Anne

ON ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE MOTHER OF GOD

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Anne, the most blessed Mother of the Mother of God, in Palestine (S.)

BHL Number: 0493

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

§ I. The more ancient Acts of the Saint, and their writers.

From Epiphanius and Gregory of Nyssa I gather that in the first ages of the Church there existed some history concerning the parents of the Mother of God; but I do not know whether it has come down to us uncorrupted. Certainly that history is not pure which is wrongly entitled the Protevangelium of St. James the Less, The Acts of St. Anne and which among the monuments of the holy orthodox Fathers has been published in Greek and Latin in volume 1, from page 71: for there the history of the Mother of God is polluted with foolish fables, among which the most absurd of all is reported, namely that Joseph and Mary, on suspicion of sacrilege and fornication, were forced by the priests to drink the cup of cursing, by which Moses commanded the innocence of a woman accused of adultery to be tested. Moreover, this writer at the end of the Protevangelium names himself James, and asserts that at Jerusalem he fled into the desert when the tumult arose which Herod had stirred up. Whether credit is to be given to this closing statement, and who this James was, or at what time he lived, I shall not easily say. Some, to be praised below, think that he wrote in the time of the Apostles.

[2] Whatever be the case as to its antiquity, at least the author of the commentary on the Hexaemeron must be said to have seen this Protevangelium of James, the author of the commentary on the Hexaemeron which Leo Allatius in the year 1629 published in Greek and Latin under the name of St. Eustathius, archbishop of Antioch, when in the edition already cited, page 70, he reduced the first part of that history to a compendium, and thus softened it: Worthy indeed is that history to be run through, which a certain James recounts of the blessed Virgin, narrating it in these words; for he says that in the tribes of Israel there was a wealthy man, by name Joachim, who on feast days offered gifts to God twice as great as others, that so, by appeasing the divine majesty, he might render it propitious to the whole people and to himself. Now when a most solemn feast day was approaching, and all, as was the custom, to God were bestowing gifts with magnificence, this man first, that he might be the first to bring his offering, ran forward; but a certain Rubin held him back, affirming that it was not lawful for him to offer first, who still dwelt in Israel without offspring. Hence, overwhelmed with grief, he sought the wilderness, and there, having built a tabernacle, he prayed God with suppliant vows that to him also, as to Abraham, He would grant the fruitfulness of lawful offspring: he knew that he lacked this one gift in Israel; and thus in a fast of forty days he entreated God.

[3] Likewise his wife also, covered with unadorned and rough clothing, he seems to have excerpted besought offspring from God with prayers. But when the great day of the Lord had come, she adorned herself with a precious garment: for it was unlawful on that day to be clothed in a mournful habit. Therefore about the ninth hour of the day, sitting under a tree in her garden, she besought God with these words: God of our fathers, bless me and hear my prayer, as thou didst bless the womb of Sarah, and gavest her a son Isaac. As she said these things, turning her gaze to a nearby tree, she saw a sparrow brooding over its young; whereupon, with a bitter and repeated sigh, wailing, she said: Alas, Lord, when am I not made like even to these fruitful birds! And as she said such things, an angel of the Lord appearing foretells to her the receiving of children.* Having heard these things, she promised at once to offer to God the child that should be born. These same things the angel made known to Joachim on the mountain. Wherefore, returning from the mountain, he offers ten she-lambs for sacrifice, and twelve calves to the priests, and to the elders and the whole people a hundred he-goats. These sacrifices being made in the temple of the Lord, he returns to his house, and, having intercourse with his wife, received of her a daughter, and calls her Mary, whom, when now three years old, they consecrated to God in the temple. This softened synopsis of the history has been excerpted from the Protevangelium of James, as will be evident to one who compares both books.

[4] from the Protevangelium of a certain James; Leo Allatius, in his notes on the said commentary on the Hexaemeron, page 286, thus discourses concerning the writer of the Protevangelium, after other things: It is most true that this writing is ancient, and composed round about the times of the Apostles. Nor is there any doubt that in it, as has happened also in many others, many things were inserted by heretics for the sake of establishing their own heresy and destroying catholic truth … Well therefore has it been done with this author, since Eustathius (various learned men deny this little work to Eustathius), omitting and cutting off those things which might give offense, has plucked out only what is useful for the devout reader and not unprofitable for one zealous of the Virgin. Nay, the authority of so great a father adds to it weight and authority, especially since there is nothing among the things here reported that is contrary either to the Church or to her authority; indeed all things are consonant with the testimonies and sayings of other fathers and historians: and the more willingly am I led to this opinion, since I see that it is not praised by our Eustathius as the work of James the Apostle, but of some other person, which is most clearly signified by that addition τις; Ἰάκωβός τις, James A CERTAIN ONE. But if he had thought it to be the Apostle's, he would never have been silent. Epiphanius the monk and presbyter, cited in Greek by Allatius, who flourished in the tenth century or the beginning of the eleventh, says that this James was a Jew, and lived in the same times as the blessed Virgin. Nay, Allatius thinks that this is the book of James which Origen mentions on the thirteenth chapter of Matthew.

[5] but St. Gregory of Nyssa ought not This last opinion of Allatius I prefer to that assertion by which in the same place he confidently affirms that Gregory of Nyssa borrowed much from that little work of James, the author's name being suppressed. Whence, I pray, does Allatius gather this? Whence did he learn that this history of James went before Gregory of Nyssa? Since Gregory, in the Greek-Latin Paris edition of the year 1615, volume 2, page 778, only speaks thus: But let us first hear what has been handed down to memory concerning her (namely the most blessed Virgin Mary). I have heard then a certain apocryphal history, relating such narratives concerning her: The father of the Virgin was a certain notable citizen, especially noble for his observance of the law and the uprightness of his life, who had reached old age without children, since he had a wife less fit for bearing. Now there was among mothers a certain honor from the law, which women lacked who had borne no children. Wherefore she too, imitating that which is written of the mother of Samuel, both approaches the holy of holies, and supplicates God that she be not deprived of the blessing of the laws, she who had in no way sinned against the law. And if she should become a mother, she would dedicate to Him whatever she should bear. Wherefore, when, having obtained her vow, she had received a daughter, she called her Mary, that even by the very name she might testify that the gift was received from God. Her therefore, when she was now somewhat grown, and no longer needed her mother's breast, she led to the temple and rendered to God, and diligently paid her promise. The history, which the interpreter here calls apocryphal (in Greek it reads ἤκουσα τοίνυν ἀποκρύφου τινὸς ἱστορίας, That is: I have heard then a certain apocryphal history), others render "hidden," and in the edition of our Fronto Ducaeus, volume 1, column 687, it is called "the history of an uncertain author." This word can also sometimes signify a history not canonical, or not reckoned among the canonical books of sacred Scripture.

[6] In whatever manner Gregory took that word, it does not please me here, that the same had the Protevangelium before his eyes, that the Mother of the Mother of God is said to have prayed in the holy of holies, since from the sacred Letters it is established that the high priest alone was accustomed to enter it once a year. Nor can Gregory be so explained as though he only meant that she approached toward this place of the temple: for in Greek it is said ἐντὸς οὗ ἁγίου τῶν ἁγίων γενομένη ἱκέτις γίνεται τοῦ Θεοῦ; That is: literally, "being within the holy of holies, she becomes a suppliant of God," or "she enters into the holy of holies, and as a suppliant prays God," as Peter Francis Zinus interprets it in Combefis, in the Preaching Library of the Fathers, volume 1, page 144, where Combefis notes thus in the margin on those words: These things are taken from the apocryphon of James ἀδελφοθέου (the brother of God), except that there Anne is read to have prayed in the garden, not within the holy of holies, as here Nyssen says, whether by a lapse of memory, or whether it crept in by the error of a copyist. Nicephorus Callistus, book 1 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 7, where he doubtless had this oration of Gregory before his eyes, and even imitated his phrasing, more probably altered that expression of Gregory, and says more mildly that Anne tarried in the temple for the sake of prayer. But Antiochus the monk of Palestine, who flourished at the beginning of the seventh century, in homily 107 asserts that she prayed in her garden with tears. But from this digression let us return to the road.

[7] We ask by what argument Allatius and Combefis prove [since before him, and before St. Epiphanius, several histories of this kind existed,] that Gregory of Nyssa received his account from the Protevangelium of James, seeing that in antiquity several such histories existed which he could have seen. Certainly Epiphanius, a contemporary of Gregory of Nyssa, seems to have had at hand another history of the same matter, which in the Greek-Latin edition of Petavius, book 3 against the heresies, heresy 59 (elsewhere 79), number 5, he cites in these words: Although from the history and tradition of Mary it is held that this was divinely announced to Joachim her father in the desert: THY WIFE HATH CONCEIVED; yet it is not so to be taken as though this

had happened without nuptial fellowship and virile begetting. But an angel sent from God signified what was to come, lest there should be any doubt on account of that which was truly brought into the light, and constituted by God, and born of a just man. If St. Epiphanius had followed the Protevangelium of James, he would not have needed this explanation, since in it one reads clearly: Ἰδοὺ γὰρ Ἄννα ἡ γυνή σου γαστρὶ λήψεται, That is: Behold, Anne thy wife SHALL CONCEIVE in her womb; not, however, HATH CONCEIVED, as Epiphanius testifies to be held in the history of Mary. Add that Epiphanius, against the Antidicomarianites, in heresy 58 (elsewhere 78), number 17, expressed the names of the parents of the Mother of God, which Nyssen in the place cited above passed over in silence, when there he expressly affirms that the most blessed virgin Mary was born of Anne her mother and Joachim her father. From these things I conclude that many histories of Mary existed before Epiphanius and Gregory of Nyssa, since neither of them seems to have received his account from the Protevangelium of James.

[8] of which some were anciently corrupted, But if the discourse be of histories of Mary corrupted or fabricated by the fraud of heretics, doubtless several of this kind were circulating in that age: for Epiphanius, in heresy 6 (elsewhere 26), number 12, relates this concerning the Gnostics: Moreover there are among them countless spurious and rashly fabricated monuments: of which sort is the book that is entitled "Concerning the offspring of Mary," in which certain horrible and detestable sayings of theirs are contained. An ancient author also, who long lay hidden under the name of Jerome, records that the Acts of the Mother of God were corrupted by a certain Seleucus, a disciple of Manichaeus. Perhaps from these fabrications Faustus the Manichaean denied that Christ sprang from the Davidic stock, to whom St. Augustine, in book 23 against Faustus, chapter 9, thus replies: Let him show this, not from any writings whatever, but from ecclesiastical, canonical, catholic ones: for others have with us no weight of authority in these matters … And by this, that which Faustus laid down concerning the generation of Mary, that she had for a father a certain priest of the tribe of Levi, by name Joachim, because it is not canonical, does not bind me. But even if I believed this, I would rather say that this Joachim himself in some way pertained to the blood of David, and was in some way adopted from the tribe of Judah into the tribe of Levi, either himself or some ancestor of his, or at least was so born in the tribe of Levi that from the stock of David he drew some consanguinity … This therefore, or some such thing, I would rather believe, if I were held by the authority of that apocryphal scripture where Joachim is read to be the father of Mary. You see, then, that before the age of Augustine the apocryphal histories of the heretics existed, which the holy doctor rightly judged were to be rejected. The same is abundantly confirmed from the decree of Gelasius I, Pope, which is reported in Labbe, volume 4 of the Councils, where several figments of this kind are condemned.

[9] and one wrongly ascribed to St. Jerome, But at least, you will say, that ancient author drew his history from a purer fountain, who under the name of Jerome composed a little work concerning the nativity of holy Mary, to which, in the newest Paris edition of the works of St. Jerome, volume 5, column 445, there is prefixed a prologue, in which that writer asserts that he translated into Latin, concerning this matter, a Hebrew booklet of St. Matthew the apostle and evangelist. And after other things he thus prefaces: You ask of me that I write back to you what seems to me concerning a certain little book, which is held by some as being "concerning the nativity of holy Mary." And therefore I wish you to know that many false things are found in it. For a certain Seleucus, who wrote the passions of the apostles, composed this little book. But as concerning their virtues, and the miracles wrought by them, he told the truth, yet concerning their doctrine he lied in many things, so also here he feigned from his own heart many things not true. Accordingly, as it is held in the Hebrew, I shall take care to translate word for word: since it is clear that the holy evangelist Matthew composed this same little book, and composed it in the beginning of his Gospel sealed with Hebrew letters: whether this be true, I leave to the author of the preface and to the trustworthiness of the writer: for I, as I pronounce these things to be doubtful, so I do not affirm them to be plainly false. But when the author has already promised that he will translate word for word, at the end of the proem he concludes that he will say nothing other than what is either written there, or could consequently have been written. There are also other things in this prologue which cohere no better than the dreams of a sick man, as anyone will easily understand who is willing to run over this preface with even a careless eye.

[10] For the rest, Fulbert, bishop of Chartres, who lived in the tenth century, according to Fulbert of Chartres in a sermon on the birth of the gracious virgin Mary, which Charles Villiers published at Paris in the year 1608 among his works from a manuscript of the Victorine library, thus cautiously judges, at folio 142, concerning this pseudo-Jerome and his lucubration: There exists indeed a certain unusual account, which is prefixed with the name of the most illustrious interpreter Jerome, relating that the blessed Matthew, after the Gospel had been published, sealed with his own hand in obscure Hebrew letters the birth of the aforesaid Virgin, and the childhood beginnings of Jesus Christ, in such wise that he wished it to lie open to no superfluous and biting sneers of the unbelieving; which things are said to have been rendered by the aforesaid interpreter into the knowledge of the Latin tongue, at the earnest request of certain persons. And because this account is not held inserted among the canons of sacred Scripture, therefore the unanimous assembly of the Church, in the reciting of it, neither openly chooses it, nor in not receiving it rejects it: since some things are found said or done which in the aforesaid series may seem impossible, which nevertheless the industry of the faithful does not deny to those who wish and love to read them. But to us and to all the sons of the Church let it be enough and more than enough, the faith and devout belief by which we truly confess her a Virgin, and in all her operation. You see that this history is not greatly esteemed by Fulbert, and is somewhat timidly ascribed to Jerome.

[11] The most eminent Baronius, in the Apparatus to the Ecclesiastical Annals, number 44, delivers a clearer and rounder judgment concerning the same author: and the most eminent Baronius Nor do we rely upon that writing which has hitherto been published under the name of Jerome, written to Chromatius and Heliodorus: for although in it are found many things, consonant with truth, written such as claim for themselves authority and credit from the said authors; nevertheless we would say, not only that it is not Jerome's, but of an author plainly unknown and altogether unskilled, who in composing and writing it did not know how to avoid open falsehoods, when he says that in those times in which these things happened, Isachar was high priest. Then, from Flavius Josephus, having enumerated the series of the pontiffs, he thus concludes: Up to the destruction of Jerusalem, brought about by Titus, no pontiff of that name is found appointed. I know that some, in Jacobus Polius, in the History of SS. Joachim and Anne, part 2, question 12, seek an escape here by saying that that author did not add the epithet "high," and so by "pontiff" a priest may be understood. But since in the Gospels the single word "pontiff" everywhere designates the high priest of the Jews, we acquiesce in the learned judgment of the most eminent Cardinal. There is added the fact that he who repelled Joachim is in the Protevangelium of James called Reuben. Nay, George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, in Combefis, volume 6 of the Preaching Library, page 83, says that Joachim was prohibited from the offering of gifts through envious persons joined to him by affinity of family, no mention being made of a pontiff.

[12] so that the true cannot easily be separated from the false. From what has hitherto been said it is clear that the very fountains of this history were anciently so corrupted that at this time we cannot separate the true from the false, the certain from the doubtful. Whence Fulbert of Chartres, in the edition just cited, folio 141 verso, speaks thus: For even this, which by slight and subtle reasoning, or perhaps by writing, they perceived concerning the nativity of the Mother of the Lord and the infancy of the same Lord (namely the heretics or unbelievers, of whom he here treats), they so disfigured by cunning and argumentative deceit, that not even the true things are henceforth recited by certain ecclesiastical doctors, although they are by no means repudiated. The learned prelate wishes to indicate, if I mistake not, that many things are of doubtful trustworthiness which certain Fathers have related concerning the birth of the Virgin from these infected monuments, although they are not all to be rejected, since they cannot be convicted of manifest falsehood. Since these things are so, as our Predecessors also noted on the 20th of March in the Acts of St. Joachim, § I, there is no need here to transcribe the long sermons of the holy Fathers concerning this matter, which occur everywhere in their works, or may easily be found in Combefis, in the Preaching Library. And these are the things which I have been able to gather from monuments of antiquity of whatever sort. Now we shall set forth to the curious reader the various traditions of more recent writers, gradually augmented and altered.

* In Greek παιδοποῖαν, that is, the procreation of offspring.

§ II. The opinions of more recent writers concerning the parents, the country, and the Acts of St. Anne.

Perhaps someone will wonder that we here exhibit the more recent Acts of St. Anne, Although John Eck since from the ancient ones themselves we have scarcely been able to draw out anything certain, as we saw in the preceding paragraph. Nevertheless we are compelled to do this by the zeal of certain persons, so indiscreet that they judge those almost to be struck from the roll of Catholics who do not embrace these new opinions of theirs. Among others John Eck, the sharpest opponent of Luther, and the hammer of the heretics in Germany, in a sermon on St. Anne, says that he is relating the common opinion of the faithful, which, he says, we have received from our elders, so that the Church of Jerusalem itself also holds it. Let us therefore hear what sort of things that tradition contains, for which some have thought they must so keenly contend.

[14] The praised Eck, in the Homilies which were reprinted at Paris in the year 1579, relates a certain tradition volume 3, folio 284 verso, thus sets it forth: Anne, daughter of Stolo (others call him Stollanus) and of Emerentiana, from Bethlehem, was betrothed to Joachim of Nazareth, who also lived in wedlock according to the will and good pleasure of God, dividing their goods from their yearly possessions into three parts, one part for the temple and its ministers, another for poor pilgrims, and the third they spent upon themselves and their household. They lived about twenty years without offspring, although they had vowed thereupon that, if God should give them offspring, they would rear it in the divine worship. And when at the dedication of the temple Joachim was making his accustomed offering, Isachar the pontiff rejected it, because he was childless. Whereupon Joachim, smitten with shame, withdrew to his shepherds in the pastures, and after some days an angel of the Lord appeared to him, consoling him, because God had accepted his prayer and his alms: he foretold that his wife would bear him a virgin, whom he should call Mary, and that she would be given to God from infancy, and full of the Holy Spirit from her mother's womb. As a sign of this thing, said the angel, thou shalt presently have thy wife, when about to enter, meet thee at Jerusalem

near the golden gate. The same the angel had announced to Anne, whence both came to Jerusalem, and mutually communicated what the angel had spoken to each of them.

[15] Having entered the temple, they praised the Lord, and returned home, awaiting the fulfillment of the divine promise. concerning the Acts of St. Anne Anne therefore, having conceived, bore Mary, at which time the doctors think that Joachim was a man of perhaps forty-five years; but Anne a woman of thirty-six years. Not long after, Joachim being dead, Anne married another husband, not indeed from lasciviousness of the flesh, but by the instinct of the Holy Spirit, whose name was Cleophas. Anne therefore conceived of him also a daughter, whom she called Mary, with a name like the former. She, being now grown up, married Alphaeus. But when it pleased God that Cleophas also should die, she took a third husband, Salomas, of whom she conceived a daughter, whom likewise, from love of the first, she called Mary, who at length was betrothed to Zebedee. Hence a holy offspring proceeded: for thence were born the apostles John and James the Greater; and of the other, James the Less, Simon, and Judas Thaddaeus. Moreover Ismeria, the sister of Anne, bore Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. O noble stock! O holy race! O good tree, which brought forth so many good fruits! And this is that tradition, for which some, as though for their altars and hearths, contended all too imprudently.

[16] Eck, in the edition of the homilies just cited, volume 3, and keenly defends it folio 285 verso, censures even catholic men who oppose this tradition, in these words: Against this general observance of the Church certain persons (although they were straightway put to sleep) raised themselves up, thinking it had been little honorable for Anne, that at that age she should join two more husbands to herself, especially since she doubtless knew the sanctity of her daughter Mary, being content thenceforth with that one, nor desiring any other offspring. And since this Gospel has nothing open about it, with rash audacity they presumed to affirm against the universal Church that Anne had but one husband, and one only daughter; that John and James were not cousins of Christ, and many other things of this kind, which it is little safe to make public to the pure minds of Christians: since this error is repugnant to the Church, and to Scripture itself, and to the holy Fathers, who all with one consent throughout the whole of Christendom always held this thus, as we have said, from the very ascension of Christ down to these times. And these things notwithstanding, three contradicted it obstinately, of whom one had this grace, that he recanted, having returned to the Catholic Church. Then, after the arguments of his opinion have been brought forward, which we shall afterward try to satisfy, he thus concludes his sermon at folio 287: Since therefore the Church commemorates these things thus, and on the fifteenth day of May keeps the feast of the two Marys, sisters, and daughters of Anne, let no Christian fall away* from this, nor give credit to new and inconstant doctrines against the Church. But we, caring little for the rash censure of a private man, proceed to the lawful examination of this tradition.

[17] yet his opinion concerning the names First, as concerns the parents of St. Anne, I judge their names to be uncertain: for those whom this tradition calls Stolo and Emerentiana, Hippolytus, cited in Nicephorus Callistus, book 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 3, calls Mathan and Mary. In the Roman Breviary of the year 1536, and others published before St. Pius V, one reads: Anne, mother of the virgin Mother of God, daughter of Gazir. In Jacobus Philippus of Bergamo, in the Supplement of the Chronicles, at the year of the world 5180, the father of St. Anne is called Isachar, for whom, as the spouses Isachar and Nasaphat, Silvester Steierus in the Genealogical History of Christ alleges a manuscript codex of the Lobkovitz library, as Jacobus Polius in the History of SS. Joachim and Anne, part 2, question 2, testifies. Franciscus Lucas of Bruges, on Luke chapter 3 verse 23, thus sets forth his opinion in this matter: I would rather understand that this Eli was the grandfather of blessed Mary, the father of Anne. But our Cornelius a Lapide, in his commentaries on Numbers chapter 36, speaks thus: For Mathat was the father, not of Heli or Joachim, but of Anne the wife of Joachim. Others finally name Isaac as the father of St. Anne. Who therefore, amid so great a variety of opinions, would straightway acquiesce in this tradition?

[18] of the parents, Hence Lezana, after relating a certain revelation from more recent writers, which is wrongly said to have been written by St. Cyril, in the Annals of the Carmelites, at the year of the world 3976, number 10, thus confesses: It seems also difficult in that revelation, what is said of the parents of St. Anne, Stollanus and Emerentiana, as being contrary to other historians, in whom they are called otherwise. But neither is this an argument of great weight: for since neither in the sacred Gospel nor in any other canonical Scripture, nor in the definition of the Church, nor in tradition, nor in the consent of the Fathers, is anything held concerning the parents of St. Anne, without doubt nothing certain can be affirmed concerning them and their name. Hence authors are drawn into various opinions: for some, from St. Hippolytus the martyr, cited in Nicephorus in the Ecclesiastical History, book 2, chapter 3, hold that the parents of St. Anne were called Mathan and Mary. Others, the mother's name being suppressed, call her father Garizim (perhaps he meant to say Gazirim) from a certain history, which Torniellus, under the year 4037, number 4, asserts to be apocryphal. But others call the father of the same Anne Isaac, not reporting the mother's name: for so it was formerly held in the ancient Carmelite Breviary, printed at Venice in the year 1495, and rejected by the Order. It is indeed strange that this revelation, and its first narrator Cyril, became known to the Carmelites so late that for so long a time they read another name in their Breviary. But I am not disposed to grope vainly in these shadows, especially since one may see the things which have been said on this matter in the Papebrochian Responses to article 15, §8.

[19] and it is shown to be uncertain concerning the country of St. Anne, Neither are the things certain which are handed down concerning the country of the parents of the Mother of God: for Eck affirms that the most blessed virgin Mary sprang from a Bethlehemite mother and a Nazarene father. On the contrary our Salmeron, volume 1, prolegomenon 41, says that Joachim is better believed by others to have been a Bethlehemite. Vincent of Beauvais, in the Speculum Historiale, book 31, chapter 62, writes thus: Now at ten leagues from Tiberias is situated Nazareth of Galilee, and thence at two on the road which leads to Acre is situated Sapharia (others more correctly call it Sephoron), the city of Anne, mother of the blessed virgin Mary. Adrichomius, in the Theater of the Holy Land, assigns the same city, in the tribe of Zebulon, at place 88, as the country of both parents of the most holy Virgin, in these words: Sephoris … is an opulent city, and the greatest of all Galilee … the birthplace, as is thought, of the blessed Joachim and Anne, parents of the virgin Mother of God. To this opinion Bernard of Breidenbach, dean of Mainz, agrees, in his Itinerary of the year 1486. Here we embrace the tradition of Eck as the more probable, since Fulbert of Chartres, in sermon 2 on the nativity of the blessed virgin Mary, in the edition cited above, folio 137 verso, thus expressly asserts: Now she was born, according to the account and writings of the holy fathers, in the city of Nazareth, her father, by name Joachim, being sprung from the same city; but her mother, Anne by name, sprung from the city of Bethlehem. The remaining part of the tradition, which is chiefly concerned with asserting the trigamy of St. Anne, we have deferred to the following paragraphs, because it is of too great labor to discuss it here at the same time.

[20] But before we put an end to this paragraph, the heteroclite opinion of certain persons is to be exploded, and a certain fanatical opinion of others who thought that St. Anne conceived without conjunction with a man. This paradox St. Epiphanius had already refuted in the fourth century, whose words we gave above at number 7. The author of the Menologium of the Greeks, which was composed in the tenth century, and printed in Latin in volume 6 of the Italia Sacra, thus refutes the same fiction on the fifth day before the Ides of December: Anne therefore conceived Mary and bore her, not, as some say, at seven months, or without the work of a man; but indeed by angelic prediction, yet with the full nine months completed, and therefore from conjunction with a man: for our Lord and God Jesus Christ alone, without any commingling or seed, in a manner known to Him alone, but to us ineffable and inexplicable, was born of the holy Virgin.

[21] I gather that this dotage of the ancients was unknown, or buried in complete oblivion, in the time of St. Bernard, it is reported from various testimonies and exploded. since the mellifluous doctor, in epistle 174 to the canons of Lyon, concerning the conception of holy Mary, writes thus after other things: Unless perhaps someone should say that she was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and not of a man. But this is hitherto unheard of. I read, finally, that the Holy Spirit came into her, not with her, the angel saying: The HOLY SPIRIT SHALL COME UPON THEE. And if it be lawful to speak what the Church holds (and she holds the truth), I say that the glorious one conceived of the Holy Spirit, but was not herself also conceived thus. I say that she bore as a virgin, but was not herself also born of a virgin. Otherwise, where will be the prerogative of the Mother of the Lord, by which she is singularly believed to exult both in the gift of offspring and in the integrity of the flesh, if you give as much also to her Mother? Pelbartus of Temesvár, a Minorite, in the Stellarium of the crown of the most glorious Virgin, book 4, part 1, article 1, sufficiently intimates that in the fifteenth century, in which he himself lived, this ancient error was revived or believed by certain simple folk, which he there roundly rejects in these words: She herself was conceived in the womb of St. Anne her mother of a man, that is, of St. Joachim, by matrimonial intercourse: and this is not true, which the simple think, namely that Anne conceived by a mere kiss of Joachim. Although this may be ascribed to the greater simplicity of that age, or to the private ignorance of certain simple folk, yet I cannot sufficiently wonder that, after the middle of the seventeenth century, in which critical erudition especially flourished, an Italian man was found who renewed a gross figment of this kind. But since he at Rome paid the deserved penalties of his rashness, it is not worth while to refute his fanatical opinion at greater length. In the same century also various little books, which taught an indiscreet cult of St. Anne, were proscribed by the sacred Congregation of the Index, as may be seen in the index of prohibited books.

* perhaps "withdraw" recedat

§ III. Whether St. Anne was married but once, and the Mother of God her only-begotten.

[The single marriage of St. Anne, concerning which there was keen dispute in the sixteenth century,] Before the middle of the sixteenth century, between Noël Beda and Jacobus Faber Stapulensis and other learned men, there was a most heated dispute, whether St. Anne had contracted a single or a threefold marriage. And it was disputed with such vehemence that John Bertaud and other defenders of the trigamy branded the contrary opinion, as erroneous and adverse to the common tradition of the Church and to sacred Scripture, with sharp censures,

a specimen of which we gave above from Eck. Meanwhile, various heresies growing strong, this question was interrupted, and the catholic theologians more usefully turned their arms against the true enemies of the Church. Afterward, however, some writers renewed the same controversy, and, it being more accurately discussed, most maintained the single marriage of St. Anne: for this opinion is embraced by Aloysius Lipomanus, bishop of Verona; Cornelius Jansenius of Ghent; Caesar Baronius and Robert Bellarmine, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church; Alphonsus Salmeron, Peter Canisius, Franciscus Suárez, theologians of our Society, and other illustrious authors, whose catalogue it is of no importance to weave here: for I am unwilling to contend about the number of writers; but with our Salmeron I willingly confess that the opinion of the threefold marriage of St. Anne was common, and can be confirmed by the suffrages of many authors. Nay, I know that a certain Eugesippus, in the eleventh century, in a treatise on the distances of the places of the Holy Land, asserts this threefold marriage, as may be seen in Leo Allatius in the Symmicta, page 110. Nevertheless I judge the single marriage of our Saint more consonant with reason and truth, as I shall now try to prove by certain arguments.

[23] it is proved from fitting reason, First, it is not probable that a most holy Matron, who after a long sterility had by divine gift borne a most excellent Virgin, should not have been content with such a daughter and such a husband as Joachim, but after his death should have married two others; especially since she knew that Judith is praised in the sacred Letters, because after her husband's death she did not pass to a second marriage. Since therefore (I use the reasoning of our Benedict Pererius in the Prolegomena to the Gospel of St. John, disputation 3, number 9) among the Hebrews it was not only lawful, but even praiseworthy, the first husband being dead, to abstain from a second marriage, it would surely have been no obscure argument of an intemperate mind, if Anne, after the first marriage, from which especially she had received such and so great offspring, being now advanced in age, had sought a second marriage and even a third. Whence Fulbert of Chartres, on the birth of the gracious virgin Mary, in the Paris edition several times already praised, folio 141, thus speaks to our purpose: Happy also, who deserved to receive not many, but one daughter, who should conceive and bring forth the only-begotten Son of God. For it did not befit that the most holy progenitors of this singular Virgin should be defiled by the propagation of many sons, who were to be the excellent providers and educators of the only Mother of the Lord.

[24] Next, who would believe that the same name was imposed upon the three daughters of St. Anne, from the name of Salome which the assertors of the trigamy hand down, as is evident from these common little verses, which are reported thus in Gerson, chancellor of Paris, in a sermon on the nativity of the Virgin:

Anne married three, Joachim, Cleophas, and Salomas; Of whom Anne herself bore to her husbands three Marys, Whom Joseph, Alphaeus, and Zebedee took to wife. The first gives Jesus; James, Joseph, with Simon, Judas The second gives; James gives the third, and gives John.

Who, I say, would believe that these three daughters of Anne were called by the same name of Mary, since rather parents are wont by diversity of names to distinguish and tell apart the offspring begotten by them? To these add that it is false that one of these daughters drew from her father the surname Salome: for in Mark 15 verse 40 it thus reads: ἦσαν δὲ καὶ γυναῖκες ἀπὸ μακρόθεν θεωροῦσαι· ἐν αἷς ἦν Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ, καὶ Μαρία ἡ τοῦ Ἰακώβου τοῦ μικροῦ καὶ Ἰωσῆ μήτηρ, καὶ Σαλώμη. That is, according to the interpretation of the Vulgate: And there were also women looking on from afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome. In the same way, in Mark 16 verse 1, the name Salome is expressed. You see that this woman is not surnamed "of Salome" or ἡ τοῦ Σαλώμου, but is simply called in the nominative Σαλώμη, which is the name of a woman, as our Salmeron, volume 4 of the commentaries, part 2, tract 11, shows by various examples.

[25] Besides, I argue thus ad hominem, as it is commonly wont to be said. and from the old age of Joachim and Anne, The tradition, which Eck so greatly extols, teaches that St. Anne lived barren in marriage about twenty years, after which she bore the Mother of God; at which time the doctors think, says Eck, that Joachim was a man of perhaps forty-five years, but Anne a woman of thirty-six years. But which doctors think this? More recent or ancient ones? Certainly St. Gregory of Nyssa could not have thought this, whose words I adduced at number 5: for he expressly affirms that the father of the Mother of God came to old age without offspring. And is a man of forty-five years wont to be called old? Since therefore it is established from Gregory of Nyssa that the more recent tradition strayed from the true age of Joachim, why shall we believe it in fixing the years of St. Anne? From this old age of Joachim we rather conjecture that the age of St. Anne was in some way proportioned to his years. So, that we may deal liberally with Eck, let us grant gratis that Joachim had not yet reached the sixtieth year of his age when he begot the Mother of God. To this let us concede that St. Anne was only forty years old, when after twenty years of sterility she brought forth this most blessed Virgin. These things being posited, I ask of Eck, whence he knew that Joachim died so soon, while meanwhile various Fathers suppose that he was present at the offering or presentation of his three-year-old daughter. Whence does he know that St. Anne, after his death, straightway married another husband, and conceived of him a daughter? Whence, finally, did he know that this second husband lived so short a time that Anne, passing to a third marriage, was fit for receiving offspring? Are not all these things devised without witnesses, without records, to defend the trigamy of St. Anne?

[26] which Ildephonsus of Toledo What if I should say that St. Anne was also of a more advanced age, when she bore the most blessed Mother of God? Surely this St. Ildephonsus, archbishop of Toledo, intimates, when in a sermon on the nativity of the most holy Virgin Mary, in Combefis, volume 8 of the Preaching Library, page 46, he thus speaks: Of Anne, barren, and a father now old, beyond the custom of women, after the cooling of heat, and the departure of all lust of desires, with pure heart and body she arose from all carnal pollution. Why, I pray, "beyond the custom of women" and "after the cooling of heat," if Anne bore at forty? Is it so wonderful that a woman of forty (especially if her sterility was divinely taken away) should receive offspring from a man of sixty? Wherefore I judge that St. Ildephonsus meant to signify the old age of both spouses, concerning whom Nicephorus Callistus, book 1 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 7, thus roundly pronounces: But they had prolonged their life to old age without offspring brought forth. I confess that Nicephorus is here of no great weight, since he testifies concerning matters so remote from his own age. But at least the testimony of St. Ildephonsus, who flourished in the middle of the seventh century, is to be preferred to a popular tradition.

[27] and Photius of Constantinople indicate. The same Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, more clearly indicates, who in the ninth century had unrolled many writings of the ancients, when in an oration, which may be read in Combefis in the new auctarium of the Greek Fathers, volume 1, in Greek and Latin, he thus proclaims the wondrous nativity of the most holy Virgin Mary: The Virgin proceeds from barren loins, at that time when, even if these had been fruitful, the birth would have been marvelous and unusual. O wonderful thing! When the time of sowing had failed, then the opportunity of bringing forth its fruit came. When the fire of desire had been extinguished, then the torch of fruitfulness was kindled. Youth did not bring forth the flower, and old age produces the germ. The swelling of a vigorous womb was unknown, and the Virgin, the perpetual infant of the birth, is known as of an outworn belly. Then, after the rhetorical manner, he feigns that these objections of some unbeliever are made to him: How are dried-up breasts sharpened into fountains of milk? For if old age knows not how to store up the treasures of blood, how do they whiten into the appearance of milk that which the breasts did not receive? And who is it that, even from a dead womb, brings forth ripe and living offspring, and herself contains and nourishes it? To these things the orator thus responds through interrogations: But how, or where, did Sarah slip from thy memory? For did she not see offspring, Isaac, brought forth from the losses of old age and sterility? If Anne confounds and disturbs thy mind, by better right Sarah, since she was also earlier. Nor ought the schism which he stirred up to be a hindrance to Photius here: for on this matter there was no controversy between the Latins and the Greeks.

[28] Our opinion is confirmed from chronology; Now at length it is well to see whether that tradition of the more recent writers is not repugnant to chronology, of which, in historical matter, especially account is to be taken. Now Eck asserts, from this common tradition, which we reported in the preceding paragraph, that James the Less, bishop of Jerusalem, who is commonly named the brother of the Lord, was born of the second daughter of Anne. In this hypothesis, therefore, it is necessary that he was younger than Christ, since the Mother of God, according to the common opinion, bore Christ in the fifteenth year of her age, at which time her sister, some years younger, would not yet have been fit to conceive offspring. But that lesser age of James openly contradicts St. Epiphanius, who, in heresy 58 (elsewhere 78), in the Greek-Latin edition of Petavius, number 14, affirms that this James was cast down from the upper part of the temple of Jerusalem, some four and twenty years more or less after the ascension of the Lord being completed, when he himself was in his ninety-sixth year. Epiphanius here indeed says that James was the son of Joseph; but that opinion does not favor our adversaries, and is now everywhere rejected by the interpreters of sacred Scripture. Jerome, in the book on ecclesiastical writers, chapter 2, thinks that James the brother of the Lord was the son of Mary, the sister of the Mother of God (in what sense this "sister" is so called, we shall afterward explain), and more accurately determines the time of his episcopate and the year of his death in these words: For thirty years, therefore, he governed the church at Jerusalem, that is, up to the seventh year of Nero, which corresponds to the sixtieth year of the Christian era. From these things, therefore, we easily gather that James was older than Christ. The same argument can be formed concerning the rest who are called brethren of the Lord.

[29] Alphonsus Salmeron, volume 4 of the Commentaries, part 2, tract 11, against the defenders of the trigamy, thus discourses concerning these brethren of Christ: it is confirmed; Fourthly, it is proved that this history is not consonant with truth. This being posited, that Anne married a third time, certainly before Mary of Cleophas and Salome, Mary the Virgin would have been both born and married; and Mary would have borne earlier, because in the first days of her betrothal she conceived the Son of God, being of the age of fourteen years, as is commonly handed down, and as the very word ALMA signifies. It follows that the sons of Mary of Cleophas and of Mary of Zebedee were far younger in age than Christ, since their mothers were begotten by Anne in the second and third marriage; who, if she kept the bed of widowhood more modestly, as befits holy and honest women, who are wont to abstain from a new marriage at least for about a year, and Joachim was still living three years after the Virgin was brought forth and presented in the temple, will assuredly, by rightly conducting the reckoning, draw the conclusion that the apostles, the brethren of Christ

so called, and the sons of Zebedee, were mere youths, and had scarcely reached the twenty-fifth year. But it seems absurd that the divine Wisdom should have communicated the grade of the apostolate to those who were almost boys. You see, then, from what has been said, that these things are not aptly enough distributed among their times, and cannot be reconciled with a probable chronology.

[30] Some, convinced by these arguments, deny indeed the threefold marriage of St. Anne, and from Fulbert of Chartres and other reasons, but judge that several daughters by Joachim are to be granted to her. But neither does that opinion please us, because it contradicts Fulbert of Chartres, cited above, and others, who affirm that the Mother of God was the only-begotten daughter of her parents. Next, it is not the custom of parents to call two daughters or two sons by exactly the same name, as we have also mentioned above. If therefore a certain Mary, mentioned in the Gospels, had been the uterine sister of the Mother of God, surely she would have been marked not with the name Mary, but with another name, that she might be distinguished from Mary the Mother of God. Besides, in doubtful questions of this kind, that is to be held which most pertains to the glory of the Mother of God. Since therefore no ancient history expressly hands down that Joachim begot two or more daughters of Anne, we maintain that which seems more to suit the dignity of the most blessed virgin Mary. But the things which are brought forward from the Gospel against our opinion can be conveniently explained, as will appear from the following paragraph.

[31] [and it is shown, from Isidore of Thessalonica, that the Mother of God was the only-begotten.] Wherefore I conclude this paragraph with the words of Isidore, archbishop of Thessalonica, which in Hippolytus Marraccius, in the Marial of that prelate, page 18, rendered from the Greek into Latin, thus sound: Now, this most lucid and divine image being brought forth, Anne also ceased to bear children. For this mother had no need that other offspring should be added, as if to supply what was lacking to the firstborn: for she who was born abounded in all virtues. But another like to the most pure one she could not bear. And if she had borne a second, it might have been doubted concerning her, of which girl she was the mother: for it could not be that another offspring should approach near to the virtues of the Virgin: for from that she would suffer great loss of the glory which she now has from the only-begotten. But neither men, nor angels, nor any other creature desired that a second offspring should be born of so fair-bearing a mother. For it was enough that a single girl, mighty and higher than nature, should be for the adornment of the whole creation. For in her, that I may speak according to the excellent Paul, are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. Therefore Anne prudently cared nothing thenceforth about bringing forth another offspring. Now that the foundations of our opinion have been laid, let us weigh the arguments of our adversaries, and strive to solve them.

§ IV. Answer is made to the difficulties which are proposed against the single marriage of St. Anne.

The words of the Gospel, objected against our opinion, from Theophylact, Our adversaries take their chief argument from the Gospel of St. John, where in chapter 19 verse 25 these words are read: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister Mary of Cleophas. Eck, in the aforesaid homily, after alleging these words of the Evangelist, thus insults the defenders of the single marriage: Behold, that Mary had a sister: what is it then that these men dream, that Anne had but one daughter? But good words, I pray. Hear how the celebrated interpreters of sacred Scripture explain this text of St. John. Among others Theophylact, who in the eleventh century was archbishop of Ochrid in Bulgaria, writes thus upon this passage: But how is Mary of Cleophas called his mother's sister, since Joachim had no other offspring? Cleophas was the brother of Joseph, and when Cleophas had died without children (as some say), Joseph took his wife, and bore offspring to his brother, one of whom is even now commemorated, Mary, who is called the sister of the Mother of God, that is, kinswoman: for Scripture is wont to call kinsfolk brethren, just as Isaac too said of Rebecca, "she is my sister," although she was his wife. So also in this place she is called the sister of the Mother of God, who was held to be the daughter of Cleophas on account of the kinship. This explanation indeed favors our opinion; but it displeases in so far as it wounds the virginity of St. Joseph, which on the 19th of March in his Acts we defended.

[33] from Euthymius, Hear therefore Euthymius, who about the beginning of the twelfth century, the virginity of St. Joseph being untouched, thus interprets the same text of the Evangelist: But the Mother of God was an only-begotten: however Joseph and Cleophas were brothers. And it was the custom among the Hebrews to call the wives of brothers also sisters, on account of the brotherhood of the men. Therefore he named her, who was equally with her a wife, a sister. But Joseph indeed and Cleophas, their husbands, were brothers by nature; while they themselves, their wives, were sisters by affinity. This brotherhood of Joseph and Cleophas is not asserted gratuitously by Euthymius: for in Eusebius, book 3 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 11, Hegesippus testifies that Cleopas was the brother of Joseph, who, according to Jerome in the book on ecclesiastical writers, chapter 22, lived near to the apostolic times. Moreover, that the name of sister is not always to be taken strictly, is evident from chapter 6 of Mark, where the sisters of Christ also are named, for whom necessarily kinswomen or relatives by affinity are to be understood.

[34] The same I would have said of those who are called the brethren of Christ; from Augustine concerning which promiscuous appellation St. Augustine, in the book of questions on Matthew, question 17, thus testifies: That kinsfolk are wont to be called brethren among the Jews is so far proved that they are found called brethren, not only from a near degree of generation, as are the sons of brothers and sisters, who even among us are most commonly called brethren; but even the uncle and the son of a sister, as Jacob and Laban were to each other. It is no wonder, then, that any kinsfolk whatever, on the maternal side, are called brethren of the Lord, since even from the kinship of Joseph his brethren could be so called by those who thought him to be the father of the Lord. It is not necessary here laboriously to inquire by what degree of kinship or affinity those called brethren or sisters touched Christ, or were thought to touch him, since this matter has been treated at large by Salmeron, volume 5, part 2, tract 11; Suárez, volume 2 on the third part of the divine Thomas, disputation 5, section 4; and other theologians and interpreters, who strenuously maintain the single marriage of St. Anne: for in whatever way that kinship or affinity be explained, it suffices for us that it can consist without a double or triple marriage of St. Anne.

