Order, written by a monk of that place, to perish than one by the abbot of Monte Frigido. That the name of the author was lacking in the life published by him, Surius confesses, cautiously prefixing this title to the Gualbertine Acts: The life of St. John Gualbert, the author being (unless I am mistaken) Blasius Milanesi, General of the Order of Vallombrosa: For he wrote the life of this blessed Man; but the Ms. codex did not have his name. It little concerns us whose this life is, since we are certainly about to publish more ancient Acts.

[27] Locatelli, Franchi, and other more recent ones wrote the same Acts. Euxodius Locatelli in the year 1582 transmitted to posterity the deeds and miracles of his holy Father in the first book of his work published in Italian. After very many others, who both in prose and in verse embellished the Acts of St. John Gualbert, most copiously of all Didacus Franchi in twelve books, printed at Florence in the year 1640 in the Italian language, embraced the same history, and illustrated it with very many notes. Finally Vincentius Simius in the Catalogue of the Saints and illustrious men of the Congregation of Vallombrosa, published in print at Rome in the year 1693, at the letter I, page 157, handed down a brief compendium of the Gualbertine life. In it, according to the common opinion of the Vallombrosan writers, he holds that his holy Father was born in the year of Christ 985, and reached the age of 88 years, and so consequently he ought to have said, with the most received opinion, that he died in the year 1073. I marvel therefore that the year 1075 is placed by him; unless perhaps it be a typographical error, which we willingly pardon: For this pardon for erring we both ask and give in turn.

[28] From the enumerated writers, of whom we keep almost all, whether manuscript or printed, in our Museum, [We prefer the Acts written by Bl. Andrew, which Aurelio Casari unearthed from concealment,] it has seemed good to publish here only the first two, as most to be commended for antiquity; and in the first place indeed the Acts of Bl. Andrew abbot of Strumi, which are dearer to us the longer they were sought after in concealment and at last detected by the diligence of Dom Aurelio Casari, as is plain from his letter given to Papebroch in the year 1691, part of which I here premise, that the authority of the blessed writer and the sincerity of the copy may be established. Thus therefore after a religious and friendly salutation he writes. We Vallombrosans had lost the memorials of our saints and blessed ones, to be venerated with worthy veneration; but especially the Life of our most holy Father the founder John Gualbert, which in a splendid discourse Bl. Father N. Andrew abbot of Strumi, disciple of the holy Father, described, from which in great part St. Father N. Atto bishop of Pistoia composed his own. But by the grace of God I found it among the books and Mss. of the Reverend Abbot Petracci, now, as we piously hope, received into heaven… whose venerable codex the very antiquity, blushing or rather growing pale ink, demonstrates.

[29] The book is of sheepskin, in the writer's hand, in the lesser 4to, who describes the form and antiquity of the found codex, inscribed on the outside in gilded letters thus, "The life of St. John Gualbert by Bl. And. Abbot of Strumi." But within it thus begins. "The life of St. John Gualbert, first abbot of Vallombrosa and founder of the same Order, composed by Bl. And. of the holy faith of Strumi, abbot; with a supplement from other authors placed in the places where some folios of the present very ancient little book were lacking." The writing of the supplement seems to me half-modern; but that of the codex most ancient, and copied before the year 1154, or certainly a little after it, as I could prove by many things. Would that your lynx eyes could inspect this codex, truly golden! together with me you would prove its antiquity. Would that I had had such a one at hand, when the erudite Fr. Conrad Janning (unless I am mistaken) came here to Vallombrosa, whom to have served in our hospice glorying I even now exult, but he too, an eyewitness, would bear testimony. Behold the kindness of heaven has favored both you and us. Behold the distinguished work of blessed Andrew (so you are adorned in the Acts of the Saints on the X of March and the XXV of May), which you grieve on those same days is nowhere to be found, found. This therefore I shall as soon as possible faithfully transcribe, and send to you through the most illustrious and most erudite man and common friend the Lord Antonio Magliabechi.

[30] The most courteous man stood by his promises, and in the following year sent to Papebroch the life described with his own hand, and sent us his copy, whom in the letter wrapped in his writing he thus addresses. To occupy a most occupied man moreover would not be in my mind, did I not perhaps premeditate something of the honor and glory of the Saints and it would be welcome to Your Reverend Paternity. Behold for you a new occupation, while by these letters I present myself to you, holding a treasure found in my hands, and offering the life of our holy Father John Gualbert, the author being Bl. Andrew abbot of Strumi, which I faithfully described, as it is right to prove by the testimony appended there. The authority of this Blessed writer is to be esteemed above others, as one who knew the most blessed Patriarch and the Bl. Disciple Teuzo

and some who are commemorated in the life. As he wrote, Bl. Teuzo was still living, as he testifies in these words. "There had come among the rest Teuzo, who still survives, a venerable father and old man." There lived also that most ancient brother John, concerning whom thus. "That he, still surviving, testifies with living voice that it was so done, and those things which we have said above; and not only those, but also those which we shall subjoin below." There occur also similar examples concerning others, as in the paragraph "At that time etc." near the end; and the paragraph "What we write we learned from the venerable brother John"; and the paragraph "Truly not only etc."

[31] with the testimony added of his faithful description. Finally to the Life described by him he annexes this testimony: I, Dom John Aurelio Casari, hieromonk of the Order and Congregation of Vallombrosa, in truth profess, that I faithfully transcribed and drew the above-written Life of our holy Father John Gualbert, the author being blessed Andrew the abbot, from a certain precious most ancient sheepskin manuscript, which now by my industry is kept in the Archive of Vallombrosa. The book is in octavo (or as he had before said in the lesser quarto) with well-formed letters, but turning to a rust-colored hue from antiquity. It has 48 folios. The first and second contain the supplement, so also the seventh and ninth, which in the present transcription I have marked with these signs ". Certain folios are lacking; therefore do not marvel if it thus ends. "Which afterward retracting" The copy of Aurelio Casari, distributed after our manner into numbers, we shall here commit to print, and the supplement, which he himself distinguished with the signs ", we shall enclose in brackets [].

[32] Then will be published the life composed by Bl. Atto, To these Acts of Bl. Andrew we subjoin the Life of St. John Gualbert written by Bl. Atto bishop of Pistoia; which although for the most part it agrees with the preceding, yet because it is ampler, and in certain things differs a little (this discrepancy we shall observe in the Annotations), we have judged it also should be set before the eyes of the reader, as Mabillon published it in the sixth Benedictine century, Part 2, page 268, the Roman edition of the Thesaurus of Velius being abandoned, which is faulty, as Aurelio Casari deservedly complains with this exclamation: How maimed and mutilated is the life of St. John Gualbert by St. Atto, printed at Rome in the year 1612! That the authority of this blessed writer also may become known, it has pleased to excerpt the praises given to him by his contemporaries from the letters which are read in Ughelli, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 362, where Rainerius the canon among other things thus writes to him: The virtue of your innocence should be praised by me, but I feared to diminish your praises. For the Roman and Apostolic See, while I held my study at Quinton in England, broke forth into such praise of the excellence of you in the curia of the prelate of Quinton, through the Lord Matthew, Deacon and Cardinal of St. George: Being asked by me concerning the state of our and the Roman church, saying; that the Roman and Apostolic see would be blessed, if it were led by the direction of your governance, which gladdened me beyond what can be said. An honorable elogium indeed: If anyone wants more, let him read his life in our Acts on the XXII of May.

[33] Papebroch indeed in his Life illustrated on the said day had suspected concerning whose fatherland the conjecture of Papebroch is corrected. that Bl. Atto was by fatherland of Pieve, because he had found it so noted in a certain instrument. I, Fr. Atto of Pieve, monk and called bishop of Pistoia, subscribed this Brief to be confirmed and asked that it be made with all good will. The erudite Dom John Aurelio Casari, having read this conjecture of Papebroch, wrote to him in the year 1691 in this manner: From this peroration of St. Atto (he speaks of the epilogue of the Gualbertine life first found by him, which we shall afterward give) and his Memorial already transmitted to you through Fr. Dom Placidus Poltri, in both of which the holy man where he glories in this title SINNER MONK, it clearly appears that the words of that instrument recited by you on the XXII of May, namely. I, Brother Atto of Pieve monk, are not so to be read, as they sound "Pecensis," or as it pleases others, "Pacensis," but SINNER, as above in the peroration and Memorial. So I think therefore, Dom J. A. as above, your authority nevertheless being always safe in all things. When Papebroch had read these things, immediately, a most candid man, and always most ready to correct his errors, a note being written and affixed to the life of Bl. Atto, he embraced the opinion of Dom John Aurelio Casari as more probable, and in the said note among other things thus candidly notes: This certainly I judge no small fruit of the proposed doubt, even if through this it happen that our conjecture too concerning the Saint's fatherland falls: For we do not wish such to prevail longer than until they be refuted from elsewhere, or something better be substituted. This candid example of our Master we wish to imitate, wherever we err from the truth. Let these things be said on occasion; now let us return to our purpose.

[34] After both these Lives we shall commit to the press the miracles of St. John Gualbert, [Also are given the Saint's miracles collected by Jerome of Raggiolo, whose elogium is exhibited.] collected by Jerome of Raggiolo, and described by the hand of Henschenius and Papebroch, concerning which in the letter so often already mentioned Aurelio Casari thus has it: I found two sheepskin Ms. codices truly autograph of Dom Jerome of Raggiolo, namely the miracles of St. John Gualbert and the sermons of the same Jerome, in which the life of St. John Gualbert is briefly inserted, at whose end thus it is had: "This book is of me, Dom Jerome the Prior." But that the reader may know the faith and piety of this collector, I briefly add part of the elogium, which Vincentius Simius in the Catalogue of the illustrious men of the Congregation of Vallombrosa, at the letter H, page 134, thus composed: Jerome of Raggiolo, abbatial Prior of St. Donatus in Vincula, among the Vallombrosan writers very celebrated, wrote in the first place the life of the blessed Mary the Virgin, toward whom he was inflamed with the affection of most tender devotion; then the miracles of St. John Gualbert, and dedicated this work to the magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici, to whom he was singularly acceptable; besides he published treatises on the deeds of some blessed ones, on the three solemn vows, on the grades of humility, and on the virtue of patience; but the letters given by him, and other sacred lucubrations, were almost innumerable. Not even for a moment of time was he ever seen to be idle; nay rather he was always in act occupied in some praiseworthy exercise, whether reading or writing or praying. Besides the canonical hours, twice a day he recited the Office of the Virgin Mother of God, once a day the office of the dead, the Gradual and Penitential Psalms with the Litanies and prayers. Beyond the accustomed Lents and fasts of religion, he also mortified his flesh with other superadded abstinences, as also with hair-shirts and frequent flagellations. Then Simius narrates his pious death. These things have been said for the clearer understanding of the questions to follow; now let us resume the thread of illustrating our history.

§ IV. On the monastery of St. Miniato, which St. John Gualbert entered, and why he deserted it.

The temple of St. Miniato was restored by Bishop Hildebrand. St. John Gualbert, moved by the aforesaid prodigy of the image of the Crucified, resolved to send a farewell to the world. And so, the servants having been sent ahead by a pious fraud, he returns to the monastery of St. Miniato, and, his father unaware, is enrolled in the number of the monks, as both Acts narrate more fully. But on this occasion occurs a question concerning the restoration of the church of St. Miniato, which, since it is not altogether alien from this our undertaking, must be briefly treated. Didacus Franchi in the life published in Italian, book 2, contends that this temple was restored by St. Henry the emperor at the prayers of Hildebrand bishop of Florence: On the contrary Ughelli, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 62, authentic instruments being adduced, thus thinks: But Hildebrand, among the other offices of piety by which he became illustrious, restored the collapsing basilica of St. Miniato the martyr, and magnificently adorned it. For the rest, that the memory of his pious munificence might be perpetuated, and the error of those refuted who referred the magnificent restoration of his basilica to Henry the Emperor and Cunigunda his wife, a woman of distinguished piety, we have taken care to subjoin here this ancient writing, in which most plainly the whole glory of that building redounds to Hildebrand, who there also decreed that the college of monks instituted by him should depend on the judgment of the prelates of Florence. Then he subjoins the instrument of donation, which here for brevity's sake I omit. The opinion of Ughelli Mabillon follows in the Benedictine Annals, volume 4, at the year of Christ 1013; which I too embrace as more probable.

[36] An error of Mabillon is corrected. I cannot but here in passing correct an erroneous conjecture of Mabillon, which in the same Annals at the year of Christ 1028, commemorating a certain donation of Lambert bishop of Florence made to the monastery of St. Miniato, he thus proposes. To these letters subscribe, as I was just saying, Leo abbot of the monastery of St. Miniato, and after him Theuzo presbyter and monk, Ottriso presbyter and monk, and John presbyter and monk. Perhaps this be John Gualbert, who at this very time betook himself to the monastery of St. Miniato. I marvel that a man most versed in monastic antiquities was here so deceived as to believe that John Gualbert was a presbyter, after he read in his life written by Bl. Atto these words: Their master also greatly honored all the ecclesiastical orders, whom he knew to be Catholic, so that he did not presume to open the doors of the church, unless first some ordained man opened them. More clearly this also in the Saint's life at number 29 Bl. Andrew expresses in these words. Their Master and Father always had such reverence toward all ecclesiastical grades, that he could in no way ever be compelled even to become a Doorkeeper: but when he wished to enter the church, and the doors were closed, he in no way presumed to enter them, until a Doorkeeper, who should open them, was called.

[37] Now another question must be raised, and that more difficult, [It is handed down that St. John Gualbert deserted the monastery of St. Miniato on account of the simoniacal promotion of the abbot.] namely for what cause St. John Gualbert deserted the aforesaid monastery of St. Miniato. All the Acts which it has been permitted me to see assert that he refused to be subject to a simoniacal abbot, promoted through the bishop of Florence. How St. John Gualbert learned of this simoniacal promotion of his abbot, the more recent writers of the Life explain by a long narration, drawn from I know not where, and among them the first, as I suppose, Andrew of Genoa, who in the Life which we here have in manuscript thus narrates in chapter 8. But in the same monastery there was a certain monk, by name Uberto, very crafty and most desirous of transitory honor, who of the goods of the monastery, alas! furtively as much as he could, was disposing to snatch and to commit to the custody of a certain other John, whom he held of one mind with him; namely that, by wickedly giving what was ill acquired,

not as a keeper and pastor to the governance, but like a plunderer and ravisher he might at some time attain to the lordship of the abbey, which he greatly strove to effect by a spirit of pride, after blessed John, using the counsel of the aforesaid two, in a spirit of humility deserted the lordship of the abbey.

[38] Wherefore the same Uberto proceeded to Florence, Andrew of Genoa sets forth more fully, and promised to the Vicedomini, that they might help him with the bishop, a hundred gold shillings, but to the bishop, Atto by name, much money for the said abbey of St. Miniato; and which, the devil suggesting, he had long coveted, the same persuading, he was now busy to invade. Therefore, the pact of money being accomplished, and the power of the abbey thus simoniacally received, the same Uberto, that is "abounding" to every evil, and not to good, sent a certain man to the aforesaid monastery of the same St. Miniato, and admonished him to inquire concerning John the kinsman of the Vicedomini, and to announce how he had acquired the aforesaid abbey, and what he was about to give for it; and therefore that he should send there to him the money which he had entrusted to him.

[39] Coming therefore to the aforesaid monastery of St. Miniato, the legate or messenger of Uberto, how the simoniacal promotion of the abbot and seeking John the kinsman of the Vicedomini, God granting, John Gualbert in this way was, on account of the same Gualbert his father, led to that messenger, which Gualbert was nonetheless of the Vicedomini of Florence and a kinsman. To which John Gualbert, when the messenger on the part of Uberto sought the money lent to him, and set forth how he himself had come to the lordship of the abbey, trusting that he was the one of whom Uberto had spoken, presently blessed John, simple and upright and fearing God, and like another Job departing from evil, blushed at the crime of his confrere and monk Uberto and grieved enough, and greatly marveling said, feigning after the example of the Savior that he was going farther: This, brother, which you seek to be carried to Uberto, and to be given to the bishop and the Vicedomini, I cannot conveniently furnish you, unless you say it before the other monks and brothers, that they may be able to be witnesses to me that I have sent to Uberto what you seek.

[40] by St. John Gualbert This remedy therefore against the execrable disease of the said Uberto blessed John used, after the manner of a cautious physician, wishing to cure contraries by contraries, that Uberto himself, seeing public what he believed to be secret, and thus confounded by exceeding shame, might turn from the said evil and do good, namely by doing penance for the same disease, and also that the monks, who are as it were sheep, might see how cautiously they should live under him, because he was not a pastor but a hireling, whose the sheep are not their own, and who, seeing the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees, because he is a hireling, and it pertains not to him concerning the sheep, according to the Gospel truth. And also he knew, as he had heard, that it was written in the sacred sanctions, that as the simoniacal pest by its magnitude surpasses other diseases according to the understanding of law, so without delay, as soon as its signs shall have appeared through any person, they ought to be eliminated and driven from the Church of God.

[41] was detected. Therefore when the brothers and monks learned this, God willing, and Uberto's legate relating all things, and almost all grieved alike and blushed, holy John, kindled with the zeal of God and inflamed with the heat of faith and girded with spiritual arms, said: What therefore shall we say, brothers, or what shall we do? How shall we stand here further, or whither shall we go? Behold we are sold. The monastery is bought. Ecclesiastical honor, which, Christ instituting, is to be given freely and freely received, is bought with money, with money likewise is acquired. Therefore, these things said, placing at once some of the monastics and brothers, execrating this simoniac, through various monasteries, with one of them, whom he believed holier, and therefore loved more than the rest, he forthwith arranges how he might submit himself to the laws of a better life, and escape the lordship of the simoniacal abbot, since he could not resist his tyranny. Thus he; which indeed as to substance I judge to be true, because the most ancient writers of the life also handed down to memory the same cause of the departure. But I suspect that certain circumstances were ingeniously devised by Andrew of Genoa.

[42] Mabillon contends that simony did not furnish the cause for this departure, Mabillon denies that this was the cause of departure for St. John Gualbert, and consequently charges the whole history of Andrew of Genoa with falsity in the Benedictine Annals, volume 4, at the year of Christ 1032, thus disputing. At Florence in Italy Lambert, a most pious prelate, weary of human affairs, having this year abdicated the pastoral care, embraced the monastic life, in which kind of life he gave an incomparable example of probity to those present and to posterity up to his death. By this example Peter Damian in his letter to Pope Nicholas approved his own abdication too. It is not therefore probable that bishop Lambert was the one who, on account of the vice of simony, furnished John Gualbert the occasion of withdrawing from the monastery of St. Miniato. Nor can this be attributed to Atto the bishop, Lambert's successor, who is said to have been a prelate worthy of eternal memory; and this his distinguished deeds prove, which Ughelli relates, namely his benefactions both to the church of Florence and to the monastery of St. Miniato.

[43] Then, a fragment of a certain instrument being adduced, in which the monastery of St. Miniato is praised, but the love of solitude, he thus proceeds: All which prove that far other was the occasion for John Gualbert of withdrawing from that monastery, namely the zeal for greater perfection and solitude, as we said above. There exists to Obert abbot of that place a letter of Benedict IX, by which he confirms all his possessions granted by the bishops Hildebrand, Lambert, and Atto. Lambert was succeeded by Gerard, a Burgundian by nation, who for the distinguished endowments of his mind was promoted to the episcopate of Florence, at last created pontiff under the name of Nicholas II; while he was bishop, the most celebrated monastery distinguished by the name of St. Salvi, two miles from the city of Florence, was founded by John Gualbert the founder of the Vallombrosan Order. There is no place in these for that simoniacal bishop, who furnished John the occasion of withdrawing, such as is feigned by Atto in his Life.

[44] These things are not incongruous, to prove that none of these named bishops was contaminated with the stain of simony. although the ancient writers of the Life expressly express the former cause. But it seems hard to me on that account to object fiction to Bl. Atto, and, what is harder, to be unwilling to give faith to Bl. Andrew, a contemporary writer. I would rather believe that this simoniacal bishop (whoever he at last was: For the blessed writers of the Life do not express his name) is omitted in the catalogue of the prelates of Florence, or that others were not rightly placed, or finally that some one of the aforesaid bishops, before guilty of simony, repented, and afterward washed away the stain of sin with munificent donations. This last conjecture is not altogether improbable: For thus we read that Peter the simoniac, bishop of Florence, concerning whom afterward more fully, led by penance, lived a religious life. Thus Gregory VII writes to Rudolph the simoniac, Duke of Swabia, book 2, epistle 45. For your correction we intimate to you, that whatever price you remember having received for disposing the clerics in the church, you should expend either in the utilities of the same church, if it seems to belong to it, or in the uses of the poor, that, no stain of reprehensibility remaining in you, you may merit to be enrolled among the elect citizens of the heavenly kingdom.

[45] Less pressing is that which, to confirm his opinion, Mabillon adduces from Ughelli in the same Annals, volume 4, Little pressing is that which from the letters of Itta the abbess at the year of Christ 1038. From the same letters, namely of Itta abbess of St. Hilary, is made known the cause for which John withdrew with his companions from his monastery; namely the love of solitude and the zeal for avoiding the frequency of the people, who flowed together to the monastery of St. Miniato. For thus Itta in the aforesaid letters speaks, where she premised certain things concerning holy men, who leave all things for living piously and holily; "of whose college" she says "we received certain men from the monastery of St. Miniato, whom we believe to be well known to you, in the desert which is called Vallombrosa, as you know, in the place which is called Aqua Bella, namely into the property of our monastery, which is in honor of St. Hilary situated at Alfiano; who for the sake of bettering their life, leaving the monastery which was frequented with great populousness, preferred to lead a holy life in a solitary place." From which is confirmed that which we said above, that the cause of John's withdrawal was not that he might avoid simoniacs.

[46] Mabillon adduces to confirm his opinion, But, as I said, these things do not press much: For Itta the abbess, commemorating one cause, does not exclude another. Nay it could happen that St. John preferred to lead a life in a solitary place, than to live under a simoniacal abbot, much frequented by secular men. Certainly that the monastery of St. Miniato ten years before had been removed from all secular din, Mabillon himself proves from the words of Lambert bishop of Florence, in the cited volume at the year of Christ 1028: It was the fifteenth year, he says, since Hildebrand prelate of Florence had restored the monastery of St. Miniato, when Lambert his successor, not only approved the munificence of his predecessor, but also augmented it with new donations, chiefly led by this reason, that this place was as much more fit for saving souls, as it was both more remote from secular tumult, and more sacred by the religion of the saints resting there. Add that this observance of solitude still persevered in the year 1032, according to Atto bishop of Florence, whose words Mabillon adduces, volume 4, at the year 1032. There are made there namely assiduous praises and continual entreaties and continuous prayers for the salvation of the living, and also of the dying faithful, which in the sight of divine clemency are taken up so much the more acceptably, as the brothers serving there are, both in will and in work, established more remote from secular cares.

[47] since one cause does not exclude the other. I do not see how these things cohere with the frequency of secular men commemorated in the letters of Itta the abbess in the year 1039, unless one should say that regular discipline, perhaps through a simoniacal abbot desiring to please seculars, was relaxed and ruined. From this opinion Carlo Sigonio does not shrink, On the Kingdom of Italy, book 8, at the year of Christ 1030 (his chronology I do not defend), thus writing. John Gualbert, born in an honorable place at Florence, when, human things despised, he had entered a monastery, and had not sufficiently approved the loose discipline of the monks with whom he had to live, going out thence betook himself to the ridge of the Apennine mountain, and in the place which was called Vallombrosa placed the seat of a new monastery, and there bound himself and his companions by the more severe laws of life. Thence proceeded the congregation of the monks of Vallombrosa. Now the institution and praise of this distinguished Order must be treated.

* that is "to be"

§ V. The institution, increase, privileges, and praises of the Vallombrosan Order.

The description and beginnings of Vallombrosa Vallombrosa, says Mabillon, or Vallimbrosa

and Vallis-Umbrosa, so called from the shady fir-woods which lie upon the ridge of the mountains and overshadow the valley below, is situated a half-day's journey from the city of Florence in the Apennine Alps, midway between Florence and the Camaldolese desert, set upon the back of a mountain, whose valley the river or torrent Vicano flows past. In this solitude St. John Gualbert instituted a religious congregation, from which came forth many men, distinguished both in doctrine and in holiness, of whom Dom Venantius Simius wove a catalogue, printed at Rome in the year 1693. At first the holy Father John, after the manner of the Camaldolese, built separate huts, which Andrew of Genoa and Xantes of Perugia describe at length, and whose figure Didacus Franchi exhibits in book 5 of his History, page 101. From these small beginnings the monastery gradually grew, and at last in the year 1637 by the Reverend Lord abbot Averardo Nicolini a magnificent structure was built, which, engraved on copper, may be seen in Didacus Franchi in the Index, in Mabillon in the Annals, volume 4, page 421, and in his Italian journey, volume 1, page 184.

[49] This nascent Order, besides Conrad the Emperor and others, Itta abbess of St. Hilary fostered with pious liberality, Various fosterers of the Vallombrosan congregation, as is established from the letters of donation, which Ughelli produces whole, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 299. But after the death of the holy Founder, princely men and women augmented the same Congregation with very many gifts, as may be seen in Mabillon in the observations before the Life of St. John Gualbert in the sixth Benedictine century, Part 2, page 267, and in Ughelli, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 286. Nor with less benevolence did the supreme Pontiffs pursue this sacred family, whose diplomas are everywhere at hand. The Bull of Urban II, which exists in Laertius Cherubinus, volume 1 of the Bullarium, pages 14 and 15, contains distinguished praises of this Order and plainly singular prerogatives. The privileges granted to this Order various Pontiffs of later centuries confirmed, whose Bulls the Vallombrosan authors and other collectors of diplomas for the most part exhibit, to whom we refer the curious reader.

[50] Yet I cannot but briefly excerpt from them certain things especially pertaining to the honor of this Order. among whom the Roman Pontiffs Urban II, Urban II thus begins a Bull given to the most beloved sons of the whole Vallombrosan congregation in the year 1090: Since to all the sons of the holy Church we are debtors by the authority and benevolence of the Apostolic See, especially to those places and persons which more specially and familiarly adhere to the Roman Church, and which are eminent for an ampler grace of religion, it befits us to attend with a more inclined zeal of charity. Because therefore, the divine clemency preceding and following your purpose, the simplicity of your Religion has breathed the odor of good repute in places both near and far: We, desiring to add advancement to your advancement, the Lord assenting, receive your monastery, for the reverence of the Bl. Mary ever Virgin, to whom it is dedicated, into the property of the Roman Church and the guardianship and protection of the Apostolic See; and fortifying it with the privilege of Apostolic authority, we decree that it remain free from the yoke of all persons.

[51] [Alexander IV and Julius II, who adorned this Order with various privileges and praises.] Alexander IV, according to Franchi, book 7, page 198, praises also the constant love of this Congregation toward the Apostolic See thus: For the special devotion which you have to the Roman Church, your mother, you have sustained in persons injuries, and in possessions and in your other goods no small detriment. Finally, to pass over very many others, Julius II in the year 1507, confirming the privileges granted to this Order by his predecessors, and communicating new ones, thus indicates the cause of conferring this favor: We therefore, who embrace this Order and congregation of Vallombrosa, on account of the abundant fruits which it is known to produce in the Church militant in contemplating divine things and in assiduous prayers and entreaties to God, in the bowels of our charity and love. This Bull whole can be read in Laertius Cherubinus, volume 1 of the Bullarium, page 426. Since we may not linger here longer, let us bring forward the honorable testimonies of others concerning this Order.

[52] The author of the life of St. Aybert Of how great veneration for the sanctity of his life the initiator of this religion was, is clear among other things from this, that Bonizo bishop of Sutri, afterward of Piacenza, and at last a martyr, whose Mss. are kept in the Imperial Library, according to Lambecius, book 2, page 790, dedicated eight books of sentences excerpted from St. Augustine to St. John Gualbert while he was living. The holy Father being dead, the same odor of sanctity persevered in his sons: For ancient writers testify with how great integrity of morals and praise of piety this Congregation flourished in its time. It is pleasing here to hear the testimonies of certain ones. In the life of St. Aybert, written by a contemporary author, which our Henschenius illustrated in volume 1 of April, page 675, it is thus narrated: When they had come to Rome, it was told them that Urban of holy memory (he is Urban II of this name, elected in the year 1088), whom they sought, was at Benevento. Hearing which, Dom Aybert and brother John did not dare to undertake so long a journey, both because they distrusted the strength of the body, and because brother John was ill; and therefore by the counsel and benevolence of the aforesaid abbot they withdrew into Vallombrosa, there to await him until he should return.

[53] extols with wonderful praises the piety of the Vallombrosan monks. Where indeed they found monks of wonderful continence and exquisite life, who, pouring out the bowels of piety over them and benignly receiving them, were zealous to retain them perpetually with themselves: For these monks, of whom we treat, as the sincerity of many testifies, are firmly and perfectly observing the rule of St. Benedict, living by the labor of their hands, incessantly afflicting their bodies with many and various labors in hope of the heavenly life, in the rigor of discipline fervid with severe charity, in receiving strangers and the poor benign, in burying the brethren pious, moreover distinguished in every kind of religion, and (as the two aforesaid men confessed) to be preferred in sanctity to all the monks whom they had hitherto seen. Who, staying with them for some space of time, received from them many documents of living rightly, as they themselves testified.

[54] The Countess Matilda, Anselm bishop of Havelberg The Countess Matilda in letters given at Florence in the year 1100 defends the same Vallombrosan monks against the iniquitous vexations of certain ones, whose life, she says, we have known in our time to shine more excellently than the rest, and whose laudable fame of sanctity we have perceived with no deaf ear to be fragrant everywhere. Anselm bishop of Havelberg, book 1, chapter 10, of the Dialogues, which Dom Luke d'Achery published in volume 13 of the Spicilegium, thus speaks: Nor is it long since, that in another place, which is called Vallombrosa near the Perugian mountains, there arose a very religious congregation of monks, differing from the rest who are called monks by a new Order and new habit, and they have many followers of their form. The habit, of which this writer treats; was then of a rust color, which the Reverend Lord Blasius de Milanesi the General about the year 1500 changed into black, as Franchi more fully shows, book 7, page 186. Whence there does not deserve to be refuted the double error of a certain more recent heterodox, who ignorantly writes that the color of the Vallombrosan monks was formerly blue (in this first error he has as guide Polydore Vergil, book 7 on the Invention of things, chapter 2) and in our time is violet. Here, if ever, the blind man judges of colors.

[55] Of the change of the habit thus Æmilius Acerbus sings in the panegyric of St. John Gualbert.

Vallombrosa changed its old colors: Happy if it keeps the morals and the loves of heaven.

and Ferdinand Ughelli, abbot of the Cistercians But that this religious congregation preserved the morals and the loves of heaven, the elogium of Ughelli testifies, which I here subjoin as a recapitulation of what has been said, and a synopsis of all that could be said. Thus he has it, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 283. That Order drew its name from the place in which the first monastery, namely in the valley below, set over with a denser shade, and cast forth by the very rugged mountains rising here and there, was raised in that place whose name is Aqua Bella, which the most noble Itta, abbess of the Hilarian house in the diocese of Fiesole, sprung from the family of the Counts Guidi, liberally handed over to them.

[56] This most noble monastery is distant only twelve miles from Florence, gave honorable testimonies concerning the same Order. which afterward, when the virtue of the most holy Man spread and carried itself far, and his successors did not depart from his probity, was amplified with the greatest wealth, that in it the glory of divine worship might flourish, and became the head of the most noble Congregation of Vallombrosa; which in a short time diffused itself not only through all Etruria, but also through all Italy, and brought the greatest fruits to the Church, gave a new splendor to the monastic institutes of St. Benedict, and shed the greatest ornament on Etruria: For there arose from that family innumerable men conspicuous in sanctity and knowledge, whom their distinguished virtues raised to the highest ecclesiastical dignities: The monuments of the historians swell with their distinguished deeds, which here to recount would be superfluous. That Order has hitherto preserved its splendor: Today it is commended to the patronage of the most serene prince Charles de' Medici, bishop Cardinal of Tusculum, and is administered with the greatest praise by Ascanio Tamburini the abbot General; which man a distinguished learning, joined with other endowments and ornaments of nature, sweetness of morals, and singular prudence, no less than the most erudite books on the right of abbots and abbesses printed by him, commend. The love and zeal of the Roman Pontiffs exempted this religious family from Diocesan jurisdiction from its first cradles, who afterward conferred most celebrated privileges upon it.

[57] How this Order was propagated into Gaul, How Andrew a Vallombrosan monk translated his order into Gaul, is clear from chapter 61 of the Patriarchium of Bourges, which was published by our Labbe at the beginning of the second volume of the New Library of Manuscript books, where the following are handed down: A certain most noble and most vigorous count, about to return from Jerusalem into France, whence with the other Christians he had set out thither, having entered Rome, easily obtained from the supreme Pontiff that the relics of the holy martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian be given to him. Then indeed, some devout brothers having also been obtained from the most flourishing Congregation of monks of Vallombrosa, whose Prior was called brother Andrew, a man illustrious for the greatest constancy in preserving religion, the most illustrious Count, having attained his wish, and most joyful having returned to his home, provided for the aforesaid religious men with ample liberality, and giving them the option of choosing a suitable place for building a monastery within the bounds of his dominion, granted it, and appointed that the expenses of so great a work be taken from his own means. Which monastery indeed having been quickly and magnificently constructed in the territory of Orléans, not only did that very noble man distinguish it with the sacred relics of the holy martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian; but also from his own revenues munificently and nobly endowed the place itself, appointing that thenceforth the same monastery should be called Cornelius's.

[58] with various monasteries And now, like an alabaster box of balsam broken, the admirable repute of the men of God, wonderfully fragrant, in a short time was diffused through the whole province of Aquitaine; by whose example very many men of every condition, drawn and enticed, the allurements of this vain world being despised and spurned, of their own accord submitting themselves to the sweet yoke of Christ, contended eagerly for the prize of the supernal calling: For the venerable father Andrew, in whom the form of all religion, and also the grace of all moderation, shone, easily induced each who was converted to him to receive knowledge of himself, to be free for psalms and hymns, to cultivate the ground of his heart with continual tillage and unceasing exercises, to emulate and follow a celibate and chaste life, especially desirable to all mortals. What more? So in a short time the number of those renouncing the world grew together, that in a dry and squalid field there seemed to have grown up a fruitful crop and a joyful vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, now about to spread its shoots far and wide. Whence the man of the Lord Andrew instituted several little assemblies of monks in various places, which are now called Priories, and erected them at the prayers of certain noble men, of their own accord offering him the things which pertain to the quiet life of the religious.

[59] and disciples he augmented it. Finally, finding a certain wood very dense with oaks and beeches within the bounds of the diocese of Bourges, a hut having first been made there, it came into his mind to make this the last dwelling of his pilgrimage; where indeed, whoever, divinely inspired, were converted, to be instructed by him according to the rule of the divine Father Benedict, building for themselves huts around the little hut of the master, by the effect of the matter they judged that the place itself should thenceforth be called the Blessed Cottage (Casale-benedictum). Who at last, aided by the help of certain princes, and the alms of devout faithful, completed, God helping, the basilica and all the workshops of the monastery. Whither the Lord Leodegarius archbishop of Bourges deigned to come, and solemnly dedicated the church in honor of the inviolate Virgin Mary Mother of God and of the most blessed Apostles Peter and Paul; and confirmed and blessed the Reverend Father Andrew himself as first abbot of Casale-benedictum.

[60] It is a wonder that this Andrew was passed over by Venantius Simius in the Catalogue of the illustrious men of Vallombrosa; The elogium of this Andrew, known to few. especially since in the encyclical Epistle written by the monks of Casale-Benedictum after his death, and already published by Luke d'Achery in volume 2 of the Spicilegium, page 518, he has a distinguished elogium, from which we excerpt these few things. Dearest brothers, for Dom Andrew, our abbot, but your brother, be zealous to knock with us at the most pious ears of almighty God, that he to whom he devoutly served, while the spirit quickened his members, may be able perpetually to cleave to him, his bodily members being now bereft of life. For this blessed man, in the year from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand one hundred and twelve, in the fifth Indiction, on the twelfth of the Kalends of February, fulfilled the laws of nature, paying the debts of death… He also first constructed our abbey, which is called Casale-Benedictum, and several little cells subject to it, namely Cornelius's, Contres, Autels, St. Benignus, Beesca, Polinas, St. Anianus, Cambon, Salviniacum. Whoever desires a more distinct notice concerning this abbot, and the monasteries built by him, and their present state, let him consult the Benedictine Annals, volume 5, pages 254, 297, 316, 468, 577. For it is not permitted us here to transcribe each thing, lest the Commentary grow to too great a mass.

[61] If anyone also desires to know more concerning the illustrious Order of Vallombrosa, and the family of religious women arisen from it after the death of the holy founder, Are assigned the authors who wrote concerning the Vallombrosan order. let him approach Eudoxius Locatelli, who in the first book of his Italian work embraced the life and miracles of St. John Gualbert, in the second the deeds of the Vallombrosan Generals and Blessed. Didacus Franchi can also be seen, who illustrated with copious notes the Life of his holy Father published in twelve Italian books. Of the same Order treated Ascanio Tamburini on the right of abbots, Disputation 24, question 5, number 20. Silvester Maurolycus in the Ocean of all Religions, book 2, page 120. Paul Morigia in the History of Religions, chapter 26. Ignatius Guiducci in the Life of St. Humility, Gabriel Bucelin in the Benedictine Menology, Silvanus Razzi in the Lives of the Etruscan Saints and Blessed, Philip Bonanni in the Catalogue of religious Orders, and after others the Anonymous Gaul, who a few years ago published in French eight volumes on all the Religious and Military Orders, adorned with copper figures.

§ VI. The writings and prayers of St. John Gualbert.

That our Saint wrote various things, which have perished or lie hidden, I gather from Andrew of Genoa in the Life, chapter 18, where he thus has it: St. John Gualbert is reported to have written various things. He collected very many chapters, sayings, doctrine, and exhortations of the holy Fathers, from which he instructed and armed all against simony, that they might not only flee from it, but also be able to impugn it. The same testifies Jerome of Raggiolo in the book on the solitary life, chapter 17, in these words: Our John, both by learned and grave discourse, and by epistles written throughout wide Italy, reprehended and sharply condemned schismatics, unbelievers, and those corrupted by money, and in like manner pursued them at home and abroad. Nay rather Eudoxius Locatelli, cited in Franchi, book 7, page 165, asserts that the glorious Father St. John by divine virtue suddenly acquired such knowledge, that he composed a most learned and most holy book of Latin epistles. To us now only two epistles survive. The first to Herimann of Volterra, that is bishop of Volterra, which, omitted by Bl. Atto for brevity's sake, is related by Bl. Andrew in the Life at number 74. The other, which the holy Father, now near to death, dictated concerning fraternal charity, is had in the same Andrew at number 112. These few things concerning his writings; now let us proceed to his prayers.

[63] About to satisfy the petition of the Vallombrosans, In the year 1698 Dom Germanus Ruini, sacristan of Vallombrosa, gave to Papebroch letters, which I here premise, the praises with which he heaps us unworthy being cut off. And so in the part of them which pertains to the present matter, he thus speaks. Since it is of my office to inquire into the ancient deeds of the Saints of our Order of Vallombrosa, and diligently to investigate them to the praise of God and of his servants, I have judged it worth the trouble, with the added good pleasure of the most Reverend Fr. General Dom Venantius Simius of Tomana, to write sincerely something to Your very Reverend Paternity concerning the most ancient manuscript Manual, which St. John Gualbert the abbot founder used, and his blessed disciples. This sacred Manual therefore, which is kept among other relics in the sanctuary of Vallombrosa, as may be seen, and as also Fr. Mabillon monk of St. Benedict saw, as appears from his Italian Journey, folio 183, contains several pious prayers and documents, which although they be perhaps also of other holy Fathers, yet because we historically hold that St. John Gualbert recited them and gave the said documents also to his companions, as appears from our Historians, therefore these his exceptional deeds, lest they lie hidden longer in the shades, we suppliantly ask, that this brief spiritual exercise of prayers sincerely collected by me the Theologians of your distinguished Society may there publish and benignly insert into the Acts of the Saints, either in the annotations to the XII of July; for which also we shall render most singular thanks.

[64] we here publish the prayers which St. John Gualbert used. Willingly we assent to the petition of the most courteous man, and, about to satisfy the desire of the whole Order, which we intimately venerate, we here subjoin these prayers and documents. Therefore the copy of Dom Germanus Ruini thus has it. Let us imitate the holy Church, of which we also are members. Manual, page 1. When you awake from sleep, impress the sign of the Cross ✠ on your lips. Manual, page 1. I with all my heart and mouth confess and adore thee, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, threefold in persons and one in substance. Folio 1. The Lord's Prayer. The Creed. Folio 1. I John believe and confess the faith which the holy Apostles preached, and the holy Fathers confirmed in the four councils. From the little Breviary of St. John Gualbert, Ms. I invoke the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that the sign of the Cross may be over me and defend me from evil works. May the seal of the holy Cross be over me by days and nights. From the Breviary of St. John Gualbert, Ms.

[65] Thanksgiving for divine benefits. I give thee thanks, infinite mercy, Lord God almighty, who through the water of holy Baptism and the renewal of the Holy Spirit hast freed me from the original bonds. I give thee thanks, who hast rightly made me believe in thee, and hast deigned to associate me to the number of thy faithful. From the Manual, folio 2. Lord God almighty, eternal and ineffable, without end and beginning, whom we confess one in Trinity and threefold in unity, thee alone I adore, thee I praise, thee I bless, and thee I glorify, and to thee merciful and clement I render thanks, who, having stripped me of the night of perfidy and error, hast granted me to become a partaker of thy grace. Perfect, I beseech, Lord, the work of thy mercy begun in me. Grant me time to think, speak, and do the things which are pleasing to thee, and, guarding me everywhere with thy gratuitous kindness, make me unworthy and wretched to come to thy vision. Amen. From the Manual, folio 2. I give thee thanks, almighty Father, who hast deigned to keep me on this night: I beseech thy clemency, most pious Lord, that thou grant me so to pass the coming day in thy holy service, in humility and discretion, that our service may be pleasing to thee; and grant me today with the greatest patience to render thee an acceptable service. From the Manual, folio 11.

VARIOUS PRAYERS.

A prayer for the custody of the senses.

[66] Be with me, Lord of Sabaoth, in the morning when I shall rise; A prayer for the custody of the senses, attend to me and govern my acts and my words and my thoughts. Keep my feet, that they go not idly about the house, but stand in prayer. Keep my hands; let them be pure, clean, and lifted up without anger and dispute. Keep my mouth, that it speak not vain things, that it prattle not of secular things, that I detract not from my neighbor; that I invite not others to vain speech, but be always prompt to praise, slow to anger. Keep my ears, that they hear not detraction, nor lie, nor idle word; but be opened daily to hearing the word of God, that all the day I may pass in thy will. Keep my eyes, that they see not vanity. Grant me thy fear, Lord, compunction of heart, humility of mind, purity of conscience, that I may look to heaven, despise the earth, hate sins, and love justice world without end. Amen. From the Manual, folio 11.

A prayer to Jesus.

[67] Kind, hearkening Lord Jesus Christ, hear me a most unworthy sinner through the intervention and merit of the blessed and glorious ever Virgin Mary thy Mother and of all

the citizens above, and for the various state of men. Increase the faith of thy Catholic Church: Grant peace to Pope N. and to all this Congregation, also to our kindred and to Christian princes and to those joined to me by thy charity. Also to those bestowing on us their gifts, to those persecuting and calumniating us, to all who implore for us thy holy name, or who have wished for themselves that we wretched ones supplicate before thy clemency; grant also to us sinners remission and indulgence of all sins. To the sick health, to the fallen restoration, to those sailing and journeying, a prosperous journey and the haven of salvation; to the afflicted and troubled joy; to the oppressed relief; to captives, the bound, and pilgrims absolution and return to their fatherland propitiously grant. From the Manual, folio 12.

A prayer.

[68] Prayers for various things. On all the grades which in the faith of the most holy Trinity are commonly contained in thy catholic Church, have mercy, most clement God. Be propitious to all placed in whatever necessities and miseries, and to all thy Christian people, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood. From the Manual, folio 18.

A prayer.

Fill our hearts with faith, hope, and charity, obedience and humility and patience, and make our rector according to thy heart, that he may do thy will for his salvation and ours. Amen. From the Manual, folio 30.

Another prayer.

Grant, Lord, we beseech, to every sex and every age and condition of the Christian Order the custody of thy commandments and pardon of all their offenses, and have mercy on us. Amen. Folio 18.

CERTAIN OTHER PIOUS PRAYERS.

A prayer for the contemplation of the heavenly fatherland.

[69] A monition for heavenly contemplation. The blessed Apostle admonishes us, saying: If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: And again: But our conversation is in heaven. Let us mourn in this calamitous journey, as long as we are exiled from our fatherland. Let us transcend on the little wings of contemplation all things which began in time and end with time, and with all our desires let us fly in mind to that fatherland, to which one proceeds in time, but lives without time. To kindle therefore our desires, let us sing daily these five Psalms in spirit and mind. As the hart desires the fountains of waters, so desires etc. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause etc. A hymn befits thee etc. How beloved are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts etc. With my voice I cried to the Lord etc. From the Manual, folio 4. After the Lord's Prayer these Psalms are to be sung suppliantly: These also console and lift up the mind in tribulation: How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? etc. God, my God, look upon me etc. God, in thy name save me etc. Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trodden me down etc. O God, come to my aid etc. Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man etc. Lord God of my salvation etc. From the Manual, folio 4.

After the modulation of the Psalms, a prayer.

[70] A prayer after psalmody and for the dead. Liberator of souls and redeemer of the world, Jesus Christ, eternal Lord God, immortal King, I a sinner supplicate thy immense clemency that through the modulation of the psalms which I wretched and unworthy have sung, thou free my soul from sin and lift my heart from evil and depraved and perfidious thoughts and take my body from the servitude of sin, and repel from me carnal concupiscences, and rescue me from every impediment of Satan and his ministers visible and invisible and of thy unbelievers, who seek to impede my soul. From the Manual, folio 32.

A prayer for the dead.

Reckon not, most pious God, the sins of my brothers at rest, or of those who were joined to me by thy charity, that to these, and to all who died in thy faith, thou mayest deign propitiously to grant eternal rest. Amen. From the Manual, folio 20.

A consolation in the temptation of unclean spirits.

[71] The distinguished Preacher consoles us in demoniac temptations, saying: A consolation in temptation, But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you are able, but will make with the temptation also an issue, that you may be able to bear it. Wherefore it must be known, that there is a measure of hidden judgment, both when the storm of temptation should leap forth, and when it should be still. Certainly, as the Gospel attests, the devil could neither remain in the possessed man, nor did he presume, unbidden, to invade even the brute animals. When therefore would he of his own accord dare to harm men made to the image of God by deeds? To whom, if the supreme power gave not license to range, he would not even be able to go into the swine. In no way must it be doubted that, by the permission of the most just judge, the devil receives power of tempting the elect for a time, but the judge mercifully grants what the enemy would cruelly desire. Hence it is that of the faithful servant the Lord says: I will not raise him up as cruel. Hence Isaiah refreshes the faithful soul, wearied by temptations, with soothing consolations, saying: The Lord thy God has said; for a moment in a little I have forsaken thee, and in great mercies I will gather thee. Likewise there: I have hidden my face a little from thee, and in everlasting mercy I have had pity on thee.

[72] When therefore we fall into temptation for a time, before we slip into the whirlpool of delectation or depraved consent, and which psalms are to be recited in it, and a prayer to the cross. let us cry from the marrow, let us cry mightily by singing these Psalms: How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? Psalm. God, my God, look upon me, why hast thou forsaken me? Psalm. God, in thy name save me. Psalm. Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trodden me down. Psalm. Lord God of my salvation. Psalm. O God, come to my aid. Psalm. Rescue me, O Lord, from the evil man. From the Manual, folio 7.

A prayer to the Holy Cross.

Be present to thy family, clement and merciful God, that in adversity and prosperity thou mayest hear our prayers, and mayest deign to crush the wickedness of our adversaries through the help of the Holy Cross, because on it the savior of the world suffered, that they may be able to attain the haven of salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc. From the Manual, folio 47. I invoke the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that the sign of the Cross may be over me and defend me from evil works; may the seal of the Holy Cross be over me by days and nights. From the Ms. Breviary of St. John Gualbert, near the end. We adore thy Cross, O Lord, and we praise and glorify thy holy resurrection: For behold, on account of the cross joy has come into the whole world. From the Manual, folio 48.

A prayer for the preservation of the Congregation.

[73] A prayer for the Congregation, and for benefactors and the various kinds of men. Give not, most clement God, this Congregation to dispersion, but preserve it for thy holy name. From the Manual, folio 31.

A prayer.

Hear me, clement and benign God, for all thy faithful who have given us their alms, and look not, Lord, on my sins, but on the faith of those who have bestowed on us temporal goods in the faith of thy name: and thou, God, rewarder of all good things, deign to repay them for small things great, and for earthly things everlasting promises; Savior of the world, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen. From the Manual, folio 3.

A prayer.

Have mercy on all catholics both living and dead, and those turned away from the way of truth deign to convert to thee, that they may seek thee with all their heart. And preserve all in eternal protection, that by no temptations they be separated from thee. And grant that this prayer of thy servant may profit the dead for the cleansing of their offenses or the lightening of their punishments. Thou, great and terrible God, merciful and lover of men; thou knowest whatever is expedient for each, we beseech thy clemency, Lord, that according to thy will it be done to us all both living and also to the faithful dead, Savior of the world, who livest and reignest etc. Folio 31 in the same place.

A prayer for Thanksgiving.

[74] Another thanksgiving. I give thee thanks, infinite mercy, Lord God almighty, and I praise and glorify thee, who hast hitherto freed me from the destruction of eternal death, from the punishments, and from the torments of this flesh, in which I am worthy to be afflicted. I render thee praise and thanks, who hast deigned to lead me, exempted from many deaths, from many reproaches, calamities, and miseries, from the most monstrous snares of the devil, from unclean desires, the bonds broken with which I was held bound, to thy service. I render thee praise and thanks, who, rescuing me from the storms of strifes, grantest me to enjoy the charity of thy servants. I beseech, Lord my God, who hast deigned to bestow thy mercy on me up to the present hour, grant me, with all my heart, all my soul, all my strength, ever to seek thy face, and lead me, merciful one, to thy most sweet vision. Amen. From the Manual, folio 2.

A prayer to the Bl. Virgin Mary.

[75] A prayer to the Mother of God and to St. Michael the archangel. I supplicate thee, holy Virgin Mary, immaculate mother of Christ, child-bearer, splendid star of the sea, worthy queen of the heavens, pure hall of God, closed gate of Christ; blessed among women, exalted above the heavens, Mother of Christ, deign to intervene with thy Son the Lord for my sins: For there is none among creatures more worthy than thee, because he himself, who created thee, was born, and consequently hears none more willingly than thee. Under thy bosom therefore I flee. Amen. From the Manual, folio 27.

To St. Michael the Archangel.

I beseech thee, most glorious Michael, prince of the army of angels, whom Jesus our Lord willed therefore to be made manifest to mortals, that those whom he snatched from under the yoke of demoniac servitude by shedding his blood; thou mayest protect them from his snares by angelic power and defend them by the virtue of prayer: Pour out for me daily thy prayers, that the Lord may grant me against the wounded proud one the most mighty arms of humility, with which I may both strongly resist him and suppliantly obey our Lord, and may be able by worthy works of obedience to attain the fellowship of the Angelic beatitude, which he by pride lost. Amen. From the Manual, folio 27.

To the holy guardian Angels.

[76] May the pious guardianship of thy blessed Angels be present, I beseech, to me, and grant, A prayer to the guardian Angels and to other Saints. that with thee the hosts of thy Saints may intercede for me most unworthy. Folio 13.

Another prayer.

Bestow on us here and everywhere thy holy Angel as guardian and defender: To those in discord mutual charity: To the unbelieving true faith: To dead parents and to all at rest in thy faith grant indulgence of offenses. Folio 13.

To the Apostles and disciples of Christ.

All Apostles with all the disciples, men and women, of my Lord Jesus Christ, pray for me, that the Lord may withdraw me from

the world, as he withdrew you, and grant me to follow his footsteps even in the last of our band. Amen. Folio 29.

To the Confessors.

I beseech you, most blessed confessors of Christ and Doctors, Cyprian, Basil, Gregory, Athanasius, Eusebius, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Leo, Germanus, Isidore, deign to intercede for me a sinner, that the Lord may grant me to keep what you taught, and make me to rejoice in your fellowship. Folio 30.

To St. Benedict the Abbot.

[77] I beseech thee, most blessed Benedict, beloved of God, [A prayer to St. Benedict and for the blessing of the cells and an admonition concerning silence.] intercede for me thy servant, and for all this thy holy Congregation and for all warring under thy mastership, together also for all Christian people, that the Lord may purge the heart and acts from all vices. May he grant me to keep all things which he commanded and to guard the path of the holy rule, which I have promised to keep. Folio 29.

Prayers for the blessing of the cells of the monks.

Bless, Lord, we beseech, that little cell, that we who hope in the shadow of thy wings may be protected from all snares of demons by the might of thy power. Through Christ our Lord. Folio 21. Be present, we beseech, Lord, to this little cell, that the throng of demons, terrified, may be put to flight. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Folio 21. God, whom neither spaces enlarge, nor the smallness of places straiten, flood this little cell, we beseech, with the light of thy presence, that the author of darkness, confounded, may depart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Folio 21.

For Silence.

It is written, the Apostle affirming, that life and death are in the hand of the tongue. And again: The tongue no man can tame. What therefore mere man cannot tame, let us ask that God and man may tame. Therefore to obtain the virtue of discreet silence, with suppliant devotion let us sing to the Lord these psalms. Give ear to my words, O Lord. Psalm. I said, I will keep my ways, that I offend not with my tongue. Psalm. Lord, I have cried to thee, hear me etc. From the Manual, folio 12.

A prayer to the Father.

[78] A prayer to the Holy Trinity. Ineffable God, founder of all things, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who didst send the same beloved Son from thy bosom to our public gaze to take on our life, that he might give us his own, and be perfect God from thee the Father, and perfect man from the mother, wholly God and wholly man; one and the same Christ, shepherd and sheep, temporally dead, living with thee forever. And he said to us: Whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you. I beseech thee, that thou grant me with the same thy Son to bless and glorify thee in all things; because of whom the substance is one, the gift also is one. Grant me also through him and with him pardon of all sins, and the custody of thy commandments; thy love and fraternal love; against the devil strong arms, and toward the brethren perfect charity. Amen. From the Manual, folio 3.

To the Son.

Have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Christ, that thou mayest teach me thy holy will, that thou mayest nourish me in thy charity. Thou my mercy, have mercy on me, that I may well pray thee. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Christ, that thou mayest make me worthy to be heard. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Christ, that I may believe in thee. Have mercy, Lord, have mercy, Christ, that I may know thee, that I may hope in thee, and that I may love thee, that my soul may live in thee. Amen. From the Manual, folio 34.

To the Holy Spirit.

Have mercy, Spirit the Paraclete, my consolation, my illumination, have mercy, Lord God. From the Manual, folio 34.

A preparatory prayer for the holy Pasch of the Lord.

[79] May the Lord God grant me fear and penance, A preparatory prayer for the Pasch and before and after communion. hope and love; may he take from me the leaven of malice and wickedness, and grant me continually to celebrate his Pasch in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. From the Manual, folio 2.

A prayer for receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord.

Lord holy Father, almighty eternal God, grant me so to receive the Body and Blood of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, that I may merit through this to receive remission of sins, and to be filled with thy Holy Spirit: for thou art God, and besides thee there is no other, whose glorious name endures world without end. Amen. From the Ms. Breviary of St. John Gualbert, folio 1.

A prayer after holy Communion.

To thee, Lord, I render praise and thanks. Keep, Lord, in me an immaculate faith. To thee I incline my neck. To thee I bend my knees. Thee my Lord, since thou art one in the Holy Trinity, I confess. Rescue me from dangers. Protect me in all causes. Raise me lying prostrate, and grant those things which I cannot fulfill, as though they were asked. Amen. From the Manual, folio 9.

Grant me to preserve myself, by perpetual defense, such as thou, most high Creator, didst grant me to become through the water of regeneration, because by thy grace I am redeemed. From the Manual, folio… near the end.

[80] But after the passing of the whole day's space, when we come to our little beds to sleep, Which prayers are to be recited before sleep and a prayer for kindred. let us with all vows ask the Lord, saying with the Prophet: Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death: For he sleeps no better than a dead man, who from evening even to morning, his mouth stopped from the praise of the Creator, weighed down not so much by sleep as by lethargy, snores supine on his little bed. But because it is against nature that a man live sleepless, let us, about to sleep, ask him who neither slumbered nor shall sleep, that we, sleeping, may satisfy not our will but our necessity. Let us therefore sing before the little bed Psalm 6: Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: For it is fitting both to the matter and to the time. They can, however, continue, as it pleases and does not yield to sloth, Psalm 12: How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end; and the Psalm, I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains. From the Manual, folio 20. From the face of the impious, we beseech, Lord, protect us under the shadow of thy wings, that, about to rise again to the praise of thy name, thou watching over us, we may sleep secure. Through our Lord Jesus Christ etc. From the Manual, folio 21.

A prayer for father and mother and all kindred.

Ruler, Lord, God almighty, who wonderfully didst found all things and by thy disposition create all things; because thou didst command love and honor to be shown toward father and mother, hear me, merciful God, crying to thee for my father and my mother.

[81] Which psalms are to be sung in tribulation, and after liberation from it. Best to the Lord is the sacrifice of five Psalms on account of tribulation for joy received. Psalm. I will exalt thee, Lord, for thou hast upheld me. I will bless the Lord at all times. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth, say a psalm to his name. Unless the Lord had been in us, let Israel now say. I will confess to thee, Lord, with all my heart, for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. Therefore when the kind Lord had said: Call upon me in the day of tribulation, and I will rescue thee; seeking from us the debt of praise for that rescue, he immediately subjoined: And thou shalt honor me. Therefore when we have fallen into various temptations, whether of false brothers or of raging demons, hurling against those enemies the darts of the divine word, when we have seen them fail and ourselves grow strong, presently with the pure intention of our heart lifting our eyes and hands to heaven in the voice of praise and confession, let us bless him who sent from heaven and freed us and gave to reproach those who trod us down, let us say to him with heart and mouth in accord the Psalm, I will exalt thee, Lord, for thou hast upheld me etc. From the Manual, folio 9.

[82] Instruction for morning prayer. The holy Prophets teach us by their imitable examples to prevent the face of the Lord in the morning with our prayers. And David indeed: And in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee. But Isaiah thus: My soul has desired thee in the night, but also with my spirit in my inmost parts in the morning I will watch to thee. With these three most fitting Psalms therefore let our spirit also watch to the Lord in the morning, and let us pray at the rising of the dawn, that from the first light to evening his eyes may be over us, and his ears to our prayers, and that he may direct our steps in the way of peace, that walking without the scandal of errors, no injustice may have dominion over us. These Psalms therefore let us sing at the very beginning of the day: Give ear to my words, O Lord. I cried with all my heart, hear me, Lord. Lord, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplication etc. The Lord's Prayer. The Creed. The Symbol of St. Athanasius; Whoever wishes to be saved. The Litanies etc. And certain versicles from the Psalms with canticles etc. It ends.

[83] What is to be noted concerning these prayers. Whether the aforesaid prayers are the autograph of St. John Gualbert, or collected by him and described by another, or only used by him, hitherto lies hidden from me. At least for their antiquity and the use of the most holy Man they are to be venerated by us. If it had happened to me to see that Manual, I could easily have discerned whether it be the autograph of our Saint, since I found a character, expressed by his own hand, and subscribed to an instrument of the year 1072, in Franchi, book 12, page 489. I judge it will not be unwelcome, if I here exhibit this subscription to the lovers of antiquity.

§ VII. The deeds of St. John against the Simoniacs.

Divine providence seems to have preserved St. John Gualbert for a mournful time, which St. Peter Damian, page 1, epistle 15, to Alexander II the Roman Pontiff thus deplores: St. Peter Damian and Nicholas II describe the corrupt morals of their age; The whole world therefore at this time is nothing else but gluttony, avarice, and lust; and as of old the world was divided threefold, so that it lay subject to three princes at once, so now the human race, alas! sorrow! lays its servile neck under these three vices, and obediently obeys their laws as of so many tyrants. But concerning the simoniacal pest Nicholas II thus testifies, in the decree against the simoniacs, which is related by our Labbe, volume 9 of the Councils, column 1010. Because therefore this venomous ruin has hitherto so grown in, that scarcely any church can be found which is not in some part corrupted by this disease, those who up to now have been freely consecrated by simoniacs, not so much by the censure of justice as with a view to mercy, we permit to remain in the orders received; unless perhaps some other fault from their life against the canons exists in them. For so great is the multitude of such, that while we cannot keep the rigor of canonical rigor over them, it is necessary that dispensatively toward the zeal of pious condescension

we incline our minds to the present. Yet thus, by the authority of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, we in every way interdict, that none of our successors, from this our permission, take up or prefix a rule for himself or for anyone: because this the authority of the ancient fathers promulgated not by commanding or conceding, but the excessive necessity of the time extorted from us that it be permitted. From these the erudite reader will easily gather what the times then were.

[85] The calamity of the same times Bl. Andrew, disciple of our Saint, in the life of St. Arialdus the martyr thus graphically describes: Bl. Andrew deplores the same in the life of St. Arialdus. The ecclesiastical order was then seduced into so many errors, that from it scarcely anyone existed who could truly be found in his own place. For some, wandering hither and thither with dogs and hawks, gave their service to slippery hunting; but others were tavern-keepers and worthless stewards, others impious usurers: almost all shamefully led their life with public wives or harlots; and all sought the things that were their own, not the things that were Christ's: For, what can neither be said nor heard without a groan, all were so implicated under the simoniacal heresy, that from the least to the greatest no order or grade could be had, unless it were bought, as a beast is bought. And, what is more wicked, no one then appeared who resisted so great perversity: But, though they were rapacious wolves, they were thought to be true pastors.

[86] Among those rapacious wolves was the bishop of Florence, Peter by name, How the simony of Peter bishop of Florence was detected whose sacrilegious crime of simony broke forth thus, Andrew of Genoa hands down in the life of St. John Gualbert, chapter 62. About these times it happened that a certain noble man by name Teuzo Mediabarba, namely the father of Peter bishop of Florence, came from Pavia to Florence for the sake of visiting his said son. To whom the Florentines, secretly lying in wait, by way of testing began to say: Lord Teuzo, did you confer much price on the King for the dignity of your son? To whom he, as being a most simple man, began to say with an oath: By the body of St. Syrus, not one mill can a man have in the house of my Lord the King without a great price, much less obtain such an episcopate. But they, hearing this, eager and greedy to ascertain the matter, again demand, saying: Say then, if it please your nobility, how great a sum of money could this thing cost you? But he: By St. Syrus, thus three thousand pounds, you may well know, I gave for acquiring this episcopate, as you can believe one penny. These things heard, made certain by such testimony, they began to spread these words everywhere.

[87] Desiderius the abbot narrates how the simoniacal bishop of Florence When among others St. John Gualbert had learned this matter, he resolved with his own to assail the sacrilegious bishop with all his forces and to extirpate the simoniacal heresy everywhere; Which because it is narrated more fully and more certainly by a contemporary author, I have judged that his narration should here be inserted. He is Desiderius abbot of Monte Cassino, afterward Victor III, who sets forth the strife agitated in his time thus in book 3 of the Dialogues. What the Lord says in the Gospel: My Father works until now, and I work, we see daily fulfilled, and ancient miracles renewed in new times. These things therefore which I am about to say are so clear, that not only in the diocese of Florence, in which they are known to have been done, but also in all Tuscany and in the city which is the head of the world, Rome, it is agreed that they are most well known. There is a certain cleric Peter, who secretly, money being given, by royal support received in the aforesaid city of Florence the Chair of the episcopate. When at length he had been benignly received by the clergy and people, as befitted a bishop, after no long space of time a report grew through the diocese of that episcopate, that, defiled with the pest of the simoniacal heresy, that which, the Lord commanding, was appointed to be freely received and given, he had purchased with money.

[88] was assailed by St. John Gualbert and his disciples And when so horrible and so execrable a report had come first to the ears of the religious, then to the ears of the common people, many began to withdraw themselves from his communion; and, a divine zeal blazing up, they were zealous to intimate to the Roman Pontiff whatever they had learned upon this matter; who, a council of bishops being gathered, convoked the same bishop, that he might diligently recognize the matter. But when he had presented himself to the synod, the accusers on every side crying out, he strove to purge himself by an Oath. And when the matter had been somewhat agitated before those present, a respite was given, that through it perhaps he, induced and dreading the divine judgment, might humbly confess what he pertinaciously denied, so that he might not be removed from the eternal altar, if he had abstained from this present one, which he could not justly minister. Meanwhile the people is divided into two parts, of which one, which preferred the love of God to gifts, followed the Clergy and Religious monks, who had undertaken to prove the matter against the bishop; the other, which loved gifts and favor, followed the bishop.

[89] and in vain admonished. When therefore the people frequently altercated among themselves, and one party opposed the other, the strife that had arisen grew to such a degree, that fighting among themselves they often even came to the shedding of blood. And when these things were done for a long time, and neither party yielded to the party, John the most Reverend abbot of the Monastery which is called Vallombrosa, often called to this conflict, led by the zeal of God, came with his monks, who by exhorting, preaching, threatening the examination of divine judgment, ceased not to admonish the bishop, that he should do penance for the perpetrated fault, and humbly yield the priesthood by no means legally acquired, and not be a detriment to himself and his subjects, to whom he ought to have been an increase. Often proposing to him that from the Gospel, how the Lord Jesus cast the sellers and buyers of doves out of the temple, and overturned the chairs, and poured out the money of the money-changers, namely showing, that whoever, led by avarice or elated by vain glory, should attempt to acquire or sell for a price the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is signified by the dove, should know that he would without doubt be eliminated from that heavenly temple and eternal altar.

[90] But he nonetheless, desirous of the honor of the present life, held the admonitions of the holy Man for nothing, and at last, the trial of fire being offered, nay rather pertinaciously strove to defend himself both by arms and by words and by all the ways he could. And when the same venerable Abbot saw his words proceed in vain, both parts of the people being called: Since, he says, words do not profit, let us come to signs: Let a pyre be constructed and, fire being put under, kindled, through which one of us may enter, that whether the things which we say of the bishop be true or false, the Lord discerning, may be proved. The sentence pleases both parties. A pyre presently of twelve feet's measure is constructed, within which a small path, by which the person of only one man could pass, is left, which also is strewn with kindled wood, lest any place there be void of flame. But meanwhile while these things are prepared, the aforesaid abbot John commanded Peter his disciple, namely a most reverend man, who afterward was ordained bishop in the city of Albano, and who even still survives ruling the same church, that, clothed in sacred vestments, he should offer sacrifice to almighty God, and thus at last, trusting in the mercy of God, should enter undoubtingly through the flames of the kindled pyre. Who, obeying the commands of his Father, after he had offered sacrifice to God, stripping himself of his chasuble, came to the fire and with a great voice: I pray, he says, almighty God, if Peter, who is called bishop, is defiled with the pest of simony, lest thy church be further polluted, by the judgment of thy Holy Spirit show thy power, grant me to pass through this fire unharmed: But if we, full of falsehood, led by the cause of envy, have brought this question against him, let the burning of this fire consume me, deserted by thy grace.

[91] Saying these things, and fortifying himself with the seal of the holy Cross, convicted and deposed from the episcopal office. he constantly entered through the midst of the flames. When therefore he was surrounded on every side by the flames, so that he was seen by no one at all, and all now thought him consumed, suddenly from the other side, the grace of Christ accompanying, going out he leaped forth; so that not only his garments, but not even a hair was seen anywhere injured by the fire. But, as the same venerable man afterward related, when he walked through the midst of the flames, a little cloth fell from his hand; and when he was now almost going out of the fire, he saw that he did not carry the little cloth in his hands, and considering that it had fallen from him into the fire, he returns again through the midst of the flames, and drawing out the little cloth with him carried it back. Then all who were present, seeing so very great, so astounding a miracle, rendering immense thanks to God, presently the divided part being made one, drive the aforesaid bishop from the church; who afterward, led by penance, his garment changed, was seen to lead a religious life under the rule of holy conversation.

[92] The opinion of Fr. Lupus concerning the time of this trial by fire These things agree with the epistle of the clergy and people of Florence, which is related in the Acts below, chapter 8. But here Fr. Christian Lupus in the Decrees and Canons of the General and Provincial synods, part 5, page 26, raises a scruple, where he thus disputes with himself: The question is, whether that epistle (namely of the clergy and people of Florence) was written to Alexander the second? Both the praised Atto and the very inscription of the epistle affirm it. Then, the words of the Acts being adduced, he thus answers himself: I answer, that the epistle itself cries out otherwise: For it sets forth the fire prepared for the monk about to enter, and subjoins. "These things seen, the cry of all is raised to heaven, Kyrie eleison is sung most tearfully with full mouth, Jesus Christ is most celebratedly prayed to rise and defend his cause; Mary his mother is much besought by the men, and most of all by the women, that she persuade him this; the name of Peter the Apostle, by which he condemned Simon to perdition, is redoubled a thousand times; Gregory prelate of the City is prayed by all to hasten to verify his sanctions." This Gregory is altogether our Gregory the seventh, and that sanction of his is altogether the present decree, by which he forbade the divine Offices of a bishop or cleric openly Simoniacal to be heard and received. Wherefore this fiery trial was not made under Alexander, but under Gregory the seventh. And so affirms the most accurate writer Berthold, presbyter of the church of Constance.

[93] is refuted While I examine these several arguments of his, I perceive them to be very weak for overthrowing the inscription of the Florentine epistle, supported by the authority of antiquity and especially by the testimony of Bl. Andrew abbot of Strumi. In the first place, in Berthold presbyter of the church of Constance I have hitherto been able to find no word which favors the opinion of Fr. Lupus. Then I do not see that it rests on so solid a foundation, which he pronounces roundly enough: This Gregory is altogether our Gregory the seventh, and that sanction of his is altogether the present decree. For besides various arguments, which from

the death of St. John Gualbert and the election of Gregory the seventh I could form against this opinion, whence, I ask, is it established that Gregory VII then living is here addressed? Since here the help of Christ, of the Bl. Virgin, and of St. Peter is implored, is it not probable enough that St. Gregory the Great, once the most holy prelate of the City, and the keenest assailant of simony, is invoked by the Florentines, that he may defend his decrees against simoniacs, which he issued in great number, as may be seen in his Life illustrated on the XII of March in our Acts, and in Baronius, Labbe, and others? I omit here other things which Fr. Lupus heaps up, to prove that this miracle happened under Gregory VII. Among other things he laboriously shows that Peter Igneus was enrolled in the number of the Cardinals not by Alexander, but by Gregory, which no one denies. But what is this to the purpose? For nothing hinders but that this happened under Alexander, and that afterward Peter Igneus was raised to the Cardinalitial dignity by Gregory VII, the successor of Alexander.

[94] More would be needed, if this place demanded it, to discuss this fiery trial of St. Peter, It is answered to a certain Gaul, rashly carping at this fiery trial, which a certain modern hypercritic in his Gallican Legend too boldly, after his manner, and freely carps at, calling it a bold deed, by which the monk dared to tempt God. Then, as if he wished to exempt St. John Gualbert from this fault, he ignorantly adds: It suffices us that our Saint had no part in this deed, except the prayer, by which he besought God to free his Church from the scandal which it suffered. Ignorantly, I say, he adds these things: For if this had been a tempting of God, as he contends, ought not St. John, as abbot and superior of Peter, to have forbidden it? But so far was he from forbidding this fiery trial, that rather he was the first author of it: For, according to Desiderius cited above, John the Abbot said: Let a pyre be constructed and, fire being put under, kindled, through which one of us may enter. And besides: He commanded Peter his disciple… trusting in the mercy of God, to enter undoubtingly through the flames of the kindled pyre. Was there here nothing but the prayers which St. John Gualbert poured out for the Church?

[95] By many examples of the Saints this deed could be defended; and it is supposed to have been done by a special impulse of the Holy Spirit. but since it pertains especially to Peter Igneus, it will be able to be discussed more fully in the Supplement of February, on the day sacred to him, the VIII of that month, since it is already sufficiently established concerning his cult from the proper Offices of Florence. Meanwhile if anyone wishes to cavil, let him have the answer from our Suárez, volume 1 on Religion, book 1 on Irreligiosity, chapter 2, where treating of the petition of miracles he thus speaks: But if sometimes the Saints seem to have done this, it must be believed that they did it not without a special impulse of the Holy Spirit, as St. Thomas said of Abraham, and concerning Elijah it seems to me indubitable. And I believe the same, as often as I read that some holy men asked of God some public sign for confounding some heretic, or confirming the truth of the faith.

§ VIII. What is to be thought of the miracle which is narrated to have happened to Gregory VII, when he wished to reprove St. John Gualbert.

Here occurs a knot more than Gordian, which I am not able to loose, and scarcely dare to cut. But that the reader may clearly see the implication of the knot, The difficulty is proposed I here briefly premise it. Blessed Andrew at number 68, and Bl. Atto at number 49, narrate in the Acts to be given below, that Gregory VII, when he was still archdeacon, came to St. John Gualbert, to upbraid him with words premeditated to the appearance of an injury, and thus to take an experiment of his virtue; but, when he had come to him, he so forgot all he was to say, that at the sight of him he became dumb; which unusual dumbness he held for a miracle, by which God wished to prove the Man's sanctity. But on the contrary Gregory VII (thus I here speak for a while according to the common opinion) in the epistle to the Vallombrosan Monks asserts, that St. John Gualbert was never seen by him with bodily eyes. Behold an open contradiction and a knot, as at least hitherto it seems to me, insoluble. Before I set forth the opinions of the various ones who have tried to reconcile these two conflicting things, it is pleasing here to insert this epistle, because it confers not a little to the glory of our Saint. Andrew of Genoa exhibits it in the Life manuscript with us, chapter 82, Baronius in the Ecclesiastical Annals at the year of Christ 1073, Mabillon in the Benedictine Annals, volume 5, at the same year, Labbe volume 10 of the councils, column 307, and others who collected the councils and the epistles of the Pontiffs.

[97] arisen from the letter which is ascribed to Gregory VII The customary formula being premised: Gregory the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the clerics, Monks (in Baronius is added "and religious laymen") imitating the discipline of John Gualbert the abbot of holy memory, greeting and Apostolic blessing, he thus begins. Although we saw not with bodily eyes the same John your father of venerable memory, yet because the purity of his faith shone wonderfully in the parts of Tuscany, we loved him much with love, to whose zeal of holy conversation, though we doubt not that you are imitators, that the vigor of your rectitude may more solicitously watch to extirpate the tares from the Lord's field, and more attentively be fervent, we bestow on you words of paternal exhortation. You therefore, most beloved, as far as human possibility permits, following his life, and proving yourselves true heirs, his sons, by a similar conversation, act manfully and be strengthened in the Lord, and in the patience of his virtue let your mind daily meditate on the documents of the holy Scriptures, by which the arguments of heretics are destroyed, and the faith of the holy Church is defended, against the members of the devil, which by various machinations attempt to overturn the Christian religion; and let it be raised, with that liberty with which it is wont, in the confusion of the wicked: but those who trust in you, and dispose to follow the counsel of your religion, receive after the manner of your aforesaid Father, and instruct them with holy exhortations concerning the things which seem to pertain to their salvation, that not only your holy works, but also those of you who follow, the peoples set around, considering, may glorify your Father who is in the heavens. But we desire to show the same love which we once bestowed on your father and on you, as long as our spirit shall rule these limbs, and we shall henceforth cherish you with so much the greater charity, the more we shall prove you to be more fervent in divine affairs, to which we shall minister not only spiritual, but also secular help, if it be necessary, God helping. You therefore beseech the almighty Lord, that he himself may bestow strength and faculties on us, that we may be able to bear the unbearable weight of the undertaken governance, and to reduce the holy Church to the state of ancient religion. Farewell.

[98] Now I shall relate the attempts of the various ones who wished to loose this intricate knot; whether happily enough, let the fair reader judge. Didacus Franchi, seeing the difficulty of this contradiction, twists himself into every side, Didacus Franchi to loose the difficulty and, that he may seem in some way at least to reconcile these two contraries, says in the history of the Gualbertine Life, book 11, pages 428 and 429, that the premeditated upbraider did not come into the sight of the Saint; but when he was privately recalling to himself the pre-arranged words, he utterly forgot them. Besides, he gratuitously asserts that the sight and address of the Saint was afterward denied to Hildebrand, because the Saint, loving solitude and humility, avoided the conversations of the great, and transacted all business through internuncios or letters. He asserts nevertheless that Hildebrand, moved by this prodigy of forgetfulness, conceived such an opinion of the Man's sanctity, that the greatest love was established between the two. To show that this could have happened, he cites in the margin from St. Augustine's epistle 105 these words: Although we do not see with the eyes of the flesh, yet in mind, in the faith of Christ, in the grace of Christ, in the members of Christ, we hold, embrace, and kiss.

[99] This explanation, however destitute of the testimony of the ancients, strives in vain. would somehow be tolerable, if we attend only to the words of Bl. Atto, by which it is not expressly stated that Hildebrand, afterward Gregory VII, came to the sight or address of St. Gualbert: For thus he has it at number 49. When he was disposing to upbraid him harshly, he forgot the pre-arranged words which he thought to say. His perfection being thus learned from him, henceforth so great a love was established between the two, as is wont to be between dearest friends, and brothers of the same womb. But this explanation, such as it is, Franchi would not have given, as I judge, if he had read the Life written by Bl. Andrew: For now, this treasure being detected, this opinion is convicted of manifest error, since Bl. Andrew expressly affirms, that the aforesaid upbraider at the sight of the holy Man changed his mind. His words are these at number 68. Concerning Dom Gregory VII, Pope of the Apostolic See, who, when he held the office of the archdeaconate in the same Apostolic See, for the sake of proving his patience, took care to upbraid him harshly. Presently at the sight of him he changed his mind, and forgot the pre-arranged words which he thought to say.

[100] Our Papebroch in volume 6 of May, in the Preliminary Commentary to the life of St. Gregory VII, number 32, Papebroch the same knot in another way thus strives to expedite the intricate matter: We treated of Bl. Andrew, already named, on the X of March, and at number 13 we grieved that his distinguished work on the life of St. John is now nowhere to be found. Yet as the Life of St. Arialdus the martyr, written by the same and to be given by us on the XXVIII of June, has happily emerged into light this century, so we hope that this too will come forth from the darkness somewhere, before July comes under our hands. But this Andrew flourished while the holy founder was still living, in the year 1060 a faithful helper of Bl. Arialdus the martyr among the Milanese in assailing the Simoniacs. St. Atto, as we have already seen at his birthday, the XXII of this month of May, died in the year 1155 and was first born about 1070, could by no reason be numbered among the disciples of the living Saint; but he received his own from them, and namely from Bl. Theuzo, one of the first, who is said to have prolonged his life up to the year 1095, and to have consigned to writing some things concerning the life of the holy Father.

[101] But this Theuzo, as his words are alleged from the old Italian translation of the year 1260, existing in the Vallombrosan Archive, names not Hildebrand, tries to dissolve, the Life written by Bl. Andrew not yet having been seen. but Gregory the Cardinal, to whom the thing above narrated happened; for whom, if St. Atto puts Hildebrand, thinking that Gregory is called by anticipation, he did this from his own conjecture, and that by no means solid; since Pope Gregory professes that he never saw the saint with bodily eyes. Alfonso Ciacconius indeed in the Lives of the Pontiffs and Cardinals, and his revisers and amplifiers Victorelli,

Ughelli, Oldoinus, for the year 1063, on which this meeting with St. John fell, exhibit to us no Cardinal Gregory. But since it is certain that many were passed over by them in that middle age, of whom they did not attain the notice, which even the mere abundance of Supplements repeatedly added proves, nothing hinders but that we may think, that under Pope Alexander II there was truly among the Cardinals some Gregory, not yet known from elsewhere; which St. Atto, not discerning a hundred years after, wrongly supposed Hildebrand the Cardinal, called Gregory in the Pontificate. Although this error could easily be committed by Bl. Atto after a hundred years, yet I would not dare to attribute the same to Bl. Andrew, a writer contemporary; which I judge Papebroch too, the greatest estimator of antiquity, would not have done, if the distinguished, as he himself calls it, work of Bl. Andrew had been found before he illustrated the Life of St. Gregory VII.

[102] Aurelio Casari labors in expediting the same difficulty; Aurelio Casari, a Vallombrosan monk, often to be praised below, tries to break through the difficulty by another way in a letter given to Papebroch on the 27th of February in the year 1692. In it he thus proposes his opinion: This eyewitness writer being taken as a guide (he speaks of Bl. Andrew), not a few things must be corrected in the others who wrote after him concerning the Life of St. John Gualbert; and especially that opinion which tenaciously holds that Gregory VII, most holy and supreme Pontiff, did not see the holy Father John Gualbert with bodily eyes. Let one, I pray, look upon this author: For he will shake off his darkness, and lay hold of the light of truth. What of these things does Dom Andrew of Genoa say, who first (as I think) published that Apostolic epistle, "Although of venerable memory etc." to the Monks of Vallombrosa under the name of Gregory the Seventh? It is to be inscribed not to Gregory VII, but rather to some supreme Pontiff next following (why not to Victor III, rather to Urban the second); because from V. II the seventh is more easily made. In the ancient Mss. only the initial was placed, as very often in the Decretals and at the end of this little lucubration, as "T. of Razzolo," that is Theuzzo abbot of Razzolo. Urban himself is thus noted in a certain epistle of his directed to Rudolph abbot of Vallombrosa: "V. of the Apostolic etc. To R. of Vallombrosa, to M. of Camaldoli." V. Urban. R. Rustico. M. Martin of Camaldoli. By the simple initial therefore, and the number of the Pontiffs V and II, what wonder if Andrew de Sant'Ambrogio had gathered the seventh, and thus thought that epistle "Although of venerable memory" was Gregory the seventh's.

[103] but he ascribes to Andrew of Genoa a fraud, Having set forth this his opinion, he thus proceeds: I marvel at the craftiness of the Genoese. He asserts that he collected the life of the holy Father from BB. Andrew and Atto. These, as is clear, treat most openly of the miraculous love which was established, the sight and conversation with one another intervening between blessed Gregory VII and Bl. John Gualbert; but he not even a word. He had found (I suspect) that anonymous epistle, or at least with the name nearly gnawed away, and desired to insert it into his own work; seeing the contradiction he sticks; but led by the itch of bringing something new, what does he devise? He utterly expunges the miracle, and changes it into apocryphal writing. Then concerning the title of this miracle, related in the work of Bl. Andrew, he notes the following: Let not Your Erudition be ignorant that these words "A chapter concerning Dom Gregory VII Pope of the Apostolic See," as is plain in the Life written below, are written in red color, and that this is singular together with almost all the initial letters of the paragraphs in the whole aforesaid manuscript and written in the same most ancient hand.

[104] The curious observation of the erudite man does not altogether displease me: for it could easily happen that Andrew of Genoa, which he does not sufficiently prove. if not by fraud, at least by error, from V. II, that is Urban II, gathered VII, and consequently thought that this epistle could be none other than Gregory VII's, since about those times there was no other Roman Pontiff seventh in the number of his name. The same can be said of V. III, that is Victor III, from which Andrew of Genoa, the unit being omitted, made VII, thinking, by the negligence of the writer, as often happens, that the I was redundant, since at that time also there was no Roman Pontiff eighth in the number of his name. These things are said not improbably; but would that Dom John Aurelio Casari solidly showed that Andrew of Genoa was the first who produced this epistle. What he adds concerning the custom of writing names with initial letters, I do not deny; but I would wish it proved that the Roman Pontiffs were accustomed to add also the number to the initial letters of their name. If I saw these two things clearly demonstrated, I would pass judgment with greater confidence.

[105] Now nevertheless, to say what I think, I judge that this epistle "Although of venerable memory etc." must be denied to Gregory VII, Our judgment on this matter. although Baronius, Mabillon, Binius, Labbe, and the other collectors of the Councils ascribe it to him: For perhaps all these drew from the same source, that is Andrew of Genoa, and, one following others without mature examination, believed in good faith that it was Gregory VII's. To think thus I am impelled by the authority of the Blessed Andrew, a contemporary writer, whose words are these most express: A chapter concerning Dom Gregory VII Pope of the Apostolic See, who, when he held the office of the archdeaconate in the same Apostolic See, for the sake of proving his patience, took care to upbraid him harshly. Presently at the sight of him he changed his mind, and forgot the pre-arranged words which he thought to say: His perfection being thus learned from him, henceforth so great a love was established between the two, as is wont to be between dearest and uterine brothers. For these things we often heard from the venerable man abbot Rodulf of the monastery of Passignano, who was then present there, and we ought to doubt nothing of such a witness.

* al. by the power

§ IX. On the chronological series of the life of St. John Gualbert various opinions are related, and manifest errors are refuted.

It is disputed how many years St. John Gualbert lived; It is by no means a wonder that authors have gone into various opinions concerning the chronology of the Gualbertine Life, since the most ancient writers of the life did not arrange his deeds chronologically. Hence, as I suppose, the more recent ones fabricated for themselves systems most probable, which we shall here propose to be weighed by the erudite readers. The modern Vallombrosans assert that their holy Father reached the age of 88 years, and so, since according to the most common opinion of the historians he died in the year 1073, that he was born in the year 985. This opinion Guido Grandi impugns in the Camaldolese Dissertations printed at Lucca in the year 1707, and with the Roman Breviary makes St. John Gualbert ten years younger, Dissertation 2, chapter 4, number 14, thus writing: I omit another argument drawn from the age of St. John Gualbert himself, of which all the ancient authors handed down to memory, which is also had in the Lessons of the Breviary, namely that in the year 1073, in the 78th year of his age, he went to God. Who these "all the ancient authors" are, I know not. I at least in the ancient writers of the Life have hitherto not found the determined age of the holy Old man.

[107] and among various opinions the opinion of the Roman Breviary is chosen. The same Grandi, deducing from it an incredible consequence, thus continues: But in vain Didacus Franchi in the preface of his History contends that St. John Gualbert lived 88 years, as an opinion of one century recently introduced, and strives to weaken the credit of the Chronicle kept in the Archbishopric of Florence, where it is read that the Monastery of St. Miniato in the year 1013 lay as it were abandoned, without an abbot and without any college of monks. From which passage the ancient writers of Vallombrosa best inferred, that only long after the year 1013 could John have been admitted to the monastic life in the said monastery. It is to be grieved that here again those ancient writers of Vallombrosa are not named, who would bring great light to this obscure question. Our John Croiset in the Exercises of Piety lately published at Lyons, in which he inserted the daily Lives of the Saints critically, as he says in the preface, examined; assigns to St. John Gualbert only 74 years of life. This his opinion certain other Gauls also maintain. We, destitute of the authority of venerable antiquity, cannot pass a certain judgment on this matter; but in doubt we prefer to adhere to the opinion of the Roman Breviary.

[108] Some argue from a false supposition against the Vallombrosan writers. A more recent anonymous Gaul in the History of the Religious and Military Orders, volume 5, page 301, tries to slay some Vallombrosan writers with their own sword, as they say. If, he says, Andrew of Genoa, Eudoxius Locatelli, Didacus Franchi say that St. John Gualbert died an octogenarian, they must consequently concede that he was born in the year 993. But the good man is deceived and fights with shadows feigned by himself: For those authors expressly assert that St. John Gualbert reached the eighty-eighth year of his age. Nor does Guido Grandi argue much better against Franchi, Dissertation 2, chapter 4, number 14, thus inferring: Whence if in the year 1003 (according to Franchi's hypothesis) John had been made a monk, he would have left the world at eight years old; which is very ridiculous, because certainly, fit for arms and instructed in military discipline, after the pardon granted to his enemy for reverence of the Holy Cross, he devoted himself to religion. Attend, I beg, my Grandi. This would rightly follow, if Franchi admitted your opinion concerning the age of St. Gualbert. But he utterly denies it; and contends (whether rightly I do not dispute, nor does it matter) that his holy Father lived 88 years; and so, if in the year 1003 John had been made a monk, it follows on Franchi's hypothesis that he left the world not in the eighth, but in the eighteenth year of his age, as will be plain to anyone reckoning the count of the years. Now let us proceed to the other times of his Life.

[109] The Vallombrosans everywhere write that their holy Father, Guido Grandi impugns the common chronology of the Vallombrosans when he was eighteen years old, embraced the religious life in the monastery of St. Miniato, and after four years withdrew thence to the Camaldolese desert, and at last after a stay of some years laid the foundations of his Order; namely about the year 1015, or even 1012, as others hold. Against this their system the praised Guido Grandi, a Camaldolese monk, rises fully and keenly, in the work already several times cited, from which we shall here give some things by way of selection. Thus he disputes, Dissertation 2, chapter 4, number 4. But that Didacus Franchi, and with him some of the Vallombrosan writers, refer the affair of Uberto the abbot and Atto the bishop to the year 1007, and consequently the conversion of John four years before, namely in the year 1003, and establish the coming of the same John Gualbert to the Camaldolese desert in the year 1008, and his entrance into the desert of Aquabella or Vallombrosa about the year 1010; this is altogether fictitious; as well as that fictitious, I know not who, first Atto, before him who from

the year 1032 held the chair of Florence, arbitrarily placed to maintain a hypothesis of this kind, and to conciliate in vain a greater antiquity to the beginnings of his family: For that other Atto, who in the year 1007 should have presided over the Church of Florence, is altogether unknown from elsewhere, and is celebrated by no monuments, but, attending to the following monuments, is convicted of being altogether to be expunged, and that whole chronological system is refuted even from this, that in the aforesaid years 1003 and 1007 not even any college of monks, nor any abbot, resided at the church of St. Miniato, but only in the year 1013, by the care of Lambert (he meant Hildebrand) bishop of Florence, that venerable basilica was restored, and the monks, by whom it had long been deserted, were recalled thither.

