Louis Bertrand

ON ST. LOUIS BERTRAND, CONFESSOR, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS, AT VALENCIA IN HISPANIA TARRACONENSIS,

IN THE YEAR 1581.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Louis Bertrand, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers, at Valencia in Hispania Tarraconensis. (S.)

BY C. S.

§ I. Various Lives of St. Louis, of which two will be published in Latin from the Italian, and others to be used in writing the Commentary are listed.

While our Society still stood safe even in the dominions of the Catholic king, Of the Saint's Lives, by the senate of Valencia the most excellent senate of the city of Valencia, which is the capital of the kingdom of Valencia in Spain, in the year 1763, on the 26th day of March, sent us a most honourable letter, subscribed by the governor of the same city, the four perpetual rectors and the secretary, and sealed with the customary public seal, by which they, out of their praiseworthy piety, deigned to commend to us that we should diligently illustrate the deeds of St. Louis Bertrand, once their fellow citizen, now long since their patron in heaven. To their commendation, which we value most highly, the same most excellent men added certain things pertaining to the posthumous glory of the same holy Confessor, to be of use to us, and indicated the sources from which his deeds are to be sought, and finally most kindly pledged their help toward these things.

[2] And concerning the sources they say this: You will bear with us recalling to your memory suggested out of their solicitous piety toward their Fellow Citizen that Vincent Justinian Antist was a contemporary of St. Louis and a comrade of sacred warfare in the same convent. For when that holy Man was master of novices, Antist put on the religious habit and took the vows of the Dominican fellowship in the year 1560, and for twenty-three years lived with him as witness of his holiness, up to the year 1581, in which St. Louis exchanged this mortal life for the everlasting one; and in that very year Antist wrote his Life with this title: VERDADERA RELACION DE LA VIDA I MUERTE DEL PADRE FRAI LUIS BERTRAN (which I render thus from the Spanish into Latin: "A True Account of the life and death of Father Brother Louis Bertrand"), and published it at Valencia at the house of the widow of Peter de Huete in the year 1582, and again in the year 1583 in octavo; and in this same year it was published at Barcelona by Paul Menescal; and at Genoa in Liguria by James Poggio, turned into the Tuscan tongue by Brother Timothy Bottonio of the same fellowship, likewise in octavo.

[3] Besides, Antist himself brought out to the public ADDICIONES A LA HISTORIA DE SANCTO FRAI LUIS BERTRAN (that is: we do not have the original in the Spanish tongue "Additions to the History of the holy Brother Louis Bertrand"), and published them at Valencia through Patrick Mey in the year 1593 in octavo: all which books are extant in the library of the fellowship of Preachers of this our city. Finally, at the end of the same letter, out of their singular goodwill toward us, they deigned to add: And whatever services can proceed from us, consider that they will at no time be lacking to you. We received this letter (than which none more pleasing could have befallen us) in the aforesaid year 1763, in the month of August, on the 24th day; and without delay we began to search our libraries to see whether those two little Works of Antist existed among us.

[4] written by Justinian Antist, This inquiry was carried on until the 9th day of September of the same year, when, all hope of finding them having been cast aside, encouraged by the confidence which the letter we had received had given us, we sent a reply to the aforesaid most excellent senate, in which, after giving thanks for so eminent a goodwill toward us, and pledging our due service, we requested those two little Works, and besides proposed some doubts of ours. Nor does the supreme kindness of those illustrious men allow us to doubt that we would have obtained what we asked, had not the human vicissitude of our affairs, known to the whole world, intervened. It will meanwhile be well to have recorded these things here as a testimony of our grateful mind, and to commend the religious piety of the aforesaid illustrious men. There are not lacking, however, other things which may make up for this want.

[5] but nevertheless the same turned into Italian and published by Bottonio, For first of all, among various Lives of the same Saint, there exists in our library one in the Italian tongue, printed at Palermo in the year 1612 at the house of John Antony de Franceschi, with this title, but in Italian words: An Account of the life and death of the glorious father St. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers, collected by the R. P. M. F. Vincent Justinian Antist of Valencia, of the Order of St. Dominic, in Spanish, and turned into Italian by a certain father of the same Religious order. And printed anew by Brother Vincent de Montalbano, a Lay Brother of the same Order. That the first Italian translator of this Spanish Life was Timothy Bottonio I gather from the letter of the most excellent senate of Valencia, above at number 2; which seems to have escaped Échard, since he, in volume 2 of the Library of the Writers of the Order of Preachers, page 326, under Antist, number 8, is silent on the name of the translator, and on page 304, among the Works both written by the same Timothy Botonio and turned into another tongue, does not mention this Life.

[6] and reprinted by the labour of Vincent Montalbano, Further, if we weigh this Italian Life itself, we shall find nothing in it from which we could suspect that it was made Italian from any source other than the original Spanish, or that it is different from that which Bottonio is said above to have published in Italian in the year 1583. For first, although our copy was printed in the year 1612, yet it narrates absolutely nothing later than the year 1582, in which Antist published his first Spanish Life of St. Louis; and it is also deeply silent about his beatification, made in the year 1608 by Paul V, supreme Pontiff; whence you may gather both that this Italian translation is earlier than the said year 1608, and that nothing was added to it by Vincent Montalbano in the repeated edition of the year 1612. Secondly, the approbations of three censors added at the end of the little Work (although these too, like the rest, have been turned into Italian) are marked as given at Valencia in the year 1582 (namely in which Antist published the first Life in Spanish), nor do they mention any other author of the Life than the same Antist. We have, therefore, unless I am greatly mistaken, the Italian translation, by Timothy Bottonio, of the original Life written in Spanish by Antist, as the letter of the senate of Valencia asserts, first published at Genoa in the year 1583, and, as our copy shows, reprinted at Palermo in the year 1612 under the care of Vincent de Montalbano.

[7] Of this last editor Échard, volume 2 of the Library of the Preachers, page 412, speaks thus: only the dedicatory Epistle prefixed to it. Brother Vincent de Montalvan, a Sicilian, although of the order of those whom we call Lay Brothers, devoted only to manual works, not to letters, yet made a name for himself among the writers. He flourished about this year 1618; on the witness of Fernandez, Historia del Rosario, book 9, page 17, he wrote "Vite de' Santi dell'Ordine de' Predicatori." There is no record of this author and of his Work in Antonino Mongitore, in the second part of his Sicilian Library. I believe Échard when he asserts that this Vincent wrote some Lives of the Saints of his Order; but this Life of which we are treating is by no means to be counted among them, since in it he had no other part than that he caused to be printed again the Life first composed in Spanish by Antist and turned into Italian by Timothy Bottonio, and prefixed to it a brief dedicatory epistle to the very reverend father master, brother Vincent Candido, Provincial of the Preachers in Sicily.

[8] We have, therefore, the Italian translation of the Spanish little Work of Antist, From the Library of the writers of the Order of Preachers and since with him rests the authority of this Life, I transcribe here the eulogy of the same man from Échard's Library of the Preachers, volume 2, page 325. It runs thus: Brother Vincent Justinian Antist, a Spaniard, born at Valencia of the Aragonese, and admitted to the Order there, of which native convent of his he was also at one time Prior, flourished in the 16th century as master of arts and of sacred Theology, and, being a man of talent, not only accustomed to scholastic contests, but also a curious investigator of antiquity, who gave diligent labour to unearthing ancient monuments of deeds; as the Works of both kinds published by him testify, by which he not only won singular glory for himself while living, but also left to posterity a notable memory of his name, departing from mortal life in his native place and in his original convent of Valencia in the year 1599, buried in the choir next to his kinsman and fellow-initiate Brother John Vidal, master of S. T.

[9] His funeral was honoured by John de Ribera, archbishop of Valencia and patriarch

of Antioch, we recite here the eulogy of the aforesaid Antist the bishop of Gratia performed the Mass or Sacrifice, and Brother Augustine Dávila Padilla of the Order of Preachers, preacher to Philip III, the Catholic king, and archbishop-elect of the island of Santo Domingo, honoured him with a funeral oration; which things show how great was the fame with which he shone among all. So our Diago, History of the Province of Aragon, fol. 251 d. Fernandez asserts that he was born of an illustrious stock. Oldoini, Athenaeum Ligusticum, although he admits that he was born at Valencia, contends that he was descended from the famous family of the Giustiniani of Genoa, and therefore lists him among the Ligurian writers; which our people of Valencia may discuss more curiously. I, however, present him here under the surname Antist, which I consider to be that of his family; in which the editor of the Barberini Library was gravely deluded, who, interpreting Antist as antistes, thought that this Vincent of ours was archbishop of Valencia. After these things Échard lists among the Works of Antist the Spanish Life of St. Louis Bertrand, which he says was printed at Saragossa and Valencia in the year 1582, and, turned into Italian by a certain father of the same Order of Preachers (whose name he does not mention, but who, from what has been said, was Timothy Bottonio), was reprinted at Genoa in the year 1583 at the house of James del Poggio; but of the other editions, and of the Additions published by the same Antist, which the often-cited letter of Valencia records, he is deeply silent.

[10] the Saint's companion, and procurator of his cause of beatification. And as all the things adduced thus far, so also the rest of what we know of Antist not a little commend his authority and trustworthiness in writing this Life. He himself testifies, in chapter 3 of the Life to be published in the first place, but according to my division chapter 7, not indeed that (as is read in the aforesaid letter) he put on the Dominican habit or was professed under St. Louis Bertrand as master of novices, but that after his profession, according to the custom observed in the Order of Preachers, he obeyed him as master of novices for one year and a half from the year 1560, in which the Saint was recalled from the convent of Albaida to Valencia to discharge that office. From other places of the same Life also it is established that the same biographer lived with him in the same convent for not a few years, up to his death; not, however, always, since Louis meanwhile spent some years in America, and also elsewhere presided over his brethren as Prior. To these I add that the same Antist was appointed by his convent procurator of the cause of beatification of the same Louis in the processes drawn up at Valencia, as we shall show in its place.

[11] learned, pious and sincere, as even the very Antist, therefore, could, nay must, have been excellently informed of the things done by him in Spain, both from his long companionship with him, and from others who were familiar with both, and finally from the processes to the making of which he himself had contributed his labour as procurator; nor would anyone rightly require anything further in a historian otherwise learned and pious, except diligence in inquiring and sincerity in writing, which the whole Life cries aloud were by no means lacking to him either. It is pleasing here to give a foretaste of some things. He set himself this law (as he professes in the Prologue) in writing it, that he would consign to writing only things ascertained and useful, and without offence to anyone; how accurately he observed this the reader of the Life will easily notice. As for the first, he rightly warned in the same Prologue that it was not open to him without certain infamy to invent anything, or, without the most immediate danger to his name, to hand down things not sufficiently ascertained, in that place and at that time in which his errors could be detected and refuted by a thousand eyewitnesses and earwitnesses. For that reason in chapter 23, with me number 308, he again professes that he had omitted many miracles, even greater than those he reported, from fear of error, because he did not yet have them sufficiently discussed and ascertained; see below in this Preliminary Commentary, number 14.

[12] Concerning the deeds of the same Saint in America (or, the Life proves, which we shall make Latin from the Italian. as he himself speaks, in a manner not unusual with others also, in the Indies, namely the Western), which he could learn only from his own and others' accounts, he dealt much more sparingly, naming the persons from whom he had received them, and complaining of the negligence of his own people in transmitting to Europe accounts of the things splendidly done by men of his Order in those parts of the world. Go to the Life to be published in the first place, number 82. This Life, therefore, as composed by a writer pious, learned, diligent, sincere, and not only contemporary but also for a long time a companion of St. Louis himself, and procurator of his beatification in the process of Valencia, I have judged should be given in Latin from the aforesaid Italian version reprinted at Palermo in the year 1612 under the care of Brother Vincent Montalbano. The fair reader will pardon, I hope, that in translating it I have taken less care of the elegance of the Latin tongue, so as to cling more closely to the literal sense.

[13] There are also other things of which it is necessary to inform the reader here. some things not pertaining here having been cut away. Since Antist in this little Work also narrates at length not a few things about some other distinguished men of his Order, which pertain to Louis for no other reason than that he either religiously instructed some of them, or some other connection of whatever kind subsisted between him and them, I have passed over all those things as foreign to this subject, the reader being informed in the Annotations in their places. With similar design I have passed over the whole last chapter, in which (as the title prefixed to the chapter has it) answer is made to certain doubts concerning the honour shown to this Servant of God after his death. I have passed it over, I say, because the biographer in it teaches nothing about St. Louis, and only proves at length that the titles of Saint and Blessed were granted to several others also not canonized by the holy Apostolic See, and that ampler honours were bestowed on them than on this Louis; which indeed is beyond doubt before the celebrated decrees of Urban, before which Antist wrote; but now there is no need of these reasons, after Louis Bertrand was enrolled by the same holy See first in the catalogue of the Blessed and then also in that of the Saints.

[14] Now let us come to the Additions of the same Antist, published in the year 1593. Additions made by Antist himself led the way That he wished to add some things to the first Life he himself indicated in the Life to be published, number 308, in these words: Although more important (miracles) remain than those related, I shall nevertheless pass them over from fear of erring, either in substance or in circumstances. Would that within a short time it may be permitted me to publish this Work again, increased by many others; especially if God grants that some accounts of good note be brought to us of the things which were done by this blessed Father in the Indies. These Additions indeed we do not have, but other things are at hand, to whose authors the same Additions, and also some accounts sent from the Indies, that is from America, led the way. To pass over others, the R. F. Balthasar John Roca, of the Order of Preachers in the convent of Valencia, on the occasion of the beatification of Louis made by Paul V, supreme Pontiff, published his Life in Spanish at Valencia in the year 1608, in whose Prologue to the reader he expressly asserts that Antist in his Additions, published in the year 1593, had related new miracles.

[15] to John Roca and Bartholomew Avignone, Then in the same place he continues thus, but in the Spanish tongue: And since from that time (from the year 1593) until now many marvels besides, which the Saint wrought both in the new world and in these lands, have been ascertained, I resolved to write a continuous History from all these, etc. This Life is listed in the eulogy of the same Roca in Échard, volume 2 of the Library, page 365. Again, I have another Life of the same Saint, printed at Rome in the year 1623, which the aforesaid Échard mentions thus, volume 2, page 431: Brother Bartholomew Avignone, an Aragonese, master of sacred Theology, was present at Rome in the year 1623 as envoy, or, as they call it, procurator, for pursuing the canonization of the servant of God, Louis Bertran, whose Life, from those already published by Vincent Justinian Antist, a Valencian of Aragon, and by Balthasar John Roca, likewise a Valencian, and from the Acts of the Process of inquiry juridically made concerning the life and conduct of the same Servant of God, he wrote in the Spanish tongue, most brilliant and the most accurate of all, and had the same rendered into Italian with this title: which, namely, I subjoin, made Latin from the Italian.

[16] whose Life, written by him, I shall subjoin, made Latin from the Italian Life, virtues and miracles of B. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers, divided into four books, composed in the Spanish tongue by the very R. P. M. F. Bartholomew Avignone, procurator of the same Order for the canonization of the same Blessed. Turned into Italian by lord Julius Caesar Cavalier Boltifango (our copy has: Bottifango). Rome, Alfonso Ciacone, 1623. Further, in writing this Life, which is more lengthy than the rest, he used the little Works of Antist and Roca, and added what he had besides found on the same subject in the Process of canonization, and what had been done at Rome for the beatification and canonization of the same Louis up to the year 1623, in which the untimely death of Pope Gregory XV broke off the hope of performing the same canonization shortly. And so that Avignone might win greater credit for his statements, he continually noted in the margin of the Life whence he had drawn each thing. For which reason I did not doubt that this Life also should be turned into the Latin tongue and published; yet I did not think that the one which has Antist as author should be omitted, both because this is as it were the foundation of all the rest, and because it helps much more to hear a biographer who was the Saint's companion than anyone else. The case is otherwise with Roca, whose little Work, which likewise led the way for Avignone, I shall forgo.

[17] Others, to be of use in the Preliminary Commentary. Besides other Lives of the same Saint which we have in our library, and which it is not necessary to list, one was published in Italian soon after his canonization by Edward Cellerno, otherwise unknown to me, with this title in the Italian tongue, as I have said. Life of St. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers, collected from the Processes made for his canonization, by Edward Cellerno, dedicated to our Most Holy Lord Clement X. Rome, by Nicholas Angelo Tinassi, 1671. This too could be of use, if we did not have those mentioned above, or if he had treated a little more broadly of the Saint's canonization, which he mentioned very briefly. More useful to us will be the manuscript Report of three Auditors of the sacred Roman Rota, John Baptist Coccinus, dean of the Rota, Alphonsus Manzanedo de Quiñones, and James Cavalerius, to Pope Gregory XV on the holiness of life and miracles of the then Blessed, now St. Louis Bertrand, which, with many other Reports of that kind, we received as a gift from Benedict XIV, supreme Pontiff of happy memory; for this will add not a little weight to illustrating and confirming the statements of the biographers.

§ II. The native place of St. Louis, his parents, birth, boyhood, youth, entry into the Order of Preachers, the

priesthood received by him, the offices discharged in Religion, his setting out for America, chronologically touched upon.

The Saint was born at Valencia in Spain Both the Lives which I am about to publish are written too accurately for it to be necessary to work out a long Commentary on them; there are, however, some things in them to be illustrated a little according to our custom and reduced to chronological order, and finally certain things besides concerning the posthumous glory of the same Saint, later than Antist and Avignone, to be added to the rest. Valencia, which deservedly glories in the birth of so great a Man, is an ample and magnificent city of Hither, or Tarraconensian, Spain, and the capital of the kingdom of Valencia, founded in a pleasant and fertile plain three thousand paces from the Mediterranean sea on the river Turia or Duria, called Guadalaviar by the Spaniards, and distinguished by an archbishopric and a university, and the parent of some great holy men.

[19] That St. Louis, surnamed Bertrand or Bertran, in the year 1526, of John Louis Bertran, the eminent glory of his native place and of the Order of Preachers, was born in it, all who have written of him agree, and they assign to his birth the year of Christ 1526 and the 1st day of January, or of the Circumcision of the Lord. The difficulty which can be raised here from his last age we shall remove below, where we treat of the time of his death. There is equal agreement of all concerning his parents, although one or another vary a little about the name and surname of his mother, and about the latter indeed according to their own manner of speaking in the vernacular. The Auditors of the Rota in their Report, praised at number 17 and often to be praised, have thus: Blessed Louis Bertrand was born of pious, Catholic and pure parents, John Louis Bertrand and Joanna Angela de los Exarches, as is established from his Life; and the remissorial witnesses, the sixth, the thirteenth, and the hundred and sixth on the 2nd article, depose it; in the city of Valencia, which is situated in a plain in Tarraconensian Spain at the mouth of the river Turia.

[20] and of his second wife Mary Angela or Anne Exsarch, In our copy of the Life written in Spanish by Antist and turned into Italian, which I have made Latin, for los Exarches is read Essarca, and so also have two other Italian Lives; but Cellerno has Esarch, Diago in the History of the Province of Aragon of the Preachers Exach, Roca Exarch. In the Bull of Canonization too Exarch is written, and for Joanna Angela, as the others have, Johanna Anna is to be read; and hence Brémond, who registered the same Bull in the Bullarium of his Order, noted that James Lafon in the Dominican Year was to be corrected because he had called her Johanna Angelica; to me those who named the same Johanna Angela, or Angelica, are of too great weight for me not to suspect that Anna crept into the Bull through carelessness for one or other of those names.

[21] and he had some brothers and sisters, Further, by the agreement of all, the aforesaid father of St. Louis was a public notary, and the said Joanna Angela, or, if you prefer, Joanna Anna, his second wife, whom he happily joined to himself after the death of the first, when he had been dissuaded by Sts. Vincent Ferrer and Bruno, appearing to him, from putting on the Religious habit (which he had resolved to do among the Carthusians at Porta Coeli near Valencia). Since the Life to be published reports the praises of both and the other things pertaining here, I knowingly pass them over here. Whether and what children he had by his first wife I have not read; but that besides the Saint of whom we treat others also were born to him by the second, Antist teaches in more than one place, and he acknowledges, as do the other biographers, that the same Saint was the eldest of them all. Avignone, after Roca, enumerates eight together, namely four sons and as many daughters, and gives their names and particulars.

[22] and baptized in the same font in which formerly St. Vincent Ferrer, Antist besides observes, and others after him, that the first-born of them, as we have said, was baptized at Valencia in the same church of St. Stephen, and in the same sacred font in which St. Vincent Ferrer had formerly been washed. The Auditors of the Rota agree in the Report praised above, and Pope Clement X in the Bull of canonization, whose words hear: And there (at Valencia) in the parish church of St. Stephen, and in the same font in which St. Vincent Ferrer had formerly been reborn in Christ, he was baptized, so that he might touch, by the common * kinship of regeneration also, the Saint to whom Louis was joined by fleshly lineage. As regards the name given him, there he is named only Louis, as also in the Report of the Auditors of the Rota, who have thus: And he was called Louis from his father's name.

[23] called John Louis: his boyhood But something must be supplied here from Antist in the Life, chapter 1, number 1; where he says this: He was called John Louis (namely by the name of his father, who, we have seen, was likewise called John Louis) but afterwards, the name John being dropped, he was called only Louis; but commonly (after he had embraced the Order of Preachers) he is called nothing else than Brother Bertrand, which was the surname of his family. So Antist; and hence it has come about (which it will be useful to have remembered) that in the Lives to be published he is named now Louis, now Bertrand. The pious boyhood of the Saint and his deeds up to his taking the Religious habit of St. Dominic both Lives to be published set forth abundantly; wherefore I shall here only recite what the Auditors of the Roman Rota, in their report to Pope Gregory XV, recorded compendiously on this subject, asserted by approved witnesses.

[24] For if (they say) we look at his first infancy, and spending his youth piously and usefully he showed himself religious, and gave some signs from which it could easily be discerned what sort of man he would be. He stopped crying if some image (a sacred one, namely) was given him, or if he was taken to church: which thing, though it may seem common to children, yet has something peculiar in him, because he was affected with the greatest joy when he was carried to the metropolitan church. After he had passed out of boyhood, he gladly gave attention to letters, and made progress in them, as was said above; and so that no space of time should be wasted in idleness, he gave himself either to study or to prayer. If he chanced to hear any swearing without necessity, or speaking idly, he restrained them with the greatest gentleness, mindful of the word of the Lord in Matthew chapter V: "Swear not; let your speech be: YEA, YEA: NAY, NAY." He frequented the Sacrament of penance, through which the entrance of heaven is unlocked to us, Matthew chapter IV: "Do penance; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." He devoutly received the most holy Eucharist, the food of the soul and pledge of future glory. Shutting himself in his room, he spent the night in prayer, which confers all good things, as St. Chrysostom says, book 1 on praying to God; and this was seen by others through the cracks of the door…

[25] Empty words, lacking fruit, in conversations, even familiar ones and those intended for the relaxation of the mind, he gave signs of his future holiness. he did not utter. He was always obedient to his parents; for: "He that feareth God honoureth his parents, and will serve them as his masters that brought him into the world." Ecclesiasticus chapter III. For the most part he associated with Religious, and especially those of the sacred Order of Preachers; the company of the wicked he avoided as a plague of the soul and a corruption of morals; unless perchance he tried to bring them back into the path of a better life; because the good ought to flee the wicked, unless they deal with them for the sake of conversion, on the witness of St. Augustine on Psalm CXVIII, sermon 1. And so, while still a boy, keeping the same tenor of life until he took the sacred habit of the Order of Preachers, he gave signs of illustrious holiness. Under the title also Of charity toward one's neighbour they had set these things before: As far as pertains to charity in temporal things, while still a boy he frequented the hospitals and served the poor. These things the aforesaid Auditors of the Rota say, things most similar to which may be read in the Bull of canonization, and which the Lives to be published set forth more fully.

[26] The sacred habit of the Order of Preachers, the habit of the Preachers on the 26th day of August of the year 1544 which, his father opposing on account of his infirm health, he had asked in vain from the R. F. James Ferran in the convent of Valencia, he received, without his parents' knowledge, from his successor in the priorship, the venerable man John Micó, and wore it until his death, his parents at first protesting for the same reason as before, and at last consenting. As the time of the taking of the habit Antist, in the Life, number 1, assigns the 26th day of August of the year 1544, when he was eighteen years and seven months of age. Avignone, agreeing about the day of the month of August and the year of Christ, book 1 of the Life, chapter 2, number 18, says that the Saint was then in the 18th year of his age, the 7th month, and the 26th day; which reckonings, if the eighteenth year is taken for eighteen completed years, and the seven months in Antist are likewise held as completed, agree sufficiently with these, and accord excellently with the time of the Saint's birth assigned above: for from the Kalends of January of the year 1526 to the 26th day of August of the year 1544 are counted eighteen years, seven months, all completed, and 26 days. St. Louis was therefore in the nineteenth year of his age, begun in its eighth month, when he was clothed with the Religious habit of the Order of Preachers in their convent of Valencia.

[27] clothed in the convent of Valencia by the venerable John Micó, The Auditors of the Roman Rota, agreeing with Antist, say: When he was eighteen years and seven months old, choosing for himself the angelic life (for such is the life of monks, as the abbot Hyperechius said), he was admitted at Valencia into the most illustrious religious order of Preachers on the 26th day of August of the year of the Lord 1544 by the venerable Brother John Micó. And after other things about the life instituted by him in the novitiate they subjoin: But what his life was in the year of probation can easily be gathered from what has been said above and will be said below; for he always led a most holy life. And how truly these things were asserted by them both Lives will prove, which will teach the virtues exercised by him at that time. I go on to copy the words of the same Auditors of the Rota, who, after narrating, as we have seen, the entry of Louis into the novitiate of the Order of Preachers, subjoin these things.

[28] he made his solemn profession the following year, on the 27th day of August; In the following year, on the 27th day of August, 1545, he made the solemn vows of obedience, chastity and poverty in the hands of the same venerable Micó, Prior of the monastery, a man famous for holiness, miracles and learning. Roca and Avignone in their Lives, Diago in his History, and others likewise mark the same year, month and day, and only by a manifest error, no doubt a typographical one, is the 17th day of August read in Antist, in the Life to be published, for the 27th day of August; at which time, namely, nine days were lacking to completing the full year of novitiate, which must precede profession. The Saint was then numbering the twentieth year of his age, begun from the Kalends of January of the said year of Christ 1545.

[29] in the year 1547 ordained priest in the 22nd year of his life. Two years later, namely in the year 1547, when the twenty-second year of his age had begun about eight months before, he was promoted to the Order of the priesthood, and in the month of October he solemnly celebrated his first Mass at Valencia with chant, as the same biographers have it, the Auditors of the Rota agreeing about the year, whose words I add: Having completed his novitiate, he received sacred Orders, and was promoted to the Order of the priesthood in the year 1547. Further, lest anyone, from the age at which he is said to have been initiated into sacred Orders, should perhaps suspect an error in the reckoning, it will be useful to have noted that the 23rd session of the Council of Trent, in whose decree of Reformation, chapter 12, it was forbidden that anyone in future be promoted to the Order of the subdiaconate before the twenty-second year of his age, to the diaconate before the twenty-third, to the priesthood before the twenty-fifth, is much later than the year 1547, having been held, namely, in the year 1563. Let us proceed to other matters.

[30] In the year 1548, as Avignone has it, the venerable John Mico, already praised, who had been set over the new convent of the Holy Cross at Lombay as its first Prior, obtained that St. Louis be sent to him, [In the year 1548 he lived at Lombay, and soon at Valencia, where in the year 1549,] as one who would by his example add the rest to virtue. The Saint's stay in that place, however, was not long; for he had to return to Valencia on account of the illness of his father, who died in the month of November of the same year. While therefore he was living again at Valencia, not long after (his receiving of the priesthood), namely in the year 1549, he was made master of novices in the convent of Valencia. So again the praised Auditors of the Rota, whom Antist had preceded in the Life, chapter 2, number 20. Roca and Avignone add the day, the 21st of September, but the same writers mark the year 1551. Hence I hang in doubt with which of them the error in the year of Christ here lies. Antist's authority is indeed otherwise the weightier with me, and the agreement of the Auditors of the Rota with him persuades me to think it likely that the year 1649 was noted by himself, and did not creep in through a fault of the Italian translator or of the typesetter.

[31] On the other hand, however, Roca, book 1 of the Life, chapter 6, speaks thus, or rather in 1551, he was appointed master of novices as if warning that an error committed by another in this matter should be corrected, in words which I subjoin rendered from the Spanish into Latin: He was created (master of novices) for the first time in the year 1551, on the 21st day of September: nor can there be any error here, since it is so written by the Saint's (Louis's) own hand in the book in which are inscribed all who receive the habit of our sacred Order. Great authority stands on both sides here: for both wrote at Valencia, and could consult the book mentioned; but Roca indicates not obscurely that it was consulted by him, Antist does not; for which reason I cannot but incline to the year 1551, and strongly suspect that the year in Antist's little work is faulty through the carelessness either of the author, or of the translator, or finally of the editor. This doubt the reverend Fathers Preachers of Valencia will easily be able to remove, if that manuscript codex still survives in their convent at Valencia.

[32] If, the 21st day of September being kept, the year of Christ 1549 is to be retained with Antist's translator, in the 24th or 26th year of his age: Louis was only in the twenty-fourth year of his life, begun about nine months before, when he was ordered to discharge the mastership of novices; but if the year is also correctly marked in Roca, he had begun the twenty-sixth year of his age about eight months before. However that may be, that age could seem hardly mature enough for so great an office, which, as the biographers observe, was not usually committed in the Order of Preachers except to Fathers of graver and more advanced age, especially because in it not only the novices, but also the professed, until they have been initiated into the Order of the priesthood, are bidden to obey the masters of novices. But of course what was wanting in years was most abundantly compensated by the maturity of his mind and character, and the proven virtue of the holy Man had given everyone a sure hope of a most happy government, which the outcome even surpassed, as will become manifest from the Lives to be published.

[33] When the plague, which afflicted the city of Valencia from the year 1557 up to the year 1560, [in the year 1557, when the plague was afflicting Valencia, he was appointed vicar of the convent of Albaida,] grew worse, many of the Fathers Preachers, lest all should be endangered, were distributed through the various convents of the kingdom, and in that distribution the convent of St. Anne at Albaida fell to Louis, a place which Roca asserts to be distinguished with the title of a marquisate. And he was not only ordered to stay in that convent, but also to preside over it with the title and power of Vicar; for this convent had not yet been raised into a priory. The year in which he began the government of this place I can designate as no other than the year of Christ 1557, or another of the earlier ones that came between it and the year 1560. But what the holy Man did there illustriously, and with how great a temporal as well as spiritual profit of the same convent, and to the good of the inhabitants of Albaida and the surrounding country, I omit to tell, because the Lives to be published set it out sufficiently.

[34] [and in the year 1562 again to the novitiate of Valencia, whence to preach to the Indians] When the plague ceased (says Antist in the Life, number 53), in the year 1560 he was recalled (from Albaida) to Valencia, to preside as master over the novices; and then I began to be his subject, and in that time I came to know many of the virtues which I have related and am going to narrate. I give infinite thanks to God that, although I did not receive the habit from him, nor make my profession under him, I nevertheless had him as master when already professed, and lived under his care for a year and a half. While he was discharging this office there vigorously, as before, a certain West Indian, or American, an impostor, came there, who, pretending to be a Religious of the Order of Preachers and producing certain forged letters, obtained hospitality in the same convent for a whole year. As this man narrated the labours and persecutions which the apostolic men were enduring in the New Kingdom of Granada, the holy Man was fired so that he vehemently desired to go to the same place, for the sake of extending the divine glory, and in the hope of obtaining martyrdom among those barbarous nations.

[35] in the year 1560 he sailed to America. There came afterwards two Religious Fathers of the same sacred Order, who had landed in Spain from the New Kingdom, with power to enlist others who wished as Gospel labourers to share their toils; by whose discourses he was so piously inflamed that, though both his kinsmen and the Brethren of his Order tried in vain to dissuade him, pleading the weak strength of his body, he at length sailed to America. This departure, from what has been said and is to be said, is to be attached to the year 1562. His deeds there the Lives to be published will set out; meanwhile it pleases me to note here in general these things from the Bull of his Canonization: Kindled with the ardours of the love of God and of his neighbour, truly wise, he resolved to pass over into the land of foreign nations, that he might gain the souls of the Indians for God, from which he could not be moved by the arts, prayers or tears of friends, nor of brothers or sisters… He landed at the port of Cartagena, and there lived in the convent of St. Joseph of his Order, and, sent thence to various peoples of the Indians, he evangelized them, namely those inhabiting Tubara, Cipacoa, Paluato, Monpox, the Sierra of Santa Marta, Tuncara, Tenerife, and others, and there he performed many and wonderful things.

* Or common?

§ III. The Saint's return to Spain after seven years, and the offices discharged in his Order, chronologically related: his last illness and blessed death, made illustrious by miracles: his true likeness, and his memorial in the Library of the Preachers.

Returning from America to Europe After seven years (on the testimony of Roca and Avignone), whether these are to be taken as complete, or rather, as appears, as incomplete, having spent illustrious labour in bringing the barbarians in America to the faith of Christ, the holy Man returned to Spain with the good leave of his superiors. The cause of his returning, the same as the biographers give, the Bull of canonization teaches, which it will be useful to have recorded here from it. It reads thus: Seeing that he was able neither to prevent nor to bear the distresses by which the Indians were for the most part violently oppressed by certain governors, even with wounds and slaughter, having obtained leave under obedience, he returned to the Spains. How unjustly and atrociously many of the Spanish military governors of that time raged against the subjugated West Indians, or Americans, out of an accursed thirst for gold, against the will of the Catholic kings and with their edicts providing against it in vain, no one is ignorant who has read the History of the occupation of America by the Spaniards in the 15th and 16th centuries; so that we ought not to wonder if Louis, a gentle and most pious man, since he could not remedy so great an evil, which was vehemently opposed no less to the promulgation of the Gospel than to the public good, preferred to sail to Europe rather than to be present as a perpetual spectator of so great a perversity.

[37] Thence, Antist, Roca and Avignone relate, he landed at Seville in the year 1560 on the day sacred to St. Luke the Evangelist, [in the year 1569 he lives at Valencia; in the following year he becomes Prior of St. Onuphrius:] which is the 18th of October; the last of these, as we have said, had assigned seven years to his stay in America. From Seville he betook himself without delay to Valencia, to his convent in which he had been professed, and, kindled with a new fervour of spirit, as though he were then beginning his novitiate, he began to give the others examples both of the other virtues and of the most profound humility. He was not permitted, however, to lead a private life very long: for in the following year, as all the biographers have it (in the month of October, Roca and Avignone add), he was elected Prior by the fathers of the convent of St. Onuphrius, distant two Spanish miles from Valencia, who, since they were pressed by want of temporal things and by debt, needed a Prior not only pious and religious, but also skilled in affairs. Nor did he disappoint their hope; for, although he gave more abundant alms than his predecessors had done, he nevertheless not only extinguished the debts of the convent, but also increased it with buildings, and with trees and vines planted, and, the three years of his Priorate completed, left it abundantly furnished with all necessary things.

[38] [in the year 1573 he is again set over the novitiate, and in the year 1575 appointed Prior of the convent at Valencia;] Having discharged that prelacy, he returned to Valencia as the year 1573 was verging to its end, and, given as master to the novices now for the third time, he so conducted that office, like the others before, that meanwhile he several times also preached sermons to the people in other places. At that time Prior Onuphrius Clemens, greatly praised for his character and eloquence, presided over the convent of Valencia; and when he retired from the Priorate after completing his three years, St. Louis was substituted for him in the year 1575, on the 15th day of May, which year, month and day all three biographers mark. Of this office too, as also of the vicariate of the convent of Albaida, and of the priorate of St. Onuphrius discharged by him with praise, the Auditors of the Roman Rota, often mentioned, have made mention, whose words receive. Afterwards (that is, after the first mastership of novices) (he was created) vicar of the convent of Albaida, and Prior of St. Onuphrius, and finally presided over the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, in which offices, if anything

was to be done, he went before the Brethren by his example.

[39] always fulfilling his part illustriously. The same had said beforehand: But while he was discharging the office of Prior, he exhorted the young men, champions in the camp of God, and others accustomed to the military arms of Religion, to serve God with all their strength, each to apply himself to his own tasks; and when for a little while, as happens, his mind was relaxed from its constant cares *, he was accustomed to say: Brethren, shall we not love God? Which words he often repeated; because he knew well that no one becomes highest all at once, but each begins in a good manner of life of the soul, that he may arrive at great things, as the hundred and fifty-sixth and the hundred and ninety-fourth witnesses depose on the 12th article. Thus far they, who also, as occasion offered, record here and there particular things done illustriously by him in the government of his Brethren, as asserted by approved witnesses; but the biographers have still more than these, whose statements can be confirmed among the things to be annotated.

[40] [In the year 1578, having discharged the Priorate and briefly the mastership of novices, he leads a private life:] In the year 1578, in the month of May, his Priorate completed, he was at once seen as the least of the Brethren of the convent, and no longer involved himself in any way in government, except that for one month the usual care of the novices and juniors was committed to him; and in this simplicity he persevered until death; in which time, however, it pleased God to work great wonders through him. These things Antist, which can be read in him in the Life to be published, from chapter 8. Further, although the holy Man always had afflicted health, yet in the last three years that he survived among the living his infirmities increased both in number and in severity, and did not permit him to preach frequent sermons, as he had been accustomed to do before.

[41] [in the year 1580 he preached through Lent at Xàtiva, and in the following year twice at Valencia,] In the year 1580, which was the last but one of his life, being asked by the magistracy of Xàtiva, a city distant about nine Spanish miles from Valencia, to preach the sermons of the Lenten fast to their citizens in that same year, he said that he had not strength enough to be able to speak even three times; but when they insisted that they would be satisfied if he appeared at least once in the pulpit of their church, he complied with such success that through that whole Lenten season he preached every day, and sometimes even twice, God sustaining his strength. In the year 1581, on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, he preached again at Valencia in the metropolitan church, and again on the following Sunday in the church formerly of the Templars, when the knights of the Order of Montesa were celebrating a solemn feast in it, having been asked by their Master and his wife, who were greatly devoted to him.

[42] But after these things he felt his strength so much diminished, but through the Lent of the same year Antist had to take his place; that he was altogether unequal to the Lenten sermons which he had promised to preach in the same year in the church of St. Stephen at Valencia. He therefore asked Justinian Antist, the writer of the first Life which we shall give, to take his place; who, since he had not long before returned from a voyage to Italy in afflicted health, and had never preached through a whole Lent, nor finally gave sermons of that kind, and since for that reason others also advised him not to undertake that burden, modestly refused. But on Sexagesima Sunday the Saint called him to his cell and told him to undertake it, for God would help; on hearing which, now certain of the divine aid, he assented without delay, and experienced it in such a way that he preached easily beyond his custom, and at the end of Lent found himself even more vigorous than before.

[43] Meanwhile Louis, as his illnesses grew worse, [meanwhile the Saint, gravely ill, is carried first to a hospital, then to the archbishop's country house;] was fortified with the sacred Viaticum; and when afterwards he was a little better, he did not omit to celebrate Mass daily while he could, although sometimes when it was finished he fell into faints: and when people admonished him to keep himself in his bed in future, lest he endanger his life, he was accustomed to reply that the Sacraments of the Church bring death to no one, but benefit not only souls but also, if it be expedient, bodies. In the month of May of the same year 1581, as his illness grew worse, his own brother James, a priest, obtained that he be transferred to the hospital of clerics at Valencia, which belonged to the confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and over which James himself presided, for the sake of convalescing more conveniently. But when he had been lodged here for some time, and the physicians declared that the sick man needed to remove outside the city before the dog days for the sake of taking freer air, the most illustrious lord John Ribera, Patriarch of Antioch and Archbishop of Valencia, out of his old friendship with him, had him brought to his country house, in which he himself was staying in the country, and there took care of him not otherwise than a son of a father.

[44] When, however, the illness grew stronger, he was carried back to Valencia, to the above-mentioned hospital of clerics, [thence carried back to the hospital, and hence to his own convent, he died in the same year 1581, on the 9th of October,] in which he had been lodged before, and thence to his own convent of the Preachers, the Prior of that place taking great pains that so great a Man should not, dying among strangers, lay down his sacred remains in their hands. Brought back here, therefore, he survived a single month, always confined to bed; in which time he was both made illustrious by God with miracles, and he himself, by eminent virtues and by daily communion of the most holy Eucharist, preceded each day by sacramental confession — from which in the twenty-seven days that immediately preceded the last day of his life he never abstained — prepared himself to meet death most holily, as he had lived; and he died, as he had foretold, in the year 1581, on the day sacred to St. Denis, martyr of Paris, or the 9th of the month of October. These reckonings, on which all agree, are also confirmed by the day which some add with Antist, Monday, or the second Feria: for the 9th of October of the said year 1581 concurs with the second Feria, as is clear from the Dominical letter A of the same year.

[45] in the 56th year of his age, begun nine months before. Roca and Avignone add besides that the Saint was then fifty-five years old; and in the Bull of canonization, in the fifty-fifth year of his age; which, compared with the year of his birth asserted by the same writers, produce some difficulty, as I hinted above. For if Louis was born on the Kalends of January in the year 1526, as the same and all others affirm, he must on the 9th of October of the year 1581 have been in the fifty-sixth year of his age, begun already, that is, nine months and some days before, namely from the 1st day of January of the same year 1581. For which reason, since there is not even the slightest ground for doubting about the time of his birth and of his death, the fifty-five years assigned by the former are to be taken as so many completed with nine months over, and in the Bull of canonization, so that the reckonings may be corrected, fifty-sixth is to be put in place of the fifty-fifth year.

[46] The report of the Auditors of the Roman Rota on the brightness, The wonders with which God deigned to make illustrious the last sojourn of His Servant among mortals, Antist and Avignone will teach in the Lives to be published; it will be useful, however, to have given a foretaste from the Report of the Auditors of the Rota of four which happened at his very death and immediately followed it. Under the title Of the brightness seen at his death they say this: Divine Providence willed, moreover, to distinguish with illustrious prerogatives also in his dying His servant Bertrand, whom in his life He had adorned with the most illustrious praises of virtues; for when the soul of the venerable Man was separated from the body, a certain brilliant light, or brightness like a most shining ray, was seen to come forth from the mouth of the dying man, which, wonderfully illuminating the whole chamber, affected all the bystanders, who had gathered in numbers from every side, with no slight amazement and joy.

[47] which was seen to come forth from the mouth of the dying man, This fact is proved by two concurring eyewitnesses, namely the seventh and the eighth, who saw this light, or brightness, proceed from the mouth of Blessed Bertrand as he rendered his soul to his Creator; and by the forty-ninth witness, who saw indeed at the same time a great light diffused through the chamber, but because of the multitude of bystanders did not see it coming forth from the mouth. That this light, or brightness, or clarity, was not from any natural light is evident, both because it came forth from the mouth of Blessed Bertrand while he was breathing out his soul, and because natural clarity, especially when it is excessive, damages the sense, as is evident in the sun and in fire; but this clarity, or brightness, attracted those who were present with a certain wonderful sweetness, and soothed the eyes.

[48] and their opinion on that matter It can be doubted, however, whether this clarity was like that which was seen by the Jews in the face of Moses, Exodus chapter 34; or like that which some affirm was seen in the face of the blessed Virgin from the conception until the birth, and in other holy men; or whether it was a glorious clarity, like that of the Blessed. As to the second, it is probable that it was the clarity of a glorious soul ascending to heaven; since the soul was then separated from the body, and that light coming forth from the mouth ascended on high towards the window: and it is known that the souls of the Blessed are led to heaven surrounded with light, etc. They add here the examples of two Saints, whose souls, shining with a similar light, were seen to be carried up to heaven, and then proceed thus: Nor is it an obstacle that glorious clarity cannot be perceived by an eye not glorified; because, just as natural clarity is perceived by the natural eye, so glorious clarity by the glorified eye: because the clarity of the Blessed is truly a sensible clarity; and, although it is not natural, it can be perceived by an eye not glorified, like natural clarity. Abulensis on chapter 17 of Matthew, question 31, to the 4th argument.

[49] And it is proved, because the Apostles were present opinion: mention of the same miracle in the Bull of canonization. when Christ was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as snow; and yet that brightness of Christ transfiguring Himself, which the Apostles saw, was a quality such as that by which the bodies of the Blessed are glorified, as Abulensis affirms in the same chapter, 33 *. But if this opinion does not commend itself to anyone, it must be said that that clarity was like the clarity of Moses and of the blessed Virgin, of the clarity of a natural condition, and had some likeness to the clarity of glory, but an equivocal one, just as faith has a certain likeness to the vision of the fatherland, but not of the same kind, as Abulensis teaches on chapter 17 of Matthew, questions 33 and 35, concerning the clarity or brightness of Moses and of the blessed Virgin. Thus far of the brightness which was seen to come forth from the mouth of him as he breathed out his blessed soul, which the Bull of canonization also mentions in these words: And at that moment of time a light like lightning was seen darted from his mouth straight into heaven, the whole

cell being illuminated.

[50] A second miracle, which made his blessed death illustrious, The brightness of the sacred corpse, asserted by the same Auditors of the Rota; the praised Auditors of the Rota set out thus under the title Of the brightness of the corpse: The corpse of the blessed Man, moreover, shone with so great and so wonderful a brightness that the bystanders, not otherwise * than in a most limpid mirror, beheld their own likenesses in his shining flesh, and, suffused with no slight joy of mind, gave thanks to the Creator, wonderful in His Saints, as the thirty-sixth, thirty-seventh, ninety-first and two hundred and forty-fourth witnesses well depose and prove, who all saw the above-mentioned brightness. And to the same nature of clarity must be referred that brightness which was seen in his face after he had sucked out scrofulous sores, as in the second miracle; of which brightness the fortieth and fifty-first eyewitnesses depose conclusively. Of the brightness of his face after he had sucked out the pus of scrofulous sores for a certain person, the same Auditors and biographers and the bull of canonization have also made mention among the miracles performed by him while he lived; but of the aforesaid brightness of the sacred corpse, like that of a transparent crystal, one reads thus in the same Bull: His corpse so shone with a certain crystalline purity, as it were, that the bystanders beheld their own faces in his virginal flesh as in a most limpid mirror.

[51] The third, which the praised biographers have likewise noted, as also a heavenly harmony after his death is related in this manner by the same Auditors under the title Of the heavenly harmony heard before his corpse was buried: There was added to the aforesaid a most sweet heavenly harmony, which, while Bertrand's body was being kept unburied for a little while in the church, as is customary, was heard with wonderful delight of mind by very many who were both in the church and in the monastery adjoining it, as the seventh, ninety-first, hundred and forty-ninth and hundred and fifty-eighth witnesses prove, by hearing, from certain knowledge; who also prove well that this most sweet concert was not made that day either in the church or in the neighbourhood, nay, in no place of the city; and that the witnesses themselves diligently examined whether a concert produced by the art of musicians had come forth from any part of the church; and, the whole matter well looked into, they concluded that it was a heavenly harmony for declaring the sanctity of Blessed Louis.

[52] heard by many, Nor is it a wonder; since Almighty God has been accustomed to show by very many signs how great is anyone's merit with Him, especially by a musical concert of angels, as is read of St. Othmar in his Life, book 2, chapter 1, in Surius, volume 6, under the 16th day of November; and the same Surius narrates of St. Willibrord in his Life, chapter 24, under the 7th day of November, that he was carried away by the angelic hosts with harmonious praise of singers to the dwelling of the blessed spirits; and of the holy bishop (Chad), who before his death heard a heavenly harmony coming from the southern quarter to the oratory where he was, the venerable Bede testifies in the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation, book 4, chapter 3.

[53] and a wonderful fragrance perceived from the same corpse. Finally the fourth, Of the fragrance of the corpse, by no means passed over by the biographers either, the same Report of the Auditors of the Rota narrates thus: There was present besides a most fragrant odour, which, exhaling from the whole corpse, was diffused, to the most pleasant delight of the bystanders, through all the neighbouring places, and it could by no means be known what thing's fragrance it imitated; so that it seemed altogether to be produced by heavenly power, as the eighth, forty-ninth, hundred and sixth and two hundred and forty-fourth witnesses affirm. Therefore, since a fragrance of odour of this kind proceeded from a body exposed to corruption, and no seasoning of odour had been applied within or without the body, it must be ascribed to a miracle; because, as the divine Gregory says in Homily 38, the very fragrance of a dead body and the sweetness of its odour show that the Author of sweetness is present in that body, since it pertains to representing the effect of grace. St. Thomas in the 3rd Part, question 83, article 5, to the 2nd; and we have said it in the Report on Blessed Teresa, etc.

[54] The Saint's likeness Since I have so far run through the life of the most holy man Louis Bertrand in chronological order up to his death, before I proceed to other things I here present his likeness and bodily appearance, such as our engraver has fairly happily expressed it according to an exemplar very elegantly painted in black colour, which we received from the often-praised most excellent magistracy of the city of Valencia (which I say with a sense of gratitude), together with the most courteous letters mentioned and to be mentioned, in which one may read this concerning it: We also send to you a true likeness of the same Saint, very like that which John Ribera of immortal memory, Archbishop of Valencia and Patriarch of Antioch, a most loving admirer of the most blessed Man, ordered to be painted and placed in the chapel of the divine Mary (commonly called DE LA ANTIGUA) of his college dedicated to the sacred Body of Jesus Christ.

[55] The Cross which he carries in his hands, bent a little in its lower part, and his bodily appearance. renews the memory of that famous miracle by which a war-tube charged with nitrous powder (commonly called a musket), when, its wheel released, it was discharged by a certain wicked man at the most holy Man, was suddenly changed into a Cross, as is read in the Lives and other instruments of approved trustworthiness. For the rest, the Blessed man was (on Avignone's testimony) tall in stature, with a lean face, his cheekbones somewhat raised, a sharp aquiline nose, the flesh of his face wrinkled, the hair of his clerical crown mixed white and black, his eyes very bright.

[56] Add also what Echard has concerning the products of his talent, in volume 2 of the Library of the Order of Preachers, page 263, The memorial of the same Saint in the Library of the Preachers. saying: They report that the Saint wrote several things, and that they are preserved through the Spains, and lie hidden still unpublished at Valencia, which display the sanctity of the Man and his knowledge in spiritual matters; but since they are unknown to us, we leave them to the diligence of his countrymen to be brought forth and commended to posterity. One alone must not be omitted by us: "An opinion and letter concerning the perfidy and expulsion of the Moriscos of the kingdom of Valencia, written and sent to the viceroy of the same kingdom, the duke of Najera." This James Bleda published in Latin in the third treatise of the Defence of the faith, page 457, but Damian de Fonseca, in the book "De la justa expulsion de los Moriscos de España," page 134, presents it in the vernacular tongue of the Spaniards and in the Saint's own words.

* Perhaps relaxabantur?

* Is this correct?

* Add ac [as]

§ IV. Louis solemnly enrolled among the Blessed by Paul V, and among the Saints by Clement X, Supreme Pontiffs: his annual feast in Europe and America, and his memorial in the Roman Martyrology: the miracle of his incorrupt body, and its precious urn; sacred relics separated from it.

After the beatification had been made, the cause of canonization Although what was done for the beatification of Louis Bertrand, and in great part also for his solemn canonization, has been sufficiently set out in the Life written by Avignone and referred to its proper times, so that it ought not to be done here, it will nevertheless be of use to have touched in general on certain things which pertain to the first; and as to those which pertain to the second, some things must be added, because they are later than Avignone's time. I have already mentioned rather often the manuscript Report of the Auditors of the Roman Rota on the same cause, after the Supreme Pontiff Paul V had enrolled the same Louis among the Blessed in the year 1608. The title of this Report is this: To Our Most Holy Lord Gregory XV. Report of three Auditors of the Rota, John Baptist Coccini, dean of the Rota, Alphonsus Manzanedo de Quiñones, and James Cavalieri, Auditors of the Rota, on the sanctity of life and the miracles of Blessed Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers.

[58] [is committed by Paul V and Gregory XV to the Auditors of the Rota for examination,] In it, having said a few things in general by way of preface on the virtues and miracles of the Saints and of Louis, they address Gregory thus: Whence Paul V of holy memory, Your Holiness's predecessor (he died in the year 1621), rightly judged that Blessed Louis Bertrand should be venerated as a Saint in the whole particular church of the most illustrious Order of Preachers, and in the city of Valencia, and committed to the most illustrious Cardinal Sacrati, while he was in our order — whom Your Holiness afterwards raised to the Cardinalate for the merits of his virtues — and to us, John Baptist Coccini, dean of the Rota, and Alphonsus Manzanedo de Quiñones, Auditor of the Rota, the question whether it is expedient that this same thing be declared in the universal Church; which mandate Your Holiness confirmed, and substituted me, James Cavalieri, in the place of the aforesaid Cardinal; and, the business being maturely discussed, we have judged that it is expedient, whenever it shall seem good to Your Holiness: since there is evidence of perfect purity, free from every crime and uncontaminated on every side, and in general of the acts of all the virtues which he ordered to the divine good; from which results sanctity, etc.

[59] who, proving the validity of the process of Valencia, Then they set out the virtues and miracles of St. Louis proved by upright witnesses, and afterwards proceed thus under the title Of the validity of the Process: All the above-mentioned things, Most Blessed Father, have been taken from the Process composed in two volumes, of 2545 folios, made in the year 1596 by Apostolic authority, by virtue of Remissorial and compulsorial letters issued by the Sacred Congregation of Rites. And we, in discussing the sanctity of this blessed Man, have used the statements of the witnesses received by virtue of the Remissorials, whom we judged to have been examined duly and validly, and the Process to be in probative form; since it was well verified, as appears from our Register; and as * to what pertains to the validity of the examination, the aforesaid Sacred Congregation committed the examination to the most reverend Lords the Patriarch of Antioch, who was then Archbishop of Valencia, and the bishops of Morocco, Segorbe and Orihuela, with the clause: INASMUCH AS YOU, OR AT LEAST TWO OF YOU, etc.

