Peter Jeremiah

CONCERNING BLESSED PETER JEREMIAH, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS, AT PALERMO IN SICILY, IN THE YEAR 1452.

Peter Jeremiah, of the Order of Preachers, at Palermo in Sicily (Blessed)

[1] The Life of Blessed Peter Jeremiah was published from an ancient codex among the Lives of the Sicilian Saints by Octavius Caietanus, our colleague, but he adds that its diction ought to have been entirely changed. The author was a learned and prudent man, Blessed Peter Jeremiah's Life written by a contemporary: a member of the same Order of Preachers as Blessed Peter, who lived with him in the same monastery of Saint Zita at Palermo. Concerning himself, in note 7 of Caietanus's edition, the writer of the Life says: Immediately after Blessed Peter's death I had to go to the General Superior of the Order: and although I heard of many miracles at the sepulchre, I wished to commit to memory only those of which I was myself a spectator and witness. Which Caietanus seems to have found in a Prologue which he did not publish: and below in the Life at number 26 the same things are confirmed by these words: It was my intention to narrate these two miracles out of so many which I myself SAW. We present this Life distinguished and illustrated in our customary manner.

[2] veneration and the title of Blessed: That veneration was shown to this man after his death with the appellation of Blessed is revealed in the same Life: also that his body was placed in an elevated marble sepulchre, and above it his likeness was depicted: whence Michael Pius gathers in book 3 of Illustrious Men of the Order of Preachers, chapter 18, that this Blessed man had a face full of cheerful beauty, with a high forehead filled with wrinkled lines, a concave chin, a somewhat snub nose with a rather small mouth. That he wore a cape with a small hood, and a scapular a full palm's width shorter than the cape itself: moreover, the same Pius adds that he is held among the Blessed of that island. The same things had been written before by Maurice de Gregorio, a Sicilian, in his Blessed Island of Sicily of the Order of Saint Dominic, and he places this Blessed man first before the rest. With the Martyrology of the sacred Order of Preachers, published in the year 1616 by order of Seraphinus Siccus, General Master of the Order, a list of certain Blessed Martyrs and Confessors of the same Order was printed, and among the Blessed Confessors the following is read: Brother Peter Jeremiah died at Palermo after many outstanding monuments of sanctity and miracles.

[3] That he is held among the Blessed is confirmed by Anthony of Siena in the Chronicle of the Order, books written by him: and in the Library of the Order he adds the following: Brother Peter Jeremiah, a Sicilian by nation, a man of clear intellect, eloquent in speech, conspicuous for uprightness of life, famous in his time for his sermons to the people and learned in every respect, wrote sermons on the temporal cycle throughout the year, on the Saints and for Sundays, on Penance and Sins, on Faith, on the Passion of the Lord, and twenty-five most complete and erudite Sermons on the Lord's Prayer.

[4] Maurice de Gregorio, a Sicilian, and Michael Pius report that this inscription was added to the sepulchre: epitaph: The bones of the most distinguished Father, Brother Peter Jeremiah, are placed in this sepulchre: to whom his learning and the sanctity of his life gave an eternal name, and brought glorious praise to the Order of Preachers: he died on the fifth day before the Nones of March, 1452, from Jesus Christ. Octavius Caietanus in note 8 to this Life refers to the said inscription and denies that it still exists, perhaps having been removed long ago, and that an eulogy substituted for it is now read there of this kind: Blessed Peter de Jeremia, of Palermo, of the Order of Preachers, rests here, famous for his learning and the glory of his miracles: who while he lived was the ornament of Theologians, second to none, as his manuscript and printed works demonstrate: and how great his merit is before God, those continual miracles testify which the Lord works through him. He happily fell asleep in the Lord on the Nones of March 1452. Indeed we think the fifth day before the Nones of March should be written: since Caietanus himself adds that this Life should be referred to this third day of March, and from the Chronicle of the Order and the manuscript records of the monastery he inscribed it in the Sicilian Martyrology with these words: At Palermo, in the monastery of Saint Zita, the falling asleep of Blessed Peter Jeremiah, of the Order of Preachers of Saint Dominic. Caietanus reports the same things, the name in the sacred fasti: as does

Ferrarius in his General Catalogue of Saints.