[110] After he has proved this his assertion by various authentic instruments adduced from Ughelli, and by arguments formed thence, with strong arguments. he thus proceeds at number 9: Finally, with only that Atto who flourished from the year 1032, lived Uberto the simoniacal abbot, to whom in the year 1044, Atto sitting, Pope Benedict IX granted a certain privilege in Ughelli, page 82, whose beginning is: "To the beloved son Obert venerable abbot of the monastery of St. Miniato of Florence and his successors perpetual salvation in the Lord. He seems very good etc." And so not only the time of bishop Atto, but also of abbot Uberto conspires, that we should think this journey of John Gualbert to the Camaldolese desert was made in the year 1027, nay about 1036. Then he confirms his opinion from the donation of Abbess Itta, the consecration of the Vallombrosan oratory, and the age of Theuzo the hermit. Which if I should wish to adduce all, this paragraph would grow too much. Any curious person will be able to read them in the aforesaid Guido Grandi throughout the whole second dissertation. But to say what I think concerning his arguments; these being weighed, it seems to me necessary that the Vallombrosans either correct the Catalogue of the bishops of Florence, or cease to sprinkle the simoniacal stain on Atto, or finally confess that their order was instituted later: For the things which on this matter Didacus Franchi, book 4, chapter 69, notes in the margin from the corrupt catalogue of John the Subdeacon of Arezzo, agree neither in names nor in times, as will be manifest to anyone reading the Life of St. Zenobius published in Surius on the 25th of May. Meanwhile I would not be the judge of this suit.

[111] The chronology of Mabillon concerning the life of St. John Gualbert. Another series of the Gualbertine Life John Mabillon wove in the Benedictine Annals, volume 4, where at the year of Christ 1028, he thus writes: Perhaps this be John Gualbert, who at this very time betook himself to the monastery of St. Miniato. Certainly his conversion can scarcely be deferred beyond this time, in which we now are; since he, after ten years elected abbot, withdrew into the solitude of Vallombrosa, where he laid the first foundations of his Order. Afterward at the year of Christ 1038, he thus narrates: A little before this year John Gualbert departed from the monastery of St. Miniato, and withdrew into Vallombrosa, where he laid the foundations of his Congregation. Certainly he had there as yet no church this year, when the Emperor Conrad together with his wife Gisla Augusta, and his son Henry the king, and his wife Cunihilda, came to Florence. Which when the Emperor learned, judging that this honor was reserved to him from heaven, that he should succor those holy Brothers, the church of Fiesole being vacant after the death of James the diocesan bishop, he sent Rodulf the prelate of Paderborn, whom others call Rotho, to Vallombrosa for the sake of consecrating the oratory. All this he affirms he learned from the letters of Abbess Itta.

[112] Guido Grandi disputes at what time, Concerning the consecration of this Oratory Guido Grandi, Dissertation 2, number 12, observes the following: But in vain some writers of this Vallombrosan Order, after Didacus Franchi, History of St. John Gualbert, book 5, distinguish a double consecration of the Oratory, one earlier in the year 1013 under Henry I the Emperor, the other under Conrad II. Whence, the sense of the whole instrument of Itta being corrupted, they both substitute Henry for Conrad, and for Gisela his wife read Cunigunda, and for Rodulf bishop of Paderborn, sent to the consecration, substitute Meinwerk his predecessor, with as utterly no foundation as with wholly vain labor; for Franchi cites in the margin the mutilated words of Abbess Itta, the name of Rudolf being withdrawn, in this manner. "The Emperor directing the prelate of Paderborn worthy of God" and cites the instrument of Abbess Itta of the year 1039, which certainly expresses Rodulf, and confesses that he was sent by Conrad, not by Henry, and that after the death of James bishop of Fiesole, and so in the year 1037, not 1013; and indeed of the first, not of the second consecration: For up to that time he teaches that the monks stayed without a church.

[113] But those who refer this matter to Henry, as Bl. Theuzo in the life of St. John, chapter 10, and under what Emperor the oratory of Vallombrosa was consecrated. Xantes of Perugia in the same life, page 433, and St. Atto likewise in the life, chapter 22, are to be understood not of Henry I but of II, who was the son of Conrad himself, and had already obtained the title of king, and accompanied his father into Italy, as is clear from the words of Itta above related, and all historians agree. Whence by St. Atto in the cited place he is called KING, not Emperor, and his wife is distinguished not by the title of Augusta but of QUEEN: But this was not CUNIGUNDA but CUNEILDIS, daughter of Canute king of Denmark, who a little after, consumed by the plague, died. But none of the older authors distinguished a double consecration of the oratory; the former under Henry by Meinwerk, the latter under Conrad by Rodulf, both bishops of Paderborn; but only, besides the first consecration of the Oratory made by that bishop whom the Emperor had sent (namely Rodulf), St. Atto in the cited chapter 22 narrates that the oratory, enlarged, was consecrated again after some years by Hubert Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church of St. Rufina; certainly not about to omit another consecration (if any had preceded on Didacus Franchi's hypothesis) in the same place. That a catholic bishop was sent by Henry II to the monastery of Vallombrosa, to consecrate the high altar, Baronius too holds, volume 11 of the Annals, at the year of Christ 1055. But from this digression let us return to Mabillon's chronology, and sincerely set forth our judgment on it.

[114] He confirms his opinion, above mentioned, in the preliminary observations to the Life of St. John Gualbert in the sixth Benedictine century, part 2, [Mabillon's opinion concerning the time of the institution of the Vallombrosan Order is not certain;] page 166, in these words: At what time John withdrew into the Vallombrosan solitude, we gather from the letters of Itta, abbess of St. Hilary, who granted him the place, before called Bella Aqua, for building a monastery in the year 1039. To open my mind candidly, I judge that those things are altogether uncertain which he handed down above concerning the time of the Gualbertine conversion, concerning the ten-year stay in the monastery of St. Miniato, and concerning the year and cause of departure. But although from the letters of Abbess Itta given in the year 1039 he gathers not improbably the beginnings of the Vallombrosan Order, yet this his argumentation does not sufficiently evidently determine the time of the institution: For St. John Gualbert could have lived long before Itta's donation and the dedication of his Oratory in that solitude. This Bl. Andrew seems in some way to signify, when at number 16 he says that they stayed for a long time, having only a wooden oratory; and then at number 19 he treats of the place of the monastery handed over by Abbess Itta; and at last at number 28 he commemorates the consecration or dedication of the place. But how great an interval of time there was between these, it is not easy to divine. Wherefore I have no mind, from the indefinite terms of the ancients and the uncertain conjectures of the more recent ones, to settle this controversy among the Vallombrosans, Camaldolese, and Benedictines; but let each think what he will, until from more certain monuments, perhaps to be unearthed on this occasion, the truth of the matter has been clearly established. Now let us hear the opinions of others differing from the preceding.

[115] Baronius, volume 11 of the Annals, at the year of Christ 1051, treating of the miracle which, on the occasion of Pope Leo IX lodging in the monastery of Passignano, But Baronius's is vague and obscure. was wrought by St. John Gualbert; expressed his opinion in very vague and obscure terms thus. Ten years before (as his Acts have it) John himself began to become known to the world for his exceptional sanctity, when, sparing his enemy asking pardon in the name of Christ Crucified, he saw the image of the Crucified incline its head to him praying as a sign of an action very pleasing to him. Overcome by such divine clemency he seized the institute of the monastic life. But afterward, deserting the simoniacal abbot, he became the institutor and author of a new Order of monks, called of Vallombrosa, illustrious for virtues and miracles. What of all these he means happened ten years before, I know not. Wherefore I leave it to another more skilled than I to discern. Ughelli, treating of Regembald bishop of Fiesole, who died before the year 1028, makes the Vallombrosan Congregation more ancient, and thus speaks indeterminately, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 283. In the times of this bishop Fiesole was utterly cut down, one cathedral excepted, in the year 1010. The pontificate of the excellent prelate Regembald was illustrated by the beginnings given in his diocese to the Vallombrosan Order by John Gualbert, a most noble citizen of Florence, and of the religious Benedictine family of monks of the house of St. Miniato. Let the reader here attend to the beginning of the monastery of St. Miniato, and compare it with what was said above.

[116] [To the indeterminate chronology of Ughelli come nearest Panvinio, Labbe, and others] To the opinion of Ughelli come nearest Onofrio Panvinio in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle, John Baptist Riccioli in the Reformed Chronology, volume 3, page 150, Philip Labbe in the Historical Chronology, volume 2, part 2, and Alfonso Ciacconius in the History of the Roman Pontiffs and Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, volume 1, column 771, who all refer the institution of the Vallombrosan Order to the year of Christ 1030: But I do not see how the history of Ciacconius, augmented by Victorelli and Oldoinus, is sufficiently consistent with itself: For there is read, volume 1, column 1024, this assertion: Under John XIX, in the year of the Lord 1030, the third Congregation of St. Benedict, which is called of Vallombrosa, had its origin. And in column 862 of the same volume it is said that to St. John Gualbert there ran, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1018, among the first of the disciples, a certain young man of Florence, Peter by name, sprung, as they report, from the illustrious stock of the Aldobrandini, joined and related to the holy Father himself. These two cannot be reconciled, unless one should say that St. John Gualbert for many years in the Vallombrosan solitude had disciples, before he instituted his Order. If anyone shall solidly show this, I will willingly confess that these two epochs do not conflict.

[117] [The errors of certain ones concerning the institution of the Vallombrosan Order are related.] Lastly in this place I shall detect the palpable anachronisms of certain ones concerning the institution of this Order, which to have related, will be to have refuted. The Gallican Legendary, elsewhere hypercritical, here seems to have lost his critical judgment: For in volume 2, in the life of St. John Gualbert, he says

that this Order was instituted in the year 1051. Francesco Longo of Coriolano in his Chronological Breviary thinks that the Congregation of Vallombrosa had its beginning in the year of Christ 1060. The same thinks John Gualterius in the Chronicle of Chronicles, volume 1, page 1634, thus writing: The Order of Vallombrosa, or, as they prefer, of the Vallombrosans, as some too, of the Valley of Ambrose, began, the author being Gualbert of Florence, in the year 1060, under Nicholas II near Florence. It uses garments partly of an ashen, partly of a blue color. These perhaps followed the erring Polydore Vergil, who in the work on the inventors of things, page 7, chapter 2, also assigns the year 1060 to the first institution of this Order. More grossly erred Volaterranus, book 21, and Arnold Pontac bishop of Bazas in the Chronography, who hold that this Congregation began in the year 1070. Nor were there lacking some so ignorant of history, that they dreamed this Order first arose in the year 1400. But it wearies to dwell longer on relating these things. Concerning the death of St. John Gualbert it is not necessary to dispute: For among nearly all it is agreed that he died in the year 1073. Wherefore we here do not dwell on the few who recede from this common opinion by one year or another.

§ X. Whether, the opinion of Mabillon and others concerning the chronological series of St. John Gualbert being admitted, the same Saint could have dwelt with St. Romuald in the Camaldolese desert.

From the chronology of Mabillon, Baronius, and others related in the preceding paragraph, it seems historically to follow, [The chronology of Mabillon being admitted, the meeting of St. John Gualbert with St. Romuald falls,] that St. Romuald was not found by St. John Gualbert in the Camaldolese desert, as one who had departed from the living before the year 1027, as the same Mabillon proves from the authentic instrument of donation, made to Peter Dagnino by Theobald bishop of Arezzo, in the sixth Benedictine century, Part 1, in the observations premised to the Romualdine Life. Nor does Mabillon dissemble this consequence of his chronology; but in the Benedictine Annals, volume 4, at the year of Christ 1038, he thus openly puts it: Before John betook himself to Vallombrosa, he set out for Camaldoli, about to explore the holy conversation of those dwelling there. The Prior of that place was still Peter, who tried to adopt those holy guests into his society. But when he had understood their purpose, of preferring the cenobitic life, he exhorted them to pursue it. Thence John with his companions came to Vallombrosa, which is placed nearly midway between Camaldoli and Florence. The same consequence Baronius must admit, since in the Annals, volume 11, at the year of Christ 1027, he places the death of St. Romuald.

[119] I know that this meeting of St. John Gualbert with St. Romuald is tenaciously held by most writers, which nevertheless very many more recent ones maintain with the Roman Breviary; both Vallombrosan and Camaldolese, although concerning the time of this deed some greatly dissent among themselves, as will presently be more clearly understood. To the opinion of these authors the Roman Breviary openly favors, which on the feast of St. John Gualbert on the XII of July, in the proper lessons expressly hands down, that holy John set out to Romuald, an inhabitant of the Camaldolese desert, and received from him the heavenly prophecy of his institute. Both these authorities Guido Grandi proposes, Dissertation 2, chapter 4, number 1, beginning to lay the foundation of his opinion, in these words: This therefore we shall now try to persuade from the coming of St. John Gualbert to the Camaldolese desert, which could most certainly not happen before the year 1034 or 1036, whereas nevertheless the most approved writers of Vallombrosa (to be silent of ours, Fortunio, Ractio, Minio, and of very many foreigners) expressly hand down that John lived there under Romuald: Andrew of Genoa, who flourished about the year 1419, in the life of St. John Gualbert, chapter 11; Jerome of Raggiolo, who about the year 1480 expressed the same life in his native tongue; Xantes of Perugia, who about the year 1500 collected the same Acts of Gualbert, page 24; John Joannalius, who under Clement VIII composed the Lessons of St. John Gualbert, to be inserted in the Breviary, as they were at last actually inserted, and approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites; and finally most recently Ascanio Tamburini on the Right of Abbots, volume 2, Disputation 24, question 5, number 20; and Didacus Franchi in the History of the same St. John Gualbert, book 4; and in our days Venantius Simius in his Catalogue, letter I, number 9.

[120] but by none of the ancient writers, as the adversary himself confesses. This Romualdine and Gualbertine meeting I do not deny is taught by the cited authors and the Roman Breviary; but the most ancient writers of the Life left it untouched, which it will help to understand from the words of Grandi himself, Dissertation 2, chapter 8, number 2, thus confessing: On the one hand, the things which were adduced above for asserting Romuald still surviving after the year 1027, do not invincibly prove the intention, since nothing absolutely and evidently proves that John Gualbert in the Camaldolese desert listened to Romuald living rather than to Peter Dagnino the Prior, after Romuald's death, and received from him the prophecy and auspice of instituting his Order: For, as I noted in chapter 4, number 2, the older of those who relate the deed hand down that John Gualbert turned aside to the Prior of the Camaldolese desert, distinguished by no designation of name; the later ones interpret this expressly of Romuald, supposing him then dwelling at Camaldoli, not proving it; and so the matter is left in ambiguity. A candid confession indeed of the adversary himself.

[121] The state of the question being explained, the consequence is deduced, These things being laid as foundations, I here briefly explain the state of the question to be treated, that everyone may clearly understand what I intend. Let all therefore know, that I have no dispute with the authors cited a little before, who place the coming of St. John Gualbert into the Camaldolese desert before the year 1027: For I said in the preceding paragraph, that this controversy, considered precisely from the text of the ancient biographers, is left undecided by me, until more certain monuments be brought forward on both sides, which plainly settle the matter. I have no dispute, I say, with those who defend the conversation of St. John Gualbert with St. Romuald, and at the same time concede that St. Romuald died before the year 1027; Such among others is Augustine Fortunio, who in book 1 of the Camaldolese History, chapter 34, thus writes: And so Bl. John, fortified with the blessing of the most holy father Romuald, withdrawing from the desert of Camaldoli, betook himself into the hidden and dark woods of Vallombrosa; and then in chapter 40 of the same book affirms, that the prelate Theodald, full of God, in the year 1027, after the happy passing of St. Romuald… granted the first donation, and the first privilege of exemption and liberty to the sacred desert. And so I only contend, that, the opinion of those being admitted who defer the entrance of St. John Gualbert into the Camaldolese desert beyond the year 1027, it most probably follows that St. Romuald could not then be found there alive by him.

[122] Against this consequence there strives with hands and feet the often-praised Guido Grandi, to whom Guido Grandi is opposed. and prolongs the life of his holy Father Romuald up to the year of Christ 1037; but in the Appendix after the second dissertation he exhibits two chronological tables of the Romualdine Life, in the first of which, at the year of Christ 1036, he notes the following: The holy Father, returning to Camaldoli, instructs John Gualbert, fleeing to him, for six months (whence he drew that determined time, I desire to know) in the precepts of the eremitic life, and presently with his blessing and prophecy of the Order to be instituted by him dismisses him to Vallombrosa or Aqua Bella. This his system, which is subject to innumerable difficulties, he tries to establish by various conjectures and twisted explanations, artfully however scraped together from all sides. To sift and refute his several arguments is not here at leisure: For this would require a book of just bulk. But if anyone desires more concerning this matter, he will be able to consult the Venetian writers, whom I understand to have risen against his chronology with published books. We, other not slight arguments being omitted, will oppose a single diploma to his system, and try to preclude all access to evasions.

[123] That diploma is of Theodald bishop of Arezzo, which whole may be seen in Augustine Fortunio, book 1 of the Camaldolese Histories, chapter 40. But to his opinion Since it is prolix, and contains many things not pertaining to our controversy, it will suffice us here to have given an accurate epitome of it, drawn from Theodald's own words in this manner: In the name of the holy and undivided Trinity. Theodald Vicar of St. Donatus; thus everywhere the bishops of Arezzo call themselves, as Mabillon notes, sixth Benedictine century, part 1, page 277. Let this love of all faithful Christians know, that we, for the love of the pious memory of our spiritual father Dom Romuald, the most illustrious hermit, by the common counsel and consent of our brother clerics, give and grant, for the remedy of our soul and of all our successors the bishops, to Dom Peter the venerable hermit, for the use and expense of the confreres leading the eremitic life under him, and to his successors the hermits, a certain church in the middle of the Alps, of the jurisdiction of the bishopric of St. Donatus, which we at the request of the aforesaid Dom Romuald the hermit consecrated under the honor and name of our Lord Jesus Christ the holy Savior, situated in the territory of Arezzo at the foot of the Alps dividing Tuscany and Romagna, in the place which is called Campo Malduli, through its designated places…

[124] This place therefore Dom Romuald, the pious father of hermits, chose, there is opposed a single diploma, and provided as most fit for the contemplative life of those serving God. And a basilica of the holy Savior having been constructed there, he distinguished five little cells with their tabernacles there, and separated them from one another. But also to the several cells he deputed several brother hermits, who, removed from secular cares and solicitude, might attend to divine contemplation alone. To whom also he gave Peter the venerable hermit, as a faithful minister and preceptor. To whom we too, with our future successors, that we may have a part in eternal life with the aforesaid holy man, namely Romuald, give, bestow the aforesaid place according to the fixed bounds for the use and expense of the brother hermits serving God there for the time, and by the page of this our privilege we invest him with all these things which within the designated bounds we today have and hold to our demesne hand (that is in our dominion)… Because therefore what we have conferred on God for the salvation and remedy of our soul and of our successors the bishops ought through the eternal spaces of ages to remain ratified, firm, and unshaken, from God the Father almighty and our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit we interdict, and in every way inhibit, that no successor of ours, bishop of the Church of Arezzo, presume to divest, molest, disquiet, or bring any diminution upon the aforesaid brother Peter the hermit and his future successors the hermits, of the things which we granted to St. Salvator for the use and expense of the brother hermits, or which they may acquire from us or from other men… Given in the year 1027, in the 5th year of the pontificate of Dom Theodald, in the month of August, in the 10th Indiction.

[125] the force of which he himself acknowledges; The force and authority of this diploma Grandi himself acknowledges, whose words it pleases here to transcribe, because in the mouth of an adversary they are wont to have greater weight. These things therefore he confesses, Dissertation 2, chapter 8, number 3. But on the other hand the difficulties opposed to this system are expedited only probably, especially the last one drawn from the privilege of Theodald, which always seemed to me to cause greater trouble than the rest, and to admit a less exact solution than the others, so that I once believed the words opposed to us from that privilege to be additions, as though he had either found that diploma interpolated by someone, or Fortunio himself had exhibited it to us interpolated, which suspicion however now ceases, after we most diligently surveyed the autograph, subscribed by the hand of Theodald himself, and fortified with a seal, in the Camaldolese Archive, cabinet 1, number 36, nor met with any mark of supposititiousness or interpolation, but found it whole and everywhere sincere, so that on that account its authority can be eluded only by the probable interpretation adduced above, and confirmed by the examples brought forward in the preceding chapter, number 14. But let us hear that probable interpretation.

[126] yet interprets it with vain effort, The peremptory words of his system placed in the diploma he thus begins to interpret, Dissertation 2, chapter 7, number 13. And so we shall try somehow to elude this difficulty, by observing that this clause OF PIOUS MEMORY perhaps designates not a dead man, but a most celebrated man of memorable piety, so that "memory" is used for fame, celebrity, name: For as we are wont to exhort the living, that they should wish to perform some deed worthy of memory, whereby they may provide for the immortality of their name, so men themselves illustrious for distinguished works, still living, we can deservedly call worthy of immortal memory, or men of immortal or glorious memory, and have often been accustomed to. Besides that this explanation is violent, and abhorrent from the common intercourse of men, there is a great difference between the expressions twistedly devised by Grandi, and the usual phrases of our diploma, as will be clear to anyone maturely comparing them. I here appeal to any readers as judges, alien from the zeal of parties, and confidently ask, whether they have not judged St. Romuald dead, as soon as they had read in the diploma that this donation was made to Peter Dagnino for the love of the pious memory of Dom Romuald, that Theodald might have a part in eternal life with the aforesaid holy man, namely Romuald: For unless Theodald had believed Romuald already received into heaven, and snatched from the ever-to-be-feared danger of human frailty, how would he have desired to have a part with him in eternal life? Add that the formula "of pious memory" in six hundred diplomas manifestly signifies a dead man.

[127] Now two examples must be examined, which Grandi adduces to establish his interpretation, such as it is. and to establish his interpretation, one The first occurs in Ughelli, volume 3 of Italia Sacra, column 297, where James Bavarus, bishop of Fiesole, says that he bestows certain things on the church entrusted to him for the remedy of his soul, and in hope of future reward, and for the souls of his predecessor prelates, and also for the salvation of Conrad the most serene Emperor of happy memory, and of his wife Gisela Augusta etc. Behold, says Grandi, Conrad Cæsar called of happy memory in the year 1032, whereas he died in the year 1039, on the 4th of June at Utrecht. But that the prelate of Fiesole here means nothing else than that this donation may profit the soul of Conrad, and that his memory may be happy after his death, is sufficiently plain from this formula subscribed to the diploma: But this was done in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1032, in the 5th year of the Empire of Dom Conrad Augustus, in the 15th Indiction, happily. When Grandi shall have shown in a genuine diploma that Theodald gave the church to Peter Dagnino in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1027, in the 110th year of Romuald's life, as he establishes in his first chronological table, we shall easily acquiesce in his explanation; When, I say, he shall have found this parallel, we shall wrest the words of the Theodaldine diploma from their common signification into a foreign sense; which must not be done, unless manifest necessity compels.

[128] I pass now to the other example, which Grandi touched so lightly and perfunctorily, and adduces another example, as if, ill-conscious to himself, he had feared lest the fallacy of the argument be detected. About the year 870, he says in the place just cited, Andrew bishop of Florence ordains Idemberta as abbess of the monastery of St. Andrew, in Ughelli, volume 2 (this error is frequent with him for 3), page, that is column, 35, where this formula is read: "According to those precepts which the Lord" (perhaps here some name is lacking) "and the Lord Louis the Emperor of GOOD REMEMBRANCE established." Which Louis nevertheless died at Milan in the year 875, in the month of August. Whence, I beseech, did Grandi know that Idemberta was ordained abbess in the year 870, since no year is subscribed to the diploma? Or perhaps he concludes this from the fact that after the diploma is finished there follow these words of Ughelli: This Andrew, bishop of Florence, in the year 870 was present at a certain judgment at Lucca in favor of Gerard bishop of Lucca, in the 15th year of Louis II the Emperor, in the 3rd Indiction. But these have nothing to do with the preceding diploma. By the same right he could have gathered that Idemberta was created abbess in the year 876, after the death of Louis, because these words of Ughelli precede the same diploma: Andrew successor of Roding. He was the one who, when Charles the Bald was distinguished with the diadem of the kingdom by Anspert archbishop of Milan, to make the appearance of the pomp more august, was present in the year 876.

[129] which by no means settle the matter. Since therefore these preceding words of Ughelli in no way pertain to that matter, the year of the diploma cannot be determined from them. Whence I marvel that it is so roundly asserted by Grandi that this was given about the year 870. Wherefore I could require better faith in Grandi in objecting this example, or at least greater diligence in examining it. Meanwhile the adversary must confess that Andrew in the same diploma, speaking of Roding his predecessor of good memory, treats of Roding already dead. The same I judge concerning Louis of good remembrance, and so I judge the diploma to have been given after his death, because no reason moves me to invert the common signification of this formula. It irks me to dwell longer on these cavils. Rather let us proceed to the sacred honors of the heavenly ones, decreed to our Saint by the supreme Pontiffs.

§ XI. The canonization of St. John Gualbert.

By whom St. John Gualbert was placed in the number of the Saints. Both Acts, to be subjoined to this commentary, narrate how the body of St. John Gualbert, after the happy passage of the soul from this life, amid the summer heats was for three days immune from all stench, and then, with the greatest concourse of people, was given to burial. The Vallombrosan writers hold that their holy Father was placed in the number of the Saints a few years after his death by Gregory VII. Thus Andrew of Genoa in his Life, chapter 89, says: It clearly appears from the Florentine Chronicle, compiled by John Villani a citizen of Florence, book 4 and chapter 16 of the same Chronicle, that the same blessed John was first, about a hundred and fourteen years before, canonized and enrolled in the catalogue of the said Saints by the most holy Father and Lord in Christ of blessed remembrance the Lord Pope Gregory the seventh, most devoted to the same blessed John, who flourished and began in the year of the Lord 1073. The same asserts Bernard Del Sera in the compendium of the Abbots General, chapter 1. Although, he says, it is held for certain that St. John was canonically enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints by Gregory VII, yet now, through the letters of Celestine III, this matter is not to be doubted. Thus they. But since that John Villani, who is here cited, is more recent, and the authentic instruments of that former canonization are not produced, we hasten to more certain documents.

[131] The letter of Gregory abbot of Passignano, Celestine III, at the petition of Dom Gregory abbot of Passignano, enrolled St. John Gualbert in the Catalogue of the Saints, as is clear from the letter of the same Abbot, which I here excerpt from Didacus Franchi, book 12, that all may clearly understand the order and manner of the canonization, and the other things pertaining to it. Thus therefore the letter sounds. Brother Gregory, humble abbot of the monastery of St. Michael the Archangel of Passignano, to the beloved brothers in Christ and the Chapter of Passignano and other friends and devout ones of the same, greeting in the Lord and to rejoice. For the greatness of the joy and gladness which the grace of the heavenly Bestower abundantly infused into our minds, in the exaltation of the name of the blessed and exceptional Father our John Gualbert, from whom, after our nourishing father the most blessed Benedict, we received the cult of monastic religion and honesty, before we take the beginning of narrating, we exhort you with the voice not only of the body, but (what is more excellent) with the affection of the interior man, that for the honor of the Father you rejoice in the Lord, rendering thanks to the giant of twin substance, who, when he was hewn from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, that through him, which is ineffable, the little one may receive the kingdom. For through his vicar, namely the Lord Pope Celestine III, the Lord bishops of Ostia and Porto assisting, and the religious and the remaining presbyters and Deacons likewise Cardinals, on the day of the Kalends of October, the testimonies and life of the same Saint having been inspected, he exalted the name and memory of the same, already as it were buried by the negligence of his disciples, and judged it to be venerated everywhere.

[132] When (for certain rivals of ours acting) the City had received us for other business in the fervent heat of July, in which he explains, over which our friends grieved not a little, fearing for us on account of the risk of life, by the merits, as we believe, of blessed John all things cooperated for good. Devoutly therefore saluting and humbly revering the aforesaid most holy Lord Pope, we asked that he would exalt the name of St. John by canonization in due time. What more? The testimonial letters of the Abbot of Vallombrosa, and of other abbots and bishops and other prelates having been received, two months having elapsed after our entrance into the City, the aforesaid most holy Apostolic one appointed a day, that, he presiding, we might propose to the Lord Cardinals the word which we bore enclosed in our vow. On the fourth of the Kalends of October therefore, called before the same supreme Pontiff and the Lord Cardinals, in this manner we began our petition, holding the Life of St. John in our hands.

[133] From the fullness of your light, as from the firmament of heaven we little sparks, in what manner it was petitioned, receiving increases of light and knowledge, clearly know, that he who honors the disciples of Truth, magnifies him who made them such, that he made them his coheirs. Behold, to use few words, most Reverend Fathers and Lords, the mandrake gave its odor in our gates: For the blessed and exceptional Father John, institutor and master of the Vallombrosan Congregation and Order, whom the Lord wonderfully drew to himself, when he inclined his head to him through the cross, shone also by miracles and the splendor of his life, as is more openly declared from his deeds. Whence I and my brothers,

and also the neighboring bishops and other prelates of the churches, ask from Your Holiness, that as we firmly believe him to reign with his King in the heavens, so you would command him to be enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints on earth; that by his merits and intercessions we may come from the state of blear-eyed Leah to the embraces of the beautiful Rachel.

[134] These things being run through, on bended knees we offered the Life of St. John to the Lord Pope; and the canonization of St. John Gualbert was obtained, which the Lord Cardinal of Ostia, receiving by his mandate, held for some days. On the aforesaid day therefore of the Kalends of October, in full consistory the Lord Pope, the life of the aforesaid St. John being greatly commended, praising his Congregation and more especially our house, decreed by Apostolic authority, with the consent of his brothers the Lord Cardinals, whose names are subsequently noted, that henceforth the name of the same St. John should be placed in the Catalogue of the Saints, and his festivity celebrated on the same day on which he died, namely the twelfth of the month of July, repeating that the same petition had been offered to other supreme Pontiffs, his predecessors, and reserved to his times for fulfillment.

[135] and which Cardinal presbyters, At this canonization were present these Cardinal presbyters, namely: Pandulf, a native of Lucca, presbyter Cardinal of the basilica of the Twelve Apostles. Peter of Piacenza, presbyter Cardinal of St. Cecilia. Jordan, formerly Abbot of Fossanova, presbyter Cardinal of St. Pudentiana. John the Lombard, formerly bishop of Toscanella, presbyter Cardinal of St. Clement. Romanus, formerly Primicerius, presbyter Cardinal of St. Anastasia. Hugucio, presbyter Cardinal of St. Martin in the Mount. Guido of St. Mary across the Tiber, of the title of St. Callixtus, presbyter Cardinal. John, formerly a monk of Monte Cassino, presbyter Cardinal of St. Stephen on the Cœlian Mount. Centius Romanus, presbyter Cardinal of St. Lawrence in Lucina. Sofredus, formerly Canon of Pistoia, presbyter Cardinal of St. Praxedis. Bernard, formerly Canon of St. Frigidian, presbyter Cardinal of St. Peter in Chains. And John, formerly a monk of St. Paul, presbyter Cardinal.

[136] deacons, bishops, and other more honorable persons were present at it; The Cardinal deacons who were present are these: Gregory of St. Mary in Portico, Cardinal Deacon. Gregory Crescentii of St. Mary in Aquiro, Cardinal Deacon of Romanus. Lothair of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, a native of Campania, Cardinal Deacon. Gregory Carelli of St. George at the Golden Veil, Cardinal Deacon. Nicholas of St. Mary in Cosmedin, Cardinal Deacon of Romanus. Master Ægidius of Anagni, of St. Nicholas in the Tullian prison, Cardinal Deacon. Centius the Chamberlain, of St. Lucy, Cardinal Deacon, and Master Peter of Capua, of St. Mary in the Via Lata, Cardinal Deacon. Besides, there were present also at the aforesaid canonization, from many and various provinces, in the said consistory of so great a prince, nay of so many princes, honorable men, the Archbishop of Amalfi, the Bishop of Pozzuoli, the Bishop of Nola, the then bishop-elect of Rimini, and the Elect of the famous monastery of Fulda in Germany, who at that very hour had been confirmed. But there was not lacking the envoy of N. Emperor of Constantinople, and N. envoy of the king of England; and several other fellow-clergy and laymen, whose names he knows who fashioned them.

[137] finally he exhorts his brothers to joy. But the chaplains of the aforenamed Lord Pope were not lacking, who, assisting us, sang with a loud voice "Te Deum Laudamus." And presently in the very celebration, the same supreme Pontiff being present, the prayer of St. John himself was recited by a presbyter. Whence, the dust of vices being shaken off, be prepared to praise the Lord in his Saint; and because hitherto you have wept, as true sons, for the death of your Father, at his as it were resurrection put on the spirit of joy, and with the Psalmist truly sing: But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable. Finally the present glory, which is had from the celebration of the Saints, is an image of that glory and joy which no sense can comprehend, nor discourse however eloquent explain. On that day therefore, on which it shall happen to you to receive the letters of so great rejoicing, be zealous to celebrate the memory of blessed John, our Lord and Father, as on the day of his birth, with nocturnal and daily praises, more attentively imploring the clemency of the supernal Majesty, that it may so make us run through the course of this life, our leader and patron St. John going before, that through one and in one, who says, I and the Father are one, we may seize the prize of the completed course. Farewell.

[138] To this letter I subjoin the Bull of canonization published in the year 1193 by Celestine III, The Bull of Celestine III, which exists in Dom Thesaurus Velius, abbot of St. Praxedis, before the Life of St. John Gualbert, published at Rome in the year 1612, in Didacus Franchi, book 12, page 516, and in the Bullarium of Laertius Cherubinus, volume 1, page 31. Franchi, page 508, says that it was given to the Abbot and convent of Passignano; but the other two have this title: Celestine the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the beloved sons, the Abbot and Convent of Vallombrosa, greeting and Apostolic blessing. The tenor of the Bull in Laertius Cherubinus in the cited place is such: God glorious in his Saints, and wonderful in majesty, rewards his ministers, who truly and sincerely minister to him, not only with an unfading prize and eternal, but also in the present life, by the exhibition of several miracles, renders them commendable, and, according to the prophetic word, makes them to be in eternal memory, and to be celebratedly venerated by all: For no Catholic doubts, since sacred Scripture too attests this, that in his Saints the Lord is praised, and that he who honors them, honors the Lord himself outright; himself attesting who says: He who honors you, honors me, and he who receives you, receives me. And likewise: What you have done to one of my least, you have done to me. And indeed it is proved consonant to reason, that, since the almighty Father willed the coheirs of his Son to be distinguished with the same honor as himself, himself praying and saying: I will, Father, that where I am, there may be also my minister. And again: If anyone minister to me, my Father who is in the heavens will honor him, men, who are of clayey matter, should celebrate his memory and venerate on earth, whose name is believed to be written in the heavens.

[139] Induced by this consideration, when we had received the prayers of our beloved sons Gregory the Abbot and the Convent of the monastery of Passignano, and your testimony and letters, that we would enroll and associate to the Catalogue of the Saints John of illustrious remembrance, formerly Abbot, institutor of the Vallombrosan Congregation, by which he enrolls John Gualbert in the number of the Saints, who was a prudent and faithful servant of his Creator, and expended to the family committed to him the measure of wheat in time; and whom, because he was faithful over a few things, after his death the Lord himself set over many things, and distinguished with many privileges of miracles, and even in these times, as is said, incessantly illustrates: it seemed good to us, and settled in the common counsel of the brothers, and of the neighboring bishops and other Prelates of the Church, that we should await testimonies concerning the conversation of the same good Man and his miracles. But at last, when we had received the testimonies and prayers of Bishops, Abbots, Priors, Archdeacons, plebani, Provosts, Ecclesiastical and Monastic Convents, and others, concerning the life and conversation and miracles of the same Minister of Jesus Christ; concerning canonizing the same, the agreement of our brothers being required and had, rendering thanks to the Creator, who always multiplies his Church with new offspring, and adorns it with the flower both of roses and of lilies, we canonized the aforenamed Bl. John, and decreed him to be added to the number of the confessors of Christ. Beseeching with humble prayer the King of all confessors, that by the prayers and merits, to be recalled, of the same Confessor, who pleased him for his lucid and conspicuous actions, we may be rescued from imminent dangers, and in our necessities may feel his patronage.

[140] and praises his virtues. To your devotion therefore by Apostolic writings we command and enjoin, that concerning the suffrage of so great a Patron, whom Italy herself begot and nourished, you spiritually rejoice, and celebrate his memory on a certain day among the other Confessors with celebrated veneration, be zealous to venerate his festivity, exalting in him the divine omnipotence. For if, as the Lord's voice attests, he is proved to love God who observes his commandments, from the fruits of the aforenamed holy Man it is known that he can and ought efficaciously to be heard before God for sinners; who, not a deaf hearer of the Gospel preaching, deserted the joys of the world, reckoning them as dung, and following the footsteps of Christ, not only instituted monastic religion in your monastery, but also built seven monasteries, and at last, restoring the monastery of Passignano, in it ended the present life with a praiseworthy departure. Yet this is found first and chief among his miracles, that for a certain work of mercy, providently and clemently shown to one offending against him, prostrate before him in the manner of a cross, the image of the Crucified is said to have inclined its head to him, still existing in the secular warfare. Given at the Lateran on the second of the Nones of October, in the third year of our Pontificate.

[141] A certain discrepancy concerning the subsigning of the day is noted, Concerning the day subsigned to this Bull I notice a certain discrepancy in the various editions. Didacus Franchi, book 12, page 519, reads it thus subscribed at the end. Given at the Lateran, on the 1 of the Nones of October, in the third year of our Pontificate. If by this he understands the day before the Nones of October, in assigning the sixth day of October he will agree with Laertius Cherubinus. The Thesaurus Velius cited above, the day being omitted, published the subscription thus. Given in our Lateran palace in the year of the Lord 1193, in the 3rd year of our Pontificate. Alfonso Ciacconius in his History, volume 1, in assigning the day of canonization certainly erred, thus writing: in the same year 1193 Celestine the Pontiff placed John Gualbert in the number of the Saints on the Kalends of September. This error in the same volume in the additions of Victorelli and others is thus corrected: On the 2 of the Nones of October, in the 3rd year of his Pontificate, Celestine did this, Constitution 2, "God glorious etc." Perhaps Ciacconius put one month for another, and meant to say that this was done on the Kalends of October; which should be understood not of the Bull published on that day, but of the canonization made at Rome, as Gregory abbot of Passignano testifies in the letter adduced above in these words: On the aforesaid day therefore of the Kalends of October, in full consistory the Lord Pope… decreed by Apostolic authority… that henceforth the name of the same St. John should be placed in the Catalogue of the Saints.

[142] I have besides observed something else concerning this Bull, and other more minute circumstances of the Bull. which I cannot sufficiently combine. Franchi, book 12 of his History, pages 508 and 516, says that three Bulls of the same tenor, with varied inscriptions, were sent by the Pontiff; the first indeed to the Bishops of Tuscany, the second to the Prelates of Lombardy, the third finally to the Abbot of Passignano. To this last, in the right margin, he subscribes: Given at the Lateran on the 1 of the Nones of October; but on the left: Given at the Lateran on the 8 of the Ides of October, of our Pontificate etc. This difference of two days could easily be explained, if Franchi

said that one copy of the Bull was sent to the Abbot of Passignano, another to the Abbot of Vallombrosa. But since he produces only one copy, and contends that it was directed to the Abbot of Passignano, how this variety of days is to be reconciled in his system, I desire to learn. I think that the Bull transcribed above from Laertius Cherubinus is directed to the Abbot of Vallombrosa; this the context itself proclaims, in which, besides other things which will occur to an attentive reader, these things are said of St. John Gualbert: Following the footsteps of Christ, not only in YOUR monastery did he institute monastic religion, but also built seven monasteries, and at last, restoring the monastery of Passignano, in it ended the present life with a praiseworthy departure. But these words "in your monastery" are not read in Franchi and the Thesaurus Velius; which, whether they were suppressed by these, or by others, I know not. At least, according to Franchi, page 519, the Purpled Fathers in the year 1595 declared the Bull of canonization to lack all defect; which suffices us.

[143] In the year 1194 the same Celestine, wishing the feast of St. John Gualbert to be celebrated with solemn pomp, gave these letters, The letters of Celestine III sent to three bishops which the Thesaurus Velius exhibits before the life of St. John, and Didacus Franchi, page 520: Celestine the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the venerable Brothers the bishops of Arezzo, Siena, and Pistoia, greeting and Apostolic blessing. We believe it very much conduces to our salvation, if we hold a celebrated memory of them on earth, honoring their merits with solemn proclamations, by whose assiduous intercessions in heaven we hope to be helped. Hence therefore it is, that, when our beloved son Gregory abbot of the monastery of Passignano had come to the Apostolic See, and had offered before us and the brothers very many certain indications concerning the holy conversation, life, and merits of Bl. John the confessor, whose venerable body rests in his church; We, the tokens of his virtues and miracles having been heard, and that among carnal ones he had a spiritual, among men even an angelic conversation, him, who, corporally dissolved, has already merited to be with Christ, lest we should seem in some way to detract from his due honor and glory, if we permitted one sanctified by God to lack any longer the veneration of human devotion; by the counsel of our Brothers we have judged should be enrolled in the Catalogue of the Saints.

[144] Since therefore his lamp has so burned hitherto in this world, that by the grace of God it has now merited to be placed not under a bushel, [that they should solemnly elevate the body of the Saint, and venerate him with an annual feast.] but upon a candlestick, burning in itself by the works of charity, shining to others by example; we admonish and exhort your Fraternity in the Lord, commanding by Apostolic writings, that when you shall have been requested by the aforesaid Abbot and his brothers, you likewise come to the already-mentioned monastery, and with the honor and reverence which in such things ought to be applied, solemnly raising the body of the holy Man from the place in which it had been placed, as befits a saint, you salubriously excite the devotion of the faithful to his veneration, and pronounce him to be specially honored with a solemn festivity on an appointed day each year. Given at the Lateran on the 10th of the Kalends of June, in the fourth year of our Pontificate. These agree with the edition of the Thesaurus Velius, except that at the end of the Thesaurian one it is put thus: Given at Rome at St. Peter's on the 10th of the Kalends of June, in the fourth year of our Pontificate. I know indeed that these do not conflict with the former, but I signify this difference, though slight, that all may understand that we, after our manner, observe even every minute thing.

[145] Since the decree of Celestine III had not been carried into execution, This Brief of Celestine III, for I know not what cause, was not carried into execution; so that Innocent III his successor after some years gave new letters, by which he exhorts the Bishop of Florence and of Fiesole to celebrate the festivity of St. John. These in Franchi, page 522, thus have it: Innocent the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to the venerable brothers the bishops of Florence and Fiesole, greeting and Apostolic blessing. In the letters of Celestine of good memory our predecessor we have perceived it to be contained, that when he had had full notice concerning the life and merits and praiseworthy conversation of blessed John the confessor, whose body rests in the monastery of Passignano, and that the same Saint after his death shone with very many miracles and virtues, by the indications offered and proved, and that the devotion of Christians ought to venerate him reigning with Christ, by the counsel of his brothers he judged him should be enrolled in the Catalogue of the Saints, Apostolic letters being given in command to the bishops of Arezzo, Siena, and Pistoia, that when they had been requested by the Abbot and brothers of the mentioned monastery, likewise coming to that monastery and with the reverence and honor which ought in such things to be applied, solemnly elevating the body of the aforesaid Confessor from the place in which it had been placed, as befits a Saint, they should salubriously excite the devotion of the faithful to his veneration, and appoint the solemnity of the same to be honored each year on his day: but by them the Apostolic mandate was not carried out.

[146] Innocent III his successor efficaciously renewed the same. Wishing therefore that the memory of so great a Man, over whom there is exultation to the Angels of God, be held celebrated among men, we command your Fraternity by Apostolic writings, that these things, according to what the same predecessor of ours had commanded, you take care to execute with a mind as willing as devout. Given at the Lateran on the 6th of the Kalends of April, in the thirteenth year of our Pontificate. That this epistle of Innocent shortly obtained its effect, James Mindria thus hands down in the Chronicle: In the year 1210, on the tenth day of October, by John bishop of Florence, and Rainerius bishop of Fiesole, and several others placed in dignity, by the consent of the Lord Pope, with great devotion the body of our holy Father John was translated. But where it was placed back, these words of the Vallombrosan Breviary cited in Franchi, book 12, page 524, indicate: With great veneration and hymns and spiritual canticles they drew out the Relics of the most holy John from that place where on the day of his deposition they had been placed, and reburied them in the altar placed on the left for those entering, in the same monastery of Passignano. But now gradually and imperceptibly I have slipped to the sacred remains, of which I shall discourse singly in the following paragraph, after I have premised some things concerning the cult of the Saint.

* that is Christ

* read Gregory.

§ XII. The cult, relics, and posthumous glory of St. John Gualbert.

Although the cult of our Saint, sufficiently established by the decrees of the supreme Pontiffs, need not be established by many things, The supplements of Usuard commemorate St. John Gualbert, yet that I may follow the accustomed method of our Elders in illustrating the Acts of the Saints, I shall enumerate a few announcements of certain Martyrologies. The supplements of Usuard, not long ago illustrated, celebrate him with equal consent. The Florentine codices, differing in certain little words, nearly all thus announce: In Tuscany, in the territory of Florence, at the monastery of St. Michael of Passignano of the diocese of Fiesole, the passage of St. John the abbot, founder of the Order of Vallombrosa, who, living in the world, mortified himself with all his strength for Christ. This venerable one's death happened in the year of the Incarnate word 1073 otherwise 1074. Yet the festivity is held in Tuscany on the 6th of the Ides of October. Belinus has it thus more briefly: Likewise of St. John Gualbert. In the same manner Molanus, except that in his edition in smaller type is added: Whose life Blasius Milanesi published; which addition seems to be Molanus's, who perhaps knew no other Life of St. John Gualbert.

[148] The same Saint all the more recent Martyrologists commemorate, and all the more recent Martyrologists. of whom it will suffice to have selected a few. Peter Galesinius thus relates: At Passignano in the borders of the Florentines, of St. John Gualbert the confessor, who, excelling in contempt of human affairs and greatness of piety, instituted the Order of Vallombrosa; whose sanctity of this Man, which was both beheld in many miracles, and wonderfully shone in religiously and piously done deeds, being known, Celestine the third, supreme Pontiff, placed him among the Saints. Arnold Wion in the Wood of life, book 3, on the fourth of the Ides of July thus announces him: In the monastery of Passignano near Florence, the deposition of St. John Gualbert the abbot, institutor of the Order of Vallombrosa, most illustrious for sanctity and the glory of miracles. Finally the Roman Martyrology on the XII of July thus has it: In the monastery of Passignano near Florence, of St. John Gualbert the abbot, institutor of the Order of Vallombrosa. With fuller elogia or epitomes of the Life him Francis Haræus adorned in the Compendium of Surius, Philip Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, Gabriel Bucelin in the Benedictine Menology, Hugo Menard and Benedict Dorganius in the Calendar of the same Order, and others, whom I here pass over.

[149] I could besides adduce certain indications of public veneration, [The place of the Etruscan song is supplied by a Latin poem, which contains the virtues and miracles of St. Gualbert.] and among others an Etruscan song, already for three centuries composed in honor of St. John Gualbert, which in more than sixty stanzas embraces his virtues and miracles. But since it is too prolix, and, translated with great labor from the ancient Italian language into Latin, would lose the charm of the rhythm and the vernacular simplicity, a Sapphic hymn described from the Vallombrosan Breviary will easily supply its place, which is as it were a certain synopsis of the aforesaid song. It is thus had in Philip Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy on the XII of July.

When here he sees the sign of the Cross on his enemy, he spares, and constant remits his hatred: He prays in the temple [*], behold the head of Christ bends to him.

Afterward, fleeing the malignant age, John clothes himself with his own hands in the sacred garments, and a monk serves religion.

Here, continually burning with the zeal of God, and as a brave man, disclosing the vice of two prelates, he terrified all the rushing people.

Proceeding on the way, a poor man being found, he gave his only bread, and himself then received three; the supreme Deity sent them to him.

Then the holy Man builds the sacred roofs of Vallombrosa, and at the same time teaches many men with him to lead a blessed life.

While a monk hides his faults from shame, John discloses them with humble voice, lest the brother perish by silence on account of things omitted.

The madman tosses in the rapid waters: he invokes the Saint, fearing the assaults of the waters of the Arno, and is made safe within and without.

The air, full of clouds, threatens, while the brothers hasten their ears of grain; that they may thresh, he prays; the air utterly flees from the clouds.

While the joyful monk holds the malign spirit, bearing the form of a hare, not knowing it, the fearing Saint uncovers it, lest that one fall.

The monks, lacking bread, dare not feed on flesh; at the prayer of him supplicating an Angel brought loaves, and thrust appetite upon all.

Rising in the morning he loads many poor asking, and never diminishes the wheat while he gives; but the heavier chest always abounds.

He commanded to be slain the swift bear pursuing the heifers; the bear of its own accord hastened patiently to death, as if it were a lamb.

The monk passes unharmed through the fire. The Pontiff by a sign removes the wicked prelate, the sign being seen, fearing the one teaching

false dogmas.

He departed from life, meditating on Olympus; his body is venerated on earth; his spirit, joyful, sought forthwith the citadel above.

Behold now the beech is mindful of John: For in flower and leaf, before all beeches, each year prior, and it is seen by all:

Before the consecrated tomb of John there comes health to the sick, medicine to the weary, light to the deprived, and the black monsters of Tartarus flee.

The Roman Pontiffs promoted the cult of the same Saint more and more gradually: The Roman Pontiffs and the Republic of Florence increased the cult of the Saint. For Clement VIII decreed that a commemoration of him should be made in the Office of the Roman Church. Then Clement X permitted a proper Office to be recited of him with the semi-double rite. At last Innocent XI commanded that his Office be read with the double rite, as it is today in the Roman Breviary. The Republic of Florence already from the year 1500 issued a public decree, by which under a pecuniary fine the workshops and taverns are ordered to be closed on the day sacred to St. Gualbert. This testimony of public veneration, preserved in the Vallombrosan archives, it suffices here to have indicated. These things concerning the cult. Now let us treat of the relics and other monuments pertaining to our Saint.

[150] The body of St. John Gualbert, a little after his death, The body of the Saint and his various relics are honorably preserved in Italy. as both Acts narrate, was buried in the monastery of Passignano; which, that it might be preserved with greater splendor, the Reverend Lord Aurelius commonly called of Forlì in the year 1580 elegantly adorned a chapel, and with great pomp and a concourse of prelates buried the sacred bones, recognized and visited, in a marble tomb. The head there had been enclosed in the first translation in a peculiar shrine, which the Reverend Lord Placidus Pavanelli of Padua about the year 1440 rendered much more precious. The Reverend Lord Columbinus de Alfiano granted to the Florentine church of the most holy Trinity the jaw of the holy Father Gualbert, which in the year 1586 was placed in a chapel of the same church. The right arm was twice miraculously carried to Vallombrosa, as the Thesaurus Velius describes at length among the miracles printed after the Life of St. John, chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Franchi, book 10, page 370 and following. Concerning the same prodigious translation of the arm Jerome of Raggiolo can be seen in the miracles, here to be published after both Lives, numbers 7, 8, and following. In the same monastery of Vallombrosa is kept the cross with which St. John Gualbert was accustomed to put demons to flight, concerning which, besides the Thesaurus and Franchi, Jerome of Raggiolo treats in the Miracles just cited, numbers 5 and 6. Franchi, book 10, page 361, thinks this is the same which St. Gualbert gave to Peter Igneus to carry as he passed unharmed through the flames. Whatever be the case, it is established that that cross is of wonderful virtue against demons, so that in the year 1634 it was adorned with silver ornaments by the Reverend Lord Valentine Balduini the abbot. Finally there was formerly shown there the image of the Crucifix which inclined its head to St. John. But this I said was lately translated to Florence, §2 of this Commentary, number 18.

[151] All these things our Papebroch, an eyewitness, confirms in papers left after his death, The sepulcher of St. John Gualbert. in which, among other observations of his Italian journey undertaken in the year 1660 with Henschenius, he noted these things: At the body of Bl. John Gualbert we celebrated in the monastery of Passignano. It is buried in its own chapel behind the altar within the wall, and covered with a marble stone, upon which an elegant statue of the Saint himself in marble lies leaning on the elbow, with the head raised toward the people, and with the right hand, which reaches to the knee, holding a cross. Under the stone itself this inscription is read.

TO GOD THE BEST AND GREATEST.

To St. John Gualbert, citizen of Florence, Founder of the Vallombrosan Order, liberator of Italy from Simony and heresy by miracles, a man of most holy life and therefore Canonized by Celestine III Supreme Pontiff on the Kalends of October 1193, to his Best Father, the Abbot of this monastery of Passignano, a humble son, that the body of the same holy Man might be worthily buried in this ark in which it now lies, erected these monuments in piety in the year of the Lord 1580. He died on the 4th Ides of July 1073. He lived 87 years.

[152] His true effigy, I doubt whether Papebroch, describing these things hastily, did not omit one year of the age, as easily happens: For, as I said above, it is now the received opinion among the Vallombrosans that their holy Father lived 88 years. The same number of years I find subscribed to his effigy, which, according to the exemplar of the Museum of the most serene great Duke of Etruria, I here exhibit engraved on copper. This we refer as received to Dom Germanus Ruini, the Vallombrosan sacristan, who in a letter given to Papebroch says that it is the true effigy of St. John Gualbert. We took care to have it most exactly delineated, as will be plain to all comparing it with the Florentine exemplar. Behold it.

The effigy of St. John Gualbert, Abbot of Florence, Institutor of the Order of Vallombrosa. According to the exemplar of the Museum of the most serene great Duke of Etruria. He died on the 12th of July 1073, in the 88th year of his age. Enrolled in the Fasti of the Saints by Celestine III in the year 1193.

[153] and his various relics The remaining sacred monuments seen by him Papebroch thus proceeds to describe: The head there is in a silver bust; The jaw in the monastery of St. Trinity of Florence; The arm at Vallombrosa, in an ancient and elegant ciborium of 4 feet, wrapped in cloths, where also the point of the Lord's nail, in place of the hand sent from this arm, given by St. Louis, is beheld in a beautiful monstrance. There a mean wooden cross, of great power otherwise against demons, enclosed in a large silver one. The image of the Crucifix, which inclined its head to him in the temple of St. Miniato, is seen there under an elegant marble tabernacle before the choir, but with the colors now altogether faded. At the foot of the mountain a very narrow path goes off to the side, where an erected tabernacle by its painting indicates the place in which, meeting his enemy, St. John conquered himself. In the wall of the left arm of the Cross is inserted a stone religiously covered, which covered the body of St. John Gualbert for 300 years and more. The image of his altar represents his miracles.

[154] Besides these sacred monuments commemorated by Papebroch, Other relics of the same are found in various places of Italy. other relics of the same Saint are found in various places of Italy. Franchi, book 12, page 526, says that a tooth and other parts of the bones were carried to Rome by Dom Tiberius Corsellini, and in the year 1585 placed in the church of St. Praxedis; but on the following page he writes that a part of the finger of the left hand was translated into the church of St. Mercurial of Forlì in the year 1587, and is there honored in a chapel dedicated to the same Saint. The same writer, book 7, page 187, asserts that the cowl of St. John Gualbert is preserved in the monastery of St. Salvi by the Vallombrosan nuns; a part of this cowl, larger than the joint of a finger, given to me by our Fr. Janning, I studiously preserve, together with an Italian testimony, by which Dom Bruno Tozzi Chancellor of the Order in the year 1700, on the 4th of April, makes faith that these are true Relics of St. Gualbert. Paul Masini in his Bologna Surveyed on the XII of July found in the temple of the Religious of St. Catherine in the greater square relics of the same Saint, and adds that there is a well, built a long time ago, in which is water from the fountain of St. John Gualbert, to draw which devoutly many men come together. I do not doubt that some remains of the same Saint were distributed also to other monasteries of the same Order. But these are the chief ones, which after a laborious inquiry I could find in Italy. Now let us treat also of those which are said to have been translated to other regions.

[155] The sacred remains of John Gualbert are not contained within the bounds of Italy alone, but, sought by kings, were transmitted into Gaul and Spain. The hand of the Saint translated into Gaul, Concerning the translation of the Relics into Gaul, besides the Thesaurus Velius, Locatelli, Franchi, and other Vallombrosans, Michael Pocciantius of the Order of the Servants of the Bl. Mary the Virgin, in the Catalogue of Florentine writers, page 30, treating of Benignus abbot of Vallombrosa, writes these things: This Father granted to Louis king of the Franks the arm of St. John Gualbert, which was afterward carried to Paris; [and] a temple was dedicated to the same holy Man, called Vallombrosella. That only the hand was granted to the pious King, Bernard Del Sera hands down with the other Vallombrosan writers, thus cited in Franchi, book 12, page 526, in the margin: Louis king of France, having received from abbot Benignus the hand of the right arm (Jerome of Raggiolo holds that it was part of the left, according to the same Franchi, book 8, page 277) of our holy Father John, which he had earnestly requested, gave in return for it to the monastery of Vallombrosa a golden cross of one palm, adorned with most precious gems, with a particle of the wood of the Cross of Christ as a gift.

[156] The Vallombrosan historians with Pocciantius just cited narrate on account of which St. Louis is said to have built a temple and monastery. that St. Louis, besides the venerable instruments of the Lord's Passion, transmitted to Vallombrosa as a sign of a grateful mind, built a temple and monastery in honor of St. John Gualbert at Paris. This among others Bernard Del Sera, cited in Franchi, book 8, page 276, asserts in these words: The king of France, having received from Bl. Benignus the hand of the right arm of St. John, to the honor of God and of the saint himself established for the Order a great monastery, which he called Vallombrosella, in which he placed many ornaments of riches. Locatelli adds, book 1, chapter 90, on the testimony of Jerome of Raggiolo, that certain Gallic monks from this monastery of Vallombrosella came in the year 1450 to Vallombrosa, who testified that through this holy hand very many and very great miracles were wrought in Gaul. Whatever be the case concerning the foundation of this temple and monastery, of which I do not wish to raise even the least suspicion of doubt, at least no memory of either exists at present at Paris, as those confess who have diligently examined the antiquities of Paris. But whether these Vallombrosella monks utterly ceased, or, the name being changed, passed into another religious Congregation, I know not.

[157] A joint of the hand carried into Spain brought great glory to the Saint. Into Spain also the relics of the same Saint were received with the highest veneration; concerning which matter Chrysostom Talentus in the panegyric oration of Bl. Atto thus speaks, page 19: The Vallombrosan republic owes by right innumerable thanks to Philip the second of illustrious remembrance, because, a certain joint of the left hand of our most holy Father having been obtained from the most serene Francis de' Medici great duke of Etruria, he made his glorious name most celebrated in all Spain. I do not doubt that through these and other Relics of St. John Gualbert many more recent miracles were wrought, which have not come to our notice. For who would deny salutary virtue to the sacred bones, if water consecrated merely by the touch of the holy Man

has such power to drive away diseases, that to draw it those with fevers eagerly flow together, and often obtain health, long in vain desired. This the fountains and wells of Bologna, Florence, and elsewhere, celebrated for the memory and miracles of St. John, testify, whose efficacy Locatelli proves by certain prodigious examples, book 1, chapter 112. It would be too long to dwell on these several monuments of posthumous glory; it will suffice to have said a few things concerning the chief ones.

[158] Fountains, celebrated for the memory of the Saint and illustrious for miracles. There is a fountain in Vallombrosa, in which St. John is reported often to have dipped his feet and hands. According to Jerome of Raggiolo, it is five hundred paces distant from the monastery; and it was formerly preserved with such religion, that for several centuries it was surrounded by the same tufa and grass as it was in the time of St. John, nor would the ancient Vallombrosan fathers, for reverence's sake, adorn it with carved stones. The same author narrates that various diseases were cured by the water of this fountain; concerning which matter we shall afterward treat in its place. But I have learned from Franchi, book 4, page 79, that this fountain is now adorned with an altar and Oratory (whose figure engraved on copper he exhibits in his index), and that the place, sacred with the Relics of the Saint, is much frequented by pilgrims and the sick for the sake of piety. Another fountain is, according to Locatelli, book 1, chapter 112, near the monastery of Passignano, also illustrious for miracles, in which two pikes are said to have been miraculously caught, as is narrated in the Life written by Bl. Andrew and Bl. Atto.

[159] The prodigious beech. Another finally prodigious monument of Gualbertine sanctity is beheld in Vallombrosa, concerning which, after Bl. Andrew at number 13, Andrew of Genoa thus writes in the Life, chapter 11. A certain tree, which is called a beech, which was separated from the place where blessed John dwelt by rising a little above it, although it had many trees of the same kind around it, yet before all for many days every year glowed red with flowers, was green with leaves, and, surpassing all, preserved its flowers and leaves more than the rest. The same prodigy this Verse confirms, drawn from the Vallombrosan hymn related above.

Nay rather that this annual miracle persevered in his time Didacus Franchi testifies, book 4, page 89; and adds that that beech in the year in which he wrote or printed the life of St. John Gualbert was prudently strengthened with a new embankment, lest it be gradually uprooted by the force of the descending waters.

[160] John Mabillon concerning this prodigious beech and the other monuments seen by him in the year 1686 writes the following in his Italian Journey, volume 1, page 183. and is still beheld in Vallombrosa. Vallombrosa has a site most solitary on the slope of a very high mountain, which overhangs the monastery on the side of the East. It has a prospect toward the north into the valley below of nearly one mile. On the high mound of the mountain is situated the cell of St. John Gualbert… and not far thence stands the beech, under which for many years Gualbert lay hidden, which hitherto, new shoots from time to time growing up, becomes green before all other beeches, and after all preserves its greenness. The body of St. John is at Passignano, one of his arms is had at Vallombrosa with his Psalter and manual of daily prayers; likewise the edge or point of the Lord's nail, transmitted as a gift to his monastery by St. Louis king of the Franks (as they report); which point indeed is lacking in that nail which we keep at St. Denis near Paris. In the litanies of the Psalter after the saints Benedict and Maurus, St. Placidus is invoked. There are there many other relics of the domestic blessed ones, whose elogia Jerome of Raggiolo, a monk of the same place, wrote to Lorenzo de' Medici. Let these things said concerning the cult, relics, and posthumous monuments suffice; Now let us exhibit the Acts of the Saint themselves written by the ancient and blessed authors, then the miracles, and finally the solemn translation of the Crucifix, in the order which we promised.

* read "in the temple."

LIFE

BY THE BLESSED ANDREW, ABBOT OF STRUMI.

From the Vallombrosan Ms., which the Reverend Lord John Aurelio Casari lately unearthed from concealment.

BHL Number: 4397

BY BL. ANDREW, FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER I.

The birth of St. John Gualbert, his entrance into the monastery, his abandonment of the Simoniacal abbot, and his coming into Vallombrosa.

At the time when the Simoniac ^a and Nicolaite ^b heresies through Tuscany, and almost through all Italy, in the days of Henry ^c the Emperor defiled the Catholic Church in very many places, there was a certain nobleman, Gualbert by name, a military man, by fatherland a Florentine, The birth of St. John Gualbert. having two sons, of whom one was called Ugo, the other John: Who, according to the etymology of his name (the grace of God ^d), was distinguished with various works of virtues, as in this little work concerning his sacred conversion and pious morals it will be made clear in what follows. He, while he was very dear to his parents and neighbors, and to those who knew him, for the honesty of his morals, it happened that a certain man, moved by a malign spirit, slew a certain kinsman of his; whence the aforesaid homicide by all means avoided meeting him, and the other kinsmen who were of the consanguinity of the deceased.

[2] Clemency toward an enemy. But now the time had drawn near, in which the divine grace would mercifully declare in John who he was to be; and of what kind and how great he ought to be as an example of humility and mercy to many faithful. Who, when one day he was disposing to go to Florence with his armor-bearers, on the same journey he unexpectedly met the aforesaid homicide, who had slain his kinsman, in a place which a narrow path so pressed together, that neither could turn aside to another part. When the aforesaid homicide had beheld him coming from afar, despairing of life, forthwith casting himself from his horse, with face cast down to the earth, with hands spread out in the manner of a Cross, dying, he awaited his own destruction. But the benign youth, seeing him thus lying on the ground from exceeding fear, moved with mercy toward him, for reverence of the holy Cross, which he was signing with his arms and hands, disposed to indulge him, and admonished him to rise quickly and not to fear.

[3] The miracle of the Crucifix inclining itself being seen, But after he permitted his enemy to pass in peace, and for the rest granted him to go freely wherever he wished, having advanced a little, he came to a certain Church; which when he enters to pray, he beholds the Cross of that church bend its head to him, as though it rendered thanks to him, because for reverence of it he had mercifully spared his enemy. And what wonder, if the Almighty then wished to show him such reverence through the image of his Cross, whom he saw subject to his fear, given to obedience, and everywhere full of the bowels of charity toward his neighbor? He loves those who love him, rewards those who serve, and glorifies those who glorify him. But that same Cross, as an indication of so great a miracle, is kept even now ^f in the Monastery of St. Miniato with much care. But the servant of the Lord, seeing this, marveling and made very fearful, began to think within himself how he could better please God, believing, and often turning over in his mind, how great rewards he would receive in heaven, if he served the Lord to the best of his ability, who had known that so great and so distinguished a miracle had appeared for a small service, as it seemed to him.

[4] his parents unaware, He disposed therefore within himself to conceive a hatred of the world, utterly to cast off earthly honors and its false riches, and solicitously to think how great glory is promised to the just, how great a punishment to the unjust, and how vain it is to place hope first in perishable things, and afterward to lie subject to eternal punishments. While, proceeding on the journey on which he was going, he anxiously thought such things, he came near to the city, where, commanding his armor-bearer, he says: Go to the lodging where we are wont to descend, and quickly prepare the things necessary for us and the horses. But the companion, as his lord had commanded him, faithfully carried it out. He withdrawing, the servant of the Lord John, inspired by the divine spirit, turned aside from the journey which he had begun, and came without delay to the Monastery of St. Miniato. And descending from his horse, the Abbot of the Monastery being presently sought, he humbly asks him to hear his desire, and to bring it to effect out of the charity of God, disclosing to him the mercy which he had clemently shown to the aforesaid homicide, and how, having afterward entered the church, he saw the Cross bend its head to him, whence he had conceived the beginning of his conversion.

[5] Then the Abbot, having heard concerning the Cross what he had intimated to him, he embraces the religious life, weighing that it was an unheard-of and stupendous miracle, counseled him to leave the world and its glory in all things. Nevertheless, wishing to know more fully the constancy of his will, and to prove his perseverance, he began to foretell him hard and harsh things, and that a man, strong in body, flourishing in youth, could not easily endure monastic poverty. To whom John said: Temporal glory is not to be sought, which quickly passes, nor the strength of the body, which daily fails. And when they spoke these and things like these, and the Abbot did not fully answer his will, the servant whom he had sent to Florence, considering that his Lord did not come, returned home, and related to his parents what had been done concerning him.

[6] Whence the Father, disturbed, came to Florence, and inquires through the whole city through his acquaintances, from whom his father to turn him away desiring to know what had become of his son; running also through the churches, and coming to the Monastery of St. Miniato, he inquires the same. What more? When Gualbert hears that his son is there, he asks the Abbot to lead his son to him.] He derides ^h, yet let him now be called, and come. To summon him the Abbot, coming in person, addresses him thus: Your father is present, and has come here for the sake of seeing you. But you go, and with him do what is to be done. And he: Cease, my Father, cease, if it please, because concerning this I dare not comply with your prayers, lest perhaps, when I have gone to him, he forcibly drag me from the monastery, and lead me back with him. And when that Gualbert had perceived this a little, as it is the custom of men obstinate in mind to threaten great things, when sometimes they cannot do even small ones, he began to make an uproar with great voices, to threaten terribly, and to say: Unless my son be immediately restored, in the things in which I prevail, I will strongly oppose this monastery.

[7] Then that magnanimous John, burnt with the fire of the Holy Spirit, he strives in vain. when he had heard his father making such an uproar, takes with him one of the garments of the Brothers, and quickly sought the church, and placed it upon the Altar, and shore for himself the hair of his head, and taking hold of the garment on either side with both hands, clothed himself, and returning into the cloister, a book being seized, began to read. Nonetheless the Abbot, when he had weighed these things which had been done, began blandly and gently to inquire, saying: Your son does not wish to come to you; but you

if you please, come to him. And when Walbert had come to him, and had seen him, as he was arrayed, both he and all who had come with him began to beat their breasts, to tear their hair, to rend their garments, and to strike themselves on the ground, and to wail with great voices, and to say: O most sweet and most beloved one, why hast thou done thus to us, that secretly, having left us, thou shouldst thus go away? And when they had repeated these and other things, long and much, at last the Father, returned to himself, blessed him, and withdrew to his own.

[8] John, on account of a simoniacal abbot, deserts the monastery, and, After these things therefore that most faithful servant of God John, everywhere surrounded by the grace of God, remained in the same monastery in all obedience and holy conversation, up to the death of the Abbot, who at that time dwelt in the same monastery. Then therefore in the same monastery there was a certain crafty and ingenious monk, by name Uberto ⁱ, who, caught and enticed by the glory of cupidity, received the governance through money from the bishop of the city of Florence, who presided over that monastery. Which blessed John learning, with another favoring him withdrew thence secretly, and having entered the city, they came to a certain great and most famous old man, by name Teuzo ^k, who, of venerable life, had then shut himself up within the walls of the city of Florence in a certain small cell near the monastery of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin ^l of the aforesaid city, from which he gave to all salutary admonitions, and denied to none salutary counsels.

[9] the counsel of Teuzo being sought, He publicly condemned the Simoniacal heresy, which had utterly invaded the whole Ecclesiastical Order for a long time. To whom the Man of God John, approaching, addressing him with these words; I beseech, he says, my Father, that to me, placed in no small hesitation, you deny not your holy counsels. To live under a simoniacal Father I greatly fear, and how I may avoid it I am utterly ignorant. To whom the old man answered: What you say I hold agreeable enough, but what counsel I may give you, I am utterly ignorant. For that you should serve as a soldier under Simon Magus, you will by no means receive counsel from me. If you transfer yourself to another monastery in these parts, when you think to flee the teeth of the lion, you will not escape the bite of the serpent. To whom John: Do not, Father, omit to give counsel; for I am ready, for the sake of following the truth, to do whatever you shall command.

[10] [he publicly proclaims the abbot and bishop simoniacs, not without danger of his life.] Perceiving therefore the faith and constancy of the Man, the old man, rejoicing, said to him: Go therefore with your companion, and in the public forum of the city, before all, cry out that the Bishop and Abbot are Simoniacs, and then at last yield the place. He, fulfilling his admonitions, coming to the forum on the day on which he knew all to be present, called the Bishop and Abbot Simoniacs. Which deed brought a great fearful terror [*] to all, many crying out: Let him by no means escape, but let him be slain. Then certain of his kinsmen, rescuing him, secretly dismissed him. Who, having returned to the great old man, related what had happened to him. And he, congratulating, commanded him to proceed to the parts of Romagna ^m, and to seek a fit monastery, where they could serve Christ.

[11] As they proceeded through various monasteries for some days, Mercy shown to a poor man, a certain poor man on one day met them, beseeching that they would show him mercy. Then the Man of God John to his companion, Put your hand, he says, into the wallet, Brother, and divide the bread which we have, and give half to the poor man. That one refusing and saying: Through various doors this man will go today, and abundantly will be given to him; but we, who have only one bread, whence shall we be sustained? And he: Do not delay, Brother, to give. The bread being received, the poor man gave thanks; and again he commands his companion to give the other half. Which done, he commands him to enter the fortress, and to seek through the houses the provisions necessary for him. As he went through the various houses, at last returning: Behold, he says, you who commanded to give the bread, going around through the whole fortress I have acquired only three eggs. Then certain shepherds, seeing these things, going to the fortress, announced within whatever they had seen. And a certain one, moved with mercy, meeting them, offered one bread, and also a certain woman brought a third in a shining linen cloth from elsewhere, and another too gave a third. Then John: Behold, Brother, receive what you gave.

[12] Traversing therefore various monasteries, they did not find them very fit for themselves: he comes to Camaldoli, then to Vallombrosa. he resolved to come to Camaldoli ⁿ, where dwelling for many days, he inspected their abstinence and conversation, and also endured injury. Then the Prior, who was there at that time, wishing to promote him to the sacred Order, and that he should give stability, he refused, because his fervor was only in the cenobitic life, as the Rule of blessed Benedict indicates. He commands him to depart, and to fulfill his desire. For it is reported, the divine Spirit revealing, that he said: Go, and begin your Institute. Who proceeding thence, went to see the place of Vallombrosa ^o. Where when he had come, he was received gladly by two Brothers dwelling there, though separated. To whom, since the place pleased him, he resolved to fix his step.

ANNOTATIONS.

* read "terror"

CHAPTER II.

St. John Gualbert takes to himself various disciples illustrious in piety, and rigidly exercises the new ones, by whom, for his exceptional virtue, he is compelled to accept the office of abbot.

His sanctity is indicated by a miraculous beech, While he stayed there and advanced in holy conversation, God did not suffer the lamp long to lie hidden, which he had disposed to place upon the candlestick of the Church for illuminating the souls of many. For to prove his venerable life, God the Creator of all things has deigned to show there a miracle from the very time of his coming even until now. For a certain tree, which is commonly called a beech, rising not far above the place, every year before all produces flowers, and is clothed with leaves.

[14] moved by which various disciples come to him. For when his fame had gradually begun to be diffused through the neighborhood, laymen and clerics began to come to him for the sake of visitation and conversion. Among whom that Herizo ^a, then of venerable quality and most fervent in Religion, who, being keeper of the Brothers and Prior, remained so stable on the same mountain for more than thirty years, that in these he did not even once come down from the mountain to the villages. Then that venerable Albert ^b, of the highest gravity and exceptional discretion, who for more than forty years was Cellarer and cook of the same monastery; Nor ever for the labor of the cell did he desert the office of the kitchen, nor for the labor of the kitchen omit the care of the cell. Then that magnanimous Teuzo ^c came, who was so fervent in charity even to old age, that he wished to heal not only souls, but also all bodies.

[15] There had gone out from the aforesaid monastery very many Brothers by the example and love of John, A pious abbess helps with gifts the monks who are subjected to injury. and coming to him, took up with him a new conversion. These Masters by example and exhortation, when they had begun to be fervent in holy conversion, the fame of such great men began to be spread everywhere. Hearing this, Itta, abbess of St. Hilary ^d, to whose jurisdiction the place pertained, rejoicing exceedingly, sent them some little subsidy of books and provisions. But, as the Apostle says: All who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus suffer persecution; so grave an infestation they then suffered from certain iniquitous men, malignant spirits instigating, wishing to expel them from the place, that they were even wearied of living. Who, embracing innocence and patience, by his words and acts rendering good for evil, after many contests obtained grace and victory.

[16] They remained for a long time, having only a wooden Oratory. Notwithstanding poverty, the number of disciples grows, They endured such want of provisions, that often three per day divided one bread. Whatever little chambers and vestries there were, the capacity of one sack contained ^e. In which want for a long time they were so exulting and rejoicing, as other men are wont to rejoice, served with manifold dishes, and enriched with excessive wealth. There began to flow together to him from various parts, even distant ones, clerics and laymen for the sake of conversion. Then came that great Rodulf ^f, [who for a long time in the same place had the care of hospitality, and afterward held the care of the monastery of Moscheta ^g in the office of Abbot. Peter ^h also, who for a long time was procurator of the asses, afterward of the cows, then at Passignano ⁱ held the office of Prior, thence Abbot at Fucecchio ^k, and at last was Cardinal of the Roman Church, and Bishop of Albano. Then Lætus ^l, joyful in countenance and name, came, who was Abbot of Passignano, and Rusticus ^m, who, as long as John the Father lived, held the exterior care, and third, on the death of the holy man John, for a long time held the care of the whole Congregation as Prior.

[17] Perceiving therefore Father John so many and such men sent to him from heaven as a help, whom St. John rigidly proves, he disposed with them to observe the Rule of blessed Benedict in all things, and began to receive those newly coming with that probation which the Rule intimates. For to guests coming for the sake of conversion, an easy answer of reception was not given, wishing to know their perseverance, namely whether they persisted in that devotion and supplication, by foretelling them hard and harsh things, and proving them in all things according to the Rule. For if such, long refused, persisted, and showed that they wished to leave the world not with a feigned heart, and to profess the monastic life, first the care of the swine was joined to them, many reproaches were brought upon them, they were afflicted with hunger and thirst, heat and cold, labor and nakedness, meanness and extremity, and were exercised also with fasting and silence.

[18] and exercises in the exact observance of the rules. By these and other ways solicitously proved outside, and known in all things of voluntary patience, and obedience, and humility, they were led again to be proved regularly in the inner cell, where many times the Rule was read to them; and thus, a year being completed, examined, they received the monastic garments, thence making regular profession publicly in the hands and presence of the same father John. To whom it was not permitted thence to take or seek anything, but by the father Prior all things were given to them, as the Rule prescribes. For John the Father had also this singular grace, that in the first speech and sight with him he knew, whether anyone came with an upright heart or a feigned one: And this gift was conferred on him by Jesus Christ, that he did not more willingly receive the person of a powerful or rich man, nor treat him otherwise, than the lowest and poor; And more lovingly he received a poor man coming with true mortification, than a rich man with all his substance. He said it was a great impediment to a rich man for humbling his heart, the very money which he brings to the monastery.

[19] [The donation of Abbess Itta being received, he mortifies himself with such abstinence,] Seeing at length Abbess Itta ⁿ the place grow in name and religion, divinely inspired, she handed over to the same place by writing defined boundaries in its circuit. She handed over also then the Pitigian vineyard ^o, which was then and is now agreeable to the uses of the Brothers. Likewise in various places various mansi [p]. About the same time, while John the servant of Christ, bearing the name and office of Prior, solicitously provided for the souls and bodies of the Brothers, he imposed on himself the greatest abstinence and most valid labor. For when it was the time of refreshment, he supplied his necessity with the smallest food or drink; so that he seemed not to recreate himself, but somehow to temper the danger of hunger and thirst. But when before the time of refreshment, as anxiously often sweating at the work of the hands, he thirsted, he put his hands and feet into cold water, that from the exceeding cold of the water he might somehow escape the danger of thirst. For in all things, as far as was possible, observing the commands of the Rule, he in no way wished to eat or drink outside the appointed hour.

[20] so that from it he contracted a disease. But the weakness of the body, not able to bear it, fell, his stomach being broken, into that syncope which we read blessed Gregory endured. For unless they frequently refreshed him, he seemed utterly about to breathe out his spirit. Which he endured even to old age, nay even to his death, is clear to all who knew him. Whence he was always accustomed to carry with him something which, inevitable necessity compelling, he could often eat. [But] when he had wished indiscreetly to overcome the violence of the hunger frequently oppressing him [*], or tried to defer refreshment, from the excess of his infirmity his teeth were so clenched, that unless someone divided them by inserting a little knife, and put some liquid in his mouth, he was believed to be continually about to expire.

[21] On account of his patience and other virtues, Nevertheless, thus continually tortured with incredible languor, he in no way murmured, but imputing this to his own sins, with continual praises commended the divine justice. Who, before he was ill, had been of such strength for himself and others, and of such abstinence, that unless He to whom we sing, "Lord, incline thy heavens," under the occasion of this infirmity had humbled his mind, very rare would he be who could keep his institutes. But his own infirmity being known and experienced, he became of such mercy and such discretion, that no one was believed more merciful than he. Who, although he was weak in body, yet in all watchfulness and solicitude was most vigilant in mind.

[22] Which the Brothers of the same place seeing, they resolved to elect him Abbot, he is elected abbot, resisting in vain. whom they had known to have been, healthy and sick, a most vigilant Prior and solicitous keeper. And so, by the counsel of Teuzo of Florence, the religious Clerics from the city and from the castles and the faithful Laymen assembled, the Abbess of St. Hilary especially desiring it, and with the Brothers of the same place, they elected the aforesaid Father to the office of Abbot. Whom, unwilling and resisting with all his strength, they drew from his bed, and, though unwilling, placed on the higher seat. Who, while he was violently compelled to it, is reported to have said to the bystanders: Why are you mad? If you impose on a pelican the name of a hawk, it will never be anything but a pelican [q].

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Mansa, mansus, or mansum is to Sirmond an estate with a certain measure of land; and to the Italian writers a quantity of land which suffices for two oxen to work in a year.

q. Franchi, book 7, page 157, citing various ornithologists, says that by the pelican is understood a slothful and ungrateful bird, which the Greeks call onocrotalus, and asserts that the name of pelican was in use among the Germans to signify a foolish and imprudent man.

* that is "cellarer"

* that is "him"

CHAPTER III.

St. John, made abbot, commands the rules to be exactly observed; and, the number of disciples increased, builds various monasteries and exercises pious works.

To the solitude of the monks, And so the Man of God, the office being taken up, permitted none of the Monks to go to markets or to secular places, to visit the sick outside the monastery; and diligently inspecting the sense of the Rule, gave effort to its observance. He forbade the dead to be carried to the monastery; he prohibited the receiving of Chapels for this, that they should at some time be governed by monks; he said that this was the office of Canons, not of monks: For he had seen that, under such occasions of false obedience, many of the monks went through steep places, and fell into irrecoverable losses of souls. For that which two or three monks stay in any place under occasion of obedience, without a pastor present, he detested, and altogether interdicted his own to do it.

[24] For fervent in the custody of souls, he established to the observance of the rules, that none of the monks should presume to advance beyond the boundary of the Cloister, not even to gather the very herbs, unless three advanced together, except those to whom the care of receiving guests was enjoined, and the obedience of procuring exterior things. He commanded all to sleep clothed with cowls or scapulars, and girt; he constantly affirmed this to be the right sense of the Rule. Nor did he suffer the Dormitory to be at night without a clear light: For he said that it was lighter to be borne that the Oratory be without light at night, than the Dormitory, if want does not permit it to be in both places. But the Brothers, without any controversy or any contention, with prompt mind observed whatever the Father commanded. For by his admonition, and equally by his example, they came to such love of observing the Rule, that they omitted neither the works of the hands, nor other heavy things which the Rule seems to prescribe, but fulfilled all with joyful mind. Meanness and extremity, according to the counsel of the Rule, they so embraced, that they did not even place the very cuttings of bread, when they ate, upon the tablecloths, though they had them before them, but upon the bare table. But they began then so to use the hair-shirt garment, that neither was anyone, not able to bear it, compelled to carry it, nor, willing to bear it, prohibited.

[25] The Brothers had provided, for the sustenance of their garments, and he provides for the likeness of the garments. to have a flock of sheep; which when the provident Father perceived to be of different color, namely black and white, he feared, lest, if he should make some garments black separately, and white separately, one might sometime wish a black cloth, another a white; and for this cause a diversity of minds might arise among the Brothers, as there was outwardly a diversity of garments: for which cause he commanded a mixed cloth to be made. Which was done by the providence of God, that thenceforth by this designation might be known every monastic person who was of the school of so great a Father. Although, alas! in modern times there appear those who show themselves to be of this school by garments, not by morals.

[26] From the days on which the monks had begun to come to him, He receives Laymen God, who is the inspector of a pure heart, and by whose love his son cared to bind the monks under the strictness of the Rule, sent to him faithful laymen of different rank, showing in all ways so pure a conversion, by the exhortation of the pious Father, that they differed almost nothing from the monks. To whom it was not permitted to have anything of their own, nor to eat flesh, nor to speak at table, nor to take anything from parents or friends. And they differed nothing at all from the monks, except that they were permitted to use linen garments in the excessive fervor of summer, and except the silence, which, occupied in exterior things, they could not observe.

[27] For those newly coming were received with this probation, to care for temporal things. that to them for a whole year no certain word of remaining was given, but separated they ate, and it was not freely permitted them to communicate at the Chapter or at Communion with the other Converts. Such proved Converts therefore the Father sent to the market, and to procure all exterior things, with secure mind. If therefore any of these, after he had been received, were found in any reprehension concerning the above-written things, the fault being committed, he was punished with the sharpest penalty: For if there were found any thing not received from the Father in anyone, before all it was burnt with fire, and such a transgressor of private property was publicly disciplined with hard scourges.

[28] His severity and mildness, John the Father was of such austerity and rebuke against offenders, that to him with whom he was angry, earth and heaven, nay God himself, seemed to be angry. But after a little he was turned toward the one rebuked and reproved with such benignity and such tranquillity, that he seemed to have nothing but maternal bowels. For which reason, those who loved him purely, greatly feared him; and those who feared, greatly loved him. And so the fame of so great a conversion and so great a fervor began to grow far and wide, so that Henry ^f the King, then coming to Florence, heard it. Which, heard, so pleased him, that he directed a Catholic Bishop ^g there to consecrate the place; and the Queen ^h also sent agreeable gifts.

[29] and reverence for the sacred Orders. Finally, going from virtue to virtue, they began to have the priestly Office in such veneration, that none presumed to minister at their Altar, if perhaps he had been ordained by a Simoniac simoniacally, or even freely. Likewise if he had a concubine either before or after ordination, or had fallen into any crime after receiving Baptism, he by no means presumed to discharge the ministry of the Altar. And deservedly: For their Master and Father always had such reverence toward all Ecclesiastical grades, that he could in no way ever be compelled even to become a Doorkeeper; but when he wished to enter the church, and the doors were closed, he in no way presumed to enter them, until a Doorkeeper, who should open them, was called.

[30] He builds various monasteries, About the same time noble and faithful Men began to run to so great a Father from various parts: Some offered him places with excessive supplication for building new monasteries; others offered old and dissolved monasteries, and insisted with excessive and importunate prayers, that he himself would take them into his governance, and be zealous to correct them to his norm. Then he newly built the famous monastery of St. Salvi ⁱ. Then in Moscheta another in honor of St. Peter Prince of the Apostles. Then at Razzuolo ^k in honor of St. Paul. Then into his governance he took old Passignano, and another in Romagna under the name and honor of St. Reparata ^l. Then he built another on Mount Scalario ^m.

[31] and cares for their discipline. The Brothers therefore being directed, and Provosts ordained through the several places, the Father, when he was relieved from infirmity, was zealous to visit them, and diligently to know the quality of all. But those things which were to be corrected he solicitously corrected, and those to be ordered he cautiously and providently ordered. For if any of the Provosts were found to lay up new things upon old, if nevertheless want then oppressed the poor, he argued the tenacious one with hard rebukes, and exhorted that they should rather trust in God than in full granaries.

[32] At a certain time, certain monasteries having been visited, Twice miraculously he began to return to Vallombrosa. But placed on the journey, constrained by an excessive infirmity of the stomach, he told his fellow-traveler to give him something to eat, before he utterly failed. But when that one said that there was only bread, and holy John answered that he could not conveniently eat bread without something else, compelled by the excess of his languor, he at last commanded that he should take a little cup, and wash it in the streamlet which flowed by. And when the man put the cup into the small water of the streamlet, a fish of one palm suddenly leaped upon the cup; which he presently seized, and carried to holy John, which he immediately caused to be cooked, ate, and departed. Certainly no one had ever seen a fish in that streamlet, nor could it be believed that a fish could live in so very small a water.

[33] At another time also, when he was at Passignano, he commands fish to be caught. Pope Leo ⁿ arrived with a great retinue, and rested near the monastery with his own, about to take refreshment. Then holy John questioned the steward whether fish were had in the monastery, that they might be given to the Pope and his companions? But learning that fish were by no means had, he commanded certain Converts to go fishing in a certain lake near the monastery. But when all said that there had never been fish in that lake, he yet commanded that they should go, and believe without doubting that the Lord's patronage would be present. They proceeded at last, and, all marveling, they found two great pikes, and immediately seizing them carried them to blessed John, which he, rejoicing, received, and caused to be presented at once to the Pope.

[34] There had come among the rest Teuzo, who still survives, Generous toward the poor, a venerable father and old man, whom John the Father set over the Brothers at Razzuolo. Him he always much loved from the heart, because he found him fervent in charity above the rest, and his hand generous in giving by experience. For John the Father was very merciful, so that the copes which the church of Vallombrosa had, in time of want he would sell, and give the price to the poor. For what tongue, even if it were of iron, could set forth to relate all his good deeds? By his exhortation, and by lending great help, most firm bridges were built over various waters. What hospices were there through Tuscany up to his time? What congregation of clerics was leading a common life? Who of the clerics was not zealous only for his own and paternal things? Nay rather very rare would one be found, alas! who was not married or living with a concubine. Of Simony what shall I say? This deadly beast had devoured almost all ecclesiastical Orders, so that he who escaped its bite would be rarely found.

[35] And so, so bright a lamp being placed by Jesus Christ the disposer of all good things upon the candlestick of the Church, he exercises various pious works, and shining before all by words and examples, the clerics, their marriages and concubines being spurned, began to come together into one, and following the Apostolic Rule, thenceforth to lead a common life. So many and so great hospices by his example and exhortation we now see already built through Tuscany, and so many most ancient churches renewed, that they compel us to say: Behold the old things have passed away, and all things are made new. The venerable Father always used the meanest garments; he in no way suffered a support to be placed under him in so many and so great an infirmity of his, nor did he bear even a feather pillow to be placed under his head.

[36] and studying for himself and others, Before he was ill, ignorant of letters, and as it were unlettered; but when he lay sick, he so caused the holy books to be read before him day and night, that he became most skilled in the divine law and in the divine sentences. He always used the cowl, lying sick and walking and riding. For he was of such liberality, that when he had to give anyone anything, whether a man or a beast, or something else, he was always zealous to give the better, and to keep the worse. He was of such religion, that none of his own dared in any way on the Lord's Day, with loaded asses, either to go out of the house or to return to the house. He in no way permitted a monk to ride on the Lord's Day, unless inevitable necessity compelled.

[37] he removes abuses. The annual and celebrated Office to be duly performed on the night of the holy Resurrection, who in Tuscany changed it from day to night, but he? For, negligence creeping in, and gluttony compelling, that Office was performed at None on Saturday, which now justly and worthily, John the Father in our times instituting and beginning it, is performed on the holy night. About the same time Count Bulgar [p] resolved to commit his monastery of Settimo [q] under the governance of Father John. Which when, after much labor, after long and earnest prayer, he had at last merited to obtain,

he rejoiced greatly: For he was very inflexible in taking old monasteries under his governance, but, having received them, most constant in retaining them, even if hard adversities happened.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Concerning the donation and family of this Count see Franchi, book 8, page 255.

q. Concerning the name of this monastery Andrew of Genoa thus writes: Therefore the said monastery is called Settimo, because it is distant seven miles from the city of Florence.

* that is "to be"

CHAPTER IV.

Various miracles which St. John Gualbert wrought in his life.

He began besides so to become illustrious in miracles, that he could truly be made equal to one of the ancient Fathers. [To an abbot he obtains the desired place of death, and to the brothers a breeze for winnowing.] For Berizo the abbot had a wish of dying, not in his own, but in the Vallombrosan monastery: whence he had often asked the common Father John to obtain this by his prayers. Who on a certain day, when he had come to visit him, it was announced to the aforesaid Father, who thrice asserted to the reporter, saying: Believe me; he comes about to die: believe me; he comes about to die. Then he questioned him present, saying whether he desired to fulfill obedience? To whom he: According to the will of God, he says, and yours, Father, I most devoutly desire. After these words, placing his head upon the pillow of his bed, a grave languor seizing him, on the third day he died and was buried. And so the Brothers, complaining among themselves that they could not winnow, because no breeze blew, presently he himself, coming with the Brothers to the threshing-floor, took in his hands a winnowing-fan: Immediately a suitable wind began to blow through.