[60] These letters Father Vincent Justinian Antist, concerning which they record various things in their Report to Gregory XV, the lawful Procurator of the Religious Order, as is established from his mandate, folio 14 and following, presented to the said judges, who accepted them, and named as notary-actuary Gaspar John Micon, notary and scribe of the courts of Valencia, and as Cursor John Ferrer, messenger of the ecclesiastical court of Valencia, who swore in form to serve faithfully, as is to be seen at folio 4 on the back. For the execution of the said Remissorial letters they designated the archiepiscopal palace of Valencia, and as the place within that place its hall, and as the days of examination Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as appears at folio 5.

[61] And since it seemed good to the Sacred Congregation, out of abundance of caution, proving that one could proceed to canonization that the Procurator fiscal, at that time James Nerotti, should be cited, since he had substituted Martin Andrew of good memory, then Provost of Valencia, afterwards Auditor of the Rota, now deceased, as appears concerning the said substitution in the same Process, folio II, the aforesaid lords judges decreed a Monitory against Martin Andrew of good memory, as in the Process, folio 5, which was executed, as appears at folio 20, and reproduced by father

Louis Primo, as in the same Process, folio 20, which father Louis was substituted by father Vincent Justinian, as in the Process, folio 19; and with the same Martin Andrew of good memory assisting, the aforesaid judges examined, a lawful oath having first been taken, two hundred and ninety-one witnesses in the place and on the days assigned; and first upon the Interrogatories produced, as is to be seen at folio 20; then upon the articles which were given, as at folio 22 and following; concerning which examination there is evidence from folio 30 up to folio 2245.

[62] Since from this series of facts it appears that the Process was lawfully made, [they judged in the year 1621; which the sacred Congregation of Rites also then judged.] and that the witnesses placed in it were validly examined, and since from them there is evidence of the sanctity of life of Blessed Louis Bertrand, approved by God with miracles, which according to present justice sufficiently show that someone is written in the Book of Life, as by the Doctors on chapter 1, Of the Relics and veneration of the Saints; we have judged, if it shall so seem good to Your Holiness, that one can proceed to the canonization of Blessed Louis Bertrand. Avignone too mentions this Report in the Life to be published, adding that it was offered by the praised Auditors of the Rota to Gregory XV in the year 1621, on the 13th of August, and that the same cause was committed by the same Supreme Pontiff in the same year, in the month of September, to the sacred Congregation of Rites to be examined anew, and that finally by this Congregation, on the 22nd day of December of the same year, a Decree was issued, which he recites in the same place, by which it is judged that one can proceed to the canonization of the same Blessed Louis whenever it shall seem good to the same Pontiff.

[63] [Gregory XV having died with the matter unfinished, then on account of the new decrees of Urban VIII] Not even so, however, did that cause have the desired end: for while the canonization was being deferred, Gregory XV departed from life in the year 1623, on the 8th of July, with whose death Avignone ended his little work. Gregory XV was succeeded in the same year by Urban VIII, and he by Innocent X, in whose Pontificates whether and what was done in the same cause I have not discovered. However that may be, that it was taken up again at least under Alexander VII, Innocent X's successor, who held the supreme Pontificate from the year 1655 up to 1667, is clear from the Bull of Canonization already often praised; for in it the body of Blessed Louis is said to have been viewed in the year 1661 by judges delegated by Apostolic authority, and to have been found still entire, unharmed and flexible. Further, since after the beatification of Blessed Louis, accomplished by Paul V in the year 1608, as we have said, the Decrees of Urban VIII and Clement IX had come out, in which it is prescribed that, in order to proceed from beatification to canonization, the miracles performed after the beatification be examined and proved, this too had to be done in this cause; as Benedict XIV teaches in his excellent Work on the beatification of the Servants of God, etc., book 1, chapters 25 and 33.

[64] a new process was instituted His words from number 13 of the latter place I transcribe here. But if (he says) the question concerns causes proceeding by way of the excepted case (such as this was), and in which before the Decrees of Urban VIII not only the virtues but also the miracles were approved; then, in discussing these causes, either the judgment of the Rota on the miracles obtained the strength of confirmation from the Congregation of sacred rites, or it did not obtain it. If it did not obtain it, the cause having been resumed and the excepted case approved, the miracles themselves must be dealt with in the Congregation of sacred rites, and they must be approved, so that the passage may be made to solemn canonization. But if it did obtain it, account can be taken of them for the final judgment of canonization, provided, however, that they followed upon the granted veneration; since it is prescribed in the Decree of Clement IX that there be a formal discussion of those things which followed upon the granted veneration.

[65] on the miracles done after the beatification; which having been approved, An example can be taken from the causes of St. Thomas of Villanova, St. Louis Bertrand, and St. Paschal Baylon: for in these causes before the Decrees of Urban VIII there had been made, in the Auditory of the Rota and in the sacred Congregation, the discussion and approval both of the virtues and of the miracles, and the Congregation had also judged that one could safely proceed to canonization; as, with regard to the cause of St. Thomas, is gathered from the series of Acts printed at Rome in the year 1658, page 4; with regard to the cause of St. Louis, from the Summary of the Privileges of the Order of Preachers collected by Antonio Gonzalez, page 164; and with regard to St. Paschal, from the Registers of the sacred Congregation. For the Decrees of Urban VIII came in upon them, and then, the causes having been resumed and the excepted case ratified, when the Postulators wished to advance to formal canonization, it being observed that the approved miracles had been performed before, not after, the granted veneration, it was necessary to bring back new Remissorial letters for constructing a Process upon the miracles that followed the granted veneration; and these having been approved, at length the solemn canonization of the aforesaid Blessed was arrived at.

[66] Of this new Process drawn up upon the miracles performed after the beatification Clement X also makes express mention in the Bull of canonization in these words: Clement IX decreed that one could proceed to the canonization, Then, other Processes having been duly drawn up, the miracles which follow were moreover approved. Then he relates four of them, one of which is the integrity of the same Saint's incorrupt body persevering after almost eighty years, which I mentioned at number 63; after which he proceeds thus: These and other miracles having been brought forward and approved, a Decree issued from Clement IX of pious memory, likewise Our Predecessor, that one could safely come to the solemn canonization of the aforesaid Blessed. There remained therefore at that time the last act, or the solemn canonization, which the praised Clement IX would doubtless have accomplished had not his death prevented it, which took place on the 9th of December of the year 1669, in the third year of his Pontificate.

[67] Clement X, substituted for Clement IX on the 29th of April of the year 1670, [which, he having died, Clement X accomplished in the year 1671, and the annual feast of the Saint] since, besides the Order of Preachers, the emperor Leopold I and Charles II, king of the Spains, had also supplicated with his predecessor Pontiffs for obtaining the same canonization, and were continuing to supplicate with him, and since nothing was now wanting (as he himself speaks in his Bull) of those things which were required to be done and observed for this most sacred function necessarily from the authority of the holy Fathers, the decrees of the sacred Canons, the ancient custom of the H. R. C., and the prescription of the new Decrees, at length in the year 1671, on the 12th day of April, solemnly enrolled Louis Bertrand in the number of the Saints in the Vatican basilica, a Bull being issued, which we shall give after the Lives.

[68] For which reason I here observe from it only that he decreed the annual memorial of the Saint himself to be kept not on the 9th of October, [he fixed on the 10th of October; on which day also Alexander VIII decreed that his Office be recited in the dominions of the Catholic king,] on which he most happily died, but on the day after, or the 10th day of the month, indulgences of seven years and as many quarantines being also proposed to all the faithful of Christ who, truly penitent and having confessed, should visit his sepulchre every year on the same day. Hence Alexander VIII, who succeeded the praised Clement in the Pontificate after Innocent XI, ordered his feast to be celebrated on the same 10th day by the secular clergy in all the dominions of the king of the Spains. On this day accordingly, from that time, he is commemorated with the ecclesiastical Office in our Belgium also, in whose 6th Lesson it is said thus on that matter: Alexander VIII, at the instance of the Catholic king (Charles II), decreed that his feast be celebrated under the double rite by the whole secular clergy of his dominion.

[69] But in the New Kingdom of Granada, which the Saint cultivated with his Apostolic labours, who declared him patron of the New Kingdom of Granada. the same Pontiff Alexander ordered his feast to be kept every year with the double rite of the first class, and by the people also under precept, because he had constituted him patron of that kingdom, by a decree issued in the year 1690, on the 3rd of September, on the testimony of Lafon in the Dominical Year, on the 10th day of October, under St. Louis Bertrand. Of the patronage of the New Kingdom of Granada conferred on him by the praised Alexander the 6th Lesson of the proper Office, which I mentioned above, also makes mention thus: And by Apostolic authority he declared the holy Confessor Patron of the New Kingdom of Granada.

[70] At Valencia, however, which we have seen fell to the same Saint as his native place, his feast (I know not from what time) has been perpetually transferred from the 10th day of October to the 20th day of the same month and is solemnly kept every year, [At Valencia he is venerated on the 20th; in the Roman Martyrology he is inscribed on the 9th of October.] as I have learned from the often-praised letters of the most excellent senate of the same city of Valencia, whose words I shall more fittingly recite below. Nevertheless in the Roman Martyrology which we use he is read inscribed on no other day than that which was his death-day, the 9th of October (on which the excessive bulk of the preceding volume prevented us from illustrating his deeds according to our custom), with the following elogium: At Valencia in Tarraconensian Spain, of St. Louis Bertrand, of the Order of Preachers, who, renowned for his apostolic spirit, confirmed the Gospel which he had preached to the Americans by the innocence of his life and by the many miracles he wrought.

[71] The Saint's body found incorrupt in the years 1562, 1647 and 1661 We have already several times made mention of the miracle of his incorrupt sacred body, which Antist and Avignone also expressly asserted in the Lives to be published, not, however, beyond the year 1582, after which the latter of these, writing in the year 1622, asserted that it had been seen by no one further. But a twofold inspection of that body much later, from which the continuation of the same miracle through almost eighty years was established, we learn from the frequently praised Bull of canonization, issued in the year 1671 by Clement X. Receive its words: The first (miracle, which was proved to have taken place after the beatification of St. Louis), that of the incorrupt sacred body after almost eighty years from his burial, although in the meantime it had never been either disembowelled or imbued with any preservatives against corruption: nevertheless, while in the year 1647 it was being transferred into a more precious monument, and in the year 1661, while it was being viewed by judges delegated by Apostolic authority, it was found still entire, unharmed and flexible.

[72] and twice deposited in a more honourable monument, Those almost eighty years are to be counted from the year 1582, in the month of March of which that sacred corpse was taken out of its first sepulchre under the choir of the church, a damp place, into which it had been brought in the preceding year immediately after his death, entirely incorrupt, although the garment with which it was clothed was putrefied and swarming with worms, and was deposited in another sepulchre and a more seemly place, so that satisfaction might be given to the piety of the faithful, as may be read in the Lives to be published. This first inspection and translation of the body is therefore far different from that which is said in the Bull of canonization to have been made in the year 1647. And for making the first, Avignone relates, a tomb of stone in

the manner of a small chapel was built by the Saint's own brother, James Bertrand; but what the more precious monument was, into which the second translation, carried out in the year 1647, is said in the same Bull to have been made, I have not discovered; for I do not know whether the magnificent chapel in which, as I shall presently say from the often-mentioned letters of the most excellent senate, likewise of Valencia, the sacred body rests among the Reverend Fathers Preachers of the convent of Valencia, was built or adorned for that translation, or whether it is more recent.

[73] in the year 1744 it was enclosed in a silver case, which is shown here. The manner in which that venerable pledge is worthily preserved there in these our times is taught by the letters just praised and by the image placed here, which, according to the copy sent to us together with the same letters, I have had cut on a copper plate by our engraver, to the glory of God and of St. Louis, and in memory of the pious solicitude of the same senate for their holy Citizen. They say thus: Allow us therefore … to send you certain copies which may be of use to you when you treat of the relics of the most holy Man. They are these. The first is of the precious silver urn where rests the body of the most holy Louis Bertrand, which is preserved wonderfully incorrupt and entire in the magnificent chapel of the royal convent of the brotherhood of Preachers of this city, which the most excellent Maria de Bracamonte, marchioness of Trocifal, widow of the most illustrious man Balthasar Escrivá de Híjar y Monpalau, count of Alcudia, formerly viceroy of the Balearic islands, had made at her own expense in the year 1744.

[74] Of the bone separated from the same body and enclosed in a precious statue, There is shown also a silver statue, with the bone of the arm enclosed, they proceed thus: The second copy is of the silver image of the same Saint, with its litter skilfully worked from the same metal, which the most illustrious Deputation of this kingdom ordered to be made and gave as a gift, so that in the breast of the image might be placed the bone of the most holy Man which is called the Radius, which was once found almost separated from the arm; and which is seen through a crystal surrounded by a gilded plate. This image, adorned with that sacred bone, is carried round through the city every year in the general and public procession of the sacred Orders on the twentieth day of October, to which the feast of the most holy Man has been perpetually transferred from the tenth day of the same month, on which his soul passed to heaven, nay rather on which Clement X had fixed his feast: for he died on the 9th of October, as was proved above. I continue from them.

[75] In that public supplication the image is carried to the church of the convent of the Preachers, dedicated to blessed Dominic, customarily carried round solemnly at Valencia every year on his feast, where, as soon as it is placed by the steps of the presbytery, prayers are offered to God by the priest and his ministers; and thence it is carried to the chapel of the same church where rests the very body of the most blessed Man, to be viewed by all; and there, after the priest and his ministers have poured forth sacred prayers, the image continues the sacred procession, and makes its passage through the church of the Christian neighbourhood of the protomartyr Stephen, in which St. Louis received the sacred laver; whence it passes into the house situated opposite, where he was born, and which is therefore dedicated to his veneration; and there it makes a pause. Thus far the most praiseworthy men in their letters, from which our engraver has imitated the copy sent to us of the said sacred silver statue with its bier of the same precious metal, such as I here present to the pious reader.

[76] At what time the most illustrious Deputation of the kingdom of Valencia had this monument of its pious observance towards the Saint, once its citizen, made, and certain things are noted on these. is not indicated in the letters, as neither is its weight nor its height, which and some other things pertaining to the same Saint I have not been permitted to learn, because of the vicissitudes of our Society in the dominions of the Catholic king mentioned above. Hence also, among other things, I could not be taught when or on what occasion the sacred bone, or radius of the arm, inserted in the statue and destitute of flesh, was separated from the rest of the body, clothed with its incorrupt flesh, or was found separated from it; which separation indeed I wonder at the more because that same body, in the urn of the sacred silver urn set forth above, shows both hands furnished with their flesh and as it were adhering to the rest of the body. For the rest, the chalice with a serpent placed on it, set in the left hand of the statue, indicates that poison was given St. Louis to drink in America by idolaters, and was drunk by him with his life preserved, as one may read in the Lives.

[77] [Three fingers of the hand and one toe of the foot, separated from the rest of the body,] Besides the bone already mentioned, or radius of the arm, Avignone teaches in the Life that four other smaller relics were divided from the sacred body at the time of the first translation; namely three fingers of one of the hands, and the smallest toe of one of the feet. He adds that of those three fingers of the hand one, enclosed in a silver case and deposited in the sacristy, was renowned for many miracles. Concerning this finger Antist agrees, who notes that it was the little finger, and was cut off from the hand by himself at the command of his Prior, the finger having already before hung on almost torn away. Of the two remaining separated fingers, one, on the testimony of the same Avignone, the Provincial of the Preachers gave to Cardinal Alessandrino, Michael Bonelli; and of the other he gave one joint to father Prior, and the other two joints of it to Vincent Justinian, namely the biographer Antist; who gave part of them as a gift to the most serene Infanta of the Spains, Isabella Clara Eugenia, in the year 1586, and the other part to the most illustrious lady Guiomar de Moncada. Finally the smallest toe of the foot was given to the lord Peter Zurate, Inquisitor, and by him to a certain nun, his niece.

[78] and our observation on them. Further, although neither of the biographers says whether these fingers and toe are of the right or the left hand and foot, yet from the sacred body, such as it is shown in this our Valencian copy, which our engraver has imitated, it is manifest that they are of the right hand and of the left foot, unless perhaps the little finger be of the left. From what has been said, gather also that when in the Bull of canonization that same body is asserted to have been found in the year 1661 by the judges delegated by Apostolic authority still entire and unharmed, those words are to be understood of integrity and immunity from natural injury, namely from corruption, which dissolves the flesh and limbs of corpses. A greater or lesser difficulty depends on the time at which the bone, or radius of the arm, which, destitute of its flesh and inserted in the silver statue, is seen through crystal, was once found almost separated from the arm, as the frequently praised letters of the senate of Valencia teach; but these are deeply silent about the time of the finding, nor have I at this time anyone there whom I can safely consult. The fair reader will therefore pardon us (I trust) if, both in illustrating the Acts of this and of other Saints of Spain, we are compelled to be briefer than at other times.

* quod which

FIRST LIFE,

By Vincent Justinian Antist, the Saint's housemate, written in Spanish, then turned into Italian, and now at last given Latin dress from the Palermo edition of the year 1612.

Louis Bertrand, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers, at Valencia in Tarraconensian Spain. (S.)

By V. J. Antist.

THE OLD DIVISION OF THE CHAPTERS.

Prologue to the Christian reader, in which mention is made of many illustrious men who flourished in the convent of the Preachers at Valencia.

Chapter I. Of the birth, infancy and boyhood of this Servant of God.

II. How he received the habit of St. Dominic, and of his life up to the priesthood.

III. Of the things which befell him after he had received the priesthood.

IV. Of the things which he did while he was master of novices.

V. Of the things which befell him in the convent of St. Anne of Albaida, and especially while he was vicar of the same convent.

VI. On the same subject.

VII. Of the things which he did in the Indies.

VIII. On the same subject.

IX. Of his return from the Indies.

X. Of the things which he did after his return to Spain, while he was Prior in the convent of St. Onuphrius.

XI. Of the things which he did after the Priorate of the convent of St. Onuphrius up to the Priorate of the convent of Valencia.

XII. Of the things which he did while he was Prior in the convent of Valencia.

XIII. Of the things which he did after the end of his Priorate up to the end of his life.

XIV. On the same subject.

XV. Of many other things which he did through the whole time of his life.

XVI. Of the virtues of this Servant of God.

XVII. Of the infirmities of the Servant of God.

XVIII. Of the death of the Servant of God.

XIX. Of the honour shown him at his obsequies and burial.

XX. How God manifested the salvation of His Servant before his death.

XXI. How God manifested the glory of this His Servant after his death.

XXII. Of some miracles done after his death.

XXIII. Of the translation of his body, and of other miracles performed through him.

PROLOGUE.

The author, setting out the rule of an upright historian to be observed, It is the common opinion of all, admitted by good Theologians, that an oath, provided these three attendant conditions which God requires through Jeremiah are observed, namely truth, justice and judgment ^a — that is, that one swear not falsely, not for a wicked end, nor without just cause — is praiseworthy and meritorious of eternal life: yet that it rarely happens that it is such, and that these conditions rarely concur, since men care little to speak the truth, and not to speak maliciously, nor to treat frivolous and vain things. But although history which is written without an oath does not so rigorously demand the same three conditions, it nevertheless requires them in order to be a good and praiseworthy history, such as could hardly be reckoned so without them, nor be held worthy of that name. For many historiographers are often too credulous and little diligent in inquiring into the truth of the things they write; besides that they sometimes also relate lightly whatever falls into their heads; and at other times, even though they sincerely write true things, they take very little care that these do not tend to the infamy of another; many, further, load their narratives with so many vain and silly things that they tend to nothing else than the evil wasting of time, otherwise so short and so necessary for learning what one ought.

[2] and the faults to be avoided, especially by a contemporary, For which reason all historiographers sail among these hazards as between Charybdises and Scyllas, so that he may call himself fortunate who, fleeing the one, does not fall into the other; because sometimes some, so as not to wound one person, invent a fact at their pleasure with loss to the truth; sometimes, in order to bring forth the truth sincerely, they unjustly violate the honour of another; nor are there wanting those who tell the truth indeed without harm to another, but uselessly, and without any profit to the reader. But above all others those are in this danger who undertake to write the Life of someone who flourished a little before, at the same time and in the same place where they write. These must attend accurately to what is true and just, and finally to what is useful; because,

besides that God so commands, even speaking from human reason it greatly concerns them, in histories of this kind, to relate things accurately as they are; since it is not at all difficult for errors, if they have committed any in this respect, to be detected; nor to convict them is it necessary to sail to the Indies or to read many books, when those also are still living and present who conversed with the persons themselves, and who, if they detect that the chronicler has departed even slightly from the truth, will expose him with full cheeks as an inept, light and garrulous man. I could here bring forward remarkable examples on this matter, and especially writers of this time who have so erred in this respect that they have wholly lost their credit; but I would not wish here to reveal the defects of others.

[3] and observing that he could not lie in this little Work without his own infamy, As regards justice, it is manifest how much it matters whether histories of ancient times or of our own are written, because, as sacred Scripture rightly says: A living dog is better than a dead lion ^b. Whoever now writes evil, even falsely, of Alexander the Great or Caesar has nothing to fear from it, since these have been dead so long, and their family likewise extinct; but he who writes of those who have lived in our times cannot but name some of them still surviving, of whom if perhaps anything evil has been said, even though he wrote true things, he will not lack many adversaries, and consequently many slanderers too. Finally, to write the Lives of some persons of our time which neither profit our intellect by their teaching nor move our affection by good examples seems to me worthy of much reproof, because the ancients have done this so amply that there is no need for it to be done by the writers of our time.

[4] Further, since I have taken upon myself to write the Life of a holy Religious, nor without offence to God, who died in this city not a whole year ago ^c, while many are still living who conversed with him, who doubts that I must attend diligently and consider what I do, both so as not to offend God and so as not to sadden my neighbour; and also so as not to harm my own reputation, of which sacred Scripture warns that great care must be had? Accordingly I have been very careful as regards truth; for since I had to write the Lives of Saints for the honour of God, the supreme and simple Truth, it was wicked to mingle with them lies, which God Himself so greatly abhors that St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: If God has not raised Christ from death, we, asserting that Christ has been raised from death, would have borne false witness against God ^d; by which words (as St. Anselm and others expound them) St. Paul taught that God so hates a lie that, however honourable it might be, He cannot bear it. For which reason I have taken care not to depart even a hair from the truth, not only by inventing anything, but also by believing others even in the least thing lightly.

[5] Hence, besides those things which I have found out by seeing with my own eyes and handling with my hands, [he professes that he has written nothing but what he had certainly ascertained either by his own senses, or from the Process,] I have chiefly used the Process which our most vigilant pastor, the most illustrious lord John de Ribera, Archbishop of Valencia and Patriarch of Antioch ^e, with remarkable zeal for the divine honour and for the profit of His sheep, at the prayers of the magistracy of this city, willed to be made concerning the life and miracles of this Servant of God; which Process indeed, although begun only some months after his death, already now comprises the examination of one hundred and thirteen witnesses; and had not the extreme cold of this year and other grave business been an impediment, it would already have reached two hundred. But, Christ favouring, it will be continued as soon as possible, so that it may be offered entire to the Most Holy Father Gregory XIII ^f, the proper judge of the deeds, death and glory of all the Saints to whom a special cult is owed in the Church of God.

[6] Besides, I have consulted grave persons who conversed with father Bertrand in various places, or from grave persons, or from the Saint himself, who, both face to face by word of mouth and by letters sent, taught many things worth relating which had happened between them and the said Father; and then, since I have no more certain testimonies (for I cannot cite either ancient writers or those of this time, since I myself am the first to write), I have striven everywhere to note the proper names of those who were present at the events or related them, adding also the time and place at which the same happened. I confess that, as to the apparitions vouchsafed to him, I have written not so much from the words of those persons as from things to be related from his own mouth while he lived, and from that of other pious persons who had likewise heard them from him. Nor let anyone wonder that this blessed Father revealed to another what he had received from God; nor is this new and worthy of reproof. If we read the Lives of many Saints written by excellent authors and then collected by the most illustrious lord Lippomano, bishop of Verona, and by Surius, the Carthusian monk, we shall recognize that this was done also by other Saints, by all of them everywhere.

[7] had certainly ascertained. Nay, we shall even find that some of them themselves either committed to writing or dictated what had been revealed to them from heaven. So did St. Cyril and other ancient Saints; and among our fathers that same Robert of Avignon ^g, whose Works Jacques Lefèvre d'Étaples brought to light, and Henry Suso, whose revelations and whole Life, full of miracles, Surius published in a special book ^h; but, what is more wonderful, certain holy women also did this very thing. St. Radegund ⁱ made her revelations public at the command of Eugenius III, and those which St. Cunegund and St. Gerinda ^k had have been dispersed through the whole world. St. Bridget of Sweden too ^l left eight great books of her wonderful revelations, which by order of the council of Basel (before it was dissolved by Pope Eugenius IV) were approved in a contradictory judgment by father Torquemada, at that time Master of the sacred Palace, and afterwards Cardinal of the H. R. C.: and of our own holy women, St. Catherine ^m is read to have written some books On the Providence of God, for which reason she is believed to have been honoured with many remarkable revelations by Christ the Lord, by the Mother of God, by Sts. Francis and Dominic, and by other Saints. So likewise did St. Osanna of Mantua ⁿ; so that this Servant of God did nothing new, or anything unusual in the Church, if he communicated the revelations made to him with a friend devoted to him; nor do I claim to do anything new in relating them in this History.

[8] And how sincerely and accurately he has done this, God knows how much I have laboured to tell the pure truth without admixture of falsehood, chiefly so as not, by heaping up this sin also on so many other offences of mine, to provoke the divine anger against me; and all the more so because in this Work of mine I ought not at all to aim, nor do I aim, at any profit, or to hunt for any other human favour, but only to bind that holy soul to myself, that it may intercede for me with the most holy Trinity. Hence let anyone judge how I must beware of writing anything that displeases him; knowing very well that all the Blessed in heaven are made partakers of His perfections through the divine vision, and so most of all abhor false and invented praises; nor are flatteries pleasing or of any merit with them.

[9] and how diligently he has been careful of the reputation of others, he sets out; Not otherwise, as regards justice, have I taken care to proceed with much caution. For, however much it may sometimes be lawful for a historiographer to tell the truth without any account taken of the infamy of another (as the Theologians assert on the Secunda Secundae of St. Thomas, where he treats of detraction), I have nevertheless not wished to use here this faculty which I could; but it has rather seemed to me that the saying of St. Paul should be observed, that not everything that is lawful is expedient ^o. Wherefore, all those who did this Father any injury while he lived may be of secure mind as to this labour of mine; let them take care, however, to do worthy penance, lest they be punished by the divine Justice; from me they have nothing to fear; because, as I do not wish to flatter him whom I praise, so neither do I wish in any way to write a satire against anyone.

[10] But suppose that, as regards truth and justice, and he says that he wrote because his superiors so ordered, I have taken care to fulfil my part, so as not to be deservedly accused by men (would that I may not be reproved for these things in the sight of God); yet as regards prudence and judgment, I greatly fear that I have seriously erred in taking upon myself to write the heroic deeds of this glorious Father, which doubtless require one more learned, more eloquent, and of more religious and more approved life than I am, who vehemently fear that by the darkness of my ignorance, my slight eloquence and so many defects I have obscured that great Sun, which, by the most splendid rays of his Life written by a more skilful pen, could illuminate not only all these kingdoms but also the whole of Europe, nay, the whole world, great as it is. Wherefore, just as in an oath, to prove that it is made considerately and with mature counsel, there is no stronger reason than if it be said to be made by order of a lawful judge, so neither could I by any stronger reason clear myself of all rashness than if I say (as is true) that I undertook this labour by the express and particular mandate of my superiors and prelates. And because our archbishop and patriarch [p] so willed, whose most Christian zeal I could not resist in so holy a work; because, if I had refused this labour, perhaps other fathers would neither have wished nor been able to undertake it, being perhaps occupied with weightier matters which they could not conveniently omit.

[11] And so the memory of this holy Man would easily have remained buried, lest the illustrious deeds of the Saint, like those of many others, no otherwise than that of many others (which I say not without tearful eyes) who flourished in this very convent, and of whom nevertheless scarcely any memory survives among us. King James [q] in his Commentaries, Peter Marsilius, Peter Anthony Beuter, Jerome Zurita, the Annals written in the city of Majorca, and archdeacon Gomez Miedes, with other writers, greatly praise the sanctity and miracles of blessed Fr. Michael de Fabra [r]; while we in this house have no other memorial of him than that his bones are kept with a certain veneration in the sacristy; and in his epitaph nothing else is read but that he was a Spaniard, and that the habit was given him by St. Dominic at Toulouse; that he was confessor to king James, and his companion in the expeditions of Majorca and Valencia; that he founded the convent of Majorca and this one of ours; and that, on account of his remarkable miracles, performed not only in life but also after death, by the assembled clergy and people of this city

his body was translated to the ordinary burial place of the most esteemed Brethren.

[12] A little later died blessed Fr. John de Pinguentos, who had flourished in the same convent who, although he too was renowned for many miracles, we have as yet no certain knowledge in what part of the church he was buried; but only a certain testament made by an illustrious person in the year 1302, in which she commands her heirs to assign certain revenues for maintaining a perpetual lamp before the sepulchre of blessed Fr. John de Pinguentos. Sorio writes that this father performed innumerable miracles up to the canonization of St. Vincent [s]; and Robert de Lecce, bishop of Aquino, of the Order of St. Francis, in a certain sermon on St. Dominic, after honourable mention of some holy women of our Order, named in particular eighteen blessed fathers of our Institute who (besides the canonized Saints and the martyrs) had become renowned for miracles up to the times of the same Robert, and among these he reckoned the above-mentioned, whom he called Fr. John of Valencia: concerning whom (as also concerning other matters pertaining to this kingdom, which he wrote in other Works) he must have been rightly instructed by the Supreme Pontiff Callistus, a Valencian by birth, with whom he was very intimate.

[13] and some of the more distinguished of whom There flourished besides in the time of St. Vincent [t], together with him, in this convent certain other fathers of great sanctity; and even in those times in which Religious observance had greatly fallen away in it, God did not omit to honour it with some most bright luminaries, which shone wonderfully there. But when the golden age of holy and Religious observance came, who could recount the favours and graces conferred on it by God, while He kept it always flourishing with chosen men, and men more excellent than the rest? In this convent flourished and died those two glorious martyrs, Fr. Dominic of Cordoba de Montemayor [u], a near blood-relation of the count of Alcaudete, and father master Fr. Amator Espi [x], a Valencian by country but born at Lucente. In it flourished blessed Fr. Amatus, who suffered much from the demon because he was greatly devoted to the sacred Rosary, and obtained many favours from the most glorious Queen of heaven. In it Fr. Michael of St. Dominic, Fr. Laurence Lopez, and Fr. Bartholomew Pavia put on the habit.

[14] he names, I could also make mention here of some other fathers and some lay brothers, whose virtues our master father Bertrand [y] used to narrate in the house of the novitiate; but, in order to prove evidently what I have proposed to myself, it will suffice to have treated only of the remarkable sanctity of father Mico [z], who certainly shone remarkably in this house by his eminent examples and the fame of his miracles, and at whose death the whole city ran together, kissing his hands and feet with such devotion that the presence and authority of lord Bernard de Cardenas, at that time viceroy of Valencia and his very close friend, were not sufficient to protect his body, but he had to use his guards and to bury it by night. To such a degree was this whole city moved by his death, and even the Moors themselves, saying publicly through the streets: The holy Friar is dead! The holy Friar is dead!

[15] should in the lapse of time be given over to oblivion. Nor indeed undeservedly, since they had rightly observed his religious life while for very many years he preached before them, and, when discharging the Priorate in the convent of the Holy Cross of Lombay, he offered himself to raise a dead man to life to prove the truth of the Christian faith, on the condition that they would bind themselves to give credence to the said man raised from death. Nevertheless we have no history of this father apart from a very brief account which Laurence Palmiero wrote of his deeds on the eighteenth or so day after he had died. By which, although he proved his pious zeal towards him, he nevertheless recorded only a few things worth knowing out of those which were then known. Now the memory of all those illustrious and remarkable men has as it were wholly perished, through a certain innate and, so to speak, fatal negligence, from which our Order has always suffered in transmitting the memory of our fathers and brethren to posterity.

[16] Desiring therefore to compensate in some way for this ordinary carelessness, The author's conclusion. I undertook this labour already many years ago, to dig out with as much diligence as I could and bring forth into public light whatever could be found of the deeds of those fathers, so that I, who have not hitherto known myself how to live holily, might at least know in some way how to write the Lives and Works of other Saints. Meanwhile, while I was diligently applying myself to this undertaken Work, to which blessed father Bertrand frequently encouraged me, it pleased God that he himself should die, and that I, after writing the Life of St. Vincent Ferrer [aa], should be the first to bring his Deeds to light, with some memorials inserted of other fathers illustrious for sanctity who were either his masters or his disciples [bb]. May God grant me to compose this History with truth, and justice and prudence; and that the Lives of these servants of God may be so traced by me on paper that their virtues which I describe may at the same time begin to be implanted in my heart, so that, when they have recognized me as their brother not by habit alone but much more by works, they may obtain for me the grace by which I too may become partaker with them of the inheritance which the common Father of us all, Jesus Christ, acquired by His blood, and which the glorious Virgin also procured by her perpetual prayers. Amen. To this end, therefore, in the name of the same our Saviour, let us begin this History.

ANNOTATA.

p. Namely John Ribera, of whom above at letter e, and below rather often.

q. He indicates James I, king of Aragon.

r. He is reported among us among the Passed-over at the 29th day of September. The other remarkable men to be subjoined I shall pass over unnoticed, unless some particular reason shall advise otherwise, lest the Annotata grow excessively with by-works altogether foreign to the Life of St. Louis Bertrand.

s. Namely of St. Vincent Ferrer, of the same Order of Preachers, whose deeds have been given in our Work at the 5th day of April. He was canonized in the year 1458.

t. That is, in the fourteenth century and the beginning of the following one.

u. His memorial exists among us among the Passed-over at the 15th day of June, and again at the 10th of July.

x. He too has a place among the Passed-over at the aforesaid 10th day of July.

y. Namely St. Louis Bertrand, whose Life Antist writes here, calling him Master because, when Louis was discharging the mastership of novices at Valencia, Antist, already professed but not yet a priest, obeyed him according to the custom observed in the Order of Preachers.

z. The venerable John Mico or Micon, while he was acting as Prior of the convent of Valencia, clothed St. Louis Bertrand with the sacred habit of the Preachers and always esteemed him most highly: hence frequent mention will be made of him in the Lives to be published. You have his elogium in Echard, volume 2 of the Library of the Preachers, page 154 and following.

aa. The Life of St. Vincent Ferrer, which my Predecessors gave at the 5th day of April, has for its author Peter Ranzano, of the Order of Preachers, afterwards bishop of Lucera; in the preliminary Commentary there, however, §1, page 479, they also made mention of the Life of the same Saint written by Antist.

bb. The rather lengthy elogia of these, because they do not pertain to the Life of St. Louis Bertrand, I shall pass over, the reader being advised in their places, as I have already said in the preliminary Commentary.

CHAPTER I.

The Saint's birth, and his life before taking the Dominican habit: novitiate; religious profession, and priesthood.

CHAP. I.

The Saint is born at Valencia in the year 1526 At the beginning of the year 1526, on the very day of the Circumcision of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, in the city of Valencia in Spain, a boy was born, the son of John Louis Bertrand, a notary, and of Joanna Angela Essarca, his second wife, a married couple much honoured and of good condition; and he was baptized in the church of St. Stephen and in the same sacred font in which St. Vincent Ferrer, of the same Order, had been baptized ^a. He was named John Louis; but afterwards, the name John being dropped, he was called only Louis; and commonly he was called nothing else than Brother Bertrand ^b, which was the surname of his family, from which many men of great name and esteemed above others came forth, and in particular a certain Peter Bertrand, a most learned man, who was one of the nine deputies for declaring to whom the succession to the kingdoms of Aragon belonged after the death of king Martin ^c.

[2] The father of this blessed Son, by office formerly

served in the employ of the sacred inquisition, of an honoured man, memorable for graces received from God; and was a peaceable, sincere, kindly man, ignorant of all pretence; for which reason the nobles and chief barons of the kingdom of Valencia esteemed him greatly, and on account of his singular kindness called him Father. He was also most devoted to St. Vincent Ferrer, chiefly on account of two graces received from God through the merits of the same Saint. The first was that, while he himself was still a boy and was preparing festive fires of gunpowder ^d for the Eve of St. Denis, which is usually celebrated very festively at Valencia, a spark from a lighted lamp fell into a vessel of the same nitrous powder, and, this being set alight, his face was burnt and he almost died; and his grandmother, Ursula Ferrer, being called, ran in haste to our church, and on her knees on the ground before the altar of St. Vincent (of whose family she was) begged with many tears for the life and health of her grandson; and on returning home she found him freed from all danger, although the fire had been such that he could have been killed by it on the spot, or at least his face disfigured, and his eyes, eyebrows and nose consumed, and his head made like that of a dead man.

[3] The other grace was as follows: After many years spent in his first marriage he had fallen into a grave and long illness and been brought to his last extremity; and with a most pious Mother. shortly after, on the Wednesday of Holy Week, when the funeral garment had already been prepared for burying the body, he opened his eyes and asked for his clothes; and when they said that he was out of his mind and raving, he replied: I am not raving; but I saw St. Vincent and St. Bruno ^e entering here, who told me that I shall not die, but that I must go to church on the Wednesday of Holy Week, to be present at the divine Office; and so he did: for he put on his clothes and was present at the Office in the church. By which miracle he was so confirmed in the divine service, and became so devoted to St. Bruno, that when Pope Leo ^f permitted his Office to be said in the churches of the Carthusians, he began to celebrate his feast every year in the Charterhouse of Porta Coeli ^g. Afterwards, his wife having died ^h, he betook himself to the same monastery to take the habit there; but on that road the same two Saints appeared again and said that it was not pleasing to God that he should become a monk, but that he should persevere in secular life. For which reason he married another wife ⁱ, very Christian, pious, of most approved life and character, and so loving retirement that she rarely went out of her house into public except to church.

[4] As a boy he is given to weeping and to pious works, Now, to return to our blessed little Boy, I say that he was vehemently inclined to weeping; whence it appears that God had begun to prepare him for a certain holy sorrow, so that, like another Jeremiah, he might live always afflicted and grieving over the sins of men. For which reason he was sometimes carried to church, so that they might quiet him with the sight of the sacred images; and this was the readiest remedy to make him stop weeping; and when the doors of the church were not open, the statues of the Apostles and other stone statues placed round the doorway were shown to him; a clear sign indeed of his future singular inclination to the cult of the Saints. But although from his tender age he was brought up with great piety, frequenting Masses and Vespers, and affected with singular devotion towards the Mother of God, and endowed with modesty, and much given to prayer, withdrawing himself from worldly things, he frequently went to monasteries and churches, especially to that of St. Dominic, in which he was often seen not only morning and evening, but sometimes even after dinner; yet when he reached the fifteenth year of his age he shone more by frequent use of the Sacraments, moved especially (as is believed) by F. Fr. Ambrose, surnamed of Jesus, a celebrated preacher of the Order of Minims, who was his confessor.

[5] he is drawn back from a pilgrimage; clothed in clerical dress As he grew from day to day and made progress in pious affections, he resolved to go on pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James in Galicia, and set out on the journey; but he was intercepted at a certain fountain near Buñol (a place distant a little more than twenty miles ^l from Valencia) by some who had followed him ^k to bring him back, who, to persuade him to return, told him that his mother, whom on departing he had left ill, was near to death through the grief and anxiety she had conceived from his departure: and caught by this deception they brought him back. Meanwhile his father, having already ascertained that he had firmly resolved never to marry, clothed him in clerical dress, using which for some time he exercised himself in pious works and frequented the hospitals, very often spending the night in them, to be present and serve the sick.

[6] he shines with virtues; Sometimes too at home, not using his bed, he persevered whole nights in prayer and other holy exercises, which his mother's maidservants perceived, because when on Saturday evenings, as is usually done, they changed the linen of his bed, they found it as white and clean as it had been the preceding week. Suspecting therefore what was the case, through a door of his bedroom slightly pierced they saw him moving and deliberately turning over the linen of his bed, so that he might seem to have slept in it. He was also most obedient to his father and mother; a thing rare in boys brought up too comfortably and indulgently. He never disturbed them or provoked them to anger; nay, when his mother was quarrelling with some maidservant, or was otherwise upset, if this Son happened to come in, he would take some book in his hands and read aloud useful and pious things, to calm her anger. At the beginning of his spiritual life, so that no one should notice that he frequented the Sacraments, he received the most holy Eucharist now in the church of St. Francis, now in that of the Minim Fathers, sometimes in that of St. Dominic, and often in the monastery of St. Mary of Jesus. One thing in him from his very boyhood was singular, on account of which, I believe, God conferred so many graces upon him; namely, that he always abstained from oaths.

[7] About this time F. Ambrose, surnamed of Jesus, he is prevented from putting on the Dominican habit. (who we said above had been his confessor) died by an almost sudden death; and he died while he was preaching in the monastery of the holy Trinity, of nuns of the Order of St. Francis, as he himself had foretold before. Wherefore this good Youth, desiring to advance in the way that leads to heaven, chose as his confessor father Fr. Laurence Lopez, sprung from the region of Ocaña ^m, a Religious of approved virtue and very austere life, who afterwards acted as Prior of this our convent: holding holy converse with him assiduously, he at length decided to follow the Institutes of St. Dominic. Accordingly with urgent prayers he asked the sacred habit of father master Fr. James Ferrando ⁿ, then Prior of this place; a man certainly of the greatest name in all these regions of ours, since, although born of a Turkish father, he arrived at governing this province twice; and who composed the ecclesiastical Office of St. Raymond of Peñafort. But when his father ^o had heard these things, on the same day on which he was to be clothed with the sacred habit, he went to the Prior and spoke to him so much of the grave illnesses with which this his Son had laboured from his very first infancy that he persuaded him not to clothe him in the time of his priorate.

[8] What we have narrated so far of the good and holy character of this Youth Whence the things so far related were received. was received from the nurse who brought him up from the cradle, and from other persons who were intimate with and used to frequent his father's house, and especially from the old testimonies of Gaspar Mico and John Laurence Perpignano, public notaries of this city, whom the father of this Servant of God trained for that office, and who are both now seventy years of age. Of those two favours also, which his father received from St. Vincent, I have several times heard F. Fr. Bertrand himself discoursing in commendation of the same St. Vincent. He himself further related, alone, in the last sermon which he gave in the house of the novitiate, that while he was still living in the world he had several times, for the sake of walking, gone out of the city towards the sea through the gate called the Royal Gate, and, turning his eyes to the walls of this convent, had begun to weep. This also happened to him when he heard our bronze bell rung.

II.

[9] Father Ferrando was succeeded in the priorate by blessed father and master Fr. John Mico [p], He enters the Dominican Order without his parents' knowledge, who on the 26th day of August in the year 1544 clothed the Servant of God with the habit of St. Dominic, when he was eighteen years and seven months of age [q]. They say that while he was asking for the habit some others also sought it, of whom father Mico sent some elsewhere, advising them to give their names to another Religious Order; but this one he received most readily, and willed him to be enrolled in our Order. The pious Youth, mindful of what had happened to him before, had now so arranged everything that neither father nor mother learned anything of this matter before the following evening, when he had not returned home. For, considering that nothing had been said to them by him, contrary to what he had been accustomed to do when he sometimes betook himself by night to the hospital, they judged that he had put on the monk's habit, at which they grieved vehemently, because they loved him especially as the eldest of all the sons who survived, besides that they greatly feared lest either by reason of his infirm health he could not long persevere in that state, or would die within a short time.

[10] whose adverse efforts he overcomes; They therefore tried with all zeal to call him back from his religious purpose [r]; but the more they strove for this, the more he found himself confirmed in it; and foreseeing that the Prior had permitted them to meet him, he vowed to God without delay that he would live in the Order of St. Dominic until death. But when his father nevertheless was even more and more troublesome to him, the Prior, to convince the father and pacify him completely, called the Novice before him and said: By the authority which I have received from God, I command you to declare to me candidly whether you live content with the Religious state, and truly feel yourself strong enough to bear it and to persevere in it. And he answered that it was altogether so, and that he would rather die than desert it. After this, and after a conversation held by father Mico with his mother, whom he visited, both parents were affected with such consolation that they came to this convent to give thanks to God and to the Mother of God that their Son had chosen so good a state of life.

[11] and a false calumny also being refuted, Not long after, at the instigation of the demon, he was accused by a secular man of some natural defect, I know not what, which, although it did not make him guilty of sin, yet it came little short of his being stripped of the sacred garment on that account and sent back home, which grievously afflicted him. But while

one night after the Matins prayers he was in the chapel of the most holy Crucifix of the Rosary, a certain father came to him and said: Son, we two are here alone; tell me sincerely whether what has been said of you is true. And he answered: Truly, my father, it is not so: and at once that father replied: Be confident, then, Son, that you will be a Religious, and that I do not think you would lie for the sake of any worldly thing whatever; and afterwards it appeared most manifestly that he had told the truth.

[12] he makes his profession, and shines with worthy conduct. In the year 1545, on the 17th day of August [s], he made his Religious profession, and from that time he always lived most austerely, sparing in food, sober in drink, assiduously given to scourgings of the body, hair shirts, vigils and continual prayers. In his conversations he always spoke gravely, thus avoiding many light sins, with which anyone easily abounds who takes delight in trifles and buffooneries, which are unbecoming to religious men. And indeed he who loves gravity and shuns jests is generally well fitted for the divine service; because, since nothing is graver or more solid than salvation, those who speak with gravity are more apt for heavenly things; just as, on the contrary, those who delight in trifles and tales are always full of venial sins, which gradually dispose them to committing mortal ones. I do not remember ever to have heard him uttering even the smallest jest, or telling a little story, or mocking the things of others.

[13] Further, from such assiduous prayer, fasts and other pious exercises he fell into a grave illness, Having come through an illness, he resumes his usual exercises; for the curing of which he was sent to the convent of St. Matthew, a healthful place of mild air. Convalescing, he returned to his usual exercises; for he was not of the number of those who, when they have contracted illness by doing penance, shun it more than death. And as the things which are acquired in the novitiate ought to be of use not only for that brief time but through the whole of life, so that good Servant of God kept up to the end of his life not only what pertained to the substance of Religion, which he had acquired in the first year, namely charity, poverty, chastity and obedience, but also the other rites of the Order, however small; and in particular he was outstanding in modesty and the outward composure of the body, his senses never distracted elsewhere, always present to himself; nor was any novice ever found who more than he kept his eyes lowered and grave in choir, in the refectory, and within and without the convent. What I have just said of the composure of his body can likewise be said of his modesty in speaking, and of the other upright habits which are the true and proper ornaments of good Religious; but these will be told more properly hereafter in the course of this History, and especially in the chapter in which we shall treat of his holy conduct.

[14] While he was still young, the sweetness of prayer and contemplation used to be so savoury to him he detects and overcomes a temptation of the demon. that he decided to give up the study of the sciences, because his mind seemed to be too much distracted by scholastic studies; but he soon understood that this was a temptation from the demon, who is accustomed to entangle in grave errors those who wish to fly without wings, that is, to contemplate without knowledge. Wherefore he not only resumed his studies, but also, as long as he lived, was a lover of learned men, nor did any brother who was strong in any learning enter his cell to whom he did not say: What do you think of what I read today? Does this exposition please you? or something similar. And so as not to slip into error, he always esteemed most highly the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas, the great light of the whole Church.

III.

[15] In the year 1547, in the month of October, he celebrated his first Mass with chant [t], and some time after was sent to the convent of the Holy Cross of Lombay [u], [He is initiated into the priesthood: divinely warned of his father's impending death,] in which, in the following year, in the month of November, one night his father appeared to him as if dead or near to death; and he thought that vision so certain that the next morning he conferred diligently about it with his confessor. And behold, after a few hours a messenger arrived, who said that his father was already brought to his last extremity, and in his name begged that he would therefore return to Valencia without delay. When he had come there, his father, looking at him, said: Son, one of the greatest troubles which I have suffered in my life was to see you a Religious; but what today consoles me most is to see you in this holy habit; wherefore I commend my soul to you.

[16] he assists him, and sees his soul in purgatory: After this he died on the 9th day of the said month; and it pleased God to reveal to him the pains which his father was bearing in purgatory, which were of this kind: Once he seemed to him to have broken all his bones, having been thrown down from a very high tower; another time he seemed, as if full of wounds and dagger-thrusts, to be imploring his help. These things he saw very often by night and by day over a space of eight years, during which time he was greatly afflicted with assiduous grief, and sorrowed that he always saw his father in such grievous torments [x]. Wherefore he did not cease from fasts and his harsh scourgings even to blood, as we shall see below. When the eight years were completed, he saw his father as it were in a most delightful garden, full of joy [y]; which vision he himself, with tears welling up, narrated to his brother James Bertrand and to another very close friend of his who was present at the same time, about one year before his death, being already ill.

[17] on which matter the author notes a few things. And being asked the cause on account of which his father had suffered those torments for so long, he answered that he thought it had happened because he had been in the service of a certain noble of these kingdoms [z]. Wherefore what a certain doctor says, that no soul is detained in purgatory beyond seven years, is ill founded, especially since we see the ancient and Universal custom of holy mother Church of celebrating the Mass of the Dead for some who died more than a century ago, and the same Church is accustomed to grant Indulgences of a very great number of years; and this likewise some very ancient and most authentic histories confirm, which there is no leisure to relate here. Dismissing therefore this question, which is usually treated in the schools, let us return to our purpose.

[18] Some men with whom he was intimate, and to one of whom While he was still young he contracted a very close familiarity with some very religious Fathers, and especially with father master Fr. John Mico, Fr. Michael Navarro, Fr. Laurence Lopez, and Fr. Raphael Castelle, because he knew this last to be much given to prayer and of a most austere life, and to have been, after God, the author of the reform of this our province, inasmuch as he laboured greatly day and night to call it back from the freer and as it were secular manner of living which had been introduced into some convents; and he himself had gone to the most invincible emperor Charles V to bring some reformed Fathers into the same province. Father Fr. Louis once, intent on prayer after Matins, saw the said F. Fr. Raphael in water up to the throat, in great danger of drowning. And since that father was then to set out for Majorca, he narrated this vision to him, which the event proved true.

[19] he intimated a future danger. For while he was returning from that island by a ship on which the vicereine, widow of the viceroy, lord Philip Cervellon, was also being carried, between Majorca and Ibiza [aa] a violent storm arose, and then the said father Castelle felt that it was said within him that he should go down into the skiff: and he went down, clothed only in his tunic and scapular: but the ship with the vicereine was sunk in the waters; while the skiff landed crosswise on Ibiza. And so great was the fury of the sea that this good father stood for a long time immersed in the waters up to the throat. Father Fr. Bertrand related that this holy man was accustomed in his prayers, with his arms shaped in the form of a cross, to remain raised from the ground for no short time, and that he had been endowed with many revelations by God.

ANNOTATA.

p. I have already mentioned him above with praise; but that he is lawfully venerated as Blessed I have not yet found.

q. Correctly: for he was born on the 1st day of January in the year 1526, and consequently in the year 1544, on the 26th day of August, he counted years of age

eighteen and seven months, with the eighth begun from the Kalends of August of the same year 1544.

r. Avignone narrates from Roca that the father tried by letters written to his Son to persuade him to draw back from what he had begun, and recites the Son's letters in reply, which one may read in the fuller Life.

s. Read the 27th of August, according to what was said in the preliminary Commentary, number 28.

t. In the twenty-second year of his age, begun about eight months before. See our observation in the preliminary Commentary, number 29.

u. See more on this convent of the Order of St. Dominic in the fuller Life, book 1, chapter 3, number 31.

x. Read a wonderful vision of the pains of purgatory in the venerable Bede, book 5 of the Ecclesiastical History of the English nation, chapter 13.

y. In the praised Bede, at the place cited, there is also mention of a flowery field, seen full of joyful souls.

z. Namely, that for his sake, or on the occasion of service to him, he had offended God.

aa. Ebusus, now called Ibiza, is an island of Tarraconensian Spain in the Balearic sea, situated between Majorca to the East and the coast of the kingdom of Valencia to the West.

CHAPTER II.

Set over the novices once and again, he governs them excellently: he helps a dead friend of his: as the plague grows worse, he is sent to the convent of Albaida: his deeds there.

CHAP. IV.

The remarkable virtue of this holy Religious having been seen into, our fathers in the year 1549 set him ^a as master over the novices in this convent; Set over the novices, he an office indeed of great weight in Religious families, but most of all in ours, in which it is the master's part to care for them until they have been promoted to the priesthood. This office he discharged religiously and holily, not only this time but also on six other occasions on which he held it, bringing up those new recruits rigidly and harshly, lest the observances of the Order, which are certainly heavy, should afterwards appear new and unaccustomed to them: and if a fast of seven months is a penalty easy to speak of, it is nonetheless to be kept for no less than seven months; and I say the same of the other self-afflictions prescribed in the Order, which, like a silent file, gradually wear down our bodies.

[21] most harsh towards himself, He was accustomed very often to scourge himself in certain places selected by him for this purpose; by night he did it in one of the darker chapels of our church; sometimes in the smaller sacristy in the cloister of the convent, dedicated to the Mother of God under the title of Mercy, which place he said was most suitable for this purpose because it was terrifying and dark and was to be approached with great courage. Going there one night, he found there his dear friend Fr. Raphael Castelle, stretched on the ground and half dead, who had gone in before him for the sake of scourging himself, and upon whom two demons had afterwards entered, who had beaten him badly with a club, as once St. Anthony. Further, this our Father scourged himself terribly in the house of the novitiate, so that the walls of his cell were stained with the blood which was spattered from his flesh during the beating; sometimes also the novices saw the pavement ^b sprinkled with gore; and when one of them said that he wished to tell the Prior, he replied: For the love of God be silent, son; I will amend myself. But the amendment was (as he himself secretly told a certain intimate friend of his, a very religious man) that in future, when about to scourge himself, he girded himself with a linen cloth, so that it might soak up the blood flowing down from his shoulders, so that it could not fall on the floor.