[5] Finally, an iron belt is preserved with veneration at Palermo in the same monastery: Iron belt: we saw it with admiration (these are the words of Caietanus) made of five circles or rods of iron, each the thickness of a finger: which iron belt Blessed Peter wore continually while he lived: for once put on, it was not permitted to be removed: for it was woven or fastened together with such skill that it could be neither tightened nor loosened. Indeed, the flesh of the growing youth grew over the iron: and so when he perspired, the sweat would flow out mingled with the rust of the iron. Nor could it be removed from the deceased until thirty days after his death, when the body had dried out. One circle removed from that belt one circle of it carried to Bologna. was carried by Paul Constabili, General Master of the entire Order, to Bologna, to the monastery in which Blessed Peter had laid the deep foundations of his virtues.

LIFE

Peter Jeremiah, of the Order of Preachers, at Palermo in Sicily (Blessed)

BHL Number: 6713

CHAPTER I.

The birth, studies, and religious state of Blessed Peter.

[1] Blessed Peter of noble birth: Peter Jeremiah, born at Palermo of noble stock in the year of salvation one thousand three hundred and eighty-one, had as his father Arduino, most learned in both laws and a Patron of the treasury, under the reign of King Alfonso of both Sicilies: his mother was a lady of the first rank, from the noble family of the Nigri. He cultivated Piety from his earliest years: he spent his boyhood not in games and jests, but in the study of Grammar and Dialectic. When he reached his eighteenth year, he was sent to Bologna, so that, following in his father's footsteps, trained in various studies: he might bring honor to his family with the same arts as his father. Having stayed there a full year, on account of the keenness of his intellect and the great effort he devoted to letters, he progressed to such a point that he far surpassed the other youths pursuing the same studies, and sometimes played the part of the public Professor in that Academy, whenever the latter was detained by illness or some other impediment, not without the great applause of his audience.

[2] While he was engaged in these arts with such great praise and did not relax his effort in learning, warned by the apparition of a condemned kinsman, he was divinely admonished to turn his mind away from them. For when he was keeping vigil in the dead of night as was his custom, intent on his studies, he suddenly felt the window being knocked at, to his great annoyance: at which, as happens, struck by fear, he first trembled, was uncertain about everything, and suspected all manner of things: then, when he had collected himself from his fright, he said: "Who are you, after all, who knock so annoyingly?" To which he heard the reply: "I am your kinsman, not unversed in both Laws. Many have used me as their advocate, but I did not take my own counsel, though others consulted me: and I, who even gave some people deceitful advice, did not wish, out of the greatest folly, to guard against the most hostile enemies of the human race, from whom it was most important to do so: and so I departed this life not as an advocate but as a defendant, about to pay eternal penalties for my ill-undertaken advocacy. But you, if you would listen to me, or rather to God Himself, by whom I am sent to bring you this message, flee the ornaments and insignia of this fleeting glory and of the doctorate." Having said this, he vanished.

[3] But Peter, who was nearly lifeless, as soon as he came to himself, counting this as the highest kind of benefit, immediately, most eager to obey the divine warnings, about to embrace the religious life: began to think about a new way of life. Therefore he determined to enter a religious family, wishing to dedicate and consecrate to God the purity which he had preserved intact up to that day. Indeed, in order to stand by his promises, not unaware of the insolence of the flesh lusting against the spirit, he ordered an iron belt weighing nearly fourteen pounds to be made for himself, he girds himself with an iron belt: by which he might subdue his body and restrain its depraved impulses.