[39] At a certain time, when excessive want pressed him, and he had nothing to give to those staying with him, except only three loaves, To the famished Brothers he commanded his cellarer to divide those three loaves, and to set before each Brother one fragment. He commanded again that he should slaughter one ram, and minister it to the Brothers to be eaten, and should more securely hope in the ample mercy of God in want. Today, he says, we are in want, but tomorrow, God bestowing, we shall abound. Which when he had said, he began to proceed to the monastery of St. Salvi, as he had disposed, trusting that God would never desert his famished ones. But the Brothers, going to the table at the hour of dinner, shuddering at the flesh set before them, ate the very small fragments of bread with thanksgiving, but in no way touched the flesh. But on another day, according to the prophecy of blessed John, many men came with loaded asses, with loaves, wheat, flour, saying that noble men of Florence had sent them to the Brothers: but who they were who had sent them could never be known.

[40] twice he miraculously obtains food. At another time also, when the steward said that he had consumed all the food, and inquired of blessed John what he judged should be given to the Brothers; He commanded that one of the three oxen which he then had should be killed, and given to the Brothers to be eaten. To whom the steward: What, he says, shall we do after we have eaten this one? But he: One being eaten, you shall kill another; that being consumed, you shall give also the third: For blessed John neither doubted of the liberality of God, nor believed that he incurred sin if he gave flesh to the Brothers, when he had nothing else; believing it more just to refresh with flesh than to slay them with hunger. But the steward fulfilled his commands, cooked the flesh, set it upon the table. But the Brothers at the appointed hour went to the table, and astonished at the sight of the flesh, and by no means touching it, stood silent and patient. When they thus stood, someone began to knock at the gates of the monastery. But the cellarer, hearing this, went in haste, found a certain man with a beautiful towel full of loaves, which, receiving joyfully, and swiftly setting before the Brothers, he neglected to ask who he was who had brought them, or who had sent them. But when he returned to the man, about to render thanks and the towel, he could not find him, nor learn further who he had been, whence he had come, and whomever he asked concerning him; they said that they had seen no man there that day with loaves.

[41] When by the command of the Countess Beatrice ^b soldiers came to seize him, From the danger of abduction, and lead him from Tuscany to the Lombards, for the sake of his sanctity, either consenting or unwilling, with them; this being known to him, when he was pouring out prayers most intently to the Lord in the church, so great a diffusion of rains and tempests, and so great thunders arose, that the aforesaid soldiers could scarcely return unharmed.

[42] and he rescues a fool from the danger of drowning. At another time also a certain man full of madness stayed in the monastery of the same Father, whom he sent to Passignano for the sake of healing: who, at the river which has the name Arno ^c, entered a skiff which he had found, and casting himself from it into the stream, as his madness compelled him, said: Here who this John is, and of what kind his life is, will be plainly manifest to all. Whom, falling, the water presently receiving upon itself, sustained lest he be drowned, and, accompanied by the merits of the holy Man, carried him from one bank to the other safe and sound, as if a light piece of wood. Here it is clearer than light how dear, how wonderful, and beloved a Man God held this one with him, when, only his name being mentioned, so swiftly and so benignly he rescued the wretch from death.

[43] For at a certain time, when the same venerable Father, other monasteries having been visited, of which he had great care, was returning to his own, he perceived that there was very great want among very many. When he entered the monastery, calling the dispenser of the household, by name Giosfredus ^d, and Rusticus ^e the brother monk procurator, he said: Let us inspect our granary, how it is; and he found it then more abundantly filled. To whom ironically: Ha, he says, very many are oppressed by present necessity, but you abound more richly! And he commanded a certain small vessel holding four or five measures to be filled, and thus by himself, from about the third hour to the ninth, and longer occupied, nowise advancing thence, to each who had assembled, to one much, to one little, he distributed; and it was always full.

[44] When he stayed at the monastery of blessed Salvi outside the city of Florence, He knows hidden things. to the aforesaid man ^f, who lived in seclusion, he sent gifts of food by way of blessing through Azo ^g, who afterward ruled the monastery of blessed Reparata. Who, when he had brought the aforesaid little gifts, and was returning by the same road, departing from the way entered a certain hut, and spoke to the Brothers whom he found there such and so many words as he wished, and returned to the Father. To whom, questioning him by himself: Whence do you come? When he had answered that he had gone and returned whither he had been sent, presently he heard from him: I indeed did not command you whence you come; and then, discerning by the spirit his departure from the way, and entrance into the hut, and the words which he had with the Brothers he found, he made all things manifest clearer than light in order.

[45] At that time, in which the simoniacal heresy had sprouted through Tuscany, He frees the son of a noble Florentine from disease. when the aforesaid Father stayed in the same Florentine monastery, a certain religious man, sprung from the noble progeny of the Florentines, whose son, constrained by a grave languor lying on his bed, awaited near death, came to him, to ask that he heal and restore to him his sick son. When he said to him that these were not his own, but the Apostles', he, groaning, prostrate at his feet, so long insisted with prayers, until the pious Father, moved with compassion, dismissing him to his own, promised that he would pray to God for him; and, that one descending, the Brothers being called together, suppliantly gave himself to prayer. They being humbly prostrate on the ground and praying, He in whose hands is the salvation of all, through the intercession of his beloved, restored the sick one to entire health. This miracle too he to whom the benefit of health was bestowed through John testifies even today with living voice to have happened as we say.

[46] And so at a certain time, when he was visiting after his accustomed manner the monasteries which were under his governance, A monastery built too magnificently, he came to the monastery which has the name Moscheta, where, when he perceived the houses larger and more beautiful than he wished, the venerable man Dom Rodulf ⁱ being called, who had built them, and had been there ordained abbot by him, with a most severe countenance he said: Have you in that

place built for yourself these palaces? And turning to the very small stream which ran there nearby, he said: O Rigambulus ^k, if you shall avenge me of Rodulf and these houses of his, I will increase your waves with a skin full of the water of the river Seva ^l. And saying these things, without delay he departed. Whose command that stream, as if a rational man, receiving, when he withdrew began to swell, and gathering from I know not where most copious floods of waters, its proper channel being left, rushed headlong from the mountain, drawing with it very heavy crags of rocks and trees, [and] cast down the aforesaid houses there to the ground. Which vengeance being completed, as if for a reward, the Father received what he had promised. For which reason that Abbot, disturbed with the Brothers, was disposing to move the monastery from the place. To whom he spoke these words of consolation: Do not, he says, fear to dwell there, for that stream will neither do you any evil, nor harm you further. Which prophecy of his remains true and firm even today. Finally, that often-mentioned little stream, what then happened by chance, nay rather by the command of the Father, it had neither done before nor did afterward.

[47] and he causes another, greedy of money, to be divinely punished. At another time also, when it was intimated to him that a certain man, coming to conversion, had written for himself in a document his whole patrimony, and brought it with him to the monastery; presently in haste he came to the aforesaid monastery, and commanded the Abbot of the place, who had received the document, to bring it to him without delay; which, received from him, tearing it minutely with his nails, he cast all the fragments to the ground, and invoking God and his Apostle said: God Almighty, and Peter Prince of all the Apostles, avenge me of that monastery. And saying these things, he immediately departed, angry. When he had gone not far, a sudden fire was kindled there, which burnt the aforesaid monastery on every part. Which fire when his attendant beheld, and announced it to him, he neither looked back, nor returned to the place, but by the way which he had begun hastened to the Vallombrosan monastery.

ANNOTATIONS.

* that is "cellarer"

CHAPTER V.

Other miracles of the same Saint.

At another time also, when he was at the aforesaid Moscheta, and Pope Leo [*] ^a was passing through that neighborhood, He impedes the desire of the Pontiff by a miracle. he sent his legates to him, and asked him to come to him. And when, weighed down by infirmity, he could neither go to him nor wished, the legates return to the Pope, and assert to him that he could not come to him. But he said: Go, and tell him, that if he cannot come otherwise, let him have himself brought on his bed. Who presently returning to him, and announcing to him the will of the Pope, he immediately entered the church, and besought God and his Saints, that they would give him some impediment, lest he should be able to go to the aforesaid Pope. The prayer being completed, going out to the legates of the Pope, and casting himself on his bed, he caused some Converts to come, and commanded himself to be carried to the Pope. And when he had withdrawn a little from the monastery, presently the air most violently was disturbed, an excess of winds and an immensity of rain burst forth. Which when the legates of the Pope saw, believing him truly a Saint, they caused him to return to the monastery, and with hasty course returned to the Pope. But when he learned this, and they said that he was truly a Saint, he said: I do not wish him to come to me further, but to remain quietly in the monastery with the blessing of God.

[49] At another time also a certain soldier from the fortress of Cerliano ^b had been gravely held by a certain infirmity, Health being restored to a certain soldier, who by reason of friendship was known to John the Abbot of blessed remembrance ^c. When a certain familiar servant of his came to the monastery of Moscheta, where the venerable-lived John then stayed, as he beheld him, he immediately called him to him, and took care to inquire concerning his master. Who answering said: Lord Father, already for two months and more he is greatly weighed down by infirmity. Which when venerable John heard, he took bread, and sent it to him by way of blessing: he ate, he was healed: After the fourth day he came to him in person, and for the health which he had received, repaid him full thanks.

[50] But after much time, when the same man was again ill, He refuses to receive a gift. and believed himself now at the point of death, he adjudged ^d to holy John the horse on which he was accustomed to sit, and commanded his son to bring it to him, after he had buried him. He being dead and buried, his son led the horse to blessed John, and asked him to receive it, and to intercede for his father. But holy John, despising transitory things, loving poverty, coveting heavenly things, returned the horse to the man, and commanded him to return with it to his own. And when he vehemently resisted, and asserted that he would not lead the horse back, at last compelled by the command of holy John, he returned home ^e with the horse.

[51] He deprives a certain dead Brother of suffrages, But in the same monastery of Moscheta the venerable Father with his own hand gave to a certain Brother a certain medicine for a certain infirmity of his, and forthwith, a cause of necessity urging, withdrew to another monastery. Who nonetheless did not, as was fitting, keep himself more cautiously, and within a few days expired. To retain the memory of him the father of the already-mentioned monastery designated his death by letters ^f throughout the whole Vallombrosan Congregation, as is the custom concerning their dead. And then not much after the aforesaid father came to the Abbot John for the sake of visiting, by whom, being immediately questioned concerning that Brother, how he had died, and having related all things to him in order, he said to him: Go as quickly as possible, and from the whole Congregation blot out his memory: Which also was done.

[52] and at last, having made him a partaker of them, frees him from purgatory. Then at last, some time having elapsed, he appeared to a certain monk of the same monastery about midday. To whom saying: Are you not such a monk? I am indeed, he said to him: How do you fare now? Then he: I am excommunicated, and separated from the fellowship of the Saints. And he: Why? Because the Abbot John dissociated me from the company of the Congregations. Saying to him: How can we help you? He says: If Dom John wishes, I can be reconciled. Who immediately went to the Abbot John, and related all things to him in order. Then he, most pious in mind as he was, commanded the aforesaid abbot to be summoned, and for the soul of the excommunicated Brother the Office and alms, and also through the whole Congregation, as if he had died on the same day, urgently commanded to be performed. Who fulfilled all things faithfully. And then again, the dead one after 30 days appeared likewise to a certain monk, and said to him: Go, and give thanks to Dom John for me, and add, that I am reconciled in the company of the Elect.

[53] A certain man deserting the monastery is cast down by a demon. At another time also a certain convert of his repented, by the persuasion of the devil, of having deserted the world and come to the monastery. Whence when he frequently asked blessed John with importunate prayers to give him license to return to the world, and he, preaching heavenly things, announcing infernal ones, admonished him not to do it, and he persisting in his obstinacy, the devil binding him ^g, blessed John at last commanded him with angry mind to depart. And when he had withdrawn a little from the Vallombrosan monastery, the devil leading, going out, cast down from the high rock through which he went by the same one whom he followed, immediately breathing out his soul, he was withdrawn from those present. Whence it is plainly shown how dangerous it was either to leave blessed John or to incur his anger.

[54] But at a certain time there was a certain man, namely Florentius ^h by name, A certain man converted, of urban eloquence indeed, but also altogether a citizen ⁱ, yet greatly stained with simoniacal perfidy in the defense of a certain bishop. Who when on a certain day he had fallen into a most grave sickness, he utterly despaired of dying. But amid the most grievous mournings of his tears, and frequent sobs, he caused some of his noble friends to be summoned to him, whom he asked to go as quickly as possible to the venerable John, that by their supplications he might grant him a place of penance in the monastic habit. Who, going to the venerable John, related the wishes of their friend, as he had asked. But the noble John neither refused their prayers, nor immediately altogether granted. On account of that which is said: Prove the spirits, whether they be of God. Which having been received with a delay, he gave him the monastic habit, and for a few days he became convalescent, so indeed that he surveyed the cloisters of the monastery on every side, supporting himself with a little staff.

[55] But not much after, when this same infirmity returned to him, and, terrified in death by the sight of a demon, he refreshes. he was brought to extremity. Concerning whom when it had been related to the Abbot John, the Brothers being taken with him, he in haste sought the bed of the sick man. Meanwhile the Brothers helped, with what prayers they could, by commending to God him who was soon about to die. But he, from the cloak with which he was covered, by often folding it back began to cover his face with grim eyes. To whom the Abbot John: What is this that you do? Then he, pale and trembling, said: With terrible eyes I see the devil standing near, from whose mouth a flame of wonderful magnitude, and from whose nostrils an exceeding great sulphurous smoke goes forth. Straightway he said to him: Where is he? Behold

there he is, Lord Father. Then blessed John swiftly took away the Cross from the hands of him who held it, and struck the devil strongly with it, who immediately vanished from the eyes of the marveling one like smoke. But he began to cry out with what voice he could, saying: Thanks be to God, thanks be to God, behold he flees, behold he has withdrawn. And behold now the blessed Virgin the Mother of the Lord is present, and also blessed Peter together with holy Benedict. Scarcely had he yet completed the words, when presently he breathed out the spirit of life.

[56] A certain rustic coming to him, cast down at his knees, He heals the son of a rustic. and closely kissing him, began with great voices to adjure, and earnestly to ask for his only son, placed in the death-agony, that by his holy prayers he would deign to free him from the imminent danger. Who, greatly compassionating, commands the Brothers to be present, and commands the Lord's mercy to be besought for him. What more? The Brothers in the Church, and he prostrate on the ground where he lay, supplicating the mercy of Christ with great groans, he sent bread, and immediately restored him to health.

[57] For at a certain time the aforesaid Father, staying before the doors of the monastery, Flesh being prodigiously obtained beheld a herd of fat cows, as they were feeding on the wooded ridge of the Alps, and asked one of them from blessed Paul, saying: O holy Paul, if you would give one of those to me for these poor. As he said these things, one of them rushed down, and immediately was killed; whose carcass he commanded to be distributed to the poor. This being consumed, praying in the same order, he received a second, and a third, and a fourth, and always gave to the poor. For which cause the shepherds, made sad, led the herd of cows from the other side of the mountain. But when the holy Man had nothing to give to the poor, again he asked from blessed Paul, saying: Holy Paul, these have fled by changing place, yet you, who are the Patron of the place, they cannot flee. Therefore give me what I may give to the poor, still. As he said these things, immediately the fifth fell, and killed likewise was distributed to the poor. This also happened concerning the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, in the same order.

[58] and with milk But the last being consumed, the shepherds, saddened for the loss, came to him, crying out great complaints against him: Better, they say, would you stay in your Vallombrosan monastery, than come here about to kill so many animals. To whom he with placid countenance answered: I know you are sad concerning that which I have bestowed; and you wish to spend no more. Do not therefore fear, for none of them at this time will die further. Which also was done. And thus, he praying, the ruin of the cows and death always followed, and as soon as he ceased to pray, according to what he had promised, they remained unharmed. Meanwhile the most holy Father John, whose heart the flame of charity burnt, seeing still the want of the famished, and that he could not bestow the flesh of the animals without a most grave scandal, commanded all their milk to be distributed to the poor; and thus, longer offering the liquor of milk, he rescued as many as seven men from the death of hunger.

[59] he feeds the poor. In those days also, when the venerable Father was returning to the Vallombrosan monastery, he came to a certain manor ^k which has the name Ronta ^l; and the steward of the same manor being summoned, he promised to send him a flock of wethers ^m, in which were very many rams. And at the same time he commanded that from the milk of the aforesaid sheep he should daily feed himself and his nephew, whom he had, and as many poor as he could, as suitably as he was able: but the aforesaid rams, as long as any of them survived, he should opportunely bestow on the poor: with them also a great he-goat, which he alone had there. And so it was done.

[60] He commands a bear to be killed. A certain servant of his came to him from the monastery of Razzuolo to Vallombrosa, announcing that a bear was making the greatest devastation of the cows. Who, commanding, said: Go and from now kill it. Who, returning, found the cows in the pastures, and the aforesaid bear standing in a certain hollow of a tree. And so, holding an axe in his hand, striking the tree, and fearing nothing, he said: Come out, for the Lord Abbot has commanded that I kill you. For coming out, it was slain by him.

[61] He removes a tree of great mass. And so on a certain day the venerable Father, passing thence, came to the place, and seeing the obstacle of the tree, and that he could in no way turn aside from the way, moderately disturbed, complaining, began to say: Alas, what shall we do! His complaint being heard, his companion, who went before him, Ugo by name, plebanus of St. John Major ^o, trying whether he could somehow break through, upon the horse on which he sat, bending himself under it, raised the tree onto his neck, whose weight many yoke of oxen could in no way move, and, as if a light shrub, held it up for some time, as he himself testified. And thus the venerable father John, and the aforesaid plebanus, passed unharmed. And this was done not far from the monastery of Razzuolo, in the place which is called At the old cells.

[62] Concerning a certain John, now a most ancient Brother received by the aforesaid Father John at seven years old. He cures the ophthalmia of a monk. Who, when he gravely pained an eye, had brought a little woman to cure himself. When therefore her medicines profited nothing, he returned to the monastery of the aforesaid Father. Whom he, harshly reproving, because he had either held conversation with her or sought a remedy from her, commanded only warm ox-dung to be placed over his eyes, and presently restored him to most sincere health. Which he, still surviving, testifies to have been thus done, and the things which we said above, with living voice. And not only those, but also those which we shall subjoin below.

[63] Likewise the aforesaid Father commanded the keepers of the oxen, contrary to custom, under pretext of necessity to plow the whole day, He defends the oxen from thieves and by night to gather fodder. And when they answered: How, they say, Father, can we accomplish this, since we fear bears and wolves and nocturnal robbers? He answered: Allow it, he says, allow it: For God and his Apostle Paul can have the custody of them, and preserve them unharmed. And so that night, contrary to custom, the oxen remained without a keeper. Then two robbers came, who bound one of the oxen by the horns with a little rope, and strove to snatch it, and to lead it with them until morning. But the ox, remaining immovable, could by no means be moved from the place. But in the morning the ox, found by the keepers, was found bound and to have shed tears in the manner of men. When this had been announced to the aforesaid Father, he came, and gently stroking the head of the ox, said: O ox, ox, go, and fulfill your office: for blessed Paul did not yet wish to lose you.

ANNOTATIONS.

* read "Stephen"

* that is "and report"

CHAPTER VI.

He knows the secrets of the heart, and gives other proofs of his sanctity.

To a certain recently converted man A certain man from the territory of Poni, namely Gerard by name, renouncing the world, betook himself to Passignano to the aforesaid Father. Who, as if rejecting him, and indignant, commanded him to depart. But he, supplicating that he would have mercy on him, that for the sake of all his offenses, which he professed to him he would confess entirely in all things ^a, he would grant him a place of penance in the rule of the monastic life. And not undeservedly he, most gentle to all who fled to God, as it seemed to him, refused not the one piously asking with prayers, but granted what he asked, and had care of the salvation of his soul. Who, not fulfilling the vow which he promised, betrayed his guilt in part, and, his conscience blushing, retained greater things within himself. And so, a little time being interposed, for the receiving of guests and the ministry of pilgrims, for the salvation of his soul, he placed him outside.

[65] He indicates a concealed sin. And when on a certain day the same Gerard, certain guests arriving, ministered the nourishments of food, the Abbot John then arriving, and calling him by name, said: Gerard, Gerard, why did you wish thus to deceive me? Concerning what, my Lord, he says? And he: When you are at leisure, meet me as quickly as possible, and tell me what you professed. But he, faithfully fulfilling the command of the Father, when he found a suitable time, came to the Father. He saying to him: Did you not say that you would entirely lay open to me the secrets of your heart? Indeed he said so. And he: And if you said so, why did you not wish to lay open to me that most cruel deed which on the day of the holy Epiphany of the Lord, and on the Vigil of the same day, you committed with the wife of such a man? And adding: Moreover, so terrible an evil did not suffice you, unless now, to your confusion, you again dispose in your mind to return to so great a crime? Then he, confused in mind, seeing himself caught in the snare of capture, immediately fell to the ground, and sought penance for his crime, and said that all things were as the holy Father had indicated.

who had been very glorious in the fortress of Figline ^b, and in very many others: He was very well known to John the Abbot of blessed remembrance, and most familiar among his worldly friends. Who, when at a certain time he had fallen into sickness, seemed to be brought to extremity; and, his soldiers and all his household being called together, he took care to dispose concerning his own house. Then his wife summoned to her one of her noble men, Benzo by name, her husband being now placed in the death-agony, and commanded him to go as quickly as possible to the monastery of Passignano, of which the aforesaid man was a co-patron, to announce the coming of his funeral. But he, sad as he was, without delay commanded him to proceed in haste.

[67] Now he, drawing near in the middle of the journey, a certain courtier ^c meeting him inquired whither he was going. he heals by his prayers. He told the event of the matter. But, sad likewise, he inquires of him in turn. Then he: I come from the monastery of St. Cassian ^d, where I went for the sake of visiting Dom Abbot John of Vallombrosa. But he, when he heard this, at once came to the aforesaid monastery. Whom he found murmuring I know not whether from the psalms, or something else, before the doors of the monastery. Who, when he had most obsequiously saluted him, and having been saluted back by him cheerfully enough, inquired how it was with him. He answered: Sad and mourning exceedingly I confess myself to be for a noble man, and your faithful friend, who now seems to be departing from the world. To whom he said: Who is he? And he: The illustrious Ubaldus, your very faithful one. Immediately the venerable John, his eyes turned toward the East, halted a little, and the prayer completed looked upon Benzo, commanded him to go, and said to him: Return to your own as quickly as possible, for that sick man, over whom you were sad, you will find unharmed. Which as he said, so it was done.

[68] A chapter concerning Dom Gregory VII Pope of the Apostolic See; The wonderful dumbness of Hildebrand, afterward Gregory VII. who, when he held the office of the Archdeaconate in the same Apostolic See, for the sake of proving his patience, took care to upbraid him harshly. Presently at the sight of him he changed his mind, and forgot the pre-arranged words which he thought to say. His perfection being thus learned from him, henceforth so great a love was established between the two, as is wont to be between dearest and uterine brothers. For these things we often heard from the venerable man abbot Rodulf of the monastery of Passignano, who was then present there, and we ought to doubt nothing of such a witness ^e.

[69] Who, when at a certain time, being very sick, he held before him a broth cooked, such as suits a sick man, The thoughts of a certain monk, a certain religious Brother, Gerard by name, came for the sake of visiting, and was presented before him. To whom presently he offered a certain particle of the aforesaid broth, who, daring neither to refuse nor to resist by any nod, took it, and silently ate it, and while eating, began to accuse himself as guilty, reprehensible, and a wolf, and by thought, wrangling, to say many words, that he had not even once refused this which the kindly Father had offered. Whom he, recognizing by the spirit, and hearing, as if he uttered it with his tongue, the refreshment being finished, said: If I shall relate more or less of this which you said by thought, I wish to have you yourself as witness. And presently laying open the secret of his breast, he lucidly narrated whatever he had thought, whatever he had said by thought.

[70] and he knows a hidden necessity. To him about to depart, commending a certain insane Brother, he commanded that he should lead him with him separately, the nocturnal Office being finished. Whose command he both willingly heard, and sweetly promised to fulfill. But rising at night, the nocturnal Office being finished, when he was disposing to go away with his companion, he began to labor with a most grave thirst. This Father John, recognizing through the Illuminator of the heart, calling by a nod his minister who was wont to assist him, caused a not-small cup to be filled to the brim with wine mixed with water. Then he signaled the Brother about to depart, if he were present, to come to him. To him coming to him he caused the offered cup to be taken, and the wine to be drunk.

[71] He renders a fortunate hunt to a certain man; A certain man staying in the neighborhood of Vallombrosa, being very faithful and devoted to blessed John, on a certain day came to him with dogs, and asserted that he had long labored in vain in the hunt, seeing no beast to be hunted. But blessed John presently commanded him to eat, to give food to the tired dogs, and afterward to return to hunt, because game, God bestowing, would immediately come. Which done, he went out at once into the field which is adjacent to the monastery, and presently saw two hares in the snow, with which the whole earth was then covered; after which, the dogs being urged, he caught both with all haste. But after these things, returning to holy John and announcing to him what had happened to him, God having mercy and he interceding, instructed by him with salutary words, rejoicing and exulting he returned to his own.

[72] and he dismisses a hare caught by a monk. At another time also, when excessive snow covered the earth, a certain hare, coming out of the snow, entered the hut in which blessed John then stood with certain Brothers. Whom a certain one of the brothers presently caught, and embracing with his arms in his bosom hid, and began to say to the Brothers that they could freely eat it, as divinely given, especially since they had almost nothing but it to eat. But blessed John, recognizing what had happened, what had been quickly done, God revealing, asking the Brother what he held hidden in his bosom, commanded the hare, being made manifest, to be given to him, which he stroked long with a gentle hand. Saying to it: Fool, fool ^f, why did you come here? But afterward, having pity on the hare ^g, going out the gates of the monastery, he set it on the ground, and permitted it to go free. But on the following day a certain Rustic loaded an ass with loaves, and carried them to holy John in great want with his Brothers.

[73] Concerning a Cleric, who, the fame of the reverend Father being heard, and what kind of doctrine his life was, He does not wish to receive the money of a cleric sold all that he possessed in the world, and taking thence very much coin, and enclosing it in a purse, came to the monastery of the aforesaid Father. And when he believed himself thereby to please the Father, whence he was the more hateful, confidently coming to the place, he signifies that he has come. Whom he, the friend of poverty, when he knew to be moneyed, and heard for what cause he had come, thus addresses: As long, he says, as you shall have one of these coins upon you, or reserve it with you, you can neither share with me, nor have me as a friend. And so the cleric, hearing these things, withdrew, distributed the price of his patrimony, which the worshiper of God had spurned, wholly to those who lacked possession, and willingly stretched out their hand to the munificent. Then he returned to him who preferred God to gold, and the half-naked to the rich. This Father John hearing, and, by discussing, finding what he had done, who before had spurned him wealthy, made poor for Christ, received him beloved as a son.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

St. John Gualbert stirs up others to extirpate the Simoniacal heresy.

But against the Simoniacal heresy the holy Father so blazed with the zeal of divine love, that with all his efforts, in which he was able, He writes a letter to the bishop of Volterra, by exhorting and admonishing on every side, he seemed to fight against it. Finally to the Bishop of Volterra ^a he directed a honeyed and salutary writing, which we have judged necessary here to be written for its great utility. To Herimann ^b by the nod of God Bishop of Volterra, John the unworthy servant of the servants of God, with all his monks and Brothers, whatever better is done before God among men. Your petitions we have judged it worthy to attend to, especially since you inquired not concerning secular and worldly things, but concerning ecclesiastical and divine ones, which are done in the worship of God for the salvation of souls. For you asked help in pastoral exhortation, from those things which in your care and study seem to remain under the protection of God. Which then germinate the fruit of good work, when the obedience of the people rebels not even in the least things against the pastor. But the sanctity and wisdom of such a pastor ought always to appear and to be, that he may terrify offenders with the judgment of God, and soothe those obedient to the divine precepts with a worthy reward.

[75] by which he exhorts him to the perfection of the episcopal office, Whence it behooves your solicitude to watch, that after he has run through all the divine precepts without reprehension, he may be zealous to bring forth all that he commands to the clergy and people from the sentences of the holy Scriptures. Namely that the clergy remain according to the statutes of the Apostles and the precepts of the canons, and the people obey according to the commands of the Saints in all those things. In the first place, because it behooves a Bishop to be irreprehensible, which also pertains to all the clergy. Then that the Bishop with the clergy and people spend all solicitude, that the innocent may remain in their innocence, and sinners may cease to sin, and those doing penance may grow from good to better; most certainly believing, that those who end their days in evils pay eternal vengeance, and those who end them in good things receive the eternal palm. By these promises let the good be comforted, and by these threats let the evil be terrified.

[76] the hatred of heresy, especially Simoniacal, Meanwhile it must be solicitously provided, lest with the filth of any heresy, however small, any of them be defiled, because as long as anyone shall remain in it, even if he shed his blood for the name of Christ, it will profit him nothing. Alas, how most evil and great a sin, which neither in the present even by death, nor in the future for a long time, can scarcely be loosed. Therefore so most evil a wickedness we ought quickly to dismiss and anathematize, and by repenting to blot out, that with Christ in the present and in the future life we may be able to remain. Because as long as anyone shall remain in any heresy, no good work of his

will please God. Therefore the Simoniacal heresy, which, first and worst before all other heresies, long before us up to our times flourished, which God in our time by his mercy destroyed by detecting it, let it be cast off from you with all solicitude. And since that heresy, before all heresies, in the very beginning of the Church, struck by the Prince of the Apostles, grew pale, we marvel how by certain ones, cloaked with most evil garments, it is shown with a lively color, as though a busy cultivator of the Christian faith: For we know that what Christ hates, no one who is a Christian loves. But if he loves it, he could not be a Christian. Christ therefore hates the Simoniacal heresy. For he himself said: Whoever shall sin against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world nor in the future.

[77] and its extirpation, And so when the time of ordaining clerics for the divine worship shall come, let no one be promoted to an ecclesiastical Office by the giving of any price, openly or secretly, let no one unworthy, or ignorant of his office, no one touched by any guilt or infamy, none but a virgin, or a monogamist, and one who has married a virgin according to the sacred canons; not proud, not elated, not desirous of any honor, but humble and gentle and fearing God. Let nothing of profit for the sacred Office be required from any cleric, neither from the Archpresbyters, nor from the Archdeacons, nor from their subjects. But when the Bishop goes around the parishes through the Baptismal Churches, which they call Plebes ^c, and, lest perhaps he find something of evil, or of crime, or the causes of enmities, investigates, let him require thence no gain, no money, nor afflict those who shall have been there for the food of himself and his own, but as a father have mercy on his sons, and the faults being amended, leave all in peace, that all may bless the Lord for their Bishop and Priest, and for his health both of body and of soul, ask the mercy of God.

[78] For the Bishop doing thus, the people with the clergy will be saved before God, and the same Bishop will be rewarded by God. and he exhorts to the care of his flock. But if he shall do against these things, or require money, he will be judged a Simoniacal heretic, and condemned. Therefore before all things, by persecuting, cast off the Simoniacal heresy, subject the priests with all the Clergy to the holy Ecclesiastical Rule by living rightly, solicitously invite the people, both greater and lesser, by holy persuasions to do well, preach that sinners may repent and do penance; those who refuse to repent, excommunicate; those who wish to return to penance, subject to the sacred canons, show the way of salvation to all, show benignity toward all; and God the just judge will restore all things to you according to your justice. For if you shall be zealous to have all the things which are above said observed in your episcopate, when there shall be time and means, we will come to you if it be expedient, and will do whatever shall be necessary for you and lawful and possible for us. Farewell.

[79] After these things, when the odor of so great sanctity had spread far and wide, Various ones from everywhere flow together to St. John, there began to run to him eagerly from various lands and kingdoms, monks and clerics and faithful laymen. Especially the Milanese and Cremonese and people of Piacenza. But the monks, leaving their monasteries and taking a long pilgrimage, came to him, some indeed for taking up under him the praiseworthy conversion of which they had heard; but others that they might be instructed by so great a Father how they ought to avoid the Simoniacal heresy. For they had heard that Father John with his Brothers publicly condemned it, and that many mortals blazed against it.

[80] Who therefore ever came to him, after he had seen and heard him, that they might obtain spiritual or corporal help. repented of having suffered loss, or of having taken the labor of a long journey? For if anyone coming brought a doubtful heart, or perhaps a lukewarm one, or an emptied purse, he returned alacritous, both carrying back a heart confirmed in faith, and a purse indeed not empty. For he had received from Jesus Christ as a gift both a countenance agreeable to all, and a speech placid to all, and a most ample hand for bestowing. Now the cause demands that I relate what battle Father John with his own took up against Simony before the whole world.

[81] About the same time a certain Peter of Pavia ^d had invaded the see of the Church of Florence secretly by the intervention of money, which was by no means hidden from Father John and his Brothers. And so they chose rather to lose their mortal life St. John resists the Simoniacal bishop; than to conceal the truth. And therefore they began publicly to say that Peter of Pavia was a Simoniac and heretic. There arose at length between the clergy and the people a very strong contention. Some indeed, regarding temporal advantages, defended him. Others with the monks, now credulous of their words, vehemently impugned him.

[82] By whose command soldiers were sent When therefore this contention between the clergy, and between people and people, was held for many days, and sedition frequently arose thence, the heretic Peter thought to terrify the people and the clergy, if he should cause the monks to be slain, from whom the words adverse to him took their beginnings. For which reason, a multitude of horsemen and footmen having been sent at night, he commanded the monastery of St. Salvi to be burnt with fire, and the monks whom they should find to be slain. But he thought that Father John was then to be found there. He indeed had withdrawn the day before.

[83] the monks of St. Salvi Having entered therefore the Church, when the Brothers were celebrating the nocturnal Office, with drawn swords they began to slaughter the sheep of Christ, like savage executioners. Some indeed fixed in the forehead so grave a wound, that the edge of the iron reached to the vault of the brain ^e. But another they struck so impiously and gravely under the eyes, that the nose and the upper teeth with the upper lip were divided from their framework, and all hung over the beard. Others indeed, fixing the edge of the sword, carried the wound to the interior parts. Many wounds of this kind therefore having been inflicted on the various ones, they overturned the altars, and plundered all that they found, and fire being applied in the houses, the monks then in the church singing the seven Psalms with the Litanies, in nothing resisting, nor breaking silence, and these being stripped and left half-alive, they departed.

[84] and treat unworthily the abbot of that monastery; For the Abbot of the same monastery, Dominic ^f by name, old in age, most holy in conversation, they stripped of all covering. Who, thus naked, began solicitously to seek whether he could find anything with which to clothe himself. At last he found a leathern garment, which through carelessness had fallen among the beds of the Brothers, and clothed himself with it, unsewn and torn and fallen apart from age. But whence the enemy thought to gain victory and exaltation, thence he found detriment and confusion: For many of the people and clergy, who hitherto seemed his favorers, seeing his impiety, became themselves thenceforth altogether adverse.

[85] and by that injury he conciliates to them the love of the people and clergy. On another day too, both men and women of Florence proceeded to the above-said monastery, and, whatever they could, faithfully brought for the necessities of the Brothers. Each believed himself happy if he could see any of the monks, or from their sacred blood, from the earth, stones, and wood, could wipe with their cloths, wishing to hold it for great relics.

[86] St. John exhorts his own to constancy, But blessed John, then placed at Vallombrosa, hearing what had happened, burning with love of martyrdom, coming in haste to St. Salvi, considering the Abbot and the other scourged Brothers, beaten and stripped, said: Now truly you are monks: but why did you wish to endure these things without me? For he greatly grieved that he was absent from the aforesaid persecution, in which nevertheless he himself obtained the prize of martyrdom, who so strenuously instructed his disciples to endure martyrdom. For to this he came, that he believed himself to be held, scourged, cut down, which also for the love of God and the defense of the Catholic Faith he desired, if he could, to be slain a thousand times.

[87] But the monks were thereafter made so much stronger, who so much the more keenly assail the Simoniacs as they were more secure of the crown of martyrdom which they had already tasted. For going to Rome at the time of a synod, they constantly and publicly proclaimed Peter a Simoniac and heretic, offering that they would enter fire to prove it. But Pope Alexander, who then presided over the Apostolic See, neither then wished to depose the accused, nor to take up the fiery declaration: For the greatest part of the Bishops favored the party of Peter, and almost all were adverse to the monks. But the Archdeacon Hildebrand ^g was made in all things the helper and defender of the monks.

[88] The suit therefore then remaining, nay thereafter greatly growing, but the suit is left undecided. there was made so great a persecution against the Catholic clergy of Florence, that, not able to bear it, the Archpresbyter and very many others, going out of the city, fled to the monastery of Settimo. Whom Father John benignly receiving, with all benignity and charity gave them help to the best of his ability: For Duke Godfrey ^h favored the party of the Simoniac Peter, so that he threatened to slay the monks and clerics adverse to him. For which cause the party of Peter then greatly prevailed: For what tongue can tell the persecutions and straits which the Catholics endured in that storm? For at that time, when the aforesaid Pope came to Florence, wood was prepared and gathered for kindling the fire, which the monks longed to enter to prove that the often-mentioned Peter was a Simoniac and heretic. Which the Pope then refused to receive, but, the clergy and people being left in the suit, withdrew. But how it pleased almighty God to settle this, the time and the cause, that it be intimated, requires. For knowing this therefore let the Epistle of the church of Florence, directed to the aforesaid Pope, here be placed in order, and then what almighty God deigned to show for corroborating the faith of Peter, and for detesting the error of Simon Magus, will clearly be plain to the reader and the hearer.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Perhaps "conversation."

* Or not "the often-mentioned"?

CHAPTER VIII.

The Epistle of the clergy and people of Florence given to Alexander the Pontiff, by which the prodigious trial of fire made against the Simoniacs is set forth.

The clergy and people of Florence by letters To Alexander, most Reverend and Universal Bishop of the First See, the clergy and people of Florence, the service of sincere devotion. Long already Your Paternity well knows our weariness and labor, and also the contest of the monks against the Simoniacal heresy. And now too it is worthy that you should thoroughly know how the most high God piously and mercifully scraped away the scruple of this matter from our hearts. For signs and wonders our Lord did in us, and through them he drove away the blindness of ignorance, and the fog of doubt, and the darkness of error from the breast of men, and, augmenting and dilating our faith, and solidifying it in himself, the light of his truth clemently shone into our minds. For the good Pastor came from heaven, and, the sheep standing by, and crying to him with all the marrow of their heart, gave a sentence clearer than a serene sky, and brighter than the sun, and more apt than any speech, and more certain than any sight, from the midst of the fire to his people. But what the Florentine people should hold concerning Peter of Pavia, who wished to be held our bishop, he declared in his terrible judgment. But although the narration of the miracles may seem to be somewhat prolonged, yet the causes whence it came to these things, we think ought by no means uselessly to be succinctly prefixed.

[90] For on a certain day all the clerics of the city of Florence, gathered together, they set forth to the Pontiff, we began to complain both concerning the clerics expelled from their places, and also concerning ourselves, before Peter of Pavia. Concerning the cast-out ones, because we had lost their counsel and comfort, and because also our Prior and Archpresbyter had withdrawn from the city for fear of the heresy; but concerning ourselves, because a good part of our citizens acclaimed us heretics. For seeing us go to him, they said: Go, go, heretics, to the heretic. Go, because through you this city will be given to the abyss, who by your impiety expel Christ from it, and, assailing blessed Peter the Apostle, worship Simon Magus by bringing him in for God? What more? We ask him to free both us and himself from infamy, saying: Behold us, if you perceive yourself clean, if you command us, we do not doubt to undergo the judgment of God for you; or if you wish to receive the trial which the Monks wished to make here and at Rome, we go to them, and earnestly ask them.

[91] To these things he said that he commanded neither, wished neither, received neither: how after various vexations Nay he even obtained an edict from the Governor through his legates, that whoever of the laymen, whoever of the clerics should not venerate him as Bishop, and should not obey his command, should be led bound to the Governor, nay dragged; but if any of us, terrified by these threats, should flee from the city, whatever he had possessed should be taken to the dominion of the Podestà ^a. But the Clerics, who under the guardianship of blessed Peter the Apostle, acting against the Simoniacal heresy, had fled into his Oratory, should either be reconciled to him, or without hope of a hearing be driven outside the city. And hence it came about, that on the Saturday evening at the beginning of the fast, when at the aforesaid church of blessed Peter the Apostle, the clerics themselves were recalling the lessons and responsories of the following Sunday, that of the municipal Governor, because they had answered that they could not, with the saving of the reverence of Peter the Apostle, obey a Simoniacal heretic, should cast them outside the immunity [*] of the Oratory, making light of blessed Peter Prince of the Apostles.

[92] There is made at length for this crime a concourse of catholic men, and especially of women, casting off the veils of their heads, and the crowds, and going about tearfully with loose hair, hard beating their breasts with their fists, sending miserable voices to God, and sadly lamenting over the death of their husbands and sons: For prostrating themselves in the streets full of mud, they said: Alas, alas! O Christ, you are cast out hence, and how do you leave us desolate? You are not suffered to dwell with us, and how do we dwell here? We have seen that you cannot remain with us, but you go, because Simon Magus does not permit you. O holy Peter, are you conquered by Simon Magus, that you do not defend those fleeing to you? We thought him bound and chained in the infernal punishments, but behold we perceive him raised up in hostility to your dishonor. Some indeed of the men said to others: You see, and you openly see, Christ departs hence. He goes away, who, fulfilling his law, resists not the one driving him. And let us, men, brothers, burn this city, that the heretical party may not rejoice in it, and with our little ones and wives, wherever Christ goes, let us go with him. If we are Christians, let us follow Christ.

[93] By these wailings therefore, and by these griefs, we too the clerics, asked for the trial of fire, who seemed favorers and followers of Peter of Pavia, and who were acclaimed heretics by others, because we followed him, being moved, bar the churches, and for grief of the cast-out ones do not touch the bells, do not sing psalms to the peoples, nor finally do we sing Masses. And without delay; we being gathered, a counsel is made, the Lord inspiring. To the monks of God, who dwell at Settimo in the monastery of the holy Savior, by common vow we send some of us, asking and praying that they be willing to destroy the doubt of this matter, and to know the truth, and, known, promising firmly to hold it.

[94] But it was answered to us, that if we would to the best of our ability hold and defend the catholic faith, and by impugning destroy the Simoniacal heresy, which offered the virtue of the Savior would eliminate both the doubt of this affair and also the blindness from our hearts. We confess, we promised concerning this matter to follow this which they themselves also, if they should make good their words by deed. What more? A day sought by every vow is appointed, on which we both lost our doubt, and from which we hold the truth which the monks were saying, to the best of our ability defending it. For the Wednesday, in the first week of Lent, is appointed as the day. On the Monday and Tuesday we especially pray God for this, and beseech that God, who is the only truth, would open the door of this truth.

[95] Peter the Simoniac rejects it. But the Wednesday dawning, one of us goes to the man of Pavia, who, asking him, said: Do, Lord, for the fear of God, and for the remedy of your soul, if that be true of you which the monks say, do not afflict the clerics and people with labors in going, do not tempt God by trying him, but lay open the truth of this affair by turning to the Lord, or if you know yourself immune from this guilt, deign to come with us. To whom he answers: Neither do I go thither, nor, if you love me, do I wish you to go. But to this it was said to him: Assuredly I will go to see the judgment of God, since all are going, and I will carefully take heed what is done there, and whatever God the just judge shall show in his right judgment, I will defend to the best of my ability. And let not my journey be troublesome to you, because today the sentence of God will rightly show, of what kind you are. For either today we shall have you more dear than ever you were, or more vile and contemptible.

[96] Meanwhile we, as if forewarned by a heavenly oracle, do not await the messenger; and there is a running by us clerics, and laymen, and women to Settimo, in which is the monastery of the holy Savior. O wonderful power of the Lord, and wonderful clemency, who gave strength to go not only to the unencumbered, but even to the pregnant! For did the length of the journey terrify the matrons? Did the muddy road, by the multitude of waters, terrify the delicate ones? Did the fast exasperate the boys?

[97] All the clerics and laymen at length being gathered, of promiscuous sex and age, nearly three thousand, at the aforesaid monastery, we are questioned by the servants of God: Why, Brothers, have you come? It is answered by us: That we may be enlightened, and leaving error, may follow the truth. How, they say, do you wish to be enlightened? We answering: That by a copious fire it may be proved which you say concerning Peter of Pavia. What fruit, they say, will you have by this deed? Or what honor do you thence render to God? We all answer: We will be with you, defending the right faith, and by abhorring the Simoniacal heresy, always giving thanks to God. Why do we delay longer? Immediately there are made by the people two piles of wood, placed lengthwise beside one another on either side. The length of each singly was ten feet, but the breadth of both singly five feet and a half of a half foot. The height finally of each separately was four feet and a half. But between both pyres lengthwise there was a path of one arm's breadth, and it was strewn with dry wood, and well prepared for burning.

[89] Meanwhile there are made for this matter Litanies, Psalmodies, it is kindled. supplications. A monk about to enter the fire is chosen, and by the command of abbot John, about to celebrate Mass, proceeds to the altar. The Mass is sung with great devotion and supplication of all. The choir of monks and clerics, and also of laymen, weeps from the heart. But when it came to the Agnus Dei, four monks, one carrying the image of the Crucified Lord, another sanctified water, a third twelve blessed lighted candles, the fourth a censer full of incense, proceed to kindle the aforesaid pyres of wood.

[99] These things therefore being seen, the cry of all is raised to heaven, A monk, Mass having been celebrated, Kyrie eleison is sung most tearfully with full mouth, Jesus Christ is most frequently prayed to rise and defend his cause. Mary his Mother is much besought by the men, and most of all by the women, to persuade him this. The name of Peter the Apostle, by which he condemned Simon to perdition, is redoubled a thousand times. Gregory prelate of the City is suppliantly beseeched to hasten to verify his sanctions. Meanwhile, while God is prayed by all according to the capacity of their wit, the presbyter, the mysteries of salvation being received, and Mass completed, and the chasuble and the other garments of the priesthood being taken off, carrying the Cross of Christ, with the Abbots and monks making Litanies, approaches the piles of wood, now beginning to become pyres. And there, how manifoldly and uniformly it is prayed by all, no tongue can tell, no sense by gathering can meditate.

[100] At last silence is imposed on all. And that we may attentively hear and well understand the condition of the matter for which these things were done, we are admonished. There is chosen at length one of the Abbots, clamorous in voice, open in tongue, who openly reads to the people, for understanding, the prayer in which the condition of the petition to God was contained. But all approving the condition, then again another of the Abbots asks for silence, and raising his voice addresses all, saying: Men, brothers and sisters, for the salvation of your souls, God being witness, we do this, that henceforth you may beware of the Simoniacal leprosy, which has almost now infected the whole world. But know that the contagion of this leprosy is so great, that the other crimes compared to its enormity are as nothing.

[101] These things therefore being finished, when both pyres had now for the greater part turned into flame-vomiting coals, after prayers poured out to God, and when the middle path of the fire-vomiting

abundance of embers glowed so hot, that up to the ankle of the foot of one going, as afterward was clear in the trial, they could sink into the embers, the priest and monk, by command of the Abbot, poured out this prayer to the Lord with a great voice, nearly three thousand hearing and weeping: Lord Jesus Christ, the true light of all who believe in thee, I ask thy mercy, I beseech thy clemency, that if Peter of Pavia, who is called Bishop of Florence, by the intervention of money, that is by a gift from the hand, which is Simoniacal heresy, seized the see of Florence; now thou, Son of the eternal Father, my salvation, in this terrible judgment hasten to help me, and wonderfully preserve me unharmed without the stain of burning, as once thou didst save unharmed the three children in the furnace of burning fire. Who with thy coeternal Father, and the Holy Spirit, workest all things, and livest and reignest world without end.

[102] he enters the fire; And when all who were present had answered, Amen: he gave and received the kiss of peace with the Brothers. We are all asked: How long do you wish him to remain in the fire? It is answered by all: But, but, what do you say? It is enough, Lord, enough, that he pass through the fire and flames step by step with solemn gravity: it is indeed commanded to the priest and monk to satisfy our will. Then the priest himself, making the salutary sign against the burning of the fire, and carrying the Cross of Christ, and attending to it, not to the multitude of the flames, undaunted in mind, cheerful in countenance with a certain celebrity of gravity, unharmed in body, unharmed also in all things which he carried with him, in the virtue of Jesus Christ wonderfully passed through the fire.

[103] and passes through it unharmed; For the flames concurring from every side, and rising up on every side, entered his white as it were byssine garment ^d, and filling it inflamed it, but unmindful of their nature, they could inflict on it nothing of burning. The maniple finally and the stole, and their fringes, after the manner of winds they variously bore hither and thither by lifting up, but the heat being lost, they could in no way burn them. The hairs also of his feet were put among the flaming coals, but O wonderful power of the Lord! O laudable clemency of Christ! none of them were injured by the odor of the fire. Among his hairs indeed the flames rose up around and entered, and by blowing lifted them up and set them down again, but not even the tip of any of them, forgetting their strength, could they by burning curl: For the flames were on every part enclosing him, unto the miracle of the Savior, not unto the burning of the fire. They felt the ardor of the Catholic faith, and therefore they did not burn. God our consuming fire was assuredly present, and therefore, he being unwilling, the corporeal fire could do no harm. Without doubt it was true, which was said by the servants of God, that their witness, truth helping, is miraculously freed from the fire. For truth always frees those whom the stain of falsehood does not defile.

[104] Moved by which miracle the Florentines execrate the Simoniacal heresy, But after he went out of the fire, when he wished to return again to the hearth, he is seized by the people; they kiss his feet out of desire. For out of joy each thought himself blessed who could kiss any particle of his garments. For he was pressed by the grave straitness of the peoples, but with great difficulty is freed by the strength of the clerics. Praise to God by all together out of joy, even weeping, is sung, being now certain that the word of God is never changed. Simon Peter is exalted with great praises, but Simon Magus is trodden under foot like dung. The name of Peter the Apostle in the mouth of all above honey and the honeycomb with praises grows more and more sweet: the name of the impious Simon above gall and sulphur with revilings grows more and more foul. For the greatness of these signs of Christ, and the abundance of our joy, and the daily thanksgiving, neither can the sense of the heart think, nor the plectrum of the tongue express, nor the hand, as it is, ever suffice to write.

[105] But because to a wise man few things out of many suffice, at last we run together to supplicate Your Paternity. and to extirpate it By him indeed we pray Your Beatitude, whose Vicar both in the heavens and on earth we also desire you to be: deign to bestow on the people, demolished by a long plague, counsel likewise, and the help of defense: Deign to rescue us wretched ones by drawing us from the importunate jaws of the wolves: Deign, we pray, to move arms against the enemies of Peter the Apostle, to draw up the battle-lines, to join holy wars, and to free us the sheep of Christ, committed to blessed Peter and to you in his stead, from captivity by fighting against the Simoniacs. For to very many of us the blessed Apostle himself, as once fixed on the cross by Nero, appears in the vision of night, and by showing his passion, piously persuades that we should turn aside from the fellowship of the Simoniacs. As, he says, I never joined myself to Simon Magus, so also you, if you wish to be Christ's, if you are the sheep of his pasture, if you believe me the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom, if you desire me to open to you the gates of the kingdom of the heavens, do not be associated with Simoniacs, do not be joined, do not communicate.

[106] Now therefore, holy Lord, because the confidence of our recovery according to God is placed in the holy Roman See, They implore the help of the Pontiff. we pray you, who preside over it, that you may ascend against the rapacious wolves, and oppose the authority of the priestly summit for the sheep committed to you in Peter's stead. Again and again, bowed down, we pray your solicitude, Father, that what is the Pastor's, you may not be slothful clemently to bestow on us torn sheep. These things being known, as quickly as possible the Pope took care to depose the aforesaid Peter from all Episcopal office.

ANNOTATIONS.

* that is "immunity"

CHAPTER IX.

His zeal for the Catholic faith and fraternal charity; his pious death and burial; various monasteries built after his death.

St. John sets Peter Igneus over the monastery of Fucecchio. We have shown therefore how most fervent a faith Father John had, and what unwearied battle he took up against the Simoniacal heresy, nay how obedient and fervent in faith he educated his disciples. Let us pursue the rest, which he did in old age, and how he migrated from the world. Seeing at length the above-said Count Bulgar, who had been a Catholic helper, and also in all things a defender, so great faith and so great religion, both of Father John and of his disciples, he resolved to commit his monastery of Fucecchio ^a under his governance; which at last, by excessive and earnest prayers, he obtained. Where the old Father set over it in the governance of Abbot that Brother who, obedient, had passed through the fire.

[108] To eight monks he foretells forgetfulness: On a certain day, when he was at the aforesaid monastery which is at Settimo, and saw eight of the monks going outside with only one hoe, he asked whither they were going, and why they carried but one hoe. But they presently set forth whither they were going, and what they had resolved to do, and assert that for accomplishing what they had disposed they needed but one hoe. To these he: Not even that one hoe, he says, will you bring back with you, but you will leave it there where you go. Which when he said, they began greatly to marvel, and to say: Great negligence and forgetfulness will oppress us, if, since we are eight, we do not bring back that hoe. And they exhorted one another that they should be unanimously solicitous for the hoe, that they might know whether holy John had truly uttered that word. And when they had come to the place which they had determined, and had accomplished what they had disposed, they returned to the monastery, where they began to look upon one another in turn, and to inquire which of them had brought back the hoe. But when none of them was found to have brought back the hoe, they recognized indeed that holy John had the spirit of prophecy.

[109] To the church of Milan afflicted with the Simoniacal heresy For he had loved from the beginning the good clerics, just as the monks. And he himself was loved by them, as if he were their father: For in every way he was zealous to order canonically the churches with the good clerics, as the monasteries with the monks. To prove which I shall place at least one example out of many. There came catholic clerics about the same time, and faithful laymen from the city of Milan, to the old Father, relating the misery of that land; namely that for many years back an innumerable multitude both of men and women of that city, for fear of the Simoniacal heresy, had taken neither Penance nor Communion from any mortal person. By whom they professed themselves to be sent to the kindness of the old Father, that for the charity with which he blazed in other things, he might bestow help to the best of his ability on their souls. To whom, moved with mercy, he said: And what counsel can I bestow on you? But they: Father, they say, holy one, if you wish to succor so many wretched ones, cause the clerics who from our land, for the avoiding of the fellowship of the heretics, have fled to you, to be catholically ordained; send them back thither, and they will be able to renew Christianity, now almost destroyed.

[110] he succors by sending Catholic clerics. What more? Not only those who stayed in the city, moved with excessive kindness after his accustomed manner, but also those whom he now had in the inner cell of the Novices, and who had come to receive the monastic garment, he drew thence, and caused to be ordained by degrees by Rudolf bishop of Todi ^b, a most holy and catholic man, and directed them to Milan. This Bishop the Pope had directed to govern the episcopate of Florence after the deposition of the Simoniac Peter, and since he did a greater thing than these, a greater I shall tell; namely he afterward sent that Bishop with learned men to the aforesaid Milan, that to the catholic men altogether desiring and asking it, he might succor by the episcopal office, and console the hearts of the faithful, long destitute of a catholic pastor. For if I should wish to narrate all the good deeds of the holy Man, sooner would the days and hours, nay the times, fail, than the things to be told.

[111] After these things therefore came the day, long desired by him, St. John, seeing death imminent to himself, namely that he might be dissolved and be with Christ, which he had coveted in every way. And so, the infirmity growing heavy, he began evidently to say that the term of his life drew near. An embassy therefore being sent, he caused his disciples, whom he had set over the Brothers, to come to him. Whom, seen and blessed, he at once compelled to return to the custody of the flock committed to them. Who, though mourning and greatly weeping, not daring to contradict the command of the Father, returned. There remained with him only Dom Rusticus and Dom Lætus the abbot, father of the monastery of Passignano, in which the Father lay sick. These, in the same week in which he died, coming to him, besought with humble prayer, that he would leave some exhortation to the Brothers concerning the unity of charity and the concord of peace. Then he commanded these things to be dictated and written:

[112] John the Abbot, to all the Brothers joined with him in the love of brotherhood, greeting

and blessing. he commands a letter to be written, While I labor long under a grave infirmity, I daily await that God receive my soul, and that the earth of my body return to the dust whence it took its matter. And this is no wonder, because my age, even without the oppression of so great an infirmity, admonishes me daily to await this. And I thought to pass hence as if in silence, but weighing the place and name which in this corruptible earth I held, although not as was fitting, I have judged it useful to speak to you something concerning the bond of charity; in this not from ourselves, nor newly, but, running through briefly, to repeat what you daily hear. Certainly this is that virtue which compelled the Creator of all things to become a creature. This is that which he himself, commending to the Apostles in place of all his commandments, said: This is my precept, that you love one another. Concerning it James the Apostle speaks, saying: He who has observed the whole law, but offends in one point, is made guilty of all. This is that of which blessed Paul the Apostle says: Charity covers a multitude of sins.

[113] But hence we can gather, that by holding charity all sins can be covered; by which he embraces the praises of fraternal charity, but that the other virtues, to those who judge themselves to obtain them, are worth nothing without this. But everyone proud and disobedient, hearing this, thinks that he has it in truth, if he sees himself corporally endure in fraternal communion. From which false opinion, so to speak, blessed Gregory excludes each one, by indicating the end of true charity, saying: He perfectly loves God who leaves nothing of himself to himself. But what I may say singularly concerning charity I know not, since I know that all commandments sprout from this root. Because if there are many branches of good work, yet the root of charity is one. In whose heat the reprobate can in no way long endure, the Lord the Savior saying: The charity of many shall grow cold. Whom, cold and divided from unity, the Apostle John bewails, saying, and groans: They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us.

[114] and exhorts his subjects to preserve it. And if it is so, nay because it is so, every faithful one ought always to weigh, how he may join himself to so supreme a good, and anxiously to seek companions with him in the way of God. And as the reprobate, by leaving this, are cut off from the body of Christ, so the elect, by embracing it in truth, are confirmed to the same body of Christ. But for keeping this inviolably very useful is fraternal unity, which binds itself under the care of one person. Since as a river is dried from its channel, if it be divided into many streamlets, so fraternal unity is worth less for individual things, if it be scattered through diverse ones. Therefore, that this inviolable charity may long remain with you, I wish that after my death your care and counsel depend on Dom Rodulf, at least as it depended on me in my life. Farewell.

[115] An Angel to the dying man On the third day at last before he died, he saw a young man standing by him, whom we judge to have been his Angel. Whom, when he alone and no other beheld, he said to the Brothers: Why did you not call that Brother with you, when you ate? To whom the Brothers: Of what Brother, they say, do you speak, Father? And he: Of that beautiful young man, he says, who came to us, and stays with us, entering and going out. And he added: Whence is he, and by what name is he called? To whom blessed Lætus, abbot of Passignano, God revealing, said: Do you not know that he is of the mountain of the Lord, and is called Benignus? Then he, the Holy Spirit teaching, understood that he was an Angel, and truly of the mountain of the Lord, that is, of heaven, and said that he was called by such a name (that is, Benignus).

[116] assists. And rightly had God appointed to blessed John an Angel of such a name, who had mercifully infused into him such benignity, more than into almost other mortals. Which heard, they went, and placed upon the table the food of one man, above the victuals appointed for the Brothers. Which done, he was at rest. Finally, when he drew near to his departure, he caused to be written in a little book ^c, and placed in his hand, this: I John believe and confess the faith which the holy Apostles preached, and the holy Fathers confirmed in the four Councils; that he might be believed to have held in his inmost heart that which he was seen to have manfully defended by words and works.

[117] On the fourth of the Ides of July he dies. After these things he rendered his spirit to Christ, fortified by the reception of his body and blood, in whom he had believed with entire faith, whom he had purely loved, whom he had served with pious intention; carrying with him namely the talent committed to him a hundredfold. He died in the most fervent heat of summer, namely on the fourth of the Ides of July. And so the Fathers present who were there, believing with sure hope that God could preserve without stench in the heat of summer the Master, who in fire without burning had preserved the disciple, resolved to keep the body of the Father unburied, until the Abbots from each side should be gathered.

[118] For this cause therefore it remained unburied for three days. and his body remains free from stench. And in these there gathered for celebrating the exequies of the common Father an almost innumerable multitude of clerics and monks. Through these days and nights, unwearied giving thanks to Christ, and paying the due honor to the Father, they afterward gave the body of the holy Man to burial, so free from all stench, as he had kept his faith free from all contagion of error, and as Christ had kept the garments and flesh of the disciple passing through the fire unburnt.

[119] Him being buried, Dom Rodulf ^d took up the obedience enjoined on him by the Father; Various monasteries are acquired after his death, which for three years, having before his eyes the memory and fear of the Father, he ruled holily and regularly. Under whose governance there attached themselves to the rest the monastery of Vagiano, and Toanis Fontana, and also Coneum. After whose death Father Rusticus took up the governance of the whole Congregation, and ruled it for sixteen years faithfully, paternally, and discreetly. Under whom the monastery of St. Angelo near Pistoia was newly built. Another to the honor of Christ and his Mother Mary at Nerana. Furthermore that which is at Sofena was built to the honor of the holy Savior, and another which is at Strumi, to the honor of God and his holy Martyr Fidelis, and also that of Pisa to the honor of God and most holy Paul, under the governance of this Father were joined and incorporated to the custom and Congregation of Vallombrosa. Likewise that which is on Monte Armato, and another which is in the parts of Osella Castellana, were newly built, and instituted under this Father ^e.

[120] For their rectors assemble yearly: retaining in memory the goodness and sanctity, and the institutes of the good and first Father, they offer to one another whatever they have under their care, namely persons and substances, according to the command of the abbot of Vallombrosa, whom they have elected over them in the stead of John the first abbot. And they are of one faith, having one heart and soul, ready rather to die than to be divided from one another. In which unity may Christ, the almighty pastor, deign to preserve them forever, who deigned to choose his elect before the constitution of the world. Who with God the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from both, lives and reigns God world without end. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

Various miracles wrought especially after his death.

Food is miraculously multiplied by the merits of St. John, What we write we learned from the venerable Brother John, who in the same monastery of Passignano, where Dom archimandrite John migrated to the heavenly things, for many years nobly held the ministry of the cell and the office of the vestry. Who, still at that time being in the lay habit, when he had perceived that the venerable Father was drawing near to death, began to be in a fever what he should do in preparing so great an abundance of food, especially since he perceived so great a crowd of monks and clerics, and also laymen, from various parts to come to the funeral of so great a Father. What more? At last returning to himself, trusting in God, and presuming on the merits of so great a Father, he said: He who from five loaves fed five thousand men, can today multiply our herbs, and also our legumes. Then he took up the little vessels which after the accustomed manner had sufficed for the Brothers, and, the name of the holy Father John being invoked, placed them at the embers, and arranged the foods through them to be cooked. A wonderful thing! from which little vessels he gave the accustomed provision to the Brothers, and from morning until the day was ended he sufficiently administered to all the guests arriving there.

[122] and Pope Gregory VII obtains the grace of compunction. Concerning Dom Gregory VII Pope of the Apostolic See, who was accustomed to approach the sacrosanct solemnities of the Masses with compunction. To whom, when for three continuous days the accustomed compunction was lacking, the name and sanctity of the aforesaid Father John came into memory, and he invited him to his help, and presently resumed the grace of the same holy compunction, an abundance much more amply than he was wont, as Dom Peter bishop of Albano testified that he had heard from his own mouth.

[123] Teuzo the abbot is freed from a pain of the bowels and a grave languor. Concerning Dom Teuzo abbot of Razzuolo, one of his first and greatest disciples, what happened to him, he himself most often testifying; Who, when on a certain day he was making his journey to Vallombrosa with the Plebanus of St. John Major, Ugo by name, was intolerably and often struck with a most grave pain of the bowels. And when he wavered amid these straits of pain, he began attentively to ask the aforesaid Father John, that by his merits and prayers he would clemently succor him. And immediately the languor which tortured him was utterly destroyed. Likewise concerning the aforesaid Dom Teuzo, to whom, when the death of Dom Rusticus the great Prior had been announced, and he himself was constrained by so great a languor that he could not move himself, he confidently touched the little garment [*] of so great an aforesaid Father, and presently made most whole, quickly proceeded to the dead man.

[124] A monk by invoking St. John's help [recovers a horse,] Concerning Brother Girard often mentioned in his life. Who, when on a certain day, sitting on a horse, he was making his journey, carried the aforesaid Father's foot-covering

[125] By the virtue of a similar miracle his sanctity nonetheless shone forth. and another recovers a presbyter's mule. For when the above-said venerable Rusticus on a certain day was coming from Vallombrosa, and going to St. Salvi with a certain venerable presbyter, when they came to a certain lodging, they descended from the mules on which they sat, for the necessity of the body. Meanwhile the presbyter's mule suddenly fled, and with hasty step betook itself through various places. But when the priest went at a run after the mule, that he might catch it if it could be done, and lead it back with him, Rusticus said to him: Why do you labor in vain, since you see it run more swiftly than you, and cannot catch it thus? Come therefore and let us beseech Dom John, that he himself deign to lead back the mule to us. Which when he had said, and the presbyter had returned, he bent his knees, and asked blessed John to lead back the mule: Presently at the first words of the one praying, the mule returned with as great swiftness as it had before departed with none, and rendered itself most gentle to be held and sat upon.

[126] A certain most noble matron, namely Adalascia by name, A matron freed from fevers; burning with most grave fevers for one whole year, lay before his sepulcher; and at once, health being received, whole she returned to her own. Truly not only did he himself do great and innumerable miracles, but also very many did very wonderful things in his name. There was at that time a certain presbyter, namely Zenobius by name, who ruled the parish of Brozzi ^c for 40 years and more. Who, when on a certain day, the sun verging to its setting, he hastened to celebrate the evening synaxis, as is the custom of country folk, a candle being lit hastened to kindle the lamp of the church. And when he found in it no liquor of oil, and had none from elsewhere whence he could refill it, by often repeating he kindled it, which the water, which alone remained in it, without delay extinguished.

[127] Then he, being furious in mind as he was, said: [a lamp miraculously kindled, and others wonderfully preserved before his sepulcher.] If those things are true which I saw and heard of Walbert John with my own eyes, in his name I command you, that quickly kindled, you remain unextinguished. Which was kindled with such swiftness, as if it had been divinely commanded it. And then at last it burned so brightly until morning, as if it had been filled with the purest oil. He who did it, writing to us, sent these things by dictating. Before his sepulcher indeed at that former time one lamp was set, and to be kindled at nocturnal times remained for many years; which I who write profess to have seen often fall to the ground, and always to have remained unharmed.

[128] Of a certain man, A certain man of great simplicity and obedience came to a certain little obedientiary ^e from the aforesaid monastery of Passignano for conversion ^f. Who, when on a certain day he had hired some hired laborers by command of the Prior of the same obedientiary to cultivate the agriculture, remained devoutly with them the whole day in the work of the field; and when the sun turned to its setting, and all who labored nearby returned to their own home, he said to his own: Let us also likewise go to our lodging ^g. Then, their hoes being placed upon them and departing, they found a little sheep wandering through the fields. What do you here, they say? The foul night now draws near, and you will be devoured by the bites of the wolves. Then he who was in charge said to them: Bring it with us, that we may be able to return it unharmed to him whose it is. And having caught it they carried it home with them.

[129] for reverence of St. John Gualbert, Besides, finding there a certain Vicar of the already-mentioned monastery, the sheep being kept with them, all run to salute him. By whom, when all had been saluted back, he said to them: What means the sheep which you carry with you? Who said: We found a certain man's sheep wandering, and he who was over us commanded that we bring it with us. Where is he, he says? Who, presently called, came. What, he says, have you to do with another's sheep? I command you therefore, on the part of Dom John the greater abbot, that immediately, the skin being drawn off from it, and placed on your neck as an entire covering, you carry it as quickly as possible to the place whence you took it.

[130] simple obedience. But he without delay presently did all things; and having set out on the journey, the Bishop of the city of Arezzo with a great retinue of horsemen accompanying him met him on the way. Who all, turned into very great amazement, began to question him, saying: What is this? Why do you do this? Yet they judged him to be mad. Indeed he said nothing, until they came to the Bishop. To whom the Bishop: Why do you do this? But he set it forth to him in order. And the Bishop: I absolve you, he says, from this guilt. And he: You, he says, are not my Abbot appointed ^h, but only the Bishop of your city. Caring nothing for his absolution, as he had begun, trying to fulfill his obedience in haste, he devoutly replaced it in the place whence the others had taken it, and immediately returned home joyful. These things we have placed here for this reason, that we might signify the good of obedience, which was so perfectly exercised even in the simpler ones for reverence of so great a Father.

[131] A certain monk of Passignano, But also this which I subjoin we know for certain from the venerable Brother Tebert, who in the same monastery of Passignano led most excellently the life of monastic religion. Who, sprung from a noble stock, had a certain nephew, Benzo by name, a man vigorous in arms, and diligently instructed in warlike deeds; and, so to speak, what is greater, although placed in the secular habit, was devout in the precepts of the Lord. Besides, on a certain day certain nobles, on account of an exceeding great envy now for a long time begotten, came to blows with one another, and, overcome by one another, since the aforesaid man was present, he was caught by the adverse party. And so, when he had been bound in a very close custody, he utterly despaired of being able to be rescued from it in any way.

[132] Then the aforesaid Tebert, moved with affection of charity, or of consanguinity, in the affliction of his nephew, St. John being invoked, frees the brother. has recourse to Father John, and asked, saying: Most glorious father and lord, I beseech thy most merciful clemency, that thou clemently hear me thy servant, and concerning that for which I ask, for thy great kindness, deign quickly to succor, that thou draw thy servant that Benzo free from such and so great a destructive danger, without price and any bargain. And when thou shalt have done this, then at last I promise that he will come to thy feet, and, as long as he shall live, will be present a devoted servant to thee. Then the venerable John the abbot, always ready to help those who pray to him from the heart, presently assented to the piously made prayer, and for the one for whom he had asked, quickly felt help from his oppression. A wonderful thing! Who, when he was placed in the custody of a tower of wonderful magnitude, was of himself unexpectedly let down from it with a small rope. And thus from tiles to tiles, the guards long seeking him, he escaped the hands of his enemies.

[133] Concerning Dom Bernard bishop of the city of Parma ⁱ. Who, when he was still Cardinal Presbyter, and placed across the Tiber at St. Chrysogonus, A poor Cardinal is helped with money through the intercession of St. John. when on a certain day both what he should take for food, and the price whence he might buy it, were altogether lacking to him, adducing the aforesaid Father John, he began suppliantly to ask, that he would bestow on him what he should take. But at that same hour unexpectedly two men arriving, one six shillings, the other… twelve? ^k tied in a cloth, most devoutly offered. Then a great abundance of foods was offered by certain ones. Concerning the same Dom Bernard, who transmitted a letter to the King, in which he inserted a testimony, which afterward retracting ^l.

ANNOTATIONS.

* al. of the Saint

SECOND LIFE

By the blessed Atto, abbot of Vallombrosa, and afterward bishop of Pistoia.

From those published by John Mabillon in the sixth Benedictine century, Part 2, from page 268.

BHL Number: 4398

BY BL. ATTO

PROLOGUE

The author gives a reason why he again writes the Acts of St. John: Often asked by several Brothers of the Vallombrosan Congregation, honest enough, to gather together the things which are found written concerning the holy man John, first abbot of the same Congregation, I confess I greatly feared to hear prayers of this kind. For I feared to pass over in silence those things which the catholic Brothers, who were in his time, and beheld with their own eyes very many of the things which they wrote. But those things which were written by other faithful ones after his passing, because they were very many and written by men of good testimony, I feared in any way to withdraw or suppress, thinking lest a more prolix style should burden the minds of the readers: For often I see certain ones, even prudent, on account of the length of the discourse, loathe things which are very useful, and those to whom there is no leisure to read many things, more often rejoice in an epitome.

Whence, at last acquiescing in the prayers of many, and in the many exhortations of the same Brothers, not confiding in my skill or knowledge, but hoping especially in the kindness and grace of the Creator, and in the merits of the same venerable Man or the prayers of the brothers, who besought me manifoldly upon this, I have been zealous to write in this little work part of those things which I have known to have been done by the relation of many faithful, passing over some of those which I found previously written, and of those which by the assertion of many I had frequently heard to have been true. And so the beginning of the conversation and life of holy John was this ^a.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER I.

The fatherland of St. John Gualbert, the pardon of an offense, his conversion, his monastic life.

At the time when the Simoniacal and Nicolaite heresies through Tuscany, and almost through all Italy, in the days of Henry the Emperor, defiled the Catholic Church in very many places, The birth of St. John, there was a certain nobleman, Gualbert by name, a military man, by fatherland a Florentine, having two sons, of whom one was called Ugo, the other John: who, according to the etymology of his name, the grace of God, was distinguished with various works of virtues, as in this little work concerning his sacred conversion and pious morals it will be made clear in what follows. He, while he was very dear to his parents and neighbors, and to those who knew him, for the honesty of his morals, it happened that a certain man, moved by a malign spirit, slew a certain kinsman of his, whence the aforesaid homicide by all means avoided meeting him and the other prudent men ^a who were of the consanguinity of the deceased.

[2] But now the time had drawn near, in which the divine grace would mercifully declare in John who he was to be, the pardon of an offense; and of what kind and how great he ought to be as an example of humility and mercy to many faithful. Who, when one day he was disposing to go to Florence with his armor-bearers, on the same journey he unexpectedly met the aforesaid homicide, who had slain his kinsman, in a place which a narrow path so pressed together, that neither could turn aside to another part: When the aforesaid homicide had beheld him coming from afar, despairing of life, forthwith casting himself from his horse to the earth with face cast down, with hands spread out in the manner of a cross, dying, he awaited his own destruction. But the benign youth, seeing him thus lying on the ground from exceeding fear, moved with mercy toward him, for reverence of the holy cross, which weeping he was signing with his arms and hands, disposed to indulge him, and admonished him to rise quickly and not to fear.

[3] But after he permitted his enemy to pass in peace, and for the rest granted him to go freely wherever he wished, the miracle of the cross upon him. having advanced a little, he came to the church of St. Miniato ^b: which when he enters to pray, he beholds the cross of that church bend its head to him, as though it rendered thanks to him, because for reverence of it he had mercifully spared his enemy; and what wonder, if the Almighty then wished such reverence to be shown to him through the image of his cross, whom he saw subject to his fear, given to obedience, everywhere full of the bowels of charity toward his neighbor? He loves those who love him, rewards those who serve, and glorifies those who glorify him. But that same Cross, as an indication of so great a miracle, is kept even now in the monastery of St. Miniato with much care.

[4] But the servant of the Lord, seeing this, marveling, and made very fearful, began to think within himself His conversion how he could better serve God, believing, and often turning over in his mind, how great rewards he would receive in heaven, if he served the Lord to the best of his ability, who had known that so great and so distinguished a miracle had appeared for a small service, as it seemed to him. He disposed therefore within himself to conceive a hatred of the world, utterly to cast off earthly honors and its false riches, and solicitously to think how great glory is promised to the just, how great a punishment to the unjust; how vain it is to place hope first in perishable things, and afterward to lie subject to eternal punishments. While, proceeding on the journey on which he was going, he anxiously thought such things, he came near to the city, where, commanding his armor-bearers ^c, he said: Proceed to the lodging where we are wont to stay, and prepare the things necessary for us and the horses. But the companions, as their lord had commanded them, faithfully carried it out.

[5] He seeks the monastic life, They withdrawing, the servant of the Lord John, inspired by the divine Spirit, turned aside from the journey which he had begun, and came without delay to the monastery of St. Miniato, and descending from his horse, the abbot of the monastery being presently sought, humbly asked him to hear his desire, and to bring it to effect out of the charity of God; disclosing to him the mercy which he had clemently shown to the above-said homicide, and how, having afterward entered the church, he saw the cross bend its head to him; whence he had conceived the beginning of his conversion. Then the abbot, having heard concerning the cross what he had intimated to him, weighing that it was an unheard-of and stupendous miracle, counseled him to leave the world and its glory in all things. Nevertheless, wishing to know more fully the constancy of his will and to prove his perseverance, he began to foretell him hard and harsh things, and that a man, strong in body, flourishing in youth, could not easily endure monastic poverty. To whom John said: Temporal glory is not to be sought, which quickly passes; nor the strength of the body, which daily fails.

[6] from which his father tries to draw him back; And when they spoke these and things like these, and the abbot did not fully answer his will; the servant whom he had sent ahead to Florence, considering that his lord did not come, returned home, and made known ^d to his parents what had been done concerning him. Whence the father, disturbed and anxious, came to Florence, and diligently inquired through the whole city through acquaintances and friends; desiring to know what had become of his son. Running also through the churches, coming to the monastery of St. Miniato, he inquired the same. What more? When he hears that his son is there, and that he wishes to receive the monastic garments; Gualbert asks the abbot to lead his son to him. But the abbot, returning to John, admonishes him to go out to his father. To whom John says: What do you say, Lord? I have disposed to desert my carnal father, and all transitory things, and to follow God, who created me, in all things: but I recognize that my father has come to this end, that he may snatch me from the monastery, if he can, and lead me back without delay to secular things. But when the father, awaiting the abbot outside, heard these things, he began with disturbed voices to cry out, that he would bring many adversities upon the monastery, unless his son were at once restored.

[7] but in vain. Meanwhile the man of the Lord John, desiring to hasten his salvation and purpose, and understanding that the threats and fury of his father were increasing, began to think within himself: from whom can I more worthily receive the holy habit, than from the altar, in which the Blood of Christ is offered and received? Perceiving therefore a certain brother's cowl then set apart; taking it, he enters the church in haste; first he shore his hair, and then reverently placed the cowl upon the altar, and joyfully clothed himself with it, all the monks marveling and rejoicing at the integrity of his faith. He feared indeed not a little, lest perhaps the abbot, moved by the threats or allurements of his father, should restore him, or suffer him to go out of the monastery. After these things the abbot, entering, and beholding him sitting among the rest of the brothers, returns to the father, and admonishes him, that if he wishes, he may enter to see his son.

[8] Whom, when the Father perceived clothed in the monastic habit; His fervor in the religious life. grieving, crying out, and greatly mourning, he rends his garments, beats his breast, tears his cheeks, and as if made mad, repeats that he is wretched and desolate. At last, long admonished by the abbot and the monks and his own companions and his son, at last restored to a saner mind, blessing his son manifoldly, he exhorts him to ascend to better things: and thus consoled in the Lord, he returns to his own, not without grief. Then the servant of the Lord John began to keep the strait and narrow way according to the measure of his strength. He was busy daily to bewail his past sins, to mortify his flesh with fastings, abstinences, prayers, and excessive vigils: and so he shone with the flower of humility, patience, obedience, and the other virtues, that although he believed himself inferior to the rest, he was held by all more sublime.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

The dignity of abbot being refused, he persecutes the Simoniacs, for which cause, the monastery being deserted, he gathers companions of a new institute.

After some time the abbot of the same place, already often mentioned, The abbot elected does not acquiesce. migrated from the world. After whose death all the brothers with unanimous will elected the holy man John abbot ^a. Which office the man of the Lord humbly was zealous to decline, desiring rather to be under than to be over, frequently repeating with the prophet: I am a worm, and not a man, the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. At which time a certain Ubert was in the same monastery, who, caught by nefarious cupidity, received the governance of the abbey through money from the Bishop of the city of Florence. Which when the man of the Lord had learned, with another favoring him he withdrew thence secretly, and having entered the city, they came to a certain great old man, Teuzo by name, who near the monastery of the holy Mary ever Virgin of the aforesaid city had shut himself up in a certain cell, from which he ministered salutary counsels to the faithful coming to him.

[10] The counsel of a certain hermit being sought, This man of God publicly condemned the Simoniacal heresy, which had utterly invaded almost the whole Ecclesiastical order at that time. To whom the man of God John, approaching, addresses him with these words: I beseech, my Father, that to me, placed in no small hesitation, you withdraw not your counsels. To live under a Simoniacal father I greatly fear, and how I may avoid it I am utterly ignorant. To whom the old man answered: What you say I hold agreeable enough; but what counsel I may give you I am ignorant. For that you should serve as a soldier under Simon Magus, you will by no means have counsel from me. If you transfer yourself to another monastery in these parts, when you think to flee the teeth of the lion, you will not escape the bite of the serpent. To whom John: Do not, father, omit to give counsel. For I am ready, for the sake of following the truth, to do whatever you shall command.

[11] He publicly harasses the Simoniacs and deserts the monastery. Perceiving therefore the faith and constancy of the man, the old man, exulting, said to him: Go with your companion, and before all in the public forum of the city, cry out that the Bishop and abbot are Simoniacs, and thence yield the place. Who, fulfilling his admonitions, coming to the forum on the day on which he knew there was the greater multitude of men, openly called the Bishop and abbot Simoniacs. Which saying brought a great horror to be feared by many ^b; certain favorers of the Bishop crying out: Let him by no means escape, but let him be slain. Then certain of his kinsmen, rescuing him from the tumult, secretly dismissed him. Who, having returned to the great old man, related in order what had happened; and he, congratulating them, counseled them to go into the parts of Romagna, and to seek a fit monastery, where they could freely serve Christ.

[12] Mercy shown to the poor, As they went away for some days to various places, when in their food they had nothing but one bread, they met a poor man asking for nourishment. Then the man of the Lord said to his companion: Put your hand, brother, into the wallet, and divide the bread which we have, and offer half to the poor man. To whom the companion answered: To this one walking through various places much will be abundantly given: but we, who have nothing but one bread, whence shall we be refreshed? And he: Do not delay to give further. The bread being received therefore, the poor man gave thanks. To whom again he commands: Give the other half. Which done, he bids his companion enter the fortress, and seek some food through the houses. Who, searching various houses, at last returning: Behold, he says, you who commanded to give the bread, I went around the whole fortress, and, except three eggs, found nothing. Then certain shepherds, hearing these things, go to the fortress, announce within what they had heard: and behold a certain one, moved with mercy, offered them one bread. Likewise a woman offered another in a shining linen cloth; a third also another gave. Then John: Behold, brother, receive what you gave, and offer no more unwilling, what the common Creator abundantly administers to us.

[13] Traversing thence various places, and not finding them very fit for themselves, From Camaldoli he comes to Vallombrosa, they came to Camaldoli ^c: where dwelling for many days, they inspected the abstinence and conversation of those dwelling there ^d. Then the Prior of the same place, wishing to promote the man of God to the sacred Orders, and that he should promise stability of place, he utterly refused, because his fervor was only in the cenobitic life, and to live according to the Rule of St. Benedict. Then the aforesaid Prior commands him to depart, and to fulfill his desire. It is reported also (the divine Spirit revealing) that he said: Go, and begin your institute in the name of the Trinity. Who proceeding thence, went to see the place of Vallombrosa ^e: to which, when the place pleased him, he resolved to fix his step in the name of Christ. While he stayed there and advanced in holy conversation, God did not suffer the lamp long to lie hidden in the darkness, which he was disposing to set upon the candlestick of the Church for illuminating the souls of many.

[14] To intimate therefore his life, God the creator of all things sent there from various parts his servants, and he gathers various disciples. pricked by the Holy Spirit, out of his liberality to the help of his servant. For when his fame had gradually begun to be diffused through the nearer places, laymen and clerics began to come to him for the sake of visitation and conversion: among whom then came most fervent in religion Erizo, who, being keeper of the Brothers and Prior, so stably remained for more than thirty years in the same place, that in these he did not even once come down from the mountain to the villages. Then that Albert of the highest gravity and discretion, who for more than forty years was cellarer and cook of that monastery, nor ever for the labor of the cell deserted the office of the kitchen, nor for the labor of the kitchen omitted the care of the cell. Then also the magnanimous Teuzo came, who so, even to old age, was fervent in charity, that he wished to bestow from the heart, to the best of his ability, healing not only on the souls, but also on the bodies of those coming there.

[15] There had gone out from the aforesaid monastery very many Brothers, A certain Abbess relieves his poverty, desiring willingly to be instructed under him in a new conversion. These Masters by example and exhortation, when they had begun to be fervent in holy conversion, their fame began to be spread everywhere. Hearing which, Itta abbess of St. Hilary, to whose jurisdiction the place itself especially pertained, sent them some little subsidy of books and provisions. At which time they suffered so grave an infestation from certain iniquitous men, instigated by a malign spirit, when they wished to exterminate them from the place itself, that they were even wearied of living. But mindful of the Apostle saying: All who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus suffer persecution; embracing innocence and patience, often rendering good for evil to their persecutors, after many contests with them, at last they obtained peace, grace, and victory.

[16] They remained there a long time, having only a small wooden oratory. They then endured such want of provisions, and various disciples come to him, though pressed by poverty. that often three per day divided one bread. Whatever little chambers and vestries there were, the capacity of one sack contained. Which want they long endured with all joy and exultation without murmur. Thence from distant parts also clerics and laymen began to flow together to him. Then came that great Rodulf, who for a long time in the same place had the care of hospitality, and afterward held the care of the monastery of Moscheta in the office of abbot. Peter also, who was long procurator of the asses, afterward of the cows; then at Passignano held the office of Prior, thence abbot at Fucecchio, and at last was Cardinal of the Roman church and Bishop of Albano. Then Lætus, joyful in countenance and name, who was abbot of Passignano; and Rusticus, who, as long as John the father lived, held the exterior care, and third, after the death of the holy man John, for a long time held the care of the whole Congregation as Prior.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

Endowed with estates by Abbess Itta, and elected abbot by his own, he takes care that the monastic discipline be rigidly observed.

Observing the Rule exactly Perceiving therefore Father John so many and such men sent to him from heaven as a help, he disposed with them to observe the Rule of blessed Benedict in all things, and began to receive those newly coming with that probation which the Rule intimates: who, first instructed by various and many probations in the lodging, afterward are again proved in the exterior cell. To whom, a year being completed, he gave the desired garments, they making manifestly regular profession; to whom thence it was not permitted to take or seek anything, but all things were given by the Prior. Father John had also this singular grace, that in the first sight or colloquy he knew, whether anyone coming asked entrance with an upright or a feigned heart. And this gift was conferred on him by Jesus Christ, that he did not more willingly receive the person of a powerful or rich man, than of a poor and abject one. For he said that it was a great impediment to a rich man for humbling his heart, the very money which he brings with him.

[18] Hearing meanwhile that Abbess Itta the place had grown in name and religion, he is endowed with estates by Abbess Itta. by defined boundaries she handed over by writing suitable possessions in the circuit of the place, and in other more remote places granted several mansi to the same place. And while John the servant of Christ, still holding the office of Prior, solicitously provided for the souls and bodies of the brothers, he imposed on himself the greatest abstinence and valid labor. For when it was the time of refreshment, he supplied his necessity with the smallest food or drink, so much that he seemed not to recreate himself, but somehow to ward off the danger of hunger and thirst. But when before the time of refreshment he thirsted, as one who more frequently insisted on the work of the hands, then he put his hands and feet into cold water, that from the exceeding cold he might somewhat temper the danger of thirst. He refused also to take anything outside the appointed regular hours. Whence he incurred such weakness of the flesh, that he fell into that syncope, his stomach being broken, which we read blessed Gregory endured. For unless the brothers often refreshed him, he seemed about to breathe out his Spirit: which they know that he endured even to his death, who perhaps knew him.

[19] But when the violence of hunger frequently oppressing him he would indiscreetly overcome, Given to wonderful abstinence or tried to defer refreshment; from the excess of his infirmity his teeth were so clenched, that unless someone divided them by inserting a little knife, and put some liquid in his mouth, he was believed to be continually about to expire. Nevertheless, thus continually tortured with incredible languor, he in no way murmured; but imputing this to his own sins, with continual praises commended the divine justice. Who, before he was ill, had been of such strength for himself and others, and of such abstinence, that unless He to whom we sing, "Lord, incline thy heavens," under the occasion of this infirmity had humbled his mind; very rare would he be who could keep his institutes. But his own infirmity being known and experienced, he became of such mercy and such discretion, that no one was believed more merciful than he. Who, although he was weak in body, yet in all watchfulness and solicitude was most vigilant in mind. Which the brothers of the same place seeing, they resolved to elect him abbot, whom they had known to have been, healthy and sick, a most vigilant Prior and solicitous keeper.

[20] And so, by the counsel of Teuzo of Florence, there assembled from the city, he is elected abbot. and from the castles, many religious and clerics, and faithful laymen, the abbess of St. Hilary the confessor especially desiring it, and with the brothers of the same place they elected the aforesaid Father to the office of abbot. Whom, unwilling and resisting with all his strength, they drew from his bed, and, though unwilling, placed on the higher seat. Who, when he was violently compelled to it, is reported to have said to the bystanders: Why are you mad? If you impose on a pelican the name of a hawk, it will never be anything but a pelican. And so the man of God, the office and name of abbot being taken up, began diligently to inspect the sense of the rule, and with all his strength to give effort to its observance. He forbade the monks ever to advance beyond the boundary of the cloister, except those to whom the care of receiving guests was enjoined, and the obedience of exterior things. Among the rest which he taught his brothers to observe, he did not suffer the dormitory to be at night without a clear light, saying,

that it was lighter to be borne that the oratory be without light, than the dormitory, if want did not permit both.

[21] He excites his subjects to virtue by his example, But the brothers, whatever the Father enjoined, frequently instructed by his example or admonition, with all obedience faithfully observed; so loving the meanness and extremity of garments, that they then used the hair-shirt garment, which no one was compelled to wear unwilling, nor, willing to wear it, was prohibited. Then the same Father commanded from the various wool of his sheep a mixed cloth to be made, by whose designation it might more especially be known whoever was of the school of so great a Father. Although at this time very many (alas) appear who show themselves to be of this school by garments and not by morals. But in the days on which the monks began to frequent him, God, for whose love the man of God was disposing to rule those subject to him in his way, sent to him also fearing lay men, who, desiring to keep the law of the Lord in all things, differed almost nothing from the monks in good morals, except the quality of garments, and the silence, which, occupied in exterior things, they could not more fully observe. Such proved converts therefore the Father sent to the market and all exterior things securely. He was also of much austerity, at first against offenders; afterward very tranquil in rebuking and reproving, so much that he seemed to have maternal bowels. Wherefore those who loved him greatly feared him; and those who feared him greatly loved him ^a.