[22] And as he used scourges much upon himself, he governs most rigidly and cherishes in fatherly fashion: so also upon the novices, lest they should have to pay in purgatory. When he held chapter on Fridays at midnight, one could see the face of the last judgment, with such rigour did he chastise and reprove silence not observed, sleep prolonged a little, an error in choir, or other such tiny defects occurring in the performance of our offices: but, the chapter finished, he himself, having returned to his cell, beat himself harshly. On the other hand, he provided excellently for the needs of all his novices and the health of the sick; for as long as he lived he showed himself of a noble and generous mind; and as beyond all doubt the bow must not always be bent, but sometimes slackened, lest it break, so well-ordered Religious institutes are accustomed at times to permit the brethren to refresh themselves religiously with some honest recreation. Accordingly at such times he was accustomed to treat his novices very kindly, all the gifts which he frequently received from their parents being kept for these occasions and laid up in common. And because his mother wished him well and was very well disposed towards the novices, she sometimes ordered sumptuous afternoon refreshments to be prepared and sent to them cheerfully and kindly.

[23] He himself, nevertheless, even during recreation, kept his mind raised to God; he is wonderfully affected by divine fear. and when once he was taking recreation with others, he suddenly withdrew and went groaning into his cell: noticing which, F. Fr. Thomas Arenas, of good memory, followed him, fearing lest something bad had happened; and finding him weeping, he asked the cause, and received this answer: I have no other cause for weeping than that I do not know whether I am to be saved or not. These were his thoughts and cares, this the nail always fixed in his mind while he took recreation: and therefore he did so not only on that single occasion, but also often afterwards. To a certain friend of his also he secretly narrated that, often waking by night, and presently remembering God and His divine presence, he began to tremble in all his bones, and that there then happened to him what is read in chapter 4 of the book of Job ^c. Frequently too he had in his mouth this saying of Solomon, Proverbs chapter 28: "Blessed is the man that is always fearful."

[24] He was very ready in returning their clothes to novices He readily dismissed from the Order the inconstant who asked for them back before profession in order to return to the world, being accustomed then also to ask us whether we too wished to go away; for the clothes were ready to hand. For just as it is most holy to persevere willingly and piously in a Religious Order, so it is full of danger to enter it out of force and fear, or out of shame to profess it with solemn vows. Recognizing also as most true the opinion of St. Augustine, where in Epistle 137 to the people of Hippo he says that he had not found better men than those who had made progress in sacred Religion, nor worse than those who had lived badly in the same state ^d, he readily took the habit from novices, and, having stripped them, sent home with much rigour those who did not walk rightly. He exhorted us effectively to prayer and contemplation: but not like certain other masters, who so inculcate devotion that they take slight account of literary study; as though liberal letters were opposed to sanctity, or ignorance increased devotion.

[25] [and novices of bad promise: he commended the study of letters to clerics, forbade it to lay brothers.] Nay rather, he assiduously admonished us to study letters, saying that it was not his part to devise another religious Order; but that he desired that in the Dominican all the clerics should be learned; because he had found by experience that in it the more learned were generally also the more religious, and more fearing God, and more loving of the cell and of solitude, and more cautious in every affair. Accordingly also he greatly favoured novices of happy talent, and, although they were youths, he respected them: and not undeservedly, namely those who are truly learned, not others who think themselves such and are not. On the other hand he greatly rejoiced that the lay Brothers should be brought up in holy simplicity, and that the constitution should be observed which forbids that any book be granted them. He was accustomed to say that the Marian Crown ^e and the repeated Lord's Prayer were a most beautiful book for them and most useful for their salvation.

[26] He obtains to be sent to Salamanca for the sake of studies; He himself further delighted so much in reading that up to his last illness he was never seen without a book in his hand: and I indeed think that there is no Religious in this our province of Aragon who has read more books from head to foot. It is true, however, that what he read (since he had a weak memory) profited him less than he would have wished, and that he was therefore reputed less learned than others who had read less and remembered better. To such a degree, finally, was he a lover of studies that, when he presided over the novices for the second time, he obtained from the Father General to be transferred to the celebrated convent of St. Stephen at Salamanca ^f, from which he knew so many and such eminent masters had come forth. But Father Micon tried to call him back from this purpose, asserting that he had not been called by God to the Religious Order to teach letters, but to persuade others to the virtues by his good examples and salutary admonitions; and that he ought to be master not of students of letters, but of novices. Nevertheless he wished to proceed to the destined place, and set out for Castile ^g.

[27] but, returning to Valencia from the road, he is again set over the novices, But on his arriving at the place which is called Villa scusa di Haro ^h, he was told by a certain father of great piety that this was not the way to which God had called him; let him therefore return to his convent, and there accomplish the work to be enjoined on him by his superiors. Having returned therefore to Valencia, he was again appointed master of novices by the Prior of that time; from which office he was never afterwards removed, except when he himself, for the sake of quiet, with the permission of his superiors, gave it up of his own accord; although the Fathers called him back to the same charge for the common good. Hence it came about that he trained a great number of young men, and from his novitiate there came forth many excellent both in letters and in religion; of whom, although many have already died, yet some also are flourishing wonderfully in various convents and provinces of our Order; and on the very day of the holy Man's burial a certain pious father of the Order of St. Francis ⁱ, among other things which he brought forward in his praise, compared him to that great father Blessed Jordan ^k, the immediate successor of St. Dominic in the generalate, who with his own hands granted the sacred habit to a very great number of young men.

[28] Among others he had two novices most scrupulous in saying the Office and in similar things. whom he instructs excellently. For which reason he said to a certain novice, named Fr. Christopher Escriva, now a bachelor: See how scrupulous those two little sons are; know that both will put off the sacred habit. And so it happened, when both, having become worse, afterwards fell away from Religion. A certain novice, now a man, after some days of novitiate, approaching father Fr. Louis, at that time master of the place, narrated a remarkable revelation which he said had been made to him. He answered: Are revelations already being made to you now? Come then, you will also put off the habit. A few days had passed when he returned to the world, intending to profess the anchoretic life, nor did he profess it. He did not approve of revelations of this kind in those who the service of God

had lately embraced; nay, on the contrary, he said that they ought first to be diligently exercised in the active life, by taming their body, and much more their will, and by frequenting the choir day and night, rather than wishing to fly on the wings of contemplation; especially since the Saints have ordinarily passed by that path, and so the sacred doctors teach, and in particular St. Gregory in the Morals on these words of Job: "Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance." At another time he called four novices to him secretly and said to them: My little sons, prepare yourselves: one of you will die this year; and it happened that one of them died within three months, the three others surviving some years.

[29] At that time so great was the esteem for him among the Fathers How great was the esteem for him among his own. that, when father master Natalis, who was then completing his studies and is now rector at Torrente ^l, asked blessed father master Fr. John Micon whether it was expedient for him to become a Dominican or a secular priest, and he answered: "It is good for a man when he hath borne the yoke of the Lord from his youth ^m," and Natalis pressed him to explain his mind more clearly, father Micon replied: From me you will hear nothing else; but consult your brother Louis, who, although he is still young, will be another St. Vincent at Valencia, and you yourself will see it: by which means he uttered a twofold prophecy at once: one, namely, that Fr. Louis would be another St. Vincent; the other, that the above-mentioned master Natalis would live until he saw him such. Whether these sayings were truly fulfilled or not will be evident from the progress of this History.

[30] In the year 1555 ⁿ, on the last Saturday of the month of August, the above-mentioned father Micon passed to a better life in this convent with a great odour of virtues and opinion of sanctity: [The death of Micon, of St. Thomas of Villanova, and of Clement Benet, seized by the plague,] who, a little before he expired, looking upon the brethren grieving greatly, said: Console yourselves, Fathers, for a Saint certainly remains in the convent. A few days after, that great archbishop of this city, Thomas of Villanova, of the Order of St. Augustine ^o, also died; whose deaths were followed by a huge scarcity of grain, which lasted up to the year 1557, in the spring of which the plague also came upon this city, from which F. Fr. Clement Benet soon died, who, while he was then confessing the sins of his whole life to our father Bertrand, promised that he would bring him news of himself from that other world.

[31] whose soul, through the Saint's efforts, is freed from purgatory, Accordingly he appeared to him the same night, announcing that he was being detained in purgatory for certain defects of his, although light ones, and especially because, against our constitutions, he had for a short time used a linen undershirt; and he asked that he would signify this to the Prior, and the Prior enjoin prayers for him on the brethren. So father Bertrand, concealing the matter from the others, informed the Prior; and he commended the soul of Fr. Clement to the brethren and their prayers in chapter. This done, after six or eight days a certain simple person, ignorant of these things, while cleansing her soul in sacramental confession with father Bertrand, asserted that on the preceding night it had seemed to her that the earth was opened, and that the soul of brother Clement was coming forth from it, shining like a star, and was borne ascending through the air to heaven.

[32] Sent to the convent of Albaida Then, as the plague grew still worse, the Prior of that time, father brother Michael of St. Dominic, by mandate of father master brother Peter of Salamanca, then vicar general of these kingdoms, sent many brethren to various convents; in which distribution the convent of St. Anne of Albaida [p] fell to father Bertrand. Here he, with his companion, applied himself to the preaching of the divine word with such fervour, bearing meanwhile great want and other inconveniences, and assiduously praising God in all things, that what St. Vincent, passing that way long ago, had foretold was then fulfilled, that God would at some time be greatly praised in that place; although at that time our brethren did not yet inhabit the convent of St. Anne. He gave his first sermon at Palombara [q] with great sweetness of mind, because that place was the birthplace of father Micon, who had loved him most dearly.

[33] he applies himself to preaching, to cleansing souls through confession, When about to preach at Albaida, he went into the sacristy and prayed to God, and as he came out from there his face was seen to shine. I certainly believe what seemed so to many pious persons, namely that his countenance shone; and that this brightness came to him from devotion and frequent prayer, in which he was accustomed to be wholly on fire: and it is proper to this fire to shine. When a certain brother, John Porez by name, wished to expiate his sins with him in the convent of St. Anne, while he was preparing himself he heard the great weeping and sobbing of another father, brother Alphonsus Hodi, who was then confessing to him; who then, withdrawing with welling tears, said to him: O my brother John, one coal kindles another! The same brother John was accustomed also to say that, while confessing to him, he used to feel himself vehemently roused to tears and contrition even by a single word of his.

[34] and to suggesting pious counsels: There lived then at Bélgida, about two miles from St. Anne's, Jerome Abella, now one of the magistracy of this city of Valencia, who esteemed father Bertrand greatly because he saw him much given to prayer: therefore he then observed many things in this Father which he afterwards very often related. This nobleman used to say that F. Fr. Louis, when they were alone together, never spoke to him except of God and spiritual things; and that, when he very often went to him for the sake of consulting him on some matter pertaining to conscience, he used to receive an answer from him before he had asked; and that the walls of his cell were all sprinkled with drops of blood; and that he frequently went to a certain hill adjoining the convent, and was accustomed to pray there. He went on foot through this neighbourhood to preach, and after the sermon had been given he took a wallet and begged for the convent.

[35] About this time a certain hermit visited him, he is visited by a pious hermit: during the Sacrifice who went barefoot, covered only with a tunic, and always carrying a Breviary or a Marian Crown in his hand, and was held for a Saint because he had already for many years done penance in a certain cave about thirty miles distant from this monastery. As soon as he caught sight of this blessed Father, he fell down to kiss his feet and said in a loud voice: You are an angel, brother Bertrand, you are an angel! O what a seat, what a glory the Lord has prepared for you! And he remained with him three days, treating of divine things, and confessed to him, and was refreshed with the sacred Eucharist daily. The above-praised nobleman further related that, when sometimes he was alone in the church with one footman, this blessed Father, offering the Holy Sacrifice, stood for about a quarter of an hour before the sacred communion with the Sacrament in his hand, shedding meanwhile many tears, which seemed so many pearls; and that his face appeared clear as crystal, and around the most holy Sacrament and around the head of the Father there was as it were a circle of most shining brightness.

[36] One day, as the same nobleman was returning to Bélgida, his footman said to him: he shines wonderfully: by his prayers he helps a woman in labour: Sir, did you see the brightness which surrounded the head of father brother Louis while he was weeping, holding the most holy Sacrament in his hand? The same man testified also that his sister, lady Isabella de Beluis, being in labour, with the midwives standing round, failed in all her strength after some hours. For which reason the said nobleman, induced by their prayers, sent in haste one of his servants, riding a mule, to the Servant of God, begging him to hasten without delay. He, however, when he had arrived, not wishing to see or speak to anyone, said only to the nobleman that he should order the oratory to be opened to him; entering which, he fell on his knees before the Crucifix and recited the Matins of the Nativity of our Lord; and afterwards he also persisted long in prayer. Meanwhile that nobleman was watching him through a chink of the door, and noticing that he had finished, opened it: and he began thus: These midwives are little skilled: they would wish her to give birth prematurely. She will, however, before midnight bring forth a girl safe and sound, who will live together with her mother.

[37] To the praised nobleman he also foretold something of no slight moment to his soul, he foretells to the nobleman a certain secret, his wife's which happened to him twenty years after. At another time, after receiving the divine Eucharist in the church of St. Anne, the same nobleman went to his cell, and he, seizing and embracing him, said: Brother, prepare yourself; for God has determined to take from you what you love above all else in this life. Three days after, this nobleman, returning to St. Anne's for a certain festival, met the Father halfway on the road, going to Bélgida, who said: Brother, I am going to your house to console those ladies piously. Wherefore both went on to Bélgida, and he, after a pious exhortation, refreshed him and his wife, and his sister, the above-mentioned lady Isabella, and two female cousins, with the most holy Sacrament, as he had been accustomed to do at other times. When dinner was finished he gave thanks to God, and, the household servants having been dismissed, he said to him and to his wife: What if it should please God to loose the knot that binds you? And presently, turning the conversation to another subject, he began to speak of divine love, and returned to the convent of St. Anne.

[38] approaching death, and the state of his sons he prophesies: Three days after, on Wednesday evening, a sharp fever seized that good lady: on Friday she came to an unhappy childbirth; on the following day, after taking food, she expired so suddenly that she could scarcely pronounce the name of Jesus. On the following Sunday father brother Louis was present, and in the same chamber in which the corpse had been placed, after raising his eyes to heaven for no short time, lowering them he said this: This deceased woman was one of the purest and most simple souls with whom I have ever conversed while I have lived: she will, however, be detained five days in purgatory. The obsequies finished and the body buried in the church of St. Anne, he foretold to the same nobleman that his sons, then little, would be Jesuit priests. And so it turned out: after some years had elapsed three of them gave their names to that Religious Order; but the fourth, who is now married, he foretold would remain in the world.

[39] under him the convent grows in persons and alms: Before father brother Louis was vicar of this convent, in which no more than four or five brethren lived, they scarcely had the means to live; but after he undertook its government the number of brethren increased, and yet all were abundantly provided for. Carts well laden with grain were sometimes brought to them, and other things were sent to him as alms, which before had rarely happened; and in the little chest of offerings, in which formerly scarcely anything was found,

a good sum of money began to be found. The same likewise happened in whatever place he presided, so that, although he was neither importunate nor troublesome in asking, nor used any special diligence in procuring spiritual sons for himself or his brethren, nor was accustomed to flatter others — nay, he seemed to be a man of slight courtesy — the blessed God, the supreme distributor of all alms, moved the hearts of the faithful to bestow on him abundantly.

[40] he is honoured with heavenly light at Mass: The footman whom we mentioned a little above, now thirty years old, Melchior Magnes by name, testified in the Process that, when he had been dismissed from the service of the above-praised nobleman, he served the fathers in the convent of St. Anne for two years, and in that time, while he frequently served father brother Louis as he offered sacrifice, he very often saw, when he held the most holy Sacrament in his hand, a most white cloud descending upon him with some most shining circles between the most holy Sacrament and the head of the Priest, whence came forth such brightness as if two lamps had been burning. He affirmed besides that when sometimes he wished to treat with the Servant of God about some business of his, he was taken by the hand most kindly by the good Father, and was satisfied by him in all his questions.

[41] The bell of the convent having been broken, its procurator had collected money for another to be made. he teaches the procurator to trust in God: But since father Bertrand, then vicar of the place, needed it for another purpose, he ordered the procurator to bring him the money which he had kept for the new bell. At this the poor procurator was much saddened, fearing whether he would be equal to paying for the bell: and when therefore, indignant in his heart, he murmured even between his teeth (yet so that it could not be understood in a human way) these words: O blessed be God, how terrible this man is! father Bertrand suddenly said to him: Come now, father, since you have already said, O blessed be God, how terrible this man is!, you will do well now in handing me that money, so that God may provide for the other things.

[42] A fire having once arisen on a certain mountain, it was spreading with great destruction of everything towards the vineyards of the Brethren. he checks a fire with the sign of the cross. When this was announced to the Servant of God, he went out of the convent, and, having seen through a spyglass that great flame, which was already approaching the aforesaid vineyards, he immediately extinguished it by forming the sign of the Cross towards it, although it had already reached a place where there was a great heap of dry wood. And those who afterwards went to see so great a wonder found that a boundary had been set to the fire as if by a stretched rope, and so straight as if some mark had been placed there, beyond which it could not proceed [r].

ANNOTATA.

p. The beginnings and progress of the convent of St. Anne at Albaida, which is a village of the kingdom of Valencia distinguished with the title of a marquisate, can be read in Diago in the History of the province of Aragon of the Preachers, book 2, chapter 101, from which it will suffice to have noted here that at the time of which we write it did not yet enjoy the dignity of a Priorate, but only of a Vicariate, because it could not support twelve Religious.

q. Roca has Palomar; and so I think it should be read, because the place of which there is question here is presently said to have been the birthplace of father Mico; and he was born at Palomar, on the testimony of Echard, volume 2 of the Library, page 154, where he adds that Palomar is a small town of the valley of Albaida; which agrees exactly with the rest of Antist's narrative.

r. It pleases me to confirm these things from the manuscript Report of the Auditors of the Rota. They have it thus under the title A vast fire extinguished: When in a district of the town of Albaida in the kingdom of Valencia shepherds, in order that grass might come up more abundantly in the following year, had set fire to the stubble according to custom, it happened that, the wind blowing more strongly, the flame first seized all the nearest things, then, ranging very widely, with a horrible spectacle and the great terror of mortals, raged over the whole mountain; and the fire was already hastening towards the vineyard of the monastery over which Bertrand presided, when the Servant of God, being informed, went out into the open accompanied by his brethren, and, the flame being seen, his eyes raised to heaven, he formed with his right hand the sign of the holy Cross, as though to impart a blessing to the fire; and behold, with no delay whatever intervening, the flame and all the fire vanished, with a change so sudden that the logs, of which no small quantity had begun to burn, were seen half scorched and half entire and untouched, and on the same trunk as it were a most exact line by which they were distinguished, according as at the very time of the blessing, at which by divine Providence the fire was extinguished at the faith of the holy Man, the flame had already gnawed more or less. This miracle is proved by two concurring witnesses, C. Quoniam, dist. 48; C. Placuit, 2, q. A; C. Licet, on witnesses; who set out with Bertrand when the fire was running down through all parts of the mountain, on the very point of burning the vineyard, and were present when the force of the flame, sharpened by the wind, was extinguished as soon as the sign of the Cross was made by Blessed Bertrand. And that this extinction of the fire was above the order of all created nature is clear; since human strength cannot drive out in the twinkling of an eye a vast fire raging on a mountain, the logs half burnt, the wind blowing very strongly, which nevertheless Blessed Bertrand, full of the fire of divine love, immediately extinguished. Thus far the Auditors of the Rota on this stupendous miracle, which is also recorded in the Bull of Canonization.

CHAPTER III.

The other deeds of the Saint in the convent of Albaida: sent back to Valencia, he is again set over the novices: he preaches: he performs a prodigy.

VI.

Meanwhile twenty-two Brethren died of the plague in this our convent ^a, While he prays, a woman in labour is delivered. and among them the Prior of the place, brother Michael of St. Dominic, who, never sparing himself, like another Tobias, was assiduous in visiting those infected with the plague and burying the dead. When, therefore, father Bertrand was once giving himself to prayer in the convent of St. Anne, the dead Prior appeared to him in glory, and, embracing him, said that he had departed from this life at that same moment and was setting out for heaven ^b… Now let us return to the history of our good Father. One night there was a knocking with great noise at the gate of the convent of St. Anne, because lady Blanca Columba, wife of the nobleman John Milano, who is now count of Albaida, being unable to give birth, was in extreme danger of her life. The blessed Father went to her, and, having placed his Marian Crown on her neck, falling on his knees he prayed; and presently the said lady gave birth.

[44] He once ordered the procurator of the convent to give two reals ^c to the washerwoman, He provides for a poor woman: a demon lurking in the habit of a pilgrim who sent them to her among the dirty clothes. The washerwoman, seeing these, wondered, because on that day she was in great need. She ran therefore to the convent and said to the Servant of God: Father, what is this that I found in the clothes? To whom he answered: Go; because you are in need; whereat she remained astonished, since she had indicated her need to no man. At Albaida a certain woman had a little son much beloved by her; to whom a certain pilgrim, approaching, said: I am going to St. James; if you will give me your son, I will make him a great lord. She, however (although such a promise was not displeasing), asked that one day be granted her for deliberating; and for the sake of counsel she went to the good Father; who answered that, when the pilgrim returned, she should bid him go to the bad, because he was a demon.

[45] he detects, and frees the woman from a like error. The next morning the pilgrim returned, making the same request, to whom she said: Go hence to the bad, for you are a demon. He replied: A greater demon is brother Bertrand, who

gave you that counsel: but that you may know how much I can do, look at the man who is being brought here on an ass; he will fall dead before these doors: and so it truly happened; and the pilgrim meanwhile vanished from sight. Master Onuphrius Clemens, the most eloquent preacher of this kingdom ^d, who before Father Louis had been vicar of the convent of St. Anne, narrated this fact when expounding the first Part of St. Thomas in the presence of father brother Bertrand, and said that that pilgrim, since he was a demon, could have known naturally that the man coming on the ass had been disposed to sudden death by some ailment; and he added that both the pilgrim and that other man were perhaps demons. He freed another woman at Valencia from a similar error; and through the whole valley of Albaida the inhabitants were persuaded that no misfortune would come upon them as long as the said Father lived in that place.

[46] Various other things done by him At this time father brother John Alarcon was very intimate with father Bertrand, who still survives today at Lucente in the monastery of St. Mary of the body of Christ ^e, who, being asked by me with importunate prayers to teach me some more remarkable things about this Father, among other things wrote me the following. At the time when (so he says) I conversed with father brother Louis Bertrand, and was also his confessor, I knew him to be a singular imitator of the holy father Dominic in devotion, prayer, observance and austerity of life. Before he had been initiated into the priesthood he had made much progress in prayer, and several times felt certain beginnings of ecstasies. Hence once father Mico, being asked by him to explain to him what thing it was when a man sometimes reaches the point of not knowing whether he is in heaven or on earth, the good father replied that he should give thanks to God; that not just anyone could reach in this matter the point that he had. His fervour in prayer and the great heat of his spirit sometimes overflowed into his body: accordingly, when one day in very cold weather I said that I was cold, he said gravely: Let him who is cold pray, and he will not feel the cold. Do you not know that, have you never experienced it?

[47] while he lived at Albaida, He celebrated Mass most devoutly, and when he held Christ in his hand before communion he paused for a notable time, and it was necessary for him to wipe from his eyes the tears which he shed. He celebrated Mass daily, and burned with such love of the most holy Sacrament that, when one Holy Saturday he could not say a private Mass, he asked me to give him sacred Communion; although he abstained from this too at that time, understanding that it did not please the superior ^f. In conversation he spoke much of God and holy things, to profit his hearers; and of myself indeed I can affirm that in the frequent conversations held with him I felt some new incitement to serve God. One day too, while we were conversing, a certain young man who was listening exclaimed: O Father, God bless you, you have by your holy discourse taken an evil thought out of me; for I was waiting for a certain man who was to pass this way, to strike him with many blows of cudgels; but at this very moment, hearing what you say, I have changed my mind. And when I added, Now you see, Father, what it is to speak well of God and pious things, he answered that something similar had happened to him before also.

[48] Besides his perpetual conversation about pious things, this Father had in all his speech a certain sweetness, from the testimonies which wonderfully carried everyone away: but towards himself he used such rigour that the soles of his shoes always appeared stained with blood, when he had beaten himself with scourges, flowing down from his shoulders, which he bore altogether torn and livid. Once, when I placed my hand on his shoulder, he gave a manifest sign of pain; but I cautiously pretended not to have noticed. At another time I found hidden in his cell old rags full of gore, which had flowed down from his shoulders through the scourges, which I then took away, and kept for more than twenty years as sacred relics. A soft and delicate bed did not please him. When we both, on the occasion of a certain jubilee, had been occupied in hearing confessions in the town church until so late in the evening that we could not return to the convent, lord John Milano, who is now count, had a bed made up for him, which, since it seemed too comfortable to the Father, he would not undress, but, having finished his prayers, he rested as he was, clothed. And he not only used the ordinary woollen undershirt, but also, as far as could be gathered from many indications, often a hair shirt as well.

[49] That people venerated him so much that while he was preaching at Palombara ^g a piece of his capuche was cut off for relics. of fathers Alarcon, I was present when he formed the sign of the Cross towards the huge fire approaching the vineyard of the convent ^h; and the next day, going there to see the limit of the fire, I saw that it had stopped at that place where there was a heap of logs and brushwood near the vineyard of the convent. These are the things which the above-mentioned father John Alarcon, a truthful man and worthy of much credit, narrated to me; who moreover said that he had sometimes seen through the chinks of the doors of his cell a certain brightness shining through, which light did not at all seem natural: these same things I have also heard from others. Some of the things related in this chapter were further confirmed by father brother Martin Xoarez, who at the same time lived in the convent of Albaida; and in particular he related that one Sunday he was called by him to go to Bélgida, and that on the road they met a certain man, to whom father Louis said: I know why you are coming; go back now, and say that I am coming. And when they had come to Bélgida, they found dead the wife of lord Jerome Abella, praised above; which father Bertrand had already known divinely.

[50] The same father further narrated that about eleven years ago, father Bertrand, after his return from the Indies, while returning from a sermon given in a place called Agres, four miles distant from Albaida, met a certain man who said to him: Father, where does a certain holy father of your Order now live, who formerly lived at Albaida, and was of such a condition and such habits, uttering things which pointed to Bertrand himself. of Martin Xoarez, To this father Martin answered that that Father had set out for the Indies, but had already returned from there. Then that man said: Know that in this place where we now are I saw a wonderful thing done by him. Namely, that while he was returning from St. Mary of Agres, seeing a shepherd keeping his flock, he fell on his knees, and, his eyes raised to heaven, prayed a little while, went straight to him, talked somewhat with him, and returned to Albaida. Then I asked the same man what that friar had said; and he answered: He revealed to me the secrets of my heart, saying that it was now two or three years since I had confessed; and that I should go without delay to confess at Agres or at St. Anne's of Albaida; whither that shepherd also went, and having confessed there, after two or three days died a holy death.

[51] who lived together with him there, On the testimony of the same above-mentioned brother Martin, he bestowed many alms on the poor begging at the gate of the convent: and in the time of the Lenten fast, when he had not been able to hear in the morning some of those who wished to confess to him, if they were poor he fed them, lest they should return home fasting, and afterwards he heard their confessions. Notwithstanding so many alms and such liberality, the convent was provided with everything. But the vicar who succeeded him was not a like almsgiver, and, wishing to economize for the advantage of the convent, he was reduced to the point that he could not even provide food for the brethren.

[52] and of Peter Micon; Another father, called Brother Peter Micon, testifies that master Jordan (one of the priests of better and more approved life of this kingdom) once asserted before his disciples in the school that father brother Louis Bertrand was a great servant of God and much given to contemplation, and that when he had gone to the convent of St. Anne to visit him, he found him on the mountain, and after greeting and embraces asked him how he was; but he received no other answer from the good Father than that he, his eyes raised to heaven, with a cheerful face, said only that we can be sons of God. From which he understood that he was then in some lofty contemplation, since he answered nothing to what was asked. The same master Jordan was accustomed to say of him to his disciples: This Man is already in heaven.

[53] At Valencia he again governs the novices: he preaches outside the city: When the plague ceased, in the year 1560 he was recalled to Valencia to preside again as master over the novices, and then I began to be his subject, and in that time I came to know many of the virtues which I have already related and shall relate ⁱ. I give infinite thanks to God that, although I did not receive the sacred habit from him, nor make my profession under him, I nevertheless had him when already professed, and lived under his care for a year and a half ^k; but since I have already set out in chapter III ^l the things which pertain to the government of the novices while he presided over them, there is no need to repeat them here. In the time of the following Lenten fast he preached at Alcoy ^m, where, using a mat for a bed, he gave the best example. Several times also he went to preach not far from there, to gratify the lady countess Beatrice Mendoza, a woman of great virtue and piety, who on account of what she had heard of him from many, and especially from that pious priest master Jordan, esteemed him very highly, and sometimes even confessed her sins to him; and she had had a comfortable bed prepared for him; but brother Peter Micon, then a secular man, who by the countess's order was serving father Louis, told the same lady that he never slept in a bed; nor could he ever rise so early as not to find this blessed Father on his knees on the ground, praying.

[54] The following spring two galleys of the Moors put in on the coast of Valencia with huge booty two piratical galleys of the Moors and a great number of captives, whom they had carried off from that coast; and while the redemption of these and the raising of money were being dealt with, behold, the commander of the galleys ⁿ, one feast day, accompanied by some other Moors, was walking about Valencia with great arrogance; at which our Father, accustomed to ask of God the spirit of Elijah, was vehemently grieved. Accordingly, when in the evening all the novices were in the garden, after each had said something about the feast of that day, he, kindled with holy anger, said to us: For what reason can it be borne, my sons, that the enemies of Christ, after inflicting so great damage, should today have walked about the city with such pomp, and should even now go about boasting? To us, to us, my sons, these things belong. Come then, all here

let us fall on our knees and, turned towards the sea, devoutly recite a psalm against those Moors.

[55] The novices obeyed at once with the devotion which God had infused into their minds. A little later it was learned by his prayers he sinks them. that, as the Moors were making sail and had advanced a little from the shore, a most terrible storm had arisen, which sank them all in the deep. Wherefore the Father, with his usual holy simplicity, afterwards raised scruples to himself as to whether he had not sinned by giving occasion to the novices (to whose merits he ascribed that wonderful effect) to ask vengeance on the Moors from God so fervently. The psalm which they had then recited, if I remember rightly, was the hundred and eighth, which begins: O GOD, MY PRAISE, and is commonly called the Psalm of malediction; or it was the eighty-second, whose beginning is: O GOD, WHO SHALL BE LIKE TO THEE? which seems very apt against the Moors and the other enemies of holy Church.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER IV.

The occasion by which he was fired to sail to the West Indies: having overcome the difficulties, he departs thither: some of his deeds there.

From what he heard from a certain Indian impostor About this time there came to Valencia a certain Indian ^a in Religious habit, who, by showing false letters patent, obtained to be lodged in the convent for more than a year; and since he had never been a novice, nor been brought up in our Order, he was no small stumbling-block to me and to other novices; and he sometimes caused great trouble to father Louis, our master. For which reason I think that God permitted those defects in this Indian only to exercise the patience of all of us, novices as well as Master. Nevertheless, when the Provincial had arrived and wished to punish the Indian severely, Louis, throwing himself at his feet, begged with many tears that he would pardon him his offences, saying: If the Indian has done wrong, the whole fault is mine.

[57] he resolves to go to the Indies; but from his purpose Further, through what he had heard from the same Indian of the labours and troubles which Religious suffer in those parts, God roused in Louis a most ardent desire of martyrdom; and to this end he resolved to set out for the Indies, where he had understood that preachers were frequently killed by those barbarous peoples, and sometimes even eaten. He could not therefore put this intention out of his mind, until at length he learned from two fathers who had landed from the West Indies that there was a great want of preachers for converting the infidels in the province of the New Kingdom of Granada ^b. Through this, kindled with great zeal for the divine glory, he offered himself to these fathers and bound himself to that work ^c. Which indeed was so much at his heart that neither the tears of his brothers and sisters and other relatives, nor repeated prayers, were sufficient to call him back from this purpose; although two or three other fathers, who had also promised their services, had already consented to remain there, so as not to afflict us.

[58] His brothers, to keep him back, said expressly he is with difficulty called back: but, repenting of it, that they would give him not a coin for that journey; and in like manner father Prior, brother James Servano (who had instructed him in pious habits from his boyhood), openly refused, saying that the viaticum usually granted to brethren setting out was not to be expected from him. For these reasons, because he was of most afflicted health and not equal to making the journey on foot, he at length resolved not to depart. Having called, therefore, the companion with whom he had agreed to go, he dismissed him, and he set out alone for Seville ^d. But on the first Friday of the Lenten fast following, Louis, having in the morning preached to the people in the church of the Conception, began to be anxious that he had remained, and had let that other go alone; so much so that the same evening he preached in the novitiate, exhorting the novices to the accurate observance of the Order, and, having begged pardon of any whom he had offended, imparted his blessing to all.

[59] The next morning he pressed his Prior so much he sets out for the same place: on the road he finds his companion. and was so troublesome to him that by his importunity he at length obtained his blessing, the Prior always protesting, however, that he was not giving him permission to set out thither; and, because he loved him vehemently, weeping and grieving that he was losing such a subject. But father Louis, remembering that same morning that he had not yet celebrated Mass, went to the convent of the Fathers of Jesus ^e, and there celebrated it with such piety and spirit as anyone can imagine, offering at the same time to the eternal God all the labours which he was about to undergo. After this he went straight on towards Xàtiva ^f, and thought that a good omen was given him by God, because, crossing the road that leads to the cross of Xàtiva, he came upon that companion of his, who, although he had left him three days before, had been unable, on account of a certain relative of his, a man of bad life ^g, to get free so as to leave Valencia before that time; divine providence assuredly so disposing, lest this poor Father should lack his companion.

[60] Meanwhile we, having entered his cell, found a chest containing instruments of penance, At Xàtiva he is met by one of the brethren. namely hair shirts, scourges, iron chains, and tin plates perforated like graters, which he was accustomed to apply to his flesh, and other things of that kind, as delicate and soft as these, of which he took care to have a good supply through the whole time of his life. The brethren, learning of his departure, decided to follow him, one of whom, following him, after he had strayed on the road, met him at Xàtiva, and there attacked him sharply with all the reasons which seemed to avail to dissuade him from the work begun; but when he saw that he persisted in his purpose, he gave him money, and because on account of his infirmities he could not make the journey on foot, he bought a little ass so that he might ride ^h.

[61] [At Seville he sets sail for the Indies, a certain prophecy having first been uttered.] At Seville he committed himself to the first fleet about to make for the Indies, being held in such esteem by all his fellow-passengers, the ships' captains and the sailors, that whenever a storm arose they had recourse to him. But here something worth writing had slipped from me, which some learned from father Castiglione, of the Order of St. Francis. This man, while still a secular, had told father Bertrand that he wished to give his name to the Order of St. Dominic, and had been greatly confirmed by him in taking up the way of virtue and of Religion. After some years, hearing that the Father was going to make for the Indies, he asked him to take him as a companion: but he, having led him to the far end of the church, said: You signify to me that you will be a Religious of St. Dominic; but you are mistaken; you are thinking also of going to the Indies with me; but in fact you will remain here, and afterwards you will put on the habit of another sacred Order. At which, as the good Castiglione stood astonished, and reckoned with himself in what way a thing so contrary to his mind could happen to him, the good Father said: Do not doubt that all these things which I have said will happen to you. And it came about that, remaining at Valencia, he afterwards took the Franciscan habit.

VII.

[62] Of his many deeds among the Indians few are known. The things which our father Bertrand did in the Indies are (so to speak) innumerable; but of these we know very few, which we have received as related by some persons brought here from those shores, or through letters sent; some also the Father himself narrated to a certain intimate of his, when sometimes the conversation had fallen on the great deceits which the demon uses in those kingdoms to induce the peoples to adore idols; or when he wished to discourse on the predestination or reprobation of certain Indians; or finally in order to serve the advantage of his neighbour. This we certainly know, that he always spread there the odour of great sanctity, and converted to Christ and baptized a huge multitude of men ⁱ.

[63] Divine predestination in a boy to be baptized. When one day, which was the vigil of the holy Angels in the month of September, he was in the church of a certain village where he was staying under obedience (these villages in those parts are called Doctrinas, because in them Christian doctrine is delivered to those new nations), a certain Indian came to him carrying a little boy in his hands, and cried out vehemently, to show that he was imploring his help; and since he did not understand him, he called an interpreter, from whom he heard that the Indian was asking that he baptize the boy. He asked him therefore: Why do you wish him to be baptized, you who adore idols? The Indian answered: Because he is dying, and there upon the mountain a certain spirit told me that you were in the Doctrina, and that if you poured water on his head the boy would be saved. He therefore baptized him without any delay, and gave him the name of Michael, and a little later the boy died, father Louis giving many thanks to God that the first whom he had washed in the sacred font had flown to heaven, and admiring the work of divine predestination in this matter.

[64] God compensates hardships with fruit. In the same Doctrina, and in many others, there was no lack of much matter for suffering. One had to go

on foot with great poverty and hunger, amid most vehement heats under the torrid zone, only two degrees ^k from the equinoctial line, where through the whole year the days are equal to the nights; but, what was more troublesome to him, since the province was most vast and had few convents, and these too very far distant from one another, the Priors, in order to provide for the Christian instruction of these peoples, were accustomed to distribute the brethren variously and send them to different stations, so that some were thirty miles from the convent, others sixty, others a hundred, and it was necessary for these to confess their sins to one another; it was agreed among them that each should leave his own Doctrina on the same days and, meeting one another halfway on the road, should confess. But since the good Father took very great delight in the use of the Sacrament of penance, and had before been accustomed to confess twice a day, he could not but grieve vehemently over this matter; but the blessed God consoled him wonderfully by the huge fruit which he gathered from those infidels.

[65] While he preached among the Indians who live at the foot of the mountain of Santa Marta ^l, [Because he carried off the bones of a sacrificing priest he is given poison to drink] he converted and baptized many. He came afterwards to a certain village where, after he had preached for several days, he made no progress. But when he had heard that the bones of a certain priest of the idols, who had died in that place a long time before, were venerated by the people, because they were persuaded that the sky would fall on them whenever they lost those bones, and that for this reason they were held in the highest veneration, and that in the temple in which they lay buried festive mock-combats were customarily held by them, he entered it secretly, took away those bones, and carried them five or six miles away from there. When the idolaters learned or suspected this, they agreed with a certain most wicked old sacrificing priest to infect him with poison, and they did so by offering him a drink; having drunk it, he was seized with a deadly fever, seemed to himself to carry fire in his bowels, and, preparing himself for death, on the fifth day (wonderful to say!) he vomited up a serpent, and so felt himself a little better: but another Religious of the Order of Mount Carmel, to whom they had given a similar drink, within a few days, after cleansing his conscience with father Bertrand, died, and in the dead man's body a mass of worms was found.

[66] I remember hearing from him that nothing in this danger had been more troublesome to him and he is in great danger of his life; than that there was no priest from whom he might receive the Sacraments of penance and of the sacred Eucharist. Nor had he any other comfort than from two Christian Moors who were with him; accordingly he comforted himself excellently by the use of a small wooden Cross hanging from his Marian crown, towards which with many tears he commended his soul to God. The idolaters, however, seeing that he was recovering from the poison, assembled, more than three hundred, armed with their bows and darts, to kill him; and although one of those Moors at once loaded a musket to defend him, he would not have it, but, calling their chief men, began to preach fervently; professing his grief at their eternal damnation, and warning them that they must at length open the eyes of their mind and recognize the lie of the demon, since neither had the sky fallen, nor had anything else bad happened, such as they had been persuaded would happen if those bones were ever taken from them. But when he perceived them stubborn and hard to convert, and considered that God does not wish anyone to be driven thither by force, he permitted those bones to be taken back ^m, and them to remain with their demon.

[67] At which those wretches exulted so much that they wished to give him many hens and peacocks as it were in payment for the redemption of that same idol; but he is withdrawn from both dangers, as had been foretold to him. and when he refused to accept them, he came near to being killed: and he would have been killed had not a certain cacique, that is, one of the great men of the Indians, converted by him before, freed him from their hands; and so the aforesaid two Moors, with other peace-loving Indians, to rescue him from danger, after the idolaters had gone away, took him up on their shoulders and carried him fifteen miles from there, and then, putting him on a ship, conveyed him to the place where the governor of that region, Peter de Salazar, lived, who received him into his house, in which he laboured with fever for many months. These and very many other troubles had been foretold to him by a certain poor little man, very simple, much given to prayer, and of holy life, who one year, before the Father set out for the Indies, catching sight of him on the day of St. John the Baptist in the cloister of the convent, ran to him and spoke these words, not very unlike those which Agabus spoke to St. Paul: The Spirit has told me that father brother Louis will suffer great afflictions and be in great danger; but God will free him from all these. Of this holy man father Bertrand used to narrate many things which there is no need to relate here.

[68] On this occasion a few things are noted Father brother Louis used often to say while preaching at Valencia that, when he permitted those bones to be taken away, the priest who had come to receive them fell on his knees before them with great trembling and his arms crossed before his breast, and was asked by him whether he knew any remedy for the poison administered; but that wretched man was seized with such superstition before those bones that he dared neither to answer nor to mutter a word. And the good Father said that it had then come into his mind with how great reverence we ought to behave before the most holy Sacrament, since that wretched sacrificer trembled so before a demon. I use this name not only because David says in the Psalm: "All the gods of the gentiles are demons ⁿ," but also because the Indians themselves in some regions are accustomed to call their idols, which they hold for gods, Demons; and when they wish to say that their private idol asks for something, they say that the devil asks it.

[69] concerning the superstitions of the Indians. Besides, they say that they serve those idols not out of love but out of fear. In like manner they teach this error, namely that, just as the true God in heaven does good to all and evil to none, so their devils do them as much evil as they can, and help no one; and that therefore they offer them sacrifices so as not to be ill-treated. The Father once asked one of the caciques ^o why he did not come to his sermons as he used to do before; who answered in this way: My devil has threatened to kill me and my wife and children if in future I come to listen to you: but the Father replied: That you may see further how great is his power, let us go to him; and he went and dealt that idol a strong blow, without any sign of feeling in it. He had used the same experiment at another time and it had succeeded happily; for he then converted that cacique by whom we said he was rescued from death. [p]

ANNOTATA.

death to be inflicted on him for the defence of the faith than the little chest with the idol to be carried off by force. So, by hearing from the blessed Man, and by public report and fame, on the 9th and 10th articles, witnesses 1, 155, 156, and other witnesses, etc. On account of this poison which he drank, a chalice with a serpent sitting on it is customarily painted with the same Saint.

n. Psalm 95, verse 5.

p. Just above, number 68.

CHAPTER V.

His other deeds in the Indies, and his return to Spain.

CHAP. VIII.

A certain father, arrived from the Indies, came on his way to this our convent, [He raises a dead girl to life: speaking Spanish, he is understood by the Indians;] where, finding this good Servant of God labouring in his last illness, he narrated that, while he lived in those parts, he had heard from the account of many that a certain little girl, of tender age, the daughter of an Indian woman converted to the faith, had been raised from death by this holy Man in a certain village. He added that no other had gathered such great fruits in that province, and that he had done in it many things most worthy of note, and among these, that, speaking Spanish, he was sometimes understood by those peoples; and that, when he was accustomed to preach through an interpreter, he was told by the Indians that there was no need of an interpreter, because they understood him; and that he should therefore go on preaching himself; which they did not say to other preachers. Father Bertrand, being asked whether this was true, answered that it was so; but if the raised girl was inquired about, he neither asserted nor denied it; whence I for my part think that she was truly raised by him; because, taking account of his virtue, if the story had been a lie, he would without delay have denied the fact, since he knew very well how much a lie displeases God in such matters.

[71] the truth of each of these facts is proved. What makes me still more certain is that, being devoutly present in the confraternity of priests of the Mother of God, and being asked by a certain nobleman whether he had truly called back a girl from death in the Indies, he answered in these words: What, then, do you think that is? God is like a smith who, intending to make a saw, out of many little iron rods which he has in his hands, all fit for that use, chooses one which he wishes, leaving the other: and having said this, he was silent. By which he seems to have wished to say: There is no reason why you should esteem me above others because God chose me to perform this miracle. And the reason for which God granted him to be understood when speaking Spanish, as he himself narrated to some of his intimates, was this: He used an interpreter who (whether from malice or from ignorance) did not faithfully expound to the Indians what he preached; noticing which, the good Father (I know not whether by revelation or otherwise) begged of our Lord God the grace to be understood himself, and obtained it ^a.

[72] On the testimony of the same praised father, father Louis led many caciques with their subjects to the Christian sacraments, Through a wonderful event he instructs and baptizes many Indians: and especially when, in a certain village, more than a thousand with great haste and clamour; and from another village, where he had been able to convert no more than two persons, five hundred Indians had come there, seeking to be instructed by him in the mysteries of the faith; who, being asked why it was that they so eagerly desired baptism, answered that when they were feasting together at some festival, and, as they were accustomed, were invoking the demon, the demon, those two Christians who had been baptized being also present there, appeared to them in a most horrid shape, saying openly: Why do you now invoke me in the presence of two Christians? Take them away from here. Meanwhile they saw at the side of the same demon a man clothed in the habit of Christians, who said that he had been sent by brother Louis Bertrand to teach them how foully they had been seduced; and presently he began to dispute with the idol and to convict it of falsehood. Wherefore the Indians, both the demon and the said man — who must have been an angel — vanishing from their sight, all ran together to father Louis to be baptized, which he too accomplished after he had instructed them abundantly.

[73] Lord Raphael de Figueroa narrates besides that it is a matter of public knowledge in the Indies he drinks poison harmlessly: he rejoices at the pious death of an Indian; that father Louis, for the sake of converting a cacique, drank a poisoned cup without harm, in order to prove in this way the truth of the Christian faith and the falsity of the superstition of the Indians ^b. Which lord John Vives de Canamas confirmed that he too had heard. He also converted a certain Indian of great age, and after conferring baptism strove to prepare him, gravely ill, for dying well; but when for some time he had not gone to his dwelling, returning there he found another, infidel, Indian, who was trying with all his might to pervert him; having driven him out, he confirmed the poor sick man in the faith, and, remembering that a cross had not been brought, sent his server to bring one from the church immediately: but the sick man, raising his hand and stretching his finger on high, said with great joy: There is no need, Father; look at that one which is so beautiful in the air! and uttering these words he rendered his soul to God, to the great consolation of father Louis. This he himself related while preaching in our church on the feast of the holy Cross in the month of May.

[74] Among others too he converted a boy, whom at the sacred font he called Louis by his own name, he learns of the cruel death of a boy baptized by him: instilled pious habits in him, and kept him with him to serve his Mass. Which the demon bearing most bitterly, when one day the Indians were commending themselves before their idol that it would grant them maize (which is the grain of the Indians), he answered through the idol that he would not hear them, nor give them any further answer, unless they had sacrificed little Louis to him. In father Louis's absence, therefore, the Indians seized little Louis by force and immolated him to their idol, and when father Bertrand returned and sought the little one, they told him that he had been devoured by caimans (these are animals like crocodiles, which sometimes come out of the great river and leap upon those whom they find on the bank); hearing which, he grieved vehemently, but much more vehemently still when he afterwards understood the malice of the Indians and of the idol.

[75] he escapes shipwreck with his companions: He was made Prior of the convent of the Shrine of the Holy Faith ^c, which city is far distant from Cartagena ^d, where the Servant of God was then living. For which reason he embarked on a ship with four or five others, intending to sail by the great river Magdalena ^e; but a terrible storm having arisen, a violent wave drove the boat into the water, so that it was already beginning to sink; but, a fervent prayer having been made to God, another prodigious wave dashed it to the other side, and, all being safe, drove it to the bank of the river, where, catching hold of the branches of a certain tree, they leapt out onto land.

[76] he prophesies concerning a couple: What happened to him concerning the wife of a certain military commander, or governor, he himself narrated to a certain Religious friend of his on this occasion. This Religious, entering his cell for the sake of a visit, found him weeping; and when he wondered why he did so, father Louis said to him: Son, pray God for me, because I am a great sinner! And he: Take heart, Father; because God is God; but he sighed vehemently, saying: O son, how badly I repay the graces which God has granted me! After this, the conversation being turned, he began to speak of a certain nobleman who set out for the Indies with his wife, a most beautiful woman, having been given some office, I know not what, by the king. When he had arrived there, he nevertheless fell in love with another woman: and when the wife found this out, she bore it most bitterly; because he gave that other everything, while she herself was truly ill-treated. Further, she had a brother of our Order in those parts, who one day took father Louis with him to console her, and he said to her: Lady, trust in God that your husband will amend himself, and that satisfaction will be given you; but when his eyes are opened, you will close yours. A few days after, that nobleman, pricked at heart by God, put away his mistress, and, cleaving wholly to his wife, treated her most kindly and lived most peaceably with her until her death, which happened fifteen days after; when she died full of consolation.

[77] he cures an epidemic illness: he restrains a demon by the Cross: Travelling through the Indies, he found in various villages many perishing of a certain illness like catarrh, which was so epidemic and so deadly that it seemed a plague. Therefore he, entering each house, blessed the sick; and not even one of those whom he had blessed died of that illness. For which reason, when any of them fell sick, the Indians said: Why do you not go to the holy Father, who will heal you? When he had baptized a certain sacrificing priest of the idols and had fixed a cross of reed in that place, the demon who had been accustomed to appear to the same sacrificer and to speak with him came, crying out at his door with great howlings and shrieking that it should be opened to him: and when the Indian answered that the door was open, Nay, said the demon, it is bolted by the cross which stands fixed there.

[78] In a village of those parts which, if I remember rightly, is called Tubara, he preached for more than three years, and baptized with his own hands more than one thousand five hundred Indians; who afterwards, at his persuasion, through the baptized he burns many idols: a sacrificing priest also with their own hands publicly burned innumerable idols; and since these lay hidden in various places of that wilderness, he used the simplicity of some boys, whom he induced by coaxing to betray the places where the idols lay concealed. He tried also to convert another sacrificing priest of the idols, a man of great talent, so that by his example he might bring many others to Christ; but he made no progress with him. He had recourse therefore to God, persisting for two whole years in grave afflictions of his body, frequent offering of Masses, and continual prayers; which time having elapsed, when he least expected it, the same Indian ordered him to be sent for. Approaching, he found him gravely ill, and asked what he wished. The Indian answered that he firmly believed that almighty God had sent His Son into the world to teach men the way of heaven; and that He had died on the cross to free them from sin and from the power of the demon; and that therefore he wished to become a Christian.

[79] When, therefore, he had instructed him in the faith as far as he could then be instructed, lying gravely ill, he baptizes him: by the sign of the Cross he baptized him; and presently after the Indian began to tremble violently; and being asked by the Father, Why do you tremble? Because, he said, many demons, like the foulest animals, are standing round; threatening, namely, to tear him in pieces, because, after they had honoured him so greatly through the whole time of his life, and had made him chief and of greater authority than all the other priests, they were being deserted by him. When the good Father heard this, before he went away from there he made a Cross of rush and placed it at the head of the bed;

and when he afterwards returned there, he heard from the same sacrificer that the demon had always stood at the door, howling horribly, and had never dared to enter. I do not know whether it happened on his way to the Indies or on his return that in a certain port he healed a certain girl suffering from pustules by the sign of the Cross alone.

[80] He performed many other things also in the Indies, but unknown to us; and by a Marian Crown he performs miracles. I know, however, from a certain account that, when he gave a certain Marian Crown to an inhabitant of this city, he said that he should hold it in great veneration, because brother Thomas de Arenas, a most excellent preacher, had given it to him when he was making for the Indies, he himself having given him his own; and he added: This Crown in the Indies healed the sick, converted sinners, and, I think, also raised the dead; therefore keep it reverently. Nay, he himself esteemed it so much that he sometimes sent it to be placed on the head of the sick, and several times lent it for a week or two. To another pious person he said even more clearly: God has granted me this grace, that this Crown has called the dead back to life.

[81] Would that many other things which this Servant of God did in the Indies The author deplores the carelessness of his own brethren in writing. had come to our knowledge; but so far they have not come, nor do I believe they will come, except in heaven; especially because we brethren of St. Dominic are accustomed to be negligent in informing others of what happens in our Order. Wherefore I cannot hope that the fathers of that province will inform us of those things. Truly I, hearing father brother Louis sometimes narrating certain wonderful things about our fathers, for example about blessed brother Dominic de Betanzos and others, grieved greatly, considering that our brethren use in these the same negligence which they used in those. And as he greatly praised the diligence of the Jesuit fathers, because they have handed down to memory the labours which their men underwent in Japan, China and other shores on which they preached the Gospel, so he disapproved of the negligence of our men, because, although their brethren have laboured so greatly in the West and East Indies, in Taprobane ^f, and in many other kingdoms hitherto, from the Pontificate of Alexander VI ^g, and on many shores of Guinea ^h already from the times of Innocent VIII, who preceded Alexander in the Pontificate (as John de Barros, the chronicler of Portugal, narrates), scarcely anyone has been found who took care to commit to writing the afflictions and martyrdom of our fathers; but they have left them all to be known in the other life; and if I have heard anything of them, I have received it either from secular persons or from other Religious, not from our own.

IX.

[82] After some years father Louis resolved to return to Spain, [The cruelty of the governors towards the Indians, and moved by the letters of Bartholomew de las Casas] because he bore most bitterly the excessive cruelty of certain conquerors ⁱ and governors of the Indies, who not only very often killed the Indians for a slight cause and without any just reason, but also impeded the preaching of the divine word. Sometimes even, while a great number of Indians was being preached to, the royal governor would run up and drive them all out of the church with a cudgel, saying: Out, you rascals, to your work; and since these were not only unarmed but also naked (for in some parts of that region they always go about with naked bodies), they had to go away immediately, and the preacher remained alone in the pulpit ^k. But what entirely moved him to withdraw from there (as I have very often heard from him) was a letter of lord brother Bartholomew de las Casas ^l, who not only, while he was a secular priest, sailed several times from Spain to the Indies and from the Indies to Spain for their advantage, but also, after he had put on our habit, showed himself their perpetual patron during the little less than fifty years in which he wore it.