[4] From there he went straight to Saint Dominic's and, throwing himself at the feet of the Superior, begged for the sacred vestments with tears. Having obtained his wish, he put off the old man and put on the new: He enters the Order of Saint Dominic: Nor was his father unaware of his son's resolution: immediately upon hearing the news, Arduino, seized with fury, set out for Bologna to drag the novice out by force and bring him back to Sicily, adorned with the Doctor's honor. But things happened contrary to what he expected. For when he had arrived at Bologna, he immediately asked the doorkeeper about Peter's health, saying that he was greatly consumed with the desire to see him, and begging and beseeching that he be allowed to speak with his son, for which purpose he had made so long and dangerous a journey. He was kindly heard: the matter was reported to the Superior, and Peter was given permission to speak with his father. he does not wish to speak with his hostile father: But Peter said: "Go, tell my father that I am well; there is nothing more for him to seek: let him only wish me well." Then immediately he went to the Superior, asked him to go and meet his father in person and console him; he himself was occupied with domestic and pious exercises, and could not give attention to this matter even if he wished, nor would he wish to even if he could. Admiring the youth's virtue and constancy, the Superior praised his resolve, then bade him be of good cheer, saying that he would satisfy his father. When the father saw that conversation and meeting with his son were denied him, he seethed, raged, and ranted: then he accused his son of impiety and the Brothers of boorishness. The Superior, on the other hand, warned him not to give too much to paternal love: nor to turn so quickly to insults: and since he was now too angry, he should go away, lay aside his anger, and come back to him again before leaving Bologna: it would turn out that he would not leave empty-handed and would return happy to Sicily.

[5] Indeed this matter caused no little distress to Peter, he allows himself to be seen: who for fifteen whole days sought help from God with prayers, fasts, and tears, no less anxious about his father's salvation than his own. But the same love called Arduino back to the monastery that had first summoned him from Sicily. Therefore a few days later he tried the unfinished business again, and having first complained in the gravest words about the injury, he asked again and again that, if he might not at least speak to his son, he might certainly see him: let them grant this to a man who had never deserved ill of religious men anywhere, let them grant to a father what they would not dare to deny even to a stranger. It was with difficulty obtained from Peter that he should allow himself to be seen from afar, from a corner of the cloister: and his father, gazing upon him, saw such modesty and piety shining in the youth's face that, immediately turning from anger to tears, raising his hands to heaven, he gave immortal thanks to God and wished his son well. won over to goodwill, he speaks with him: Afterwards, when he was about to return to Sicily, and permission for conversation was granted, he not only did not discourage him from his undertaking, but even exhorted him at great length to virtue and piety.

CHAPTER II.

Priesthood. Sermons. Reforms of morals. Apparitions.

[6] Made a Priest, But Peter, when he felt himself free from these troubles, began to guard against the snares of the demons much more vigilantly than before, to devote himself to prayers, and to take vengeance upon his own body, now with fasts, now with beatings. Having professed Religion in the year one thousand four hundred and one, he was initiated into Holy Orders to the incredible delight of all, and having completed the course of studies, since he wished above all to provide for the salvation of his neighbors, he began to deliver sacred sermons with the utmost earnestness and great stirring of hearts: he preaches with great zeal: very many were brought back to good ways through his efforts, and the confessions of many were immediately heard by him after the sermon. Saint Vincent Ferrer approved Peter's zeal in this kind of work encouraged by the words and example of Saint Vincent Ferrer, in the year one thousand four hundred and sixteen, when, two years before he departed from the living, he had come to Bologna to visit the body of Blessed Dominic: and when Peter, together with the other Brothers, approached to kiss the hands of the man of God, Saint Vincent, having been informed of the pious life of Peter Jeremiah, fixed his eyes upon him, embraced and kissed him, and exhorted him not to desist from what he had begun. Strengthened both by the speech and moved by the example of so great a man, Peter pressed the work more vehemently and followed in the footsteps of Saint Vincent Ferrer; he stirs all Italy with his sermons: so that in a short time he filled nearly all of Italy with the fame of his name, teaching and hearing confessions with the greatest fruit for souls. Sent in the year one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven by Master Brother Bartholomew Texerius to Sicily, to restore the discipline that had gradually lapsed on that island, he is summoned to the Council of Florence: and not without success. A few years later, he was summoned by Pope Eugene IV to the Council of Florence; and when the Pontiff wished to honor both his integrity of character and his eloquence, especially in confuting the errors of the Greeks, with many grades of honor, he could not be induced, with the modesty that characterized the man, to accept such adornment.