[35] It is well here to hear the most eminent Bellarmine, who in the little work on the seven words uttered by Christ on the cross, book 1, and they are conveniently explained by Bellarmine, chapter 8, solidly confirms our opinion, and at the same time thus learnedly explains the objected text of the Gospel: Of the three women who stood by the cross of the Lord, two are most well known, Mary the mother of the Lord and Mary Magdalene. Concerning Mary of Cleophas there is some question: for it is commonly said that Mary of Cleophas was the full sister of the blessed Virgin Mother of God, procreated of Anne the mother, to whom they add also a third sister, Mary Salome. But this opinion is utterly to be exploded: for neither is it credible that three sisters were called by the same name, and it is the sufficiently constant opinion of the learned and the pious that the blessed Anne was the mother of the virgin Mary alone. Nor is there any Mary Salome in the Gospels: for when St. Mark writes, Mary Magdalene AND Mary of James and Salome BOUGHT SPICES, the word Salome is not in the second case, as if it should signify Mary of Salome, as a little before he said Mary of James; but it is in the first case, and is of the feminine gender, as is manifest from the Greek text Σαλώμη. Finally, Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the apostles James and John, as may be understood from St. Matthew chapter 27 and Mark chapter 15, just as Mary of James or of Cleophas was the wife of Cleophas and the mother of James the Less and of Judas Thaddaeus. The true opinion, therefore, is that Mary of Cleophas was called the sister of the virgin Mother of God, because Cleophas was the brother of St. Joseph, the spouse of the virgin Mary: for the wives of two brothers can rightly be called sisters to one another. By which reasoning also James the Less was called the brother of the Lord, namely a cousin, because he was the son of Cleophas, the brother, as we said, of Joseph. This history Eusebius of Caesarea writes in the Ecclesiastical History, and adduces the trustworthy author Hegesippus, who touched the times of the Apostles. In this way our opinion is easily reconciled with sacred Scripture.

[36] [and there is left to the adversaries the Gloss, which nevertheless wrongly cites St. Ambrose for the trigamy.] Next there is objected to us the Ordinary Gloss, which on the words of the Apostle, chapter 1 to the Galatians verse 19, has this: It is to be known that Mary the mother of the Lord was the daughter of Joachim and Anne, who married Joseph, and so Joseph was the putative father of Christ. But Joachim being dead, Cleophas, the brother of Joseph, took the same Anne to wife, and begot of her a daughter, whom he called Mary, who married Alphaeus, who begot of her sons, namely James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. But Cleophas being dead, a certain Salome took the same Anne, and begot of her a daughter, by name Mary, who married Zebedee, and had of her sons, namely James, who was called the Greater, and John the Evangelist. Three husbands, therefore, Anne had, and three daughters. The Gloss at the beginning cites Ambrose, as the assertor of this opinion; but our Barradius, volume 1 of the Commentaries on the concord and history of the Gospel, book 6, chapter 15, page 332, thus roundly pronounces: This opinion seems to have been born from the Ordinary Gloss, which we have cited. It bears the name of Ambrose; but in Ambrose it is nowhere found: for Ambrose is of another opinion: on Galatians chapter 1 he openly asserts that James and the rest are called brethren of the Lord because they were sons of Joseph. But since Cardinal Bellarmine, in the book on ecclesiastical writers, shows that the Commentaries on the epistles of Paul are by many, not without cause, denied to Ambrose, this opinion of his must be drawn from elsewhere. Now the holy doctor seems to indicate it in the book on the instruction of a virgin, chapter 6, in these words: But they could also have been brethren from Joseph, not from Mary. Nay, our Lorinus, in the Commentary on chapter 1 of the Acts of the Apostles, cites Ambrose, as though in the book on widows he asserted that Anne, the grandmother of Christ, was married but once. But I suspect that the polygraphic man was deceived by the likeness of the name: for having read that whole book, I could only find that this is affirmed of Anne, the daughter of Phanuel, and of other widows, and nowhere did I find mention made of our St. Anne.

[37] The text of St. Jerome is expounded Besides, there is objected to us the authority of St. Jerome, who in various places calls Mary of Cleophas the aunt of the Lord, and calls her sons the cousins of Christ: for in the Commentaries on chapter 12

of Matthew he thus writes: Certain persons suspect the brethren of the Lord to be sons of Joseph by another wife, following the ravings of the apocrypha, and inventing a certain little woman Melcha or Escha. But we, as is contained in the book which we wrote against Helvidius, understand the brethren of the Lord to be, not sons of Joseph, but cousins of the Savior, children of Mary the aunt of the Lord, who is said to be the mother of James the Less and of Joseph and of Judas, whom in another place of the Gospel we read called the brethren of the Lord: but that cousins are called brethren, all Scripture demonstrates. But how will our adversaries prove that here the names of "aunt" and "cousins" are to be understood strictly? Could not Jerome have spoken according to common usage, by which relatives improperly call the wife of their paternal uncle "aunt," just as also the wives of two brothers address one another by the more agreeable name of "sister"? Do not kinsfolk in a more remote degree of consanguinity call themselves cousins? Certainly St. Augustine indicated this, when by the brethren of the Lord, whom our adversaries would have strictly called the cousins of Christ, he understands any kinsfolk whatever of the Mother of God: for in tract 10 on John, discoursing of the kinsmen of Christ, he thus asks: Whence then brethren? And he thus answers: The kinsfolk of Mary are the brethren of the Lord, kinsfolk of any degree. What if Jerome wished to imitate the phrasing of sacred Scripture, which often expresses the kinship of Christ as it was then commonly reckoned? Thus the Mother of God herself, in chapter 2 of Luke verse 48, says to her Son: Behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. Thus also Paul, to the Galatians chapter 1 verse 19, calls James the brother of the Lord, although he knew that this word could not be taken in a strict signification. Whence St. Chrysostom, on this passage of the Apostle, thus writes: For neither did he call him James of Cleophas, as I was saying, but how? The brother of the Lord. And yet he was not the brother of the Lord according to the flesh, but was thought to be. Nevertheless not even that turned Paul from adding to the man the title of dignity. It is no wonder, then, if Jerome, according to the common manner of speaking, called Mary of Cleophas the sister of the Mother of God, and consequently the aunt of Christ, because she was married to Cleophas, whom Hegesippus testifies to have been the brother of Joseph. Consequently he also called the sons of this Mary by the improper name of cousins.

[38] I answer therefore with our Suárez, in the Commentaries and disputations on the third part of St. Thomas, volume 2, according to the mind of Suárez and Barradius, disputation 5, section 4, in this manner: Neither the divine Jerome, nor any of the ancient Fathers, taught this history of the triple Mary and the three daughters of Anne: for Jerome, with the other ancients cited above, only say that Mary of Cleophas is the sister of the Virgin, which the Gospel also says; but of another sister they made no mention, just as neither does the Gospel. But in what way she was a sister, they do not explain. Now it is not necessary that she was a natural sister in the first degree: for just as we said above that cousins or blood-relations are called brethren in Scripture, so women are called sisters on account of some degree of consanguinity. But he had said above that these brethren of the Lord were only so called on account of some consanguinity, true or reputed, which they had with Christ the Lord according to the flesh. Barradius agrees, in the volume just cited, page 334, where he thus discourses: We say that the brethren of the Lord are so called, not the sons of the sisters of the Mother of God, but the kinsfolk, of whom she had many, both true, from the Virgin mother, and reputed, from Joseph: for just as Joseph was thought to be the father of Christ, so the kinsfolk of Joseph were also believed to be the kinsfolk of Christ. Let these things suffice for expounding the words of St. Jerome, from whom, with reverence, we would depart if they could in no way be explained.

[39] Finally Eck opposes to our opinion the holy bishop and martyr Ignatius, and answer is made concerning the spurious epistle of St. Ignatius the martyr, who in a certain epistle to St. John the Evangelist is said, among other things, to write thus: But also Salome, whom thou lovest, the daughter of Anne, staying five months with her at Jerusalem, and certain other acquaintances report her (namely the Mother of God) to be abounding in all graces, etc. Wholly weak is that argument of our adversaries, although Eck, after it, as though victory were won, thus triumphs: Behold, here is a certain testimony for thee, whence it is established that Salome was the daughter of Anne. But by the following responses I shall show that this testimony is not so certain as Eck thought. First, Eusebius and Jerome, who enumerate the epistles of Ignatius, made no mention of this epistle. Besides, Baronius, Bellarmine, and other learned men everywhere deny that epistle to St. Ignatius, both because it does not exist in the Greek codices, and because it does not savor of his grave eloquence. To these I add that it is not probable that by Ignatius, in a letter to John, Salome would have been called the daughter of Anne, since that Salome, according to the adversaries themselves, was the mother of John the Evangelist. What then here is "daughter of Anne" to the purpose? He would plainly have written to him, as we are wont to speak: Thy mother, five months at Jerusalem, etc. Why was this circumlocution needed? Did he think that John was ignorant of the name of his own grandmother? Finally, the adversaries seem now here to attribute to a woman the name Salome, which before they had ascribed to a man. But if perhaps they say that she was so named from her father Salomas, I oppose to them the Gospel cited above, in which the name Salome, in Greek Σαλώμη, is read not in the genitive, as the grammarians say, but in the nominative. I oppose to them also Origen, who in tract 35 on Matthew rightly draws out the name of the mother of John and James the Greater from the collated texts of two Gospels, and by whom the mother of these is simply called Salome, that is, "peaceable," as we said on the 25th of July, in the historical Commentary on St. James, part 1, §2, number 12.

[40] Even if we granted gratuitously that this epistle is to be ascribed to St. Ignatius, which would prove nothing against us, even if it were genuine. this testimony would not yet be so certain as Eck boasts: for that clause, which the adversaries objected to us in the preceding number, is in certain codices read thus: But also Salome, whom thou lovest, staying a year and five months at Jerusalem with her, and certain other acquaintances report, etc. Our Salmeron, volume 4 of the Commentaries, part 2, tract 11, asserts that this reading is the more sincere. Concerning the variant readings of this passage, one may see the Cotelerian edition of the holy Fathers who flourished in the apostolic times, as it is said to have been printed at Antwerp in the year 1698 with the notes of others, volume 2, page 126. Nay, even if the reading which the adversaries cite were genuine, it would still prove nothing certain, since the name of Anne and of Salome was common to several women, as is gathered from the sacred Letters themselves and from Flavius Josephus. Whence Laurentius Cuperus, provincial of the Carmelites through Lower Germany, in the Genealogy and Life of the blessed Anne, chapter 12, solves the same knot in this manner: This argument can easily be dissolved, if it be answered that there were many women who had the name of Anne, and many daughters who were called Salome: nor from the antecedents or consequents of these words, and other circumstances, can it be shown that Ignatius here speaks of the blessed Anne, mother of the Mother of God, especially since that Salome, the wife of Zebedee, saw the virgin Mary and her mother Anne, not merely for five months, as a stranger, but for many years, as a familiar and a citizen of Jerusalem, being solicitous about the burial of the Lord. It is not worth while to discuss the other cavils, which are brought forward from slight little reasons or from spurious works of the holy Fathers.

[41] Yet I cannot but here, for the sake of the adversaries, commemorate an argument which Eck seems to have been ignorant of, A revelation reported in the Acts of Blessed Colette, and which can be formed from the Life of Blessed Colette, which in our Acts on the 6th of March we illustrated: for there, in volume 1 of March, page 556, the following are related concerning this blessed nun: In arduous matters occurring to her she had recourse, in her devout prayers, to the Saints of God, singularly to those who had observed virginity: on account of which she had recourse less, or not at all, in asking for aid, to the blessed Anne, mother of holy Mary. On account of which, once, in fervent prayer before God, the aforesaid most holy Anne appeared to her with glorious adornment, honorably leading with her all her noble and glorious progeny, namely her three most worthy daughters, with their very noble sons; of whom the first was the most excellent and most sacred Mother of Christ, the virgin Mary … The second following daughter, holy Mary of James, holding in her hands four glorious sons, namely James the Less, Simon, and Judas, and Joseph the Just. The third indeed was Mary Salome, holding likewise by the hand her glorious offspring, namely St. James the Greater and John the Evangelist. And in this apparition the said glorious one, namely the most holy Anne, manifested to her that, although she had been several times joined in marriage, nevertheless the universal Church militant and triumphant was adorned and celebrated with honor through her illustrious progeny. Laurentius Portellus, a Portuguese Minorite, in the Moral Responses, case 63, volume 2, page 536, strives to extricate himself from this difficulty in these words: This history or revelation, I say, I would not preach to the people, both because it is not contained in the books of our Religion, since in the Chronicles of the Order, in the third part, the life of Collecta (he meant to say Colette) is most exactly related; and because, if it is true, what we said above from so many doctors and clear conjectures, this history of the triple marriage of the blessed Anne is false, as we have seen.

[42] But this response does not satisfy: for although in the Chronicle or other books of the Order which Wadding also inserted in the Annals of the Minors, which Portellus saw, this history is not contained, nevertheless in the Acts, written by the confessor of Blessed Colette himself, are read those things which we brought forward in the preceding number. Nay, Wadding, in the Annals of the Minors, at the year of Christ 1406, number 23, thus clearly narrates the same revelation: In the beginning of the aforesaid reformation she often invoked the Saints, when arduous matters befell; but she especially implored those who had been virgins. To the most holy mother Anne she scarcely ever had recourse under that name, because she is read to have had three husbands one after another. But that most holy matron once appeared to her, praying fervently, endowed with signal adornment, honorably leading with her all her offspring, to wit her three excellent daughters, and their sons, generous above the first: of whom the first was the most blessed Parent of Christ, queen of heaven and lady of the angels and of all creatures, holding by the hand her most sweet Son, the redeemer of the world, Christ Jesus; the second was Mary of James, leading with her those four sons, James the Less, Simon, Judas, and Joseph the Just; the third, Mary Salome, having with her two most illustrious sons, James the Greater and John the Evangelist. And the most blessed Anne said to Colette:

Although I MARRIED THREE HUSBANDS, NEVERTHELESS both the TRIUMPHANT and the MILITANT Church has been AUGMENTED WITH THE GREATEST ORNAMENTS FROM MY PROGENY. From these things it is evident that the whole force of the argument is not sufficiently broken by Portellus, since the first part of his response rests upon a false supposition.

[43] it does not overturn our opinion concerning the single marriage of St. Anne. How then, you will say, can this revelation be reconciled with the single marriage of St. Anne? I shall say what I think. On account of the authority of that confessor, I admit that St. Anne appeared to Blessed Colette; but I do not judge that credit is to be given to all the circumstances of that apparition. Perhaps Blessed Colette told her confessor that she was chiefly wont to invoke those Saints who had kept virginity, and that therefore St. Anne was neglected, who afterward, appearing with her glorious progeny, commended her own cult. This is altogether true, even if St. Anne appeared only with the most blessed Virgin Mary and Christ, who was assuredly her glorious progeny. But perhaps the confessor understood this according to the common opinion of that time, and thus, in writing the Acts of Blessed Colette, attributed several daughters to St. Anne.

[44] it does not overturn If this explanation does not please, and you plainly contend that this narration of the apparition, with all its circumstances, is to be admitted, I shall not greatly resist; but then I shall follow the opinion of our Papebroch, who in the Responses to article 20, number 8, thus discourses on this very matter: Nay, in the Life of St. Colette, on the 6th of March, number 68, I remember to have observed that God, declining the useless scrutinies of human curiosity, sometimes removes the errors born of them, except in so far as they perhaps stand in the way of a greater good which He requires of those who thus err: for since she, being more fond of those Saints who had cultivated virginity, scarcely or never invoked holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God, because she believed her to have married several husbands successively, God not only did not remove such an opinion, but, by permitting St. Anne to appear to her in the glorious company of those whom many, especially of the Franciscans, taught to have been her daughters by her first husband, was content to incite her to the veneration of her whom He wished to be honored, by such a vision; even if Colette could take it otherwise, as in fact she did take it, being indeed unlearned of her error, in so far as it hindered her devotion, yet in the same, in so far as it was indifferent to the good of the soul, rather confirmed. Nay, concerning similar visions of holy women, sometimes repugnant to one another, I shall conclude with Papebroch in the same place, number 1, that in such things there is no help for prudently settling purely historical questions, whether they be sacred or profane; and consequently nothing is detracted from the Saints themselves, when the truth of such things, without any respect to them, is called into controversy, to be proved or invalidated from elsewhere. Now I think the objections of the adversaries have been abundantly satisfied.

§ V. The cult of the Saint in the East.

The ancient cult of St. Anne in the East Without doubt the Christians of the East in the first ages of the Church venerated the holy Mother of the Mother of God, since at Jerusalem there have been constructed, from time immemorial, temples and chapels in her honor, which are wont to be shown to pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, as John Cotovicus, page 261, and prince Radziwill, page 60, and others in their Itineraries everywhere report. Quaresmius, in the Elucidation of the Holy Land, book 4, pilgrimage 3, chapter 12, thus writes concerning these sacred monuments: The church, dedicated under the title of St. Anne, mother of the most holy Mother of God, is beautiful and spacious: beneath it is a chapel, where a chamber is said to have been, in which the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to have been conceived and brought forth into the light, and with this in view it is visited by the faithful with great piety and devotion. Then in the same book, pilgrimage 7, chapter 2, he has this: Around the sepulcher of the glorious virgin mother Mary a church has been built … There is in the church a stairway of 48, and even of 50, steps of white hewn marble, by which from the door we descend to the sepulcher of the holy Virgin. On the right hand of those entering, that is, on the eastern side, and almost in the middle of the stairway, is a chapel, in which are two mausoleums constructed in the form of an altar; in one of which, which looks toward the north, the body of St. Anne, mother of the holy Mother of God Mary, was once entombed. But since we are ignorant of the certain time at which these buildings were converted into churches, we proceed to the sacred Fasti of the Orientals.

[46] The Greeks thrice each year celebrate the memory of St. Anne, as appears from the Typicum of St. Sabas, from the Menologia of the Greeks, where on the 9th day of September, together with her husband, she is thus reported: Τῶν ἁγίων καὶ δικαίων θεοπατόρων Ἰωακεὶμ καὶ Ἄννης. That is: Of the holy and just ancestors of God, Joachim and Anne. Then on the 9th day of December, in the same Typicum, is commemorated ἡ σύλληψις τῆς ἁγίας Ἄννης, μητρὸς τῆς Θεοτόκου. That is: The conception of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God. Finally, on the 25th of July, in the same place, is commemorated ἡ κοίμησις τῆς ἁγίας Ἄννης μητρὸς τῆς Θεοτόκου. That is: The falling asleep of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God. The same St. Sabas, according to our Simon Wangnereck, in the Marian Piety of the Greeks, century 5, number 435, thus prays to the holy parents of the Mother of God: O Joachim, adorned with divine inspiration! Thou too, Anne, divinely illustrious! Ye are twin lamps, from which arose the lamp, around which we discern no vestige of shadow. You too the very grace of God abundantly filled, that is, the Mother of God; with whom do ye both earnestly pray, that God may grant to our souls the greatness of His mercy to be enjoyed. I here omit the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides, the Arabic-Egyptian Martyrology, and other Menologia of the Orientals, both printed and manuscript, since concerning the ancient cult of this Saint enough is established from the historical documents which we now bring forward.

[47] Procopius of Caesarea, who flourished before the middle of the sixth century, and from her temples, in book 1 on the buildings of the emperor Justinian I, chapter 3, thus testifies: In that place of the city which they call Deuteron or "the Second," he dedicated a most noble and plainly wonderful temple to St. Anne, whom some believe to have been the mother of the Mother of God, and the grandmother of Christ. George Codinus, in the work on the origins of Constantinople, which was published at Paris in Greek and Latin in the year 1655, page 49, thus writes concerning the origin of the name Deuteron: Justinian Rhinotmetus (that is Justinian the younger, who perished in the year 711) was, by Leontius the patrician who then held power, banished into exile to Cherson, where, having stayed ten years, he at length fled to Terbelis, prince of the Bulgars, who gave him his daughter Theodora to wife, and moreover furnished an army of fifteen thousand soldiers. This he led against Constantinople to recover his Empire. But when the citizens were unwilling to receive him, by a feigned flight, at the gate of the city which they call the ancient one, he secretly burst into the city through the aqueduct, at that place where a column now remains, because there was a vent of the aqueduct there. Thus, having obtained the empire a second time, he there erected his statue, and called the place Deuteron or "the Second." Anselm Banduri, in volume 2 of the Eastern Empire, page 656, thus explodes this fabricated occasion of the appellation: But how trifling these petty Greeks are, when they try to exhibit the etymology of names, we have often shown elsewhere: for of the Deuteron, or church of St. Anne in the district of Deuteron, built by Justinian the Great, Procopius himself makes mention, the most accurate writer and witness of the things done by Justinian. Du Cange, in book 4 of Christian Constantinople, pages 143 and 144, refutes the same inept etymology of the more recent Greeks.

[48] built in her honor, Moreover Codinus, in the same place, thus speaks concerning the church of St. Anne, as built by Justinian Rhinotmetus or the Younger: There also he built the temple of St. Anne, who warned his wife, being pregnant, by a vision, that she should found a temple for her in that place: to which afterward also her holy body, together with her shoulder-garment, was translated. What is here said concerning the relics of our Saint will afterward be examined. Meanwhile Banduri, in the volume of the Eastern Empire just cited, page 657, rightly notes these things to the present purpose: Perhaps this church of St. Anne in Deuteron, which, according to Procopius, Justinian the Great had founded, was afterward restored by Justinian Rhinotmetus, which no one of the Byzantine historians, that I know of, except the writers of the Origins and Joel, hands down. But afterward Basil the Macedonian renewed the same, as Porphyrogenitus writes in the Life of his grandfather, chapter 54, and from him Scylitzes in the same Basil. Concerning other places built at Constantinople afterward in honor of St. Anne, see Du Cange in the book cited above, page 144.

[49] it is demonstrated. I gather from the Life of St. Stephen the Younger, who in the eighth century was an exile on the island of Proconnesus, that such monuments of ancient veneration existed not only at Constantinople, but also in other parts of Greece: for in that Life, written by a nearly contemporary author, and published at Paris in the year 1688 in Greek and Latin, pages 484 and 485, these things are read: In this manner departing thence (namely St. Stephen) he went to the sea, and, having boarded a ship, came to the island mentioned above, whither he was being sent as an exile. Here, cast ashore, while he traversed the more desert parts, he came upon a certain steep and formidable place by the sea, and there, the projecting precipices of the sea-coast having been surveyed for love of solitude, as though led by God, he found a very pleasant and excellent dwelling in the form of a cave, in the southern precipice of the island, called Cissuda, in which a lofty temple to Anne, the grandmother of God, had been raised up. The most eminent Cardinal Baronius, in the Ecclesiastical Annals, at the year 763, relates the Acts of St. Stephen, and in the same place, number 28, makes mention of this church of St. Anne. Now, concerning her cult in the West, certain things are to be noted.

§ VI. The cult of the Saint in the West, and the prodigious building of a temple in Spain to her honor.

It cannot easily be affirmed at what time the cult of St. Anne passed into the West: for in Usuard and other ancient Martyrologists her name is not found. The cult of St. Anne in Spain Here Tamayus need not detain us, who in his Spanish Martyrology, on this day, asserts that the feast of St. Anne was celebrated in Spain from the time of the Goths. Nay, not content with these things, he brings forth from his neo-ancient treasury hymns and verses, by which he strives to persuade that this festivity was already kept there from the time of St. James. The figments of that Martyrologist have already been so often detected that it is not worth while here again laboriously to pluck them apart, although we have at hand a little dissertation, excerpted from the posthumous manuscripts of Nicolaus Antonius, in which he learnedly refutes this very fable. We confess indeed that her memory is honored in the Mozarabic Office; but we do not know at what time it was inserted therein, since various Offices of more recent Saints have been added to this Breviary and Missal. Meanwhile we do not deny that the cult of St. Anne in Spain was most celebrated in later ages, as will easily appear from what is soon to be said.

[51] John Thomas of St. Cyril, a discalced Carmelite,

much augmented by a venerable nun, published at Cologne in the year 1657 a book (its title is Mater Honorificata, "The Mother Honored") concerning the praises, excellences, and prerogatives of St. Anne, in which, chapter 35, §10, he narrates how the venerable Anne of St. Augustine, a beloved disciple of St. Teresa, was heaped with various benefits through the holy Grandmother of Christ, and promoted the cult of her Benefactress in Spain. And all these things he sets forth in the words of the venerable Anne herself, who by the command of her superiors wove out the series of her life and of her divine revelations, and consigned to her pen the following: I was borne with a special and altogether cordial affection and devotion toward the most glorious mother of the Mother of God, Anne (whose name too I unworthily bear and usurp). And since, besides these things, that hermitage, which at the beginning of the foundation had been given to us as a gift in place of a church at Villanueva, enjoyed the title and protection of the same glorious Saint, and yet had no statue or other image to be set forth, whereby she might be recognized and honored as patroness of the place, I began thence to be afflicted beyond measure, and to feel keenly the absence of this so beloved Friend, such and so great.

[52] But when once, in the midst of prayer, I was moved with a more than usual and tender sorrow on this account, to whom, after a preceding revelation lo, a most beautiful and skillfully polished statue of this Saint, to be brought to us, was presented to me in a vision; and the truth of the vision, when it was sent down to us a few days afterward from Toledo in the form of alms, by a certain carrier, so proved the long-awaited event to our wish, we being meanwhile suspended between joy and wonder whence, or by what fortune, so noble and precious a gift had befallen us. At that very time, when it was being sent, I chanced to be discharging the duty of portress, or as it is commonly called of the wheel-keeper; and truly, perceiving it to be that very statue which I had seen in prayer, I was soothed with a most tender sense of interior consolation. But on the day on which this sacred pledge happened to be transmitted to us, we, all the religious, in the evening recreation, were together conferring sweetly and lovingly about the coming of this very statue: for although we were certain of its transmission, yet concerning the circumstance of time, at which it was to be sent, being not clearly expressed to us, we were somewhat in doubt.

[53] the image of the Saint is sent, Being therefore, as I said, anxious and suspended through desire and expectation of it, wonderful! lo, a dove of marvelous whiteness entering the place where we were, again and again flitting round about, and at length, with a lively flapping of its wings, as though by some nod interpreting the satisfaction which it had received thence, flying away again, I seemed to have seen; yet this vision was observed by none of the rest. But the dove, having departed thence, perchance turning back, the most august Lady of heaven, with a very friendly and most serene countenance, like one smiling, deigning to address me sweetly in these words, I heard: "Go with haste, and open the door to my Mother waiting at the doors." Delaying nothing, I hastened as quickly as possible with two other sisters to the door, and there rightly found the statue of the most glorious mother Anne, most becomingly enclosed in a box in the vestibule, placed there together with the man who carried it; who, being asked by whom it was sent, would not, or perhaps could not, answer anything else than that a certain box, destined for this convent, was there. Meanwhile we received it, with an intimate sense of devotion and with tears flowing abundantly for joy, as honorably as possible.

[54] and after other favors For the rest, I continually enjoyed this most glorious Lady, no otherwise than as a truly gracious mother and patroness, and most liberally, many times, experienced her special piety and care, both about corporal and about spiritual things, as the context of the history will more particularly show. And indeed this our house received from her (the religious being kept safe and preserved by her beneficence from any perilous events of body or soul) benefits almost innumerable, and most special graces. Everywhere, too, and as it were by received custom, she seemed to me, like a certain solicitous Martha, to go about and survey the whole house: whose special care and solicitude shone forth chiefly about the total repair, from the rubble, of the church (which, besides being sparingly and slenderly endowed and provided, on account of its age and antiquity, was now gradually threatening ruin).

[55] Thus, in the progress of time, when I, unworthy, was there acting as Prioress, it is commanded from heaven that she build a temple in her honor. not daring, on account of the scarceness of money, even in passing or incidentally to think of the restoration of the church, once, on a sudden, these express words, ANNE, WHERE IS MY HOUSE, I know not whence, yet from heaven, seemed to reach my ears: which gracious voice of my blessed mother Anne, demanding that a church be built under the title and patronage of her name, I was assured by a certain interior instinct truly to have been; yet without being moved at that time to determine anything certain about the fabric of the church. But a few days back, the aforesaid words, ANNE, WHERE IS MY HOUSE, were repeated anew; and although the same judgment altogether, which before, entered my mind concerning the intention and mind of her who uttered these things, nevertheless, as I remember, only on account of the straits of the money-matter, I still neglected to determine anything absolutely about the fabric. At length a third time, and on the very vigil of my most holy father Augustine, this same voice being repeated, thinking that I ought to delay no longer, but with my trust and hope most fully fixed in her, namely that she who had commanded what I should do would also most easily provide whence I might accomplish it, I resolved myself generously, once more, to the work of the fabric, and on the first day after, namely on the day sacred to my most chosen Father, certain little houses standing there, now almost broken with age, being cast down in the place designated for the structure of the church, I began strenuously to put my hands to the work, neglecting meanwhile, and setting aside, even the care of our extreme poverty, so that there did not remain even a farthing to be gathered in the house.

[56] Meanwhile I, confidently casting all my thought and care upon her under whose auspices I was undertaking this work, Money for the fabric is wonderfully supplied, nay, dealing as though already certain and secure of her most sweet providence, as indeed not long after the desired event answered wonderfully to my conceived hope: for when once I was present with the rest at the singing of the divine Office, lo, on a sudden I am called from the wheel to a certain person bringing me two hundred reals in ready coin in the form of alms; which, being received gratefully with signs and affections and words of a grateful mind, I hastened, first of all, to give thanks to God and to the most glorious mother of His Mother, St. Anne, with an intimate sense of devotion. And although by this aid I was helped, for a somewhat long course of time, to carry on the fabric, yet, as it gradually failed, I too began to be no little vexed and tormented, whence I might gather the remaining expenses. Wherefore one night, all sad and desolate, falling down in the choir before the very friendly and venerable statue of my most glorious mother Anne, with a certain filial simplicity I began quite lamentably to complain to her; namely, that I had undertaken this work precisely at her own bidding; and that if she now desired it to be finished, she too should labor and provide, as much as she willed, about the care of the remaining expenses.

[57] Having protested these or nearly similar words with a most tender sense of filial trust (behold for thee a prodigy! the building is begun,) I see the statue gradually, altogether prodigiously, move nearer and nearer to me from its place, surrounded with an unwonted but most pleasing splendor, like one sweetly smiling and, as it were, nodding that quite enough had been done for her, in that, giving faith and obedience to her admonitions, I had generously undertaken this work of the fabric. But I, somewhat disturbed and anxious, lest perhaps some illusion of the Stygian shade lay beneath, fearing, hastily snatching the cross that hung from my rosary, with a most humble prayer beforehand for this presumption, presented to her, to be becomingly adored as a proof of the vision, this figure of the death gloriously triumphed over for human salvation by her once most sweet Grandson, as a thing received and customary. No sooner said than done: lo, she immediately seized the cross from my hands and, her knees devoutly bent, kissed it with a token of most tender affection, and most reverently adored it. Thereupon I, suffused with most abundant consolation, and falling in veneration at her feet, with a manifest sign of her special complacency on account of the work of the begun fabric, deserved to be animated by her to the continuation, sweetly and lovingly, in these express words: Go on, DAUGHTER, WITH THE WORK BEGUN, AND DISTRUST NOT NOR BE ANXIOUS ABOUT THE REMAINING EXPENSES: and these things said, she at once disappeared, leaving in the place where she was seen no small portion of money, which, taken up with a mind no less grateful and a ready hand, I found to amount to the sum of three hundred ducats, and afterward, one by one, most sparingly expended it in the use of the fabric.

[58] whose prosecution the demons But while, as I thus urged it on, the work fervently proceeded and the fabric was daily and daily carried higher, the envious underworld ill and most grievously bore these pious and happy endeavors. What then? All Styx rages and roars, Avernus in horror rises up against it, the underworld spirits are armed, from their Stygian lurking-places they hasten to burst forth in swarms, and, driven into fury, that they may utterly overthrow a machine rising so happily, they strive and labor not only to move again every stone, but even wholly to remove it: for now they threatened me, unless I abstained from the begun work, with all evils, mischiefs, and hostile things, all crosses and curses; now they threatened, with a terrible roar, that they would utterly overthrow the very fabric. Whence I, terrified and almost lifeless, fleeing in haste to my most powerful Patroness, implored, with the greatest anxiety I could, her mighty patronage and protection against the assaults and threatened menaces of these malignant spirits.

[59] try in vain to hinder, It happened therefore, now at the dead of night, the accustomed Office of matins being finished, and the sisters received again into quiet within their cells, that a horrible din, and, as it were, the roar and rush of some rioting mob, was stirred up in the place of the fabric: I, not unmindful of the threats, all trembling and anxious, hastened at once to the little window, to look out what was being done about the fabric; and behold for thee the tricks of the devil! So vehement a fire was at first sight presented to view in it, that even the very stones and marbles seemed to have caught fire and to have gone into flames, until it was found to be a vain illusion of the demon, itching only to pour out his rage and fury, and, even so, unless he were held by a higher power, striving to demonstrate what he would dare about the work: for I beheld a huge and gathered swarm of demons flitting hither and thither in those feigned flames and raging, whose only effort and endeavor was utterly to overthrow the new-rising beginnings of the fabric, and, by leveling it anew entirely with the ground, not to leave even a trace of it: for to such a degree of the infernal spirits'

fury and rage had prevailed at that time, that, although the insolence of tumultuous heresy, in that very age, had made a most monstrous slaughter and destruction of so many illustrious churches and temples throughout the vast realms of England and Scotland, worthy even of bloody tears, wrought without any distinction or compassion, yet it seemed as though it would not be sated until this poor and humble chapel too, in my simplicity destined for the most powerful God as at least some slight compensation for the slaughter of so many churches elsewhere, had yielded also to their obstinate and wicked fury. But when against these assaults and endeavors of the malignant spirits I anxiously implored the powerful protection of my blessed mother Anne; behold, at that very place and point of time at which these perfidious spirits were casting up this phantom fire and their most foul specters, she herself seemed clemently to be present to me, and deigned to console me sweetly with these words: "Fear not, daughter, nor be terrified by this feigned flame; but hasten to follow me." Whom I, reverently following as she went before me straight to the very place of the fabric, and there stopping with her, beheld an innumerable rabble of demons, which she, by the mere express sign of the blessed cross, powerfully and suddenly put to flight; and for the rest kept the place, with the fabric, safe and immune from all diabolical infestation.

[60] Meanwhile, indeed, the structure of the fabric rising higher from day to day, while the Saint protected the begun work in various ways. and gradually hastening toward the summit of perfection, most often, as it were by a settled custom, this my glorious Mother seemed solicitously to go about the fabric, and to assist all and each continually, and most faithfully, according to the necessity demanding of each one—rousing one workman who was idle and languishing, encouraging another who was timid and fearful of dangers, refreshing this one who was weary and worn out, supporting that one who was heedless and perhaps stumbling, lest he should be carried headlong—and to confer strength of body and vigor of mind, so that those who labored, as though they labored not, that is, did not so keenly feel the burdens and irksomeness of hard labor, but, working the work strenuously and briskly, hastened to complete it, and at length most happily put the last hand to it. But as for what concerned me: if ever I had not wherewith to pay the hired workmen, or if anything else necessary came up for the use and progress of the fabric, this my most pious Patroness served my wish altogether in the stead of a most rich and best-furnished treasury; to whom, accordingly, I hastened, being about most certainly to receive from her, as quickly as possible, whatever necessary thing should occur to me.

[61] But in the lapse of time it happened that I was for some while destitute of the necessary money, and meanwhile also my blessed mother Anne, contrary to her custom, The treasury being again exhausted, that perhaps this deferred providence of hers might befall the more sweet and welcome, delaying to provide these very things, I was compelled to ask of a certain friend of ours a thousand reals on loan for a time. Behold for thee truly the piety of this holy Mother, and her truly pious providence! Scarcely had I received them on loan into my hands, when straightway she bestowed on me another thousand reals, that I might repay those given on loan, with, moreover, another notable quantity added for expenses necessary in the future. But the same necessity recurring not long after, and this my most wealthy Money-lender protracting, even after the long importunity of my prayers, at length I began to be somewhat vexed and troubled who should provide for this my necessity, a certain quantity of money being in the meantime borrowed.

[62] But behold, while I am distracted, anxious with these cares, on a sudden I seem to hear perceptibly the voice of someone calling me to the doors of the monastery, a certain nobleman in a wondrous manner supplies new money, to whom, obeying at once, I hasten to the wheel, to ask who was waiting there. Being asked, therefore, who was outside, he answered at once that he had a certain noble stranger, who earnestly desired to speak, alone and without witnesses, with mother Anne of St. Augustine, and accordingly asked that the key of the common parlor be handed over: which being handed over, I went straight to the parlor, to explore what at length this noble man might want; whom, as soon as I heard him, I found most grievously and scarcely consolably afflicted, inasmuch as he confessed that he was one of the chief royal ministers, and had therefore deliberately withdrawn himself from the court by flight, because by the conspiracy and malice of certain perfidious men he was charged, falsely however, with a most grievous crime, at the same time giving a lengthy account of the matter. Whom indeed I earnestly bound, that, if he were really guilty of the alleged crime, he would ingenuously confess it to me under the seal of secrecy, for the glory of God. But he protested under oath that he had not, even in thought, much less in deed, dared anything so enormous; wherefore he purposed, in order meanwhile, yielding to the king's wrath, to provide for his own safety, to go straight toward the kingdom of Valencia; but that in this flight he had conceived no thought either of turning aside hither, or concerning me, as being plainly hitherto unknown to him; but that on a certain day, being more grievously afflicted, he was admonished by these words, whence indeed or how he knew not, yet believed it to be from heaven: "Go to Villanueva, to the monastery of the discalced Carmelite nuns which is there, and open your affliction to mother Anne of St. Augustine, a religious there, and there you shall obtain the consolation for which you so sigh: but do you succor her with a liberal alms, and relieve the poverty of the laboring monastery." And thus, having it altogether persuaded that he was brought hither by the will of God, he asked that his affliction be commended uniquely to the divine mercy through our prayers and orations, and at the same time, for the necessities of the monastery, most promptly offered a thousand ducats in ready money, and, to be disposed of at my discretion, a signal gold chain with a very large gold coin hanging from it: but, needing for the present, for my necessity, only those thousand gold pieces, I even restored the chain of my own accord, and reciprocally, as usual, pledged most prompt the prayers of myself and of the other sisters in return for due gratitude: who, departing from me, began expeditiously to pursue his intended journey.

[63] and shortly receives the reward of his alms. But I, having entered the choir and reverently falling down before the most august Sacrament and the venerable statue of the glorious Mother, having humbly given thanks for this unhoped-for alms, began, with what earnestness and effort of mind I could, to commend to this my most sweet Mother the affliction of that good man, that she would deign, as quickly as possible, powerfully to rescue him according to her accustomed clemency: who also, being presented to me at once in a vision with these words, TRUST, DAUGHTER, IN THE LORD, the certainty of his liberation, shortly to come, being efficaciously impressed, made me altogether of a brisk and good mind. But it happened that, after an interval of some days, the memory of the preceding vision being (God perhaps so disposing) altogether buried, I was again moved concerning the calamity of the said nobleman, and heartily pitied him: therefore, matins being finished, I set myself again to commend him, as earnestly as I could, to the divine mercy and to the most glorious mother Anne. To which she, being at once also present, most lovingly added this: "Do not, daughter, torment yourself: for what you earnestly ask to be done, know that this very thing is already done; and that man, his innocence being proved, will shortly return to you." As indeed the ensuing event taught the truth of these things: for within a few days, returning to me at Villanueva, he not only dealt most humanely on account of the labor of our prayers bestowed, but, another thousand gold pieces being offered in ready money as alms, rendered thanks most liberally, and most lovingly urged the further earnestness of our prayers.

[64] At length the building being finished, The fabric of the church being now finished and completed, I was solicitously deliberating about transferring the most august Sacrament from the old to the new church, and about a fitting apparatus of ornaments for this solemnity; but among the rest a chalice of more polished engraving was wanting, of which indeed, out of five, the choicer and most skillfully wrought was brought to my wish: one thing only was lacking, that, being merely of silver, it lacked a gilt coloring: lest therefore even this adornment should be wanting, I was no little vexed. Hastening therefore to my accustomed benefactress, the most glorious mother Anne, I confidently commended this defect also to her in these or similar words: "Ah, most sweet and only Mother of my desires, who, I pray, shall provide whence this chalice may shine wholly gilded with the purest gold, for the greater splendor of your solemnity?" To me, sighing this from the depth of my heart, she, at once appearing with unwonted majesty, most liberally, according to her custom, held out certain gold coins, which she kept hidden in her hands. For the rest, all things pertaining to the substance of the fabric being now entirely finished and consummated, our Reverend Father Provincial, then Father Francis of the Ascension, together with some other religious, came to our monastery on the very vigil of the intended translation, to provide betimes that all things necessary, according to order, for the solemnity of the following day, should be arranged at his nod.

[65] But meanwhile, while these things were being arranged, I, toward night, being somewhat recollected for prayer, she herself, after familiar apparitions of the Saint, earnestly besought my most glorious mother and patroness Anne to pardon all the defects, if any, about the fabric, had happened through my carelessness and fault. And behold she herself appears, shining round about with the greatest splendor of glory, and with a most serene countenance and a most placid voice rendered thanks on account of the church erected and consecrated to her name, and, holding my mind suspended by her most agreeable address for a rather long space of time (as I afterward learned), soothed it with such abundance of the delights of that heavenly house, that, all as it were kindled with the most flaming flames of divine love, it would leap up and long, most ready, to undergo even a thousand deaths and torments, nay any most monstrous kind of martyrdom whatever, with, moreover, the promptness of her help and favor promised for the event of any necessity. And that at length, for the more august glory of this most august Mother, I may candidly and sincerely confess it, there was truly no occasion of any necessity or straits or affliction whatever, in which I did not evidently experience the power and felicity of her patronage (even sometimes unasked and unrequired), so far indeed that, on account of so great a familiarity with her, and the frequency of the vision presented, I at length began to fear the illusion of the demon himself, as being often an angel of light and a most cunning ape of the Saints. Wherefore I began, with an intimate sense of compunction, to beg her that she would by no means allow that most foul specter of the underworld, under her glorious shadow, to attempt and presume to delude me. To which she at once: "Trust, daughter; I will by no means allow that you be deceived; and let this be to you a sure token and symbol of my true presence: for as often as I happen to show myself to you, I will lovingly forestall you with this accustomed formula of greeting, JESUS BE WITH THEE." From that time, therefore, as often as she is presented to me to be seen, this is her familiar style of greeting me. But if ever it happens that she defers the accustomed formula of greeting longer than usual, I, anxious and solicitous, hasten to fortify myself beforehand with this very salutary watchword, JESUS BE WITH ME:

to which she, with a tender feeling of interior consolation, at once subjoins: Amen, JESUS BE WITH THEE, O DAUGHTER.

