CONCERNING BLESSED ANDREW DE GALLERANI AT SIENA IN ETRURIA,
YEAR 1251.
Preliminary Commentary.
Andrew de Gallerani at Siena in Etruria (Bl.)
Section I. Ancient cult; a Life written by an author of a near-contemporary age.
[1] The city of Siena in Etruria, most ancient,
and also a fertile fatherland of Saints,
and dignified by the special patronage Andrew died at Siena on this day,
of the Virgin Mother of God, who brought forth
the author of holiness to the world, with prerogatives
not to be despised, gave to heaven on two consecutive days this month two illustrious worshippers of the same Virgin: namely, Blessed Andrew and Blessed Ambrose, each having received from their fatherland the surname of Sienese, each renowned for miracles, and each buried in the same church of the Order of Preachers under his own altar.
Andrew was first in order of days, just as he also preceded in dying, according to a marginal note in an ancient original parchment, added by a different but nevertheless old hand, in these words: "This Saint attained heavenly things, reverently fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, in the year 1251, on March 19, 1251." From which it is clear how Saint Ambrose of Siena survived Saint Andrew by thirty-six years and one day.
These are confirmed partly from the context of the Life itself, where the character of the Lord's Day made his death notable, and partly from a clause appended after the Life in the same hand: "In the year of the Lord 1251, on a Sunday, in Lent, on Sunday after Vespers, he departed to the Lord."
[2] That this Sunday was Palm Sunday was the conviction of the man who translated the Life from Latin into Italian and annotated it, namely Father Raimund Barbi, not Palm Sunday, a Dominican Prior in the town of San Gimignano, who in the year 1638 submitted it to the public press of that city of Siena; but he was persuaded of this because the Monday following this Sunday had been accustomed, until the times of Pius V, for the Sienese people to observe as festive in veneration of Blessed Andrew, as if it necessarily followed that this was the day of deposition, and that the day of blessed death. But since in that year, and in many preceding and following years, Easter never fell on March 26, the Palm Sunday that preceded it could not have fallen on March 19. Indeed, March 19, 1251, was a Sunday, the dominical letter being A; but it was the third Sunday of Lent, since Easter fell on April 16. Therefore, the feast was deferred until Holy Week, but the third Sunday of Lent, if the cause must be sought by conjecture; since it does not seem very likely that the body remained unburied for three entire weeks (for how would the Life not have reported something so remarkable as the preservation of a dead body beyond the powers of nature?), it does not seem entirely incredible to us that, as the miracles multiplied at the invocation of Blessed Andrew, perhaps elevated the day after Palm Sunday, his body was solemnly elevated from the earth after some years, on such a day, and that the Life we present was already written, and that this celebration was afterward seen to be renewed annually.
[3] That not very many years had elapsed from the death of Andrew to the institution of that feast is taught by the authentic testimony of the Indulgences, proposed after twenty-three years, and speaking of it as already often celebrated. Raimund produces this from the archives of the Sienese convent, and we here transcribe it from him, since it excellently confirms the public cult of this Blessed one. It is, therefore, of this kind: "Bernard, by the divine mercy humble Bishop of Siena, to all the faithful of Christ, both Clergy and Laity, established throughout the city of Siena and diocese, to whom the present letters shall come, eternal salvation with blessing. Since, Romans 14:10 as the Apostle says, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account of our own deeds, whether we have done good or evil, it behooves us to anticipate the day of the final harvest with works of mercy. when it is celebrated with a feast year, Since, therefore, we embrace in the heart of Christ the beloved religious Brethren and Convent of the Order of Preachers of Siena, and that same Order, and we are greatly obligated to them in God for the benefits bestowed by them on us and our Church, and which are bestowed daily, we wish and desire to fulfill with grateful zeal what we bear in our mind. Hence it is that (as has been made known to us by those same Brethren, and we ourselves have seen many times) the same Brethren and also the entire city of Siena, out of reverence and devotion for the venerable man Andrew, formerly their noble fellow-citizen and our brother, whose body rests at the church of those same Brethren, concerning whose life and passing a praiseworthy testimony is borne among both citizens and foreigners, on the first Monday after the feast of Palm Sunday, not undeservedly celebrate solemnities with fitting honors and festivities, in the memory and honor of so great a Father. We, therefore, wishing not only to maintain that solemnity, and adorned with Indulgences, but also to add spiritual profit upon it, trusting in the mercy of Jesus Christ and of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary His Mother, and also in the patronage of the holy Martyrs Crescentius, Ansanus, Savinus, and Victor, we mercifully release in the Lord, annually at the aforesaid solemnity, one year of the penance enjoined upon all who shall approach the aforesaid place on the said day for the sake of devotion and shall leave there of the goods bestowed on them by God, provided they have been truly contrite and confessed of their sins. Given at Siena, 1274, Indiction II, the second day before the Calends of April."
[4] This Bernard, by Ferdinand Ughelli in volume 3 of his Italia Sacra, is called by the customary diminutive of that age, Bandinus, by Bishop Bernard in the year 1274, and is said to have been raised to the Sienese see in the year preceding the issuance of the aforesaid Bull, and was still alive in the year 1277 or the following, when he signed a Bull in favor of the Hospital of which we speak below; but a little afterward, when he had disdained to summon the Gaza family, which was always accustomed to assist the Bishop at sacrifice with a certain prerogative of honor, when about to offer sacrifice, by that same family, taking up arms, the injury done to the Guelph faction,
as they supposed, avenging the injury done to the Guelph faction, he was killed at the altar, and would have had Blessed Ambrose as his successor, says the same Ughelli, had not the latter, out of moderation of spirit and love of private life, disdained to undertake the burden conferred upon him by the Pontiff. while Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni was still living. From the lifetime of this Blessed Ambrose, the Italian Life's author Raimund perhaps not unreasonably adduces another indication that this Life was written not many years, as we have said, after the death of the blessed man; because, namely, at number 19 there is mention of Brother Ambrose preaching the miracles of the man of God; and from the time of the founding of the convent, which was in the year 1226, for a hundred and fifty years no one is found who bore such a name except Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni; who, if he had not still been alive when these things were being written, would without doubt have been addressed more reverently, since after his death he began publicly to be venerated as Blessed, with the Apostolic See itself aware and wishing to proceed to his solemn canonization.
[5] This argument also seems to us most efficacious, if that author had said more expressly the Life was written before that year, that there had survived from those fires, which he deplored, the catalogues of those years which had elapsed since the death of the Blessed one, exhibiting the names of the religious; and although we do not deny this, we think it sufficient to confirm the antiquity of this writing that the author, after commending the multitude of miracles in general, says at number 16 that examples seen and heard in each species by trustworthy report seem not undeservedly to be added. Nor does he say this only of miracles which might be thought to have been performed long after death; but in the very entrance of his preface he states that he is undertaking a discourse about one whose praiseworthy life not only those who lived with him bear witness to, but also the miracles which shone forth more frequently before and after his death and do not cease continually to flash, attest the merits of his extraordinary holiness. likewise the miracles. Having, therefore, the testimony of those who lived with him, the author could not have written long after the death of the man of God; but in reporting miracles he excused himself at number 15 for using a more concise style, because he was leaving their fuller declaration to the booklet where these things had first been compiled at greater length -- by those, namely, who received the individual cases as they were brought and corroborated by sufficient testimony of witnesses, into notebooks; which in the year 1531 or 1576, when the church burned together with the sacristy, probably perished, if indeed they had survived until that time.