[83] he resolves to return to Spain. Finally, so that he might apply himself better to this work of charity, he resigned the bishopric of Chiapa and returned to Spain, where he had to labour much against Sepulveda ^m, and obtained many graces for the Indians from our lord the king ⁿ, as he had also obtained before from the emperor Charles V of eternal memory. And although he saw that, on account of so many labours undertaken out of love for the unjustly treated nations, he was blamed by some historians, who flattered those same tyrants of the Indies, nevertheless, always having the honour of Christ before his eyes, he cared nothing for this, but in season and out of season rebuked and reproved the cruelty of certain men, always striving that those nations should not be deprived of the right which belonged to them from the natural law and the diplomas of the kings. Further, the sum of these letters of the bishop of Chiapa to Bertrand was that he should apply himself with all effort to the conversion of those nations; but, because he was accustomed to hear the confessions of military commanders ^o and governors, that he should sedulously admonish them if, transgressing the limits of the privileges fixed by the king, they had treated the people tyrannically. And since father Bertrand esteemed the said bishop greatly for his virtues and learning, a vehement desire came upon him of returning to Spain, so as to unburden himself of these scruples.

[84] I was at that time devoting myself to studies in our convent at Salamanca, Having received permission to return, and there, being asked by his brothers, I petitioned our father general master, Vincent Justiniani (whom Pius V of holy memory afterwards created Cardinal of the H. R. C. for his merits and virtues), to permit him to return to Spain; who, although at first somewhat difficult, sent me from Valladolid [p] three letters in which he gave this permission, of which I sent two here to Valencia; the third, committing it to fortune, I handed to a certain traveller. And it happened that the Father, sailing on the river Magdalena [q], was forced by a violent storm to go back many miles against his will. But behold, when he had come to land, someone came to him with the aforesaid letter which I had entrusted to him, and asked whether he was a Valencian by country, and by what name he was called. The Father answered that it was so, and that he was called Louis Bertrand. Then that man handed him the letter, and demanded eleven crowns [r] as the price of carriage; which the Father gladly paid for the love of God, and, falling on his knees, rendered thanks to God that he might return to Spain without scruple.

[85] Having therefore carefully committed himself to a ship, during the voyage he was caught in a terrible storm; he checks a foul storm with the sign of the Cross and seeing the ship in the utmost danger from the force of the waves, lest it be broken, he betook himself to that place where the danger was greater, and, setting himself against the violence of the waves, which were rolling on with terrible tumult like high mountains, from time to time with arm outstretched he formed the sign of the Cross towards them; and as though they had recognized this divine sign, when they came nearer to the ship they gradually broke. This miracle lasted for no small space of time; but the good Father, fearing vainglory, withdrawing from that place, left the ship in the utmost danger, the waves shaking it more terribly than before, to sink it. At once the sailors ran back to him, urging him with wailing and tears to return whence he had withdrawn.

[86] And when he used the same remedy which he had used before, and calms it, which he attributes to faith: not only was the fierceness of the sea mitigated, but it also cooled down altogether, and a complete calm followed. While he himself was relating these things to a certain intimate of his, he added: Note, brother, that these things proceeded not from sanctity but from faith; for of this Christ says in Matthew that to him who shall have the faith of the Apostles He will give the power of performing miracles: which is to be understood when it shall be so needful on account of the same faith, and necessary for other causes. On the same matter he said besides: God granted greater light to Lucifer than to me; and nonetheless he was damned; of greater authority also was Judas, who afterwards hanged himself: the same could happen to me also: since it is written that no one in this life can know whether he is worthy of hatred or of love [s].

[87] After I had written these things, I came upon a certain countryman, he preaches usefully to barbarians in an unknown tongue: Jerome Fernandez by name, who for more than seven months was the companion of father Bertrand's journeys. He related to me that he had once landed with him on an island whose inhabitants were for the greater part Moors, although some were also white, and that there the Father began to preach in the market-place in a certain idiom which the said Jerome did not understand, except when he spoke of Christ and His passion; but that he was understood by the inhabitants of the same island was certain proof, because, the sermon finished, many of them came to him, begging that he would make them Christians. He therefore instructed them in the mysteries of the faith and washed them in the sacred laver, and after a stay of five days left them a little book in which he had written with his own hand the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, the Angelic Salutation, the antiphon Salve, and other things pertaining to Christian doctrine; which he entrusted to some of them who seemed of sounder judgment. On the other hand, others of the same Indians fled at the sight of him.

[88] he walks among wild beasts unharmed: a shipwrecked man He narrated besides that father Louis and his companion several times on the way withdrew from him and, leaving him alone, betook themselves into a wood that lay before them; and because they ordinarily did this on Fridays, suspecting that they did it for the sake of scourging themselves, he once followed them from afar and saw them scourging themselves. He related finally that, as they travelled through deserts, mountains and woods, great tigers and other fierce animals several times met them; and when he said: Where are you leading me, Father; do you wish me to be devoured by wild beasts? the holy Man, forming the sign of the Cross towards those animals, said: Be silent, son, and do not fear; for God is with us, and they will not harm us. And that you may know with what zeal this Father took care to conceal the wonders which God worked through him in the Indies, I shall tell what Peter John Robles, rector of Enguera, testified. He narrated, namely, that he had received a letter from his brother, in which he signified that, while he was sailing in a cutter from the promontory de la Vela towards Cartagena of the Indies, that ship, through the carelessness of the sailors, was dashed on a rock and broken up. In so present a danger, having invoked St. Mary of the Rosary, he was saved by swimming for one day and two nights; and certainly it was a huge benefit of God that he was not drowned, or dead of hunger, or devoured by the monsters that swim in that sea.

[89] Col. 325F he wonderfully refreshes with food as he swims to the shore. He signified besides that, when he had at last reached land, he found there father brother Louis, who was waiting for him on the shore with some food to refresh him, of which he was in very great need, since he was rather dead than alive. Now after some years, father Louis having already returned from the Indies, the aforesaid rector began to speak of these things with him

to speak, and thanked him for the benefit which he had conferred on his brother; but the Father forbade him to tell anyone else; and since it is most certain that he did not forbid it so much because he wished the miracle to be concealed, inasmuch as this redounded to the honour of the Mother of God, it is necessary that something honourable to himself also had come into it, of which he forbade him to speak. For the rest, since we have now reached this point, let us render thanks to God that we have written some of the things which this holy Man performed in the Indies, in relating which, so as not to err, I have proceeded step by step, like one who walks through a wood by night; but now I have come to the clearness of day.

ANNOTATA.

p. Valladolid is a city of Spain in Old Castile, called Valladolid by the inhabitants.

q. Go to the Annotata here at letter e.

r. The crown is a kind of coin.

s. Ecclesiastes chapter 9, verse 1: Man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love or hatred.

CHAPTER VI.

His return to the convent of Valencia: the Priorate of the convent of St. Onuphrius discharged by him, and his acts there: the mastership of novices resumed at Valencia, and his deeds.

CHAPTER X.

In the year 1569, on the day sacred to St. Luke, he landed in Spain ^a, The Saint's first cares and at once, delaying not at all at Seville, he hastened to Valencia, at which, since he had arrived very late in the evening, he was forced to spend the night in his brother's garden outside the walls of the city near the monastery of St. Mary of Succour ^b. The next morning, the news of his arrival having been brought to our convent ^c, master brother Laurence Lopez, at that time Prior of the same place, could scarcely restrain the brethren, eager to run there. For so great was their joy at his return that almost all asked permission to go to him; and the Prior himself above all was scarcely master of himself for spiritual joy, considering that God, in the time of his headship, was bestowing so great a benefit on this convent. And as soon as he entered the convent he of his own accord gave up everything, especially the money which he had received in the Indies as alms from many pious persons; although he would without difficulty have obtained permission from the Provincial to be able to spend it in buying many books. He had done this very same thing also when, about to sail to the Indies, he committed himself to a ship at Seville. On the first day of his arrival in this place he said that he wished to begin to serve God seriously and to become a novice; and truly he lived in the highest humility, and outshone others in virtue.

[91] in the convent of Valencia: he becomes Prior of the convent of St. Onuphrius, Therefore in the year 1570 he was ordered to accept the priorate of St. Onuphrius ^d, in which there was need of an active master, not only in speculation but also in action. And indeed he showed himself so provident that, although he had received the convent, on account of the dearness of grain and the expenses made in past years, burdened with a debt of several hundred crowns, and destitute of all grain, wine and oil, and the brethren ill clothed and reduced to such want that, when they were handing him the letters patent of the priorate, they at the same time asked for money with which to buy a jar of oil, he so governed that he not only provided abundantly for the brethren in food and clothing, but besides had made that covered Cross ^e which stands at the boundary of the Cypresses. And when people said that he was making excessive expenses on it, he replied that even much greater were being made by the Lutherans ^f in France in breaking crosses. Some also inscribed his name on it as its author, which he, shunning vainglory, ordered to be removed.

[92] whose want he wonderfully relieves, He also began to build a dormitory, and carried the wall up some ells in height: he made an oven: he furnished the sacristy with abundant equipment, which was lacking, and planted some vineyards, I know not which. Nonetheless at the end of his priorate he left the convent most fully furnished with grain and all other necessary things, as also a good sum of money deposited for his successor. And, that you may wonder the more, he maintained a greater number of brethren than any of his predecessors, and besides received in general guests of all Religious Orders, especially Franciscans, as is commanded in our sacred Constitutions; and many of them profited from the great devotion with which they were borne towards him. Hence it is clear how true is what he himself once asserted to father brother Vincent Vera, that he truly did not know by what means so much money was brought into his cell, without his knowledge of by whom it was done; except that God moved the hearts of the faithful to offer him stipends for Masses, of which the number was so great that the alms sufficed for all the priests of the convent.

[93] What I have just said of money found in his cell coins also divinely obtained. is testified by a certain bookseller, called Vincent Garriga, from whom this holy Man sometimes bought books for himself on his mere promise of payment, and whom, whenever he had come to receive their price, he had presently paid; it happened once, when he had entered his cell, that the Father said to him: For the love of God forgive me that I forgot to send the money. But when the bookseller answered that he had come not to ask for money but to visit him, he said: Take this seat, then, and let us talk a little: the Lord will provide. And in the middle of the conversation he stretched out his hand to a neighbouring table and said: Take your coins; and he gave exactly as much as he owed: which thing astonished the bookseller, because there had been no coin on that table. The bookseller afterwards narrated this to a certain distinguished man, a friend of his, who asked him to let him have half of those coins for an equal sum of money; and the bookseller kept the other half and preserved it devoutly.

[94] He preached through all the places situated round St. Onuphrius, He watches over his subjects: he shines before outsiders: very often going on foot, and when he had to go to Valencia he tried also to make the journey on foot, although with great pain, because he had one of his legs ulcerous: but like a good shepherd he loved his convent so much that ordinarily he returned to St. Onuphrius the same day, using several times one of the mules of his brethren. How I would wish that all the prelates of our Order would note this well: for, if bishops and other seculars to whom the care of souls is committed are bound by natural, divine and human law to reside in their dioceses and parishes, how shall we excuse from mortal sin religious prelates who wander about outside their convents for the sake of walking, forgetful that while the mother hen is away from the nest almost all the eggs are spoiled? In the villages to which he went out to preach he gave remarkable examples of humility, patience and devotion, and roused many to piety. It was observed at Liria ^g that, when he was lodging in the rector's house on the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, and perceived that all were asleep in that house, from the lively memory of the Nativity of Christ which he was turning over in his mind he would not take sleep in a bed, but, rolling up the blanket, went to the stable and there slept on a mat placed on the manger, or (as I rather think) watched with the child Jesus, born that same night between two brute animals in a stable.

[95] he multiplies loaves: When once in the forenoon little bread remained in the convent, and he had ordered father brother Joseph Gacetto, the subprior, to have the brethren called to the refectory by the bell, the latter answered that not even a third part of the bread needed for the brethren was there, and that therefore one should rather wait until fresh bread had been taken out of the oven. But the Servant of God, seeing that it was already late, and raining, and that the bread could not be brought soon enough, ordered him by all means to ring, and when he again answered, Father Prior, remember that bread is lacking, he replied again: I say, and I have said, that you should ring; and at length, when the subprior replied even a fourth time, What will those fathers eat?, he said with a certain vehemence: Go; bread will not be lacking. And so it was done: for, though there were no more than ten very small loaves with some other pieces, these, distributed along the table, sufficed for the whole convent, which ordinarily needed no fewer than sixty ^h. And it pleased divine providence that the subprior did not notice the miracle until, after dinner was finished and thanks rendered to God, he saw the bread taken out of the oven being brought.

[96] he heals the sick: he knows secrets divinely: Lord James Centella, when his son, lord Cotaldus, now lord of Nules ⁱ, was labouring with a grave fever and was in such danger that he was already given up by the physicians, hastened on a galloping horse to the convent of St. Onuphrius to speak with this Servant of God; and not finding him at home, he ran to the church of Blessed Mary of Arbuchech ^k, where he had heard that he was preaching that day. When he had arrived there, he got down from his horse and, kneeling at his feet, tearfully set out the most present danger in which he had left his first-born son. Hearing this, he prayed for the sick man with some Religious who were present; then, turning to lord James, he said: Sir, go back, for your son will not die. Having received this answer, the lord returned to Valencia, where he found his son freed from all danger. Another benefit like this the good Father rendered to the same lord James when his wife, lady Francisca Mercader, who is still living today, was gravely ill. Brother Anthony Catalanus asserts that, when he was a novice and cook of the convent, on the very feast day of St. Onuphrius, from a certain occurrence, he was more disturbed than ever at any other time, and gravely tempted to withdraw secretly from the Order; but while he was turning these thoughts over in his mind, he was visited that same day by father Louis, who said: I know well that you have been greatly disturbed today. How so, Father? he answered: but the Father replied: Do I not know this? but at another time I will tell you, as far as it shall occur.

[97] [To a distinguished lady he prophesies, long beforehand, much happier things concerning her husband;] In the year 1572 one of the chief grandees of these kingdoms was entangled in the greatest difficulties, and his wife was therefore most afflicted. The good Father went to console her, and when he said that she need not grieve so much, since there was no reason why she should do so, the lady answered: How do you say there is no reason why I should grieve, when I see my husband in danger? He replied: There is no reason for you to grieve, since God will console you ^l, and you will see your husband alive and governing his dominion. When six months had elapsed, she thought that her husband's tribulation was about to end; but the Father bade her be secure, but affirmed that the time had not yet come. Then she: When then will it end? how long will it last? Nay, nay, he said, it will last yet more than three years, but it will not complete the fourth. And so it turned out in fact, which certainly could not be foreknown by human reason.

[98] But it is most worthy of note that a certain woman, very spiritual and given to contemplation, concerning which matter a vision had also been granted to a certain nun: called sister Tesseda, who lived in the monastery of the Incarnation, of the Order of Mount Carmel, before all the things already said saw the same lord in danger of drowning (which indeed signified the adversities that would befall him), and then some time after saw the same man emerging from the danger, father brother Louis and a certain other of the Society of Jesus helping him; and in particular she saw father Louis helping by forming the sign of the Cross. This vision sister Tesseda narrated to a certain solitary person, and added that she was held by the greatest desire of seeing that blessed Father, if it so pleased him. This person therefore met the Father on this matter, who, only with reluctance and overcome by importunity, visited her. Afterwards, being asked by the same person what sister Tesseda had said to him, after many prayers he secretly related what we have just narrated; and he added: If the event shall answer to that vision, it has come about because the aforesaid lady obtained from me with many tears that, whenever I remembered her husband, I would form the sign of the Cross for him; wherefore, to keep my promises, I impart my blessing to him daily in our cell, and if ever forgetfulness of him creeps upon me, as soon as I remember, wherever I am, I sign him with the usual Cross.

[99] As I was once walking with him outside the convent of St. Onuphrius he said he teaches that Religious must avoid the company of seculars; that Religious ought to be fonder of the cell than of conversations with seculars, and on that occasion he narrated to me (what I had never dreamed) that a certain woman had dared to provoke him to unchaste things; but he did not explain in what way God freed him from that danger; he added, however: And if I, such as I am, a poor little man, deaf, blind, weak, of infirm health and old, could not escape encounters of this kind, what shall we think of young men? Through the whole time in which he held the priorate he rejoiced much if his brethren rarely went out of doors, nor did he permit them to go out except for public matters, for example to preach, to dispute in the schools, to visit convents of the brethren, and similar customary works of obedience; unless some other reason of charity also commanded.

[100] About this time it happened that a certain noblewoman, to one confessing to him, sins passed over through forgetfulness, who was accustomed to confess her sins to him, once after finishing her confession said: Father, have I passed over nothing? And the Father answered that it was so, and that she had passed over such and such a sin. Afterwards, as the same lady was going by carriage from Valencia to Museros, the thought of a light fault, whether it was anger or rash judgment or of another kind, came into her mind. And when she was afterwards confessing to him and had forgotten that fault, she said: Father, I ought to confess something else too, but now I do not remember: and he answered: You are speaking of the sin in the carriage; and she thus remembered.

[101] and to two brothers he reveals a secret deed: When two lay brothers ^m had collected many alms in one week, one of them wished to keep back a coin of four reals ⁿ, the other a gold crown, intending to return them the following week if perhaps fewer alms should have been collected. So before they returned home, the one put the four-real piece in his shoe, the other hid the ducat in his sleeve. When they had come home, the Prior said to the first, as he handed over the alms, that he should bring out all the money, and when he answered that all had already been shown, he replied: Where then is the coin of four reals which you put in the shoe of your left foot? Then he said to the other: You too bring out the ducat which you have in your sleeve. At these words both blushed. Further, these brothers, having experienced this spirit in him, once said to lord Jerome Abella: Truly, sir, we do not know how to deal with this Prior of ours: he is deaf, he is short-sighted, he lives solitary, and yet we can do nothing without his finding it out.

[102] by wine given by him a disease of the head is driven out: he preaches usefully: A woman named Angela Baiarri asked him for a little white wine for her daughter, who was suffering from a contagious disease of the head; and as soon as she washed it once with it, the girl was healed. In the last year of his priorate he preached the Lenten sermons to the people at Moncada, which he also did in the two following years, and gathered rich fruits from the noblemen and knights who have their country houses there; as also from the country people of that and other places who came together to his sermons.

[103] he knows secrets. A certain brother who had put on our habit at St. Onuphrius narrated to me that, when after his profession he was making a general confession of his sins to father Louis, and, coming to the telling of a certain sin, hesitated out of shame, the good Father said: Are you perhaps a Judas, who do not accuse yourself of such a sin? and at once explained to him the sin of which he was in fact guilty. The same brother assured me that he feared thereafter to appear before him; because he pointed out all his defects committed in the cell; for example, if he had written a letter secretly without permission, which no one could know, he would call him and say: You have written a letter. At another time also, when the same brother had fallen into a certain defect, he called him, saying: You committed that; and as he wondered at it, the Father said to him: Do not be disturbed, because I say this only so that you may confess it to me, who know it already.

XI.

[104] The time of his priorate having elapsed ^o, he returned to Valencia At Valencia he is set over the novices: he reminds someone of a secret sin: and was again given as master to the novices. About which time there came to Valencia a certain father, called brother Michael Ferrero, coming from Calatayud [p] with a vehement desire of knowing this Servant of God; who received him most kindly, and one day led him to walk in the garden of the novices, always conversing with him about God. But before he dismissed him, he signed his forehead with the cross, as he was accustomed to do to those with whom he dealt; and then said: Father, why did you not remember to confess such a sin? And at once he brought back to his memory a sin which he had committed four years before taking the Religious habit, and had hitherto forgotten to confess. Father Ferrero himself narrated these things to me before his death. This knowledge of secret things happened to Louis so frequently that many feared to meet him lest their secrets be discovered.

[105] At this time also father Louis, by command of the most illustrious lord, brother Martin de Cordoba, then bishop of Tortosa, afterwards of Plasencia, and finally of Cordoba [q], he preaches in Lent: the cause of a sick man's outcries preached the Lenten sermons at Brigiana [r], shining before all the inhabitants of this town with good example, because not only did he never go out of his lodging except to celebrate Mass or to preach, but neither did he mingle with the household company, except after dinner had been taken, and that too briefly; nor was he ever seen, except once, to look out through the window. In the year 1574, in the Octave of the Ascension of the Lord, father brother Bartholomew Pavia, a Valencian, but born at Cervera [s], a few days before he died, suffered violent gripings of the stomach and belly, and moved great compassion. And since the aforesaid bishop of Cordoba was then occupying the infirmary, he lay sick in the dormitory, and, always raising his voice to heaven, cried out: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

[106] All the brethren in their cells were weeping that they saw a father he is divinely taught: than whom they had never known any kinder or more lovable in such torment; and they wondered vehemently that the same man, in another illness continued through four whole years, in which both iron and fire had been applied, had never been seen to utter a sound (except once, having softly invoked the name of Jesus), as though he had been of wood, nay, not even to open his mouth. And he had behaved thus because, before the physicians laid their hands on him, he directed his mind to some pious thought, and by that meditation acquired spirit and strength to suffer without any change of countenance or sign of feeling. He had done the same also in another illness of long duration with which he had laboured before taking the priesthood. In this one, which was his last, our father Bertrand, who loved him and esteemed him very highly, visited him, and, seeing him reduced to that state, after reading the Gospel, into his

cell he returned, and, having prayed to God for this sick man, he knew in spirit that he (as once happened to Job and St. Anthony), God permitting, was being tormented by demons, whether so that he might be altogether purged of his defects, or so that it might redound to the greater glory of the sick man; and that for this reason he cried out so and commended himself to Christ [t].

[107] When the most illustrious lord Cardinal Gaspar Cervanti, archbishop of Tarragona, he knows the death of one absent: had founded a university in that city [u], in order to plant in it the solid doctrine of St. Thomas, he wished that two of the first professors of scholastic Theology should be Dominican Friars, of whom one was father master brother Francis Ferrandiz, a pupil of father Bertrand; but a few months later, at the beginning of the Holy Year [x], he died piously at Tarragona of his illness. Further, on the day after his death, this father brother at Valencia asked his companion, brother Francis Palau, who is now Lector of this convent: What is said of father master Ferrandiz? He answered that it was said that he was unwell. Then that blessed Father, pointing his finger at a certain chest, said: He appeared to me dead this night upon that chest. Then after three days the news of his death was brought; whence it is concluded that he appeared to him immediately after his death.

[108] he admonishes someone about a secret sin: he takes away a woman's fear. A certain guest arriving at this convent father Bertrand embraced, and said to him: Your Reverence committed such a sin. For which reason that brother signed himself with the cross: but father Louis added: I tell you this for no other reason than that you may amend yourself. These things were related to me by a certain Religious who heard them standing near, Louis not noticing, since he was somewhat deaf and short-sighted. When a certain person had threatened a certain woman from Museros with some evil, I know not what, and a notable injury, she, seized with great fear, came to Valencia and consulted the Servant of God about her affliction, saying: Father, if you tell me that nothing will happen, I shall fear no longer: he answered: Go, God being propitious, daughter: for no evil will happen to you: and so it turned out.

ANNOTATA.

p. You will read more correctly: Calatayud, which is a city of Spain in Aragon, founded by the Moors.

q. Of the cities of Spain here named, the first, Cordoba, is an episcopal city in Vandalitia; the second, Tortosa, likewise episcopal, in Catalonia; the third finally, Plasencia, likewise episcopal, in the kingdom of León.

r. To the Spaniards Borriana, it is a castle and village of the kingdom of Valencia, seven Spanish miles distant from the city of Valencia to the North, towards Tortosa.

s. Avignone, to distinguish this place from others of the same name, adds that it belonged to the Master of the Order of Montesa, which is a very strong fortress of the kingdom of Valencia and the seat of the knights named after it.

t. There is subjoined here an elogium of the same father Bartholomew Pavia, which, because it pertains in no other way to St. Louis, whose disciple he had been, I have judged should be passed over.

u. Read the elogium of Gaspar Cervanti, or Cervantes, in Ciaconius and Oldoini in the Lives of the Supreme Pontiffs and Cardinals, volume 3, column 1040, where mention is also made of the university of Tarragona founded by him. Further, Tarraco, in the vernacular Tarragona, from which Tarraconensian Spain takes its name, is an ancient city in Catalonia.

x. That is, of the Jubilee, I think.

CHAPTER VII.

The Priorate of the convent of Valencia accepted by the Saint, and what he did there from the year 1575 up to 1578.

CHAP. XII.

God, wishing to bring the reform of this house to its end, Made Prior of the convent of Valencia, he shines before others, moved the hearts of the brethren to make Louis, who thought of nothing of the kind, Prior of the convent instead of master of novices. He therefore governed it from the 15th day of May of the year 1575 up to the same month of the year 1578 ^a, giving great examples of religion, since he himself did much more than he commanded others; and he watched diligently that the choir, the studies, and all other things should proceed rightly; nor through this whole three years did he spend a night outside the convent except only three times, and that for the sake of preaching the divine word. As long as his health permitted, he frequented the choir and always came to the common refectory; nay, even when he was ill, after taking dinner in the infirmary he came to the refectory and occupied his place in it, watching that the brethren were well refreshed and that silence was kept at table.

[110] he punishes delinquents, he relieves negligent officials of their office; And if he was so weak that he could not support himself on his feet, sitting in his place he was present in choir from the beginning to the end of the divine Office. And as he wished to be present everywhere, so he corrected defects with much zeal; because he was of the opinion that in Religion light defects and venial sins ought to be punished with almost the same severity as mortal sins outside it. In governing he cared little about pleasing men, but greatly about pleasing God and St. Dominic: therefore from the first day of his Priorate he fixed in his cell a slip of paper inscribed in capital letters with these words: "If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ ^b;" which saying is to be understood of those things which men wish according to their own will, with no account taken of the divine will. When he had committed some office to his brethren, for example that of subprior, or vicar, or master of novices, or zelator, or another of this kind, if he had detected even the least negligence in them, he relieved them of their office without delay, although they had held it only eight days.

[111] caring nothing for human judgments: he has a wonderful vision: He was accustomed to say that he preferred to be reputed unstable rather than to see the service of God rendered with too little care, contrary to what Religious perfection demands: and in this respect it appeared that what a certain secular man of upright life had said to him long before, before anyone had thought of creating him Prior, was most true, namely that he had returned from the Indies to govern this convent as Prior, and to preserve in it also the observance which its founders introduced into it with their blood ^c. A little after his election he said these words to me: Father, what can it mean that last night I saw three Veronicas with three sacred faces? and a little after he added that they signified the troubles which he was to suffer in that three-year term of his priorate. But leaving aside his troubles for now, we shall tell some other things which happened to him.

[112] When one night after the Office of Matins he was giving himself to prayer in choir, he frees a soul from the expiatory flames: a certain soul came to him to ask pardon for the cause which I subjoin. A certain Religious, before

he was Prior, had reproached him with ignorance, and he had answered that Lucifer knew many things and yet is damned. Not long after, that brother, having piously received all the Sacraments, died, and had already spent a short time in purgatory (and every time in that place is long) when God willed that he should ask pardon for this offence from him who had been his spiritual father from boyhood. He appeared to him therefore surrounded by flames and said: Father, forgive me for what I said to you on such a day (for God does not will that I pass to heaven until you have pardoned me), and celebrate one Mass for me. To which he answered without delay that he most willingly forgave him; and when morning came he celebrated Mass for him. Hence the next night he appeared to him in great glory, and father brother Louis asked him: Father, do you know in what place I stand with God? and that soul replied: Only serve God: for God takes great care of you.

[113] In these same days the viceroy of Valencia was very secretly sounding Roderick Salzado he proves himself divinely aware of a secret plan: as to whether he would be willing to serve the king as assessor to the governor of this kingdom in the district of Orihuela ^d; and he, meeting him just as secretly through a person with whom he had arranged it, accepted the office; but presently he remembered that he had not spoken with our Father about this matter, to ask his prayers to God. Wherefore he at once came to him and conferred with him on the whole matter, beseeching him to pray God to manifest His will in this, whether the office was to be accepted or not; he kept silent, however, that he had already pledged his word. To whom the Father, smiling, answered: Come now, it is already time. Ah! At which answer he blushed greatly, because he knew that this secret plan of his could not have become known to the Father by human means. All these things the aforesaid Salzedo ^e narrated to me himself on the same day on which they had happened.

[114] How true is what the Prophet asserts, that nothing good shall be wanting to those who seek God ^f, he feeds his brethren kindly and liberally, and is generous to the poor, God showed in the three years of his priorate: for this was almost wholly barren, and the revenues of the convent did not exceed two thousand crowns, and nonetheless he always fed a hundred brethren, and sometimes even more; whom he treated so kindly and liberally that any other Prior afterwards had to labour very much to treat them in like manner; and therefore he severely punished the stewards if they failed in their duty in sustaining the fathers and brethren of the convent. It was familiar to him to say: The fathers and brethren earn by their many labours and good examples the alms that are given to the convent: it is right, therefore, that they also should enjoy them honourably. Nor were the alms ever diminished on this account; nay, under him they increased so much that this convent, bound by no obligation, was accustomed to give a dole to all who presented themselves at the gate, who indeed, the days being compared together, of beggars, students of letters, and the bashful poor, were not fewer than three hundred each day, especially in winter ^g.

[115] the more he bestows, the more he receives. On this subject he frequently had in his mouth the saying of father brother Michael of St. Dominic, who, when he had notably increased alms of this kind in the time of the dearth of crops which happened in the year 1556, used to say to some who wondered: If we give much this way (he pointed to the gate), God will give back more that way (he showed the church). But besides these things father Louis was accustomed besides to give secretly, generally two or three or even six Julii ^h at a time, to certain persons born of honest parents but in calamity. He also said to father brother Dominic Anadon, who had been in charge of the alms for about twenty years: Father, whenever you see it necessary, besides the ordinary dole give also of the brethren's bread, and give promptly for the love of Jesus Christ; God will not fail: know also that I give no smaller alms here within than you bestow outside at the gate. Notwithstanding these things, when the account was reckoned, he never remained God's creditor; because, although out of love for Him he bestowed much, he received much more from Him, even in this life, not only in spiritual but also in temporal things; and in particular in the year 1576, in the month of May, when the solemn provincial chapter was being celebrated in this convent, huge alms were conferred on him, and sometimes even from where they were least expected, from which all the guests who attended this chapter were abundantly provided for.

[116] He gives remarkable proofs of charity and humility: And although, because, as we have said, he was somewhat deaf, he did not seem to the greater part of the fathers of the chapter, with whom lay the right of voting, fit for the office of definitor, which the Prior of the convent in which the chapter is celebrated usually holds, he was not therefore indignant, nor did he show that he took it ill; but from that time he commanded that the brethren of the chapter should be treated even more kindly than he had ordered before. And indeed it is not the part of a truly generous man to make much account of offices of this kind. When the chapter was finished, his care in supplying all necessary things so liberally and with such charity was praised in the highest degree; but he, stretched full length on the ground, most humbly asked pardon of all the fathers of the chapter, accusing himself that he had not treated them according to their merits. He was accustomed also to provide for the sick with such charity that the greater part of them would not have experienced such diligent care nor such kindness in their own home.

[117] he foreknows that a prelate's dignity is to be restored to him: In the following month of August a certain prelate was deprived of his office or suspended from it, so that he could not rightly discharge it, and was no longer bound by it: which thing for just causes greatly afflicted the good Father. While therefore he was considering the divine Providence which permits adversities of this kind to befall those who desire to serve God rightly, and persisted in that thought, he saw a sparrow falling down before his cell, which, one leg being broken, could neither fly nor walk. And while he was meditating what this portended, he heard a voice (whether exterior or interior, I know not) saying: "And yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father;" which is a saying of the Redeemer in chapter 10 of Matthew, in which place our Lord Jesus Christ, to teach His Apostles God's singular providence concerning them, used this argument: Do you not know that two sparrows are sold in Judaea for a penny, and nevertheless, although they are of so slight a price, none of them falls to the ground without the particular providence of your Father? which was the greatest consolation to the good Father. And not very long after, that wretched prelate was restored to his former, nay even to greater, authority by an altogether extraordinary way, so that it was made manifest that God takes care of His own with singular providence. These things I learned from the very mouth of father Bertrand, before that prelate had been restored.

[118] When on the feast day of St. Catherine, martyr ⁱ, in the afternoon, a certain devout man was reading the Life of this Saint written by Surius, he is encouraged by a heavenly vision and voice: and father Louis was present there in his cell, the latter, suddenly raising his eyes to heaven, exclaimed loudly: Ah! Ah! Whereupon the other, terrified, asked what was the matter; and he with wet eyes answered: It was well indeed, it was well indeed; but being importunately pressed by the same man to say what it was, he said: I saw a great light in heaven and a most beautiful and most wonderful brightness, from which a voice proceeding said to me that, although I now live in darkness, there will be a time when so great a light and so great a brightness are to be granted to me that I shall be illuminated.

[119] In the time of the following sacred Advent, one evening, since it had rained heavily that day, he suddenly drives away a migraine: father Gaspar Valpetrosa of the Society of Jesus was compelled to spend the night in this convent, seized by a certain ailment which permitted him neither to sleep nor to rest the whole night. The next morning he was tormented by so violent a migraine ^k, as if his head had been split, that he was even deprived of the sight of his eyes. In this condition he indicated to his companion that he desired, before he should return to the college, to be carried to the cell of the Servant of God; and so it was done. When he had entered it, Bertrand, who loved him much, asked him with a most joyful face how he was; and at the same point of time he felt himself free from all ailment; which he then held to be a very wonderful thing, and holds it so still today. He says besides that on the previous evening he had spoken with him for several hours about God with such sweetness that not even the space of one hour seemed to have passed.

[120] In the year 1578, on the Saturday after the Epiphany, there came to this convent lady Angela Cimarta, he presages that a sick woman, to whom he was called, will die: wife of Joseph di Campo, and with many prayers asked father Bertrand to come and read the Gospel over her niece, called Beatrice Ischerda, who was most gravely ill; but although the Father had never seen that sick woman nor ever spoken with her, he said: Your niece, ech! and shook his head in a certain way, as if to say: My going to heal her will profit little. Which he said and did so gravely that the noble lady, turning to her companion, said: Alas! my niece is dead! She persevered, however, in asking the Father to deign to visit her; and when he pleaded his health, she replied: If you cannot today, come at least tomorrow or another day; and she offered her carriage. The blessed Father answered that there was no need of it, that he would come the same day. He came therefore when it was already late evening; and before he had seen the sick girl, he admonished her mother to strengthen her mind and bear it patiently, reflecting that it so pleased God. After reading the Gospels by the sick girl he consoled the father and mother as though their daughter had already died. At which they wondered, and even took it somewhat ill, because the poor girl did not seem to them yet brought to that point, but to be inclining to consumption, and therefore likely to live some months. But it was not so; for a little after the illness grew so strong that she died after midnight. In this way the parents recognized that there had been no need for the Father to visit the sick girl the next day.

[121] he helps a woman in danger in childbirth: Lady Francisca Ferrera, wife of the nobleman Michael John Benedict, being in labour, could not bring forth, nor did she feel the pains of childbirth; but, it being noticed that the foetus, from some disturbances she had had a few days before, was half dead in the womb, it had to be expelled. Father Bertrand visited her and recited some prayers over her: the next day he returned to her uncalled, and, seeing her in such danger, wrote on paper this Antiphon of the blessed Virgin: "Not knowing man, the Virgin Mother brought forth without pain the Saviour of the ages, Him

the King of angels, the Virgin alone suckled with a breast filled from heaven"; and he ordered this to be placed in her hand together with a lighted candle; and the same day she brought forth a son, who came forth in such a way that, according to the opinion of the physicians, he could not naturally be alive, but nevertheless he was baptized.

[122] the eternal salvation of a deceased man, about which he had been anxious, In the month of February brother Peter Loret, a lay brother of this convent, died almost suddenly, who, although on the day before he had been refreshed with sacred Communion in the church, yet that event had greatly afflicted the brethren, and in particular father Bertrand, who was Prior, seemed even by his face to betray his grief at the almost unforeseen death of this poor brother. After a month had elapsed, master Roderick Salzedo, doctor in the royal council, conversing with him in the chapter-house, noticed in his conversation a certain unusual cheerfulness; and therefore he asked why he was now so cheerful, who at other times had been so sad. He answered that that night brother Peter had appeared to him in his cell, very cheerful and content with his lot, having in his mouth something white and very sweet; by which was indicated the glory which he enjoyed.

[123] revealed to him This he afterwards narrated also to other brethren, although he did not set out to them that particular detail about the manner of the appearance, but only said that he had grieved greatly at the death of brother Peter Loret, but that God had afterwards brought him consolation. But to a certain other father he said that a certain brother of this convent had been gravely afflicted and anxious about the salvation of the soul of brother Peter, and had prayed for him many nights, and at length God had shown it to him to be beheld in heaven. This brother Peter had been most devoted to the cell of St. Vincent, diligently taking care that it should always be kept properly adorned and with a lighted lamp.

[124] as he prays, the image of St. Vincent embraces and raises him; Since mention has just been made of the cell of St. Vincent, something comes to mind which will be pleasing to the reader. It was reported through the convent that, when father Louis was once praying before the image of St. Vincent placed in the same cell, and, about to go away from there, bent down to kiss its feet, the same image of the Saint likewise bent down and raised him from the ground. This was spread through the convent, and was said to have happened a little after he had been appointed Prior; because he had then betaken himself to that devout cell and with great fervour of spirit had prayed to that Saint in this manner: Father St. Vincent, you see how they have elected me, without any merit of mine, Prior of this house, although today there are in it most learned men and men of great religion. I resign this Priorate at this moment of time, and lay it upon you; consider yourself the Prior, and command and govern as it shall please you; for I, for my part, do not wish to be anything but your subprior, nor to do anything except at your bidding: and then, they say, St. Vincent bent down to the ground, and those things happened which we have just related ^l.

[125] But a long time after, when he was labouring in his last illness, how it came to be found out is set forth: two of our Brethren, who were brothers by birth, but one of them a cleric and the other a lay brother, very shrewdly agreed to investigate the fact. Having entered his chamber, they began to converse about prayer, about solitude, and other similar things; and when the opportunity was given, one of them asked him: Father, is it true that in this convent there is a brother whom St. Vincent himself embraced when he wished to kiss his feet? The Father answered: It is true; and after a short pause the other said: It is further said that this brother was your Reverence: and he, bending his brow a little, replied this: And of how much worth, then, do you think that to be? God also spoke through the ass of Balaam ^m, which had in no way merited it.

[126] In the year 1578, on the day dedicated to St. Peter Martyr ⁿ, he is refreshed by a heavenly voice: father Bertrand, returning to his cell after the Office of Matins, heard a certain unusual voice saying to him: "Affliction of heart, contrition and tribulation please God more than sweetness, solace and consolation ^o." Being asked by a certain person well disposed to him (to whom he had told this secretly) whether that voice had been troublesome to him, he denied it; nay, he asserted that it had been a solace to him; and he then had very great need of that consolation, because he was suffering great conflicts of mind, since, when the end of this Priorate of his was now at hand and he was thinking of returning to the quiet of his cell, he had heard that he was destined for the priorate of another convent.

[127] In the same year, as auditor Salzedo was coming out of father Louis's cell, a certain old secular man, he knows secrets: he clothes many novices in the habit: who was a remarkable servant of God, said to him: You seem to be a great friend of this holy brother Bertrand: and being asked by him on that account how he knew that he was holy, the old man answered: I know, because, when once after midnight I was in my oratory praying mentally, I prayed God most urgently for that Father; and when afterwards I had gone to visit him, as soon as I had entered his cell he said to me: I give you great thanks, brother; and when I asked, For what reason, Father?, he answered: Because at such an hour you prayed God for me; and while you were praying you had your arms stretched out in the form of a Cross; which God alone could know. In the three years of his priorate he clothed many novices, for the greater part noble, with the sacred habit, nor did any other Prior clothe such noble ones in this house as he, although he neither laboured to acquire them nor induced anyone to it by his persuasion. When once he had clothed not a few young men at the same time, he told me that during the sermon one of them seemed to him to have his head surrounded by a fiery and shining circle; but he indicated nothing further on this matter.

[128] he tries in vain to renounce the Priorate: Since this priorate was his last, I add that in it was never observed even the least desire of prelacy; nor did he in any way, either directly or indirectly, ever seek any; nay, while he was discharging the priorate of this convent he wished to resign, in order to live in quiet; and so that this might be permitted him, he requested it of the father General, master Seraphinus Cavalli; but since this General was most religious, and desired to have many Priors of that kind, although in one letter of his he had hinted that he wished to gratify him in this matter, afterwards in another he commanded him not to give up the Priorate, nor permit the convent to be governed by anyone else; and he added to him even greater authority than it was customary to grant to other Priors of our Order. Notwithstanding these things, he asked us to pray God not to permit him to die a Prior, but exempt from all care of souls.

[129] he predicts to a barber that he will embrace the Religious state: Brother Bartholomew Peneranda, a Carthusian, narrates that, when he was a secular and a barber, he served this house by shaving the brethren, and for that reason often shaved father Louis too, and observed that, although he several times hurt him, whether through a fault of the razor or through his own carelessness, even with a slight effusion of blood, he nevertheless always showed himself as humble and as patient as if he had been the last of the novices of the convent: he professes that this was a good example to him. He relates besides that, when once, having entered his chamber, he was speaking with him, he was asked by that blessed Father whether he would tell him the truth about a certain matter; and when he had answered that he would certainly do so if he knew, he said: Do you desire to become a religious? And he replied: No: for this was not his purpose; and then the Servant of God, smiling, rejoined: Observe, however, that I know that you will die a Religious. And the Carthusian adds that he then had not the least such intention, but at that very point of time so vehement a desire of embracing the Religious life was cast into him that thereafter he did not rest until he had obtained his wish, being admitted into the Charterhouse of Vall de Crist.

[130] amid business he does not neglect himself: in conferring offices While he held the priorate, although he was always very busy with the affairs of his convent, which were indeed so great that sometimes they took up even a great part of the night, nevertheless, out of care for his soul, when the brethren had been dismissed in the evening, he sent for his confessor and confessed his sins to him, and afterwards watched until almost midnight; and nonetheless he rose for the Office of Matins; after which he could scarcely rest a little; nay, often even by night, groping without a light, he went round through the convent to test whether silence was being kept. In this priorate and in all the other headships which he held, he was always of the opinion, which the better Thomists also maintain, that we are bound under mortal sin to confer prelacies on the more worthy; which opinion is also very conformable to the sacred Council of Trent, Session 24, chapters 5 and 18, Of Reformation.

[131] For which reason he was not only always intent, in casting his vote when a Prior was to be elected, on giving it to him whom he judged most worthy before the eternal Judge; he proceeds religiously. but also in the remaining officers of the convent, for example the vicars, subpriors and others similar, he observed the same rule; as also in creating prefects of studies, because he reckoned it a great sin to commit those offices to others than those who not only would not deliver bad doctrine, whether from ignorance or from malice, but who were also fit to form disciples more excellent and better grounded in the sacred Scriptures.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER VIII.

His deeds from the laying down of his Priorate up to the last year of his life.

Chap. XIII.

His Priorate completed, he was at once seen as the least of the brethren of the convent; [He knows, while absent, the death of the king of Portugal and the slaughter of his army:] nor did he involve himself any further in government in any way, except that for one month the usual care of the novices and juniors was committed to him; and in this simplicity he persevered until death, in which time, however, it pleased God to work great wonders through him. In the year 1578, on the very feast day of St. Dominic, after he had dined in the refectory, while conversing with brother Louis Primo, who served him, he said with great sorrow and disturbance of mind: Brother, while I was dining today it was told me that the king of Portugal is dead and his army cut down; and you will see that this is true. After ten days the event was established: for on the day sacred to St. Dominic the unhappy death of that wretched king had taken place, with the slaughter of his whole army, in the kingdom of Fez ^a.

[133] to one lying gravely ill he predicts a prompt recovery: In the same year, when a certain Violanta Junear lay ill of a grave fever, and the physician had already declared that she was in great danger, and had therefore ordered her to be fortified with the sacred Viaticum, father Louis went to her and found her most gravely disturbed. But before he said anything to her, he raised his eyes to heaven and, with hands joined, prayed for a little while; then, lowering his eyes, he bade her be of good courage, for God would help her. Then she asked that he would reconcile her to God through confession, which he also promptly did; and when she afterwards asked him whether she was to receive the sacred Viaticum that same evening or the next morning, he answered: You will be able to approach the sacred Table when you are about to go out of the house. At that same moment of time she began to be better, and without any medicine was healed at the end of two days.

[134] he heals women infected with scrofula. In the year 1579 a certain maidservant of the illustrious lady Violanta Milano, called Speranza, whose neck was entirely perforated with scrofulous sores, had heard it said that through father Bertrand a girl at Moncada had recovered from the same ailment, who nine years before had gone to France for the sake of curing it without relief; and that afterwards the Servant of God prayed for her, and that she, touched by him in the presence of master Bargallo, rector of Moncada, was within a few days completely healed. Wherefore great hope shone upon this other woman that she too would be healed through the patronage of the same Father, and she therefore begged her aforesaid lady and lady Francisca Ferrera to bring her to this convent in the time of the Lenten fast for that purpose, and to pray the Father to touch her with his hands. He appeared somewhat disturbed at this, saying that this was the office of Saints, not of sinners such as he was. But they insisted until he promised that he would touch her after he had celebrated Mass. Having celebrated it, therefore, in the chapel of St. Vincent, he touched the sick woman's neck, and, having imparted his blessing to her, prayed for her, and she presently began to be better; and, the Father's Crown having been placed on her neck, at the end of one month she perfectly recovered.

[135] On the day of the Paschal Resurrection, after the most devout procession he is refreshed by a wonderful vision, and at another time by secret words: which for many years now has customarily been made in this convent at dawn, and not long since has begun to be held also at St. Francis and other churches, the Father returned to his cell, and when he had been there for a little while, he said to the companion who served him: O brother, if you had been here, you would have seen something which wonderfully refreshed me, namely, from over there (he pointed towards the convent of the Fathers of Jesus), most beautiful birds flying up in great number, and of another kind than those which we ordinarily see. O! if you had seen what happened today above this house! Afterwards too, speaking with another intimate of his, he said that among those birds there were as it were swallows, different however from the common ones; because they were not white in body with black wings, but the contrary ^b. Between the two Easters there died most devoutly brother Bartholomew della Costa, but sprung from Aldea Nova, confessor of father Bertrand; and when brother Anthony Balestero was speaking with him the next day about his death, the Father answered him: This morning, as I sat on this chest, things full of consolation were spoken into my ear.

[136] About this time died Alphonsus Emmanuel Palombo, who, while he was chamberlain [he obtains male offspring for a barren woman: he narrates a remarkable apparition,] to the duke of Najera ^c, viceroy of Valencia, had remained childless in marriage for many years. Wherefore both he and his wife with one accord begged him to intercede with God for obtaining the fruit of blessing. So that lady within a month felt herself pregnant, and in the following Lenten season brought forth male offspring. In the same year, two or three days before the feast of St. Francis ^d, he went to the house of the Auditor Salzedo (whom he was accustomed to visit at times, to commend to him the causes of the poor), and in the course of conversation, talk having fallen on the wonderful sanctity of St. Francis, he said to the Auditor: I know for certain that one of ours, in the month of September just past, on the feast of the holy Angels, going out from the Office of Matins when the Te Deum laudamus had begun to be sung, found in the cloister Sts. Francis and Dominic, and, prostrate before St. Francis, kissed his right foot, and also lingered for some while with great joy and spiritual delight in pressing kisses on the wound; while the glorious St. Francis meanwhile supported his head with both hands and handled it and his face with gentle caresses, and instilled into him a great hope of eternal salvation. The same brother also prostrated himself at the feet of St. Dominic for the sake of kissing them; but this Saint stretched out his hand to him, which he kissed most devoutly.

[137] Meanwhile the aforesaid Auditor, observing the manner in which he spoke, and how effectively he narrated this vision, suspecting that he was the very one of whom he was saying these things, said: But how then does it come about which it was afterwards established had befallen him himself: that this father, endowed with such remarkable graces by God, always seems so melancholy? Which he said because father Louis almost always appeared sad in countenance. He replied: Nay, it is this very thing that makes him sad. And although he did not then explain the cause otherwise, it was understood afterwards that it was this, that while his bodily life was being prolonged, so much the longer was that supreme good deferred which he awaited with such desire. Withdrawing from there, on going out of the chamber he saw on a certain altar an image of St. Francis, and while he was looking at it for a little while, the Auditor, approaching on tiptoe, joined him unobserved, and heard him saying that it was truly like him; whence he knew more clearly that he was the same one to whom St. Francis had appeared: which was also established more certainly after father Louis himself, being questioned by the lord patriarch, archbishop of this city ^e, who had heard the fact from the aforesaid Auditor, confessed that it was so, saying: I saw him as clearly as I now see You.

[138] he prophesies to a noblewoman her husband's danger and happy return: In the month of November of the aforesaid year Dorothea Garzia, because she had heard nothing of her husband, Christopher Peres de Almazano, came to this convent to pray the Father to remember him in his prayers; but before she had uttered a word, he said: Lady, pray God for your husband, because he needs prayers. At which words she, struck, said: Is it so, Father, perhaps he is dead? No, the Father replied to her; but he will return to Valencia, and you will see him again. Not much time had passed when she received letters from her husband, in which he announced that, while he was sailing from Palermo to Naples, he had been in great danger of being captured by the Moors, and afterwards so tossed by a violent storm that it was necessary to go down into a small boat in order to reach the shore, but with such hazard that all believed him drowned. And from the date of the letter the said lady recognized that it had been written in those days when the Father had said those things to her; and afterwards her husband returned to Valencia, where he is still alive today.

[140] he preaches the Lenten sermons to the people: In the year 1580 the magistracy of Xàtiva ^f was held by a great desire of hearing him preach to the people through Lent, and had insisted in order to obtain it. But he, pleading his badly affected health, said that he would not be able to give even three sermons to them. But when they replied that they would be satisfied if he had spoken in that pulpit even once, he had to go there. And God so strengthened him that through that whole Lent, not a day being omitted, he preached there. Nay, sometimes he even gave two sermons on the same day, and when the Lenten season was finished he judged himself so strong that he wished to return to Valencia on foot; which, however, he could not do.

[140] the author narrates most present dangers at sea, I hold it for certain that this Father's prayers often greatly profited me, but most of all when this year I set out for Italy. I was most unwilling to go there, and was trying to prevent this journey: but the Father laboured that I should go, and entrusted to me certain business of his to be treated at Rome. Relying, therefore, on his prayers, and having obtained

his blessing at Xàtiva, I embarked at Alone ^g on a ship …, which, unknown to the wretched passengers, was in very bad condition, and so much water was entering it that it must be ascribed to a miracle that it was not sunk in the depth of the gulf. When on this journey I had narrated some miracles of this good Father to some noble young men who had studied letters at Salamanca, some of them and I invoked him, or, to speak better, God through the merits of this His Servant, knowing that God often, as St. Thomas says, on account of the merits of lesser Saints grants what He is not accustomed to bestow on account of the merits of greater ones.

[141] So it seems to have happened to us on this voyage, which, sailing to Italy and returning thence, because we put in safe at Leghorn ^h, where, when we had been set on land, it was necessary for the ship, which was gaping wide open, to be repaired. From that time the devotion with which I had before been affected towards this Saint increased in me. In like manner, on the return from Italy to Spain, I came into as great a danger as anyone was ever in at sea. For before we set sail a terrible storm arose on the coast of Leghorn, which lasted more than six days; and a ship called Squarciabocca came towards us, which, having lost the tiller of its rudder and its cables being broken, was carried crosswise with such violence that it was not far from crashing into ours, which, if it had been struck by it, would have flown apart in pieces. The next day, within less than the space of a quarter of an hour, two thunderbolts fell from heaven upon our ship, of which the first ran through it for some while, with danger of setting the gunpowder alight; the other set fire to the mainmast, which therefore had to be cut away; and so we, the storm raging, sailed three days in the middle of the gulf without a mast.

[142] And because the ship was without a mast, it was carried like a bale of wool over the waves; he escaped partly through his patronage, while he was still alive besides, chests, iron military tubes, and other baggage were rolling everywhere into the sea, not without danger of breaking someone's legs and arms, or even crushing whole men. In all these straits and dangers, besides the glorious Virgin Mary, and St. Raymond of Peñafort, who crossed the sea from Majorca to Barcelona on his monastic cloak ⁱ, and St. Peter Gonzalez Telmo ^k, and my other patrons, I was accustomed to invoke and commend myself also to this blessed Father, until I escaped safe from that ill-starred ship. And although on other journeys too I have suffered many things, never, however, so many as on this; so much so that on the next day I was being carried into the deep; and I, rescued by God from such great dangers, and having obtained a happy success of my business at Rome, ascribe a great part of this to the blessing which the good Father imparted to me at Xàtiva, and to the prayers which he poured out for me.

[143] In the same year, between the two Easters, lady Francisca Garzia, he satisfies the hidden desire of another: sister of lady Dorothea Garzia, whom I named above, was troubled with scruples as to whether she ought to approach the sacred table several times a week; and after consulting several fathers confessors she decided to seek also the counsel of father Bertrand. And when she had come to our church, and he, summoned by her, had come to the confessional seat, before she had uttered a word he said to her: In this matter I am accustomed to be liberal, and most willingly advise persons who desire to serve God to receive the Eucharist rather often.

CHAP. XIV.

[144] In the month of May of the same year Maria Joanna Boiglia was violently seized with fever, fevers and other ills pustules and smallpox, and her daughter, pregnant, was likewise violently feverish. For which reason Martin Vincent Folches, son of the above-mentioned Maria, begged father brother Nicholas Factor ^l, who lived in the monastery of Jesus, to pray God for them. He answered that he should go to father Bertrand and tell him in the name of God and of the Mother of God to bring certain sacred relics to both sick women. The next day the Father went to them, and when his hand was placed on the head of the said Maria, she said that this was a great solace to her. The daughter too affirmed the same thing: wherefore the mother asked that he would not remove his hand from her head: and at the same moment of time both were better and remained sound. Hence the aforesaid Folches, animated with great devotion towards the holy Father, since he had a brother sick, who was labouring most gravely from a cautery made on his private parts by the surgeon, asked father Louis to visit him too. He went, poured out some prayers, and, the relics of St. Vincent having been applied and the wound signed with the sign of the holy Cross, the sick man began suddenly to recover.