[66] she was seen to be present in the temple, On the second day after, therefore, destined for the festivity of the translation itself, a most solemn procession was ordered, in which, besides the thrice most august Sacrament, the image of this glorious Mother was borne with august pomp. But this very image, as it passed under the doors of the new church (behold for thee a wonder to be admired!), I seemed to see distinguished throughout the face with living lineaments, the cheeks gradually tinged with the living color of purple, the veins too distended with vital blood and vigor, and rendered in all things most like a living person, with a cheerful and sweetly smiling mouth, and the whole countenance at length most composed to gladness; in a word, you would not only have thought her alive, but sworn it; with angels in troops applauding round about, and, what was more pleasing to behold, she was attended on either side, here by her most holy Daughter and there by her most sweet grandson, the boy Jesus, conducting her as reverently as kindly, until she was set in the place destined for her upon the altar. Then again, according to her native courtesy, she seemed to deign to give me most abundant thanks for this middling service bestowed by me upon her. But I, not neglecting this offered occasion, in reciprocal return and compensation for the little service of mine bestowed, insisted and asked, with what earnestness I could, that, imparting her most pious blessing to the people gathered for this solemnity for the sake of her honor and devotion, she would obtain for all and each the grace of the present life and the everlasting glory of the future from her grandson the little Jesus: and she, of this my petition, as most agreeable and acceptable to her, by the special courtesy of her countenance and an affable nod of her head, as by a certain given sign, and, her most holy right hand being raised in blessing over the whole multitude, left me a most tender proof of spiritual consolation.

[67] and she healed the venerable helper of this work, fallen into sickness. But it happened meanwhile that once I was seized and tormented with most acute pains of the whole body, so far indeed that the matter now seemed to be of life or death. Therefore, the human aid of the physicians (who, being summoned, were felt rather to increase than to lessen the force of the disease) being despaired of, I turned myself, suppliant and beseeching, to the heavenly healing hand, namely the most glorious Anne my mother, that she might confer help and healing safety in this humanly incurable infirmity. She at once, presenting herself with a most gentle face, in that part of the body where the more vehement pain pressed, her blessed hand being applied, suddenly broke the force of the disease, and took away all sense of pain: whence I remained in my whole body sound and unharmed, but within, in my mind, anointed with a most sweet sense of consolation. These things, concerning the wonderful construction of the church and the singular favors of her Benefactress, the most pious client of St. Anne committed to writing at the command of her superiors, all of which we have faithfully transcribed from the praised John Thomas of St. Cyril. Meanwhile I do not doubt that the cult of the same Saint flourishes in other provinces of Spain, since I myself have seen very many images of St. Anne and altars erected in various temples of that kingdom.

§ VII. The cult of the Saint in various regions of Europe.

The public cult of St. Anne in England in the year 1378 I do not doubt that the catholic cult of St. Anne flourished in Europe from time immemorial; but the first certain memory of a more solemn festivity I found under Pope Urban VI, who in our Labbe, volume 11 of the Councils, part 2, thus writes, among other things, to the archbishops and bishops of England: Since therefore lately, on the part of certain of Christ's faithful, dwelling in the kingdom of England, it has been set forth before us that the people of the aforesaid kingdom bear a singular affection of devotion toward blessed Anne, mother of the glorious virgin Mary, Mother of God, also for reverence of the same blessed virgin Mary; and on the part of the same faithful of Christ it has been humbly supplicated to us that we should command the festivity of blessed Anne to be solemnly and devoutly celebrated in the said kingdom by the prelates and other faithful of Christ dwelling in that kingdom: we, greatly commending in the Lord this pious will and affection of devotion of the aforesaid peoples, and desiring to render the faithful of Christ acceptable to the Lord and followers of good works: inclined to supplications of this kind, we strictly charge and command your fraternity, by the tenor of these presents, that you devoutly and solemnly celebrate the aforesaid festivity of blessed Anne every single year, in perpetual future times, and command and cause it to be celebrated in your cities and dioceses by your subjects. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, on the 11th day before the Kalends of July, in the fourth year of our pontificate.

[69] In the following century the festivity of the same Saint was solemnly celebrated in Denmark, as is evident from the provincial council and it once flourished in Denmark, which was held at Copenhagen in the year 1425, and which in our Hardouin, volume 8 of the Councils, thus decrees: Likewise we ordain that the feast of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God, blessed Mary, be held celebrated every year, on the morrow of the Conception of the same blessed virgin Mary, throughout our whole province, as a feast of the land and people for the future. Without doubt the same veneration toward the most holy Grandmother of Christ flourished at that time in other northern provinces and islands, and publicly persevered, until heresy, hostile to the cult of the Saints, banished the ancestral religion.

[70] The Germans even now in several places venerate St. Anne, as may be seen in chapter 29, page 361, in the Reverend Master Paul Theodoricus Clisorius, who in Germany, who at Cologne in the year 1648 published in German the Life and praises of this Saint and of her husband. John Thomas of St. Cyril, in the Mater Honorificata, chapter 35, §2, thus has it concerning this piety of the Germans: There is a mountain of Austria named and omened from Anne; namely where Anne not only sounds, but also affords grace, that is, health to the sick, walking to the lame, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and, among a thousand other reliefs of human miseries, has restored speech to many, as witnesses the father Malachias Rosenthal, venerable no less for piety than for erudition, of the Cistercian Order, in a little work published in the vernacular tongue as an index of his affection and devotion toward this Saint. Hence the said mountain is thronged and famous, on account of the cult, devotion, and concourse of the people to this Saint. Then he subjoins a miracle wrought there in the year 1633, of which we shall speak afterward. Then the author just cited, in §11 of the same chapter, narrates at length how, by the piety and munificence of the most serene Austrians, in the year 1644, under the title and patronage of the most holy mother Anne, there was erected a desert or monastery, four miles distant from Vienna, which the Reverend Fathers, discalced Carmelites, inhabit.

[71] Our George Crugerius, in the Ashes of Bohemia, Moravia, in Bohemia and neighboring regions, and Silesia, on the 26th day of July, assigns various churches of St. Anne in these regions. In Poland also the veneration of this Saint is celebrated, as, among other things, I gather from those things which I said in the preliminary Commentary to the Life of Blessed Simon of Lipnica, number 25, where, in volume 4 of July, page 516, from a Cracow manuscript, I cited these words: Father Nicolaus Sokolniki, a most fervent preacher, most exceedingly beloved of the people, a devoted servant of St. Anne, and in every sermon incited the people to honor her; and thus, by his sacred admonitions, the chapel was adorned on Tuesdays with throngs of men: wherefore also on a Tuesday, as her devotee, he fell asleep in the Lord in 1522. That her cult flourished also in Hungary, I draw from the letters of our Francis Scabolth, who in the year 1707 thus writes to our Janninck: Kindled with the desire of promoting in this Marian kingdom of Hungary the ancestral cult of St. Anne, or, that I may better say, of reviving it, buried through several ages, both by the disquiet of wars and by the insolence of heretical depravity, which even now vehemently rages, I meditate publishing a manual little work for pious worshipers. Then he proposes certain doubts concerning the parents of the Saint and her other Acts, which we have already touched upon above.

[72] and in catholic Belgium In various places of our Belgium also the memory of St. Anne is celebrated: but especially in the village of Bottelaer, which is distant two leagues from Ghent. Cornelius van Gestel, in the Sacred and Profane History of the archbishopric of Mechlin, published in the year 1725, volume 2, page 270, thus writes concerning it: Bottelaer, at the second milestone from Ghent, of the prefecture of Rode, to whose marquis the lordship of this place belongs, has for the patron of its church St. Martin, bishop of Tours; but since, about the year 1643, the cult of St. Anne began to flourish here, she from that time is acknowledged and honored as patroness and protectress, but especially on the Tuesday after Pentecost, and on the very feast of the Saint with a novena. In our age there has been built there, from the alms and offerings of pilgrims and pious persons, an ample and illustrious basilica sacred to St. Anne, in which a great concourse of people and pilgrimage persevere, so that this place has become famous for prodigies and benefits.

[73] it still flourishes. Since report had brought to us that in that village, by the intercession of St. Anne, certain miracles were often wrought, we took care that the parish priest of the place be asked whether certain particular benefits had been consigned to writing. But he, in the month of May in the year 1727, answered thus in general: That, by the miraculous image of St. mother Anne, deliverance is granted to the possessed, health to the sick, protection to the pregnant, fruitfulness to the barren, help to those in peril, restoration of mind to the delirious, and the rest, through the invocation of St. Anne, at Bottelaer, is attested by hundreds of pictures, images, offerings of the people, writings of pastors, priests, and physicians (would that he had brought forth those writings of the priests and physicians!), besides daily experience. This is worthy of note, that that image, notwithstanding its antiquity, is preserved from all decay, nor is it ever stained by the dust raised in the air by the multitude of people or by the cleaning of the church, as one may prove with a clean cloth. The relics of St. Anne (of which we shall afterward institute discourse) excite the devotion of the people as much as possible, by the veneration of which many, in whatever affliction, have felt help from heaven … The multitude of people was sometimes so great that in one day four thousand communicated. Then he makes mention of the confraternity of Jesus, Mary, and Anne, to which, in the past century, several persons illustrious both in ecclesiastical and in secular dignity gave their names, and at the end of the letter asserts that, by the care of certain parish priests, miracles were noted down, which perished through the negligence of others.

[74] That great honor is paid to the same Saint in France, In France, is clear from the Martyrology of Saussay, who on the 26th day of July has this: The Dormition of St. Anne, mother of the most blessed virgin Mother of God, and grandmother of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Her body, long since laid up at Apt in the Vulgientine district under the metropolis of Aix, is greatly honored there by the faithful in the chief temple, which now shines conspicuous by her glorious appellation. But her head, at Chartres, in the most august and throughout the whole world most celebrated basilica of the most holy

Mother of God, laid up by the gift of Louis, count of Blois, is observed also with the highest honor which is fitting. Then in the supplement of the same Gallican Martyrology, page 1151, he thus speaks: At Dijon, the solemnity of St. Anne, grandmother of Christ, which, by the common vow of the citizens, after the manner of the feast of the Lord's Resurrection, is celebrated every year on this day (namely the 26th of July) with the reception of the Eucharist, on account of the plague of a deadly pestilence quieted in the year 1531 through her invocation … At Rouen, the translation of her relics. At Paris, in the chief temple of the Mother of God, the memory of St. Anne is honored with great religion in her own chapel, which Queen Anne, the most pious consort of Louis XIII, the Most Christian king, rendered most celebrated by her devotion. Afterward will be more fully discussed those things which are here recorded concerning the relics of St. Anne at Apt, and in the course of the work, on occasion of the relics and miracles, we shall treat of Sicily and other regions in which St. Anne is honored.

[75] In the last century, in Lesser Britain, a province of France, [and especially in Armorican Brittany the veneration of the same Saint is celebrated.] the cult of St. Anne was wonderfully renewed, as the most illustrious Spondanus, in the continuation of the Ecclesiastical Annals, volume 3, at the year of Christ 1625, number 3, narrates in these words: To this decree (this is that decree of Urban VIII concerning the cult of the Saints, which he had mentioned a little before) the veneration of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God, was not subject, being indeed most received and most approved in the Church and the City from all Christian ages; which also in this very year is read to have been made manifest by a new miracle in Armorican Brittany, in the village of Ker-Anna in the diocese of Vannes: where, being divinely revealed to a certain pious plowman, by name Ivo Nicolasic, in the month of March, a certain ancient sacred image of the aforesaid blessed Anne, buried deep in the earth, immediately began to shine with innumerable and most illustrious as well as stupendous miracles, which rendered the place most frequented by the concourse of peoples; the image being placed in a church, magnificently built from pious alms, near the town of Auray, by the authority of Sebastian Rosmadec, bishop of Vannes, the ordinary of the place, who confirmed by public decree the most approved miracles, wont to be continually wrought there, and permitted them to be promulgated by Brother Hugh of St. Francis, a reformed Carmelite of the Armorican province: to which Order the bishop conferred the care and administration of the aforesaid church, indulgences being also obtained from the Pope Urban for the benefit of those who should visit it. But it will be well to hear that wonderful history, more fully and distinctly described, in the following paragraph.

§ VIII. The ancient cult of St. Anne in Armorican Brittany restored in a wondrous manner.

St. Anne to a certain rustic The praised John Thomas of St. Cyril, in the work cited above, chapter 35, §12, thus more fully sets forth the wondrous history of the restored cult: Ivo Nicolasic, an agriculturist of obscure condition and slender fortune, but to whom this was an illustrious title, a good and upright man; his revenue was piety and virtue, most rich and sure; but chiefly toward the virgin Mother of God and her most holy mother Anne he had a special cult and devotion: the latter of whom, namely mother Anne, from his tender nails, as they say, he strove so to bind to himself by studies and pious observances, that he was made worthy of several and signal visions and revelations of her, and at length deserved to be employed as a famous minister for promoting the same devotion. Throughout the course of about nineteen months, in which he felt himself carried away and affected with a very rare and special tenderness of devotion toward this glorious Mother, almost every fifteen intercalated days the same, as a venerable matron bearing a certain signal majesty, seemed to be presented to him: her stature was elegant, her garment was white and most splendid, very like that which the Evangelists everywhere describe our Savior to have had on Mount Tabor, when the Transfiguration was made. In her hand she bore a burning torch, and for a footstool, or more truly I should say a vehicle, a pellucid cloud served her. But since these apparitions were as brief in duration as frequent in number, there came upon the mind of this simple man the persuasion that perhaps this was the shade of his mother, not long since deceased and soliciting suffrages for the refreshment of her soul; so that therefore he began to double the accustomed and appointed prayers for her, and to go to and devoutly frequent the neighboring places celebrated for the concourse and devotion of the faithful.

[77] after obscure and brief apparitions But the first vision with which the most holy mother Anne deigned to favor this her devoted servant happened on the very festive day of St. James, in the year of the Lord 1624: when, as he hastened home from the town of Auray toward the evening twilight, and near a certain statue of the Crucified, intent, according to his pious custom, on reciting his rosary, a burning and most bright torch seemed to precede him and, as it were, to serve as a guide of the way, until it left him now near his own house, and immediately vanished from his eyes, he being meanwhile fixed in such astonishment that, neglecting even to refresh his body, he passed that whole night sleepless. And behold for thee, now at the dead of night, when all things were deep in silence, a sudden din, as of a multitude of men flowing together from every side in troops, arises. But he, struck by the novelty of the thing, hastens out of the house to explore what is being done; but, what is wonderful, he finds no mortal, nor perceives any. Struck therefore with greater astonishment than before, he flees to his rosary, and, reciting it, and the door of the house being again closed behind him, meanwhile anxiously and solicitously awaits the event of the matter.

[78] she manifests herself, and commands him the restoration of her chapel, Scarcely had he pursued his prayers, when he suddenly beheld his barn surrounded and illumined with a huge and unwonted splendor, and in the midst of it a certain venerable matron, shining brighter than the noonday sun, from whom, with a very sweet and friendly voice, in the tongue familiar and vernacular to the Bretons, he received the following words: "Ivo Nicolasic, fear not: I am Anne, the parent of Mary. Tell your pastor that in the midst of that field, commonly called Becenno, there once was a noble chapel, which, first of all, the ancestral piety of the Bretons had erected to my honor; but, now for nine hundred and twenty-four years and six months demolished and fallen, I desire it to be rebuilt, since it is the will of God that there devotion be paid to my name." And these things said, she at once disappeared. Meanwhile the rustic remained anxious, as much suspended by astonishment as also full of consolation, and animated with confidence concerning the most happy future success of this devotion to the special glory of the divine Mother; yet not so firmly and stably but that a certain panic fear crept in, lest this his account should be exploded as some illusion or old-womanly delirium, or otherwise find but weak credit with most. Thus, sticking midway between hope and fear, between human respect and the secret divine impulse, for about six weeks he is silent and dissembles: which being spent, refreshed by a new vision and again admonished, and, driven by fear lest perhaps he should incur the disgrace and indignation of this Saint, he at length sincerely and faithfully opens and sets forth to his pastor the series and order of the matter.

[79] But meanwhile the most glorious mother Anne began to favor this her servant with one and another vision; now sharply reproaching him for this scantiness of his trust, and promises help for this work. now strenuously encouraging him against the world and the sinister judgments, gibes, and mockeries of those who would oppose this pious purpose and laugh at his simplicity. But by these visions, as frequent as familiar, the simple man advanced to such a degree of pious presumption and freedom toward this most beloved mother St. Anne, that, on account of his faith and account being easily suspect, as of a vile and abject man, he began boldly to insist and ask that the matter be made plain and confirmed by some illustrious and plausible miracle. To whom the Saint at once: "Go and live secure, for the humility of your condition shall by no means change or delay the execution of my purpose: for I will shortly bring it about that those who hitherto have been most contrary and incredulous shall as quickly as possible and efficaciously understand and be convinced that you are the fittest instrument specially chosen by me for executing my purpose. As concerns the expenses of the fabric, there is no reason why you should heap up and exaggerate at length the straits of your affairs, sufficiently before perceived by me: for since … all the treasures of paradise are in my hands, I will most sufficiently provide for the necessity of the expenses."

[80] Similar graces, and discourses with this holy Mother as very frequent as they were familiar, this poor rustic deserved to have. [The rustic, having disclosed the vision, is derided by his parish priest as a fanatic;] Sometimes he saw a huge and august light poured over the field which now sustains the fabric of the chapel, which was noted also by several other eyewitnesses; sometimes he seemed to see stars raining down upon him in such number, like a gathered cloud or a most dense rain; now he observed them descend like burning torches. Not rarely he afterward perceived with astonishment that he had been rapt from his house to the said place (by whose work or ministry, however, he confessed he knew not), and there, suspended by a most sweet concert of angelic harmony, had spent very much time lingering in the sweetness of such heavenly foretastes: but especially on the first of March, and on the very Monday of the year 1625, five days before the miraculously found image, when, rapt to the aforementioned place and, according to the observation of his household, detained for the full space of three hours, although he himself, through the tenderness of those heavenly influxes, seemed scarcely to have been absent half an hour. Meanwhile, with these new and altogether rare favors, courage and confidence also grew upon the good servant of God, so that, although, his pastor having now been twice admonished, he had as often been dismissed by him with ignominy and mockery, nevertheless on the day after that on which this special favor had befallen him, taking one of his neighbors as a companion, he approached the same pastor, again to admonish him, in the name and by the command of St. Anne, that he should no longer shuffle about erecting the chapel. But, as before, being harshly and reproachfully rejected, he withdrew, all desolate and afflicted, with shame and the greatest confusion.

[81] but animated by the consolation and counsel of a noble man, Being thus affected, therefore, as he went home, without doubt God so specially disposing, he met a certain illustrious and most noble man, to whom, asking the cause and occasion of his desolation (which perhaps the poor man even bore upon his face), he recounted at length the series and order of the whole matter: by whom he was well encouraged, as far as possible, and was in a friendly way admonished that he should sincerely confer and communicate these divine favors and illuminations with men of noted erudition and approved life, but chiefly with religious, practiced and well versed in the discerning of spirits; and moreover that, by the frequenting of prayer and fastings, he should strive to render himself more fit for receiving influxes and heavenly favors of this kind, and thus more worthy of the divine will to be explored more securely and without the danger of illusion: but before all things that, in visions of this kind, as far as might be,

he should employ trustworthy witnesses. And thus instructed, the wretched and afflicted man deserved to experience the desired success of his revelations.

[89] after the image of the Saint had been found in a wondrous manner, Now, therefore, the day being present, or rather already declining, on which the most glorious mother Anne had decreed to make good the event of the hope and promise she had given, Ivo Nicolasic, composed for rest in his house about the evening twilight, at about the tenth or eleventh hour of the night, suddenly noted from his bed the accustomed and ordinary light, which, by its repeated withdrawing and approaching, seemed in a manner to invite him to follow it: which seen, he at once rises, and summons with him five other men of proved faith, whom he animated to follow him strenuously in these or similar words: "Ho, good men, let us go whither God and holy mother Anne shall lead us." Following therefore the accustomed light, which seemed to wish to serve as a guide of the way, they observed in the midst of it, as it were, a torch of rare magnitude and marvelous splendor, which, reaching all the way to the place of the chapel, and there, three elevations being made, as by certain signs or nods, immediately disappeared. Meanwhile Ivo and his companions, full of astonishment, and at the same time allured by curiosity to explore the novelty of the thing, set to work, briskly digging the earth in the place prodigiously shown; and lo, scarcely had they advanced one or another foot, when they found the image of the glorious Mother so worn by age that it could scarcely be conveniently recognized, save by certain shades of colors and rougher lineaments serving as indications. For the rest, on this occasion something special and memorable happened; namely that two of the summoned witnesses, who had been unworthy of the vision and benefit of that light prodigiously preceding them, being inwardly touched and compunct in heart, of their own accord acknowledged and publicly confessed the fault for which they had most justly deserved to be deprived of this divine favor, namely that they were not in a state of grace, and, in the paschal time just past, had wickedly neglected the communion prescribed by the Church.

[83] But Ivo, meanwhile, bitterly grieving at the pertinacious hardness and obstinate mind of his pastor in denying consent to the building of the chapel, and the money received from heaven at length preferred to sell that little which he possessed by the blessing of God, rather than to defer any longer to obey at once the pious will of the glorious mother Anne. But indeed this great Saint, preferring to be felt a benefactress rather than one who awaits a benefit, content with the ready will of this poor man rather than with a most bountiful gift, most liberally demonstrated in fact this her very readiness to do good, on the eighth of March, the day after the image is said to have been found: for the wife of Ivo, rising in the morning from her bed, found placed on the table about twelve pounds of French money, as if newly coined (but whence, or how, or by whose liberality, she was utterly ignorant and unaware). By this prodigious beneficence, as by an evident proof of the signal fidelity of mother Anne, the poor man was in a wondrous manner animated and confirmed to prosecute strenuously the work so solicitously and so often enjoined upon him. This money was afterward distributed to the workmen for the labor of the fabric, except one pound, which is preserved among the treasures of the church for a memorial of the deed.

[84] These things being done in order, though examined amid various and most keen contradictions and oppositions by his superiors, at length, various difficulties overcome, he executes the command. and led now hither, now thither, he could nevertheless by no means attain his vow and intention, until, being to be examined by the most reverend bishop of Vannes through the Capuchin fathers, and by them, besides the exact investigation of each particular, being also assiduously, for fifteen continuous days, with the divine light implored, found always the same, constant and faithful to himself in all that he had reported: whence, by several other reasons also (among which that comes least to be dissembled, that his barn, constructed of the ruins of the chapel, a flame conceived from heaven utterly burned up, while meanwhile two very great heaps of grain, set close on either side, remained safe and unhurt), the aforesaid bishop was at length brought to consent to the erection of a chapel of some convenient sort, a fitting endowment from the nobles of the country being added. But the care of that place was committed, first to the Capuchin fathers, then to the Carmelite fathers, about three years after the finding of the image, for the devotion and solace of the pilgrims flocking thither in troops from every side: where at length, a solemn monastery being built by the same Carmelite fathers, the place became one of the highest veneration, and most illustrious and celebrated for frequent prodigies and pilgrimages: for the prodigies and miraculous successes and benefits wrought and bestowed through the most powerful patronage of the august mother Anne upon all and each who confidently fled thither to her, whereby especially, in the progress of time, this devotion began to grow and be propagated, surpass, in number and celebrity and variety, all human estimation; and so this place seems, in devotion, concourse, and the uniform and emulous fervor of the pilgrims, to vie with the rest of the places celebrated for the visitation of the faithful throughout all Europe. This same place also the royal liberality and munificence of the most pious and Most Christian king Louis XIII adorned in no middling degree, a notable portion of the most sacred relics of this glorious Mother being destined for it, among other things, from his sacred treasury of relics.

[85] By various arguments Thus far John Thomas of St. Cyril, who, in §13 of the same chapter 35, to confirm the truth of this prodigious history, heaps up the following motives of credibility. I. The place, from time immemorial, called the city or town of St. Anne. II. A light frequently noted by several and different persons over the place which now sustains the fabric of the church. III. The innocence and integrity of life of the simple man, everywhere known to all the neighbors and inhabitants. IV. A most sweet concert there heard again and again, and an earnest of money prodigiously offered to the rustic, to animate him to the work of the fabric. V. The constant and immemorial tradition of the inhabitants, that there had once been there a chapel under the title of holy mother Anne. VI. A certain evident and, as it were, continual prodigy, that to those plowing there the plow or plowshare never passed unhurt over the clod, so far that among the inhabitants "LET THEM BEWARE OF THE PLACE OF THE CHAPEL" passed into a trite proverb. VII. The barn, built of the ruins of the former chapel, consumed and devoured by a flame conceived from heaven. VIII. After so many concurring delays and obstacles, namely the contradictions and oppositions of men, yet the happy and expeditious success of this devotion: besides that the newly built monastery, by its magnificence, approaches the rarer fabrics of the whole country. IX. The ruins and vestiges of an ancient building, dug up while the foundation of the present church was being laid, namely glass, stones, and the like, unearthed in digging.

[86] the truth of this history is proved. Then the same writer thus proceeds: Besides these things, it comes most especially to be noted that the pastor of the same parish, in punishment of so obstinate an opposition, after the space of three weeks was spent, being alone in his house, was so cruelly and enormously beaten that he seemed to have fallen into the hands of robbers, although, the neighbors being roused by his outcry and wailing and running up, no mortal was noted or apprehended: he himself meanwhile remained with strength so broken that for eight whole days he was hindered from the use and function of his body and limbs. Being at length admonished by one of his clerics, that he should demand a cure from her who perhaps had made the wound, for several continuous days, being devoted with special affection and certain observances to the truly pious mother Anne, he is so restored to his limbs that, after fifteen days were spent, he could again happily celebrate the sacred rites, and piously vowed first to celebrate in the miraculous place to the glorious memory of mother Anne; moreover, having begged pardon of Ivo for the sinister judgment which he had made of his uprightness, he did not disdain, of his own accord, as a sign of special benevolence, to offer himself as godfather for lifting from the font of baptism a child (whose mother, barren for the space of fifteen years from the time of contracting marriage, after the finding of the miraculous image had become pregnant). Finally, in general, he recounts the illustrious miracles wrought in this place by the intercession of St. Anne, of which we shall treat on another occasion, and some of which, after this Commentary, we shall render one by one from the French idiom into Latin. Similar things concerning this wonderful restoration of the cult, with even more minute circumstances added, and the proper names of persons and places expressed, have been handed down by Hugh of St. Francis, Matthias of St. Bernard, and others, who wrote the same history in French. For the rest, their arguments seem to us so weighty that they ought to extort from anyone not utterly obstinate a human belief in this more recent history. Would that, with an equal proportion of antiquity, the people of Apt could bring forward such monuments for their tradition, which is now to be examined.

§ IX. The finding of the body of St. Anne in the church of Apt, and certain difficulties against it.

The church of Apt in France every year, from the second Vespers of the Sunday in Albis, under a double rite with an Octave, begins solemnly to celebrate the finding of the body of St. Anne, In the Breviary of Apt it is narrated how the body of St. Anne the wonderful history of which finding is read in the Lessons of the proper Office, printed in the year 1664, somewhat different from others, as we shall afterward observe. Our Chifflet, from a more ancient Breviary of Apt, thus described that history: With how great veneration the relics of the most blessed Anne, mother of the virgin Mother of God, grandmother of Jesus Christ, are worthy, one may weigh from the series of the present history, and from the immensity of the miracles shown through them: but that we may be able, in due order, to weave the history of so joyful and so miraculous and stupendous a finding, at the beginning of today's solemnity there is to be narrated the divinely inspired hiding of the same relics of St. Anne. For in the one hundred and sixty-second year from the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a cruel and universal persecution against the faithful of Christ raged, in the reign of a member of Satan, a most savage enemy of the orthodox faith, the emperor Marcus Aurelius. In the seventh year, therefore, of his reign, he purposed to invade the kingdom of the Allobroges, formerly called of Arles, but now of the Provençals, where the name of Jesus Christ is especially celebrated, that he might destroy and ruin the faith itself together with the believers. He purposed it, and (the divine judgment permitting, who thus makes His Church triumph amid adversities) accomplished it: but so savage a profanity was not hidden from the holy man Auspicius, bishop of Apt, who, forestalling the wicked designs, directed by the divine light, Auspicius himself so named from "auspicating," illustrious and inspired with a prophetic spirit, very ingeniously hid the body of St. Anne: for the holy man feared lest so profane a man, the sacred body of St. Anne being seized by force and sacrilegious fury, should deliver it to the flames to be reduced to ashes. At that time also those holy relics of St. Anne lay most devoutly adored in a certain chapel like a subterranean cave, and were honored by the faithful of Christ. That cave, therefore, which up to the present day affords to all pilgrims an open and devout entrance, was, at the coming of the rage of the persecutor of the faith, closed and walled up by the aforesaid bishop Auspicius.

[88] it was hidden at Apt on account of the impending persecution of Marcus Aurelius, But neither is it to be passed over in silence how the holy shepherd of God ordered a lamp to be hung before the holy relics, and to be lighted, the steps of the cave being moreover filled with earth up to the top of the chapel, the door of the same chapel being walled up, over whose summit now hangs the signal structure [*] of the greater altar. And that the door of the chapel might not lie open to Marcus Aurelius, the enemy of the faith, he erected a new ascent and new and very broad steps, affording a way to the greater altar situated above the cave, so that not even a sign or vestige of the aforesaid cave might remain. All things, then, being thus marked and secured, he opens to his familiar clerics the hidden entrance of the cave, so that, the persecution of the tyrant raging, the faithful of Christ might there secretly profess the faith at the fonts of baptism enclosed within. Nor did the savage enemy long delay; he enters the city of Apt. Alas the crime! the idols long since prostrate he set up again in the upper temple, the cross of Jesus Christ being trampled underfoot. The pious shepherd Auspicius, dragged before the tribunal of the tyrant, is compelled to adore the idols; but the constant martyr preaches the faith of Christ, tramples the idols with his foot; his foot is cut off by the tyrant: at length, as a good shepherd laying down his life for his sheep, he is consecrated by martyrdom. The martyrdom of the holy bishop being consummated, so great a rage against the faithful of Christ boiled up, that not even one of those who knew the hidden places of the sacred body of St. Anne remained but was crowned with martyrdom. The rest, and very few faithful, living in the bitterness of life, but, I will say, also gloriously dying, remained under hard servitude. Whence to none of the living, through six hundred and thirty years, did the aforesaid most glorious body of Anne, laid up in the cave, become known.

[89] and at length in the eighth century After seven hundred and ninety-two years, therefore, had flowed by from the Incarnation of the Son of God, the Lord seeing saw the affliction of the Church, and of a Province most pleasant in situation, most delicate in faith, most constant in hope, conspicuous in charity, redolent with the odor of all virtues, and, amid enemies, flourishing in faith. The Spirit of the Lord also rushed into the heart of the signal and most victorious emperor Charlemagne, as into Samson, to war down and subdue the Philistines, the enemies of the Israelite people; or as into a second Saul, for the extermination of the army of Nahash the Ammonite besieging Jabesh Gilead, a Province among provinces most illustrious in faith, and, taking both oxen, his fury was kindled exceedingly, and he cut them into pieces, namely both armies being taken up, and, with a double sword, spiritual and temporal, with redoubled fortitude, fortified with the shield of faith, he intrepidly attacks the tyrant, and, the divine power aiding him, with a mighty sword drove the enemies of the faith from the borders of the people of Apt. After laudable triumphs, he pursues the very enemies of Jesus Christ as far as Arles, and at length, his forces resumed, and all the infidels being subdued and driven from the borders of the Allobroges, the spirited prince either compelled them to cross the sea, or crushed them by the edge of the sword.

[90] The peace of the Church of Provence, therefore, being obtained, the emperor Charles (aptly indeed) betook himself into the city of Apt, to give thanks to the immortal God, in the presence of Charlemagne, in whom is the strength of an army, and not in the fortitude of men and horsemen, and to rest, and hired for himself a lodging with the illustrious soldier and baron of Casanova, a most ancient and signal house indeed (as being, in the reign of the prophet Jesus, of most celebrated fame): whence in mystery all things seemed to have befallen the most illustrious emperor by a certain divine disposition. He chose Casanova ("the new house") for his lodging, who renewed the church grown old and utterly trampled down. The aforesaid illustrious baron of Casanova had a son, a youth of about fourteen years of age, from his birth blind, deaf, and mute, by name John. The peace of the Church of Provence being therefore restored, by the command of the Most Christian emperor all the idols were broken, and the shrines of the gods ground to pieces. The church of Apt is again consecrated by the reverend archbishop of Reims, Turpin: the solemnities of the Masses are proceeded with, by the aforesaid archbishop Turpin, with the highest devotion and effusion of tears, and with condign reverence (the pious and devout emperor assisting, and also the whole clergy and royal army and people, and most of all the oft-named noble baron of Casanova being present, and his son John, blind, mute, and deaf): thanks are rendered by all to the almighty God.

[91] A thing worthy of admiration, a thing stupendous, and a matter to be blotted out by no oblivion, is shown. a blind, deaf, and mute boy indicating, As long as the divine Office perseveres and is prolonged, John of Casanova, though mute, deaf, and blind, moved by the divine instinct, which makes the tongues of infants eloquent, and impelled the ass of Balaam to form human voices, by nods, signs, and gestures, such as he could, and as he was impelled by the Spirit, standing upon the steps erected by bishop Auspicius over against the door and entrance of the basilica or walled-up cave, taught and admonished that those steps should be broken and opened. None of those present took notice, since all were carried away with such devotion that they seemed altogether abstracted from external cares. What more? So long does John persevere, and for so long a time multiplies gestures and signs, that at length the prudent emperor weighed the signs, and not undeservedly augured something divine and great: the holy emperor orders the steps to be broken; which broken, they behold the walled-up door of the chapel or basilica. The door, again by the emperor's command, is opened: it being opened, the emperor orders John of Casanova to be admitted first. John of Casanova having entered, therefore, he warns the bystanders by a sign to dig deeper, and near the wall, that they might find the treasure which had been hidden; all of which, at the command of the emperor Charles, were fulfilled.

[92] At length, while they dug a little deeper, other steps for the entrance of the lesser basilica or cave, for each one entering, who then obtained the use of sight, hearing, and speech, they found another wall erected before the small cave. John of Casanova enters first. O stupendous and admirable and divine miracle! He found a lamp, through six hundred and thirty years, inextinguishably burning before the precious relics of St. Anne. What more do you hear, brethren? Do perhaps your ears grow deaf? Behold, I pray, all ye peoples, and by beholding wonder, and by wondering let us venerate the divine power, which in the finding of the relics of the most holy Anne was made manifest for the consolation of her people. The mute speaks, hearing is restored to the deaf, and the blind sees the great things of God; the blind instructs the seeing, the mute preaches to the speaking, the deaf hearkens: and what he preaches, hear. With a loud voice he cries: In this WINDOW, he says, IS THE BODY OF ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE VIRGIN MARY. O John, who instructed thee? Certainly, he says, He who created for me the light of my eyes opened to me that place. O John, from whom didst thou hear? O, he says, He who planted my ear, and gave hearing, He preached to me. O John, who so suddenly made thee to form words? O, he says, He who makes the tongues of infants eloquent guided my tongue. O John, whence hadst thou so great knowledge, since thou hast not learned letters? O, says John, in Him who is grace: for the grace of God infused knowledge into me, and His grace in me was not void.

[93] was found, The divine and manifest miracle being seen, therefore, the Most Christian emperor is seized with a pious and stupendous admiration; he orders the window to be opened by the archbishop: in it, indeed, they find a cypress box. The chest is opened: then to the former miracles a new one also is added, for so great an odor came forth from it that it surpassed the fragrance of all spices. What more? This odor, diffused far and wide, filled the whole church. Not the workshop of a dead body, but of a perfumer, seemed to have lain open. And because it was unworthy that so precious a treasure should be consumed by worms, therefore, the divine grace disposing, it remained preserved whole up to now, wrapped in a silken shroud. There was, moreover, a tablet placed over the most holy body, on which was written: HERE IS THE BODY OF BLESSED ANNE, MOTHER OF THE VIRGIN MARY. Praises to God are redoubled and multiplied, the Te Deum Laudamus is begun by archbishop Turpin, and continued by the choir; and lest the ingratitude of the divine benefits should dry up a new fountain of mercy, and oblivion should bury the divine benefits, the most devout prince orders a process to be made: the several things are reduced in order by the hand of public scribes, and all are faithfully reported to the supreme Pontiff: all are approved by our most holy lord the Pope.

[94] the annual memory of which finding is celebrated. And because the most precious body was translated on the Sunday after the feast of Easter, found by this divine inspiration, therefore today so great a solemnity is rather to be called a finding than a translation; but the more the causes of joy are doubled, and the feasts of Anne meet one another, so much the more eagerly let us prepare our minds for the gladness of so great a celebration, that, partakers of her merits, we may be made companions also of her joys: for it profits nothing to be present at the feasts of men, unless we be associated with the feasts of the angels. If the finding of St. Stephen, made to Lucian sleeping, is held celebrated in the whole Church, why shall not the finding made to John of Casanova, waking, mute, deaf, and blind, and at length healed, be reckoned more celebrated? Let us therefore rejoice together, brethren, in the finding of St. Anne; to the Mother and the Daughter, though not as great as we owe, yet such as we can, let us offer thanks, praying that, by the merits of both, Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, may raise us, long buried in vices, to grace. Amen. Now against this narration we shall propose some difficulties.

[95] That tradition of the people of Apt is not sufficiently consistent, First, that tradition of the Provençals is not sufficiently consistent with itself: for besides various excisions and other discrepancies of less moment, the persecution which is here attributed to Marcus Aurelius is, in the Lessons of the year 1664, said to have raged under the emperor Trajan. In the same, no mention is made of Turpin, archbishop of Reims, who nevertheless is here handed down to have been present by name at this prodigious finding. In both places it does not please that Charlemagne, after the irruption of the Saracens, ordered the idols to be broken in Provence, and the shrines of the gods overthrown. Nor is it sufficiently agreed among the more recent assertors of that tradition how and by whom those relics were first brought to the city of Apt: for the history related above concerning their first translation is silent. The Lessons already praised hand down that they were brought into France by the first Christians. Another tradition of the people of Apt, which we found noted in our papers, after the compendium of the already mentioned finding, thus has it: The relics of St. Anne were first translated by St. Peter from the valley of Josaphat to Rome; then they were given by St. Clement to St. Auspicius, whom he destined bishop for the people of Apt. Honoré Bouche, in the French history of Provence, volume 1, book 2, section 2, chapter 12, page 495, confidently asserts that these sacred remains were conveyed into Provence by St. Mary Magdalene and her companions. Trithemius and certain documents of the Benedictine monastery, of which we shall treat in the following paragraph, will have it that the body of St. Anne was carried by St. Longinus the soldier into the island of Barbara near Lyon in France in the first century.

But to this tradition of the people of Apt, and to various opinions of others, the Roman Breviary contradicts, printed at Paris in the year 1528, where, in the feast of St. Joachim, which Pope Julius II instituted to be celebrated on the 20th of March, in the eighth lesson the following are read: But in the time of Constantine, Helena his mother, coming to Jerusalem after the finding of the Lord's cross, is written to have carried the body of Anne also with her to Constantinople; but to have left the body of her husband at Jerusalem, where it is honored with wonderful veneration. John of Mandeville and other authors judge that translation the more probable.

[96] Our Guesnay, in the Annals of Marseilles, page 248, relates this tradition in this manner: In the year 801, and by our Guesnay the 34th (others say the 23rd) of the emperor Charles, Charles, having journeyed into Provence, and being made more certain of the finding of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God Mary, now first made at Apt of the Vulgientes on the eighth festal day of Easter, the most religious prince turned aside thither from his journey for the sake of piety. There was a report that the relics of the most holy Anne had been carried by exiles from Palestine to the shores of Provence by the first Christians, and that the church of Apt had been enriched and illustrated with such pledges perhaps by the zeal and vigilance of St. Auspicius, the first bishop of that city, who, while the emperor Marcus Aurelius raged against the worshipers of the Christian religion and especially against the shepherds, yet intrepidly advanced the mystery of the faith, and there, when on every side so bloody a butchery was open, gathered the Lord's fold, and undertook and fulfilled all the duties of a strenuous and vigilant shepherd, as the ecclesiastical annals testify at the year 161. If Guesnay here mean to indicate his own ecclesiastical Annals (in the Annals of Baronius I find nothing on this matter at this year), there is an error in the number: for he treats of St. Auspicius on page 124 of the work cited, at the year of Christ 164.

[97] Moreover, in relating the aforesaid tradition, he thus proceeds: it is narrated otherwise, But when afterward the Vandals, with very many other barbarians, ravaged into Gaul, and especially in the year 407 into this Province, the Christians of Apt, in so open a peril of the profanation of religion and of sacred things, heaped up with earth the venerable relics of St. Anne, hidden in the unknown cavern of a crypt which they had constructed: where, thrust back and hidden in darkness, when for the space of three or four hundred years they had lain unknown to the following posterity, at length, under the best auspices and heavenly indications, the body was found, and shown in the tomb of the hidden crypt; the emperor Charles, being present, willed it, with all apparatus and adornment for the visiting, to be placed on high, and enclosed by the bishop in a cypress chest. The first of all who opened the way to dig out the hidden treasures of this most precious treasure divinely indicated to him was a certain noble boy and son of the baron of Casanova, deprived of all use of voice and tongue from his cradle, yet not of all sense of devotion toward the most holy Anne. He, the wall being opened, which he had pointed out with his finger, entered into the crypt, that he might beseech his Patroness, and immediately his prayers, and those of the rest who had joined themselves to him as companions, had a happy and desired event: for the use of voice and tongue was granted him by a miracle: HERE LIES, he said, THE BODY OF BLESSED ANNE, MOTHER OF THE VIRGIN MARY. Compare these things attentively with the preceding narration, and you will see a great discrepancy of the tradition.

[98] against which some difficulties are proposed, Besides, if, at the command of Charlemagne, the several things are reduced in order by the hand of public scribes, and all are faithfully reported to the supreme Pontiff, all are approved by our most holy lord the Pope, as the Breviary of Apt asserts; it is indeed strange that no ancient monuments of this prodigious matter are brought forward, especially since so many old writers consigned to letters the pious and glorious deeds of Charlemagne. Finally, I would have it noted that the church of Apt was dedicated to the most blessed virgin Mary, and that in the diplomas of Apt no mention is made of the finding of St. Anne before the year 1407, in which John, bishop of Apt, grants indulgences of forty days to all the faithful of Christ who should contribute aid toward honorably placing the relics of St. Anne, of which we shall again have to treat in the following paragraph. This also Dionysius of Sainte-Marthe observed, in the newest edition of the Gallia Christiana, volume 1, column 349, where he thus speaks: The temple (namely the cathedral of the city of Apt, of which he treats) has for patroness the virgin Mother of God. In the donation of the castle of Sagnone, in the bull of Paschal II, and in other charters, to blessed Mary is joined St. Castor. Now in this church the cult of St. Anne has prevailed, who is by some reckoned as patroness. I am not disposed here to examine the various other circumstances of places, persons, and times, which would diminish the credit of that history.

[99] although it is probable that certain relics of St. Anne exist at Apt. Even if all these difficulties against the aforesaid narration occur to me, yet I cannot believe that the whole substance of the matter was fabricated by the writer of the longer narration: but I do not doubt that he adorned it with various episodes. It could therefore be that the sacred body of St. Anne (understand, according to a manner sufficiently usual in designating relics, a part for the whole) was, from time immemorial, brought to Apt, and then, on account of the incursions of enemies or other causes, hidden, so that, the few who had secretly hidden it being dead or dispersed, that hidden place afterward lay concealed from other Christians. Nor do I deny that these sacred remains were found by a divine indication or miracle, which Charlemagne, the prodigious finding of them being understood, afterward visited for the sake of devotion. These things perhaps, which had never been committed to writing, or had perished, after some ages furnished a foundation to the anonymous author, that he might adorn that history from the popular tradition, which in time grows and changes not a little, as we learn by daily experience. Hence probably that tradition was inserted into the Breviary of Apt, and even passed to the more recent writers of Provençal affairs, as may be seen in Caesar Nostradamus, in the French history of Provence, page 305, our John Columbi, in various historical little works, page 577, and other authors already cited. Whatever be the case, let the people of Apt remain in the immemorial possession of their sacred treasure, from which, without most evident arguments, they are not to be dislodged, and let them venerate the holy Mother of the Mother of God with their accustomed piety. Concerning the body of St. Anne, which is said to have been carried not far from Lyon into the island of Barbara, we shall now say a few things.