[6] The fortune of the parchment codex in which the transcribed Life was contained was better; to be published from ancient parchments, for although this too was at first reported to have recently perished, nevertheless, by the Reverend Father Brother Antonino Accarigi, in this year 1665 in which we write, Prior of the Convent of Saint Dominic at Siena, it was more diligently sought at the urging of our Fathers, and at last was found, and from it the requested Life was transmitted, under this, as follows, attestation of authenticity: "These have been faithfully extracted from a certain Codex, written on parchment by Brother Constantine, in which are the Legends of Blessed Dominic, Blessed Catherine, Virgin and Martyr, Blessed Peter Martyr, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Blessed Andrew of Siena, Saint Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, and Blessed Macarius of Rome, existing in the archive of the Convent of Saint Dominic at Siena; and the said and above-written things were faithfully collated by us, Brother Isidore Ugurgerius of Siena, Master of Sacred Theology of the Order of Preachers, and John Rocchigianus, Cleric and citizen of Siena, in the year of the Lord 1665, according to the Ecclesiastical reckoning, Indiction III, on the second day of March." This is the Life twice translated into Italian which, translated into the Italian language in the year 1528, was published by Bartholomew son of Giovanni Battista Naccarini, and Silvanus Razzi, in Part 2 of the Saints and Blessed of Tuscany in the year 1601, professes to have followed it as printed. The remaining documents and authors who spoke in any way about Blessed Andrew are enumerated by the aforementioned Raimund at the end of the Life composed from those same sources, from which we have collected the following two paragraphs as some supplement and ornament to the more ancient Life.
Section II. The Gallerani family of Blessed Andrew; the Society of Mercy begun by him.
[7] The lineage of their ancestors and the illustrious surnames of their families, which the Saints, Blessed Andrew called Sienese from his fatherland, while they lived, had spurned as vanities, the simplicity of earlier centuries did not think should be restored to them even after death, since for them the title of holiness was a virtue more worthy than all nobility that had merited it; but it judged it more useful if they were understood as having been set before their fellow citizens more particularly as an example, when by the addition of a surname from their fatherland they were distinguished from other Saints of the same name. And so in the title of the Life, Blessed Andrew is simply named "of Siena," and elsewhere he is called nearly everywhere "Saint" or "Blessed" Andrew. Nevertheless, since those who have been made public, however much, do not cease to press more closely to imitation those who, having obtained a common origin with them, are illuminated no less by their praises than by the military exploits of their ancestors, therefore the practice of later centuries cannot be condemned, from the Gallerani family, which added to Blessed Andrew in public Acts the family surname "de Gallerani," which will appear from what is to be produced and cited below, and which we have followed in our title.
[8] Moreover, that the Gallerani family is of ancient nobility is proved not only by the military glory of Ghezzolino, his ancestors were of ancient nobility, who was the father of Andrew, but can also be shown from the offices which his ancestors held for the republic and the rewards they received from it. For from the public Acts, which still survive in the archives today, it can be known that in the year 1186, on account of their outstanding military exploits, the Gallerani family was given the right to build towers (which at Siena was the chief mark of nobility): one in the very paternal home of Blessed Andrew, in the parish of Saint Peregrine, which the Ballatori family possesses today; the other in the buildings directly opposite, which the Bindi now inhabit, in the parish of Saint Peter in Banchi. In no way degenerate from this generosity of his ancestors, our Andrew and he himself won praise by slaying an enemy commander; also bore arms as a young man, by no means unsuccessfully; for as is attested by Don Bartholomew the Carthusian and Gregory Lombardelli the Dominican, who testify they read it written in a certain manuscript Diary of those times, which is preserved in the Cathedral church: "The Orvietan men in the year 1219 marched against Campiglia, inflicting great damage there; and when this was understood at Siena, they went to meet the enemy, and in the battle that ensued, Lord Andrew Gallerani, a noble of Siena, killed Lord Andrew Martinelli, the chief Captain of the Orvietan men; and they, despairing of victory, retreated."
[9] He is believed to have acted with equal fortitude of spirit, but in a dissimilar cause, not yet having learned Christian meekness, then, having killed a blasphemer, when he committed that homicide on account of which he had both to flee his fatherland as a fugitive and felicitously fell into the hands of God. For although some wish that some quarrel had preceded, more people say that Andrew's anger was aroused by nothing other than what can and ought to move the inmost heart of every good Christian: the injury of a blasphemous mouth against God. The deed was done in the quarter of Camollia, before those steps which lead from the customs house to the palace today called the Salimbeni's; where at the very corner of the buildings meeting crosswise, two stones can still be seen, placed there as a monument for posterity where each of them had stood, as they say: one five palms high, the other shorter. However it was, it was not safe for Andrew to remain in the city, he is compelled to go into exile, which the Lord Ventrilius, Viscount of Pisa, was governing with the title of Podesta, sending out his constabulary in every direction to search for the author of the killing; therefore he betook himself toward the Maritime coast, where the Gallerani family is said to have possessed strongholds called Piscaria.
[10] Thus far Raimund, contracted into a few words, collects these things as gleanings from transcribed or traditionally preserved documents, he institutes a society of mercy, and things passed over by the ancient author as contributing little to the holy life which was to be written. More notable is the fact that both he and his predecessor Giovanni Battista Naccarini make this same Blessed Andrew the founder of that society which flourished at Siena under the name of Mercy until the year 1308, when, with the brothers who had been caring for the poor being removed, the estates and revenues were applied to the larger hospital called della Scala; and the place was adapted for the use of a public Academy, until then not attached to any fixed location for a century and a half and more, under the title of the Sapienza; in whose archive all the instruments concerning the said place are still preserved, and they prove that a hospital was established there, and Brothers to serve the poor and infirm under the name of Oblates and Brothers of the Mercy of Christ's Poor, around the year 1240, wearing a garment of fawn color, to which was sewn at the shoulders a badge of the letter M supporting a cross superimposed, indicating what they professed. admitted to communion by the Dominicans: They did not, indeed, belong to the Dominican Order, as some have supposed, because formerly lay brothers in that Order also used a mantle of this color; but they were admitted by it to the sharing of all spiritual goods through Brother Stephen Bisentinus, the eighth General of the Order, and a decree signed on August 10, 1292, is found, by which the Preacher Brothers are commanded to commemorate the day of the death of each of the said Oblates in their Chapters, as if they had been of their own body.
[11] Commonly, however, it was called the Salimbeni hospital, because it had been built in that very extensive area the tradition and monuments concerning this matter: of which that most ancient and at the same time most powerful family once had complete possession. That it was founded by Blessed Andrew himself, his resources having been contributed thereto, although the author of the Life says nothing about this, as being too commonly known, a sure tradition is held among the Sienese, which not only the historians of that city, Orlando Malavolti and Giugurta Tommasi, have followed, but a title engraved in stone and inserted into the wall confirms, near the altar of the Most Blessed Virgin in the church of that place, in this formula: "In the year of the Lord 1347, on the 8th of June, in the time of Master Agnolo Gucci, Rector of this house, it was decreed by the Community of Siena that the feast of Blessed Andrew, who was the head and beginning of this holy House, should be observed on Holy Monday each year in perpetuity: to the glory of God and his honor, who departed this life in the year 1251." With which agrees the inscription placed beneath the image of this Blessed one, as it is seen in the great hall of the Curia, called the Mappa Mundi from the geographical chart displayed there; and it is as follows:
"Here was the saintly Andrew Gallerani, a poor patrician, patron and helper to the good: For since he built for all the poor a refuge, the scholarly crowd learns sacred arts therein."