[22] and obtains the consecration of his oratory. In those days the aforesaid king Henry came to Florence, and there, when he had heard from many many good things concerning him, the things heard so pleased him, that at the exhortation ^b of the often-mentioned Teuzo, he directed a Catholic bishop there to consecrate the place, and the queen also sent agreeable gifts. Who, coming to the mountain, then blessed the greater altar in honor of holy Mary. Then, after some years, Dom Ubert ^c of the holy Roman Church, who was one of the seven Cardinals, of venerable life, coming from those parts, consecrated the whole oratory with two altars on the seventh of the Ides of July; who was bishop of the title of St. Rufina, whose memory even today is held celebrated at Rome, and hitherto flourishes in many holy works.

[23] He venerates the sacred orders and builds various monasteries. The brothers, assiduously growing from good to better, keeping the office of the altar in all veneration, suffered no one to minister, if perhaps he had been before a Simoniac, or concubinary, or corrupted by another mortal crime. Their master also greatly honored all the ecclesiastical orders whom he knew to be Catholic; so that he did not presume to open the doors of the church, unless first some ordained man opened them. About the same time several noble and faithful men offered places for building new monasteries. Others asked him to take dissolved monasteries under his governance, and to reform them to the norm which he himself with his own kept. Then he newly constructed the monastery of St. Salvi: in Moscheta another in honor of St. Peter: at Razzuolo a third, in honor of St. Paul: another of St. Cassian on Mount Scalario. Then also into his governance he took old Passignano, and another in Romagna, under the honor of St. Reparata, where through the several places the solicitous Father ordained provosts. Whom, when he was somewhat relieved from infirmity, he took care to visit in person, and honestly to correct, and to lead the morals of the brothers to better things. Among the rest, the tenacious, who abounded in temporal things, he more harshly rebuked, admonishing them to trust rather in the divine liberality than in the fullness of granaries.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

For Pope Leo and his own he wonderfully obtains food and works many other miracles.

At a certain time, when he was at Passignano, Pope Leo arrived with a great retinue, Leo IX is received by him. and about to take refreshment with his own, rested near the monastery. Then blessed John asks the steward whether they had fish. When he learned that there was none, he commanded the converts to go fishing in a certain lake near the monastery: but all asserting that there had never been fish in that lake, he yet commanded that they should go, and believe without doubt that the Lord's patronage would be present. They proceeded at last, and, all marveling, brought two great pikes, found, to blessed John, which he, rejoicing, received, and caused to be presented at once to the Lord Pope.

[25] There had come among the rest to him Teuzo, a venerable father and old man, whom he set over the brothers at Razzuolo, The charity of Teuzo and the death of Berizo whom he loved from the heart above the rest, because he found him more fervent in charity. For Father John was very merciful, so that the copes offered to Vallombrosa, in time of want he would sell, and give the whole price to the poor. Berizo also, abbot of St. Salvi, having a wish of dying, not in his own, but in the monastery of Vallombrosa, came to him, asking him to obtain this by his prayers. Whose prayers devoutly receiving, the benign father prayed for him, and, as he had long desired, there on the third day he died, and was buried.

[26] About the same time, when the brothers were pressed by excessive want, and there was not in the monastery To the famished Brothers what could be set before the brothers for food except three loaves, he commanded these to be broken, and to each brother one fragment to be administered. He commanded again the cellarer to slaughter one ram, and to minister it to the brothers to be eaten. Today, he says, we are in want, but tomorrow, God preparing, we shall abound. And saying these things, he proceeded to St. Salvi, hoping that God would never suffer his household to labor longer with hunger. But the brothers, going to the table at the hour of dinner, shuddering at the flesh set before them, ate only a few fragments of bread, and utterly abstained from the flesh. But on another day, according to the prophecy of holy John, certain men came with asses loaded with wheat flour, saying that they were directed by noble men: but who they were, could not hitherto be known.

[27] Twice in a wonderful manner he obtains food. Likewise at another time, when the steward of the place said that he had consumed all the food, and asked the blessed man what he ought to give to the brothers; the man of God commanded that one of the three oxen which they had should be killed, and, cut into pieces, set before the brothers. To whom the steward: What, he says, shall we do after we have eaten this one? And he: After this you shall kill another also, that being consumed, if there be need, you shall give the third also. But blessed John, believing it more just to refresh the brothers with flesh, than for them to perish by hunger, hoped that the mercy of God would be present, who is wont to succor his servants placed in straits. What more? The brothers at the appointed hour go to the table, and seeing only the flesh are astonished, and touching it in no way, silent, patient, remained. And when the servant of God had prayed at length, someone began to knock at the gates of the monastery. The cellarer, hearing the signal, went out in haste, and there found a man with a towel full of loaves. Which, receiving joyfully, he swiftly set before the brothers, forgetting to ask who had brought them, or who had sent them. Who, when after a little, about to render thanks, he had returned to the gates, he found no one, and asking the converts concerning him, they said that on that day they had seen no man there.

[28] The morals of the clerics, But by his example and admonitions, the delicate clerics, their marriages and concubines being spurned, began to stand together in the churches, and to lead a common life; hospices also constructed and ancient churches renewed are known by his help, and in several places changed for the better. Nor is it a wonder if men, or any places, were changed for the better by his example, whose life will present no small example to those desiring to be edified. He was indeed most sparing in food, diligent in prayers, intent in vigils, studious in silence, most generous in alms according to the measure of his strength, and when he disposed to give anything, a man, or a beast, or something else, he was zealous to give the better to others, but to keep the worse for himself. He always used the meanest garments. Nor in so great an infirmity of his did he suffer a support to be placed under his body, or a feather pillow under his head.

[29] and by his example amends monasteries. But when he lay sick, day and night he caused the holy books to be read before him, that, instructed by assiduous reading, he might competently become skilled in the divine law and the divine sentences. And when he lay sick, or proceeded, or rode, he continually used the cowl. By his example also the celebrated Office on the night of the holy Resurrection through Tuscany and other places is now performed. And when the fame of his religion was held celebrated in several places, Count Bulgar resolved to place his monastery of Settimo under the governance of the same Father. Which when he had scarcely obtained from him, he rejoiced greatly, hoping that by his effort the place itself would come to better things. Which afterward became clear, when the fiery law, made there, wonderfully exalted the same place, and before unknown, afterward rendered it named to very many.

[30] Meanwhile the man of the Lord began to become illustrious with various miracles. He frees a Brother from drowning. A certain man full of madness stayed in the monastery of the same Father; who, when he was sent for the sake of healing to Passignano, came to the river Arno, entered a skiff which he had found, and casting himself from it, as his madness compelled him, into the middle of the stream, said: Here who this John is, and of what kind his life is, will be plain. Whom, falling, the water presently receiving sustained, lest he be drowned, and by the merits of the holy Man led him to the outer bank safe and sound, as a light piece of wood. Here it is clearer than light that the holy man John was most dear to his Creator, at the memory of whom alone he so swiftly and so benignly freed the aforesaid wretch from the danger of death.

[31] Likewise when the same venerable Father was returning from visiting other monasteries to his own, He miraculously distributes food to the poor, mindful of the very great want by which he had known many to be pressed, entering the monastery, calling to him the dispenser of the household, by name Goffredus, and the brother Rusticus the monk procurator, he said: Let us inspect our granary, how it is. Which he then found to be abundantly filled. To whom, as if ironically, he said: Very many are oppressed by the present necessity of hunger, but you abound more richly; and immediately he commanded a certain small vessel, holding four or five measures, to be filled, and thus by himself, from the third hour to the ninth, occupied with so great liberality of the burden, he in no way withdrew thence, but to each one coming, to one much, to one little, he distributed, and it always remained full, God bestowing.

[32] Then when he stayed in the monastery of blessed Salvi, and he knows the hidden things of a certain brother. and through Azo, who afterward was abbot of St. Reparata, sent gifts to the man of God Teuzo enclosed, by way of blessing of food, the aforesaid Azo, when he returned, departing from the way, entered a certain hut, and spoke many things with the Brothers whom he found there. Who, returning to the Father, when he asked of him, whence do you come? And he answered that he had gone and returned whither he had been sent; presently he heard from him: I indeed did not command you thither whence you come. Then, recognizing by the spirit his departure from the way, and entrance into the hut, and the words which he had with the Brothers he found, he made all things manifest in order.

[33] At the same time in which the Simoniacal heresy sprouted through Tuscany, He restores health to a sick man. while the aforesaid Father was still in the same monastery of St. Salvi, a certain Florentine, whose son, constrained by languor, awaited near death, came to ask that he heal and restore his sick son. When he said to him that these were not his own, but the Apostles', the father, groaning, prostrate at his feet, so long insisted with prayers, until the man of God, moved with compassion, dismissing him to his own, promised that he would pray to God for him: then immediately, that one departing, the Brothers being called together, he suppliantly gave himself to prayer. They being humbly prostrate on the ground, and prayers for him being poured out to the Lord, He to whom it is sung in the psalm, "Salvation is the Lord's," through the intercession of his beloved, restored the sick one to entire health. This miracle the same one, to whom the benefit of health was bestowed, testified with living voice, as long as he lived, to have happened as we said.

[34] He refuses to receive the gift of another whom he had healed. At another time also, a certain soldier from the town of Cerliano was held by a grave infirmity, and was very well known to blessed John: and behold a servant of the same soldier coming to him; and blessed John, when he beheld him, questioned him concerning his master: To whom he answered: Lord Father, now for two months and more, he is held by much infirmity. Which hearing, the venerable Father takes bread, and sent it to him by way of blessing. After the fourth day he came to him in person, and for the health which he had received, rendered many thanks to God and to him. [But when the same soldier again fell ill, and believed he would die a little after, he commanded his son] that he should give to holy John the horse on which he was accustomed to sit, and asked that he would intercede for him. But the holy man, despising transitory things, loving poverty, coveting heavenly things, returned the horse to the man, and commanded him to return home with it. And when he greatly resisted, and asserted that he would not lead the horse back, at last compelled by the command of the holy Man, joyful he returned to his own with the horse, blessing God in admiration of so great a Father. Which was done, while he was still in the monastery of Moscheta.

[35] He disapproves sumptuous buildings, Which place when he visited at another time, perceiving in it the houses to be larger and more beautiful than he wished, Dom Rodulf abbot of the same place being summoned, he said to him with a most serene ^a countenance: You in this place, with great expenses, by which very many poor could have been relieved, from your own wish have built palaces. And turning to a certain small stream flowing nearby, he said: God almighty, who art wont to make greater things out of the least, may I see through the smallness of this stream the swift vengeance upon this enormous building. And saying these things, without delay he departed. O wonderful power of God! immediately the stream, he withdrawing, began to grow, and gathering most copious floods of waters, its proper channel being left, rushed headlong from the mountain; drawing with it immense crags of rocks and trees, it utterly overturned the aforesaid houses. Whence the abbot of the same place, disturbed with the Brothers, was disposing to move the monastery from the same place. Whom the benign Father consoled with these words: Do not, he says, fear, nor change your habitation: for that stream will henceforth in no way harm you further. Which prophecy of his has remained true and firm up to now. Finally, that stream henceforth in no way injured the houses there, nor did what then happened by the prayers of the holy man ever again occur.

[36] and he teaches that novices are to be received freely. Again when he had heard that a certain man coming to conversion had written his whole patrimony in a document, and, his successors being deprived of the inheritance, had brought it with him to the monastery; presently he came to the aforesaid monastery, and commanded the abbot, who had received the document, to bring it to him without delay. Which when he received, tearing it minutely, he cast its fragments on the ground. It seemed more just to him indeed to live with scanty means, than to be proud with multiplied wealth. Then, greatly moved, invoking God and his Apostle, he said: Almighty Lord, and you holy Peter Prince of the Apostles, avenge me of that monastery; and saying these things, angry he immediately withdrew. When he had gone not far, a sudden fire was kindled there, which burnt the whole monastery for the greater part. Which fire when his companion beheld, and announced it to him, he neither looked back, nor returned to the place, but by the way which he had begun hastened to the monastery of Vallombrosa.

[37] At another time, when he was in the same monastery, and Pope Stephen ^b passed through the nearer places, He avoids the conversation of Pope Stephen, he sent his legates to him, and asked him to come to him. And when, weighed down by excessive sickness, he could neither go to him nor wished, the legates return to the Lord Pope, asserting that he could not come to them. To whom he answered: Go, and tell him, if he cannot otherwise, let him have himself brought on his bed. Who, presently returning to him, announce the command of the Lord Pope. Which the holy father hearing, immediately enters the church, beseeches God and his saints, that they would give him some counsel without scandal, that he need not go to the above-said Pope. The prayer completed, going out to the legates of the Pope, casting himself on his bed, he caused some Converts to come, and commanded himself to be carried to the Pope. And when he had proceeded a little from the monastery, presently the air was most violently disturbed, so that an excess of winds, and an immensity of rains, burst forth alike. Which when the legates beheld, believing him truly a man of God, they caused him to return to the monastery, and they themselves with hasty course returned to the pontiff. When the Lord Pope learned this, and said that he was a saint: I do not wish him to come to me further, but to remain quietly in his monastery; and let him beseech the clemency of God for me and the state of the Catholic Church.

[38] But in the same monastery he gave a medicine with his own hand to a certain brother, and he denies prayers to a dead brother. and forthwith, another cause emerging, went off elsewhere in haste. But the aforesaid sick man, not keeping himself cautiously, within a few days expired: for whose memory throughout the whole congregation, as is the custom to be done for the dead, he designated his death by a letter ^c. And not much after, the man of God returning, asks the abbot of the place concerning that brother, how he had died. When he relates all things to him in order, he said to him: Send as quickly as possible, and from the whole Congregation blot out his memory. Which when it had been done, some time having elapsed, to a certain monk of the same place about midday the dead man visibly appeared. To whom he saying, are you not such a monk? He answered, indeed. How do you fare now? Then he: I am excommunicated and separated from the fellowship of the faithful ^d by father John. The living one added, saying: How can we help you? Again he says: If holy John shall reconcile me. Who immediately went to the holy man, and whatever he had seen and heard concerning the dead man, weeping much, related to him in order. Then he, most pious in mind as he was, commanded the abbot of the place to come, and for the soul of the excommunicated Brother the Office and alms in the same monastery, and through the whole Congregation, as if he had died on the same day, urgently commanded to be done. Which all when they had been faithfully completed, the dead one again after thirty days likewise appeared to the same ^e monk, and said to him: Go, and give thanks to the holy father John for me, adding that I, reconciled through him, dwell in the company of the Elect.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER V.

Charity toward the sick and poor, and various miracles of his.

Deserting the monastic life, one is punished. At another time a certain convert repented, by the instigation of the devil, of having deserted the world and come to the monastery. Who, when he had often asked blessed John with excessive and importunate prayers to depart from the monastery with his leave, at last the blessed Man suffered him to go away, not with tranquil mind. And when he had withdrawn a little from Vallombrosa, the devil leading, going off, from the high rock through which he went, cast down by the same one whom he followed, he immediately expired. Whence it is plainly shown how dangerous it was to leave the holy Man, or to incur his indignation.

[40] He frees a dying man from the infestation of a demon, Likewise another man, Florentius by name, of urban eloquence and civil ^a, who had been greatly stained with Simoniacal perfidy in the defense of a certain Bishop, when he was held by a most grave infirmity, utterly asserted himself near death: But amid grave mournings and frequent sobs of his own, through his friends he asked from the holy Man the monastic habit. To whom, without much delay of probation, he by no means gave the habit, knowing it to be written: Prove the spirits, whether they be of God. Who, the monastic habit being received, when he had now recovered, and surveyed the cloisters of the monastery, supporting himself with a staff, the former infirmity returned to him, so that he seemed to be near death. Which when the holy Man had heard, the Brothers being taken with him, in haste he sought the bed of the sick man, and with many prayers commended to the Lord him who was soon about to die. But the sick man began to cover his face with the cloak with which he had been covered. To whom the abbot John: What is it that you do? Then he, pale and trembling, said: With terrible eyes I perceive the devil standing near, from whose mouth a flame of wonderful magnitude, and from whose nostrils a sulphurous smoke goes forth; where is he, he says? Behold there he is, Lord father. Then blessed John swiftly took away the cross from the hands of the one holding it, and struck the devil strongly with it. Who immediately vanished from the eyes of the marveling one, like smoke. Then the sick man cried out with what voice he could, saying: Thanks be to God, thanks be to God; behold he flees, behold he has withdrawn. Behold now the blessed Mary is present, holy Peter with holy Benedict. Scarcely had he completed the words, and immediately he breathed out his spirit.

Hence it is clearly plain how exalted of merit this holy Father was, by whose prayers he himself, sick, was freed from the infestation of demons through the barrier of the Cross.

[41] Not long after there came to him a certain rustic, and he heals the sick son of a rustic. and cast down at his knees, with great voices began earnestly to ask him for his only son, placed in the death-agony, that by his prayers he would free him from the imminent danger of death. To whom, greatly compassionating, he commands the Brothers to beseech the mercy of God for the sick one. What more? The Brothers praying in the Church, he prostrate on the ground, with great groans asking the mercy of Christ, sent bread, and immediately restored health to the sick one.

[42] Then when the want of hunger vehemently pressed, The famished poor and the aforesaid Father was then before the doors of the monastery of Razzuolo ^b, beholding a herd of his cows ^c feeding on the ridge of the Alps, one of them, when he had nothing to give to the poor asking nourishment, he asked from blessed Paul, saying: O holy Paul, if you would give one of those to these poor. As he said these things, one rushed down, and immediately was dead; whose flesh he commanded at once to be given to the poor. This being consumed, praying suppliantly, he received a second, third, and fourth. All of which he gave to the poor. For which reason the shepherds, made sad, led the herd of cows from the other side of the mountain. But the same man of God, desiring to succor the petition of the poor, when he had nothing to give to those asking, again turned to holy Paul, said: O holy Apostle, these have fled by changing place; you, who are the patron of this place, they cannot flee. You who preached mercy much, give me what I may still offer to the needy. Thus, he praying with tears, again out of the number of the cows five fell, whose flesh all he commanded to be ministered to the poor for food.

[43] Then the Shepherds, greatly disturbed for the loss of nine animals, in a wonderful manner he feeds, coming against him, redouble great complaints, saying: Better would you stay in your monastery of Vallombrosa, than come here; to whom he placidly answered: I know that you are sad concerning this, and wish to spend no more. Do not fear, for none of them at this time will die further. Which also was done. And thus, he praying, the ruin and death of the cows was first, and as soon as he ceased to pray, they remained unharmed. Meanwhile the same holy Father, whose mind the flame of charity burnt, seeing still the want of the famished, and that he had nothing which he could quickly give, commanded all the milk of the surviving animals to be distributed to the poor; and thus, long offering the liquor of milk, he freed many from the danger of hunger.

[44] and mercy shown to the needy; In those same days, when he was returning to the monastery of Vallombrosa, the steward of Ronta ^d being summoned, he promised to send him a flock of wethers, in which were many rams; and commanded him to feed himself from the milk of the aforesaid sheep, and to sustain daily from it as many poor as he could with him; but the aforesaid rams, until one of them survived, to bestow on the needy. And so it was done. A certain servant of his also came to him from Razzuolo to Vallombrosa, announcing that a very great bear frequently did loss to the cows. To whom he said: Go and kill it. Who, returning, and finding the aforesaid bear standing in a certain hollow of a tree, striking the tree with an axe, and fearing nothing, said: Come out, for the Lord abbot has commanded that I kill you. Coming out, it was immediately slain by him.

[45] certain miracles Besides, the venerable Father, passing thence through the Alps, came to the place in which the obstacle of so great a tree had fallen, which many yoke of oxen, and a multitude of men, could not lightly remove: nor could the way be changed by another road, the rocks standing in the way. Where, moderately disturbed, as if complaining, he began to say to his companion: alas, what shall we do? And turning to prayers, when to return seemed grievous to him, nor could he proceed, he humbly besought the divine help. Then Ugo the plebanus of St. John Major, trying whether he could find some passage. At last, setting about it, he raised the mass of the tree onto his neck, whose weight many men, nor many yoke of oxen, as aforesaid, could in any way move; and held it up long like a light shrub, as he himself often testified. And thus the venerable Father and the aforesaid plebanus passed unharmed. Which miracle the inhabitants of the land testify even now, adding that it was done in the place which is called At the old Cells, not far from the monastery of Razzuolo.

[46] he works. Likewise the aforesaid Father commanded the keepers of the oxen of Razzuolo to plow the whole day, and by night to gather fodder. But they, answering that they feared bears and wolves and nocturnal robbers, he said to them: Blessed Paul will keep them unharmed. Then robbers coming by night bound one of the oxen by the horns, but could not move it from the place. Which in the morning the keepers found still bound, and it began to shed tears in the manner of men, and they announced this to the aforesaid Father. To whom the Father, coming, said: O ox, go, and fulfill your office. For holy Paul did not wish to lose you, preserved from the noxious beasts and the rapine of robbers.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

He knows secrets, heals the sick, instructs many.

After these things, when he was at Passignano, a certain man from the territory of Poni came to him, He indicates a hidden crime to a certain man. saying that he wished to leave the world. Whom, as if rejecting, he commanded to go away: but the man, wonderfully insisting, and suppliantly praying that he would have mercy on him, at last, most gentle as he was, assented to his pious petition. Who, coming, betrayed his guilt in part, and blushed to confess certain greater ones. Whom, not after several days, he placed outside for the receiving of guests, and the service of pilgrims. But the pious Father, knowing by divine inspiration what he had wickedly concealed; one day, when the same Gerard ministered nourishments to arriving guests, calling him aside, said to him: Gerard, why did you presume thus to deceive me? But he, trembling, answered: How, my Father? And the Father: When you conveniently can, come to me, and you shall indicate what you professed. But he, fulfilling the command of the Father, when it was permitted him, came to him: to whom the man of the Lord: Did you not say to me that you would entirely lay open the hidden things of your crimes? And he: Indeed I said so. And the Father to him: If you said so, why did you not wish to lay open to me that most cruel deed which on the day of the holy Epiphany of the Lord and on the vigil of the same day you committed with the wife of such a man? Moreover so grave an iniquity did not suffice you, unless, to your confusion, you again dispose in your mind to return to so great a crime? Then he, confused in mind, seeing himself caught in the snare of his own lie, immediately fell to the ground, seeks penance for his crime with tears, and confesses that all things which the holy Father had indicated were true.

[48] Likewise when he was in the same monastery, a noble man, He obtains health for a sick man by his prayers Ubaldus by name, of the fortress of Figline, most well known and most familiar to the holy Man, seized by a very strong sickness, seemed to be brought to extremity; who, his soldiers and all his household being called, took care to dispose concerning his own house and his affairs. Then his wife calls one of her nobles, Benzo by name, her husband being now placed in the death-agony, and commands him to go as quickly as possible to Passignano, of which her husband was a co-patron, and to announce the coming of his funeral to the holy Man. And when he went in haste, he met a certain one who told him that he was returning from the monastery of St. Cassian, where he had left the holy Man that day. The messenger hearing this, came at once to Mount Scalario, and found the holy Man before the doors of the monastery meditating psalms, or something else. Whom, when he had saluted, he asks of him how it was with him. He answered: Sad and greatly mourning I confess I am for a noble man, and your faithful friend, who now seems to be migrating from the world. To whom he said: Who is he? Benzo answered: Your very faithful illustrious Ubaldus. Immediately the venerable John, his eyes turned toward the east, in much compunction halted a little, and then the prayer completed looked upon Benzo, and commanded him to go, consoling him and saying: As quickly as possible return to your own; for that sick man, over whom you had come sad, you will find unharmed, God bestowing it. And as he promised, by his prayers through the grace of God it was done. Which very many of the house of the aforesaid Ubaldus, seeing with the eyewitness faith with the wife, and some of the bystanders hearing, praised the mercy of the Creator in the benefit of his servant.

[49] He moves Gregory VII by a miracle to love of himself. The gravity and patience of this distinguished Man Gregory, while he still held the office of Archdeacon in the Apostolic See, who afterward was Pope Gregory the seventh, a man altogether loving God; when he disposed to upbraid him harshly, he forgot the pre-arranged words which he thought to say: whose perfection being thus learned from him, henceforth so great a love was established between the two, as is wont to be between dearest friends and uterine brothers. That these things were true, Rodulf, once abbot of Passignano, a religious man and of holy conversation, who was then present, most frequently testified; concerning whose testimony, a truthful man, one must in no way hesitate.

[50] He knows the thoughts of a certain brother. At another time also the man of the Lord, very sick, offered a particle of the broth set before him to a certain brother, Gerard by name, which he obediently took beforehand, but afterward began to turn over within himself many words, how he had so easily consented to take food, which he thought was not then necessary for him. Which father John, understanding through the Holy Spirit, the refreshment being finished, told him all things which he had thought, and narrated them to him in order. Then the aforesaid brother diligently set forth the secret of his breast, and confessed that all things which the man of the Lord had said were true. And on the following night, about to depart, the morning synaxis being celebrated with the same Father, the same one secretly labored with a most grave thirst. Which father John, recognizing through the illumination of the heart, by a nod calls his minister, and signaled a cup filled with wine mixed with water to be given to the departing brother. Who took the offered cup with the wine, and, his thirst extinguished, with the leave of the Father departed rejoicing, giving thanks to God for the reverence of so exceptional a Father, who had so plainly known the secrets of his mind, and set them forth to all.

[51] He rejects the coins offered by a Cleric, A certain Cleric thence, very rich, sold all his goods, and taking many coins from his substance, came to him. Whom, when he, the friend of poverty, heard for what cause he had come, thus addresses: As long as you shall have one coin of these with you or keep it with you, you can neither share with me nor be a friend. The cleric hearing this withdrew, and distributed the price of his sold patrimony, which the man of the Lord had hoped, for the sustenance of the poor; and then returned to him who preferred God to gold, and the needy to the rich. This father John hearing, and discussing in truth what he had done, who before had spurned him wealthy, made poor for Christ, afterward received him beloved as a son. Then, inflamed by the divine Spirit, after his accustomed manner not content only to instruct his own subjects, but even the absent, he was busy to instruct and correct, sending Epistles to certain ones: of which one to the Bishop of Volterra, useful enough for the correction of himself and his own, he sent, which for its excessive prolixity I have refused to insert into this little work ^a.

[52] After these things, when the odor of his sanctity had come far and wide to the knowledge of many, and he shines with various virtues. there came to him from various lands and kingdoms monks, clerics, and faithful laymen, especially the Milanese ^b; for they heard that Father John with his brothers publicly condemned the Simoniacal heresy, and above all mortals in every way assailed it. Therefore none of those coming to him repented, when he saw and heard him: nor could he grieve that he had suffered loss, or taken the labor of a longer journey. For if any of those visiting him had a doubtful heart, or perhaps lukewarm, he returned alacritous, both carrying back a heart confirmed in faith, and a purse indeed not empty. For he had received from the Lord Jesus Christ a countenance agreeable to all; and to show a placid speech, and a generous hand for bestowing, as long as means were at hand for him.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

The Simoniacs stir up various persecutions and tumults against him.

Now, very many things being omitted which God had declared through his merits, the time demands to relate what and how great a battle Father John with his own, Peter the Simoniac the greatest part of the world being witness, waged against the Simoniacal heresy, God being propitious. As has been said above, Father John had openly proclaimed Peter the Simoniacal invader of the church of Florence, and still, choosing with his own rather to lose mortal life than to conceal the truth, he often called that Peter not only a Simoniac, but also a heretic ^a: whence a very strong contention arose in the clergy and people of Florence. Some indeed, loving temporal advantages, defended him: others with the monks, now persuaded ^b by their words, more vehemently resisted him. While this contention therefore was held for many days between the clergy and the people, and sedition frequently arose thence, the heretic Peter thought to terrify the clerics and laymen in this way, if he should slay the monks, from whom the words contrary to him had taken their beginnings.

[54] For which reason, a multitude of footmen and horsemen having been sent, at night, he commanded the monastery of St. Salvi to be burnt with fire, soldiers being sent and the monks found there to be slain. But he thought that Father John was then to be found there: but he had withdrawn the day before. Having entered therefore the Church, when the brothers were celebrating the nocturnal Office, with drawn swords, like savage executioners, they began to slaughter the sheep of Christ. Some indeed fixed in the forehead so grave a wound, that the edge of the iron came to the vault of the brain: but another they struck so impiously, so gravely, under the eyes, that the nose and teeth with the upper lip were divided from their accustomed framework; and hung over the beard in the lower place: others besides fixed the wound of the swords into the interior parts, then various wounds being inflicted upon them, at last they utterly overturned the altars; and plundered all that they had found.

[55] he sorely vexes the monks of St. Salvi; After these things, fire being applied to the houses, the monks in the church singing the seven psalms with the litanies, and in nothing resisting, nor breaking silence; leaving them stripped and half-alive, they departed. For also the father of the same monastery, Dominic by name, most holy in conversation, they stripped of all covering. Who nonetheless, thus naked, began solicitously to seek whether he could find anything with which to clothe himself. At last he found a leathern garment, which through carelessness had fallen among the beds of the Brothers, and clothed himself with it, unsewn, torn, and fallen apart from age. But whence the enemy believed to gain victory and exaltation, thence he found detriment and confusion. For many of the clergy and people, who before seemed to be his favorers, seeing his impiety, thenceforth became helpers of the monks, condemning and blaspheming his utter depravity. But on the following day both men and women of Florence came to the above-said monastery, and whoever could faithfully offered things necessary for the necessities of the brothers. Each believed himself happy if he could see any of the monks, or wipe their sacred blood shed from the earth, stones, and wood with his cloths, desiring to have it with him for great Relics.

[56] whom St. John excites to constancy, But blessed John, then placed at Vallombrosa, hearing what had happened, burning with love of martyrdom, came in haste to St. Salvi. Considering the Abbot and the other Brothers scourged, beaten, naked, he said: Now truly you are monks, but why did you wish to endure this without me? For he greatly grieved that he was less present at the aforesaid persecution; yet in this he himself obtained the prize of martyrdom, who incited the minds of his disciples to all endurance. For to this also he came, that he hoped himself to be held, scourged, cut down, and slain for the defense of the Catholic faith. But the monks were thence made so much stronger, as they were more secure of the crown of martyrdom which they had already foretasted. For at the time of a synod, going to Rome, they constantly and publicly proclaimed Peter a Simoniac and heretic, professing that they would enter fire to prove his crime. But Pope Alexander, who then presided over the Apostolic See; neither then wished to depose the accused, nor to take up the fiery law from the monks: for the greatest part of the bishops favored Peter, and almost all were adverse to the monks: but the archdeacon Hildebrand was made in all things the hearer and defender of the monks.

[57] fearing nothing the power of the Simoniacs. Then when the suit itself daily grew immensely, so great a persecution was made against the Florentine Clergy of the Catholic party, that, not able to bear it, the archpresbyter and very many others, going out of the city, fled to the monastery of Settimo: whom Father John, benignly received, with all charity gave help to the best of his ability. At that time Duke Godfrey so favored the party of Peter, that he threatened to slay the monks and clerics adverse to him. For which cause the party of Peter then somewhat prevailed. But what tongue can tell the persecutions and straits which the Catholics endured in that storm? In the same days too the aforesaid Pope came to Florence; and wood was prepared and gathered for kindling the fire, which the monks desired to enter, to prove that the often-mentioned Peter was a Simoniac and heretic. Which examination the Pope then refused to receive; but, the clergy and people being left under the same suit, departed. But how it pleased almighty God at last to settle and utterly extirpate the aforesaid pest, that it may be more clearly understood, the whole Epistle of the Florentines, directed to the aforesaid Pope, is written in order in this place, and what almighty God then deigned to show, for corroborating the faith of blessed Peter, and for detesting the error of Simon Magus, may be clearly plain to readers and hearers.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Epistle of the clergy and people of Florence, by which the disaster of the Simoniacs is narrated.

To Alexander, most reverend and universal Bishop of the First See, the clergy and people of Florence, The clergy and people of Florence the service of sincere devotion. Long already Your Paternity well knows our weariness and labor, and also the contest of the monks against the Simoniacal heresy: and now too it is worthy that you should thoroughly know how the most high God piously and mercifully scraped away the scruple of this matter from our hearts. For signs and wonders our Lord did in us, and through them drove away the blindness of ignorance, and the fog of doubt, and the darkness of error from the breast of men, and, augmenting and dilating our faith, and solidifying it in himself, the light of his truth clemently shone into our minds. For the good Pastor came from heaven, and, the sheep standing by, and crying to him with all the marrow, gave a sentence clearer than a serene sky, and brighter than the sun, and more open than any speech, and more certain than any sight, from the midst of the fire, to his people. But what the Florentine people should hold concerning Peter of Pavia, who wished to be held our Bishop, he declared in his terrible judgment; but although the narration of the miracles may seem to be somewhat prolonged, yet the causes whence it came to this, we think ought by no means uselessly to be succinctly prefixed.

[59] For on a certain day all the clerics of the city of Florence, gathered together, they narrate to Pope Alexander, we began to complain both concerning the clerics expelled from their places, and also concerning ourselves, before Peter of Pavia. Concerning the cast-out ones, because we had lost their counsel and comfort; and because also our Prior and archpresbyter, for fear of the heresy, had withdrawn from the city: but concerning ourselves, because a good part of our citizens acclaimed us heretics. For seeing us go to him, they said: Go, go, heretics, to the heretic; go, because through you this city will be given to the abyss, who by your impiety expel Christ from it, and, assailing blessed Peter the Apostle, worship Simon Magus by bringing him in for God. What more? We ask him to free both us and himself from this infamy, saying: Behold us, if you perceive yourself clean, if you command us, we do not doubt to undergo the judgment of God for you; or if you wish to receive the trial which the monks wished to make here and at Rome, we go to them, and earnestly ask them. To these things he said that he commanded neither, wished neither, received neither. Nay he even obtained an edict from the governor through his legates, that whoever of the laymen, whoever of the clerics should not venerate him as bishop, and should not obey his command, should be led to

the governor not led bound, but dragged. But if any of us, terrified by these threats, should flee from the city, whatever he had possessed should be taken to the dominion of the Podestà.

[60] how after various tumults But the Clerics, who under the guardianship of blessed Peter the Apostle, acting against the Simoniacal heresy, had fled into his oratory, should either be reconciled to him, or without hope of a hearing be driven outside the city. Hence it came about, that on the Saturday evening of the beginning of the fast, when at the aforesaid Church of blessed Peter the Apostle the clerics themselves were recalling the lessons and responsories of the following Sunday, the municipal officers of the governor, because they had answered that they could not, with the saving of the reverence of Peter the Apostle, obey a Simoniacal heretic, cast them outside the immunity of the oratory, making light of blessed Peter Prince of the Apostles. And there is made at length for this crime a concourse of Catholic men, and especially of women casting off the veils of their heads, and going about tearfully with loose hair, hard beating their breasts with their fists, sending miserable voices to God, and sadly lamenting over the death of their husbands and sons. For prostrating themselves in the streets full of mud, they said: Alas, alas, O Christ, you are cast out hence; and how do you leave us desolate? You are not suffered to dwell with us, and how do we dwell here? We have seen that you wished to remain with us, but you go, because Simon Magus does not permit you. O holy Peter, are you conquered by Simon Magus, that you do not defend those fleeing to you? We thought him bound and chained in the infernal punishments: but behold we perceive him raised up in hostility to your dishonor. Some indeed of the men said to others: You see, and you openly see, Christ departs hence, he goes away, because, fulfilling his law, he resists not the one driving him. And let us, men, brothers, burn this city, that the heretical party may not rejoice in it, and with our little ones and our wives, wherever Christ goes, let us go with him, if we are Christians, let us follow God.

[61] By these wailings therefore, and by these griefs, we too the clerics, demanded the trial of fire, who seemed favorers and followers of Peter of Pavia, and who were acclaimed heretics by others, because we followed him, being moved, bar the churches, and after the manner of the cast-out ones, do not touch the bells, do not sing psalms to the peoples, nor finally do we sing Masses. And without delay, we being gathered, a counsel is made, the Lord inspiring. To the monks of God, who dwell at Settimo in the monastery of the holy Savior, by common vow we send some of us, asking and praying them to be willing to lay open the doubt of this matter and to know the truth, and, known, promising firmly to hold it. But it was answered to us, that if we would to the best of our ability hold and defend the Catholic faith, and by impugning destroy the Simoniacal heresy, the virtue of the Savior would eliminate both the doubt of this affair and also the blindness from our hearts.

[62] We confess, we promised concerning this matter to follow this, which Peter the Simoniac rejects. which they themselves also, if they should make good their deed by their words. What more? A day sought by every vow is appointed, on which we both lost our doubt, and from which we hold the truth which the monks were saying, defending it to the best of our ability. For the Wednesday, in the first week of Lent, is appointed as the day. On the Monday and Tuesday we especially pray God for this, and beseech that God, who is the only truth, would open the door of this truth. But the Wednesday dawning, one of us goes to the man of Pavia, who, asking him, said: Do, for the fear of God, and for the remedy of your soul, if that be true of you which the monks say; do not afflict the clerics and people with labors in going, do not tempt God by trying him, but lay open the truth of this affair by turning to the Lord: Or if you know yourself immune from this guilt, deign to come with us. To which he: Neither do I go thither, nor, if you love me, do I wish you to go. But to this it was said to him: Assuredly I will go to see the judgment of God, since all are going, and I will carefully take care to know what is done there; and whatever God the just judge shall show in his right judgment, I will defend to the best of my ability. And let not my journey be troublesome to you, because today the sentence of God will rightly show, of what kind you are. For either today we shall have you more dear than ever you were, or more vile and contemptible.

[63] We meanwhile, as if forewarned by a heavenly oracle, do not await the messenger: And there is a running by us clerics, A great multitude of men flowing together to the monastery of Settimo, and laymen, and women, to Settimo, in which is the monastery of the holy Savior. O wonderful power of the Lord and wonderful clemency, who gave strength to go not only to the unencumbered, but even to the pregnant! For did the length terrify the matrons, did the muddy road, by the multitude of waters, terrify the delicate ones? Did the fast exasperate the boys? All the clerics and laymen at length being gathered, of promiscuous sex and age, nearly three thousand, at the aforesaid monastery, we are questioned by the men of God: Why, Brothers, have you come? It is answered by us: That we may be enlightened, and leaving error, may follow the truth. How, they say, do you wish to be enlightened? We answering: That by a copious fire it may be proved which you say concerning Peter of Pavia. What fruit, they say, will you have by this deed, or what honor will you thence render to God? We all answer: And we will be with you, defending the right faith, and by abhorring the Simoniacal heresy, always giving thanks to God.

[64] a pile of wood is prepared and kindled; Why do we delay longer? Immediately there are made by the people two piles of wood, placed lengthwise beside one another on either side. The length of each singly was ten feet; but the breadth of both singly five feet, and a half of a half foot; the height finally of each separately was four feet and a half. But between both pyres lengthwise there was a path of one arm's breadth, and it was strewn with dry wood, and well prepared for burning. Meanwhile there are made for this matter psalmodies, litanies, supplications. A monk about to enter the fire is chosen; and by the command of the abbot, about to celebrate Mass, proceeds to the altar. The Mass is sung with great devotion and supplication of all. The choir of monks and clerics, and also of laymen, weeps from the heart. But when it came to the Agnus Dei, four monks, one carrying the image of the Crucified Lord, another sanctified water, a third twelve blessed lighted candles, the fourth a censer full of incense, proceed to kindle the aforesaid pyres of wood.

[65] These things therefore being seen, the cry of all is raised to heaven, which after Mass being celebrated Kyrie eleison is sung most tearfully with full mouth. Jesus Christ is most frequently prayed to rise and defend his cause: Mary his Mother is much besought by the men, most of all by the women, to persuade him this: The name of Peter the Apostle, by which he condemned Simon to perdition, is redoubled a thousand times: Gregory prelate of the City is suppliantly beseeched to hasten to verify his sanctions. Meanwhile, while God is prayed by all according to the capacity of their wit, the presbyter, the mysteries of salvation being received, and Mass completed, and the chasuble being taken off, the other garments of the priesthood being kept on him, carrying the cross of Christ, with the abbots and monks making litanies, approaches the piles of wood now beginning to become pyres: and there, how manifoldly and uniformly God is adored by all, no tongue can tell, no sense by gathering can meditate. At last silence is imposed on all, and we are admonished that we may attentively hear and well understand the condition of the matter for which these things were done. There is chosen at length one of the abbots, clamorous in voice, open in tongue, who openly reads to the people, for understanding, the prayer in which the condition of the petition to God was contained.

[66] But all approving the condition, then again another of the abbots asks for silence, and raising his voice addresses all, saying: and prayers being poured out to God Men, Brothers, and sisters, for the salvation of your souls, God being witness, we do this, that henceforth you may beware of the Simoniacal leprosy, which now almost defiles the whole world. Know that the contagion of this leprosy is so great, that the other crimes compared to its enormity are as nothing. These things therefore being finished, when both pyres had now for the greater part turned into flame-vomiting coals, and when the middle path, touched by the abundance of the fire-vomiting embers, glowed so hot, that up to the ankle the foot of one going, as afterward was clear in the trial, could sink into the embers; the priest, and the monk, by command of the abbot, poured out this prayer to the Lord with a great voice, nearly three thousand hearing and weeping: Lord Jesus Christ, the true light of all who believe in thee, I ask thy mercy, I beseech thy clemency, that if Peter of Pavia, who is called Bishop of Florence, by the intervention of money, that is by a gift from the hand, which is Simoniacal heresy, seized the see of Florence, now thou, Son of the eternal Father, my salvation, in this terrible judgment, hasten to help me, and wonderfully preserve me unharmed without any stain of burning; as once thou didst save unharmed the three children in the furnace of burning fire. Who with thy eternal Father, and the Holy Spirit, workest all things, and livest and reignest world without end.

[67] And when all who were present had answered, Amen, the monk enters, and passes through unharmed. he gave and received the kiss of peace with the Brothers. We are all asked: How long do you wish him to remain in the fire? It is answered by all: But, but, what do you say? It is enough, lords, enough, that with solemn gravity step by step he pass through the fire and flames. It is indeed commanded to the priest and monk to satisfy our will. Then the priest himself, making the salutary sign against the burning of the fire, and carrying the cross of Christ, and attending to it, not to the multitude of flames, undaunted in mind, cheerful in countenance, with a certain celebrity of gravity, unharmed in body, unharmed also in all which he carried with him, in the virtue of Jesus Christ wonderfully passed through the fire; for the flames concurring from every side, and rising up on every side, entered his white as it were byssine garment, and filling it inflated it; but unmindful of their nature, they could inflict on it nothing of burning. The maniple finally and the stole, and their fringes, after the manner of winds lifting up, they variously bore hither and thither, but the heat being lost, they could in no way burn them. The hairs also of his feet were put among the flaming coals; but O wonderful power of the Lord, O laudable clemency of Christ! none of them were injured by the odor of the fire. Among his hairs indeed the flames rose up around and entered, and by blowing lifted them up and set them down again: But not even the tip of any of them, forgetting their strength, could they by burning curl. For the flames were on every part enclosing him, unto the miracle of the Savior, not unto the burning of the fire. They felt the ardor of the Catholic faith, and therefore they did not burn. God our consuming fire was assuredly present, and therefore, he being unwilling, the corporeal fire could do no harm. Without doubt it was true which was said by his servants, that their witness, truth helping, is miraculously freed from the fire. For truth always frees those whom the stain of falsehood does not defile.

[68] Moved by this prodigy the Florentines But after he went out of the fire, when he wished to return again to the hearth; he is seized by the people, they kiss his feet out of desire. For out of joy each thought himself blessed who could kiss any particle of his garments. For he was pressed by the grave straitness of the peoples, but with great difficulty is freed by the strength of the clerics. Praise to God by all together out of joy, even weeping, is sung, being now certain that the word of God is never changed. Simon Peter is exalted with great praises: but Simon Magus is trodden under foot like dung. The name of Peter the Apostle in the mouth of all above honey and the honeycomb with praises grows more and more sweet: the name of the impious Simon above gall and sulphur with reviling grows more and more foul. For the greatness of these signs of Christ, and the abundance of our joy, and the daily thanksgiving, neither can the sense of the heart think, nor the plectrum of the tongue express, nor the hand, as it is, ever suffice to write.

[69] execrate the Simoniacal heresy. But because to a wise man few things out of many suffice, at last we run together to supplicate Your Paternity. By him indeed we pray Your Beatitude, whose Vicar both in the heavens and also on earth we desire you to be; deign to bestow on the people, demolished by a long plague, counsel likewise and the help of defense. Deign to rescue us wretched ones by drawing us from the importunate jaws of the wolves. Deign, we pray, to move arms against the enemies of Peter the Apostle, to draw up the battle-lines, to take up strength, to join holy wars, and to free us the sheep of Christ, committed to blessed Peter and to you in his stead, from captivity, by fighting against the Simoniacs. For to very many of us the blessed Apostle himself, as once fixed on the Cross by Nero, appears in the vision of night, and by showing his passion, piously persuades that we should turn aside from the fellowship of the Simoniacs. As, he says, I never joined myself to Simon Magus, so also you, if you wish to be Christ's, if you are the sheep of his pasture, if you believe me the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom, if you desire me to open to you the gates of the kingdom of the heavens, do not be associated with Simoniacs, do not be joined, do not communicate. Now therefore, holy Lord, because the confidence of our recovery, according to God, is placed in the holy Roman See, we pray you, who preside over it, that you may ascend against the rapacious wolves, and oppose the authority of the priestly summit for the sheep committed to you in Peter's stead. Again and again, bowed down, we pray your solicitude, Father, that what is the Pastor's, you may not be slothful clemently to bestow on us torn sheep.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IX.

St. John, after spiritual help given to the Milanese, and a letter dictated concerning fraternal charity, piously dies.

But these things being known, the Lord Pope Alexander took care to depose the aforesaid Peter the Simoniac from all episcopal office. Peter the Simoniac being deposed, and Peter Igneus being made abbot, At that time Count Bulgar, recognizing the religion and sanctity, and the enjoined constancy against the heretics, of blessed John and his monks, asked holy John to establish in the office of abbot in the monastery of Fucecchio the venerable Peter, who had wonderfully passed through the fire. Assenting to whose petitions, he set the aforesaid man over the same place in the office of abbot. Who afterward, drawn thence, and led to Rome, God willing, after the custody of the cows and asses, which at Vallombrosa, by the command of blessed John, he humbly held, after the grade of provost at Passignano, and the office of abbot at the aforesaid Fucecchio, becomingly became Cardinal and Bishop of Albano.

[71] Meanwhile certain faithful clerics and laymen of Milan, seeking the help of holy John, The Milanese are succored against the Simoniacs. asserting that for many years, both they themselves and very many others, out of zeal for the divine law, had not received Penance and Communion, who, altogether avoiding the Simoniacs, found none of the Catholics in their land. To whom, moved with mercy, he said: What counsel can I bestow on you? But they: Father, they say, holy one, if you wish to succor so many wretched ones, cause the Clerics who from our land, for the avoiding of the fellowship of the heretics, have fled to you, to be ordained by Catholics, send such thither, and they will be able to renew Christianity, now almost destroyed. What more? The pious Father, after his accustomed manner moved with excessive kindness, not only those, but also those whom he now had in the inner cell of the novices, and who had come to put on the monastic habit, drew thence, and caused to be ordained by degrees by Rudolf bishop of Todi, a most holy and Catholic man, and directed them to Milan. This Bishop, after the deposition of Peter the Simoniac, the Pope had commanded to govern the episcopate of Florence: And, to say more, he afterward sent that Lord Rudolf the bishop to the aforesaid Milan with learned men, that to all the Catholics, altogether asking it, he might succor by the episcopal office, for the consoling of the hearts of the faithful, long destitute of a Catholic pastor.

[72] In those same days a woman with three little sons, of whom leading one on the right, another on the left, St. John, a miracle being wrought, carrying the third on her shoulders, sought food for her sons and herself by going about on every side. Who, when she had come to the hospice of St. Salvi, to seek alms, and blessed John perceived her multiplied with sons, and depressed with want, moved with pity he calls the keeper of the hospice, Andrew by name, and bids him bestow something on the little woman. But he, whom the abundance of want greatly pressed, answers that he had only one bread. To whom the reverend Father bids him offer a part of it to the woman for the charity of God. Whose command the minister obeying, hastens to the oven, in which he had placed the same bread, and gazing saw the whole oven full of loaves. Who, made very joyful, returned to him, and announced to him what had happened, not doubting that this had come about by his merits. Which blessed man hearing, said to him: Be silent, and tell this to no one; but give the bread, as I commanded, to the one asking.

[73] he foretells his own death, After these things he returned to Passignano, where he began, devout and suppliant, to await with great exultation of heart the day long desired by him, namely that he might be dissolved and be with Christ; often repeating this little verse: My soul has thirsted for the living God, when shall I come and appear before the face of God? And he subjoined; I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall be made manifest to me. The languor therefore growing heavy, he began evidently to say that the term of his life drew near. He commands therefore his disciples, whom he had set over the Brothers, and causes them to come to him without delay. Whom, forewarning concerning the observance of the Order, the custody of the flock committed to them, and exhorting them in many things, he blessed them, and kissed them, commanding each one at once to return to his own monasteries. Who, though mourning and greatly weeping, nor presuming to contradict the command of the Father, unwilling returned. There remained with him only Dom Rusticus the Prior, and Lætus abbot of Passignano. These, coming to him in the same week in which he died, with humble prayer asked him to leave to the Brothers some exhortation concerning the concord of peace and the unity of charity. Then he commanded these things which are contained here to be dictated, and written, to be preserved for the edification of the faithful in the future.

[74] and a letter being dictated John the Abbot, to all the Brothers joined with him in the love of brotherhood, greeting and blessing. While I labor long under a grave infirmity, I daily await that God receive my soul, and that the earth receive my body, so that it return to the dust whence it took its matter. And this is no wonder: because my age, even without the oppression of so great an infirmity, admonishes me daily to await this. And I thought to pass hence as if in silence: but weighing the place and name which in this corruptible flesh ^a I held, although not as was fitting; I have judged it useful to speak to you something concerning the bond of charity. And this not from ourselves and newly, but, running through briefly, to repeat what you daily hear. Certainly this is that virtue which compelled the Creator of all things to become a creature. This is that which he himself, commending to the Apostles as the index ^b of all his commandments, said: This is my precept, that you love one another. Concerning it James the Apostle speaks, saying: He who has observed the whole law, but offends in one point, is made guilty of all. This is that of which blessed Paul the Apostle says: Charity covers a multitude of sins.

[75] having exhorted his own to fraternal charity, Hence therefore we can gather, that by holding charity all sins are covered; but that the other virtues, to those who judge themselves able to obtain them, are worth nothing without this. But everyone proud and disobedient, hearing this, thinks that he has it in truth, if he sees himself corporally endure in fraternal communion. From which false opinion, so to speak, blessed Gregory excludes each one, by indicating the end of true charity, saying: He perfectly loves God who leaves nothing of himself to himself. But what I may say singularly concerning charity, I know not: since I know that all the Lord's commandments sprout from this root. Because if there are many branches of good work, yet the root of charity is one. In whose heat the reprobate can in no way long endure, the Lord the Savior saying: The charity of many shall grow cold. Whom, cold and divided from unity, the Apostle John bewails, saying: They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us. And if it is so, nay because it is so, every faithful one ought always to weigh, how he may join himself to so supreme a good, and anxiously to seek companions with him in the way of God. And as the reprobate, by leaving this, are cut off from the body of Christ, so the elect, by embracing it in truth, are confirmed to the same body of Christ. But for keeping this inviolably very useful is fraternal unity, which binds itself under the care of one person: since as a river is dried from its channel, if it be divided into many streamlets, so fraternal unity is worth less for individual things, if it be scattered through diverse ones. Therefore, that this inviolable charity may long remain with you, I wish that upon Dom Rodulf your care and counsel depend after my death, at least as it depended on me in my life. Farewell.

[76] On the third day afterward, before he died, he saw a young man standing by him, he sees an angel whom we judge to have been his angel. Whom, when he alone and no other beheld, he said to the Brothers: Why did you not call that Brother with you, when you ate? To whom the Brothers: Of what Brother, they say, do you speak, Father? And he: Of that beautiful young man, he says, who came to us, and stays with us entering and going out. But they: Whence is he, and by what name is he called? Do you not know, he says, that he is of the mountain of the Lord ^c, and is called Benignus? Then he, the Holy Spirit teaching, understood that he was an angel, and truly of the mountain of the Lord, that is of heaven, and said that he was called by such a name, that is Benignus. Of that mountain indeed the Psalmist

says: Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord? And elsewhere: Who shall rest in thy holy mountain? To that same mountain indeed, by the grace of Christ, he desired to ascend, to whom he himself had long served. And rightly had he appointed to blessed John an angel of such a name, whom he had mercifully enriched with immense benignity above many mortals. Which heard, the Brothers went, and placed upon the table the food of one man, besides the victuals appointed for the Brothers. Which done, he was at rest.

[77] Then when he drew near to his departure, he caused these things to be written in a little book, and placed in his hand, and piously dies. and commanded to be buried with him. I John believe and confess the faith which the holy Apostles preached, and the holy Fathers confirmed in the four Councils. That he might be believed to have held in his inmost heart that which he was seen to have usefully defended thus far by words and works. After these things he rendered his spirit to Christ, fortified by the reception of his body and blood, in whom he had believed with entire faith; whom he had purely loved, whom he had served with pious intention, carrying with him the talent committed to him multiplied. But he died happily in the year 1073 ^d of the Lord's Incarnation, in the most fervent heat of summer, namely on the fourth of the Ides of July.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

The exequies of St. John, his successors, and certain miracles.

The exequies of St. John. Then the abbots who were present, believing with sure hope that God could preserve the Master without stench in the heat of summer, who had before preserved his disciple in the fire without any burning; resolved to keep the body of the Father unburied, until the abbots should gather from everywhere for his exequies. For this cause therefore it remained unburied for three days: in which days for celebrating the funeral rites of so great a father an almost innumerable multitude of clerics and monks gathered. But through these days and nights, those who had gathered, paying the due honor to so great a Father, unwearied giving thanks to Christ, who had preserved his course in all religion, blessed God in those things which they had known and heard of him. After these things they gave the body of the holy man to burial with due hymns and praises, so free from all stench, as he had kept his faith unharmed, as long as he lived, from all error of contagion; and as the Almighty had in every way kept the flesh and unburnt garments of the disciple passing through the fire.

[79] Him being buried, by the common election of the brothers Dom Rodulf took up the obedience enjoined on him by the Father, and ruled for three years, His successors in the abbatial office and while he lived, took Vaiano, Fonte Faonis, and Coneum under his governance. After whose passing, the Prior Rusticus held the governance of the whole Congregation, which he kept for sixteen years faithfully enough: under whom the monastery of St. Angelo at Pistoia, of St. Mary at Nerana, of St. Fidelis at Strumi, of St. Paul at Pisa, of the holy Savior at Sofena; one on Monte Armato, another at Osella in the parts of Castellana, were newly instituted. Then, after the laying down of the flesh and the burial of the exceptional Father, God showed many things through his merits; some part of which it has seemed to me useful to subjoin for the usefulness of the readers, and the edification of many faithful.

[80] John, who was chamberlain and cellarer, Foods at his exequies wonderfully multiplied. seeing an immense crowd of monks, clerics, and laymen gathering from everywhere to the exequies of the holy Father; when he had nothing which he could set before so many, began vehemently to be in a fever, altogether not knowing what to do. At last, returning to himself, trusting in the Lord, and presuming on the merits of the holy Father, he said: He who from five loaves satisfied five thousand, can, by the intervention of our Father, multiply today the herbs, and also the legumes, with the other victuals. Which said, the little vessels, which after the accustomed manner were wont to be prepared for the brothers, which scarcely sufficed for their daily uses, with entire faith, sure hope, perfect charity, he immediately prepared for cooking with the foods, and placed at the fire. O wonderful and stupendous thing! from the little vessels, from which he was wont to feed only the accustomed provision of the brothers of that place, from morning until night he administered to the guests arriving there: nor did they fail in anything, being wonderfully increased by the prayers of the holy Man.

[81] The Lord Pope Gregory VII also, who, coming to the sacrosanct solemnities of the Masses, Gregory VII recovers devotion by his help. was wont to approach in much compunction, for three continuous days when the accustomed compunction was lacking to him, there came into his memory the name and sanctity of holy John, with whom, while he lived, he had had friendship and much acquaintance ^b. Whom, when he had humbly invited to his help, presently he resumed the grace of the same holy compunction much more amply than he was wont to have. Which the Lord Peter bishop of Albano said that he had heard from the mouth of the Lord Pope himself, and that he too testified before many that it was true. Likewise the Lord Teuzo abbot of Razzuolo, who was one of his first and greatest disciples, when he was making his journey, coming to Vallombrosa, was often tortured with a most grave pain of the bowels. And when he wavered amid immense straits of pain, unwilling to return, unable to proceed, he began anxiously to ask Father John, and the pain immediately withdrew from him.

[82] At another time also, when the death of the Lord Prior Rusticus had been announced to the same abbot Teuzo, Various ones healed by his intercession. and he himself was held by so great a languor, that he could in no way move himself; he reverently touched the little garment of the blessed ^c Father, and presently made most whole, proceeded to the burial of the dead man. Likewise a certain most noble matron, Adalasia by name, burning with most grave fevers for one whole year, lay a little while before his sepulcher, and at once, health being received, made unharmed by his merits, returned to her own. In those same days one lamp, set before his sepulcher by the Prior at that time, which was lighted at the nocturnal hours, remained there for many years. Which very often to have fallen to the ground, and always to have remained unharmed, he who first dictated these things professed, with many, that he had seen.

[83] About the same time a not dissimilar miracle is said to have happened through his merits. A lamp wonderfully kindled, his name being invoked. There was a certain presbyter, Zenobius by name, who ruled the parish of Brozzi for forty years and more. Who, when on one day, the sun verging to its setting, he hastened to celebrate the evening synaxis, a candle being lighted, hastened to kindle the lamp of the church; and when he had found in it no liquor of oil, nor had it from elsewhere, whence he could refill it, by often repeating he kindled it: but the water, which was in it, without delay swiftly extinguished it when shining. Then, furious in mind, yet faithfully praying, he said: If those things are true which I saw and heard of John Gualbert with my own eyes, in his name I command you, that quickly kindled, you remain unextinguished. Which with such swiftness was suddenly kindled, as if it had been divinely commanded it. The same one, who saw and was present, wrote these things, and sent them by dictating.

[84] A certain man is freed from a fish-bone fixed in his throat. Then a certain Brother, Albert by name, who in the same monastery of Passignano, in which blessed John rests, when he ate a fish, one bone of the fish suddenly stuck in his throat, which brought him grave straitness for a long time. But when he tried to escape the immense danger, and could not; he had recourse to the patronage of holy John, which he presently felt efficaciously bestowed on him. For invoking his name in his heart, and asking his protection, which for the excessive straitness he could not by voice, he suddenly swallowed the bone, and escaped the trouble afflicting him by the suffrage of the pious Father.

[85] Two thieves, prodigiously detained, The same Father, while he still lived in this light, and was steward at St. Salvi, placed two workmen in the cell of the same place for a necessary work. Who, a malign spirit persuading, came by night to the same cell, disposing to take away secretly the things which seemed suitable to them; not attending to the writing of the Apostle: He who stole, let him now not steal, but rather let him labor with his hands, what is good. Having entered therefore the cell, they filled the sacks which they had carried with various goods, and placing them upon themselves, they labored to flee. But entangled in the bonds of their sins, and impeded by the merits of blessed John, they began so to stand immovable, as if they were held fixed to the earth by the roots, nor could they let go the sacks, nor withdraw empty.

[86] they are reproved by him and dismissed. But when at the first hour of the day one of the Brothers entered the cell to draw wine for celebrating Mass, marveling at the thieves, he returned to the Church. But the Chapter being finished, he related what he had learned in the cell, but the cellarer answered that he did not know. But blessed John, knowing all this, the Holy Spirit revealing, went to them, and vehemently rebuked them, and first admonished them not to presume such things henceforth. Thence he piously granted them part of the theft, but nonetheless took away part. Who, taught by the admonitions of the same Father to snatch no longer the goods of the poor, but, when they were in need, humbly to ask; at last he absolved them, and by his leave, unharmed, not without shame, they departed.

[87] There are besides some other things consigned to writing concerning the venerable father John, Besides certain other miracles, which I beheld with my eyes, and certain others which I heard by the narration of many faithful, which I have refused to join to the present little work ^d, fearing to exceed the brevity promised above. Moreover to his tomb come frequently not only the inhabitants of that land, but also many from more remote parts, pressed by very many anxieties, and aggravated by various infirmities, who, the divine clemency bestowing it, by the prayers of holy John return to their own joyful and unharmed.

[88] A certain monk of the Pistoia monastery of St. Angelo, a necessity intervening, while he was making his journey, coming to a certain bridge, a monk is freed from the danger of death. neglected to descend from his horse, and trusting himself to be conveniently carried across to safety by the horse, feared nothing of harm. But while he passed over the bridge, the horse suddenly slipping under foot fell, whence the monk, who sat upon it, strongly impelled by the force of the falling horse, fell outside the bridge, and terrified by the dread of sudden death, faithfully invoking the reverend father John, always ready to help, that he might succor him, began with a strong cry to invoke. To whom a certain shining image forthwith standing by, and placing both hands to his side, led him back over the bridge with a strong swift impulse, and presently the horse, from which he had fallen, while it tried to rise, pressing his garments with its knee, held them so long, until the monk, his hands being brought back, seized the horse, and entering under its belly, ascended the bridge unharmed. And so it was done, while the monk,

who seemed to be near death, faithfully repeated, redoubling, the name of blessed father John, by his protection merited not only to be wonderfully rescued from imminent death, but also to be entirely restored to his former health.

[89] Thus far reach the Acts published by the Thesaurus Velius and John Mabillon, The epilogue of the Acts never before published. whose epilogue, hitherto lying hidden among the manuscripts of the sacristy and library of Vallombrosa, the often and deservedly praised Dom Aurelio Casari detected with his accustomed diligence, who testifies that this epilogue is conceived in these words: These things I, one Brother, a sinner monk, of the Congregation of so great a Father, a disciple such as I am, faithfully published and quickly excerpted [*] to the divine honor and reverence, especially of the College of Vallombrosa, and for the instruction of other faithful wishing to know the same; wishing that my little study may be agreeable in the eyes of the readers. But the holy Father himself I humbly beseech to beseech the mercy of Christ for the abundance of my offenses, that I, who by my own faults am unworthy, may merit to be joined to his rewards, and by his suffrages to lack the eternal punishments, the same Jesus Christ our Savior bestowing it, whose honor and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit remains forever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

* al. "truly inserted," but read "excerpted."

MIRACLES

By Jerome of Raggiolo, a Vallombrosan monk.

From the Florentine Ms. of the Medicean Library, shelf 18.

BHL Number: 4406

BY JEROME OF RAGGIOLO, FROM THE MSS.

PROLOGUE.

The author to Lorenzo de' Medici his patron Since not only those whom we commonly call seculars, men of great and excellent genius, but also religious, endowed with doctrine and virtue, whom for brevity's sake I pass over, O magnificent Lorenzo ^a, to your grandfather and father and to You, that they might be more in the open, and by your most magnificent deeds more illustrious, directed the magnificent things which they published concerning distinguished men, it has seemed to me not out of place, for your and your Ancestors' singular merits, not only toward the whole body of the Church, but also toward our Religion, which you have both illustrated and daily illustrate, to bring something worthy of your devotion to this great dignity, to the best of my ability. For the rest, when I considered what would be more agreeable, and more congruous for the time, to your magnificence, I understood that nothing at this season could be so congruous to your devotion toward this our Religion, as if I should write out the miracles which I have read, seen, or received from men worthy of credit, of John Gualbert, the most holy Man and most worthy citizen of Florence, who not only reformed Etruria, but also the whole religion of Christ Jesus by his merits and prodigies.

[2] he sets forth the cause of his writing, To which undertaking indeed many things drew my uncultivated and inelegant genius; first, that of these matters there are found no true, but only simple writers, who indeed omitted many things which were most worthy to be known; and these also, by I know not what carelessness, had perished, unless only certain things noted were had in the desks of the library. Besides, I beheld with my own eyes and had heard from men worthy of credit many things worthy of memory, which, if I had suffered to perish, I should have judged would be sometime a detriment both to my body and to my soul. There was added to this your authority, which always availed very much with me; since none before of this religion had impelled me to this, though very many had prayed: For, to confess the truth, I declined to do that from ambition, but because I availed neither in genius nor in doctrine, I wished to excuse myself. I could not therefore, for the very many good deserts toward the Religion and toward me, not comply with your will, when it came into my mind that you, hearing some miracles of St. John in our little garden, had exhorted me to describe them, as I could. I did therefore as far as I could, to satisfy your wishes; since out of all these which I have read, seen, heard, I have consigned to writing only those which seemed both worthy of credit and of memory.

[3] But first in what manner both the Cross, which we especially use, was instituted for this, and that most holy arm was miraculously carried here by Angels, and he asks that pardon be given to his slenderness. and the manner and way which our elders and we observe in showing it, I shall open, before I make the beginning of narrating, that all things may be more and more in the open: in which, if I shall have said anything less cautiously and skillfully, your singular benignity and humanity will easily give me pardon, since, as I said a little before, I avail little both in art and in genius. Moreover, since I have now abandoned these studies, and applied myself to the divine ones, which indeed were published designedly by most learned men little ornately and eloquently; especially those things which in the Canon law were by certain ones proved uncultivatedly and inelegantly, so that even one moderately learned in Latin letters can hardly bear with equal mind that rudeness of writing; which nevertheless must be borne, since those in that liberal art avail more in sentence than in ornament. Hence it comes about, Lorenzo, that often in speaking we are held not Latins, but barbarians, by most eloquent men; which barbarism I pray you to bear with equal mind; read therefore happily.

ANNOTATIONS.

BOOK ONE

PART I.

In the Life of the most holy John himself it is read, that a certain Florentius of Florence, when he was strong in eloquence and vulgar prudence, It is narrated how St. John helped a sick man, sometimes rose against John among the other citizens for Peter the Simoniacal Bishop of Florence. He, when he labored at the last, held by a certain infirmity, a salutary counsel seemed good to him, since he himself by his own conscience was condemned to hell, to obtain the habit of Religion from the most holy John; and committing an affair of this kind to his kinsmen, from John, pious and unmindful of injuries, he most easily obtained pardon; yet for giving the habit, because it may not be done without probation, they found him immovable. The kinsmen therefore not without difficulty carry the sick man to St. John; and at last, bent by the prayers and tears of the kinsmen, or rather more by his faith, at the last he consents the habit to him. O good Jesus! so great was the virtue and grace of St. John, that he who now seemed dying, that garment being taken, rose and walked.

[5] But some time being interposed, when a certain graver sickness seized the same, so that he now had no hope of escaping, and put a demon to flight by the Cross, Father John, the monks being called, proceeds to visit him, and he and the rest praying, that sick man covered his whole head, the cloth of the bed being drawn up. St. John asks what he fears: He, uncovering his face, says trembling: I behold the devil close at hand, wretched me, sending forth from his whole mouth a fiery flame and from his gaping nostrils a pestiferous and sulphurous smoke! And Bl. John, asking where he was, at once seizing the cross in his hands, most vigorously struck the shadow; which devil immediately, howling and stinking, vanished like smoke; and the sick man cried out with a sharp voice: Thanks be to God! Thanks be to God! He has gone, he has withdrawn. Behold, the Virgin, the glorious Mother of God, Peter the Apostle, and father Benedict are present. These things said, he most happily sent forth his soul.

[6] Which cross the monks, keeping in the sacristy among the relics of the Saints, often even in our age, led by faith and the virtues of St. John, when anyone captured by a demon has come here, whether he be captured by a demon or not, they try with the same cross; first, however, sprinkling water exorcized with salt and words, which the monks still keep for the same use. by which alone, in my presence, very many have departed unharmed. But if it wholly happens that he who is tormented by a demon has not escaped unharmed by the aforesaid cross, he is led to the sepulcher of the blessed; namely of Orlando ^a, a man and most holy monk, and of Melior ^b the most glorious hermit, and of the Abbots of this monastery Benignus ^c and Michael ^d, and of some Fathers, who also were venerable, whose lives and distinguished deeds, because elsewhere both at length and briefly we have taken care to consign to writing, it was not our counsel to write otherwise of these at present; to whose sepulcher innumerable both men and women, held by various infirmities, by the most ample mercy of Christ Jesus gradually relieved of their disease, are at last restored to health.

[7] But if this has not profited (inasmuch as, since the kinds of demons are various, they are expelled also by the various merits of the Saints) The arm of St. John, over which a suit had arisen, the matter coming also to the arm of St. John, all the demons by his merits and prayers are always compelled to go elsewhere. Concerning which, before I explain in what order and with what devotion it is carried outside the monastery, repeating a few things above, namely in what manner it was miraculously carried here by Angels, that all the illustrious things may be more and more in the open for knowing. Certain Converts of this our monastery worthy of credit have often related to me, that they had received from their fathers, that after the death of the first Bernard de Ubertis ^e, General of this monastery, and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, the aforesaid arm was wonderfully carried here by Angels, when first, on account of it, no small suits are reported to have arisen between our monks and those of Passignano. But at last, when each party persisted in its will and opinion, the arbiters being wearied, a suit of this kind came to the Florentine senate.

[8] The cause therefore being known and duly and diligently examined, it was judged, where the body, there the members. Which thing our people not bearing with equal mind, because all hope of having it further was taken away, sad returned to our church; but that arm is reported to be that with which, as we said above, Father John, while he was in this life, struck the devil with the cross, and that it was so the matter itself a little after indicated by experience: a certain demoniac indicating, For at nearly the same time, when a certain man wearied by a demon had sought the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, and the demon, not bearing the virtue of St. John, was compelled to cry out through the mouth of the same man: Why do you torture me, O John? What detriment or what trouble have I brought you? It has not

seemed enough to you to pursue me continually in life, that even after it you still cease not in any way, even in external regions, to persecute me? Cease at last, desist, if there is any piety in you, from afflicting us with various torments. Then he cried out with hellish voices, redoubling often: O crosses! O torments! A little after thrusting the most wretched man to the ground, so that he seemed to send forth his spirit.

[9] These things therefore and others being iniquitously done by him, the monks, pitying the fall of the man now brought to extremity, it is miraculously found in the sacristy of Vallombrosa. exhorted their companions to proceed to the monastery of Passignano, which at that time was strong with the Relics of the most holy John. To whom the demon by divine virtue said: Why do you hasten to take this labor in vain, since the arm of St. John is wonderfully and worthily placed on the shelf of your sacristy? To whom, as being most lying, when the monks gave little faith, and he nevertheless remained in his opinion, at last it was sought, and, as he had said, was found in the cabinet of the sacristy. For which reason a great joy arose among the monks. The bells therefore being rung, the torches lighted, all the monks and ministers, which kind of men by a common name we call Converts, and the farmers who were present, coming together, the Brothers singing and devoutly chanting psalms, the demon at last, not without detriment to the wretched man, departed.

[10] From that time therefore this temple was held by all the Etruscans in greater devotion and reverence than before: That arm detained at Florence Nor is it a wonder, since it is established that not only from the parts of Italy, but also from Transalpine Gaul ^f, very many were, by the prayers of the most holy John, restored to soundness from a demon and from other infirmities. I shall say indeed what I think, and I shall say it more truly than I can: this religion, not to say house, I think is preserved by the miracles of this most holy arm and the prayers of John. For what the state of this Religion has been from Abbot Ricciardo ^g to the Reverend Father Francis ^h, who now presides over the religion itself, I hold uncertain, whether I should be more ashamed or reluctant to discourse. But I return to what I began. The matter itself seems to exhort, since concerning the arm of St. John it was said above, to insert also into this another prodigy, which in the time of Abbot Bernard of Florence de Gianfigliazzi is proved to have happened by the testimony of many who even now survive: For when, as is the custom, at the summons of the Florentine people the aforesaid Abbot together with the monks, honorably carrying the arm of the most blessed John, that they might be for ornament and adornment to the festivity of John the Baptist, had come to Florence; the pomp of St. John the Baptist being performed and the procession solemnly fulfilled, this arm, so distinguished and marked with many miracles, the monks and prelates being unwilling, the Fathers Priors placed for a time in a more worthy grade of the palace and public house; with this mind, however, that a gilded and distinguished tabernacle should be made for it, as was fitting.

[11] But when the most blessed John had now chosen this place for himself, the rest being set aside, in a wonderful manner is carried to Vallombrosa, and even in life avoiding after himself the glory of the world and the thresholds of the more powerful, on the following day he is beheld by the sacristan on his altar, which is situated in this monastery, with four lights; which, as he himself was wont to relate, he saw with his own eyes the lights tend toward heaven; this was at first for astonishment and admiration to him, then for the greatest joy. He took care therefore at once to relate it to those few monks who had remained at home; for which reason, affected with immense joy, and tears arising for joy, going thither early they say: O Father, O ornament of the church and our hope! you have decreed not to desert this temple and your family. Then, the bells being rung, and the torches lighted, devoutly and suppliantly chanting psalms, they placed it among the other Relics in the sacristy; but they were zealous to signify the whole matter as soon as possible to the venerable Abbot by letters. Therefore suddenly, instead of fear, immense joy arose among all.

[12] This most sacred arm therefore, in such order as will be described below, when the king demands it, is carried to the necessary places, whether within or without, that one captured by a demon may await the help of St. John: and is of great virtue against demons, For the bells being rung, as is done in full solemnities, all the monks sit down in one place. Meanwhile one only of the monks, a priest, is adorned with the ecclesiastical ornament which they commonly call a cope, the lights are prepared by the acolytes, which being best furnished and arranged, they diligently at once go forth, all in equal order modestly and composedly walking, and devoutly chanting hymns, nor do they cease from this pious work, until they have come to where the demoniac is. It happens sometimes that some citizens too, if perhaps, as happens especially in summer time, they have come, and country folk and townsmen of every rank and age mingled, who inhabit around that region, and seculars who are occupied at home in some business, run together to this wonderful spectacle with the highest religion and fear, led by the example of others, and, the monks singing and praying, and repeating the same often and frequently, by the grace of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary and of St. John it comes about that all who have just been vexed by a demon do not repent of having come here; nay, what is greater, some others, held by various infirmities, returned to their fatherland joyful and unharmed, as below will be clearly plain to the readers.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART II.

The first therefore of the memorable miracles shown by the most holy John happily and wonderfully, A demon a Ligurian woman, and celebrated by many mortals; thus we have received. It is established that a certain woman from the province of Liguria ^a, wearied by a demon, was on the festivity of the same St. John brought by force by her kinsmen to this monastery of St. Mary: but when the monastery was now near, the devil, not able to bear any longer the virtue of St. John, through the mouth of the woman sent forth the greatest and various voices with foam, and cried out that he was wretched; that he could neither proceed further nor wished, and said that he was so tortured, that he affirmed with an oath that nowhere among peoples had he been affected with torments of this kind. By these cries therefore the company of men and women, who for the sake of devotion and religion had come to this monastery, astonished and terrified, break forth, flowing together from everywhere in a tumult, to the place where the wretched woman was tortured. It was worth the trouble both to hear at times the horrible and fierce and various voices of the demon; and sometimes indeed, by the grace of Jesus Christ, a not small space being given, to behold that wretched one, her eyes suffused with tears, imploring first the help of the Virgin Mary, then of St. John.

[14] What more? At last she, not without immense force of many, being dragged to the church, the monks after the custom with the arm of St. John, compelled by the invocation of St. John, as we related a little above, devoutly and humbly came thither, even to where the woman was afflicted with torments, many praying around. And so, to the priest crying out that the demon should withdraw to his own place, he himself, wearied by frequent conjurations by the virtue of the most holy John, with mournful voices a little after professed that he would go elsewhere. But because the devil is proved by many witnesses to be crafty and lying, wherefore they should judge that not enough faith should be given to him; being asked by the monk priest, what sign, when he departed, he would give; he said: By the stroke of a lightning-bolt impelled from the northern region into that tree, placed near the church, tearing it minutely and pouring it out in little fragments everywhere, I will leap down; which indeed a little after he proved by the deed itself: For when on every side the air was serene, and those who were present at this spectacle awaited the issue of the matter with the highest desire, especially because the demon, often asked, urgently affirmed that he would do the same: at last, by the merits of the most holy John and the prayers of the monks, his strength began gradually to fail him, so that now even the demon unwilling, what he had promised should be demonstrated in his departure.

[15] O wonderful power of Jesus in the Saints especially! Behold suddenly from the region of Boreas a wind blew a dense and black cloud to these our regions, and, as the demon had said, in his departure a lightning-bolt being vibrated from the cloud and hurled with excessive stroke, with rapid and immense motion striking the tree (which is commonly called a maple) and rending it in little fragments, the sign of his departure being given, he deserts. casting its branches hither and thither, reduced it almost to nothing; whose trunk, or more rightly I shall say the stump, was preserved almost to our times in memory of so great a matter by the diligence of the fathers, which I remember to have seen. Therefore all the mortals who were present, stiff and trembling, noticing what had happened beyond the custom of the air, extolling the sanctity of John, awaited the issue of the woman: for now the blood had fled from her, and made pale, and among the hands of her kinsmen gradually sunk to the ground, the heat of her limbs extinguished, she lay as if lifeless, who before, by the work of the devil, had had fierce eyes, a sad brow, swollen nostrils, a foaming mouth, a malignant countenance, an angry mind, a fetid tongue and an ill-smelling soul. At last she, directing the sharpness of her eyes hither and thither, and surveying all who were present, inquired of all where in the world she was; at last, the matter being known, diligently on bent knees rendering thanks to God, she departed into her fatherland with her own cheerful and unharmed. By which prodigy the most blessed John, known to few before, was held illustrious and great near and far. This miracle I received from very many of our Order worthy of credit.

[16] A young man of Perugia sorely vexed by a demon, Thus it is clearer than light that from the city of Perugia ^b a certain youth, not only vexed by a demon, but deprived of the office of tongue and ears, and moreover of his other limbs, so that he seemed not the image of a man, but a certain monster; having also his head bent back within his knees, was led by his kinsmen, illustrious men, enticed by the prodigies of the most holy John, to this monastery. He was the nephew of the most illustrious John, once adorned with the Cardinal title of SS. John and Paul, and at that time legate of Perugia, whom when Abbot Bernard ^c, the father of this monastery, and the rest, both monks and Converts, beheld thus bent back, led by astonishment and pity, gave themselves to weeping equally with the kinsmen. O good Jesus! Who so hard, so iron, who, beholding our figure and the aspect of the body, utterly deprived of its offices, could have abstained from tears and weeping? The Abbot therefore, compassionating the kinsmen and the others present, pressing his grief in his deep heart, thus began to them: Loose from your heart fear, most beloved ones, let sadness depart, only let an entire faith be implanted in your breasts, that Jesus our Lord, by the merits of Mary the most holy mother and the prayers of John his servant, both can and wills not only to render this your son unharmed, but also to preserve him. So we hope, said the father, commending both him and ourselves greatly to Jesus and to you.

[17] restored to health by the intercession of St. John, The bells therefore being rung after the custom, and the monks in the sacristy, the torches lighted, gathered together with the Abbot, carrying the aforesaid youth in the hands of a servant, and laying the young man beside the tabernacle of the relics: for he could neither stand by himself and by no means suffered himself to be held. But all, both monks and seculars, on bent knees, some upward to Jesus, drawn by a certain divine love, looked up, but some, whose mind was not so sound, with eyes cast down, sad, implored the protection of the most pious Jesus amid the singing; the Converts also and the rest, each according to the matter, with all the powers of his mind poured out prayers to the most pious Virgin Mary, praying that she would bring help to that wretched one. While these things were done, according to each one's genius and zeal, in a different manner, a short interval of time having elapsed, the boy, by the merits of St. John, his strength recovered, raised his head, then standing on his feet, after the manner of stammerers sent forth the slenderest voices; besides, resuming his hearing, with the greatest admiration of all, on his own feet went whither the desire of his mind bore him, and moreover uttered full voices drawn out in their order.

[18] And when it was now established to all that he had escaped fully unharmed, he gives thanks to God, his father and the other kinsmen so exulted for joy, that they often kissed the arm of St. John with the highest reverence; besides, beholding their son, from a monstrous thing bearing the image of a comely young man, they could not be satisfied with gazing; and silence being asked, the youth suppliantly sent forth this prayer: O Father, and salvation of the faithful, illuminator of souls, Lord Jesus Christ, whom all created things serve, I praise and bless thee, and hereafter commend and give myself wholly to thee, that thou mayest deign, by thy accustomed kindness, to lead my spirit to the haven of perpetual salvation: and thou glorious Virgin, through whom all good things come to us mortals, and thou most holy John, to whom God deigns to grant such grace, that from any infirmity thou renderest wretched mortals unharmed by thy prayers, if only they humbly commend themselves; to you, for such and so great a gift, bestowed on me in this monastery, with all my heart and all my mind I give thanks, praying and beseeching, that hereafter you would be willing to bestow on me such virtue of mind against the powers of the devil, that, his wiles being avoided, I may be able sincerely and purely to serve you through the virtue and name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Then, looking upon his parents, he said: I pray, father, that you would be willing not only to give thanks to Father the Abbot and the rest, who so humbly and modestly devoted themselves to God to endure labors for my liberation, but to repay them with your accustomed benevolence.

[19] When therefore this discourse was both for admiration and pleasantness to all who were present, and offers gifts. the father, clinging with a sweet embrace and a kiss to his son, and tears again arising for joy, said: Son, once most bitter to me, now more pleasant than light, take money yourself, offer it most humbly to God, even if not, as would be our office, for such and so great a benefit received, but as we can, let us bestow. At last Father the Abbot, right hands being first given between them and congratulatory words devoutly had by each, admonished them not to be unmindful of so great a benefit, and thus they departed joyful. So great a miracle and prodigy therefore, lest it be easily blotted from the memory of men, the father took care that it should be diligently painted on a certain tablet, and willed it to be hung above the altar of this our church of St. John with the garments of his son, which he used while placed in infirmity: but now, the paintings being obliterated by dust and water and the damps in which this place abounds, only the memory of certain Abbots and Converts of this order, who still survive, is retained, from whom I (for they were present) received it.

[20] A citizen of Florence, on account of magical incantations Peter Bernardi de Arena, a citizen of Florence, in the time of Bernard de Gianfigliazzi, Abbot of Vallombrosa; coming here, in wondrous ways surrounded on every side with ropes, bearing before him a certain horribleness, so that he presumed to attempt biting at the noses and ears of many, and gave to all beholders no small admiration and terror; is reported also to have sent forth through his mouth, as soon as he entered these regions, such voices, that all the hills and mountains near the monastery, situated on high, seemed to resound on every side. But when, after the custom, he was dragged into the sacristy, surrounded on every side both by men and by ropes, compelled at last after many prayers and conjurations had over him, he related this; that he was so bound and tied by the charms and incantations of a certain malign man, that in no way and by no force could he be drawn thence, unless first those fascinations and incantations were removed from under the threshold of the door of his house.

[21] sorely afflicted by a demon But when the monks, led by the admonitions of Jesus Christ and the example of Bl. Hilarion, gave little or no faith, because in other things he had often lied; when they insisted with prayers, and moreover the priest continually tortured him, and said that from the virtue of God destruction was imminent to him; on the contrary he, with fierce countenance and burning eyes, broke forth into these words: O crosses! O torments! What do I suffer? What need is there, O most evil Brothers, that I go hence by so many prayers? Why do you pour out these hymns and these divine words in vain? Why do you endure so much labor to no purpose? It is enough, that you could hear this from me, that on the threshold of the door the incantations be left [*], which I do not doubt will greatly harm me. Some of those who had come with him desiring that the things which the demon said, the plate and the linen and the rest, be sought and removed from the place; the monks forbade it, lest either the demon might seem to have withdrawn loosed from the incantations, or they themselves to have given faith to his discourses; asserting that demons are always fallacious and crafty in dissembling. Therefore the religious men praying and continually beseeching the Virgin Mary and holy John, from the hands of those holding him (for he was stripped of the ropes) the one captured by the demon bursting out, rushed to the very end of the sacristy with the highest and immense impetus, and there, thrust down to the ground by the devil with hellish inhumanity, was afflicted there with so great and such a punishment as he had not before been afflicted with either at home or on the journey (as those who had made the journey with him affirmed) nor in the sacristy, the monks being present, so that he presented a miserable spectacle of himself to all.

[22] is healed; and the instruments of the incantation are found. But when the devil was greatly wearied both by the virtue of St. John and by the supplications of the monks, and could no longer endure the virtue of Jesus, the wretched man being first long torn and rent, at last he departed. But it was worth the trouble to hear what voices he sent forth even afterward, flitting in the sacristy itself: For the things which were narrated would have been almost incredible to me, had I not received them from those who were present at such a spectacle. So great, O good Jesus! both a din and an earthquake was made, while the demon went elsewhere, that all who were present thought the sacristy and church with the whole monastery utterly rooted up: but to whomever these things are incredible, let him read other books both ecclesiastical and gentile, and what the devil could do, God assenting, he will clearly understand: and for the confirmation of this matter I would bring some things into the midst, did not that matter draw me farther from what I began. Let me return therefore whence I departed. The companions therefore returning with Bernard unharmed to Florence, obeyed not the admonitions of the monks. For these had given in command that they should not seek those incantations. But, as curious and desiring to know new things, and coming to the threshold of the door, and, as desire bears, searching all things, they found a linen cloth rolled together and bound round with silken threads, which being unfolded, they beheld a particle of the bone of a dead boy, and also the hairs of a woman, and moreover the skin of an ass's foal, as they themselves afterward related to certain of ours, within with certain signs and characters; all which, by the admonition of a certain religious man, they gave to the fire. It is plain therefore that incantations can be made by charms; this both our canons approve, and the matter itself indicates.

ANNOTATIONS.

* that is "be left"

PART III.

By the relation of the Abbot of Coltibuono ^a, whose name was Paul, we have received that a certain girl from the town of St. Gaudentius ^b came here in the time of Abbot Bernard de Gianfigliazzi. Likewise a girl possessed by a demon Her a demon so and so iniquitous had possessed, that no one dared to approach her except cautiously, especially while she was afflicted with torments: for she had often tried to bite mordantly the hands and noses of very many, so that, when they took care to set her down from the beast on which she sat, near the monastery, on account of her, she lay upon the neck of it, seizing it with her teeth, so that those who were present could by no means with the highest strength remove the head of the girl thence; at which spectacle, many running together, also Peter, a religious man, then dean of this monastery, was present, and the sign of the Cross being made over the girl, presently she raised her head as if of set purpose.

[24] Dragging her therefore by force even to the chapel, with the venerable cross with which we read that St. John struck the demon, she is freed. when a certain monk had touched her, no long time being spent in conjuring her, the devil, tormenting the girl with terrible ways and unheard-of torments, thrust her to the ground.

But the priest, admonishing that none of those who were present should touch her, lightly sprinkled her with the dews of blessed water. But the woman, as if departed from the present life, lying for the interval of an hour, showed nothing else of life, except that she seemed at times to send forth for a little only slender alternating breaths from her mouth. At last, rising and looking around on every side, held with no scanty admiration, she asked where in the world she was, and whence she had come thither, and what so many religious wished of her. At length, having learned from the priest and from her own with what infirmity she had labored, and how she had escaped unharmed by the merits of St. John, giving thanks to God and to him, joyful with her own she returned to her own fatherland.

[25] A certain Florentine It is also established that to this monastery of St. Mary a certain apothecary ^c of Florence, at nearly the same time, was led by his own, bound round with ropes; who indeed both in the city and outside and wherever he was dragged, gave a wonderful spectacle of himself to all mortals: For he was tortured by such a demon, that he was compelled to show various things about himself full of astonishment; at times uttering jesting, sometimes grave, and sometimes indeed terrible words. But when he came to these places and the woods of the monastery, he began, crying out, to pour forth words of this kind from the mouth of the man: Do not wish to go thither, do not drag me, I pray: For nothing of what you desire will come to pass; nay you will return to the city with greater sadness than now you proceed toward the monastery. These things said, he was silent. That the demon said these things on the journey, the monks learned from some who were present, when it came to the monastery. When therefore his companions could not lead him except by dragging him with great force, they spent so much time in a struggle of this kind, that they came to the monastery when now the third hour of night had passed.

[26] by a hidden judgment of God, The monks therefore resting in the upper part, the Converts who in the lower part presided over hospitality, gave effort to have them honorably after the accustomed manner; but when the demon did not cease keenly to vex the miserable man, and a little after affirmed that he was suffocated, the Converts who were present, moved with pity, took care at once to summon the dean. Coming therefore, he presently commanded the cross of St. John to be brought; he himself meanwhile on bent knees to insist on prayer. But before those to whom it had been commanded had come thither with the cross, that man was miserably suffocated by the demon. And when this sudden event had made all tearful and sad, the dean father, to soften their grief, began with such words: Since the judgments of God are unknown to us, we are certainly bound and obliged, as the prophet says, to give thanks to Him in all things and concerning all things: for nothing, as the holy Gospels relate, is certain to happen even in the smallest things except by the divine nod. Wherefore both put an end to your sadness; and moreover I pray, recreate your bodies a little with food; lest, while you wish, as is the disposition of certain not wise ones, to bewail without measure the falls of mortals, you continue both to bring detriment to your bodies, and to do a thing not agreeable to God.

[27] he is suffocated by the demon. By these therefore and other words the dean exhorting them, those wretched ones, the strength of their body being a little recovered, not without immense sadness took food; but on the following day, psalms being sung according to the Christian tradition, they gave his corpse to the earth in the cemetery situated outside the doors of the church; it being known from his companions, that he had led his life religiously and honestly: for annually, as the sacred canons will, he had made a humble confession of his crimes to God and the priest. For if he had ordered his life otherwise, they would have buried that corpse in a place not sacred. The companions therefore, as the devil had said, more sad than they had come here, though all, both monks and Converts, had consoled them, returned to their home.

[28] A certain old woman from Monte Miliario ^d, whom a ridiculous demon had invaded, was led by her own to this monastery of the Virgin Mary, A certain ridiculous demon is put to flight. presenting a pleasant and wonderful spectacle of herself, so that she sometimes even shook laughter from the religious men, adorned with gravity. For the demon, singing both the Angelic hymn and the Kyrie eleison, and sometimes even the psalms, so that you would think it the soul of some priest, it could not but, from the unusual thing, give laughter to those present; but at times, by the command of the priest, making silence to these, was conjured to go to his own place: To whom he, laughing, said: I will withdraw elsewhere: if you would command me to sing a little an antiphon or psalm, I would yield to none of you in chanting and duly singing: and these being finished, awaiting no answer from the priest, sweetly after the accustomed manner to say something divine by singing. But the monks not being able to bear a long delay in trifles and ridiculous things of this kind, it was commanded to the priest by the dean, that he should order an end to be put to these songs. What need is there of many words; at last, sweetly singing, without any injury to the little old woman, as is reported, showing a certain gladness, he departed. Thus she, unharmed, giving thanks to St. John, returned to her home.

