Torello

CONCERNING BLESSED TORELLO, SOLITARY, AT POPPI IN TUSCANY

YEAR 1282

Preliminary Commentary.

Torello, Solitary, at Poppi in Tuscany (Blessed).

[1] Poppi, a town of the Casentino district, in the diocese of Arezzo, is one of the smaller towns (the Italians call them Terre), overlooking from a modest hill in every direction a pleasant plain irrigated by the river Arno; The Acts were described by us at Poppi. near whose castle the Abbey of Saint Fidelis de Strumis, burned or destroyed in the seditious upheavals of Italy (as it seems), was transferred after the year 1200, after it had been for about one century aggregated to the Vallombrosan Congregation; distant ten thousand paces from the principal monastery of that Order; which distance we covered on foot on January 17, 1662, and were received by the Very Reverend Father Dom Sabino de Bonzi, Abbot of the place, with that kindness which the studious commendation of the Vallombrosan Fathers bade us hope for, and the patent letters of the Abbot General himself, Dom Daniel de Sersanis: by whose prescription all the monuments of that monastery, as many as the injury of time had left, were immediately shown to us. And among these, the ancient Acts of Blessed Torello (whom, from the Italian custom of truncating proper names and especially diminutives—such as they everywhere delight in using—at their beginnings, we suspect is so called for Victorello), transcribed in the year 1541 by the hand of a public Notary from another more ancient copy: which we ourselves transcribed that very night, lest any delay be caused to us who were hastening elsewhere.

[2] Blessed Torello, a solitary, From these Acts, moreover, at number 3, we have so clearly that Torello was attached to no religious institute, which his friends tried in vain to persuade him to join, that it is not necessary for us to involve ourselves in that empty contention in which the Vallombrosans and Franciscans contend to which Order he should be assigned: to the Vallombrosans, however, something more of right seems to be attributed, not only by the possession of the body and a certain voluntary subjection of the living man regarding spiritual direction to be received from the Abbot: but also by the fact that, discussing his plan for undertaking the solitary life, he sought and received from the Abbot a habit suitable for his purpose. What indeed that habit was is carefully described at number 21, and it has much in common with the Franciscan habit: but whoever would wish this to suffice of no Order having professed vows: so that he be called a Tertiary of that Order, must by the same reasoning assign to it all the barefoot men he finds girded with a cord, since the great number of those who, in no way pertaining to Saint Francis or his institutes, assumed a similar habit of penance at their own discretion in those times—and who were commonly called Fratercelli—created for the Franciscan Order the necessity of seeking a remedy from the Supreme Pontiffs: and even today solitaries using such a habit by the indulgence of Bishops are found everywhere in the world, who yet consider themselves neither Franciscans nor Tertiaries of that Order. Whoever wishes to see the authorities adduced for each side, let him consult Arthur from the Monastery in his Order's Martyrology: it is not worth our while to name those who, by their own assertion alone, so long after the fact, and indeed subject to the opposing party, contribute nothing of authority to the matter.

[3] the body honorably buried, It pertains more closely to our purpose to demonstrate its true and

legitimate veneration: which first indeed we find in that tomb which the Abbot had constructed for him, elevated from the ground; under which all who entered were freed from their ailments: as is read at number 17, and which stood for many years in this manner, in the Abbey church itself, as is credible. Another Abbot then transferred the blessed body to another place: I believe because the frequency of visiting pilgrims was interfering with the monks' quiet and the proper performance of the Divine Office. The same Abbot seems to have disapproved of that rite of passing under the tomb, good and pleasing to God indeed; then interred in its own chapel, but which gradually (as such things usually tend) was turning to ridicule and abuse on the part of the not very devout populace, and therefore he judged it better and more fitting to place this holy body under an altar, according to the most praiseworthy custom of the Church. When, however, it was withdrawn from the people's sight, the celebrity of the cult also seemed to diminish: which was not without cost to the author; although he seems rather to have deserved praise for having had a chapel of its own either built or adapted for the Blessed one, at the foot of the Abbey, as will be said below: into which it is credible that the sacred relics were translated not without a processional ceremony.

[4] After this, on account of various (says Luke Wadding) vicissitudes of war, pestilence, and long time, it was not known where these sacred Relics had been deposited: concerning whose discovery and elevation we found the following observation appended by the same hand to the old manuscript, and discovered again in the year 1507 which we render from Italian into Latin as follows. Note that in the year 1507, on the 9th day of August, by the grace of God and the virtue of a certain good Religious, then Prior in the Abbey of Poppi, whose name has slipped from my memory, the bones of Blessed Torello were miraculously found, hidden under the stone of the altar which is in the chapel at the foot of the Abbey: in which chapel his miracles are depicted in a panel which is in the said chapel under the said stone: which holy bones, as is reported, had been hidden there for more than a hundred years, so that no one knew where they really were. About which discovery the whole Town experienced the greatest joy and festive celebration; when by the hands of the Most Reverend Father in Christ, Blasius, they were brought out from the panel of the aforesaid Altar, placed in a new chest. and with solemn ceremony placed in a casket made and prepared for this purpose, under two keys: which casket was placed within another larger one locked with three keys, by the mandate of the aforesaid Vallombrosan General and the Community of Poppi; as is apparent from the public instrument drawn up thereon by Ser Pietro Antonio Cor. Honilli, Notary of Poppi. Which caskets with the aforesaid bones are now within the altar of the said chapel; which has always been called and is called the chapel of Saint Torello: and at the same time as the sacred bones were found, this epitaph was placed upon them.