[12] Yet, as we have proved in the Acts of Blessed John of God, after Andrew's death, Procurators were appointed from among the citizens: he had indeed gathered companions for the exercise of mercy toward the poor, but they did not receive permanent
stability until after his death; so also we think the same must be said of these, and that they had nothing firmly established so long as Blessed Andrew was alive. For how would he have chosen burial elsewhere than in a chapel or church erected by himself? After his death, therefore, the solicitous city, lest with the removal of the author of the pious work, the institution itself, which had been established with such great public benefit, should dissolve, decreed that Rectors should be successively chosen from the number of the citizens, who together with the Brothers should administer affairs there; then in the year 1280 it decreed that the Bishop, the Prior of the Dominicans, the Guardian of the Franciscans, and the Rector of that Society should have the right, by concordant votes, to choose six citizens, through whom any contracts whatsoever concerning the goods of that hospital might be legitimately executed, excepting those which testators had not wished to be alienated from their bequests.
[13] All of which things Brother Latino Malabranca, of the Dominican Order, Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Apostolic Legate, privileges given and confirmed, when requested through delegates sent by the Republic, ratified, signing the Bull at Imola on June 17; which is still preserved along with another of Pope Martin IV, signed two years later at Montefiascone, by which the power of collecting alms for the conservation of the place and of possessing real property is confirmed -- having already been granted by the Bishops of Siena and confirmed by Bishop Bernard in the month of February of the year 1277 or the following (for the character of the sixth Indiction added to the year of the Christian Era creates a doubt and convicts one or the other number of error). On this matter there exists in the archive of the Sapienza at Siena a notable Bull, which Raimund Barbi exhibits in Italian in chapter 23, directed to Brother Bartholomew Hildebrandi, Rector and Governor of the House of Saint Mary of Mercy and of the Poor of the city of Siena, and to his fifty-seven companions named expressly, and thus taking turns in succession in ministering at the said hospital; among whom is also Peter Pettinarius, with two of his eight companions, Blessed Peter Pettinarius numbered among the 57 companions, named in his Life to be presented in the month of December with the title of Blessed; in which Bull all the immovable goods granted to the said house by the pious faithful up to that day are also individually expressed, and both the house itself and the aforesaid Brothers are declared exempt from all jurisdiction of secular power and immune from bearing any public burdens whatsoever.
[14] But above all, their society is declared to have been legitimately erected in the form of a true college; which the Bishop then calls a Pious and religious Order, which he wishes to be promoted by them to posterity; just as at the beginning he had professed that it was the duty of his ministry to bestow the aid of ecclesiastical help upon those who choose the religious life. This, however, is not to be understood as though they all served God simultaneously under one roof, serving the hospital by turns, under the obedience of one Superior in all things, with the profession of three solemn vows; but each of them individually, having spurned the vanities of the world, remaining in their own home and condition and trade, devoted themselves by turns to the ministry of the poor, as is more clearly understood from the said Life of Blessed Peter Pettinarius; for thus, after the eight names of his companions have been listed, it is said: "All these had despised the world for the love of Christ, and devoted themselves to nothing else than prayers and works of mercy. On each feast day, five of them were gathered in the hospital, deliberating how and by what plan they might in the following week relieve the needs of the poor; of whom four, having divided the ministries between themselves in pairs, performed them under the direction of one fifth, while during the same week the other four devoted themselves to contemplation with Magdalene."
Section III. Honor paid to the body: the altar, images, a Confraternity erected at Siena under the name of Blessed Andrew.
[15] It is established that the body of Blessed Andrew was buried in the church of the Dominican Brothers. The body was buried in the church of the Preachers. That was at the time the ancient parish of Saint Gregory, granted to the Dominican Order, and occupied much less space than it does now, before Blessed Ambrose Sansedoni, then Prior, arranged for the old church to be demolished so that a new and larger one might be erected; which, begun in the year 1282 and quickly advanced far enough for use, at last received its final completion around the year 1449. "Therefore," it is elevated and transferred after the Life was written, says Raimund Barbi in chapter 21, "it is not known in what part of the old church the sacred body was first buried; but it is believed to have been interred until the brilliance of subsequent miracles persuaded its elevation." We have conjectured this to be the cause of the annual feast that began to be celebrated on the Monday of the holier week; and we have accepted the deep silence about it in the Life as an argument for the great antiquity of that Life, and its proximity to the times of the Blessed one himself. Otherwise it would necessarily have been mentioned in it on what occasion the body was either elevated from the earth or transferred from the old to the new church. Raimund continues: "When the structure was in part completed and dedicated, the chest, guardian of the precious treasure, was placed upon a certain altar, whose patronage the Gallerani family shortly afterward assumed; and to the chest this inscription was added:
HE WHOM PIOUS DEVOTION RAISED TO THE ALTAR,
ANDREW GALLERANI --
PIOUS MERITS HAVE RAISED TO HEAVEN.
A.D. 1251." and placed in his own altar.
[16] In this state things remained until Francis, son of Giles Bossi of Milan, formerly Bishop of Perugia, elected Bishop of Novara, came to Siena as Apostolic Visitor for Tuscany by the authority of Gregory XIII, and (as appears in the Book of Visitations of Bossi for the year 1575, folio 82, existing in the Archiepiscopal Curia of Siena) visited the altar under the title of Blessed Andrew Gallerani of Siena, which is a brick altar, covered with a wooden table, and had three cloths with a sacred stone, which he ordered to be leveled and fixed to the said table. inspected by the Apostolic Visitor in the year 1575. There were two brass candelabra, and a frontal of white damask silk, and a new and becoming wooden predella. Upon this altar was an icon of the image of Blessed Andrew, with various miracles performed by him painted most beautifully and elaborately on panels in the finest detail; to which icon there was an iron grate, and behind it was a gilded wooden casket in which the body of the abovesaid Blessed Andrew was deposited. And because the said casket was open and free access to it was possible, he commanded that two keys be made for the said casket, and that it be kept continually locked, and not easily opened, nor the body of Blessed Andrew easily shown. This altar belongs to the Gallerani family, and is endowed, and has the obligation of chanting a Mass on the Monday after Easter of the Resurrection, which they said they fulfilled. For Pius V had decreed that the sorrowful commemoration of the Lord's Passion, attached to Holy Week, should not be disturbed by the more joyful festival of any Saint; and this had been the reason for transferring to the Paschal ferias the feast which is observed to this day.