[145] he drives away by his prayers: In the same year, on the feast day of the Mother of God's assumption into heaven, when he was at home with other brethren in the chapel of St. Louis the bishop ^m, about to attend the procession, he was asked to visit lady Isabella Castigliona Vaziero, wife of lord Jerome Pasquale, now Assessor of the governor of this kingdom, who was struggling with a terrible fever, from which she fell into delirium and then into so great a faint that she was believed dead. The Servant of God went to her and read the Gospels over her; then, his eyes raised to heaven, he was wholly changed, and stood as in ecstasy weeping; then, lowering his head, he said to the mother of the feverish woman, called Beatrice Baiarri, and to her sister, called Tomasa Bonaventura Vaziero, and to another woman who was present: Rejoice, because the holy Mother of God, whose feast we celebrate today, will grant this grace, that she shall not die.

[146] and promises their former health to the sick: Having said this, he sat down and spoke for a little while most devoutly about the holy Virgin Mary, the sick woman meanwhile uttering no word but persevering in her faint. But as the Father was going out of the chamber, she recovered her senses and cried out: Father, Father, for the love of God come back: he therefore returned and placed his hand on the sick woman's head, to her great solace. And after the Father had gone away, O how great a sinner I am, she said grieving, that I did not speak with so great a Saint as he is! The next day another attack of fever came on, and they thought she would die again, so that they were already beginning to lament, and some doubted the Father's promises. But a little after she came out entirely well, and it was recognized that the Father had spoken true. Likewise in the same year father Bertrand, visiting Francis Vaziero, notary, father of the aforesaid sick woman, who lay most gravely ill, bade him be of good courage; for he would not die of this ailment: and so it came about, father and daughter surviving still today.

[147] to one he prophesies death; to another a scanty harvest; On the other hand, in the month of November of the same year, when Vincent Vaziero, brother of the above-mentioned woman, had fallen ill, the Father, passing by chance through the square where he lived, was asked to read the Gospels over him. Entering the chamber, he said to him: Brother, console yourself that God does not wish you in this world, and strengthened him with pious admonitions. To the mother also he said that she should not be saddened if God wished to take this son from her. After this the sick man grew worse from day to day until death, which he died two or three months after. Before these things had happened, at the beginning of spring, the Father had been at the window of his cell while it was raining, and Alphonsus Manuello had said to him that that weather was favourable for the sowing; but he had answered: Wait now, you will see that the harvest to come will be very scanty on account of the sins of men. That prophecy did not seem likely to be proved by the event, since the weather was then so favourable that an abundant harvest of all things was hoped for. But altogether the contrary happened, because from April it did not rain; whence the sowing of the grain suffered much; and in the month of September it rained so much that the greater part of the grapes perished.

[149] In the month of September of the same year 1580 the duke of Najera ⁿ came according to his custom to visit him in his cell, [to another he indicates the king's illness: he is refreshed by a heavenly vision:] who, being asked by the Father whether he had any news of the king ^o, answered that he was very well. Then the Father replied: Very well? Nay, poorly; and God must be prayed for him. Nor did anything further become known about the king's illness until some days after, when letters were brought from the court. At the same time a certain doctor of the royal council, greatly devoted to him, visited him, who, seeing him very cheerful, asked the cause of his joy. And he answered: Because God has today deigned to favour me with a singular grace: for a little before dawn, as I was opening the window of my cell, our Redeemer appeared to me fixed to the cross, as He hung on Mount Calvary, and consoled me exceedingly.

[150] On the vigil of St. Denis he was not a little afflicted, he predicts his death: because, at the request of a certain judge, he had been ordered to go to the citadel to visit in prison a certain Moor who was to be hanged or stoned; and he thought that another, more learned and more fit father would rather have been suited to that work. Further, as, in order to go there, he was passing from the greater cloister into the smaller with Father master brother Peter of Salamanca, who was accompanying him, he said to him: Come, father master, remember this day on which I am telling you, and keep it in mind, that on this day in the following year I shall be dead. Which also came to pass in the way we shall tell; because, although he said this on the vigil of St. Denis, he did not intend to speak except of the very day of St. Denis; and at another time, speaking likewise of his death, he indicated its day so manifestly that for some months before he died it was publicly said at Valencia that he would die on the feast day of St. Denis.

[151] On the second day of November of the said year the duke of Najera commanded lord James Fenero, By his counsel lost things are recovered. governor of this kingdom, to show for certain persons to read two writings pertaining to a business of the greatest weight, which his predecessor, lord Vespasian Gonzaga, viceroy, had commended to him to keep. The said lord James, having most diligently searched all his desks and chests, and not finding them, was most vehemently anxious, because this could lead to great loss of his honour and his affairs. Nor did he dare to confer about these straits of mind with anyone except father Louis, to whom he said that he had no hope of finding those writings by any human means. The Father answered: Sir, say the Prayer through which I have seen great miracles done: say the canticle Magnificat nine times, and I too will do so, and I will also commend you to the other brethren of this convent. It was then Saturday; and on the Monday next following a certain priest came to the said lord and said: Sir, you are very much afflicted at not having found such writings: do not be disturbed; because I will bring them to you this evening; and he actually brought them. The reason why

the Magnificat is said nine times is this, that the nine choirs of Angels may pray the glorious Virgin for the finding of the lost thing.

[152] A canon commended to him In the month of December the lord patriarch [p], visiting his diocese at Torre [q], in order to solace himself a little with this good Father, and to refresh him somewhat in his long solitude and laborious exercises, which harmed his health not a little, wrote urgent letters to him that he should come to him. The Father went, and spent some days there with that Prelate, perpetually conversing about God according to his custom. As he was then returning to Valencia, the patriarch urgently commended to him that he should visit lord Michael Vich, a canon, who was ill: but he, who had never spoken with him, and was not accustomed to insinuate himself into other people's houses, did not take care to visit him then. Then, as the Nativity feast of Christ approached, the said canon, thinking that he was better, wished to make merry, and ordered cakes and pastries to be made at his house, and wines seasoned with sugar and cinnamon, and excellent capons and other dainties to be prepared for the feast.

[153] he foresees his imminent death, and, admonishing him, who suspected nothing, But father Bertrand in his cell understood from a vision his imminent death; wherefore he resolved to go to him the same day and tell him freely to prepare himself for it. He went therefore, and taking his hand said: Lord Michael, have the most holy Sacrament brought here, and receive it, and make your will, and dispose your affairs, and think no more of feasts and recreations: for you are approaching death, and before the feast of the Nativity of the Lord you will go to paradise. Nor be disturbed on that account; for I too am tending thither, and within a year I shall finish my course. Hearing this, the canon without delay dismissed all who were present, and the two alone dealt in secret. Then, when father Louis had gone out of the chamber, the other members of the household, coming back, found the canon beating his breast and accusing himself as guilty before God.

[154] he disposes him to die piously: Dismissing therefore all other cares, he strove to prepare himself for death, of which he always spoke devoutly on all the remaining days; and on the vigil of the Nativity he asked urgently whether the feast had yet dawned, and so in the morning time of that same glorious day he rendered his soul to God. The Father, being asked by grave persons how these things had come about, answered that he had seen him in his cell as if dead. He seemed, however, to have seen something besides; since from that alone he could not have known the determined day of death: accordingly brother Anthony, a professed novice, secretly asked him how, from the dead man seen in his cell, he could know that he would die on the Nativity of the Lord; and he received this answer: Son, you know well that God, when He reveals something to our intellect, also grants the grace to know for certain what that which He reveals signifies.

[155] On the morning of the Lord's Nativity Hieronyma Centella, wife of M. Cosmas Clemente, now seven months pregnant, from various signs and faintings for a woman in danger in childbirth which befell her, felt herself near to giving birth, and through that whole day with the following night never ceased to flow with copious blood, so that the physicians, fearing for her life, took care that she should cleanse herself by sacramental confession. The next day her husband, much devoted to this Father, hastened to our convent to beg him to celebrate Mass for the safety of his wife. But arriving there, he learned that he had already gone out to celebrate at the high altar. Saddened on this account, he told his purpose to the sacristan, complaining of his adverse fortune in having come too late. The sacristan consoled him and bade him be of good courage, because it belonged to him to apply the Masses of the brethren, and he did in fact apply to him the one which the Father was then saying.

[156] He went therefore to be present at the same Mass; and while he was present, in celebrating Mass he helps, unknowing. he most devoutly commended his wife to God, alleging the said Father as his patron for her safety. And while the most holy Sacrament was being elevated, the clock struck, and he, feeling a singular joy of mind, persuaded himself without any doubt that his wife was placed beyond all danger. After Mass he met the Father, and very anxiously begged him to intercede with God for his wife's safety. But the Father, scarcely allowing the delay of listening to him, because he was hastening to preach in the church of St. Stephen, answered only that he should give thanks to God, and promised his prayers for the sick woman. Returning home, therefore, he learned that at the same time at which the most holy Sacrament had been elevated she had brought forth a dead boy; certainly not without a miracle, because, on the testimony of the midwife, he was so placed that he could not naturally be expelled. She remained ill, seized with a grave fever, and ordered that she be commended again in the Father's prayers. When therefore the husband approached him again, he, listening to nothing, said only that he should go in peace; for Hieronyma was better; let him not torment himself, for nothing bad would come upon her: as indeed truly nothing happened.

ANNOTATA.

p. John Ribera, Patriarch of Antioch and Archbishop of Valencia, as I have already noted above, most loving of St. Louis.

q. See the Annotata to chapter 2, letter l.

CHAPTER IX.

Certain other things done by the Saint at various times while he lived.

CHAP. XV.

The author's notice of his changed manner of writing. Now it will be useful to narrate many other things about this Servant of God, but in another way than that in which we recounted the earlier ones; for so far, as far as was permitted, I have striven to note the persons, times and places with whom, when and where each thing happened; but in this chapter I shall rarely be able to do so; for if I name the persons, I shall be judged as though I had done them grave injury. From here on, therefore, generally neither place nor time nor other particular circumstances of the deeds will be noted, through which one could come to the knowledge of the persons ^a: at other times also the same will be passed over in silence, because I could not know them, or did not investigate further: besides that in many things also, although we knew them all and could express them without detriment to anyone, we shall nevertheless proceed with the same caution, so as to observe that admonition of the Wise man: Praise not any man in his lifetime ^b; because it is never expedient to suggest to anyone an occasion of vain glorying, and moreover it can happen that he who is good today is bad tomorrow morning; nor do we wish that anyone, having changed his life, should be able to prejudice this authentic history.

[158] Two concubinaries, admonished in vain, Two powerful men both kept the same concubine publicly, with grave scandal to the inhabitants of the place where they lived. Our good Father, after he had admonished them secretly several times, and had twice preached in general against concubinage, preached particularly against them most harshly, rubbing the wounds with much salt; because on account of the gravity of the public scandal it was necessary that he reprove them to their face, as St. John the Baptist reproved Herod ^c. And the matter went thus: As he was ascending the pulpit to preach, he felt inspired into his mind all the things that were to be said, not otherwise than if he had heard them with his ears; and they were very different from those which he had studiously prepared and determined to say; and he so heard them that he held his hand behind his ear, as certain somewhat deaf people ^d are accustomed to do, so as to hear better; and whatever was then said to him remained impressed on his memory, like a seal impressed on soft and properly prepared wax.

[159] Likewise also he felt so firm a purpose of heart [with unconquered spirit he reproves them publicly, and wonderfully overcomes them:] and such fortitude of mind that, if a hundred men had been present to kill him, he would not have omitted to say what he said, or to preach what he preached. Which indeed so exasperated a certain one that he was already moving from his place to throw him down from the pulpit; but, looking at his face, he seemed to himself to see it all on fire, and did not dare to commit so grave a crime. After this, betaking himself suddenly to the house of his concubine, he seemed to feel a huge flame around him: whence he, full of terror, entered the house and narrated to her all that had happened; and she was presently struck with so vehement a penitence that, running to father brother Louis, she threw herself at his feet; by whom she was sent back to her father's house. But the other of those two boiled up into such anger at that preaching that he plotted some harm against the Servant of God; but father Bertrand, although he saw him coming towards him, did not take care to withdraw into the church, but, desiring to die for truth and justice, went to meet him and greeted him kindly, asking whether he needed anything. And that vigorous man, getting down from his horse, threw himself on his knees before him and begged pardon for his insolence.

[160] While a certain other man was in the house of his mistress, he sees an unchaste man held bound with chains by a demon: he was seized by so pernicious and terrible an ailment that he could neither move nor be moved

from the place in which he was; but he died there within a few days, in a very bad state both in body and in soul; although he was able to be fortified with the last Sacraments before his death. Father Louis, being asked by me what he thought of this divine judgment, answered nothing except that, when that man was conversing with a woman in a church, a certain spiritual person was present there who saw him held bound with heavy iron chains by a demon. I, however, suspect that this spiritual person was father Louis himself, because the church which he named to me was one he was accustomed to frequent.

[161] A certain Religious, about to preach in one of the chief churches, to an ambitious Religious he prophesies defection from his Order: invited father Bertrand to come and hear him; which he gladly did. When the sermon was finished, he drew him aside and said: Reverend father, you preach well indeed, but you are very ambitious and very little humble. Some time after, the same Religious wished to set out for Italy; but father Bertrand begged him not to do so, affirming that if he went there he would shamefully turn aside from his duty. He nevertheless went on there, and when he had now arrived at Rome, he lived there cheerful in his present lot and glad with a great hope of a future one: and when doctor Joseph Stephano, who is now canon of Segorbe ^e, once praised father Louis before him, asserting that he held him for a Saint, that friar answered: Is that so? Apt indeed; nay, he is foolish and very rash; and that you may know how true this is, he forbade me to leave Valencia, and foretold that, if I came to Italy, it would turn out altogether badly for me: Let him by all means remain at Valencia; I am resolved not to depart from here without a mitre or being raised to some other dignity. But that mitre and dignity was nothing else than that, having set out for Hungary, he defected from his Order and, after committing many crimes, died unhappily.

[162] he admonishes a doctor about a secret matter: he spurns vainglory: To a certain doctor of the royal council entering his cell the holy Man, as soon as he saw him, said: Stand firm, stand firm! He answered: In what matter, Father? The Father replied: In such a business, which was treated today in such a place: and the business was most secret. Wondering at which, the doctor added: Holy God! Who told you this? But the Father, stretching out his hand, pointed to the Crucifix in his cell, which afterwards lord John Buiglio de Arenus obtained, from whom I heard these things. On another day the same doctor, observing that the Servant of God had stopped up the slit of the lock of the door of his cell, said smiling: Good God! Father, perhaps you did this so that we should not see some extraordinary apparition. But he answered nothing, but, turning his back and going to the window, his eyes raised to heaven, said: TO GOD ALONE BE HONOUR AND GLORY FOR AGES OF AGES. AMEN.

[163] he signifies that the hidden spies on his words are known to him: When the Servant of God was preaching in a certain church situated outside the city, a certain person of powerful authority, wishing to know whether he would say anything against his own wicked rule of life, charged one of the crowd that went to his sermons, under oath, that if the Father had said anything against him he should report it to him. After this man had gone off, he bound another with a like oath, and, this one having been dismissed, a third also. It happened, however, that, since the said church was far distant from there, the last of them overtook the first, and they went together, but sad, nor did any of them dare to disclose the cause of his sorrow to the other. At length one of them said to his companions: We are all walking along sorrowful, and I wonder whether it is not for the same cause. Tell me, by your life, why you are so sad. They answered: The cause of our sorrow is that we must act as spies against that holy Man; and this one too added: I also am in the same boat. So conversing, they came to the church, where they heard the Father in the pulpit saying these words: The Pharisees sought only a single Judas against our Redeemer Jesus Christ; but my friends have sought three against me. At which words they stood astonished.

[164] he understands divinely secret things, even those of hearts, A certain man given to worldly things, seeing this our Father conversing with a woman in church, rashly thought ill of him; but when the woman withdrew, the Father went up to him and said: Sir, you have judged so of me, but it is certain that you have erred. A certain Religious asked of him permission to go to a certain place, but did not go, but entered the street that leads to the Charterhouse, where he treated of his passing over into that Order with a certain father, who admonished him to beware lest perhaps that thought was diabolical. When the brother had come back home, Father Bertrand asked him whence he came; and when he said that he came from that place for going to which he had asked leave, he answered: It is not so: you are returning from such a place, where such a father admonished you to beware lest it be a temptation; as indeed it is.

[165] A certain prelate of this city narrated to the lord patriarch, archbishop of Valencia, he understands divinely, that a certain ecclesiastical man, when he once went to visit the Servant of God, was received by him for some while with a stern countenance, and not permitted to enter the cell. When that ecclesiastic saw this, he remembered a certain sin of which he was guilty, and repented most vehemently, and amended himself. Afterwards, returning to the Father, he was received by him most joyfully, and conversed with him for some time most familiarly; whence he recognized that the Father penetrated the secrets of hearts. And this indeed is beyond doubt; nay, the Lord often showed him the spirit and mind of those who dealt with him. Whence it also happened that, looking with fixed eyes at a certain doctor who had confessed his sins and been refreshed with the sacred Eucharist so as to gain the indulgences of the Jubilee, he said to him: Take care not to change, for now you are in a good state.

[166] A certain man coming to our convent to speak with him His wonderful visions. found him celebrating Mass, and before the altar a corpse stretched on the ground. After Mass (although he did not know that the Father had celebrated for a dead man) he asked him who that dead man was who lay stretched on the ground while he celebrated. To whom the Father answered: I celebrated Mass for a dead man. In truth, however, no one had been buried in our church that day; but perhaps the soul of that dead man, having assumed a human body, was present at the Mass which was being celebrated by him for it. Giving the sacred Eucharist in our church to a certain secular man, who had very long hairs of beard and head, he saw him suddenly changed in countenance, and the hairs of his head rising in so unusual a manner that it was greatly to be wondered at. After communion he drew him aside and begged him to tell what had happened to him in the sacred communion. He answered that he had seen so great a light and so great a brightness come forth from the sacred Host that he remained greatly wondering and full of joy that he had beheld so stupendous a thing in the most holy Sacrament with his own eyes: which thing had then also produced those wonderful effects in his body.

[167] One day he visited a person of this city, and, pointing with his finger to a certain place, He brings back to virtue a woman who had often fallen unchastely: said to her these words: There you have offended God so many times with such a man. The said person, hearing this, fell down (so to speak) dead; especially because he knew exactly the number of her sins; and the Father added: And because God alone can heal your ill, see how much your sins cost me; and uncovering his neck and part of his shoulders, he showed her his flesh livid and bloody from the blows which he had inflicted on himself for her sins. Hence she, suffused with shame, said: Father, what will become of me? Shall I then always persevere in this sin? No, the Father replied; for now we shall cut off its way. And then he said to the woman: You can, to this end, have fifteen Masses said, which you vowed to the glorious Virgin in memory of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. She was astounded at this; because this vow of hers, which she had made in order to emerge from that sin, was known to God alone. Hence it was evident that, as he was a prophet in knowing past sin, so he was also in foretelling the future remedy: for so it turned out that she, although she had offended God very often with that person, removed herself from him with easy effort, nor ever fell back into her former deplorable state.

[168] he helps a needy woman: he foretells misfortunes to a Religious: While he was Prior in a certain convent, he said to a woman whose sacramental confession he had heard: Do you know that lady? Go, I beg you, to her house, and give her these twelve reals. She went, and found that lady troubled about that very matter; and, although at first she refused to receive the alms, yet afterwards, hearing by whom it had been sent, she accepted it, saying: Truly I need these coins today; but no one except God knew my need. At another time, speaking with a certain Religious, he said to him: Father, commend yourself earnestly to God, for shortly you are to be plunged into great difficulties and so many tribulations, both bodily and spiritual, that even your parents are to be grievously afflicted by it. After some time an occasion of setting out for Italy came to the same father, neither expecting nor seeking it, where he experienced, recognized and proved the truth of the things which our Father had told him; and his affairs turned out for him in such a way that his parents too suffered much.

[169] why Saints suffer many things; We could here relate some unusual events which befell his enemies; but we wish to confound no one. For which reason, of the persecutions which he suffered I shall say only what the Church says: "Thy Saints, O Lord, shall flourish like the lily." The lily is not wont to be fragrant with an odour like the jasmine, or the violet, or the clove, which smell sweetly and please almost everyone; but it breathes an odour so strong that it causes pain to heads not firm enough; so that we may understand from this that good men endowed with a certain ordinary goodness are wont to please the whole world; but Saints, strong in excellent goodness, pour forth a fragrance so strong that many cannot bear it. Hence Paul, a most excellent Saint, used to say: We are the good odour of Christ; but to some indeed we are the odour of life unto life, but to others the odour of death unto death ^f: accordingly it is not to be wondered at if father Louis suffered some adversaries ^g.

[170] and here he suffered also from demons. Now, to return to our purpose, it was not enough for the demon to persecute this holy Man through the agency of other men, but he himself also leapt forth to maltreat him.

Hence Louis once said to his companion: My brother, you would be astounded if you knew the trouble which the malignant spirits cause me: several times they drag me out of bed, and I am forced to defend myself with my hands: at another time too, when I had entered the church, a terrible demon stood beside the vessel of holy water, which, since he hates it most bitterly, perhaps he wished to keep me from it.

[171] Of three Religious he prophesies There had come to Valencia three religious of a certain Order, of whom two visited father brother Louis, who led them into the cell of St. Vincent, telling them to wait there a little, and, returning to his own cell, he stayed in it three hours, always intent on prayer, as is believed. Afterwards, returning to them, he bade one of them sit on his right hand and the other on his left. Then, turning to him who was on the right, he said: Father, you are Benjamin, that is, Son of the right hand, and so your father Prior is accustomed to call you; at which the guest wondered greatly, considering how this had become known to him. After this he added: Fathers, are you not three? They answered that the third father had not wished to come with them. Which of you now, continued father Louis, will take ink and pen and write what I am going to say to him?

[172] I see there a tree having three branches, of which one, however much you water it, the event proving it. will never bear any fruit; for which reason it will be cut off and placed in a very narrow place; the second branch will give some fruit, but bitter; and therefore it too will be lopped; and already I seem to see it in the sepulchre. The third will bear sweet fruits, and will be preserved: and having said this, he bade them keep secret what he had said, using the same words which Christ used to His Apostles, Matthew 17: "Tell the vision to no man till the Son of man be risen from the dead." They asked him afterwards whether that likeness of the most blessed Virgin which was kept in that cell had truly spoken with St. Vincent. He affirmed it, and that besides it had spoken also with a certain brother who lived in the same convent. They asked: Perhaps that is You? And he answered: It is not permitted to me to say who that is. Now to one of those three Religious it went so badly that he fell into madness and was shut up in prison; nor is there need to say more of him. The second, although he was a good Religious, was nevertheless of a harsh and impetuous nature, and did not live long: the third survives still today in his religious Order, shining with many good examples.

[173] From these and other things related in this book it is established He was renowned for many prophecies. that this Servant of God was often illuminated with the spirit of prophecy. I say OFTEN; because it is certain, as St. Gregory teaches on Ezekiel and in the books of the Morals, and St. Thomas in the second part, that the spirit of prophecy is not always at hand to the Saints; but that they sometimes speak from their own prudence, and then can err. Nor yet does this harm their sanctity; because, as St. Thomas says in the same place, what the Saints say from their own sense and according to human prudence, having considered the circumstances of times and places and the testimony of persons worthy of credit, they do not assert that they have learned from divine revelation; nay, they strive to establish their opinions with human reasons, as other doctors are accustomed to do.

[174] Once, being asked by father master brother Peter of Salamanca he sees Christ the Lord: he brings an unchaste woman back to her duty: to tell something singular revealed to him by God, this Servant of God answered that, when on the day of the Resurrection of our Lord he had risen from bed by night before the other brethren and had been alone in choir for a long while, he suddenly began to shudder, and saw the Lord in such majesty that the whole world compared with Him seemed to be nothing. He saw, namely, the whole world like a slight bubble of water, as St. Gregory writes of St. Benedict his father. In a certain place a married woman clung to a wicked habit; and however often the good Father had preached against that error in her presence, he gathered no fruit from her. It happened, however, one night that she, lying alone in her bed, awoke beyond her custom and saw a huge light in her chamber, and in the middle of it a Dominican Religious, that is, father Bertrand, most shining, threatening her with his finger. At which sight she was so terrified that thereafter she abstained from that habit and clung to her husband.

[175] [he predicts happy things to Francis Borgia: he is made certain of the remission of his sins:] When lord Francis Borgia ^h was labouring with fevers and other ills, and the physician had already despaired of him, and it was being arranged that he should be induced to make his will and prepare himself for death, the Father visited him and said that he should trust in God; for he would at once get down from his bed safe and sound, and would see his two sons, whom he had, who were then still unmarried, married: and so it came about. Father lord Michael de Vera, a Carthusian, narrates that our good Father, once conversing with a person very much given to the divine service, with great simplicity, enjoining the silence of secrecy, said that one day he had heard a voice which said: Brother Louis, your sins are now forgiven you; and that he suddenly beheld, not in spirit but bodily, a dove flying up and putting its beak into his mouth. The aforesaid person revealed this only after the death of father brother Louis.

[176] he knows divinely the man for whom he was asked: a nocturnal vision shown to him A certain woman commended to the Father that he should pray God for a certain man who was in a bad state: and being asked by him who that man was, she said that she could not say it. Then he said: That man is of such a condition, holds such an office, and is called by such a name. Wondering at this answer, she narrated what had happened to a certain priest, master in sacred Theology: who replied to her: Let this not seem wonderful to you; since father Louis is as it were a prophet. One night he saw in spirit the burial vault of the brethren opened, in which many entire corpses lay, and a man going into it and throwing those bodies irreverently this way and that. And the Servant of God noted that they did not smell bad, and wondered vehemently at the rashness of that man who handled so little reverently the bodies of those whom his spirit signified to him to be in heaven.

[177] concerning bodies not rightly kept in the common sepulchre of the brethren. Afterwards, restored to himself, he considered anxiously what this vision indicated, and on the following morning called the under-sacristan and asked him secretly whether the brethren's burial vault had ever been opened in those days; and when he denied it, he urgently asked that, if perhaps it should happen to be opened, he would warn him. Two days had not passed before, for certain reasons, a certain lady was to be buried in it; and therefore the Father, warned by the sacristan, was present while the sepulchre was opened, and, spectacles being applied, looked most attentively through the mouth of the vault at those bodies, many of which were indeed entire, although that place was very damp and several times even full of water. Things being so, they wished to let down ladders, but could not, because of the multitude of bodies. Wherefore one of the bearers, who had carried that body to the sepulchre, went in, and seizing the said entire bodies threw them here and there, saying to himself: How entire these bodies are, and not stinking! But father Bertrand said to the sacristan: Do you not now see, son, what I told you the other day: and he grieved greatly, reckoning in his heart that those bodies ought not to be touched and handled so little reverently. And indeed there are in that vault some of them which deserve to be placed in particular places and most honoured sepulchres.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER X.

Some remarkable virtues and habits of the Saint.

CHAP. XVI.

He was piously affected towards the Sacrament of the altar: As in the Life of St. Vincent ^a written by me I composed certain particular chapters on his habits, so also in the history of this our good Father, before we come to his last illness and death, it will be useful to have presented here a certain compendium of his holy habits; since these pertain to no certain time, but to his whole life, or to a great part of it. First of all he was borne with such devotion towards the most holy Sacrament of the altar that on a day on which he had not celebrated Mass he could not be content; but on the day of the Nativity of the Lord he was especially cheerful, because then three Masses were to be celebrated, as also on the Commemoration of all the faithful Departed, on which three Masses are likewise said through this whole province, not only from ancient and immemorial custom, but also from a special Indult of Pope Julius III: but this particular devotion of his will be still more clearly evident in the following chapter.

[179] He burned with a most ardent desire of martyrdom, and daily repeated that prayer he was held by a great desire of martyrdom which St. Peter, martyr, the Inquisitor ^b, was accustomed to recite at Mass at the elevation of the Host and the Chalice: "Grant me, O Lord, that I may die for Thee, as Thou didst will to die for me." He also frequently had in his mouth these words of St. Vincent the martyr ^c, protector of this our city, spoken in the midst of his torments: "This is what I have always desired; this is what I have always sought with all zeal." And saying these things, our father Bertrand fixed his eyes on the image of the same St. Vincent, and several times

he even recited them in tears with great feeling of mind. He was accustomed also to say: If we were all so happy as to be driven together into one prison and led round through the streets bound with iron chains, then we should feel how sweet it is to suffer for Christ; then we should grasp perfectly what St. Luke writes of the Apostles when they had been driven out of the council of the Jews: "The Apostles went rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus ^d."

[180] with firm hope in God. Once also, on this subject, he said to a friend of his: I do not merit martyrdom, but if God should do me this grace, I would accept it most willingly, and would pray that He would permit me to undergo the most grievous and most unusual torments: nor is there any doubt that for His love and for His Roman Church I would most willingly die. Nay, it is certain, nay, it is certain, nor is there any doubt; relying on God I say this; for I do not trust in myself: then, putting his hand to his breast, he added: God by His mercy has strengthened me inwardly with a solid and robust faith. When the martyrdom was heard of at Valencia which a certain woman underwent at Jerusalem, who before she undertook that pilgrimage had been his spiritual daughter, he rejoiced exceedingly, and, however near to death he then was, his heart nevertheless seemed to leap for joy, and he said: O fortunate woman, who has received so great a favour from God, if what is written of her is true; but I, a miserable sinner, have not merited so much.

[181] he was most devoted also to the cult of the Name of Jesus and of the B. V. M.: He was an eminent worshipper of the most holy Name of Jesus, such as all the other Saints too have been, and all good Christians, and in particular all Religious, ought to be: and it is certain that a brother of St. Dominic who lacks that devotion is unworthy of the name; because, besides other titles common to all Christians and Religious, we have had in our Order very great Saints who professed it particularly; and those who have been solemnly enrolled among the Saints all shone exceedingly with this divine affection, and among others chiefly the holy father Jordan ^e… Let us return now to our father Bertrand, who was likewise most devoted to the cult of the glorious Virgin, our Lady; nor was it enough for him to recite a third part of the Rosary daily, but he recited it entire, and always had it on his person, and at night hung it round his neck. At the processions which are made in our convents on the first Sundays of each month he was present most devoutly, so that, according to the mandate of Pius IV and Pius V of holy memory, he might thus honour the Mother of God.

[182] He esteemed all Religious Orders: out of love of solitude, He greatly loved all Religious Orders, and gladly heard them praised and good things related of all good Religious. At the martyrdom which brother Michael de Arandiga, a priest of the Order of Montesa, endured with great constancy at Algiers ^f, father Bertrand exulted no otherwise than if he had been of our Order. Likewise in all the other Religious Orders also he was accustomed to cultivate an intimate friendship with some servants of God, and he took ill the books of certain men who, to celebrate their own Order, disparaged other Orders, which in common are seminaries instituted from heaven. Since what Albert the Great was once accustomed to say is most true, that as often as he went out of his cell he never returned without some loss incurred, nor, so to speak, less a man than before, our father Bertrand was such a lover of solitude and of his cell that even after dinner he scarcely conversed about anything, and rarely with anyone; but the great esteem which men had conceived of him did not allow him to enjoy his desired solitude.

[183] He was summoned very frequently to his confessional seat, [which the care of his neighbour did not permit, he wished to become a Carthusian;] nor did anyone fall sick who did not have him sent for to read the Gospels over him; which office of charity he showed to the poor equally with the rich without distinction. Sometimes also he was called for the sake of taking counsel in matters of great weight; sometimes too for the sake of enjoying his holy conversation; he was, finally, the common refuge of all the afflicted. But because business of this kind wearied and distracted him greatly, the desire came upon him of betaking himself to the Charterhouse, so as to be freed from such distractions. Wherefore he said that he wished to shut himself up in the Charterhouse of Porta Coeli ^g, solely in order to become a novice again and to speak with no one thereafter. But he could not carry this out, for three reasons. The first was the love with which he followed St. Dominic and St. Vincent and all the Saints of his Order, and many fathers who still survive in it today. The second, that they said there would not be wanting some who would visit him there; the third, that he was warned that that desire could easily be a temptation sent by the demon to impede the spiritual fruit which many pious persons were gathering through him.

[184] At length, therefore, he decided to persevere in his first institute, yet he did not become one. namely in the Order of Preachers, as there persevered in it Sts. Thomas, Vincent, Peter Martyr, Antoninus, and those holy and blessed fathers Jordan, Reginald, Humbert ^h, and very many other blessed fathers, who loved solitude so much, and had as great an opportunity of withdrawing to the hermitage as he, and yet did not do so; nay, like other apostles, they always laboured in those things which pertain to the salvation and conversion of men, for whom Christ died. Much availed in this matter, therefore, the diligence of many fathers to take that thought out of him: because they loved him so much that they never ceased, some by words, others by letters, others by prayers, to act so that God might enlighten him and they might not lose him. One thing here I think must by no means be passed over, namely that in this business we are very much bound to father brother Nicholas Factor of the Order of St. Francis, who wrote to him most effectively on this subject, inculcating strongly that he should in no way carry out that change.

[185] So, therefore, that he might not be entangled in too much business and external occupations, His way of dealing with penitents: he observed the following. He did not care whether others had more or fewer confessing their sins to them, nor whether those whom he himself had heard returned to him or not: nor did he approve that anyone should be troublesome to others so that they should confess in our convent; but he rejoiced when he saw confessors indifferent in this respect, coming to hear all who approached, without distinction of poor and rich, without care to procure spiritual sons and daughters for themselves. He did not permit fathers to bind their sons, husbands their wives, masters their servants, even slaves, to confess to any designated person; because in that way occasion is given that (the demon mixing himself in) they do not confess entirely. He said that confessors ought not to frequent the houses of their penitents; nor go to them for the sake of another, and that they ought to receive as willingly the confessions of those who are accustomed to confess in other churches as of those who ordinarily confess in their own. These and many other similar things he proposed in a fervent sermon which he gave at Valencia on the feast day of St. Michael at an act of the sacred Inquisition in the year 1579, and he could rightly preach to others, being very well conscious of himself.

[186] his modesty in the use of his eyes: In his conversation he was so modest that he scarcely raised his eyes from the ground, which custom is not only necessary for propriety but also of great merit; because he who deprives himself of the sight of beautiful things, which the eyes naturally seek, can not only hope but even ask of God by a particular title that, abstaining in time from seeing created things which could be snares of eternal damnation to him, he may after death rejoice in the contemplation of the Divinity, in which our beatitude is placed; and may see with the eyes of his body the most beautiful form of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and of His blessed Mother, and of all the holy men and women in heaven, in which will be the highest joy of our eyes.

[187] the affliction of his body in his nightly rest: In his nightly rest he afflicted himself much, not only because he watched long at night, and then rose in the morning at the appointed time, and at midnight, when he could, went up to the office of Matins, but because he moreover made his bed harsh. Outside the convent he could scarcely be induced to lie in a bed while he was in good health; of which Jerome Abella gave certain testimony, asserting that the Father, when he came to his house at Moncada, slept in a bed only once, and that without taking off his clothes; but on all other occasions on a chest. And in the convent for a long time he slept on another chest, which his brother, a priest, had lent him for this purpose. For some time also he girded himself with a band of linen cloth, with some very hard little knots of the same material inserted, so that on whatever side he lay he might feel pain. This affliction of the body seems to me very prudent, because it macerates the flesh and does not harm health.

[188] his manner of preaching: In giving sermons he was not strong in much grace; nor did he delight the ears of his hearers, but he spoke from the spirit, and moved vehemently: and although he was neither of a very sonorous voice nor of so ready a tongue as many others, he nevertheless spoke with such fervour that few noticed those defects. He could say with St. Paul: "My speech and my preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in showing of the spirit and power ⁱ." He was not accustomed to invite his hearers to the following sermon: and when he was asked to preach he answered: I am not a preacher, but a wretched deaf man. In his sermons he constantly commended the use of the sacred Rosary, which he always esteemed most highly, and persuaded his hearers to recite it for the souls detained in purgatory, for men guilty of mortal sin, and for the state of the holy Roman Church, our mother; and he strove besides rather often to bring forward some example or some miracle of the most blessed Virgin Mother of God and of the Saints, imitating father Micon, who in this way produced the richest fruit in these kingdoms; and which also was familiar to St. Gregory the Pope, as appears from many of his Homilies.

[189] Brother Francis Gutierrez narrates that, when he was being urged by a certain other to become a Jesuit priest, the Religious state he could not be induced to decide it and bid farewell to the world, and that, though his companion begged him for a long time to consult father brother Louis, he would not do even this; but that one day, which was sacred to the holy Virgin's visitation, he was persuaded by the same to be present with him at least at the sermon of father Bertrand, who was to preach at St. Catherine the martyr's, and that he consented out of sheer importunity on his part. And during the sermon the Father asked why the divine Virgin visited St. Elizabeth, and answered that she did it to help her in her childbirth; and that therefore those do well and holily who help others to carry out

their good purposes, which are as it were certain conceived spiritual offspring; and presently, though warned of nothing, he set out one by one, in the same words, the argument which those two companions had treated, speaking so effectively that both burst into tears, and the one of them who had before so greatly resisted the Holy Spirit signified that he wished to ask for the habit before he dined, and the other companion had to labour to get him to defer it to the afternoon.

[190] They went therefore together then, and found the father Provincial already on the point of leaving Valencia, he persuades various persons: the Man's wonderful humility, so that if they had delayed a little longer they would not have arrived in time, and it would have been necessary for them afterwards to defer their desires not a little. Many others also, through the words and sermons of father Louis, joined themselves to various Religious Orders. I do not remember ever to have heard him despise any preacher, however unlearned or inelegant he might be; he was accustomed to praise all; unless, however, he had detected in them something of pride or vain esteem of themselves. He was, finally, so humble in this respect that he not only devoutly heard the sermons of the patriarch or of any other excellent sacred orator, but also did not disdain to accompany anyone at all, even the last of his disciples, who was about to preach. And since he ordinarily approved the argument of the sermon, he often forgot to give the preacher the signal that the time had elapsed, and kept him in the pulpit beyond the appointed hour.

[191] Since it is established from the teaching of the Council of Trent even towards his subjects: that without a special privilege (such as the Church firmly recognizes in the most blessed Virgin Mary) there is no man, however just he may be, who does not sometimes sin venially; and since it is also most certain, as St. Gregory writes, that it is proper to the good to fear sin; this Servant of God, when sometimes he slipped into some defect, however light, at once washed it away by sacramental confession; and if his ordinary melancholy seemed to him to have been a bad example to anyone, he asked his pardon without delay. And although St. Augustine says in his Rule that a prelate, when in reproving his subjects he has exceeded measure in correcting, is not bound to ask pardon of them, lest he harm his authority, the holy Man did not use this indulgence; but frequently humbled himself, begging pardon of his subjects. Yet I do not know how it came about that he was never seen to have lost anything of his authority on that account.

[192] constancy in reproving: love of enemies. Yet he was never so familiar with any of the brethren as to omit on that account to admonish him of his defects; nay rather, those whom he loved more he reproved more severely when it was necessary, even if it was a question of defects which are reckoned light in our Constitutions. He said that he did not wish to go to hell, or even to purgatory, for the sake of his friends; and, although he was accustomed to be grateful to those who did him good, he nevertheless did not dissemble before them when they were to be reproved. And however much he was offended by another, he did not shrink from him, but readily forgave injuries, and adapted himself not only to the need but also to the will of those from whom he had suffered injuries; and there was in him so singular an observance of the precept of loving enemies that perhaps to someone it could have seemed a kind of foolishness, but of the kind, namely, which pleased the Wise man when he says in the Proverbs: "I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me. I have not learned wisdom, and I have known the wisdom of the Saints ^k."

[193] courtesy in conversation: flight from honour. Whether through his eminent virtue or from good fatherly upbringing, he was well-mannered, graceful and prudent everywhere, and knew how to treat every kind of man rightly, and bore himself so reverently towards all that he was very admirable; nor did he suffer anyone to speak with him with uncovered head. Francis Louis Blanes, a nobleman of this city, once came up to him as he was walking in the cloister of this convent, to kiss his hand, and in doing so placed one knee on the ground: at which the Servant of God was most vehemently disturbed, and, himself also falling on his knees, begged him by God not so to honour one who was his equal, because, he said, it was not fitting so to treat a great sinner such as he was, but the Saints of God. When he was discharging the Priorate he did not wish to be addressed so frequently by the brethren with the words Reverence and Paternity; but when they came to him he at once bade them sit, and often kissed the hands of the priests; but he took it ill that this should be done to him by another.

[194] His humility While they were dressing the wound of his leg, he most humbly begged the brethren who were present, even the lay brothers, to grant him their blessing. Whenever he went to greet some bishop, or was visited by him, he always fell on his knees before him and kissed his hand. All these things proceeded from great humility, from which he reckoned himself the greatest sinner and the worst of all men. Therefore he urgently commended himself to the prayers of all, and asked everyone sincerely whether we truly believed that God would forgive him his sins and save him. His humility further shone wonderfully in what I am now about to tell, and on other similar occasions. In the year 1581 he said in his cell to three or four of us, of whom one was father brother Francis Palu, lector of this convent: I do not know what the cause is (so he said) that from that window I have seen the whole outcome of the Portuguese war; then I said: Father, it can be a work of God, and also a work of the demon; and therefore you must seriously commend it to God and pray Him: and he, shrugging his shoulders somewhat and raising his eyes to heaven, said: It must be committed to God.

[195] I say therefore that one of the chief arguments which persuade me of the sanctity of this Servant of God by several examples is his profound humility in revelations; because, since it is the teaching of the Saints that dangers of vainglory arise from revelations, whenever he narrated to me anything of that kind, I at once admonished him that it too could be a deceit of the devil; for although I esteemed greatly what he told me, I nevertheless pretended to make little of it; and yet I never detected that he took it ill; but he approved everything that I had said, and showed me many favours. Nor would I think that he was ever heard by any man at all to complain of me on that account, or to hint that this insolence of mine displeased him. In truth, however, I followed him with the highest veneration, so much so that, from this vain fear of mine, I did not dare in his last illness even simply to ask him to pray God for me in heaven, but used the following speech:

[196] Father, trust in the mercy of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, is proved. and in the intercession of the glorious Virgin, and of father St. Dominic, and of all the Saints, that, although your merits are few, the Blood of Christ will supply whatever is lacking; and you will be saved. All the fathers of this convent too, among whom are remarkable servants of God, will pray for you, that you may quickly be freed from purgatory, if you come into it; but when it shall please God to lead you into heaven, pray for this house, and for me, who have always been more than your son. Then he answered: O father, what are you saying — whether I will do that if God by His mercy gives me paradise? I will do it, and most willingly. Therefore ^l, my Father, when (as God is going to grant you) you are now in heaven, remember to keep your promises, and obtain for us the grace that we may begin to become genuine sons and imitators of St. Dominic; and forgive me my boldness, when in the divine essence you shall have known that it proceeded partly from vain fear and partly from true love.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XI.

The Saint suffers various infirmities of body: he heals others: he is fortified with the sacred Viaticum: he is carried elsewhere: what he did meanwhile.

CHAP. XVII.

To him, afflicted with various infirmities, If you consider rightly, it will appear that God never willed to grant this His Servant even one day of firm health, so that he might obtain a more ample reward of patience in heaven; and that, like another St. Paul, he might glory in his infirmities, he was infirm from his very boyhood; and in Religion (whose precepts are more austere than they appear) new infirmities always came upon him. He was short-sighted, and, because he was besides somewhat deaf, many medicines had to be applied to him to cure him, and many torments endured. In one of his legs he suffered from a very painful and festering wound, which afflicted him for many years: he suffered violent dizziness, through which he several times fell as it were into faints; and therefore he could not walk on foot except with great difficulty. He was besides troubled with another terrible ailment, which scarcely allowed him even to ride a horse: finally for two or three years he suffered a violent flux, for which he never found any remedy.

[198] no medicines avail: Thus he was always very languid and

afflicted, with diseased and badly affected eyes, but so robust in spirit that, if he was even the least bit better, he presently resumed his labours and the austere rule of Religious living; rising at midnight for the Office of Matins, using no undershirt, nor linen cloth in bed, nor eating meat; by which manner of living he shortly after fell back into his former bad health. Besides these things, the poison which he had once drunk in the Indies still affected him badly, and in particular from it worms were generated in his stomach, which sometimes crept up into his throat and leapt out of his mouth. Now, to free him from so many ills, his relatives and others well disposed to him engaged various ordinary physicians, who tried to cure him with diverse and extraordinary medicines; but in vain; nay, all turned to his greater torment. For which reason he sometimes said with tears: Let us just let God act. His will be done.

[199] At times it was a thing worthy of great admiration and of divine praise but he himself, most patient, heals many. to see with how great devotion men came to ask health from him who was himself most infirm and had never been healthy; yet it was not to be wondered at that he granted to others the good health which he himself lacked, because he gave it not by his own power but by that of Christ, who is the fount of all our health. He was accustomed to recite over the sick the prayer which St. Vincent was formerly accustomed to use, except that he added some words. It was this: "And these signs shall follow them that believe. They shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. Jesus, Son of Mary, salvation and Lord of the world, who drew thee to the Catholic faith, preserve thee in it and make thee blessed, and by the merits of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of blessed Dominic our father, and of blessed Vincent, and of all the Saints, deign to free thee from this infirmity." By this prayer he healed many sick; but in his own infirmities he used this one of St. Augustine: "Lord, burn here, cut here, that Thou mayest spare for ever"; and frequently also this: "Lord, spare not here, that Thou mayest spare for ever": which means the same; and he was exactly heard; inasmuch as on no day was he ever well, that is, perfectly healthy. I believe indeed that by his eminent patience in his infirmities he merited from God the grace of curing others.

[200] At the beginning of the year 1581, after he had preached on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord in the cathedral church, Afflicted with excessive ills, his turn at preaching and on the following Sunday (the knights of Montesa ^a then celebrating that feast) in the church of the Temple, having been urgently asked by the Master and by the marchioness of Navarrés, who were most devoted to him, he felt himself so oppressed by his usual infirmities that he was altogether unequal to the sermons to be given in the time of the following Lenten fast, which nevertheless he had already promised in the church of St. Stephen. He wished therefore that I should take his place; but, since I had then a little before returned from Italy rather dead than alive from the storms at sea and the other adversities of that journey, especially from the use of putrid water on the ship for a whole month; and had not yet well restored my strength; besides that I had never before preached through a whole Lent, or even three times in a week; nor finally had I Lenten sermons even in transcript; I found myself unprepared and in no way equal to this labour.

[201] Some warned me that, if I undertook that task, the biographer happily fulfils it. I would be throwing myself headlong and bringing my honour into danger, and therefore I resolved not to bind myself to what I could not do. But when Sexagesima Sunday was now at hand, he called me into his cell, and before James Bertrand, his brother, director of the church of St. Stephen, told me to accept, for God would be my helper. Hence I, all deliberation set aside, at once assented, secure in his promise; and I afterwards in fact experienced that God did not deny me help at his prayers, because, although before that time I had never preached except with at least eight days between, I nevertheless carried the sermons through to the end, then more robust than when I began; nor did I omit any day without giving a sermon, although compelled to provide for myself from day to day.

[202] The Saint, as his illness grows worse, is fortified with the sacred Viaticum: When Lent had already begun, this blessed Father became so much worse from his infirmities that the fathers decided to fortify him with the most holy Sacrament by way of Viaticum, there being present the patriarch, who stood almost always by his bed, the bishop of Morocco, lord James Ferrero, the governor, lord M. Martin Ponz, Regent of the supreme council of Aragon, M. Roderick Salzedo, and other leading men. Before he communicated, he made a lengthy profession of the holy faith and of all that the holy Roman Church believes: then he earnestly asked God not to revoke the sentence of his bodily death; but as regards his soul, suffused with many tears, he prayed for mercy from God through the merits of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, and through the intercession and prayers of the glorious Virgin, the holy Angels, the Archangels and all the Martyrs, as also of St. Dominic and all the other Saints of the Order who are in heaven, and by name St. Peter Martyr, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Vincent; and at the name of the last, pausing somewhat, he added: O father, St. Vincent! My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the driver thereof! Then he invoked also St. Raymond of Peñafort and St. Catherine of Siena ^b; then, turning to father St. Francis, he invoked him with all his followers in general, and besides St. Augustine, St. Benedict and St. Bruno with all the Saints of their Orders, and finally of all the other Confessors and all the Virgins and all the Saints. These and many other things he said with such spirit that he moved all to tears. After the sacred Viaticum had been given, embracing him [sic], the little ring of bone which, on account of his infirmities, he had been accustomed to carry about him.

[203] a woman in danger from a miscarriage About this time the illustrious lady Isabella Boil, from a miscarriage which she had suffered a few days before, was so ill that she was as it were brought to her last extremity; at which the physicians, troubled, hesitated whether she should be bled or not, reasons standing on both sides in opposite directions, which bade them be in doubt. Hence the sick woman's father, lord John Boil de Arenos, greatly afflicted, without saying a word, left the physicians and came straight to deal with father brother Louis; and although I answered that no one ought to trouble him at that time, yet father master brother Peter of Salamanca, seeing his desire, told him to go to his cell. Having entered it, he observed that father Bertrand was looking at him with fixed eyes.

[204] Hence taking courage to go to his bed, he said: My Father, may your paternity forgive me, because I am in the greatest straits, having left my daughter almost dying. Therefore, although your paternity is so ill, I beg that you will deign to pray for her. Then the Father, as though he were held by no illness, answered, and most tranquilly bade him sit, and began to question him little by little about the sick woman, her delivery, and the other circumstances. At length he said: Go, sir, and tell her to confess her sins and receive sacred Communion, and give thanks to God, and be secure that she will not die this time. Returning home, that lord found his daughter much better, and said to her: Daughter, be of good courage; for father brother Louis told me that he would pray for you and commend you to God, that you may not die of this illness. And the sick woman, in her devotion towards father Bertrand, rejoiced exceedingly, and shortly after recovered.

[205] The Father too began to be not a little better, when his illness abates, he celebrates Mass whenever he can: and, his strength somewhat recovered, as often as he could he rose from bed and celebrated Mass in the chapel of St. Vincent, which is in our dormitory. It sometimes happened that after saying Mass he fainted: not on that account, however, did he omit to celebrate the next day if he could; and to a certain Religious who advised him to remain in bed, because by rising he was bringing death on himself, he replied: My brother, the holy Sacraments of the Church kill no one; but rather they profit, not only the salvation of the soul, but that of the body too, when it is expedient for the soul. Nor is there reason why we should wonder at this in his last illness, when he saw the time being shortened in which he could receive the holy Sacraments, since he, when he was healthy, scarcely let one day pass without celebrating Mass and confessing his sins twice daily. On a certain occasion too he said to a friend of his that it had often happened that, when he found himself very tepid, after receiving the most holy Sacrament he suddenly felt an inner heat, so that his body and soul seemed to him a furnace kindled by huge love.

[206] Let the Christian reader observe here that, although it is false, towards the divine Sacrament always most piously affected, as before: as some heretics of our time assert, that certain bodily fervours are an undoubted sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, it cannot nevertheless be denied that the Saints can sometimes say with David: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God ^c," and also ask of God what David asked when he says: "Pierce Thou my flesh with Thy fear ^d"; and although the love and fear of God are principally a spiritual banquet with which God is accustomed to refresh the soul, they nevertheless sometimes overflow into the body too. He said besides that the Saints, having received the Eucharist, are accustomed to sail like a ship which has the wind astern; wherefore he advised that, supposing that a Servant of God could not receive it, he should at least go to the church and present himself there before it.

[207] The wife of John de Cas, a butcher, hearing that the Father had begun again to celebrate Masses, he heals three children brought to him. came to the convent and asked a certain father to arrange that one be celebrated for the health of her children by father Bertrand in the oratory of St. Vincent. She had a daughter on whom two glandular swellings had grown in the neck and another on a finger, like a large hazel-nut; which, although they had already lasted more than six months, had nevertheless begun in the month of March to swell more, and were then still growing. And the parents of this girl, remembering that their son not long before had laboured with the same ailment, from which, having broken out into pustules, he had died, began to fear lest the same should happen to this other, especially because the surgeon doubted whether they were glandular swellings, and feared that she had contracted this ailment from a certain elder brother of hers, who also then had for a year and a half been touched by the king of France ^e, and was not perfectly healed. And since they feared the same ailment

also for another son, already then infected with a foul scab, they arranged that father Louis should say Mass for them, read the Gospel over them, and touch them with his hand. He did this with great devotion at the same morning hour and on the next day; and when he had done the same on the third day, he told the father that there was no further need to bring them back to him: and so they began to recover, and today they live entirely sound.

[208] As the illness grows stronger, he continues to shine before the rest by piety The Father relapsed in mid-May, and was reduced to such a state that for some days he could take nothing but a little liquid from a spoon. And it was a great incitement to devotion to see him not only confessing his sins daily and, when he could, receiving the sacred Eucharist; but also, after the prayers poured out to the most blessed Virgin (whose pious image, brought from Algiers by a certain slave in fulfilment of a vow, and now placed within the iron railings of the chapel of the Rosary, he always had before his eyes), and after his devout commendation of himself to many canonized Saints, to hear him invoking many religious, some dead fifty years before, and in particular the blessed martyr brother Dominic de Montemayor, brother John Micon, brother Michael of St. Dominic, brother Laurence Lopez, brother Bartholomew Pavia, brother Bartholomew de la Costa, his confessor, and a certain most religious young man, who had died in the month of September then past at the age of twenty years, called brother Charles Tafaglia, but named by him the Angelic, of whom he was also accustomed to say: The Lord took him away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding.

[209] and by his humility: He also showed his eminent humility among the living; for when he was visited by us, he asked that we read the Gospels to him, and asked for our hand to kiss out of reverence for the priesthood; and he grieved if anyone refused to have this done. But in one thing he seems to me to have shown his profound humility especially, namely when I told him that there was a certain simple man who was accustomed to recite some prayers over the sick, some of whom were healed; and that, if he wished, he could be sent for by me; he most humbly assented, and during those few days on which this man came to him he always behaved most devoutly while those prayers were being said. Sometimes too his friends had a little music made in his cell; and then he broke out into weeping, and, as long as he heard the music, covered his head with the linen of his bed, so that he could better contemplate heavenly things.