[5] Here rest the sacred bones of the divine Torello of Poppi; Bend your knees, O citizens of heaven. Epitaph: For he can drive far hence both sword and famine. And by his prayers remove the plague from here.

Somewhat differently concerning this translation, Wadding at the year 1282 writes: In the year 1507, from a revelation made to a certain monk, the Relics were found in the Altar called that of Saint Torello, enclosed in a chest and silk wrappings; and they were transferred and more fittingly placed in an honorable location, by the license of Cosimo de' Pazzi, Bishop of Arezzo (Ughelli calls him Cosmus Pastius in volume 1 of Italia Sacra, Second translation, and says he was created in the year 1497 and translated to the Archbishopric of Florence in 1508), with the General Superior and certain of the more senior Fathers of that institute present; the Camaldolese General and others being present: concerning which a public instrument was drawn up by the notary Laurence Bonelli, Notary of Poppi. From which it seems to follow that the first instrument was about the discovery and placement in new caskets; and the later one about the solemn ceremony of the translation.

[6] It is certain that the body of Blessed Torello was again translated before the year 1583, when Eudoxius Loccatelli wrote his history: for he writes thus: "Today his body is placed in a sufficiently fine altar in the church of the aforesaid Abbey": and a third, around the year 1570. and so we found it, and we celebrated the sacred rites at it the day after we arrived: and then we examined the altar itself, made of the larger blue-gray stone of which there is great use in Florentine territory for buildings and ornaments of churches, not inelegantly sculpted; so that the sculpture serves as a frontal panel (according to the usage of this time, now quite common throughout Italy), and through a large oval opening, by means of fitted grilles closed with two locks, it transmits the eyes of the beholders to an inner chest of considerable size: Image of Blessed Torello: that, perhaps, of which mention has been made above. We saw moreover on the same wall (which is to the right for those entering the church and has the aforesaid altar) a cubit-tall image near the Gospel corner, sculpted with ancient simplicity, in roughly the same habit and color of habit in which we commonly depict Saint Anthony—in a black cloak and reddish garment: whence no assistance can accrue to either of the contending parties; especially since it does not entirely correspond to what is described in the Acts. In addition, the sacred head of Blessed Torello, enclosed in a larger silver reliquary bust, the head in a reliquary. we venerated in the sacristy; which Loccatelli also mentions, as does Wadding: but the latter says the separation of the head from the rest of the body was done by that Abbot who transferred the body from its first tomb to the chapel: about which we find nothing elsewhere.

[7] Moreover, since no mention of that chapel was made to us by the Religious, we believed that it had collapsed from age, giving occasion for a new translation to the church; and perhaps also for enclosing the head in silver: for the work we saw did not represent more than one century's age. Some light on these matters may be shed by a note, appended in a different hand to the booklet we transcribed, in these words, rendered from Italian to Latin:

"In the name of God. Amen. The 26th day of August, in the year 1608.

"A memorial and record, Public instruments concerning the cult by the mandate of the Very Reverend Father in Christ, Dom Arsenius Crudelius of Poppi, Master in Sacred Theology, and at present most worthy Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Fidelis of Poppi. How the process sent to Rome to His Holiness, for obtaining confirmation of the Relics of Blessed Torello, appears registered and authentically transcribed in the very Register of the Magnificent Community of Poppi, from the Register of the Community, F.C., from folio 43 to 49: and in the same book appear many letters sent and received to various persons regarding this matter: and in particular, at folio 110 appears a letter of such veneration: at 193 appears the instrument of translation of the sacred bones and head of the aforesaid Blessed one: and at 208, pages one and two, appears the Brief of Indulgences, granted for seven years by His Holiness Paul V, to those visiting the church of the Abbey on the feast day of Blessed Torello: in witness whereof,

"I, Marianus, son of the late Peter Marianus de Catanis, of Poppi, public Florentine Notary and Scribe, and at present Chancellor of the said Abbey, have written the above-mentioned memorial by mandate of the Very Reverend Dom Arsenius Crudelius, Abbot, and in witness thereof have subscribed with my own hand."