[17] In the fifth year after the said Visitation, the image of the Blessed at the altar, in the year of Christ 1580, Captain Julius Galleranus commissioned the marble ornamentation of the said altar, on which occasion the painted image of Blessed Andrew himself, which had long stood there, was removed -- having been executed around the year 1327 by the elegant brush of Anthony Laurati, which was surrounded by depicted scenes of various miracles, and which some hold was taken from a likeness rendered from life -- and it was placed above the altar which belongs to the Petrucci family on the sacristy side, where it remained until the year 1620, when the altar of that family was adapted for the image of Blessed Ambrose, to be brought from the place where the chapel of the most holy Rosary now is. another new one painted in the year 1630. And the image of Blessed Andrew himself, restored five years later, obtained a place nearest to the altar where it had first stood, where, as also everywhere else, it is honored even today with the frequent light of candles. Above the altar itself a new image of him is seen, painted in the year 1630 by Stephen Volpi, at the behest of the noble Venturi family, which happily succeeded the Gallerani through the adoption of Lord Julius, the last of his line through the male lineage. This panel exhibits Blessed Andrew kneeling before the Blessed Virgin and receiving the announcement of his happy passing, as described in the Life at number 12. There are also to be seen several other icons of this holy man throughout the pious places of the city of Siena, which Raimund lists in chapter 28, and it is not necessary to mention each one.
[18] A Confraternity instituted under the name of Blessed Andrew. We come to the Confraternity instituted under the invocation of Blessed Andrew, and accustomed to meet in the oratory which is beneath the dormitory of the convent of the Preacher Brothers. It had its beginning in the year 1344, on the Calends of May, as attests an ancient collection of Chapters written on parchment and preserved by the said sodales. Taking as its special badge and principal object of pious religion Jesus Crucified, it had Him most devoutly depicted upon its banners it bears him on its banners, and above the oratory's altar; and likewise Blessed Andrew, as its mediator to Christ. And so at the beginning of the said Chapters or ordinances concerning the aforesaid confraternity, in the aforesaid year, the Chancellor of the Oratory uses this exordium: "In the name and reverence of our Lord Jesus Christ crucified, and of His most holy Mother, the Virgin Mary, and also of the Blessed Lord Saint Andrew." And again, in a new book of similar constitutions, on March 13, in the year 1518, when the Sodales are found to have numbered one hundred and twenty voting, the scribe began thus: and invokes him as Saint and Blessed: "In the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity, and of the glorious Virgin Mary, and of Blessed Andrew de Gallerani." Elsewhere, moreover, in the same Chapters, they honor him with the title of "our Blessed Father," and acknowledge him as Patron and protector of their confraternity; and they command that candidates be instructed concerning the particular veneration to be shown to him, and that after three recitations of the Our Father and Hail Mary, following the invocation of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin, they add the versicle, "Pray for us, Blessed Father Andrew," with the Prayer, "O God, who by Blessed Andrew Thy Confessor," etc.
[19] These Sodales had the right of burial beneath those vaults it had the right of burial beneath the church of Saint Dominic, upon which the church of Saint Dominic was built; of which fact, in a place now fortified according to the laws of defensive warfare, some indications still survive, and this evident testimony in the necrology of the said convent: "John... died on March 2. He was buried in the sepulcher of the Disciplinati of the Society of Saint Andrew in the year 1369." This right they held until the year 1569; for then the oratory was transferred to the vaults beneath the church of the Sapienza, suitably cleaned out, and in it there flourishes the fervor of the first institution in both the number and the nobility of the illustrious Sodales; it flourishes in the number and dignity of the Sodales, stimulated and honored by many privileges and indulgences granted in perpetuity by Gregory XIII for both sexes; and honored by the judgments of the most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lords Ascanius Piccolomini, Archbishop of Siena, and Scipio Tancredi, Bishop of Montalcino, and of the most Noble Barons and other men distinguished by titles, from the most Illustrious German nation residing at Siena, who all did not believe it beneath their dignity
to have their names read inscribed in the Roll of the Sodales.
[20] When this same Confraternity, according to the pious custom of the city of Siena introduced in the year 1567, had been drawn by lot to organize the procession on Low Sunday, it carries the body of its Patron in a celebrated procession in the year 1603, at which thanks are given to God for the success of the prayers made each year, being drawn first in the year 1603, and when it was being deliberated which Saint's image or relic should be carried about in that sacred display, the Knight Ugo Benzius, deputed to that assembly from the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, proposed that they should decree that the body of Blessed Andrew Gallerani, either whole or in part, be carried forth; which, received with common congratulation, and with the permission of the Most Reverend Barzellinus Barzellini, Vicar General of the Cardinal of Treviso, of Avignon and Archbishop of Siena, was carried into execution on April 6, the venerable head of Saint Andrew having been received for this purpose. This was then brought back with great solemnity to the church of the Dominican Fathers, and again in the year 1636, and for a full eight days, under a remarkable canopy, it remained exposed in the middle of the church for the public veneration of the citizens. This was again done with similar magnificence and ceremony in the year 1637; while on the Saturday preceding the Sunday, when the sacred skull was being lifted from the casket and placed in an elegant tabernacle, there were present, in addition to several most illustrious men, the Archbishop Ascanius himself whom we have mentioned. The skull itself was then, nine days later, with an innumerable people flocking together and their piety making the proceeding more extended, placed back into its casket, which had itself been brought to the middle of the church, and likewise returned above its altar, with a great number of candles shining before it.
[21] The ancient manuscript was distinguished by certain headings, which here, with the Life divided into three parts, we set forth separately beforehand, having taken them from thence:
Here, concerning the piety of compassion in the heart.
Here, concerning the kindness of one who aids in deed.
Here, concerning the constancy of prayer.
Concerning the love of God and neighbor.
Here, concerning the excellence of holiness.
Here, concerning the humility of life and the exaltation of death.
Here, how he freed many from diverse and various ailments.
Concerning the restoration of sight.
Concerning the repair of hearing.
Concerning the restoration of speech.
Concerning the obtaining of the power to walk.
Concerning liberation from contracture.
Concerning the recovery of the use of reason.
Concerning liberation from demons.
Concerning liberation from prison.
Concerning the calming of those tossed about.
Concerning the raising of the dead.
Concerning a certain noble girl miraculously preserved from death.
Concerning a certain novice lay brother freed from temptations to leave the Order.
Concerning the testimony of the holiness of Blessed Andrew.
Concerning the same.
Concerning a certain woman, crippled, freed in a dream.
Concerning the guardian of his tomb.
Concerning a certain man wishing to make an offering on his feast.
LIFE
By a writer of a near-contemporary age,
from the manuscript of the Convent of Saint Dominic in Camporegio at Siena.
Andrew de Gallerani at Siena in Etruria (Bl.)
BHL Number: 0450
FROM THE SIENESE MANUSCRIPT.
CHAPTER I.
Synopsis of his entire life and virtues.
[1] There was in the city of Siena a noble man,
Andrew by name, Andrew, a Sienese nobleman, distinguished in morals and
integrity, who drew his origin from the noble
lineage of the Gallerani;
whose praiseworthy life not only
those who lived with him bear worthy testimony to,
but also the miracles which shone forth more frequently
before and after his death and do not cease continually
to flash, attest the merits of his extraordinary holiness.
When this man was publicly exiled by the Podesta of Siena
for a homicide he had committed, an exile for a killing he had committed, at about nighttime,
while coming from the Maremma with his brother, he saw
a cloud suddenly issuing from beneath a certain mill,
which, snatching him with the horse upon which he sat
from the sight of his brother, bore him through the air
for a distance of nearly three miles, while his brother
followed, crying out with sorrowful and anxious groans at so great
a disaster. But the man of God immediately fortified himself
with the salutation of the Virgin, never ceasing
to salute her most devoutly, so that by her merits
he was at last restored unharmed to the earth.