* perhaps "structure" structura

* perhaps "inasmuch as" utpote

§ X. The head of St. Anne honored in various places.

Trithemius, in the little work on the praises of St. Anne, wishing to show her ancient cult against certain detractors, The head of St. Anne, in the island of Barbara near Lyon, chapter 4, among other things thus has it: Near Lyon is a monastery of our Order in the island of Barbara, where in a certain most ancient chapel the body of the most blessed mother Anne rests with much reverence of the people, which St. Longinus, the soldier of Christ, is said first to have founded, and, carrying with him those most precious relics from Jerusalem, to have placed them in the same. Of this matter most ancient monuments are found in the said monastery. But Claude Le Laboureur, in the book which he published in French concerning the Ruins of the island of Barbara at Lyon in the year 1665, chapter 2, roundly declares that the manuscript monuments of that monastery teem with anachronisms and absurdities, and were fabricated by someone. Whatever be the case concerning that coming of St. Longinus into the island of Barbara, which without more sincere documents we shall not easily believe, without doubt Trithemius by "body," according to a manner usual with others, understood a part of the body, unless he wished to deprive all other churches of the sacred remains of Anne. Perhaps he understood the head of St. Anne, which Le Laboureur, in the work cited, page 301, testifies to be carried about every year in procession with other relics of the Saints in that island. But that neither can the whole head of St. Anne be designated here, will be evident from what follows.

[101] The church of Apt, of which we treated in the preceding paragraph, and in various churches of France besides other relics of St. Anne, claims for itself the sacred head of the same Saint: for Honoré Bouche, in volume 1 cited above, page 223, in the Chronography of Provence, book 4, chapter 2, §2, affirms that it, enclosed in a silver reliquary and adorned with precious stones, is honored with religious cult. But that here also the whole is taken for a part, the very tradition of the people of Apt proves, concerning which our Guesnay, in the Annals of Marseilles, page 248, thus writes: That the emperor (namely Charlemagne) carried with him to Aachen the lower jaw of that sacred head, certain traditions, held by word of mouth from our elders, I know not what, report. Besides, D'Achery, in the notes and observations on the works of the venerable Guibert of Nogent, weaving a catalogue of the abbots of Marmoutier near Tours, on occasion of the fifty-first abbot, page 595, thus speaks of the head of St. Anne: Matthew Galterus (Gaultier), in 1511 a monk of Marmoutier, and doctor of theology of the society of the house of the Sorbonne, was much affected toward blessed Anne, mother of the Mother of God: wherefore from the abbot of St. Florentius of Saumur he obtained a portion of that head (which they report to be preserved in the priory of Gaya of the diocese of Troyes, depending on this same monastery). Add that Marlot, in the Metropolis of Reims, volume 2, page 474, says that a part of the same head is preserved in the treasury of the greater church of Reims.

[102] it is said to be. The church of the Mother of God at Chartres in France also glories in the head of St. Anne, which it received from Louis, count of Blois, who about the end of the twelfth century set out for the East, and in the year 1205 there generously fell in battle against the enemies. The Necrology of Chartres, in Mabillon, in the newest edition of the Analecta, page 384, thus makes mention of this gift: On the 17th day before the Kalends of May died Louis, illustrious count of Blois, who, setting out on a journey to the parts beyond the sea in the service of God, gave us seven pounds and a half … who also acquired at Constantinople the head of St. Anne, mother of the blessed Virgin Mother of God, and transmitted it to this holy church with a precious pall. Whence, from the presentation of so great a treasure and the reception of the maternal head in the house of the Daughter, great joy was made among the people. The clergy of this church and the countess Katherine, who on the part of the aforesaid count her husband presented the head, concordantly agreed thereupon, by a pious intent establishing, that every year, from the offerings made to the aforesaid holy head, a hundred shillings should be added for the increase and ampler veneration of the anniversary of the same count. The same is more briefly repeated in that Necrology, when the death of Catherine, countess of Blois, is commemorated: I suspect that these relics were perhaps taken from those which Codinus, cited above at number 48, affirms to have been carried to Constantinople. However that be, the candidates for the canonries of Chartres are wont to swear before these relics that they are born of lawful parents, as may be read in Sébastien Rouillard, in the Parthenia, or history of the church of Chartres, chapter 8, number 4. I am not disposed here to enumerate the several churches of France which claim for themselves a part of the same head, but I pass on to other regions.

[103] The same sacred head the people of Bologna in Italy, First occurs Bologna of Italy, which in the year

1435 received the head, or rather the skull, of St. Anne from Blessed Nicholas Albergati, as in his Life, which we illustrated on the 9th of May, volume 2 of the same month, page 487, it was related from Carlo Sigonio in these words: Nicholas, greatly praised by all, betook himself into Italy, and the skull of St. Anne, mother of the blessed Virgin, received as a gift from king Henry (this is Henry VI of that name, king of England), he brought to Bologna on the day before the Kalends of December, and, received with immense honor by all, gave it as a gift to his Carthusian monks: who built for him an oratory of St. Anne in the street of St. Isaiah, where it is even now preserved. In vain have I hitherto sought whence, or on what occasion, the king of England received this sacred pledge. If, however, room be given for conjecture, I suspect that this treasure was brought from the East into England in the fourteenth century, since the Reverend Father Laurentius Cuperus, Provincial of the Carmelites, in the Genealogy and Life of St. Anne, chapter 13, narrates the following concerning her skull: But whither the same skull of St. Anne was afterward carried, hear. There is, then, in Asia a region which they call Maryandinum, bordering on Bithynia, in which stood the most noble city Acone, dread with the poison aconite, which, long time Christian, at length was destroyed by Othman, the tyrant of the Turks, about the year of the Lord 1300, and was forced to acknowledge Mahomet, where also the monastery of the Carmelite brethren, four miles distant from this town, was burned, the brethren, still found there, being cruelly slaughtered for the faith of Christ: yet some had fled before, who carried away into Europe very many sacred bones, and among others the skull of blessed Anne, mother of the God-bearing virgin: for (as Usuard writes in the Martyrology) in the city of Acone the dormition, or day of death, of blessed Anne was, on the seventh day before the Kalends of August, for many ages religiously and celebratedly honored. By "Usuard" here understand the Usuardine appendices, published by Molanus. For the rest, let the credit of this narration rest with the author.

[104] Now I pass over into Sicily, where in the Martyrology of our Cajetan, on the 26th day of July, I thus read: The people of Castelbuono At Castelbuono, the translation of the head of St. Anne. But the same Cajetan, in the Animadversions on the Lives of the Sicilian saints, after volume 2, page 82, thus explains himself more clearly: The patrons of the townsmen of Castelbuono are two: the one blessed William, the other the Lady Anne, mother of the holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The head of the same Lady Anne, without the lower jaw, is preserved in that town, and honored with the highest honors. It is an old and constant tradition that John, count of Geraci, the first of this name (who, having lived 93 years, died about the year of Christ 1472), exchanged the head of St. Anne for certain villages in Lorraine, a province of France, and carried it into Sicily. Dominic of Burgio, a Minorite, in the Italian work which he published concerning St. Anne at Palermo in the year 1690, makes the first translation of that sacred head into Sicily much more ancient: for he asserts that this precious treasure was brought to Geraci by count William in the year 1242, and afterward, by John, whom our Cajetan commemorates, was translated about the year 1465 from Geraci to Castelbuono. But for proving all these things you will scarcely find anything besides the tradition of the people.

[105] The same Father Dominic, as an eyewitness, in chapter 22 of the work cited, exactly described the ornament and form of that head, in Sicily and also had it engraved on copper, which little plate we have imitated, as you here see.

Beneath a silver herm is enclosed the sacred head, to whose forehead is affixed a silver plate, on which are read Greek characters, which Father Dominic faultily and in smaller letters thus expressed: ἡ κάζα τῆς ἁγίας Ἄννης τῆς μητζός τῆς θεοτόκου. The true inscription (at least our Predecessors received it as genuine from Sicily) is as follows: I confess indeed that, by the ignorance of the first engraver, some words are here confused, and perhaps certain letters were not rightly expressed; but we ordered our engraver to imitate that confusion and the same form of the characters, that we might faithfully represent that inscription. For the rest, the words are to be distinguished thus, and the characters read thus: Η ΚΑΡΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΓΙΑΣ ΑΝΝΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΜΗΤΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΥ. That is: THE HEAD OF ST. ANNE, MOTHER OF THE MOTHER OF GOD. Finally, Father Dominic, in chapter 23, narrates at length how in the year 1603 the same head was carried off by theft, and after twelve years found in a wondrous manner, and recognized not without miracles, and restored to its former place. Now another head of the same Saint remains to be examined.

[106] and the people of Düren in Germany claim for themselves, Marcodurum, now commonly Dura and in the vernacular Düren, is a city of Germany in the duchy of Jülich, situated on the river Ruhr, which now for two centuries has, with singular piety, venerated signal relics of St. Anne, secretly carried off from Mainz. Jacobus Polius, a Minorite, in the historical Exegetic of St. Anne, chapter 24 and following, sets forth in detail how this sacred treasure came to Düren, how great lawsuits therefore arose between the people of Düren and of Mainz, and by what means Pope Julius II put an end to them. Our Serarius, in book 1 of the Affairs of Mainz, chapter 17, embraces the matter in these few words: In the temple of St. Stephen there was once the head of St. Anne; but in the year of the Lord 1500, about the feast of the Conception of the blessed Virgin, it was carried off by theft by a stonecutter to Düren, where even today it is honored with great religion, the heretics raging round about: for Julius II decreed, after long lawsuits, that it be preserved there in the year 1507. But whence the people of Mainz had before received that sacred head, is explained in volume 2 of the Affairs of Mainz, which Georg Christian Johannis lately collected, where, page 572, these things are read: Among the sacred relics, of which very many this church, dedicated to the memory of St. Stephen, preserved from many times, and held in singular esteem, was the most sacred head of the Lady Anne, mother of the most glorious virgin Mary. This, in the reign of Frederick II, Theobald, scholastic at St. Stephen's, a learned and pious man, and preacher of the holy cross in the Holy Land, in the year 1212 at Bethlehem, together with other sacred remains, received from the Father of the monastery, whom they call the Prior, and, brought to Mainz, deposited in this collegiate church as a most precious treasure. Then are related the theft committed there, the complaints of the people of Mainz, the disturbances arisen, and the decision of the suit.

[107] all of which seem to be understood of parts of the head. Doubtless now someone will ask what is to be judged concerning all these relics. Which church, he will say, among so many competitors, possesses the true head of St. Anne? The above-praised Dominic of Burgio, in chapter 21 of the cited Italian work, answers that the greatest part of the sacred head is to be ascribed to Sicily, as he exhibited it in the plate above, and that among the people of Düren and of Chartres only a lesser part of the same head exists, as he strives to prove by a certain testimony concerning the relics of Chartres. Without doubt he would have said the same of the others, if he had known that several churches, already enumerated above, attribute the same treasure to themselves. To confess the truth, this explanation does not displease me: for I have learned by experience that, by a most usual phrase, in recounting relics the whole is often put for a part. But what if those churches show the whole head of St. Anne, or the greater part of it? Then I shall say that some of those churches received St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God, by an innocent error, for another Saint of the same name, of whom many, both in the East and in the West, are honored, as sufficiently appears from the first half-year of our Acts, and from other Martyrologies. If neither explanation pleases the litigating parties, let them themselves prosecute the suit, and produce the most ancient documents of their possession, while meanwhile I proceed to recount other relics of St. Anne.

§ XI. Other relics, and a paradox concerning the corporal resurrection of the same Saint.

In the Analecta on St. Maximinus, bishop of Trier, volume 7 of our May, page 34, among the relics of Trier is reported the arm of St. Anne, mother of Mary. Various arms of St. Anne, and other remains, are recounted Erhard Winheim, a Carthusian, in the Sacrarium of Cologne, page 208, asserts that at Cologne, in the temple of St. Barbara, among the Carthusian Fathers, the arm of St. Anne is kept. Our Vasconcellos, in the description of the kingdom of Portugal, page 549, among the sacred shrines of Portugal, has this to our purpose: Nay, the church dedicated to Mercy is illustrated by the arm of the Lady Anne, mother of the Queen of heaven. In the chronicle of Minden, in Meibom, volume 1 of German Affairs, page 563, among other remains of the Saints is set the arm of St. Anne, devoutly adorned. Onuphrius Panvinius, treating of the seven churches of the City, page 81, testifies that at Rome, in the sacristy of St. Paul the apostle on the Ostian Way, there exists the arm with the thumb of St. Anne, mother of the blessed virgin Mary, enclosed in a silver arm. Hence again it is evident that often the part is to be taken for the whole; since here roundly five arms, and perhaps more elsewhere, are numbered. According to Pirro, in the Sicilia Sacra, volume 2, page 620, in Sicily the hand of Anne, mother of the Mother of God, is honored in the island of Malta. Bernard Gui, of the Order of St. Dominic, in the treatise on the Saints who adorn the diocese of Limoges, in our Labbe, volume 1 of the Library of Manuscript books, page 636, sets forth the sacred remain of the same Saint in these words: The breast of St. Anne, with which she nourished and suckled the virgin Mary, Mother of God, is had, venerated, and manifestly shown under crystal in the church of St. Anne, in the place so named from Anne herself. Finally, Albert of Stade, in his Chronicle, at the year 1199, thus makes mention of undetermined remains of the same Saint: In the year of the Lord 1199 Hartwig the archbishop, sailing from the Land of Promise to Venice, went on to Bremen, carrying thither the relics of St. Anne, and the sword of Peter, with which he cut off the ear of Malchus.

[109] In our Belgium, among other remains of St. Anne, concerning which one may see Arnold Rayssius in the Belgian Hierogazophylacium, and a testimony is brought forward there are celebrated the above-mentioned relics at Bottelaer; whose antiquity and tradition you will in some manner learn from the following document, which Father Antonius Herreyns, a priest of our Society and a missionary in the district of Aalst, had copied for us in the year 1727, and testifies to agree with its original. Now the tenor of the document is this: We, Alard Kuyck, vicar of the church of the Holy Savior in the city of Utrecht, priest, chaplain, and also confessor of the nuns Regular of the Convent of the Order of St. Francis, laudably built and endowed in honor of blessed Nicholas the bishop in the year of the Lord 1421, by Frederick of Blankenheim, the third of this name (of happy memory), the fifty-first bishop of the church of Utrecht, by the argument of these letters in good faith declare, and, God being witness, make it attested, that from the very beginning of the founding of the aforesaid monastery, obtained from the said bishop Blankenheim, given to the monastery, and placed on the high altar, and received and honored with the highest veneration, were these relics from the bodies of the Saints: of St. John the Baptist, of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God, of St.

Barbara, and also of St. Apollonia, and of Blasius, bishop and martyr.

[110] for the relics of the same Saint at Bottelaer, But when the prioress of the aforesaid monastery of St. Nicholas, her age growing heavy, feared thenceforth still greater detriments to the Catholic religion, and considered that the monastery too was daily laboring under a greater want of persons, the aforesaid relics, taken out of the box, by the command of the prioress, we handed into the hands of a Catholic and most friendly man, Everard Botter, that, freed from the injuries of the enemies, they might pass into the safer veneration of Catholic and pious faithful: which donation, made of free will, that posterity may hold it whole and ratified, we have fortified, subscribed by our own hand and that of the venerable prioress, in the presence of the priests undersigned, with the seal of our monastery. Given at Utrecht, in our place of refuge, in the year 1617, on the 26th of August, old style. Below was subsigned Alard Kuyck: and on the other part Margaret Henrici van Winterswyck, Prioress: and a little below, on either part, John Mallaert, and John van Waeregem, each a priest of the Society of Jesus. The seal hung with a tail of red silk. This agrees with its authentic, except that there more relics are recounted. Which I attest, I, brother Nicolaus Georgius, priest of the sacred Order of Preachers, who, after the aforenamed fathers, priests, was also expressly called by the aforenamed lord Everard Botter to depose, and to render faithful testimony. Brother Nicolaus Georgius, as above.

I, the undersigned and also above-named Everard Botter, before God declare, and, in the presence of His Church militant, testify, that I consigned and delivered the above-named relics of the Saints into the hands of our excellent Master Provincial, Father Peter Woestimius, with the same faith with which I received them, on account of his veneration toward the pledges of the aforesaid Saints, to whom also, the same God being witness, I gave a part of the head of the holy Martyrs of Gorcum. Everard Botter, as above.

[111] We, James Boonen, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See bishop of Ghent, make it known which the bishop of Ghent permitted to be exposed to public veneration. that we have carefully recounted the above-named relics of SS. John the Baptist, Anne, Barbara, Apollonia, and Blasius, bishop and martyr, and, a previous information being also had upon certain articles pertaining to exploring the truth of the matter more certainly, by the counsel of grave, prudent, and pious men, have permitted, as by these letters we permit, that the said relics, for the greater glory of God and the honor of His Saints and the profit and consolation of the faithful people, be exposed to public veneration in the church; in faith of which we have subscribed these with our hand, and had our seal impressed. At Ghent, on the seventh day of March, in the year 1619 from the birth of Christ. James, bishop of Ghent. His seal was affixed in red wax. I, the undersigned brother Vincent Clerici, make known and attest that I, with the license and in the presence of my Prior, from the hand of our brother James van den Heede, took out the relics of St. Anne, mother of the most holy virgin Mary, from our little box placed above our high altar, and divided them into two parts, and delivered one lesser part to the same father Prior standing beside me before the high altar, who at the same instant gave the same part into the hands of the Reverend Master John van Lekeburne, pastor at Bottelaer, of the diocese of Mechlin, on this 17th of March 1638. So it is, brother Vincent Clerici of the Order of Preachers, sacristan of Ghent. This copy agrees with its authentic, which we the undersigned brothers attest on this 26th of March 1638. John van Lekeburne, pastor of St. Anne at Bottelaer. Judocus van Lekeburne, pastor at Lemberge.

[112] In a certain French manuscript, which the most illustrious lord Dominic de Georgio, a Neapolitan, sent to us in the year 1714, At Naples and Douai the feet of St. Anne are shown, it is narrated on what occasion a foot of St. Anne was brought by the prince of Achaia from Greece into Italy, and how it is now honorably preserved in the chapel of the palace of Montemiletto near Naples; where every year, on the feast of the Saint, it is piously visited by the Neapolitans. At Douai in Belgium, the church of St. Amatus, besides other relics of the Saints, exposes to public veneration (the words are those of Rayssius in the Belgian Hierogazophylacium, page 36) the right foot, still clothed with flesh and bones, of the most holy Anne, mother of the Mother of God, the most blessed Virgin Mary, and grandmother of Christ our Lord … The aforesaid foot is seen in a silver-gilt foot, and in a crystal corresponding to its just magnitude, sustained by two angels; but beneath, conspicuous with an image of St. Anne of the same material, which moves those looking on not only to piety, but also to a certain sacred awe and veneration. Concerning which, although testimonial letters or diplomas confirming so great a treasure are not found, yet there exist the letters of a certain bishop of Arras, by which, out of reverence (as I indeed piously judge) for so great relics, he orders the Office and feast of St. Anne (although it be not observed) to be observed every year by all the people of Douai, which we have not hitherto had occasion to see.

[113] At Antwerp, in the Professed House of our Society, we also possess notable relics of St. Anne, and at Antwerp in the Professed House of the Society of Jesus which, when and how they came to us, you will understand from what follows. Receive first the lawful document, which in our manuscript reliquary-record, page 113, thus sounds: Conrad Haegt, dean, and the other capitulars of the collegiate church of St. Gangulf of Heinsberg, to all who shall see these, everlasting salvation in the Lord. Being asked that, as others adorn the new basilica of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp with temporal treasures, so we would deign to adorn it with spiritual, or rather sacred ones; wishing to promote the honor of our Patroness, the Lady Anne, and to demonstrate our affection to the whole Society, out of the little that we have, we have given a fragment of the rib, binding the shoulder to the rest of the body, of blessed Anne, mother of the blessed virgin Mary, which we received from the reliquary of our chapter, where from immemorial memory this bone, adorned with silver-gilt under an image of blessed Anne, was preserved, and a most celebrated Office was made every year, the same relics being exposed to the people to be honored on our high altar on the very sacred day of St. Anne. We have often been asked by magnates that we should make them partakers of some particle of these relics; but we have hitherto refused all, wishing to hand down whole to posterity what we received from our elders. Hoping, however, by this our gift (of small note indeed, but in our estimation great) to increase the honor of our Patroness and to promote the devotion of the people in the new most precious temple of the first mart of the Belgians, by the tenor of these, transmitting to the very Reverend Father Charles Scribani, Provincial of the Society of Jesus, a part of the rib of blessed Anne, we give and grant it, uniquely commending to him the honor of our blessed Patroness. In faith of these we have appended to them the greater seal of our chapter, and had it signed by the hand of a public notary. At Heinsberg, on the 15th of October in the year 1618.

[114] various bones of the same Saint are preserved, Then, in the same reliquary-record, page 190, the Reverend Father Jacobus Tirinus, provost of the Professed House, testifies that from the head of St. Anne an almost palm-sized part was given by Father John Viringus, a priest of our Society, who had received these and other sacred relics from various and ancient monasteries of Holland. Besides, we have dust from the bones of St. Anne, which Atilius Amaltheus, archbishop of Athens, sent to the Reverend Father Charles Scribani, as is proved in the cited reliquary-record, page 121, by an authentic document. All these bones of St. Anne are preserved together in a precious reliquary, and are often exposed to public veneration together with the silver statue of the same Saint.

[115] I should bring weariness to the reader, if I should wish to run through the several churches of the Christian world, such as are enumerated also elsewhere; in which the venerable remains of St. Anne are found: for Carolus Bartholomaeus Piazza, in the Sacred Hemerology, on this day, assigns in the city of Rome alone several relics which are exposed to public veneration. Besides, in the same place he narrates how a raven prodigiously brought back the wedding ring of the same Saint, which had been carried off in the pillaging of the city of Rome, to a monastery of nuns, where it is hitherto religiously preserved. Of this ring there was treatment in the Life of Blessed Sanctuccia, volume 3 of our March, page 363, number 4. Bucelinus, in the Benedictine Sacrarium, which he subjoined to his Menology, enumerates the following relics of St. Anne, which are kept in the monasteries of his Order: Her most sacred arm, with the thumb, is preserved in our monastery of St. Paul at Rome. The arm of St. Anne in St. Paul's at Rome, with flesh and skin. Her slipper is shown in the monastery of Geraardsbergen; a part of her rib in the monastery of Maricolae. He seems here to distinguish two arms, whereby are confirmed those things which I noted above.

[116] [But the truth of all which relics, with the opinion of the venerable Mary of Agreda,] But all the things which I have hitherto brought forward concerning the sacred bones of St. Anne must be false, if that revelation is true which the venerable Mary of Jesus, abbess of Agreda, is said to have had in the Spanish work entitled Mystical City of God: for there, in part 2, book 6, chapter 26, number 1468, in the Lisbon edition, page 573, among the bodies of the Saints which, in Matthew 27 verse 52, are read to have risen, besides Joachim and Joseph, St. Anne is expressly named, who is handed down to have been raised, with body and soul, to immortal life. Whence it follows that no bones of that Saint remain on earth. I do not think that the churches mentioned above, which glory in the sacred relics of St. Anne, will easily admit this corollary. At least Josephus Geldolphus a Ryckel, abbot of St. Gertrude at Louvain, in the Phylacterium, tract 7, §4, thus judges concerning this heteroclite opinion: It is an inconsiderate (not to say rash) assertion of certain persons, who, among those Saints whose bodies rose and appeared to many in the three days of the passion, reckon also St. Anne, St. Joseph, and Joachim. Whatever be the case concerning that three-days' apparition of the holy bodies, whether it was only temporary, or otherwise, I do not define. But this I think to be clear, that St. Anne, mother of the Bearer of Christ, is by no means to be numbered among them, if (as the aforesaid opinion holds) they resumed bodies never more subject to corruption: for the relics of her body are found on earth.

[117] Besides, I would have those asked, who so keenly defend all the writings of the abbess of Agreda, it cannot be reconciled. that they reconcile that opinion with the revelation of St. Bridget, who, in book 6 of the Revelations, chapter 104, thus has it: The sacristan of the monastery of St. Paul outside the walls of Rome gave to the spouse of Christ relics of St. Anne, mother of our Lady the Virgin Mary. When therefore the lady was thinking how she should lay them up and honor them, St. Anne appeared to her, saying: I am Anne, lady of all married women who were before the law. I am also the mother of all married faithful who are after the law, because God willed to be born of my generation; therefore do thou, daughter, honor

God in this manner: "Blessed be thou, Jesus, son of the Virgin, who from the marriage of Anne and Joachim didst choose a mother for thyself; therefore, for the prayers of Anne, have mercy on all who are in marriage, that they may bring forth fruit to God. Direct also all who tend toward marriage, that in them God may be honored." But my relics, which thou hast, shall be to those who love them a solace, until it please God to honor them more highly in the last resurrection. How, I pray, shall these be reconciled with one another?

§ XII. The miracles of St. Anne, and a judgment concerning them.

There is no doubt that innumerable miracles were wrought through the intercession of St. Anne, so that with abbot Trithemius, in the treatise on the praises of St. Anne, chapter 14, it may with good right be said: Although St. Anne conferred many benefits upon her clients, If the frequent exhibition of miracles merits reverence for the Saints, blessed Anne is most worthy of the highest honor, who daily bestows upon her devout worshipers so many and so great benefits that there is no one who can relate them all. Nevertheless not equal credit is to be given to all the things which are commonly circulated: for some of them not only neglect to designate the certain time, place, or persons of the deed, but also contain things little probable, not to say incredible, so that they seem parables rather than true examples. I know indeed that the hand of the Lord is not shortened, nor are miracles to be rejected because they are stupendous; but the more prodigious they are, the greater testimonies I require for them. Hence the miracles to be subjoined to this historical Commentary I have distinguished into various classes; concerning each of which I shall premise a few things in general, meanwhile leaving to the reader a free judgment concerning the particular facts.

[119] yet some are not sufficiently proved, Peter Dorland, a Carthusian, who died in the monastery of St. John at Zeelhem, near the town of Diest in Brabant, in the year 1507, collected various miracles of St. Anne, which are preserved in a manuscript codex of the Carthusian house of Cologne. These indeed I had already seen cited, nay, even related, by Jacobus Polius and others; but since I doubted concerning the sincerity of the text, and desired to see the genuine little work of Dorland, I wrote to Father Gabriel Dülman, procurator of our Society in the Lower Rhine, by whose zeal and diligence I not long since received a transcript of the desired little work. Nor was my doubt about the sincerity of the text vain, since Polius and others added certain things which are not read in Dorland, as will presently appear. For the rest, that I may candidly open my mind concerning the miracles collected by Dorland, some of them seem to me too vague and indeterminate, others, most portentous, destitute of sufficient testimonies. I do not, however, wish to accuse Peter Dorland, who in the Belgian Library of Valerius Andreas is called a man conspicuous for singular integrity of life, innocence, piety, and erudition, of falsehood, as though he wished to impose upon his readers: for I think that he handed down the prodigies to posterity in good faith, just as he had simply received them. Finally, that collection of Dorland's I have, with respect to the others, called in the title the more ancient miracles, among which, for the sake of an experiment, it will now be well to examine the first, which is related after this paragraph in chapter 1, and to compare it with other authors.

[120] as is shown from the diverse narration of the same miracle, Dorland thus begins to narrate the said miracle: In the year of the Lord 1062 there was in the region of Hungary a certain very rich youth in his twentieth year: whose parents, brothers, and sisters had already long since died of a raging pestilence, and so the whole paternal inheritance, which was most ample, devolved upon him … When he had squandered all his paternal money, after the manner of youths, in taverns and games, he came to the utmost want, so that he found not what he might eat. Hear now Jacobus Polius, more than a hundred years younger than Dorland, who thus adorns the same miracle with certain circumstances of time and place: Under Pope Gregory V and Stephen, duke, afterward king, of Hungary, in the populous and opulent city of Macaria or Nuceria, Emericus, son of a powerful consul, his parents being carried off by the plague of an epidemic, sole heir, after the manner of inexperienced youths, in his twentieth year, wholly prodigal through a more licentious life, like snow in the sun, salt in water, ice in fire, tow in a devouring flame, melted away and began to be in want. Now upon both these texts, compared with one another, some things are to be noted.

[121] First, if, according to Dorland, this happened in the year of the Lord 1062, it is shown, how does Polius assert that this was done under Pope Gregory V and Stephen, duke or king of Hungary, who both had died long before that year? Next, where in the kingdom of Hungary is situated Macaria or Nuceria, a populous and opulent city? I find indeed a Macaria in the island of Cyprus, and a triple Nuceria in Italy; but a city of neither the one nor the other name have I hitherto found anywhere in Hungary. Besides, whence did Polius know the name of that youth, whom Dorland, so many years before, was compelled to leave anonymous? Finally, whence did Polius draw out all these circumstances, of which Dorland was ignorant? Sufficiently, you will say, does he indicate this, when he thus concludes his narration: The whole series of the aforesaid deed Reginald, doctor of both laws and secretary to king Stephen, left attested to the whole world and confirmed in writing. Surely I wonder that this writer was unknown to Dorland, or, if he was known, was not cited by him, that he might prove such great prodigies by a contemporary witness. At least I, after no slight inquiry, have hitherto been able to find no memory of that Reginald. There remains also another scruple; namely, I do not grasp how that Reginald, the king's secretary, affirms that a journey to Jerusalem was undertaken by Stephen, since in the Acts of St. Stephen and in the Hungarian histories there is deep silence concerning this pilgrimage. We desire, therefore, to learn where that writing of Reginald exists, that we may be able to pass a judgment concerning its sincerity. And let these things said concerning the first miracle suffice: concerning the rest, I shall observe some things in the Annotations.

[122] These and similar prodigies of Dorland are set forth everywhere to be read in Flemish booklets, [and similar things were suspect also to the Reverend Father Laurentius Cuperus, provincial of the Carmelites.] concerning which the Reverend Father Laurentius Cuperus, provincial of the Carmelites through Lower Germany, in the Genealogy and Life of St. Anne, in our copy, page 152, once passed such a judgment: I have indeed, he says, seen two little books printed in the vernacular speech of our Lower Belgium, of which the former was, as they say, without a consul, that is, without day or year or author or printer: the other had been published at Antwerp, over against the Golden Hand in the walls of the Lombards, at the press of Nicolas Vivatius, in the year of the Lord 1564, on the seventeenth of December. Each little book contained several miracles given to mortals for a remedy through the prayers of blessed Anne; but which seemed to me, though not impossible, yet less probable. Because I read them confirmed neither by the testimony of parish priests, and so not of bishops, nor of the magistrate of the commonwealth. Wherefore, these unapproved little books being omitted, let us follow surer things. Concerning the miracles which have been shown to men by the prayers of blessed Anne, John Trithemius, abbot of Sponheim, wrote a book, which was printed at Mainz in the year 1494. And since things done far off and long ago do not everywhere find credit with all, we have prefixed, at the beginning of this little book, only one miracle above nature granted by a heavenly gift to the prayers of the holy mother Anne, which, in his most acute fever and desperate bodily health, Rudolph Agricola of Friesland, a most learned man, obtained. This benefit, bestowed upon Rudolph Agricola, is related among the more ancient miracles at number 75, concerning which, and his eucharistic poem, I shall note a few things there. Now I shall proceed to the other class of miracles.

[123] In the second place I shall exhibit the more recent miracles, which, after the wonderfully found image of St. Anne, Authentic are the miracles, as I related above in §8, happened in Armorican Brittany, and concerning which the often-praised John Thomas of St. Cyril, chapter 25 [sic], §13, thus speaks in general: Very many other illustrious miracles may be had from the published books or registers of the church, in which those which are of the more principal order and class are exactly and faithfully consigned, or also from public documents drawn up everywhere thereupon: among which are numbered twelve dead persons, who were by the merit of this most glorious Mother restored to life: sixty dangerously sick happily snatched from the most present peril of death: twelve blind, who were miraculously restored to sight; nine mute, to the use of the tongue; and ten deaf, to the use of hearing; and thirteen captives, who were restored to liberty: and innocents vindicated from false accusations: thirty-six paralytics, to whom the entire use of their limbs; and thirteen others, to whom, in humanly incurable diseases, the integrity of health was restored. Thirty-three, who on the vast sea were snatched from shipwreck; thirty-five, who otherwise, in the waters, from the present peril of drowning: thirteen escaped safe and free from Turkish servitude. To eight women laboring under sterility, and fifteen under a dangerous difficulty of bearing, to these fell the most desired benefit of an easier birth, to those of fruitfulness. To more than a hundred, health was restored from various infirmities. Fifty-two were happily freed from various accidents, by the malignity of which certain death would have followed.

[124] which happened in Lesser Britain, Finally, very many paid manifest and most grievous penalties for their sinister judgment concerning this devotion. The more weighty and illustrious happened from the year 1647, in which this consignment was made. But the more precious is the health of the soul than of the body, so much also the nobler and more notable are the miraculous benefits wrought concerning the soul: namely, altogether prodigious conversions of men obstinate in sins; confessions made of sins neglected for fifty years, and a wonderful metamorphosis of souls. But of benefits of this kind there is not easily a number, nor is it known except to the most sacred tribunals of penance: which accordingly, out of reverence for the sacred and inviolable seal of confession, are most justly kept silent and concealed. Among these innumerable miracles I shall select some from a French booklet, which an anonymous priest of our Society published at Vannes in Lesser Britain in the year 1664. Moreover, all these benefits are confirmed by so many and so great testimonies that they ought to convince even hypercritical men of their truth, especially since the Reverend Fathers, Carmelites, can there show the incredulous longer informations and authentic processes.

[125] to which we add others, collected from various writers. Since I had once read that various miracles had been wrought at the relics of St. Anne at Düren, a desire came upon me of obtaining them, that they might be inserted into this work. I wrote therefore to the above-praised and most obliging Gabriel Dülman, that he would deign to inquire at Düren whether there remained there any written memory of similar benefits. He did diligently what I had asked; but after repeated inquiry nothing could be found or obtained. Meanwhile there fell into my hands a Spanish booklet, published by John de Robles, a canon regular, at Burgos in the year 1567, in which the Düren

miracles are recounted. Nay, that they were formerly written in Latin I understand from the Spanish author himself, who thus prefaces before them: This is a copy of the miracles printed in Latin, which recently came to me from the city of Rome. But I translated them into the Spanish tongue, the substance of the matter being in no way changed; but I expressed it word for word. Since therefore I could nowhere find the Latin copy of the same, I was compelled, by tedious labor, again to render them from the Spanish idiom into Latin. But even if John de Robles faithfully translated them from the Latin tongue, yet he sometimes so dislocated the proper names of places that you can scarcely recognize them by divining, as I shall observe in the Annotations. For the rest, I inserted them into the third class of miracles, into which I have collected here and there various miracles from diverse authors, as will be seen in the course of the work. But this copious collection of miracles has been made by me for the benefit of preachers, that from them they may choose the surer, and thus exhort their hearers to a solid veneration and reverence of St. Anne, since concerning her Acts they can propose little that is certain to the people. Now receive the several things in the order in which I said.

MORE ANCIENT MIRACLES

Collected by Peter Dorland, a Carthusian.

From a Manuscript of the Carthusian house of Cologne.

Anne, the most blessed Mother of the Mother of God, in Palestine (S.)

BHL Number: 0505

FROM A MANUSCRIPT.

PROLOGUE.

Whosoever thou art, who art either weighed down by the masses of thy crimes, or terrified by the enormity of thy sins, or assailed by the frequent storms of temptations, or made breathless by overflowing cares, or agitated by the adverse chances of fortune, An exhortation to the cult of St. Anne. or dost suffer the losses of a once fragrant fame, or art inflamed by the torches of a most base love, or art confounded by a sinister suspicion about thyself, or art afflicted by the maceration of prison: hither, I pray, hither turn quickly thy eyes to the most illustrious rays of the miracles of Anne, whence thou shalt be able to hope for and obtain both pardon and grace, quiet and health, refreshment and joy. Weigh, I beseech, from these greatest prodigies of Anne, which have flashed among the rest, what thou oughtest to seek in thy calamities, because truly her most ready hand is not shortened, if either thou serve her devoutly, or earnestly entreat her. Think, therefore, on most pious Anne, invoke Anne; let her never depart from thy mouth, never from thy heart ^a, that thou mayest receive her a swift helper in all pains both of body and of soul. Hence also I would have thee admonished, candid reader, that thou despise not these miracles, which we write, as either fabricated or less than true; have, I beseech, a good opinion of my conscience ^b, for I am not of so demented a mind as to wish, by lying, to incur the peril of my salvation, when by keeping silence I might remain most safe; for it is written: The mouth that lieth killeth the soul. Acknowledge, therefore, him to be already absorbed in the abyss of death, who so hunts for the glory of men by empty fables, that he prefers to perish by lying, rather than to profit by keeping silence.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER I.

A Hungarian youth snatched by St. Anne from various perils and heaped with many favors.

A Hungarian youth reduced to poverty, In the year of the Lord 1062 ^a there was in the region of Hungary a certain very rich youth in his twentieth year, whose parents, brothers, and sisters had already long since died of a raging pestilence; and so the whole paternal inheritance, which was most ample, devolved upon him. But because God scourges every son whom He loves, all the elements suddenly rose up against him, and the world pursued its vengeance upon him; for a wind, rushing vehemently upon the sides of the houses which he possessed, from their foundations, cast the roofs with the walls to the ground. A devouring fire absorbed all the substance of his house, lightnings with frequent strokes consumed all his grain ^b and all things which pertained to him in trees, fruits, and vines; and when he had squandered all his paternal money, after the manner of youths, in taverns and games, he came to the utmost want, so that he found not what he might eat.

[3] and deserting his country on account of debts He was also himself a debtor to many, and, not having ^c wherewith he might daily satisfy those who reminded him, with great indignation and impatience he burst into these words: Woe is me, God is changed for me into a cruel one, and in the hardness of His hand He is adverse to me: all the elements too conspire against me. What shall I do? Whither shall I turn? Behold a great affliction, and no comforter. For even my kinsmen despise me, and those who a little before loved me hold me as a stranger. He began therefore to think that, his country being left, he should go, as a pilgrim, into a far region; and when he had now made one mile outside the city, his knees being placed on the ground, stretching his face with his hands to the heavens, drawing deep sighs from the bottom of his breast, he thus spoke to God: O most clement God, if there is among thee any of the Saints in heaven who is wont to console the wretched and afflicted, let him now, I pray, hasten swiftly to my help; and saying these things, he was sprinkled with bitter tears and wholly dissolved into laments.

[4] St. James appears, and persuades him to the cult of St. Anne, As he thus wept, therefore, there descended to him from the heavens St. James the apostle, patron of the Spaniards, in the habit of a pilgrim, whom this youth had often honored with much devotion; to whom the Saint said: What ails thee, son? Why weepest thou so most bitterly? And when at this voice he had unfolded all the bitterness of his heart to St. James, whom, however, he did not recognize, blessed James said to him: If thou desirest to find counsel, solace, and help in thy miseries, study to honor most blessed Anne and all her progeny. For this is the gracious Mother of the Mother of God, and the grandmother of Christ the Lord: this is the boundary of the old testament and the beginning of the new; this is the best comforter of all afflicted who invoke her. Hereupon the youth: With what rite, he said, and with what devotion ought I to venerate most holy Anne? To whom the Apostle: On every week, on Tuesday, thou shalt say the Our Father thrice, and thrice the Hail Mary, in her honor, and thou shalt say at the end of each Hail Mary in this manner: And blessed be the womb of Anne the mother, which bore the most holy Mother of the Son of the eternal Father. Thou shalt also light the light of a candle before her, or in the place where she is wont to be honored. Hereupon the youth: I pray thee, he said, tell me, why hast thou made Anne to be venerated rather on Tuesdays than on other days? The Saint answered: Because on this day she herself was born, on this day she brought forth the Mother of Christ, and on this day, having enjoyed the light, she passed to the Lord. To whom he: And thou, he said, how knowest thou this? The Apostle answered: Wonder not that I know this, because I was myself born of her daughter, and she is my grandmother ^d; which said, St. James disappeared, and he beheld him no more.

[5] Amazed therefore, and vehemently wondering, he rose, and entering the next city, whose help he experiences in a tempest of the sea. which was called Dochem ^e, began diligently to inquire of a certain devout and learned priest which Anne, and what her family, might be spoken of. And when the priest instructed him sufficiently concerning each particular, the devout youth understood that he who had spoken with him on the way was St. James, begotten of Mary Salome, daughter of Anne. Moreover the said priest taught him how he might devoutly worship St. Anne and her progeny. This youth departed, therefore, and, that he might provide himself daily food, some money being given, learned the art of painting from a master: and though he strove very diligently, yet he never knew how to paint anything but St. Anne, or those who pertain to her progeny. Some time after, it happened that the King of Hungary went to visit the holy city of Jerusalem ^f, taking with him for chaplain that priest who had instructed the said youth: and because this youth stayed in the service of the aforesaid priest, it came to pass that he sailed together with his master and with the said king. As they were crossing the deep seas, therefore, suddenly a most horrid tempest arises, and, all fearing with great dread, each with much earnestness invoked their patrons to mitigate the perils. But alas, no merciful one from heaven regarded their vows! Thence a heavier bitterness arose upon all, and, the storms taking increase, near death vehemently afflicted the minds of all. Then the aforesaid youth arose, and, his knees being placed, stretching his hands and face to heaven, with a clear voice beseeches the help of his Patroness, saying: Anne, mother, together with thy Daughter and her Son, succor, I beseech. In this manner he was wont, in all his necessities, to invoke the protection of Anne; scarcely had he completed the words, when suddenly all that tempest of winds and waves was mitigated. The king of Hungary, made astonished, glad at the novelty of the miracle, said to the youth: Tell me, son, which of the Saints didst thou entreat for this serenity? To whom he: I have, said he, in all things a helper, Anne, mother of the most blessed Mother of God; she, now invoked by me, has afforded this tranquillity which you hold. To whom the king said: I see that thou lovest St. Anne with much and fervent love, and therefore, out of reverence and grace of her, thou shalt have thy expenses with me all the days of thy life, and thou shalt never lack anything with me. He gladly accepts what is offered by the king, and, deputing this benefit to the providence of mother Anne, sang thanks to her.

[6] One year being spent, therefore, he began to hold the manners of the courtiers hateful, and to be weary of the king's table, Then, exercising himself in the art of painting to which he always came only with bashfulness. He addresses therefore, with sadness, St. Anne in his prayers: How happy, said he, and secure is he, O most blessed Mother, who of his own faculty can provide himself necessaries, so that he comes not with blushing to others' tables! I pray thee therefore, sweet Mother, that thou deign to bestow on me something of my own, whereby I may not any longer need to be sustained at others' expense. And when he frequently repeated these prayers before the image of St. Anne with much earnestness, the boy Jesus, whom she held between her arms, thus addressed the praying man: I, said he, am the Son of Mary the Virgin, and Anne, whom thou art wont to venerate for the honor of my most worthy Mother, she is my grandmother:

and because thou honorest her: I too will honor thee here upon earth, and also above the heavens, perpetually. When the man of God had heard these things, he was made cheerful in spirit, and, with immense joy giving thanks to the Lord, went out of the church, and lo, that priest who once had received him into hospitality met him, who also said to him: I see thee suffused with tears. What ill hast thou? To whom he said: Nothing; but I poured out a prayer before most blessed Anne, and the little infant from her bosom spoke to me these and these words. To whom the priest: Because, said he, mother Anne always honors thee, do thou too honor her in the manner thou canst; and because thou knowest excellently the art of painting, I counsel thee to hasten to paint the whole progeny, taught by me, with conspicuous adornment upon the tower of this church: for in this way thou shalt be able to stir up all the people to the love of St. Anne. The counsel of the priest pleased him, and, a very lofty structure being made of boards and beams, he ordered it to be raised on high up to the summits of the tower. For this machine was constructed for this end, that he himself, standing in it, might more conveniently, without danger of falling, paint upon the loftiest tower those things which he wished.