[210] For some days he was forbidden by the physicians to use food and drink, except very sparingly: whence he endured violent hunger and intolerable thirst; because, since his illness was very unusual, by the physicians' prescription he is pressed by violent hunger and thirst; the physicians were greatly at a loss; on the one hand destitute of all hope of curing him; on the other persisting in the opinion that the sick man should eat and drink only very moderately. But he, since he laboured with an interior little fever which was consuming his radical moisture, was pressed by huge hunger and thirst. For which reason I, being once called by him to speak with him alone, was compelled for pity to weep, seeing a man who had always been so austere towards his body, and had performed so many miracles, begging like a mendicant that, by the wounds of Christ and by the love of the glorious Virgin, I would beg the physicians to mix some crumbs of bread in the little liquid which they granted him. There came then into my memory Christ, who, hanging on the Cross, asked for drink.

[211] And it was very plainly evident that the good Father had complained of this matter with good reason, being refreshed, he recovers not a little: because when one day a little food was granted him, he seemed to be so much better that it was a wonder, and little by little he restored his health somewhat, although it was established that a few days before he had been brought to his last extremity, so that the duke of Najera several times in the evening left the convent most afflicted for fear lest he should die, never to be seen again by him among the living. But he afterwards saw him restored to such a degree that he bade him farewell, about to return with great joy to Castile. Further, it is certain that this convent is most bound to that illustrious man, because through the whole time of the Father's long illness he was accustomed to send him many delicacies and excellent and very costly medicines: which likewise the master of the Order of the knights of Montesa and the marchioness of Navarrés did, with other leading noblemen and ladies of this city; and although he rarely tasted anything of them, he nevertheless received them, to please those by whom they were sent; and the infirmarian dispensed the same to other sick persons, to the great joy of the Servant of God.

[212] So that the good Father might recover more easily, his brother Jerome, a priest, arranged taken to the hospital of priests, there he healed a woman. that he be permitted to take him to the confraternity of the blessed Virgin Mary, which belongs to the hospital of priests, of which he had some charge. And as long as he was there, it was not enough for him that some of ours should come to him from time to time for the sake of hearing his confession and giving him sacred Communion; but sometimes, rising from bed, he himself celebrated Mass in the upper cloister of the hospital with the licence of the patriarch, who also visited him very often, and would not yield to anyone either in this matter or in procuring all his comforts. While he was there, a woman most gravely afflicted for four years with a certain infirmity asked him to heal her by his prayers; and, being sent by him to another woman skilled in curing infirmities of that kind, she would not go to her, and adjured him by God to heal her himself. The holy Man therefore formed the sign of the Cross towards her, and she immediately began to recover, and in the space of five days was freed from all ailment.

[213] Two eminent physicians, namely Louis Cogliado and Joseph Reguarte, visiting him from time to time, He gives off a sweet fragrance, as he had also often done at other times. observed that when, in order to examine the beat of his pulse, they raised the coverlet, an extraordinary odour and fragrance came forth from it, and testified to this in the Process, affirming that it was not a natural odour, being like neither musk, nor civet, nor amber, nor other things of that kind, but very different: so that it is not deceitful that many in various parts of this kingdom, when he was in good health, said that, whether during conversation or while kissing his hand, he breathed forth a wonderful fragrance; since the same man, when he was labouring with an ailment so long, so extraordinary, and so different from every good odour, smelled sweetly. To which purpose father brother Francis Sala said that, when the Servant of God was discharging the Priorate of this house, he used generally to dress the wound of his leg, and was astonished that his stomach never felt nausea, nor did he experience any stench, but on the contrary was often drawn to kiss it. Another secular person also, who had the care of him during that long illness, testified on oath that once, through the closed windows of the chamber, she had seen, from the Father's bed, covered in the manner of a small pavilion, as it were some rays of the sun coming forth, and had frequently perceived his body giving off a most sweet fragrance.

[214] Carried for the sake of a change of air to the archbishop's country house, After some days the physicians judged that he must change the air, and leave Valencia before the dog days came on. When the patriarch heard this, he had him taken to his country house of Godella, in which he himself was then staying; and father Bertrand consented, to satisfy the prelate, whom he loved vehemently, and he remained there for about two months, because the air there was most healthful and the district very pleasant. It was indeed a thing worthy of divine praise and of the best example to see with how great charity, kindness and humility he was treated by the patriarch, who did not disdain to serve him himself and to minister dinner and supper to him daily with his own hands, not otherwise than if he had been that other St. Vincent. I can truly say of myself that this example has availed more with me than any other ever. But the good Father was accustomed so to abhor certain extraordinary delicacies that neither that archbishop nor any of his household dared to offer him anything beyond what was necessary, fearing lest they should upset him to the detriment of his health.

[215] he is cherished by him most kindly: But he said with great feeling that he, so great a sinner, did not merit even a mouthful of bread; and he felt himself so overwhelmed, so to speak, with such charity that he added: I know what God our Lord means by moving your most illustrious Lordship to treat me so kindly; and it is nothing else than that He may bind me to begin at last to serve His divine Majesty. And the patriarch, whatever persons of higher condition were with him, by whom he was frequently visited, as soon as the Father's dinner hour had come, dismissed them all and went to show him his accustomed charity; he himself dipped his bread for him, prepared his food, blessed the table, and recited the grace; after which the good Father (who, unless questioned by the patriarch, was always silent) took his hand and kissed it. After supper the patriarch often spoke with him of spiritual things at the window, because the Father took much delight in the sight of the sky, to which he was at length to pass.

[216] And when the patriarch had understood from the physicians that a little bodily exercise and a moderate walk through that hill-country without fatigue would benefit the Father, for the sake of his health to another he ordered a chair to be made which two beasts could carry; and so on the 4th day of August he was carried to the place Burjassot, where, after he had received the divine Eucharist, seeing the church beautifully adorned, he asked John Pellicero, one of the senior sacristans of the cathedral church of Valencia, who chanced to be present there, who had made that adornment; and when he answered that lady Maria Bagliares, wife of Bernard Simon, lord of the same place, had made it, the Father added: Let your Reverence pray for her; for she is unwell; but tell her that she will soon be rewarded by the blessed Virgin for what she has done for her church: for within a short time she will die; and I too shall join her a little after. So it turned out; for she died within the Octave of the Assumption of the B. Virgin Mary, and he on the 9th day of October, as we shall tell below.

[217] On another day he was carried to the convent of St. Augustine of Rocafort, and he is carried to another place, and continues to recover. where, before he received sacred Communion, it happened that he had a great stain on his scapular, on account of which he put on the scapular of father master brother John Gregory Satorres, which this father, after he received it back, said was wonderfully fragrant for about eight days. The same father was also piously moved when, on the feast of the Assumption of the blessed Virgin, the patriarch having set out for Valencia to preach, only one Mass was to be celebrated in that place where Louis was staying,

for which, since he was not permitted by his infirmity to wait, he rose early from bed, went to Rocafort, and, having confessed his sins to the same master and been refreshed with the sacred Banquet at his Mass, returned to Godella; which was a manifest sign of the great hunger with which he longed for most holy Communion. Little by little the Servant of God so recovered in that place that the physicians denied that it could have happened naturally: whence hope shone forth that he would be entirely healed. But the Father nonetheless stood by the divine revelation made to him about his death, and to the patriarch, who said that it was asserted by the physicians that he would live, but that he himself was afraid on account of what he had said in the past year to father Salamanca, he answered: I remember rightly, and am most content that the will of the Lord be done.

ANNOTATA.

c. Psalm 83, verse 3.

CHAPTER XII.

The last deeds of the Saint, and his blessed death made illustrious by divine prodigies.

CHAP. XVIII.

Brought back to Valencia to the hospital, he heals a girl While father Bertrand was ill in the manner that has been said, he used every effort to betake himself to the church of Godella (although it was somewhat far distant from the house) to communicate there; and the patriarch almost daily celebrated Mass and gave him the sacred Eucharist. Hence one day, the weather being very bad and the winds blowing most violently, he returned so ill that he had to go back to Valencia. He was taken back therefore to the above-mentioned hospital of priests, in which his brother lived. Here there was brought to him a poor little girl called Isabella Abarca, on whom had grown as it were a pestilential carbuncle; but the surgeons judged it a kind of glandular swelling. She, after the usual prayers had been recited over her by him, at once asserted that she felt relief, and, no other medicine being applied, within a few days recovered completely.

[219] he is brought back to the convent, where to a certain prince ill elsewhere, But since we feared that he would die outside the convent, father prior and other fathers arranged that he be brought back to our house, where for a whole month he lay always in bed; and on the twenty-seven continuous days which preceded the last of his life he received the Sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist in the morning. And he kept this manner of life, that before midnight he would take some nourishment or medicine, after midnight nothing, until at dawn Mass had been celebrated in the infirmary of the house and he had been refreshed with sacred Communion. At that time lord Peter Cornovicchio, who enjoyed the title of duke of Sabiaca and despot of Bulgaria ^a, after many hardships and very grave adversities (which those entangled in worldly affairs ordinarily experience), had come sick to Torrente, a place three miles distant from Valencia; grieving and distressed vehemently that in the flower of his age, that is, at thirty-eight years, and in a region so far from his fatherland, he saw himself dying.

[220] but brought to him divinely But after he had then confessed his sins and been refreshed with the sacred Eucharist by master Natalis, rector of that place, he testified to a certain singular joy and consolation. And when that rector once told him to take courage, that, God being propitious, he would be healed, that prince answered: No, no, sir, I shall die in this place. When the rector asked how he knew this, he replied: There were two here who carried me to the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, into the cell of a certain holy Monk (so he always called him whenever he spoke of our blessed Father); who consoled me and said that I must die of this illness on a Sunday: at which the rector wondered vehemently, because for many days that prince had not risen from his bed.

[221] Wherefore, to find out the truth, he himself went to Valencia, and narrated this to some brethren and other seculars; he predicts his death. then, visiting the Servant of God himself, he asked him whether any prince had come to speak with him. He answered (but drily): Many come to me. From this the rector, noticing that he did not wish to make it known, withdrew from there. But the patriarch, whom the Father always greatly venerated, asked him this very thing most secretly; and he confessed that it was so, and added: That man is good, and on one of these days he will pass to heaven. When the patriarch further asked whether he knew those two who had come with the prince, he replied: No. And when the Sunday had now come and the prince had not died, many wondered; but without reason; because this prophecy had not denoted the first Sunday of October, on which the feast of the Rosary is celebrated, but the second Sunday, as we shall tell below.

[222] Meanwhile father Louis too was hastening with great strides to death, As the illness increases, he indicates the day of his death, and on the 6th day of October, after midnight, having confessed his sins, he asked what day it was. He was answered that it was Friday ^b. Then he asked on what day the feast of St. Denis fell, and, having received the answer that it fell on Monday ^c, he began to count on his fingers Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and said: O blessed God, who grants me still four days! Let the will of the Lord be done, then. And since, by the physicians' prescription, he had before put on a linen undershirt, he earnestly asked for a woollen undershirt (which is the undergarment that brethren in good health are accustomed to wear, and in which they ought to die, if the physicians permit it in Spain, as they do in Italy), and, having received the undershirt, he kissed it and put it on with great joy, the linen one being cast aside: and hence too shone forth his old desire of treating his body harshly, as he had been accustomed.

[223] Since he was very deaf, several times many entered his cell without being observed by him, he is visited by St. Vincent, whom he had also seen at other times; and heard him conversing most devoutly with the Crucifix and the blessed Virgin. It was a pleasure also to the patriarch sometimes to spend whole hours with him alone in the locked cell, and once he asked him whether St. Vincent had ever visited him in that illness of his. The Father answered affirming that he had visited him once, and presently added: Even now he is standing there, his finger stretched out towards the place where he stood. Nor let anyone wonder at this, since, to say nothing of the other things which we have already related in this history, this good Father, once consoling a certain lady most afflicted by the death of her husband, who had died on Holy Thursday while coming out of church, and saying that her husband was already in heaven, in order to make her even more certain of it, added these words: Do not doubt, lady, for St. Vincent Ferrer revealed it to a certain Brother, with whom he spoke as I now speak with you. Further, it is certain that Louis here was speaking of himself and denoting himself: and now, if St. Vincent showed him these favours when he was in good health, it is easy to believe that he also visited him in his last illness; especially since he then suffered such grievous and such continual pains, and needed particular consolation.

[224] Among other things he said that he felt in his bones a continual torment, wonderful patience shines forth. as though they were being broken one by one: but it is true that God granted him that grace which Pius V ^d in his last illness asked of the Lord in these words: "Lord, increase the pain, provided Thou increase also the patience." The patriarch sometimes used to say to him: Father, do you not rejoice greatly that God shows you this mercy, that your Reverence should suffer a small part of the things which He suffered, so that you may depart from this world more purified? He answered: Truly, my lord, I would not exchange this for any other good of the world; and I am vehemently confounded that the Lord grants this grace, which I, who am so great a sinner, do not merit: and at once with great exultation he broke out into these words so familiar to him: "Lord, cut here, that Thou mayest spare for ever!"

[225] The happy death of the above-mentioned Prince, Now to return to the aforesaid prince: he, on the following Saturday, which was the 7th day of October, or on the Friday immediately preceding, the rector being present, drew his hands out of the bed and said: O lord rector, do you not see the glorious Virgin with such eternal glory in this chamber? O blessed, O glorious, O most beautiful Queen of heaven, O my Lady, O Sweetness of my heart, how do I merit to be visited by you? But what shall I say of you, most beautiful Child, who are in her lap, whose beauty surpasses all beauty? With these and other similar words he exulted spiritually over that heavenly company. And on the following Sunday he said: Today is Sunday, a day of joy, a day of consolation; now is the day on which I shall certainly see God! Afterwards, at about the ninth hour of the night, he said to the rector: Lord rector, although I have already confessed my sins, nevertheless, on account of the defects which I may have committed meanwhile, I desire to confess generally again; and so he did. After the tenth hour, when the rector had already gone away, the prince died, always clinging to most pious affections and often repeating this short, devout and learned prayer: "Jesus, be to me Jesus;" that is, Jesus, be to me that which Thy name signifies, or Saviour; may it please Thee to save me.

[226] his burial and other things pertaining to him. A little before he died he experienced a violent assault from the demon, which he repelled with his hand, reciting a certain psalm in so low a voice that he scarcely moved his lips, being able to do nothing more. And because this prince was very devoted to St. Mary under the title of Mount Carmel, and bound by a vow to wear her habit, with which he was in fact clothed, except that he did not wear the white cowl, he was carried to Valencia to the church of the Carmelites and buried there. That prince must truly be reckoned happy, since he died amid such manifest signs of true contrition for obtaining the salvation of his soul, and God brought him thither from so distant a region as a particular instrument for manifesting the sanctity of father Bertrand, whom he had never seen or known. After his death they found among his writings a short prayer of St. Thomas Aquinas, printed, with this title prefixed: "Prayer of the divine Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic doctor, to the image of Jesus Christ Crucified. May the fiery and

honey-sweet force of Thy love, I beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, absorb my mind from all things that are under heaven, that I may die for love of Thy love, who for love of my love didst deign to die on the wood of the Cross." It seemed good to me to place this Prayer here, because it is very devout, and I have not seen it printed elsewhere. Now let us return to our History.

[227] On the same Sunday of which above, in the evening, we feared When he seemed to be dying, he warns that it will not happen on that day that father Louis was at the very point of dying. For which reason, the usual signal of the board having been given, the brethren assembled, and, suffused with tears, helped him to die well, the patriarch and the bishop of Morocco being still present: but he, after a little time, opening his eyes said: Dismiss them; they will be here in time. Hearing this, the patriarch said: Let them withdraw, for he will not die now; and he had such sure faith in the Father's words that, although he had determined and affirmed that he would watch there that whole night, he nevertheless returned to his palace, suspecting nothing at all that his Friend would die in the meantime; nor did he return until the next day in broad daylight. A few hours after, the infirmarian asked doctor Jerome Almenara (who had then come with his son to ask the Father's blessing) what it was expedient to prepare for him the next day for dinner: which the Father hearing, said: There is no need to prepare anything tomorrow morning; and he warned rightly; for the next day before the dinner hour he passed to a better life.

[228] The next morning, when his senses were already beginning to fail notably, the next morning, still anxious about the observance of the Rule, he dies, and that undershirt with which they had clothed him two days before was very soft and comfortable, he feared that it was linen, and, led by that suspicion, began earnestly to beg, using most urgent words, that they would take it off him and give him the usual undershirt of his Order, saying with welling tears: For the love of God, and for charity, and for the love of Jesus, take this undershirt off me and give me the tunic of St. Dominic; and he repeated his prayers so many times that, for the sake of comforting him, they had to take it off him and then give back the same, indicating, as was truly the case, that it was the tunic which he had asked for; which was most pleasing to him; and hence it appeared most clearly how much the affliction of his body had pleased him through the whole time of his life. At the tenth hour of the morning, turning to the patriarch, he said: My lord, dispatch me; for I am now dying; and he wished him to read the Gospel to him and to sign his head and breast.

[229] The signal having therefore been given again by the board, all the brethren ran together, and he is divinely made illustrious with prodigies. reciting the Creed according to custom; and at the same time some seculars piously disposed towards him, in the presence of all of whom he rendered his soul to his Redeemer. Among those who were present were about four or five Religious and some seculars, and by name Francis Louis Blanes, who in the preceding year had been Auditor of Valencia, who, with the religion of an oath interposed, testified that they had seen a light like a most shining lamp at that moment of time at which he died ^e. Besides, in the Process there are various witnesses who assert that so great a fragrance came forth from his corpse that they were astounded ^f, and the same also happened in almost all his garments, but more in the tunic.

[230] And although from all these signs, The author's observation concerning his eternal salvation. joined with the good works in which, as long as he lived, he went before us, we were morally certain of his eternal salvation; especially because a little before, by reason of the CRUZADA (which he was accustomed to acquire every year) and the graces and privileges of our Order, he had been generally absolved from his sins; yet, remembering that he, a little before he rendered his soul, had most humbly asked that after his death each of us Religious should say the PATER and AVE six times with the GLORIA PATRI, so that his soul, if it were in purgatory, might be freed from it by the privilege which the Orders of St. Dominic and St. Francis enjoy, we all fell on our knees and rendered him that slender service in the divine sight with our feeble prayers.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XIII.

The veneration of the sacred body immediately after his death, the concourse of the people to it; the burial and obsequies: the Man's sanctity is proved.

CHAP. XIX.

The sacred corpse is carried into the church, thence into the sacristy, As soon as this remarkable Servant of God had breathed out his soul, the patriarch burst into tears that he was deprived of the presence of this his blessed Friend; but we persisted in reciting the customary prayers. But when the rumour of this matter had spread in the city, the inhabitants began to run together to the convent most devoutly. The first to be present were lord Jerome Pasquale, the Regent, and judge Salzedo, who, prostrate on the ground, kissed his feet, which likewise lord Mathias Pallas, canon, and some others, partly priests, partly seculars, did, until we carried him into the church, where it appeared how well David said: "Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable ^a." For many ladies who stood round fixed pious kisses on his feet and hands amid tears and sobs; but when afterwards the crowd suddenly increased, they began even to cut pieces from his garments: and when we noticed that some were even trying to cut off a finger from him, we removed the sacred corpse into the sacristy, until the viceroy should arrive.

[232] Meanwhile those who had run together in bands lamented and hence again into the church, and once more into the sacristy, that they could not see him: wherefore, by a secret way which leads from the sacristy to the cloister, we gave many the opportunity of kissing his hand. When the guards were now present, he was carried back on the shoulders of the admiral of Aragon, the Grand Commander of Montesa, lord John Borgia, lord Michael Mercader, a priest, and other illustrious and pious men. But so great was the devotion of the people that it was necessary to place the body at the top of the steps by which one goes up to the high altar, many halberdiers standing round the bier with the brethren. Meanwhile the clergy of the cathedral church and of the other parishes, arriving, could with the greatest difficulty, on account of the excessive crowd, penetrate as far as the sacred body to sing the psalms and the usual Responsories: and when we saw that we could scarcely protect it, we carried it back again into the sacristy.

[233] Here there came to kiss his hands the viceroy and the vicereine with their sons and daughters, and a third time into the church, so that the people may be satisfied. the duke of Cardona, the marquis of Comares, the count of Albaida, and other illustrious men and leading knights, with almost all the doctors of the royal council. After two hours had elapsed, so that so many leading persons, and among these two countesses, and other noble ladies and men who were waiting in the main chapel, should not be sent away indignant, the body was for the third time transferred from the sacristy and laid in the choir of the church, all who could be dismissed having first been sent out of the church, and the doors bolted lest more should enter. But although it was already very late, it could not be prevented that, as some went out, many other pious persons came in, who had gathered in great number before the church. It was necessary, however, to unbolt the doors of the church again for the countess of Navarrés, accompanied by many other ladies and noblemen and honoured persons, with whom also a numerous multitude of others entered, whom the halberdiers could not keep out. These things went on until the ninth hour of the night, we desiring that the crowd might diminish so that the deceased could be painted, and in that way his likeness might survive impressed on the mind, whose eminent virtues and holy examples could never fall from our memory.

[234] Dawn had scarcely appeared the next day before an innumerable multitude of men, The next day, the people being scarcely restrained, he is hastily buried. eager to touch the body, stood before the doors; and it had rightly been provided that night that a funeral platform should be erected before the entrance of the choir, on which it had been placed on a bier covered with a cloth interwoven with threads of gold; for even in this way six brethren, three on this side and three on that, standing on the same platform, could not restrain those seeking to kiss his hand and apply Rosaries to it; among whom were some seculars who fixed their Rosaries to the tops of rods, so that they might thus reach to it. When, after Mass had been most solemnly celebrated, the body was now to be buried, a huge tumult arose in the church from those who dared to carry off his garments, which had been laid aside outside the sepulchre; and although the hands of many were burned with lighted torches, they could not, however, be prevented from laying bare part of the body in their desire to carry off something of the clothes. This ceremony of burial was performed so hastily that it was necessary to omit some psalms and prayers which are to be said according to the prescription of our constitutions before the body is placed in the sepulchre. A little before, the patriarch, going up to the corpse, embraced it in tears; then they covered it with the sepulchral stone, so as to keep the secular crowd from it. Towards evening very many from the surrounding region began to arrive, and grieved vehemently that he was already buried.

[235] The same night the body is found to be like that of a living man: On the following night, the doors of the church and the convent being bolted, and only father master brother Francis Maldonado, general of the Brothers of Mercy, the Prior of the Charterhouse of Porta Coeli, lord Laurence Zamara, and master brother George Olivar, commander of the Mercy at Valencia, with their companions, and some other seculars, being admitted, we finished the office of burial, into which vault four of us of this convent entered and stayed for a notable time, applying to the sacred body a very great number of Rosaries, rings and gems sent by various persons. There within I accurately observed what all had already greatly observed before he was buried: namely, that whereas men after their death usually remain of a dark colour and deformed to look at, with rigid limbs, he had not only remained beautiful, so as to inspire great devotion in those who saw him, having an angelic countenance, hands, feet and nails white like alabaster and soft in the manner of wax, but also his hands and feet and arms and head, as if of a living and warm body

had been, movable in every direction.

[236] other bodies seen in the same place. In the same burial place (which is not common to all the brethren, but destined for some more illustrious in sanctity) we found in a certain wooden chest the body of blessed master brother John Micon, and beside his head the bones of brother Michael of St. Dominic, a mirror of true and perfect religion, who was accustomed to commend this blessed father brother Louis with many and frequent words when he gave discourses in chapter. There were also seen there two severed heads of two glorious martyrs, masters and reformers of this province, brother Dominic of Cordoba de Montemayor, and his companion, brother Amator Espi, Prior of this house ^b; and another head, whose it was we could not learn: but, if it please God, I hope that we shall see all these six in great glory on the last day of judgment.

[237] At the obsequies the patriarch gave the funeral oration, On the following Friday his obsequies were most solemnly celebrated; and because an infinite multitude of men was present, it was necessary for the Religious of other Orders to enter through the gate of the convent, go up through the infirmary and the walks of the cloisters, and betake themselves to the upper choir to sing the Responsories there. The bishop of Morocco sang the Mass; the patriarch gave the funeral oration, in which, on account of the din of the excessive crowd, he could not relate certain more notable things about this Saint, as he had determined; he said, however, that, although this Father had not been enrolled in the roll of Saints, nor was his sanctity therefore as certain as that of the canonized (whose deeds and miracles have been accurately weighed by the Roman Church), yet so many signs concurred, from which his sanctity and glory in the sight of God could be proved, that nothing further was wanting to him except that he should have been enrolled in the roll of Saints.

[238] And indeed he spoke most prudently. For if we will weigh the virtues of this Servant of God, [whose honourable opinion of him the biographer confirms from his virtues, from signs,] we shall find in him a living faith, and particularly concerning the Most Holy Sacrament; a most secure hope, and a most ardent charity, by which he both earnestly procured the honour of God and burned vehemently for the salvation of his neighbour. He was moreover most chaste, and most obedient to his prelates, nor, when he presided, did he take such accurate account of anything, nor punish anything so severely, as disobedience. He was most humble, a lover of poverty, and abstemious beyond measure; further, clean as gold of envy and ill will, and most alien from the vice of ambition. If we seek miracles, they are many, which we have partly already recorded, partly shall tell in the following chapters. If signs and conjectures are to be believed, what greater sign shall we desire than what we recorded above concerning the prince; and that he himself foretold his death before it happened, and that this prophecy of his gained such currency that a long time before his death the very day on which he was to die was publicly spoken of at Valencia?

[239] What shall we say of the heavenly music which we heard at the time from the heavenly music heard by the body, when his body was exposed in the church, and while his obsequies were being celebrated; since it is certain that neither from the point of time at which it was brought into the church up to that at which it was delivered to burial, nor even on the very day of his obsequies, was any music held anywhere in the whole city of Valencia; and this was the more wonderful because many heard it in the church, and some even thought that pipers had been hired by our father Prior to play: but that this is false is proved by the very testimony of those same pipers, who, although they are many, can swear that at the above-mentioned time they played neither in our convent nor in any other place round about ^c.

[240] But if anyone asks me how it could have happened that not all, concerning which there is discussion here, but only some, heard so sonorous a music, I shall answer that we too, in the year 1564, on the feast day of Corpus Christi, while we were carrying the most holy Sacrament from the village of Lucente to our convent (which is founded on the same hill and place where the Hosts of the Corporals of Daroca were consecrated ^d), heard from heaven a music which lasted the space of a whole hour; and that more than a thousand heard it, who had run together from various places to that solemnity; as is established from the Process drawn up on that matter, which is kept in the sacristy of the above-mentioned convent and of the collegiate church of Daroca: but that there were nevertheless some who did not hear it and thought that we were mistaken. But I, who was burning incense before the most holy Sacrament, know evidently that there was no error, and judged that it was done by divine providence that it should not be perceived by all, namely so that it should not be judged to have been a natural thing, and that it should not be said that there were some hidden behind the oaks who played musical instruments. This same reason can be alleged in the music granted by God for honouring this His Servant.

[241] from public fame, from the great esteem for him, both living and dead, If we seek human testimonies, what more certain one can be desired than that of the holy father brother John Micon, who asserted of him that he would be at Valencia as it were another St. Vincent? If you listen to public fame, you will find that he was held by all for an apostolic and truly religious man in death as in life. And who is there who does not wonder at the devotion, reverence and love with which, at various times, persons of such great authority followed him as those were whom we shall now name, and part of whom are still living today? For not only were, and now are, devotedly disposed towards him the viceroy lord Francis de Moncada, count of Aitona, and the other viceroy, his predecessor, lord Manrique de Lara, duke of Najera, and the Patriarch of Antioch, Archbishop of Valencia, lord John de Ribera, who has been accustomed in particular to profess a kindly mind towards the Servants of God; but also many other prelates and illustrious men have always venerated him as a saint; and by name the archbishop of Otranto ^e, lord Peter de Coderos; the bishop of Cordoba ^f, who died last year, lord Francis Martin de Cordoba; and the bishop of Tortosa ^g, lord F. John Isquierdo, who was provincial of this province and had this Father as his subject; the bishop of Morocco ^h, lord Michael de Spinosa; the grand Commander of Montesa ⁱ, lord F. Peter-Aloysius Galceran Borgia.

[242] in the estimation of illustrious persons, In like manner all the Inquisitors and defenders of the holy faith whom this kingdom had at the time when father Bertrand lived esteemed him as a remarkable Servant of God; and especially the licentiate lord John de Rogis, who afterwards became bishop of Agrigento ^k, doctor lord Peter Zarate with his colleagues in the sacred Office, the licentiate lord John de Zuñiga, the licentiate Reinoso. Of the secular estate, the duke of Cardona, the marquis of Comares, lord Diego de Cardona, lord Charles Borgia, duke of Gandia ^l, lord Christopher de Cardona, admiral of Aragon, lord John Milano, count of Albaida, lady Eleonora Manuella, marchioness of Navarrés, the countesses of Albaida, of Concentaina and of Almenara, the viscountess of Chelva, and finally all the lords and ladies more illustrious by any title that were to be found in this kingdom.

[243] and from the general veneration after his death The same fame of his sanctity is further proved by the huge concourse of men to honour his sepulchre, which lasted three continuous days, always with the greatest devotion; and, as far as appeared, many repented of their sins while they weighed how great a reward God has prepared for His elect, since He honours them so greatly on earth. It is also most worthy of note that, although the women of this city are naturally somewhat timid and shun the public, especially ladies accustomed to their comforts and delicacies, and usually shrink from corpses, it was not enough for them to kiss his hands; but they also most devoutly handled his face, head and neck with their hands.

[244] That common opinion of his sanctity is proved besides by the desire with which all sought not only to kiss his hands but also to have something of his relics, the biographer confirms, tearing his clothes; and begging something of those things which had remained in his cell, either a book, or a writing, or letters, and eagerly accepting even the lint and dressings which he had used for treating the wound of his leg: and this was done not by seculars only, but also by ecclesiastics, prelates too and lords illustrious by titles; nor only by those who were present at his burial, but also by the absent, who asked for something of these things by letters; nay, finally, even by the brethren themselves who had conversed with him all their life (for which reason, had he not been so eminent a Servant of God, they would not have made so much of his things; for, as the proverb has it, familiarity breeds contempt) — as soon as he had died, they begged his writings or other things from his cell most devoutly, and moreover with a certain rivalry, so that father Prior had to labour much in distributing them. It is likewise to be wondered at with how great devotion the brethren of this house still today visit his sepulchre; but much more wonderful that many and grave preachers, secular priests as well as Religious, Franciscans, Augustinians and Jesuits, have publicly discoursed on the sanctity of this Father.

[245] Now I ask, who moved the hearts of all these? which veneration began neither from human persuasions It is certain that they were not moved by us; for when the Father died we used no ceremony for him except that which is usually employed for any brother; we did not ring the bronze bell for the dead man longer than usual; we did not clothe him with new garments; we placed no particular sign of sanctity about him; we did not preach before he was buried; we did not rouse the people to kiss his hands, nor to apply their Rosaries to him, or to invoke him; we did not go out of the convent to call any of the seculars; nay, from the very beginning we tried to restrain those who did such things; nay, we even hid the body itself. Finally, we showed ourselves so morose and difficult in this respect that for the space of five months after his death we permitted nothing to be given or offered there, and hid in a certain cell what had been brought by some. In like manner, in the translation of the body we behaved in such a way that almost the whole city was indignant, and in particular certain men illustrious in dignity said that they were offended because, although they were devoted to us and frequented our church, we had not been willing to summon them.

[246] So studiously was a concourse of the people avoided that father Prior nor from diabolical art indicated only to two or three fathers of this house the day on which the translation of the body was to be carried out, at the same time forbidding

them to reveal it to anyone without his particular licence; which was also so religiously observed that one of them, being asked on the morning of the day of the translation with great entreaties by many ladies and some relatives whether it was to be done that same day, would not say, and hence it came about that, thinking it would be on another day, they went away from there one hour before it was done. And from this it is manifestly proved that we were not the authors of all these movements, and that blessed Bertrand owes us nothing on that account. We are certain also that they did not come about through the agency of the demon; because we saw that many on that occasion confessed their sins and were refreshed with sacred Communion, which they had not been accustomed to do before, and many restored what belonged to others; others firmly decided to forsake worldly things, of which they had before not thought at all; and finally all were roused to praise God. It is further to be noted that this Servant of God after his death conferred no miracle on anyone who had not confessed his sins or elicited some particular act of contrition, either before or a little after receiving the benefit. Accordingly, since we know how much it displeases the demon that others grieve for their sins or confess their sins, if he had been the author of the honour paid to father Bertrand, he would at once have disturbed it, seeing so little gain come to him from so great an undertaking.

[247] could have proceeded Much more still, although it is read in some History that the demon brought it about that simple and ignorant men paid the honours due to Saints to a certain dead person who was not truly holy, if these things are rightly weighed we shall find that the demon never affected with this favour or injury anyone who, while he lived, was held for good and holy among Catholics and Servants of God; but those who had been publicly marked by bad example, as one reads that he persuaded people that a certain robber should be held for a Saint, until Martin uncovered the deceit ^m. Something similar happened in the time of Alexander III, and would have gone even further had not the praised Pontiff, refuting the devil's invention, removed it by his authority. In the Life of Pius II too, Campanus, who was a bishop, writes that certain Spaniards insisted importunately with the aforesaid Pontiff that he should enrol among the Saints a certain prince who had rebelled against the king his father and had wished to take his kingdom from him; but that the Pope, spurning their demands, commanded them to abstain in future, and not to be moved by the miracles of that prince; because, he said, those who are to be enrolled among the Saints must not only have performed miracles after death, but their life also must have been miraculous. Father brother Paul de Leon also found that in a certain village of Asturias ⁿ at a certain time a certain woman who had been a harlot was venerated as a holy virgin.

[248] and therefore he shows that it has God for its author. These and others of this kind the demon will indeed take care to have held by the people for Saints, because in this way he is made bolder to sin when he sees honoured as Saints those of whose wicked life it was publicly established, but by no means of their worthy penance; but that a penitent man, a lover of poverty, of austere life, chaste, humble, patient in his labours and illnesses, obedient to the divine precepts and those of the Church, and who, as long as he lived, gave offence to no one, should be honoured after his death, the demon will never procure; because in his honour all the virtues are honoured at the same time, vices are reproved, and men are more animated to the service of God when they see His servants so greatly honoured. Therefore, if this so great devotion with which men have followed and follow Blessed Bertrand is neither a human nor a diabolical invention, it follows that it is a divine work; and since God is the highest truth and the highest goodness, it is manifest that the honour shown to father Bertrand is founded on true sanctity.

ANNOTATA.

a. Psalm 138, verse 17.

CHAPTER XIV.

Certain visions and apparitions made for manifesting the Saint's glory are recounted.

CHAPTER XX.

To a certain pious woman it is divinely granted Besides those things which we have already said, in order that the sanctity of this good Father might become more certain in the world in various ways, God revealed it to various persons, besides the prince of whom we made mention above ^a, as we shall tell in this and the following chapter. On the vigil of St. Denis ^b the infirmarian, having gone in to visit father brother Louis, heard him saying as if groaning or wondering: Do women come in here? The keeper therefore doubted whether perhaps he was raving; since it was most certain that no woman could then enter the convent. Wherefore, when the patriarch arrived, he narrated the words which he had heard from the Sick man: and the patriarch, going in to visit him, said to him: How are you? He answered: Do women come in here? What women? said the patriarch. And he replied: Certain women who came in this morning, clothed in the ordinary mantle. The patriarch therefore asked: What did they say to you, father brother Louis? But he answered: Nothing; at which the patriarch wondered greatly.

[250] to see him before his death. The next day a certain very spiritual woman, of the Order of St. Francis, said to the patriarch: God yesterday morning granted me this grace, that, while I was earnestly praying for father brother Louis with the desire of seeing him, power was at once given me, and I was permitted to kiss his feet. The patriarch presently understood that these things were to be referred to what he had heard the day before from the Father, and asked her: Did you say anything to him? She answered: Nothing, my lord. Consult your memory diligently, however, said the patriarch. But she persisted in denying; Because, she said, nothing else was granted me than to kiss his feet; whence it follows that she alone was carried in spirit into the convent. And that father Louis said Women in the plural number should detain no one, because in Latin as well as in the vernacular speech the plural number is sometimes used for the singular: besides that it can be said that God granted the same grace which He did to her to others also, although we do not know it; for the desire of seeing him before his death was huge in the city, because they were persuaded that in that way they would obtain his last blessing.

[251] [The biographer's observation on these things: a vision granted to the same woman.] For this reason the chief labour of those who had the care of him was to watch at the door of his cell: so great was the number of those who ran together to see him, nobles as well as plebeians, ecclesiastics as well as seculars, and many Religious of different Orders, who also flocked thither for the same cause; of whom some desired to be blessed by him, others to touch him, and some even of the chief men reckoned themselves happy if they were permitted to remain a little while on bended knees before his bed. Among the many men eminent in dignity who often visited him was the Master of the Knights of Montesa; who, since he was compelled to leave Valencia, and feared whether on his return he would see him again alive, considered that after his death he would not be able to show him the veneration which other illustrious men were about to pay; and therefore, after he had spoken with him a little, he embraced and kissed his feet; which after him his son also did, lord John Borgia, grand commander of Montesa; although the blessed Father, who could no longer move, cried out in a loud voice: Do not do so, most illustrious lord: for I am a sinner! And indeed it was a thing worth seeing, the weeping of this most illustrious lord out of the veneration with which he was borne towards him, and the great humility of the Servant of God. Further, those to whom entrance was not open sent their Marian Crowns, to be applied to him secretly, lest he should notice; and it was necessary every evening to place a good number of them under his pillow; so that it is established that many desired to see him. Perhaps therefore God granted that grace not only to the above-mentioned woman but to others also. Some days before the Father's death this same woman had seen heaven open above this convent and directly above the Father's cell.

[252] [Of a certain Franciscan praying for him when he was brought to his last extremity,] Another vision of great moment for our purpose concerning his glory I shall briefly relate, the name of the Religious to whom it happened being kept silent, because he would not permit me to name him; nay, he would not even have told the fact itself except in confession; but I would not hear him except in the presence of a certain learned father of this convent, and with the faculty granted me of naming him at least to the patriarch and to a certain other similar person. The matter was as follows: A certain father, a priest of the Order of St. Francis, had for two years desired to know father Louis, of whom he had heard such wonderful things; and he had not been able to obtain his desire before the month of August just past, at Codeglia, in the country house ^c of the patriarch; although he did not speak with him otherwise. Now when the same Religious, on the vigil of St. Denis, which then fell on Sunday, was in choir after the Office of Matins, he began to pray, beseeching God most fervently for him whom he had heard to be dying.

[253] While he was doing so, he saw a certain most splendid church, the wonderful vision of one praying from which many rays of most clear light were coming forth; and approaching nearer to that church he saw its walls made of crystal and gold, and in the middle of it a raised tomb, covered with a silk cloth interwoven with threads of gold, and upon it father Bertrand dead; and around the tomb he saw many golden crosses, and four brethren of the Order of St. Dominic, two at the head, and these seemed very old, and the other two

at his feet, who appeared younger; and all these four had most shining faces, from which as it were rays of the sun, not equal however, proceeded. For from the forehead of him who stood at the head on the right was sent forth a ray much brighter than the others and going higher than the church itself; and from him who stood on the left came forth another similar ray, but from the mouth; from him who was at the right foot two rays shone forth from the hands, which likewise extended higher than the church, and he had his hands open, and was as it were wholly wonderful; from the breast of the fourth burst forth a similar ray, and he carried a palm in his hand.

[254] After this he saw two choirs of angels suddenly arriving through the roof of the church towards the altar, concerning his eternal salvation on the day before his death; carrying white torches in their hands and singing: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory: Hosanna in the highest!" These angels showed profound veneration to the body, then, advancing, divided into two choirs, behind whom came a great number of men and women singing with loud voice; and they venerated that sacred body, kissing its hands and feet; and when these ceased, the angels began again to sing: "Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest!" and then that father was restored to his senses. Accordingly in the morning he inquired whether there was any news of father Louis; but he learned nothing until Tuesday. He asked therefore leave to go to Valencia, and went, and on the Friday of the same week was present at his obsequies; so that God willed to signify to him the death of the holy Father on the day before he died.

[255] This Religious had not wished to reveal this revelation to anyone which vision that Franciscan, compelled, indicated to the biographer. except his confessor; but the latter ordered him to narrate all these things to us. He put off doing so, however, for some days; until, his conscience reproving him, in order to take this scruple from himself he resolved to go to Valencia, to confer about the same vision with another brother of his Order who lived in the convent of Jesus, and at the same time about some other matters pertaining to the salvation of his soul. And on the following night the aforesaid brother from the convent of Jesus appeared to him in sleep and said: Son, rise, and go to the Preachers at Valencia, and tell those fathers at once all the things which you know concerning blessed father brother Louis Bertrand: as regards the other business about which you wished to consult me, act thus and thus; by which words he answered the same Religious on the other doubt he was to propose. After two days, therefore, he came to Valencia, and narrated the whole vision to me amid pious tears in the presence of father brother Jerome Baptist della Nuzza, master in Theology of this convent, who from his tender age was always a singular son of father Bertrand; and it seemed good to us both to relate here not only the vision but also the dream, since we know from sacred Scripture that God has sometimes revealed many things in a dream.

[256] The same biographer's conjecture concerning the persons I asked also who those other four were; but he could not indicate them to me, because God had not revealed it to him; but I think that those two elders who stood at the head were the holy father Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer; and those who stood at the feet, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Peter Martyr. I am induced to think so because the age and the rays suit these exactly. In like manner St. Dominic, although he met death at the age of fifty-one years, was nevertheless so worn out by the many journeys often repeated to and fro from Spain into France and Italy, and by afflictions of the body and labours endured in war, having followed the Catholic army against the Albigensian heretics for ten years, that it is credible that he died altogether grey. And St. Vincent Ferrer was without any doubt the eldest of all whom we have enrolled among the Saints. St. Thomas Aquinas died at fifty years; yet from his original likenesses he did not show so great an age when dying: finally St. Peter Martyr was killed when he numbered forty-four years.

[257] who had appeared in the same, For a like reason it befits St. Dominic to have rays in his forehead, not only because, when he was still an infant, a star was seen on his forehead, but also because from that sacred head, illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit and aided by the authority of the Apostolic See, there came forth things so great and so full of light and authority. The first was the Order of Preachers, so amply spread through the whole world. The second is the Office of the holy Inquisition, which, where it flourishes, the faith flourishes; but where it is not, there not only is the faith endangered, but every other good also tends to ruin: and that man was the first Inquisitor whom the Church of Christ had. The third was the mastership of the sacred palace, which has always been an office of such great authority with the supreme Pontiffs that no sermon can be given before them unless it has first been examined and checked by the father master of the sacred palace. The fourth is the confraternity of the most holy Rosary, a thing of such moment and usefulness that neither do the Pontiffs ever cease to praise it, nor God to make it illustrious, nor the blessed Virgin to cherish it. Light in the mouth befits St. Vincent excellently, since he greatly illuminated the Church by his wonderful sermons. St. Thomas Aquinas, who confuted heresies by his writings, taught in the chairs, and supplied so many and such eminent doctors with arguments for preaching and writing, can be said to have had rays in his hands; but it befitted St. Peter Martyr, whose breast was a furnace of charity so ardent that, following the footsteps of the earlier Inquisitors, he obtained martyrdom, because he had at heart the exercise of the sacred Office against heretics, to have his breast adorned with light and a palm in his hand.

[258] However it may be with this and many other visions which are read in the books of grave authors, conjecture. from the fact that some Saint seems to stand on the right it cannot be argued that he enjoys greater glory than he who is on the left; nor, from the fact that one stands at the head, that he excels him who is at the feet; for the Saints, when they come into this world, perhaps behave in the way in which noblemen are accustomed when they are among countrymen in the country, where they care nothing who precedes whom, and neglect greetings and other ceremonies of that kind. For the rest, it can also be said that, just as this our Father venerated our holy father Dominic above St. Vincent, and St. Vincent above St. Thomas, and finally the latter above St. Peter Martyr, so they were present in the same order to honour his obsequies; but God knows which of them precedes in glory.

CHAP. XXI.

[259] Although those who enjoy God in heaven have no need at all of our services, The same night on which he died, he appeared in glory. and it matters little to them that their glory be known to us, God is nevertheless accustomed sometimes to manifest it to Religious persons, for animating and consoling those who live in this world. I shall not dwell here on relating many examples on this subject; since the books of the Dialogues of St. Gregory, the Works of the Venerable Bede, and the Histories of illustrious men and of various Religious Orders are full of them. And what God did in times past, He will do also in times to come until the end of the world, when it shall please Him, as He did for the glory of this His Servant. A certain pious person, intent on prayer on the night of St. Denis, saw a soul crowned with a golden crown being carried to heaven by two angels; and saw in our church that same night a platform being erected, on which a bier was to be placed with the body of that same blessed soul laid on it. In the morning, having heard that father Bertrand had died, she came to our convent and found the funeral platform which she had seen in spirit, and, looking at the face of him who lay on the bier, knew more certainly that the soul which she had seen was that of father brother Louis.

[260] Four months after, on the 5th day of February, died William Raymond Catalano, a knight, Four months after his death he appeared renowned in this kingdom for the many public offices of great moment which he held, and, in the judgment of all, ecclesiastics as well as seculars, who stood by him as he died, he died piously and happily. And since in that illness the blessed Father often appeared to him, it will be useful to have related here whatever he affirmed that he had seen. The things are thus. After he had already confessed his sins, and had then also several times washed away lighter ones with father Barci of the Society of Jesus, and had been refreshed with the sacred Eucharist, and had made his will, one night he was observed to speak a little, then to listen a little, and then to answer with great joy. For which reason the person who had noticed this, coming nearer, asked what the matter was, to whom he answered: God spare you: for the Virgin, our Lady, and St. Vincent with father Bertrand were just now with me. Some while after he called the same person and said: For the love of God I beg you, say nothing to anyone else: but afterwards the same Saints appeared to him again, and, as far as can be conjectured, he was ordered to tell everything. He narrated these things therefore to some, and by name to lady Francisca Vives de Canamas, his wife, and to lord Francis Vilterra, and to others who had come to venerate St. Vincent Ferrer and the holy brother Louis. He had his head covered with a cap, a Marian Crown hanging from his neck, and under his pillow a girdle, which had belonged to this blessed Father; and he said that father brother Louis had spoken of these things and had said that he should come with him.

[261] on various occasions with other Saints A few hours after, he narrated to three persons another visit of the same two Saints with many others, asserting that there had come to him, in the manner of a suppliant procession, Saints of the same Order, who, arranged round the bed, were reading the Litanies, and naming themselves too; so that, one saying, Saint Dominic, all the others answered: Pray for him. So they continued, naming not only others of the same Order enrolled among the Saints, and St. Raymond, whose name he bore and whose altar in our church he had been accustomed piously to visit, but also many other Saints of our Order, whom he had never heard mentioned before; but he said that in particular there were named by them the martyrs of our convent, namely the holy father brother Dominic of Cordoba de Montemayor and the holy brother Amator Espi; and that he had heard named likewise Pius V with other supreme Pontiffs, and father Micon. He said also that Pius V on the same visit had shown him a great favour, and therefore he asked his kinswoman, lady Hieronyma Vives de Canamas, that, when she went to the church of the Preachers, she would give many thanks to Pius V.

[262] to a noble and pious man, gravely ill; He asserted besides that, while the Litanies of the Saints of the Order of Preachers were being read by them, St. Nicholas of Tolentino ^d, of the Order of St. Augustine, his particular patron, also appeared. He narrated further that he had asked those Saints to obtain life for him; but that they took it ill and were indignant; and that father brother Louis, somewhat disturbed, struck his neck with his hand. Relating which to his wife, he made much of it, saying: O lady, what a violent blow! how it pains me! And although he was not believed at the time, it nevertheless appeared afterwards that he had spoken rightly, because he had struck his neck, and in that part so grave a swelling tormented him that within two days he died. And since in the meantime, so that the noblemen and ladies who were present should not call his mind away from what was of such moment to him, he kept his eyes almost always closed, lady Hieronyma once told him not to sleep; to whom he answered (although in a very low voice): Do not think, lady, that I am sleeping: for the holy father Dominic is standing by, who has placed his staff on his head, and so I enjoy his consolation ^e.

[263] whether this vision was true Further, on the day before he departed from life, having suffered a terrible attack of fever, when the parish priest was already present to fortify him with the last sacred anointing, he was restored to his mind and said that he would willingly receive that Sacrament, and answered the Litanies and all the prayers, as if that Sacrament were not on the point of being conferred on himself. Then of his own accord he recited many prayers most devoutly; then he suffered another attack of the illness, and was again restored to himself, but could never speak thereafter. Pointing two fingers towards the pillow, he called lady Hieronyma Vives with his hand; but they could not understand what he wished to indicate; on account of which he signified his grief. At length a certain priest, called Francis Aguilar, noticing that he very often and most earnestly pointed towards lady Hieronyma, who had been a spiritual daughter of father brother Louis, said to the sick man: Perhaps your lordship wishes to say that lady Hieronyma's Father is standing there? At which he cheerfully bowed his head, because he had now begun to be understood by him; and he went on stretching his two fingers towards the same place, to signify that not one only but two were there. Being asked therefore whether that other was St. Vincent Ferrer, he nodded assent.

[264] Since, however, they doubted whether it was a diabolical illusion, was diligently inquired into; and he invited him to heaven. they sprinkled the pillow with holy water and asked whether they had gone away, which he denied by nods. Then brother John Vincent Catalano, the sick man's son, likewise fearing an illusion, exhorted him to say at least in his heart: The Word was made flesh, so that the vision, if it were not true, might vanish. But the sick man, although before he had not been able to speak, answered most clearly: "And dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Praise be to Thee, O Christ." Not content with this, that son, out of zeal that his father should not be deceived, added: Sir, that it may be established that these are not demons, tell them to say: "Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us." Then the sick man replied: Enough, son, enough: there is no need of so many tests. And being asked what these Saints said to him, he said that he was vehemently urged by them to go with them: then, being asked what he had answered them, he said that he would go willingly: and when at length it was said: Who then is detaining your lordship? You all, he replied; and he said it truly; for all who were present were begging his life from God: but God granted him this grace, that He did not hear those prayers.

[265] That happy sick man saw and said many other things also, The biographer's observations and conjectures which, so as not to be too long, I shall pass over, but a good part of them has been entered into the process; and by name doctor Jerome Garzia testifies in it that the aforesaid lord was, amid all these things, of most unimpaired sense and sound mind. Further, it is worthy of note in what way God rewards him who does something good out of love for Him: I say this because four years before, at that same time, this same lord's first-born son, his future heir, whom he greatly loved and had already imbued with the vain pursuits of the world, had secretly from him asked the habit of our Order from blessed brother Louis Bertrand, then Prior, who within a few days granted it to him. At which his father grieved most grievously; but at length he so acquiesced that in the following year, on the feast of the Purification of the B. Virgin Mary, he offered this first-born of his to God with a willing mind, having been assured that no one had persuaded him to embrace the Religious life, but that he had done it himself of his own accord, moved by his own piety. And so that the father might know that this sacrifice of his had been pleasing to the divine Majesty, He perhaps willed that our Saints should console him at that same time and in the last space of his life, the same son being present.

[265] on these things. I believe besides that God granted him this grace because he had been accustomed frequently to visit devoutly the altars of our Saints; but especially I think that God did this to manifest the glory of father brother Louis to many through that illustrious man, who, as long as he had lived, had always been a good Christian, sincere, faithful, and so given to vocal prayer that he seemed rather an ecclesiastic than a man of the world; and, finally, to show that father Bertrand stood by his promises, which he had given him four days before his death, when he had come to visit the Saint and to ask his blessing: for then that blessed Father had said to him: Go now, lord Catalano, secure: I shall most certainly remember your lordship, and you will experience it in fact. For a like reason I think that Pius V gratified him, because he had a little before had placed on his head that Pope's skullcap, which his most beloved nephew, Cardinal F. Michael Bonelli Alessandrino, had given me, besides other favours with which he deigned to honour me for the sake of this convent, which he had first piously visited to honour the memory of St. Vincent in the year 1571, when he came from the holy Apostolic See into Spain, accompanied by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Riario, now a most deserving Cardinal, F. Bartholomew de Lugo, bishop of Terni ^f, and F. Vincent Herculano, then bishop of Sarno ^g, now of Perugia ^h in his native place, both of our Order, together with the Superior General of the Jesuits, Francis Borgia, a great ornament of this kingdom ⁱ, and other prelates and doctors, and by name the most learned and most religious father master brother John Gallo of good memory. This Servant of God after his death visited other persons too besides those already mentioned; but it will suffice to have related these things.

ANNOTATA.

a. Namely chapter 12.

CHAPTER XV.

A Process instituted concerning the miracles performed by the Saint after his death before the translation of his body, which are related here.

CHAP. XXII.

A process is instituted concerning his miracles, which the biographer, God not only made this blessed Father illustrious while he lived with very many gifts, namely of prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues and miracles, but after his death continued to honour him, many benefits being conferred on various persons through his intercession. Hence it came about that the magistracy of this city ^a, called the Jurats, on the 29th day of the past ^b month of November, insisted much with the patriarch and our archbishop that he should order a process to be instituted concerning the miracles which were daily being done through his help; and so the patriarch committed it to lord Michael de Spinosa, bishop of Morocco ^c, in whose prudence he greatly trusted. From this Process and from some other particular accounts received from the same persons who were examined in it are drawn almost all the following miracles, which I shall faithfully relate, after I have refuted two errors of the common people.