[2] And because all things work together for good for those who love
God, and he resolves to renounce the world, in this the holy man understood the beginning of his calling,
namely that he should withdraw his mind
from earthly things and transfer himself to the contemplation of heavenly things,
devoutly serving Him who had called him out of the darkness
of this world into His wonderful light. Which indeed
he fulfilled with provident and simple eagerness; for from that time,
renouncing the world and its pomps, and thenceforth begins to shine with virtue, he dedicated himself
entirely to Christ, shone with virtues by which, governing himself
and attending to the welfare of Christians, he happily
directed himself toward God -- fleeing death, thirsting for life,
not fearing to enter upon the way of life. For he was compassionate
in piety, helpful in kindness, constant
in prayer, preeminent in love, perfect in holiness,
humble in lowliness.
[3] The holy man was therefore very compassionate, and bore
pious feelings toward the afflicted, compassionate toward the afflicted, so that the affliction
of the miserable tormented him more than the affliction
tormented the miserable themselves. Whence once he encountered
a certain poor man who had a swollen leg, now almost completely
putrefied, and who on account of the lack of money could find
no surgeon. When the man of God understood this, he applied
a certain plaster in his simplicity, he heals a putrid leg, and the man was immediately
completely healed. By which God manifestly showed that although
He suffered the pain of the afflicted, He was unwilling to suffer the affliction
of His beloved, who was so great a refuge of the afflicted.
He sought out the sick and afflicted more diligently,
visiting and consoling them, he serves as midwife to a woman in labor, admonishing and exhorting them to patience.
Whence also, on a certain day, while returning from the countryside,
finding a woman alone in labor, moved with piety,
he stood by her in the place of a midwife and perfectly
ministered in all things.
[4] It also happened that his brother, out of indignation,
threw a certain key at a window, he preserves medicine bottles from breaking, where there were
flasks in which the holy man was carrying syrups of various kinds
to the sick; from which throw the flasks
were utterly shattered. When the holy man learned of this,
he was not in the least disturbed; but proceeding to the window
he found those flasks without any damage. By which God
manifestly showed how greatly He accepted the efforts of
his piety. For while the blessed man humbly and devoutly
devoted himself to the works of mercy as much as he could, it often
happened that, being occupied in the service of the poor, when he returns home late,
he could not return to his own home before the third
ringing of the bell. On which account all those of his own household
were angered, and were unwilling to open for him when he returned
so late; the doors open of their own accord, but he, as one truly devout and patient,
bore this humbly, and, as his maidservant reported,
he merely prostrated himself in prayer, and though the doors were closed,
afterward, following the example of the Savior, found them open. And
because true compassion of piety exists when it shows itself in works
of alleviating misery, ready to do good, therefore to the first point
the second follows fittingly, namely the kindness of one who helps.
[5] Secondly, he was helpful in his kindness; for his
continuous effort was this: to bring aid to the wretched
and to help the needy. from one measure of flour, Whence also, on a certain evening, he brought
home one measure of flour for the poor,
and having heated water in the middle of the night, he called the maidservant
lest he should miss Matins. When she had risen and was making bread,
and the man of God was putting away and arranging, the dough
did not diminish, he obtains many loaves, although otherwise so many loaves could never
have been produced from three measures; from which the woman,
wearied, asking and learning from him that it had been
one measure of flour, understood that this had come about
through the merits of the man of God. at another time he prevents wine from running out, Also, the wine which he had specially prepared
for the sick, when the maidservant wanted to send it as he was accustomed,
she found it completely exhausted; which when Blessed Andrew
heard, he went to the cask, and making the sign of the Cross,
drew abundantly, with the cask divinely replenished, from which for a long
time he sustained the poor. This also happened many times with bread,
because when the bread-box was empty, or obtains bread,
and the maidservant could find nothing to give to the needy, when he went there
it was divinely refilled.
[6] Also on a certain day, when it was the hour of dinner and
the weather was provoked with rains and snows, going out somewhere on account of charity, the man of God said to his household:
"Prepare, and I am going to Santa
Petronilla to bring them sustenance." And while they wondered
and dissuaded him, he went, and before they had completely
prepared he returned, and seeing and touching his garments,
which were in no way wet, he often returns dry under a rainy sky, they understood that an Angel had
led him back so quickly and unharmed from the rain.
A similar thing also happened many times when he went on the same errand
to Montecelsi and to other places by divine
inspiration; from all of which God wished to make known
how greatly He accepted his works of mercy. And because
through the active life one comes to the contemplative, most devoted to prayer, there fittingly
follows the third point, namely the constancy of prayer, in
which his spirit flew from the field of action to the summit of contemplation.
[7] There follows, therefore, the third point, namely the constancy of prayer;
for he applied himself to prayer with such eager
attention of mind that, with all cares trampled underfoot, he yearned
for this alone, being constituted in the body, to contemplate
the face of his Creator, he engages in it eagerly and ardently, where he poured forth pious and pitiful
groans, not only for his own offense if ever
he had sinned against God, but also for the perdition
of the human race which he beheld, and also from
love of the Fatherland which he eagerly thirsted for.
For the rivers of his eyes burst forth as an acceptable sacrifice to God,
so that in the place from which he rose from prayer, the earth
was found wet, as if water had been poured forth in abundance. not without a copious flow of tears. Whence
also he so sowed in tears that afterward he reaped
in exultation. Moreover, between day and night he always
devoutly said five hundred Our Fathers and as many Hail Marys,
whenever he could; so that, if the occupation
of the poor would permit, he would more fervently add three times five hundred.
And so that he might pray more attentively and devoutly,
he would hang his hair on a certain cord, lest sleep
should interrupt the fervor of his prayer with any interruption.
[8] Also, exposing himself with singular devotion and reverence
to the service of the glorious Virgin, piously devout toward the Blessed Virgin, out of the love
he had conceived, he always called her "Lady" in his salutation.
For whose merits the Virgin responded not only at home but also
on the way, when she appeared to him.
For the women who dwelt opposite the holy man
often, when they rose for Matins, saw
the place where he was praying shine with an immense
splendor; which, reporting to the maidservant of Blessed Andrew
in amazement, in much light, and asking why so great a light was made at night,
the said maidservant, reporting herself ignorant of this matter,
carefully attended to what was said; and at the hour which
they had indicated, rising the following night and beholding immense
lights, she enjoys her conversation, she saw a most beautiful Lady in white
sweetly conversing with the holy man -- about which on the following
day, demanding from him whether it had been the glorious Virgin,
he answered: "Yes," admonishing her that before his death she should by no means relate this to anyone. And because in prayer the intellect is illuminated, sincerely loving, for the apprehension of which the affection is inflamed, therefore there fittingly follows the fourth point, namely the love of charity.