[29] It has been brought by report even to us, that from the province of Flaminia ^e a certain priest of great body came to this monastery of St. Mary; A demon a priest, whom a demon so afflicted with cruel tortures, that nowhere could he halt, or by night or by day rest, unless wearied and worn out by continual and immense motion of the body. Then anywhere among places even in water, and, what is incredible to say, on the ground he prostrated himself, took food at times only by leaping. In so many perils he was always held with his hands bound behind his back, or fenced round to some column with a rope, or held by very strong men; so that whithersoever he made his journey, on every side to this so wonderful spectacle, for the sake of visiting, mortals of every sex and race ran together, marveling first at his unheard-of case; then vehemently pitying him, one said to another: Alas, what a case has befallen this wretched priest? By the faith of God and of men! What is this? That priests of God should come into such most atrocious torments; at least let him labor under any other disease; and it would be more just and more tolerable in my judgment that he should be afflicted with fever, gout, syncope, and the other infirmities. This then was the murmur of the crowd about the priest; but those who had a sounder mind, judged otherwise, and that Jesus in all his judgments is to be praised and extolled.

[30] At last, not without great labor of the companions, he was led to that monastery: led in vain to Vallombrosa, For who, what the demon himself said or did, could narrate, even endowed with the highest eloquence; the day besides would fail me, if I should take care to consign to writing what I received concerning him. But lest I be a tedium to others, and a labor to myself, I shall hasten to the issue of the matter. And when he was asked by the priest, by what audacity he had entered a priest of Christ; the demon gave such an answer, all who were present hearing. By the divine nod I have both afflicted this man, and afflict, and will afflict him with torments, until, as he has merited, he shall have had his end. Yet the priest insisting with the Relics of St. John, that he should go out, and give place to the Holy Spirit: I can neither, nor wish, said the demon: For that this man was to be his by the divine permission, he affirmed with hellish voices. Who, said the priest, dare you say this, accursed one? Is not this a creature of God and a priest of Christ? For you know not what shall come to pass. By the deed itself it shall be declared whether I know or not, answered the demon.

[31] on account of his sacrilegious life, Yet the priest went on performing his office, the other monks chanting psalms; which thing the demon bearing more ill than before, inasmuch as he was greatly and beyond example tortured by Jesus through the virtue of St. John, thundering broke forth into these words: Why, O brothers, is it necessary to pour out prayers in vain, and keenly to torture me, that I go hence? For this man is about to perish, who both slew a man and, alas the wickedness! neither blushed nor doubted to minister to others and to take for himself the divine Sacraments nefariously, with an uncontrite heart, no confession being had, no absolution required. For these things which the devil brought forth from his mouth struck no small admiration and fear in all; but when the monks had spent much time and very many days in vain in caring for him, they let him go, the companions however being unwilling: For our Abbots decreed that we should observe the old customs and statutes and annals, which were sanctioned by our fathers in the assemblies and chapters; which indeed permit a three-day period to all guests freely, when they say: For three days let there be a right to guests and no more, unless the highest necessity compel. But that I may return to what I began.

[32] God permitting, he suffocates him. These thus departing to their fatherland, as soon as they had gone out of our bounds, the devil, dragging the priest (which is dreadful and fearful to say) to the ground with the highest strength, afflicting him with immense tortures, at last suffocated him. These things our people learned from certain ones who had been present at the funeral rites of the dead priest. Hence any priest can take an example and take counsel for his own part, what judgment and what end awaits him who, without contrition of heart, if the supply of a priest is lacking, has dared both to handle so great a Sacrament and to administer it to himself and his own. But perhaps someone will say: Few or none in our time fall into such fearful perils. I would rather, if the option were given me, be tortured here for a time than elsewhere eternally; which indeed will be the lot of the wicked priest, unless in this life he be reconciled to Jesus Christ, no faithful one doubts. But now to the rest.

[33] A young man of Siena, From the city of Siena ^f a keen and strong young man, bound also and fastened with a chain (for he would have torn the twist ^g of ropes), when his kinsmen, most noble men, with many accompanying, dragged him, they happened to have their journey by the monastery of Coltibuono; which monastery indeed is proved to be of this Religion. There the demon, now feeling the virtue of St. John, and not able any longer to endure it, cried out in wondrous ways: Nor further will I go, he says, if I would I could; give pardon, go back, I pray. O crosses! O torments! which you, St. John, undeservedly inflict on me! wretched me! these I can no longer endure; I pray that you return to your fatherland; thither indeed I will withdraw as soon as possible. For when, against his opinion, the companions hastened their journey toward Vallombrosa, the demon, both by the grace of the most blessed John, and, the young man's faith increasing, being the more tortured, sending forth immense voices, cried out a thousand times, saying that he was wretched. He added; Here halt the beast, halt I pray, I will indeed withdraw, I will withdraw: for further I cannot proceed.

[34] Making fast therefore the beast, they set down from the horse the young man entangled in chains, on the way miserably afflicted by the demon, and wet with sweat over his whole body from labor, and almost with all his limbs broken, and slipping and trembling on his feet. And so, mortals of every condition running together to this wonderful spectacle in throngs from the fields and villages (for the demon had summoned them hither and thither with hellish voices), one said to another: My

brother, how many wretched mortals, while they pass this life, endure intolerable torments; wherefore I would say it more useful to break off that life in the cradle after the Sacrament of baptism, than to come to these ages. To whom on the contrary it was answered: Cease hereafter to utter these and similar words inconsiderately and foolishly: for you think ill. Thus it pleased God, whom all things obey, and to whom no one dares to say, why hast thou done thus? Moreover, as they say: What is more difficult, that is more glorious: for by how much greater torments in this frail life we shall have endured with equal mind, by so much in the future more glorious rewards will be given for the labors.

[35] While they cast about these and other things, as the will bears, [he is freed, and as a sign of a grateful mind goes to the monastery of Vallombrosa,] the demon, much more ferociously than usual, some of the bystanders praying, immediately raged against that wretched youth; at last thrusting him by force to the ground, first tearing and rending him, at last with an immense cry departed; but he for nearly the space of an hour, not without great admiration of all who were present, lay prostrate on the ground as if dead; then he is a little shaken, and, as if roused from sleep, rising, whole nevertheless and unharmed, giving thanks first to God and to the Virgin Mary and to holy John, then to all the rest; and he would not return to his fatherland, unless he had first visited the church of St. John. It pleased all, and they betook themselves here together, and the arm of the most holy John being venerably and devoutly kissed, they, festive and joyful for the sake of devotion, visited the sepulcher of the blessed of this monastery, which is situated in the lowest part of the bell-tower, and moreover approached the humble huts of the hermits, which are situated on a rocky height above the monastery; which height indeed on that part which looks to the south is broken and cut off in a horrible manner; on that part also which rises from the East, joined by a very narrow tract to the higher mountain, of whose name and site the place admonishes that it is not out of place to discourse a few things, since elsewhere we shall not make mention of it; and the holy Abbot ^h, best and most diligently of all who have written the history and life of St. John, having pursued this place, seems to me to have spoken with too little free mouth, who, inserting the site of Vallombrosa into his work, scarcely touched this place of the Cells, sited and adorned in a wonderful manner by nature, and more by the industry of men.

[36] and the Cells of the hermits; It is therefore a rocky mountain, most rough and uncultivated, which is girded by a double wood; for on the upper part, which is led down the slope of the mountain into the river, it has tall fir-trees, which in the vast solitude of the place increase the religion and strike no mean horror into those entering; but on the inner part, which tends toward the depths of the monastery, nature as if by human artifice is surrounded at this season with the lowest holm-oaks. In the middle of this mountain a most pleasant meadow is beheld, walls, raised of set purpose onto the arm of the hermits by their work, clothing it on every side, which space, in divided little cells, four anchorites inhabited. The middle is held by a church, of dreadful antiquity and most worthy of religion, in which, among the other pictures which are shown on panels with wonderful artifice, an image of the Virgin Mary appears so distinguished and so remarkable, that it seems fully perfected [by] the painter, which our Poet says: I believe indeed they will draw living faces from marble. O good Jesus! what that distinguished Zeuxis, what Polyclitus? To this one indeed they would yield; there would yield also Euphranor and whoever else was ever a distinguished painter and sculptor ⁱ.

[37] whose austere But I return to the anchorites, who, although each has private altars, in which the divine rites separately and by himself each who is of the priestly order performs; yet they come together to the greater church at the appointed hours of the day, and by night to chant and read the psalms. The little cells are not, as is customary in monasteries, joined with a wall interposed; but, separated, they dwell by themselves in humble little huts, to each of which are annexed little gardens; they take food together only on Sundays and feast days; but on other days each by himself sparely refreshes his little body. Besides the Canonical hours, each week on the sixth feria, on which they feed only on bread and water, they go through the whole psalter; and, that I may open their life in few words, this desert certainly they inhabit who love a somewhat harsher life in the divine praise beyond the institutes of St. Benedict. For there are those who, after the manner of the ancient holy Fathers, complete a whole psalter each day; there are also those who, kindled with divine love, rarely or never taste wine; there are in this desert those who even, when deformed winter shrills, walk with bare feet among the snows and rough ices, and at that time content with a mean garment and little cloak, moreover for taming their lusts continually use an iron ring over the naked body; concerning whom elsewhere we shall treat more fully, Jesus favoring: For the time admonishes us to hasten elsewhere.

[38] manner of living All these, imitating the morals of the ancient Fathers, especially the Egyptians, are exercised in the work of the hands, whether in cultivating the gardens, which streams, led through wooden channels, wash and water; or in weaving wicker baskets and little baskets. Some also make with their hands smaller utensils of wood, such as a spoon, a dish, a bowl. These, lest the devil find them idle, and for avoiding vain desires, after the divine offices are fulfilled, either by themselves or together they perform alacritously. From the monastery therefore to this place of the hermits there is one and a very difficult, but pleasant, approach for one meditating on divine things; on this side the way is surrounded by fir-trees, on that by the little gardens of the monks. What more? That that most rough rock, against the nature of the place, displays various flowers, and produces fragrant herbs of very many kinds. But this I judge must not be passed over, that not only on the way, but from the rock in which the little cells of the anchorites are built, while the lower monks sound the psalms in the church, while it is sung with the organs, they, intent on them, perceive most sweet harmonies and various modulations. When the above-said young man had approached such and so most religious a place, marveling in a place of horror and vast solitude at so many little churches joined to little huts, or more rightly I shall say to little cells; contemplating besides the order of life of the hermits, the gravity of their morals too and the harshness of the place, moreover the want of things, which with voluntary and alacritous mind they endure, he could not be satisfied, always giving thanks to Jesus. Beseeching these hermits at last to pray for his salvation and that of all Christians, joyful in the Lord he descended to the monastery.

[39] When therefore he anxiously inquired also into the life of the cenobites, since he had learned that of the hermits, together with that of the cenobites Abbot Benedict ^k, a most religious man, who at that time presided over the monastery and the whole Order, opened it to him in few words; for he said: The first, as of old to the Egyptian monks, among all cenobites is the covenant; to obey superiors, to live together; and they are divided into decuries, or, if the number be greater, into centuries, so that one, the tenth, presides over nine men, and again the hundredth has ten provosts under him. Up to the ninth hour, as the institute of St. Benedict prescribes, is the fast; and the fast of the whole year is equal, except in Lent, in which alone it is granted to live more strictly; and meanwhile no one goes to another, unless the highest necessity compel, except those who are called deans or Priors. After None they come together in communion, and the blessing being given by the dean or by the Abbot, one enters upon one way, another upon another. The psalms at once resound there, elsewhere the Scriptures are recited after the custom, are learned, the things which in the church and elsewhere are to be said and treated, that the hearers may be edified. Sometimes by the abbot, or by him to whom it has been commanded, a disputation concerning the Scriptures arises, in which silence is made, so that no one dares to look at another, no one to cough. In the church, in the refectory, in the dormitory and within the cloisters, eternal silence.

[40] They live on bread, legume, and herb, which are seasoned with salt and oil; at times eggs, sometimes little fish are set on the table sparingly; the holy manner of life is described. flesh only the old men and boys take, and that rarely, that the wearied age of the one may be sustained, and the beginning age of the other not broken. The works of the hands are done as it is established by the dean. If they see anyone sick, they console him; if fervent in the love of God, they exhort him to study: and because at night, outside the public offices, each watches in his own chamber, the chief ones go around the little cells of the several ones, and, an ear being applied, diligently explore what they do: whom they find more negligent, they do not rebuke, but dissemble what they know, and thus provoke to prayer; and according to the rule they so moderate all things, that no one asks anything, no one lacks any small thing; and, not to detain you with many words, thus, all things of this kind being set aside, they live, that when concerning the kingdom of Christ, concerning the future glory of beatitude, concerning the triumphs of the glorious martyrs or the well-done deeds of the other Saints, whether in the church or elsewhere, mention is made by reading or reciting, you may see all, with a moderate sigh and with eyes lifted to heaven from immense love, say within themselves: Who will give me wings, like a dove, and I will fly and rest? And the things which seem bitter, which many and various things are involved in the life and obedience of the monks, they so bear, that they depart nothing from the state of true faith and, joyful, continually repeat with them that of the wise man: In the odor of thy ointments we will run. These things said, the Abbot was silent. Then he: O truly blessed and happy those themselves, who have so holily, so rightly ordered their life! and giving thanks first to God, and to the Virgin Mary his Mother and to St. John, commending himself greatly to the prayers of the Abbot and of the others, he departed to his fatherland, instructed by the excellent examples and monuments of the monks, whole and unharmed.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART IV.

A man of Liguria Besides, from the parts of Liguria in these times a certain man now of advanced age was led to this monastery of St. Mary, snatched by force and chained by his parents, born in no obscure place; who indeed, among other things which were for astonishment and admiration, showed this wonder often, that through his mouth the demons sent forth several voices, so that anyone would have affirmed that he was afflicted with torments not by one only, but by several and various demons. It was worth the trouble, as was related to us by men worthy of credit, to observe diligently both his acts and words: For at times grave, often even foolish and light, at times urbane, sometimes rustic things he set forth most excellently and uttered; whereas, especially being of good health, as befits grave men, he would have poured forth nothing but grave words congruous to the place and time: for this was said to come about not, as sometimes is the wont, from sharpness of wit, but rather from madness.

[42] These therefore and other things being done by him ineptly and foolishly, a great multitude of crafty demons he was easily believed to be possessed not by one, but by several, as we said, and various demons. Wherefore it was easily shown that more both of time and of art ought to be exhibited by the monks toward his safety. Prayers therefore are made after the accustomed manner, and nothing which is necessary for recovering his good health is omitted. A wonderful thing! amid the praying he was often agitated with such furies, that scarcely even bound and fastened with ropes and chain he was held by very many most robust men. But sometimes he presented a certain humanity and modesty, so that those who were present, nearly the greater part, affirmed that he was afflicted with no pain, tortured by no disease, needed no cure: For in the demon there was so great craft, so great cunning and astuteness, that he permitted the sign of the cross to be made on the man's forehead, and, what is greater, suffered the Lord's Prayer and the hymn of the Virgin Mary to be uttered: so that even some of the monks said that he was sound and unharmed.

[43] But certain ones more experienced in that matter, thinking otherwise, is expelled. by many and various examples proving the demons most crafty and ambiguous (inasmuch as they are one thing, and simulate another), asserted that credit was not to be given at once to their fallacies and painted matters. That it was so, as they said, was a little after proved by the deed itself: For when on a certain day very early in the morning, with this mind, that they would by no means depart thence, unless they had led him with good health recovered into the sacristy, and the monks after the custom had prayers and entreaties with the Relics, that that multitude of demons might depart to their evil place, whither they were worthy; they on the contrary, that they neither wished to depart nor could, though they were afflicted with the highest and immense tortures, as they themselves asserted. Whether I should speak or be silent, what they did in their departure I know not. For I fear, on account of the obstinacy of certain ones, who affirm those things which they think easy to do, but hold those things, as feigned, for false. Yet I shall tell it, especially to those who both believe and proclaim God wonderful in his Saints. For when, as we said, the religious men did not desist from the pious work, and had determined that they would continually do the same, unless the demons departed, they themselves began to send forth various and hellish voices, so that you would say not one man, but a people, was speaking. And at last with immense force, the ropes being broken, seizing a course outside, a crowd of men, brought into a circle, scarcely caught him.

[44] No small time therefore being spent in the pious work, at last the demons, one after another going out, is cast out. left him almost deprived of this life. In that place where this prodigy was wrought by the virtue of St. John, though several both religious and seculars were present, the Abbot forbidding, no one dared to approach him, or to handle him by touching. When therefore all awaited the issue of the matter by praying, an hour and a half being finished, gradually moving himself, at last, as if he awoke from sleep, he rose, and inquiring what was being done there, the matter being known, diligently betook himself to the greater altar, and with living voice, as is said, had a prayer to the most pious Virgin Mary and to St. John so adorned, full of wretched words, that it shook tears from all present. At last, bidding farewell to all, together with his own he departed to his fatherland joyful and full of admiration.

[45] A certain man made mad from love A certain man burning with immense love, when he could not fulfill his desire (for she whom he loved married another), we have received that he came into madness chiefly for this cause, and thence was so agitated with furies, that he often gave himself to the devil; and we have learned that this man was of Poppi ^a. It happened at that time that a certain wicked man had been hung on a cross, who, that he might strike terror of himself into the rest, as sometimes happens, especially if the condemned man be covered with many and evil deeds, had not yet, by the edict of the praetor, been taken down from the cross on which he hung. He indeed, as was openly said, neither wished to confess his crimes to the priest, nor to ask pardon, but, refusing the charity of Jesus, and the immense mercy which he freely shows of himself to wretched mortals, went to the gibbet of the cross as if desperate. To these evils he added this also, blasphemies namely against Jesus and against his most pious mother Mary: so that very many religious men, who for the sake of consolation undertake such a journey together with the condemned, asserted that a malign spirit had entered into him. Alas, how often did he commend himself and his life to the devil! Alas, how often too did he look with grim eyes upon the picture and image of the Lord Jesus Christ! At which imprecations both the horseman and the others who were present, beholding the miserable case, pitied him, at times threatened, unless he made an end of raging. But when they profited nothing, they gave him an end worthy of himself and his morals.

[46] When therefore, as I said, the corpse hung on the cross bound with a chain, this man who from love had come into madness happened to have his way near the cross, and, after the manner of human disposition, with eyes lifted up, shuddered at the corpse, horrible, black, half-decayed, by a wondrous occasion is invaded by a demon, gnawed by worms and other little flies which rottenness produces of itself, and by the passage of time painted with a mossy whiteness. Moreover, as he himself was wont to relate, he heard a hissing sound: which indeed, whether by the wile of the devil it might terrify him, or by the wind, which, entering narrow places, is wont to render such sounds, it came about, we have not sufficiently ascertained. This is sufficiently plain, that at once a demon entered into him on account of immense fear: For as some heard him relating, nowhere among peoples was he ever otherwise consumed by so great and such a dread, that presently, destitute of all strength, he fell to the ground. Into him therefore thus trembling the demon, as entering his own house, began to have dominion over him, so that from a foolish man he made him a madman, and, what is more dangerous, a fearful one.

[47] Immediately therefore raising his limbs, and making his journey toward Poppi, with the highest impetus he was borne against men of every kind. But at last, by certain most robust men, a column being formed and brought into a circle, and after various tumults captured and bound with his hands behind, and surrounded over his whole body with ropes, with the greatest admiration both of those seeing and hearing, he was dragged by force to the crossroads or byway which the common and plebeian call the "crucichium," because four ways tend in the form of a cross to diverse places. And when he raised horrible cries to the stars, and affirmed with an oath that he would not go further, there, that they might recreate their wearied bodies, all rested. Amid the resting therefore, simulating a necessity of the body, leave being received, when he had turned aside a little from the way, his companions by no means fearing the same, fleeing, he hastened to make his journey toward Poppi; and had not certain men of Monte Miliario, who were then doing various things in these rocks according to necessity, roused by the cries of the pursuers, hindered his journey, indeed on that day he would have betaken himself either to Poppi or elsewhere farther. For, shepherds and mountaineers running together from every side, they closed off every way for him.

[48] He stood looking about at all things, and when he perceived that every approach was denied him, delaying a little, thence, dragged to the monastery of Vallombrosa, like a roaring bear, with the greatest swiftness bearing himself against the less powerful, those resisting a little, he escaped from their hands. And so, he by fleeing, these by pursuing, spent much of the day through the hollows of the valleys, through the steeps of the mountains in vain. It was worth the trouble to see with how great audacity and how great force of mind, aided by the help of the devil, that wretched man defended himself. For not only by words and various cries, but by stones or stakes the matter was atrociously conducted by him. In this way he repelled them far off; but at times struck fiercely: but at last a part, judging it best to deceive him, while he keenly rushed against others, others attacking him by guile, because he thought nothing of the kind, his hands being bound behind, dragged him to the monastery, wet with sweat and sprinkled with dust, unwilling and often crying out fiercely. A wonderful thing! for as often as he was conjured by the arm or cross of the most holy John, he went out: when the monks ceased from the pious work, he returned into him at once.

[49] When therefore in this straitness the matter was drawn out to a long delay, and the devil did not match his words with deeds (since he promised by words that he would no longer enter him, but did otherwise in fact) Father the Abbot decreed that publicly and privately prayers should be made for him by all. Which being devoutly and at length performed, on the following day for nearly four hours, by the prayers and entreaties of the monks, and by the continual conjurations of the priest, the demon, vexed, at last, all hearing, by the merits of St. John broke forth into these words: Why do you, O Brothers, so impiously torture me innocent with prayers? Into this man, as into my possession, being often summoned I have entered, wherefore I pray you at last to desist from so nefarious a work. For not except by the will of God did I undertake this, to whose will to wish to resist is certainly a wickedness. You, said the priest, O most evil demon, resist the will of God; who, since you are proved his enemy and adversary, strive to draw others also to this ruin. Therefore go to your evil place, and go into the hellish regions, whither you have merited; let there be nothing common to you with the servants of God, now thinking of heavenly things. at last he is freed.

[50] These and other things when the priest often turned over, the monks praying and singing, at last the demon, not able any longer to bear the sanctity of John, departed. That wretched man, prostrate on the ground, for nearly an hour lay as lifeless: But at last rising, and sound both in mind and in body, he gave thanks first to God and to the glorious Virgin Mary and to St. John. Yet Father the Abbot willed that he should first humbly confess to God and the priest, before he returned to his home, lest henceforth the demon should have power of entering into him. Confession therefore being diligently and humbly made, with the highest joy all returned to Poppi; nor was that man further possessed by the demon.

ANNOTATIONS.

* perhaps "by turns"

PART V.

A certain girl A certain girl, whose name was Francisca, from the city of Castellana ^a, most atrociously vexed with magic and incantations, we have received was led to this monastery of St. Mary. She at times was of such good sense and quiet life, that no one would say she was tortured by a demon or labored in any part of her body. But sometimes she tried to kill herself with a sword, to invade others and rend them with her teeth. But this the priests, and the monks who conjured her, most ill endured, because the demon, even when afflicted with immense torments, gave no answer. For whether [*] he did it designedly, or because perhaps by nature there is a certain dumb kind of demons, we know but little. But when she was long tortured, and the priest had often commanded that at least in the virtue of God he should answer, perhaps that he might machinate some evil, for the sake of which he tries all things, at last he gave such an answer: I am held long bound by the incantations of a certain malign presbyter; who indeed with a wicked love burned for this girl; but when she assented not to him, since the other evil arts which lovers use were lacking to him, he preferred to try all things, rather than to burn so impatiently.

[52] Wherefore he excited me, by singing, to compel her to his pleasure. through the magical arts of a presbyter But to confess the truth, I profited nothing. For as, best instructed by her parents with excellent monuments, from tender years she gave herself to prayers, continually imploring the help of the Virgin Mary with prayers and tears. By these therefore and other good works being impeded by her, when I could not carry into execution the most evil will of that wicked presbyter, indignant I invaded her. For how, against our custom, I have been human or benign toward her, she herself best knows. For among other things, as often as, kindled in heart and mind with greater zeal, she was zealous to follow the true religion of God, whether by praying in silence, or by visiting churches, or by going to sermons, I never refused, but that I went along [to] the pious works. To whom the priest: You, O seducer of all, bearing a thousand mishaps, discords, angers, feuds, and slaughters, do pious works? Ha most evil of all demons, who fell from the supernal regions, I know you within and in your skin. Whatever was holily and justly done, was done not by your merits, but by the merits of the Virgin Mary, whom you by no means dare to contradict.

[53] Then the demon, dissolved in laughter, cackling, said: possessed by a demon It is so, my father, as you say. The priest also inquiring why he had dared to enter into such a girl instructed in excellent morals, he said: Not without the divine will was it done; wherefore it is not for mortals to scrutinize: but both in these and in all other things which do not pertain to them, they ought to keep silence with eternal silence. Two days therefore being now spent in vain in prayers and entreaties, the devil, impatiently bearing the virtue of St. John, at last thundered these words: Ah, I pray, why do you persecute me? Why do you inflict so many and so various torments, that I go hence? Did I not say that I am held here by another's command? Let him come who bound me, the iniquitous presbyter; and let him absolve, and I will gladly depart. Then, the secular men who were present wishing to ask concerning the name of the presbyter: Away, said the priest: For it is the office of the devil both to sow discords, and to bring whatever evil he can upon mortals. Wherefore give him no faith, I pray. The demon, indignant at these things, with a clear voice said: By the deed itself a little after it will be declared, whether I have lied, or spoken the truth. O how great punishments, most evil presbyter, will you pay, for whose sake I have come into so many crosses and torments!

[54] But the girl freed from the demon by the grace of Jesus and the prayers of St. Mary and St. John, is restored to her former health. I know not by what grace it came about, that immediately an intolerable and loathsome disease invaded her, so that, filled with ulcers over her whole body, she gushed with black bile on every side, and at last, by impatience and disease, the hairs of her head being torn out, she presented a spectacle to all, but especially to her kinsfolk. Yet, some years having passed, she is brought back to her former health by the grace of the Virgin Mary and of St. John, to whom she had greatly commended herself; keeping only a paleness and certain spots on her face, otherwise well. It was then related to those who then kept this house, that that presbyter, of whom above I made a word, shown to the parents by the work of the devil, or, which is more truly believed, recognized by conjectures, betook himself to other parts, fearing judgment for his misdeeds, and led a wretched life by the judgment of God in vengeance for the girl. There were those who even affirmed that he was slain outside his fatherland by the brothers of the already-mentioned maiden. But that is only a rumor, but let the truth of the matter be with the authors. To us it is sufficiently established, that for several years the aforesaid maiden on the festivity of the most holy John devoutly came with bare feet with a taper to this house of the Virgin Mary. By these therefore and other miracles which we have related and are about to relate, it is sufficiently established that incantations are made by perverse men.

[55] In my memory a certain woman, Taddea by name, from the town of Prato ^b, which is distant from Florence nearly ten miles, A demon a woman, we saw led by her parents to this monastery of St. Mary. Her such a demon had invaded, that the woman was easily freed by the cross alone. But when she together with her companions was making her journey toward the lodging house, and had her passage near the fountain which flows with continual water beside the chapel (for to that house there is not another easy approach), wearied by the same demon, leaping out from the hands of many, she tried to make her escape. But, running together hither and thither with the workmen who in this monastery, especially in summer time, are given to works, and also with certain oxherds and farmers, she is caught, dragged, and, her hands being bound behind, is carried by force to the chapel. When therefore she was there asked by the exorcist, why he had so easy an entrance and exit to her, he answered: Since by nature I am facile and human, and this woman is proved to be adorned with these and other virtues alike, I can neither bear crosses, nor do I wish to torture her: wherefore, you praying, I depart, but you being absent, I return into her, as into my home.

[56] to whom he often returned, These therefore and other ridiculous things when the devil related, and did the same often, when the reader could no longer endure him, and likewise the monks loathed mockeries of this kind, they determined that it should be read with the cross in the same place where the demon was wont to meet the woman. The priest therefore insisting, and adjuring the demon both with prayers and threats, that he should withdraw elsewhere; the demon said: I will withdraw. You, O girl, I await at home; when you come, I will enter upon the old friendship, most agreeable to me, with you. These things said, withdrawing elsewhere, he gave to all no small fear and admiration of himself. But that woman he left almost lifeless in his departure; so that many said she had departed the present life. But when those who were present, part rubbing her arms with warm hands, part eagerly moistening her limbs with wine and other things, and by recalling her senses a little tepid helped her, the woman, as if awakened from sleep, returning a little to herself, when she wished to rise, immediately fell.

[57] at last he is compelled to desert forever. The monks therefore enduring in prayers and psalms, at last by the grace of God and the merits of holy John she recovered excellently. For when they were still in suspense from the words which the devil had said above: I await you at home, O girl; at the admonition of the priest the monks who had conjured that demon, and a confession of the crimes of her kinsfolk being had also, joyful returned to their fatherland. Besides, the woman vowed, for such and so great a benefit brought to her by the merits of St. John, that annually, and on the vigil of St. John himself she would celebrate a fast and feast, as though appointed by the Church, and as often as the means of going forth were given her, not being hindered by childbirth or another more serious matter, on his festivity to come to this house of the Virgin Mary. A wonderful thing, both by her faith and by the prayers of the glorious Virgin Mary and the merits of St. John it came about, that henceforth neither that devil, who had above promised her that he would return to her while she was at home, nor another of the malign spirits dared to attack her further. Wherefore, while her spirit ruled her limbs, she lived an unharmed and blessed life.

[58] From the town of Lancisa ^c, which is situated in the valley of the upper Arno, a certain man, A demon deserting a certain man of his own accord born in no low place, captured by a demon, we saw come to this monastery of St. Mary, many accompanying. It happened then that a certain man, whose name was Zanobius, came, the brother of a certain monk of our Order, who still lives; who indeed, compelled by the prayers of the kinsfolk of this man invaded by a demon, had gone to a certain necromancer, a malign man and full of wiles, Nepus by name, to seek counsel from him, what should be done in this man. To whom, because he had tried to do things which are nefarious, namely to seek diabolical rather than divine helps, a wonderful and stupendous evil happened in the evening: For while they both sat in one place in the hospice, namely he and the one invaded by the demon, there, a short interval being given, wearied by the journey and by sleep, giving himself a little to rest, he placed his head between his knees. But a little after, awaking, Thanks be to God, thanks be to God, he said, I have recovered.

[59] On the contrary that Zanobius, who had gone to Nepus, passes into another on account of the magician consulted; seized by the same demon, began to be mad, to rave, to be furious, so that, held down by certain ones who had run together to this miserable spectacle, they could scarcely halt him: For they took care to announce this as soon as possible to the monks, the familiars and converts who were present; and when night had not yet covered the earth, and although the hour and Office of Compline had already been performed, they yet ordered him to be led into the church. So prodigious a thing,

and unheard-of in our ages, was a wonderful spectacle, as I said, not only to the monks and converts present, and the other familiars who then inhabited this house, but to all the guests who had arrived. The demon therefore, when he was asked by the priest, why he had so suddenly deserted that other man, and had entered this one, as soon as he had come, answered: It was done by the supernal nod. Since that one sought the divine help with all his mind and faith, deservedly he was to be freed as soon as possible from these tortures. But this wretch, who took care to receive and understand unbecoming rather than becoming and just things, not unjustly ought to be so tortured. For when the monks went on in the pious work by praying and conjuring, nearly the hour of night being now finished, not without the greatest torture of the man, but of himself especially, the devil, leaving him free and unharmed, departed.

[60] Indeed this terrible judgment of God was a dread not only to those present, [He, at last freed, teaches by his example that one must not trust magical superstition.] but to the absent: For the fame of so great a miracle being in a short time spread through all the neighboring regions, it was both an example and an admiration; and especially to the above-said Zanobius, who, while, led by fraternal love and charity, whence he by no means ought and from whom it did not befit, he seeks to bring healing to another, found torture for himself. Let all therefore learn that not human help, or, to speak more rightly, diabolical especially, but the divine is to be sought in perils of this kind; so that many religious, both men and women, needed it, who preferred to endure long tortures of the body, and, what is greater, death, rather than to seek help other than God's, or whence it would not be honorable. I could commemorate very many who in my memory shone with these distinguished virtues, did not that matter draw [me] farther from what I began. Ill therefore, to return to my purpose, does he take counsel for himself, who, for the sake of recovering the health of the body, cares not to avoid the ruin of the soul. These therefore being restored to good health and former soundness, they were with no small joy to all, whom before grief and sadness had invaded, and since one especially was greatly bound to the Virgin Mary and to holy John, both then from bound became most bound, and joyful departed to Lancisa.

ANNOTATIONS.

* that is "whether"

PART VI.

Four brothers of Arezzo From the city of Arezzo four brothers, with many others accompanying, once sought this monastery of St. Mary for the sake of recovering good health; of whom one, as was made clear by the deed itself, was wearied by a demon; but the rest, although they too were secretly vexed by the devil, yet appeared unharmed. For amid the reading and praying, this, which before was hidden, was clearly plain to all who were present. For when one of these, having gone out to purge his belly, not far from the monastery did various things full of folly and vanity, so that he was for fear and admiration to certain ones then existing outside, they rushing at a run into the monastery, related to all who met them the things which they had seen outside. Of those therefore who had been companions and associates, some, stiff with trembling, bursting forth outside, and others, country folk, mingled with these, seizing him at last as he ran hither and thither, and defending himself with stones and rocks to the best of his ability, not without the greatest peril to themselves, bound with a rope, dragged him inside by force. At once one of the brothers began to tremble, and to give signs about himself agreeing well enough, that he himself was in the power of the demon: And so he is immediately caught. To these a fourth brother is added, who, fierce both by his own disposition and by the violence of the demon, since he could not endure the things which were read by the prelate, would have burst forth outside, all who were present yielding, seized with immense fear, had not a certain one more sagacious than the rest closed the doors of the church.

[62] are possessed by a demon When therefore in the doubtful peril a great horror had struck the spectators, nor in so great a crowd of demons did they fully know what should be done, or whither they should turn themselves; when some men of a more vehement disposition judged that they should rush upon him (for he had clung to a wall, by which one part of his body would be safer, while the other he himself defended with a drawn sword), but others, the monks especially, said that gentle remedies would be more fit, and that an excited mind can be broken with more difficulty than bent, Father the Abbot said: I judge it both safer and easier that no one approach this man for a time: but that these others, by the virtue of the Virgin Mary and of holy John, and by your prayers, may escape free and unharmed, give effort as soon as possible. Meanwhile he, affected by the length of time and by weariness, unwilling, will willy-nilly desert the place which he now seems to hold against the will of all. It comes about therefore as Father the Abbot had judged. They insist therefore, first they conjure the demon and exorcize him, but that he should go into another. For all, both religious and seculars, wept (each indeed, leaving his own business, had betaken himself to this unheard-of and stupendous miracle), and prayed the most pious Virgin Mary and holy John, that they would bring help to these wretched ones.

[63] Amid the praying therefore, when the priest asked the cause of the entrance of those demons from that demon on account of injustice; who was the first, he said: I would have you know that these four brothers came into a certain possession of another's, and claimed it for themselves by certain frauds and cavillings, and denied the right of another, and wished their own to be held ratified and firm as right, and from that time each contended by his own force, that it should not be rendered to those to whom the estate belonged by hereditary right: wherefore by the divine will they are precipitated into these miseries and hardships. Who, unless first, as suppliants, they confess their fault, and restore the field which they claimed by fraud to its proper owners, and, as the divine and human laws demand, confirm by oath, or give sureties, that they will from that time either restore the ill-gotten things, or come into concord, believe me, that we for a time, because we cannot bear any longer so many crosses and so many torments, will give place to God; but that a little after we shall return into them again, as into those most bound to us, that we may afflict them with sharper torments, let no one doubt.

[64] But, as at other times, when no faith was given to the demon, which being detected, they are reproved, the divine Office being diligently performed, the priest, as secretly as he could, gave effort to have the matter as manifest as possible from those who were present. Who when they confessed that they had perceived certain things, he admonished them not in any way to make the matter public, nay vehemently to dissemble, and by a certain way to approach them, to promise well, and more secretly than could be done to explore this diligently. The cause therefore being known excellently from those whom the priest had admonished, that it was so as the demon had said, the presbyter monk began harshly to rebuke them apart with severe words, first to chastise, then blandly to admonish, that henceforth they should beware, and should prefer to lead their life most poorly and hardly with their own, than idly and sumptuously and festively with others'.

[65] Things therefore being diligently confirmed, as it pleased the priest monk; and promising better things, they return safe to their fatherland. faith also being given, lest anything remain obscure, one, then another, then a third, at last a fourth so most easily returned to good health, that they presented to all who were present no small admiration of themselves. And they give thanks to God and to the Virgin Mary his mother and to St. John, then to Father the Abbot, liberally treated in their calamity, and at last joyful to their fatherland, everywhere extolling the name of the most holy John, returned; and, as they had promised, taking care to render to the proper owners whatever they had unjustly or by theft claimed for themselves, and to restore the fruits, as on the festivity of St. John it was related by certain of our people of Arezzo, they henceforth ordered their life better and more rightly. Let these things therefore be an example to all mortals, what peril or what danger threatens those who either by craftiness or by force or in any other way claim for themselves another's goods. For even if in this present life all are not noticed, as they have merited, let them not think themselves unpunished in the future: for they will be afflicted with heavier scourges. But now to the rest.

[66] A girl again occupied by a demon, A certain girl, Livia by name, from the city of Forlì ^a (whom I remember to have often seen, after she recovered from that infirmity), led to this monastery of St. Mary, very many monks and converts, who still survive, saw. This girl first had been led to a certain basilica of the most holy Virgin Mary, newly and wonderfully built: which basilica indeed is distant four miles from the above-said city, toward Cesena ^b or Forum Pompilii ^c. In that place at once by the merits of the most glorious Mother of Jesus, as all who implore her help, she was freed. A little after the same demon entered into the same Livia, the girl I mentioned; wherefore her kinsfolk, seized with no small fear, when they wished to lead her to this church of the Virgin Mary, of which I now made a word, through her mouth the demon cried out, and filled the whole city: I will not go out, I will not withdraw elsewhere, unless you seek the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa. But this was held by the kinsfolk and very many others both as a mockery, since the patronage of the Virgin Mary never failed anyone asking with faith of heart; and with hatred also for the difficulty of the journey: for it is distant nearly seventy miles. Wherefore with the highest strength, the demon greatly resisting, they led her unwilling to the church of St. Mary of which I now spoke.

[67] by the counsel of a hermit, But there, many days and labors being spent in vain, a hermit, pitying them, said: I will say what I think, most beloved ones, since in this place time is worn away in vain; for neither does the devil beware of his snares, and he entices us by promising and pledging with his words; nor does he determine to withdraw elsewhere: I judge it best that you go to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, since you know better than I, that that place is strong with the prayers, miracles, and several prodigies of both St. Mary and St. John Gualbert. It comes about therefore as the man of God had judged. Very many undertaking the journey, at the same time the demon began to repent of what he had begun; to cry out a thousand times that he was wretched, to fill the whole city with hellish cries and womanly howlings;

he said they were making an arduous journey without the salvation of the girl. But no faith is given to the one shuffling, nay very many, moved by his craftiness, both called him fallacious and cunning, and utterly affirmed that they would never rest, unless he departed. Through long and rough and wooded roads therefore, on the third day from when they had left home, they arrived here in the evening. But what labor he endured on the journey, what admiration of himself the devil gave to all whom they met, for the sake of avoiding prolixity it has seemed useful to pass over.

[68] When therefore they came, although the time of night was now present, she is led to the monastery of Vallombrosa, yet, liberally treated by those to whom the guests are a care, especially because a monk of this religion of Forlì, whose name was Marcellus, moved by piety, had been to them an excellent companion, as they themselves related. On the following day therefore, these being little cautious, the demon used this craftiness: for, simulating a departure for a time, he suffered the girl to be humble and quiet, to allow the sign of the cross to be made on her forehead, permitted her to say the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic salutation of the Virgin Mary, duly and in their order; and finally omitted nothing which men of sound mind use, but that she used it also. These therefore, little prudent, first extolled St. John to heaven, then, held by the cavillings and snares of the devil, permitted her, free, to go whither her desire wished.

[69] She therefore, because both the cause and place were opportune for her by womanly prayers, and drawn back from her flight, the going through the meadow, by which a part of the monastery is girded, being easily obtained from her own, these being intent on other things, forthwith seized flight. Which, had not our people, who were then outside, hastened from every side, and captured her by force, those also bringing help to their own; indeed on that day she would have betaken herself to alien and foreign regions: so great strength did the devil administer to her while fleeing. Whom, captured, her hands being bound behind, snatching to the chapel which is built beside the monastery with immense strength, all the others, who were then present at home and outside, ran together to visit her. Moreover, an edict being given by the Father of the monastery, that for her salvation each for himself should pray to Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and holy John, all the monks going out in a certain order with the arm of St. John, as is the custom when the matter and necessity demands, walking devoutly, and it came to that place where the demon gave immense cries through the mouth of the girl.

[70] The priest inquiring whence he had again so great an audacity of assailing a creature of Christ, after various conjurations of the priest, especially since she had been restored to her former health by the merits of the most glorious Virgin Mary, the demon said: Why do you require of me those things which do not pertain to you, O priest? Perform your office, as rightly as you can, and do not inquire the things which nothing concern you. For when the prayer was drawn out to length by all with chanting and singing, and the demon, although he was afflicted with many torments, yet remained in his opinion, and gave no place to the Holy Spirit, it seemed useful to defer to another day his conjuration and the crosses, because he had vehemently shaken the girl. Meanwhile Father the abbot decreed private supplications ^d to Jesus and the Virgin Mary and holy John: this with joyful mind the monks each for himself did, ceased not from prayer, gave no rest to the devil within, without, singly and together.

[71] But on the following day all intent on prayers, and the priest insisting with continual and continuous conjurations, and by the prayers of the monks she is freed there; that the demon should withdraw to his own place. At last, much time being worn away in the pious work, not able any longer to bear the virtue of St. John, with immense gnashing and terror he sought the hellish places. But the girl Livia for nearly an hour lay prostrate on the ground as if departed from life: When she rose, held with no small admiration, she inquired where in the world they were, what that band of monks or other men sought: The cause being known she said: A grateful thing is it to me, O good men; of me indeed, for the health obtained, most grateful will be the annual memory of holy John, while my spirit shall rule these limbs; to whom, for the charity of the Virgin Mary, I give thanks, and shall give always, and I appoint for myself a voluntary fast on his Vigil for so great a benefit bestowed on me; I add moreover, O my most sweet parents and kinsfolk, that an annual commemoration of the same St. John be celebrated in the temple of St. Antony, where the bodies of our people lie. The kinsfolk assert that they will do it, and immediately, the arm of St. John being devoutly kissed, the Brothers bidding farewell, they departed home. Which girl we have received afterward despised all human things, parents, kinsfolk, and the other things which among mortals are held first, and entered the religion of nuns. For she judged that nowhere else could she better and more fully take and merit those divine goods, which a little before by the merits of Mary ever Virgin and of the most holy John she had tasted.

[72] on which occasion the author makes a certain digression. But it has seemed not out of place at the end of the miracle to treat against certain contentious and perverse ones, who strive to assert that, since the aforesaid girl recovered not there in the church of St. Mary, where before, but here, the Saints of God obtain the grace of infirmities not where they wish, but where it pleases God ^e. Which indeed how foolish and nefarious it is, let it be the judgment of others. It will be enough for me to discourse what I think in this matter, if perhaps thus the false opinion of these may be refuted. I judge therefore that the Virgin Mary and all the Saints of Christ Jesus will the same, and reject the same, while they are in the eternal fatherland, which are agreeable and acceptable to Jesus: since the same Jesus in the sacred Gospels seems to think, when he says: I will, Father, that as I and thou are one, so also these may be one in us. Hence it comes about that whatever holy men do, they do by the nod of God, only the prayers of the Virgin Mary being premised. Blame therefore, O malevolent one and detractor, your own life, not the merits of the Saints, I pray; if not, as would be agreeable to you and where you wished, but when it pleases them, and anywhere among peoples, they show prodigies among mortals by the divine nod and help. But now to the rest.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART VII.

From the city of Arezzo ^a, of which above we made a word, a certain woman now placed in decrepit age A certain old woman of Arezzo, was vexed by such a demon, that, her hands being bound behind her back, she could scarcely be held and halted by twelve most keen men, unless with immense difficulty and labor. Which thing the friends together with the parents bearing most ill, doubted what should be done in so great a matter; whether namely they should drag her, a force of men being hired, or, a fierce beast being found, should order her, bound on every side, to sit upon it. At last it seemed better to hire a mule or horse to carry the old woman for the time, than to be a burden and detriment to so many men and to herself. A mule therefore being found, which surpassed all the rest of that territory in strength, they bound her, entangled with most strong ropes, upon it. Then the demon, using his own strength, so shook her and the mule, sending forth hellish voices, that unless, out of all the multitude which had been at hand for this pitiable spectacle from the whole city, certain most robust young men had leaped forth as quickly as possible to catch her, the demon, the bonds being broken on every part, would have thrust her and the mule to the ground, not without immense detriment to both. Wherefore, as it was, that most evil deed of the devil seemed atrocious.

[74] A sad silence therefore and a silent sadness so fixed for this the minds of all, whom a vehement demon had invaded, but especially of the women (for to that spectacle a very great number had flowed together), that, forgetful from fear what they should do, whither they should turn themselves, counsel failing, they asked one another whether they had ever heard or seen anything of the kind. Meanwhile a certain man, joined to this old woman by no small kinship, with great fear, with some chief men of the city proceeded to the place where the wretched woman lay prostrate, and presently crying out, said: O my unhappy mother, what have you so merited concerning yourself? Where now is that mercy which you greatly used toward the needy? Where now the frequent visitations of all the churches? Has not, as I perceive, Jesus deserted you, but the devil wholly invaded you? By these words therefore tears arose to all; delaying a little, they said: Do not, we pray, waste time in sadness and empty complaints. Take care, take care as soon as possible, that she be led to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, or if not, a multitude of young men being gathered, be dragged by force.

[75] The unusual and unheard-of case of the old woman moved the fierce young men to undertake the work, she is drawn by force to the monastery of Vallombrosa, and also the dignity of the man. Wherefore, no long speech being spent, that old woman, entangled with a chain, is now dragged by the surrounding throng of young men, now supported is carried into the air by their hands. To these is added a certain religious priest, who, pouring out frequent prayers to God and the Virgin Mary, would take away strength from the devil, and bring help to them. Amid the dragging therefore an immense cry and astonishment invaded the whole city. There fly together therefore from every side both men and women; boys also of both sexes and ages, so that the tumult did not contain itself through the streets, but everywhere pervaded the whole city. When these had gone out of the city, from the fields and cottages and little huts, with which that field once was wont to be filled, there come to meet them all the country folk and oxherds, marveling at the unusual thing: the same happened whither they went, until they sought this monastery of St. Mary. These things were related by those who had made the journey together to the monks. They added moreover: Wherever our journey was directed, in that appearance, especially by the paleness and leanness of her face, she appeared as if destroyed. To whom also by the art of the devil there were foul eyes, and a terrible and deformed aspect: then by the hellish voices and senile howlings, which she more frequently sent forth, she gave to all terror and tumult of herself. That it was so, the same things which in this monastery that evening,

when it came here, she did, made as faith.

[76] where, received by the monks Then a place of rest for the time was given to the wearied. But on the following day, the offices being celebrated in full light, the chapters being relaxed after the manner of the monks, when one of the monks, whose office it was by alternating order to conjure the demons, went to the chapel to which the woman had been dragged, with the cross and water purified with salt and divine words; by the tricks and art of the demon it was so done, that they utterly believed the old woman free from all evils, and all who were present asserted it. To whom the monk: He who has a thousand names has a thousand arts of harming; it is very easy to deceive those inexperienced in these matters. Wherefore whether it be so or not, I pray that we make a trial. Let it be done, said they. The devil therefore is conjured by the priest, the rest being devoutly and humbly intent on prayer and entreaties. By whose faith and virtue of the most blessed John, presently it was plain that those were the feuds and cunning of the demon, by which mortals little cautious in matters are ensnared.

[77] after very many conjurations, When the demon, not bearing the virtue and sanctity of the most blessed John, cried out: O crosses, O torments, wretched me, alas alas, I am atrociously tortured! Cease, O priest, cease, if there is any piety in you! Yet the priest insisted, nor ceased from the pious work. Moved at times, he vexed him with the cross, and thus provoked the demon with threatening words: With that face, with those wiles, O most evil one, do you make sport of wretched and blind mortals? Go, whither you are worthy, not to return. You must, O demon, enter upon another way, even if there be none by which you have not gone about falsely with your fallacies. The demon is silent, led by anger, not by shame. Yet he insisted that he turn elsewhere; with threats, prayers, and conjurations mixed, to hasten the matter; to whom the demon assented not, but resisted with all his strength: and at last with an immense voice, when he could no longer endure him, said: Your conjurations, O impious priest, your prayers, threats, even if you should draw them out to vespers, I count as nothing: wherefore if other business presses you, perform it, if you are wise, and cease from these at last.

[78] the arm of St. John being brought, By these alternating controversies, now the fourth hour of the day being nearly finished, when the priest monk understood that he profited nothing, and that the devil became by the matter harsher and more atrocious, compassionating the old woman, who, wearied in body, sick in mind, scarcely gave vital breaths, desisting from the pious work, and returning inside, took care to relate the whole matter to Father the abbot as soon as possible. Presently Father the abbot, a council of the monks being called, commands that in silence each for himself pray. Then a small interval being given, as is the custom, all things being diligently furnished, singing and praying the monks all go forth, and, those who have the lower part, the Converts, that one, of which above I made a word, carrying the arm of the most holy John; by which the devil, vehemently struck, more than usual raging; that wretched woman was scarcely held by the surrounding band of young men so as to be on bent knees.

[79] To the priest therefore commanding that he go to his own place, at last the demon is expelled from her, the demon, showing the grim eyes, the foaming mouth, the countenance of the old woman herself burning with wrath, with threatening words said: Not by your words, O most evil of all, but by the nod of God, and also by the virtue of John, I must a little after hasten hence unwilling elsewhere. It matters nothing, said the priest, if you match your deeds with your words; yet I fear, lest, using your accustomed nefarious craftiness and cunning, by shuffling, and casting us about with words, you draw out this your flight to a long delay. At these things the devil, smiling, delaying a little, said: Willing or unwilling, I must depart. For to be here longer, even if there be the will and desire, the virtue of God forbids. That you give a sign of your departure, lest we be further deluded, I conjure you, said the priest. It will be given, said the demon, as soon as possible, and at once the old woman herself, one foot being stripped of its sandal, outside the valleys which fortify the chapel on one part, the devil willing, when those mortals who were present wondered what had become of her, was found.

[80] Then a greater sign was given, God willing: For while the demon went to his evil place, the sign of his departure being given. like smoke from the mouth of the woman the devil was seen gradually to seek the higher and airy places. O good Jesus! it is a wonder how great astonishment or admiration this prodigy gave to all who were present; especially because at other times those people of Arezzo had neither seen nor heard the like. Giving therefore immense thanks to God and to the Virgin Mary and to St. John, they demand help with prayers, wishing that the old woman herself and they and the whole Christian religion be kept safe. At last, bidding farewell to the Abbot and the rest, joyful they hasten to the city of Arezzo. That old woman, not unmindful of the benefit, appointed for herself a perpetual fast on the vigil of St. John Gualbert. To this she added also, that annually on foot ^b, or if for her age she could not perform that duty, a beast being provided for herself, on horseback, she would hasten to this monastery of St. Mary, some accompanying, both men and women, compelled first by the sanctity of John, then by the nobility of the woman, on his festivity: led by such divine love and by the benefit of the most holy John, that the fast and the rough journey brought no trouble and no labor, but rather pleasure. But now to the rest. For the miracles and stupendous prodigies of the most holy John offer themselves to us in throngs.

[81] A certain John, born in no low place, who had a lodging in the place which is called Malmantile ^c, not far distant from the city of Florence, by hereditary right, A certain John, afflicted by a demon, captured by a most evil demon, as afterward was proved by the deed itself, by his brother, bound on every side with ropes, placed also on a fierce beast, was led to this monastery of St. Mary, some of his kinsfolk and clients accompanying, in our time, since before he had gone to the monastery of Passignano, where the body of St. John, the author of this Religion, honorably rests, and had not obtained that soundness which he had desired. But since in these things which the devil did here by his wiles, which indeed ought to be done, I would not delay, for the time indeed will desert me sooner than the matter; yet it pleases not to pass over how craftily and cunningly he tried to deceive the monks, when he permitted him on bent knees to stretch his upturned hands to God, and by the insistence and frequency of prolix prayers to weary God and the Virgin Mary, the aforesaid John in the church, the monks intently chanting the Office, and these marveling at him.

[82] after various churches, But when the monks, the divine Office being celebrated, made the sign of the cross over him, then who he was appeared, when, thoroughly consternated like a madman, and prostrate on the ground, he cried out from his place. But when in this place also, by I know not what grace, many days, the monks praying and conjuring, were spent in vain for recovering his health, and he profited nothing, lest idle time be worn away, we bearing this most ill, the other brother determined to hasten to Rome, lest he should omit anything for recovering his good health. When therefore they came to Rome, he first entered the column to which Jesus Christ, clinging, was wont to preach, if perhaps he might become whole. But when he learned that this proceeded little, preferring, by the counsel of good men, to try all things, most devoutly surveying all the churches which are at Rome celebrated with the relics of the Saints, he not only found not the soundness of his brother, but the devil, where he withdrew from the churches, became daily fiercer.

[83] and the relics of the Saints being visited, By these harsh matters the other brother, not disturbed, but giving thanks to God and bearing a strong mind, determined in any way to work, that he might be restored to his former health. To the city of Aquila ^d therefore, where the body of St. Bernard ^e of the Minorite Friars honorably rests, because, as is reported, there by the grace of Jesus Christ it is strong with very many miracles, they hasten. There also, when time was worn away in vain, trusting in the divine benefits, going to other places and temples which through Italy are of most illustrious fame, and understanding that soundness was not given to his brother, uttering no fierce or evil word, he prepares to return home. Therefore when they were returning, when they came to that place where once Hannibal, as is handed down to memory, placed the camp of his own, when he was hastening to Rome; which place is now called Lancisa, for the rocks then cut by his men for draining the marsh ^f: that one whom the demon had keenly vexed said: My brother, behold the way which is directed to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa. What then, the other brother: What then? That we should hasten thither. Enough and more than enough, enough, said he, we have been a tedium, trouble, and burden to others and to ourselves; wherefore I pray that we accomplish the journey begun toward our home. Not so, brother, you think not rightly indeed: for I am persuaded that by the prayers of St. John, in whom I greatly believe, I shall escape unharmed. Good Jesus, what a true and holy faith, implanted in human breasts, avails and can do for obtaining various graces, since in every matter of obtaining a good thing or soundness it is known, yet in this it was clearly plain.

[84] For when this one, that he might be whole, St. John Gualbert being invoked, had sought all Italy and gone to all the holy places, and had not obtained what he desired; while with his brother in good faith he gives and receives mutual words, having slipped from the beast, he is caught among the hands of his brother and others, and gently placed on the ground: and there, as if destitute of all vital spirits, lying prostrate, drawing thus no long delay, Thanks be to God, thanks be to God, he cries out with voice twice repeated: behold I have recovered, why do I fear, why do I lie, why do I delay, I blessed one! These things heard, the brother, exulting, burst forth into his brother's kiss. Then a cry of the companions for joy, and a concourse of men thither, marveling what the matter is. Both rise; tears arising, that one said: Indeed this is sufficiently established to my brother, how much John Gualbert the most holy excels the rest in the life of the Blessed; since, surveying all Italy, he himself captured by the demon, having gone devoutly to all the places of the Saints, which in our memory shine with immense and glorious fame, I profited nothing in any matter; now, what I least hoped, only him being invoked, he deigned from heaven to send us help by his accustomed kindness.

[85] Then, turning to his brother, he said: Behold soundness restored to you by the prayers of the most holy John, he escapes safe, my brother: I repent of my doubtful and slight faith, who judged that little faith was to be given to you. I cease, and to God almighty, who created and redeemed us, and to the Virgin Mary his mother, and to holy John, the greatest, the most immense thanks, for such and so great a benefit conferred on us, for your health I give, and shall give always: For often to me, dearest brother, while you were atrociously tortured, and, we seeking, no help was given from heaven, I said within myself in silence: Alas alas, to this an unhappy life has drawn me, that I see my brother, not shut in a workhouse, not an exile, not perishing by the swords of enemies, not consumed by any atrocious disease, but in grief and mourning iniquitously possessed by a demon, living a life more grievous than death:

and what always troubled me, the present danger which threatened his soul. Now at last, brother most dear to my mind, since by the merits of the most holy John you have escaped unharmed from so many hardships and miseries, and me too, precipitated into so great evils, by your soundness you have made blessed. Now indeed, good Jesus, if this sat well with your mind, it would be permitted to die, lest again some sickness of human affairs make of me a spectacle. And then embracing and kissing him, from the whole throng of men there arose a lamentation with that pitiable speech and these gestures. At last, turning aside to the lodging, with the highest joy they took food.

[86] When therefore, food being taken, they had not yet determined what way they would undertake, and in thanksgiving bestows gifts on the monastery of Vallombrosa. whether they should hasten to Vallombrosa or to their fatherland, especially, as I said, since they thought variously; John thus addressed his brother. Since, my brother, your mind is far averse concerning the journey to be undertaken, at least in this I would have you think with me, that with a gratuitous and willing mind, lest we be ungrateful toward St. John, who brought us help at an opportune time, the mule which I used on this journey be given as a gift to the monastery of Vallombrosa. Not the mule only, said the other brother, but for religion and for the salvation of our souls, two hundred gold pieces for increasing the expenses of that monastery, that we may be more agreeable and acceptable in the eyes of Jesus to the monks so well deserving of religion, let them be placed in the Florentine Mount, on that condition on which the citizens willed a right to be issued, from these goods which are proved to be ours by paternal and hereditary right. This your counsel and opinion I approve and praise, my brother, that we may claim for ourselves that immortal, glorious life, by giving alms to the servants of God for the love of God. And thus, matters being arranged, joyful they departed home. Whom moreover to have celebrated annually the festivity of St. John, while mortal life was theirs, we have received.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART VIII.

A certain captive man A certain man of noble birth and of immense body, whose garment set over with squalor, and long beard, and moreover uncombed hair, had made wild the appearance of his face, we saw hasten here, with no companion. Who indeed at first sight was held for a mockery by some of the young seculars and converts who were outside, as a madman: but when at last he himself by certain words and things gave signs of a wretched, not a mad man, that by the divine nod he had sought this most holy place, that he might escape unharmed from the iniquitous spirit which had long vexed him; they inquiring whence that evil to him, whence that garment and deformity of body; he said: Wretched me, by the Bruttian war ^a, which in these last years was cruelly and iniquitously waged in Flaminia ^b, on account of the devastations of the fields I not only lacked fruit, but my villa was burnt; moreover, all things being plundered and the cattle driven off, an iniquitous tribute also imposed in my time made a debt. Wherefore by the creditor I was led not only into servitude, but into a workhouse and torture-chamber; in which place, shut in darkness with grief and mourning, I passed very many years: hence this garment and this deformity of body; but whence I came into the possession of the devil, though it shames me, yet I shall tell.

[88] Circumvented indeed by these evils which I mentioned, possessed by a demon on account of blasphemies and other sins, when impatiently and most ill, more than befits a Christian, I bore the various and bitter chances of fortune, nor now for so many years perceived anyone to pity me, my anger turned into fury, I detested the religion of Christ beyond custom, raged against others both servants and companions who were bound and shut up together; I prayed that the higher and lower powers would turn plague and ruin upon me; at last I utterly went mad, held nothing weighed, nothing moderate. This madness and intemperance those who were present marveling at, and persuading themselves that I was possessed by a demon, as I was, announce to the lord of the prison as soon as possible. He at first, reckoning these true things for fictions and false, and asserting that I feigned them, that an easy occasion of going out might be given me, gave them no assent. But at last, when these and others, who, struck with astonishment, came hastening thither where I was held in prison, repeated these same things, often saying them to him, he bent his mind, and with certain lictors fiercely coming to the prison, with an atrocious countenance and threatening words said: Do you think, by these fictions, madnesses, and ravings, by this prison, by these bonds, unless the debt be paid, you will escape? Ha, how false in mind you are! You will give me, by Hercules, sharper torments than these, if you continue. Wherefore, if you are wise, put an end to these, and render yourself free from debt. To whom I: Why, my lord, do you cast at me unbecoming, shameful words? For I do not, as you think, do these things that the debt be not paid. Unwilling I come sometimes into this madness, my crimes exacting it. Yet from that madness often by the intercession of the most glorious Mary ever Virgin, to whom I greatly commend my soul and body, as now, I am freed.

[89] By these words therefore and the prayers of the bystanders, when his anger had subsided, he dissuading it, moved with pity, sureties however being given, he freed me from the workhouse. But to seek this place both the kindness of the Virgin Mary and the rumor of her devotion and sanctity compelled me, deserted by acquaintances and friends, that devil being unwilling who now presses me. Wherefore I greatly exhort you, that you would be willing to lead me inside to the church: for I judge nothing anywhere safe for me, except in holy places. These things therefore the devil bearing ill, all hearing, said: How long, O most evil of all, will you abuse my patience? Hitherto kind to you, henceforth I shall be unkind, most ungrateful one. You who are present, notice, I pray, to whom I have bestowed my benefits. Then he so agitated and vexed the wretched man, that fear persuaded all rather to leap upon him than to withdraw thence.

[90] At last, the strength of his mind being recovered, a band of young men being formed, he goes to Vallombrosa, as cautiously and as swiftly as they can, they rush upon him, who continually sought the help and support of the Virgin Mary; and holding him down, and crying out fiercely, binding his hands behind, they drag him swiftly inside. By which unusual matter, when a cry arose on both sides, a concourse of the Converts and others, who were then outside and at home occupied with various things, is made into the church. But the Abbot and the other monks, who were then arranged in stations to pour out prayers to Jesus, or to do something else, roused by this cry, forthwith inquire what this is, fearing worse things. But the cause being known, the Father commands the matter to be tried by a monk, whether that man were mad or captured by a demon. Then the devil, the cross and conjurations being applied, necessity itself also compelling, to try the last things: since he administered to that wretch much greater strength than usual, an assault being made, that man, leaping from the hands of those holding him, the rest pursuing him and unceasingly praying to Jesus and the Virgin Mary for him, burst forth outside.

[91] and resists the devil persuading flight, But when he came, panting at a run, to the oak, a stiff tree of wonderful magnitude and immense strength, which widely affords shade on every side with its spread branches, and is not far distant from the monastery, wearied he sat down alone, the devil continually praying with suppliant words that he return to his home, from which by his will he had escaped, discoursing these things among others: You know very well, my Justus (for Justus was his name), how at home and abroad toward you in exercising Christian rites, or doing supplications, I have been benign and human; now for these deeds by what grace I am spurned by you, why in these places I am so atrociously and so hardly tortured, I know not. Take therefore your way, as quickly as you can, toward home, and fear nothing; for I will set you safe and secure at home: I pity you, who of your own accord seek out tortures, when in your fatherland sumptuously and joyfully, by my will, you can live. Ha seducer of all men, said Justus: I, by your and not rather by the immense mercy of the Virgin Mary, exercise Christian rites, and keep the law of Jesus? wherefore be silent, and do not, I pray, kill me with your painted words.

[92] who for this tortures him wretchedly; At these things he, moved, atrociously tortured this Justus: he, a thousand times redoubling, cried out to Jesus and the Virgin Mary, that they would deign to bring him help. These iniquitous things were machinated against the wretched man by the devil: for he often thrust him to the ground with immense pain to himself; and the pious words which Justus himself used toward the Virgin Mary shook tears from all who were present (for very many were present), and to bring him help, but each feared to wish for his own part. At last by the grace of Jesus Christ, strength being taken from the devil, that wretched man, filled with sweat and tears, lay consternated on the ground. But those who were far off, fearing, bursting forth to him in a tumultuous run, carried him supported into the hospice, showing him what mercy they could for the love of Jesus. But a little after that wretched man, as if roused from sleep, reckoning his hardships with himself, as being then of sound mind, sent forth wailings, lamentations, yet no unbecoming voices; but praising Jesus and the Virgin Mary, called himself most guilty, and worthy of more atrocious things.

[93] moved by which the abbot keeps him in the monastery; By which things the abbot and the rest, all both monks and converts, moved with mercy, because he profited little by conjuring or praying; determined that he should be at home so long as he had recovered. On this condition, however, that daily by prolix prayers and conjurations, both privately and together, the demon be afflicted with immense torments. There was indeed in this Justus, among the other virtues of mind and body, that as often as by the prayers of the most glorious ever Virgin Mary and of holy John, to whom he continually commended his soundness of soul and body, as I said, he was a little relieved of such disease, he permitted himself no vacant time,

but that he worked something with his hands, whether by digging the little gardens, or cutting wood, or working something else, if it were commanded. By these therefore, not for the sake of avarice but of virtue, he was in a short time dear and acceptable to the abbot and the rest, so that for nearly three months, alone however, he passed his life in this monastery of St. Mary; in which although he did many things worthy of memory, yet because the time admonishes us to hasten elsewhere, it has seemed useful to open a few of the more illustrious ones for the example of others, that all may understand how much before Jesus are the prayers of the Saints and especially of the Virgin Mary.

[94] When therefore, as was said above, the devil, moved with anger, had often wished to suffocate him, and that man by the fraud of the demon and yet had not been able, because he himself obtained the help of the Virgin Mary and of holy John, he determined by some wile or art in any way to accomplish his undertaking. To whom, when his wiles less succeeded (for the monks frequently approached him, to teach by what ways he might avoid the tricks of the devil and his manners of harming), yet by this craftiness at last under the appearance of pleasure he deceived him: For wearied one day in cultivating the gardens, when he sat alone under a tree which is called a cherry, to avoid the ardor of the heat, then the enemy of all, the devil, the seducer of the human race, was at hand, inclining his mind first to gather cherries: which indeed was not difficult, especially because ripe ones are wont to allure anyone's mind to themselves. Wherefore he impelled that wretch whither he wished. Nor would I dare to call this, which is natural, diabolical, had not the evil outcomes of things taught me.

[95] The tree being climbed, not however without difficulty, as those who had seen related, brought into the peril of his life the demon first with blandishing words exhorted him to cast himself down. But he, fearing the present danger, assented not. The demon again tried the matter; he kept his purpose. The demon therefore, understanding that by that way he profited nothing, vehemently shook him with this reproach: Now you will perish, most evil one; for I will so thrust you down with immense impetus, that I will render you almost lifeless and half-alive, as you have merited, to those things of yours in which you trust. But that Justus, fearing the destruction both of soul and of body in that peril, seizing the trunk of the tree strongly with his hands, Virgin Mary, bring help, St. John, save me! redoubling often cried out. The devil on the contrary thundered with a greater voice. Now, now you will perish; together we will seek the hellish regions; therefore be silent, monster of a man. He cried out as above; but the other: About to perish, be silent.

[96] At this so pitiable and unheard-of spectacle, is helped by the aid of St. John Gualbert: while these two so unequal wrangle between themselves, many ran together hither and thither, who by the unheard-of thing, and the iniquitous thing not seen by them, were made so stiff, so astonished, that they could scarcely give voice, scarcely invoke Jesus, scarcely the Virgin Mary, the last solace of all the wretched. At last the devil, the grace of the most holy John working from above, conquered, confounded, despised, that wretched man, now seeking the last things both from fear and from labor, tending elsewhere, left hanging pitiably on the tree. But our people, quickly setting ladders to the tree, took him down, flowing with sweat over his whole body, and to him recovering a little his natural senses they say: See, unhappy one, what you do: hereafter do not expose yourself to dangers, unless you become whole, nor thereafter believe: that you may notice with us in what peril we too should be, we pray; if anything adverse happened to you, which the Lord Jesus avert.

[97] Finally after the diligent care of the abbot; Then by the command of Father the abbot all gave effort, that if anyone should find him far from the monastery, he might lead him back home with blandishments and sweet words. To this they added also that, which was much more salutary, that he should nowhere hasten alone; and if near the monastery he cultivated the little gardens, or did other manual work, that always very many companions be present: for they trusted him not, one alone, on account of the rage of the demon. When these things were done by our people out of the grace and love of Jesus, as the rest, toward this Justus, with what sagacity and caution they could, lest that wretch utterly perish by the art of the devil, it happened by chance, that not far from the rock which our people called Ristonchiaria, he always with the rest cultivated I know not what in the fields.

[98] and various temptations of the demon But so, as sometimes happens, his companions being greatly intent on another matter, the time being diligently observed by the tricks of the devil, at a most rapid run, with this purpose, that he might presently cast himself down, he sought that most rough rock. To whom, the devil frequently praying that he should seek the rock together by casting himself down, the help of the Virgin Mary and of holy John was not opportunely lacking, and, not to detain the reader with a prolix discourse, as a little above in the cherry-tree, so also in this place it was done, a far greater peril however threatening: For the very steep crag even in our time strikes no small terror into those beholding it. The devil, that he might destroy him, with prayers, threats, force, by what way, by what art he could, left nothing unattempted; so that very often to a certain one of our converts, whose name was Antony, who then was feeding herds of swine in these wooded places, it seemed that Justus himself, the traces of his feet turned around, was thrust to the depths by the demon.

[99] and contests, That convert cried out from fear: to this were added also the cries both of Justus and of the horrible demon. It was worth the trouble now together, now separately, to hear their various voices. There is made a sudden concourse of our people thither: for they had long wandered by seeking among the densest rocks and lowest trees, with which these places everywhere abound. Moreover others too, roused by these cries, fly together, very many: there is made a not small number. Since out of so great a number, the devil frequently striking and threatening threats and terrors, no one dares to approach. But when the demon drew out the contest longer and more bitterly than they had thought, and so iniquitous a one, they take care to announce the matter to Father the abbot as soon as possible. When he, in a matter so atrocious, so doubtful, knew not what to do, whither to turn himself, determined that the divine help must be sought.

[100] The monks therefore being called together into one as soon as possible, he said: In what state our affairs are, while each for himself is intent on pious works, Brothers, that that Justus may escape unharmed, you understand along with me. For while we await from on high the protections of Jesus Christ, by the prayers of the monks whether our own or his crimes exacting it, that it might turn to our disgrace, the demon has often striven to suffocate him. Nor yet, by the prayers of the Virgin Mary and of St. John, has the devil been able to perpetrate so atrocious and so most evil a deed, though even at present at the same time, as we have received, they contend. Wherefore for the time and for the cause of the atrocious matter I judge this to be a sound and useful counsel, that, the strength of the devil being broken (because no one dares to approach him having to do with a demon), through these three days to come, singular and common prayers, with what devotion we can, with a humble and contrite heart, be made, lest by our sloth it come about that he be the less saved. If it happen that by the grace of St. John he be restored to his former health, joyful and unharmed; but if not, such as he came here, so let him withdraw to his fatherland. This decree pleased all, but especially the old men, whose minds, and those of the young, are always sounder and more upright. It comes about therefore as Father the abbot had judged: for each one, however fervent in religion, with all zeal and whole heart to show his virtue by praying, fasting.

[101] But amid these things hope grew in the abbot, and at the same time greater care, a message being received that that Justus still contended with the demon; prayers being poured out to St. John he is freed; nor yet, after this manner, was hope lacking to him and his own. For they knew that more by the faith of the wretched man than by their merits Christ the most clement Lord would sometime bring help, even if he deferred. When therefore at home and abroad each for himself contended with the devil by praying, at last the Lord Jesus, hearing the prayer of the poor, by the prayers of St. John it was done, that that Justus was cleansed of the devil not for a time, as always at other times, but perpetually, the monks even being absent and praying. Hence how dear and acceptable the most holy John was to the Lord Jesus, the admiration of all testified: since thence hastening to the monastery that Justus by praising extolled the sanctity of John to the stars.

[102] Scarcely had he sought the monastery, all the rest accompanying with favor and immense joy everywhere; whom his kinsfolk, long sought in vain, when certain kinsfolk of his, wearied and tired, arrived; who, benignly and gladly treated, our people asking whence or who they were, or whither they were going (for they had not yet seen that Justus, because he had stayed elsewhere), those said: The region is Flaminia; a certain madman, or a man ill held by the devil, Justus by name, boiling with that madness, going away from home at night, surveying various regions and places anxiously, by long seeking, we at last found a token of the truth not far from here, that he (because others too laboring in the same manner seek here for the sake of recovering soundness) perhaps sought this monastery, the divine grace going before: whether any token holds you, because the greatest cares press us, we pray that you make us more certain. It is answered by our people: Let all fear depart, let cares be settled: present and unharmed is he whom, wearied, seeking various places, you have sought.

[103] Suddenly therefore among all an immense joy arises: Justus is called; finding safe, he comes at once: at the coming of his own tears arose, right hands being given and received between them. No long interval of time being made, lest any snare, the devil deceiving, remain, unless the trial were made with the most sacred arm of St. John, they go into the church, prayers are made, no fraud, no trick or sign of the devil is perceived in him: thence all the monks joyful. The abbot exhorts Justus in few words: Of so great a benefit, Justus, and you all alike, if, as I think, you will be Christian men, at home, abroad, in public and private matters and whatever chance shall happen, that you will never be unmindful I persuade myself; that you be not, I pray. For, to omit the other benefits which the Lord Jesus by the merits of the Virgin Mary and of St. John deigned to work in this man; this seems to me and to all who have sound understanding the greatest, and is indeed, that he alone, afflicted with such and so great a disease of the devil, than which nothing is worse, surveyed so many and so great regions, went through so many trackless and unknown places to the peoples, and at last sought these wooded and arduous places unharmed and secure.

[104] thanks being given, they lead him back to his fatherland. I remember that many, most ill afflicted with demons and other diseases, hastened here: but the like of this I have neither ever heard nor seen. Wherefore, lest these things fall from your memory, I vehemently ask. But you, Justus, hereafter, however fortune shall have fallen, whatever atrocious and evil chance, which Jesus avert, shall have befallen you,

utter no unbecoming voices against God: but show yourself such that you would be willing to bear labors, fastings, all torments for the sake of Jesus, who redeemed you with intolerable torture and the most shameful death of the Cross. To whom he: The commandments of Almighty God, so far as shall be in me, with zeal and labor I will hold and observe; and the benefits of holy John, in heart, in mouth, in eyes, I will take care always to have. But to you, for so great kindness and clemency as you have used toward me, may the Lord Jesus bring worthy rewards. Thence all, testifying that they had been kindly received, give thanks, and depart to their fatherland, everywhere preaching and extolling the virtue of the most holy John.

ANNOTATIONS.

* or is it not each and every one?

PART IX.

We have received that a certain parish priest of the town of St. John ^a, situated in the Valley of the upper Arno, A priest, possessed by a demon on account of theft, captured by a demon, was bound and dragged to this monastery of St. Mary. When therefore the priest monk inquired, the rest being struck with fear: Whence this audacity to you, O demon, that you have dared to enter a presbyter, imbued with sacred things, offering sacrifice in the presence of God? To whom the demon said, that he had long enough by permission, at the divine nod, endured him covered with all crimes; that he now, on account of a theft a little before iniquitously perpetrated in St. Mary the New ^b — ha! — possessed him not as a priest, but as a wicked and foul man. For he is rightly called a priest, who bears himself as befits a priest: for when from a good man by evil custom he is drawn into the depraved, he ceases to be a priest. For is it not a priest's sacrilege to act, and to plunder the gifts of the altar furtively, secretly, or in any way whatever? And let him presently restore the ill-taken things to their place, and thereafter beware; and having confessed the crime he is freed; but we shall contend without noise, without any other clamor. Otherwise the contest against us and the prayers are poured out in vain. Then, said the priest, you are not one, but many.

[106] Then the demon fell silent, nor could the priest monk by prayers or force wring any further word from him: there he broke off the matter; but he determined to defer the conjuration to the following day. Meanwhile he himself, as secretly as possible, as a religious skilled in such business, learned that the matter was as the devil had said from the parish priest: whom, chastising with these words, he said: Ha, unhappy one, with what audacity did you wish to attempt these nefarious things, since you yourself are a priest? See that hereafter you beware, lest a greater and more atrocious example concerning you be given to others. A miracle is added to the words: for he who, captured and bound in his whole body, had hastened here, faith being given that whatever he had unworthily taken he would restore, and would henceforth do what was honorable, free and unharmed departed home with his own: still however keeping on his countenance and face that paleness which he bore before him.

[107] We have received that from the city of Arezzo three brothers, of whom one, it was well enough established, had been captured by a demon, A certain man of Arezzo, came to this monastery of St. Mary. Moreover it is worth the trouble diligently to attend by what arts, by what fallacies the devil tries to lead astray wretched mortals. For when at the first conjuration the demon, after his manner, feigned a departure, although his companions had been taught by the monks to beware, yet, little cautious in the matter, they permitted him to go free whither he wished. First of all, to feign weariness, if anyone yet observed, to deceive, to go with slow steps: at last when he understood that his people were given over in mind and eyes to something else, and now, darkness a little arising, to take to his feet by design, as much as he could: but to be least hindered by thickets or shrubs or briars, with which these places everywhere abound. For not by a straight path, but through devious, untilled, and wooded places had he seized his course at a run.

[108] His people delaying, and finding him nowhere among the peoples (for they had explored all things diligently); the devil impelling, he flees from Vallombrosa; they perceived at last the matter as it was, namely that he himself had most rapidly prepared flight. Thence unencumbered, quickly seizing arms, although the night, darker than usual, denied that which can be of light, the sky on every side obscured with clouds, yet commending themselves to Jesus and the Virgin Mary his mother from the depths of their heart in a matter so atrocious, some one way, some another, whither they persuaded themselves he had gone, straying and wandering the whole night, they surveyed the whole wood on every side. Therefore in the early morning (not without the divine will was it done) certain of them wandering by straying near the place of St. Hilary ^c of this monastery of St. Mary, met a certain countryman, who, pressed by necessity, had made a journey before light near the bridge of Arignano, where that wretched man, led by madness, was rolling in the sands. Marveling at these wandering with arms before day, filled with horror he said: Ha, whither do you hold your journey? What this sudden, swift, and nocturnal course means, if you are of a mind, declare. Scarcely these few things did they, afflicted with nocturnal labor and daytime grief, give him. Alas, wretched and unhappy above all mortals! we, worn out by sleep and most rough journeys, seek by straying through trackless places a brother captured by a demon, who incautiously went away from us from the monastery of Vallombrosa; whither he has gone, we are utterly ignorant: for we are so afflicted with various cares and anxieties, that we are utterly forgetful of ourselves.

[109] whom his brothers, long seeking, But he, thinking it to be the same one whom he had found rolling in the sand, said: Do not be afraid; bear a brave spirit, I pray; know that Jesus, at my coming, has regarded you. For truly he is the one whom a little before I found cast down on the shore near the bridge: for when I had approached him, he both did and said certain things of a mad head. It is he indeed: wherefore if you please, lead us to him: for utterly ignorant of the place and journey, we know not whither we should tend. I will gladly lead you, if first you restore the strength of your body at my home, which is not far distant. No drink or food would have savor, unless our brother be found: yet we give you thanks, praying that we hasten the journey begun, lest by making delay some evil meanwhile arise.

[110] find him unharmed, These hastening the journey, the brother becomes joyfully to meet them. These, turned first into admiration, thence into joy, right hands being given and received, for joy could not restrain their tears: of whom one said: Say, brother, why did you go away from us? What madness carried you here? Whence this your good health? Whence so suddenly? From the merits of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary and of St. John are all these good things, by which frequently commending myself, and more often doing the same, the devil unwilling, although that enemy of the human race, the seducing devil, would suffocate me, and carried me into more perils, especially when I reached the shore of the Arno, omitted nothing, praying, beseeching, and at times threatening, that I should plunge myself into the flowing water. I on the contrary, bearing to the best of my strength a brave spirit in these difficulties, a thousand times invoked Jesus, the Virgin Mary, to bring help. They brought at last, with their accustomed mercy, help and aid: For the devil, considering himself despoiled of all his strength by the grace of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary, and perceiving that he could not perfect the evil work begun, as he wished, turned into wrath, that he might suffocate me, thrust me to the ground, tearing, rending me often, threatening the death of the body and eternal damnation, unless I desisted from prayers: at last, conquered, confounded, he withdrew to his evil place. I seized this journey at once, that I might again visit the house of St. John: thither, because he made me safe, do not delay to return together.

[111] These going back, they were kindly treated by the countryman, of whom a little before I made a word. and, about to give thanks, they return to Vallombrosa; Marveling therefore at his kindness, and promising that they too would do likewise, if ever a case should occur, returning to Vallombrosa, they were received graciously by the monks and their own (for the same, wearied and fatigued, had returned), marveling at the virtue of holy John, and extolling him to the stars. And so, after the accustomed manner, the arm of St. John being devoutly and humbly kissed, seeking joyfully the city of Arezzo, to narrate and preach to everyone they met the miracles of the most blessed John; which indeed, not those which I received, but which I saw with my eyes, are so many and so great, that if I should wish diligently to write all, time would desert me sooner than the matter: therefore I will take care to hand down to memory certain more illustrious ones, and of these more sparingly than the matter itself would require. But now to the rest.

[112] We saw another woman from Mugello ^d (a certain part of Etruria, A demon, often returning into a woman, which the Florentine people administers through magistrates) led by force to this monastery of St. Mary, whom those common folk by an adulterated or corrupt name called Bella; but she was wont to be called Antonia by her true name. Such a kind of demon had invaded her, that easily, the divine help being invoked, with no great contest he yielded; easily, the monks caring for something else, then he entered again. When therefore these dissensions were very frequently made by the same demon, the returnings likewise being often attempted, now the minds of the monks were wearied: the monks strive to attempt something harder for the demon, but more difficult for these. And so by the vow and opinion of all, counsel being entered upon among themselves, singular supplications are made at home and abroad, and to these a common contest of all, every day for a long time, with the arm of St. John being undertaken.

[113] At last the devil, wearied especially by the merits of John, thence also by the prayers of the monks within and without, on account of a sin concealed in confession, opened the whole matter, by which he was there detained: for before the monks had often convicted him dissembling. For unless, said he, she shall have diligently confessed her crimes to God and the priest in Christian fashion, which, led by evil shame, she has never done, though the higher and lower powers pray, though there be any relics of the Saints, let them be heaped upon me, I will contend not at all. Let her see therefore what she wishes, whether in this life, as she has begun, to commit sins, or to desert them. For it is easy for anyone to admit an evil deed; but to lay it aside he asserted to be difficult: which the priest especially marveled at in the demon: but, Jesus compelling, he said it: for who else could impel a demon to a salutary work except by the divine nod?

[114] The priest therefore insists, exhorts that he act: at last, a sincere confession being made, he is cast out. to affirm nothing more salutary, nothing more useful to soul and body can be done by any Christian: To this to add, that the demon has no strength against us, provided we cling to Jesus Christ by good works. By these therefore and other things he impels the woman to make a true confession; which when she had determined to do with a good heart, whole mind, forthwith the demon, leaving her unharmed in her whole body, indignant sought elsewhere, with no noise and no voice sent forth. Nor thereafter did he dare to touch or enter her, the worthy confession of her crimes being performed.

The matter itself seemed to exhort, since thence we claim for ourselves the highest salvation both of soul and of body, to have made some word at the close of this miracle concerning perfect confession, the opportunity occurring, had we not elsewhere more amply, both in Latin and in the vulgar tongue, committed the same to letters. Therefore let us return to the work begun.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART X.

A pious girl But about the same times a certain girl, her parents alone accompanying, came to the temple of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, for the sake of recovering good health. Which miracle indeed (because it was pious and pitiable) both then in seeing it, and now likewise in committing it to letters, I cannot restrain my tears. This one only daughter the parents had; who, as we received from them (who truly seemed to be good and faithful; but, as the matter itself a little after declared, they were not) in her tender years was instructed with such virtue of mind, that against the wantonness, pleasures, and enticements of the world, which sometimes, unless one beware, wretchedly overwhelm body and soul, she was suppliant, humble, and utterly devoted to the Virgin Mary, poured forth very many prayers and various orations, which she had learned at home, in her honor and glory every day; content with all her vigils enjoined or not, to fast on bread only and muddy water; neither to seek salt, nor other incitements of the gullet, nor to marry, nor to visit their spectacles or assemblies, but to spurn or flee them, if they sought the house, to seek out hiding-places, and many other things which befit a religious girl.

[116] becomes possessed, This one therefore, girded with all virtues, the devil at the nod of God invaded. First to torture her lightly, nor to make her averse from her accustomed prayers and fastings. But at times to give a grim keenness of the eyes, a bloodless countenance and face, to have a fetid mouth beyond the usual. By which the parents, a little moved, first reckoned it a natural disease: afterward when they see her not always the same nor remain equal, but, as she was moved by the devil, more and more variable, and, when questioned, not to give a true answer, but to vary by dissembling; the matter being known (for before they had often heard the diabolical signs), thus first to conjecture, hastening to the monastery of Passignano of this Order, which is called St. Michael's, certain of their people go. Whom the steward of the aforesaid monastery, meeting not far from the house, the matter being known, turned aside from the journey begun to their house. Him first, and other religious men especially, they treated accurately and religiously.

[117] Then the monk, most sagacious in conjectures (for before he had experienced the diabolical kind by its frequency), by conjurations and other means which we use, knew her captured by a demon. Them therefore he both admonishes and exhorts to go to the monastery of Passignano, where the body of St. John is honorably buried. and, for the cause of her liberation, in vain seeks the monastery of Passignano. Matters therefore being diligently arranged, she to Florence, they to that monastery hasten: who indeed were welcome to the abbot, apart from the misfortune and the wonderful case: for of the tenants and farmers of the monastery they had always remained good and faithful. The abbot desiring it, awaiting there in vain the divine help, many days and labors being consumed, by the counsel of the monks, the demon alone then resting, to this monastery of St. Mary, wearied by age and journey, darkness now having arisen when they came, with letters which were sent in the name of the abbot of Passignano, they hastened. In these letters the abbot, commending not only the parents, but their daughter exceedingly, wrote these among the rest: The fame of this one's virtue everywhere filled not the Passignano territory only, but all the neighboring ones, so that while she was conjured in this monastery, many mortals came together to this spectacle for her sake, especially all the nearest; and he wrote many other things, which he believed to be either benevolent or useful, that he might vehemently kindle our minds, desirous of piety.

[118] But on the following day, at the coming of the monks, tears arose to these old people, Then, she being brought to Vallombrosa, crying out that they were wretched, desolate, destitute of all hope, unless the daughter be cured. The monks console their sick minds with these words: Fathers, do not, we pray, bear this impatiently, since the divine Scripture testifies that Jesus our Redeemer torments those whom he loves, and whom he has foreordained to life, and afflicts them with various and intolerable tortures. Nor unjustly; since he himself alone, not only good, but perfect (whose goodness is not from an accidental gift, but essential and eternal, inheres in him) yet was willing to bear cold, hunger, thirst, and at the same time want and labor, and at last crosses and immense torments and the most shameful death, for expiating our crimes, constantly and with a mighty spirit, though the Jews inflicted intolerable pains on that most holy body. What of John the Baptist? What of Lawrence? who, as if his mind were alienated from feeling, suffered his whole body to be roasted for the name of Jesus. What shall we say of the rest of the renowned and most blessed men? by whose merits and illustrious deeds the kingdom of heaven is now adorned; who, unless the virtue of patience had been present, would suffer both those tortures, and the hellish ones, far harder and more inclement.

[119] By these and other things they raised up their sad minds a little. the demon confesses that he entered her on account of the fault of the parents, Thence to the chapel, situated outside the monastery, all go forth, on this side the seculars, on that the devout religious. The demon is conjured, is questioned: he is silent. At last, not able any longer to bear the virtue of St. John, and first also the frequent rebukes and proofs of the priest, carrying his savage eyes menacingly hither and thither, he burst out at last into these words, thence fixing his fiery eyes upon the parents of the girl themselves, and said: Lost and wretched old people, who by your crimes take care to destroy at last your only daughter, long before tortured: wicked ones, restore the goods which you furtively and secretly stole from the monastery, thence I will depart; otherwise the prayers will be in vain, even if I be tortured a whole year. Those most iniquitous ones delayed a while, looking round at one another: then shame moved them. And so both by countenance and face, by color and other signs of the body, they betrayed themselves guilty of so great a crime.

[120] who, while, moved by the priest's exhortation, The priest explored the matter, as cautiously and sagaciously as he could, lest what before had been known to no one, except through the devil, should thenceforth be bandied about through all mouths. But it was worth the trouble to see those old people, their conscience ill pressing them, changed in countenance and the whole aspect of the body, when even the devil through the girl's mouth, when the monks had entered within, assailed them with words of this kind: You perverse old people, evil contrivers against this girl; you led your daughter into this peril by your crimes; you, when you had one thing shut in your breast, another ready on your tongue, hypocrites, crafty, changeable, nearly destroyed your daughter. This I bear most grievously, since I know your disposition incurable, that she should bear in her body what you have merited. I would have wished to teach the human race by your punishment, that those things are wicked, nefarious, sacrilegious, which so iniquitously, no necessity pressing, you have perpetrated. With these and other things the devil kept assailing them, silent, sad, holding their eyes fixed on the ground for shame, utterly forgetful what they should do, or what they should say, now standing, now wandering through the chapel.

[121] they confess their crimes, the malign spirit departs. Hence it is plain clearer than light, that the only and secure life is through virtue, since corrupt manners always instigate the doer, and since to the good good things, to the evil evil things are at hand. But now, the wretched old people, faith being given that they would gradually restore all the ill-taken things to their proper owners, if they judged it foul and useless, as it was: A confession of their crimes being first made not without tears, the demon, no noise, no voice being sent forth, hastened elsewhere. A wonderful thing, for although, as I said, with the highest silence the demon withdrew elsewhere, yet presently a pitiable sign was given, which terrified the minds of those present, especially of the parents: since the girl, cast down to the ground, like one dying, lay prostrate for an hour. Then (for I was present) those old people seemed to me most pitiable: who, thinking her dead, bursting forth into weeping and groaning, beat their breasts with their fists, tore their garments, and did many other things which grief loves to do, as if they raved. Most hardly at last were they scarcely quieted by us with examples and the reasonings of others, so were they vexed with perturbations. At last, at the adjuration of all, she slowly and anxiously rose, then, her strength gradually recovered, led by immense stupor (for she had first surveyed all things with her eyes), to inquire where in the world she was.