[268] The first is that they think no miracles are done in the world in our times, having first refuted two and this error is manifest; since it is not yet seventy-eight years since St. Francis of Paola, father of the Minims, died, and the Church has enrolled him among the Saints ^d; and therefore it is necessary that he performed miracles. Similarly, not more than seventy-eight years ago died Blessed Osanna of Mantua, and yet the ecclesiastical Office is read of her with the faculty of the supreme Pontiff ^e, and therefore she performed miracles. The same licence was given a few years ago by the Apostolic See in favour of many other Blessed, which, however, is not usually granted except on account of remarkable miracles. I myself on this subject can affirm that I saw at Rome the Process brought there by our Polish fathers to request from our Most Holy Lord Pope Gregory XIII the solemn canonization of one of the companions of St. Dominic, called Hyacinth ^f, of whom nevertheless in that province the Office can be said by the faculty granted by Pope Clement VII on the 2nd day of February of the year 1527. In this Process I found that, besides the old miracles, from the year 1500 up to 1510 he had performed (so to speak) infinite ones, concerning which public processes were instituted in the time of Leo X and Adrian VI ^g; and that four hundred and nine witnesses were examined, who asserted many miracles of the same Saint. The same, nay even more, can be said of our father St. Gonzalo de Amarante ^h, the Portuguese, whose Office Pius IV ⁱ permitted to be read in the whole Portuguese dominion.

[269] Finally, those who say that miracles are not done in our times should be compelled to go on pilgrimage to St. Mary of Loreto, or to the Annunziata at Florence, or to the B. Virgin Mary of the Oak near Viterbo; or, if they do not wish to leave Spain, the errors of certain persons, he begins to recount. let them go to Montserrat, or to Aguas Lupias, or to the B. Mary of Lanciæ Oppidanæ ^k, or to other places of this kind, and they will soon see whether even now

they are done or not. The other thing which some imagine to themselves is that true miracles must be done suddenly and not in the lapse of time: which opinion rests on a certain saying of the Venerable Bede on chapter 4 of Luke. But he is not to be believed to have said it so generally, as though this never, nay not very often, happened: for Christ our Redeemer, when He healed the man born blind, did not heal him in a single moment, but gradually ^l; and He did this, as Cardinal Cajetan rightly observed in his last Jentaculum, to teach that not all miracles are done in a moment, as some would have it. Let us return to our purpose.

[270] A man afflicted for many years with a grave ailment of the nostrils, First: Gaspar Gari, living at Valencia but born at Lucena ^m, from a certain infirmity in his boyhood had entirely lost his sense of smell, so that he did not smell even the stench of brute animals which lay dead and putrid in the streets. He had besides in his nostrils as it were a fountain perpetually flowing with pus and corruption, so that it was very disgusting to deal or speak with him. He had already laboured with that ailment for thirty-six continuous years, during which time it was necessary to apply strong waters and other sharp medicines three times each day; and yet he could not be freed from so troublesome and terrible a discharge. Further, while father Louis was Prior of our convent, this honest man came to his cell and four times asked that he might be permitted to kiss his hand, but never obtained it; at which repulse he grieved, fearing that he had deserved it by his sins.

[271] kissing the hand of the dead Saint, he is suddenly healed Remaining in this so grave infirmity, for which no human remedy was to be found, when he learned that father Louis had died, he came to kiss his hand, and, having entered the church, said to two persons who were with him: I wish to kiss the hand of this holy Father, that he may help me; and so he went up to the funeral bier, and kissed both hands, praying him with an inner voice in this way: Father brother Louis, I believe that you are in heaven; I beseech you that, if you would not console me while you lived, you would console me now that you are dead, by praying God to free me from so grave an ailment. And at that same moment of time he felt a great fragrance and a great relief in his head, in his nose and in his eyes; nor did he ever afterwards suffer that infirmity with which he had laboured more than thirty-six years, and today he perceives all odours, nor is he any longer a disgust to anyone by the stench which once burst from that fistula.

[272] Fever, toothache, Francisca Ferrera, wife of Michael John Benedetto, a nobleman in this kingdom, on the same day on which this father died came to see him, for the sake of venerating his body: and since she had left at home her daughter Vincentia, labouring with a very heavy continual fever and a violent tightness of the chest, on returning home she put on her finger a ring which the said Father had worn on account of his infirmities, I know not at what time; and at once the fever left her and the tightness of the chest ceased. To Ursula, wife of Anthony John Salastre, already tormented for three days with intolerable toothache, a certain blind man coming to her door said that he had venerated the body of blessed brother Louis, and had a cloth which had been applied to the hands and face of the Servant of God. She received it from him, and rubbed her face lightly with it, and at once all the pain went away. One month after, the same ailment seized her; but, remembering that she had a Marian Crown which had touched that cloth, she applied it to herself, and in the space in which one might have recited the Apostles' Creed two or three times she came out free of that ailment.

[273] Under the right ear of Joanna Villalba, a girl of eighteen years, there had grown so foul a fleshy swelling a swelling, abscesses, an ailment of the eye, a flux of blood that it seemed to be another ear; and for three or four months she had laboured to hide it under her coif. But on the very day on which the Father was buried, after she had kissed his feet once and his hands four times, she applied his hand to the ailment, and it at once ceased. Then, however, after some time a swelling the size of a quince was found under the left arm of the same girl, which had begun four months before. But when she had applied to it a little piece of the garment of the Servant of God, it began to abate, and in the space of fifteen days she came out entirely sound. And when afterwards another swelling like the former had grown on the left ⁿ arm, using the same remedy she was healed. Isabella Esserila was suffering gravely from her right eye, but, having kissed the hand of the Servant of God on the same day on which he was buried, at the same moment she was healed. A certain widow called l'Arenosa, having suffered a flux of blood for three years, after a kiss given to the Father's hand on the day of his burial was likewise made sound at once.

[274] Sperantia, daughter of Peter Tudo, suffering from vomiting of blood, and vomiting cured: an infant freed from danger. found no remedy for so great an ailment; but after she fixed kisses on the foot of the Servant of God the blood stopped thereafter, although she had suffered that ailment for eighteen months before. On the same day at Museros Vincent Matthew, a boy of two years, put into his nostrils a chufa (it is a certain sweet root which grows in this kingdom), and so he was in the greatest torment from morning until evening, nor did his mother nor his grandmother, after many attempts, find any remedy that availed. The boy therefore being in the utmost danger, his father Simon Alvarado remembered father Bertrand, whose death he had then learned, and said: O father brother Louis, if you are holy, as I believe, do not permit my son to die thus; and suddenly he saw that chufa come out of the boy's nostrils; and he was freed from all danger.

[275] Gregory, son of John Mark, a notary, a boy of four years, Pustules, and various other when he had already laboured for thirty days with children's pustules, of which he was full on his face and whole body, could neither see nor speak; at length he also drew up his legs so that his knees were brought to his breast. In his left side too he suffered so much pain that he could not rest, but cried out day and night. And since no hope of recovery shone forth, there was not wanting one who prayed God for his death, that he might cease to suffer. Moved by these things his sister, called lady Anna, of the third Order of St. Francis, relying on father brother Louis, on the evening of the day after his burial applied to the boy's side a piece of the tunic in which he had been buried, reciting meanwhile the Our Father and Hail Mary; and so, in proportion to the applied rag, the pain ceased, and in the night he stretched out his legs, not otherwise than if he had suffered no ailment, and the next morning, helped by no one, he walked about the house. For which reason this boy was accustomed to say that he had been healed by father brother Louis; and whenever he felt any itching of that pain, he called his sister to apply his relics to the part that hurt; which done, he was presently sound; and this happened often. Finally, now entirely healed, he wished always to have that rag of the tunic about him.

[276] ills, by the use of a shred of his garment The same infirmity, with a very grave fever, afterwards attacked the same Gregory's little brother of seven years (he was called Blaise and was clothed in the habit of St. Dominic), and was heaviest around his eyes. The aforesaid sister therefore, placing on him something of father Louis's clothes, recited the Our Father and Hail Mary, and vowed that he would wear the same habit for another year also: and without delay the pustules around the eyes dried up, the fever ceased, and the remaining pustules broke out without any fever. A few days after the Father's death lord John Buil de Arenos, lord of Alsafar, handed to lady Isabella, his daughter, a piece of father Louis's tunic to keep. When a certain maidservant of hers, most gravely ill, had heard this, she said to lady Isabella: Lady, is that from the habit of that good Friar who they say has died? And when she affirmed it, the servant, receiving it in her hand, rubbed her head and face with it; and all pain at once departed, and she recovered. Hearing this, a certain boy of a countryman of Alsafar, lying in the same bed with a grave tertian fever, touching himself with the same piece, suddenly came out healthy.

[277] driven away from various persons, The same lord John, returning home one evening, and finding the nurse of one of his daughters so gravely afflicted in her eyes that she had always to stay in a dark place; and that the same nurse's daughter, who was about ten years old, was also held by the same ailment, and that another daughter of lord John himself had moreover begun to be troubled with the same disease; he himself touched the two girls with the same relics, and his daughter felt no further ailment; the other, who was the nurse's, at once opened her eyes, and the next day was free of all ailment; but the nurse, who had not known the Servant of God, did not take care to use the same relics; and through the whole following night, although she had applied some medicine, she cried out on account of the grievous pain of her eyes. The next morning lord John said to her: Nurse, your slight faith and the small devotion which you have conceived towards this holy Man have caused you not to be healed; but if you recite the Hail Mary, I, by the devotion with which I am borne towards him, will heal you: and so, touched by him with the same piece of the tunic, she began to recover, and by the evening of the same day was free of all ailment. These things having been so done, when his daughter Isabella was tormented by a grave ailment of one knee, from which she could not move except with the greatest difficulty, and at the times between moons stuck fast even immovable; nor did she cease to weep on account of the violent pain, nor did the physicians know any remedy for this ailment, her husband Dassier, syndic of the city of Valencia, reminded her of the aforesaid relics of father Bertrand, which as soon as she applied to herself she felt no further pain.

[278] Lord Balthasar Escriva was suffering most gravely in one eye, likewise from another, an ailment of the eyes by the use of his spectacles: and for two months had been unable to go out of the house or to find any relief; and a dangerous white film having arisen in the same eye, he began to suffer in the other too. Lady Catherine, his mother, held it for certain that he would become blind; but Francis Aguilar, a beneficed priest at St. John's, brought him the pair of spectacles which father Louis had used, which he, kissing and often placing on his eyes with great devotion, began suddenly to feel relief, and, wishing to admit no other remedy, in four days was made entirely sound.

[279] On the vigil of All Saints, when Melchior Joseph de Castro was going up a staircase made in the manner of a spiral, another, a vow having been made to him, escaped a great danger: it broke under his feet, and he remained hanging by his hands from

one of the steps, which was already loosened and as it were torn away from the wall; wherefore he was in great danger of falling; and he had besides his leg most gravely injured by the stones which had fallen. In this condition he vowed to God that he would visit the sepulchre of brother Louis and offer there an image of wax, if he escaped that danger and recovered from his wounds. After this he got into bed, very fatigued from the effort, the wounds, and the fear with which he had been seized. And the next morning, on waking, he saw a certain brightness in his chamber, and was at once made sound, not even a trace of the wounds remaining; but it was only found that he had shed much blood in his sleep.

[280] In the month of November so great a pain in the side seized Maria Anna Benedetti one from a pain in the side, another from a flux of blood, that her hands and feet suddenly became very cold and her whole countenance was changed; but, the ring of this holy Man, of which I made mention above, having been placed on her by her mother Francisca Ferrera, she was immediately restored to health. Euphemia Fontana, wife of Philip Fusero, was very ill from a continual and terrible flux of blood. Her husband, seeing her now very weak and near to death, gave her a piece of the garment of the Servant of God, which she, receiving most devoutly, commended herself to him in tears, and at that same moment felt her strength restored to her, emitted no more blood, and the next day got down from bed safe.

[281] Sister Anna Marca, a Tertiary of the Order of St. Dominic, another from anguish of mind, were freed. could not bring her mind to pray for father Louis, as is usually done for other dead persons; but much more she commended herself to him, that he would pray God for her. On which account a certain person cast into her a scruple of mortal sin, asserting that, because he was not yet enrolled among the Saints by the Church, it was not lawful to invoke him. Hearing which, she grieved most vehemently, and, finding no quiet of mind, she turned to the Father, using these words: My Father, I believe that you are blessed in paradise, and I promise you that I will carry a silver heart to your sepulchre if you free me from this so great bitterness: and without delay she felt herself free and cheerful. As regards the scruple, we shall speak more fittingly in the last chapter.

[282] By the use of similar relics an ailment of the arm, deafness, Angela Melchiora Garzia, a girl of thirty-two years, was afflicted with a grave pain in her right arm, so that she could scarcely use it; and when she had washed linen, she could no longer handle it, and feared that she would be entirely deprived of its use: but because she worked with others, she could not spare herself. For which reason lady Beatrice Dissar gave her a piece of the scapular of this holy Man, which she most devoutly applied to her arm, and after three days was healed. The same woman asserts that, when her eyes pained her so much that they seemed about to leap out of her head, she touched them with the same relics and was suddenly healed. Catherine Occagna, a girl of sixteen years of age, had become entirely deaf, and so for eight days remained most grievously afflicted, always grieving and weeping that she would remain thus the rest of her life. Hence her father was so saddened that he would gladly have spent whatever he possessed to heal her. But one evening they sent for father brother John Ferrero, syndic of the convent, who read the Gospels to her and applied to her forehead a little of father Bertrand's clothes; and he applied to her ears a piece of the little bandage with which he had been accustomed to bind the wound of his leg, forming the sign of the Cross with the same piece. At once the girl began to hear, and repeated whatever they said to her. A few days after, the same girl suffered most grievously in her head, and, a piece of the same clothes being placed on her, she recovered without delay.

[283] and scrofula taken from an illustrious youth Lord Michael Sanz, a youth of thirteen years, had his whole neck ulcerated with scrofulous sores, by which he had been tormented for a year and a half: and his grandmother, lady Castellana Sanz, had spent much on physicians and medicines without fruit. At length the youth came to this house, and there, having confessed his sins, placed a piece of father Bertrand's tunic on his neck; and on the following night he began to be better: then he read the Office of the Dead three times at his sepulchre, and the next day, which was the Vigil of the Nativity of the Lord, he found all those openings of the neck closed and quite dry. Which indeed was a huge miracle.

[284] The remarkable healing of two women. A certain woman, a tenant of a house let to her by lord John Mugnozzo, Saia by name, was seized with an ailment which here at Valencia is called Pelo di mammella ^o, and for two days had laboured with a sharp fever with very acute pain in the breast, in which she suffered a very hard swelling; and besides one of her arms was so contracted that she could not extend it. But since lady Magdalen Mugnozza Borgia had a little before laboured with a similar ailment, and had been healed by the use of a piece of father Bertrand's clothes, this lady persuaded her to use the same remedy. She did so gladly, and in the space of time in which the Apostles' Creed can be recited the pain ceased, she was able to extend her arm, and the fever too left her a little after, and, the said tumour then being dissolved, she was made sound in every part. Noticing this, lady Magdalen began to be troubled with a scruple that she had, as she had been accustomed, those relics of so holy a Man hung on her neck, and therefore she took them off from there and kept them in another place; but her former pain returned to her, and for that reason she too took them up again, and recovered once more.

[285] For one a discharge from the head, for another a wound, is cured In the month of December of the year 1581 Francisca Ferrera, wife of Michael John Benedetto, since she had found no remedy for a violent discharge proceeding with much pain from her head, placed on it a piece of the scapular of the said Father, and rejoiced in a sudden healing. When Peter Monclus, a student of letters, who had about him the above-mentioned Marian Crown, chanced to come near a house where there was a certain man gravely and dangerously wounded in the head, being asked by some to visit the sick man, he went, and, mention having been made of the Crown, the sick man placed it on the wound inflicted, with pious feeling of mind, with such success that he suddenly began to recover, and promptly came out sound, to the wonder of the surgeons.

[286] On the day of the Innocents Gaspar Periz had left at home Joanna Vasquez in excellent health; from others ailments of the breasts, but returning there he found her rather dead than alive; seized namely with a violent fever, and grave pain of the breast and of one of the breasts, and with one of her arms moreover contracted. At which, greatly astonished, he asked her to commend herself to father Louis; but she, not content with that, had besides a particle of the same Father's habit brought to her, and at once she felt herself better, and fell asleep, and after sleep was entirely healed. Angela Vera, wife of Corvo, a notary, on the three occasions on which she had given birth had always suffered gravely from her breasts, so that she was as it were mad with pain, nor had she ever been able to suckle her child except with one breast. She gave birth a fourth time before the feast of the Nativity of the Lord just past, and the same usual pain of the breast tormented her for five or six days. Wherefore her son, seeing her so afflicted, said: My mother, since so many things are said of father Bertrand, commend yourself to him: and, having found a little of his scapular, he laid it on her breast. So the pain and the infirmity at once ceased together, and she was able to suckle her son comfortably with both breasts.

[286] Mother sister Agullona, a Tertiary of the Order of St. Francis, from others diseases of the eyes, and other infirmities after she had suffered for some years from her eyes, and for that reason blood had been drawn from her more than two hundred times (which, although it seems as though it could not have been done, is nevertheless certain), lost her sight, so that she saw almost nothing more, and was very unwell. Pitying her lot, the bishop, lord Michael Spinosa [p], signed her eyes with the edge of father Bertrand's girdle; and she at once began to see, nor was it necessary any longer to draw blood from her eyes. On the 10th day of February lady Maria Costa, after taking a medicine, was violently upset and seized by so great an ailment that, her tongue being impeded, she could utter no word, and trembled all over; there came on also so great a faint that she neither knew what was said nor perceived the ailment by which she was afflicted. She remained so for about two hours, after which, remembering the Servant of God, she asked by nods for the little chest in which were certain relics of her brother-in-law. So her husband James Bertrand applied a piece of his tunic to her throat as she knelt and groaned and invoked the Father as she could; and without delay she spoke rightly and distinctly, and ceased to tremble, to the wonder of all, and especially of doctor Reguart, who held the fact for a great miracle.

[287] Lady Anna Guasco, maternal aunt [q] of the Servant of God, grave ones are driven away by a similar remedy. lay gravely ill of a quotidian fever; but she was still more afflicted by a most intense pain, which within ten days had deprived her of all sensation in the right part of her head. To remedy this ailment they had cut off her hair and drawn blood eight times without any profit; nay, she felt herself dying and failing. There came to her, to hear her confession, one of the fathers of this convent, who narrated to her the miracle which father Bertrand had performed a few days before. Hence she, on the advice of her husband Galeran Bou, not only invoked his help with a vow of offering a silver head if she were healed, but also touched her head with the Servant of God's skullcap. In the time in which the psalm Miserere could be recited twice, the pain was diminished, and in the night it ceased entirely. This happened on the 10th day of February.

[288] Various benefits conferred on an illustrious boy, On the last day of October lord John de Castelvi, a boy of three and a half years, children's pustules breaking out with a sharp fever, trembled all over, and could not stand on his feet; for which reason his paternal aunt, lady Maria de Castelvi, placed on his head an image of St. Michael which father Bertrand had been accustomed to carry about in his Breviary, and he at once became quiet. When afterwards, after two or three days, he was tormented by great pain in his arms, he asked urgently whether he had not been touched in those places. Then, these being wrapped in a bandage made from the linen which the Father had used in his last illness, he was at once free from all pain. After some days, when he was now free of fever, they wished to dress him in his clothes, but they found him paralysed in the lower half of his body, especially in the feet and legs, on which, when he was bidden to stand, he suffered and wept most bitterly. They noticed besides that in his right loin a certain bone protruded notably, which thing appeared very deformed. Remembering therefore the aforesaid bandage, they wrapped his feet in it, and presently he felt himself better. Meanwhile, while he was being healed,

he said to his mother: Lady, bind my feet with the holy Father's bandage; perhaps it will heal my feet as it healed my arms. Nor was this boy deceived in his hope; for within a few days he could not only walk but, as before, run; and, no other remedy being applied, they found that bone too put back in its place. They observed diligently also that the same bandages, washed twice for the sake of cleaning, never lost the fragrance which they had contracted from the time the Father had slept in that linen.

[289] to whose family he was beneficent also at other times. He conferred besides many other miracles on other persons of the same house, and in particular on lady Maria, as regards whom it will be useful to have observed what he said while he lived. For once, consoling her in adversities, he said to her: My lady, use my services whenever you wish; you will always find me ready to console you; and since she never asked him anything while he lived, he willed after his death to do her good and to hear her prayers. To lady Raphaela de Castelvi, tormented with great pain in one of her ears, on the 18th day of March it also grew so violently in the other that she now heard nothing at all; and she grieved that she would remain deaf from her very youth; but remembering that she had a certain little bandage of the Father's, which on account of other infirmities she had been accustomed to wear around her heart, she applied one edge of it to one ear and the other to the other, when from one of them much matter suddenly flowed, and she remained entirely sound. Three days after she used the same remedy against a flux of blood from her right eye; and here too she experienced the help of the Servant of God.

[290] An obstruction of the stomach and deafness cured Lord John Vives de Canamas laboured with so grave an obstruction of the stomach that he could neither digest food nor drink cold water, and was therefore vehemently afflicted in his old age: but his daughter, lady Hieronyma, gave him a purse which had been the Father's, and, this being placed on his stomach, he was without delay better, and, the obstruction ceasing, was made entirely sound. When lady Louisa Borgia, wife of lord John de Cardona, had been deaf for a long time, she had nine Masses said at the sepulchre of the Servant of God, which had not yet all been read when she already enjoyed excellent hearing.

ANNOTATA.

p. The bishop of Morocco, namely, of whom mention has already been made several times above.

q. Or paternal aunt, whether of the father's or the mother's side; for in Italian it is: Seconda zia.

CHAPTER XVI.

The translation of the sacred body, and some miracles or benefits obtained through his invocation after the translation.

CHAP. XXIII.

The translation is deferred to the following day, Since the miracles of this Servant of God were multiplying from day to day, before his new sepulchre was completed father Prior was anxious to transfer his body, so that those who were continually running there to arrange for Masses to be celebrated there should not have to be let into the choir. And he decided to carry out this translation secretly on the night of the Vigil of the Annunciation of the B. Virgin Mary, with not more than twenty or thirty persons present, and all of them illustrious; but we do not know by what means that plan was spread through the whole city. Hence a great multitude of men began to flock together, so that it was not permitted him to do what he wished; especially because the patriarch was not well. Wherefore, with his good leave, the business was put off to the following day; but since many had already foreseen that it would be done by night and had resolved to be present, it seemed expedient to father Prior to forestall them, and to do it a little before noon about the dinner hour, because he believed that at that hour no one would be present there except those who had been particularly summoned, nor would they make up the number of thirty.

[292] on which, before a great multitude of the people, But the people, seeing that at that hour the patriarch had entered through the gate of the convent, and through the door of the church the vicereine, lady Lucretia de Gralla y de Moncada, with a smaller retinue than usual, at once understood what was afoot. With the patriarch there came no others than the bishop and some servants and members of his household; and with the vicereine her son, lord Gaston, her footwomen, lord Jerome Ruiz de Corella, her son-in-law, and some servants: but the doors could not be shut so quickly but that more than five or six hundred persons were present, and among them many noble and illustrious men, and many ladies and doctors.

[293] the entire body is translated: the next day it is again raised from the tomb The sepulchre having been opened, the body was found entire, free of all corruption and stench; and so it was taken out from there not without the most abundant tears of the bystanders as they saw it; and as they strove by force and by words to kiss it and to apply Marian Crowns to it. And after the patriarch and our bishop had kissed his feet with great humility, devotion and spiritual joy, we carried it anxiously and with difficulty, fearing lest, as two fingers had previously been cut off, the whole hand should be cut off, to the new sepulchre. On the following day, immediately after noon, since the sepulchral stone had been badly fitted, it had to be removed, and on that occasion we carried the body out from there a second time; which, although it had been managed so secretly that some brethren of the convent had difficulty in knowing it up to that point, more than two hundred seculars were nevertheless present; and it was a spectacle of much devotion, when all one by one, suffused with tears, kissed his hands, giving thanks to God: which the brethren of the convent also most devoutly did.

[294] And because on the following day, on which the smallest finger of one of his hands had already been broken, and a finger is cut off from him, presently salutary to a dying woman. the Prior ordered me to cut it off, so that some relics of him might be had, it happened that, while I was cutting off this finger to be enclosed in a silver case, I heard that lady Isabella de Escriva was in proximate danger of death, and that the physicians had as it were abandoned all hope of her recovery. Accordingly, being asked by her mother, I placed the same finger on her head, and she began immediately to recover, so that within a few days she left her bed.

[295] Now I shall relate something which happened after the translation. The author's observation on the incorrupt body but corrupted garments, Father Provincial and father master brother John Vitale, on the very day on which he was translated, having first entered the sepulchre, remained in it a little less than half an hour, stripping the body of the garments in which it had been buried, which were altogether torn and cut (which had been done by those who had wished to snatch them for themselves out of devotion), and clothing it with other white and clean ones: nor did they smell any odour there; which greatly cheered them. On the other hand, when in the evening after the body had been translated we were removing those old garments from there, they were infected with the very odour which is usually that of the garments of corpses; and they were full of white and black worms, which roused in me no small wonder. Nor do I doubt that this was done by divine providence, so that we might notice that it is a great miracle that the body remained so entire and free of stench in a place which, since it is damp on account of the water perpetually dripping into it, could putrefy the garments, and yet did not putrefy the flesh, which naturally putrefies more easily; and that the worms, of which innumerable ones had eaten his garments, did not feed on the body. Finally it is worthy of great wonder that the same garments infected everything with their intolerable stench, so that, while they were spread out in the garden of our cell, no one could approach them; and nonetheless the aforesaid fathers, as long as they were in his sepulchre, felt no disgust, no stench, and found no uncleanness in handling them; nay, not only did they smell no stench, but some, while the sepulchre was being opened, even experienced a most sweet odour.

[296] Both these and those who saw the brightness at his death, and a pious admonition. and also those who heard the singing, and finally all others to whom God willed to show something particular pertaining to the glory of this most holy soul, I admonish not to prefer themselves to others on that account: for this is not wont to proceed from greater or lesser merit, but from the will of the Almighty: but let them strive to imitate this holy Man's humility, patience, love of solitude, modesty, chastisement of the body, and finally purity and chastity; lest it be possible to say of them what Christ said in St. Matthew and St. Luke: "Woe to thee, Corozain; woe to thee, Bethsaida: for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes ^a." Now let us subjoin some miracles which happened after the translation.

[297] The Saint, appearing, a man from an ailment of the hand, A certain official, Portero by name, born at Alventosa, had for twenty-two years carried on the wrist of his hand as it were a bladder the size of a moderate nut, which in cold weather swelled very much with such pain that he could not work. On the feast day of St. Vincent Ferrer ^b the sanctity of father Bertrand came into his mind, and after he had confessed his sins to father brother Jerome Gasco, of the Order of Minims, he prayed father Bertrand that for the love of God he would remember him in heaven and obtain health for him. After two nights he dreamed that that blessed Father had entered his chamber, in the same bodily appearance and with the kindly countenance with which he had seen him when he kissed the hand of the dead man. And while he was so sleeping he stretched out his hand towards the Father, and felt that bladder being broken by a very soft finger from the lower side; while this was being done he awoke, and found himself perfectly healed in a single moment of time, no trace of that ailment being left: which was a sudden miracle.

[298] a woman from a dangerous illness, Catherine Augustina Borgia on the 3rd day of April began to feel a terrible infirmity, which she suspected was perhaps some kind of madness, or at least the beginning of it; therefore she prayed God either to relieve so intense a pain or to let her die. On the following Sunday, which was that of the Olives ^c, she came in time to our church to be present according to her custom at the blessing of the olives; but so disturbed that, when she stood, she wished to sit; when she sat, to rise to her feet. She resolved therefore to return home, and while she was wishing to do so she came upon some persons praying at the sepulchre of the blessed Father, and said silently to herself: This Friar must be holy, since they invoke him: and therefore she too prayed him to obtain health for her from God. Nevertheless she returned home as she had come, that is, afflicted with the same pain.

[299] likewise appearing, he suddenly frees. But on the following night, after she had commended herself again to the Father, she fell asleep, and while sleeping saw in her chamber so great a clearness that the sun's compared with it seemed to her very slight, and she beheld the holy father brother Bertrand, who placed his hand on her head, uttering three words, but very softly; and therefore, she said, she had not understood them, especially because she was wholly intent on gazing at him, and at the huge brightness which proceeded from him, and at another companion of his. Some while after, that great light vanished, and she, restored to her senses, found herself entirely sound. The same lady, being asked whether she had known that Father while he lived, denied it: but asserted that he had then been well known to her, although she did not know by what means. She says besides that from that time, whenever she remembers him, she sighs with much consolation, and cannot accustom herself to call him Brother Bertrand, but rather Saint Bertrand.

[300] One woman recovers suddenly from quinsy, another from an abscess; Magdalen Meca, accustomed to suffer much from quinsy, by which she was brought into danger of her life, and in Holy Week feeling the same distresses coming upon her, was in great affliction and fear; when Matthew Comes, her notary, admonished her to commend herself to blessed father Bertrand, who was performing such great miracles, and to tie some relics of his clothes to her neck: which done, she was healed a little after. The same woman testifies that, having invoked the help of the same Servant of God, she was also freed from two other infirmities. Joanna Angela Spina, a girl of twelve or thirteen years, suffered from a swelling in the belly, which afterwards became all black, and caused her violent pain and fever, nor permitted any rest. Her father and mother, gravely anxious on this account, bade her invoke father brother Bertrand, and hung from her neck a Marian Crown which had been his. The girl, obeying, began to recite her prayers piously; and suddenly said to her mother that she felt no further ailment or pain. They examined her therefore, and found that abscess opened and flowing with much pus. And without delay, without other plasters, she recovered entirely, and got out of the bed in which she had already lain more than fifteen days: and what makes the miracle more certain still, no scar, no trace of the ailment remained in her.

[301] The son of Vincent Chenco, fifteen or sixteen years of age, had already been ill for many days, likewise another, of whose life there was despair. and, the ailment always increasing, had been brought to such a point that on the last day of April doctor Louis Almenara told his mother that no hope remained in human remedies, that her son's life was despaired of, and that he must be commended to God and to some one of the Saints. Hearing this, she began to weep, especially because she beheld in her son manifest signs of what the physician had said; but remembering that she had a little of father Bertrand's tunic, she took it and, wrapped in a white cloth, offered it to her son, saying: Son, have confidence in the holy father Bertrand, that he will heal you: but the youth began to weep. His mother therefore tied it to his forehead; and he at once said that he was now better, and the next day came to our church to give thanks to God, not without the wonder of the neighbours, who had known his infirmity.

[302] To Catherine Dazza, wife of Peter Andrew, a flax-merchant, To a woman milk is granted: a man's paralysis, a little after childbirth the breasts dried up, and for a whole month she lacked milk, her child meanwhile being entrusted to a nurse. But afterwards for a certain reason she wished to take back her infant; and grieving that milk was lacking to her, she vowed to father Bertrand that she would have nine Masses celebrated; and so she received milk in her breasts. Peter Cyprian, a carter, having suffered paralysis in his arms for more than a year, was afterwards so much aggravated by that ailment that, although he could use his hands, he could no longer move his arms; and if even a hair had fallen to the ground he could not pick it up except by kneeling or lying prostrate on the ground. On the 16th day of April, which was Easter Monday ^d, hearing how many things were being narrated of father Bertrand, he decided to come to our convent, hoping that by touching the sepulchre he would be healed. He came therefore, and, having touched it as he could, felt his arms crack, and before he had returned to his house he was entirely sound. The neighbours wondered that he used his arms in the manner of the healthy.

[303] Macciana Morilla, a girl of ten or eleven years, daughter of Paul Morillo, afflicted for three years with an infirmity of the eyes, so that sometimes she did not even see what she was eating, after many remedies applied to purge the body, and after blood-letting, experienced nothing that availed. a girl's disease of the eyes; another's ailment of the hand are cured: But a certain woman of good life persuaded her to have nine Masses said at the sepulchre of Blessed Bertrand. She did so, and was present at them barefoot: and so, the Masses having been completed, she came out sound. Anna, daughter of Anthony Vasquez, after she had suffered grave continual pains in her right hand for two years, and could not move it because of a swelling as large as a nut which had grown on it, seeing that medicines did not avail, seized with great devotion a Marian Crown which had been the Servant of God's, and while she held and handled it with the same hand that ailment was driven away.

[304] a thorn sticking in the throat is removed: a boy almost dying is healed: Isabella Joanna Sapena, having had for thirteen or fourteen days a thorn crosswise in her throat, which she could neither remove nor bear, began to fear that she would be suffocated, especially because her whole neck was inflamed. At length, induced by a woman of good life, she touched her neck with a small piece of father Bertrand's scapular, and the same night slept free of all pain, and when she awoke she found her neck free of all inflammation, nor did she ever feel that thorn again, not knowing where it had gone. On the 19th day of March the son of lady Stella, Mark-Anthony by name, was labouring with a deadly fever, and with so great an inflammation of the neck that the physicians greatly feared that he would be suffocated: and for two days he was without food, except a little milk poured into his mouth from a spoon. He was at length brought so far that they had him anointed at once with the sacred oil. Then a very deep sleep seized him, and his grandmother and mother, seeing that the boy was despaired of by human reckoning, sent without delay a certain paternal uncle ^e of his, a student of letters, to light a torch at the sepulchre of blessed father Bertrand, and to vow an image of wax, and that the boy himself would be clothed in the habit of St. Dominic. This done, the boy awoke, freed from all fever and swelling.

[305] [from others a swelling of the neck, difficulty of urine, dropsy, a trouble of the feet,] A certain girl had a great swelling on her neck, which the surgeons wished to cut: but Matthew Comes, a notary, persuaded her mother to apply a piece of the Servant of God's scapular to her neck; and the next morning she was healthy. Navarra Albizia, wife of a certain fisherman, since for three days she had been unable to pass urine, commended herself to the Father, and remained free of that ailment. The same woman testifies that a certain boy of four years of age was as it were dropsical; but after the bandage which father Louis had used was placed on his belly, he felt no further ailment; and that another boy, this one's brother, had been unable to walk; but, a scapular of the habit of St. Dominic having been made for him ^f, he was healed and began to walk.

[306] a wound of the forehead from a fall, Lady Hieronyma Vives de Canamas, while going up the steps holding a glass phial in her hand, fell like lead, her head striking against a certain chest; and since the hands naturally tend to help the head in danger, she so stretched out her arm that her head, driven onto her hand, broke that glass phial, and a gold bracelet which she wore on the same arm was broken into three parts: whence she sustained both her forehead hurt by that glass and a great swelling on her head. For which reason, since her life was feared for not only from the injury but also from the shock, doctor Jerome Garzia was sent for without delay. Meanwhile she had had certain pieces of the Father's clothes, which she had with her, placed on her head; and when the aforesaid physician, arriving, uncovered the injured part, he found as it were no trace of injury; although nevertheless it is certain that that swelling could not have been dissolved in so short a time.

[307] On the last day of Easter a certain old woman with one arm contracted an ailment of the arm, and a dangerous abscess, driven away. visited the Father's sepulchre, and, having prayed him, applied that arm to the iron grating there, and immediately began to extend it and to move her fingers. Raphaela Almenara, a girl of eleven years, labouring with a sharp fever and a great swelling of the neck, feared for her life, but much more did her father, doctor Louis Almenara, to whom the danger was more evident; especially because the surgeons had decided to cut that swelling the next day. But since he followed with pious affection the Servant of God, whom he had visited in all his infirmities,

he earnestly invoked him; which the mother of the sick girl likewise did, who placed a piece of father Bertrand's hair shirt on the same swelling. The next morning, when the abscess was now to be cut, they found it in a much better state, and the swelling driven away: at which they wondered vehemently, because abscesses of this kind are ordinarily opened with danger to those who suffer them.

[308] This Servant of God also did many other miracles, [The author passes over many others here, because they were not established for him,] healing the blind, the deaf and the crippled; and freeing those who had recourse to him from fevers, abscesses, melancholy, and other adversities and dangers of death; for which reason many hundreds of votive offerings are seen at his sepulchre; but since on this subject no examination has been instituted for five months, nor is one to be instituted until after the feast of St. Luke, and I, occupied now with writing this History and with other business committed to me by my Superiors, have not been able to investigate in the same way as (as far as human frailty, which is always liable to error, has permitted me) I have tried to make myself more certain of the other things which I have written, therefore, although weightier things than those already related remain, I shall nevertheless pass them over for fear of erring, either in substance or in circumstances ^g. Would that within a short time I may be permitted to publish this Work again, increased with many others; especially if God grants that some accounts of good note may be brought to us of the things which were done by this blessed Father in the Indies ^h.

[309] All that has been said so far proves how rightly father Micon pronounced of him He pronounces the Saint like St. Vincent Ferrer. that he would be at Valencia another St. Vincent: for in life indeed he strove to imitate him, as far, however, as his infirmities permitted him; and after his death he left the highest esteem of himself, which will also continually increase. Nor is it without mystery that, by the cutting off of ten days made by command of the Most Holy Father Gregory XIII ⁱ, before a whole year had elapsed from the day of his death up to the 19th day of October, his name was spread so widely through the whole world, and that he himself is held in such veneration in his own native place; although Christ's saying is certain, that nowhere is a prophet less honoured than in his own country. By this same reasoning the question is answered which the Servant of God was accustomed sometimes to propose when he was exhorting the novices and young Religious committed to his care; for after he had narrated certain wonders of St. Vincent, and adorned with words the honour and glory which he conferred on this convent and on the whole city, he added this: Let us see now, my sons, which of us will be his companion: for from what has been said the answer is at hand, that it is he himself ^k.

ANNOTATA.

FULLER LIFE,

By Bartholomew Avignone, of the Order of Preachers, procurator of the cause of canonization.

From the Italian version, published at Rome under the author's own care.

Louis Bertrand, Confessor, of the Order of Preachers, at Valencia in Tarraconensian Spain. (S.)

By B. Avignone.

PROLOGUE.

CHAP. I.

The first who wrote the life and miracles of Blessed Louis Bertrand, The biographer, why after Antist and Roca of the Order of Preachers, was father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist ^a, formerly Prior of the convent of the Preachers in the city of Valencia, a very religious man of holy habits, and greatly esteemed for his virtue and learning: and as Blessed Louis Bertrand had trained him in Religion, so he always showed himself a good and devoted son to him; and he knew many deeds of the Servant of God by sight. He composed that Life in the year 1582, which was the year next after the death of the same Blessed; and since the wonders and miracles which God was performing through him continued, he made some Additions to it in the year 1583 ^b. Then, the miracles having multiplied through the whole world, and some accounts containing many notable things having been brought from the Indies ^c, Father Presentate brother Balthasar Rocca printed a new history of him, increased with many testimonies and things worth knowing, in the year 1608 ^d, when the Servant of God was enrolled in the number of the Blessed by Paul V of holy memory. But because the processes were here at Rome, that author could not know all the things which were then read in them, so as to insert them in his Work.

[2] I, having obtained the opportunity of turning over all those Processes for many years ^e, should write this Life, and noticing that many things not to be despised are read in them which are not contained in the Lives which the aforesaid authors wrote, thought it necessary to gather from them what those writers did not hand down, and to add it to the other things already printed, so that it might become plain how greatly God our Lord honoured His Servant. And so that the truth of this History may shine forth more, I have written in the margin the places in which each thing is read, either in the Process or in the books of the authors whom I have named. What drove me to undertake the labour of composing this History was the scarcity of books on the life of our Blessed at Rome and through all Italy; and although the book written by master Justinian Antist was turned into the Italian tongue and printed in various places, it is nevertheless not found there, and many persons piously devoted to the Blessed have complained of the negligence in taking care that his Life be published anew. Accordingly I, out of the duty by which I am bound as procurator of his canonization, have striven to satisfy them by this History, turned from Spanish into the tongue of the Roman nobles by lord Julius Caesar Cavalier Bottifango, both out of his great devotion towards the Blessed (joined with the very long services rendered by him in the office of secretary to the lord Cardinal of Ascoli, of our Order, bishop of Porto, of most honoured memory) and at the request of persons of great condition; but with such diligence, on account of the canonization hoped to be near, that he (though occupied with other affairs too) finished it before two months had elapsed.

[3] This Work is divided into four books. In the first is treated his life up to his last illness, and he sets out its division. which is not included in it: in the second, his virtues, the gift of prophecy, and miracles in life and death up to his burial: in the third, other miracles which happened as soon as he was buried and in the following years; nor are all related, which would be almost impossible; nay, many of those which are in the Processes have been omitted, lest the book grow beyond measure. In the fourth, finally, are narrated briefly the things that were done for obtaining his beatification and canonization from the Holy Apostolic See; the Briefs and Decrees dispatched in this cause being recounted; together with the petitions pertaining to the same of the most serene Catholic kings, Philip II, the third and the fourth, who today reigns gloriously. I have taken the greatest care against digressions from the proposed subject, so that the history may proceed continuously and not breed weariness by its prolixity. There are in this Work many and great defects, because it was composed by me: but because I wrote it only for the glory of God (who is wonderful in His Saints), and that Blessed Bertrand may be known, and the faithful in their necessities may have recourse to him for solace and remedy, it can easily be pardoned me.

ANNOTATA.

BOOK I.

THE OLD DIVISION OF THE CHAPTERS.

Chapter I. Of his parents and birth.

II. Of his boyhood and pious habits.

III. How he put on the habit of St. Dominic in the convent of Valencia.

IV. How he made his profession, and of his admirable virtues after profession.

V. How he was made a priest, and what he did afterwards.

VI. How he was appointed master of novices.

VII. Of the things which befell him while he presided over the convent of St. Anne of Albaida.

VIII. Of other things which befell him while he lived in the convent of Albaida.

IX. How he returned to the convent of Valencia.

X. How he set out for the Indies.

XI. Of the wonders which he did in the Indies.

XII. Of his deeds at New Cartagena.

XIII. Of his deeds at Tubara.

XIV. Of his deeds at Cipacoa.

XV. Of his deeds at Sepencoa, at Petoa and in other places.

XVI. Of his deeds at Tenerife.

XVII. Of his deeds at Monpox.

XVIII. Of the miracles which God did through his intercession in the Indies.

XIX. How Blessed Bertrand returned to Spain.

XX. How he was appointed Prior of the convent of St. Onuphrius.

XXI. How he returned to Valencia, and was appointed master of novices there.

XXII. How he was appointed Prior of the convent of Valencia.

XXIII. Of other things which befell him while he was Prior in the same city of Valencia.

XXIV. Of his deeds after he had finished his priorate.

CHAPTER I.

The Saint's parents, birth, brothers and sisters, pious boyhood and youth, and the life led before taking the Dominican habit.

The Saint's father, John Louis Bertrand, In the noble city of Valencia in Spain there lived in the year 1525 John Louis Bertrand, a notary, a man endowed with good and holy habits, and very skilled in his profession; for which reason he conducted many great affairs of various barons and noblemen of this kingdom, committed to him by them; who, since they knew him to be just and God-fearing, securely committed them to his virtue and skill, and esteemed him so much that they ordinarily called him by the pious name of Father. For the same reason he also discharged offices of the holy Inquisition. He was besides for many years procurator of the convent of Porta Coeli, of the Carthusian Order, four leagues distant from Valencia. He lived in his house in the square of the Almodia near the house of the master Rational ^a, where his son, called James, afterwards lived. In his conversation he was so gentle and kind that never was an angry or indignant word heard from his mouth.

[2] He was so sincere and truthful that the judges, when he dealt with them, whose remarkable elogium and benefits venerated him particularly, also on account of the good fame which was spread about him. He loved very much to converse with Religious, and was much devoted to St. Vincent Ferrer ^b on account of two graces conferred on him by the same Saint. One of these is that, when as a youth on the vigil of St. Denis (very solemn at Valencia) he was handling, boyishly, fireworks of gunpowder, and the powder, kindled by a falling spark, had scorched his whole face and left him as if dead; and when his grandmother, Ursula Ferreri ^c, running swiftly on that account to the church of the Preachers, and kneeling there on the ground before the altar of St. Vincent (to whom she was joined by blood), had prayed this Saint most fervently for the safety and life of her grandson, on returning home she found him freed from all danger; although the fire would have sufficed to kill him, or at least to scorch his head and disfigure it like that of a corpse.

[3] The other grace happened many years after he had married his first wife; when a little before the Wednesday of Holy Week, lying so gravely ill that his funeral was already being prepared, he unexpectedly opened his eyes conferred on him by Sts. Vincent and Bruno, are related here, and asked for his clothes; and when those standing round told him to be quiet, for he was not in his right mind, he answered: I am quite in my right mind, and added that St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusians, had appeared to him, saying that he would not die of that illness, and that on the Wednesday of that Holy Week he would go to the church for the divine Offices, as exactly came about. By which miracle John Louis remained so devoted to the divine service and so piously affected towards St. Bruno that every year he celebrated his feast in the charterhouse of Porta Coeli, and on that day gave a banquet to the convent. And in the year 1546 he gave certain precious things as a prize for those who should excel in singing the praises of St. Bruno in Spanish as well as in Latin; and he had a veil made for the high altar of silk cloth of Damascene work, and in the middle of it a tower embroidered with the needle for his family arms.

[4] for his second marriage he took a pious woman, Joanna Exarch, Then, after his first wife had died, he was going to Porta Coeli to put on the habit of the Carthusians: but on the way the two above-mentioned Saints again appeared to him, who, since they said that it was not the divine will that he should become a Religious, he remained in the world. These favours shown to his father Blessed Louis Bertrand sometimes narrated to the Religious for the honour of St. Vincent, and for the sake of rousing them to his veneration. John Louis Bertrand contracted a second marriage with Joanna Angela Exarch ^d, a very devout woman, of good example in her conversation, and so loving a solitary life that, except to Mass and the other divine Offices, and sometimes to visit certain handmaids of God living together near the church of St. Andrew, she rarely went out elsewhere; but was assiduously at home, prudently watching over its government. She was so peaceable and so kind that never did any displeasure arise between her and her husband; and therefore they enjoyed a holy peace and tranquil state. This lady had a Carthusian brother, called Dom Exarch, a Religious of virtue and approved sanctity, who for many years presided as Prior of Porta Coeli.

[5] from whom in the year 1526 St. Louis, and after him Of her John Louis Bertrand had four male and as many female children. The first was Louis, whom God claimed for Himself as the first-born, and he was born on the first day of the year 1526, baptized in the parish church of St. Stephen, and in the same sacred font in which the glorious father St. Vincent had also been washed; and the name of John Louis was given him; although afterwards only the name of Louis clung to him. There were in this family notable men of approved faith, and in particular Peter, a doctor, who was one of the nine deputies for declaring to whom the kingdoms of Aragon belonged, vacant by the death of king Martin ^e. The second son was Michael Jerome; he too endowed with good gifts and of upright life, who therefore, being beneficed in the cathedral church of Valencia, received from the chapter the office of sub-sacristan, very honourable there, and not usually granted except to persons of proven virtue and trustworthiness. He departed from life in the year 1594, on the 4th day of July, at the age of 62 years, and was buried before the sepulchre of Blessed Bertrand, whither the bodies of their parents were also translated.

[6] The third, called John Baptist, was likewise a Religious of the Order of Preachers, he begot three other sons and four daughters. whose sacred habit he put on in the same convent of Valencia in the year 1550, and was professed in the following year, on the 5th day of October, before the venerable father master John Micon, then Prior of that convent, while brother Louis, own brother of the same John Baptist, was master of novices there. Having set out for Bologna ^f for the sake of studies, while he was returning thence by sea to Valencia, he was driven by the force of a storm to the island of Sardinia, so broken in strength that, a fever coming on, he died there at Cagliari ^g in the convent of St. Dominic. The youngest son was called James, praiseworthy for integrity of life and virtues, who, after holding various offices of the city (for he was four times a Jurat, twice Rational, and discharged other offices of the magistracy, in which he always behaved very prudently and vigorously), was designated by the Catholic king receiver general of the royal revenues of the city and kingdom of Valencia. He married lady Maria Costa, a woman of great piety and devotion towards blessed brother Louis, her brother-in-law, by whom he had one daughter, given in marriage to lord Peter Escriva. This James died on the 4th day of October of the year 1614, and was buried in his father's sepulchre. Of the four daughters the eldest was called Joanna, and was married to N. Pastor; the second, Hieronyma Vincentia, married to N. Ximeno; the third, Ursula Magdalena, joined in marriage to N. Cutanda; the fourth, Raphaela, died unmarried.

II.

[7] God seems to have wished in the very boyhood of Louis Bertrand to portend The boy, on seeing sacred images, ceased weeping, how great a Servant of His he was to be; because from his first infancy, when he cried, they knew nothing more effective to quiet him than if they showed him sacred images to look at; and he was so prone to tears that it could almost be thought that it pleased God to give him a melancholy disposition, so that, like another Jeremiah, he might weep for the sins of the world through the whole time of his life. Accordingly, to make him stop crying, it was necessary to carry him to the archiepiscopal or another church, where he not only ceased to weep but also showed great joy: and if perhaps the doors of the church were locked, when the statues of the Apostles which are there were shown him, his tears were at once checked: which was no ambiguous presage that he would be a particular worshipper of the Saints, and they his perpetual consolers.

[8] As he grew, so grew his parents' care for him, he was wonderfully given to piety and to the study of letters. who in proportion to his tender age brought him up with great love and fear of God, and began to send him to school, and he went so willingly that from his progress his ardent desire of virtue and hatred of idleness easily showed themselves. Between the seventh and eighth year of his age he was so given to prayer that from that time he began to recite the Office of the blessed Virgin Mary, which thereafter he never omitted; and he so loved solitude that he fled all conversation except holy conversation. He was never heard to swear; and if anyone had sworn in his presence, he reproved him with great zeal, as also those who lived idly. In the evening, as soon as he could, he withdrew into his chamber and shut the doors from within: and the household, watching through the slit of the lock, saw him spending the greater part of the night in prayers, and taking rest on the floor or on a chest, but never lying in bed, which, so that the maidservants should not notice, he turned over as though he had slept in it; but the whiteness of the linen, which when it was changed was found no otherwise than when it had first been put on, revealed his boyish and holy precaution.

[9] His abstinence from food, obedience, modesty, approach to the Sacraments, Rarely would he, like other boys, accept breakfast in the morning, being naturally desirous of little food, but abstaining from virtue; and from then on he began to fast. Towards divine things he was so piously affected that all his pleasure was to be present at Masses and Vespers and to visit Religious houses, of which he chiefly frequented the convent of the Preachers. He always obeyed his parents, so that he never gave them any cause of sadness: nay, if sometimes, as often happens to boys, he cried, bidden by a nod to be silent, he was at once silent. When he had grown somewhat bigger, if he saw his mother roused to anger against some maidservant, he would begin to read aloud some pious book to calm her choler. He was modest beyond measure and a lover of propriety, his eyes generally turned to the ground with diligent custody of the senses, in presage of the many virtues which afterwards shone greatly in him. When he had reached the fifteenth year of his age, he began to frequent the most holy Sacraments, having obtained as his confessor a remarkable servant of God, called brother Ambrose of Jesus, a celebrated preacher of the Order of the Minim Fathers: and this holy Youth was of such humility and prudence that, so that no one should notice his continual zeal in frequenting the Sacraments, he went to various churches, receiving the sacred Eucharist now in the church of St. Francis, now in St. Sebastian's of the Minim Fathers, now in St. Mary of Jesus, and often in that of the Fathers Preachers.

[10] zeal for prayer and service in the hospitals. Then, father brother Ambrose having died, he had as confessor father master brother Laurence Lopez d'Ocaña, a Religious of good example, who was afterwards Prior of the convent of St. Dominic at Valencia, by whose sacred conversations Louis was more and more strengthened in divine things and in frequenting the most holy Sacraments more often. For which reason the blessed Youth, with other students of letters who truly desired to serve God, after attending lectures went to the said master Lopez, who conferred with them on spiritual things and taught them the way to make progress in the virtues and persevere in the holy service of God. So the pious Youth advanced happily day by day in spiritual exercises, persisting in prayers for a long space of time in the church of the same Fathers Preachers. He frequently visited the sick in the hospitals, spent many whole nights serving them, and helping them with such things as he could. In these offices (with which he was ordinarily occupied) he was a mirror of virtues and penance to all who knew him.

[11] Intending to go on pilgrimage, he departs secretly, but by his father, But since he persuaded himself that he could serve God more fervently far from his father's house, in which he reckoned that he lived too delicately, he resolved (wishing to imitate Sts. Alexis and Roch) to leave everything; and with that intention, having first confessed his sins and been refreshed with the sacred Eucharist, he departed secretly in the habit of a pilgrim, intending to go where he would be recognized by no one, and could carry out his holy purpose, freed from all earthly things. When, on the evening of the day on which he had departed, he did not appear at home, nor had he sent word (as he was accustomed) that he had gone to the hospital, they understood that he had departed. But shortly after, his father received a letter marked with neither day nor place, by which he indicated his departure: and since his spirit at that tender age shines out in it, I place a copy of it here; it is as follows.

[12] Jesus Mary. I know for certain the grief which your lordship from his letter, which is given here, and my lady mother have felt at the resolution which I have taken; but truly you ought not to have felt it, considering that this is the will of God. But you will ask how I know that this is the will of God: you can consider that I would not have departed thus, with winter already begun and my studies of letters, already started, abandoned, had it not been altogether of the divine will: about which your lordship ought not to be saddened, turning over in your mind that our Redeemer descended from heaven into the world in the coldest season of the year; and came to die, so as to give life to us ungrateful ones. How much more ought I, a sinner, to leave the world and go where His divine Majesty calls me, to do penance for so many sins committed by me against my God. My departure will have created the greater grief, the greater the danger in which my lady mother is; but not even on this account must I grieve even lightly. Let her read the holy doctors, who assert that blessed is that soul which suffers griefs in this world; because it is a sign that God has His eyes upon it, and wishes to reward in glory the good works which it has done here below. There are also those whose good that they do He rewards in this life, so that afterwards He may chastise in the other the evil that they have done. Therefore this disturbance must be accepted patiently, and the divine Majesty prayed to sustain me with His holy hand and to lead me, as He led the Magdalen, and finally to keep me from malignant enemies.