[9] There follows, therefore, the fourth point, namely the love of charity, by which he loved God and neighbor with the sincerity of affection; God and neighbor. for with what affection did he love his neighbor, who spent himself entirely in the service of his neighbors? He urged upon all the counsels of holiness, showing himself in all things as a mirror of integrity. O with what purity he loved God, whom nothing delighted besides the memory of God! He languishes with this divine love, for whose desire his spirit burned; for while he is joined to God by love, nothing is loved by him besides God. And because it is fitting that the Beloved should visit His lover, once Christ came to him in the guise of a pilgrim, he receives Christ under the guise of a pilgrim, urgently asking to be brought into lodging; and despite his brother's resistance and great indignation at this, he placed him in his own room, with the door firmly closed. But in the morning, when he wished to lead him out, opening the room he found no one; from which he understood that it had been He who said: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and We shall come to him and make Our abode with him." John 14:23
[10] Sought by ambush for death. Also on a certain day, when certain men were laying an ambush for him as he was going to Matins in order to deliver him to death, the audacity to attack him as he passed through the midst of them utterly failed, while the one who was the ringleader in the crime cruelly exhorted them to the assault. Perceiving this, Blessed Andrew humbly prostrated himself at his feet, saying that he should freely do to him whatever he wished; at whose words not only did he withdraw from the conceived wickedness, he is divinely freed from danger, but also humbly begged pardon for the things he had done. From this it became clearly known that God could not suffer His holy man to be harmed by those near him, who poured forth upon his neighbors so great a grace of piety and charity. Also on a certain day, while still in exile, when he had secretly entered the city and was hiding in a certain htower, this did not escape the Podesta, who immediately sent his iconstables to apprehend him; when they sought the key to the said tower, the door opened of its own accord without any key, likewise at another time from the danger of capture, and the man of God going out unseen by anyone, escaped unharmed before those standing by;k for God had foreseen this minister of His election and His most worthy Confessor as soon as possible. And because the Holy One of Saints is loved only by the holy, on account of which He Himself says, "Be holy, because I am holy"; therefore there rightly follows the fifth point, namely the summit of his holiness. Leviticus 11:45
[11] There follows, therefore, the fifth point, namely the summit of his holiness: perfect in an extraordinary degree of holiness, for he was holy because he was entirely devoted to the divine service; holy because firmly established in the law of God; holy because freely cleansed from all impurity. For he directed himself toward God with such rectitude that, conforming himself to the divine will in all things, he brought all his works to that rule. He was also strengthened with such great constancy that he could be impeded by no temptations from his good resolution, and provoked to impatience by no adversities, insults, or injuries. and pure from every stain. So perfect was also the cleanliness of his purity and simplicity that he abhorred not only committing unclean and fraudulent things, but even thinking them.
[12] And because holiness is freedom from impurity and perfection in immaculate cleanness, and each thing is perfect when it already attains its final end, therefore the Blessed Virgin recalls the man perfected in holiness to be joined to her Son in the Church of Saint Christopher. The Blessed Virgin admonishes him of his death: For when one day in the Church of Saint Christopher, before the altar of Blessed Blaise, with the doors closed, he was praying more devoutly, the Priests and Clergy who were in the sacristy heard a delightful conversation being held with him. And going out to look up at the one speaking, they saw a Lady shining with immense splendor, who immediately vanished. Whence the man of God, returning home, was soon seized by a fever, and calling his maidservant to cover him, he predicted that his death would come on Sunday at Vespers, whose hour he announces, just as the Most Blessed Virgin had revealed to him; which the subsequent event proved true. For it was worthy that he should give us so sure a sign of his holiness, by which the fame of his virtues would shine forth, and we, kindled by devotion thereby, might through his merits obtain pardon and grace in the present and glory from the Lord in the future. after the highest pursuit of humility throughout his entire life. And because the higher the degree of perfection, the more dangerous the fall threatens -- whence pride is born the more frequently (which, just as it is the root of all vices, is also called the destruction of virtue) -- therefore there fittingly follows the sixth point, namely the lowering of humility.
[13] There follows, namely, the lowering of humility: for by this virtue, by which the others are preserved, he shone above all. Utterly despising the world and worldly vanities, he scorned no one except himself, even despising this: if he were lscorned by others. Whence he devoted himself more eagerly to works that were open to contempt and lowliness, not desiring to be served but rather to serve. And this because he was founded in humility, following the footsteps of his Savior, who humbled Himself; and also of the glorious Virgin, in whom, as Bernard says, humility pleased the Creator more than virginity. He humbled his body as much as he could with fasts, putting on vile and despised garments.
AnnotationsCHAPTER II
Miracles after the death of Blessed Andrew: various ailments cured.
[14] The face of the dead man And because it is said by the mouth of Truth that "whoever humbles himself shall be exalted," it was very fitting that he who had so greatly humbled himself in life should be exalted by worthy and new wonders in death. Whence it is reported not without considerable admiration that at the very hour at which he predicted he would render up his spirit, shines, besprinkled with flowers. his face was found as white as snow and covered with fragrant flowers. By which God manifestly showed how He loved him in the sweetness of fragrance, because he had shown himself a fragrance of praiseworthy fame while he lived. Also, while his body was being carried to the place of the Preacher Brothers in Camporegio, the eyes of one watching the funeral are healed: where out of devotion he had chosen burial, a certain soldier from whose eyes humors had long and continually flowed, looking from his palace through a certain window, was through his merits completely healed.
[15] miracles of every kind are performed after the burial, But the other miracles, by which the Lord glorified and exalted His Saint and does not cease continually to exalt him, the tongue fails to narrate, and the hand is insufficient to commend to the pen of memory. But let us consider a few out of many in order. And although a matter to be reported is more diligently and clearly examined through its circumstances, yet because prolixity of speech burdens and wearies not only the minds of hearers but also of readers, I shall touch upon these things briefly, leaving their declaration to the booklet which are briefly reported, where these things were first compiled at greater length. It must therefore be noted with the greatest devotion of the faithful how many and how great miracles are manifested through the merits of this Saint; for he restored complete health to many who were weighed down by diverse and various ailments: to the blind, sight; to the deaf, hearing; to the mute, speech; to the lame, walking; to the contracted, the ability to work; to the demented, the judgment of reason; to demoniacs, the help of liberation; to the imprisoned, release; to the storm-tossed, a tranquil refuge; and to the dead also, he many times bestowed the gift of life.
[16] And to each of these, examples seen and heard by trustworthy report are not undeservedly appended. Fevers are healed: continuous fevers, A certain man named James, suffering at death's door from a continuous fever and a hard constriction of the chest, so that he was utterly believed to be dying that evening, when a vow was made on his behalf by Lady Mary, his grandmother, to Blessed Andrew, was soon completely healed through his merits. Another man named Bartholomew, suffering from a continuous fever with an abscess, when a vow was made by his mother to Blessed Andrew, immediately spat out the abscess and was completely freed from the fever. Also a certain boy named Albrizinus, while suffering at death's door from a continuous fever, and almost believed dead, when a vow was made by his mother to Blessed Andrew, was completely restored to health. A certain woman also, named Benvennuta, while suffering from a tertian fever, when she once felt herself growing hot, tertian, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, the fever immediately departed, leaving her completely freed. A certain woman named Bilia quartan, suffered from a quartan fever for seven months, and upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, was completely freed. A certain woman also, named aOlliente, while she had long suffered from an abscess in the breast, which finally turned
into a fistula, an abscess in the breast, she was abandoned by the help of physicians; but upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, she was freed, and the bpiece of millet stalk which had remained there on account of the medications immediately jumped out.