[8] sent to us, they did not arrive: The public documents cited here, when the Very Reverend Dom Sabino de Bonzi, the above-named Abbot, had at our request arranged for them to be copied and sent to us at Florence, we lamented all the more that they had been lost in the hands of the bearer, inasmuch as from them we could have been more surely informed of the order and rite by which the Relics were examined, and at what time the translation was made with Roman approval: about which, however, it is possible to conjecture from the Pontificate of Pius V, which began in the year 1566 and ended in the year 1572 of the same century. The feast of Blessed Torello, as Loccatelli attests, is also celebrated in the church of his Hermitage, his hermitage. which is in the Avellaneto, a thousand paces distant from Poppi, as we found in Wadding: which Hermitage the aforesaid Loccatelli numbers among the places of the Vallombrosan Order in the diocese of Arezzo, at the end of his work.

[9] Among how many does the Life exist? Luke Wadding in his Annals of the Friars Minor relates the Life of Blessed Torello, with modified style, at the year 1282; at which date he writes he died, on the authority of Jerome Loccatello. The same Life in Italian had earlier been translated by Silvanus Rassius into his collection of the Saints of Tuscany, received from an old Latin manuscript: from which a century before him Jerome Radiolanus took a compendium, which we found in the Florentine Library and transcribed. The reader will find similar epitomes in Loccatellus, Ferrarius, Bucelinus, and Arthur from the Monastery. Arnold Wion also commemorates on this day "Saint Torello, Conversus and Hermit, most famous for the glory of his miracles": which words Dorganius transcribed in the Benedictine Calendar. But while we would wish that the epithet of Conversus, false, had been omitted by both: so we would wish that Arnold had taught us what those Vallombrosan tables are Is Abbot Laetus among the Blessed? from which on this day he gave Saint Laetus, an Abbot, as having some veneration in the monastery of Vallombrosa; which is so far from the truth that not even in the monastery of Passignano, over which he had been placed as Abbot by Saint John Gualberto, is any memory of him found, except in the charters concerning the estates acquired by him. Loccatellus assigns the year of death as approximately the one thousand eighty-third; he is silent about the day: and he asserts that he is numbered among the Blessed of his Order, but gives us little confidence; since by Jerome Radiolanus, who studiously composed the eulogies of all the Blessed of his Order, his name is nowhere—let alone his deeds—found: and in Vallombrosa itself we inquired about him in vain.

ACTS

From the Ancient Manuscript of Poppi.

Torello, Solitary, at Poppi in Tuscany (Blessed).

BHL Number: 8305

FROM THE MANUSCRIPT OF POPPI.

CHAPTER I

The Conversion and Austerity of Life of Blessed Torello.

[1] Torello, after his father's death, Torello, son of Paul, of the town of Poppi, which is in the province of Tuscany, in the Casentine district, had his origin there; his father, while he was still a boy, instructed him in the faith of Christ, and so that he might better absorb the teachings, he placed him for learning. He grew up therefore a wise young man; wherefore his father, rejoicing, daily instructed him in good works and God's commandments. He shrank from the company of the wicked, led astray from virtue, and followed in the footsteps of the good. When his father Paul had entered the way of all flesh, the son clung all the more to the service of God, until the devil, envying his holiness, began to bend him from his good purpose and fraudulently led him to the enticements of this world. He therefore strayed from what he had begun, ensnared by the trap of diabolical fraud, following the company of young men: and where the entire region had spoken of his good reputation, it now held conversation about his vanity. But God, seeing him so changed and entirely removed from His service, wished to draw him back lest he perish, from the mouth of the demon, in this way.

[2] moved to repentance by the crowing of a rooster: As Torello was going with certain neighbors and frivolous young men for the sake of amusement (as it pleased the Almighty), a certain rooster, perched at a window on a rod, immediately flew onto his arm, crowed three times—as if to awaken him from the sleep of vices—and having uttered its song, flew back to where it had come from. Moved by this sign, Torello stood motionless and was astounded, pondering within himself as if he had been divinely admonished. He repented therefore, and recognizing himself, left his companions, departed, and threw himself with tears at the feet of the Abbot of Poppi: who, marveling at his swift conversion, exhorted him to persevere in his good purpose. Again Torello threw himself at his feet, asking he receives the hermit's habit; to be clothed by him in the manner of a poor little brother. The monks together with the Abbot urged him to take the monastic habit of that same Abbey; but disregarding this, the Abbot clothed him as he had requested.

[3] Torello then, having received a blessing, left the town of Poppi secretly from all its inhabitants and betook himself to wild and deserted places. Inflamed therefore by divine grace, he walked alone through the forests; and wherever night found him, there he lodged. After eight days of searching the said places, he at last came to a certain huge rock, under which he was received for lodging; which place is called the Avellaneto, and he stayed there for eight days, he builds a cell. eating herbs and three small loaves which he had brought with him, bewailing his sins; humbly asking God to grant him pardon for his omissions; and taken with the site of the place, he resolved in his mind to build a little cell upon that same rock, in which, as long as he lived, he could be free for the service of God. After eight days, returning to the Town of Poppi, he went to his relatives, by whom he was urged not to wish to live like a wild beast, but to enter some Religious Order; he refused what they advised, and selling all his goods, he distributed them to the poor; reserving for himself a small amount with which to have his cell built.