[122] The girl, thanks being given to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St. John, The matter therefore being known, rushing into the kisses and embraces of her parents, she soothed their sadness: thence returning to the altar, with eyes and hands together with her mind continually intent upon heaven, she poured forth, we monks hearing, these prayers by no means of a womanly breast and disposition: To thee, Jesus Christ, God almighty, without whom the higher, the lower, and whatever anywhere is created, do and treat nothing, I give the most abundant thanks for so great a benefit conferred on me: and to thee I offer, give, bind myself; and I pray thy immense mercy, that, as thou hast made me, sick with an intolerable disease and torture, safe and unharmed by thy accustomed kindness, so thou wilt be willing to establish me hereafter in such and so holy a life, that I may be able to escape the foul pains of hell and its horrible tortures. And thou, most glorious Virgin Mary ever, through whom after God the whole world lives, without whom nothing of grace in this vale of tears can we, alas wretched mortals, obtain from Jesus, be willing, I pray, to adopt me as thy daughter: but direct my mind, I beseech, into a sound and right way: let my soul be stained with no filth or foulness of mind or of body. Thou too, O most blessed John, to whom God granted so much, and to thy right deeds, that even by a dry bone thou snatchest all mortals from every disease, I ask, so help and preserve my parents and me, that, this life being ended, we may together with thee enjoy the celestial goods.

[123] Then, first commending themselves to our prayers, returns home joyful with her parents. joyful they departed home. That old man annually, while life was his companion, we saw with bare feet on the festivity of St. John seek this monastery of St. Mary devoutly with a wax taper. But at the end of this miracle, for the Christian religion, and for our salvation, it seemed not absurd to have added these things: That although, as is handed down to memory in the sacred Scriptures, the children are not to give punishment for the crimes of the parents, in like manner neither the parents; yet this, and by many other miracles, is established to be otherwise. But in the sacred Scriptures it can be taken thus, namely that mortals in the future life

are not to take punishments for another's crimes: where the evil are justly animadverted upon; but the good find a reward worthy of their deeds. Or thus, all who in the present life are tortured, are tortured not by another's, but by their own crimes, even if they be hidden from us. Although here, to one diligently attending, it will be evident, that those old people were affected with sharper punishments than the daughter. Now to the rest.

[124] From the same Passignano territory we saw another girl dragged by force to this monastery of St. Mary, The malign spirit had invaded another girl, whom before her parents wished to try at Florence, whether by the Relics of St. Zenobius ^a she could be freed or not. Here many days being consumed in vain, with the cross, the arm, prayers both private and public, the monks sent them away on this condition, that at another time, when an opportune time should be given, they should return. But they by prayers and tears obtained another day from the pious monks, praying that whatever of labor or work they were able to expend, they would try in casting out the demon. But if it fell out otherwise than they thought, without delay on the morrow they would seek their fatherland.

[125] The dean therefore orders each of the monks to make prayers to Jesus for her sake, whom he had invaded, the presbyters in the Masses, others both in the public Offices and in private prayers: By all therefore she was prayed for with the highest devotion. But on the next day, the Office being celebrated in the early morning after the accustomed manner, the monks singing and psalming in a certain order, with this will hasten thither, where they knew the demon to be, that they should not depart thence, unless the girl recovered perfect soundness.

[126] after a great When therefore on both sides it was contended with the highest force, these by praying, that one by resisting, at last the devil, St. John striving by his virtue, confessed that on that day he would withdraw: to this to add: Put, I pray, an end at last to these conjurations and prayers: more atrocious than you, and more instant in contest, have I nowhere among peoples found. At these the monks become crueler upon him, by no labor, by no long contest to be conquered. Then the demon, thinking his exit would be a little after, because the monks would not yield; inflamed with wrath, rouses the woman with the highest force, and lifts her up. Wearied, they slip, they fall at times, the fierce young men who, embracing her from behind, seized her by the middle. The demon gave to the beholders no small terror of himself, when, foaming, with fetid mouth, the girl's eyes burning, her lips sometimes drawn by hellish force up to the back of her head, he made a monster of a human being.

[127] and a long struggle, When in such a contest they had consumed much time in vain, the religious who were present (for the devil promised flight with words; but in the very deed fiercely vexed the girl) pitying her rather than themselves, withdrew inside with difficulty. What then? that at these departing the demon insulted with saucy words. Neither your John nor you could cast me down hence; wherefore, caring for something else, desist from this work. But these insults and derisions greatly harmed him. For at noon one of the brothers goes thither with the cross; nor was there less spirit for expelling him, trusting in the virtue of the most holy John, than a little above there had been to all the monks. He insisted therefore, that he should give glory to God. On the contrary that one raged the more. Then the monk: Since with you, O demon, there is no mercy, no place of piety, even if it be contended every hour on your head, so you will nowhere find that piety, believe me. For you have to do not with sinners, but with Saints, wherefore, willing or unwilling, it will be necessary for you to hasten elsewhere.

[128] he is compelled to leave. By the longer contest therefore the demon, wearied, promised departure indeed; a little after he would withdraw elsewhere, a sign being given, he confessed. For the priest had asked some sign as a token of true departure. Nor a long delay being given, the woman, one foot stripped of its sandal, outside the valley which fortifies the chapel, with the immense admiration of all, is found by those searching. This, except by the art of the demon, could not have happened. From then the girl, prostrate on the ground, lay nearly half an hour: thence unharmed she returned home. It is reported that the devil said during the conjuring, that on account of the mother's curses and blasphemies against her daughter, uttered with an iniquitous mind, he had beset her. But since the devil, as the sacred Scriptures testify, in these his beginnings lied, whether it was so or not, is not sufficiently established to us. Yet that it could have been done by the hidden judgment of God, seems probable. For that blasphemies especially, which with a corrupt mind are said by parents against their children, have very often greatly harmed these, we have learned from the account of many and from the monuments of letters.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XI.

From the parts of Alvernia, namely from the town which they call Mons-Fatuus or Fatucchium ^a from the fates (for of old by the art of necromancy and the wile of the devil they used to divine to mortals what would come to pass), a girl, Lisa by name, was led by her parents to this monastery of St. Mary. Another girl possessed, The demon who had invaded her made her commit very many crimes over a longer space of time: which, because they were atrocious and various, we have taken care to commit to letters. When therefore the monks with the cross and the arm of the most holy John, with prayers both public and private, had long, fiercely, and untiringly vexed the demon, and he gave no glory to the Lord Jesus, weary and wearied, and moreover fearing the abundance of snows of the harsh winter, which the air abundantly poured out in the night that was at hand, it was commanded that these should depart, and, a milder time being present, should return at another time. This they most grievously — both because the girl was not yet whole, and because of the difficulty of the journey and the air — when they bore it, beg a lodging for another day: thence to their fatherland, whatever lot should befall, they profess they will withdraw. Which was easily obtained from these.

[130] On that day with the highest force it was contended on both sides by the devil and by the monks: she is led to the monastery of Vallombrosa by her parents, These indeed for the honor of God; but that one to fight with his accustomed cruelty. When therefore the monks had long prayed, and the devil still, beyond hope, resisted, because the evening hour had now come, leaving the demon now brought to the last extremity, they went inside. But in the following night, snows mingled with an immense wind so filled these Alps and the regions round about, that men and beasts, parched with cold, dared not carry a foot outside the house, and all inanimate things too grew stiff with frost. This deformity of the weather those wretched ones exacerbating, stood fearful and trembling: For not only was all hope of returning to their fatherland removed (for they too inhabited rougher places of the Alps than these) but from day to day they feared worse things. Therefore, suppliant and groaning, they asked only for sustenance: they promised that they would give for the expenses as much money as they wished, though they were in the utmost want.

[131] Whom the dean father, seeing shattered, broken, ragged, by whose misery the monks being moved, pitying their fortune, thus benignly began to them: You have not yet, as far as I can conjecture, seen how great mercy there ought to be among the servants of God; which indeed if you had seen, nothing would have terrified you, nor would it have been in your mouth and heart to offer money for sustenance, nor anything else, since with us all things are sought in common. Not a long time, not the stiff snows will hinder your liberty: since not from us, but from God himself and from your sweat come the things which are given. All things are safe to us. But from us will be given not only the necessary expenses, but help for expelling the demon, Jesus favoring. Therefore send away sad melancholy, awaiting from above the divine help. By these words their spirit was raised. He who presided over the hospice commands all necessary things to be given, while they should draw out delay here, and thus, all things being arranged outside according to their wish, he enters the monastery.

[132] they bestow all help on her, The devil therefore, when he had often tried to suffocate her, and this with the highest force and all art; the parents, destitute of human helps, cried out that now Jesus, now the Virgin Mary, sometimes the most holy John, would bring help. In these difficulties, when they utterly knew not what they should do, whither they should turn themselves; they besought the guest-Convert, who furnished them sustenance, that if in any way he could, he would come to the aid of their want and calamity. But he, since all arts of this kind of business were lacking to all such simple ones; for scarcely to know the Lord's Prayer with the salutation of the Virgin Mary, said: It behooves all faithful ones first to have whole faith toward God and his Saints; thence suppliantly to demand his protection: and to do this with long-suffering hope, if sometimes what we ask be deferred, since to eager minds nothing is soon enough, as is said, hastened. Then, coming in, whatever by the wile or art of the devil happened to the girl, and that others should lead a life full of mourning and grief, he took care to relate to the dean as soon as possible.

[133] But the demon incites a monk to foul lust, The dean, moved by these things, commanded a certain priest of the monks, every day with the cross, to go thither to conjure and anathematize the demon. Which command of the dean while the priest reverently carried out, the devil meanwhile did not rest, but through the girl's mouth, now the young converts, now the herdsmen kindly addressed, made jokes with them, tried all things with veiled snares, enticed their minds to a foul deed in various ways, left nothing which he thought useful to a foul crime. To him, driving many things, Jesus willing, when nothing succeeded, he determined to address a monk, thence often passing by, to whom the care of the hens had been committed. The time therefore being diligently observed, when he returned from feeding the chicks of the hens, thus he began to him, his parents opportunely intent on other business, or, as it was said, resting a little: Brother Antony (for the name he had learned by very frequent hearing), fortune, if you wish to be a man, has given the chance of a glorious and sweet deed. The monk asks the chance. This night, namely, you should enter to this girl, and I would have you believe me, that, I willing, no peril threatens. When that monk, now ensnared by the art of the devil, and, in the virtue of chastity, enticed to lust, said that the gate of the monastery was closed every evening, and that this could by no means be put into execution: the demon said: Make the trial, for the rest let nothing be a care to you: for by my art you will find the gate open on every side.

[134] These things being said, the monk, hastening as quickly as possible, went toward the monastery; which he determines to fulfill, for he had made delay beyond the usual. At home therefore, turning many things with himself, he held it in uncertainty, which of the two, which strove apart in his mind, he should choose. For on the one side evil pleasure desired to possess the girl in any way; but on the other the fear of God, his own disgrace, if he should be caught in the deed, the harshness of prison, deterred him, lest he should attempt so most evil a crime: yet the most evil counsel won in his greedy disposition. Therefore making no one a partaker of this matter, he determined in any way to perpetrate that which was a wickedness. By chance on that day the office of the kitchen, the domestic duty which in religion is common

business to all, as the rule dictates, even to priests, only those being removed who care for greater things, fell to him by alternating turn.

[135] Wherefore, the best way to perpetrate it being found, a certain occasion for that matter being seized; he assails Gaspar the monk, a religious man, who then bore the care of the monks and especially of the young men, with these words: If it is just, father, and if it pleases, I would rest in the dormitory outside, because many businesses press upon me. When he, at first moved by the unusual matter, asserted that this by no means, and especially on account of the example to others, was seemly, and warned him to beware of asking what was unbecoming; and the monk, angered, said that he had never obtained anything for his very many good deeds toward him; at last, many words being spent back and forth about this, Gaspar, conquered by his importunity, because no peril, the monastery being closed and fortified on every side, threatened, sent him away, that he should be with himself on this condition. He, promising that he would do all things, and even greater, joyful departed from him.

[136] Diligently therefore all things which belonged to the kitchen being performed as festively as possible, the unhappy man, forgetful of the judgment of God always present, and of his profession, which is greater, which he had sworn before Him and His Saints that he would observe, dared to attempt the matter, the devil leading. Coming therefore to the gate of the monastery, he found it, as the demon had said, open. But by the prayers of the most holy John, who continually protects his servants and the glory of the monastery, it came about that fear and immense dread invaded him. but struck with horror, Thence vehemently terrified, betaking himself as quickly as possible, the door being left open, as it was, into the kitchen, and there fortifying himself with the sign of the Cross, praying on bent knees, still trembling, to implore the divine help.

[137] Him I afterward, many being present, heard preaching, that he had never been affected with greater horror and trembling: he is turned away from perpetrating the crime. for it had seemed to him, which I shudder to relate, that a certain black and horrible shadow, bearing before it fiery eyes, sending forth a sulphurous and pestilent smoke from its gaping nostrils, pursued him: whereby the whole night, even to the matutinal hours, fearful and trembling, he passed sleepless; and this he often turned over in his mind, that he would never be in the dormitory outside, while the rest lay down. But Dom Gaspar the Prior, of whom above we made a word, found the door closed: for the keys of the monastery are always brought to the dean or to the Prior. Nor do I think this to be passed over in silence, that when by chance at another time this monk Antony had a journey, where the demon was, by the command of the superior; the demon mocked him with these words: Bah! most cowardly of all, and worthless timid one, who dare not approach a woman, a girl: how would you assail an armed man? Go whither you are worthy with that womanly timidity of yours, and hereafter do not seek out my help, do not inquire it, since, as I would have wished, you have not now possessed this girl. But the monk, the sign of the cross being made, first passing by with a deaf ear, went to perform the office which had been commanded him.

[138] A Convert brother, There is also another thing, which, I pray, hear gladly. A certain John, a convert, who presided over the wine-cellar for caring for exterior things, a man indeed simple, when on a certain evening very many guests had arrived, and the other convert Augustine, of whom above we made a word, who by carrying the necessary things had been enjoined this business, served the other guests; this John took the care of those who were with the girl captured by a demon. Carrying therefore the necessary things to them, by chance the old father, the devil administering strength, with this intent, that he should suffocate him, the daughter had assailed in vain, the mother moreover striving with all her strength, and always praying the daughter, that she should not commit so great and so foul a crime against her parent. For the rest were then absent; which she would indeed have committed, had not the convert, the name of Jesus being invoked, and using his own strength, drawn her, most hardly however, from the violent embraces of her father.

[139] wishing to perform the office of a priest, is rebuked by the devil, But when now the convert had prepared his departure, again the girl, at the nod of the devil, more atrociously than usual assails her father, frequently threatening death. For she had cast her hands upon his throat. He, returning inside as soon as possible, the mother crying out, began to conjure the demon, that force being removed, as priests and Religious are wont, yet with vulgar words (for he was ignorant of letters). Upon whom the demon, turning himself with atrocious countenance and terrible eyes, as he himself was wont to relate, said: Ass, oxherd, man of no worth, whence this audacity to you, that you conjure me, as the religious are wont? Go hence to your cross, and perform your own, not others', business; and if further, beast, not man, you proceed, believe me, by your punishment you will teach the human race what peril threatens one handling divine things, unless he be first initiated in sacred orders.

[140] and therefore presently calls a priest. But the Convert, seized with no small fear both by the most foul aspect of the demon and by his threats, thence departed as quickly as possible. Whom the old man, greatly distrusting his own part, urgently prayed, that he would send thither another of the oxherds or swineherds, through the clemency of Jesus Christ, and forthwith take care to announce his present peril to the dean and the monks. Which he diligently performing what was prayed, ordered a certain Antony of the oxherds to go thither, and then opened the whole matter to Father the dean. A priest is sent at once, who, as had been commanded, bound the girl about with the priestly stole, and then, admonishing the parents not to be afraid any further, and moreover commanding the oxherd to withdraw to his accustomed place; because now much of the night had passed, as quickly as possible returned into the monastery. Hence it can easily be understood, of what virtue and power are the sacred stoles, and the rest with which priests are adorned, while they perform their offices, faith however, as happens in other things, being premised. For the devil, who before had been fierce against those wretched old people, and had spoken contumelious words against others, the stole being bound about, as we said, being cast down, humble, and rendered powerless, passed the whole night quiet.

[141] Another, desiring to fulfill his lust, is terrified, To this another miracle also is added. For that Antony the oxherd, whom a little before we related, to whom the care of the oxen with certain others had been enjoined, captured by a foul love of the girl, began to turn over in his mind by what way he could, secretly from her parents, possess the girl in intercourse. For both by manners and by nature he was rustic, least considering what peril from the cruelty of the devil threatened, but desiring only to fulfill his evil pleasure. To him turning over many things this seemed the best way, to attempt the approach of the window which looked toward the lower part, ladders being set; which window indeed was so ineptly closed with a bolt or bar, by no art, that anyone skilled in craft could move it from one part to the other through the chinks of the window itself. By this way therefore when he had begun to attempt the matter, and now had come to this, that the window should be opened, the devil, flitting about the steps of the ladders, so terrified him, that trembling in his whole body, his feet also and hands not duly performing their office, suddenly fallen to the ground, one leg nearly broken, the ladders being left, scarcely crawling did he reach the ox-stall, which was not far distant.

[142] At which sudden and abrupt fall the other oxherds who were there, astonished, inquiring whence this to him, or what so great a delay had held him, and abstains from completing the crime. fearing and trembling still, opened the whole matter to them, who a little before, while he drew out the delay, had conjectured this same thing, on this condition, that they should tell no one. But not long after, when there was talk of that girl, as if for a miracle Antony preached these same things, some being present. That this was done by the prayers of St. John was doubtful to none of us, to whom the glory and honor of his Order, especially of this monastery, is a care: that he himself and others hereafter might be slower to such most foul things, or beware of them: For I would dare to say, that such a thing neither before nor after did anyone attempt, though many girls came both of modest and comely countenance and of whole age, oppressed both by the devil and by other diseases.

[143] But let us return to the devil, who had invaded the girl Lisa. The same girl, For when, as we said above, now destitute of all his strength, he dared not even mutter any longer, the snows being melted by the blowing South wind, on a certain day, not even a breeze blowing, the sky serene, she is with difficulty dragged to the chapel, the devil striving with the highest force that it should not be done, and after the custom with the arm of St. John, the monks being present and devoutly psalming and singing, she is tortured for a long time by conjuring and anathematizing: for when now the time of departing was at hand, his former strength being resumed, he began suddenly to cry out, to rage, to speak revilings and curses, to lift the girl up worse than usual.

[144] Certain of the familiars therefore who were present approaching, most fierce mountaineers, left by the demon and again occupied, scarcely able with the greatest labor to hold her, the demon rested for a time. At last, not bearing any longer the virtue of St. John, he withdrew elsewhere with an immense gnashing. But the girl, gradually slipping from the hands of those holding her, long, as if she had finished this mortal life, lay upon the pavement of the church. At last rising, giving thanks first to Jesus, and to the Virgin Mary, and to St. John, joyful with her own she hastened home. But, three months not yet being completed, again the same demon invaded her more atrociously than usual.

[145] Thereupon her parents, exceedingly struck, utterly knew not what they should do in a matter of this kind so atrocious, whither they should turn themselves. To return hither shamed them; to betake themselves elsewhere, though necessity compelled, yet, after many contests, because both their strength and their money had now been consumed by the long journeys, they feared. And so in the doubtful matter there were not lacking those who brought help both with money and with a beast. To these therefore, seeking this monastery again, companions ceased not, part enticed by mercy and piety, part by the desire of seeing so great a monastery situated in a deserted land, in a place of horror and vast solitude: at whose coming the monks, on account of the return of the demon bearing it most ill, determined, within and without, praying and supplicating in any way, most sharply to assail the demon himself.

[146] at last by the malign spirit she is made wholly free. When therefore on both sides it was contended with the highest force, and the devil could no longer bear the virtues of the most holy John and crosses so harsh, turning his savage eyes upon those old people, the parents of the girl, and sounding nothing mortal, he said: Iniquitous and perverse old people, why have you carried down me and your daughter, her life being ill and most evilly ordered by you, into so many torments? Return, return to your conscience; those moldy crimes, which lurk within, now purge out, that they may be cured by the sharpness of penance, or by the virtue of God. These things being said, the demon fell silent. But they, suffused with blushing, with what contrition they could, confessed their sins. From then the devil was seen like smoke through the girl's mouth to seek the heights. Who indeed had a most devout and useful confession of her crimes in this monastery of St. Mary,

like her parents, and then clung to the Lord Jesus, who had made her safe, as to a bridegroom.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XII.

An old woman possessed, A certain old woman from the regions of St. Mary of Pruneta, many accompanying, because she was born in no obscure place, sitting on a beast fenced round on every side with ropes, thus withdrew to this monastery of St. Mary: whom a demon so fierce and mad had invaded, that, the monks being present with the Relics, she could by many, even her hands bound behind her back, neither be held nor bent. Thereupon it was necessary to ensnare her, a rope being drawn around, to a certain fir tree which was then situated in the chapel for a new building to be constructed; and thus scarcely could she be halted. It will be worth the trouble to notice how she was continually shaken by the demon, and from time to time lifted up by heaving, herself to cry out, to send forth senile howlings, to cry out that she was wretched from grief, so as to be both a cause of mercy and of no small terror to all who were present.

[148] long conjured But when to the demon, although he was afflicted with immense tortures by the virtue of St. John, his strength was not diminished, nay was more and more increased, so that all who held her bound being wearied, the monks, singing and praying, as always happens, leaving that old woman, squalid and horrible by nature and age, to whom also the devil had rendered a wild and deformed appearance of face, trembling, returned inside. But this pitiable spectacle was for all who were present: for when the monks by chance withdrew for an hour, the demon (for she was loosed) turned her in a circle, moved her incomparably, and so cried out with hellish voices, that the mountains and hills lying back and the fearful crags seemed to render a reciprocal voice, as the opinion of our Poet dictates.

[149] But the parents and companions who were present, struck with immense astonishment, when they utterly knew not what they should do in such a matter, she escapes unharmed. only commended themselves first to the divine clemency, thence to St. John and to us, that we would pity them. Which misery and tortures the abbot compassionating, commanded one of the monks, that, their bodies being refreshed with food, he should insist with prayers and entreaties so long, until either the devil should tend elsewhere, or the day should end. Which labor the monk when he gladly undertook, and prayed unceasingly, both (that one by conjuring, this one by crying out) were wearied. But at last God almighty, looking down from on high, brought help to the woman by the prayers of the most holy John: for during the conjuring; I will go out, said he, I will go out, repeating the same with a dread voice; because to be here longer, even if there be the will, the power is not given. What sign of your exit will you give, said the priest. I will extinguish, said he, the burning wax taper. Forthwith the kindled taper he not only extinguished, but, led by a certain impatience, thrust it to the ground: for it clung to the wall. But the old woman, long lying prostrate on the ground as if dead, at last rising, giving thanks to God and holy John, thence to us, joyful with her companions withdrew to her home.

[150] We saw in this monastery of St. Mary another also, placed in decrepit age, who now, beside her of whom we now made a word, Likewise another old woman was cruelly tortured by a demon. But sometimes she gave sport and laughter of herself, when after the manner of the presbyters she sang not unaptly the Angelic hymn, and the symbol of the Apostles, which is said on festal and celebrated days. When therefore she was broken by long conjuration, at last she opened the matter, why he did not withdraw elsewhere, no one asking. For she said: Unless that which is placed within the garments, a charm ^a, be removed; hence, if I would, I cannot depart. The hidden places therefore being searched, the priest also assenting to it, being even unstitched; that old woman forbidding, lest anything be done, it was found. Which being removed, presently the demon, crying out with a great voice, hastened elsewhere.

[151] That charm nearly all the monks of this monastery beheld. she is snatched from the demon's possession. For it was impressed with various signs, and certain characters in the corners, with names mixed in, on white wax and bound about with threads: of which not all but certain names I hold, namely Og ^b and Magog, which are read in the Apocalypse of John the Evangelist: moreover Tetragrammaton, Adonai, Sabaoth, which names indeed, as our Scriptures teach, are of the great God. To insert these into this work or miracle seemed not out of place, that anyone may understand, that the demon often, both by words and by things themselves, under the face and appearance of good, deceives wretched mortals and the human race: but this, as a diabolical thing, it was commanded to be given to the fire. Thence it is clearly established, that charms neither to make nor to bear is lawful, except those which are conceded by the sacred canons; which indeed I pass over, lest I seem to write regular constitutions rather than histories. But incantations, and what in vulgar words they have called magic, among Christians are nowhere among peoples approved. But now to the rest.

[152] A certain Ligurian noble, From the parts of Cisalpine Gaul a certain noble, who had ordered himself to be carried to several relics of the Saints, at the admonition of certain of our monks who inhabit those regions in monasteries, came even to this monastery of St. Mary, for the sake of recovering health, in the time of Abbot Bernard, we have received from a certain convert of ours now decrepit. He, when he first entered the church, the cross not yet brought forth, by which, as was said above, the demons are conjured; the devil, not able any longer to bear the sanctity both of the place and of the most blessed John, an immense voice being sent forth, departed. Which voice, as the convert himself was wont to relate, was so terrible and hellish, that it rendered astonished all who then served the divine worship. That man, mindful of the benefit received, placing a not small quantity of money devoutly upon the altar, offered it: who thence liberally treated with his companions, on the following day all the places which are holy being visited according to custom, even the humble little cells of the anchorites, well instructed and full of admiration both at the devotion of the place and at the virtues of the monks, withdrew into Liguria.

[153] a Hungarian merchant, To this, lest it be to anyone wonderful or incredible, the aforesaid convert was wont to relate another thing much greater. For he said, that a certain very rich merchant from the parts of Hungary had sailed to Venice, thence to Pisa ^c, that he might at last seek Rome, many accompanying. Whom when at Pisa a demon had invaded, and tortured him sharply, so that of his companions none dared to approach him (for he had gravely handled many with bites) at last, deceived by the fraud of a certain Pisan, bound with rope and chain and led to various parts of Italy, where they had heard the places of the Saints were, and yet not recovering, at the suggestion of certain good men, he came with his companions to this monastery of St. Mary. He had an interpreter, who now in Latin, now in his native tongue would open all his discourses. Nor did he at once here, like the aforesaid, recover soundness: but five days being consumed in atrocious contest, the demon confesses that he will withdraw elsewhere, and cannot bear any longer the virtue of the most holy John. The priest inquiring what sign he would give when he departed, he said: It will be heard by all. And forthwith the little bell of the chapel, no one drawing the rope, made a sign. Which sign, being an admiration to all, but especially to his own, who perhaps had never or rarely seen prodigies of this kind. Blessing therefore God and holy John, they returned to Pisa, thence to Rome, and lastly to their own fatherland.

[154] and an Etruscan soldier From the parts of Casentino, from the town which is called Romena ^d, we saw a certain soldier withdraw to this monastery of St. Mary for obtaining health: who was tortured by so great a demon, that by many even most fierce young men he could scarcely be held, while he was conjured. But when now for nearly three days he had been affected with many torments, both by the cross and by the arm of St. John, by the virtue of Jesus, and by the prayers of St. John, he at last, raging, burst forth into these words: O most iniquitous of all men, why have you given me and yourself into these crosses and horrible torments? For you know what you vowed to God and to His Mother; you know most excellently, but you dissemble, perjurer. These things being said, he wished, but was not able, to suffocate him, thrust down to the ground by hellish force.

[155] That soldier, when by the divine mercy he had a little recalled his natural senses, by the aid of St. John they are rescued from the captivity of the demon. when he was admonished by the monk priest, if anything of a vow was bound to God, that he should open it through confession, a devout confession of his crimes being made, promised that the vow, by which he was bound to the Virgin Mary, he would put into execution, as soon as he had returned safe home. Which promise being faithfully and justly given from the heart, the demon, without torture of the wretched man, muttering nothing, betook himself to other regions. Hence any Christian fully understands, what peril it is to have vowed, and, if the ability is given, not to have rendered the vow through cowardice or malice, or often through perversity of mind. But if I had determined to commit to letters part of these vows which I have seen, or which I have heard worthy, time would desert me sooner than the miracles. Therefore to the rest, which, unless I am deceived, will bring to readers no less both admiration and utility than the former ones.

[156] When I was placed in boyish age, with certain monks who still survive, A young man of Siena, by various diseases, from the parts of Siena ^e a certain young man not only captured by a demon, but also paralytic, mute, and deaf, his parents being impelled by the miracles and prodigies of St. John, was brought to this monastery of St. Mary, no small crowd of men drawn by the unheard-of thing, laid in chests placed upon a beast: O good Jesus! what admiration or what bitterness it gives to the minds of mortals to behold our breathing and living image, deprived of every office of its members and filled with a demon! Who anywhere among peoples heard of such a thing! Who beheld it? Who would not be affected with immense admiration, not only by seeing with his own eyes, but by receiving it with his ears? When first in the little church, which is situated outside the monastery, for the sake of his mother and other women, who, compelled by piety, had undertaken the journey together, he had been laid on a pallet in his whole body (for to sit, because he was paralytic, he could not), forthwith, enticed thither by the new thing, many arrive, there is made a concourse of the converts, monks, and other workmen and mountaineers, who were engaged in various businesses.

[157] Here although by the work of the devil, as we said, he was deprived of the office of all the members of his body, yet his tongue, affected by the devil, obtains soundness, by the virtue of the demon greatly flourished in him. For to utter unbecoming things against God and St. John (for by his virtue he was tortured). When therefore no small labor, that he might recover soundness, the monks had endured days and nights praying, conjuring, insisting with singular entreaties (for so it had been commanded); at last Jesus our Lord, pitying him, first by the prayers of the most blessed John, thence by the faith and tears of his own, especially of his mother: for she omitted nothing of vows; gradually the young man, his own bodily offices and strength being recovered,

and the demon being put to flight by the virtue of Jesus Christ (the monks had drawn out no small delay), praised the Lord by himself, and made admiration of himself to all.

[158] Thereupon the parents for joy exulted in their whole body, embraced him, kissed him. whose father gives thanks to his benefactors. Those who were present, struck with astonishment at so great a miracle, extolled St. John to heaven with wondrous praises. At last, silence being given, the father, all hearing, made such a prayer: Most merciful Jesus, from whom every good, and without whom nothing is right, with my whole heart, my whole mind, my whole strength I bless, praise, magnify thee, who through thy servant the most blessed John show us prodigies of this kind, that we may praise thee more and more: which indeed I understand in my son hitherto wretched, now happy with that happiness which can and ought to be called true happiness. Therefore, good Jesus, and thou most glorious Virgin Mary, thou too, most blessed John, deign to lead my son and us all into the right way, and at last to the fatherland: and to you, Father Abbot and monks, whom God chose for an office of this kind most worthy, we commend ourselves and ours, that you would be willing to be mindful of us in all your prayers: moreover let Jesus himself for so great a benefit restore it for us in the fatherland of the Blessed. These things being finished, the arm of St. John being devoutly kissed, joyful they hastened to their fatherland. Which prodigy, before unheard of for a whole age, was, not only to the city of Siena, but to all the neighboring ones, where it was narrated, of the highest admiration.

[159] A certain old man, A thing truly ridiculous, yet truer than true things, which happened in our time, I long to narrate. A certain old man from the town of Scarperia ^f, situated in the parts of Mugello, went first to the church of St. Cresci, which is dedicated in that region; thence, when he was not made whole, he withdrew to this monastery of St. Mary. Here he is in a short time restored to his former health, departing joyful to his home: but, I know not by what cause or by what fault it was done, a little after the same demon entered again into him. Whom, when his parents, terrified by the long journey and the harshness of winter, if they had withdrawn hither, led again to the aforesaid St. Cresci, a sign being asked from the priest who had conjured him, the demon said: Presently a manifest sign will be given; and forthwith, hanging the ass upon which he had sat on the trunk of a tree, he gave to them grief on account of the damage inflicted, and to many laughter. That it was so was related by men worthy of faith, who on the festivity of St. John, for the sake of a vow uttered, came to this church.

[160] and a miller are vindicated from the power of the demon. A certain miller from the valley of the Arno, namely from the town of Lancisa, on a certain day when he lay down safe outside the mill on a certain log; when he rose, neither his mind nor the rest of the members of his body sufficiently performed their office, nay to run hither and thither raving, and, to conclude in few words, to give of himself the offices of a mad head and a foolish man. Whom those who had come upon him, seizing by craft and force, his hands bound behind, dragged unwilling to this monastery of St. Mary, crying out, and, whither they went, filling all parts with clamors. For when he was asked by the priest who he was, and why he tortured the wretched man so greatly; Then, said the demon: To expel me hence pertains not at all to you, who have professed the true religion, and whom it befits not except to act justly; for I have assailed a thief frequently lying, and often also blaspheming God. That it was so, very many affirmed, we hearing. But when the priest, secretly from the others, wished to admonish him to beware of such nefarious things, at last after three days, in which time the demon had tortured him by sharply vexing him, a not small sign of himself being given (for he broke part of the window) he departed whither he was worthy. Thereupon that miller, giving thanks to Jesus and to St. John, both his arts and his manners, returning home, changed.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XIII.

On the vigil of St. Mary, which, on account of the immense abundance of snow which once filled the Aventine mountain ^a at Rome, by the prodigy of the Virgin herself, on the second of the Nones of August, is called "of the Snow." For that festal day, celebrated through the Christian religion, is marked by the worshippers of Christ as the fifth of the month of August. And lest it be an admiration to anyone, that I have in this miracle noted so much the month and day, let him understand that the matter and the new prodigy compelled me to do it. Which indeed, horrible and to be forever kept in your breasts, notice, I pray. For this I received not from another, but, as I was much present, I read, I conjured the demon. On that day therefore which we have said, a certain woman captured by a demon, truly not ignoble, from the parts of Calcia ^b, as in such a matter it is more often wont to happen, many accompanying, hastened to this monastery of St. Mary. A demon possessing a woman, For when by me in the sepulcher of the Saints, of which elsewhere we have more amply made a word, she was then prostrate and conjured, and the demon being made mute, by reading, praying, or conjuring gave no answer, by chance two Friars of the Order of St. Francis arrived, who, invited by Brother Marcus, then hermit of St. Mary of Cascesa, were hastening to go to the feast of the Virgin Mary herself.

[162] Who, liberally treated by our people, while after the accustomed manner they surveyed the whole monastery, he sharply rebukes a Franciscan Friar, it was said that a woman possessed by a demon had come. Forthwith therefore, enticed by the new thing, they withdrew to the sepulcher. But one of these, by chance instructed in the art of necromancy, when I was laboring by long questioning, and, not bearing with an even mind the demon not answering, said: I pray, father, by your leave. Let it be permitted to say certain things secretly into the ears of this woman. What if the demon, even unwilling, be compelled to answer? I therefore, little experienced in such a matter, thinking he would say some divine words, as befits Friars, permitted gladly. Approaching therefore to the woman's ears, I know not what muttering and moving his lips he secretly breathed. To whom at once the demon, indignant, and looking at him menacingly with savage eyes, at last burst out gnashing into these words: Hypocrite, dissembler, not a Friar, but a corrupter, O most evil of men, with what audacity in this holy place, the Relics and servants of God being present, have you dared by your most evil art to compel him whom God had not yet compelled. You would repent, believe me, if you removed those things which you carry in your bosom: for he carried, as he himself afterward related to me, of the wood of the most precious Cross of Christ Jesus.

[163] and cast out of the woman, To whom when at once intrepidly he answered, I fear neither you nor your threats, the demon said: Give, I pray you, to this woman, that which lurks in your bosom: thence to the ridges of the Alps, or anywhere outside these holy places, betake yourself, and there by contending with me you will experience what your virtue, O ox, can do against me: but you will not have reached the city of Perugia, before I make trial of what my virtue avails against you. These things being said, he fell silent. But the unhappy Friar, led by penitence for those things which he had said against the devil, struck with immense dread, together with his companion, commending himself greatly first to St. John, thence to us, departed sad. But the woman, on the same day restored by the virtue of the most blessed John to her former soundness, because she dwelt not far from the monastery, rejoicing withdrew to her home.

[164] pursues that anxious Friar, But that Friar, of whom I now made a word, as his companion afterward related to us, had such an end: for the festivity of St. Mary being diligently kept according to the vow and opinion of Marcus the hermit, those Friars betaking themselves to a certain Convent of Friars, situated on a certain hill rising high enough into the immense between St. John of the valley of the Arno and the town of Montevarchi ^c, he who had perpetrated the most evil deed, weeping his crimes, humbly confessing first, thence narrated to several what had happened to him. To these Friars therefore the unheard-of thing struck no small both admiration and fear: yet as the manner of Friars is, to soothe his grief with blandishing words, that there was nothing which he ought to fear, both because he had confessed, and because the devil neither avails what he wishes: for he is broken by the power of God, and weakened by his virtue; and what is greater, he often lies. By these therefore and other words given and received back and forth, their spirit raised into hope, commending themselves to the prayers of the Friars, on the following day they proceeded on their journey.

[165] and strikes into him a deadly terror. But when, wearied by the most intense ardor of the sun and by labor, they had sat down on the journey under a broad olive near the lake of Perugia ^d; behold (I shudder to relate) a dense and most black cloud with a certain horrible gnashing, coming suddenly from the lake, where the wretched ones had sat down, gathering the whole place into a ball, so as to turn day into night there, surrounding them with an immense stench, thence a little after departing, sought the highest air, in which, gradually dissolved, it nowhere appeared. At these things forthwith their hairs stiffened, and a sudden trembling ran through their bones, and a salt moisture everywhere and everywhere gushing drop by drop. When they had delayed a little, far trembling, rising with tottering feet, and fortifying themselves with the sign of the cross, they performed the journey begun not without great labor. But when they entered the city of Perugia, that wretch, whom the demon in our monastery had sharply chastised, closed his last day. All these things the other Friar, his companion, on his return to Florence, took care to relate to us. By this example it is plain enough, that the art of necromancy neither the secular indeed, how much less the Religious ought to exercise, especially because it behooves all Christians to seek divine and human, not diabolical, helps. But now to the rest.

[166] In that week a girl, in her seventh year, A seven-year-old girl possessed by a demon, snatched by force by her parents to this monastery of St. Mary, was an admiration to all, placed at that girlish age. Whom when in the sepulcher of the Saints, moved by the tears of her mother and the piety of others, I compassionated, and conjured the demon by prayers and entreaties, that he should withdraw to his own place;

so great was the strength of the girl, the demon striving, that she removed huge stones with her head, and compelled all the men, who sat upon the sepulcher, lest perchance she should go out, to slip into various parts (which is incredible to tell): but she herself as soon as possible leaped out. I indeed remember that I have seen the like neither before nor after with my own eyes. O good Jesus! that a little girl, by the art of the demon turned into so great a fury, dared such a deed by her head alone. When first, as I said, she leaped forth from the sepulcher of the Saints, carrying her savage eyes menacingly hither and thither, she gave of herself a pitiable and fearful spectacle to all: for having disheveled hair, fiery eyes, a foaming mouth, and a torn breast and face, now individuals, now all together she provoked to contest; and the more atrociously, because, shut within the enclosures of the valley, and a band of young men besetting the door, there was given no way by any part by which she might burst forth.

[167] At last, all being seized with dread, and hesitating to assail her, freed from the dominion of the devil. making the sign of the Cross with the cross of St. John over her, she rested a little. Whom, fallen and drenched with sweat, her wretched mother receiving into her bosom, arranged her head, adorning also the other parts of her body afterward. A little after, because it was the end of the day, we seeking to go inside, and the companions following, dragging her tottering in her feet and whole body. When therefore they came to the chapel, there they rested a little. By chance it happened that in praise of the Virgin Mary, as it is the custom to be done every vespers through the whole religion of Christ, the bell was rung; scarcely at the first sign given, the demon, not bearing any longer the virtue of the Virgin Mary and of holy John, me together with the acolytes, of whom one carried water purified with words and salt, the other the Cross, hearing, the demon, crying out with an immense gnashing, withdrew. But on the following day, giving immense thanks to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary his mother, joyful they hastened to their fatherland. Her afterward I remember to have seen unharmed: for in the Valley of the upper Arno, distant not far from the town of Castelfranco ^e, she dwelt.

[168] Concerning my own fatherland, that is Raggiolo ^f, although several came to this monastery of St. Mary for the sake of recovering health, yet with this one for the present we shall be content. A certain young man, whose name is Andrew (for he still survives), when by the incantations and magic, as they commonly say, of a certain malign and perverse presbyter, A young man of Raggiolo, once rescued from the power of the demon, as afterward was made clear by the deed itself, he was so sharply vexed, that he wretchedly beat and tore his countenance, face, and garments with his own hands by weeping; and his brother and the rest of his kinsfolk utterly knew not what they should do in so great a peril, by chance a certain good man, who with very many others had run together to so great a spectacle, and compassionating said: If you render this man commended to the Virgin Mary with a good and right heart, believe me, forthwith he will be given to good health and soundness. His brother therefore, these things heard, no delay being given, uttered to the Virgin Mary this vow: Such garments as he is clothed with, O most pure Virgin Mary, coming to thy church together with this wretched one, I will hang up on the doors of the temple for thy glory: only through thee, O most holy of all, let him be restored to his former health. A wonderful thing! presently, favoring his vows, the Virgin Mary stood by, and freeing the aforesaid Andrew from that intolerable grief, rendered him sound and strong in mind and body.

[169] is again reduced into the same, Thereupon all who were present could not fulfill themselves in praising, blessing, and extolling the glorious Virgin Mary, tears arising for joy. On that day therefore, other matters being left, they went as soon as possible to the church of St. Mary of Bibbiena, which is called "of the Rock," and the garments being offered, and a prayer first devoutly sent forth to the Virgin Mary from the depths of the heart, that evening they returned home prosperously joyful. When therefore this Andrew, captured in all his members by the art of the devil, and freed by the prayers of the Virgin Mary, no long interval of time being then given, on a certain day when together with certain others he cultivated the vines, again the demon, compelled by noxious herbs and words, as above, entering him possessed him. Thence to rave, to be furious, to attack others with hoe, stakes, and stones: they to flee, to seek secret and safe places: at last very many others running together to him from the vines, from the fields, hither and thither, seizing him wearied by force or craft, bound and fettered dragged him home. When these hesitated what they should do, or whither they should turn themselves, utterly ignorant, it seemed the best thing done to lead him to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa. But others, led by the malign spirit, thinking it would be in the matter that magicians and enchanters must be consulted about this, his brother, Galganus by name, said: Unless in the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa he recover his former health, to go elsewhere for the present does not seem to me to be sound counsel. For I trust that St. John will give us, as to the rest, help from heaven, provided we demand it with a sincere heart and whole faith.

[170] and again is restored to his former health. This excellent young man judged that only the divine help must be sought, where the human was lacking: which indeed all who are of sound mind feel. Presently therefore, a beast being prepared according to custom with chests, many from his fatherland accompanying, they hastened hither. To see whom, both because he was from my fatherland, and also because, as I think, he was a kinsman, hastening, the matter being diligently known, for his salvation in the hospice beside the fire, no cross, no other relics being applied, trusting only in the divine mercy, I prayed: O good Jesus! on the spot, by the merits of the most blessed John, and by his and his companions' faith, a miracle followed, when, gradually vomiting up certain most black coals, Thanks be to God, thanks be to God, he said, I have recovered! To see these things there is made a concourse of his companions and others. They could not sufficiently marvel, whence these coals, especially since he confessed that he had never eaten them. When therefore they asked me, whence this? since I dared to give nothing certain in this matter: Yet I conjecture, said I, it can be done by the art of the devil, that things mixed with food and drink do not appear, and thus are taken. But as Crispus says, I fear lest anyone receive with an even mind what he thinks was done to himself, but reckon those things beyond his own as if feigned for false. But that which I have beheld with my own eyes, touched with my hand, I do not doubt to affirm. For to the confirmation of this, I bring that girl of St. Gaudentius, of whom above I said many things, as a witness; since I could bring very many others also, if the matter required: for from many religious worthy of faith I received, that she, while she was conjured in St. Salvius, spat out teeth, hairs, and other things. But these things for the incredulous: now I return to what I began.

[171] A certain Florentine matron, Vaggia by name, born in no obscure place, captured by a demon, A certain Florentine matron, when at Florence she found not health, we saw seek this monastery of St. Mary as secretly as she could, namely at a nocturnal time. Such a demon had occupied her; at times to be of so mild a disposition, to jest, to give of herself pleasantries and witticisms worthy of laughter, and to be to those present both a pleasure and an admiration. But sometimes, her manners being changed, especially while she was conjured, you would say her another; for she was so made cruel and harsh in appearance, that those who were present confessed they had never at any time seen anything crueler. When by this varied vicissitude the time was worn away in vain by the will of the devil, they determined to fight with her in a private and common, both outside and at home, contest. Prayers therefore are made to Jesus; each for himself now the Virgin Mary, the only and singular refuge of the wretched, now the most blessed John invoked. But when in this pious work they had consumed very many days in vain; Father the Abbot bearing this most ill, willed that on that day (for on the morrow they were preparing flight) the monks by long praying and singing should either be tortured with too much weariness, or the demon should withdraw to his evil place.

[172] These therefore devoutly and fervently singing, the demon administered so much strength beyond the usual to the woman, the possessed one, that, the soles of her feet leaning on the footstool of the altar, she compelled the fierce young men, ten in number, who by force held her from behind, to be far off: now backward, now she thrust them upon herself. It was worth the trouble to behold the horrible countenance, the foul face, the savage eyes, the most inept and disordered motions both of the countenance and of the whole body: to utter foul things against God and His Saints, which while I receive, I shudder, not to say I would dare to commit them to letters. At last by the goodness of Jesus and the merits of holy John he withdrew elsewhere, an immense voice being sent forth, leaving only that woman prostrate on the ground, nearly extinguished of life. Who a little after rising, when she marveled where in the world she was, what the kindled tapers, what the Religious meant, the matter being diligently known from her own, giving thanks to God she fell silent. But her husband, a man distinguished enough in the Florentine Republic, a not small offering being given to St. John for so great a benefit, joyful came to Florence, feigning, when he was asked whence he went, that he had traversed holy places.

[173] and another woman Another woman from Castel Bolognese ^h, of great age, Anastasia by name, we have received hastened about the same time to this monastery of St. Mary, when she was captured by a demon. Whom the demon always tortured with the greatest tortures, her own people asserted; but especially while they entered these neighboring regions, or this territory first. For often fearing the suffocation of the woman, when the demon sought her throat, only destitute of the other helps, they implored with tears the protection of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary. But when in this place the demon seemed to attempt the same, the abbot, reckoning it the best thing done, to bind the woman's throat about with the stole, lest the demon, sharper torments being applied, if space were given, should accomplish the matter, presently ordered her to be brought. A wonderful thing! as often as her throat was girded with the stole, so often the demon sought the lower parts or the intestines, sometimes went to the extremities of the feet or hands. When it was removed, presently he sought the throat again. Lo, of how great virtue the sacred garments are, it can easily be perceived by anyone from this one miracle.

[174] the demon is put to flight. When therefore the demon promised flight to the priest with words, but in the very deed sharper and fiercer pressed on, and gave no place to the Holy Spirit, the abbot commands all the other monks, that each for himself should have supplications and prayers; but that if not even thus it proceeded, they should all together draw out a long delay by contending with the devil. Which matter when the monks vigorously did, at last the demon, perceiving the outcome of the matter, used against the wretched woman that virtue which he could: for when he rendered her throat more than usual inflated and swollen, the woman was so wearied, that with bloody eyes, fetid breath, dried and pale lips, in short with her whole countenance and face, she showed the last extremities to be at hand; so that many judged it was over with her. Thereupon all who were present prayed Christ Jesus, and his most merciful Virgin Mary, that they would give at least the salvation of the soul, tears being poured forth. At last after the long torture which she had endured from the demon in her throat, spitting out most black coals, gathered into a ball with hairs, forthwith she was made unharmed,

all marveling at the prodigy unheard of and never seen by them. Then they, praising Jesus and holy John, could not fulfill themselves: thence joyful to their fatherland, preaching the virtue of the most holy John to all whom they met, they returned.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XIV.

Not long after (for that year was famous for prodigies) a certain man from Valialla ^a, whose name had been Bartholomew, withdrew to this monastery of St. Mary, no small crowd of men accompanying. Twenty-eight demons, He too, fenced on every side with ropes, could scarcely be held by several young men who had been his companions, and who were then at home (inasmuch as he was tortured by twenty-eight malign spirits). Which most evil spirits indeed sometimes brought sport, sometimes terror to those present. For who was so grave, so rigid, that he would not have given laughter of himself, when he had heard from the mouth of one various voices uttering words with varied motion; so that you would think it a whole people, not one, speaking. And also who was so foolish, so light of sense, that he would not marvel with the greatest dread at so prodigious and so horrible a thing? To me indeed they would be incredible, invented, and feigned, had not the Evangelists, who neither wish nor are able to lie, handed down to memory by the testimony of letters that a certain man was made whole by the Lord Jesus, and that he had been captured by a legion of demons.

[176] Now returning to my purpose. When now his health was despaired of by nearly all, compelled by the virtue of St. John, (because they had consumed many days in vain in such a work) and the abbot, glowing, agitated this in his mind, whether he should omit what was begun, since it was in vain, or await the virtue of St. John, which he had often used prosperously in many things by enduring; a certain monk of advanced age, Peter by name, said: By the leave of all let me say, most reverend Father. That this man, unless unharmed, be permitted to depart hence, that it is to the disgrace of the whole monastery, let no one doubt; since it is established clearer than light, that he is assailed by many and various spirits. Thereupon I judge it useful and honorable (and I hope you judge the same) that, conquered by no labor either singular or universal, we await the outcome of the matter even by the length of time. All praise and approve the old man's opinion.

[177] Forthwith the abbot commands one of the monks, the cross of the most holy John being taken, long by reading and praying to try whether perchance they may withdraw elsewhere. To this wonderful spectacle when Religious and seculars flowed together from every side, there was made a not small number. When therefore it was vigorously fought on both sides, and the demons did not withdraw to their own place, the monk, weary and wearied, rested. Another undergoes the conflict, thence another. At last John, pitying his servants, grace being obtained from Jesus, most easily, one devil after another, by the divine nod, his own name being given, went to other places. Whose names a certain one of the monks took care diligently to commit to memory; thence, in memory of so great a deed, laid up in the desk of the sacristy, they were long preserved: a war then arising among the neighbors, when all the best things of the monastery were carried off to the citadel of Pitiano, by I know not what chance, together with certain other things they were lost. Health therefore being recovered, that Bartholomew together with the rest extolled the virtue of the most holy John to heaven. At last, a blessing being received from the Father of the monastery, joyful they returned to their own.

[178] An even greater number A certain Peter, son of Dominic, from the territory of Prato Vecchio ^b, who had an unknown demon for nearly two years, as he himself at last declared, was at last led by force by his own people to this monastery of St. Mary, with great admiration of all, wherever he passed, on account of the many and various things which he ineptly did and said. To him the demon administered such strength, that, bound on every side with ropes, he could not be held even by three most strong men before the arm of the most holy John. Who easily receiving the soundness of all his members; unmindful of so great a benefit, not only did he not change his most evil manners, as the monks had admonished, but added to these others much worse. Thereupon, the divine justice exacting it, the same demon together with forty-seven malign spirits entering that wretched man, so cruelly tortured him, that frequent people ran together to see the matter of so great and so unheard-of cruelty, from the towns, villas, and huts, wherever he made his way like a madman (for he had fled).

[179] from a certain Peter At last, captured by the cunning of many, and his feet and hands bound, no small crowd of mortals accompanying, they dragged him unwilling to this monastery of St. Mary: which they would not have done, had not a certain good presbyter, compassionating their misfortunes, brought help by prayers and orations. Him, fenced on every side with ropes, certain of our people seeing, whom a crowd of men much greater than before followed, turned into admiration and astonishment, announce it inside as soon as possible. Thereupon the monks made themselves ready against the devil, prepared spiritual arms, left nothing necessary for a business of this kind; for by hatred of the devil, and by shame of themselves, because he had returned so quickly, they were vehemently agitated. But it was wonderful to hear various spirits in one body, not only speaking in different tongues, but even to see disordered motions given in the same body. For all who were present at so great and such a spectacle (for very many were present, even Religious of advanced age) asserted that they had never heard or seen the like.

[180] While therefore a concourse of all was made into the sacristy, is expelled. the monks praying with the arm of St. John, the chief demon of all, who, as we said above, had alone first invaded the wretched man, said: Let him promise that he will henceforth order his life more justly (yet so, that he match deeds with words) and we shall all go to our own place. Forthwith he confesses that he will change his life for the better, and correct his most evil manners. These demons therefore, a small interval of time being given, all together sending forth various sounds, so that you would say a multitude of men, hastened elsewhere. He, now made unharmed, and admonished by the priest, determined to cling to God through confession. A diligent confession of his crimes being made, he and his companions, joyful and marveling, extolling the virtue of the most holy John to the sky, returned to the valley of Casentino, thence to their fatherland.

[181] We have received that a certain other matron from the parts of Flaminia came to this monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa; A wonderful sign being given and that the demon, who had invaded her, after many contests held with her, said to the priest, who asked a sign: When I shall have known that the time of hastening elsewhere threatens, which now I foresee to be at hand, the ass of a certain countryman, who descending from the rock will make his way here, will give a sufficiently fitting and manifest sign of my departure, I being silent: for I will so fix its feet in the ground, that no one can pull it thence, except the iron instruments being left behind. This, since it seemed both ridiculous and not sufficiently fitting to many who were present; behold forthwith a countryman, ignorant of this matter, seeking help, was entering the chapel, asserting that the ass which he led had a little before so fixed its feet, that by no blows, by no force would or could it move itself from the same place.

[182] Whom the devil first regarding a little as if wondering, the demon departs from the woman. thence, cackling, said: By your leave, I would have, most friendly countryman, your ass held for a sign of my flight; for in this you will lose nothing but the iron instruments; but the ass will perform its journey together with you. These things being said, wailing and gnashing he withdrew to his own place. The countryman, reckoning these things true, certain accompanying, when he hastened with them to where he had left the ass, hoping to find it there, and beholding the ass now feeding far from the place, vehemently marveling, called St. John a most holy man; especially because, as the demon had said, he beheld it with all its feet bared. Forthwith therefore, a little moved, to Florence; they withdrew inside, and certain ones receiving in their hands the woman, as if finished with life, awaited a time of rest. At last, returning to herself, when she marveled both at the place and at the men, the matter being known, giving thanks to God, rejoicing she returned to her fatherland.

[183] Another woman from the town of Pontenano, it was related to us, came; The demon lying that he was the soul of a slain man, and the demon, who had invaded her, as they for the most part are wont, confessed himself to have been the soul of a certain Ligurian, whose name was Beltram. Which, since it was an impudent lie, is to be refuted, and to be beaten back by the authority of holy mother Church, that the ignoble common folk may perceive that these things cannot be done; and thus be instructed to the true religion, and the learned be strengthened in the true opinion; and, this being proved, we shall return to our purpose. First it is proved by the authority of the Prophet, who says: A spirit going and not returning. It matters nothing whither it go, whether it flit through the air purging itself, or dwell in a place, earthly untilled and deserted or not deserted; or seek what is unknown to us, which we call purgatory; that it should return any more into human bodies we both say and reckon a wickedness. Besides, it has nowhere among peoples been read, that two souls of the same condition and nature, feeling variously among themselves, have their seat in one body. I could bring other opinions also both of the holy Gospel and of the divine Scriptures for the proof of the matter: but moreover, lest I seem to pursue discourses rather than a history, it is enough for the knowledge of our people to have proved, that the demons in this have lied. But if they demand anything for the utility of souls, as Offices,

as Gregorian Masses, as almsgivings, this they do unwilling, God willing. But now I return to what I began.

[184] When therefore the demon was long, both by the cross and by prayers, afflicted with sharp torments, that he should withdraw elsewhere, at last, persevering in his purpose, he burst forth into these words: he deserts the woman, restitution being commanded, If these will take care diligently to restore my goods, investigated and found, to my sons, I will go to my own place. If, led by their accustomed perversity, they proceed to prefer all things rather than to restore the goods, although now compelled I go to other places, at another time returning, leading more companions with me, I will inflict worse torments on them. These things heard, those wretched ones, fearing for their own part, say: Give a way of undertaking the matter, if you are able, and what you say we will take care diligently to put into execution. Let there be applied, I pray, said the demon, one who may put into letters what I shall say: for I wish to bequeath my goods after the manner of the peoples by public codicils. Forthwith a scribe being summoned, who then by chance was managing a matter with the abbot at the home of the monastery, according to his vow and opinion, the demon opening the goods, causes, works, days, creditors and debtors for the faith of the matter, what he would leave to his sons, what to the church, what to the rest, it was handed down to memory by the scribe. These things being diligently performed, the demon vanished like smoke. Thence he dared to inflict harm neither on that woman, nor on any other of the same house.

[185] which was owed to the sons of the slain architect. But the slaying of the aforesaid Beltram, that the matter may be more and more in the open, as we have received, to open in a few words seemed not out of place. He after the manner of that people sought these our regions for himself, and also for his own: for he knew something of the art of architecture, by which in the summer time together with his own he gathered for himself no small money; whom certain perverse men of the town of Pontenano, enticed by that greed of money, watched; explored his ways and journeys diligently with this intent, that they might kill him. On a certain day therefore, an ambush being set, they assailed him in a more secret place of a bristling and shady wood not far from Pontenano and cut him down, and, the money being secretly carried off, departing as soon as possible, left him unburied, lest the matter be laid open by tokens. Hence the demon, by the divine will, afflicting one, as you have heard, of their women, with torments, opened the whole matter. It is plain therefore, that mortals are tortured not always by their own crimes, but sometimes by other things unknown to us: and that it is so concerning the man born blind, the Gospels of Christ Jesus declare; whom neither his own nor his parents' crimes made such, but only that the works of God might be laid open through him to mortals. But now to the rest.

[186] We have received that a certain girl from the town of Pomino came to this monastery of St. Mary, Another demon likewise asserting himself the soul of a slain man, who was the sister of a certain Dom Simon of Ravezzano. That presbyter still lives, placed however in decrepit age. But the demon, who had invaded her, asserted himself to be the soul of a certain man named Mazzantis, who by a certain wicked man had been slain with a dagger in a game of dice. That it was so all who were present strove to affirm. Yet the priest insisted, bringing forward many opinions of men distinguished in virtue and doctrine, by which he showed that as soon as the souls of men went out of their bodies, they go whither they have merited; namely they seek pleasant places, or foul and untilled ones, for purgation, or for eternal tortures, and do not enter other bodies. But that those are malign spirits, who from the cradle are given to men, when they cease to be by body and cowardice a man, to inflict various temptations. Nor is it a wonder, if they bring forth their names, if they proclaim the virtues or vices, with whom they had commerce and familiarity from the very beginnings. Scarcely could he persuade them that it was so: for the rustics, after their manner, the less they understand what is said, the more they marvel: and when they have once lent their ears to some opinion, they cannot be torn from it except with the greatest difficulty. This happens especially because they are of a hard neck, and nearly devoid of reason.

[187] But when the devil, that he should go out, or withdraw elsewhere, was long wearied, and he himself with all his strength insisted that he should not depart; and demanding that Masses be celebrated for him, he leaves the possessed girl. at last by the virtue of the most blessed John he burst forth into these words: I will hasten elsewhere if for the soul of that Mazzantis both orations are made and prayers. These asserting that they would altogether do it, he said: See that you be not found to have lied: for I would hereafter, God willing, inflict worse torments on you, if you promised to pray for him with words only; but in the very deed were found strangers, as if it pertained nothing to you, and aliens. It will be done, it will be done, said the priest; and if the rest desisted from the pious work, I give my faith, that I will do it; only do you give place to the Holy Spirit, and go to your own place. These things being finished, forthwith the demon, sending forth a terrible and hellish voice, and leaving the girl half-dead of life, vanished like smoke. Thence gradually she, resuming her strength, the matter being known, giving thanks to God and to St. John, joyful with her own returned to her fatherland, certain money being first offered, that, as they had promised, for the soul of the aforesaid Mazzantis Gregorian Masses might be celebrated in the monastery.

[188] From the parts of Siena a woman was led to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa; A monk inconsiderately conjuring a demon is rebuked by him, to whose demon, who had invaded her, while Dom Benedict, who afterward presided over the monastery of St. Mary of Cuneo, after his manner rashly and inconsiderately gave contumelious words and words full of revilings, (as sometimes happens from the unskilled, while the demons themselves, being questioned, make a long delay in answering) the demon, bearing this most ill, namely that so insipidly and ineptly and rashly conjuration and reproach were made against him, at last, turning himself with savage countenance and terrible eyes upon that Benedict, said: O pestilent one of all monks, and most foolish of all fools. What do you want? Whither this your folly? Do you dare, little considerately, without any supplication or devotion, to reproach, chide, and conjure me? Is it done thus, O most insane of all, or with a certain religion and fear? Go, whither you are worthy, to your cross, and prostitute yourself to the boys beholding: and if with your accustomed wickedness you proceed, most wicked one, I will lay open your vices before all: you have not yet fully known what I am.

[189] to whom another succeeding is praised; That monk Benedict therefore, whom the consciousness of evil things perhaps instigated, seized with no small fear, fearing worse things if he proceeded, fearing, trembling, withdrew into the monastery. To whose office the monk who succeeded, these things which the demon had spoken evilly against him being known, first devoutly opening his crimes to another of the priest monks, and the penance which had been enjoined him being performed, withdrawing thither, where the demon was, with lowered countenance and suppliant voice, to command the demon, that he should go out, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the merits of the glorious and ever Virgin Mary, and of St. John. To whom the demon: This is to be wise; thus, as you, to conjure in the virtue of God and submissively; not, as that insane one a little before, with swollen words and unharmonious voice to cry out, and to bring forth proud things and by no means fitting in this place and in such an office. Him indeed, unless I am deceived, so chastised, so made gentle have I rendered, that hereafter he will easily perceive with what reverence and religion all divine things must be performed by mortals. I will yield therefore: for to be here longer, though I would, yet the virtue of St. John forbids.

[190] at last the demon is driven from the woman. But when the greatest part of the day had been spent in conjuration of this kind, and the priest understood that he profited nothing, (because departure was announced by the devil with words, but in the very deed he pressed on sharper) reckoning it the best thing done, to defer the contest with the devil to another day, and meanwhile that supplications for the salvation of the woman herself be made by each of the monks, sad he withdrew. Thereupon on the morrow the monks after custom with the greatest reverence going thither two and two with the arm of St. John, so long singing and praying there remained, until the devil, destitute of all help, not without harm to the woman withdrew, whither he was worthy. That woman, captured in the members of her body, long could not perform their office. But at last by the grace of Jesus Christ, and the prayers of Blessed Mary and of St. John, restored to her former grace, happy and healthy she thereafter led her life.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XV.

The demon also greatly terrified a monk of this monastery, whose name was Paul, who, although placed in decrepit age, A demon, who on account of disobedience yet still lives, as below shall be shown in its order. For he, detained by certain businesses on a certain evening, daring to rest in the dormitory outside without the permission of his Superior, when now he was at the point of entering his bed, (I shudder to relate) it seemed to him that the shadow of a most foul man was present; whose savage eyes, fiery mouth, gaping nostrils, long beard, and hair uncombed after the manner of a he-goat, had made wild the appearance of his face, as he was wont to relate. By which unusual vision seized with immense fear, and so captured in all the members of his body, that he could not fortify himself after the Christian manner with the sign of the most holy cross. What? that not even his tongue sufficiently performed its office. That wretched man therefore, placed in so great and such peril of body, and, what is worse, of soul, knowing not whither he should turn himself, whom he should invoke for his protection, and now the demon holding his little bed, vomiting up a hellish flame, trembling and weeping with his whole heart, because with his tongue he could not, commending himself to the glorious Virgin Mary and to holy John, delivering his salvation into their hand, only to escape death and eternal tortures, prayed.

[192] At last the demon, when he could not effect what he had intended, had terrified a monk, because he was broken by the virtue of the most holy John (for that he wished to suffocate that monk, the demon himself afterward in the early morning, when he hastened hither, was wont to relate) thereupon bearing it most ill, the post of the bed, roused by wrath, first dragging it through the pavement, withdrew foul-smelling to his evil place. In that so harsh business therefore that monk was of no less dejected spirit after the demon's departure, than while he was present: for the remaining part of the night sleepless, as he himself was wont to narrate, he passed praying and trembling; fearing always, lest, if even a little he should desist from the prayer begun, the demon, the common enemy of all, worse and sharper should return: which he did not; for by the prayers and merits of the most holy Mother of God

and of the Virgin Mary and of the father, the most blessed John, that perfidious Satan stood far off.

[193] In the early morning therefore, a certain man captured by a demon, afterward is cast out of the body of the possessed man, from the villa which is by a common name called Thosis (for it is distant from this monastery of St. Mary nearly three miles) was led hither by the force of many accompanying. When therefore after the accustomed manner all the monks, arranged in their order round about, sang and prayed, that one whom the demon had invaded, all the monks being first surveyed, the demon fixed his eyes upon him who the past night had seen that so terrible vision; thence, a short delay being given, with an immense voice said: O friend, that which in this past night you suffered from me, deservedly befell you, because, as disobedient and perverse, you were outside, while the others rest; beware hereafter: for unless you had prayed from your inmost heart, you would, believe me, have given an example of yourself to others. These things being said, he fell silent. But that monk thence narrated to several what had happened to him. The Religious men therefore, proceeding, never desisted from the pious work, until that demon, not able any longer to bear the virtue of St. John, withdrew to his evil place, sending forth a hellish voice.

[194] whence the author has an exhortation to the Religious. Let all the Religious therefore, both monks and brothers, see, and let them learn by the example of that wretch, who, offering their necks to the yoke of obedience for the love of Jesus Christ and for the sake of obeying, for their souls' good, all things which they seemed to possess in the world being set aside and cast away, vow their will to the Fathers and Abbots, what peril and danger threatens those who dare not to hearken in just matters, and sometimes, enticed by evil desire, turning aside from the right road, to follow devious windings, and, what is more intolerable, to spurn the precepts of Father Benedict and of the other holy Fathers, and to follow certain untilled and devious things. I could commemorate certain Brothers both of our own and of another Religion, who, blinded in the eyes of the mind, not keeping those things which before God and His Saints they promised, nay, what is worse, bringing evils upon their own religion, and, what is a wickedness to tell, casting off the pretext and habit, and leading a life not only not religious, but fouler than that of panders, at last by the divine judgment finding a destruction worthy of their manners, first for the most part great orders being ruined, plunged into the abyss of hell, did not that matter draw me farther from what I began, and time hasten to ripen for something else. These things therefore being dismissed, let us come to the miracles of St. John, which, as I said elsewhere, are very many. If I should wish to dwell one by one on each of his most happily performed miracles, time would desert me sooner than the matter: for they offer themselves in throngs. Wherefore, very many being passed over, I will show certain more celebrated signs, in what order I can.

[195] A demon deceiving the monks by pious signs, To this monastery of St. Mary from the parts of Flaminia a certain old woman, captured by a demon, I understood was led by force of her kinsfolk and others, who, roused by the unusual thing, as is the custom, had of their own accord offered themselves as companions of so great and so arduous a journey. Which demon indeed, who had invaded her, was instructed with such art and such cunning of simulating and dissimulating, good Jesus! that either no wicked spirit, or few like him, in my opinion, are found among men flitting through the air: which art, when after custom she was conjured with the cross by a certain monk placed in the office of the Diaconate, he so used, that anyone even long experienced in such a matter would have affirmed that woman to be occupied by no iniquitous demon: for the Angelic salutation of St. Mary, the Lord's Prayer also with the highest devotion, with lowered eyes, with suppliant voice she said; by herself (which seems incredible) she made the sign of the cross; and, lest I be a weariness to the reader, all signs of devotion which can be made by any catholic man were in that old woman.

[196] secretly persuades flight and death to the woman possessed by him; By these signs therefore, when even all the monks were deceived, reckoning her as if safe, the kinsfolk to the accustomed lodging, the monks returned inside: their bodies being a little refreshed with food and drink, because it was now the end of the day, they prepared their departure for the following day. When therefore now the darkness had covered our region, by the work and art of the demon the woman, feigning a necessity of the body, went aside. Who when she understood that she could be seen by no one, with a most rapid run, the demon administering strength, to the river which is called Micanum (for it is distant from the monastery nearly two miles) with no rest given she arrived. Thence, ascending the bank of the river, the demon exhorted that she should cast herself into the depth of the deepest water; but by the merits of St. Mary and of St. John, the divine goodness, bringing her help, forbade so great and so nefarious a deed.

[197] Meanwhile her own people, through a certain swineherd of the monastery, who had returned home late, the cause and the journey being known, hastening to seek the river; and the nearer they approached that place, the more the demon redoubled, insisted, that the woman should slay herself. At last, captured, they prayed that she should go on her own feet; but when this was in vain (for she affirmed that she wished to pass the night there) these, mingled with anger and vexation, and not able to endure her any longer, though she were their mother, her hands being bound behind, the demon filling the wood with howlings and clamors, dragged her unwilling to this monastery of St. Mary. But on the morrow, the monks after custom singing and praying, no long time being consumed, the demon, not bearing any longer the virtue of St. John, prepared a true flight; for tearing the woman first fiercely, thence crying out savagely and terribly, he withdrew to his own place. Therefore the woman, health being recovered, joyful with her own revisited her fatherland.

[198] Within my memory from the Valley of Casentino, from the territory of Cetica, Besides many others cured, a certain girl, both men and women captured by a demon were led by force to this monastery of St. Mary, very many, who indeed would have been memorable; but because I wish to set a measure both to the time and to the volume, the rest being passed over, with this one for the present we shall be content. A certain girl, Catherine by name (if I rightly remember what I heard) for several days before the feast of St. John was brought hither bound with ropes, (for she was tortured by a most evil demon). Who, although on the journey, like many, on account of the sanctity of the place, was restored to her former health, yet her companions, fearing the cunning and wiles of the devil, first came to this monastery; thence to return home as soon as possible was their counsel. Therefore when they came, by the trial of the cross that she had then recovered was clearly plain. Thereupon they returned to their fatherland the same day as soon as possible.

[199] But I know not by what chance it came about, that, not many days being consumed, the demon again tortured her more fiercely than usual. into whom the demon had returned, Wherefore, lest they be held importunate and troublesome, if they returned as soon as possible to this monastery of St. Mary, they deferred their coming to the festivity of the most holy John, which was not far off. On its vigil therefore scarcely, the devil striving with all his strength, they dragged her hither unwilling. But when on the same day on which she came she was not freed, on the morrow in the early morning, lest she be a hindrance to so great a festivity, when on every side a concourse of mortals to such a spectacle grew frequent, to a certain monk priest reading little cautiously or devoutly the demon said: Go hence, whither you are worthy, hypocrite; and the fish which you furtively carried off, and hid in such a corner, take care that they be restored to the steward as soon as possible.

[200] By chance it happened, while the demon spoke these contumelious words against that wretched monk, that the steward, seeking another companion, was passing that way. The theft being known therefore, the devil willing, joyful, secretly as soon as possible departing thence to the corner, the theft being disclosed to the exorcist, (because he was most sagacious in conjectures) where the demon had said, the fish being found, he took care to restore them to the cook. These things both to me and to certain other monks he, who then by the command of the abbot had the care both of the wine-cellar and of the kitchen, the name of the author however being suppressed, related all in jest: at last, wearied by certain ones, he opened also the name of the author. But the aforesaid monk, who was conjuring the demon, although first, these things heard, he blushed a little and feared, yet, lest he should give faith to the matter to those present, if he had forthwith departed thence, proceeded more humbly and more suppliantly, than he had done before, in reading.

[201] Thence another monk, who now presides over the monastery of St. Mary of Fonte Taona ^a, taking the care of conjuring the demon, after the conjuration of another monk, much labor being spent in vain, at last indignant departed. But at noon when after the accustomed manner in throngs a not small crowd of both men and women of every condition, struck with admiration and astonishment, flowed together from every side, the abbots who were then present, believing it the best thing done, (for several were present) to apply the arm of St. John in the conjuration; by the command of the greater Father, the monks assembling, and the rest both with the Religious and the priests (for that day is celebrated through nearly all Etruria with the highest devotion and religion) the arm is brought forth.

[202] When therefore on both sides it was contended with the highest force, that one for his own advantage, she escapes the dominion of the malign spirit; these for the glory of Christ Jesus, at last the demon, perceiving his departure to be at hand (for the virtue of the most holy John pressed and compelled him) hostile to the woman-girl, laying her down on the ground as cruelly as possible, thence also tearing her, at last a hellish voice being sent forth, withdrew to his evil place. That girl therefore, long fallen on the ground, lying as if finished with life, at last wondering rose, and carrying her eyes around, inquired where in the world her parents were, and what the crowd of men, what those Religious wanted with her. To whom, opening the whole matter, thanks being given to God and to the Virgin Mary and to St. John, they prepare their journey to their fatherland; whom the crowd of her own both kinsfolk and neighbors followed joyful, because it had prosperously succeeded for them.

[203] [by which example the glory of St. John is increased and the exorcists are admonished.] Which miracle being known, all the others too, who had been present at so great a festivity, extolled the most holy John to the stars, opened the matter of so great a deed to all who came to meet them. Thus the most blessed John was held more illustrious. But it pleases at the close of this prodigy to address those who even in this age make more of the body than of the soul, that they may learn what danger or peril threatens those handling divine things, unless first they open their evil deeds through diligent confession to another of the priests; or at least with a contrite and humbled heart take care to reconsider them; since the sacred songs chant: A contrite and humbled heart God will not despise. But now to the rest.

[204] Another woman from Volterra ^b we have received came to this monastery of St. Mary for recovering health: for three most evil demons had invaded her. A woman forewarned in a nocturnal vision, When the demons themselves long gave not glory to God, and were conjured in vain, those who had accompanied being despaired of, it was commanded that on the morrow, unless she were cured, they should take care to return to their fatherland.

Meanwhile it seemed to the woman that a certain reverend monk stood by her in a nocturnal vision with a cross in his hands. Which tokens and signs declare it to have been the most holy John. Suffused with horror by this unusual vision, he said: Do not fear, I beseech, woman: believe me, on the morrow you will be freed: only demand the help of God, and of the Virgin Mary his mother, with whole faith. These things being said, he departed on high.

[205] When therefore in the early morning she rose, she took care to narrate that vision to her husband; she is rescued from the power of three demons. he forthwith to the Abbot. Let her be led again into the church, said the Abbot: for I hope that St. John, who deigned to appear to her in a vision, will not be lacking at the opportune time. Which indeed was also proved by the deed itself. For, the monks devoutly praying and singing with the arm of St. John, these three demons one after another, a not small space of time being given, withdrew to their evil place. But this is worthy of memory: that, one demon being freed of, she gradually began to take both the strength of her body and the office of a sound mind: so that, the third demon departing, she herself, giving thanks to God, is said to have made a prayer so elegantly, that she was to all both a joy and an admiration. Her husband, since he was wealthy, seeing so great a prodigy, offering much money, humbly asked from the abbot, in memory of so great a matter, that it, and certain things happily performed by St. John in his life, be painted on the walls of the church situated outside the monastery. Which being kindly obtained, joyful they returned to their fatherland. Which painting even in this our age is shown on those very walls.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XVI.

A certain potter from the town of Cancelli, when he had most evilly ordered his life, was possessed by a demon. For, to omit his other misdeeds, A potter, on account of his evil life possessed by the devil, we have received from men worthy of faith that he was even devoid of any least mercy; so that the needy seeking his house for sustenance, assailing them with rods, revilings, and contumelious words, he compelled to be far off. If anyone in asking, as is their custom, had been more importunate or saucy, he sought them with a staff, so that whoever had once come to his house, returned no more. Him, more harsh and cruel to himself than to others, a most evil demon by the divine judgment invaded, and afflicted him with so many and so great torments, that he was nearly lifeless when he was brought to us. And his companions said: When first we came to the meadows of the monastery, then the devil vexed him more than usual, dragged him by torturing into various parts; so fiercely that he gave compassion and mercy of himself even to those hostile to him. Each of us too, fearing worse things for our own part, prayed Jesus and the Virgin Mary his mother; the help of holy John also again and again we demanded.

[207] a little before death he is rescued from his power; At last the demon, after he perceived that the virtue of the most holy John was present, since he could neither suffocate that wretch, as he had desired, nor withstand the grace of the most blessed John, hastened elsewhere indignant. After the demon's departure, dragging him wearied in body, they led him to this monastery of St. Mary. But because he now labored in the last extremity, to commend his soul to God, rather than to conjure, seemed the best thing done: for scarcely was the commendation of the soul made by the ecclesiastical rite and order, when he closed his last day. Whose corpse, sad and mournful, they carried on a beast to their fatherland. O good Jesus! it is established that the demon departed from him unwilling, and that the merits and prayers of the Virgin Mary and of St. John profited that wretch, because in so great peril of body and of soul he did not die.

[208] whence the Author establishes an exhortation, It pleases at the close of this so fearful and stupendous deed to chastise those who abuse the long patience of the Lord Jesus; who prefer to experience a severe Judge rather than a merciful father: who choose rather to enjoy this brief life full of tortures, than that eternal one filled with all pleasures: since, although they have lived wrongly and shamefully, yet the way of pardon lies open, if, while time is given, while the spirit rules these limbs, they be willing to return, suppliant and humble, to the Lord Jesus himself, who created them, redeemed them with his blood, bears them with his immense patience, the fullest fountain of kindness and mercy. Yet there are those who counsel ill for themselves, who place the highest good in pleasure, who, as the divine Scriptures will, hold for a mockery that intolerable tortures are prepared for the evil, but the good will have eternal rewards for the wage of their virtues; who, seduced by error, captured by evil pleasure, are at last plunged into those foul places, lower and subterranean, untilled and fearful.

[209] to sinners. There are those who, fearing evil for their own part, reckon God one, just, merciful, and pious; yet, too much trusting in the divine goodness, are not amended; nay from day to day, what is worse, a certain greater window of license lies open to vices. These indeed, for the most part deceived by false hope, are tortured with various tortures among the lower regions. There are also some who both say and feel that God punishes not all, but certain wicked ones in this life; therefore that it is enough at the last extremity of life to implore the clemency of the Lord Jesus. These indeed are far deceived, reckoning secure the exits of their life, which they know not. For although they have lived a long life, at its end there is nothing secure, since, on this side the love of this world, on that the consciousness of evil things, on another part the savage looks of the demons, threatening eternal evils, so vex and trouble them, that the mind and spirit can in no way be settled, or be mindful of Jesus. Hence therefore, blinded, they are delivered to perpetual tortures. O happy and fortunate we, if either unwilling, or, what would be safer, whether from the Lord Jesus through various chances, or from ourselves of our own accord, we should give the punishments of our crimes for the present, that we may be able to escape those eternal ones. But I have turned aside a little from the path, while I am grieved and wearied by the ingratitude and evil manners of this our age. Now to the rest.

[210] In nearly the same manner which we now above described, A demon demanding that the Office be made for the soul of a dead man, a demon had invaded another from the territory of Arezzo; whom, when his kinsfolk had brought to this monastery of St. Mary upon a beast, he was held by so great a weakness of body, on account of the various tortures of the demon which he had endured on the journey, while unwilling he hastened hither, that in no place, except laid on a bed, he rested. Thereupon it seemed the best thing done, that in the same place, where he had his body laid, he be conjured with the cross of St. John. Which when one of the priests by the precept of the abbot had taken care to do, the demon, made mute forthwith, for nearly an hour, that he should give an answer, could by no prayers, threats, or conjurations be bent. At last, turned into wrath by the long conjurations, he said: I will not depart hence, unless for the soul of such a dead man, the Office of the dead be solemnly fulfilled. Those who were present, the kinsfolk, promised that they, as soon as they had hastened home, would put it into execution, if he went elsewhere. I will go, the Office being fulfilled: for I know you, O most evil rustics, to perform none or few of your promises, benefits being received. Tomorrow it will be done, said the priest. Tomorrow I will depart, said he. In short, the Office of the dead being solemnly and devoutly celebrated on the morrow, harming the man nothing, the demon departed to his evil place.

[211] But notice, I pray, the outcome of the matter a little. For when then money was lacking to these rustics, this being performed, he departs from the possessed man; they promised that on the festivity of St. John they would come to this monastery of St. Mary, and offer three pounds of coins for that Office to the sacristy. By no means, said the sacristan: for it is enough, if you pay only as much money as we expended in kindling the wax. Papae, what do you say, Father! not three only, but four at least will be given. These things being said, joyful they depart, though thinking otherwise in mind than they had promised in words: and that it was so, was proved by the deed itself. But O the atrocious pride, to us human beings! O vain presumption! O ambition, how ever blind! While we think we mock God and His Saints, we mock ourselves; we prepare for ourselves a snare and a pit; upon us our own arrows are reflected. Which indeed was made plain by the example of many, but especially of these. For these, not keeping what they had promised, not only on the festivity of St. John himself, but a year being completed, that man, whom captured by a demon they had led hither, died. Whether however the demon again invaded him, we have little ascertained; but that he was finished with life we have received from very many of the same place worthy of faith. Thence another miracle, that his own brothers, and the whole house, lead a most wretched and miserable life, since even the family estate for necessities often is lacking to them.

[212] Nor far hence a certain woman, whose father and brothers inhabit our possession, was captured by a demon, whom her kinsfolk, many from the neighbors accompanying, not without great peril first to themselves, likewise from a woman, and labor to others, then dragged unwilling to this monastery of St. Mary: for since it was grievous and troublesome to the demon to have a conflict with the most blessed John, very often he tried to make a trial, that he might thrust that woman from the mule to the ground, while they went hither; nor yet did he avail, both the divine grace first willing it, and those who were present striving diligently to watch her.

[213] Masses being asked before for a dead man. When therefore in the sepulcher of the Saints she was compelled by a religious monk to give an answer (for the demon strove to feign himself mute) he burst forth at last into these words: What do you want? What do you seek from me? you deafen me, though I hear. Nothing else than that you go out, depart, said the monk. Willingly I will depart, then said the demon: for these tortures I can no longer bear. But this will not be done, unless for the soul of his uncle Gregorian Masses be said. But that they would do it all affirm, especially the kinsfolk. The Masses will be said in this monastery, said the monk. Then the demon, turning his savage eyes upon his kinsfolk, said: Unless you match deeds with words, I would have you persuaded that I will return again into this woman. The Masses were said. But the woman, who still lives, has hitherto always been unharmed. But these things the devil, because from the beginning he was a liar, and stood not in the truth, the Lord Jesus willing, says and does.

[214] A woman ill affected by magic arts, This too we have not thought to be passed over, in what manner a certain woman from Mons Miliarius ^a, by the demon and the incantations, which they commonly call malias ^b, was freed by the prayers of St. John. She therefore

now an old woman, then a girl, by certain herbs of a certain iniquitous presbyter, as is reported, diabolical words being added, was so tortured by a demon, that she seemed utterly deprived of mind and sound senses. What the wretched woman should do, whither she should turn herself, which of the Saints she should demand for her help, since she was not her own master, she knew not. At last, her own people praying, St. John, of whom she had been devout from her tender years, came into her mind; illumined by whose grace she poured forth these things weeping: O most blessed John, familiar and friend of Jesus, regard thy handmaid, placed in so many and so great troubles and miseries, by her own sins: I pray, consider not my sins, nor those of my people; but the devotion which I have always shown thee with my whole heart: be willing, most holy Father, by thy prayers before Jesus and the Virgin Mary to obtain, that, freed from this savage and intolerable punishment, I may be able after the accustomed manner both better and more devoutly to send thee holy and devout prayers; to show to all the monks and converts of thy Religion the accustomed hospitality with charity. O wonderful and stupendous grace in the Saints! O ineffable dignity and power in them! O words of the Lord Jesus truer than the truest, who said to his Apostles: And greater things than these you will do: so may you marvel.

[215] St. John's aid being invoked, she is healed: Forthwith, that short prayer being made, she so recovered, so returned to her former health and soundness, that she was of better sense than before, and of greater beauty. Yet it seemed more useful and safer, although, as we said, she had fully recovered, both to the kinsfolk and to all, to go together with her even to this monastery of St. Mary. Coming hither therefore with the highest faith and reverence, to them the arm of St. John, so great a miracle being heard, was devoutly shown. It therefore being kissed, they returned to their fatherland joyful.

[216] But even in this our age it is worth the trouble to notice diligently, who thereafter shows herself grateful. with what faith, with what charity, with what cheerful countenance and joyous brow, how sumptuously she receives not only the monks and converts of this monastery, but of the whole Religion. When first she hears or sees them passing near her house, so beset with years, so worn with age, she leaps forth into the way, prays, vexes, drags, that they enter her house to rest. I speak from experience: for that these things are done from the fountain of piety, and because she is mindful of the benefit received, no one doubts. O good Jesus! how great is the difference between this woman and him, for whose sake in this monastery, as a little above we said, the Office of the dead was celebrated. This woman daily shows that mercy which she has not promised; but that one's kinsfolk did not even pay what the monastery expended. What wonder, when concerning the lepers cleansed Jesus Christ says: Were not ten cleansed, and where are the nine? None was found who returned and gave glory to God, but this stranger. Now to the rest.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART XVII.

Not a day, as they say, but a year would fail me, if I should wish to enumerate all the men whom I have seen with my own eyes, from the territory of Cetica and other neighboring places, Many in the territory of Cetica, both captured by a demon, and laboring from other infirmities, who came to this monastery of St. Mary. O good Jesus! I would dare to say, nearly every month, the harsh winter however being excepted, not one woman only, but sometimes three, four; at times even both men and mortals of every condition, came to this monastery of St. Mary: so that they were often to us an admiration or a weariness: for scarcely was one woman or one man freed: behold unexpectedly another, filling both these groves and all the rocks and hollow valleys with rustic and hellish voices.

[218] But when annually, while they withdrew to it, I would meet a certain Salvator, a monk priest of our religion, before afflicted with various evils, (for he showed himself amiable to all, especially the monks and other Religious, both in countenance and in things themselves) I often fell into words of this kind among others with him: Whence, Salvator, do so many men flow together to us from this province more than from others? I know not, said he, unless perhaps because the people of this villa are more liberal and more secure than the rest of the neighbors. For, to omit the rest, they are wont to send their daughters, both married girls and marriageable ones, without a companion to the groves, to the pastures, to the meadows, for wood, for feeding the oxen, for hay, and for other necessaries, at any hour; fearing nothing, not wolves, not bears, not waxen young men for the pleasures of the flesh and other evil things: thence it happens often that, when sometimes late, and at times in the dark of night they return home, (for you know the natures of women and especially of virgin girls to be so timid) if they see trees, or a leaf, or young plants moved by the wind, or even a small breeze blowing, forthwith they return back for fear. To whom I: Yet I have seen and heard that many captured by a demon came hither. So it is, said he: for it happens sometimes by the art of the devil, that after fear he follows them, especially into a woman. But very many half-foolish or wearied by another disease sought that our monastery of St. Mary, as you yourself know.

[219] now are preserved from these, because they keep the feast day of St. John. To this I added also these things: In my opinion, that they may relieve themselves, you, and us of these burdens, I judge this the best thing done: I desire that you persuade them that they can easily hereafter be freed from these perils, if devoutly and faithfully they keep annually the commemoration of St. John. Forthwith that joyful man, approving this same, said: I have never heard better counsel given to this: wherefore I will gird myself. But on the morrow I revisited my fatherland; but he, intent on this business, narrated the matter to very many of the chief men of the people. All assented. At last, counsel being entered upon among themselves, it was decreed that on the vigil of St. John this commemoration be made every year. See, reader, the clemency of Jesus Christ; see the unheard-of piety of the Virgin Mary; see how much their faith, and the prayers of St. John, profited them. We are now in the fifth year from then; and not one yet captured by a demon, or ensnared by another disease, unless unharmed, has sought this house of St. Mary. Perhaps a good Angel in the name of Jesus commanded all the iniquitous spirits, that they should not enter that province, when they have performed the commemoration of St. John. Hence it appears especially, how great virtue is in the most blessed John, the divine grace going before, since all who devoutly implore his help, as soon as possible obtain whatever they wish.

[220] The Author asserts that his grandmother, deformed by sorceries, Neither foul nor dishonorable have I reckoned it, at nearly the close of these miracles to place my mother, and also the mother of my father; that from this anyone may be able to understand, that I am far bound to the most holy John not only on account of the habit of religion, but also for many other causes. The mother of my father therefore, Xantha by name, while still a girl, a certain rascal, and a presbyter of most iniquitous life, by magic and incantations, from being shapely and of solid body and full of juice, so shriveled and lethargic and sick and squalid rendered her, that you would have called her an image of a body or rather a shadow, not a body, and, since scarcely her bones clung to her bones, and she could not halt on her own footsteps even with a little staff, she was compelled to lie on a bed laid on the ground. To see whom many from the people flew together from every side: for she gave of herself a horrible and sad spectacle even to those insensible to her; but when those who were present could not bring her help in so great peril, by chance a certain man from the territory of Cetica, led by the new thing, came upon this so pitiable spectacle; and when the immense groaning and wailing of the women shook tears from all, even from those who are held by no kinship with her, he said: Let the tears be away, let all grief be utterly loosed from your hearts; and notice in silence, I pray, what I shall say.

[221] There is a place which is called Vallombrosa; for it is distant hence nearly twelve miles under the very roots of the mountains of our Alp, the Vallombrosan monastery, yet under a promontory, which the mountaineers call Macenaria, verging toward the West, between two high and both steep and broken hills, where for us in the first spring and summer time is the descent as we seek Florence, where among the most ample meadows a most beautiful monastery is seen: which is girded by a double wood: for the one, which looks to the West, has huge oaks; but the other, which stretches to the south, has tall firs, which, most dense and dark, render the place horrible and venerable. Which monastery, as is reported, in the name and glory of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, a certain most holy man, whose name is John Gualbert, willed to be constructed: whose dry bone of the right arm even in this our age is strong with immense miracles; whose wonderful and stupendous prodigies, which I not only heard, but saw, if I should wish to narrate certain of the many, a day would not suffice me for the telling.

[222] Thereupon if you are wise, and if you wish to consult the health of this wretched girl, be willing, I pray, to lead her thither as soon as possible, the other helps being set aside. Let not the labor and the journey deter you: that she came at the persuasion of a certain man, through pleasant meadows, both for the love of Jesus, and because I wish well to this girl, I will lead you: and I would have you persuade yourselves, (only that you seek out the place with whole faith) that the Virgin Mary together with the most holy John will bring help to this girl. Let us go, say all with one mouth, and let us rather seek the servant of Jesus Christ in this than human helps. The journey therefore having been undertaken in the name of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary, that man as companion, at last they came to this monastery of St. Mary. But this was wonderful and worthy of memory, that, when they reached the places of the monastery and of this our Alp, forthwith the devil was made mute, though before he had filled all the valleys with howlings and hellish voices.