[17] a swelling of the belly, A certain woman named Boccabella, suffering from a swelling of the belly for six months and thereby deprived of bodily strength, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, was completely freed. A certain woman named Gilia, having suffered daily fevers and a tertian for twelve weeks, prolonged fevers, upon making a vow, was restored to her former health through the merits of the holy man before his tomb. A certain man named Bellinus, suffering an intolerable pain for six years, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, a headache, was restored to complete health. A certain woman named cSobilia, afflicted for three months with a headache and other infirmities throughout her entire body, paralysis: by which in the judgment of physicians she was called paralytic, laboring in despair, humbly made a vow to Andrew, the Man of God, through whose merits she soon obtained health in all respects. A certain man named Bartolutius, hemorrhage, suffering a continuous flow of blood from the mouth for seven days, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, was immediately completely freed. A certain boy had his bladder so inflated hernia, that he was said by the physicians to be ruptured; therefore, when a vow was made by his mother to Saint Andrew, he obtained full health. epilepsy. A certain woman named Lombarda, suffering from the falling sickness for already a year, upon making a vow to the holy man, was completely freed.
[18] Brother Oliverius, a lay brother of the Order of Preachers, before he entered the Order, a wound of the foot, while guarding the tomb of the man of God, accidentally struck against a nail, which pierced his foot from the lower part to the upper in a sinewy area; and humbling himself in his prayers to the Man of God on this account, that same evening he was completely freed. A certain woman named Clarissima involuntarily and compulsively shook her head; tremor of the head; poison drunk, and upon making a vow to the Saint of God, she recognized that she had been freed through his merits. A certain woman named Gemma had taken poisoned food; and sensing herself already near death on account of this, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, she was immediately freed. A certain man named Francis, afflicted with an almost intolerable pain in his side, torment of the intestines; imminent suffocation, upon a vow made by his grandmother to Blessed Andrew, obtained full health. A certain little boy, out of childish levity, had put a certain fragment of an earthen vessel into his mouth, which so stuck in his throat that from the anguish of pain he was utterly believed to be about to expire without any remedy. Seeing this, his mother Parrofina fell to the ground half-dead; but the neighboring women vowed him to Blessed Andrew, and immediately he expelled the fragment, restored to his former safety.
[19] a pain of the throat. A certain man named Bulliettus, distressed for twelve days by a pain of the throat, so that he could neither speak nor take food without great difficulty, was carried to the tomb of Saint Andrew and was completely restored to health. A certain nun near dGrosseto was paralytic, paralysis, but the Abbess was keeping some small particle of the garments of Blessed Andrew as relics; and by the rubbing of these, the said nun was restored to health. A certain girl, on Monday of Holy Week, just as her mother had dreamed the preceding night, a fall from a balcony, fell to the ground from a balcony at a height of twenty arm-lengths; and a certain neighbor woman, seeing this, commended her to Blessed Andrew, through whose merits she was in no way injured. A certain man, while driving a stake in his vineyard, ran into another stake with his face, so that he saw his eye torn out and thrown to the ground; an eye knocked out, and upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, it was soon placed back in his head as at first.e A certain woman, hearing in the sermon of Brother Ambrose hernia, the miracles of the man of God, vowed to Blessed Andrew her son, whom she had long left ruptured in bed, and returning she found him completely freed.
[20] A certain man named Ghibertus, detracting from the holiness of the man of God, was suddenly deprived of sight; blindness inflicted for unbelief: and repenting of his malice, with compunction he returned to his heart, and humbling himself to Blessed Andrew, he sought pardon; through whose merits he completely obtained the gift of seeing. A certain man named Bonamente, long infirm in his eyes, likewise two blind persons cured, had already completely lost his sight for three months; and upon making a vow and visiting the tomb of Blessed Andrew, he was completely freed. A certain man named Paul could see nothing from one eye and little from the other; and upon making a vow, he completely obtained the gift of seeing. A certain woman named Griffolina, long suffering from deafness, two deaf persons, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, completely received her hearing. At the Bath of Vitriol, a certain man named Panerius Rustici, deaf from birth, had this vision at night (without having made a vow): that Andrew, the man of God, came to him, and taking spittle, put it in his ears; and in the morning he found himself completely freed. likewise mute persons, A certain man named Matthew had lost his speech for eight months, but spending the night before the tomb of the man of God, he soon received his customary use of speech. A certain man named Cambius could not speak for three days; but upon a vow made by his brother to Blessed Andrew, he spoke as before. A certain woman named Romana, and two disabled persons, suffering in her knees, legs, and feet, could not walk; upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, she received complete health. A certain man named James, contracted in his legs, could not walk; but when carried to the tomb of the Man of God, he immediately grew strong and was at length completely freed.
[21] A certain woman named Scialinga had been contracted for five years, likewise a contracted person, so that she could in no way walk except a little through the house, crawling on her hands; and upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, she was so freed that she visited his tomb without a staff or any aid. A certain man named Matthew had pains and gout so violent, afflicted with gout, and moreover had his hand so contracted that he could not work; but upon making a vow to Saint Andrew, he obtained health in all respects. A certain man, enormously hunchbacked, visiting the tomb of the holy man a hunchback, and devoutly remaining there for his restoration, was completely freed from that deformity. A certain woman named Adalascia, twisted in her arms, upon making a vow to Blessed Andrew, obtained complete health. two contracted persons. The nephew of a certain man named Marchigiares was contracted in his arms, legs, and feet; but upon a vow made by his aunt to Blessed Andrew, he was completely restored to health. A certain woman named Berta became demented; and coming to the tomb of the Saint of God, likewise demented persons, she soon began to improve and was at length completely freed. A certain man named Guido became utterly demented; but upon a vow made in the evening to Blessed Andrew, in the morning he began to improve and finally obtained complete health.
AnnotationsCHAPTER III
Other miracles at the invocation of Blessed Andrew.
[22] A certain woman named Cittadina, cruelly tormented by a demon, from a woman was set free before the tomb of the man of God. A certain man also, tormented by a demon, was devoutly keeping vigil at the tomb of the man of God; and a man, demons are expelled. but the demon, departing unwillingly, said that at least the bells should by no means be rung at his departure in exultation at the miracle, because upon his departing, the bell-beam would be utterly broken; which the outcome of the event afterward proved, for tearing the man and releasing him free, it broke the said beam in fury. A certain man named Peter Baroni, captured in the siege at bMontalcino, making a vow for his liberation to the Saint of God, that same evening saw a certain man coming to the one who had captured him, two captives freed, and asking whether he was leading him to prison; and when the man replied "Yes," said to him that he should by no means do this, and so released the captive, believing and recognizing that his liberator had been wholly a holy man. A certain man named Uguccione de Ischia, while he was in prison, making a vow to the man of God, soon found a key with which he broke open the prison; but since the weather was calm, so that he would not be detected, he prayed for stormy weather; and the weather became tempestuous, so that with no guard perceiving it, all escaped from the prison entirely.
[23] A certain man, placed in desperation amid the stormy waves of the sea, freed from a storm, recalling the miracles and merits of the man of God, most devoutly commended himself to him; at whose vow the tempest was utterly annulled, God working. Certain men sailing, when danger threatened from stormy waves, so that, with one plank of the ship already broken, they were beginning to be submerged from the inrush of water and the dangerous surges of the winds, heard a voice exhorting them to commend themselves more devoutly to Blessed Andrew. Having heard this, all tearfully invoking his aid, they soon saw the man of God standing at the top of the mast and holding in his hand a lighted candle; at whose appearance the tempest ceased, and having a favorable wind, in that night they sailed four hundred miles, arriving at a most-desired port. But when they returned, the ship, placed in ca harbor, was attacked by eight galleys of pirates; and all who were in it were bound in the lower part, and from pirates, while the Saracens were above; but the captives, mindful of the benefit they had received, vowed themselves again to the man of God, and upon making the vow their bonds were loosened, and ascending above they found the said Saracens weighed down by the heaviest sleep, all of whom they killed, obtaining their goods together with their galleys completely.