[4] and harsh toward himself Returning therefore to his solitude, he sought a builder to make him a small dwelling; which he built so small that it barely held him. When the habitation was built, he purchased a small piece of land for a garden: and in this place the man of God did most severe penance: for he wore upon his flesh the skin of a half-shorn pig, so rough with bristles that it cut his body; no one knowing this except his friend who had made what he wore. Each day he took four ounces of bread and one measure of water of two cups. At night he slept for three small hours in this manner: for having made a bed of five small boards, he would go there for rest: this was the length and breadth of his body: upon it he had placed deadly thorns with vine shoots, and held under his head a hard stone for a pillow: nor did he rest there unless he was weighed down by the heaviness of sleep. Sometimes he would sleep naked upon the ground, to afflict his body.

[5] he conquers temptations of the flesh. And the devil envied him as he thus persevered: for he began to vex him with carnal temptation, appearing to him in the form of a most beautiful woman. But Torello repelled the diabolic temptation thus: for he chastised his naked body with a certain iron discipline so severely that blood flowed to the ground. At times he would throw himself into cold water and remain there until he trembled from the cold. Sometimes he would go without food and drink for two days. He would pluck the beard and hair from his head, and by such bodily pains he overcame the temptations of the body. Through such severity of penance the regimen of his fasting over 80 years. he incurred many illnesses, and wasted away so much that nothing but skin and bones remained: for in fasting he would eat only four ounces of bread with some herbs sprinkled with a little salt, but without oil: and he ate no meat, cheese, or eggs at all. This penance he practiced for thirty years. After the thirtieth year he was so oppressed with bodily weakness that, taking compassion on himself in every way, with holy discretion he began to eat herbs with a little salt and oil and only four ounces of bread per day, and thus he lived for twenty years. Afterward he began to drink a little watered wine when he ate, and he ate legumes. He led this life until his death, which he met at the age of eighty.

CHAPTER II.

Miracles in Life, Power over Wolves, Death, Burial.

[6] While he was still living Thus far we have spoken briefly of his life and penance: now it remains to see how abundantly God filled him with grace while he lived in the world, and after He drew the spirit of the holy man to Himself. Seeing therefore that the Son of God had served Him so devotedly and faithfully, He sent an Angel to tell him that whatever grace and miracle he asked from Him, he would obtain: and from then on He visited him every day. The servant of God therefore, comforted and filled with divine grace, began to pour it forth and to work miracles: wherefore people began to have devotion and faith in him.

[7] he rescues a boy from the jaws of a wolf, The first miracle which God showed during his life on his behalf was this. A certain poor woman of Poppi, having an only son of three years, had gone out of the Town of Poppi to wash clothes and was keeping him beside her. Behold, a wolf—which the common people call a Monino, that is, one that feeds on human flesh—snatched the boy: and the mother cried out with lamentation and a querulous voice, so that the cry was heard all the way to Poppi. The wolf, fleeing, came by God's will to the cell of Saint Torello: who, when he saw it carrying the little child in its mouth, commanded it on God's behalf to put him down: and the ravenous beast, obeying the man's command, heard him humbly and laid the infant at Torello's feet, and stood by abashed. Then he commanded it on behalf of Jesus that henceforth neither it nor any other should dare to eat any person from Poppi and returns him safe to his mother. or from the surrounding district. The wolf bowed to him and retreated into the wilderness. Torello, having carried the almost-dead boy into his cell, prayed, and he was immediately healed. His most wretched mother, following the wolf's tracks so that she might at least find his bones and little garments, at length reached the hermitage: and when he was asked whether he had seen a wolf carrying a child, the man of God returned him safe and sound, with the wounds which the biting teeth had inflicted healed: and Torello commanded her not to tell anyone of this deed. The woman, however, returning, spread the miracle everywhere.

[8] A certain Count Charles of Poppi, well known to Blessed Torello, when Carnival evening had come, sent him a squire with a basket filled with meats and bread, and as he was going, the ladies of Poppi gave some edibles to be carried to the brother. He therefore offered what they had given him; he feeds a wolf, and Torello, kindly receiving them, returned the basket empty to the young man: who, marveling how he alone could consume so much in one evening, said to Torello: "When will you eat so much, being alone?" To whom the brother responded: "So, I am alone now: but shortly my companion will be here, who is a great eater; for he has gone out through the forest. Depart, son, before it gets late." Having taken the basket, the young man pretending to leave, hid in the forest near the door, saying to himself: "From here I will see if he expects a companion," for he wished to know who it might be. Meanwhile Torello prayed, asking God that his companion would come. While he was thus praying, a wolf approached, howling at the door with open mouth. Torello opened it and brought the meats that had been brought to him. and commands it not to harm anyone. After the wolf devoured them, it began to fawn upon the servant of God, placed its paws upon his chest, and licked the Brother like a dog, on account of his holiness, and seemed as if asking for more. Torello said to it: "My brother, withdraw and return to the forest, and there I command you on behalf of Christ that from now on neither you nor any other presume to harm anyone from Poppi or its territory; at least as far as the bell of the Abbey can be heard." Hearing which, the wolf bowed its head and departed. The young man, however, who had been hiding to see what would happen, marveled, withdrew, and recounted to everyone what had happened.