[7] [by the invocation of the same Saint he is snatched from a manifest peril of death,] And when, with much industry of his art and with much affection of piety, he had painted the whole progeny of St. Anne upon the lofty building of the tower with various ornaments of colors, the devil, envying his devotion, stirred up a strong wind from the north, which, vehemently shaking the whole machine in which the painter himself stood, broke it into fragments; and when nothing else remained but that he too, suddenly falling downward, should be dashed to pieces by a terrible fall, mindful of most holy Anne, he sought her protection: Anne, mother, together with thy Daughter and her Son, succor, I beseech. At this voice the image of Anne, which he himself had there painted, suddenly holding out to him her mantle, with which she was clothed, ordered that he should hold himself in it, lest he should fall. Wonderful to say! He takes in his hands the garment formed on the wall, and thus in it preserves himself from ruin, as if he were hanging from some solid body. All the inhabitants of the city therefore saw the man in the high air hanging from an imaginary bar, supported by no bodily aid; and, moved with exceeding astonishment, they gave cries to the heavens. The report runs to the king, who, with all the nobles of his court, hastily ran up to the stupendous miracle. And when the king was very anxious with all the people how he might set down without harm the man hanging (for the tower was exceedingly lofty, nor could anyone easily reach thither without the greatest labor and peril), immediately all who were present see him little by little and with moderation let down, and thus through the air gradually descend, as if he were using the aid of some instrument. In the very descent, therefore, when he began to be let down from the image, he sought the suffrage of Anne with his accustomed prayer, and without any harm, all being turned to the greatest astonishment, he set himself down at the doors of the basilica. The king therefore, seeing so stupendous a miracle, and considering the piety of mother Anne toward her worshiper, bestowed on him many riches in gold and silver, and held him in great honor and reverence with himself.

[8] Having received gifts from the king, therefore, understanding that he now had enough to be able to live of his own goods, and he is heaped with riches by the king of Hungary, he resolved to leave the court, and to return to his native soil; yet first, entering the church, he rendered devout thanks to most holy Anne, by whose help he had obtained such riches from the king. Entering the city, therefore, he began first to make payment to all to whom he had been a debtor, and dedicated also his paternal house, for the honor of St. Anne, into a church, and there established a hospital for the reception of pilgrims; he also lived after this seventy years ^g, and, made master of the citizens, and secretary of the aforesaid king ^h, daily most devoutly gave himself up to the service of Anne. For love and reverence of whom, persevering in perpetual virginity, he would never in his life touch a woman. He also brought it about with the king that throughout all Hungary the festivity of Anne should be honored, and her image painted in all the churches.

[9] And when this holy man was drawing near the end of his life, and at length, at the end of his life, by the Mother of God, lying on his bed, he began to be wearied with a grave affliction of the body. To whom the most holy Virgin Mary of God, coming from the heavens, began most sweetly to console him, saying: Dearest brother, how art thou? To whom he, not knowing that it was Mary, said: Thou callest me brother, but I have no sister. To whom the religious Virgin answered: If St. Anne is thy mother, then I am thy sister, and thou too art my brother, and the uncle of my Son. Then he, glad, began to inquire, saying: Art thou then Mary, mother of mercy, and Jesus Christ himself thy Son? To whom she: I am Mary, thy sweetest sister: and showing him the most beautiful boy whom she held in her arms, said: And thy Anne, and my mother, is the grandmother of this infant. Hearing these things, the holy man, cheered in spirit more than can be believed, said to Mary: Thee I praise, thee I bless, O most clement Mary, together with mother Anne and thy most holy Son, and from my whole heart I give thanks for your humility and meekness, which always assiduously stood by me in my misery and affliction, and moreover deigned kindly to visit and console me, a sinner, laboring in the last death. And turning his mind and eyes to Christ Jesus, whom the Virgin bore, with much devotion he besought, saying: Succor now, most kind Jesus, and deign to assist me in my last extremity: and to the Virgin he said: O most holy Mary, help me now, most clement sister, do thou, Anne, most gentle mother, pray for me, and deliver me from the fires of Gehenna.

[10] And when he invoked St. Anne with great earnestness, she came to him from heaven with great glory, and St. Anne is visited. and, sitting beside him, consoled him with most clement words, in this manner: Be not, dearest son, anxious; neither be afraid of anything: for thou, for the honor of my Daughter and of the only-begotten Jesus Christ, hast always honored me, and worshiped me with much devotion, and therefore we will now protect thee, and, honored, transport thee to the heavenly places. Moreover, whosoever shall honor me, either with alms or with fastings or with burning tapers or with the praises of prayers, to him I will give in the present time a chaste and religious life, and in the hour of death a kind consolation, and in every peril a ready deliverance: and saying these things, she stretched her finger to Jesus, whom Mary held in her arms, and said again to him: Behold, here is the dearest Son of my Daughter, who opens the heavens, and closes the underworld: to Him I recommend thy soul: and while Anne said these things, immediately that blessed man, between the arms of the Lord the Savior, put off his soul from his body, and with Him ascended the kingdoms of the heavens. Behold, most beloved, how almighty God honors those who venerate Anne, the mother of the Mother of God: for as often as this holy man invoked most blessed Anne, saying: Anne, mother, together with thy Daughter and her Son, succor, I beseech; so often, in every tribulation either of body or of soul, he received most swift help. In every peril, in every counsel, in every necessity, and especially in every temptation of the flesh, the protections of Anne succored him, to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God blessed forever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

Another Hungarian youth affected with very many benefits by St. Anne.

There was besides in the kingdom of Hungary another certain youth, Procopius ^a by name, son of a certain powerful and rich soldier, Procopius, a Hungarian youth, living in a hermitage handsome, well-mannered, and generous in the eyes of all: him his father sent to the schools in the city of Prague, hoping that his progeny ought to be exalted through him; where he so profited that in the twenty-second year of his age he became a master of arts and a most famous doctor of laws; so that that whole university ^b had not his equal. And when he was held amiable by all, and especially by the princes and consuls, so far that they could ill bear to be without his company, a certain castellan set his mind on betrothing his daughter to Procopius: which when he had done, his parents and masters and friends were grievously indignant: but the pious Lord, whose care is of His elect, preserved him, lest so precious a gem should be trampled under the feet of swine: for a month before the marriage his wife began to be sick, and died: but the castellan, who had now fixed his heart on Procopius, lest so great and such a son-in-law should be alienated from him, resolved to betroth another daughter to him, whom when he had betrothed, the bride began to be vexed with the falling sickness. Which when the father perceived, being very angry, he made void to Procopius the pledge of the betrothal. All being offended, therefore, and on this account forsaken by all, master Procopius, taking one servant with him, with great sadness of heart, entering a grove, built a hermit's cell, in which for seven years he led a life in poverty and great patience.

But on a certain occasion there came to him a certain hermit, asking hospitality for God's sake: to whom Procopius said, Gladly will I receive thee, and spiritual food of the divine word I will bestow on thee, if it please thee. But bodily food I have not; and the hermit answering that he would be excellently content with that spiritual food, Procopius, opening his mouth, set before him such choice doctrines of God as he had never in his life heard.

[12] Then, among their other conversations, that hermit began to exhort and counsel him he is taught to honor St. Anne, to honor most blessed Anne. Promising that, if he did this devoutly and constantly, he would be faithfully helped by her in body and soul. Procopius acquiesced in his persuasion, and began from that time to teach his servant the life and progeny of most blessed Anne, and how she deserved to be honored by all. But the reason why most worthy Anne destined that hermit to Procopius, and why he so easily acquiesced in his persuasion, is believed to have been this: for when Procopius still dwelt at Prague, and himself once disputed parabolically concerning Christ and His Mother, and the ears of all were intent upon his discourse, because he was held great among them, among other things he said this also; how not only is the branch to be praised which brought forth for us the fruit of life, but also the tree is to be honored from which that branch proceeded, and under whose branches we are protected from the rain and from the heat: by the tree, namely, parabolically designating Anne, by the branch Mary, by the fruit of the branch our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the other branches of this tree the progeny of Anne, namely Mary of James and Mary Salome with their sons ^c. Which opinion, when all had gladly accepted it, it came to pass that thenceforth most holy Anne was much more honored by the people, because they reckoned the words of so great a man as great, and greatly weighed them.

[13] who had before obscurely appeared to him. But nevertheless Procopius had long forgotten this testimony concerning Anne, but not so most blessed Anne: for she, as a sign of gratitude, before the coming of this hermit, showed to Procopius, sleeping, a very consoling vision; for he saw a certain tree of marvelous beauty, which seemed about to defend him from the heat and from the rain, and to feed him with its fruit, but because he was ignorant of the interpretation of this vision, he rejected it as frivolous: for he did not remember that most blessed Anne is as a terebinth spreading out her branches, nor did he judge himself worthy to be thus consoled by her; and because he took no heed of this vision, Anne resolved, through the holy hermit, to induce Procopius to serve her, seeking by such a means an occasion of conferring greater things upon herself in time to come. Having heard the counsel of the hermit, therefore, Procopius, Anne procuring it, immediately mindful of the aforesaid vision, presently acquiesced in his persuasion.

[14] The servant of this Hungarian digs up a precious collar, When therefore, after the departure of the hermit, Procopius with his servant had for some time devoutly served most blessed Anne, and worthily venerated her, it happened one day that the servant of Procopius was digging a certain well, because they could not otherwise have water: and lo, in digging, when he penetrated the earth more deeply, he found there, buried, a certain most noble man, who had at his neck a golden collar, brightly radiating with gems and pearls: for most of the gentile nations, and especially the Tartars, have this custom, that they bury the most illustrious men, and especially the princes and kings of the lands, when deceased, adorned with the best garments, and surrounded with much gold and precious stones, in a most ample field, honoring their princes with such pomp. When therefore the servant touched this man, buried in such a manner, as is believed, immediately, dissolved into ashes, he vanished; but snatching the collar, he consigned it to his master Procopius.

[15] from which a coin, being struck, helps the queen in her delivery, At length, report spreading it abroad, when the king of the Hungarians had heard that with Procopius much glory of gold and stones was kept, eager to know, he came to the hermitage to salute the master; but when the king beheld the found collar, captivated by the beauty of the gems, he offered Procopius a very great weight of gold, that he might deserve to receive it. To whom Procopius: The gold, said he, which thou offerest me, my lord king, let it be thine: for I have no need of thy gifts; but the collar I bestow upon thee on this condition, that thou convert its stones to thy uses, but the gold reduce to coins: for I wish, from this gold, coins to be fabricated which shall contain the image of most holy mother Anne, that in this way she may, known to peoples and tongues, be venerated; which when the king had done, the queen, receiving one of those coins, out of reverence for St. Anne, hung it upon her neck; and when one day she went hunting with the king, and was pregnant, and all the princes and servants followed the king, pursuing boars and stags with dogs, it happened that the queen remained alone ^d, and was there suddenly seized with a languor; but she, terrified and trembling, began devoutly to look upon and kiss the image of St. Anne which she had hung upon her neck, and to call upon the patronage of most kind Anne with tearful prayers. A wonderful thing! immediately the queen brought forth a most beautiful boy, whereas, according to the course of nature, four months were yet distant from the birth: and, that thou mayest wonder the more, by the help of Anne the boy remained alive and unharmed.

[16] But the king, seeing so many miracles, rejoiced beyond measure, and Procopius is raised by the king to dignities. and began to praise and bless with his whole heart God and most clement Anne, who, immediately hastening to the wood, led Procopius, drawn thence, with him, and made him his counselor, and at length promoted him to the dignity of an archbishopric ^e. Obeying therefore, Procopius, though unwilling, took upon himself both burdens: which when his parents and old companions, and all those who in the time of adversity had despised him, had perceived, they hasten thither to see Procopius now promoted to lofty things, and, reverently bowing to him, asked pardon of him, and received it. Procopius therefore, as a sign of gratitude, caused churches and chapels to be built in honor of most holy Anne, and by the merits of Anne so prospered in the way of justice, that he is there held both a saint and illustrious for miracles ^f. To the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

The cult of St. Anne commended, the injury to it punished, and her invocation recompensed.

A man is instructed concerning the cult of St. Anne, A man very devoted to the Christ-bearing Virgin most often wove for her a rosy crown, to whom one day the Mother of God, appearing, thus addressed the man: I always hold agreeable with me the proclamations of thy praises, O my dearest one, with which thou daily reverently honorest me: yet one thing is lacking to these my very praises, and it altogether behooves that thou study to fulfill this: for when, by weaving, thou hast completed the angelic crown, then, in praise of Anne my pious Mother, thou shalt join one Our Father with the accustomed salutation. For with this kind of praises I am delighted, and he shall always be held most agreeable to me who, for grace of me, shall have wished to honor my dearest Parent. If therefore thou shalt accomplish what I have now admonished thee, in the straits of thy death I will assist thee as a most faithful protectress, and, thee being powerfully snatched from the snares of spiritual wickednesses, I will lead thee into my kingdoms; and saying these things, she disappeared. But he who deserved to be taught by so happy an exhortation, when he had fulfilled the commands of the Virgin by assiduously honoring mother Anne, being set in his last extremity, had Anne and her Daughter as assistants, who bore his soul, fortified from the wickednesses of the demons, into the angelic kingdoms: which may the pious Daughter, the Virgin, deign to grant us by the merits of her Mother. Amen ^a.

[18] We read that once there was a certain virgin devoted to God and religious. and a virgin, on account of the trigamy, neglecting to honor her She venerated all the Saints of God, as is fitting, with the greatest love; yet to Anne, most holy parent of the Mother of God, because she had been joined in a threefold marriage, ^b and one husband had not sufficed her, though she was aged and barren, she feared to exhibit due observance: for, deceived by error, she thought that most modest Anne had sought three husbands, not for the sake of offspring, but for the cause of lust, and reproached her, who bore the fountain of chastity, as unchaste and wanton ^c: yet, restrained by reverence for the Virgin Mother, she did not dare openly to bring reproaches, but with a silent murmur concealed this displeasure against Anne. She was unwilling, therefore, to honor Anne as the rest, the wretched woman not knowing, nor regarding, how great goods came to us from the marriages of Anne. One night, therefore, when she had gone to sleep occupied with these thoughts, rapt in spirit, she saw a certain very great army of heaven, all of whose faces and garments shone like the most bright sun. These, a procession being made, as each one passed by this virgin, with their faces turned toward her, honored her, as if for the cult exhibited to them.

[19] These being at length received into heaven, she saw besides another army glittering with a marvelous brightness of countenance and garment, which, as it was more copious than the former army in number, so was it also more excellent in glory and beauty. In the midst of this a certain lofty and admirable matron shone forth, whose most bright radiance surpassed the rays of the sun sevenfold.

All these, therefore, when they had drawn near to this virgin, and had beheld her, as though moved with grave indignation, turned their backs upon her face, showing by their looks that she was unworthy. But she, blushing keenly, and ignorant of the cause of so great a contempt, thus spoke to one of them who stood nearest to her: What have I, wretched one, deserved, that I should be thus despised by you, O most beloved? To whom he answered: Hast thou not read in Isaiah, Woe to thee who despisest, for thou also shalt be despised. This most noble lady, the Mother of the Christ-bearing Virgin, thou hast always wickedly despised: now too thou art most deservedly scorned by her whole progeny, which thou here beholdest ^d.

[20] And lo, most gentle Anne, the propitiatress, drawing near to the virgin, that she was nonetheless on that account to be honored. with, as it were, a more austere countenance began to reprove her, saying: Thou, being a virgin, hast always reproached my marriages, but tell me, all this glorious number of men whom thou seest, where, I pray, would they have remained, if I had disdained to marry? Have my marriages snatched from me any glory? Nay, rather, I am the more venerated by God above the rest, the more, before others, I shine forth made fruitful with most noble offspring. And, calming her most clement face, Thou therefore, said she, O daughter, if thou wilt earn the grace of me and of this stock, do not henceforth despise in me that which it greatly befits thee to venerate: for, if thou knowest it not, the queen of mercy Mary and the most holy Savior of the world Himself, whom thou lovest, sprang forth from my womb ^e. These things said, all that glory disappeared, and left the virgin, returned to herself, most excellently consoled; who was made the more devout in the service of Anne, the more she had most truly acknowledged her to be most worthy of all veneration. Honoring therefore Anne and all her progeny most devoutly to the end, when she was full of virtues and good works, in the presence of Anne she rested in peace, ascending the heights of the heavens, with Anne as her guide. May Anne, most clement, make us to earn this grace, that with her we may be able to ascend the kingdoms of the heavens. Amen.

[21] England, which was formerly called Greater Britain, is known to have been from many times back a worshiper of venerable Anne. A bishop in England In a certain diocese of it there arose a certain bishop ^f about these our times, an insolent, impious, and insane man, who strove to extinguish in his diocese the cult of most holy Anne: for that most senseless man saw and envied that his people flocked from every side to the feasts of pious mother Anne, lighted many tapers, offered gifts, sought her suffrages with vows and prayers: who, stung with the zeal of malice, mounting the pulpit, thus addressed the people: Let the deaf and dumb suffice us, whom we here have for Saints, in whose cults we squander our gifts; nor is it needful to venerate besides these any other deities henceforth. This is the whole point of thy wisdom, O prelate, that thou shouldst call the sacred images of the temple deaf idols!

[22] On another occasion, when he saw that the most devout people cared nothing for his words, agitated by envy, the wretch began to bring forth many reproaches against most holy Anne, prohibiting the cult of St. Anne and with a filthy mouth to tear her chaste modesty, like a bristly goat. Anne, said he, whom ye worship, know that she was never a Saint, who, overcome by lust, sought three husbands in old age. Why do ye bring chaste gifts to polluted altars? This therefore to you, my people, in common at the outset: from this sacrilegious devotion henceforth desist, or with a sharper censure, as befits a prelate, I will rage against you. These things the most demented man cried among the people, ignorant of what vengeance was to come upon him from the Lord. But the people, in no way terrified by these words, heaped the altars of Anne with amplert tapers and gifts, not that it is always lawful to strive after the forbidden, but that the impious commands of prelates are to be held in scorn, and that one ought rather to obey God than men commanding unjust things.

[23] When the impious bishop saw that his people despised his commands, kindled with fury, he is punished with death. by a last resolve he decreed to strike all the people of his diocese with a grave anathema and excommunication, who should strive to honor Anne; and in the fury of his mind, mounting his horse, that he might go to the cathedral church, and there pronounce his impious edicts, the heavenly vengeance pursued him: for, set upon the way, the steed on which he sat, adorned, stumbling by chance, cast its rider to the ground, who, his neck being immediately broken, expired. And thus it befell this most wretched man, that he who, while he lived, would not have Anne propitious, deserved after death to feel her hostile; nor could he obtain pardon from the Lord, who strove to prohibit the people from the Mediatrix of pardon. But when the reprobate death of the bishop was everywhere divulged among the people, all in common blessed the avenging Lord, and, washing their hands in the blood of the sinner, were thenceforth made the more devout in the cult of mother Anne, the more they perceived it to be pleasing to the Lord, the Egyptian being smitten.

[24] Certain men in a horrible tempest of the sea, Sluis is a most notable town of Flanders: for it has a most noble port, which easily distributes itself into all the provinces of the West. When from this port one day many sought England by ship, the following miracle happened, which I begin. For these, when they had now passed over much space of the sea, suddenly, about evening, so dense a fog covered all that sea, that the helmsman knew not whither to direct the ship. So slack too was the breathing of the winds, that the loose sails scarcely moved the ship forward. Then the shipmaster said to his men: I bid you, brothers, to be in fear: for we have before our eyes both blind night with these fogs, and I utterly distrust that we can reach the port; for I know not in what part of the world the ship itself has been driven. When he had said these things, immediately he climbed the mast of the ship, to descry some land, if he could, from afar, whither he might bring the wave-wandering stern: and lo, suddenly a wind, attacking from the north with the greatest impetus, roused the face of the sea into most savage storms, so that a horrid tempest moved heaven and the waves. But these who were in the ship, hedged in with a threefold calamity, of night and of fog and of tempest, sent up infinite cries to heaven. And when all, with bended knee and hands stretched to heaven, one called the Mother of God, another the virgin Catherine, a third and fourth James or Peter to their aid, and then the dwellers of heaven were deaf, so that the protections of Anne might be held agreeable, they hearkened not.

[25] St. Anne's help being implored, There was then by chance one in the ship who had already before experienced the clemency of mother Anne, who thus exhorts the rest: Why, said he, do ye weary with vain cries the unwilling dwellers of heaven? Or know ye not that in this peril the suffrages of most sweet mother Anne are to be sought by us? You therefore I exhort, most beloved, let us all with one accord invoke most gentle Anne, let us promise gifts; and we shall receive sudden help in these our disasters; then they all with one heart, one mouth invoked Anne, and together her Daughter and her only-begotten Savior, that they might be snatched unharmed from the peril of death. Scarcely had they finished the words, and lo, wonderful to say, when now night almost grew horrid, and dark gloom enveloped the whole face of the sea, suddenly, at the command of Anne, the darkness itself flees away, the hoar-frost disappeared, and, the sky being made most serene, the sun, in the middle of the night nearly, shone forth most bright. Hither therefore, reader, turn thine eyes diligently: Joshua the son of Nun, after the sun should set, ordered that sun to persist in its place ^h. Isaiah by his prayer bade the sun go back ten degrees ⁱ: the anchorite Mucius, until he had reached the threshold of the house, forbade the sun to set ^k. Stupendous are these things, and most full of admiration, yet much more wonderful, that in the middle of the night nearly Anne bade the sun shine to her servants, and that great luminary, which the gracious Creator destined to the power of the day, Anne made to shine again amid the darkness ^l.

[26] Having obtained this grace, therefore, the sailors, extolling Anne with infinite praises, as was fitting, they escape the peril of shipwreck. directed the ship by a straight course to the port seen from afar. But when the ship began to become near the port, lest the sailors should think that the protection and aid of God had not been present, suddenly the radiance of the sun departed, the sky grew horrid, the former hoar-frost settled down, and night returned with foul gloom. But they, leading the stern through the port into safety, escaped the savage perils of the sea: who, returned to their own homes, faithfully fulfilling the vows which they had promised to Anne, proclaimed to all the aids wrought for them by Anne. But lest thou think, reader, that I have lied: the altars which were built in honor of most blessed Anne at Sluis are adorned with an inscription of this greatest miracle, that thou mayest know it to be most true, which is read noted down by the testimony of many men ^m.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

The benevolence of St. Anne toward her clients shown to two female Saints, her veneration commended by the Mother of God and an angel, and certain benefits bestowed on those who invoke her.

Blessed Colette, from a vision, There is a most noble city of Flanders, by name Ghent:

in this city holy Colette, a most devout virgin, once lies buried at rest. This is that wonderful and seraphic Colette, who restored the fallen Order of most blessed Francis almost to its former vigor. She was adorned with sacred virtues and the greatest merits; for Colette loved Anne, the parent of the Christ-bearing Virgin, with a most fervent love, and venerated her with a wondrous affection ^a. For when one day this virgin prayed most holy Anne that she would heap upon her the grace of the virtues, rapt in spirit she saw Anne, holding in her hand a golden bowl, and, making a circuit, asking of all the citizens of the heavens some spiritual alms; and when she roused them all to the offices of piety, each cast a golden coin into that golden dish. Then she, as though cheered by such received riches, went forward, and offered that money-laden dish, as for a gift, to the Lord of majesty, wishing by this deed to express that, as she then for Colette, so also for any of her servants the pious Mother is ready both to earn grace and, for the gifts received, to say praises to the Savior. This Colette, by the benefits of Anne, laid hold of the summit of all virtues, founded and rooted in charity, whose mind was always this, to inflame all in the love of God and of Anne the Mother; she made so great a fruit in gaining souls, that she instituted seventeen religious monasteries; her too most holy Anne made glorious with miracles, so that Colette raised five dead to their former life: who at length, resting with a most excellent end, deserved to possess with her Lover the heavenly kingdoms.

[28] Bridget, sprung of royal stock, when she had led a most holy life in marriage, and St. Bridget, from an apparition, learn the benevolence of St. Anne, and had begotten to the Lord most devout offspring, among whom holy Catherine ^b, conspicuous in all virtue, shone forth, at length, her husband being dead, persevered in a most holy widowhood to the end: for this woman, being most full of piety, after God and Mary, venerated the parent Anne with a most ardent love; to whom one day, set in prayer, most blessed Anne appeared, and sweetly addresses her in these words, saying: Look upon me, O most sweet daughter Bridget, I am that Anne whom thou lovest, most full of mercy and grace, and the pious propitiatress of those who love me; I guard, love, and promote those who keep chaste and tranquil marriages, provided they seek my suffrages by their prayers. Do thou therefore, my daughter, learn, and teach others, for grace of me to bless the Lord Jesus my Grandson with a speech of this kind: "I bless thee, most gentle Lord Jesus Christ, who didst decree to procreate without stain the most sacred Virgin Mary thy parent, of the chaste marriage of Joachim and Anne, of whom thou, the Savior of all, didst will to take flesh, that thou mightest redeem us: I entreat therefore thy sweetness, by the most holy merits of Joachim and Anne thy parents, have mercy on me and on those who, mindful of Anne, keep honest marriages; give them, Lord, with thy grace, tranquil peace, health of mind and body, the saving fruit of offspring, and after this miserable exile, perennial glory, to thy praise and honor, O most clement and most sweet Savior. Amen." When most gentle Anne the parent had taught these things to Bridget, leaving her most excellently consoled, she sought again the heavenly palace, she herself beholding it. These things, if I mistake not, thou wilt find written, reader, in the revelations of St. Bridget, that thou mayest know that I am not a conjecturer, but a most faithful instructor ^c.

[29] A certain anchorite, very devoted to the immaculate Virgin Mother, Whose cult the Mother of God when one day, hedged in with straits, he invoked her into his protections, she (as she is the kindest of all), delaying nothing, showed him her most sweet presence. Shining therefore with wonderful glory and beauty, accompanied by many troops of the Saints, as befits the queen of the ages, she addresses the afflicted man with a most gentle speech, saying: Behold I am present, dearest son, to loose thy straits: for I have judged thee worthy of my presence, whose cult toward me I have always held most agreeable. Thou hast indeed frequent memory of me, thou salutest me, thou praisest me, thou magnifiest me: I am always conversant in thy mouth, in thy heart. Then he, most joyful, looking upon her with his eyes, thus answered: Most agreeable to me hast thou now come, O most gentle queen of mercy, Mother of God, immaculate Virgin Mary. Why humblest thou thyself so greatly, O most gentle one, that thou deignest to descend to me, a wretched sinner? But because it is so pleasing before thee, thy condescension pleases me also. Do thou therefore, most sweet Virgin, I beseech, restrain my pains, and clemently wipe away the disasters of my soul; render me thy Only-begotten most ready, that, the pardon of my sins being received, I may deserve to obtain His grace and glory.

[30] To whom the pious Virgin answered: I will obtain for thee, O son, every good, on account of the most devout cult which thou hast hitherto exhibited to me; persuades to a certain hermit; but now I exhort thee that thou remember to honor and praise Anne, my dearest mother, and Joachim the parent, and thenceforth all my progeny, being about to receive great gifts from me: for I am greatly delighted with those cults which are exhibited for grace of my parents. Know moreover that my Son Jesus Christ has pledged this to all the worshipers of Anne my mother, that they shall most truly be freed from all the adversities with which they are wearied, and saved into everlasting glory. Do thou therefore, O son, keep these things, speak these things, and exhort to them. And saying these things, she betook herself into the heights of heaven with her companions. But there remained there so great a fragrance of most sweet odor, that there was no doubt that the Mother of sweetness had been present there. Moreover the hermit, as he had received in his commands, so most devoutly fulfilled, and venerated the parents of the Virgin with due affection, for after every angelic salutation which he uttered to the Virgin Mary, he joined also these praises to Anne the parent: And blessed be Anne thy most sweet mother, from whom proceeded thy sacred virginal flesh. To this holy blessing, that thou mayest know, reader, Pope Sixtus IV granted a hundred days of indulgences, as often as anyone should wish to say it after the angelic Hail ^d. But the anchorite, after many services bestowed on Mary and Anne, rested with a most blessed end, now possessing in heaven the fellowship of those whose names he loved on earth.

[31] as also an angel under the form of a pilgrim About these our times happened a miracle which I subjoin ^e. An angel of the Lord, in the guise of a pilgrim, the sun declining to its setting, knocking at a certain monastery of ladies, asked to be received there in hospitality; to whom the portress answered: I would gladly receive thee, my brother; but we are now so poor, so slender, that we cannot bring thee the necessaries of sustenance. Go therefore, I beseech, to the neighboring lodging; if perchance thou mayest deserve to be received there. To whom the angel: I, said he, have been sent hither, and it altogether behooves that this night I have here my lodging. To whom the doorkeeper: Thou, said she, mayest see who has sent thee hither: for I in no way admit thee. Then the holy angel, turned to prayers, I pray thee, said he, dearest sister, that, for grace of St. Anne, most pious mother, thou grant me this one night only to rest here; for Anne has wherewith to restore to thee and thy house much greater things. But the doorkeeper, since she loved Anne, immediately received the angel into hospitality, and ministered to him all that she could have at hand.

[32] to certain nuns, And when he had tasted a little food, he said to her: Go quickly and call together into one all the sisters of this monastery, that I may declare to them the word of the Lord. Therefore, when the angel had sat down in the midst of them, opening his mouth, he said: The Lord has pity, dearest sisters, on your calamity, and looks more clemently upon your want: He grieves indeed over the greatness of the evil which ye have hitherto endured, and therefore, that I might relieve you from this poverty, He Himself sent me hither to you; act therefore, and honor henceforth Anne, the parent of the most holy Mother of God, whom hitherto ye have neglected, and ye shall possess not only abundance of earthly things, but also increases of all virtues: for this is that most gentle pitier of the afflicted and poor, by whose help no one who seeks it shall be defrauded: this is that Anne, the sweet refuge of all calamity, who always stretches out a helping hand to the desperate, the sorrowful, and the shipwrecked. When he had brought forth these and many more things, in praise of the pious Mother, with a most eloquent mouth, and had inflamed the minds of all into her love, he brought forth from his bosom an image of Anne painted with wonderful art, and said to them: Take this image of Anne from my hand, beholding this, honor, honor, love her, and I assure you that ye shall be promoted not only in temporal goods, but also in spiritual riches: and these things said, he who seemed a man, the angel, disappeared. But the sisters, wondering with great astonishment at the marvelous grace of God toward them, and uttering the greatest praises, were made the more devout to mother Anne, the more they had recognized, by so wonderful a revelation, that they should do this; and thus in a short time that monastery was made renowned and famous with a double glory of riches.

[33] There is a certain monastery of ladies established not far from our borders, By the help of St. Anne a monastery brought back to good morals, whose life was formerly very reprobate, sordid, and unchaste: no justice, no discipline flourished there. When, after the death of the abbess, another woman, strenuous, just, and religious, had arisen, she could not without the gravest torment of heart see so great and lamentable a ruin of her sisters. She strove daily with prayers, threats, exhortations, and examples, to recall them to the paths of holy institution; but in vain the holy woman labored: for they would not unlearn the wickednesses of their crimes, nor the most different way in which they had been accustomed to walk. But the abbess, being a most devout worshiper of mother Anne, with her whole heart and greatest effort, suffused with many tears, began to invoke her protections: Thou, said she, most holy Anne, if thou wilt, canst help me, wretched one, that the little sheep committed to me by the great shepherd may forsake the precipices of vices, and turn themselves into the way of justice. And when with these and other prayers she frequently knocked at the pious ears of Anne, the Holy Spirit being sent down from above, the rebellious minds of all the sisters suddenly came together into one and holy will, and offered themselves so most ready to all the discipline of the order, that to none could there be any doubt that the aids of holy mother Anne had been present; for since it is written that the perverse are corrected with difficulty, it is sufficiently clear that then only can perverse minds be corrected, if they be helped by the benefit of some heavenly power. Moreover the abbess, seeing so great a sudden change of the right hand of the Most High, instituted herself and all the sisters as worshipers of mother Anne, by whose gift they had deserved both the grace of God and holiness of life. Let the rest estimate concerning this miracle,

as they will; I myself prefer it by far to the rest of the things which are here written: for although to God all things are equally easy, yet it is much more glorious suddenly to gather many most wicked minds into one and just will, than either to raise the dead or to bestow any kind of medicines. It is also far more excellent for each to rise from the death of the soul, than to come forth from the sepulcher again in flesh that is to die.

[34] In these our times a certain religious of the Order of St. Dominic, and comfort imparted to a religious man. devout in religion, conspicuous in virtue, eloquent in the pulpit, fervent in zeal for souls, was most ardent in love of most holy mother Anne: he at a certain time fell into a certain most grievous misery of temptation and anxiety, so far that it wearied him even to live. Behold, how judgment begins at the house of God, as Peter says, but if first at us, what shall be the end of those who obey not the Gospel? Upon the earth of my people, says the Lord, come up briers and thorns, how much more upon every house of joy of the exulting city? But this brother, hedged in with such straits, invoked most gentle mother Anne with all the depths of his soul, praying that in such great evils she would afford him pious help: and because it is impossible that the fountain of mercy should not have mercy, so great a consolation did most sweet Anne send in that one day, that, freed from all temptation, he thenceforth remained in great tranquillity of mind, as though he had never brought forth anything sad. But he, not ungrateful for such benefits, extolled Anne above the stars with praises, and called her most gentle, most sweet, and the chief comforter of the sorrowful and wretched in nearly all his sermons, and, scattering among the people the many images which he had had printed in honor of Anne, provoked all to her cult and love.

[35] By the relics of St. Anne a virgin is restored to health, A few years having passed, there was brought to Cologne ^f, to the Preachers, under most true letters and documents of imperial notaries, one of the most holy fingers of Anne. At the same time there was in that city an honest virgin, Gertrude by name, who suffered around her neck a most enormous tumor, so deformed that she too was thence held an object of horror to all. She went to physicians, and consulted various surgeons, but received thence no help; then, inwardly animated by the divine Spirit, she betook herself wholly to consulting the sacred relics of Anne, and, most devout prayers being premised, earnestly asks the Dominican brothers that they would deign to touch with the finger of Anne the monstrous swelling of her neck. Behold the most stupendous thing of all! For suddenly, as the relics touched the swollen neck of the virgin, all that most foul hurt of the tumor and wound disappeared, and the neck was so rendered sound and whole, as if it had suffered nothing evil before. About the same time there was also enclosed at Cologne a certain woman, devoted to mother Anne, who most often labored under a most grievous pain of the teeth and of the head. She, immediately, as she caused herself to touch the relics of Anne, was so healed of all pain, that she has not for the rest experienced anything of the evil. And what wonder, if this one finger is of such great power, since it is known to have come from that most holy hand which deserved to touch and to rest the gracious Mother of God and Christ the little Savior?

[36] and, through her invocation, a man drawn out of despair, A certain citizen of Cologne fell into a certain most grievous tribulation, which so far broke his mind that he almost slid into the pit of despair: for he believed it would be impossible that anyone could be freed from so most troublesome a disaster. He, having received counsel from a certain pious father to entreat Anne, the most ready helper of the wretched, with all vows, began with much fervor, with prayers and tears, to await the suffrages of Anne: and lo, after the most savage tempest a more serene air immediately shone upon him, and he obtained such great tranquillity of mind, that, all despair now cast aside, there was to him no doubt at all that most gentle Anne had heard his prayers. I always prefer by far these healings of the mind to the curings of bodies, which physicians too can afford: for Flaccus Horatius says, the things which hurt the eyes, thou hastenest to remove; if anything is of the mind, thou deferrest the time of curing for a year. Where he sharply censures those who seek a swift remedy for the pain of the body, the languors of the soul being neglected, which in truth ought to have been the sooner removed, the more disastrously they creep and the more cruelly they slay. Since therefore the wounds of our hearts are cured by the patronages of the Saints, we ought to receive this much more dearly than if a hundred times either the lights of our eyes or the offices of our ears were restored to us. This man therefore, not ungrateful to his Curer, made an image of Anne of wax as large as is that image which is set among the Preacher brothers at Cologne beside the altar of the sacred Rosary of the divine Virgin Mary. This wax therefore the man himself offered as a gift to most sacred Anne, which wax, for a memorial of so great a miracle, was seen there for many times, whence also very many were inflamed to the cult of pious mother Anne.

[37] The miracle which I here subjoin, that very man to whom it happened, still, as I think, surviving in life, and another freed from shipwreck. related to brother Dominic of Guelders, a religious man, and, on account of his doctrine and eloquence in the pulpit, most well known to many, not only men, but even cities. From his written account, therefore, I learned what I now write. This man narrated to the aforesaid father how one day, when he was on the sea, so formidable a tempest arose, that all the tackle of the ship, and even the ship itself, was utterly shattered and broken asunder: and when now no remedy of safety was present, and he saw death itself moving before his eyes, this man who related these things, mindful of most holy Anne, mindful also of that Hungarian youth who, by invoking Anne, had been freed from the fury of the sea, began to call upon Anne with loud voices and to say: Anne, most gentle mother, with thy Daughter and the holy Jesus Christ born of her, come the sooner to meet these our perils. And when all the rest, by his example, also cried out to Anne, immediately all that rage of the waves and winds grew quiet. But they, binding together one part of the broken ship, all unharmed and much brisk with joy, put in to the desired port, all who could see and hear it being amazed, and extolling to the stars the mighty deeds of the great mother Anne. Moreover this man, when he was in the perils, vowed that, if he were snatched away, he would keep celebrated every year the feast day of mother Anne. Mindful therefore of the benefit received, he established a chapel in her honor, on whose altar he causes a perpetual Mass to be celebrated every Tuesday with chant and organ. But on the very sacred solemnity of mother Anne, some priest, this man appointing it, delivers a sermon to the people in her praise, and also bestows many gifts on the poor.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER V.

An infidel converted to the faith by a miracle of St. Anne, fruitfulness obtained for a barren woman, a widow snatched from the hands of ravishers, and another woman prodigiously freed from an unjust sentence of death.

A certain Turk, having seen a miracle of St. Anne, We know that the regions bordering on the sea often endure most grievous assaults of the pagans from ^a the Christians, as are Hungary, Spain, Poland, and very many other kingdoms. At a certain time, therefore, when the king of the Turks [*] raged against the Christians (as he most often does), he sent into the borders of Hungary a general, who, a most powerful fleet of armed men being received, should hasten to overthrow the cities and seats of the innocent. The bloody general therefore besieged a certain city, which, when he had harassed it by sea and land ^b, after most grievous assaults he violently burst into it, and either slew all the people with the sword, or cast them into chains. After these things he ordered the whole city, with its temples, to be burned with fire. But there was in the city a solemn temple dedicated to the divine mother Anne, since we know that Hungary was always a worshiper of Anne, which could not, by any fires applied, be devastated. They raged, and, applying a huge pyre to the sacred building, when they could not, Anne resisting, abolish it with menacing flames, burning themselves with the madness of their mind, gave infinite cries to heaven. But the general himself, stupefied with fury, entering the temple with great impetus, began to look round about, what deity was there held, by whose protection that temple had despised the fires applied. And, lo, he saw upon the high altar an image of wonderful beauty and grace, moved by the sight of which the general, inwardly, began to love and venerate her in his heart. And at length he thus spoke: O by what name shall I remember thee, most powerful Mother? Truly thou alone, among gods and goddesses ^c, art shown to me most worthy of cult, who exertest such great power beyond the other deities of the heavens, that thou alone didst keep thy buildings unharmed, the rest being burned. I call to witness the greatest God of Olympus, that I devote myself hereafter to thee as a humble worshiper, knowing that thou who hast saved this structure from ruin canst keep thy lovers unharmed from every peril. Who immediately, calling one priest of our nation, said to him: Tell me, I beseech, of what deity is this image? The priest answered: This, said he, is the image of most holy Anne the parent, who bore a daughter, a most pure Virgin, of whose untouched womb Christ came forth, the Savior of the world, whom we Christians worship and adore as the true God; but thou, if thou believe in Him and be baptized, and honor His parent the Virgin and this lady Anne, whatsoever thou askest, thou shalt obtain, and here shalt live secure and happy, and shalt possess eternal joys with Christ.

[39] he receives baptism, and, invoking the same Saint The prince, gladly receiving these words, being made a catechumen, caused himself to be baptized, and consigned himself a devout

servant of God: thereupon, embracing in his arms the image of Anne, by whose favor he had been saved, he showed it outside to all his army, saying: Why hitherto, O wretched ones, do ye worship deaf and dumb and feeble deities, which can bring no protection either to themselves or to their worshipers? How many a one is found among gods and goddesses who could extinguish, not a strong fire, as this Goddess did, but even the least spark? When the general himself cried these and many other things among his people, some derided him; others silently murmured; others, compunct in mind, of their own accord hearkened. The next day the general, arranging his fleet, taking Anne with him as the companion of his ways, seeking home, passed over the long seas. And when they had now accomplished the greatest part of the journey, mother Anne, wishing to show them her power, made the face of the sea to swell, and, winds and storms rising on every side, a horrid tempest disturbed heaven and the waves. All therefore, struck with much dread, began each to cry out to the aids of vain gods. Whom all the holy general, sharply rebuking that they awaited help from the dead, exhorted that they should invoke the aids of Anne the great mother. But he himself, suffused with tears, entreated Anne with these words: What means this thy silence, O most pious Mother? Art thou of less power in the waves than thou wast lately in the fires? Canst thou not, who didst free thy temple from the burning of the flames, preserve this fleet and me thy servant from the whirlpools? Quickly therefore now, O most pious one, succor our perils, thou who most powerfully didst come to the aid of thy buildings.

[40] Scarcely had the pious general completed the words, and lo, quicker than said, all that tempest of menaces vanished, he is snatched from the peril of shipwreck. and so placid and bright a serenity of the air followed, that to none was there any doubt that Anne, invoked, had afforded them her aids. Thence also many, converted to piety and faith, praised Christ in Anne the parent. When at length the general, after the long seas, had come home unharmed, he found his wife most bitterly laboring in childbirth, who, now for nearly fifteen days in travail, began to become near to death; whom he, consoling, thus addressed: Fear not, dearest wife, but this most pious Goddess, whom I lately had propitious to me while the perils of the sea held me, invoke with full faith, nothing hesitating, and thou shalt obtain, believe me, a most swift remedy for thy pain. She, believing the promises of her husband, when she had cried out to most clement Anne in her childbirth, immediately brought forth a sweet little girl, whom, renewed at the font of baptism, they called Anne, that by this name she might bear before her the auspice of her Savior. Then the mother of the infant, thereafter the whole household, and then afterward innumerable people of that dukedom received the grace of baptism, believing in the Lord, and, the idols being cast out, consecrated all the temples of the gods to Christ and Anne the parent. From these things, reader, diligently observe how ready a helper Anne will be to those who worship her piously and humbly, if even to most bloody pagans, and those persecuting her, she showed herself so propitious and kind.