[7] he is made Visitor of Sicily: When the Council was dismissed, he returned to Sicily as General Visitor by Apostolic authority: having modestly discharged that office, he at length chose as his residence the monastery of Saint Zita at Palermo, he resides at Palermo, recently erected by certain Aragonese and Majorcan Fathers. He took as his companion Brother Peter of Majorca, a man of the highest intellect and proven virtue: zealous for poverty: he would attempt nothing without consulting him and confided all his secrets to him. And although the house could have been continually augmented with new estates, by the generosity of those to whom the fame of so great a man had reached, he most steadfastly rejected them, preferring poverty to riches, zealous for the more austere life.

[8] He then resumed the preaching office which he had intermitted for various reasons. It is marvelous what throngs of people of every age and station flocked to him: he preaches with great attendance, often, in order to satisfy the people, since the larger churches could not hold the immense crowd, he delivered sermons in the open area of the shore, or of the Palace, or before the doors of the great cathedral. For as he was a man of prudence and keen intellect, so he was fluent in speech and supremely effective in delivery: from his sermons, wondrous things followed. When he was preaching in the square of the great cathedral and had said much to this effect -- "As from the face of a serpent, flee from sin" -- turning his speech to angry men, he deterred them from that vice with a great voice and strong lungs. Ecclesiasticus 21:2 One man heard him who was lying in wait at the doors of the Palace, absent from the place of the sermon, to kill his enemy; for he was about two hundred and fifty paces from the place of the sermon. and amendment of men: And when he recognized that he above all others was the target of that speech, he immediately changed his mind and laid aside his enmities along with his anger: and he narrated the whole affair as it had occurred to Peter after the sermon was over.

[9] Not entirely dissimilar to this was the following. Peter was about to speak at the maritime fortress, and a great crowd of people had gathered there

early in the morning with thirsting ears: suddenly freed from hoarseness, but the flow of humor from his brain had nearly robbed him of the power of speech: yet neither hope nor courage deserted him, though his voice had. Several tried to dissuade him from his intention, to whom Peter replied: "Be confident: the Lord will give the word to those who evangelize with great power." And when he had ascended the pulpit so afflicted that he could scarcely utter the Angelic Salutation, yet even in the very exordium he used such a voice that he was heard not only from the sermon itself -- which would itself have been worthy of admiration -- he is heard by those at a great distance: but also by those who were about five hundred paces away: and these especially confessed that they had heard a preacher of God sent from heaven.

[10] These things contributed greatly to Peter's name and fame, and no less to winning the goodwill and favor of the citizens. And they venerated not only him as he walked through the streets of the city: he wields great authority: but many, especially merchants, went out to meet the Brothers of the monastery of Saint Zita with bared heads, and kindly supplied everything that pertained either to his use or to that of his brethren: to which services the man, not ungrateful, responded by giving counsel, settling enmities, and composing disputes.

[11] Although he ought especially to have rested from these labors, yet he rose at the Matins hours, and spent the rest of the time until the first light of dawn in divine meditations and prayers in the oratory. a soul appears to him It happened, while he was occupied with these things on a certain night, that he saw a certain Brother of his, who had died the day before, coming toward him, having come forth from his tomb, clad in mourning garments, and exhausted with great labor. he rescues a soul from the fire of Purgatory: When this apparition asked him to offer the Holy Sacrifice and bring aid to a man afflicted with the greatest torments of Purgatorial fire, Peter promised to do everything for his sake: and having fulfilled his promises, and having offered the Sacrifice of the Mass for his soul, the following night he saw the same man thanking him, and his soul departing as if from the sepulchre and hastening to heaven in the likeness of a white dove.