[9] To this I will add two persons healed by a draught of water. A certain Bolognese matron, very noble, named Victoriana, going to La Verna out of devotion to Saint Francis, took her two sons with her: and when she had come to the said place, two boys near death accompanied by a large company of men and women, both fell sick and were so oppressed by fevers that the physicians despaired of their recovery. The mother lamented so that she moved everyone to tears. Certain women from Poppi who were there for the indulgence, having recounted the holiness and miracles of Saint Torello, took her with the boys to Poppi, and from there set out for the Avellaneto. And then the grieving and most sorrowful mother, anxious about her sons' illness, threw herself weeping at the feet of the Saint, saying thus: "Most holy man of God, lest today I remain bereaved and deprived of my dearest sons, I beseech your holiness: I commend them to you, that the efficacy of your prayer may return them to me safe, that your wonderful piety may preserve them for me." By this lamentable cry she moved her companions to tears. Then the humble servant of God, taking compassion on the afflicted and grieving mother, gave himself to prayer with great fervor of heart, saying: "My Lord Almighty, who rules heaven and earth, who conquered death, who are a merciful judge and physician of human infirmity: help these boys: relieve, Lord, the grief of the afflicted mother, and for the sake of faith lift her sorrow, and free her sons—You who raised Lazarus, he heals them with a draught of water. who opened the eyes of the man born blind, who cleansed the leper, and made the paralytic whole: You,

good Jesus, I pray You by Your immense power, restore these boys healthy to their mother." Having finished the prayer, he rose and gave them water drawn from a certain spring to drink; which, once it had entered their inmost parts, with the languor of the fever driven out, they were healed, and the spring from which he had drawn the water was from that hour efficacious for healing those pressed by a hot fever: the drink of which very many have experienced and been freed by its remedy.

[10] I will add the miracle of a nine-year-old boy who escaped from the jaws of a wolf, a truly beautiful one. A certain woman, named Doratia, of the city of Arezzo, while making a journey toward Bibbiena, was taking her son with her. A wolf coming toward them another boy snatched by a wolf snatched the boy: the mother pursued it with cries and most miserable lamentation. On that day Torello had happened to go to Bibbiena: hearing the cry, he asked what it was, and after he learned the cause of the crying, he prayed apart: "Lord, who rules over all creatures and whom they obey; I beseech You that the wolf may not have the power to kill the boy; I humbly beg Your power to grant me this grace." When the prayer was completed, he suddenly heard a voice from heaven: "Blessed Torello, your prayer has been heard; command the wolf whatever you please and it will obey you." Then he commanded the wolf on God's behalf to release the boy at once; he recovers and heals him. and the beast, obeying, dropped him from its mouth: but the men who had followed the beast brought back the boy as if dead. The mother, overwhelmed with grief, looking upon her sweetest son so mangled by the wolf's bites, went to the doctors. When they despaired of his recovery, on the advice of the women she brought her son to Saint Torello, who was still there; and he helped with compassion at the mother's prayers: for he smeared and anointed the wolf's bites with the spittle and saliva of his mouth, saying: "Lord, who anointed the blind man with spittle, now by Your grace free this boy": and so he returned the boy safe to his mother.

[11] I will briefly tell of the builder's fall: for while he was covering the cell of Blessed Torello with a roof, he helps a builder who fell from his cell. the devil, out of envy, cast him headlong from the top of the roof, and from the severe fall he fainted. When the man of God learned of this, he prayed with tears: "My Lord, who rescued Jonah from the mouth of the fish, who led Moses from the hands of Pharaoh through the midst of the sea, defended Anthony in the desert from the violence of the demon, and delivered David from the forces of Saul, and made John come forth unharmed from the cauldron of boiling oil, deign to free this man." And when the prayer was finished, rising, he called the man, and with his health recovered, he completed the work he had begun.

[12] He frees a bewitched woman. It will not be unfitting to add to this the miracle of a bewitched woman. For when a certain young man was held by love for a certain woman and could in no way have her, he had her bewitched by a man skilled in the art of magic, so that day and night, crying out, she constantly called the young man by his own name. When her father could find no remedy for so terrible an infamy, he brought his daughter to Saint Torello, who, after he learned through the spirit that she had a demon, adjured it thus, saying: "Malignant spirit, I command you on behalf of Almighty God to depart from here": and making the sign of the Cross, he compelled it to leave. The woman, with the demon expelled amid great shrieks, was restored to her former freedom.