[41] Lauretia ^d is a most notable city of Lorraine: in it once were two joined in marriage, The Saint frees a woman from sterility, noble indeed and rich according to the world, but in spiritual goods much richer: for they were both just before God, walking in all the commandments of the Lord without blame; fruitful indeed in good works, but in the propagation of offspring hitherto barren: for they prayed God daily that He would bestow on them some offspring for His cult; but the pious Lord dissembled to hear, that the clemency of mother Anne might be displayed. One day, therefore, when this unfruitful woman was speaking to a certain poor neighbor of hers, she began to be astonished at her fruitfulness and to say: I wonder, said she, O most beloved, why the Lord God has willed thus to render thee, a poor woman, fruitful, so that every year thou dost put forth for thy husband new births of offspring; but me, though I am most wealthy, and have often asked God, He has never made to rejoice with any offspring. To whom she: I, said she, received this gift of fruitfulness from most holy mother Anne, whom I worship daily; but thou, if thou honor her with prayers and fastings, it is no doubt but that she will shortly confer a saving fruit. Having heard these things, the woman began to pray to Anne, to fast, and to bestow many alms on that poor woman and on the rest: whose devotion the pious mother Anne regarding, her sterility being driven away, rendered her fruitful. Who, seeing by the gift of God that she had conceived, related to her husband the cause of her fruitfulness, and inflamed him to the services of Anne the parent. Immediately he, the heat of faith being conceived, established altars, images, tapers, gifts, and incense for Anne, and pursued her with many prayers and praises. But the foolish woman, when she felt the offspring live in her womb, thinking Anne no longer necessary to her, ungratefully abandoned the accustomed prayers and alms, the wretched one not knowing that a man cannot retain benefits received, unless he keep them who granted them: which she too, having experienced, lamented: for when the time of her childbirth came, she who had thought she should bring forth only living offspring, making a miscarriage to her disgrace, brought forth a stiff and lifeless fetus. Worthy indeed, that she who had permitted Anne to die in her heart should also procreate a dead offspring.

[42] and raises her offspring from death. Moreover the husband, when he had heard what had happened, dismayed with grief of mind, began with bitter mind to reprove the judgments of God, and to rebuke Anne with insolent words ^e: Thou knowest, said he, O mother, that I with all my strength served thee devoutly, and lo, for living works of justice thou hast rendered me a dead offspring: this is not a just compensation for good virtues. When the sick wife had noticed these words of murmuring, Unjustly, said she, most sweet husband, hast thou accused most gentle Anne, since I am guilty of this crime. If I had continually honored Anne, as I had begun, I should not now have brought forth this dead offspring: I, by my carelessness and ingratitude, am the murderer of this abortion, and I received this from the hands of Anne which I deserved. But now, because she is beyond measure most kind, let us all in common invoke mother Anne; perhaps she will render propitious what she took away angry. At these words all the women who had been gathered there, falling on their knees, and suffused with tears, prayed most powerful Anne to raise the dead offspring, and to render the most sorrowful parents joyful. By these weepings Anne, moved to clemency, poured again the spirit into the vitals of the little girl, and lo, all who were present wondering, the little infant began to wail and with frequent weepings to ask the breasts, whom, dipped in the sacred font, they called Anne, that is, grace, that by descent she might obtain the name of her whom most gentle Anne had prevented with such great gifts of graces. But she lived after baptism many years, inclining many to the favor of Anne, when they saw her live in the light who had come forth dead into the light from her mother's womb.

[43] I lately read in a certain German writer, a man in my judgment grave, A young widow escapes ravishers by the help of St. Anne, worthy of credit, and religious, the present miracle, which I subjoin. I read, then, that once there was a young widow of about twenty-four years; she in very few years had already lost three husbands by death, and because she loved most pious mother Anne, she thought, being now thrice widowed, to imitate Anne the widow, and after her third husband to be unwilling in any way to admit a fourth. Strengthened, therefore, by this purpose, she passed a very celibate and religious life in the service of Anne: which the enemy of all good arts, seeing and envying, inflamed a certain young man into love of her. He with much earnestness began to solicit the ears of the widow, by himself, by acquaintances, by friends; but she, persevering immovable like the adamant, gave the young man no consent. When therefore he saw that he effected nothing by prayers, he turned himself to the devices of wickedness; for taking one day four young men stronger than himself with him, on the road where this woman, coming to church early in the morning, was to pass, he set an ambush. She therefore, ignorant of the peril, when she had come to the prepared ambush, they suddenly rise from their lurking-places, and, laying hands on her, seize the innocent woman; but she, seeing herself hedged in by deadly and wicked men, began with loud voices to cry out for the help of most gentle mother Anne: Most ready reliever of all the afflicted, said she, help me now, O most powerful Anne, and hasten to snatch me, wretched one, from the hands of these robbers. Scarcely had she completed the words, and lo, suddenly Anne, more ruddy than the sun, drawing after her a great army, appeared menacing to those ravishers, and, dissolved by a most grievous dread, turned them to flight: for they thought that, unless they fled, the earth gaping open would the sooner swallow them. And when they rushed headlong through the streets of the town, like madmen, the satellites of the prefect, meeting them, seize them, who, laying hands on them, thrust them, bound with ropes, into prisons. And thus God ordained that those who had come to ravish an innocent woman should themselves, guilty, be haled to bonds. Meanwhile this widow wondered greatly what cause there had been, that those men had thus begun to flee, as though pursued by swords, since she had seen no one present there.

[44] The following night, when she had given herself to sleep, Anne, appearing to her and rousing her, thus spoke: Dost thou know me, who, having been seized by the judge O daughter? No, said she, O most precious Mother, yet thou shinest to me very admirable and glorious, and now, who hast deigned to visit me, wretched one, deign, I pray, also to reveal thy name: I am, said she, Anne, thy patroness and lover, who yesterday morning snatched thee from the hands of the ravishers, and cast them into bonds; for these, worthy of capital punishment, now lament under the peril of death. When day is made, therefore, it will come to pass that the prefect will send hither to thee his assessors, asking what complaint thou wilt lodge against those ravishers: do thou therefore, my daughter, render not evil for evil, but give effort to free them from the hand of the judge. Wherefore, if he shall despise to hear thee, thou shalt command him from me that he presume not to touch my servants, whom I acknowledge as faithful friends to me for the future, and perpetual praisers. Let human judgment beware, therefore, of wishing to condemn to punishment those whom the divine censure purposes to snatch away; and these things said, Anne disappeared.

[45] and convicted of the crime Meanwhile those who were held in prison are set before the tribunals of the governor. To whom the governor: What thefts, what robberies have ye committed, that ye rushed thus hastily through the streets? It is altogether necessary that ye are guilty of a most grievous crime, whom such a running has betrayed as accomplices, whom even now a timid conscience and a bloodless face render mad and tongue-tied. Provide therefore now for your safety, either of your own accord here betray the evil which ye have done, or certainly I will extort it from you by prepared tortures. Then he who, for the rape of the widow

had summoned the rest, thus answered: I alone, O most gentle governor, am guilty of this crime; these four did nothing by their own authority: for since I loved to distraction such a young widow, on account of her beauty and riches, and she would not grant assent to my desires, I resolved to seize her by force, and, having led her far away, to join her, even resisting, to me in marriage. And when I had laid violent hands upon her with these companions, suddenly, as she cried out to Anne, the parent of the Virgin Mary, a certain terrible heavenly revelation appeared to us, by whose power we were deprived of both the strength of mind and the forces of body: for we saw with these eyes a certain admirable and most serene Lady far surpassing the rays of the sun, whom a most bright army of heaven followed, surrounded with much light and glory. This Lady therefore, when she had cast her stern and burning eyes upon us, immediately melted away all our audacity, and, driving us into base flight, mad and wretched, destined us to these perils of death. Do thou therefore, O most gentle governor, cease to threaten us with the peril of death, whom thou seest to be prostrated by a divine chastisement.

[46] they are freed through the intercession of that widow. Then the judge, moved with compassion, although they had deserved a capital sentence, sends two of his assessors to the widow woman, inquiring of her what complaint she wished to lodge against her ravishers. To whom she answered: It is not just, O men, to charge with human malice him whom divine aids accompany; I cannot therefore complain of being wronged by these, who, although they had the will to harm, yet, restrained by the power of a higher Deity, found no faculty. I will not, therefore, that men die on my account, whom I have held not as injurers, but as promoters of a better grace. Wherefore, if the bishop's censure will not hearken to these things, ye shall say that Anne, the parent of the Mother of God, commands this to him through me, that he in no way threaten those men with the judgment of death, nor in any way presume to condemn those whom the divine compassion has resolved to free; for to these men Anne desires to be propitious, whom she knows to be her future worshipers and most faithful servants. When these things had been reported to the judge, all hearing, he, as he was sensible, giving honor to the most worthy Mother, absolved the men from the tribunals, and ordered them to depart unharmed; but they, when they had considered so great an indulgence of most clement mother Anne, their affairs being disposed, betook themselves to monasteries, and, spending their life in sharp penance, at length, their course being completed, deserved with Anne to possess the heavenly kingdoms, whose kind grace here they were held worthy to experience.

[47] A woman devoted to St. Anne. Not far from Jerusalem happened what I narrate. Know, reader, that in a neighboring city there dwelt a virgin beautiful in body, but more beautiful in mind, hedged about with great riches, whom her parents had wished to be called Anne. This virgin, her parents being dead, became most devout in the services of most glorious Anne, to whom she assiduously commended both herself and her household and her riches. Thereupon at her own expense she ordered a church to be built in her honor, of wondrous stone-work, which, whole and excellently adorned, and illustrated with images of the divine mother Anne, she established that three Masses should be there celebrated every week with solemn office, in honor of Christ Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the renowned mother Anne: on every Tuesday, too, she was wont to give great alms, by which she made herself commendable to most holy Anne.

[48] A certain one of the chief men of the city, Amboges by name, began to love this virgin, concerning the slaying of her husband and to pine for her with great ardors: with words, letters, messengers he wooed her; but, since the city had enemies, he himself was sent out with a military band joined to him, that he might overcome the forces of the enemy. Meanwhile, while he is absent for a long time, the virgin Anne married another most rich youth, of whom in turn she conceived and bore three daughters. Moreover Amboges, when, the enemies being overcome, he returned home, learning that Anne, whom he most ardently loved, had been snatched from him, grieved vehemently, and, since he could not extinguish the fire which burned ill, began to think of the slaying of the youth. One day, therefore, when he had seen Anne, dinner being made with her household, hasten to the church to hear a sermon, he, snatching a dagger, secretly entered the house of Anne by approaches known to him, and, piercing the throat of the youth, who was then by chance sleeping in his chamber, slew him by a cruel death, and, being slain, hid him under the bed, and departed.

[49] Anne, returning, anxiously awaits her husband until late night, falsely accused and passing a sleepless night, when the dawn began to grow bright, she orders her husband to be quickly sought, who, being nowhere found, filled the woman's mind with immense straits; but more vehement disasters follow her. After some days the corpse, which lay under the bed, began to stink, so that the whole house was infected with a most foul odor: moreover Anne, whose brain was now stupefied with grief, alone did not perceive this stench, which all execrated, and did not shrink from the chamber in which the corpse lay hidden; she once having gone out to church, the whole household burst into the chamber, and, the stool which stood before the bed being removed, they find the corpse which was stinking, and, recognizing the husband of Anne, they waste away with exceeding astonishment. These things become known to the neighbors, and a little after report flies through the whole city: a murmur arises among the people, as though Anne had cut the throat of her own husband: the parents and friends of the slain youth, believing the flying report, lodge a complaint with the judge, praying that he would order the nefarious woman to be punished and slain. I pray thee, reader, do not shudder at these things which thou art about to hear, because after clouds the sun grows brighter.

[50] Anne is seized, examined, coerced: but she, as she was innocent, denies that she committed so great a crime; she is seized, she is not believed, though speaking the truth, and the ill-advised judge orders the woman, weeping very much, to be examined with grievous tortures; she is hung on the rack, and all her limbs are torn: she cries out for the suffrages of most pious mother Anne: but she, with a greater piety, dissembles to hear her, that afterward she may shine forth with a more glorious end. Thereupon the woman's shins are flayed, and drenched with boiling oil. And when she was afflicted with these and other intolerable pains, preferring to die rather than to be thus affected, overcome by pains, she began to confess that she had cut the throat of her own husband. This confession being received from her, the proconsul orders the cause, inscribed in letters, to be affixed with a nail to the forehead of the wretched woman, that all might recognize her robbery, and then orders her to be carried about through the whole city with much ignominy. Where now sleepest thou, most gentle Anne? Why dost thou not free thy devoted and innocent servant; help her not; console her not? Being carried about, they shut her up in prison, a most excellent, but now a desperate woman.

[51] and now about to be afflicted with capital punishment The following day, the proconsul sitting for judgment with the senators of the city, the pitiable woman was ordered to be led in, entangled with bonds and chains, to receive the sentence of death which she did not deserve. As she stood at the tribunals, there suddenly enter the court two women of wondrous appearance, whose incomparable beauty moved the minds of all into astonishment: one of whom, whom a more mature age honored, thus spoke with a terrible voice: It is said to you, O senators; we will not that the sentence of death be inflicted against this woman before ye have answered our questions. At this voice the judge was terrified, and all the judge's assessors; thereupon, trembling, they nod to her petition. Immediately, a youth of wondrous grace and beauty having entered, turned upon himself the eyes and minds of all. Then those beautiful matrons who had come say to the senate: We ask this youth as our advocate. The youth being admitted, began to plead with these words: Answer me, O judges, if any of the most powerful kings had promised to his mother and to his grandmother to come to the aid of all of his household and handmaids in all their perils, disasters, and mischances, and to impart help, and it should meanwhile happen that some servant or handmaid of their household should be tortured with a cruel and unjust punishment, and urged to a most base death, if then the king were admonished by his mother and by his grandmother of the promise made, it is then asked of you whether that king is bound to fulfill what he promised, or not? This question being raised, all were struck dumb. Afterward, being often required by the youth, they answered that they did not wish to seem judges in this question. To whom the youth: I adjure you by the oath which ye yourselves gave, that ye quickly tell me what torments, what punishments they deserved who unjustly afflicted with most bitter pains a servant of the king's mother and grandmother, and moreover strove to slay her with a cruel death.

[52] she is freed, At these words all, shaken, rise from their seats, and take counsel what they shall answer the youth. Then the proconsul said to him: We, said he, have in common decreed that a king ought to stand by his promises, and to fulfill what he promised to his mother and grandmother. Moreover those who unjustly punished their servant, if it was done knowingly, ought to perish by an evil death; but if it was done in ignorance, they ought to experience the mercy of the king. Then he said: Unless ye had said that injustice done in ignorance ought gently to experience the king's clemency, the gaping earth would even now have absorbed you all into sudden death, and, covered with earth, I would have ordered you to descend into the depths. But truly this innocent woman, whom ye most unjustly afflicted, is the devoted and familiar handmaid of my grandmother, most holy Anne, upon whom ye wished to fasten the death of her husband as a title of condemnation. When he had said this, raising with his hand the mantle of the elder Matron, he orders the youth quickly to come forth alive, who had been dead. Here is, said he, the husband of this woman, whom I both exhibit to you alive, and restore to the bereaved woman. All were amazed, and wondered beyond what can be believed. At length, fearful, they began to inquire who they might be, and whence they had come, who knew how to work such great prodigies; We, said the youth, we are Jesus, Mary, and Anne. When he had said this, a fragrance of wondrous sweetness being left there, by which the torn limbs of the woman Anne were restored to health, that sweet company flew back to the stars.

[53] Moreover Amboges, the contriver of these crimes, who was also present, the true author of the slaying being detected. as being one of the senators of the city, when he saw all these things, began to tremble, to grow pale, to be in straits; and lo, there is present a devil, foul, terrible, who, entering the court, suddenly seized Amboges by the hair, and, dragging him from the assembly of those sitting, said to him: Confess now, O Amboges, confess thy wickedness and thy crimes. Then the wretch, hedged in with straits, and wailing, confesses that he had secretly slain the husband of Anne, and that he had been the cause of all the evils. When he had said this, the demon lifted him into the air, and, when he had broken his head from his body, carried the head with him to the depths; but the rest of the body he cast down to the earth, which the citizens, taking away, buried in a dunghill. But all who could either behold these prodigies with their eyes, or hear them from those who narrated them, struck with immense trembling, gave praises

with reverence, the greatest, to Anne, the most sweet mother, who with such mighty power deigned to come to the aid of those serving her, and, the enemy being destroyed, to free them from every peril and inconvenience. Thence there arises toward most holy Anne an immense favor and love, and all subject themselves to her power. But indeed Anne and her resuscitated husband, kindled in a greater degree to the services of their Deliverer, honored her all their days, always with the greatest observances ^f.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

Wondrous favors shown to two spouses by St. Anne, and a hermit recalled to life by her patronage.

St. John hinders a despairing man from drowning himself, In the year of our salvation 1247 there are read to have been in the city of Cilli ^a two persons joined in one marriage, whom so great a poverty and want of things always accompanied, though they were intent on gaining a livelihood, that despair almost plunged both, but the husband more, into the abyss. Pressed therefore for many years by this calamity, when they were burdened also with alien debt and great obligations, one day the husband, rapt by despair more than usual, suddenly, his wife not knowing, sprang out of the house, and secretly, at evening time, going out of the gates of the city, went to a river which ran there, to plunge himself in: and as he was crossing on the bank of the passing stream, and thought to plunge himself, he saw coming toward him upon the waters a great man, conspicuous with great light, covered with a white mantle. This was St. John the Evangelist, to whom this man had always been devoted by serving him. When therefore he saw him, he was amazed, and refrained from plunging himself; to whom the Saint said: Come to thyself, O wretched one, come to thyself, and let thee repent, though late, of thy crime. I come to thee now an opportune helper, mindful of thy love and observance toward me: for unless I had been present to thee as patron before the Lord, thou, now rendered to Satan, by whose persuasion thou wast hastening to drown thyself, wouldst pay the penalties of the punishment of Gehenna.

[55] and persuades him to the cult of St. Anne, Compunct by these words, the man inquires both his name and his person: I am, said he, in whom thou hast always had both faith and love, the apostle and evangelist John: but now, son, do penance for this thy despair, and be not for the rest so solicitous for temporal goods. Behold, there reigns in the heights one most powerful of ladies, by the industry of whose compassion and piety the whole world, after God, rejoices and flourishes anew. She, after the virgin Mother of God, is the fosterer, comforter, helper of all the wretched and sorrowful: she knows how to make the needy rich, and raises all the mourning with safety: if thou wilt honor, if thou wilt love this best patroness, she herself will make thee rich here, and afterward richer in the heavenly kingdoms. That man, then, prostrate on the ground, asked pardon of his error from the Apostle, and asks that the name of this so powerful and merciful lady be told him; to whom St. John the Evangelist: Anne, said he, is she called, mother of the immaculate virgin Mary, and most sweet grandmother of Jesus Christ; be instant in the veneration and services of this lady, especially every Tuesday; for on this day she herself came forth into this light by being born, and passed into eternal light by dying; and thou shalt obtain the happy effect of all thy vows. These things said, he vanished.

[56] who, obeying the counsel, besides other benefits Returned home, he announced to his wife what had been done, and with great fervor they mutually exhort one another to the services of most glorious mother Anne: every day, especially on Tuesdays, to the praise of most holy Mother Anne they light a light, hear Masses, offer prayers, bestow alms. The most clement Mother, seeing the minds of these to be most devoted to her, disposes to honor those honoring her. Therefore, earthly things flowing to them by the benefit of the divine mother Anne, they precede others in riches. But these men, grateful for such great benefits, strive to build a church of wondrous price and beauty to the glory of most holy Anne, in which, after abundant revenues assigned, they establish sacred sacrifices. These two, when they had now passed nearly thirty years of marriage together without offspring, resolve to ask most blessed Anne with her most holy Daughter that they may be consoled with the benefit of some offspring. The most sweet mother Anne assents to the vows of those praying, and at one birth the woman brought forth three into the light, not without the exultation of both parents.

[57] In the third year after their birth the woman, the Lord so disposing for the glory of His grandmother most holy Anne, to a wife dead and buried began to be urged toward death with an ampler pain. The husband, deeming this a most bitter chance, most intently prayed most blessed Anne for the life of his most dear wife. She, that afterward she might appear more clement, feigns herself to be angry at the vows of those praying, and lets the sick woman be absorbed by death; but the man, seeing that she had expired, gave most bitter groans to heaven: as one who had now lost both his own and his children's solace. After the burial, which the woman received in the basilica of most noble mother Anne, built by themselves, when the man returned home, he began to be wearied with so grave a weight of grief that he scarcely contained himself for pain. To the heap of this calamity there run up the little ones weeping, and ask their father what had been done with their mother, or whither she had gone. He, perceiving these sweet little ones deprived of so pious a mother, grieved so vehemently that his very heart was almost broken, and, rising in a rush, and snatching his sons in his arms; Let us go, said he; I will show you your Mother. After sunset, therefore, entering the church, of which he himself was the keeper, placing his offspring in the bosom of most clement mother Anne, whom he had caused to be set, sculptured on the altar with an illustrious image, thus he assails her with tears: When I anxiously asked thee, O Anne, most gentle mother, that thou wouldst keep my beloved wife to life, and not snatch away the solace of these infants whom thou gavest us, thou wouldst not hear me; but now it is necessary that both I first, and these too, quickly end our life, because thou hast snatched from us our common joy and all solace. Hence, my soul departing through the straits of grief, do thou, I pray, deign to be nurse and parent to these little infants, in place of the mother whom thou hast snatched away with so severe a death.

[58] Then, suffused with much shower of tears, the three sons, by the patronage of St. Anne placed in the lap of most noble mother Anne, he addresses, saying: Behold, O my sons, behold your mother: she will nourish, protect, help you, and she will be much more useful to you than that mother was whom ye have lost. But the little ones, embracing the image, began to laugh, and, as though they had found their parent, were most excellently consoled. But the father, having saluted his Patroness, leaving his sons in joy, mourning and weeping, alone returned to his house: and entering his chamber, when he was revolving with himself the bitterness of his disaster, seized by sleep, he saw in spirit the image of most holy mother Anne, which stood in the temple, descend from the altar, and, leading the little ones with her, approach the tomb of the woman. Quicker than said, opening it, the woman's name being cried out, she orders her suddenly to rise again from death. She immediately came forth from the sepulcher, and, snatching for herself the linen with which she was wrapped, stands naked, hearkening what most clement mother Anne bids further to be done: to whom the glorious mother Anne: Take these, said she, and nourish thy three sons, and go to visit and console thy husband, whom I raised thee, dead, by his prayers. Go, daughter, bring back thyself to thy husband, and thy sons, and, as ye have begun hitherto, so also for all time persevere as worshipers of my name.

[59] she obtains life. She obeyed, and, suppliantly adoring, her offspring being brought back, comes and knocks at the door of her house. At the sound of her knocking the husband returned to himself from sleep, and, terrified by the things which he had seen, thinking it to be a phantom, would not unbar the door. Then she, again and again beating the door, with prayer and tears asks that it be opened to her; Do not fear, said she, my husband, behold I am present, thy revived wife, whom thou hast always singularly loved. He, stiffening with fear, judging it to be a device of the devil ^b, judges it unworthy to move from the place; but the little ones, standing by their mother, with tears pray, beseech, that he let them in with their mother into the house. He, recognizing the voice of his sons, suddenly opened the window, and, his wife being seen, seized with admiration and joy, sprang out of the house, and, embracing her, said: Do I hold thee, my wife? Or do vain dreams delude me? Who, I pray, brought thee back hither alive, who sound? To whom she: Have thanks, my husband, to most sacred mother Anne, who, pitying thy tears, restored me to thee, as thou seest, unharmed, to live with thee much time hereafter. Bring us in, and hand a garment, set the table, and let me, hungering, feast. He therefore prepares a banquet, calls the neighbors and acquaintances, the whole city is filled with joyful rumor; all run up, and, seeing the woman restored to life whom the day before they had entombed, are filled with immense admiration and exultation; the praises of most noble mother Anne are extolled, and through the hearts of all the love of the most pious Mother grows warm. But truly it is ill with that heart which at these things grows not warm to the love of so great a Mother, either because it believes not these things, or doubts: he loves not the Virgin Mary with sincere love who distrusts these things, or does not rightly honor her Mother or the holy Apostle John. Hence it came to pass that, while one woman is raised in body, innumerable men revive in heart to the praise of God, and of His blessed Grandmother, and of St. John the Evangelist ^c.

[60] A hermit devoted to St. Anne I have learned, by a truthful narration, of a singular hermit in the kingdom of the Franks, who, leading for many years an anchoretic life, burned with a single and peculiar affection in love of most blessed mother Anne. Her he often invoked with vows, with prayers, with tears. But, as gold is wont to be proved in fire, so most holy Anne suffered this man of God to be branded in the furnace of tribulation, that she might heap greater merits upon him. For one day, when after sunset he was returning from the neighboring city, where he had asked alms, before he reached the place of his cell, a bloody robber quickly met him, believing that he was carrying no

hermit, but a merchant, and had therefore wished to conceal himself in such humble clothing, that he might the more securely carry off his money thus. The robber therefore, seizing the man of God by the throat, orders him to bring forth his money; Long enough, said he, hast thou by this sacred garment feigned thyself a servant of God, since I hold it certain that thou art a trader; quickly therefore bring out thy money. I, said the holy man, was never a merchant, I never possessed money; I am poor, and a servant of almighty God: I am ready, if thou wilt, to share with thee in common this alms which I have today obtained from door to door. But the robber, incredulous of the words, began to use greater violence; Do not, said the hermit, son, do not offer me violence: for thou shalt find no money with me; but since I am a worshiper and lover of the divine mother Anne, it shall not go unpunished for thee, if thou either grieve me or offer me force; suffer me, I pray, to go away unharmed, I will entreat most holy Anne for thee, and will bring it about that she be propitious to thy iniquities.

[61] But the minister of Satan, since he thirsted for nothing but gold; And if thou, said he, art so fit an intercessor, and slain by the robber ask now thy Anne for thyself, that she may snatch thee from my hands, if she can: for a most certain death now hangs over thee, unless thou more quickly set forth the gold which I thirst for. And saying these things, he puts his hand to the hilt, and began to draw his sword. But he, seeing that he must die, his knees being placed on the ground, stretches out suppliant palms to the stars, and, an outcry being raised, cried out with loud voices for the help of most blessed Anne. Then the robber, not enduring the cries (for he feared to be discovered), plunged his sword into his throat, and, his head being cut off, having slain him, and searched him everywhere under his garment, when he had found no money, cast the corpse of the holy man into a river which ran not far from the place, and departed. He therefore, hastening to the inner parts of the wilderness, turning back, saw coming after him a woman of wonderful glory, whose eyes were conspicuous with the highest light, whose face surpassed the rays of the sun. She bore on her head a rainbow of wondrous beauty and light, on which these three words shone, inscribed in most bright letters: Jesus, Mary, Anne.

[62] He saw also this Lady bearing in her hands the head of the slain man, and drawing more quickly near to him. he is recalled to life, Immediately the robber, seized with immense fear, fixing his step, could not move himself from the place, and lo, he beholds the corpse of the holy man, drawn from the river, lying at the feet of the Matron, who presently, as she joined the head to the body, they returned into one frame. The Matron then addresses the dead man, saying: Rise, thou who sleepest, my servant, and rise from the dead, and give glory to God, who by my intervention made thee a martyr in thy pains, and restored thee to life, and afterward, greater merits being heaped up, will bring thee into everlasting delights. Presently he, glad and brisk, rose, no otherwise than as if he were shaking off a sweet sleep. Moreover the divine parent, immediately ascending into the heights, left her servant joyful with wondrous congratulation, and the robber vehemently fearing.

[63] Then he, returned to himself, formed his mind to tears, and deplored with many groans the guilt of the shed blood, and the robber is converted. and, running, fell suppliant at the knees of the hermit, praying and beseeching, by that Lady who had recalled him from the dead, that he would deign to forgive the malice committed against him, and to admit him into his fellowship. Him, entreating with tears, the man of God received into his embraces, and, a prayer being poured out for him to most holy mother Anne, led the man, now entirely changed, with him to his dwelling. Thereupon, after the robber had most fully learned the way of the Lord, he shut himself up alone in another cell, where for twenty-five years, in great works of penance, he made himself commendable to God and the divine Anne, and afterward, with an honorable end, fell asleep in the Lord ^d.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

A widow often loosed from bonds by the intercession of St. Anne, another wonderfully snatched from the extreme punishment, and others freed from the hands of robbers and from a grave disease.

A widow unjustly shut in prison, A widow in a certain city, devoted to most holy Anne, the governor of the city (because she was beautiful in body) lusting after, labored to subject to his lust: he strove with letters, prayers, largesses; but the chaste woman, with a view to the most serene parent Anne, suffered not herself either to be overcome by prayers, or to be softened by gifts; he, seeing himself despised, applied threats; but as she despised him when flattering, so also when raging. Thereupon, fastening a false crime upon the woman, he ordered her, bound with fetters, to be shut up in a foul prison. She, destitute of all human solace, began to seek the protections of most sweet Anne. At midnight, most blessed Anne, descending into the depth of the prison with immense light, broke the bonds, and, leading forth her devoted servant, brought her into her basilica. Moreover, said she, be constant, daughter: this governor strives to fight with thee, which indeed shall be to thee for glory, but to him for perpetual ruin. This said, she betook herself to the stars.

[65] by the intercession of St. Anne That very night all the animals which belonged to the governor, sheep and oxen, all his horses and mules, were struck with a sudden death: who, rising in the morning, when he saw the death of his animals, was vehemently afraid, wondering at so sudden a destruction of the beasts. Thereupon, entering the church, when he there beheld the woman whom the day before he had ordered to be imprisoned, seized with mad fury; A witch, said he, a sorceress is that woman, who, by the help of the devil, both snatched herself from her bonds, and cruelly slew my animals; and, rapt with madness, he orders her, being apprehended, to be torn and lacerated with scourges over her whole body, and to be tortured throughout all her limbs with sharp chastisement: thereupon, when he had broken her arms and legs, he orders her, entangled with chains, to be cast into a very high tower and abandoned. I believe, said he, thou shalt no longer be able to exercise the proof [*] of thy magic upon me and mine. I, said she, am not a sorceress, but, supported by the protection of most holy Anne, I escaped from prison, by whom I trust that I shall be freed from thy hands, and healed of these torments with which I am now afflicted. When she had said this, she is cast into the dungheap of the lowest prison, weighed down with an immense weight of chains. Then the tyrant, turned to his soldiers; This sorceress, said he, trusts in the power of Anne, but I have so broken her, so entangled her with fetters and iron, that not only she herself, but not even the power of Christ, can snatch her away ^a. Tomorrow, at early morning, I will cause her to be burned in this foul tower; then it will appear what vain hope, with which she is puffed up, has profited her.

[66] Again there is present most kind Anne, the pitier, and, embracing her servant with sweet arms, often from bonds she shook off the bonds, healed the wounds, restored the fractures, and carried back into her temple the widow exulting in the Lord. That very night too the governor's wife and his two sons are absorbed into a most sad death: which as soon as he learned, turned into a fury, he said to his men: These plagues that cursed and most wicked woman inflicts on me, whom, afflicted with pains, I bound with fetters. Go quickly, bring wood and straw, and in the very tower in which she sits, as she deserves, burn her alive. If she live longer, she will cause both me myself and this whole city utterly to perish. Moreover the ministers take up the commands, and, coming, behold the doors of the prison unbarred, and, seeing her snatched away, wonder: entering with a light, they behold the chains torn into fragments, and, taking into their nostrils the fragrance of wondrous odor, which the mother Anne of sweetness had left there from her presence, they were compunct in heart, and, striking their breasts, beg pardon for their tyranny. Truly, said they, thou art that most powerful Deliverer, who couldst both snatch away thy handmaid and smite our Lord with so cruel a chastisement. Turned therefore to most clement Anne, with their whole hearts they pledge themselves henceforth to serve her, and no more to return to their lord.

[67] The tyrant, therefore, thinking that the woman had now perished by burning, taking with him his remaining retinue, and is snatched from punishments, goes toward the church to pray ^b: but on the way he hears from those who narrate it that the widow, punished and bound by him, has been freed and healed of her wounds, and sits unharmed in the temple. When he heard these things, now wholly turned into a devil, with great din and fury he hastens to the temple: whom the holy woman, when she saw him enter foaming at the mouth and breathing threats, terrified, quickly ascended the sacred altar to which she clung, and, seizing the fringes of the image of the divine mother Anne, prays, anxious and tearful, crying out for aid with a loud voice: Succor, said she, succor, Jesus, Mary, Anne, and snatch me, I pray, from this impious and cruel man. O thing to be admired by every age, and to be wondered at with all the senses! He runs up, drunk with fury, and while he strives with savage hand to drag the woman back from the altar to himself, most glorious Anne, spreading out her mantle, afforded a safe hiding-place to the anxious woman. All who stood by at this spectacle wondered; this impious man alone hardens his heart to ampler confusion. Now wholly given over to Satan, he did not fear to put his sacrilegious hands upon the effigy of most blessed mother Anne, striving with the utmost effort to cast her down from the altar. Behold, whither the execrable presumption of a blind mind proceeds! But presently, when he applied his hand to the garment, the image of Mary the perpetual Virgin, which most noble mother Anne held in her lap, touched the hand of the madman with a heavy blow, which presently, torn from his arm, fell to the ground.

[68] and its iniquitous judge is punished with death. Moreover Jesus Christ, whom the Virgin held in her arms, all the people hearing, thus spoke with a terrible voice: Hear, proud and impious and wretched tyrant, hearken. Why ragest thou? Why art thou mad against us? Why dost thou strive so often to put to death my and my Grandmother's servant, vexed by thee? But that thou mayest know that I am the avenger of those who serve most holy Anne and my Mother, today, with all thy palace, I will consume thee with a terrible fire, and this innocent widow, whom thou wishedst to blot from the earth, I will constitute heir and mistress of all thy goods and of thy dominion. Scarcely had Jesus Christ finished the words, and lo, the whole palace burns with sulphurous fire fallen from heaven. Presently

a demon, entering the temple, seizing the wicked man by the throat, crying out miserably and howling foully, cast him into the burning flames, and plunged his wrenched-out soul into the fires, to burn perpetually. But all who were present at these prodigies, fearful with the highest admiration, grow warm to the praises and services of most blessed Anne, and, with devout hearts, are instant in sacred sacrifices to her. But that widow, according to the promise of the Lord Jesus, they raise up as their mistress over themselves, and ask her to rule them; to whom they attribute all the goods and possessions which had been the governor's. Hence, made rich and renowned, she was the ruler of her people in peace and prudence for more than thirty-five years, and, persevering in chaste widowhood, consummated with a happy death, she exchanged temporal glory for an eternal kingdom, the Lord Jesus granting it to the honor of His most beloved Grandmother, to whom is honor, power, and empire forever. Amen ^c.

[69] A pilgrim man To the praise of almighty God and of the most blessed ever-Virgin Mary, I am about to write a certain miracle, known to me more than sufficiently, as one which I received from the mouth of him to whom it happened. In the year of the Lord 1417 there was a certain man born in no mean place, of a notable and elegant body, and most skilled in law; likewise given and intent on many holy exercises. The man's name was John, and he had drawn his origin from Saxony, from the county of Hoya ^d; but he had for some time been chancellor of the king of Denmark and Norway; but because he was very prudent, he easily perceived that in that station he could either scarcely or not at all bear a mind devout toward God, on account of the many perils which are wont continually to occur to men of this kind. Wherefore, resigning that dignity and office, he gave himself wholly to acts of piety, namely fastings, observances, pilgrimages into far regions, and that not from any curiosity, but with great devotion and with the highest labor and often the greatest peril of life, on the sea and in the solitudes through which he made his way, so that he rarely stayed more than two or three days in any one place.

[70] on account of a homicide involuntarily committed But it happened in the year of the Lord aforesaid that he was going with certain others to visit the Holy Land; and while he was there, and the impious Saracens held power over affairs there, a certain profane man or gentile afflicted him with a grave injury without his desert: which he, bearing it too grievously, with his staff, of the kind that pilgrims use, struck and slew that wicked man; although it was not his will to kill the man: but when he beheld him dead, he himself feared, and his companions feared, ignorant what issue the matter would have. Therefore this John is seized, bound by the pagans, and haled to the tribunal of the judge, and presently adjudged to death. Meanwhile his companions earnestly pressed, with prayer and price, upon the friends of him who had been slain, and likewise upon the judge himself, offering also much money, that John might be dismissed, especially since he had killed the man against the intention of his mind. But there they profited nothing: the mind and will of all was one, that John should perish. When therefore they saw that they strove in vain, with the highest grief bidding John farewell, they departed, and that wretched man was led out to be beheaded outside another gate; but he, although he was seized with a grave anguish, yet bore in his mind great confidence and hope that he would be freed by the suffrages of those Saints whom daily, not a few, he was wont to venerate, but especially trusted very much in the mercy of most blessed mother Anne, whom also in his heart he most devoutly prayed with these words, saying: Most kind mother, have mercy, I beseech, on me in this my extreme necessity; but if I am unworthy to escape the present death, yet act with God, that I may not fall into eternal death and the pains of hell.

[71] While he thus prayed in his heart on the way by which he was led, [being about to be afflicted with the extreme punishment, he is wonderfully freed,] and now was reaching that place where he was to be slain, there seemed to him to arise a great earthquake and whirlwind, and by it he was lifted into the air, and again let down to earth in that place where his companions were, entirely free, and loosed from all bonds. But seeing his companions going on before him, he cried out with loud voices that they should stay their step; which when they heard, and yet saw no one; and at the same time thought that they heard the voice of their John, they were greatly terrified, because they thought him now beheaded, nor could they know whether the voice which they heard were that of him living or the spirit of him deceased. He, however, did not cease to cry out that they should stay until he came to them. They stayed, therefore: presently, then, when he had so far approached them that he could now be recognized by them, they inquired of him whether he were John their companion. He answered that he was so in every way, and admonished them not to be at all terrified. When they asked how he had been freed, he, lifting his hands to heaven, declared it openly to all, and prayed that they would together with him give thanks to most blessed Anne, by whose benefit he had escaped the most present peril of death. And without delay, all falling on their knees, there is made by all together so great a thanksgiving, for the beneficence, to God and to the most pious mother Anne, that she had so mercifully drawn the man out of such great miseries. From this therefore, and from innumerable other miracles, anyone can easily gather of how great efficacy most holy Anne is with God, so that all ought deservedly to honor her, and to implore her in their temptations and necessities, since she is most powerful with God, nor ever suffers a repulse, the whole most blessed Trinity honoring her as the most worthy grandmother of Christ.

[72] After the impious slaying of the lord Louis of Bourbon ^e, bishop of Liège, we know that Liège was oppressed with most grievous disasters. and another devoted to St. Anne At that time, in the land of Loon, a faithful and rich man, a devoted worshiper of most glorious Anne, thrice despoiled of all his goods, was thrice also cast into bonds, who, besides hunger, thirst, blows, mockeries, and quarrels, enduring reproaches, spent most bitter days in prison. He, therefore, when he was now pressed by the weight of a third captivity, continually calling upon most sweet Anne, asks to be snatched from the hands of the robbers. Presently most pious Anne, softening the most bloody hearts of the robbers, moves them to pity the captive; for immediately, a few coins being received, they shake the man from his bonds, and permit him to depart freely. He now released, when he had lost all his temporal goods, betook himself to a certain monastery of ladies, to whom in the time of his prosperity he had been a friend, where he was most gladly received.

[73] from the hands of robbers One night then, when sleep had oppressed all, suddenly the men of Arenberg burst into the monastery, and, breaking all the workshops with the houses, seize and carry off all that they could find, in spoils, in money, in cattle. And when they were intent on this work, and had bound with fetters the men, the seculars, who then by chance were present, this man, roused from sleep, when he had heard the tumult of those raging and running about, praying with devout heart to most clement Anne, and committing himself to her, secretly opened the door and fled; which did not escape a certain one of the enemies, and they pursue the man. But he, taking the shortcuts of the way, quickly ran to the river which flows by the aforesaid monastery. Standing therefore on the bank of the river, trembling, when he shuddered at the peril of drowning, he began to cry out for the protections of most powerful mother Anne, praying that she would not suffer him again to be led off by the hands of the barbarians.

[74] While he thus prayed, wonderful to say! a small boat appeared to his eyes, he is snatched away in a wondrous manner, although no one had ever seen a boat there: which the man, having entered, immediately it set the man down on the opposite shore, and snatched him from the hands of the robbers; but the pursuers, hastening with hurried course to the river to seize the man, find no boat. For most sacred Anne withdrew from the impious the skiff which she had afforded to her servant, and as before those times no one saw a boat there, so neither was it ever afterward seen. Observe this prodigy, dearest brothers, and know yourselves to be on the stormy sea of temptations, full of perils, and as ye have heard the aforesaid man despoiled of earthly goods, so our enemies, the flesh, blood, the world, and the demon, strive to deprive us of our good works and their fruits, which when they have taken away, they strive to plunge us into the gulf of eternal damnation; but, taught by this example, let us seek a boat, that is, the help of the thrice most happy mother Anne, who despises no one, deserts no one who invokes her with devout and believing heart; that so we may deserve to escape the perils of this world, and at length, herself as guide and rower, to be led to the port of eternal felicity without any pain after this wretched life. Amen.

[75] as Rudolph Agricola escaped a grave disease. Rudolph Agricola ^f, a most learned man, was affected with a wonderful love toward mother Anne, most worthy of all praise, which the verses testify which he published in her praise ^g. Him, as he himself relates, at a certain time so grave a disease and pain invaded, that, wholly destitute of the strength of body, he was prostrated on his bed; and the disease itself began so to grow strong, that with armed hand it now burst into his vitals: now with cold, now with most burning heat, a dire fever consumed him. This dissolved all his strength and veins: he burned indeed in body, but the fires of his mind burned him far more. He had almost lost his mind, his manners, and his words for fury; now death itself, if it had been given, he would gladly have embraced, his languor had overcome every remedy and the very skill of the physicians. What should he do; whither should he turn; whom should he pray for his health? He betook himself to most sweet Anne, who, as she was his only hope, so was also the cause of his health. And when with these words he called most clement Anne into his vows, saying: Succor, I beseech, such great disasters, most pious Mother, be present to my miseries, sweet solace, thou my sure health, in thee my life reclines, thou my guide, thou my port, thou my only rest. She immediately, coming, brought a firm remedy; so that to his sick limbs and languishing mind vigor and life returned. Having experienced this one piety in most pious Anne, he conceived so great a confidence in the help of most beautiful Anne, that he believed that in any disease and in the extreme peril of death the aids of the mellifluous mother Anne would presently be at hand.

ANNOTATIONS.

EPILOGUE.

Behold, brethren, let us believe that not only in the past ages did saving Anne work prodigies and signs, but in our times also she ceases not to declare her dew-bearing piety. Nor is it a wonder: for the whole heavenly army venerates, honors, as is fitting, and loves most holy Anne: for all the Saints acknowledge themselves redeemed by the most precious blood of Christ Jesus, and they are not ignorant that that blood, which redeemed them, and by which on earth, through the Apostolic Church, they were quickened, was taken from most noble Anne. For indeed the blood and flesh of Christ Jesus, which the good take for salvation, the impious for destruction, is the flesh and blood of most holy mother Anne ^a, from whom the Virgin Mary took flesh and blood without any sin. O most holy belly, in which the blessed Trinity built a Mother for the Only-begotten Son! O womb never to be named without reverence, in which such wonderful things, never from the beginning and before the ages heard, were done! For indeed all of us, after the disobedience of Adam, are born children of wrath; but not in this manner did Anne conceive the most blessed Virgin Mary, who was holy before she was born: since in the womb of her mother Anne, full of the Holy Spirit, she never felt any stain ^b. Therefore let us doubt nothing, but piously persuade ourselves that most blessed Anne, as on earth, after the Virgin Mother, she was nearest to Christ, so likewise now in the heavens she is most conjoined and nearest to Him, that same our Lord Jesus Christ honoring His Grandmother, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

AUTHENTIC MIRACLES, WHICH HAPPENED IN LESSER BRITAIN.

Excerpted from the French booklet which an anonymous priest of the Society of Jesus published in the year 1664, and now rendered by us into Latin.

Anne, the most blessed Mother of the Mother of God, in Palestine (S.)

From the French booklet.

CHAPTER I.

The lame and the mute healed.