[12] Nor shall I pass over this, which is especially pertinent to this place. he sees souls being carried to heaven by Angels: By chance he was making a journey through Gebelrussa on the nineteenth day before the Kalends of September, which day is devoted to the Assumption of the Virgin; he found there a large crowd of people in the church of the Blessed Mary, who, as is the custom each year, had gathered there for the sake of religion. It pleased Peter also to linger for a while in that same place: when he rose from his prayers, he learned through a vision that Angels were descending into a certain cave and were wholly occupied in transferring souls from it to heaven. Having found in this an occasion for delivering a sermon, he wonderfully inflamed his hearers to the beauty of virtue: then he ordered the bodies of several women to be extracted from the cave, he has the bodies transferred: women who had been killed by robbers because of their zeal for preserving their virginity; since those women, as had been revealed to him, had preferred to lose their lives rather than their chastity.

in the Bull of Canonization to have died on Wednesday before Palm Sunday, the fifth of April, therefore in the year 1419, in which, with the Dominical letter A, Easter was celebrated on April 16. He is variously said to have died in the year 1418, because the French then began the year at Easter.

c Caietanus notes

that many monasteries of the Order were reformed: especially the Palermitan monastery of Saint Zita, the Catanian, the Mamertine monastery of Saint Benedict, the Alcamese, the Caccabese: if indeed all these were monasteries at that time, as is clear from the Palermitan one here.

of Lucca. Under her name, a hospice of the Lucchese had earlier been built at Palermo, which was then changed into a monastery of the Order of Preachers. Not far from there stood another church of Saint Dominic and a monastery of his Order attached to it. Fazello treats of these in the first decade of Sicilian Affairs, book 8, in the fourth part of the city of Palermo.

CHAPTER III.

His governance of the monastery of Saint Zita and of the novices. Miracles. Death.

[13] As Prior of the monastery of Saint Zita, it is incredible to relate how prudently and humbly he conducted himself in its administration: he administers the monastery with outstanding virtue: always found to be the same man he had been before: nor did he relax anything of his former zeal and pious exercises in the midst, as it were, of the great press of occupations. Never angry at anyone, kind to all: every night he assembled the community of Brothers: but in his reproofs he was gentle, in his admonitions effective, sweet in his manner of address: he wearied no one, he inflamed all to divine love. In short, he was such that all both loved him as a father and venerated him as a Bishop.

[14] On a certain Friday when he had nothing at home with which to feed the Brothers, rebuffed when in need, he was carried by a small boat to the tuna fisheries (they commonly call it Arenella, which is two miles from the city), and asked the owner, who was about to slaughter a great number of tuna, for something by way of alms. The man, not urbane, refused, and was moreover angry, receiving the innocent man with many harsh words, and complaining about the insatiable greed, as it seemed to him, of religious men. Peter bore the response with moderation: then, raising his eyes to heaven, he begged help from God: he trusts in God: he had done his duty, and had obtained nothing: therefore let God Himself, who was able, come to the aid of His own. His prayers were heard. He had scarcely departed from that place when the fish, all of them to the last one from his nets (they nearly filled out a thousand in number), avenging their master's avarice, escaped. When the man learned of this, and recognized Peter's sanctity, from the man previously punished, he immediately boarded a small vessel, followed the man, and, prostrate at his knees, earnestly begged him to pardon so grave an offense. The modest and prudent man marveled: and aided by prayers, then, lest the man be distressed, he said that he had suffered no injury; each man is master of his own goods. But the man begged again that he bless the sea and the fisheries: the man's request was granted. As he returned, the fishermen came out to meet him with congratulations, he receives alms: telling him to put away his sadness, that all was well, and the fish had returned. They were all caught and killed: and from their number some were sent to Peter: and to him, by no means forgetful of the benefit, the fisherman attributed all that he had caught.