[13] When Torello was in his eightieth year of age, God wished to make known to him the end of his life: warned of the time of death He therefore sent an Angel bearing these tidings: "Rejoice, Torello; now the time has come in which you must receive the crown of glory which you have long desired: now you shall receive the longed-for reward of your penance, and you shall be rewarded for every labor: you shall leave the prison of this world thirty days hence: and on the sixteenth day of March you shall be placed in the seat of Paradise, among the holy Fathers, whose life and abstinence you have followed, and you have merited the diadem of glory." Rejoicing at these things, the servant of God began to redouble his penance, wholly devoted to the contemplation of heavenly things. But when the end drew near, he prepares himself for it. ten days before, he went to the Abbot, and having confessed, he received Communion from him, and told the Abbot in Confession what the Angel had foretold. Having exchanged the kiss of peace, he returned to his cell, and there doing the harshest penance, he bore before himself the Lord's Passion. Here he remained for twenty days, during which he ate nothing except on one out of every three days, and then only perhaps two ounces of bread: and he always kept silence.

[14] And when the last day of his life had come, he called his disciple, named Peter, and said to him thus: he gives his disciple final admonitions. "My son, I make known to you that God will today separate me from your company, and today will put an end to my labors and my pilgrimage. I ask therefore that you be strengthened and persevere in God's works and service: despise the praises and honors of men, and the other transitory things of this world, which destroy the fruits of our good works and draw our minds from the contemplation of God"; and when he had said many more things, he made known what the Angel had announced. Peter, hearing this, was deeply grieved: "Alas! my father, what are you saying? What have I heard? What shall I, abandoned, do without so good a master? What relief will there be for my labors? To whom shall I tell my temptations? Who will console me after I have lost my father?" And so he bathed his face with tears. But Blessed Torello, on bare knees and with hands raised to heaven, prayed: he prays for the people of Poppi. "O God, I pray that You deign to hear my prayers; graciously grant this favor to Your servant: that the man-eating wolf may not be able to harm or inflict damage on anyone from Poppi, nor from the surrounding district, at least as far as the bell of the Abbey can be heard." When the prayer was finished, an Angel came saying: "Blessed Torello, whatever you asked in your prayer, the Almighty has heard": and while he prayed again in silence, his soul departed to the Lord.

[15] After he had thus come to rest, so that the people might come to honor the sacred body, his death is made known by the miraculous ringing of bells. God wished to make his death known in this way: for all the bells of Poppi and of the surrounding district rang of their own accord, without anyone pulling them. The priests marveled at this miracle: then, remembering that no one in the land had a reputation for holiness except Torello, they hastened with the people and biers to his cell; and when each wished to convey the body to his own church, a great contention arose among them. While they were all contending, the Abbot arrived with all his monks: and seeing such a contest, he spoke thus: "My sons, let us proceed in this way: let each Priest try by himself to place him on his bier, and whoever is able to put him on by himself, let him carry him to his church." there is a contest over the body, Then all the Priests agreed to what the Abbot had proposed, and each one from first to last, having tried three times, attempted in vain to place the body on his bier: for there was none who had sufficient strength to accomplish what was desired.

[16] which allows itself to be carried only by the Abbot. The Abbot, however, seeing this miracle, prayed thus: "Most holy Father, I beseech you to allow this sacred body to be brought to the Abbey of Poppi, and do not reject me, I pray, although I am a sinner." When this prayer was completed, he alone easily placed that venerable body within his own bier. The Priests, marveling at so evident a miracle, were content: and together with the monks and the Abbot they carried it: but when they had reached the gate of Poppi, there they stopped. Meanwhile another marvel presented itself to the eyes of all: for a wolf, carrying a piglet in its mouth, came among the people who were there, amazed at the novelty of the thing, and brought it up to the bier of the sacred body and set it down there, and immediately vanished from their eyes. They then entered the Town of Poppi with the body of Blessed Torello: miracles at the bier and the sick, flocking from every side to the bier, touched it and were healed of their ailments.

[17] A certain man who had been contracted for seven years was brought to touch the bier and immediately received his health. There was a certain woman who had suffered a flux of blood for six years and could be cured by no remedy of physicians: but when she touched the garments of the body of Blessed Torello, she was immediately healed. The Abbot then had a tomb constructed, elevated from the ground, and whoever went under it was freed from their ailments: and so it stood for many years: but another Abbot transferred the aforesaid blessed body to another place: and that same Abbot who had hidden the said blessed body, having fallen ill, died in great suffering and pain.

CHAPTER III

Miracles After Death.

[18] a wolf passes by four men of Poppi untouched. Let the other miracles which he performed after death be added to these. This was the first: for four young men set out from Poppi to Lucignano, which is a town in the County of Arezzo: they went there for the purpose of reaping the harvest. While they were in a certain field, together with certain other young men from the same Town of Poppi, behold, a man-eating wolf came among them and bit all the men of Lucignano: but when it came to these four it left them untouched; indeed it sniffed and licked them all. The locals were amazed at this miracle and asked them: "Why did the terrible beast bite us rather than you?" They answered: "This happened because we have Saint Torello, who asked God on our behalf that the man-eating wolf should not be able to harm anyone from Poppi: and so it would by no means harm us, nor anyone who devoutly commended himself to him." Wherefore many, hearing this, commended themselves to Saint Torello, and were not touched by wolves thereafter.