A lame and mute girl first her step Let us begin from the most celebrated benefit which was conferred in the year 1646 on Sebastiana du Bot. She, sprung from the parish of the Holy Cross in the suburb of Josselin ^a, about the ninth year of her age labored under a certain disease, from which she lost the use of her feet and of her tongue. Her father Oliver du Bot, admonished by an interior inspiration, commended her to the patronage of St. Anne, and ordered her to be carried on horseback to the prodigious chapel of the same Saint, which is situated not far from Auray ^b, after the girl had persevered in this wretched state for the space of a year. Being brought thither, she immediately received so perfect a faculty of walking that, before many bystanders, she there left her under-arm crutches. But not yet then did God will to restore speech to her, deferring this second grace to another time, so that the wretched girl remained mute for more than eighteen years. Meanwhile, however, she often confessed her sins by gestures, and led a Christian and pious life. After the death of her parents, being made an orphan, she heard related the frequent miracles which were wrought through the intercession of St. Anne, and by that narration was so excited that she wished again to make a pilgrimage to the same chapel of the Saint, hoping that she would now obtain the other benefit which at the first time she had not been able to obtain.

[2] Therefore, her brother William du Bot and very many of her countrymen accompanying her, and much later recovers speech. on the very feast of Pentecost, about the fourth hour in the afternoon, she came to the chapel of St. Anne amid a great concourse of pilgrims, who on those sacred days are wont to flow together thither from every side. The mute girl, approaching the sacred place, since she could not with her mouth, prayed with her heart, and, with a peculiar significance of interior piety, entering the chapel, devoutly bent her knees in the crowded throng of men. The Holy Spirit, who on that day had made the tongues of the Apostles eloquent, that they might speak the great things of God, then also loosed the tongue of Sebastiana, that the great power of St. Anne might be made manifest: for immediately she asked of her brother where might be the altar and the prodigious image of St. Anne. At these first words of his sister the brother was so moved that he wept for joy. Then he led her to the lattices with which the image of the Saint is surrounded, where Sebastiana went on to give thanks to her Benefactress in articulate words. Afterward she answered several bystanders, who eagerly questioned her, that they might have an authentic testimony of this prodigy, which, on account of the multitude of pilgrims, was everywhere divulged. Not long after, by the command of the bishop of Vannes ^c, an examination of this miracle was lawfully instituted by various persons before a notary and witnesses. Twelve witnesses affirmed that she had been mute for eighteen years; nay, she herself asserts the same, adding that in the chapel of St. Anne she had felt a singular confidence of obtaining what she desired. She herself still lives and dwells at Josselin, where she enjoys a perfect faculty of speaking and walking. There also still survive very many inhabitants who knew her mute for a long time.

[3] The following miracle, not much unlike the former, Another, three pilgrimages to St. Anne being performed, happened in the year 1663, on the 21st of June, and also teaches pilgrims not to despair of heavenly help, even if sometimes they do not immediately obtain the desired health at those sacred places to which they make pilgrimage. Joanna Baumin, sprung from the place of Kerbranguen, which belongs to the parish of Kerien in the diocese of Quimper ^d, about the age of sixteen years, afflicted with a certain disease, lost the use of her tongue and legs, so that for four years she remained mute and lame. After various remedies had been applied in vain, her father John Baumin committed her to the patronage of St. Anne, and vowed a third pilgrimage to the said chapel of the Saint. This vow of the father affected the daughter with great joy, who firmly hoped that this time she would experience the help of St. Anne. The father, therefore, with his daughter, in the year 1663, on the 19th of June, set out on the journey, William Helou accompanying them, whose service on the way she needed: for it was necessary to take the girl off the horse, and to carry her to the chapel, since she could not stand on her own feet.

[4] When on the 20th of June, about the eighth hour of the evening, they came thither, the father's first care was first of her feet, to present himself with his daughter before the image of St. Anne, and there to pour out prayers. But observe how God wished to prove his patience. The next day the girl, carried back to the chapel, after making confession by signs, communicates in the body of the Lord, fervently prays, groans, and implores the protection of St. Anne. But all seemed useless: for she felt no relief of her evil. While the sorrowful father was now preparing for departure, the daughter, conceiving a new confidence, indicates that she should be carried to the fountain of St. Anne, and, her eyes being lifted to heaven, again and again invokes the Saint with her heart. Then, washing her legs there, she felt an unwonted strength added to them, and, to the admiration of all the bystanders, raising herself upon her feet, without anyone's help returned to the chapel, and gave thanks to St. Anne for this first benefit, trusting that she would obtain the other, by her intercession, at another time. Returning to her village on firm feet, she was received with the highest astonishment and applause of her countrymen. The most illustrious bishop of Quimper ordered this miracle to be examined, and approved it by public decree ^e.

[5] and then, after a preceding apparition of St. Anne These things having been written, I understand that speech has now been restored to the same Joanna; which prodigy, according to the acts examined by the bishop of Quimper, was done thus, as I shall here narrate. Although Joanna had recovered a firm step by the patronage of St. Anne, as I related above, yet she had remained mute. Whence, animated by the first benefit, a little after she again had recourse to St. Anne, and promised a pilgrimage to her chapel. The votive journey being performed twice, she obtained nothing but a greater confidence, by which she surely hoped that she would sooner or later be heard. At length St. Anne herself, in the month of August of the past year, deigned to make her more certain of the imminent restoration of speech, as she herself asserted in the examination: for when she was keeping cows near the fountain of the village of Le Cuz, she saw a venerable matron, clothed in a white garment, who at first sight somewhat terrified her. But the Saint, bidding her be of secure mind, asks whether she trusted much in the intercession of St. Anne. To whom she answered distinctly, YES. Then St. Anne said: I myself am she, trust: for at the opportune time and place I will be mindful of thee. And these things said, she disappeared, and left Joanna full of consolation and admiration, that she had pronounced the word YES, although as yet she could utter no other word.

[6] obtained the use of her tongue. This apparition so increased her confidence that with her father she undertook a new pilgrimage to the chapel of St. Anne, and on the 11th of June of the present year 1664 ^f came thither about the eighth hour of the evening. The next day, on which the feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated, the girl set forth her sins by signs, and, after receiving the Eucharist, prostrated herself before the lattices with which the image of St. Anne is surrounded. Meanwhile the father took care that the sacrifice of the Mass be offered for his daughter, at whose end she was oppressed with great pain of heart and breast, and felt her whole body shaken with a certain trembling. In this symptom the bond of her tongue was loosed: for, turning her rosary, she recited the Lord's Prayer distinctly: which she herself observing, turned to her father, said: My father, now I speak. The good man, full of astonishment, began to cry out and weep for joy at these words of his daughter, who thenceforth went on to speak articulately (so she still does) and to answer many present in the chapel, who ran up at this cry of the father. Immediately the Carmelite Fathers, who have the care of this chapel, in thanksgiving for the miracle sang the Te Deum, as was also done by the priests of her own parish, when she returned home.

of the parish of Chavagnes in the diocese of Rennes ^g, being near her delivery, was reduced to such straits that both the fetus and the mother were in the greatest peril of life. Understanding this, the husband vowed a pilgrimage to the chapel of St. Anne, if his wife should escape the peril and the offspring should receive holy baptism. Both benefits were granted him: for the wife happily gave birth, and the baptized infant did well. But by the negligence of the father in fulfilling the vow it happened that the infant remained mute up to the fifth year of his age, although he lacked neither hearing nor understanding, and his other children had been wont to speak from the twelfth or thirteenth month of their age. The father acknowledged his fault in this misfortune, and renewed the vow. Scarcely had he set out on the journey to St. Anne, when the hitherto mute offspring said to his mother: Mother, give me bread, that I may eat; and thus went on to speak articulately. Whence the father, returning home, was suffused with great joy, and ordered that miracle to be examined in the year 1645, on the 19th of June, and the things seen and heard to be reported in the acts.

[8] For the following miracle I can call as witness the whole parish of Milizac, which in the diocese of Léon ^h is distant two leagues from Brest ⁱ. and a man affected with the same inconvenience and with other evils, In it Bernard Lunven, in the year 1654, from a great pain of the head, fell into melancholy and then into madness. Besides, on Ash Wednesday he lost his speech (this only he recovered after two years and some months in the chapel of St. Anne, as we shall afterward see), and he was so delirious that he took food or drink only when compelled by force. He also so constantly lay in his bed that he would never rise, and had to be violently drawn out of it when the bed was to be made. Mary Bizian, his wife, human remedies being tried in vain, on the counsel of John Bizian, her father, devoted him to St. Anne, and promised a pilgrimage to her chapel. When on the day appointed for this journey it was said to him that he must rise, that he might go to Lugullat (it is a pious chapel on the road to Carhaix, which is distant two leagues from Landerneau), to the great admiration of the bystanders he immediately of his own accord rose, which nevertheless in the space of three years he had done only when compelled. Nay, he appeared more brisk, when, now clothed in his garments, he understood that a pilgrimage to the chapel of St. Anne was also to be undertaken. And though all feared that, exhausted by a long disease, he could ride alone on horseback, yet the sick man, after this vow, received such great strength that, sitting on a horse, without anyone's help, he accomplished the whole journey. And so, in passing, he visited the chapel of Lugullat, and in the year 1657, on the 19th of July, came to St. Anne.

[9] The wife, having entered with him the chapel of St. Anne, sent Francis Bizian her brother with another, to indicate to the Carmelite Fathers the trouble of her husband, they obtain speech and health. and to ask a confessor who should receive the confession of a mute. Meanwhile she herself with her husband was hearing the Mass which was celebrated at the high altar. The sacred rite being finished, Bernard, leaving his wife intent on prayer, betook himself to the prodigious image of St. Anne, and there, prayers being poured out for some time, went round the chapel alone. Meanwhile came Father Theodosius, to whom the trouble of Bernard had been indicated, and, leading him apart to the oratory, began to instruct him, as a mute, with these words: If thou hast committed a sin about which I shall ask, close thy hand; if not, open it. Then the bond of his tongue was entirely loosed, and he thus answered Father Theodosius: There is no need of signs, my father; for I shall easily confess in Breton or French. His confession being made, he returns to his wife and the two other companions of the way, and addresses them with the highest astonishment. At length, the Eucharist being taken, and some sacred rites heard, he dined in the convent of the Carmelite Fathers, and returned home on foot. Now sound in body and mind, he rightly governs his household, and hitherto speaks without any difficulty: all which benefits he refers as received from St. Anne, toward whom his devotion grew not a little. This miracle was approved with firm authority, and juridically examined by men both ecclesiastical and secular, before whom ten witnesses confirmed the truth of the fact.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

The dead recalled to life.

What is more evident than the miracle which happened in the year 1629, on the day after the feast of St. Anne, in a parish of the diocese of Saint-Malo ^a, called Gomene, to Joanna Samson, a little girl of three or four years? While her father Ivo Samson, in his mill, was holding discourse with others concerning the miracles of St. Anne, a certain woman announces that his little daughter had fallen into a pond. This misfortune being heard, all run to the pond. The father, dismayed in mind, goes down into the water, to seek his daughter, who had now sought the bottom. When he had long sought her in vain with another man, who also a little after had entered the water, he implored the help of St. Anne, whom his wife too was invoking, bending her knees in that very place, and promising a pilgrimage to the Saint's chapel, if her little daughter should be found. Not vain were their prayers: for the father found his little daughter, whom he had sought for the space of an hour, sticking in the mud in that place through which, before the prayers were poured out, he had often passed. He therefore draws her out; but with the highest grief he beholds her all stiff and giving no signs of life.

[11] Nevertheless the parents, who had now begun to experience the intercession of St. Anne, and long drowned; hoped that the same Saint would restore life to their little daughter. Relying on this hope, they multiply vows and prayers. At the beginning of the night they perceived some consolation, when they seemed to hear a faint sigh and then to see a certain movement of the eyes. But since the little girl remained otherwise immovable and gave no sign of life, they began to doubt whether they had truly observed these movements. But the next day all doubt was removed, when the little girl toward dawn said to her mother: I wish to sleep. At this voice the parents exulted with joy, and the father, without any delay, snatched up his traveling staff and betook himself to the chapel of St. Anne, to give thanks to his Benefactress and to fulfill his vow. What can be objected to this miracle, whose juridical examination was instituted, by the command of the vicar general of the chapter of Saint-Malo, the episcopal see being vacant, through the rector of Gomene? The truth of this matter eight witnesses asserted, and another ten subscribed to it. Can it be doubted concerning the death of this little girl, who for more than an hour lay hidden under the water, and was drawn out without any indication of life, as those witnesses affirm?

[12] Francis Cairan, an inhabitant of the village of Antrain, which in the diocese of Rennes is situated not far from Mont-Saint-Michel, another, dashed against a wall by a certain misfortune had received of his wife Frances l'Écuyer various children; but all had died in tender age, except one only daughter, on whom by vow he had imposed the name of Anne, and whom, in honor of the holy Grandmother of Christ, he had clothed in white garments. The Saint showed that this devotion had been agreeable to her, when she came to the aid of the girl in a certain misfortune, which had snatched her, twelve years old, from life, and which happened thus. The parents had left their daughter with another boy in the mill where the juice is pressed from apples, while the workmen dined. The heedless girl approaching too near the mill, the instrument by which the mill is turned round was entangled in her garments, and the horse, meanwhile going forward, so pressed her against the wall that her little body, wholly crushed, scarcely occupied the space of four fingers in breadth. The other boy, sitting by the fire, seeing this misfortune, began to cry out with a loud voice: at which cry a certain woman, roused, found the girl so crushed in body and so miserably affected that she gave no sign of life.

[13] and dead, Meanwhile one of the workmen, entering the mill, carried the girl to her parents, who, greatly afflicted by this sad spectacle, laid her on a bed, in which she lay for three hours, all the spectators judging her dead. When therefore human remedies seemed here about to profit nothing, the wretched parents, incited by an interior inspiration, judged that they must implore divine help. Immediately, therefore, they had recourse to the intercession of St. Anne, vowing that they would visit her chapel with their daughter, and offer the white garments in which she had been clothed in honor of the Saint, for a perpetual memorial of the benefit, if the daughter should be recalled to life. O prodigy! Scarcely was the vow uttered, when the girl began to move herself and to give sure signs of life, which snatched more than a hundred bystanders into great admiration. Afterward the parents, about to fulfill their vow with joy, in the year 1630, on the very festivity of St. Anne, to the chapel

of the Saint they came, whom the Reverend Father Hugh, then Prior of the Discalced Carmelites, received with a great number of witnesses.

[14] and a third, fallen under the wheel of a mill Frances, eight years old, daughter of John Marquer, in the month of November of the year 1629, near a mill commonly called Vauferrier, unhappily fell into the mill-race, and immediately by the violent force of the waters was carried under the wheel of the mill; where for at least a quarter of an hour she remained without any help. At length the mill-keeper, coming, perceived that the accustomed motion of the mill was hindered, and goes out to investigate the cause of the hindrance. Seeing this sad misfortune, he presently warns the girl's mother, who, flying up at once, beholds her daughter rolled under the wheel. Immediately, the mill-race being closed, by the help of others who had run up, the girl is drawn out, and, carried to the mill, is wrapped in linen. When she had there lain for half an hour with her teeth tightly closed and without any respiration, the afflicted mother, not able to bear so horrible a spectacle longer, was preparing to depart, when the bystanders persuaded her to commend her daughter to St. Anne, and to promise a pilgrimage to her chapel, if the Saint should restore life to her.

[15] they are recalled to life by the patronage of St. Anne, O miracle! The mother uttering the vow before all the bystanders, the little daughter began to breathe and to give other signs of life. Meanwhile the father, coming up, ratified the vow of his wife, and repeated it. What need of many words? The girl presently began to be better, and the next day obtained perfect health, only some slight scars remaining here and there, which indicated how great wounds she had received by the force of the mill-wheel. Very many eyewitnesses in the juridical examination confirmed this prodigious fact. John Marquer and Benedicta Pinel, leading with them their said daughter, in the month of June of the following year satisfied their vow.

[16] which three miracles the Reverend Father Hugh relates. The three miracles immediately preceding the Reverend Father Hugh ^b, among others, published in print in the year 1633, not only with the consent, but even by the command, of the most illustrious bishop of Vannes, as is clear from his decree, which the same Father Hugh relates, and in which the most illustrious prelate declares that these miracles were lawfully examined by skilled men chosen for this office, both by himself and by other bishops, in whose dioceses those prodigies had happened. Nor did he publish this decree before the inquiries had again been severely discussed in his country house of Kerangoff, in his presence, for a whole day, certain ecclesiastical men proposing their doubts about this matter, and the Reverend Father Hugh answering them.

[17] To these three let us add a fourth miracle of the same kind, Three boys, one of whom which in the year 1639, about the feast of St. Magdalene, in the parish commonly called Plouha, of the diocese of Saint-Brieuc ^c, happened in this manner: While Fiacria Guillemot was carrying dinner to her husband Roland Pherlicot, who with others was reaping oats, she left to her twelve-year-old daughter Catherine her little brother John, who was sixteen months of age, to be kept. But the imprudent girl set the infant upon a rather high chest, from which, falling head downward, he was most grievously hurt. Catherine, hiding this misfortune and fearing lest she should be chastised, laid her little brother upon the bed, where the mother, returning home, found him now almost dead. Moved by this sad spectacle, she took the little son into her arms, to suckle him. But in vain: for after vomiting he expired between her arms.

[18] Then the mother, affected with greater grief, places him in the cradle and has her husband warned of so wretched a misfortune: had fallen from a high chest, who, immediately running up with certain others, finds the infant lacking the pulse of the artery and all other motion, and altogether cold and pale. After the father had for an hour and a half explored the signs of life in vain, judging all the remedies of human industry useless, and having recourse to heavenly help, with seven or eight present he fell on his knees around the cradle, and, in these very words, as he testifies in the juridical examination, implored the patronage of St. Anne: I pray God and the holy lady Anne that I may see my little son yet alive. Then he vowed a pilgrimage to the prodigious chapel of St. Anne. After this vow followed a great change, which fixed all the bystanders with great astonishment: for at that very time the pale and cadaverous face of the infant was changed into a lively and ruddy color. Then also the little boy looked upon his father with a loving eye, and rendered him so astonished and joyful that he fell to the ground, and for the space of half an hour remained alienated from his senses. The father returning to himself, the little son appeared so joyful and sound as though no evil had ever befallen him; nay, so perfect was this healing that the boy afterward felt no inconvenience from this fall. The father in the year 1640 fulfilled his vow in the oft-named chapel of St. Anne, and there, on the 10th of July of the same year, gave testimony concerning this stupendous miracle, which after some years (namely on the first of May in the year 1645), lawfully examined before the judges of the place, was confirmed by many witnesses.

[19] While in the year 1657, on the 11th of January, in a noble house called Maleville, near Ploërmel, Vincent Rigon, three years old, to another a heavy door falling the little son of the bailiff of Maleville, was playing with another boy, one of the leaves of the great gate, loosed from its hinges, crushed Vincent. James Mahon, a shingle-maker, who was working on the roof of the barn, hearing the crash of the falling gate, looked, and, seeing only one boy of the two, suspected that the other had been overwhelmed by the weight of the gate. Wherefore he warns those who were in the barn to run up thither promptly. Henry Rigon and Petronilla Thomas, the parents of the boy, hearing this murmur, with three others whom they had invited to dinner, also fly to the gate, and, lifting up the fallen part of the leaves, heavy with iron plates and nails, by the help of others, find beneath it their little son, who, most grievously wounded in the head and crushed over his whole body, was sending forth blood through his ears. The parents carried the boy, in this wretched state, namely without any motion or sign of life, and by the judgment of all dead, to the kitchen. There, scarcely masters of themselves for grief, but admonished by an interior inspiration, they commended their little son to St. Anne, and promised to lead him to the chapel of the Saint, if he should return to life.

[20] had crushed his bones, Immediately, to the astonishment of all, a miracle followed: for at that very time the boy began to breathe and to speak. Nay, the bones of the head, which had been most crushed, visibly returned to their natural position, except in one place under the left ear, where so great a cavity remained that the extreme part of the thumb could easily lie hidden in it. A surgeon, summoned to examine that cavity, judged that the boy's skull must be perforated with a trepan. But the father forbade this to be done, hoping that St. Anne would restore perfect health to his little son, as also was done. Afterward the parents with their son fulfilled the vow in a frequent concourse of people, who with great consolation heard from their mouth the miracle, which, painted on a tablet, they left there for a perpetual memorial of the stupendous benefit. The examination of this prodigy was instituted on the 21st of November of the same year, before the parish priest of the place and the royal ministers designated for it, in which six witnesses juridically confirmed the truth of the fact.

[21] the third had been drowned in a well, In the same year 1657, about the middle of the month of May, in a parish of the diocese of Saint-Malo, commonly called Iffendic, a boy, by name Peter, fell into a well, whose water was twenty or twenty-five feet deep, and was drowned in it. His brother, perceiving this misfortune, gave a great cry, at which immediately run up Antony Auagot, the boy's father, and Peter Vigoland, the maternal grandfather of the same boy, with three others who were cultivating a field not far thence. When the brother, wailing, had told them, as they ran up, that Peter had fallen into the well, presently Peter Vigoland went down into the well, and, drawing his grandson by his daughter out of the water not without great difficulty, gave him into the hands of the afflicted father; but he, seeing his little son deprived of all motion and sense, not bearing so sad a spectacle longer, handed him to another bystander, who held him for nearly half an hour with his feet up and his head down, that he might vomit the water. But this profited nothing, God permitting human remedies to be applied in vain, to show that the boy had been truly dead, and to render the miracle more evident and illustrious. But since the boy had his teeth tightly closed, a key was forced into his mouth. But not even that profited, save that the tongue (such too was the face) was seen wholly swollen.

[22] they are restored to life through the intercession of St. Anne. The bystanders therefore, seeing the boy without respiration and any motion, judged that he was now dead. Wherefore one of the bystanders, despairing of all human help, said with a loud voice that he must be devoted to St. Anne, and immediately, bringing forth a certain votive offering, signed the boy with the cross, and promised that he would offer that gift in the chapel of St. Anne. Then the Saint showed how useful is a pilgrimage to this sacred place: for scarcely was this vow uttered, when the boy began to cry out, and, though placed in a position by no means fit for it (for he lay supine upon a chest), vomited abundant water mixed with clotted blood. But what is plainly wonderful, at that very time he recovered so perfect health that he asked for food, and immediately ate what was offered. Nay, he was so restored to his former strength that he accompanied those five witnesses, who a little after were returning to cultivate the field. Four of those husbandmen, in the month of July of the same year, on the very feast of St. Anne, offered the promised votive offering, and gave testimony concerning the truth of the whole fact, which afterward the lord de la Chasse, counselor of the supreme senate, ordered to be juridically examined before the rector of the parish and the royal ministers, and approved.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

Freed from paralysis, blindness, and the falling sickness.

A carpenter, by name Adrian Judeaux,

of the parish of Messac in the diocese of Rennes, about the feast of St. Michael in the year 1628 fell into a grave disease, A carpenter deprived of the use of his limbs, which so afflicted him in his thigh and legs that he became paralytic. His sinews being therefore contracted, so that he could not move himself without another's help, for the space of six months he suffered intolerable torments. Oppressed by these pains, he had recourse to the intercession of St. Anne, and vowed a pilgrimage to the oft-mentioned chapel of the Saint, if he should for a while recover health and the power of walking. The vow being made, he felt some relief, and, leaning on his knees and supported by crutches, began to creep along; but not without frequent and grave torment, dragging his body with difficulty, he could not go forward beyond a stone's throw, unless he then rested a little.

[24] Nevertheless in this manner he gradually came as far as the port of Messac, and carried to the chapel of St. Anne where, despairing of the further pilgrimage, a certain merciful merchant received him into his ship, and carried him to Redon ^a; whence he hoped to be directed further by another merchant. But the pains again so prevailed that he could scarcely creep from one place to another, and was compelled to remain at Redon for six weeks, where various inhabitants succored his miseries; and this they did with the greater inclination, because they understood that he had come thither for the sake of devotion, and because the wretched man continually said that health would doubtless be restored to him, if he could reach the prodigious chapel of St. Anne. After a delay of six weeks a certain merchant carried him in his ship as far as La Roche-Bernard ^b, and thence he was carried on a mule to Guérande ^c, and in the same manner from Guérande to Le Croisic ^d, in which places he moved to compassion all who observed his miseries, God so disposing these things, that the miracle might afterward become known to more. He stayed some time at Le Croisic, until the devout citizens of that town undertook a public pilgrimage by sea to the chapel of St. Anne: for then he was received into one of their ships, and carried to Auray, where a pious man set him on his horse, and led him to the chapel of St. Anne.

[25] he is suddenly healed. When therefore in the year 1629, on the 8th of August, he had come to the sacred chapel, his first care was to confess his sins and to receive the most holy Eucharist. Then he instituted a continuous devotion of nine days, within which he daily went round the chapel, creeping on his crutches with such great difficulty that he was again and again compelled to rest. The nine-days' devotion being completed, he dragged his sick body as far as the fountain of St. Anne, in which he washed his feet and legs. But lo, immediately he felt these limbs so strengthened that without anyone's help he rose, and, about to give thanks to his Benefactress, returned to the chapel. His thanksgiving being made, returning to Redon, where he had stayed so long, and then to the port of Messac, he snatched into admiration all who had known him before, and now saw him walking without crutches with a firm step. He himself the following year returned to the chapel of St. Anne sound and cheerful, and everywhere divulged the miracle of his Benefactress, which in the year 1631, on the 16th of June, by the command of the bishop of Rennes was juridically examined and confirmed by eight witnesses, and four notaries subscribed to it.

[26] A poor herdsman laboring under a like infirmity The whole city of Hennebont ^e can testify the truth of the following miracle, which happened to Francis Talhoët, a herdsman. When this boy of nine years, with others in the village of Couédic, which belongs to the parish of Inzinzac, was watching the flock at pasture, he was oppressed by an unknown evil, which, beginning from the ankles of his feet and gradually ascending from the knees to the thigh and loins, so fixed him to his bed that for three years he could not move himself without another's help. When after three years his mother, being also sick, could not help and nourish him, by the counsel of the neighbors he was carried to the hospital of Hennebont, where the surgeon undertook his diligent care; but when he saw that he profited nothing by various remedies, he abandoned him as incurable, as the surgeon himself confesses in the juridical examination.

[27] recovers health by a miracle, The poor boy, therefore, destitute of all hope of obtaining health, for six years, only sitting and propelling himself through the streets and to the churches of the city of Hennebont by hand-crutches, asked alms. At length it came into his mind to go to the chapel of St. Anne, illustrious for so many miracles. To this end, eight days before the feast of St. Anne, he set out on the way, creeping in his accustomed manner on those crutches, while meanwhile his mother and sister, who accompanied him, begged the necessaries of life through the villages they met and the neighboring ones. Five days being spent on that journey, on a Saturday he came to the chapel of St. Anne. When he had there for some days fervently invoked the holy Grandmother of Christ and received the sacrament of the Eucharist, after various chances and pains he there at least so recovered the use of his limbs that he walked erect and leaning on a single staff, and in the space of two days easily returned to Hennebont. Afterward he remained in the same city, and, walking without a staff and without any difficulty, snatched into admiration very many citizens, who had long known him a paralytic.

[28] In the year 1644, on the 18th of November, by the command of the bishop of Vannes a juridical inquiry into this miracle was made by the lord de Randrecar, which was juridically and manifestly proved, seneschal of Hennebont, in which, before men set in ecclesiastical and civil dignity, besides Francis Talhoët himself and his mother and the above-mentioned surgeon, there were questioned two keepers of the hospital of Hennebont, who also gave testimony concerning the truth of the disease. Besides, on the 17th of December of the same year, by the same judge a second part of the inquiry was added, in which the parish priest of Hennebont, and another priest dwelling there, and six of the more honorable citizens of the town, before all of whom the aforesaid Francis Talhoët, now sound and walking rightly, appeared, acknowledged the identity of the person, and affirmed that it was he himself whom they had so long seen a paralytic in their city.

[29] Another benefit of this kind, in the month of April of the year 1655, in the parish of Guiler, as also a girl who had lost the faculty of walking. which is distant about one mile from Brest, of the diocese of Léon, fell to Frances Nicol. This girl, by I know not what chance, had lost the use of one foot and of the left leg, which limbs, without any sense or motion, seemed as it were dead. John Nicol her father for three months gave her to various physicians to be cured; but when he saw that the evil rather increased than diminished by human remedies, he resolved to have recourse to the heavenly remedy. Wherefore, commending his daughter to the patronage of St. Anne, he promised that he would visit the chapel of the Saint and take care that two Masses be there celebrated, if she should be restored to her former health. The next day he, with his wife Margaret de Borgne, was astonished when he heard that his daughter had risen from her bed without anyone's help, and saw her walking rightly. Afterward he came to the chapel of St. Anne, to fulfill his vow and give thanks to the Saint, and in the year 1656, on the 23rd of October, gave testimony to his parish priest concerning this benefit, which afterward was confirmed by seven witnesses, and approved in the juridical discussion of the miracle, which in the year 1658, on the 15th of April, was made by men lawfully designated for that office.

[30] When Francis Gedouin, born in the parish commonly called Bédée or Bedee, A blind man of the diocese of Saint-Malo, had long been scrofulous, to this disease was added blindness, which for two years afflicted him. His parents commending him to the intercession of St. Anne and promising a pilgrimage to her chapel, he immediately received a perfect faculty of seeing, and constantly retained its use. Meanwhile, his parents dying before the vow was fulfilled, his uncle on the 3rd of July in the year 1642 paid their promises. Afterward, by the command of the most illustrious bishop of Saint-Malo, through the Reverend Master Francis Boterel, rector of the aforesaid parish, a juridical examination of this miracle was instituted before a notary.

[31] and the blind are enlightened; Mary le Felon, four years old, daughter of John le Felon and Mary le Brozec, who dwelt at Morlaix ^f, of the diocese of Léon, in the parish of St. Martin, was blind for three years. In this wretched state very many inhabitants of that city saw and knew her, who also testified the truth of this matter in writing. Her mother, excited by the miracles which she heard were wrought by the intercession of St. Anne, vowed that she would visit the chapel of the Saint with her daughter, as she did in the month of July of the year 1635. Nor indeed was this pilgrimage vain: for the mother, after fervently pouring out prayers before the prodigious image of St. Anne, led her daughter to the oft-named fountain of the Saint, and with this salutary water washed her eyes, from which the cataracts fell off, and such a faculty of seeing was restored to the blind girl that she could at least distinguish colors. Within a few days the sight, which at first had been weak, was so strengthened that thenceforth she saw perfectly and keenly.

[32] and two women Petronilla Aubree, of the parish of Chavagnes of the diocese of Rennes, was so afflicted with the falling sickness that daily three times she fell to the ground, and, out of her mind, madly tore and wounded herself. Her father John Aubree and her mother Roberta Fourel, the remedies of physicians, apothecaries, and surgeons being long applied in vain, at length had recourse to the patronage of St. Anne, and, making a pilgrimage to her chapel, commended their wretched daughter to the same Saint. On the first of May, when in the year 1630 the parents came to the sacred place, the girl at home was more vehemently oppressed by her disease than ever before. The next day they had a Mass celebrated at that hour at which the daughter was wont to be overwhelmed by her evil. But at that hour she felt no inconvenience, and from that time was so healed that that evil never afterward returned. When the parents, returned home, had understood this, they extolled God and St. Anne with great praises. This miracle in the year 1631, on the 20th of May, was juridically discussed and approved by an ecclesiastical man, who had received the truth of this fact from the mouth of seven witnesses.

[33] are freed from the epileptic disease. Frances d'Artois, wife of John Baron, in the parish of Chane of the diocese of Rennes, about the eighteenth or twentieth year of her age was so affected with the same epileptic disease that in one day twenty times, and then thirty times, she was prostrated to the ground, and with a horrible cry and gnashing of teeth sent forth foam from her mouth. And when no remedy was found for the inveterate evil, she was persuaded to implore heavenly help, to have Masses celebrated for that intention, and to visit certain pious places. Following this counsel, she felt a notable mitigation of the disease, so that only once or twice daily she fell into the same convulsions. But when

for the most part at the time of the Mass that disease seized her, and thus disturbed the divine Sacrifice, entrance into the temple then had to be forbidden her. Namely the complete healing of that wretched woman was to be accomplished by the holy Grandmother of Christ, as the event taught: for as soon as, by the counsel of others, she vowed to make the journey to St. Anne by begging, she was entirely freed from her disease. Wherefore she fulfilled the vow as quickly as possible, and, after making confession of her sins and receiving the Eucharist, had a Mass celebrated from the alms which she had collected on the way. Thereafter she felt no vestige of the same disease, not without great admiration of those who had known her before, of whom easily thirty witnesses, lawfully questioned by an ecclesiastical man, affirmed the truth of the matter which we have now related.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

Helped in other diseases and misfortunes.

The lady Anne Franchet, viscountess of Torquedec, long labored under a double quartan fever, A noblewoman whose accessions were so protracted that it seemed almost continuous. But although a quinsy and an epiphora ^a accompanied this fever, nevertheless with her husband and four noble maidens she undertook a journey to the chapel of St. Anne in a carriage, hoping that there she would find a remedy for all these evils. Nor did that hope deceive her: for when there, after pouring out prayers, she had piously approached the tribunal of penance and the sacred communion, on her return she remembered the fountain of St. Anne, from which she desired to drink water. She therefore sent back a servant to draw water from that fountain, and meanwhile, reclining in the carriage, awaited his return in the village of Mériadec, which, situated on the road to Vannes, is distant three quarters of an hour from the chapel of St. Anne.

[35] The servant, returning, brought her the desired water, which, in the very fever, she drank before all, from a fever, quinsy, and epiphora, after commending herself to St. Anne with great confidence. Presently she experienced the heavenly power of this water: for at that very moment she felt herself perfectly healed. At this sudden change all present were amazed, and especially her husband, who, being a man of great erudition and skill, judged this effect altogether supernatural, because, according to the common course of nature, it cannot happen, as he himself speaks in the written acts of the deed, that water alone, without other medicines, should immediately drive away a grave fever and at the same time a quinsy and an epiphora. But since the lord viscount had not long since abjured the Calvinist heresy before the bishop of Dol ^b, this miracle confirmed him not a little in the dogma which the Catholic Church hands down concerning the veneration and invocation of the Saints. But this happened in the year 1630, on the 18th of August, and all these things the lord viscount himself ordered to be juridically examined, and consigned to writing.

[36] and a certain bookseller from several diseases A certain bookseller, by name John Jacquelin, born at Morlaix in Lower Britain, but joined in marriage and dwelling at Vitré ^c, about the forty-sixth year of his age, from a quartan fever of fourteen months, which an obstruction of the liver and spleen accompanied, became dropsical, and then, after a swelling of the whole body, also jaundiced. All these diseases, to which the stone and hemorrhoids had been added, supplied the good man with ample matter for exercising patience. Besides, his legs were so inflated that they burst on every side, and from them thick humors flowed through ulcers. All these had so weakened him that he could not stand on his feet, but had to be carried in a chair, if he wished to betake himself to the temple or elsewhere. All who had seen him in this wretched state, and among others the apothecary who had had the care of him during the disease, prudently judged, according to the usual laws of nature, that he could not long prolong his life. But the supreme Lord of nature willed on this occasion to manifest the glory and power of St. Anne, to whom the sick man had often commended himself. When the sick man had understood that Master John Guerin, treasurer of the collegiate church of La Guerche, was preparing a journey to the chapel of St. Anne, to fulfill a certain vow there, he prayed him that before the prodigious image of the same Saint he would have memory of him, and in his name offer a votive offering promised by him. The lord Guerin graciously answered that he would gladly do this; nay, he of his own accord undertook to fulfill the nine-days' devotion once promised by the sick man, to which he would also have a Mass added to be celebrated. All things being faithfully carried into execution, this devotion produced such an effect as filled with admiration all who had known the manifold misery of the bookseller.

[37] are suddenly freed through the intercession of St. Anne. On the very feast of Pentecost, all his diseases growing worse, he suffered most bitter pains until the following day, on which, about the tenth hour, he suddenly felt himself freed from all evils, at precisely that time at which the Mass was being celebrated for him at St. Anne's: for then the fever left him, the obstruction of the liver and spleen was removed, the body ceased to swell, the legs recovered their former strength, the ulcers closed, the jaundiced color disappeared, the stone and hemorrhoids tormented him no more. But what is most to be wondered at, all these diseases were at the same moment so driven away that thenceforth none of them returned, as he himself, after two years, testified in the juridical examination. What need of many words? He was so restored to his former health that in the afternoon of the same day he went out into the city, and the following day, which was the Tuesday of Pentecost, to give thanks for so stupendous a benefit, betook himself to a certain chapel of St. Anne, which is built in the suburb of Vitré. After two years, namely on the 23rd of February, in the year 1662, this prodigy was rigidly examined by the command of the bishop of Rennes, who afterward approved it, as the decree published by him shows ^d: from which it can be gathered how exact and severe an examination the most illustrious prelates institute, before they permit miracles of this kind to be published.

[38] No less prodigious is the benefit which the holy Grandmother of Christ, in the year 1647, A girl, falling upon an iron fork, on the 12th of June, conferred on Mary le Logeou, daughter of Ivo le Logeou and Frances Floch, who dwelt in the village of Prisjac in the diocese of Vannes. This girl, going out into the field with her brother and a maidservant, mounted a wagon which was to be loaded with litter, that she might arrange the straw thrown in. But afterward, wishing to descend from the loaded wagon, she unhappily fell upon the teeth of an iron fork, one of which so pierced her head that, entering at the right part of her mouth and passing through the brain and the skull, it projected with its point to the height of half a foot above the cranium. The brother and maidservant at this horrible spectacle gave great cries, and strove in vain to pluck the fork out of her head.

[39] Destitute therefore of all counsel, they run to the nearest village, which was a quarter of an hour distant, and in the head and call the parish priest with another priest and four men. These, coming, find the girl stretched on the ground with her head pierced, as we said above. Immediately all six, in the presence of many who had run up together, tried to draw out the tooth of the fork. But seeing that they profited nothing, astonished and destitute of counsel, they had recourse to the intercession of St. Anne, and, falling on their knees, promised a pilgrimage to her chapel. At once the Saint showed how agreeable this vow was to her: for, rising after the vow, they easily plucked out the fork.

[40] Presently a surgeon was summoned, by name Denis Polerin, to bind up the wounds. But he, attentively considering all things, horribly wounded, and perceiving that the marrow of the brain flowed out through the cranium to the size of a small nut, roundly declared (so also in the examination of the year 1647, on the 10th of August, he testifies) that she could not escape imminent death without a miracle. Wherefore he warned that she should quickly confess her sins, since she both labored under a grave fever and now began to be delirious, having her head on the right side wholly inflated and inflamed. Nevertheless the surgeon, being asked, applied fomentations to the wounded head, not that he believed they would profit, but that he might satisfy the parents. Nevertheless, against all hope, she was entirely healed, after the surgeon had cured her for six weeks, not by the power of medicines, as he himself confesses, but by the singular help of God and the intercession of St. Anne, to whom she had been devoted. A little after, the girl came to fulfill the vow, and before the prodigious image of St. Anne offered the fork fixed in a waxen head, where even now, for a perpetual memorial of the miracle, it is seen. On the 4th of September in the year 1649, before various witnesses, a juridical inquiry into this stupendous matter was held, and the testimony of the surgeon was reported in the acts.

[41] In the year 1645, in the village of Plumelec of the diocese of Vannes, a girl of three months, by name Aegidia Conan, sitting in the lap of her grandmother, swallowed an ear of grain, the grandmother not perceiving it before, when the little girl, seizing other ears, put them to her mouth. as also another, near death, are cured by the invocation of St. Anne; Hence for fourteen days frequent and violent vomits arose, so that the infant, rejecting milk and every other nourishment, was brought to the utmost peril of life. Vincentia le Picart, the mother of the infant, finding no remedy for this evil, vowed a pilgrimage to the chapel of St. Anne, and, besides a Mass to be celebrated there, promised that she would go round the chapel on bended knees. After this vow the little girl seemed to be more vehemently afflicted, and the mother meanwhile, assiduously imploring the help of St. Anne, heard a wind coming forth from the side of her little daughter. Wherefore she unwrapped the infant from her swaddling-bands, and on the right side, between the ribs and the vertebra of the loins, found a reddish and inflamed opening, which dilated in proportion to the respiration or wailing of the little girl. But that wind gradually drove forward the ear of grain, which the mother at length drew out, after she had called her husband

to this wonderful spectacle. In the space of three days that opening closed of its own accord without any medicine, and nothing remained but a slight redness to indicate the place of the wound, the little girl meanwhile being restored to perfect health. By the command of the bishop of Vannes, in the year 1647, on the 11th of July, an examination of this miracle was instituted, in which ten witnesses asserted the truth of the fact.

[42] by which also seven men escape the servitude of the Turks To these let us add a miracle which, by the intercession of St. Anne, happened to Guy Routoux, who in a place of the diocese of Nantes ^e, to which the name of St. Nazaire has been given, carried on trade. He had built a ship, to redeem his son, a captive among the Turks. But on the way he was unhappily taken by the infidels, who for four months in various ways vexed him in vain, that he might forsake the Christian faith. At length, with six other captives, he commended himself to the Queen of heaven and to St. Anne her mother (whom the said Guy invoked with a peculiar affection, vowing a pilgrimage to the famous chapel of St. Anne in Lesser Britain, if he should come safe and unharmed into France), and all, by common counsel, began to build a little boat of the reeds of that region and of waxed cloth, that they might escape the cruel servitude of the barbarians. Some instruments for steering it being procured, and certain provisions placed in it, all seven with great confidence committed their life to the fragile bark.

[43] in a prodigious manner O wonderful thing! For five days and nights, tossed at random by winds and waves, they perished not amid the vehement storms of the sea, which had sunk many firm ships. Besides, provisions failing, they passed three days without food and drink, after which they put in to the port of Palma ^f of the island of Majorca ^g, not without the admiration of all present there, who also were the more amazed when they saw that little reed boat sink of its own accord, as soon as those seven men had descended to land. The Fathers of the Order of blessed Mary of Mercy, who dwell at Palma, ordered the little boat to be drawn out of the water, and, for a perpetual memorial of the miracle, exposed it in their temple. This was done in the year 1656; but in the following year Guy Routoux, at the beginning of the month of April, came to the chapel of St. Anne, and, besides the fulfillment of his vow, left there the garments with which he had been clothed during his captivity.

ANNOTATIONS.

OTHER MIRACLES COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS.

Anne, the most blessed Mother of the Mother of God, in Palestine (S.)

FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

CHAPTER I.

Miracles which happened at the relics of St. Anne at Düren, rendered from the Spanish idiom into Latin.

[44] John de Robles, concerning whom I premised some things above in the historical Commentary, number 125, wrote in Spanish the following miracles, which here in a plain style, Through the invocation of St. Anne, whose relics are honored at Düren, as the author published them, I turn into Latin. It is to be known, he says, that God in our times, through His infinite goodness and the merits of St. Anne, mother of the Mother of God, willed to grant a most agreeable gift to her clients, when, namely, He uncovered ^a and manifested the head of St. Anne, which first, in the year 1501, appeared in the city of Düren ^b, which is in a province of Germany ^c. Afterward our Lord in those parts, through the intercession of St. Anne and her sacred relics, wrought many and great miracles, which became known to very many, and the greater part of which was lawfully proved before witnesses and notaries. Of these some will now be briefly narrated.

[45] an infant suffocated, On the 10th of February it happened in a place of that province, which is called Pateren ^d, that an infant fell between two beds, and was thus suffocated: but when the mother had found the infant dead, with the highest grief she took him in her arms and with great devotion commended him to St. Anne. Presently the boy began to breathe a little and to revive; which when the mother saw, with the greatest joy and without any delay she went to the city of Düren, in which the relics of St. Anne are honored. But it pleased God to infuse into the infant such grace and knowledge, that he would neither drink nor eat, until the mother had completed the pilgrimage: which being completed, he immediately ate and drank, as many persons saw who were present in the aforesaid place of Pateren near the Toad's Ditch ^e.