[15] he hears one speaking softly at a distance: While he was walking about the cloister deep in thought, a certain merchant asked the Fathers whether Peter needed anything, in so low a voice that he could scarcely be heard by those with whom he was speaking; Peter, from the other side of the cloister, responded that he lacked only the grace of God and needed nothing else besides: which was done to the great amazement of all. Having experienced such great generosity from others toward himself and his brethren, generous toward the poor: and being by nature especially inclined to mercy, he devoted himself to relieving the poverty of the wretched. On the feast day of Saint Zita, he was accustomed to invite the poor to dinner and to wait on them himself: to be ready for beggars at the door, and sometimes, while sitting at table, to send away the bread set before him: to whatever extent a greater abundance of things was available.

[16] Nor was Peter's gentleness of spirit in pardoning injuries any less than his liberality in giving. It is a well-known report he pardons an injury, with a miracle: that when he had rebuked a man for his crime, he was struck with a slap and bore such great ignominy with equanimity. Immediately the arm of the one who struck him withered: at which portent the man, coming to his senses, begged pardon from the holy man and his prayers to God. When Peter had pardoned the injury, beseeching God, he restored by his prayers the former use and function of the arm.

[17] These things were accomplished mostly during his Priorate, and when he had resigned from it, he was appointed Master of Novices: whom he stirred by his example and speech to contempt for passing things and love for what is eternal. he directs the novices. But having gone to Catania for the purpose of preaching, he asked in the Chapter that he be allowed to lay down this charge, so that he might devote a freer effort to disseminating the word of God: and it was easily granted.

[18] While he was staying here in the year one thousand four hundred and forty-four, when fire had erupted from Mount Etna and was flowing toward Catania, at Catania he helps in the eruption of Etna: threatening destruction to the city, Peter was chosen, on account of his outstanding holiness, to carry the veil of the holy Martyr Agatha, with a procession of the clergy and the people, against the conflagration rushing toward the city; and the fire, reverencing both the mighty merits of the holy Martyr and the piety of Peter, turned its course elsewhere, and twenty days later was entirely extinguished.

[19] Having then returned to Palermo, when he had arrived at the monastery of Saint Zita, he heard a woman weeping and wailing: he raises a girl from the dead. when he inquired what the matter was, they reported that a girl had fallen into a well and had been pulled out dead. To this Peter said: "She is not dead." Then he ordered her to be carried to the church of Saint Zita, and having shut out all witnesses, after the space of one hour spent in prayers, he restored the girl to life and the girl to her mother, adding: "The girl was not dead, but sleeping" -- which we know Christ the Lord said about Lazarus and the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue. John 11:11 Mark 5:39

[20] Nor was he lacking to the public welfare of the city, who was so concerned about private matters. The city was oppressed by a shortage of grain: the citizens, bereft of all hope, since grain could not be imported in a public crisis, either by sea, which was agitated by winds and storms, or by land, because of rain and rivers overflowing their banks, were presenting a danger to the Praetor and the Senators. These, struck with fear, took refuge with Peter, and set forth the calamity of their country, the unrest of the citizens, and their own peril. To them he said: "Put away your grief; before the sun sets, God will have provided, with grain imported in abundance into the city." Having consoled the men with these words, he dismissed them and gave himself to prayer: and as soon as he rose from prayer, turning toward the sea with a cheerful face, he saw a ship so battered by the winds he obtains a supply of grain by his prayers: that in everyone's judgment it was about to be dashed against the land and wrecked. Again prayers were poured out by him: soon the ship, beyond all hope, put in to port, and to the great joy of all freed the citizens from famine.

[21] While praying he was often seen raised up from the ground; when the Superior saw by night a brightness issuing from the cracks of his door, he is raised up while praying: thinking the cell was on fire, he broke open the door and found Peter intent on prayer, who, as if roused from sleep, had nothing to say, nor did he complain about the violence done to his door.