[19] another is commanded to release the son of a woman of Poppi: This was a miracle for men; what follows was for a woman, and no less marvelous: for she, from Poppi, compelled by poverty, had gone to the plain of Arezzo to reap, and while she was there with other local women and they were reaping together in the field, a wolf came upon them; and the first one it encountered was this woman of Poppi: and after sniffing her, it left her untouched without any harm: but departing from her, it snatched a boy who belonged to the other women. The woman of Poppi said to the wolf carrying him off: "I command you on behalf of my Saint Torello to put the boy down": and the wolf, obeying her command, set him down without the slightest injury.

[20] boys commended to Blessed Torello are licked by a wolf The following narrative will not be incongruous with the preceding one. A certain young man of Poppi, having gone to San Miniato al Tedesco to reside, took his two small brothers with him. At that time a man-eating wolf was prowling around the area of San Miniato and inflicting harm on people: the young man, fearing that the wolf might harm his brothers, vowed them to Saint Torello, promising that if he should protect them from the wolf, he would celebrate his feast each year: and although he had thus vowed, he still did not trust sending them outside without a good escort. Saint Torello, seeing his little faith, appeared to him in a vision and rebuked him, saying: "O you of little faith, why do you not let your brothers go where they wish, after you have entrusted them to my care? Do you not believe I can protect them from the wolf?" The young man, awakened by this vision, gave thanks to him, and from that hour he no longer worried about them. And although the wolf often encountered them, it licked them like puppies raised from infancy. The locals were amazed at this miracle; and when the young man was asked why the wolf fawned on his brothers rather than on others, he explained the reason: wherefore all commended themselves to Blessed Torello, who rendered them unharmed by the terrible beast.

[21] What I will add to this will have something of wonder. A certain man of Siena, Sir Estagius by name, For a nobleman restored to his homeland having fallen into the disfavor of his Count, was banished and sent to Poppi: where, when he saw the miracles of Saint Torello, he devoutly commended himself to him, promising that if he should return to the peace of his Count and be able to reside in his city, he would celebrate his feast each year; and would have him painted in his chamber. When this vow was thus made, not long afterward he obtained what he had asked for. Having received the grace, he wished to fulfill the vow: and summoning a painter, he said to him: "I wish you to paint for me a certain Saint Torello of Poppi, who obtained for me the grace of returning to the favor of my Count." Then the painter said: "Do you have the history in mind?" The nobleman answered: "Not very well." "Send then," said the painter, "for it, so that I may know the appearance of his body and habit, and then I will paint." The nobleman therefore wrote a letter for the purpose of sending for his habit and figure.

[22] a painter about to paint the image of Blessed Torello, But that very night, on the day following which the letter was to be sent, Torello appeared to the painter in a vision in this manner: clothed as a little brother, in a tunic over his skin, covered with a cloak, and for a head covering he had a skullcap, such as Brothers of this kind wear; girded with a cord, barefoot; and between his arms he seemed to hold a certain wolf. His head was in this manner: his hair between curly and straight, white however with age: his forehead broad, bald, and flat with few wrinkles; his eyes between small and large, and between white and not translucent, of a sky-blue and dark color: his nose neither too thick nor too thin, his form and habit narrowing however toward his mouth: his eyebrows with few hairs, sparse and short: his teeth white, small, and close-set: his ears small and thin with some wisps: his chin small and curved toward his mouth, having at the tip a shape like a small dimple: the skin and color of his face between whiteness and redness, neither too fleshy nor too lean: his speech between thick and thin; inclining however more toward thinness than thickness: broad in the shoulders: his body five feet long, his feet the length of one man's span: his gait moderate: his gaze between dark and mild; and when standing he became lively, lovable, kind, and gracious: his hands long, his fingers thin; his arms so long that when he stood erect and extended them, he easily touched his knees with his hands.

[23] learns it in a dream. Appearing therefore in this form and habit, this little brother turned to the painter and said: "My son, would you dare to paint a Brother in this form in which you now see me?" The painter answered: "Indeed, my Lord." Again the Brother said: "So paint Saint Torello of Poppi, for I am of this form and habit." And he stopped; and having said these things, he immediately vanished. The painter, awakened by this vision, promptly went to Sir Estagius; then related what he had seen in his dreams, and completed the painting he had promised, free of charge.

[24] To these is also added the seventeenth miracle. A certain well-known man of Poppi, named Jacobus Antonius, being a soldier, companion of Lord Capitaneus Castricani in the regions of Romagna, in the year of our salvation one thousand four hundred and seventy-three, at which time a certain town was oppressed by great fevers, assistance obtained against fevers. so that almost all the inhabitants were sick, and many were dying, and when all the household of the said Lord Capitaneus had fallen ill, the said Ser Jacobus, remembering and humbly commending himself to Blessed Torello, made a vow to have a feast of five Masses celebrated in the oratory of Saint Torello, to the end that by his merits he might be preserved in health: and he was preserved: and discussing the aforesaid matters with the Notary of criminal cases, who was lying in bed sick with a severe fever: wherefore that same Notary, who was called Ser Aloysius de Pontesaevis, also made the same vow; and upon making the vow, the fever left him, and he immediately rose from bed in good health, through the intercession of Blessed Torello.