[223] There were then those who said that the demons, not able to bear the virtue not only of the most blessed John, but also of their places, inasmuch as holy, hastened elsewhere, whither they had merited: and by the merits of St. John was restored to her former state. which that it was so I prove; both because it happens in our age to very many, and also because the woman herself by herself praised God, moreover said the Lord's Prayer, and the salutation of the Virgin Mary devoutly, made the sign of the cross, which is greater, in a composed and adorned manner, the name of the Trinity being invoked, that is of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and performed all the offices which are of a sound man. And what I reckon the palm and to be preached, both of the Virgin Mary and of holy John

by the prayers, she recovered not only the soundness of the body, but also of the soul, entire. For whereas before, as nearly all girls do, that they may join their mind to some vain pursuit, she was wont to adorn herself, to dress her hair, to use paints and other colors (which are the instruments of luxury), this miracle being experienced, and health recovered, I heard very many preaching this, that she set aside all vanities, and with lowered eyes, and her head always veiled, went to the churches; and lest anyone think this was done feignedly rather than truly, very many often came upon her at home diligently weaving a web, moderately clad, having her disheveled hair carelessly thrown back around her head. Hence anyone can easily perceive, that it is best to suffer tortures of the body and other things for a time (provided they be borne with a joyful and cheerful mind) since they not only instruct us to good manners, but also compel us to go to God.

[224] The Author's mother, In like manner my mother, worn out by sorceries and incantations, I have received; but she was otherwise made whole. At that time in this monastery of St. Mary a certain uncle of mine, Bartholomew by name, dwelt, a religious indeed and good man, and, because he was prudent, far useful to the monastery; whose very many good deeds and worthy of memory I pass over, lest I seem to pursue his life rather than the miracles of the most holy John. He by chance then had gone to our fatherland, to meet his brothers. When therefore he had been present at the pitiable spectacle of my mother, unexpected and sudden, he, feigning gladness in his countenance, thus addressed her, deprived of her own and good senses: Flora (for that is her name) what is the matter with you? Whence, I beseech, do you so disorderedly give measures, so insipidly, ineptly, and foolishly speak, who at other times excelled both in good manners and in wisdom? Ah, why do you not regard your brother, who loves you as his own life?

[225] a vow being conceived in honor of St. John, When therefore he brought forth these and other words worthy of mercy; scarcely, her head being lifted from the bosom of another, other little women helping, and beholding him, did she burst into weeping, and forthwith again declining her head into the bosom filled it with tears arising. He therefore, because he had very often been present at things of this kind, knew most excellently that those were incantations, made by the art of the devil; but that the devil was not mixed in them. Thereupon at times to pray for her; often, a prayer being made, to exhort her, that she should commend herself from her heart to the most glorious Virgin Mary, and to St. John. And doing this frequently and often, at last the woman ceased to do foolish and inept and disordered things. Then he added: Make a vow to St. John, sister Flora, that you will devoutly visit annually for ten years the house of St. John, if you can, and gladly sanctify his feast, while the spirit rules your limbs; and believe me, that you will shortly obtain health. I do it, said she, and with my whole heart, my whole mind, and all my strength I render myself commended to the glorious Virgin Mary and to holy John, that they may rescue me from these evils.

[226] Wonderful is God, says the Prophet, in his Saints! Scarcely had she uttered the vow, she is freed from magic sorceries. when forthwith gradually she returned to her former senses. This alone happened to her by the divine judgment: for the hair of her head, which she had diligently nourished for herself, the year not yet completed, she lost by gradually falling. Which matter not bearing ill, she extolled the Virgin Mary and St. John with wondrous praises: both because they had rendered her unharmed from an intolerable infirmity, and also because they had taken from her the matter of many sins. In the same year therefore on the festivity of St. John she gladly visited this house of St. Mary, and not only for ten years, as she had vowed, but thence annually on the festivity of so great a Saint she devoutly kissed his arm. For now the thirty-seventh year is completed, since such a chance befell her. Hence indeed I draw the origin of my conversion to have arisen. For I entered this religion a little boy, namely being in the sixth year and a half from my birth.

[227] At the close of all the miracles of the most holy John, Before the sepulcher of St. John six demons are cast out of a young man. which we ourselves both saw and heard while living, obtained divinely from heaven by his prayers, this, which Gregory, a most religious man, once procurator of the monastery of Passignano, left in his writings not inelegantly, we will place. He handed down to memory that there was a certain young man from the town of Linari; who indeed was sharply and immensely tortured by six unclean spirits. Him therefore his parents and kinsfolk, since they had no other hope of freeing him, it seemed salutary to carry to the sepulcher of the most holy John. A venerable presbyter of that town accompanying, they led him, laboring in his afflicted hands, and deprived of the office of speech, to the monastery of Passignano. When therefore he was conjured before the sepulcher of St. John, the demons, not bearing the virtue of that most holy one, one after another withdrew to their evil place even through the air (wonderful to tell!) wailing. But that young man, unharmed and joyful with his own, everywhere preaching the virtue of St. John, sought again his home. Of this so great a miracle all are witnesses who then inhabited that monastery, as he himself relates.

ANNOTATIONS.

BOOK TWO

PREFACE TO THE SAME.

In the upper part of this work, magnificent Lawrence, I think what I promised has been sufficiently explained. The Author explains what he wrote in the first book, For not all things which I had read, seen, and received from men worthy of faith concerning the most holy John; but selectively, as each seemed worthy of memory, I wished to write down; that anyone may easily perceive how much the virtue of Jesus Christ in overthrowing and casting out demons availed in him, and from day to day avails; and that it is not so, as some most falsely think, that his most holy arm has almost lost its virtue (because they say it was placed on the head of a mule in the time of Dom Placid, the peaceful Abbot of this monastery). That this was most false, the very many miracles which after that Placid he performed most happily, far and wide declare. Which if it were so, as certain malevolent ones strive to assert, I would neither reckon it unworthy, nor judge that others ought to reckon it done against right and lawfulness, especially since that demons both can enter beasts, and have already entered, both the Gospels of Christ Jesus and the histories of the holy Fathers, especially of the venerable hermit Hilarion, show.

[229] and what he is about to say in this second. These things therefore with their false inventions being omitted, I will pursue kinds of other miracles, which pertain not to the intolerable crosses of the demon, as the former ones, but to other diseases. Yet I will omit those which once by St. Atto ^b, abbot of this monastery of St. Mary, and thence Bishop of Pistoia, were diligently written down; which indeed still are extant. But I will take care to hand down to letters and to memory only those which in our age I both beheld with my own eyes, and received from men worthy of faith. Which when you have read, from the most blessed John you will easily perceive, that most holy men can obtain from the Lord Jesus whatever they wish, and that all mortals, if they seek right and just things equally and rightly from the Saints themselves, never seek in vain or fruitlessly; and that immense love, which you show in deed toward that Religion, if it can be increased (which indeed I know not) will become greater from day to day, when you have understood that the most blessed John, that once a citizen of Florence, both profited and always profits not only that fatherland, but also all faithful Christians. Read therefore happily.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART I.

In the greatest straitness of the family estate, In the time of the most holy in Christ Martin Pope V ^a, when to the Florentines the peril of war threatened, both from him, and from certain other neighbors and kings powerful with that power; and they themselves desired to protect their liberty, fatherland, and parents with arms (because unless by immense money this cannot be perfectly done among mortals) they imposed a not small burden in paying money upon all subject to their dominion, not even the religious being excepted; and they commanded that it be paid as soon as possible, because the peril was present and inevitable. Wherefore since many of the religious at that time were not moneyed, nor could they pay even other money, which at other times exacting it, taken up on their own or their friends' credit, by the penury of things, as is wont to happen in such peril, they unwillingly delivered the possessions of their benefices to the citizens, then flourishing in the Republic both in authority and in riches, immense money being taken from these, for their life and that of their sons. In that number of the religious the Reverend Father Ricciardus ^b, Abbot of this monastery of St. Mary, is proved to have been; not because he was imprudent or prodigal, but on account of the iniquitous tribute imposed in his time, he had made a not small debt. Besides there was here an immense number of monks; to these also of other ministers, whom by a common name we call converts, of whom some are appointed to perform the divine worship; but some are sent to the market of things for sale, when the matter or necessity demands: for great houses are preserved, illustrated, and increased by a number of prudent men.

[231] By these necessities therefore the abbot then being encompassed, certain men wishing to cut down the mortgaged wood of the monastery, with certain estates he also conveyed a certain wood, for whose sake St. John gave such a miracle. There is a place in these Alps verging to the east, which the mountaineers even in our age call by the common name Metatum ^c: For it is distant from this monastery of St. Mary nearly two miles, in which a certain wood, diligently planted, filled with oaks and other kinds of trees, shows a more pleasant face to those beholding it; because near it flows a river filled with perpetual water and fish, and in summer time is sometimes frequented by cattle and cultivators and citizens for the sake of fishing. When therefore to a certain Florentine citizen, whose name was Bernard of the Serzelli, that he might receive the fruits from it, it was given into possession; and he, against the right and covenant struck between the monks and himself, presently, the possession being received, ordered all the trees to be cut. This iniquitously and foully done certain of our converts, who were then mowing the meadows, bearing most ill, approach those who were cutting, admonish, pray, that they do not such a deed, and be willing at length to desist from the impious work.

[232] But when those returned only contumelious words and words full of threats, St. John's help being invoked by the monks, the converts, fearing worse things if they proceeded, forthwith

seeking out this house, weeping approach Father the abbot, and narrate the whole matter, as it was. He, although able to repel force by force with his own people, yet because in such a time the force of the citizens was rather to be soothed than exasperated, trusting in the divine virtue, determined to implore the protection of St. John. Therefore by his command, the monks and converts who were outside and at home being gathered from every side, they tearfully go to the chapter, as is the custom; and to these first the Abbot, opening why he had summoned them, thence exhorts that they be of present and strong mind; nor would it be doubtful that St. John would sometime bring them help, provided he be sought from them with a good and right heart humbly and reverently. These things being said, he orders a sign to be made with the bells, as is the custom; thence all imitating Father the Abbot enter the sacristy leaning. A kindled taper is given to each by him who presides over the sacristy; and the desk or little cabinet, in which the arm of St. John is honorably kept, being opened, certain antiphons to the glory of Jesus Christ and of the Virgin Mary and of St. John being first sung on bent knees by the abbot's command.

[233] Then each withdrew to perform his own business, yet with such faith and hope, that they believed the protection of the most blessed John would not be lacking at the opportune time; which was proved by the deed itself a little after: for those who were cutting, when they insisted on the nefarious work, they are divinely hindered, and even spurned and mocked certain shepherds, indeed good men, who had begun to pray and admonish them not to do so much division in the wood, by the divine nod the axes, slipping from the hands of the cutters, fell. Which, when it struck fear and horror into the rest, and moreover no small admiration, one worse and more wicked than the others, exhorted them to seize the axes again for cutting the rest of the wood. These resisting and refusing, he, not foreseeing the chance that would befall him, rapidly seizing an axe, most vigorously lifted it. But O the judgment of Christ Jesus to be feared by all! though he could put down neither his hand nor the axe behind him, yet persevering in his malice, while the spirit ruled those pestilent limbs, he never afterward drew back his hand. This the shepherds took care to announce as soon as possible to Father the Abbot; but immense joy and grief at the same time seized him: for he rejoiced understanding that that most beautiful wood had been preserved by the prayers of St. John, and that it had come about that the audacity of the evil ones should not root it up from the stem; but he was anxious on account of that wretch's inevitable evil.

[234] and the author of this cutting is manifestly punished. On the same day too, and at that hour at which the monks, as we said, implored the help of St. John, it is manifest that three not useless country houses of that very citizen, to whom by right that wood had come, were burnt; which when he received, thinking, as it was, that this evil had deservedly befallen him, unwilling to have a matter with the saints and the familiars of Jesus, forthwith asked that his money be restored to him, and he himself took care to restore whatever he possessed of the monastery. This indeed so fearful and stupendous a miracle took away from others, who at that time held the goods of the churches on that condition which I mentioned, the mind and counsel of acting iniquitously, fearing worse things. And lest anyone think this false and feigned, let him know that I received it from certain abbots and converts placed in decrepit age, who were present at these things. That wood too, if men were silent, shows its calamity even in this our age, since the oaks, planted afterward, appear to beholders much lower than the rest. But to me indeed, reading many things and hearing very many, it is established that St. John even in our memory was famous for miracles and prodigies, and still is so famous (by the leave of all let me say) that none of the Saints is found in this province second to him.

[235] A woman by a daily fever, From the city of Faenza a town of Flaminia, whose name is Brisighella ^d, is said to be not far distant; in which a certain woman, born in no obscure place, when she had long labored from a daily fever, and could by no remedy of the physicians, in whom she had consumed much money, be freed, at the prayers of a certain monk of ours from Maratha, who had come to her for the sake of a visitation, and moreover led by the miracles of the most holy John, thus vowed a vow: Most blessed John, I will visit your house with gifts, if by your merits I shall have recovered health; bring, I pray, most holy Father, help to me, though a sinner. Scarcely had she completed the words, and behold on the spot a miracle; she who, captured in all her members, lay in bed, having ceased the office of her whole body, went with her own feet, with the immense admiration of all who had known her, devoutly to this monastery of St. Mary; where, having first entered the chapel with two companions, on bent knees she adored before it; thence rising, the altar being kissed, she offered some little money; which on that day we gladly and liberally received. But on the morrow, Mass being celebrated, and the arm of St. John being kissed, she hastened to her home.

[236] Another miracle also it was not my counsel to pass over, and another from a flux of blood which in the same town in our age is proved to have happened to a certain woman, who had long been wearied by a flux of blood, by the merits of St. John. Once a certain citizen of Forlì, when he labored from a fever, slow however, but continuous, came annually to this monastery of St. Mary for the sake of much devotion; who by chance while proceeding with his companions made his way by the fountain, which is called the fountain of St. John; which indeed by the religion of the Fathers even to these our times is, as is reported, surrounded with the same tufa and green herb, with which in the time of St. John himself, it is excellently enclosed. For it is distant from that monastery of St. Mary nearly five hundred paces, which indeed is most beautifully girded on this side and that with little firs. He therefore, when he had learned the whole matter from our people, why it was called the fountain of St. John, that he might sometime go there alone, that he might pray frequently, that our elders for the sake of devotion to it would not have adorned it otherwise with sculptured stones, with their hands with the highest reverence, because the fountain is deep, bending forward he tasted the water; thence a miracle followed: for presently all that fever, with which before he was continually afflicted, being extinguished, he is made whole.

[237] He therefore, when joyful he hastened to his fatherland, withdrew to the house of the already mentioned woman for the sake either of kinship or of friendship, she is freed. and what had befallen him concerning the drinking of the fountain on account of the virtue of the most holy John, she being present, he narrated to several. She, led by the hope of recovering health, choosing two of her sons active, sent them to this monastery of St. Mary with commands of this kind; that first they should visit the altar of St. John devoutly, and, a prayer being made to Jesus, give an offering; then bring with them water drawn from the fountain of St. John himself. In a short time therefore they, performing the commands, brought with them a jar full of water; which she herself faithfully taking, forthwith drank a cup. Which being drunk, O the wonderful power of God! wonderful clemency in his Saints! she who had long been worn out by an intolerable disease, forthwith escaped unharmed. This was for astonishment and admiration not only to those who inhabited the town of Brisighella, but to all the neighbors.

[238] A certain excellent man, John by name, a citizen of Spoleto ^e, A citizen of Spoleto, admonished by St. John in sleep, learned enough both in Greek letters and Latin, when about the region of the heart he was afflicted with a certain intolerable disease, so that sometimes, as he himself was wont to relate, his heart seemed to be transfixed with a sword; and what remedy there was for that disease, who might teach, he found none of the physicians. Thereupon he determined to implore the divine help. Who when he invoked Jesus and his pious Mother, that they would bring help, frequently such a vision was offered to him through sleep, as he himself was wont to relate. A certain venerable man, clad in a monastic garb, seemed to say to him: Do you wish to be freed from a disease of this kind? I wish, said he, nay I greatly desire it, provided it be pleasing to Jesus Christ; to whom the venerable man: You will devoutly go to my monastery, which is situated in the parts of Etruria, which is called St. Mary of Vallombrosa; thence you will visit another, where my body lies buried; and a third, where the cowl, with which, while I lived mortal life, I was surrounded, is still devoutly preserved by the monks. By what way, Father, shall I understand these monasteries without a guide and one showing which they are; since many habitations of monks are said to be situated in the parts of Etruria? Consult about this the abbot of St. Mary of Eremita, said that Father, and whatever he says, devoutly perform.

[239] he recovers health. In the early morning therefore of the following day that devout man, going as soon as possible to the abbot, narrated to him whatever he had seen: but the abbot, from the monastic garb and the words which he had used, declaring St. John to be the institutor of this religion, duly teaches him all things; thence, letters being given, which he should deliver to the abbot of this monastery, and a faithful companion, who knew most excellently all these regions and monasteries, commending him to Jesus Christ, he sent him away. Yet he wished on so great a journey, because he was of an invalid body, and wasted and lean with fasting and vigils, to have a horse, which, wearied by the journey on foot, he might sometimes mount. But at last, the abbot's servant as guide, on the sixth day, on which he had departed from his home, he arrived here; but in the evening, the abbot of this monastery being summoned, all things which he had seen and heard in his sleep being declared to him, he prays that on the morrow for his salvation Masses be celebrated. Which pious work being devoutly performed, those most devout places, and the little cells of the hermits within and without being suppliantly visited, and thence a not small gift being offered, and he himself being liberally treated by the abbot, he withdrew to Passignano; and likewise, as in this monastery of St. Mary Masses being celebrated for his health; and the sepulcher of St. John being suppliantly visited, he proceeded to St. Salvius; where in like manner both Masses being heard, and the cowl of St. John himself being seen, he withdrew again to us. But on the morrow whole and joyful he hastened to the city of Spoleto; and, as a certain monk from the already mentioned monastery of St. Mary of Eremita afterward related to us, while that citizen lived this troublesome life, he never again labored from that intolerable disease.

[240] A barren Florentine matron, At Florence once there was a certain noble citizen, whose name was Zanobius; a man indeed most distinguished in the Florentine Republic, moreover most rich in gold and fields; whose wife being barren, he bore it most ill, because he had many riches, of whom they could not, his age being now spent, leave a son as heir. By chance it happened, when on a certain day he had come into conversation with Dom Bartholomew, once abbot of the Holy Trinity of Florence, and among other things when he complained of his misfortune, that his wife was barren, the abbot said: To you indeed, most illustrious Zanobius, I both have wished and wish good with most worthy honor, and shall always desire it, and what to say in this matter, I am utterly ignorant. Only I reckon that we ought to bear with a good mind what Jesus our Lord does, to whom we are a care:

and if, where human helps are lacking, as you know me better, we should render ourselves commended with a right heart, I hope it will not be amiss. Very often have I done this, said Zanobius. Let us try again, said the abbot, and since many prodigies are narrated concerning John, the most holy son of Gualbert, and through all mouths daily new and unheard-of miracles fly, to me indeed it would seem useful that you commend from your heart first to the Virgin Mary, and to St. John, yourself and your family; and I seem to see that Jesus will give you offspring, that will be most worthy.

[241] When these things in the church of the Holy Trinity of Florence, no one being present, were said by them, the citizen on bent knees before the altar of St. John poured forth from the depth of his breast words of this kind: St. John being invoked, she is made fruitful. Most blessed John, if I shall obtain this from Jesus by your prayers, that at least my wife bear me a single son, very many Masses will be celebrated on this altar to your glory, and I will adorn the altar itself with a purple ornament, woven of silk and gold. This prayer therefore and vow being uttered, bidding farewell to the abbot, carrying with him a good hope of having a son, he entered his home, and took care to narrate the whole matter to his wife, a woman of great age. This therefore since it was far pleasing to her, the woman too, commending herself to the Virgin Mary and to St. John, hoped that the divine grace would be present: nor did the hope hold them false, since in the ninth month after the divine goodness granted them a male son. Thereupon not only those who were of the family, but all the neighbors exulted, because Jesus by the merits of the most blessed John had given them a son as heir. Zanobius therefore, rendering more and better things than he had vowed, while he lived his life, was good and devout to St. John and to the whole religion, and made the abbot from a friend a most friendly one by very many benefits given and received. These things, many being present, we received from Dom Bartholomew the abbot himself.

[242] In our memory to a certain Gerard, who cultivated an estate of this monastery of St. Mary, and still cultivates it, A certain Gerard, we have received that a certain chance befell, which indeed was such. For since already long ago his grandfathers and great-grandfathers, both his parents and himself, had been wont annually to celebrate the feast of St. Bartholomew honorably on that very day, when they had determined to celebrate it more honorably than usual in that year in which this happened, for the sake of certain citizens who had come to them (for they are wealthy enough), the rest of the brothers sent this Gerard, whom we mentioned, into the parts of Casentino to buy a heifer. This therefore being bought, when he was returning home, he had not yet reached the higher ridges of Prato Magno of this our Alp, and now in the church of St. Romulus of Prato, of St. Fidelis of Strumi, and at the horrible Hospital the sign of the bell was rung for the salutation of the Virgin Mary.

[243] When therefore, content with one companion, both by the darkness of the night, the air being changed into a storm, a vow being uttered, and also by the slowness both of the heifer and its mother, they could not hasten, scarcely to the fountain which flows above the hermitage of St. Mary of Casceca on the ridge-path did they come by a certain very small light of the night not utterly dark, or rather by use. When quickly an unexpected and sudden force of winds and a huge storm of waters, the sky being darkened, arises everywhere and everywhere: those wretched ones therefore placed in so great and such peril knew not utterly what they should do, whither they should turn themselves: for they could not proceed further on account of the darkness of the dense clouds, and to be there long the barren place and the penury of things, but especially the future and imminent feast did not permit. Reckoning therefore this would be to their advantage, namely to implore the divine help, Gerard with his whole mind uttered such a vow: Virgin Mary, only hope and salvation and safest refuge of the desolate, and harbor of all the wretched, and you Apostle of God Bartholomew, defender of our family and house, to you I commend us and ours, as far as is in me, with my whole heart and my whole mind. Let it be permitted at least this night to come to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa; and if by your prayers I shall obtain this from Jesus, in your honor and glory I will undertake to build a tabernacle at the crossroads of Malinaria.

[244] he escapes an immense peril. These things being said, admonishing and praying his companion not to depart thence, until he return, and fortifying himself with the sign of the cross, trusting in the virtue of St. John, he undertakes the dark journey. Him I often heard preaching this matter, which I am about to tell; namely what had befallen him beyond human hope. For presently, said he, as if borne suspended by a certain rapid wind, I came to this monastery of St. Mary, and with rapid and frequent cries calling a certain convert James, I prayed him by Jesus to come out to me with a well-kindled brand, nor should he then wish to inquire the cause. He forthwith coming out to me, a light being kindled with a shard closed on every side, accompanies my journey even to the companion whom I had left; thence, inquiring if I wished anything else; I on the contrary: I have enough. Right hands being given and received, and worthy salutations being made according to custom, he forthwith to the monastery, I to my home departed. It is established therefore that first by the Virgin Mary, thence by the prayers of the most holy John, the divine mercy was present to this man, placed in so great peril, and brought him help, as once to Daniel the Prophet, through an angel. Thence he presently performed what he had vowed.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART II.

A certain abbot by the aid of St. John, Dom Matthew, once abbot of the Holy Trinity in the Alps, a monastery of this Order, a man indeed good, and instructed not mediocrely, when he would give me the possession of a certain small Priory of almost no revenue, namely of St. Donatus situated in the territory of Arezzo, which in the vernacular tongue is called "de Vinea," as the sacred Canons judge it must be delivered, and had undertaken the journey together; I know not by what means, whether by chance or by rashness: For when I was a little distant from him on horseback, I found him stretched on the ground in his whole body. Therefore when I sought the cause of so great a matter ill done, and he, affected with grief, could not fully give an answer (for he had almost broken one leg) I began to beseech and pray him, that he would be willing altogether to render himself faithfully and from the heart commended to the Virgin Mary and to holy John in so great peril; which also he did, vowing such a vow: A waxen leg, most blessed Father John, I will order to hang above your altar, which is honorably held situated in the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, provided by your aid I accomplish the journey begun. Good Jesus! forthwith the most blessed John, bringing help to his servant, he leaped upon my mule, on which I was sitting: For his own had fled, and unless by certain country folk and mountaineers who knew most excellently that it was his on account of the frequency of the place, it had been captured by force and cunning, he would not have desisted from the journey begun, until he had reached the monastery of the Holy Trinity in the Alps.

[246] What need of many words, joyful riding toward Arezzo, he accomplishes the journey begun. him, because words were most easily given to himself, I thus began to address: My Father Abbot, whence to you or how so grave a chance, if it can be told, arose? He, first led by shame, feigned certain things; at last when I insisted, he opened the matter, as it was: For he said, when, compelled by necessity, I had descended from the mule, and then vigorously prepared to ascend it again, led by forgetfulness and hasty impetus, I did not touch the reins after the accustomed manner. Desiring therefore to leap upon it, I mounted the mule as soon as possible; but far from me stretched on the ground bearing it most ill I understood you to be. At last by the prayers of the Virgin Mary our matter being concluded with a most good and happy end, hastening, he to Florence; but I to that monastery hastened. And not long after, a waxen leg being bought, desiring joyfully to revisit us, he withdrew hither, and most devoutly fulfilled his vow. That waxen leg too in testimony of so great a miracle was long preserved hanging above the altar of St. John.

[247] This too it was not my counsel to pass over in silence, A certain monk placed in prison, which in our age we knew to have happened to a certain monk of Poppi. Dom Antony of Poppi, whom certain ones by a false name commonly called Gigarim, when, apprehended in certain crimes, as was then the rumor, he was detained by the Reverend Dom Placid, at that time General of this Order, with such a will in the foul prison of Pitiano, that he would not draw him thence unless dead, provided he were in his power, the unhappy monk, greatly fearing for his part and greatly distrusting human helps, determined to try all things, before he should perish. Thereupon by this way, as we received from him, he sought the divine protection. On a certain evening, when he often revolved in his mind his misfortune and miseries and want, and in what place it behooved him to lead a life full of troubles, namely in an untilled prison of darkness and foul odor, and that he had to do with a man most hostile to him, at last, lifting the eyes of his mind up to the heavens, from the depths of his heart he had words of this kind:

[248] the aid of the Divine Virgin and of St. John being implored, Most holy Virgin Mary, the solace, refuge, virtue, safest hope of all mortals and especially of those existing in troubles and mourning and grief, I give myself wholly to you, and my soul to your faith, as at other times always, so now with my whole mind and all my strength I commend. Moreover, if I deserve it, be willing, I pray, to render me unharmed from these miseries and troubles; but if not, that I may not grievously endure these tortures, I beseech that you administer at least strength: for so to pass my life is both intolerable and unbecoming to me: and you, Father, leader and light of the faithful, most holy John, for the sake of guarding and defending whose Order I have suffered many evils, as you know most excellently, who see all things from the heavens, be willing to protect your faithful soldier, and through the clemency of Jesus Christ, and through that your accustomed kindness toward others, free him from the hands of the impious and cruel tyrant Placid, I pray. These things therefore and things of this kind, redoubling them often and often when he said, making vows also with these, amid the speaking, as it happens, wearied with sleep and labor, declining his head upon his knees, gradually slumber invaded him. Resting therefore

such, as he himself was wont to relate, in his dreams he seemed to see a vision; namely a venerable man to stand by him, and first humanely to console him, and at last to exhort with these words: A binding or rope from this torn covering, divided into several pieces, make as well as you can, and bind it about these bars of the iron window, and by yourself gradually, with your hands alternately suspended, descend, and, whither your fortune shall permit you, do not delay to allow yourself. I will not desert you; believe me.

[249] he wonderfully descends from it, Waking therefore and reckoning, as it was, that he was a care to the Virgin Mary and to St. John, he determined to attempt in any way what he had seen in his dreams. A prayer therefore being sent first to the heavens, he said: I would have thee, Jesus, make ratified this divine work, if it be divine; but if not, dissipate it; and I pray thee snatch me from this peril. Thence, the sign of the cross being made, cutting the coverlet into little pieces, he made it like a rope, and trembling and fearing, redoubling several times that Christ Jesus defend him; moreover he invokes also his most merciful mother the Virgin Mary. O divine and most clement piety of Christ Jesus! O best protection of the Virgin Mary and of holy John! To whom will this most true thing seem probable, except to him who through faith has believed that all prodigies and marvels can be done through the Virgin Mary and the Saints of God? that a monk forty years of age, clad in monastic garments and garb, even with iron fetters, through a very small opening, which had been left for the sake of giving a little light to those placed in the dark dungeon, should go out without any injury. And what? then another miracle no less follows: for the rope which he had made, being distant fourteen ells from the ground, he himself, making a fall to the earth, is indeed heard by the watching guards amid his falling, but is by no means seen, although they diligently surveyed all things even among the brambles on this side and that.

[250] Those guards therefore, all hope of finding him being utterly laid aside, and, his fetters being loosed, withdrawing to their own place, he, with a slow step however, inasmuch as he was hindered by the iron fetters, betook himself into a wood safe and far distant, the divine grace going before, and to him resting and timid a certain man from the parts of Liguria, who exercised the smith's craft of Figline, met with his arms: For he was making a journey into the parts of Casentino for the sake of gain; who, marveling at him, rough, squalid, sick, thus addresses him: What are you here, father? What are those fetters to you? Or why do you inhabit these trackless and deserted places? Wretched me, said the monk weeping, so is my fate! I lead an unhappy life through all extremities! My sins have led me to these troubles. But I pray you by Jesus almighty (because all things are to you abundantly) that you free me from these fetters; that, unencumbered, I may be able to accomplish the journey which I began. But I will do it, said the Ligurian; and forthwith he unlooses him from the iron fetters.

[251] The monk, giving him thanks, said: Keep this as much hidden as you can, I beseech, fleeing, afterward he pays his vow. lest I be recalled again to worse things than I have suffered. To whom he: There is nothing which you should fear, my father, only pray for me. Thence each hastened his own way. This Dom Antony therefore, fleeing the jurisdiction and the sight of Dom Placid, Abbot of this monastery, of whom above we made a word, and betaking himself to a certain count inhabiting the regions of Parthenope, who once at Rome had been most friendly to him, and with him leading his life even to the times of the most holy Nicholas the supreme Pontiff V, and, Pope Eugenius being dead, now secure revisiting his fatherland, performed his vow devoutly: for offering a wax taper of no small weight to the Virgin Mary and to St. John, he wished it to hang above his altar, which is dedicated in the hermitage of Cellae. Which indeed even now in memory of so great a prodigy is preserved in that place. Nor did he depart thence, leading a life sparingly and hardly for the sake of penance, until he had celebrated several Masses to the honor of the Virgin Mary and of holy John.

[252] Various indeed are and always were the prodigies of the most holy man John: for all who inhabit the territory of St. Hilary still affirm what I am now about to write. A rustic laboring on the feast of St. John, For a certain rustic of that region, Antony by name, a man indeed, if it is lawful to call him a man, as was reported, shameful, when on the day of the festivity of the most holy John, led rather by avarice and a certain greed than by pressing necessity, he was carrying stalks full of wheat to the threshing-floor with oxen, by chance one of the neighbors, who was withdrawing to this monastery of St. Mary on account of the festivity of St. John, made his way behind him; whom first marveling at, because he did not observe so great a festivity devoutly and reverently, thence beseeching him with blandishing words, he said: Ha friend, what are you doing? does necessity or the penury of things, or threatening enemies, or a sudden and excessive shower impel you to this, that you do not celebrate the festivity of our so great Father John, the guardian and defender of this place? Be willing, I pray, today to desist from work of this kind, and undertake the journey together with me: For we shall still at least be present at the greater Mass, since the journey is only five miles, and now the sun first appears in these regions. He on the contrary, with a restless mind, said: Have you so much leisure from your own affair, that you care for another's? Go you where you wish, and let me meanwhile mind my own affair. Pardon, said that other, and do as you please. These things being said, each accomplished his own journey which he had begun.

[253] is punished with death; This unhappy Antony therefore, when he little consulted his own safety, nor noticed the peril which threatened from above, while he strives to put into execution that his business, by chance the oxen drew the cart or sledge across, and turned aside from the right path; which when, angered, he frequently goaded with the goads, and these continually shook themselves both with their horns and their back, and the sledge turned into a rock, to support which when he ran hastily, the oxen, on this account turned into dread, when they could not go elsewhere on account of the yoke, because they were yoked to it, by the divine nod dragging the wagon and the wretched rustic together to the bottom of the rock, and trampling him lying on his back, was found dead by certain ones who made their way nearby. This indeed, the cause being known, was both a horror and an admiration to all, especially the neighbors.

[254] and another with the loss of his oxen. Him therefore lifeless, lying in the cart, the oxen dragged even to his home, his kinsfolk howling on this side and that. Thereupon the whole house was turned into mourning and grief. When those returned who had come to this monastery of St. Mary, his parents committed that corpse, swollen, and, as those who had been present said, beyond measure and human custom livid and foul, to the ground. It has also been given to memory and diffusely written, that nearly the same thing happened in the territory of Passignano to a certain rustic on the translation of that most holy John, which is celebrated on the 10th of October: but he, since contrary to the custom of that region he was sowing, lost not his life, but his oxen. But the festivity of the most holy John himself is celebrated on the 12th of July. Hence let all learn what peril both of soul and of body threatens those who do not celebrate the Saints of the Lord Jesus with worthy honor, even if in this present life they do not give those punishments which they merit. But, as I said above, O how expedient it would be to be affected here, rather than elsewhere, with scourges and tortures for our crimes! But let us return to the miracles of St. John, which offer themselves to us in throngs.

[255] A paralytic girl is healed, To another of our farmers, whose daughter was paralytic, that is, deprived of all office of her members, sent such a vow to St. John: O our Father and shepherd, most blessed John, if by your prayers I shall see my daughter unharmed, I will offer you of my penury as much wheat as my daughter herself shall be reckoned in weight and number. A wonderful thing! on the spot a miracle follows: For presently, the vow being uttered, the daughter betaking herself as swiftly as possible to her father, who still on bent knees lay on the ground, embraced his neck, kissed his face; then exulted in her whole body. Thereupon he himself, and those who were of the family, tears arising for joy, gave thanks to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary his mother, and extolled the most holy John for so great a prodigy to the stars, and forthwith took care to send the wheat weighed, as he himself had vowed, through the girl's brother, to a certain procurator of ours, who then presided over Paterno: who, when he asked wherefore this wheat was given, the young man opened the whole matter to him. He therefore, giving thanks to Jesus and to St. John, the wheat being received, declared the miracle, many being present. Which when the mother preached on the festivity of St. John, the fame of so great a prodigy flew even to our ears.

[256] Nor do I reckon it to be passed over, how two of the neighbors perished by lightning, A shepherd inflicting damage on the monastery of Vallombrosa who inflicted detriment on this monastery of St. Mary. A certain mountaineer from Mons Migliarius (which mountain Migliarius indeed is distant from this monastery of St. Mary nearly four miles between the eastern and northern quarter) when he pastured with his cattle annually the pastures of this monastery of St. Mary neighboring him, terrified neither by words nor by threats, inasmuch as he was fierce, by the divine nod on a certain day, when he had his sheep gathered under a certain broad and shady beech to avoid the heats of the sun, as is the custom of shepherds in summer time, a storm and a force of winds with immense thunder suddenly arising, a thunderbolt hurled from the air with stench and splendor killed the shepherd himself together with the cattle and all the dogs, who were a little removed from the tree.

[257] It was worth the trouble to behold how many mortals of every condition and kind, together with the sheep is struck by lightning. who for various reasons then cultivated the Alp, flowed together to this unheard-of and stupendous miracle, or more truly I shall say, judgment; at which horrible and fearful spectacle a certain one of our converts was present, who took care to relate these things to us at once. But when some, as is wont to happen in a very great matter, reckoned it impossible, that by one stroke of lightning a thousand and more cattle could be brought even to the last extremity of life; You do not judge rightly, said he: for with these eyes I drank it in. Gradually all, as is wont to happen in a contagious disease, both by the sulphurous stench and by the immense thunder, as if astonished and struck, began to be extinguished: nay, what is greater, those flesh as putrid, neither other dogs nor even birds would touch; and moreover the hides or skins, because they were presently torn, were of no worth. But the corpse of that wretched and pestilent shepherd, with the greatest cries and womanly howlings, after the manner of rustics, his kinsfolk gave to burial.

after the manner of rustics, his kinsfolk gave to burial.

[258] There are also certain little villas and even little towns not much distant from the Alps of the monastery, Likewise a rustic which indeed look to the south; in which there were certain ones who were wont to cut the trees of this our Alp, both oaks and sometimes maples and fruit-bearing trees, as chestnuts, as beeches, without measure and limit, no permission being had about this; and moreover to make little of threats and accusations (because in our age the greatest part of the Rectors are corrupted by gifts). Our people therefore, because right denies to repel force by force, ran to the accustomed arms, namely to prayers, and orations poured out to Jesus Christ and to the Virgin Mary his mother and to St. John, that it might be permitted at least to use a little portion of this wood. The Lord heard his servants, as the prophet says, from his holy temple, and brought us help in this manner.

[259] cutting the trees of the same monastery, When one, fiercer than the rest, was here too near ours felling trees, behold suddenly by a force of winds the air, clear and bright and serene, is changed into heaviness and storm, so that to us dwelling in the monastery the day seemed turned into night. O good Jesus! we heard first the thunder; what thunder was then followed by a thunderbolt, by which indeed that rustic acting unjustly perished. In my memory I do not remember to have heard such a sound. All the monks ran to prayers, the younger boys weeping for dread. What need of many words? I know not what, then with our Abbot, whose name was Francis Altoviti, a venerable and far prudent man, and already placed in decrepit age, treating concerning the government of the monastery, I was doing: Forthwith the floors of the palace trembled, and all things seemed suddenly to fall. Jesus! said the Abbot. I too: Virgin Mary, be a protection to us wretched ones!

[260] being slain by lightning is buried. That rustic therefore, because he was extinguished by lightning, when he had not returned to his home in the evening, his whole family first was turned into astonishment and admiration; thence thinking that he had betaken himself elsewhere that night, they began to rest, when suddenly an evil messenger arriving asserted that he had closed his last day by lightning. Very many young men therefore flying thither, where the corpse lay, carried it home on logs bound with ropes: which corpse indeed with no small weeping of his own was covered with earth. But these things were of the highest admiration, because neither was a tree touched in any place, nor was he himself seen injured. Only the thong of his sandal was torn, which they found not far from the corpse among the leaves. These things therefore, because inevitable, struck for a time fear into many mortals dwelling near and far; but certain ones returned to their accustomed work: For always men to whom there are no or little riches (nay I will say, what is more intolerable) these sometimes to whom there are prosperous affairs and many riches, are nourished by thefts and frauds, if they can; but as at other times we have often related, it would be more profitable to have ordered life otherwise. Now to the rest.

[261] A certain deserter of the monastery, A certain presbyter, James by name, once a monk of this monastery of St. Mary; but neither expressly nor solemnly professed, yet well silent: for he was now in the eighteenth year, when at Poppi in the monastery of St. Fidelis of this religion under Dom Antony the procurator we led our life together. He, instigated by I know not what evil demon, spurning the habit of his religion, and putting it off from himself, wandered hither and thither, as an evil man and apostate, indicating by his manners or countenance no sign of any modesty, through the little churches of Casentino; whom I remember, other presbyters being present, since he did not blush, even to have wished to come to Poppi without the garb of St. John and to be present at the offices and the Mass together with the other religious, which he could not, they being unwilling, whence he was once by the aforesaid Dom Antony with the greatest disgrace driven from the church of St. Mark, which is at Poppi, the people being present, with revilings. Thence it came about that he never afterward came to that town, except while he performed the priestly office.

[262] He therefore when not long after he had obtained from the Bishop of Arezzo by priestly right a certain church of St. Mary in the place which in the vernacular tongue is called Ama postea parochus factus, (for it is distant from the mountain of Alvernia nearly four miles), came in a short time into so great hatred of his men and capital enmities on account of a rape inflicted on a certain girl, that certain of these rustics, joined to the girl by kinship, more hostile to him, often flew together from every side armed (For such is their custom; not only with words, but even with an armed hand to seek out their right) and made hostile assaults upon him sometimes unexpectedly after the manner of robbers, and attacked him with atrocious threats and hostile scourges, so that, since with his hands to go to avenge himself, both because he was a priest, and because he was alone, against many he could not, he was compelled on bent knees to deny the matter, and to pray that they would spare him. But when the hard kind of rustics was not bent by these things, nay became more atrocious, leaving another in his place by their own opinion, flying to his kinsfolk and neighbors, who were not far off, thence going to his home he opened the whole matter to his parents.

[263] But when he wished by force to recover his church; because the matter had little proceeded for him, by the aid of St. John he appeases the angry minds of his subjects. since so atrocious a matter was to be dealt with, he glowed: To whom his mother, because she was religious and pious, rightly counseling said: My son, I would have you believe me, that this befell you from no other thing than because you rashly laid aside the habit of St. John; wherefore consult for yourself, and acquiesce in my counsels, lest you deliver your immature body to the earth, but your soul to eternal fire; either take the habit, which with a wanton mind you deserted; or, if this pleases not, use this: make a vow, and I together with you will make it, that annually on the festivity of St. John himself certain Masses be celebrated in his praise and glory, and now be secure; for there is nothing which you should further fear, my son. I vow, said he, and will gladly do it, nor will I return thither, unless first these Masses be celebrated. A wonderful thing! presently, the Masses being celebrated, alone and unarmed betaking himself to his church, he is gladly and with a joyous mind received by all, a little before most hostile, and hitherto, as I have perceived, has always been dear and welcome to all. Who therefore would not seek out this most holy John in his necessities as advocate and patron and his defender, since by this and other wonderful prodigies it is established clearer than light, that he is present to bring help and aid not only to those joined to him by religion, but even to all strangers.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART III.

The place is described, It seemed laudable to insert into these prodigies of St. John another, which I shall insert concerning two neighboring hermits of our age, who to the disgrace of this monastery both said and did many foul things: but first I shall discourse in a few words concerning the site of the place. On the ridges of this our Alp there stands a mountain rocky, most harsh, and untilled, which indeed on that part which looks to the south or west has horrible, broken, and cut-off crags in a wonderful manner, which in the vast solitude strike no small horror into those beholding. Between two vast crags therefore a huge rock stretches to the East, on whose more eminent part is seen an oratory constructed venerably enough and beautifully, which on one part is surrounded by black flint now threatening ruin, but on the other by most humble huts; which place, who first held it, I will take care to open in a few words, thence I will return to what I began.

[265] in which a certain Marcus In the time therefore of Eugenius the supreme Pontiff IV there was a certain miller, whose name was Marcus, from the valley which the common and plebeian folk call Chianti. He first, although needy of temporal things, yet ordered his life after the manner of the ancient blessed men, living sparingly and hardly, going frequently to the churches, furnishing sustenance to the poor, as he could. He at last, bereft of his wife, binds his two sons to the service of Jesus Christ: for to this religion one, who still lives this life, to the Camaldolese the other, who is finished with the present life, that he himself might more freely serve Jesus, he emancipated. Thence, whatever remained to him giving to the poor, naked he determined to follow the naked Jesus. With such a devout mind therefore suppliantly coming to this monastery of St. Mary, from the Reverend Dom Placid then Abbot, not the habit, but a probation of time he easily obtained.

[266] from a fervent monk, In this monastery of St. Mary therefore for a whole year he thoroughly enervated his little body with fastings, vigils, and other scourges which abstinence loves: for, to omit other things which I beheld with my own eyes (for I was present) in the harsh winter, content with a cheap garment and little cloak, even with bare feet, he walked among the snows and rough ices, we growing stiff at the mere sight; which custom he kept nearly while he lived. Among the rest which he did spiritually not superstitiously, for subduing the flesh was this, that very frequently within and without he bent his bare knees on the bare ground. Moreover as often as we boys withdrew for the sake of exercise or rest to the Alps or to the groves, he always undertook the journey together with us: to admonish, to exhort to better things, to eternal life, never to desist.

[267] The same therefore often doing, ascending and descending with us, he became a hermit, at last desiring a solitary life, he determined to be with himself, and, as is said, to live with himself. Leave therefore being asked and easily obtained (for he had not yet received the habit of probation) thither to that inaccessible place, of which above we made a word, not without the greatest difficulty, we boys accompanying, and carrying the tools and implements with which the rock had to be cut, at last he withdrew. But from the ridge of the Alps to the rock there was no way: for all in these places, except the straight paths, are steep and winding and narrow paths; so that whoever tottered a little, by the slipping of his feet would fall into a precipice (because there are no shrubs and stems); nor even are there roots, on which anyone could lean with foot or hand; inasmuch as the dry places are nearly always covered with most humble herbs and little pebbles, except in winter, when all things grow stiff with snow and frost.

[268] At last, the place being cleared with mattocks and hoes, we dug out a path down the slope of the mountain like a furrow. and dwelling among the harsh crags, What need of many words? at last by iron, fire, and vinegar the crag is softened, broken, opened. Three years therefore being consumed in this difficult work, an oratory is dedicated to the honor of the Virgin Mary; which indeed was a joy and an admiration to all the neighbors and the distant ones who came to the place for the sake of devotion. They rejoiced that in this iron age such a hermit was found in these places: they marveled at the abstinence of the man, the harshness of the place, and moreover the difficulty of all things necessary for sustenance: for, as I said, with body nearly naked, with bare feet, with hunger, cold, squalor, with his beard uncombed, his limbs parched, his knees, shaken and broken by frequent prayers, among the most harsh crags, filled with snow or ice in winter, he strove to serve Jesus and his Mother the Virgin Mary by day and by night.

[269] But first of all it is wonderful whence so great and such a spirit was to him, with the admiration of all, that among the most harsh crags he should undertake a building: for, to omit the rest worthy of admiration in subduing his little body, I call Jesus to witness and his holy Angels (to use the words of my father Jerome) that we monks all often saw him on the Nativity of the Lord Jesus and on other chief festivities for the sake of Communion and hearing Mass, when deformed winter gnashes, wearied by the North wind, filled with snow, with bloody legs and split heels, joyful however and festive in the Lord himself, come to this monastery of St. Mary; but we all, led by admiration, flowed together to him from every side out of a zeal for seeing him. Some to wipe his little cloak; others to bring warm water for rubbing his feet; each for himself vying to render service with a willing mind.

[270] But this all marveled at exceedingly, his austere life, how, since he was of short bodily stature, he had avoided the deep snow and the mass of ice; especially since sometimes for a month it snowed with the whole air. There is also another greater thing, whereby he could scarcely overcome the insuperable journey: for all know that upon the old snow, especially untouched, new snow being of moderate height, the feet of those going do not easily stand: for the foot slips along the bare ice, since it does not receive the footstep, and, the foot failing, no one is able by hands or knees or supports to avoid the doubtful peril; so on the smooth and melting ice the body is rolled, the feet are sometimes cut, bare too sometimes they enter into the lowest snow and there a struggle is made; since the slippery ice, as I said, does not receive the footstep, and for the most part, as if caught in a snare, they cling, a pitiable sight! in the hard and deep and frozen ice.

[271] and in outward appearance ordered a pious one; For when sometimes certain of our people, led by mercy, asked him how he had escaped from perils of this kind, he said with a thin and lowered voice: It is Jesus; it is Jesus: for I was often present when certain of the fathers chastised him with these words: By your leave, brother Marcus, we will say: because beyond your age, and beyond what religion and the matter exhorts, you lead a hard and sparing life. O! by the faith of God and of men! what do you seek? do you wish indiscreetly to snatch eternal life? do you wish in a bitter death before your time to perish by some chance? He on the contrary said that he had long ago so ordered his life, and that he wished so to live, while the spirit ruled his limbs, and affirmed that his hope was placed in the grace of Jesus Christ. At last he is often wearied by our people; taking all things in the worse part he is indignant, and, as if he had been driven from this monastery of St. Mary, never to return, with that mind he departed.

[272] but afterward he began to rage against the Vallombrosan monks, From thence, seized by I know not what fury, he began vehemently to rail against the monastery in the minds of men: for he abstained from no curse; but everywhere raged against the monks, added foul revilings against the converts, and curses, often redoubling them, and, what was also a nefarious saying, tore with words the abbot of the monastery, an excellent man; at last omitted nothing which he thought would be to our disgrace. But we made little of it, only pitied him, because we judged that by indiscreet penance he had come to this insanity. A wonderful thing! hence to him the first stain of evil: for forthwith he began to be hostile not only to us, but to all the neighbors: for several he attempted to lead into the court of the judges against right and lawfulness. But time would desert me sooner than the matter, if I should discourse one by one or according to their magnitude a little about those things which he did unjustly against every kind of mortals.

[273] and perhaps by a deceptive vision, By these therefore and many other things insipidly and ineptly performed, he claimed for himself so great a hatred of all men, that he could not find sustenance, even necessary for himself alone, by asking from door to door. There were at that time those who said that he had come by this grace, Jesus by his hidden judgment permitting it, into that insanity, because, deluded by a certain vision, he claimed too much for himself, while he made little of any other religious in comparison with himself. Which vision indeed or illusion of the demon, as he himself was wont to relate, was such. This brother Marcus had with a certain one, who inhabits the hospice-house of St. Mary of Florence, which was lately built for receiving and lifting up the needy and infirm, an old habit of friendship; to whom because he sometimes brought certain little rustic gifts, he was most welcome, and while business or religion had detained him at Florence for a long time, always to go thither for the necessaries of the body. There the report is, that in his rest the Virgin Mary was seen by him with a pomp of Angels, who said she was sent from Jesus.

[274] But the vision, as certain ones received from him, was such: which is here described, the matutinal Offices being completed, he after his manner when he wished to give his little body a little rest, the most merciful Virgin Mary (if it was the Virgin Mary), a not small globe of light going before, upon the rock, where the brother himself had built the shrine, for the sake of honor, angelic spirits accompanying, as it seemed to him in that rest, was present. When therefore he, suffused with horror at the unusual thing, delayed a little, and thence also asked who was so distinguished, so comely a woman, she said: I am indeed she, whom with your whole mind and your whole body you determined to serve, and for whose sake, in these woodland and nearly uninhabitable places, you wished to build an oratory.

[275] By these things therefore led into the greatest hope, that he would sometime be something great, fallen into pride, he died wretchedly. on bent knees he prayed for the soundness of soul and body: To whom the Virgin Mary: For this cause especially I am sent hither by the Lord Jesus, that for so many tortures, by which your little body wasted, and made subject to the soul chiefly for my sake, you have rendered, I may bestow grace on you abundantly; for the more will I do it, because nowhere do you think yourself safe or unharmed, except in my protection. Thence with all the pomp like smoke she vanished from the eyes of the beholder. To this man an immense desire invaded, that that oratory should be preferred to this monastery. And so, by this desire and insolence, as we said above, he abstained neither from any word nor deed, which was ambitious, until he cast himself down headlong. For at Rome... affected with grief and weariness, he closed his last day.

[276] After this one, however with a long interval, succeeded another; Another hypocrite, concerning whom, (because he was a simulator and dissimulator of all things the greatest of all whom I have ever seen among peoples) it has seemed fitting to preface certain things, and to discourse in a few words concerning his nature and manners. To this one therefore the name was John, by nation a Spaniard, tall in body, having eloquence enough, little wisdom, and as befits by antiphrasis, the greatest hypocrite: knowing most excellently namely all things which pertain to that office, by which he deceived many mortals in various ways. For he was one of those pseudo-religious, who came to the city of Florence in the time of Pope Paul, of whom one bore a wooden cross like that of the Apostle St. Andrew, beyond all whom I have ever seen, a mortal changeable and mutable; who indeed could not agree or converse with anyone except of his own accord, apart from Christ Jesus; whose ineptitudes and ravings, because far useless and vain, I have reckoned should be passed over, and to return to our John, of whom at the beginning I made a word.

[277] For this one bore before him an iron cross, as a picture presents to the eyes of those beholding more than the Prophet John the Baptist; he boasts himself an imitator of St. John the Baptist, O good Jesus! this John had a hair garment over cloths, which John the Baptist was wont to bear over his naked body. That prophet, nay more than a prophet, with bare feet; this one walked surrounded not only with sandals, but with greaves; that one to the deserts, lest even by a slight rumor he could stain his life; this one betook himself frequently to peoples and to crowds. That one alone and hardly and sparingly led his life; but this one, many accompanying, both copiously and sumptuously. That one fled wines and flesh as poison; this one sought out the best. That one filled with every virtue, this one with all vices: and although such and so great a wicked one and pseudo-religious, in whatever crossroad, in whatever crowd, he said that he would institute a new religion in the name of St. John the Baptist.

[278] and there is a great concourse of the people to him. What? that to these most false things much faith, much devotion was given by all? O good Jesus! when first they entered this province, from all the fields, towns, cities, mortals of every condition and kind went to meet them, ready to cling to them, to give bread and other necessaries to them and their own, to carry provisions; finally to do whatever was commanded. These things I relate not as heard, but as seen; I was present, I saw, I touched; and many things insipidly and rashly done by these moved black bile in me, especially this, that old priests and venerable religious served them even in the lowest and vilest things. But what wonder? Since each thought he would be blessed and happy, if he had touched even the fringe of these ragged ones. For so do human affairs stand, that not only those imprudent in matters, but even sometimes the most prudent, all new things deceive with painted faces.

[279] He, feigning various things, But passing over the others (neither

for they are worthy that words be made about them) I will come to our false John the Baptist. He first brought into the light false codicils or bulls, in which was shown whence the beginning of this religion; which indeed in obtaining all things in this our age is the best way to deceiving. Besides he had a certain old woman, who under the habit of a nun at Rome with three others lurking in the columns of the temple of St. Peter the Apostle, for the sake of doing penance, feigned that St. John the Baptist had appeared to her through a vision, to publish it in the mouths of men and to say and do many other things which are instruments of fraud; finally to omit nothing conducing to simulation which can be said or feigned. Instructed therefore with these and other arts he betook himself to these regions.

[280] But first certain little women, and heaping wiles upon wiles who at Florence had shut themselves up in their own home, as if in a monastery, showing that they would be his companions and partakers of his counsels, day and night wearying them with his simulations, at last by trying all things he found an approach to them. Thence he departed, matters being diligently arranged by the will of both. He had a certain fugitive brother, a faithful and welcome manager of business, and a partaker of all his counsels, except the last, as shall be said below, whom, before ignorant of his arts, by daily use he took care easily to make his equal and like: for he rendered him suppliant, humble, with his eyes lowered to the ground, and, contrary to the manner of the Sarabaites, silent for a time, so that by these and other painted virtues he was to all others vehemently an admiration, but to himself a joy and a profit. O wickedness! even a little boy, whom they said was the son of that shut-up woman of whom above we made a word, he led clad in a hairy garment with another companion on horseback. But passing over very many things, I will open certain more necessary ones in a few words.

[281] The fame of this one therefore everywhere filled not only the territory of Tuscany, he promises that various monasteries will be built by him. but all the neighbors also; namely that another John the Baptist had come, who would be the new restorer of the Church of Christ nearly ruined. Therefore, while he preached the word of the Lord hither and thither (for, as I said, he had eloquence enough) many mortals, some enticed to hear the word of Jesus, others by a new desire of seeing so great a man (if it is lawful to call him a man), flowed together to him in various places: for I remember that I once by a certain chance, as it happens, while for the sake of business it is necessary to survey various places, was present at his preaching on the festivity of St. Martin, in which among other things, which were brought forth by him ornately, copiously, and distinctly enough, he promised, like a golden mountain, how many monasteries both of monks and of nuns he would construct, and that they for the name of Christ Jesus would endure cold, hunger, thirst, and at the same time want and labor, and at last crosses and immense torments, even the most shameful death, with a mighty and constant mind. He asserted also that the neighboring and distant monasteries, nay the other religions too, would be handmaids to this his own.

[282] These things heard, feigning a necessity of the body, in disgust I betook myself outside as swiftly as possible, When many ran together to him, marveling, I do not say at the madness of the man, but at the insanity, by which he dared to bring forth such things in public. At last, my mind being confirmed, together with others I made the journey to this oratory of St. Mary, which I mentioned, that I might perceive the outcome of the matter. It is wonderful how great authority was held by him riding, how great faith by all. O wickedness! he dared, as is the custom of bishops, where the right is given them, even to give a blessing to all whom he met. See the audacity, nay the insolence! But we, blind in mind, and enticed by the desire of new things, followed; not country folk only, but also nobles, citizens, and, what is greater, even excellent presbyters, who narrated to us his portents and prodigies on the journey with full mouth and raised eyebrow, many more and greater than he had done or said. And what? that we paid the penalties of our rashness on the same day: for when, the little huts and hovels of the rustics being left, we now undertook the arduous journey of the crag, the air being changed from serene into a storm, quickly an unexpected and sudden force of winds and a huge storm of waters, the sky being darkened, arises everywhere and everywhere. We wretched ones, who had undertaken the journey on foot, placed in so great and such peril, knew not utterly what we should do, whither we should turn ourselves: for on account of the hugeness of the winds and the abundance of showers we could scarcely proceed further, and to go back we reckoned foul, and to be there long under the open sky the barren place, and the penury of all things did not permit.

[283] But John himself, fearing worse things, lest either alone or with a few he should be compelled to approach the abrupt and hollow parts of the mountain place, at last after wiles, with painted and composed words, which were abundantly his, exhorted us to the higher places, that it was not enough that we had wished to undertake this, unless by enduring we held the summit of the matter; to this, that the Virgin Mary, the only refuge of all mortals, especially in troubles, would not be lacking. By these therefore and other most approved reasonings, when he saw our spirits raised, spurring his horse, to hasten, we wretched ones as swiftly as possible to follow; at last wearied, and full of sweat and dust and copious shower, we came to the oratory of the Virgin Mary, which then a certain other, Francis by name, a young hermit held, whom once St. John had freed captured by a demon.

[284] and a simulation of piety, There therefore this good man, prostrate on the ground in his whole body, while we sang the evening hymn of the Virgin Mary, lay always. When behold suddenly a not small crowd of our monks, having endured the winds and the shower, enter the oratory. Thence that one rising, his eyes and whole face filled with tears, stood in the midst, and looking around at us all with his eyes, with a lowered and tearful voice said: I pray and beseech you all, be willing to pray Jesus and his mother the Virgin Mary, that they make me constant and firm and invincible against the snares of the devil: for this oratory, I hope, will be my eternal burial: nor did he speak more, it is reported, through that day, except in more remote and hidden places. We at last, because the sun had now declined, thence, marveling and talking of him variously on the journey, as it happens, withdrew joyful to the monastery, awaiting the outcome of the matter with joy.

[285] his crimes are laid open, But not long after the companion brother, of whom above we made a word, a strife having arisen between them about the ceremonies to be observed, openly to many made known his evil deeds. Hence to him the first stain of evil: hence to be watched by all thereafter, to be held by all iniquitous and perverse. There were at that time those who thought that this one under a hermit's appearance had come to those rocky and nearly uninhabitable places, that there, all fear being removed, he might exercise secret mints of coin with a few little clients; but from other vices rather than because this was ascertained by anyone, this fame flew: for a little after, who and what he was, his many nefarious deeds, which he did foully and obscenely, declared: for he first amassed a great debt from various places by various wiles and cunning, wherewith to build the monasteries which he had said. But, after the manner of the double-tongued, he had one thing shut in his breast, another ready on his tongue. For he led with him certain criminals, both fugitive religious and seculars, whom by prayers he had drawn out of prison. To give and receive mutual and frequent letters from the women, whom under the appearance of nuns shut up I mentioned above; to visit them sometimes, content with one companion.

[286] for which he obtains an unhappy end of life; But, to confess the truth, in this pseudo-hermit there was no less vanity than hypocrisy; neither to keep silent what he had heard, nor to hide his own crimes. I seeing and hearing, he said and did many things ineptly and insipidly, and, what is especially of levity, to perform the ridiculous offices of a stage-actor and ambitious games with mouth, eyes, hands; utterly, neither what he said, nor what he did, to have anything weighed; finally from day to day to be more insane. At last, when he had committed many nefarious rapes, fearing the present peril, no small money being amassed by borrowing and even from the sacred vessels and chasubles of the oratory of the Virgin Mary herself, secretly with a certain pestilent one he betook himself to other regions. Concerning his end various things are said among us. There are those who affirm that he exercised the office of a tavern-keeper, and, hiring little harlots, ruined by luxury, and infamous for pandering, and covered with all shameful acts and crimes, was by his like ones, as is wont to happen in such a matter, cut into pieces. Others that on account of a theft iniquitously perpetrated at Rome, the hermit's habit being laid aside, with certain nefarious ones he was hanged on a cross. To us, although that matter, on account of the distance of the places, is little ascertained, yet it is established enough, that he paid the penalties by a foul death. Thus that new John the Baptist, who had professed a new religion of the Christian faith, found an end of life worthy of his manners and deeds.

[287] To this one succeeded another of Rimini, a good man indeed; but in his place succeeded a pious hermit, whose name even in the sacred font of baptism is Homo-Dei; who indeed, like the aforesaid brother Marcus, passed more than a year in this monastery of St. Mary under the secular and conversal habit. Thence, desiring a life a little harsher, beyond the institutes of Father Benedict, to cherish and love, he came to that monastery of St. Mary. Who, to pass over other things, for subduing the lusts and pleasures of the body, never tastes flesh, never wines, never milk-foods; rarely little vegetables, rarely fruits eats, nearly always content with bread and water. And what? that in this hermitage, although he himself is noble enough, and, what is more, before accustomed to delicate things, when even deformed winter gnashes, with bare feet he walks among the snows and rough ices, at that time also surrounded with a cheap garment and little cloak; and an iron circle like the Evangelist Luke he continually uses over his naked body: he prays frequently, and afflicts and macerates his body with continual disciplines; on the reading also of the Scriptures, which are printed in the vernacular tongue, he always insists; even the precepts of the Lord Jesus he strives to fulfill to the best of his strength.

[288] This house, when first he began to order his life according to God, and devout toward St. John Gualbert, he began frequently to visit, everywhere among peoples he extols St. John, narrating his excellent deeds to bear them to heaven; concerning the monks and the rest of our people he says all good things. So he is loved by all good men with a pure affection; but the evil hold him in hatred, because he assails their perverse life and crimes, and by approved and true reasonings thunders forth their shameful acts and turpitudes. All are astonished in him both at the grace of his countenance and the sweetness of his speech, because neither by fastings nor by other scourges with which he afflicts his body is he morose and anxious and irascible and difficult, as certain ones, nay most kind, sweet, gentle,

joyous and affable he is made. Whose excellent works in the religion of Christ Jesus, which I have seen and received, if I should wish to commit all diligently to letters, time would desert me sooner than the matter.

[289] Wherefore, because life still remains to him, and what end he is about to have we are utterly ignorant, who, while the Author was writing these miracles, was still living. and among Christians not the beginning, but the end is praised, of him I will make an end of speaking, if first I shall have admonished all, that they exalt not themselves in heart or in works; but with the prophet say: But I am a worm and not a man. And: Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory; and with Jesus: I seek not my own glory. And, anyone so acting, all things will succeed prosperously for him; but where every mortal has ordered his life otherwise, although he seem fortunate, this will be for a time; but at last that will be fulfilled in him, which the same prophet said: I saw the impious highly exalted and lifted up like the cedars of Lebanon; and I passed by, and behold he was not; I sought him, and his place was not found. Which by many examples, but especially by these preceding ones, was clearly plain.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART IV.

An infant, Since the most blessed man St. John willed this monastery to be dedicated in honor of the Virgin Mary, we too, led by his example, have inserted above into these miracles certain prodigious deeds of the Virgin Mary herself; it has seemed not unworthy even now to describe an excellent and memorable deed of both. A certain Florentine of the Ughi, whose name was Ugho, born of a noble family, having an only son still placed in the cradle, when in summer time, when the threshing of wheat is hot, as is the custom of nobles, he sought the country with his wife and whole family, it happened on a certain day that the nurse hastened with the infant to the threshing-floor. Thence by chance, either hindered by some other business, leaving the infant lying or sitting in the straw, she departed.

[291] whose father had uttered a vow in honor of the Blessed Virgin and of St. John, But the threshers, utterly ignorant of this matter, thrust the infant together with the straw, suffocating him, with wooden forks and other tools or instruments necessary for such business, into the hut where the straw is stored; thence the nurse returning, and by no means finding the infant in the place where she had put him, burst into weeping after the manner of women. At once the country folk asking what was the matter, the cause being known, counseled that she should depart forthwith. She therefore, fearing worse things, seized flight at a run toward Arezzo. But when it came to the ears of the master, that the nurse had departed with his son, he first attempts to follow her by his own people; but after this was in vain, he determined to implore the divine help; thereupon forthwith he uttered such a vow: Most sweet Virgin Mary, the only hope of the Christian name, refuge of the wretched, solace of the desolate, from whom all good things proceed; and you most blessed John, glory and honor not only of our city, but of the whole province, to you two I vow to go to build a church, which I will enrich with estates and other goods, if I shall find my son alive or dead.

[292] A wonderful thing! no long interval being given, when a certain one of the servants had gone to carry straw for spreading the beds, he is snatched from the peril of death, it seemed to him that he had heard the wailing of an infant; but at first thinking it the sound of mice or other animals, he went on with his business. When therefore again and again and often he caught the wailing with his ears, with suspended step, like a cunning explorer, having entered the hut; and gradually proceeding, and often stopping, always better to catch the sound with his ear. At last, when it was come nearer, he perceived it truly to be the wailing of an infant. The straw therefore being lightly removed, he beholds him unharmed, smiling, and of good condition, by the grace of the Virgin Mary and of St. John, not without the greatest admiration, rejoicing and joyful. Thence lifting him up, and kissing him frequently, exulting, and giving thanks to Jesus, he carried him to his parents.

[293] Whom when first the parents beheld, joy with tears arising, they rush into kisses; but he, as if alluding to acquaintances, returned love. So great vigor appeared in him, and the sweet laughter of the fawning infant, that the father, filled with immense joy, said: My son, whom I thought either carried off, or torn by wild beasts, do I behold you such? Who, my son, led you to me to this hour? Whence is it given me to behold your face, my child? Only the Virgin Mary, and the most blessed John have kept you to this day; so indeed, my son, I reckoned in my mind, and thought it would be; nor did the grace of Jesus Christ, my care, deceive me. Scarcely had he uttered these words, when a miracle was added to the words: for the infant, who could scarcely by stammering express before the name of his father, with a clear voice affirmed whatever the father had said; how the Virgin Mary had suckled him, nourished him, preserved him. Then he fell silent. Presently the father, giving thanks to Jesus, ordered a renowned shrine to be dedicated to the glory of the Virgin Mary and of holy John; he gave also certain estates as a gift to this monastery of St. Mary, which I beheld with my own eyes: for this shrine of the Virgin Mary is distant from St. Hilary nearly two miles toward the East; the right of which church even in this our age is established to be of this monastery of St. Mary.

[294] Who, O good Jesus! of so dull a disposition, of so impious a mind, would not extol you, Lord Jesus, in your Saints, when he receives, sees, experiences at times, A certain man miraculously preserved from fire, how many and how great prodigies you work through them everywhere in the world, good Jesus, even in our age! For a certain man, John by name, from the villa which the common and plebeian folk call Fornace, there was. He indeed, after the manner of the poor and needy, when he led his life sparingly and hardly, and made coals for subduing iron by fire, and for casting them into various instruments (I shudder to relate) as little cautious, fell in his whole body into the burning and fire-vomiting pyres. Who, when he was about to be devoured by the voracious fire, forthwith said: Virgin Mary, and you most blessed John, to me wretched, placed in so great and such peril, I pray, bring help; and I will be busy to visit the shrine of both, fasting, and with bare feet. Wonderful God! scarcely had he uttered the vow, as he himself was wont to relate, when at once the ardor of the fire, forgetful of its nature, became as it were dew. He forthwith leaping from the fire, having suffered no burning, not even of a hair, could not fulfill himself in praising Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and holy John.

[295] by his vow he goes to the temple of the Blessed Virgin, Thence, when the opportunity of going was given him, both shrines, namely this one, and that other of the Virgin Mary, which within the mountains and Alps of Casentino was constructed in our memory: concerning which (since to this by this country man we have come) it has seemed not unworthy to say certain things, and to describe, whence, at what time it was begun, as we have received from those who often met that little old woman about this, to whom the Virgin Mary deigned to appear. The same thing the annals indicate; the paintings also indicate, which by the memory and religion of the fathers are hitherto seen on the right horn of the altar. Besides a miracle of the matter is added. For when that temple in these preceding years had burned, the fire dared not touch that wall, where the origin of this temple in the paintings, as we said, still meets the eyes of those beholding. And what? When the other stones (for there is an immense abundance of stones there) were split by the fire, and reduced to dust, that one only, on which the Virgin Mary deigned to sit, was preserved unharmed by the fire for a miracle. Concerning the site of which place a few things must first be explained, before I make the beginning of narrating.

[296] whose site is described, In the parts of Casentino there is a town, or more rightly I shall say a villa, which the inhabitants of the place have called Stia, from which toward the West is distant a mountain nearly eight miles, from which arises a river from the northern quarter, by name Arnus; but from the middle of it, as it were a hill arises, stretching high enough into the immense; it is clothed with most humble oaks, or ilexes, and other kinds of trees, which the dry ground is wont to gird. A place indeed sweet and pleasant. On the crag of this hill by human art rather than by nature a level is seen, with walls raised in three or four arm-lengths clothing it on every side. The middle holds a church, horrible, and most worthy of religion, whose origin is established to have been such. In the time of Martin Pope V, when by certain feuds and discords of the Florentines, both from that Pontiff, and from certain other various causes, as was then reported, being stirred up, war threatened (for by discords and feuds the burnings and ruins of cities are gradually nourished) moreover also the groin-plague flourished in certain places, even, sins exacting it, sudden, large, or abrupt showers were sent from heaven by the force of winds, which laid waste all things, in that year, each for himself prayed Jesus and his mother the Virgin Mary, that they might be freed from so great peril and destruction, with prayers and processions and other things which religion loves to be done, the Virgin Mary willed thus most excellently to show herself, and to render that fatherland free.

[297] But by the leave of all the provinces I would dare to say, and it is narrated how the Blessed Virgin, that in the whole world there is not

a place which is so a care to the Virgin Mary, and where more benefits are conferred by the Virgin herself on mortals, and she herself is deservedly worshipped devoutly, honorably, and holily, as in Etruria, and especially in that part which is held by the Florentines. But now to the purpose. Therefore at this time to a certain most devout woman, Joanna by name, purging a grain of wheat with a hoe, the Virgin Mary appeared, where now the church is built, sitting upon a rock above, which, as we said above, the shrine burning, by the merits of the Virgin Mary herself was wonderfully preserved unharmed together with certain paintings. But the apparition was such. For when, contrary to the manner of the air, as was said above, copious and sudden showers were sent from heaven by the force of winds laying waste all things widely, those who were then in the fields, some sought caves, some huts to avoid the force of the water, and among themselves, as is the custom, one said to another: Whence this misfortune this year to us wretched mortals, contrary to the manner and condition of the air? O by the faith of God and of men! that if long this sudden and excessive shower shall proceed, we shall perish utterly. Thence others to continue: Whence do you think, unless whence it is wont to be said, on account of sins adversities come? It is ours therefore, a true confession of our crimes being first made, to seek the help of Jesus Christ, and of the Virgin Mary his mother, if perchance by her accustomed piety she may bring help.

[298] While they cast about these and other things, as the will bears, appearing to the pious woman, it happened that the old woman, whom we mentioned, came also to a certain little hut, where the Virgin Mary in such garb and appearance, as she herself was wont to relate, deigned to appear. She beholds the form, as of a venerable veiled matron, clad also in most white garments, sustaining moreover a hood on her head, and in her hand a little book, which she continually read; at whose coming all the clouds of the sky were dissipated, the shower ceased, the sun after custom illumined all things with its rays. When therefore that old woman, suffused with horror, and reverent, stood by, and could not gaze against her on account of the splendor, the Virgin Mary said: Go, announce to the parish priest of Stia, and the other neighbors, that my son Jesus, our Lord, wills in this place a temple to be dedicated to me. Wherefore if they desire to flee and escape so great a calamity, and so great an outpouring of showers, let them give the beginning of the future shrine with gifts and donations, and devoutly survey this hut with the cross and the people.

[299] To the old woman therefore doubting and delaying the matter, lest, if she should give no sign of the vision, she be held for a mockery among men, signs also of her will being publicly given, again the Virgin Mary said: Go now, and the sign which you would wish given in confirmation of so great a matter, is already given, believe me. These things being said, the Virgin Mary instructed that old woman in this prayer, which it has seemed not unbecoming to insert into this miracle; for it is such: O high, O glorious God! illumine the darkness of my heart; give me right faith, sure hope, perfect charity, sense and knowledge of you, that I may do your true and holy commandment. Thence the Virgin Mary departed on high. There was added to this also another wonder. For a certain Peter Campedonici, feeding a flock of sheep, beheld above the same place a wonderful splendor like the sun, marveling beyond custom. Thence happy Joanna, filled both with grace and astonishment, eager to obey the admonitions of the Virgin, took her way to a certain mill, where her kinswoman dwelt, which indeed, not much distant from the Arno, is situated nearly in the channel of the river. The things seen are related to her kinswoman, who, although she then held them for ridiculous, yet afterward, the cause being diligently known, with the highest devotion nearly every day went to that hut with alms.

[300] she ordered that temple to be built, Joanna therefore, thus deluded by her kinswoman, went home, which was not much distant, sad, in whose vestibule when she served the office of the oven, O wonderful thing! O holy prodigy! behold forthwith the Holy Spirit, in the appearance of a humble dove entering the woman's house, made the woman not only confirmed in grace, but even blessed among mortals, and worthy of faith. On the morrow therefore, going to the parish priest of Stia, she opened the whole matter in order, many being present. It is wonderful how much faith was given to her announcing these things, because she was indeed a good woman: to the words also of that Peter Campedonici, who, as we said above, had beheld the splendor above the hut, faith was added to the miracle. Forthwith the fame of so great a prodigy filled the town and territory. And so there is made a not small number of men and women of both age and condition; and by common counsel they determine supplications to the Lord Jesus, and to the most merciful Virgin Mary. Thence pouring forth humble prayers, and devoutly departing from the town with hymns and spiritual canticles, they go around the hut together with Joanna, a most devout woman; when suddenly in that place lights were seen, and angelic voices heard: For hence, tears of joy arising to all the people, they implore the Virgin Mary, that she defend and protect herself and all the faithful; thence joyful, because they were a care to the Virgin Mary, they return home.

[301] to which there is a great concourse of people. At last, by the prayers of the Virgin Mary, war, plague, and shower being settled, the cause of so great a good, whence it was, being widely known, not only the neighboring monks and clergy with their people, but from all the parts of Etruria, especially from the city of Florence, in troops and vying, heaped with vows and gifts, forthwith fly thither. Thence the origin of the excellent temple, and in memory of so great a matter the greater altar was dedicated above the rock, on which the Virgin Mary once deigned to sit. And what? that annually on the 14th of September on the day of the Exaltation of the most holy Cross of Christ Jesus, when that temple was dedicated, frequent men flow in throngs from all Etruria even from the city of Siena, and everywhere the ways are filled; and this we monks, who dwell in this monastery of St. Mary, behold annually, because in going and returning an infinite number of mortals make their way near our monastery. By the merits therefore of the glorious Virgin Mary many miracles, and benefits conferred on mortals, the Christians behold in waxen images and other donations and gifts. It pleases at the end of the miracle to ask those, who on account of immense riches think themselves happy and blessed; what is more blessed than that old woman, who, when she lived most poorly, well, blessedly, and simply, deserved not only to behold the Virgin Mary, but often to meet and converse with her! O happy and blessed me, if it were given only to enjoy the fellowship of him who had beheld the Virgin Mary with these mortal eyes once!

[302] What I am now about to write, I received from many religious, both abbots and monks of our religion worthy of faith. A certain pious convert, In the monastery of St. Salvius near Florence, which the most holy John willed to be built after this one of St. Mary, there was a certain minister, or, more rightly I shall say, a convert, whose name was Bartholomew; whom I remember to have often seen; whose works, and what the demon iniquitously did against him, because especially in this age they were great and atrocious, it has seemed not absurd to commit to letters, that hence any of the faithful may be able to understand, as the Apostle says, that all who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus suffer persecutions, and that these only are free from temptations, who are busy to fulfill their own pleasures. He therefore, when he had ordered his life according to God and the rule of St. Benedict with much labor, much care, obeying most modestly, and often fasting, and chastising his little body with other scourges too, holily and wisely, came in a short time to such simplicity and purity, that he was vehemently dear to all: for, to omit the other things which he used for enervating his body, often at a nocturnal time, even in the parched winter, he was seen lying naked among the snows and rough ices: whose virtues the devil, the enemy of the Christian name, envying, to whom there are a thousand arts of harming, assailed him with many and various frauds, tempting, if in any way he could turn him aside from the appointed path. He on the contrary, Jesus favoring, resisted to the best of his strength.

[303] But when the devil saw that he was always repelled by him, he determined to undertake another way to terrify him: tempted by a demon, for first, taking to himself the appearance of an Angel of light, to address him with blandishing words, at last never to be quiet, but always to insist, persuade, pray, that he might impel him to adore him. Sometimes also, claiming to himself the face of a shapely woman, he preached that he was the Virgin Mary. Nor let it seem a wonder, nor incredible to anyone, that demons take various appearances and faces both of men and of wild beasts: for he becomes suddenly a bristly boar, and a black tigress, a scaly dragon, and a lioness with tawny neck; he becomes also an Angel of light, he becomes a beautiful, shapely young man, he becomes a bent, venerable, trembling old man, as is read in the Lives of the holy Fathers, especially of St. Antony; finally, what appearance he wishes, he takes to himself, and forthwith lays it aside.

[304] But when he could bend this Bartholomew to his will neither by prayers nor by threats, he strongly resists him. he dared to undertake greater and more atrocious things: for he beholds certain black and horrible shadows, bearing before them fiery eyes, sending forth a sulphurous and pestilent smoke from their gaping nostrils, present before him, of whom the first said: This man hostile to us, to be afflicted with torments and devoured by you, unless he consult for himself, and now assent to us, I offer. But when he, not terrified, spurned and made little of their threats, again that one: Monster of a man, are you silent? Do you insult us by laughing? Nor does it shame you, O most evil of all men? Thence to the rest: Let him be carried outside, and plunged into the flowing water, and, as he has merited, let him be swallowed up by the intolerable water. Scarcely had she spoken, when at once those horrible and dire spirits lift him on high often, crying out to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary and to St. John; which voice then none of the monks, perhaps because they were intent on other business, perceived, and because he himself was working something outside, and night had now come on.

[305] Wherefore the demons snatch him to a certain lake; The demons therefore carried him to a certain lake stagnating in the lower part of the crag, distant from the monastery of Passignano nearly three hundred paces, with this reproach: Now, now you will perish, most evil one: for we will thrust you down, as you have merited, wicked one; but he, fearing the destruction both of soul and of body in that peril, strongly, Virgin Mary bring help! St. John save me! redoubling often to cry out. The demons on the contrary to thunder with hellish voices: Now you will perish, shameful one; together, together we will seek the hellish regions. Therefore be silent: for in vain you pour forth prayers. But to this duel, as he himself was wont to relate, St. John was never lacking;

but, as Jesus our Lord watched the contest of the most holy Antony, so also John watched that of his servant. At last the demons, the grace of Dom John working, conquered, confounded, despised, left that wretched man, cut about both by cold and by labor, by blows and by fists, now seeking the last extremities, tending elsewhere.

[306] whom the monks, long sought, What meanwhile the monks who dwelt in the monastery of Passignano did, I do not think should be passed over: for when they had not found the aforesaid Bartholomew in the hospice after the accustomed manner, fearing worse things (for they had received that the devil had often both deluded him and threatened him) sad they relate it to the abbot. Then he orders that they diligently explore him, within and without, if perchance he be found. Thereupon the monks, unencumbered, with a light, commending themselves first to Jesus, to the Virgin Mary, and to St. John, some one way, some another, where they persuaded themselves he was, wandering to a late hour of the night, surveyed the whole monastery within and without. At last by the counsel of a certain good man, whose name was Simon, who then as Prior presided over the same monastery, they go in troops to the church early. There devoutly they chant the psalms which are called penitential, with Litanies, hoping that the Lord Jesus would bring his help by his accustomed piety, whether to one suffering the last extremities, or to an innocent one.

[307] at last before the altar of St. John find him half-alive, At last, when they had now passed the night to the middle of the night, wearied with sleep, by the Prior's command each sought again his bed. Scarcely had they entered their cells, when suddenly they hear the threefold sound of the greater bell. Turned by these first into admiration, thence into gladness, together they enter the church again, and behold this brother wet, filled with moisture and mud, on the footstool of the altar, where the most holy body of St. John rests, lifeless. When therefore these brothers asked him where in the world he had been that night, whence that mud, whence the moisture, he then gave no answer; nor could he, if he had wished: For, as we said, he now held the last extremities. Then certain of the monks by the command of the Prior carried him supported to the hospice, and each for himself, as is wont to be done in such a matter, showing him what charity and mercy they could for the love of Jesus Christ; but on the morrow, his strength being now resumed, not only the monks, but also the converts, and the country folk and workmen who were present (for many were present on account of the new monastery to be built) rushing upon him in a tumultuous concourse, inquired what had happened to him the past night, or where in the world he had been.

[308] Then he with a humble and lowered voice opened all things in their order, and console him. how he had often been deluded by the devil with various images, how he had never, Jesus favoring him, consented: he asserts how the demon had wished to suffocate him, had not St. John brought help, how even now rest could not be given to him, and many other things, which, lest I be a weariness to the reader, I will pass over. These things therefore unheard of in our age struck not only admiration, but also fear into those present: for each feared worse things for himself; yet, as is the manner of the brothers, to soothe him with blandishing words; that there was nothing which he ought to fear; both because he strove to imitate Jesus to the best of his strength, and, what must be reckoned first, because he was a care to St. John. To this to add: The devil neither avails what he wishes: for he is broken by the power of God, and weakened by the virtue of the Saints.

[309] By these therefore and other words his spirit being raised into hope, That pious convert again vexed by a demon, commending himself to the prayers of all, he proceeded to the monastery of St. Salvius, that he might live more securely, the brothers counseling it; whom even there too the devil pursued: for, many things being passed over which he did there cruelly and iniquitously, we shall be content with one only, which indeed we received from the venerable man Dom Francis, who presides over the whole Congregation. But the scars on his face were long shown to those beholding. Which indeed happened to him thus. When this Bartholomew after Compline in summer time, as is the manner of the religious, was surveying the cloister by praying to avoid the most intense heat, and in this laudable work had now consumed much of the night, the demon, envying his goodness, taking a goatish or he-goat's face, lifting up and showing his forehead roughened with horns, and vomiting a sulphurous smoke from his putrid mouth, first striking that wretched man in the face with his fiery feet, wished to cast him into a well of water, which was not far from the cloister, but was not able: for the demon, weakened and broken by the virtue of St. John, withdrew elsewhere to his evil place, smelling a most foul and goatish stench.

[310] But the abbot of the monastery, through a servant messenger, at last sent to another monastery, who had found him fallen on the ground in his whole body, understanding what had befallen him, and what peril thereafter threatened him, on the morrow, certain of the fathers being convened, holds a council, what should be done concerning this brother Bartholomew, whom the devil so atrociously pursued. But various men felt various things: some that he be kept shut up, and be sumptuously and delicately nourished, if perchance he should fail in his senses; others that he be nowhere outside, nor go about; others other things. At last the Abbot said thus: I judge that he be away for a time, and be led to the monastery of St. Cassian on Mount Scalario, and that it be commanded him under the virtue of salutary obedience, that he lead a laxer life, lest he wish indiscreetly and before his time to perish by some chance, and also, if he should work outside the little gardens or another work, that companions be present, lest perchance by the art of the devil something sinister befall him. It is approved by all and reckoned salutary, what Father the Abbot had judged.

[311] he is wholly freed from his infestations. Him therefore being summoned they could scarcely persuade to taste at times something cooked or a little broth with a very little wine, he asserting that he could not otherwise escape both the titillations of the flesh and the various snares of the demon: for before he fed only on wild herbs and certain legumes and fruits. When therefore by the command of his father the abbot he came to the monastery of St. Cassian, all things which were commanded, cheap and contemptible, he did, nor did he suffer another before him in things of this kind, nay always to go before; by which things and arts he was so most dear to Jesus Christ, that, Jesus himself willing, the good things which befell the Congregation, and the evil things too which happened, he not only long before presaged, but even foretold. And what? that hitherto the demon has not dared any more to rage against him, although he still keeps his former harshness, and lies resting only upon bare wood, or leaves; concerning whom for the time I think enough has been said. Here follow some chapters not pertaining to our Saint, whose titles, as they were described by Papebroch, we hand down.

Chapter 20. What happened on the day of the festivity of St. Mary Magdalene and of St. James the Apostle on Mons Milliarius, to those violating their feasts by servile work.

Chapter 21. How certain sailors by the merits of the glorious Virgin Mary escaped from shipwreck and plague.

Chapter 22. Concerning a certain monk of this monastery, whom the Virgin Mary, now suffering the last extremities, freed by her accustomed piety.

ANNOTATIONS.

BOOK THREE

Chapter 1. Whence and how the shrine of St. Mary of Loreto took its beginning.

Chapter 2. Whence the temple of St. Mary of the Servites had its beginning.

Chapter 3. Concerning the origin of the temple of the Virgin Mary, which is called St. Mary of Grace.

Chapter 4. The temple of the Virgin Mary near the Flaminian gate.

Chapter 5. The temple of the Virgin Mary in the territory of Forlì newly built.

Chapter 6. Whence the church of St. Mary, which is called "of the Rock," had its beginning.

Our Papebroch, who for a great part transcribed these miracles, testifies that after these titles not properly pertaining to St. John Gualbert, the following are subjoined in the same codex.

PART I.

A matter indeed wonderful, and far stupendous, and truer than true things I describe; of which matter I could bring forward as witnesses all the monks and converts of this monastery of St. Mary, and others, both citizens and religious men, The Author, having prefaced a few things, if I thought this work would come into the hands of the unfaithful, and not of the faithful. But because among Christians there is nothing so incredible, that it is not believed can be done by holy men and the most friendly of God, thereupon I will undertake this miracle, and I will take care to note the time, and also certain persons by their proper names; which I did above in certain cases, but in others not, since the time was obscure and the years indistinct; and to conjecture, or to feign doubtful things, especially for one writing a history or miracles, is not lawful.

[313] In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus 1475, in the time of Sixtus Pontiff II, he brings forward the narration of a certain advocate, the Abbot of this monastery of St. Mary being Dom Francis Altoviti, a venerable man now of advanced age, from the town of San Miniato, which is by a common name called "del Tedesco," founded between the most noble City of Florence and most ancient Pisa, a certain Dom John of the Bon-Romei, an advocate not to be despised, with his daughter, in her sixteenth year, and with certain other companions and religious, in the deformed winter, the frost gnashing, and the snows frozen, came to this monastery of St. Mary bloodless and dying. But first, what at his home, what at Florence the devil said and did, I think must be told, before we come to his liberation, and to the miracle of St. John.

[314] And so this John, whom we mentioned, nearly all the monks of this monastery being present, related these things with tears arising: in which he explains how the demon first among the neighbors, Venerable Fathers, I pray, hear with an even mind. Five months ago, on a certain day certain novice girls, born in no obscure place, had sat down together near my house, as it happens, drawing wool, this my daughter looking down through the window: when the devil, having found an hour of deceiving, desiring to sow quarrels among those in concord, cast a not small stone above the girls, on that part where my daughter looked down; on which account the girls themselves were angry, and spoke revilings against my daughter, and threatened evils to her; which when it came to the ears of their parents, as swiftly as possible certain of them, whom I had withstood, that they should not act unjustly,

flew together to me crying out, that it was an unworthy deed, that my daughter wished to overwhelm theirs with stones, and that the neighbor-women could not endure it; these things, they say, unless with your will, would not be done. To whom I: Do not, I pray, be so quick to give faith to the words of girls. You know their manners, how in reviling they speak great things of small: moreover to revile me with these things is not the part of prudent men; since you know most excellently that I take care, not only for those who are of my family, that they live rightly, as far as is in me, but also to admonish others, provided they lend an easy ear. And they: Reckon enough said; see that hereafter we be not compelled to come to arms. And so they depart from me as if a war were to be entered upon with me.

[315] he stirred up quarrels, I forthwith seeking my home, the rest being removed, assail my daughter with these words: Why, daughter, do you desire that strife and war break out again among those hostile to us? My father, said she, I pray, whither this? I answered: Because, as is reported, you today cast a stone at such girls. Ha, my father, I neither did it nor would I dare to do it; these girls indeed I love as sisters. Yet it was done, said I; hereafter, my daughter, give effort, that, where those girls stand in the street, you cling not to the windows verging toward those parts. She said: I will do it, my father. But on the morrow, because by that way the demon had little profited, again with a stone he sharply wounded one of the aforesaid girls, so that she needed a barber to cut off the wound. On account of this there is made a concourse of men, running from every side with drawn swords, and declaiming, where are you about to perish! My people at once closed the middle doors of the house, and certain of my friends and neighbors flew to me armed through the back door; and, had I not avoided it, a most evil deed would have been perpetrated by my people that day.

[316] and then under the form of an old woman, While these things were done on this side and that, an armed cohort of the guard, hastening thither with a horseman, broke up the whole matter, and the good popular men, the cause being diligently known, entered a covenant and peace between us. I therefore, moved by the doubtful evil, because I could neither sufficiently conjecture whence this had befallen me, nor, if worse followed thence, knew utterly what should be done in that matter, determined that the divine help must be sought from those who were at home. When therefore, according to each one's disposition and zeal, prayers were frequently given to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary, my daughter, by chance then wishing to betake herself into the chamber, that she might pray more secretly, beheld a certain old woman lying on the little bed, and holding her right hand between the pillow and her cheeks. First doubtful what the unusual face showed, to fear; thence, fear being driven off, thinking her one of the household, she proceeded further. When at once the devil, who had transformed himself into the form of an old woman, lifting his head, and looking at her with savage eyes, with a hellish voice said: See what you do, or whither you betake yourself.