[24] A certain man named Baroncellus had closed his last day, but upon a vow made to Blessed Andrew by Landa, his wife, and Ganna, his daughter, for the raising and liberation of the deceased, he raised two from the dead, he was restored to life and health through the merits of the holy man. A certain man named Ceccus, from grief for his brother whom he was watching die, gave up his spirit and was judged dead both by physicians and by others; but his mother, most devoutly commending him to Blessed Andrew, soon received him alive through his merits. two others aided at the very point of death: A certain little boy had already lost sensation and motion and appeared entirely dead; but upon a vow made to Blessed Andrew by his mother, named Imelda, he immediately opened his eyes and vomited up a long red worm having two heads; and when this was vomited up he began to rise and was completely freed. A certain young man was atrociously trampled by a horse running in fury, so that he was believed dead or about utterly
to die shortly; but upon a vow made to Blessed Andrew, at the very moment of the trampling, by someone who witnessed it, he was entirely restored to life and health.
[25] There was a certain noble Lady in the city of Siena who obtained a great benefit through the prayers of Blessed Andrew. as also a noble girl who fell from a height. She narrated that on the night of Palm Sunday she had had the following dream: for she dreamed that her little daughter would suffer a fall from the window of a certain house. When she had awakened from sleep, terrified with fear, she most devoutly commended her daughter to Blessed Andrew. On the very day on which the feast of the most blessed Confessor Andrew begins to be venerated by the faithful with veneration, while the daughter of the aforesaid Lady was in a certain very high house, it happened that she fell through the window of the same house and plunged to the ground, the dream having been brought to fulfillment. While she was thus falling, a certain woman, seeing her plunge, began tearfully and in a loud voice to invoke the patronage of Blessed Andrew, saying thus: "Saint Andrew, Saint Andrew, help her!" A wondrous thing! When the girl reached the ground, she fell so lightly and so gently and through the invocation of the Blessed one is unharmed, that no injury to her body could be found by a physician or by anyone else. Whence by divine dispensation it was brought about that the fall should happen in such a way as a testimony to the holiness of Blessed Andrew, so that he who had been an imitator of the Master through the merit of his life might also be an imitator through the aid of miracle, to the glory and honor of Him who miraculously raised the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue from death.
[26] There was a certain Novice, a lay brother in the Convent of the Preacher Brothers at Siena, a Novice freed from a grave temptation, who was pressed by the enemy of the human race with such powerful temptations that he was entirely disposed to leave the Order. Whenever he devoutly looked upon the dust he had taken from the tomb, upon which had stood the casket containing the body of the blessed man, which he kept carefully tied up in a certain cloth, all the harassment of the enemy and the temptation to leave the Order immediately departed; and he, regarded by divine mercy through the prayers of the glorious Confessor Andrew and confirmed in the Order, merited in his very novitiate to be freed from the burden of bodily frailty, to the praise of Him who does not suffer His faithful to be tempted beyond their power, but giving them increase, makes them manfully overcome the contests of temptations.
[27] There was a certain Smith in the city of Siena, in the ethird of Saint Martin, the holiness of Blessed Andrew is proven by fire: who was utterly incredulous concerning the holiness of Blessed Andrew. Wishing to test the testimony of his supreme holiness, he cast a certain fragment of his garment into the fire, so that, if it should happen not to be burned by the blaze of the flames, he would no longer hesitate in the least about the holiness of the blessed man. A wondrous thing! He did this three times, and the fragment remained as unharmed as if it had never touched burning coals. The unbeliever firmly believed in his holiness and related the aforesaid miracle to many, to the honor of Him who by His power preserved the three youths unharmed in the furnace of burning fire.
[28] To this is added what is proven to have happened to a certain soldier named Guelfo, the brother of the man whom Blessed Andrew had killed. the same acknowledged by his enemy. This man had been strongly indignant that the body of Blessed Andrew should be buried with veneration in the church of the Preacher Brothers, inasmuch as he had so manifestly committed homicide. Weighed down intensely by this indignation, he was seized with divine fear; for he came to the church of the Brothers, and with his own belt wrapped around his neck, and moreover with bare feet and knees bared upon the ground, proceeding from the choir of the Brothers to the tomb of the holy man, he is acknowledged and honored. he exhibited such humility and reverence toward him that he excited a wonderful stupor of devotion in the hearts of those standing by, to the glory and honor of Him who converts the enemies of His faithful to peace.
[29] When the Blessed appears, a crippled woman is healed. There was a certain woman who through the merits of Blessed Andrew experienced in herself a wonderful great benefit of health. For when she was severely contracted in her hands and feet, she was urged by a certain woman to implore the patronage of the blessed Confessor Andrew; and at her counsel she devoutly vowed herself to him. While sleeping, she saw in a dream Blessed Andrew, clothed in a green cloak, coming out of his own tomb and coming toward her, and covering her with that cloak, and then departing. When she thus saw in her dream Blessed Andrew departing, she nevertheless began to cry out in her sleep, saying, "He is departing, he is departing." While she was thus crying out, she was awakened and found herself completely freed.
[30] Senese, the guardian of the tomb of the blessed man, while placing the wax images offered in honor of Blessed Andrew and the guardian of the tomb is injured, and testifying to his holiness through miracles upon his tomb in a high position, slipped with his foot and it happened that his hand was pierced by a certain nail from the lower part to the upper; and upon making a vow, he began to doze off clinging to the tomb. To him as he slept, Blessed Andrew appeared, exhorting him to take diligent care of the poor, and impressed upon his hand the sign of the holy Cross. He, afterward being awakened, found himself entirely freed, with no deformity remaining in his hand, to the glory and honor of Him who miraculously healed the hand of the leper by the touch of His most pure hand.
[31] likewise a broken arm A certain man came to the Church of the Preacher Brothers on the feast of Blessed Andrew, intending to offer his small gifts with devotion. On that very day, with a great multitude of people rushing most devoutly to his tomb, the aforesaid man, fearing to be crushed by the crowd, stretched out his hand at length, opposing it to the multitude coming before the tomb. But while he wished in this way to defend himself from the pressure, at the tomb of the Blessed one, it happened that his hand was broken at the joint, the crowd pushing most forcefully. Sensing intolerable pain, half-dead from excessive pain, he stirred the bowels of wondrous compassion in the hearts of those standing by; and coming to himself, making a vow and begging for the benefit of health, as soon as he completed the vow his hand was restored to its former soundness.f Epilogue of the miracles. Many other miracles indeed were known to have been performed both during the life of this glorious Saint and after his venerable death, which have not been designated by the pen; these have been briefly noted for the confirmation of his holiness and for the edification of the faithful, to the praise and glory of Him who alone has done great wonders, who, God three and one, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
In the year of the Lord 1251, in Lent, on a Sunday after Vespers, he departed to the Lord.
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