[46] a paralytic man On the 19th of the same month, from the city of Tereneri ^f there came to Düren a man who for nine years had been lame and destitute of all use of his limbs, so that he could not go forward without crutches. But he had sometimes been affected with such great weakness that he seemed already about to die, and had been fortified with the sacrament of extreme unction. When he was in so present a peril of death, a certain pilgrim came to the door of his house, asking that, in honor of St. Anne, some alms be given him. The sick man, lying in his bed, heard this, and ordered the maidservant to call the beggar back, and to give him food and drink. The maidservant, about to execute the command of her master, went out into the street and sought the poor man; but not finding him, she immediately returns and indicates this to her master, who grieved very much that he had not been able to bestow alms on the poor man for love of St. Anne. Then he began to pray God that He would deign to restore to him at least so much strength of body as should suffice for visiting the relics of St. Anne. God heard his prayer; nevertheless so great a weakness remained in him that scarcely in the space of four months could he reach the city of Düren from his home. But when he had come thither to the relics of St. Anne, he suddenly obtained perfect health, as many testify who saw and knew that miracle.

[47] a possessed woman On the 6th of May a woman possessed by four demons was led to the church which is commonly called Paradise ^g, in which the head of St. William ^h is shown, and where many possessed persons are wont to be freed. Here the malign spirits, forced by the exorcisms, answered that they would not go out except before the relics of St. Anne. The possessed woman therefore was led thither, and presently three demons were expelled from her: but the fourth would not go out, unless she were led to St. Eubert ⁱ, where, before the sepulcher of that Saint, he forsook her; and thus the woman remained freed from all.

[48] and another, dead On the 12th of June, in a place which is called Geyen, a girl of sixteen years died, at whose death those greatly grieved whom she served. Three hours after her death they commended her to St. Anne, and promised that they would bring her to the relics of St. Anne, if she were raised. This vow being made, the girl began to breathe a little, and then to give greater signs of life, and altogether to live. All who were present, joyful and stupefied, gave thanks to God, and the miracle was lawfully proved before public notaries.

[49] besides various lame persons On the 18th of the same month a lame woman came to visit the relics of St. Anne, and presently returned home upright and sound.

On the same day and month a lame man came to the same sacred relics, and returned with an upright step.

On the 20th of June a woman who for six years had been lame commended herself to St. Anne, and was suddenly healed, as is manifest to many who saw her.

On the 11th of the month of July a man who had fallen from a horse contracted from that fall so great an infirmity that for the space of half a year he could neither raise himself nor walk. He, imploring the patronage of St. Anne, obtained health.

On the 15th of the same month a lame woman, who was supported by two crutches, invoking St. Anne, was restored to health.

[50] On the 16th of August a youth, by name Paul, who was sprung from a place called Opponen, are restored to life or health. fell into the water and was drowned. After he had lain under the water for the space of an hour, his eight companions drew him out, who all, sorrowful at the death of their comrade, devoutly commended him to St. Anne, and promised that they would visit the relics of the same Saint with their comrade. At that very moment the dead man began to breathe and to live, and, rising, fulfilled the vow with his companions, who offered a waxen image.

On the 27th of the same month John Vised, who for four years had been blind, commended himself to St. Anne, and, drinking wine which had been blessed in honor of that Saint, was freed from his blindness.

In the month of September a certain man fell into a deep well, and for more than an hour lay hidden under the water. His master, hearing the misfortune, ordered him to be drawn out, and commended him to St. Anne. At once the drowned man returned to life, and offered a waxen image of St. Anne.

[51] In the aforesaid year 1501 God in the same region, through the intercession of St. Anne, wrought many other miracles, A dying man obtains the use of the Sacraments by the patronage of St. Anne, among which the following are recounted. Near the aforesaid city of Düren is a village which is called Merzenich, in which a certain man so fell from his horse that he long lay on the ground without speech. And all judged him dead or near death. His wife, hearing this, was afflicted with the greatest grief, especially because she had understood that her husband was fortified neither with confession nor with the sacraments of the Church. She therefore implores the help of St. Anne and promises a certain gift, praying that at least she may not let her husband die without receiving the Sacraments. While she thus prays and vows, at once the husband began to breathe and to speak, and asked that they call a priest,

from whom he might receive the absolution of his sins and the Sacraments. These being duly performed, as she had desired, he departed from this life like a good Catholic.

A certain man, sprung from a place which is called Rodinguen, smitten with blindness for thirteen years, had recourse to the help of St. Anne, and by her merits at once recovered his sight, as is manifest to many.

[52] In a place which is called Millen, a certain woman was overwhelmed with a disease arising from bloody crosses ^k, and a woman laboring under a prodigious disease, which then commonly crept through that region. But that disease was so wonderful that it would scarcely seem credible except to eyewitnesses. It arose in this manner: When the women, whether at home or in the street or elsewhere, were, that infirmity threatening, bloody crosses appeared on their veils, which could be washed out neither with hot water nor with soap nor with any other liquid. Then indeed they were often prostrated to the ground, and that infirmity in those parts of Germany usually lasted for two or three years. Nay, even today some veils are still preserved, in which those bloody crosses are seen. But that we may return to our purpose, the aforesaid woman of Millen perceived bloody crosses in the covering of her head. Whence she fell into great sadness, and was possessed by six demons. Wherefore she was led before the head of St. William, where the possessed are wont to be exorcised and freed, and two demons were expelled from her. The four remaining said that they would not go out except before the relics of St. Anne. The exorcist cleric asked them why they would go out only before the relics of St. Anne. They answered that they did this compelled, that the honor and glory of St. Anne might be divulged throughout the whole world.

[53] and many, afflicted with blindness A certain man, who was the beadle of a place called Cruzenach, had a son who had remained drowned under the water for seven hours. The father commending him to St. Anne and vowing a waxen image, the son returned to life.

A licentiate of Cologne, afflicted for the space of a year with a quartan fever, betook himself into the clientage of St. Anne, and was presently healed, after he had drunk wine blessed in the name of the Saint. Many other persons, drinking that wine, returned to their former health.

In the year of the Lord 1502, a youth sprung from Remich near Enerez-klusea had been blind from birth, who, commending himself to St. Anne, obtained sight by her merits, as is manifest to many who knew him.

The abbess of the monastery of Gerresehen had a maidservant blind and lame, who, having recourse to the patronage of St. Anne, promised to visit her relics: which being done, she was perfectly healed, as can be shown from the testimonies which were taken by notaries, and fortified with the seal of the abbess and the chapter in the city of Gerresehen.

A minister of justice in the said city had a son who from birth had been helpless in his limbs. He, being commended to St. Anne, obtained the use of his limbs, as is clear from the lawful testimonies of the notaries.

[54] and afflicted with other diseases, are healed. A furrier of the aforesaid city of Gerresehen committed his son, lame from birth, to the patronage of St. Anne, and obtained for him an upright step, as can be demonstrated from the juridical testimonies.

Near the city of Düren, not far from the Toad's Ditch, a certain man, falling from a horse, was so hurt that he could neither stand nor sit, but was always compelled to lie in bed. He devoted himself to St. Anne, to whose relics he was carried, and received complete health, as can be proved from the lawful document of a notary.

On the last day of the month of May, a nobleman, by name John Grael-torno, at Belleren near Steñir not far from Landau, had for twelve years lacked the use of one eye, and for seven years, deprived of both, had been quite blind. He, commending himself to St. Anne, suddenly recovered perfect sight, as can be shown from the lawful testimonies of the notaries.

From the miracles related above and many others which God wrought, and continually works in various regions, through the merits of St. Anne (it would be too long here to narrate how the same Saint succored the unworthy author of this little work, while he was in great necessity), from these, I say, it can in some measure be gathered how great is her power, sanctity, excellence, and glory, to which glory may God, three and one, lead us. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

The benefits which the venerable Innocent of Chiusa obtained by the invocation of St. Anne.

[55] The venerable Minorite, besides the gift of prophecy, Innocent of Chiusa, of the seraphic Order of Minorites, who died at Rome in the year 1631 with a great reputation for sanctity, followed St. Anne with the highest love, and by her intercession obtained stupendous benefits, which the oft-praised John Thomas of St. Cyril, in the Mater Honorificata, chapter 35, §9, excerpted from his longer Acts in this order: I. When Pope Gregory XV lay so dangerously ill that, despaired of by the judgment of the physicians as to recovering his health, he was then thought about to die; Innocent, summoned at once, bade him be of good cheer and know that for this time St. Anne had obtained life for him, and so that he ought, in thanksgiving, to command her annual memory to be celebrated by the faithful with a solemn feast. The Pontiff assented, and, restored to health, caused the feast day of St. Anne to be held among the commanded feasts by Christians throughout the world ^a. II. He foretold the election of Urban VIII to the summit of the supreme Pontificate, and affirmed to him, now elected, and also to several others, that he owed his pontificate to St. Anne. III. He was so familiar with St. Anne that sometimes in his little cell he deserved to enjoy the familiar and most sweet colloquy of the same most holy Mother.

[56] and other benefits IV. On one occasion, being seen by the Friars and seculars in the garden, lifted from the earth to the height of the trees, rapt in ecstasy, bearing this with grief, he had recourse to the blessed Virgin Mary and St. Anne, and obtained that he should never thereafter be openly caught in ecstasy, which he himself afterward, with pious simplicity, was wont to signify to his more intimate friends. V. A certain noble Lombard woman, whatever offspring she conceived, bore lifeless. But on one occasion, when she was pregnant, she had recourse to brother Innocent, humbly begging his prayers and intercession to St. Anne: he promised that she would bear a living daughter, on whom he ordered the name of Anne to be imposed; but she bore a dead child. But when the midwives indicated this to the mother, she answered that she could in no way believe that brother Innocent broke his word, as one who had promised her a living offspring. While they thus disputed, the little infant revived, and, by the common weeping of all, testifying life, in the laver of regeneration obtained the name of Anne.

[57] to noble spouses offspring VI. A certain Sicilian prince ^b and his wife, long barren, entreated brother Innocent to obtain offspring for them: who, a vow being made to St. Anne, promises them not one only, but a threefold offspring, if they will restore the chapel of the same holy Mother. They assent to the demands of Innocent, and by promising not only the restoration of the chapel, but also the erection of a new temple and even a monastery, stipulated. Innocent therefore, prayers being poured out to God and St. Anne, and three excellent males being obtained, born successively, admonished the prince to fulfill his vow: but he offers only a hundred crowns in place of the chapel; to whom the servant of God replied that St. Anne did not want a hundred crowns, but the chapel repaired, as had been promised by vow; and if he would not fulfill this, he should know that all three sons would certainly die: and meanwhile the firstborn began to sicken with a most grievous infirmity. But, Innocent being summoned, and the fulfillment of the vow being promised, he recovered. But when a hundred crowns were again sent by the parents, and these were refused by Innocent, as one who was soliciting not that money, but the repair of the chapel, the firstborn, seized again by disease, departed from life, whom the other two also followed a few days after. But the prince, entreating the servant of God by messengers and letters, asking first that he would pray for these, then that he would obtain new sons for him, promising meanwhile great things, but Innocent replying that in vain

he asked new favors who had not fulfilled the old vows, at length the prince, grievously afflicted by the death of his sons and by other adversities, sought solace by gaming with the duke of Osuna, viceroy of Sicily; but he was cheated, six thousand gold pieces being lost, and destitute of all solace.

[58] VII. The same viceroy, not long after, vexed with a grave pain of the legs, and obtains for the viceroy of Sicily the power of walking from St. Anne. could be cured by no industry of the physicians. Returned to himself, because he had expelled from his house brother Innocent, who had lately freely rebuked him for certain excesses, he ordered him to be summoned most humanely. He came, and, the physicians being present, removed the plasters, and, a prayer being made, in the name of almighty God and St. Anne blessed the prince's legs, put the pains to flight, and, the duke being raised upon his legs in the sight of all, bade him walk: who at once began to walk and run, the physicians themselves crying out, a miracle! Which the viceroy acknowledging, at once, with a grateful and liberal mind, had the chapel of St. Anne, neglected by the aforesaid prince, sumptuously and magnificently restored.

[59] VIII. The fishing of tunny ^c is celebrated in Sicily; Besides other predictions, but when certain fishermen, laboring long and much, had caught nothing, they ask brother Innocent to come and bless the work. He came, and, blessing it, foretold that all that they were to catch was to be referred to the merits of St. Anne, and, as a sign and testimony of this, that each fish would be marked with the name of St. Anne. So it happened that they most abundantly compensated the loss of many days by a single act of fishing, nor was any among all the fish (which they had enclosed) found that had not been marked with the venerable name of St. Anne.

IX. About the same time a certain woman came to him, deploring the affliction of her husband (who, set in his agony, was struggling with death), at the same time praying that he would deign to pray God for his safety. He prayed a little while, and, consoling the woman, added that her husband indeed would survive, but that a certain neighbor (though otherwise unknown to him) would altogether die: and so he admonished the woman that, in token and memorial of a grateful mind, she should hang a pious votive offering in the church to St. Anne (who obtained for her husband a span of life from the Lord). And all happened according to the word of the man of God.

X. Innocent sometimes went round the villages and hamlets, begging wool from door to door, and, being repulsed by a certain rustic farmer, replied that it were better that the fleece be given him for love of God and St. Anne, than that the wolf snatch it away together with the sheep. The bailiff, indignant, bids Innocent depart; nor did he depart sooner than the wolf was present, which, having seized the sheep by the throat, carried it off in the sight of all, no one helping.

[60] he obtains fruitfulness for very many women XI. Leopold, archduke of Austria, brother of the emperor, hearing the fame of brother Innocent, besought him by letters to obtain a son for him. Innocent wrote back that his little old woman St. Anne would altogether bring it about that he should have offspring. And so, after a little while, the duchess, being pregnant, brought forth a son by a happy birth. The duke, not ungrateful to St. Anne, erected a convent for the reformed Friars under her title and patronage, and at the same time gave brother Innocent most humane thanks.

XII. Very many, at his exhortation, took St. Anne (whom he, with a most sweet affection, was wont to call his little old woman, in the Italian phrase his vecchiarella) as their singular patroness and advocate, being heaped by her with great favors. Very often she dealt most familiarly with him, and, communicating to him many heavenly solaces and consolations, revealed various secrets and hidden things. Once, appearing to him, after most sweet mutual colloquies, she said that she was suffused with such great pleasure of joy on the feast of the Conception of her daughter, the virgin Mother of God, as if it were her own proper solemnity. He sometimes related that the greatest miracles were granted him by God through the intercession of St. Anne, among which was this, that he had miraculously rendered five hundred barren women fruitful.

[61] the same venerable servant of God, XIII. Innocent had at Rome a certain friend, Dominic by name, syndic of the Friars, to whom, while he often persuaded him to choose St. Anne as his advocate, Dominic replied: What would this thy Old Woman do for me, or what does she afford thee thyself? But Innocent leads him into his little cell, and, the door being closed, related to him, among various benefits of St. Anne, how once he had been called to a certain woman who for three days had carried a dead infant in her womb, so that it had been necessary continually to keep her mouth open with an iron instrument, lest the stench of the corpse should hurt her head; but he, moved with compassion, not only obtained from St. Anne that the woman should cast forth the fetus, but even that the dead and putrid corpse of the infant, lying on the ground, should return to life.

[62] and for thirsting sailors XIV. While he was sailing from Marsala to Trapani, it happened that the sailors had forgotten to carry water with them; who, while they burned with thirst, kept pushing the empty vessel with their feet hither and thither, blaspheming, and rending one another with contumelious words: and it scarcely failed but that they came to blows, while each cast upon the other the blame for the neglected water. Innocent meanwhile asks that they dismiss such things, and trust in the mercy of God. But when they reply that they were made mad by the burning of thirst, Innocent, pitying their misery, had recourse to his St. Anne, who immediately filled the cask with most cold water, which the sailors, at the command of Innocent, drawing to satiety, put in unharmed to the port of Trapani, and promulgated the miracle.

XV. In like manner, while he was sailing from Palermo to Naples, the sailors had forgotten to take wine, and, as before said, burst into mutual detractions and injuries. Innocent, a prayer being poured out to St. Anne, ordered them to bring forth whatever flowed from the vessel; but there flowed forth most excellent wine, whereas before it was most pure water.

XVI. Likewise, while he was sailing from Sicily to Rome, carried in the same galley in which was the most eminent Cardinal Torres ^d and the lord bishop of Cefalù ^e, water failed all, but especially the rowers; nor, on account of a storm, was there a possibility of reaching land anywhere. They have recourse to the prayers of brother Innocent, which he pouring out to St. Anne, bids sea-water be drawn, and, the sign of the cross being made, rendered it sweet and potable: which miracle the most eminent lord Cardinal and the lord bishop afterward divulged at Rome.

[63] XVII. A certain principal Roman matron suffered in her breast the corrosion of an incurable cancer, and to other sick persons, through the invocation of St. Anne, so great so that the physicians altogether decreed the total amputation of the breast. But the woman had recourse to the prayers of Innocent. He, after he had prayed to St. Anne, the plasters being removed, anointed the breast with the oil of the lamp of St. Anne, sprinkled it with holy water, and covered it with a little cloth. The woman slept well the following night, and when in the morning the physicians returned, as usual, they found the breast entirely healed, stupefied at the miracle.

XVIII. On one occasion he was sailing to Sicily, and, a very great storm arising, the sailors in peril have recourse to his prayers. He bids St. Anne be invoked, if they wish to be safe, and, prayers being poured out, he formed the sign of the cross against the storm, which at once was turned into a most dense rain: nor yet did even a drop touch the little boat of brother Innocent, while the other two, going at the same time, were burdened with a heavy rain.

XIX. But, a new and stronger storm again arising, they were compelled to draw the boats to land in that place in which they could be succored by no human help. Provisions failing, they ask Innocent to provide the necessaries of life, lest they perish together by hunger. He bids them invoke St. Anne, and, a prayer being made, warns them to see what his Little Old Woman had set for them under the prow. They go to see, and find as many white loaves as were necessary until they had escaped the peril.

[64] XX. John Mark Joanellus of Gandino, coming to Rome in the year 1625, he often came to their aid. affected with a grave abscess in the head, lay under peril of death: he takes care to be carried to brother Innocent. Innocent bids him recommend himself to St. Anne; then he forms the sign of the cross on the forehead of the sick man, and, the abscess presently bursting, he recovered. These and very many other prodigies this thaumaturge of Anne wrought by the merits and intercession of the most glorious mother Anne (God assenting): whose eyewitnesses, still surviving, relating the great deeds of the man of God and especially his singular piety toward the divine Anne, I have not rarely, with an intimate sense of my mind, hearkened to; which likewise the Reverend Father Antony Randacius, an Observant Minorite, set down with a faithful pen in his Life of the same ^f.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

Certain more recent miracles which happened through the invocation of St. Anne in Sicily, reduced from an Italian book into a Latin compendium.

Among other miracles which happened in Sicily, The venerable Innocent of Chiusa so greatly promoted the veneration of St. Anne in Sicily that very many inhabitants of that kingdom chose her as their peculiar patroness, and obtained prodigious benefits through her intercession, which the Reverend Father Dominic del Burgio, a Sicilian Minorite, collected in Italian and published at Palermo in the year 1690. But that he may procure due authority for those miracles, before them, chapter 2, pages 24 and 25, he thus prefaces: At Trapani in Sicily piety toward St. Anne is so impressed on the hearts of the citizens that they are often heard to invoke the most sweet name of that Saint, but that devotion especially arose and was increased by the indefatigable zeal of the venerable Innocent of

Chiusa, who was most tenderly affected toward her, and whom therefore the people commonly called Innocent of St. Anne. Thence also to the Convent which at that happy time was being built for our Minorites, the name of St. Anne was given, and to it the aforesaid Innocent from the city of Rome sent the sacred relics of the same Saint, as was said elsewhere. Moreover the miracles which the holy Grandmother of Christ there wrought are innumerable; of which I shall here relate some, which Father Jerome of Salemi, a religious of scrupulous conscience and most excellent life, narrated to me. Nay, I myself, in the month of June of the year 1666, betook myself to Trapani, where the stupendous benefits of St. Anne, which the pious Father Jerome had before narrated to me, were confirmed in my presence, both by our Fathers and by seculars most worthy of credit. We shall here select from the Reverend Father Dominic del Burgio some prodigies, and abridge them from the Italian tongue into Latin.

[66] Gabriel Aydone, a rich merchant of Trapani, from his familiar conversation with the venerable Innocent of Chiusa had conceived a great opinion of the merits of St. Anne, two merchants whom therefore he loved with a most tender affection. When once, on account of urgent business, he had to sail from Sicily to Sardinia, he first commended himself fervently to his Patroness, and boarded a new and most firm ship. Scarcely had he sailed past the island of Hiera ^a, when, lifting his eyes to heaven, he sees three clouds, which threatened an imminent storm. Nevertheless, since the wind was favorable, he exhorted the shipmaster to pursue the begun journey. But he had not yet reached the middle of the Sardinian sea ^b, when a contrary wind arose, so vehement that the sails were torn and the yardarm broken. Then he warned the sailors to invoke St. Anne; but they, wild and despairing, answered that it was now no time for praying, but for looking about whether by swimming they could flee imminent death. Meanwhile he himself commended himself to St. Anne, when the ship was absorbed by the waves, so that none of the sailors escaped from the shipwreck. Gabriel alone survived, who with greater faith and voice, in this extreme peril, implored the help of St. Anne. While he struggles with the waves, he sees St. Anne coming to him upon the waves of the sea, and hears her saying to him: Gabriel, fear not, trust; I am here, to free thee from this peril. These things said, the Saint seized his left arm, and, leading him upon the waters and gently placing him on land, disappeared. Gabriel afterward, returned to Trapani ^c, with great tenderness of mind and not without an abundance of tears, was wont to narrate this prodigy, and by his example vehemently excited the people of Trapani to the cult of St. Anne.

[67] From the same city of Trapani, Paul Marciante, in the month of February of the year 1666, about to set out for Naples on business, by shipwreck boarded the ship of Jerome Confalone. But although the wind favored at the beginning of the voyage, yet in the middle of the journey it changed, and so prevailed that the sailors were compelled to cast the merchandise into the sea. Then, the yardarm being broken and the sails torn, the rudder too was carried away by the vehemence of the winds. Whence all, despairing of saving their life, took care for the safety of their soul. There were in the same ship three religious of the third Order of St. Francis, who exhorted them to implore the mercy of God and to make confession of their sins. While they thus piously prepare themselves for death, the ship struck upon a rock and was broken into two parts. Then each seizes the first wood he meets; but none could escape death, except Paul and his son, who numbered fifteen years of age. He, invoking the most sweet name of Jesus, was placed on the sand by an invisible hand. But Paul, seizing a plank, was tossed hither and thither by the waves, and at length struck upon a certain great piece of wood, so that he was grievously wounded and driven from his plank. At last the wretched shipwrecked man, imploring with living faith the help of St. Anne, felt himself lifted on high, and in a manner unknown to him carried to land. Now set on the shore, he covered his naked body with sand, that he might at least in some measure mitigate the harshness of the snow and the north wind. Meanwhile he poured out continual prayers to St. Anne, and, turning his eyes on every side, at length saw from afar a certain light. Proceeding straight thither, he found in a hut a kind old man, who refreshed him as much as he could, and to whom, with many tears, he set forth the portentous protection of St. Anne.

[68] In a certain district of Sicily which bears the name of St. Margaret, and a boy, from the present peril of drowning, are snatched away. and is situated in the diocese of Agrigento, Catherine di Leo, most devoted to St. Anne, had a little son, by name Didacus, who had entered the sixth year of his age. He, playing in a garden near the house, no one being present, unhappily fell into the water. When the mother had not seen her little son for some time, she ordered him to be sought by the maidservants, who found him in the water, his head reclined upon a piece of a stick. The maidservants, seeing this wonderful position of the boy, called the mother with a great cry, who presently flew up, and, stung by maternal love, went down into the water, the maidservants holding one arm of their mistress. Meanwhile the mother, assiduously invoking St. Anne, drew out her little son alive and joyful, of whom she also asked how it had come about that in so great a space of time he was not drowned. The innocent boy simply answered: A certain old woman clothed in a white garment, and like the image of St. Anne which is seen in the temple of the Minorite Friars at Sambuca, held me above the water, that I should not be drowned. This miracle was often proposed to the people in a sermon, and confirmed by the oath of the boy's mother herself.

[69] An aged widow In the year 1674, at Palermo there was a widow of sixty-five years, by name Mary la Russa, to whom a daughter, dying, had left a little grandson born six months before. But since that widow, on account of poverty, could not have a nurse to feed the infant, she gave him now to one, now to another of the neighboring women to be suckled. But when the neighbors afterward would not do this, the woman, greatly afflicted, had recourse to the patronage of St. Anne, and in the temple of the Franciscans, which has the name of the Misericordia, set forth to her her extreme necessity with most tender tears and prayers. While she prays, she sees a venerable religious (he a few years before had died with a great reputation for sanctity) coming to her and saying: Doubt not, Mary; fix thy hope in St. Anne, and thou shalt receive full consolation. She, thinking that this was some religious of that Franciscan family, who had said this to her out of an affection of compassion, with great confidence returned home. But at midnight the little boy began to weep, and by his tears to indicate thirst or hunger. Then the woman, moved with the greatest affection of compassion, again implored the help of St. Anne with most fervent prayers.

[70] wonderfully suckles her little grandson, O wonderful thing! while the pious old woman pours out prayers, she felt her breasts distended with milk, and, scarcely herself believing it, applies the little grandson to them, and, altogether stupefied and at the same time glad, abundantly suckles him. The next day, about to give thanks to St. Anne, she betakes herself to the temple of the Misericordia, and narrates to the Franciscan Fathers what had happened to her, adding that she had been admonished the day before by a certain father of their family to fix her hope in St. Anne. The superior ordered all the religious of that monastery to appear before the old woman, that he might know who had given her so salutary a counsel. But she asserted that he whom she had seen the day before was not in this number. A few days after, that widow, called to a sick nobleman, at whose house were also some Franciscan Fathers, saw in the sick man's chamber an image of the venerable Vincent Ferrer of that Order, who some years before had piously died, and presently, pointing to him with her finger, said: This is he who exhorted me to place my confidence in St. Anne. This very thing she afterward testified on oath in the palace of the archbishop of Palermo. But that abundance of milk persevered in the breasts of the old woman for five years, as is known to the whole city of Palermo. The very reverend father Joseph Mary of Palermo, superior of the monastery of the Misericordia, and the old woman herself, related to me the said miracle.

[71] In the year 1671 God afflicted the kingdom of Sicily with so great a famine and a woman in time of famine that many inhabitants perished from want. Among others, in the town commonly called Aydone, Josepha di Carnozzo, who had been wont to procure a livelihood for herself and her five sons by sewing, was reduced to extreme necessity. On a certain day the famished boys with tears and sobs asked for bread, which the mother could not supply. Whence, touched with compassion, she had tearful recourse to St. Anne, to whom she had always been devoted, and set forth to her her want in tearful words. Her prayer being made, for grief she covers her face with her hand, and, leaning on her elbow, fell asleep. But, waking shortly, she perceived the odor of fresh bread. Presently she casts her eyes about on every side, and at length in the basket in which the linens and sewing-instruments lay, she found a great loaf, and so fresh as though it had just been drawn from the oven. Wherefore, thanks being given to St. Anne, she abundantly distributed the bread to herself and her sons, and everywhere promulgated the prodigious kindness of her holy Benefactress, so that certain of her neighbors wished to preserve the crumbs of that bread in honor of St. Anne. The reverend father Gabriel di Piazza indicated this miracle to me by letter.

[72] In my country, which in the vernacular is called the land of Burgio, a little girl in blindness, in the month of June of the year 1669, Lucy, five years old, daughter of Joseph Ferrantelli, a notary, was so covered with pustules that, to the highest grief of her parents, she lost her sight. When the industry of the physicians profited nothing, the mother came to the temple of our convent, and, bending her knees before the altar of St. Anne, most ardently prayed the Saint to restore sight to her little daughter. There was by chance near the altar a certain religious of ours, who, desiring to console the sorrowful mother, seizes a little bundle of flowers which had been placed before the image of St. Anne, and gave it to the weeping woman, saying: Carry these flowers to thy little daughter; I hope that St. Anne will show her her mercy. The mother, receiving them with the highest confidence, returned home, and asked all her children with a loud voice: Who desires the flowers of St. Anne? The rest being silent, the blind little daughter answered: Mother, I desire to have them. Then, receiving them with joy, she kissed them, and applied them to her eyes. And lo, at the first touch of the flowers, to the astonishment of the parents and all the bystanders, the little girl recovered her sight. The father, grateful for the benefit, on the next Tuesday, with great solemnity, offered to St. Anne a taper and silver eyes, which even today are seen hanging there, and by the offering of wax, as long as he lived, celebrated the annual memory of this miracle.

[73] When in the year 1671, in the just-mentioned

convent of my country I was dwelling, the author himself in an injury of the eye, and was pruning a certain tree, it happened that a little branch grievously hurt my left eye, into which so many humors flowed that I saw with it nothing or little. Various remedies being applied in vain, I had recourse to St. Anne, and often signed the eye with her sacred relics. But the Saint deferred to console me. At length I fled to the most blessed Virgin Mary, and asked her that, as Mother of God and queen of heaven, she would commend me to her Mother, and bid a perfect faculty of seeing to be restored to me. The sacred rite being finished, full of confidence I approached the lamp burning in the chapel of St. Anne, and anointed the hurt eye with the oil. Then I felt a great itching in the eye, and immediately, the malign humors being also consumed, the white spot which had been in the pupil disappeared. As I departed from the chapel, a physician visited me, to whom I said that I had a little before anointed my eye with the oil of the lamp of St. Anne. But he answered that I had done ill, because that oil was noxious to the eyes. Presently he inspected the eye more curiously, and, seeing it perfectly healed, exhorted me to celebrate the praises of St. Anne, firmly persuading himself that this was not done without a miracle.

[74] and a physician near death At Trapani, about the end of the year 1665, Andrew Mursia, a physician, was oppressed with so grave and perilous a disease that the other physicians ordered him to be fortified with the sacred Viaticum and extreme unction, and altogether despaired of his life. But the sick man, remembering the benefits of St. Anne, to whom he had always been devoted, asked that her sacred relics be brought to him from our convent. The guardian, who was then the Reverend Father Joseph Mary of Termini, sent with a companion Father Jerome of Salemi, to carry the desired relics. The sick man, kissing the sacred remains with great reverence and tender affection, commended himself to the patronage of St. Anne. Then those two Minorites, being asked by the sick man himself and by the bystanders, left the relics, enclosed in a little box, there, and returned to the convent. Afterward the Reverend Father Guardian, visiting him, opened the reliquary, from which the sick man saw a great splendor coming forth, and perceived from that vision a sweet consolation. The disease growing worse after a few hours, the sick man seemed brought to the last term of life, so that the household began now to be solicitous about his burial and funeral.

[75] experience the help of St. Anne. But lo, at midnight, when he was now thought about to die, St. Anne appeared to him: seeing whom, before all the religious who were preparing him to meet death piously, he asked his mother, weeping there: Who is that old woman? But the mother answering that there was no old woman there, the sick man said: Behold her by me! The bystanders, hearing this, thought that he was delirious, or vexed by a diabolical temptation, as often happens in the last article of life. Then St. Anne manifested herself all splendid, and, a blessing being given him, disappeared, leaving the sick man perfect health and heavenly consolation. The physicians, this prodigy being understood, came to him with many nobles, to hear the miracle from his own mouth, and together with him to give thanks to St. Anne for his recovered health. When I was afterward at Trapani, Andrew Mursia himself narrated to me, with most tender tears, this stupendous benefit conferred on him, and let no day of his life pass without visiting St. Anne in our temple. These few miracles I have chosen out of many. He who understands the Italian tongue will find more of this kind in the praised Dominic.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

A gleaning of miracles from various Latin books.

[76] Josephus Geldolphus a Ryckel, abbot of St. Gertrude at Louvain, in his Phylacterium, tract 7, §30, among other glories of St. Anne mentions the following miracle: There is at Bruges in Flanders a Charterhouse of nuns of St. Anne, St. Anne in which the cult of St. Anne flourishes and has flourished from time immemorial, on account of the great benefits which the sacred virgins receive from her patronage and intercession: among which not the least is that which is read inscribed on a hanging tablet at the very first entrance of the front part of the temple: Mary Ouseils, a religious, detained by a long-lasting languor, could neither guide her steps with a staff nor rise from her bed for even the little time in which she was wont to hear the divine service: but by others' feet, by others' hands, entombed before her funeral, she was carried in a sheet to all those duties which either necessity or piety required. The bedridden woman, powerless in body but not in mind, there being still alive in her a little fire of fervor and of most excellent confidence in St. Anne, ordered herself to be set down, in her very wrappings, before the greater altar of the temple, which is dedicated to St. Anne: where, when she had prayed more profusely in a vehement spirit, in a moment she felt strength poured back into her, and heard from the very image of St. Anne, as it were, a certain voice saying to her: Rise, take up thy pallet, and be whole.

[77] And without delay; she rose from the place, all being amazed, to a paralytic nun, to whom she met sound and safe, carrying her own bier, in which before she was borne. Nor had the convent to be summoned from far to the spectacle: for, returning from the common tribune, it found her leaping to meet it and rejoicing in the Lord over so unusual a divine benefit, which she herself scarcely comprehended. Thanks are rendered in common, first for her restoration, then also for so great a condescension of the divine piety. The whole matter was faithfully reported in the acts, and handed down to perennial memory by hands and record: even today this benefit is celebrated in the same house, whereby both hope for the future and confidence in God and the Saint are always nourished, not without fruit of souls and immense exuberance of merits.

[78] Our John Nadasi, in the Marian Annals of the Society of Jesus, number 373, relates a benefit to a barren marriage, to a lame man, which in the year 1601, as he notes in the margin, seems to have been obtained by the patronage of St. Anne. The cult of St. Anne, mother of the most blessed Virgin, he says, is a noble augmentation of the cult of the Mother of God herself, and so is earnestly to be persuaded to others also. Father Alphonsus Cordeses persuaded a senator of Seville, sorrowful over the barren marriage of his only son, to worship St. Anne, the mother of the Mother of God, diligently: for so it would come about that within about the space of a year he would gladly see a grandson from his son; and at the same time he taught him the manner of worshiping her. The senator obeyed the counsel, and, before the yearly interval had elapsed, saw a grandson from the marriage hitherto sorrowful and unfruitful, and rejoiced. Then, number 689, he mentions the devotion with which our venerable Louis de la Puente followed St. Anne. Finally, number 729, he thus commemorates another benefit: Father Joseph Scammacca, being asked to pray for a certain man who had a foot already given up by the physicians, said that the help of St. Anne was necessary. There was present with the sick man, in those very days, a grave matron, and, the foot being inspected, she signed it with the cross, suggested I know not what medicine, and departed. That kind of medicine seemed wonderful to others; the sick man, however, that he might try everything, did not omit it, and immediately recovered.

[79] to a mute woman The oft-praised John Thomas of St. Cyril, in the Mater Honorificata, chapter 35, §2, on occasion of the mountain of Austria which bears the name of St. Anne, as we said above in the historical Commentary, number 70, narrates the following miracle: But it happened about the year of salvation 1633 that a woman, a citizen of Vienna, Maria Rottenstetterin by name, lost her speech for a whole seven years, so that she was rendered utterly mute; at length, turning, for her desired safety, to the common preserver of her country, nay of the whole world universally, the Virgin, she made a suppliant and hasty journey to her miraculous shrine, situated amid the precipices of the mountains of Styria, commonly called Maria ZELL, for the sake of a vow made. She came, fulfilled the vow; and because, being mute, she could not with lengthy prayers, with deep sighs and strong groans rising from the very bottom of her heart she cries more forcibly to the Mother of mercy and multiplies her vows: but the Mother of graces dissembles to hear and to grant these prayers and vows of the mute and tongueless woman, because, as a pious Daughter, she was reserving this great glory to the pious and truly gracious mother Anne. On her return, therefore, she had recourse to St. Anne, and went up her mountain in the hope of the grace to be supplied by the Mother (which the Daughter had denied), enters the temple, prostrates herself a suppliant before the high altar, which exhibits the miraculous statue of this Glorious one, groans, sighs, and multiplies her vows. And behold for thee a prodigious thing! according to her hope and vow, the grace of speech, which the Daughter, most pious toward her Mother, had piously denied, she at length piously obtains from the thrice pious and blessed Mother.

[80] and to nuns in necessity The same writer, in the work just cited, chapter 35, §8, sets forth various aids of St. Anne in these words: Coesfeld in Westphalia, next after Münster, the metropolis of the same diocese a chief city, in the year 1470 admitted two full sisters, noble virgins, sprung from the castle of Stammern, distant thence a Westphalian mile, that they might begin a religious life under the third rule of the holy father Francis, virgins of a like purpose being joined to them from there. The knights of Horst, applauding their two nieces, the first canonesses, for the raising of a cloistral house, by way of donation conferred on them their court situated at Coesfeld. A little church grew up by strong work in the year 1490, consecrated by Henry of Schwarzenburg, archbishop of Bremen, administrator of Münster, to the honor of the most glorious mother Anne. A thousand imperials, received by way of loan, they had poured out on the fabric of this chapel and their dwelling. But when the nuns were pressed for payment, and no means shone forth, with constant confidence and fiery prayers they had recourse to the protection of the gracious mother Anne: nor was the blessing deferred, but abundant alms accrued heaped up, so that they more quickly freed themselves from debt. Which being done, the ministress of the house, referring the benefit of payment as received from St. Anne, hung on the base of the image of St. Anne the redeemed instrument of obligation with pious gratitude, three tapers being lighted before the same.

[81] Then, when a restoration of the cloistral workshops and of the fitting furniture was desired, she affords wondrous help. a traveler in the guise of a pilgrim knocks at the doors, holds out to the portress a little bundle swollen with silver and sealed, to be handed to the mistress of the house, and immediately disappears. Besides, at the end of the sixteenth century first, then in the thirteenth year of the following century, the town-house adjoining the convent is consumed by fire a second time; but on the side of the dwelling

of the sisters, an image of St. Anne three feet long is set opposite on each occasion, and presently the devouring flame grew faint, that it might not creep further. On the other side of the cloister, in the year 1640, when a Hessian garrison was burdening the city, fire secretly introduced through malice, no one perceiving it, consumes the cattle-shed; but, recourse being had to the same image of St. Anne, it ceased to harm the cloistral buildings set opposite on either side. In sum, in various straits, in loss of the goods of fortune, and in perils of the soul, the aids and present solaces of the maternal kindness of St. Anne were most frequently at hand to the inhabitants of the place who piously invoked her.

[82] Then the same author, in the same place, cites Ramusio, in the third volume of the voyages to the new world, in the Indian history, book 20, The same Saint, to certain persons in an American voyage chapter 11, from which he relates the following prodigy in this manner: When the lord Alfonso Zuazo, licentiate, formerly governor in the island of Cuba, was sailing toward New Spain with many, after a long journey accomplished through the raging waves of the vast Ocean, tossed by various storms and tempests, and often prodigiously snatched from shipwreck by the help of the merciful God, at length, all victuals being exhausted, he was reduced to the utmost straits, so that very many of his men perished from hunger and thirst: and those who remained were so exhausted and spent with parching thirst that they could scarcely utter a faint voice. Then indeed they put in to a certain island, where they were compelled to feed on the raw flesh of marine animals and to quench their burning thirst with the foul and horrid gore of turtles. Amid these things the aforesaid licentiate, as he was a man of singular uprightness and prudence, ceased not by word and example to exhort each one, that with hot tears, most profound sighs, humble vows and prayers, they should strive to entreat the most kind God and bend Him to mercy. There were among them some who uttered vows of religion; others who vowed a vow of perpetual chastity; others who with other suppliant vows implored heavenly help.

[83] At length God, thrice best, most pious, bent by their humble supplications, driven almost to death by thirst deigned to succor them, through the most glorious mother Anne, with most agreeable solace and help, in this manner. There was in this company a certain humble and devout virgin, Agnes by name, who, when she came to her last, now about to yield to fate, suddenly began with a cheerful voice to address the bystanders and to say: There came to me a certain matron of the highest and most reverend majesty, shining with incomparable beauty and splendor like the sun, surrounded with a most precious garment of white and green color, who deigned to address me with these most gracious and joy-filled words: "I am Anne, mother of Mary the Mother of the Son of God. Do thou therefore, daughter, tell that licentiate that, this island being left, he cross over as quickly as possible to another nearer one, and I will there give him and his companions living water, clear and sweet to drink." Which also was done: for when, according to the words of the mouth of St. Anne, they had set out for the said island, they began eagerly and hastily to dig up the earth even with their very nails.

[84] she shows sweet water, Scarcely had they dug the earth to the depth of one cubit, when immediately they behold sweet and clear water leap forth and flow abundantly, with incredible joy of mind. This was indeed a singular miracle; since in more than two thousand places in every direction they had dug up the earth, yet nowhere but in this place do sweet waters spring: and, most sweetly refreshed and recreated by the drinking of this prodigious water, they conveniently sustained their life throughout the whole space of one hundred and thirty-five days during which they stayed there. But before they tasted even a little of it, the said lord licentiate, taking a marine shell, filled it with water, saying: "Let no one drink, before we pour out and immolate from it to God and glorious Anne a token and sacrifice of a grateful mind, as did king David, who would not drink the water from the cistern of Bethlehem, but poured it out to the Lord." And these things said, raising the shell, he scattered the water through the air in the form of a cross, pouring it out and offering it to the Lord. But at length, the Powers above favoring, after overcoming six hundred perils of life, he happily reached the desired port with his men. Moreover, that the greatness of this miracle and of the beneficence of God might appear more evidently, it came to pass, while the licentiate was preparing his departure from the island, that that water, pure and sweet, which had sprung forth for their use granted from heaven, returned to its primeval origin, and was rendered wholly salt, as being marine: for the most kind God willed to demonstrate that provision had been mercifully made only for their necessity, which, when it no longer pressed, He suffered to return to its own nature.

[85] and drives the plague from the city of Dijon. By way of an appendix I here add the vow which the citizens of Dijon uttered on account of the plague driven from their city by the merits of St. Anne, and which Claude Robert, in the Gallia Christiana, treating of the bishops of Langres, page 393, thus transcribed from the archive of the city: In the year of the incarnate Word 1531, on the 7th day of the month of September, the citizens of Dijon, gathered into one in their public assembly, together with the venerable ecclesiastical lords, vowed a vow to God, on account of the plague pressing upon their city, and which had already for many years vexed them and still vexed them, with the consent and authority of the venerable lord master Nicolas Gaultier, cantor of the Holy Chapel and vicar general of the Reverend Father in Christ and lord Claude de Longwy, bishop-duke of Langres and peer of France, to celebrate every year the feast of the divine Anne, mother of the virgin Mary, solemnly, with that cult and honor with which the solemnity of the Lord's resurrection is wont to be celebrated by the faithful of Christ with the reception of the sacred Eucharist: which, that it might be duly done and observed in perpetuity, it was decreed by the aforesaid lords that a solemn procession be made every year on the Sunday, or feast, immediately preceding the feast of St. Anne, as it should seem good to the ecclesiastical lords, whereby the preacher of the aforesaid procession, in his sermon, should admonish each of the citizens to fulfill their vow, as they uttered it, namely that each one perform his duty of confessing his sins, that he may worthily receive the sacred Eucharist on the day of the solemnity of the divine Anne, lest the Lord be provoked on account of vows not paid as they were promised, and lest God suffer the aforesaid citizens to relapse into a like peril of plague, in which they were when they uttered the said vow: from which peril they were freed, the vow being uttered, by the merits and intercessions of the divine Anne; which may God, best and greatest, avert, who lives and reigns in perfect Trinity forever and ever. Amen.