[22] Afflicted throughout his entire life by various diseases, and especially by a very great pain in his legs, he showed no outward sign of distress. Patient in illness: Indeed, whenever the pain was relieved, he was seen to weep, and when asked the reason, he replied: "I see God withdrawing His hand from me." Sent again to Catania to fulfill the office of preacher, he was received and heard by all as though he were a man fallen from heaven, but since his health was poor there, he was forced to return to Palermo to his own monastery, against the wishes of the Catanians, who wept at his departure.

[23] As the disease now grew worse day by day, and he was suffering severely from diarrhea and the greatest pain in his legs,

so that he was unable to stand, before he took to his bed he wished to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice. he celebrates his last Mass: When he had descended into the Sacristy, turning to the Fathers, he said: "This is the last one I shall offer." For the entire month that he lay ill, he gave many proofs of Christian humility and patience: so as to bring all to admiration, who never perceived even a complaining voice from him in the most severe pains: in which they would often hear him repeating: "Burn here, cut here, and spare nothing, so that You may spare for eternity." he is fortified with the Viaticum, When the Superior of the monastery brought him the most holy Viaticum of the Body of Christ, he received it with a speech so full of religious piety and so inflamed that the Brothers standing around him were unable to restrain their tears for the space of a quarter of an hour, though a feeling of joy was mingled with the tears. For they wept at the loss of so great a Father, but rejoiced at the certainty of his salvation. When he had been refreshed by the Eucharist, turning to the Superior, he asked to be fortified as soon as possible with the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, saying: "The time is short." and Extreme Unction: When this was done, giving thanks to God, with his eyes fixed on the image of the Crucified, and kissing His feet, he prayed in a low voice with tears: although from the time he had fallen ill he never seemed to cease from sacred prayers, as could be inferred from the movement of his lips.

[24] At length, when death was now at hand, he began to recite that Psalm, "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains," etc., in such a voice that it could be heard by all who were present, he recites Psalm 120: and when he had come to those final words, "The Lord guard your coming in and your going out, from this time forth and forever," and had said three times, "The Lord guard my going out," he dies a holy death: he brought to an end both the Psalm and his life at the same time, with the highest praise, leaving a great longing for himself in all, in the sixtieth year of his age, and the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and fifty-two.

[25] he is buried, still wearing his iron belt: The Brothers turned from their tears to washing the body of the holy man, as is the custom: here they found the iron belt so firmly embedded in his loins that they could neither pull it out nor cut it away with a file: and so they committed him to the earth. But thirty days after his death the body had to be exhumed because of the multitude of miracles and the throngs of people: the body is elevated: it was found intact and dried out: the belt was easily extracted: and not a few sick persons felt its salutary power.

[26] a sick person healed after a fall: It was my intention to narrate these two miracles out of so many which I myself saw. A certain man, with his neck broken and his brain spilled out because he had fallen from a window, as soon as he touched the bier and the body of the holy man, obtained his former health. A woman, who was suffering grievously from the pains of childbirth with the fetus turned the wrong way, so that either she or the fetus was in danger of death, when she heard of the death and the fame of the miracles of the Blessed Father, implored his aid, and a woman in childbirth. and immediately, safe and sound, she brought forth a living infant.

[27] a distinguished burial with his effigy is made: Moreover, the body of Blessed Peter was placed in the Chapel of the Rosary, interred in a marble sepulchre which rises six hand-breadths above the ground. Above the sepulchre his likeness was carved, and around it many of the miracles which he had performed while alive. After the man's death, veneration was shown to him, and from ancient usage the appellation of Blessed was given, he is called Blessed: and benefits were conferred upon mortals at his tomb. Through his iron belt, carried to the sick or to women in labor, God works many miracles, he is distinguished by miracles. who is wonderful in His Saints.