[25] attestation of the Notary. I, Stephen, son of the late Ser Francesco Stephani de Morandinis of Poppi, of the Casentine part and Florentine district, Notary by Imperial authority, have transcribed and copied the above-written exemplar from a certain copy in the hand of Ser Francesco Ser Angelis de Lapuccis of Poppi, adding or diminishing nothing that would change the meaning or alter the sense, unless there should have been an error of the pen or the carelessness of sight: in the year from the Incarnation of the Lord 1541, indiction 15, and in the month of February, in the time of Dom Philip of John of Florence, Abbot of the monastery of Saint Fidelis at Poppi.

COMPENDIUM OF THE LIFE

by Jerome Radiolanus, Vallombrosan Monk

From the Manuscript of the Medici Library at Florence.

Torello, Solitary, at Poppi in Tuscany (Blessed).

BHL Number: 8306

[1] Blessed Torello of Poppi, whose father was named Paul, was indeed a man of most proven character. Blessed Torello, from a dissolute life When, being naturally docile, his father took care that he be not only instructed in letters, but also

instructed with good actions and the best admonitions and teachings: all of which he strove to carry out without any reluctance of spirit. But after his father died, by the company and association of wicked companions he turned his mind, inclined from virtue, to wantonness; and captivated by the love of a certain girl, he began to spend the whole day, as they say, in games, to feast his eyes, and gradually to slide toward worse things: and the Lord Jesus, who wills all men to be saved, thus snatched him from the jaws of the demon. When, as we said, he was spending an entire day in games and courting with dissolute young men, a rooster, leaping from a certain window onto his arm, crowed three times: and then flying down from him, it returned to its place.

[2] conversion to the hermit life, Torello, struck with incredible amazement, was unable to discern sufficiently in his mind what this prodigy or portent might mean. At length, to one pondering and revolving many things in his mind, with the grace of Christ Jesus illuminating him, this alone occurred: that he should look to the salvation of his soul: to embrace which wholeheartedly the rooster had divinely aroused him. Whereupon, hastening home and leaving his companions, he arranged for his property to be divided according to his judgment among the poor and his relatives: then he went to the monastery of Saint Fidelis to consult the Abbot Dominic, a most religious man, and told him everything in order: and having put aside all else, he said he desired to enter the religious life and to be with him and, as they say, to live with him. The Abbot, marveling, praised the fortitude of his spirit and instructed him to keep and observe the commandments of Almighty God. Torello then, humbly laying open his sins and offenses to him through Confession (as is the custom of Catholic Christians), and devoutly receiving from him the most sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, departed with his blessing and permission: and thereafter he led a hermit's life.

[3] miracles Through him God worked many outstanding deeds and miracles while this most blessed man lived this life, as is clearly declared in his history; and even after, we have received from trustworthy men and moreover have often seen with our own eyes; of which many I think it useful to insert one into this little work, by which anyone may perceive that the Saints, at every time and age, by the will of Jesus, work miracles. For there is a certain dreadful and cruel kind of wolves, which in the vernacular tongue we call man-eating wolves, because they devour men, of which Pliny makes mention in his Natural History: one of which, when it had cruelly attacked a certain boy near the town of Poppi, and many people from every part of the town were pursuing it with shouts, cries, and dogs to kill it, it happened to pass by the hut of Blessed Torello: roused by these shouts and the wailings of the women, especially of the mother, the most blessed man, opening the window and then going outside to free the mangled and half-dead boy from death, commanded the wolf to release him and henceforth to harm no one. At once the cruel animal, obeying the divine power, at the command of the most blessed man set down the child, wickedly and savagely mangled; and then, having laid aside its ferocity—which is more remarkable—it wished to live with the most blessed man like the gentlest lamb; accustomed to roam in the forests by day and to return again to the familiar threshold at late evening. Then another miracle: that, having offered a brief prayer to the Lord Jesus, he caused the boy to be returned safe to his mother, in the sight of all who were present.

[4] death Moreover, by the virtue of the man of God, our Lord Jesus preserved not only the province of the Casentino but also other neighboring places from such beastly bites and the ferocity of such wolves: and in this a place was given to Sacred Scripture: "No evil beast shall ascend into your borders." Isa. 35:9 He finally, in the eightieth year of his age, having most devoutly performed every act of worship and devotion to Christ Jesus, breathed his last in happiness: and no one was able to place his most sacred body from the ground onto a bier (though many religious men made the attempt) except the Abbot of Poppi: which indeed, carrying it honorably from the hut where he had lived all the way to Poppi, the religious men committed to a venerable burial on that day, with many miracles shown through him by Jesus Christ.

In the year of the Incarnation of Christ Jesus one thousand two hundred and eighty-two, the seventeenth day before the Kalends of April.