[317] infested his daughter, By these words therefore, and such an aspect terrified, crying out to the Virgin Mary, returning to us timid, cold and stiff with fear, she could scarcely open the matter. I, thinking it a false image, by which we are often deluded, blandly admonished her not to mind these things. She on the contrary affirmed that it was true. At last satisfying myself, and betaking myself thither, and first looking around at the bed and at the same time all things, I could not see that old woman. And so, with mind suspended, admonishing my daughters not to fear anything, and applying myself to other things more necessary for me, I betook myself to the market, when a little after another of my daughters, somewhat younger, I know not for what cause, having her way into the chamber, beholding the aforesaid old woman lying in like manner, as this one had seen her, seized with no small fear, leaped forth to the others as soon as possible.

[318] These things therefore telling me coming from the market, I marveled what this was. To me thinking therefore, and often revolving in my mind, that it was the work of the devil, it came into my mind: thereupon as soon as possible, a monk priest being summoned, who governed the church near my house, I opened the whole matter to him secretly. which, a conjuration being made by a priest, He at once earnestly commands a clerk to bring holy water and the book of conjurations. Which being brought, we enter the chamber intrepid, the sign of the cross being first made: water purified with salt and prayers is at once sprinkled by the priest; thence approaching the bed in a certain order: I conjure you, said the priest, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; if you, an evil spirit, inhabit this chamber, open to me what you want, or what you seek. Scarcely had the priest completed these things, when at once we heard a plaintive voice: Alas, bring help to the wretched one! I cannot bear such tortures! How can we help you, said the priest? If, said she, you take care that Gregorian Masses with the obsequies of the dead be celebrated for me. It will be done, said the priest; only do you withdraw to your own place, lest there be detriment or fear to your people: for she said that she was the mother of my father, now dead. The priest therefore devoutly commands all things to be done in the name of Christ Jesus.

[319] These things therefore being duly performed, as had pleased her, on a certain night the demon terrified us given over to sleep in this manner: he is struck by the demon, for first, waking my daughter, who is here, and, as she devoutly commended herself to the Virgin Mary, striking her harshly on the cheeks, he said: Will you act in your own way, not in mine? how long will you abuse my patience? Ha! do you hope these things will be permitted you longer? my will being otherwise, you will do these things no more. By which sound, by which words shaken from sleep, forthwith leaping from the bed, a light being kindled, I withdrew to that part of the little bed where my daughter lay: My daughter, said I, what are you doing? Whence, I pray, this groaning? for she wept: for she had not yet given me an answer, when suddenly the same demon, seeking the lower part, strove to suffocate my little son, who rested in the same place. I at once brought help to the wailing boy: for fortifying first myself, and him, with the sign of the cross, thence with a free voice I said to the demon: Why, most evil one, do you inflict crosses and torments of this kind on these most innocent ones? Go, whither you have merited, into the abyss of hell, perfidious, iniquitous, accursed one.

[320] I had not yet finished the words, and I hear this my daughter complaining: and is more sharply vexed; My father, if there is any piety of your daughter in you, bring help, bring aid! for the demon again attempts to suffocate me. The little one therefore being left, I run to her, and in the same manner as the boy, fortifying her with frequent signs of Christ Jesus, I cease not to threaten the demon, if perchance he feared Jesus and the Virgin Mary. He, made crueler by these things, sought the boy again, to torture him. I hasten thither; he to the daughter; I to her: he to the boy; I too to him. Why do I delay you with many words? When in so great and such peril I knew not what to do, whither to turn myself utterly (because, my sins exacting it, neither Jesus nor the most merciful Mary brought help at the opportune time, and their mother too was then away from home) with a wonderful voice, neighbors, come to my aid, I pray! three and four times I began to cry out: when swifter than words the neighbors fly, especially this monk, who is present: for he presaged an evil matter on account of the past conjurations.

[321] to whose aid, When they came, the doors being found closed (for I dared not depart from my children, lest a greater evil arise) part with stakes and wedges, and by the force of the multitude straining against it, if perchance they could pull the bolts of the doors from their hinges, to try; part by the ladders, and where chance gave, to climb to the windows. So in a short time the house is filled with men and women of every condition, and the cause being known, all asked whence this evil was to me. To whom I: Alas! whence do you think, unless it is done for my crimes? Pity me, all of you, pity me, because the hand of the Lord is made upon me. My house therefore, not holding the multitude, when it was filled, a great crowd around the house, rolling various voices, moved nearly the whole town; to whom, as happens in a new matter, a short space being given, clerks of every order and nobles and illustrious men and very many others, besides the ignoble common folk, five hundred and more assembled as a rampart of my house.

[322] the neighbors run together. Forthwith therefore the priests, and the religious men who were present, compassionating me, wretched, sending forth tears abundantly, on bent knees suppliantly began to pray the Virgin Mary, and her beloved son Jesus, with hymns and psalms and other prayers intermixed, that they would pity me; the rest of the common folk too did the same according to each one's disposition: and so, long passing the night in prayer together with me, and beholding them wearied with sleep, thus tearfully I address them: May God, good, just, and pious, brothers, bring you worthy rewards, who, pitying me and mine, have borne so great a burden. Go, all of you, to your good place; these religious will be enough for the necessity of the matter, while I lay my head a little: for an hour is given to rest: for these will alternately pray Jesus continually. Thence all departed. While therefore I withdraw my wearied eyes from labor, the religious who were present prayed Jesus and his mother the Virgin Mary: for now the dawn had brought forth the kindly day, when still the demon, neither conquered by prayers, nor wearied by the prayers of the religious, had not withdrawn elsewhere.

[323] The daughter consoles her sad father I therefore, thinking myself utterly destitute of divine help, more fluctuating with the tide of cares, and dividing my mind, now hither swift, now thither, drew it into various parts, and turned it through all things, when God, looking down from on high, willed thus to succor me, revolving wretched and iniquitous things in my mind, through Mary his most merciful mother: for he directed to me this daughter, dying with the greatest consternation of mind, her cheeks flooded with burning tears, and she addresses me with these words: My father, by these tears I beseech you, by whatever honor of your daughter touches your mind, one thing I pray, because I am the only hope of your daughters, because on you the whole house leans inclined, do not torture yourself, do not waste yourself, nor trouble your old age on my account: nay, what is the part of a brave and constant man, recall your spirit, and dismiss sad grief, and one day it will please to remember these things: through various chances, through so many perils of things we tend to the blessed life, where Jesus, as I have received, you preaching it, shows through his Evangelists the quiet seats; there it is lawful to rejoice perpetually with Jesus and his Mother forever.

[324] By these words of my daughter therefore, the strength of body and mind being a little recovered, I rested, thinking myself not utterly destitute, since I heard my daughter, still a girl, so exhorting me. and animates him; At last, giving thanks to all the religious, and promising that I would sometime show it in deed, provided life remained, I sent them away, content with this one monk alone, who is now present: for he was always present in my necessities and perils.

When they departed, I began to implore the Virgin Mary by praying with these words: Mother of mercy, mother of piety and grace, refuge of the desolate, harbor of the wretched, I commend to you myself and my whole family; at least in these perils, nowhere among peoples heard of, grant by your accustomed piety that our souls perish not: for we have to do not with mortals, but with the devil, to whom there are a thousand names, a thousand arts of harming, and with whom no hope is given not only of conquering, but not even of escaping.

[325] These things being said, I sadly awaited what end the matter would have, and again when suddenly the devil, striking this my daughter atrociously with thrice-redoubled blows on the cheeks, to me and to her mother (for she was then at home) grief was increased beyond what can be believed, and consternated by it we fell upon the ground; but my daughter, not able to bear such tortures any longer, fleeing to the picture of the Virgin Mary, which was seen at home on a certain panel, suppliantly with beaten breast and disheveled hair poured forth to her from the depth of her breast such a prayer: Whither I shall turn I know not, if you desert me, blessed Virgin; therefore by Jesus your son, do not cast me utterly away, I beseech; but if you do it, O most merciful of all, I vow myself wholly to you, about to serve your obsequies. A wonderful thing! for from that time it was done by the prayers of the Virgin Mary, that she feared nothing, dreaded nothing, rendered herself invincible and impassible in all tortures. From me, most beloved fathers, time would desert sooner than words, if I should wish to dwell in narrating all things which the devil did against this my daughter, or against us. Wherefore I will relate some more worthy of memory, because you receive them attentively.

[326] On the following night therefore, behold again the demon, hoping to find me unexpectedly wearied with sleep, and not expecting it, that he might vex my daughter, came after his manner. But I, who feigned sleep, understanding him coming, then rendered my daughter secure with the sign of the cross. He, bearing it most ill, drew the post of the bed toward himself with the highest force; I on the contrary to draw it back toward me, continually invoking the Virgin Mary, that she would bring help. So the greatest part of the night being consumed in a pitiable duel, the devil, conquered by the prayers of the Virgin Mary and raging, rushed into the lower part of the house; there to break many vessels, to open doors or little chests, to mingle all things with noise and tumult. What remained of the night therefore we all passed trembling. O good Jesus! this my daughter thereafter how often did he strike, beating her on the jaws and cheeks! and I together with her, by praying, we were both wearied.

[327] infested by the demon, Perhaps five times, we being present, he wished to afflict her outside the house with a cruel death: through the air, herself continually crying, Virgin Mary bring help, save me I beseech! he carried her out. O how pitiable and lamentable a spectacle it was to all the townsfolk, to see her carried suspended in the air, and us far wretched after her, invoking Jesus and the Virgin Mary, and hastening like madmen! I omit what the mother did in these misfortunes, how she filled all the streets and lanes with her complaints, invited mothers and daughters to weeping and groaning. But this I do not reckon should be kept silent, how, when the demon could not by any force thrust her, invoking the Virgin Mary, down the steps of the stairs, angered and inflamed, embracing her by the middle, and thus carrying her through the air, he said: Most evil one, now you will perish, and now I will give you as an example to all. Why, girl, virgin, do you yet so most sharply resist, as if you were a man? Believe me, neither your prayers nor the prayers of your people protect you. To whom she: Your threats do not deter me, O most evil of all demons; turn yourself into all faces, and gather whatever you avail either by your spirits or by hellish art, I make little of you and your threats, as I said, Jesus and the Virgin Mary bringing help.

[328] she strongly spurns his threats and blandishments. So while they disagreed with words between themselves, the demon, bearing it most ill that he was separated from the girl, carried her above a certain well, which was outside the house, that he might cast her down to the ground with the highest force. But she, trusting in the divine help, since she feared nothing, the demon determined to change his opinion, and her whom he had not conquered by threats and sharp blows, he undertook to conquer by cunning or by blandishments. Therefore he exhorted her with such words: Cast yourself down, my most friendly one; there is nothing which you should fear; but if you do it, hereafter be secure. I will not do it, said she, I will not do it. Do not flatter, O most evil of all. Thence to invoke the Virgin Mary frequently for her aid. Who, O good Jesus! would be of so dull a disposition, who of so impious and savage a mind, that he would not grow stiff and be shaken at the same time to see so great a cruelty of the demon against a girl, a virgin, and on the contrary to notice the audacity of the girl against him, and to behold so many men and women of every condition, who had flowed together thither, and continually flowed together, all suspended, and utterly intent upon the matter nowhere heard, nowhere seen; to see moreover the mother together with the girl's sisters, and the multitude of matrons, kinswomen and relatives, all with loosened hair to foul their faces with their nails, and to beat their breasts with their fists, so that the roofs roared with lamentations and groaning and womanly howling, and the air resounded with great wailings?

[329] First the plaintive voices of the mother drove all the mortals who were present to groaning: For rushing through the midst like a mad woman with disheveled hair, the mother cried out saying: Do I behold you, this my daughter, whom, wretched, I conceived such, and nourished to this day, that I should see you cruelly afflicted and tortured before these eyes, not by mortals, but by a demon? O wretched me! What have I so deserved, or what crime have I committed, that I should see my daughter a mockery to a demon, so foully, so basely? Alas, demon, who have determined to pursue my daughter by no right, torture me rather, torment me! if you have any piety, cast upon me all the evils you can; or you, good Jesus, Father of the gods, pity a mind bearing things not deserved, and thrust down this hated head under the depths with your weapon, since otherwise I cannot break off my cruel life.

[330] Thence returning a little to a sound mind, turning herself to the people, she said: O you, she bewails the lot of her daughter, especially mothers, hear, if any grace of me, unhappy, remains in pious minds, or the care of my daughter, placed in so great and such peril, gnaws you, on bent knees together with me invoke Jesus, and his most merciful mother Mary, if perchance by her accustomed piety she may bring help, I pray. Which presently all did. O good Jesus! on the spot the daughter, rushing to her mother, with cheerful and joyous face thus consoles her, half-alive: My mother, drive off fear, cease to weep; here I am, your daughter; fear nothing the mockeries of the demon, I pray. Perhaps you think me tortured and afflicted with torments? By no means, my mother; nay I am affected with a sweet and inexpressible sweetness. For always the Virgin Mary, the refuge of the desolate, is present, exhorts, helps: she admonishes that I persevere: Thus, she says, daughter, one goes to the stars. Therefore, you my mother, and all of you, spare fear, put a measure to grief, and give thanks to Christ Jesus, and to the Virgin Mary his mother always, if more and greater evils still remain for us.

[331] These words of my daughter therefore were not only a pleasure, but also an admiration to all. who is again vexed by the demon, At last each with suspended mind withdrew to his home. We scarcely joyfully entered within, we always awaited some new evil from the demon. Indeed while she narrated these things to us with tears arising in their order, as I said, all pitied her, so that she moved tears in certain ones. Thence that which still remains, if it is not troublesome, I will discourse in a few words. To whom all: Say on: for nothing more welcome can be done in the present time, and we are at leisure. For while, as a little before I related, we bore suspended minds in the doubtful matter, behold unexpectedly the demon, more atrociously than usual assailing first my daughter, then me, tortured our feet and whole body with biting, no otherwise than the servants of the guard with fiery pincers torture the naked body of a condemned man in various parts, he raising horrible cries to the stars: for now my leg, at times my knee, sometimes my breast, occasionally my cheeks he cruelly dragged either with teeth or nails (for we could see nothing).

[332] Who when in these difficulties I knew not what to do, Jesus regarding it, I fled to the accustomed sole protection of the Virgin Mary, that she should promise she would not become a nun, whose Office when I devoutly performed before her image, the demon, bearing it most ill, snatched the book by force from my hands, extinguished the lamps and kindled tapers, overturned all the little chests, and the furniture, and the vessels, tore them, broke them; and, not to be tedious to your Paternities with many words, brought me so much detriment in movable things, that I expended more than a hundred gold pieces in restoring and recovering them. When therefore the grave wrath of the devil, and his insatiable breast, compelled me to descend to all prayers, because neither a long day nor any piety would soften him, at last not able to bear him any longer, I burst forth into these words with a heavy breast: Ha! why have you determined to pursue me alone in a great town? From me and from my daughter, I pray, what do you want; or what do you seek? If you ask a just thing, and it be in our matter and power, it shall be done; only say what you want. I want nothing else, said he, but this your daughter. To whom I: Since she is a creature of God, I neither will nor can deliver her to you. I have enough, said he, if she does not become a nun.

[333] which promise he refuses to make; I therefore, the matter being known, blind in mind from too great sadness of heart, calling my daughter aside, say: My most sweet daughter, as you have beheld with your own eyes, I have left nothing unattempted for your sake of those things which I, unhappy, could do. I who turned myself to all things, am conquered by the devil. But if my prayers are not great enough, I would not doubt to implore whatever is anywhere. The demon does not wish you to become a nun. We must assent, if at least for this cause, most important to him, he would cease to pursue us, if perchance he would spare, if he would give an end to these evils. For this was to you not a vow, but a devotion; not a complete obligation, but a certain good will; therefore remove this will from yourself utterly, I pray, and be willing that rest be given to you, and at last to us. To this my daughter: If it were not fixed and immovable in my mind, that I would not wish to join myself to anyone by the marriage bond, and if the Virgin Mary did not enter the fight with the devil for me, to this one fault perhaps I could have succumbed: but I would wish either the deepest earth first to gape open for me, or

the almighty Father drive me by his thunderbolt to the shades, the pallid shades of Erebus, and the deep night, before I should violate my modesty, or desert you, Christ Jesus; you who first took from me the vain loves of the world, preserve me, and free me, I pray and beseech.

[334] Thus having spoken, rushing to the image of the Virgin Mary the mother, wherefore the demon tears her garments, she filled her bosom with tears arising. Inflamed by these things, that seducer of men was present, and, because the discords, feuds, and wraths which he had suggested had little proceeded, as once against Job, a most just man, so also against my daughter he began to rage: for first the linen garment with which the flesh is covered, then the woolen; at last that which was woven over with silks, as marriageable girls are wont to wear, he broke into little pieces, tore, dissipated, consumed; and leaving her nearly naked, he began to pull out the hair of her head by force. The daughter cries out: My father, bring a tunic, cover me naked, and you most sweet Virgin Mary bring help, save me I beseech! I, in so great peril, when I was scarcely with myself, and wished for death rather than life, yet forthwith ordered a tunic to be brought, then a neighboring barber to be summoned at a run. When he came, he clipped and shaved the yellow hairs of her head, as even now is seen.

[335] These things being diligently completed, I gave myself with tears to prayer: Jesus, said I, almighty, regard us only in this peril, and, if by piety we deserve it, give thereafter help; but if not, kill us all together; we pray, that you give at last an end to such labors: for, fathers, what counsel, or what fortune was now given me? for the better it was done by me or by others, the crueler the devil raged against us wretched ones. On the contrary my daughter to console, exhort, pray, that I should not be so angry. Hence indeed, venerable fathers, I gave no small thanks to the Lord Jesus, and to the Virgin Mary his mother, who had given me, placed in so many and so great perils, such a daughter, in whom I had one to whom I might flee, where I might rest, in whose speech and sweetness I might lay aside all cares and grief. I marveled besides exceedingly at her incredible virtue and fortitude, and that she was wearied neither by labors of mind nor of body. Wretched me! I even bore and bear it most ill, that she, endowed with such virtue, faith, humanity, probity, had fallen into such tortures on account of my crimes.

[336] At last, to me, who now changed immense cares hither, now thither in my breast, [Placed among nuns on account of the demon's fierceness she is compelled to return.] friends counseled that I should deliver my daughter to a monastery of nuns. I did it, thinking that Jesus for this would sometime give an end to these evils. But far otherwise than I had reckoned the matter turned out. For the devil, because I had not kept my promises, greatly raging, made frequent and hostile assaults, though invisible, against the nuns, both attacked them with atrocious threats and hostile scourges, and plundered most impiously whatever was given for the use of the poor life, and left all sacred things violated, uttered hellish voices while they performed the divine Offices; at last did all the evils which could be said or feigned; by which the nuns, terrified, trembled, and trusted neither the place nor one another enough, especially at night; and sometimes were so consternated in mind, that they scarcely recovered their spirits from so great dread: for among other things, as they were wont to relate, they were often struck with fists or slaps. Compelled therefore by these things, they cried out together to the Virgin Mary, that she should not desert them. At last certain of the nuns, who were of sounder mind, lest they should fall into a worse peril, because prayers were made to Jesus for her in vain, judged that my daughter must be sent back to me as soon as possible; which, I however bearing it ill, was done.

[337] Then the same demon, who for nearly five months had brought us to the last extremities, entering into her, Then possessed by the demon to rage, to run, to be insane, to fly through the whole house, to attack us all in hostile fashion; I, and my wife, all my daughters, since the other helps were lacking to us, to cry out. By which cries the neighbors, terrified, again flying together to us, seizing my daughter by fraud and force, and binding her hands behind her back, held her unwilling, emitting foam from rage. Notice, I pray, fathers, what heart, what spirit, what mind was then to me. Then indeed I would have slain myself, had not the friends who were present prevented it. What should I, wretched, do, whither should I turn myself, whither flee, whom implore? O how wretched, how tearful, to behold her mother, and moreover her sisters, with disheveled hair, torn breasts, their faces fouled with fists?

[338] the mother At last the mother, when she could no longer bear such grief, burst forth into these words: O Jesus almighty, have you reckoned me worthy of so great a crime, and willed me to pay such penalties? Shall I never rest? Shall I always be engaged in these evils? But you, O Father, I pray, kill me with your thunderbolt, or permit that I may not see the daughters whom I bore so sharply, so iniquitously tortured by a demon. Thence turning her eyes upon this daughter, she brought forth these words with much groaning: Alas my daughter! alas my light, and my desire! whence we all were wont to take joy and gladness, you now, my daughter, we behold so vexed, so lying in tears and filth! and that this is done by our fault. Wretched me! such do I see you with these eyes, my daughter! O ruined me! O afflicted! Whom now shall I ask for you, my daughter, since the higher and lower powers are adverse to us.

[339] and moves the neighbors to commiseration. These things being said, she breaks off her speech in the middle, and, sick, fleeing the open air, and casting herself upon the pavement, began to beat the earth with her head; whom, worn out both in body and in mind, the maidservants received, and carry her collapsed limbs to the marble chamber, and lay them on the couches. Thence the other daughters, and the women who were present, because the demon was more atrocious, and the daughter raved more, filled the sad house with cries. Everywhere therefore through all the streets people run together to such a spectacle, whose crimes, all of them, the devil through the girl's mouth spoke, reproached; at last, since he spared no one, and left no one untouched, all forthwith, with suspended mind, and confounded with paleness and shame, departed; and forthwith the fame of this matter flies together to the magistrate of the town: turned into astonishment at the unheard-of thing, he appointed an hour, at which with the highest honor, many accompanying, he might see my daughter. He came at last: he would have wished not to have come: for many revilings against the magistrate and against his companions the devil brought forth, which I now think must be passed over.

[340] At Florence, the aid of the Saints being implored in vain, Then certain good men counseled that she must be led to Florence to the relics of the Saints. It pleased. All things therefore being prepared according to their will, we undertake the journey in the name of Christ Jesus, certain ones accompanying, whom I had profited and often profit. We came to Florence, we tried all things, and, devoutly visiting the Relics of the Saints of that same city, we profited nothing. To me therefore, anxious and consternated in mind, and thinking that Jesus utterly would not bring us help, certain of my kinsfolk and Florentine friends say: Do you wish your daughter to be saved? I wish it, said I, I desire, and greatly wish it. Then do not delay, they say, to lead her as soon as possible to the monastery of St. Mary of Vallombrosa, although deformed winter gnashes. We have received, we have seen, we have experienced, that no one has sought the help of St. John in vain, provided anyone demand it with his whole heart and a good mind. I, who reckoned all things harsh and arduous, light and sweet (provided my daughter were freed), determined to perform whatever they had said.

[341] Going therefore first to your Abbot, we greeted him, who treated us liberally and honorably. at last brought to the monastery of Vallombrosa, Thence, pitying our case, he said: Go to your good place, and let none of you doubt or waver: for I hope that the Lord Jesus by the prayers of the Virgin Mary and of St. John will give you as much of gladness as of grief you have taken from her. Our spirit raised by these words, we undertook the journey in the name of Jesus. Where the way was, and especially by the bridge of the Savio, many mortals, impelled by the new and unheard-of thing, ran together to us, even stiff with cold, from the towns, from the villas. It was worth the trouble to see the beast willing to make its way only by the prayers and conjurations of this priest who is present, the devil striving against it. At last, certain days being consumed, we came hither with this hope, that by your prayers salvation might come to this wretched girl. These things, he himself narrating at the fire, and the others who were present with him asserting that it was so, we received.

[342] But now those things which we beheld here with our own eyes, by the arm of St. John, we shall strive to narrate. When therefore they first came to these our regions, the beast was so halted by the demon, that those who were present, beating it with cudgels and staves, believed it could not go one pace further: moreover when they had taken her down from the beast, many of our people could not carry her lifted from the ground. Which being known there within, one of the monks, going thither with the cross of St. John, at last, himself continually conjuring, they carried her lifted to the sepulcher of the Saints; in which place many conjurations and many prayers being consumed in vain (for the demon gave no answer to the one questioning) the monks go inside sad; but they withdrew to the house of the guests. But on the morrow, Masses being celebrated according to custom, when the monks with the arm of St. John devoutly went outside the monastery, the demon, not bearing the virtue of St. John, the monks singing and psalming, betaking himself into a corner of the chapel where the girl was, always brought forth plaintive voices, as certain ones heard.

[343] The arm therefore being placed above the girl's head, she gave no sign, and the prayers of the monks, because the demon was away, except of a sound mind. Thereupon all rejoiced, with one mouth all extolled St. John to the stars; and especially the father wept for joy. Thence we go inside, they joyful sought the lodging. But at noon, when the girl, because she could not rest the past night, had given herself a little to sleep, forthwith the maddened demon was present to her. The girl cries out: for he wished to suffocate her. The father runs up, the rest too run up, and sad carry her from the little bed to the fire. Forthwith they take care to announce the whole matter inside. One of the priests is sent by the dean, to conjure the demon there at the house. He therefore conjures the demon; he commands that he go to his own place in the name of Jesus. On the contrary that one presses on. When therefore the priest understood that he profited nothing, he prays that they fear not; that they should believe the grace of Jesus by the prayers of the most holy John would shortly be present. Let all the rest again pray Jesus and the Virgin Mary, the refuge of the whole world, the dean commands; it is done suppliantly by all.

[344] But on the following day the demon in the same manner as above, she is freed from all the infestations of the demon. the arm of St. John not being awaited, we psalming in the order of the procession, unwilling and murmuring withdrew to his own place. Thence the girl being made truly unharmed, it was decreed

that, lest the demon again have power over her, she should confess her sins. Her therefore in confession concerning the precepts of our Father I heard, and diligently inspected her several acts; and, to omit the rest, which even after confession it is lawful to say, how devout, how humble, how leaning upon the Virgin Mary she always was! how many orations, how many prayers she poured forth in the name of Christ Jesus! how often, besides the fasts enjoined by the church, she fasted! so that it is a wonder the demon had the power to enter her, unless Jesus our Lord should chastise and rebuke those whom he loves. To prove her soundness they had this place a whole day, then also a half, after she recovered. Thence, giving thanks to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary and to holy John, we all rejoicing at so great and so sudden a good, joyful they returned to their fatherland. But the father, not ungrateful for so great a benefit, adorned the sacristy of this monastery with most beautiful wax tapers, which he had ordered to be made at Florence on purpose.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART II.

A demon a girl, Although by the incredible fame and sanctity of John, which grew frequent not only in the parts of Etruria, but even in Cisalpine Gaul, and nearly through all Italy, from every side, even from Transalpine Gaul, noble and ignoble men flow abundantly to this monastery of St. Mary for the sake of obtaining health, and especially those captured by a demon, and his miracles are most celebrated, yet I will write down certain ones more worthy of memory, among which that which I am now about to write is held illustrious and well known not only in the Florentine territory, but also in the city. From the town of St. Gaudentius there was a girl, who had not yet married anyone, whose name was Antonia, the niece of Dom Bartholomew, Abbot at Florence. This girl therefore such a demon had assailed, that she suffered herself to be led neither to this monastery of St. Mary, nor elsewhere, where the peril of his going out threatened: for as often as mention was made of Jesus or of the Virgin Mary or of St. John or of another Saint, as happens in conjuring, so often the demon raged against her, was furious, became crueler than usual; this he always did, because at the invocation of good ones, or at the approach of holy places, he gives crueler punishments than usual.

[346] By chance it happened that her brother Nicholas, Abbot of St. Mary of Fontana, arriving, gave both hope and counsel to her people hesitating: the possessed girl, for forthwith going to his weeping sister, the sign of the cross being first made against the devil, he said: Do not weep, I beseech, my sister; there is nothing which you should fear; only with your whole mind take care that you commend yourself continually to the Virgin Mary, and to St. John. The demon did not bear these voices: for presently to agitate her vehemently, to shake her, to cast her down to the ground, to lay her low; that Nicholas to exorcize the demon, to conjure; to leave nothing unattempted which he hoped would be useful to the girl. At last, resting by the piety of Jesus, they hasten to this monastery of St. Mary, that Dom Nicholas accompanying, the demon however striving with all his strength that it should not be done. On the contrary that Abbot Nicholas by continual prayers suffered nothing slack in himself, nor safe in the devil.

[347] But when it was come to these regions, he strives to deter her from the journey to Vallombrosa. the devil raged more against the girl, threatened her with present death, unless they went back, at last had nothing moderate; uttered unbecoming voices against Jesus and his Saints, and suffered the girl neither to rest, nor to make the journey begun. It is prayed therefore by all; the help of the Virgin Mary, and no idle one, is sought. For forthwith the wraths and threats of the demon fell. But when they were not far from the monastery, nearly two hundred paces, then the demon strove with all his strength, that the girl should not be led further; against whom the monk with the highest effort opposed himself, insisted with prayers, that the evil purpose of the devil should not be fulfilled in his sister; and the more fiercely the demon cried out, the more hostilely the monk and the rest inveighed against him; to try if by any way they could either drag or carry her lifted. Which when it proceeds otherwise than they had wished, and they could not effect what they had intended, he betook himself as soon as possible into the most crowded throng of converts and others, who, roused by these cries, had made a band. What are those cries? Who is that sudden running? said the Abbot: for he was present, we too were present and several religious. Alas, said that monk, my sister, my Father, is so most evilly tortured by the demon, that she now labors in the last extremity; and, what is more atrocious, the demon himself can be bent neither by prayers nor by force, that we may at least accomplish the journey begun to this point, and I beseech, that you pity us, my Father, by bringing help.

[348] Presently the Abbot orders the monks with the cross of St. John to be present; then to those who were present, the seculars and converts, he said: Be present you too; there is nothing which you should await; in these perils one must hasten without delay. When therefore thence the fiercest young men wished to remove her, the devil easily taught that human strength without the divine Godhead was vain against him: for he did nothing but noise and outcries after his manner. But when it was come thither with the cross of St. John, the strength of the demon, no conjuration yet being uttered, so fell, that the demon gave no voice any more, except where he withdrew to his own place, and from thence utterly in the face and countenance of the girl there was paleness, but all vital warmth was absent. She is carried therefore on high among the hands and faces of her parents even to the sepulcher of the Saints, and there gently slips to the ground, is laid low. Conjurations are made after the accustomed manner, the demon is questioned, she too is questioned; both are silent.

[349] he is compelled to go out of her. At last the priest, disgusted and wearied by the long silence, orders the girl to be removed thence, and indignant against the devil brought forth these things: Willing or unwilling, either you must withdraw elsewhere, or you must speak. Thence these go inside, but they to the place prepared for them outside: for within there is neither access for women, nor place, and, as we have received from our elders, there never was. But O good Jesus, behold a miracle! For while they carried the girl to the lodging, as everywhere among peoples in the Christian religion is done, the bell in the monastery rang the evening Angelic salutation of the Virgin Mary according to custom. At which sound when presently they set the girl down, that she might gently on bent knees, her fingers interlaced, devoutly pray the Virgin Mary, forthwith, inflicting no trouble on the girl, the devil departed to his evil place.

[350] But the same or another afterward returning, Faith indeed was added to the miracle by the words of a certain convert of ours, who, returning home, the day being now done and darkness arisen, narrated to several that he, still suffused with horror and trembling at home, had heard unusual wailings in the wood. It is wonderful how much faith was given to that convert announcing these things (because he was indeed a good man). All therefore, praising Jesus, and the Virgin Mary, and St. John, depart to their home. But not long after (whether the same or another devil entered her, is not sufficiently established to us) yet a far fiercer and far crueler one invaded her. Thereupon the whole family, turned into mourning, bore the chance most ill, cried out that they were utterly wretched and desolate. To these were added the continual complaints and wailings of the now decrepit mother: for by day, nor by night to rest: but these among others: My daughter, into this a long life and unhappy old age has drawn me, that I should see you tortured atrociously and iniquitously, not by a human disease, not by the troubles of wretched mortals, not at last by some fatal chance, but by a most evil and inclement devil! My daughter, I too am not free from this evil: for unless I had borne you, you would not be tortured so intolerably. Thence when she wished to rush into the embrace of her daughter, by the force of the devil the daughter herself, her hands swiftly turned against her, cast her down foully and pitiably consternated to the ground, and weeping arose from the whole crowd of women and a wailing of men, which afforded a horrible spectacle to all.

[351] the girl is led to the monastery of St. Salvius, The monk Nicholas consoles their sick minds; thence on the following day at broad daylight, all things being arranged, he determined to hasten to the monastery of St. Salvius, which is distant from the city of Florence one mile, because that monastery of St. Mary at that time on account of the deep and frozen snows he could reach not without the greatest peril to his sister. When therefore they came to the monastery of St. Salvius, where the venerable head of St. John was worthily and honorably held, there is made suddenly by this new thing a not small concourse thither of men of both sex and condition. At this the devil rejoiced, at this matter he was exceedingly glad: for he hoped, a multitude of men being gathered into one by admiration of him, easily to machinate some discord or evil: Indeed if I should recount those things which are clear and explored to me, which the devil said and did, stupendous, while they drew out delay at St. Salvius, that the girl might be made whole, time truly would desert me sooner than the matter: therefore I will write down certain more illustrious ones, sparingly however and moderately.

[352] Therefore on the first of December, on which they had departed from Florence, after many contumelies he speaks obscene things, because it was now the end of the day, they transferred the conjuration of the demon to another day. But when the matter was pressed most sharply against the demon by the monks both with conjurations and with prayers, of that number who insisted on the pious work he left few untouched; to call this one a glutton, that one lascivious, another a hypocrite. Besides, when the demon was pressed more than usual, to utter unbecoming words against Jesus and his Saints, and, not to detain the reader, to bring forth from his diabolical mouth all the reproaches which can be said and feigned, and moreover other things, which indeed would not be welcome, if I should insert them into this work, since perhaps they would be necessary for the sake of example, therefore are absent. These things when the monks bore ill, the abbot much more ill, reckoning it the best thing done for the time, if he should be conjured more secretly on account of the people. Thereupon withdrawing into the hidden part of the temple, that is into the sacristy, there,

no one of the crowd of the common folk being let in, to conjure more freely: the demon sometimes to cackle, at times to give of himself a mild disposition with all, to make a jest, to use speech modest, soft, or saucy, to handle the hands of the monks with a light touch, to address each one kindly, and to do many other things which are instruments of luxury and evil lust against the young monks; finally to try in all ways, if he could stain their minds, soft and sick with youth, to the nefarious touches and incestuous embraces of the girl.

[353] But when by this way he understands that he profits nothing: for it is difficult that all mortals, and especially monks, thoroughly instructed from their tender years with good and holy admonitions, be deceived by these cavillings and frauds of the devil. Thereupon he undertook another way, who has a thousand arts of harming: and acts, that he may corrupt the bystanders. for at once to lay open the most foul parts of the body, for shame! for he spared no turpitude which can be said or feigned, hoping, since he could not the bodies, at least to foul the minds by corrupt pleasure. But in these things I find that the abbot was no less great and prudent a religious than in the government of the monastery. Therefore fearing lest, if the devil should long use these soft and saucy words, the minds of the young monks, still unconquered, yet fluid by age, should be turned to some foul deed, he ordered all thence to hasten to the greater altar and the matter to be dealt with there, preferring in the peril of the matter that unbecoming things be heard by the people, than that the souls of the monks be endangered.

[354] While therefore on both sides it was contended with the greatest force, and hither and thither mortals of both sex and condition ran together thither, a great the devil left no one untouched, especially if anyone, enticed by the desire of hearing, clung nearer to the girl; to call this one wicked, that one a thief, another an adulterer, that one a glutton, to lay open their shameful crimes in the open after his manner. Thereupon many, conquered by shame, reckoning their sins and crimes with themselves from an evil conscience, their countenance and face suffused with a blush, departed home with this mind, that they should return thither no more. By which things not only the Florentine territory, but the whole city was moved; whither frequent people easily ran to see so great a matter: for no one was believed so impure in mind, that, these things being heard or seen, he could not be somewhat bent to good; whereby now the tumult of men sustained itself not in the temple, but everywhere invaded the whole monastery.

[355] concourse of people, When therefore the miracle of this so great matter impelled even the chief men of the city to come and see, wherever they walked in going, from all the places of the city a concourse of the common folk was made after them, so that in many bands everywhere through all the ways there is a running to St. Salvius; and by different routes too, lest tumultuous movements should arise from the multitude, some sought the city, some the monastery. There were however certain ones whom, because they had been deservedly chastised by the devil, a journey of this kind wearied and repented: for very many, who had not yet come to the sacred shrine, calling them by their proper names, he called usurers, schismatics, unfaithful, and reproved them, when they had come to him, both in the temple and outside sharply pursued them. But her uncle, the Abbot of the Holy Trinity, of whom above we made a word, reckoning true things for feigned, determined to try the matter: for forthwith going to the Reverend Father Abbot of Vallombrosa, Francis Altoviti, anxious at these new and unheard-of things, and agitating many things in his mind with himself, when first it was opportune, thus he began to address him familiarly through friendship begun from tender years.

[356] a certain abbot, his habit being changed, tries to deceive the demon, Reverend Father, since the report, asserting the prodigies and portents of this my niece, has filled the ears of all who are in the city and outside the city, which indeed are held by me for fictions (I reckon it is likewise with your Reverence), it has seemed not amiss, if, my garb being changed, I should dare to make a trial whether they be true or not. In what manner, said the abbot of Vallombrosa, will this trial be made? I will clothe myself with your cowl, and thither I will withdraw modestly and with eyes fixed on the ground, step by step. For I would reckon this the best way to deceiving, since both by habit and by the motion of my body and gestures I shall falsely simulate another than I am; which if he is a devil, he knows most excellently whither all these things tend; but if not, we shall easily judge that all these things are for ostentation. May God prosper our undertakings, said the other abbot; and so, the matter being arranged between them together, that one undertakes to try the matter. A wonderful thing! for he had not yet, clad in that cowl, come to the doors of the church, when the demon with a clear voice said to those present: Give way, give way; behold a certain good man, in face indeed and habit he appears religious, but in manners it is easily proved to be otherwise; behold, one who comes of his own accord to mock and tempt us.

[357] but recognized by him, is afflicted with revilings. Scarcely had the devil uttered these things, and behold that abbot, sad, composed with a certain gravity and severity, his head bent down, to go through the church; whom the demon recognizing, and insulting him, said: Lay aside the habit, father, lay it aside: not yours is the cowl which you now bear. Hypocrite, why have you changed your appearance outside rather than your mind within? What; did you think you would have a matter to do with the girl, not with me? Now, as you have merited, you will be tortured by your own wiles, who wished not to know a most manifest matter, but to tempt it. At these things that Abbot, consternated in mind, burst into weeping: for by conscience, but more by the unhappy case of his niece he was moved; from thence led by penitence, commending his niece greatly to the abbot and the other monks, chastised by the words of the devil, and, what is more unbecoming, by the very deed, sad and weeping he departed to his monastery.

[358] But on a certain Sunday (which day is held festal and most celebrated everywhere among Christians) when many more than usual from the whole city and from every part of the territory flew to the monastery of St. Salvius, mortals of every condition and kind, Many again flowing together, and the devil raged against them more than usual, and, naming each one, at last told by what vice he had been encompassed, nearly the greater part of the men, distrusting themselves, and from conscience fearing the judgment of God, some withdrew elsewhere, few were in the temple. In this number were several chief men of the city, who then in the Florentine Republic seemed powerful and mighty enough, who, as nobility for the most part is wont, with loosed and free mouth detested, and reckoned for fictions what are most true, and in whatever way spurned and mocked them. These however, when they understood the tumult of men was away, betook themselves thither.

[359] Then the demon more strongly than usual to cry out: Give way, O monks, the demon reproaches their sins, go to meet these, treat these honorably, who to a nicety keep our institutes; when the demon, raging, added other curses to these, those citizens, fearing worse things, would not go forth of their own accord; but goaded by the stings of conscience, by another route, by which they had come, and by another gate, by which they had gone out of the city, returned into the city. But certain of these, a diligent confession of their crimes being made, hoping that they would be a care to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary, by the grace of contrition and confession, humble and confounded, content with one companion only, coming to the monastery of St. Salvius, with lowered eyes to pray for her; whom the demon, beholding with savage eyes, to be silent. To whom one of the monks: These are of the number of those, if you know it not, whom yesterday you pursued so long with contumelious words. These, said the demon, I remember neither to have torn with injuries, nor to have seen; whereby is demonstrated how much a true and humble confession avails; since these before, criminal and covered with crimes, the demon, sparing no reproaches and curses, so brought to it, that indignant and furious they rushed home; but now, because through confession they had washed the foul deeds of their ill-led life, the demon, shuddering, destitute of his strength against them, confessed that he did not know them. That these same things happened elsewhere has been given to letters and to memory.

[360] Therefore many days being consumed in this pious work in vain (for the devil said with words that he would depart; but in the very deed became from day to day harsher and more intolerable) it seemed a sound counsel for the time, that she be led or dragged to the church of St. Mary of the Servites, if perchance by the prayers of the most blessed Virgin Mary matters might go prosperously. Departing therefore from the monastery, the devil striving with the highest effort, lest such a journey, very much contrary to him, be made, they hasten toward Florence, mortals of both sex running together hither and thither. A rumor flows through all the fields and the whole city, that that girl sought the city, whom they desired to see; that it was so, the voices and wailings of the hellish demon affirmed. Thereupon clerks, religious, illustrious men, noble and ignoble, rushed whither she went, so that now all filled the ways, nor was passage given to those meeting except with difficulty.

[361] famous for miracles, he deserts her when she is brought. At last, the devil unwilling, they enter that most ancient temple of St. Mary of the Servites; concerning which I would dare to say, that in the whole world there is not a sacred shrine, in which by the merits of that same Virgin Mary greater and more miracles and benefits conferred on mortals the Christians behold in waxen images. There are also iron bonds, and chains, and fetters, and manacles hung on the doors of the temple and on the walls, which all strike no small religion and horror into those entering; that temple too is wonderfully adorned with other rich spoils and trophies, both of kings and of princes; concerning which, because a little above we wrote more amply, I think enough said for the matter in the present time. To return whence I digressed, the crowd followed her; whatever of the Virgin Mary met the eyes in the temple or outside, whatever met the mind, to pray that that wretched girl be made whole. Nor were the prayers sent forth in vain: for, as always, the devil, not able to bear the virtue of the Virgin Mary, (they had not yet entered the temple) betook himself elsewhere for the time, no sign being given. That it was so, this especially was the sign: for, as we received from her brother, infected by the demon, she was always sad, pale, mournful, with eyes fixed on the ground, unless she were roused by diabolical force; but when she entered the temple of the Virgin Mary, she was forthwith made cheerful and joyful, beholding all with bright eyes: away, said she, praying that they be far off. Betaking herself to the altar of the Virgin Mary, wonderfully constructed of marble and gold and with immense columns, devoutly and suppliantly, her fingers interlaced, she made this prayer: I give thanks to you, most glorious ever Virgin Mary, by whose prayers I know myself whole and unharmed from so great and so diabolical a disease; and to you hereafter, refuge of the wretched, I give myself, praying and beseeching, that you make my soul and body free and secure from the hands of the devil.

[362] But thanks being given, a little after the demon returns into her, These things being said, the altar being kissed, she betook herself devoutly and exulting into the throng of her own. A cry

of men arising thence, each for himself vying to praise the Virgin Mary, to extol her virtues to heaven, and, as for the most part is wont to be done in such a matter by the common folk, one to another to say: That Virgin Mary is the leader of the journey of the heavens; the Virgin Mary the ruin of all the machinations of the devil; the Virgin Mary the refuge of all the shameful and criminal, provided they set out to her as suppliants. These and many other things concerning the Virgin Mary were then said; thence therefore all, struck with immense astonishment, some going one way, some another, departed; but the girl joyful with her own hastened to her fatherland. They were not yet two hundred paces from the city, when suddenly the same demon, they by no means hoping it, more atrociously than usual burst in, and laid her low, casting her down to the ground with this reproach: Why, most evil one, do you wish me and yourself to be afflicted with these intolerable tortures by seeking holy places? Let another iniquitous one dare such things thereafter, or another woman, unless I give a monument of you to all mortals. Then to shake her by moving her hither and thither, and to tear her by torturing her too cruelly.

[363] The wailing of her companions forthwith arises; several come together thither, both muleteers and grooms; moreover merchants of divers kinds, who is led back to the monastery of St. Salvius, who, led by gain or want, frequently come to the city with wares for sale, and inquire what this is: they to be silent, suffused with grief and horror. Counsel therefore failing these, now the brother Nicholas on the journey, the others wailing, giving frequent sighs, groaning, standing with fingers interlaced to gaze at heaven, now wandering to roam the way. At last to him, thinking many things with himself, the protection of the Virgin Mary, whom he now most greatly invoked, now with silent mind, now with free mouth, was not lacking. To seek St. Salvius again came to his breast. Thither therefore when they had come, they were both an admiration to the monks and a cause of mercy. For the fame of so great a miracle had filled not only the city, but the territory, namely that the girl had been freed by the merits of the Virgin Mary, in whom before the demon existing had given so much terror and admiration of himself. Wherefore all marveled what this was, yet always praised the Virgin Mary. So great devotion concerning the Virgin Mary is deservedly established always among all mortals: for, as at other times by true reasonings we have asserted, whatever of miracles and virtues in this life is done for mortals, must be reckoned to be done through the Virgin Mary, and that it is not ours to wish to conjecture the secrets or counsels of God; but we ought always to extol Jesus and the Virgin Mary, whatever lot shall have befallen mortals, and silent and mournful to await the outcomes of things.

[364] But, because now much of the day had proceeded, they transferred the conjuration to the following day. and by a certain Provost, But on the morrow, when the festal day of St. Thomas was everywhere celebrated, from the office of the clergy a certain Provost, a man of great age, in the early morning, many priests accompanying, whether led by mercy, or rather for the sake of trying, betook himself thither with certain Relics of divers Saints. When therefore he approached the altar, where the demon was afflicted with torments, the demon, beholding him first, full of fatness, with terrible eyes, thence jesting said: Behold, this one cares more for his face than for his disposition. To this; O reverend father, these Relics which you have brought, what do they want? Have you come that by these perchance you may terrify me, and cast me down hence? Ha how you are deceived, if you have taken up this province for yourself! therefore cease. Not I, said he, but the virtue of God by the merits of the Saints, whose Relics are here, will work in the handmaid of God.

[365] Thence when the demon one by one spoke other reproaches, the Relics of the Saints being brought, he is conjured: the Relics of the Saints are brought by the command of that Provost. He therefore insisted with the Relics of the Saints, that he should withdraw elsewhere; on the contrary the demon, although he was far tortured, by enduring to resist. On both sides for an hour it is contended with great force; but the Provost, after he sees the undertaking is in vain, and that the devil will not withdraw elsewhere, and that the minds both of the common folk and of the religious have now come not so much into admiration as into derision, determined to try more cunningly, if he were truly a demon: for presently, disgusted, bringing forth one and another of the Relics of the Saints, he said: I conjure you in the virtue of Jesus and of the Virgin Mary his mother, if you are a demon, as by your evil manners you confess yourself to be, that you open by name whose Relics these are; and showing one, he said: Give the name. Stephen's, said the demon. Then another: Lawrence's, the demon cried out. At last truly (for the titles of certain ones manifestly showed it to be so) all he named by their own name. By which those, struck with immense astonishment, seeking the city, everywhere spread abroad this wonderful matter.

[366] to which spectacle a great multitude of men gathers; By the fame of this so great a matter certain of the chief men of the city, impelled, as soon as possible took their way toward St. Salvius that day, with whom the duke of Cebalia is said to have been, who by chance at that time had hastened to Florence on public business; whom followed also all the rest of the crowd of every age and every order: for now not only the temple of St. Salvius, but everywhere all the ways are filled with mortals. But the coming of the renowned and of those who led their life not in obscurity, the demon after his manner always to foretell, to insult certain ones, to mock others. By these things therefore to give of himself no small admiration to all. Thereupon thither in throngs the people everywhere burst in. The chief men of the city therefore entering the temple, there was so great a tumult of men, that now there were more citizens at St. Salvius than at Florence. Encompassed therefore by the rest on right and left, and the crowd now giving way on every side, they scarcely came to the place where the demon was. Then a horrible spectacle was in the church, when all the crowd wished to be let in there by force.

[367] on account of whose frequency At this the demon exulted in his whole body; but the citizens together with the monks, carrying around savage eyes, to gaze; to threaten the crowd, unless it gave way; now individuals, now all to terrify with cry, assault, and all the other things which wrath loves to do. Those who were in the first rank hesitated a little, while one goes out, he looks around at another. At last very many of the citizens, reckoning his threats and terrors as nothing, a cry being raised, from every side out of the desire of seeing and hearing what was said by the devil, thither, where the demon was conjured, as if a band were made, burst in, but when the first resisted with all their force, and those who were behind, each for himself, thrust one another, or strove with all his strength to remove another from the place which he had first taken, the crowd of men filled the steps of the stairs and all the railings.

[368] In so great a crowd therefore neither would hands have been restrained, while one took care to conquer, thrust, pursue another in any way, quarrels arise, had not by the counsel of certain good monks the matter been dealt with in the sacristy, certain of the chief men being let in. Then two servants first to give quarrels between themselves, then to threaten with fists, because one was a hindrance to the other; at last, wrath boiling up, to take arms, and now with drawn swords they began to seek one another in hostile fashion; and they would indeed have done it, had not those who were present sustained the blows of the coming ones and cried out: O crime! O wickedness! what so dire a wrath compelled you, that you consider not where among peoples you are, nor what you do? Wretches, are you not in a sacred shrine? Is not here the sacred body of Christ confected! Are not here the Relics of the Saints present? Therefore abstain from arms, give your hands to peace.

[369] Meanwhile, when to these spectacles the faces of all were turned, and the minds with the eyes were given over thither, and the girl, it is wonderful how the devil rejoiced, exulted, nor contained himself for gladness. At last with difficulty they were quieted by the common folk, much more ill did the devil bear that he was removed thence. Him being removed, the common folk and people, who eager for new things had come thither, in a short time slip away; but the nobles and chief men of the city, a great part of the day being now spent, stiff and trembling on the journey conferring with themselves what beyond custom happened to the girl, returned into the city. But the Abbot of Vallombrosa, understanding how great peril threatened the Florentine people, because in throngs frequent mortals flew to see these things, quickly the abbot of St. Salvius being convened, and the other monks whom he reckoned fit, holds a council, what should be done concerning this girl.

[370] But when they felt various things, the Abbot said: a certain abbot advising it, The later the good is done which we await from heaven, the more it concerns me and you to fear. Wherefore I judge thus, that she be away for a time; and unless the harshness of winter delay it, that she be led on horseback to Vallombrosa; but if not elsewhere, or let her seek again her home. All approve and reckon salutary what Father the abbot had judged. Only the devil, because he now understood his own destruction threatened, both because he had not managed the matter to his liking at St. Salvius, felt otherwise. For he said: If for the time I shall have tended elsewhere, yet let her not think herself absolved, who has thrust me into so many tortures, while she hopes better. At these things tears arose to the girl. The religious and the kinsfolk console her, sick in mind and body, asserting that there would be no virtue at all to the devil, except by the divine nod.

[371] In the early morning therefore of the following day the devil, before held for a mockery, to the monastery of Vallombrosa, the beast and the other things which were necessary for the journey being prepared to their liking, understanding at last that he would be led to greater torments, that it should not in any way be done, striving against it, by prayers or threats tried to hinder it. The girl to mount the beast; but she was consternated to the ground with disheveled hair, tearfully to beat her breast with her hands, to give of herself a pitiable spectacle to those present by frequently rolling her body on the ground. Which nefarious work since the abbot and the rest knew most excellently to be of the demon, not of the girl, according to custom breaking the demon himself and his attempts by conjurations, and reducing to nothing his strength, which is proved to be none where the favor of Jesus is present, at last laid her upon the beast, two religious also being chosen from all the number, who, if the devil after his manner should hinder the journey, might be present with prayers and supplications; whom then the brother Nicholas, giving them immense thanks, hoping that he would be enough for both, the divine grace going before, sent away.

[372] But what labor in that most harsh journey they endured by the work of the devil, she is dragged with the greatest difficulty; what admiration through all the villas, hamlets, and towns, wherever they made their way, the devil gave of himself, could not easily be told: for, to omit the rest, I heard her brother Nicholas himself preaching that he could take no drink or food, unless prayers and conjurations were first made; so great a desire to be in that body, or rather to claim her soul for himself, had invaded the demon: for much more time and labor for one mile near the monastery the companions with certain of our familiars and little clients consumed in dragging her by force, as certain ones related, than they had before consumed in eighteen miles. At last coming to that monastery of St. Mary, the demon, prepared

to dissemble all things, feigned the girl to be such: suppliant, humble, and with eyes lowered to the ground; and he himself to be utterly silent, and permitted her, contrary to their manner, to fortify herself with the sign of the holy cross, to utter the Lord's Prayer and the salutation of the Virgin Mary with such and so great devotion, that she was both vehemently an admiration to our people, but to her own both a joy and an admiration alike.

[373] where, vexed by the demon, But, because it is difficult to impose upon those experienced in a matter, there were those who said that one ought not so easily to believe the cunning of demons, but that a trial must be made with the cross and the other Relics. All approve the same; by which, when it was come to the contest, how great cunning, and how great wiles are in the demon, easily was plain: for forthwith, using his own strength, thence he tried with all his strength to go elsewhere, and would have done enough, had not certain ones straying and gathered near the monastery seized the girl attempting flight. A band of young men therefore being made, they burst in upon her, and carry her bound by force to the appointed place on high. There when according to custom the matter was dealt with with the arm of St. John, the devil to contend most sharply; nowhere else had he given himself so atrocious, said the companions who were present. For to shake the girl by shaking her in a wonderful manner, to cry out, to rage, to speak revilings against the monks, to add curses against others, often redoubling them; to omit nothing unworthy, nothing unbecoming against Jesus and his Saints, but that he uttered it with his cursing mouth.

[374] and refreshed by the prediction of St. John appearing in sleep, On the contrary the monks, religious men, more sharply to press upon him; to be broken neither by the most intense colds, nor by the long labor; virtue to conquer all things. At last the demon, distrusting his own strength, that he would give place to God, often cried out. And so by the prayers of St. John the malign one was reduced to nothing, and made mute by indignation and wrath: thereupon it seemed useful to desist from the conjuration. Thence therefore the monks inside, these sought the accustomed lodging. On the night therefore of the nativity of the Lord Jesus, as she was wont to relate to us being present, to her resting such a vision there was: The most holy John at that hour at which truth arose from the earth, a not small globe of light going before, was present. When therefore the girl, suffused with horror at the unusual thing, delayed a little; and thence asked who he was: He said, I am he, to whom with your whole breast, your whole mind you commend your soul and body. Faith to the words both the monastic cowl, and the cross, with which he is painted, made: for she then bore it before her hands, as she said.

[375] at last she escapes whole, She therefore, brought into the greatest hope of recovering health, prayed him that he would restore soundness to her. To whom the most blessed John: For this cause especially I am sent by the Lord Jesus, since nowhere do you think yourself safe or unharmed, except in his virtue. To these things he added also the sign of the cross, thence with all pomp departed on high, she now freed from the devil. Hence suddenly joy arises, when all knew what had befallen her; which indeed, I know not by what grace, by what fate, was turned into mourning: for scarcely had she made an end of narrating, when forthwith, as is wont to happen in a sick body, the keenness of her eyes being contracted, fallen to the ground, gradually, the blood being driven back, warmth was extinguished in her together with her breath, so that certain ones called her lifeless. Thereupon her brother and other kinsfolk burst into tears; whom Benignus, a monk of this monastery, consoled with these words: Let tears and all fear be far off: for this is neither new, nor unheard of: I seeing it, it happened a thousand times to women captured by a demon. Then notice, I pray, what in the times of Jesus, as the Evangelists relate, befell that boy, whom the demon was wont to thrust into the water and into the fire, that he might destroy him. Did not, Jesus being present, whom all obey, the demon so atrocious departing unwilling, the boy lie stretched on the ground, as if dead, who, Jesus willing, forthwith rose? That the same will a little after be to this girl by the prayers of St. John, let no one doubt.

[376] By these things their spirits were a little raised; turning their eyes and faces often upon her, sad they passed the remaining part of the night sleepless, with the admiration and gladness of all, but at the hour at which the bells are rung for the Mass of the dawn, presently that girl, as if shaken from sleep, opening her eyes first, then gradually to move her limbs. She rose at last. These who were present, first suffused with horror, thence turned into gladness, praised God, extolled the Virgin Mary and St. John to the stars. At this spectacle very many monks of our religion were present both with mercy and at the novelty of the matter. I too was present, and these things, as is wont to be done in such a matter, muttering we conferred: Whence so great a force, or so great a power in the devil? What of iniquity, what of injustice has one virgin girl committed against God, that she has so merited of herself? Nor did it then occur to us, what Job, the most just of all in his time, endured in his body, in his sons, in all those things which he seemed to possess.

[377] But I return to the girl herself, who indeed, when the ability was given her, made such a prayer to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary, and extolling the utility of adversity, she gives thanks. as I had never before heard in a woman: at home, at Florence, here recounting the benefits which she had conferred on her, asserting that she had never been deserted by them in so great a peril, which to her, as it was, at first seemed. To this indeed that she had preferred to have suffered evils rather than the goods of the world: for by these her greater hope than before was placed in the faith and clemency of God: for to all desiring to hasten to the fatherland of eternal life she said nothing was more opportune than continual tribulations: for hence the love of God, the knowledge of self, a spirit immense for patience, the uprooting of lust and evil desires, which arise from insolence. When she said these things, turning her eyes kindly upon us, thence with lowered countenance she thus speaks: May Jesus, from whom many goods proceed, restore it to you, for so many and so great benefits conferred on me, in the fatherland of the Saints; and hold me commended, I pray, in your supplications and prayers. By these words therefore she shook tears from nearly all present. Thence the others, but especially the monk Nicholas, because they were liberally treated, giving thanks to all, depart to their home. There are those who say that on that night of the nativity of Christ Jesus, on which the demon withdrew to his evil place, various noises and horrible cries were heard in the monastery of St. Salvius, and the lamps of the church broken: to us however this is little ascertained.

ANNOTATIONS.

PART III.

A certain man made insane by love, From the town which is called Pieve di S. Stefano, we saw two half-foolish men, who had frequently and openly given themselves to a demon, hasten to this monastery of St. Mary, no small crowd of men accompanying; how they recovered their true mind and sound senses I will strive to narrate, if first I shall have clearly laid open how they came into that insanity. Concerning the first therefore we received thus from his companions. For when with a wonderful love he was dying for a certain virgin, and instantly asked that she be given to him in marriage, at last she was joined in matrimony to another, not a little hostile to him; whereby struck beyond good and honorable measure, to be insane, to rage, to cry out, through the hamlets and crossroads to call himself wretched, to commit his life and his soul to a demon; exploring the house of the girl and the young man; to seek an occasion, that he might kill them, and many other things which insane love loves to do, both to say and to do.

[379] after various means being applied, But they, when they understand that it had proceeded so far, that either they must depart, or that furious man must be cast into chains (for they knew that the doubtful peril could neither be guarded against, nor could one have a matter with the insane except with disgrace), prayed his kinsfolk and all his own to avoid the evil. Thereupon his parents held him bound and shut up at home for many days nearly with royal banquets, if perchance by these he might return to the way. By which he could neither be cured, nor his fury softened, but from day to day more and more to be agitated by insanity or an evil spirit; to invoke a demon for his aid, O wickedness! and to cry out, I will slay myself, unless you draw me out of here! at last to say or do nothing but of an insane head utterly. By these and other things the kinsfolk, exceedingly struck, since they understood not fully what to do, whither to turn themselves, whether he was insane, or captured by a demon, all things brought doubt. These hesitating, and agitating many things with themselves, it seemed useful, concerning this to try the grace of Jesus, of the Virgin Mary, and of St. John.

[380] he is led to Vallombrosa by his kinsfolk, Him therefore bound they order to come forth into the light, and before the faces of men, full of the spirit, gazing with savage and terrible eyes, to be dragged. And what? that the fierceness of mind which he had in his countenance, he never laid aside, except when health was recovered. Therefore on the morrow, matters being arranged to their liking, they setting out from the city, he raging and saucily crying out, the crowd of men, on this side and that, on right and left surrounding him, to marvel, and, where the way was, from the fields, villas, mortals of every sex to run together to him. At length with difficulty, wearied by the harsh journeys and the difficulty of things, they reached this monastery of St. Mary at nearly the twenty-second hour, on the third day on which they had departed from home. Liberally therefore treated by the monks, by conjurations and prayers they perceived that he labored not from a demoniacal disease, but from a certain insanity. Which indeed when the kinsfolk and the rest of the companions bore not constantly enough, as immodest, they uttered unbecoming words, asserting that they could no longer duly trust in God and the Saints.

[381] Which when it was announced to the abbot, moved by their ignorance and the immoderation of their tongue, who, raised into hope by the abbot, he took care to go to the lodging as soon as possible, another monk accompanying. There first to chastise them, that they were so weak and so light, that they could not even endure that, whence great hope, and even greater reward would come. Would not, if we should wish to be constant, all good things be to us from Jesus abundantly, everlasting riches, glory, honor? To this to exhort them kindly, to admonish that with a constant mind they should endure want, troubles, and all calamities, which many and various are engaged in the life and fortune of men; thence he counsels that they set out suppliantly and devoutly to St. Mary of the Servites at Florence; he said that there was nothing so arduous, and so incurable, which mortals did not obtain from Jesus by the prayers of the Virgin Mary, provided they sought it with a right heart; besides he affirmed that the Virgin Mary had always been of such gentleness and mercy, that no one ever asked help from her in vain. Which although you should agitate something else in your minds, he said, it would yet be necessary sometime to return into the way, and to direct your hearts to Jesus, and to invoke his Mother with your whole heart, that she may bring help to you and to this wretched one, as I said.

She is pious, she is merciful, the refuge of the desolate, the hope of the wretched, the safe harbor of those sailing through this stormy sea; and, not to detain you with many words, she it is who made peaceful and tranquil not only the things which are on earth, but which are in the heavens; and all our hopes are placed in her.

[382] After the men who were present received these things, although they felt not otherwise than the abbot had discoursed, and roused to utter a vow, they obtain a sound mind for the foolish man. yet most of them demanded that he propose by what way they ought to undertake this. I judge, said the abbot, that after the manner of others a vow be made for him: for the rich spoils of kings, and dukes, and other men, the waxen images, which offer and present themselves to the eyes of those entering that sacred shrine, what else do they show than vows bound to the Virgin Mary in various calamities, and most vehemently kindle the minds of the beholders to perform it, if any chance should be given? This same I say would be far useful for you to undertake, if you are wise, if you are truly men. But after he sees their minds eager to utter some vow, bidding farewell, he sent them away. They therefore on the next day in the early morning hastening, carrying these hopes and thoughts with them, entered the city of Florence. Thence going to the temple of the Virgin Mary, conspicuous to the Florentines meeting them, his insanity, and the novelty of his voices and ineptitudes, nowhere seen, made him so.

[383] To another, reduced to insanity on account of a withdrawn inheritance, A wonderful thing! on that day, on which these had hastened to Florence, behold another suddenly appeared to our people, who were then outside, who from the same town of Castellana, affected also with the same disease of an insane mind, sought this monastery of St. Mary in the hope of recovering a good mind. He struck no small grief and admiration into those meeting him, because he raved without example. To the abbot inquiring therefore whence this insanity was to him, his companions gave this answer. That in the division of his paternal inheritance he was deceived by fraud by his brothers, and despoiled of his goods by certain devices by them, and could recover them by no right, money and friendship hindering; whence first immense grief, then this insanity he conceived, he says: for sometimes his mind is so most vehemently occupied by insanity, that with a drawn sword he would have gravely and atrociously wounded certain ones, had they not, cautious, sought flight as soon as possible. To us therefore, anxious in these difficulties, and distrusting human things, there were those who counseled thus, that before another new evil arose, we should hasten hither. In that hope therefore and confidence we took up this arduous journey; we judge that St. John, as to the other wretched, so to us in these troubles will bring help.

[384] the kinsfolk, by the abbot, By these things Father the abbot with the others who were present, moved to piety, took care to treat them liberally in the lodging, as the others, and a little after betaking himself thither, refreshed with food and drink, raised them not a little by this little exhortation: To Jesus Christ, most beloved brothers, whatever chance shall have happened, we are deservedly bound to give thanks; wherefore recall your spirits; be of a strong and peaceful mind, and remember that all men, excellent in virtue and glorious in deeds, through various chances, through many perils of things, sought the heights: for by patiently enduring we seek not empty kingdoms, not fleeting riches, not power soon to perish, but the true fatherland, liberty, and eternal life, all which will be given by Jesus, if we endure.

[385] roused to confidence, But, because you have come hither, that he may recover here health and an entire mind, receive in a few words. It is our custom to conjure with prayers and Relics those who, captured by the devil, have ceased to be their own, and who also by devotion, or by benefits long ago received from St. John, in their adversities and other languors daily, as happens, have devoutly sought this monastery of St. Mary; but with the foolish nothing is done: for we think the relics of the Saints are polluted, if anyone, though excellent, if he be insane, has dared to touch and kiss them; wherefore, as to the others yesterday, so to you I counsel, to seek the city of Florence, and to go suppliantly with you to the temple of St. Mary of the Servites: for there is neither another place holier in these regions, and more famous for miracles; nor would any of the Saints bring aid, to whom the Virgin Mary would not bring help.

[386] All asserting with one mouth that this would be salutary and useful, they obtain a sound mind, and commending themselves suppliantly to our prayers, on the next day departing together with the rising of the sun, they withdrew to Florence. To them scarcely having entered the city others, who from the shrine sacred to the Virgin Mary were returning home, come to meet before the gate, and asking: Are matters safe enough? By no means, they say; for what is safe to a man, his true sense being lost? To whom they: To place hope in God, and faithfully to pray the Virgin Mary, is yours. And as this one a little before insane, now already with a good mind performs his office, so we judge it will fall out to this other by the prayers of the Virgin Mary. When thus on both sides the matter was dealt with with consoling words, there gather, at the miracle, as happens, of the new matter, the men who were present near the gate within and without. The matter therefore being known, each extol to heaven with words the most illustrious deeds of the Virgin Mary and of holy John, who had both worked and daily worked so many most celebrated and excellent prodigies; thence those of Pieve di S. Stefano, some hasten to the temple of the Virgin Mary, others home.

[387] These therefore, like those former ones, easily obtained from the Virgin Mary what they sought. Presently joyful, and giving thanks alike pay their vows. gifts being added to the temple, that they might join themselves to their companions, they hastened the journey. The first on purpose, delaying them, to go more slowly: therefore more easily they met together near the bridge of the Savio. There suddenly on both sides again joy arose; each for himself to praise, extol, magnify the Virgin Mary and holy John. Indeed the affairs of mortals stand thus; in prosperity even an evil man, having rejoiced, gives thanks to God, and praises his Saints. These therefore, when they wished to return home by another route than they had come, and also to pay the vows which they had uttered to holy John, lest they be a burden to themselves and to the rest, counsel being entered upon among themselves, from all the number they choose four especially active, and send them to us with commands and gifts. They therefore, when they came to that monastery of St. Mary, inform us, eager and awaiting the outcome of the matter, of what was done, how at once by the prayers of the Virgin Mary and of St. John that one returned to a good sense; how returning they met their own; how that other was unharmed; how he came to pay his vows. These things heard, we gave thanks to Jesus and to the Virgin Mary his mother, who by her accustomed piety deserts no one. On the next day, Masses being celebrated according to their vow, they hasten to their fatherland.

[388] But to me, magnificent Lawrence, reading many things, Epilogue of the Author to Lorenzo de' Medici. and hearing many, and seeing very many too, the illustrious deeds and prodigies which Jesus through the Virgin Mary and his Saints did by sea and land, it is established that these were accomplished not so much by the merits of the Saints as by the faith of mortals: for, as the sacred songs teach us, to one believing and demanding with a good heart nothing is impossible; nay any faithful one could easily obtain all things. These things by me at the close of these miracles have been briefly touched, that I may break through the infidelity, or, more rightly I shall say, the insolence of those who, as Crispus says, receive with an even mind the things which they think easy for them to do; but the things beyond these, they reckon as feigned for false. Farewell, magnanimous man, long happy, and regard us in your prosperous affairs.

ANNOTATIONS.

APPENDIX

On the translation of the Crucifix, which inclined its head to St. John Gualbert.

From the Ms. book of the Acts of the Congregation of Vallombrosa, marked on the outside with the letter N, from page 137 to 145.

John Gualbert, abbot, confessor, founder of the Vallombrosan Order, at Passignano in Etruria (St.)

FROM THE MSS.

The translation of the Crucifix In the preliminary Commentary number 19 I promised that I would here give the solemn translation of the miraculous Crucifix, submitted to us by Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, who before it thus prefaces: These things being premised (he had before treated of the matter and form of the crucified image, concerning which I in §2 of the preliminary Commentary), let us come to the account of the translation, which from the same book (namely which is here cited in the title) was made on the 25th day of November 1671, the author, as of the concession, so likewise of this translation, being the most Reverend Father Dom Theodore Baldini of Castiglione, a Florentine, who at that time was Abbot General of the Congregation of Vallombrosa. But the words, by which in the same book from page 137 to 145 this translation is related, are the following. Thus far are the words of the praised Dom Angelo, after which he adds those things which follow, taken from the Vallombrosan Acts.

[2] it is prepared, These things being completed, and full satisfaction of the parties being performed, the most Serene and most Reverend prince the Cardinal, our protector, not content to have expended a great sum of money for performing the solemnity, ordered moreover that at his own expense the whole cross be clothed with silver cloth, which they commonly call "lama"; but the garment after the manner of the Greeks, namely like a diaconal dalmatic, the aforesaid Dom Ferdinand Tacca fitted. On the morning of the 24th day of November, the day before the solemn translation was made, the Father General together with the said Dom architect Tacca, and some of our fathers betook himself to the church of San Miniato, and there clothed the cross, prostrate on the ground and placed upon another board, with that garment, and there left it thus fitted, to be carried at a more convenient time to the church of St. Nicholas beyond the Arno within Florence, whose rector had already been ordered by the most Serene and most Reverend prince the Cardinal protector, to receive the said image at the nod of our Father General, and to lend us a hand where necessity should demand. Meanwhile by the command of the most Serene grand Duke, and by the permission of the supreme senate of counselors, through the public criers of the city with most solemn pomp the feast of this solemn translation was proclaimed for the following day, the 25th, a respite being given for that same day even to the debtors of the ducal chamber. Beforehand also, notices being affixed to the doors of the churches and the other public places of the city

the people had been invited, and all noble men, letters being given to them that they would deign to take part in the procession of the translation, had also been invited.

[3] On the evening therefore of that same Tuesday the 24th, about the first hour of the night, which first was private, the gate to San Miniato being opened by the command of the most Serene one, the aforesaid most Reverend Father, some of our priests being taken with him, proceeded to the church of San Miniato, and thence, in the presence of the aforesaid most Illustrious Lord Ugoccione, took away the sacrosanct image thus clothed, and the aforesaid fathers carried it, with all greater veneration, some brethren of the society of St. Isidore of Piano di Ripoli going before with lighted wax torches and some cross-bowmen, whom they commonly call bombardiers, the same most Reverend one lending a hand, to the aforesaid church of St. Nicholas, whence on the morning of the following day the solemn translation of that image to our church of the Holy Trinity was to be made.

[4] While a private translation of this kind was made at a nocturnal time, and nocturnal. the Minor Fathers of St. Francis of the observance, of the convent of St. Francis on the mountain, going out from the convent with a solemn ringing of bells and genuflections, venerated the sacred image. But this too must not be passed over in silence, that although, out of a zeal for avoiding a concourse, the nocturnal time was most advisedly chosen for a private translation of this kind, it could nevertheless not come about but that the most devout people ran in throngs to the passing Christ from the nearer streets, and from the windows too, which they had illumined with lamps and lanterns, a most copious multitude both of men and of women venerated the sacred image. But alas how many tears, how many sighs burst forth from the hearts of the devout people! Any even hard and dire heart these most certain testimonies of a contrite heart of this kind could have dissolved into most fervent tears. Nay it was even heard, that very many monasteries of nuns, to whom the fame of a translation of this kind had come, climbed the highest peaks of the house, that thus even from afar they might from the depths of their hearts show to the heavenly bridegroom the obsequies of devotion.

[5] It pleases also here to consign to letters the most special favor which the most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Dom Francis Nerli, archbishop of Florence, Then all things are arranged, at the instance of the most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Dom Philip Soldani, bishop of Fiesole, and of the most Serene and most Reverend Prince the Cardinal our protector, auditor, and most deserving of our Congregation, imparted to us. For when it had been considered that it would tend to a signal ornament of the solemnity, if the abbots who took part in the procession should use a mitre, and this consideration had pleased the Cardinal protector, and the aforesaid bishop, auditor of his most Reverend Highness, he wrote about this matter to Rome to the aforesaid most Illustrious archbishop, who, inclined to his most efficacious instances, permitted the abbots about to take part in the aforesaid procession the use of the mitre; and the letters of this permission, given by the archbishop to the bishop, were brought to Florence on the same 24th day by the Genoese courier, and were at once shared by the most Illustrious bishop with our General, who received a message of this kind with the highest exultation of mind, and published it to all the Fathers.

[6] for the public When the sacrosanct image had been brought into the aforesaid church of St. Nicholas, it was placed upon a bier prepared there, and fitted in the manner of a portable bed, a most precious canopy being placed over it about the sides, and open in the front part, that the sacred cross, erected within, might be beheld by the people, while the following morning it was solemnly carried. But that whole night wax tapers burned around the image, for whose guarding also four priests of ours had been left there, with as many cross-bowmen. But now we have come to the solemn procession.

[7] translation, On the morning therefore of the 25th day, at the fifteenth hour, at which the procession had been appointed, the sky indeed being serene beyond hope, but most icy, the most Reverend Father General with some of the elder Fathers entered the aforesaid church of St. Nicholas, in which was the sacred deposit, and there ordered the sacred vestments for the abbots and ministers to be received, and brought into the church by the cross-bowmen, who at that time together with many Swiss soldiers guarded the doors of the church, lest the most frequent people, running thither, should rush in. It pleased also the most Serene Lord Cardinal protector, that this church, and also the church of the Holy Trinity (into which no one had access before the procession) be assisted by the most Illustrious Lords Francis Maria and Charles Ventura Del Nero, own brothers of the barons of Porciano, and familiars of his most Reverend Highness, men most noble indeed, and exceedingly most courteous. The most Illustrious Dom Francis Maria indeed stood by the church of St. Nicholas; but the most Illustrious Dom Charles Ventura the church of the Holy Trinity, to whom also in aid several Swiss soldiers had been assigned, as was said above of the church of St. Nicholas.

[8] which with a great company of Religious, At the same fifteenth hour the citadel of San Miniato with very many shots of cannon made applause to the new triumph of Christ the Redeemer; at which signal the whole city assembled at the church of St. Nicholas, whence the procession was to be begun. But we with the Cassinese Fathers, the Cistercian Fathers, and the Celestine Fathers were gathered in the church of St. Gregory at the piazza of the Mozzi. But of our own, both abbots and monks and converts, very many assembled from the neighboring monasteries, that the procession might be extended as far as could be. But we invited the aforesaid Cassinese monks and others, because they wear a cowl like ours: for we did not think the procession should be made in a livery and varied garb, judging that uniformity would please more and be more fitting.

[9] The signal of the procession therefore being given at the sixteenth hour, it was begun in this order. and illumined with much light First from the aforesaid church of St. Gregory, where the assembly had been made, departed the banner of the Holy Trinity, after which walked all the aforesaid monks with a lighted Venetian wax torch: in the middle of the way indeed they walked two by two; but on the right and on the left there accompanied them the servants of the noble men, likewise with a lighted wax torch. But the lighted torches both of the monks and of the said servants and of the other seculars were in number about two thousand.

[10] But the procession thus ordered from the said church of St. Gregory passed before the church of St. Nicholas; is instituted. but it proceeded by the street which they call the Fondaccio of St. Nicholas; and thence by the street of the Bardi it came to the Old Bridge and to the column and piazza of St. Felicita, where were twelve clerks of the said church with lighted wax torches, who by the command of the lady abbess of that monastery and church of St. Felicita, the sacred image being awaited, accompanied it even within our church. From the said place of St. Felicita by the street of the Guicciardini the procession came to the piazza and palace of the Pitti, the residence of the most Serene grand Duke and of the rest of the princes of the most Serene Medicean family, and thence to the church and monastery of the nuns of St. Peter Martyr, whence at last by the street of Maggio it came to the bridge and within the church of the Holy Trinity.

[11] But it must be noted, that immediately after the banner and before the monks walked the society of St. Isidore, Various monks, named above, which was composed of two hundred and thirty brethren all barefoot (as it is their custom to take part in processions) and each with a lighted wax torch; and they walked with such devotion and modesty, that they were an admiration, edification, and example to the whole Florentine people. After the cowled monks walking two by two in the order described above, walked in throngs very many noble men with lighted wax torches. These were followed by thirty-seven Fathers two by two, clad in vestments of white color, who walked in this order. First eight Vallombrosan Fathers, Chamberlains, Lectors, Masters, and Priors with dalmatics and lighted wax torches; there followed other eight Fathers of ours, titular Abbots and titular Priors with chasubles and wax torches likewise lighted, below all whom, and at their sides, walked several noble men with lighted wax torches.

[12] There succeeded then twelve abbots with cope and mitre, and abbots ten indeed Vallombrosan, that is Father Dom Cherubino Orelli, titular abbot; Father Dom Peter Meliorotto, titular Abbot, and hermit of the Cellae of Vallombrosa; Father Dom Victorius Lapini, Abbot of St. Christina; Father Dom Theophilus Coppa, Abbot of Susinana; Father Dom Maximus de Castro, abbot of St. Reparata of Marradi; Father Dom Felix Floravanti, Abbot of the abbey of Pistoia; Father Dom Alamannus Borghi, Abbot of St. Pancras of Florence; Father Dom Alexius Meliori, Abbot of the Holy Trinity of Florence; Father Dom Placid Jori, Abbot of Passignano; Father Dom Camillus della Torre, Abbot of Vallombrosa: the last two were the Father Abbot of the Celestines, and Father Dom Anselm Campioni, Abbot of the Florentine abbey of the Cassinese Fathers. The Abbot of the Cistercians did not take part. Last at length there followed the most Reverend Father Dom Theodore Baldini, our Abbot General, in the middle between two Fathers, prefects of the ceremonies, clad in a surplice over the cowl, and he was clothed with a mitre and a cope made of silver cloth. But the aforesaid abbots and General did not carry the wax torches in their hands, like the rest of the fathers, but these were borne by the pages of the most Serene grand Duke, whom they commonly call "pagi," who stood on this side and that around the Abbots.

[13] precede the Crucifix, There followed then the bier or machine, upon which within a canopy of white color the sacred image was placed; but it was carried by eight of our priests clad in a dalmatic of white color: which when it was brought forth from the church of St. Nicholas, was saluted with very many shots of firearms; but then the banner had already come to the church of the Holy Trinity; it was received also under the baldachin of the Metropolitan church, whose poles eight noble men carried, whom by alternating turns for some little space of the way eight other noble men succeeded, even to the slope of the bridge of the Holy Trinity near the church, whence even within the church eight senators carried the baldachin; but all the noble men who showed this obsequy of piety were in number one hundred and sixty, the aforesaid senators not counted.

[14] which surrounded by musicians The sacred image was surrounded by seventy musicians of the chapel of that same Metropolitan church, and pipers, who by turns with the musicians at the going out of the church of St. Nicholas and along the way sang to Jesus Christ triumphing. Eight other pipers likewise, sitting on horses, preceded the whole procession, playing on trumpets alternately along the whole way, and with sweet-sounding melodies rousing the people to gladness and devotion. The sacred image carried in this manner was followed by the most Illustrious Dom the knight De Ugoccioni, provost, and the magistracy of the guild of merchants. But then there followed an innumerable multitude of people and nobles, which filled all the streets of the procession, which were also the more beautiful for the variety of tapestries of immense price, with which both the windows and the outer walls of the houses were adorned.

[15] with great devotion of the people, It walked with a most slow step, both because the majesty of the matter so required, and because the heavy weight of the machine made the Fathers who carried it stop again and again; for which cause also the desire of the peoples was satisfied,

since in this manner they could behold and venerate the sacred image at their pleasure. But when it was come before the palace of the most Serene grand Duke, a somewhat longer pause was made, that a place might be given to the most Serene Highnesses of our princes, kneeling at the walls of the palace, adorned with most precious red silks, of venerating and beholding the most holy Crucifix, the pipers meanwhile and the singers chanting sacred and sweet-sounding melodies. But when we came to the column of St. Felix, on the piazza a pause was likewise made for a while, that those sacred virgins of the monastery of St. Peter Martyr, kneeling within the gate of the monastery, might conveniently behold and adore the heavenly Bridegroom triumphing.

[16] At last by the street of Maggio it was come to our church of the Holy Trinity, and it is received everywhere with solemnity. and while the image descended the slope of the bridge, it was saluted with almost innumerable shots of firearms, and before the church with the sweetest chants of the pipers and musicians. But the bells of our church were rung ever from the approach of the banner, as also the bells of the other churches, before which the most holy Crucifix passed. But when the bier was fixed in the vestibule of the church, and when it was brought into the church under the sound of the organs, it is incredible how frequent and how fervent were the sighs and tears and prayerful voices both of the monks and of the rest, which for the immense affection of a contrite heart, and for the highest gladness of a treasure found, were poured forth.

[17] The frontispiece of the church, although, as one that is constructed in the Corinthian work, the frontispiece of the church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise most elegant, appeared more elegant and more beautiful for three great painted panels, worked in chiaroscuro, hung there, which represented three historical events of our holy institutor John Gualbert: for above the greater and middle door of the church hung a painted panel, somewhat greater than the other two, by the author Dom Palloni, an exceedingly elegant painter, which showed the sacred cross, inclining itself wholly and its head to our holy Father John Gualbert, clad in military garb, beneath which panel in another certain hanging panel of oval figure was seen the following inscription, which together with the other two, as a token of a mind favorable toward our Congregation, the most Illustrious and most Reverend Lord Dom Opizio Pallavicini, a Genoese patrician and Archbishop of Ephesus, and Apostolic Nuncio with the most Serene grand Duke, and a man in all knowledge and various erudition indeed most illustrious and most practiced, had composed.

THE CROSS, THE CHAIR OF THE HEAVENLY MASTER,

FROM WHICH AGAIN HE TAUGHT TO LOVE ENEMIES,

WHICH BEING BORN, LIVING, DYING, HE HAD ACCOMPLISHED,

THE CONGREGATION OF VALLOMBROSA,

BUILT UPON THIS CORNERSTONE,

COSIMO III, THE BEST PRINCE, FAVORING IT,

RECEIVES WITH FESTIVE POMP AND FAVORABLE OMEN,

HAVING AUGURED PERPETUAL FIRMNESS

JOINED TO ITS OWN FOUNDATION.

[18] The other two painted panels, which were by the hand of Dom Cesare Dandini, With inscriptions and paintings hung in equal proportion above the right and left doors of the church, of which that which hung above the right door, to the left of those entering, in which some deeds of St. John Gualbert showed St. John giving pardon to his enemy, with the following inscription of the same author placed in a like oval figure.

A NEW EXEMPLAR OF FORTITUDE,

JOHN GUALBERT,

REFUSING THE VICTORY BY WHICH HE MIGHT CONQUER AN UNARMED FOE,

ASSAILS AN ENEMY EQUAL TO HIMSELF,

NAMELY HIMSELF:

CONSTANTLY HE CONQUERS BY SPARING THE SUPPLIANT,

PREPARING FOR HIMSELF TWIN TRIUMPHS,

IN THE PARDON GIVEN TO THE ENEMY,

IN THE VICTORY OVER HIMSELF.

[19] The left door of the church, which is to the right of those entering, a like painted panel adorned, which showed St. John, was adorned, with his own hands before the altar clipping his hair, and taking up the monastic garb, which the Abbot of the monastery through fear of his father had denied him. But at the foot of this painted panel in another oval figure hung the following inscription of the same most Illustrious and most learned, were elegantly explained. and never sufficiently praised author.

HIM WHOM THE VICTORY OVER HIMSELF HAD MADE GREATER THAN HIMSELF,

THAT HE MIGHT TRULY BE RENDERED GREAT,

A HUMBLE GARB COVERS,

UNDER WHOSE SHADOW LYING HIDDEN

THE CONQUEROR OF HIMSELF IS CONQUERED BY HUMILITY.

ADMIRE THEREFORE GUALBERT,

WHILE HE SPARES, CONQUERS, IS CONQUERED,

EQUALLY GREATEST.

[20] In the spaces between these painted panels, and the rest, the whole face of the temple was covered with various and most beautiful hangings: into which the bier being brought and led to the steps of the presbytery, The image being placed in the temple, thence by several of our prelates the most holy cross was lifted, which at last by the work of Dom Ferdinand Tacca, the excellent architect aforenamed, was raised on the inner part of the choir, and placed within a tabernacle gilded and most elegantly worked by Dom Charles Poccetti, a chaser, and fitted and immovably fixed above the epistyles of the greatest altar; which indeed brings no small beauty to the said altar, and to the whole church.

[21] The cross therefore being established and fitted in such a manner, that its venerable face alone uncovered, and covered with most clear crystal, could well be beheld by the people, who desired nothing so anxiously, the solemnities of the Masses were begun by two choirs of most exquisite musicians, which, the deacon and subdeacon and minister and clerks serving, Father Abbot Dom Peter Meliorotto, hermit of the Cellae of Vallombrosa, celebrated, upon whom, as a man of exceeding goodness, at the same time as upon the most holy cross, the most devout gazes of the peoples were directed. But the Mass was of the Passion of the Lord, and with the use of the mitre. But it ended at the twentieth hour of the day always with most elegant music, which likewise in the same manner was that same day at Vespers, and at Mass, and Vespers of the two following days, namely the 26th and 27th; on which likewise the same Mass by the same Abbot hermit and in the same manner was sung; but at a more suitable hour than on that first day, on which the function of the solemn Masses could not be ended earlier, because in that most solemn procession much time was spent.

[22] The whole church was covered with black and white hangings, and in the temple beautifully adorned which most elegant apparatus, and most befitting the matter which was being done, turned out of most beautiful aspect. The greatest altar, upon which the most holy Crucifix was placed, was fitted with a most sumptuous ornament, and enriched with a most numerous furniture of silver candelabra; upon which also, as likewise around the church, three hundred and thirty candles of immense weight for the three said days continuously from early morning even to the middle hour of the night without intermission burned.

[23] It had been appointed that on all these three days a sermon concerning our holy Father John Gualbert should be held to the people by most learned men; sermons. but since it had been most advisedly noticed that the first day of the solemnity would be hindered by the longer delay of the procession, as the event of the matter proved, a sermon was decreed only for the remaining two days; of which the first indeed, namely on the 26th day, in the morning before the solemn Mass, a learned panegyric of polished style Father de Paulicellis, a Theatine clerk regular, held; who also during the sermon published the indulgences granted by the supreme Pontiff Clement X to our church of the most holy Trinity for three days from the 27th day, on which the translation of the sacred image of the Crucifix had been first appointed; nor, a new determination of this translation being made for the 25th day, did an occasion offer itself of writing back to Rome. Whence the aforesaid indulgences for the days 27th, 28th, and 29th, of which on the two last there were indeed indulgences, yet the sacred image was not exposed to public adoration and uncovered, which, since it was open and exposed for only three days, at the evening of the 27th day was covered and closed: which day from the aforesaid 25th day was the third and peremptory.

[24] On the 27th day a most learned and most devout panegyric to the people was held by Father Lector Cherubino of Bibbiena, are held. of the Order of Minors of St. Francis of the observance; which panegyric indeed, although it was composed in a plainer style: yet because it was more fitted to the matter, and had in the sacred orator, otherwise most celebrated, greater energy, pleased the hearers more, and was judged worthy to be brought forth into the public light a few days after, distinguished with the name of the most Reverend Father Dom Theodore Baldini, most worthy Abbot General of our Congregation, to whose zeal and effort at last we ought to refer as received so signal a benefit of the concession made to us and to our whole Congregation by the most Serene grand Duke of that sacrosanct pledge of the most holy Crucifix.

[25] At last with a great concourse of people, On the three aforesaid days an innumerable multitude of people, not only Florentine, but from the villages also and neighboring places, assembled at our church of the Holy Trinity to adore Christ the Lord crucified. The solemnity also was honored by the most Illustrious Lords the Nuncio, and the aforenamed Bishop of Fiesole, who celebrated Mass at the greatest altar to the most holy Crucifix; and at last the most Serene Highnesses of our princes and princesses, to whom for the signal favors conferred on our Congregation we owe very much; about always to pour forth to almighty God for their preservation and prosperity most fervent prayers.

[26] the solemnity is ended. At last the sacred pledge was closed in the tabernacle placed above the greatest altar, and of two different keys one resides with the magistracy of the guild of merchants, the Abbot of the most holy Trinity retaining the other. But since the said greatest altar is of the most noble family of the Gianfigliazzi, this family insisted, that some public and authentic caution be made, by which it should be declared that the monks or the monastery of the Holy Trinity, or any other, acquired no right or dominion at all in the aforesaid altar, and that no prejudice was inflicted on the said most Illustrious family; which indeed, because it was certainly most just and most fitting, was so performed by a public instrument, as it was set forth and asked by the said most Illustrious Lords Gianfigliazzi. Which instrument, as also another executed with the Magistracy of the guild of merchants, I would have annexed to this narration, if after a thousand most instant supplications I had at last obtained it. Let them therefore be seen in the protocols of Dom Charles Novelli the notary, or in the books of the monastery of the most holy Trinity, to which I refer the reader. These are the things which for the future memory of the matter I have been able to consecrate to letters concerning the whole series of the concession, and also of the most solemn translation of the most holy Crucifix, to whom be praise and honor and glory and power and dominion unto the everlasting ages of ages.

[27] The authentic faith of this translation. But that it may be established that this narration of the translation was faithfully and authentically excerpted from the often-cited Vallombrosan Acts, I add the testimony of Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, who after the translation of the Crucifix, already exhibited by us, writes thus: All the above-written things, which in the manuscript book of the Acts of the Congregation of Vallombrosa marked on the outside with the letter N, from page 137 to 145 are asserted to be expressed, I the undersigned, for the Acts within the same Congregation by virtue of Apostolic privileges Chancellor and public Notary, from the same book copied by Father Sacred Theology Master Dom Valentine Calzolavi, hieromonk of the same Congregation, and for the Acts within the same Congregation likewise Chancellor and public Notary, have here faithfully transcribed word for word … and in

faith I have written and subscribed with my own hand to the praise of God. From the Abbey of St. Bartholomew of Ripoli near Florence on this 16th day of August 1721.

Dom Angelo Maria Rivola, monk-priest of the Congregation of Vallombrosa.