[13] From N. and N. I have received some money on loan for this journey, being informed of it, not to squander it, but to use it if perhaps God shall will to visit me with some infirmity inflicted for my sins; although His divine Majesty is the true help and medicine of all ills. May your lordship deign to restore the said sum ^h, so that my conscience may be secure. Do not labour to know where I am; which you would do in vain; and even if they were to find me, I trust that my God and master Jesus would preserve me in my firm purpose. May your lordship commend me to His divine Mother, and pray that she may lead me where I may serve Him better. May your lordship console my mother, and tell her that, since she has other sons, she should console herself with them, and remember that I was taken from her by death when she bore me. Nor shall I add anything else, except that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit be with your lordships, and keep you, and be always with me. Amen. And may They grant us that grace that we may serve Him in this world and enjoy eternal rest in the other ⁱ.

[14] The father, having received this letter, inquired most diligently he has him brought back, and he puts on clerical dress. what road the holy Youth was taking, who, as by his singular modesty and rare habits, wherever he went, he was so good an example that he drew all eyes to himself, so from such indications some light shone forth concerning his route. Those sent by his father to track him, therefore, found him at a certain fountain near Buñol, a place seven ^k leagues distant from Valencia; and to persuade him to return they pretended that his mother, from the grief which she had conceived at his departure, was already near to death; by which ruse they brought him back to his home, to his father's joy, as great as the recovery of a lost Son so good and dear demanded. But the father, noticing that he had his mind inclined only to ecclesiastical things, clothed him in the ankle-length dress of clerics. So he spent the time persevering in his devout exercises, fasts, offices of charity and the study of letters, until he entered the Religious Order; meanwhile always conversing with pious persons and with great diligence fleeing the company of those who were not such.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER II.

At first prevented by his parents from taking the Dominican habit, he afterwards puts it on without their knowledge, and, they at length consenting, makes his profession: he strives to acquire virtues and learning.

CHAP. III.

Forbidden by his father to enter the Order of Preachers, From the familiarity which Louis Bertrand cultivated with father master brother Laurence Lopez, his confessor, and other good Religious of the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, so vehement a desire was kindled in him of professing the Order of St. Dominic in the same convent that he decided to ask for its habit. He did this most urgently with the Prior, who at that time was father master brother James Ferran, a lettered man of solid virtue, who, born of a Turk ^a, had held the chief Priorates of the province of Aragon and twice governed the same province, and who promptly promised to grant him his desire. But when, on the same day on which he was to be clothed, this had reached the ears of father Louis, the latter went to the Prior, and, setting out the weak strength and infirmities of his Son, brought it about that he, as long as he was Prior there, in no way admitted him: which was as great a grief to the good Youth as was the desire by which he was held of seeing himself clothed in that sacred habit.

[16] Not for that reason, however, did he omit to frequent the convent, he persisted in his purpose, to which, when the hours appointed for study had passed, he went, trusting nonetheless that God would at some time grant him to carry out his holy purpose which he had so greatly desired. With that guidance he often went walking outside the city from the sea gate to the royal gate, between which the monastery of St. Dominic is situated; and there, his eyes fixed on those sacred walls, he wept with tender affection that he was not permitted to enjoy there the holy company of so many good Religious. He did the same likewise when he heard the bronze bell of the convent rung for the divine Offices. So he himself afterwards narrated in a certain conversation held with the novices in the said house of the novitiate, some months before he died. He was then seen several times drawing a great quantity of water from the well of the garden of St. Vincent Ferrer's cell, with which he watered the orange trees; and once, being asked by brother John Perez why he tired himself so much by drawing so great a quantity of water, he replied: To water these blessed orange trees, so that they may not dry up. Hence gather the humility and pious simplicity with which the blessed Youth was adorned already from that age.

[17] After the Priorate of father master brother James Ferran had run its course, there was elected in his place the venerable father master brother John Mico, a man of such sanctity that both in life and in death he was honoured with many miracles. With him Louis frequently and importunately insisted and at length he puts on its habit that he should grant him the habit; and although other students of letters also asked the same of him, the holy Prior persuaded these to give their names to another Religious Order; but Louis was admitted by him, not without singular heavenly providence, with great joy. But before he put on that garment, the Youth, desiring to hear the pious exhortations which the Prior gave to the novices in chapter on Fridays, while the brethren were singing Compline hid himself in a certain chapel of the cloister, and when they had now entered the chapter-house, coming out secretly from his hiding place, he knelt between the windows and there attentively and piously listened to the discourse, and when he noticed it drawing to its end he hurriedly withdrew from there so as not to be caught, and, returning home, ever more

and more was impelled to serve the Lord God, maturely weighing the salutary admonitions which he had heard.

[18] in the year 1544, without his parents' knowledge; and his father, Louis, after he had then treated with the said Prior most secretly about granting the habit, lest it become known to his father and he be hindered again, spent the night from evening until morning in the church of St. Dominic, praying God and His most blessed Mother and the Saint, patron of the place, that he might be admitted into that Order without hindrance and persevere in it; that his prayers were heard the event taught; for on the 26th day of August of the year 1544, in the 18th year of his age, the 7th month and the twenty-sixth day ^b, he obtained his so long-standing wish, being clothed in the habit of our glorious father St. Dominic by the hands of the same venerable Prior Mico, with the common assent and joy of all the fathers of that convent. But his parents, learning that he was already clothed in the religious garment, grieved beyond measure, both because they loved him singularly, and also because they feared that he had been induced to it by those Religious; and finally because their Son, on account of his ordinary ailments and weakness of strength, did not seem to them fit enough for the studies of letters which the Order of Preachers professes.

[19] calling him back to the world, the arguments For which reason they judged the Carthusian Order, or that of St. Jerome, more fit and suitable for him; and induced by that reason they tried every extreme to move him from his purpose. But the more they strove to weaken his purpose, the more he strengthened it. As soon as Louis saw himself clothed in that blessed habit of St. Dominic, he began with great courage to exercise himself in all the virtues, especially in obedience, humility and prayer; and in weighing the deeds of our holy founder, and of St. Vincent and of the other Saints of our Order. With these as guides he made such progress in the divine service that he had all his good and all his joy established in conversing with the divine Majesty. And although his father, before the second month of his novitiate was completed, wrote to him complaining of his decision, he could not call him back from his purpose; nay, he answered him with great constancy in this way.

[20] by letter, "Jesus Mary. I have received your lordship's letter, in which, rightly weighed, I see two things contained in sum. One is that, since I wish to profess the Religious life, it would please you that I should serve God in the Carthusian Order or that of St. Jerome. The other is that you think the Religious of this house have persuaded me to be theirs. As regards the first, may your lordship bear it patiently; because I shall never live content otherwise. And as to what you say, that the food, fasts and labours prescribed in this Rule do not suit the constitution of my body; and that, because I am inclined to contemplation, I would do this more conveniently in the aforesaid Orders than in this one, in which the Religious are so much occupied with the study of letters, and are not esteemed unless lettered; may your lordship remember, I beseech, the saying of St. Paul, that the kingdom of God consists not in meat or drink ^c; and that those are reproved by him who have made their belly their God ^d. Therefore, since I do not believe that the kingdom of God is meat and drink, nor hold my belly for God, fasts and labours can little frighten me."

[21] "And since the Religious of this Order preach and hear confessions (which offices are not rightly exercised without contemplation), it is certain which is given here, that in this Order an ample field lies open for contemplating; which is manifest to your lordship, and will be to others who are willing to inquire. To be little esteemed by men does not displease me; nay, I desire it, and St. Paul so persuades me in these words: To me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, because He that judgeth me is the Lord ^e. Therefore for the love of God I beseech your lordship to take in good part what the Holy Spirit has done; this is His work, not mine; and to do the contrary would be to resist Him. I am certain that in this way I shall be saved, and shall be a solace to your lordship, and to my lady mother and my brothers. And here I say with the Psalmist: This is my rest for ever and ever; here will I dwell, for I myself have chosen it ^f."

[22] "As regards the other matter, namely that your lordship thinks he excellently refutes, that this was done through the persuasion of these fathers; believe me (I speak the truth), they too were against me, especially the master of novices, not because it displeased him to admit me, but because to him too, as to your lordship, I seemed to be destitute of the strength fit for sustaining the burdens which must be borne there: but at length, having weighed my importunity and constancy, he judged that he would be resisting the Holy Spirit if he did not assent to my prayers. And so that your lordship may be more certain about this matter, know that certain things have been granted me which are not usually granted to other novices; for example, that I can write to your lordship and receive letters from you, nay, speak with him whom you charged to visit me. Now therefore, since it is now manifestly established to your lordship that what I have done in this matter I did of my own accord, not from the persuasion of others, it is not fitting that I should use that faculty further, but that I should conform to the law of the other novices. And this I myself asked of father master, who nevertheless said that he would grant that your lordship alone should speak with me, if you wished to come here."

[23] "For the rest, he treats me so cruelly that on account of my infirmities he has placed me in the best cell of the novitiate, and bids them be secure; and three times a week orders me against my will to take supper; and on account of the present cold he has taken from himself the mantle, which he needed, so that I might use it; so that he is merciful towards me and cruel towards himself; and he goes about naked so that I may be clothed. For these reasons let your lordship be consoled, and be certain that I enjoy great solace in my mind: and as regards outward strength, that I am stronger than ever at other times. Let you see that it be not said of your lordship what king David said: They trembled with fear where there was no fear ^g. May the grace of the Holy Spirit keep your lordship with my lady mother and all; which I pray for day and night. From the convent of the Preachers, the 6th of October ^h."

[24] and they at length consent. The holy Prior Micon, seeing all these things, so that it might be clear that the perseverance of brother Louis Bertrand arose from no human respect, called him one day and said before his father: I command you, as much as I can according to God, to tell me freely whether you live content in the Order; and whether you feel strength in yourself to be able to persist in it. The holy Novice affirmed it, and said that he would rather die than ever go out of it: and so as to resist his father's persuasions more strongly, knowing that licence had been given him by the Prior to speak with him, he vowed to God that he would live and die in the same Order. In this way, and his mother too having once been visited by the Prior, his parents remained filled with such solace that both went to the church of St. Dominic to give thanks to God that their son brother Louis had chosen so good a state.

[25] In the novitiate, shining forth in all virtues So greatly did the virtue and sanctity of blessed brother Louis grow in the year of his novitiate that he seemed no longer a novice but a veteran. He was most abstinent in food, and always gave the greater part of the portion allotted to him to the poor, which he also observed through the whole course of his life, following the counsel of St. Vincent Ferrer. He was very taciturn, and a great lover of silence and solitude, the most humble of all. There was in him a singular restraint of the outer senses, and a still greater one of the inner: for it was not enough for him to have spent the hours customary in this holy house on devotion, but he took care always to have his mind raised to God. In the common Offices of the Order he was most exact, idle at no point of time: he showed himself very penitent and a lover of austere life; and although in performing all the things which novices usually do he was fully busy, not only did no wandering of mind arise to him from this, but he was more and more kindled in divine love.

[26] he gives manifest signs of his future sanctity. He devoted much study to learning the ceremonies of the Order, and to knowing the constitutions which he was to keep, and he proceeded most exactly in their observance, as always appeared in everything. The Religious of the convent looked up to the virtues which shone in the good Novice, and the more signs of sanctity they saw in him, the more they rejoiced that they had admitted him to the habit. Sometimes, testing whether he would be consistent with himself, they observed his eyes, which, when he had them fixed on the Crucifix, he seemed to have deprived of free sight; they noted his words, measured his steps, and subtly scrutinized all his actions; and in all these things they found reason to love and praise him the more; nothing for which to reproach him. In sum, he gave such a proof of his virtue that, when the year of novitiate had elapsed, the whole convent exulted that he was proceeding to profession; since from the signs given by him in the novitiate it was held for certain that he would add a remarkable lustre not only to this holy convent but also to the whole Dominican Order.

IV.

[27] In the year 1545, father master brother Francis Romeo of Castiglione being vicar general of the Order Professed in the year 1545, with new courage after the death of the General, brother Albert de las Casas, a Spaniard, who died at Valladolid ⁱ in the year 1544 on the 26th day of November; and father master brother Melchior Pou, a Catalan, being Provincial of Aragon, and the venerable father master Micon Prior of the convent of St. Dominic at Valencia, brother Louis Bertrand made his profession on the 27th day of August, with great joy to himself and to the same convent of Valencia. Whereby, recognizing that he was bound by a new debt to serve God, namely by the three solemn vows of obedience, chastity and poverty, with the observance of the sacred Constitutions added besides, he reckoned all his past life as negligence and matter for mourning. Accordingly with the whole affection of his mind he implored heavenly help that he might begin to be good: because the better anyone is, the more he believes is wanting to him to be good. He always turned over in his mind that he had been called by God to this state in order to begin to love Him, and reproached his sloth, as though he had not yet known how to walk in that way in which he then had to run.

[28] He esteemed it of the greatest importance to be exact in the obedience he had promised, he applies himself to the pursuit of all the virtues, and therefore he subjected his will in all things and to all things to the bidding of his superior; which is the foundation of the Religious life; and he acquired such facility in exercising this virtue that, as from the Process

is established, he roused great devotion in those who saw how promptly he obeyed his superiors; nor was he such only at the beginning of his Religious life, but he always remained most obedient. He took care in every way to keep purity of mind and body intact, and to have all his thoughts continually fixed on God, assiduously beseeching Him to keep so fair a whiteness unharmed for him. He went on, more than ever before, to despise all worldly things, making nothing of them and reckoning them most vile and unworthy of himself; but on the contrary judging it to be inestimable riches and a precious treasure to serve Jesus Christ, to whom he gave thanks that here by the vow of poverty He held him loosed from those bonds and free from those thoughts which could have disturbed his most happy servitude.

[29] He chose as his guides his father St. Dominic and the other Saints of the Order, setting before himself all the best to be followed. and in particular St. Vincent Ferrer, by whose counsels, set down by him in the Treatise on the spiritual life, he directed himself; and he not only admired the examples of the Saints who had died, but also strove to imitate the virtues of those most advanced in them who were living; of whom there was a great abundance in that holy house. So, imitating the charity of one towards his neighbour; the solitude of another; the bearing of others; the assiduity in praying of these; the penance and chastisement of the body of that one, he formed for himself a most beautiful garment with which to adorn himself; and he took care so studiously for the increase of virtues that within a short space of time he became a perfect pattern of sanctity, which all could usefully contemplate and gather rich fruits from it.

[30] Having fallen ill from too austere a manner of life, he is sent elsewhere; Especially, however, he had become so accustomed to deal with God that sometimes he was rapt out of himself, so that he himself could not tell whether he was on earth or in heaven. Accordingly he once asked father Micon to tell him what the cause could be that sometimes, while he prayed, he was not master of himself; to whom he answered: Give thanks to God that you have reached that point; for this is a happiness which does not befall all. This fact brother Louis himself narrated to father brother John Alarcon while they were conferring on prayer in the convent of St. Anne of Albaida; father Alarcon noticed, however, that Louis, after he had made this known, repented of his words, because they could redound to his praise. He desired so much to do works of penance that the many things which he did seemed few to him. Nor was he content with keeping the fasts which the Constitutions prescribe, unless he added others to these too, taking away from himself the greater part of his food; and he added so many scourgings and afflictions of the body to the rest that he fell into a grave illness: for which reason it was necessary to send him to the convent of St. Matthew ^k, a healthful place, in which he left dear traces of his sanctity.

[31] [and when he recovered, he resumes his usual exercises and devotes himself to letters:] After he had recovered from this infirmity, he resumed his usual exercises: for he was not like others who, if they have fallen ill by doing penance, abstain from it thereafter. And as the things which are taught in the novitiate are of use not only in the time of the novitiate but through the whole span of life, so brother Louis observed up to his death the substantial and necessary things which he had learned as a novice; for example, the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and the ceremonies of the Order, even the smallest; and especially modesty and bodily bearing, so that no novice was to be compared to him. He showed the same modesty in words and in all other things pertaining to Religious profession, always, as long as he lived: but these things will gradually become more manifest in their places, as occasions offer. And although the Servant of God from his youth delighted wonderfully in contemplation, and scholastic studies seemed to him to call his mind away from it, yet, knowing that it is usually a ruse of the demon to lead into foul errors those who wish to give themselves to contemplation without knowledge, he gave tireless labour to the study of letters, and always loved it, and gladly conversed with learned men, with whom he frequently conferred about what he had read; and so as not to stray from the truth he was very much devoted to the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas; and when afterwards he held the Priorate, he took most diligent care that his subjects should apply themselves to studies, and he diligently promoted them.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER III.

He is ordained priest: he is sent to Lombay: returning to Valencia, he is set over the novices; his deeds there.

CHAP. V.

Since Blessed Louis shone with such sanctity and virtues, [Created a priest in the year 1547, he offers his first Mass on the 23rd of October;] the fathers decided that he should be initiated into sacred Orders. Accordingly, created a priest, he sang his first Mass on the 23rd day of October of the year 1547 at Valencia in the convent of the Preachers. By this new dignity he recognized himself so bound to attain perfection that he believed no time sufficient for exercising the affliction of his body and other works of penance, so as to tame the flesh and raise the spirit to God, desiring angelic purity for discharging so lofty a ministry. He celebrated Mass with such piety that he vehemently kindled it in those standing round; and before he went to the altar he prepared himself diligently, so as to receive that most holy Food with greater hunger, by which he strengthened his spirit in the divine service and love: for, as it was familiar to him to say, through the most holy Sacrament the servants of the divine Majesty sail like ships with a favourable wind. Therefore he advised others also with whom he dealt to communicate rather often, and when they could not do so, at least to present themselves in church before the divine Eucharist.

[33] After receiving the priesthood Louis contracted an intimate familiarity with some of the more religious fathers, he applies himself to the pursuit of virtues, by name with the venerable father master Micon, father brother Michael of St. Dominic, a Navarrese by nation, master Laurence Lopez, and father brother Raphael Castello, with whom he conferred about the affairs of his soul, because he saw in them a great appearance of sanctity; and therefore, in the manner of a bee, he gathered heavenly dew from them as from so many flowers: and he was always a friend of the servants of God, and of those who desired to be servants of God.

[34] he foresees and foretells the danger of a friend; One night, persisting in prayer after Matins had been said, he saw in spirit the praised father Castello (who by his remarkable goodness had a great part in the so happy reform of the province of Aragon) immersed in water up to the neck, in present danger of drowning. And since the said father was about to set out for the island of Majorca ^a, brother Louis narrated his vision to him; which the event proved true. For while father Castello was returning from Majorca on a ship in which was also the vicereine, widow of lord Philip de Cervellon, viceroy of the same island, so great a storm suddenly arose between Majorca and Ibiza that father Castello, judging there was less danger in the skiff, went down into it, carrying nothing with him but his scapular and tunic; a little after, the ship sank with the vicereine; but the skiff was driven crosswise onto Ibiza: for which reason father Castello, before he could leap out onto land, the sea raging, was under the waters for a long time, as Blessed Louis had foretold him; but, God having mercy, he escaped alive. Blessed Louis related that this man was accustomed to pray prostrate on the ground, his arms stretched out in the form of a cross; and that he was honoured with many heavenly revelations.

[35] living at Lombay, he is told of his father's imminent death, When lord Francis Borgia ^b, duke of Gandia, had founded the convent of the Holy Cross at Lombay ^c, which that good servant of God had built out of zeal for the souls of his subjects, who were then new Christians ^d, father Micon was elected Prior of that place in the month of September of the year 1548, who, having well seen into the remarkable virtues and sanctity of Blessed Louis, took care that he be given him as a companion, so that that house, established with good beginnings, might afterwards always advance in holy observance and religion, as was done. Blessed Louis, although he gladly betook himself there, could nevertheless stay there only a short time. For at the beginning of November of the same year his father appeared to him as he prayed, as if dying: which vision he narrated to his confessor in the morning, and a few hours after a messenger arrived sent to him, that he should return to Valencia as soon as possible if he wished to see his father alive, who in the desperate state of his life desired above all to see him and have him with him.

[36] [wherefore, returning to Valencia, he assists him as he dies, and of his pains in purgatory] Blessed Louis departed swiftly, visited his dying father, and, received most joyfully, heard from him amid tears these words: Son, most beloved by me, the most troublesome thing to me in this life was to see you a Friar ^e; and that very thing is what now chiefly consoles me: I commend my soul to you. Blessed Louis remained with him the little time left of his infirmity until death, which happened on the 7th day of the said month of November, as is said in the Process of canonization, in which there is a chapter taken from the codex of the Charterhouse of Porta Coeli, in which are noted the suffrages which were conferred through the whole Carthusian Order for his soul, as of one munificent towards it. And it pleased God to reveal to His Servant the torments which that soul was suffering in purgatory; namely that now it was being thrown down from a high tower, from which fall its bones were broken into pieces; at other times it was most vehemently beaten; and Louis heard it lamenting and commending itself to him that he might help it ^f.

[37] These visions he frequently had over the space of eight years, having learned of the pains, he strives to free him, during which time he always grieved that he saw his father in such

torments, and he strove to help him by Masses, Psalters, Rosaries, fasts and scourgings of his own body, which he was accustomed often to inflict on himself, and for this purpose he had certain suitable places in the convent. By night he scourged himself in the darkest chapels of the church, or in the little sacristy of the chapel of mercy within the cloister, a place which he said was most suitable for this exercise: but he needed great courage, because that place was terrifying. For once, going to it, he found there, prostrate on the ground and half dead, father Castello, whom, as he was scourging himself, the demons had beaten most cruelly. This sacristy has now been converted into an oratory by father master brother Vincent Gomez.

[38] At the end of the eight years Blessed Louis saw his father joyful in a most beautiful garden: and after eight years he sees him freed. which vision the Servant of God, being already ill, narrated with tears one year before his death to his brother James and to a certain other intimate of his: and being asked the cause on account of which his father had suffered so much, he answered that he believed it had happened because he had been engaged in the service of one of the great grandees of these kingdoms ^g. Nor indeed let it appear incredible that his father, although he had been a peaceable man and of good example, and had had standing by him as he died his son, brother Louis (who had laboured much to win the divine friendship for him), should nevertheless have suffered things so hard and so long; for God weighs and measures our works, and He alone knows the reward and the punishments which we merit.

VI.

[39] Although custom in the Order of Preachers holds Although rather young, given as master to the novices, that the office of master of novices, as being of the greatest moment, should be conferred on none but a Religious of mature age; because on the good training of the novices depends all the good of the Order; and because the same, already imbued with obedience and the other virtues, remain under the discipline of the master not only for the yearly space of the novitiate but also after profession, until they have celebrated their first Mass; it is fitting that the master of novices be not only a man of religious life but also of great prudence and experience. Nevertheless so highly esteemed among all the members of the convent of Valencia was the sanctity and virtue of Blessed Louis that, although he was young, all elected him master of novices, firmly trusting that his piety and virtue would compensate for the defect of his age with great profit to the Order. Nor were they disappointed in their hope: for he administered that office so remarkably that he seemed born for it; and from this first time and the six others on which he held that office there came forth many Religious who greatly illustrated the Order by their virtue and example.

[40] His first election to the mastership of novices took place on the 21st day of September of the year 1551 ^h; he instructs them no less by deed than by words and the first thing which he took care of in order to exercise his office rightly was that he should always be the first of all in the divine service: for the examples of superiors vehemently move inferiors. He was accordingly assiduous in prayer, temperate, humble, and observant of the Constitutions, no violation of them, even the least, being admitted. And as he himself was wholly burning with zeal for the love of God, so he strove in every way that those new plants should grow adorned with all virtues, and in their time bring forth the sweet fruits of good works to the glory of God and the honour of the Order. To this end he reproved, besought, admonished all, more by deed than by words. He was accustomed to be rather severe in exacting the things which pertain to the observance of the constitutions, because to those who have become accustomed to these the labours of the Order will afterwards not at all appear new.

[41] he trains them in all virtues. Just as he despised himself and all worldly things in the highest degree, so he wonderfully roused the same contempt in his disciples, and, stripping their hearts of the love of all created things, he wished them to be so disposed out of love of God towards the cell and books that, if all were taken away by the superior, they would feel no trouble. He praised and commended obedience to them; and if anyone had violated it, he punished him very severely. He persuaded them to frequent the Sacraments, and to confess their sins often in the week, even more frequently than the Rule prescribes. He taught them in what way they ought to arm themselves with the passion of Christ, in which is found refuge against all troubles, strength in tribulations, and the flame of love for despising all created things. Thence (he added) they will learn charity, obedience and humility, with all the other virtues besides; and therefore it was necessary, he said, that a Religious should have in his cell an image of the Crucified, with which to refresh himself, and to which to have recourse in his necessities, especially in temptations; for in Him are found true rest and every good, because Christ is hidden behind that Cross. And these are his admirable lessons, through which the science of the Saints is acquired.

[42] especially by the love of God, Blessed Louis therefore always had in his cell, on the table of books, a Crucifix, and once, asking brother John Baga whether he had any image of the Crucified; when he denied it, he replied: He cannot be a Brother of St. Dominic who does not keep a Crucifix in his cell; and, rising, he took the Crucifix from the wall and gave it to him, saying: In this you will find whatever you desire. The good Master took care with all zeal that his novices should always and everywhere be kindled with divine love and show themselves such; and in this matter he was so ingenious that, when the brethren were taking recreation in the garden, he would deliberately come upon them and say with a kindly face: Let us love, brethren, let us love the Lord God; and he said these words with such pious feeling of mind that they, giving up their recreation, although the appointed time had not yet run out, betook themselves to their cells all kindled by the ardour of his words. He inculcated most effectively that they should direct all their works and labours and do them out of love of Christ, who loves us most dearly, so that their fasts, prayers and bodily scourgings should aim at no other goal.

[43] by purity of heart and sincerity, going before the rest in humility: He taught them purity of conscience, and sincerity of heart, knowing no disguise and free of all pretence: he comforted the weak, encouraged the infirm, setting out how much they could merit, although their slight strength permitted them to do little; provided they set before themselves a right end in their mind and cherished the love of God in their thought. He wished the professed to apply diligent labour to the study of letters, denying that letters are opposed to sanctity; nay, he said that it is established by experience that in the Order of St. Dominic the more learned are more religious, and more God-fearing, and fonder of solitude. With so clear a light illuminating the way of heaven, the novices advanced with great strides, doing violence to themselves to follow the Master, who showed it more by deed than by words, beginning from humility, which was so profound in Blessed Louis Bertrand that he reckoned himself the worst of all men who were living. Therefore, besides often beating his breast, he begged those young men to pray for him as the greatest sinner in the world. He exhorted them to tell most freely all the defects which they had observed in him, promising him who should accuse him most faithfully that as a reward he would remit some penalty due, and besides would bestow some gift.

[44] But most wonderful was it to see the violent and continual scourgings he raged against his body with scourges, with which he lacerated himself; which, although he tried to inflict them on himself in secret places and at times in which he thought they would least be perceived, nevertheless came to knowledge in many ways. It happened once that, when he had scourged himself harshly, he forgot to close the door of his cell, and the Pedagogue ⁱ, then brother Francis Alemanni (who afterwards was master and Prior and a remarkable preacher), entering it, found not only the pavement but also the walls soaked with fresh blood ^k. Another time, because he had ordered a novice to be scourged as it were without cause, he so scourged himself that two novices, seeing the abundant blood which he had shed, vehemently astounded, refused to return to him the bloody scourge, which he had hidden and they had found. Generally his cell was seen sprinkled with blood; and when a certain novice told him that he would report it to the Prior, Be silent, son, for the love of God, said Blessed Louis; for I will amend myself; which amendment indeed was to be the one which he himself secretly indicated to a certain friend of his, much given to divine things, that he once scourged himself girded with a linen cloth, so that the blood should not flow down onto the floor, and in that way it should be observed by no one.

[45] And as he willingly scourged himself, so also he readily and for light causes scourged his subjects, and he punished severely even the smallest defects of the novices: punishing even defects of small moment ^l. On Fridays at midnight, when he held chapter in the novitiate, he presented the appearance of the last judgment; punishing and harshly reproving any violation of silence, a small excess in sleep, an error committed in choir, or any defect whatever in the offices. When two novices were disputing about a certain counsel which St. Vincent Ferrer gave in the Treatise on the spiritual life, and one interpreted it in this way and the other in another, Blessed Louis took so gravely the rise of even the smallest altercation among the novices that he severely rebuked them in chapter, and ordered them to kiss the feet of the other novices, with threats added of taking the habit from them if they should commit any such thing in future. He took care diligently that they should walk modestly, and never with eyes raised; and to inquire how they observed these things, he was accustomed to watch them from the cell of St. Vincent whenever they went to choir or returned from it: and if by chance anyone had transgressed in this respect, not only was he harshly reproved, but he also paid a penalty.

[46] he also provides for them in fatherly fashion. On the other hand he was also very solicitous to provide well for the novices in whatever they needed: for as long as he lived he always bore a noble and liberal heart. And as it is not right that the bow should always be bent, but it should sometimes be slackened lest it break, it is customarily granted in well-ordered religious Orders that at certain times they enjoy a certain religious recreation; that occasion being given, Blessed Louis procured many dainties for his novices; and not only at those times did he accept what was sent as gifts from the parents of the Religious, and lay it up in common for all, but he also induced his mother to send things, by whom he was copiously provided for.

[47] He is wonderfully struck by the fear of God: Blessed Louis, however, in the midst of recreations had his thoughts fixed on God as usual, so that one day, while he was distributing a little supper to the novices, he unexpectedly began to weep; which, although he tried to dissemble it, he was nevertheless compelled to withdraw into his cell. Father brother Thomas Arenas, joined to him by intimate familiarity, following him, asked again and again the cause of his weeping: to whom he, after some silence, at length replied these words: We eat and chat together; and I do not know what my lot will be: I do not know whether I am not to be eternally damned

Having said this, he burst into tears again and gave way to fear. Those who truly love God are not rarely troubled by thoughts of this kind; and he himself often suffered such anguish. To a certain intimate friend of his he once secretly indicated that sometimes, when he woke at night, through a lively remembrance of the Lord God and of His presence, his very bones had at last trembled; and he recited that saying of Job, chapter 4: "When deep sleep is wont to hold men, fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted ^m." He also frequently had in his mouth these words of Solomon, Proverbs chapter 28: "Blessed is the man that is always fearful."

[48] he is ready in dismissing novices, and disapproves of their contemplations. With easy dispatch he returned their worldly clothes to novices who asked to return to the world: and he said to the others what Christ once said to His disciples: "Will you also go away ⁿ?" For as it is holy to live Religiously willingly, so it is a thing of great danger to enter a religious Order out of fear or shame. With like readiness he took the habit from those who did not walk rightly and gave slight hope of making progress. When a certain novice told the good Master that a remarkable revelation had been made to him, which he wished to communicate with him, he answered: Is it so, are revelations already befalling you now? You will forsake the habit; and not many days after he returned to the world, to lead an anchoretic life, which however he did not do. The revelations of novices in the divine service did not please brother Louis, and he said that much time ought first to be spent in the active life to chastise the body, rather than to fly through contemplation; for this was the ordinary way of the Saints, conformable to the precepts of the holy doctors.

[49] He prophesies: setting out for Salamanca for the sake of studies, Once, having called four novices apart, he said: My sons, prepare yourselves; for one of you must die this year; and truly it happened that within three months one of them died, the other three surviving. Among others he had two novices most scrupulous in reciting the ecclesiastical Office and in other similar things; for which reason he said to a certain other novice, brother Christopher Escriva: Do you see how scrupulous these two sons are? Know that both the one and the other will forsake the Order: and so it turned out. Since Blessed Louis esteemed the studies of letters most highly, when he was already set over the novices for the second time, he asked the father General to grant him the faculty of devoting himself to them in the celebrated convent of Salamanca. But father Mico tried to call him away from this purpose, asserting that he had been called by God to the Order not to teach letters, but to persuade others to Christian habits by his examples and pious counsels.

[50] Nevertheless he obtained his desire, warned on the road, he returns to Valencia. and set out for Castile, where, when he had come as far as the town of Escusa de Haro, he met a certain very spiritual father, who told him that this was not that way which God had chosen him to tread, and therefore he should return to his convent and there accomplish what his superiors had commanded. Having weighed this admonition, Blessed Louis decided that God had willed through these two servants of His to indicate His holy will, and he returned to Valencia, where he was festively received by those good Religious, who, as they loved him greatly for his remarkable virtue, so also bore ill the absence of so pious a brother. He had scarcely arrived there when his superiors laid on him the same burden of governing the novitiate, in hope of the huge fruit that would accrue to the Order: which office he discharged for many years; although out of desire for greater solitude and quiet he asked his superiors to relieve him of so great a burden.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER IV.

The death of father Micon, and of St. Louis's mother: his residence, headship and deeds in the convent of St. Anne at Albaida.

CHAP. VII.

In the year 1555, on the last day of August ^a, it pleased God to call to Himself His remarkable servant, [The death of Micon and of the Saint's mother: another's soul freed from purgatory.] master brother John Micon, of whose praises we made mention above, a man of such sanctity that he was honoured by the divine Majesty with many miracles; and in the following year died the mother of Blessed Louis Bertrand, at whose death he himself was present: at which time a severe famine was afflicting the kingdom of Valencia, which lasted up to the year 1557; in the summer of which year a plague then arose in the city of Valencia, which, creeping through the whole kingdom, afflicted the inhabitants up to the year 1560. Of that ill there died in the convent of Valencia brother Clement Benetti, who, after he had washed his soul by a general confession with blessed brother Louis Bertrand, promised him that he would indicate to him his state in the other world. He appeared to him therefore the same night, and said that he was being detained in purgatory for certain light defects, and asked that he would inform father Prior of that matter, and that he would enjoin prayers for him on his brethren. Blessed Bertrand complied, keeping the vision concealed; and then after six days a certain person, confessing his sins to him, said that that night he had seen the earth open, and from that cleft the soul of brother Clement Benetti coming forth, shining like a star and ascending through the air to heaven.

[52] As the plague pressed, sent to the convent of Albaida, and set over it, After this, the plague growing stronger at Valencia, the Prior of the Preachers, brother Michael of St. Dominic, a Religious of great merit, was seized by it, who, by mandate of father master brother Peter of Salamanca, a son of the same convent of Valencia and at that time Vicar general of that province, had sent many of his brethren to other convents of the kingdom, lest all should be endangered. In this distribution the convent of St. Anne of Albaida fell to Blessed Bertrand, over which he presided for the greater part of the time with the title of Vicar, because that monastery did not then yet enjoy a Priorate. And because that convent was in a solitary place, it was very suited to the customary exercises of Blessed Louis; since there he could give himself to prayers and contemplation at his will; and he was accustomed with great delight of mind to climb barefoot the hill adjoining the convent, and to make long stays on it, after the example of Christ our Lord.

[53] He burned with such divine love that his words seemed a hearth burning with love, he transfused divine love into others, as appeared one day when a certain lay brother, John Perez by name, while he was preparing himself in the same convent to confess to Blessed Bertrand, heard the great weeping and sobbing of father Alphonsus Godoy, who was confessing to the same Blessed Bertrand, and who, withdrawing from there a little after, said tearfully: O brother John, one kindled coal kindles another! Which he said of the inflamed words of Blessed Bertrand by which he had been moved to weeping. The same brother John was moreover accustomed to assert that, whenever he confessed to Blessed Bertrand, he was moved to contrition and tears even on hearing a single word of his. The same thing was testified also by Jerome Abeglia, who, whenever he confessed to him, always went away from him more kindled in the divine service and rich in heavenly favours.

[54] So great was the fervour of his spirit in praying and meditating his wonderful fervour in praying, and severity in chastising the body; that it sometimes overflowed into his body. For which reason one winter's day, in cold weather, when father Alarcon complained of so intense a cold, Blessed Bertrand answered: Father, if you are cold, betake yourself to prayer, and you will not feel the cold. Have you never experienced that? He treated himself rigidly, clothed in a rough hair shirt, and, as has already been said, often bloodying himself with scourges. Hence he had his shoulders torn, and when father Alarcon once placed his hands on them by way of a caress, he twisted his body violently; from which Alarcon understood well enough what the matter was; and he dissembled: but on another day, entering his cell, he found in it an old cloth all stained with blood from scourging, carried it off by stealth, and kept it as sacred relics for twenty and more years before Blessed Bertrand died.

[55] He celebrated Mass most devoutly, and when he had come to the Communion [a pious hunger for the sacred Eucharist; fervour in preaching; zeal in collecting alms;] he lingered long, weeping, with the most holy Sacrament in his hand; and then he was often seen to gleam with great brightness, as will be told in its place. From the singular affection with which he followed the Eucharist, he ordinarily celebrated daily: but if he was prevented, he begged the aforesaid father Alarcon, then sacristan, to give it to him; and when the superior refused to do this, he bore the refusal patiently out of great humility and obedience ^b. The exercises which Blessed Bertrand and his companions undertook in this convent were to apply themselves to preaching and to persist in consoling souls, which, besides the divine praises to be sung day and night, are proper to this sacred Order. The first of the sermons which he gave while staying in this convent he delivered in the village of Palombara ^c, which he esteemed greatly, because it was the native place of his good master Micon. Before he went up into the pulpit,

he was accustomed to withdraw into the sacristy, where he prayed so fervently that he was frequently seen to come back from there with a shining face. He went on foot through that neighbourhood to preach, and when the sermon was finished he collected alms for his brethren, carrying an ample wallet placed on his shoulders.

[56] Once, returning from a sermon given at St. Mary of Agres ^d, he came upon a shepherd who was keeping his flock, wonderful generosity towards the poor and, seeing him, he knelt down to pray; then, going up to the shepherd, he indicated to him his secret thoughts, and that so many years had already elapsed since he had confessed, and that he should therefore confess as soon as possible; since death was now close at hand. The shepherd obeyed, and a few days after passed to the other life. He commanded the brethren to hear promptly all who came to them from the surrounding places for the sake of confessing; and when, on account of the excessive multitude, they had not been able to absolve all in the morning, not wishing anyone to be sent away without consolation, he ordered the rest to be refreshed with food, as far as the poverty of that holy place permitted, and to be well treated: so all returned home piously affected and cheerful. He was most inclined to give alms, and ordinarily gave to as many as asked, and to the beggars, whom he invited in the streets to the convent. For great was his trust in God, since he knew very well that God would not fail men, since He does not fail the animals devoid of reason ^e.

[57] [abundantly compensated by God; charity shown harmlessly to those infected with plague:] Although that convent, at the time when Blessed Bertrand was set over it as vicar, was in great want, and had neither money at hand nor hope of obtaining it, nay, was bound by many debts contracted in furnishing a new place with all necessary things, the Servant of God began to bestow alms with as generous a mind as if that house had been very rich. And as he through his charity was as it were prodigal towards the needy, so the resources of the convent seemed to be prodigiously increased, so that within a short time he extinguished all the debts; a manifest sign that the more munificent he was towards the poor, the more were increased the means of his convent, which he always had opportunely furnished with all necessary things. And although, on account of someone buried in that church who had been found to have died of the plague, they were forbidden for many days to beg through those places, yet nothing necessary was wanting to them: because, as the good Vicar exposed his own life and that of his Religious to danger in burying those killed by the plague, so God not only kept them free from all contagion but also supplied them with whatever they needed, so that they should not suffer want from this tribulation.

[58] trust in God: a woman's need revealed to him. When, the bell of the convent having been broken, the procurator was collecting coins to make a new one, it happened that Blessed Bertrand, in his office as prelate, needed them for another matter. For which reason he promptly ordered the procurator to hand over to him all the money he had. At this he was vehemently saddened, fearing whether there would then be the means to pay the price of the bell, and in that first motion of choler he said in his silent mind: O blessed God, how terrible this man is! But Blessed Bertrand at once added: I know well, father, that you are saying: O blessed God, how terrible this man is! Give me the money, however: for God will provide. Once he ordered the procurator of the kitchen to give two reals to the washerwoman, which the procurator sent to her wrapped in dirty clothes. The good woman, finding them by chance, wondered all the more because on that very day she was in the greatest need. She came to the convent and said to the Servant of God: What is this, Father, that I found among the clothes? To whom he answered: Go, daughter: for you need it. At which answer she was still more astounded, especially because she had revealed her need to no one.

VIII.

[59] While the plague was raging at Valencia there was living in a place called Bélgida, He knows and foretells secret things: half a league distant from the convent of St. Anne, a certain nobleman of Valencia, Jerome Abeglia ^f by name, a man of great prudence and fearing God, who for many years had been a Jurat of Valencia ^g and had discharged other offices. He went every Sunday, and almost also on all feasts, to the convent of St. Anne to confess his sins, in which matter, using Blessed Bertrand, he contracted an intimate friendship with him, and loved him beyond measure, because he had proved his remarkable perfection and eminent virtues. And when he had heard many singular things about his abstinence and penance and finally the eminent sanctity of his life, and had therefore joined a greater familiarity with him, wonderful and by no means ordinary things happened to him. He had very often decided to confer with the Servant of God about the affairs of his soul; but before he had indicated it to him by even a little word, nay, before he had begun to speak, Blessed Louis answered most fully on each point, not otherwise than if he had held a long conversation with him about them. One day he foretold to him that such or such a thing would happen to him, which happened to him exactly as he had prophesied twenty years after; what it was, however, Jerome would never make known; because it was his own concern.

[60] When lady Isabella de Beluis, sister of the aforesaid Abeglia, he foretells a happy delivery for a woman in labour. was seized with the pains of childbirth, the midwives waited for many hours; but since she could not bring forth from lack of strength, she asked her brother to beseech Blessed Bertrand not to neglect to come to her without delay in that danger of death. Having received the message, the Servant of God, coming there, without saying another word, said to Abeglia: Open this door for me (which was that of the oratory), and, kneeling there before the Crucifix, he recited the Matins Office of the Nativity of the Lord. But Abeglia, since he seemed to be staying there too long, ran there to see: and he, rising from prayer, said: These midwives do not know their art; for they have disposed the lady to give birth too untimely: nevertheless before midnight she will give birth to a daughter, who will live with her mother: and so it altogether happened.

[61] On a certain occasion the said Abeglia came to the convent of St. Anne, To a pious nobleman he presages the death of his wife where, after he had confessed to Blessed Bertrand and been refreshed with the sacred Eucharist, he betook himself with him and a few others to his cell; entering which, the Father, with arms open, said to him: My brother, prepare yourself; for God wishes to take from you what is dearest to you in this life. Three days after, on a feast day, Abeglia, returning to St. Anne's, met halfway on the road Blessed Bertrand, sent to Bélgida to preach and to hear confessions, as he was accustomed, who, greeting Abeglia, said: I am going to your house to console those ladies spiritually. When, therefore, they had arrived there, after a short conversation Abeglia with his wife and others confessed their sins and received the sacred Eucharist. After dinner, thanks having been said to God and the servants dismissed, the Father, turning to Abeglia and his wife, said: Sirs, what if God should wish to dissolve the knot which joins you? and presently, changing the subject of conversation, he began to discourse about God; and then returned to his convent.

[62] [and when she has died he declares her salvation, and prophesies the future state of the sons.] Three days after, on Wednesday towards evening, the lady was seized with an unusual and violent fever, on the following Friday she suffered a miscarriage, and the next day, dinner scarcely finished, died: and then at last Abeglia understood what the Servant of God had often hinted to him as if in jest. On the following Sunday, early in the morning, Blessed Bertrand, having gone out of the convent with father brother Martin Suarez to go to Bélgida, met a man going to the convent, to whom, before he had uttered a word, Blessed Bertrand said: I already know the cause of your journey: go back: your master's wife has died. Hence father Suarez understood that that death had been known to Blessed Bertrand by revelation. When he had arrived at Bélgida, entering the dead woman's house, he raised his eyes to heaven for a good space of time, and said: This dead good lady was one of the purer and simpler souls with whom I have ever dealt: and nonetheless she is to be detained five days in purgatory. The obsequies performed and the dead woman buried, Blessed Bertrand exhorted Abeglia to bring up his sons well, for the greater part of them would be Religious: which also came about: for of five, three entered the Society of Jesus; another put on the habit of the glorious father Francis; the youngest married.

[63] [He foreknows the impending death of a young maidservant: his rigour in lying down.] At another time Blessed Bertrand, being at Bélgida in the house of lady Isabella Beluis, his eye fixed on a certain maidservant, said to her mistress: May it please you to sell this slave as soon as possible; but since the persisting plague impeded all commerce, it could not be done in the following fifteen days; at the end of which that unhappy servant leapt headlong from a high balcony and died in despair; and then it was understood why the good Servant of God had so greatly urged her sale. When in the above-mentioned village of Albaida, on the occasion of a certain jubilee, he had gone out with father Alarcon to hear confessions, they were occupied so long in hearing a numerous people that it was much too late for them to be able to return to their convent. Lord John Milani, count of the place, therefore ordered a bed to be prepared for them; but Blessed Bertrand could by no means be induced to undress and lie down, and only this was obtained from him, that after his long prayers he lay on it clothed. In like manner, in the house of the above-mentioned Abeglia, when he was several times compelled to spend the night there, he would never lie in a bed, but on a certain chest. Only at Moncada ^h once, when he was ill, overcome by importunate prayers, did he, against his will, so lie clothed in a bed.

[64] He uncovers the deceits of the demon: he helps a woman in labour. To a certain woman of Albaida, who had a little son very dear to her, there appeared at her door a certain man in the habit of a pilgrim, who said: I am going to St. James; if you will give me this son, I will make him a great man. The woman, although the promise did not displease her, asked that one day be given her to deliberate; and at once she went to consult Blessed Bertrand; who warned her that, if the pilgrim returned, she should bid him go to the bad; for he was a demon. The next morning the pilgrim came to ask for the answer, and replied to the woman: A greater demon is brother Bertrand, who gave you this counsel: but that you may know that I can do much, look at that man who is being brought here on an ass; he will fall dead before your doors; and so it actually happened; and the pilgrim appeared no more ⁱ. That something similar happened at Valencia we shall narrate in its place. One night he was swiftly called to lady Blanca, wife of the said count, lord John Milani, who was in violent danger in childbirth. He went most promptly, and, having hung

the Rosary round her neck, he prayed; and the countess at once gave birth.

[65] Besides these things many others could be related as performed by Blessed Bertrand The great esteem for him: many killed by the plague at Valencia. at the time when he lived in the said convent of Albaida; such as the miracle of the fire, and of the brightness with which he was often seen to shine; but these will be told elsewhere. I shall say only that his fame was so celebrated in that place that, although he was a young man of not more than about thirty-three years of age, he was nevertheless held in such veneration among the people of all the surrounding places that once, while he was preaching at Palombaria, his capuche was torn to pieces for sacred relics. While Blessed Bertrand was staying in the convent of St. Anne, twenty-two of the Fathers Preachers of Valencia were killed by the plague, and among them the blessed Prior brother Michael of St. Dominic, while he was serving those infected with the plague and persisting, like another Tobias, in burying them. And to Blessed Bertrand as he prayed the said Prior appeared glorious, and, kissing his forehead, said that he had died at that very moment of time and was proceeding to enjoy God ^k…

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER V.

He again presides over the novices at Valencia; his deeds there: his departure for America, and the Apostolic life led there.

CHAPTER IX.

When at length the plague ceased, Blessed Bertrand was ordered by his superiors in the year 1560 to return to Valencia, Again set over the novices at Valencia, he raises up one who was wavering: where he presided over the novices a second time, persisting in his former holy exercises. At that time a certain novice, brother John Lescano by name, was deliberating by night about asking back his worldly clothes. The good Master, coming to him before dawn, said: Brother, sleep; ah, do you wish to go away? But he, dissembling his temptation, answered: And where should I go, Father? Then he: Wherever you please; and he added: And some others too will do so: after which words, having exhorted him in a friendly way to holy perseverance, he withdrew. So that novice was entirely freed from his temptation and filled with consolation; and a few days after, when two others forsook the sacred habit, he understood what the words spoken to him by the Master had signified. To a certain Religious of the same convent of Valencia, who was grieving that so many fathers had died in it, Blessed Bertrand said: Console yourself; because God has shown them full of brightness and glory to a certain brother: and from the circumstances it was gathered that the brother to whom that revelation had come was Blessed Bertrand himself.

[67] he dissuades a certain marriage: he preaches through Lent elsewhere. While he was living at Valencia this time, before he set out for the Indies, Jerome Abeglia treated with him about a marriage to be contracted between his niece, lady Anna Beluis, and a certain nobleman. Blessed Louis answered him: This marriage will be treated of twice without conclusion; nor is it fitting that it be made; because many troubles will arise from it to your niece. So it exactly happened: for twice it began to be treated, but it was not concluded on account of a grave infirmity of the knight, on account of which he vowed to enter a religious Order, as he did; but the wretched man became insane. In the following Lent he preached in the village of Alcoy, where according to his custom he was the best example to all, sleeping clothed on a mat woven of sea-rushes, and living for many days on bread and water alone in order to win souls for God; knowing well how much it matters that people be taught by deed before word. He sometimes betook himself to the village of Cocentaina for the sake of lady Beatrice de Mendoza, a woman of great Christian virtue, who, on account of the many things she had learned about him from many, and in particular from master Jordan, a cleric of holy life, esteemed him very highly and used him as her confessor. She had ordered a comfortable chamber to be prepared; but, as father brother Peter Mico (then a secular, to whom the countess had committed the care of the Servant of God) testified, he never slept in a bed there; and however anxious the said Mico was to rise very early, he always found him praying on bended knees.

[68] In spring two galleys of the Moors put in at Valencia with huge booty Moorish pirates punished by his prayers: and many slaves captured on that coast; and while the redemption of these and the collection of money for this purpose were being dealt with, their commander, surrounded by some Moors, walked about Valencia on a certain feast day: at which Blessed Bertrand was vehemently saddened. Wherefore in the evening, when the novices were in the garden, after each of them had said something about the feast of that day, he, kindled with holy anger, began to say: How can it be borne, my sons, that the enemies of Christ, after inflicting such great damage, have gone today with such pomp through the city, and even now go about boasting? To us, to us, sons, this matter pertains. Come now, let us all put our knees on the ground, and, turned towards the sea, devoutly recite a psalm against these Moors. The novices did so at once with the devotion which God had instilled into their minds: and a little after it was learned that, the Moors having set sail and being somewhat removed from the shore, a most violent storm had arisen, which drowned them all. Which afterwards, with his usual simplicity, raised a scruple in Blessed Bertrand, lest perhaps he had sinned in causing the novices (to whose merits he ascribed this prodigious effect) to seek divine vengeance against those Moors so fervently. The psalm which they had then recited was the hundred and eighth, whose beginning is: O God, be not Thou silent in my praise ^a; and it is commonly called the Psalm of malediction.

[69] A certain woman, grieving that her husband clung to mortal sin, a husband converted to virtue; another prophecy of the Saint. had recourse to lady Anna Beluis, that she might induce Blessed Bertrand to pray for him, that God would free him from that evil. A few days having elapsed thereafter, the Father told Jerome Abeglia to tell his niece lady Anna that God would inflict on the husband of the said woman a great punishment, by which he was to be amended: and it happened that shortly after the children of this perverse man fell ill, and that of them the one whom he most loved died. By which event he returned to a sound mind and abstained from his sin. Blessed Bertrand, before he went to the Indies, said to Angela Vives, wife of Francis John Abeglia, who was pregnant: The children hitherto born of you will be your company; but those whom you shall bear are owed to heaven. So it came about: for she bore a son, who died shortly after.

[70] At that time there came a certain Indian, clothed in the habit of a Friar ^b, He is fired to preach to the Americans: with forged letters to the convent of St. Dominic at Valencia, and not without divine providence, since from the conversations which Blessed Bertrand had with him his heart burned with such charity towards his neighbour that he altogether decided to set out for the Indies ^c; to undertake which expedition he was animated even more by those very things which could deter the less robust from it; namely that great labours were to be undergone by the preachers of the Gospel in those parts, as the Indian related, and that those wild nations raged against them with barbarous cruelty; the more of which atrocious deeds he heard, the more the ardent thirst for martyrdom grew strong in his breast, since he knew very well that there can be no greater charity than that a friend lay down his life for his friend, as Christ our Lord teaches ^d. This holy thought he nourished in his heart, until two Religious came from the West Indies with the faculty of bringing Preachers to the New Kingdom of Granada ^e: and as they enlarged before the Servant of God on the great want of Gospel ministers in those parts, he renewed his purpose of procuring the salvation of souls which, destitute of the knowledge of the true God, wallow in a thousand sins.

[71] to one wishing to accompany him he foretells other things: At the same time father brother Castiglioni, of the Order of the glorious father St. Francis, at that time a man still living in the world and joined in friendship with Blessed Bertrand, often indicated to him his intention of embracing the Order of St. Dominic: and he praised him, and exhorted him to virtue and to perseverance in his good purpose. Then, learning that Blessed Bertrand wished to make for the Indies, thinking it the best opportunity, he asked him to take him as a companion. But he replied: You think indeed that you will be of the Order of St. Dominic; but you will not be; nor will you see the Indies; for you will remain in these regions, and in another very holy Order you will put on the habit. And when Castiglioni wondered at an answer so contrary to his mind, Do not doubt, he added, that what I have told you will come to pass: and so it also happened: for he remained at Valencia and professed the Order of St. Francis.

[72] So firm was Blessed Bertrand's purpose of preaching the Gospel to the Indians persisting in his purpose though all dissuaded him, that he could not be called back from it by the tears of his brothers and sisters and other relatives: nor did the Religious of this convent achieve more, who, foreseeing how much the absence of so good a Father would harm them, tried in every way to dissuade him from it, pleading his infirmities, the weak constitution of his body, and the length and dangers of the journey. The Prior, brother James Serrano, who had brought him up from his youth, also added his prayers; and when he too made no progress, he refused to give him the viaticum for making that journey. Since Blessed Bertrand knew that he could not ^f make so great a journey on foot, he sent his companion ahead to Seville, waiting for an occasion more favourable to his purpose. But three days after, on the first Friday of Lent of the year 1562, after he had preached a sermon among the nuns of the title of the Conception, he was urged by so great a scruple that, having deserted his companion, he had remained there, that on that very evening he exhorted the brethren of the novitiate with a sermon full of spirit to the upright observance of the Order; and, having most humbly begged pardon of them if perhaps he had offended any of them, he bade them farewell and imparted his holy blessing. The tears shed on this occasion cannot be expressed in words, nor the force of grief which seized the hearts of all those his sons at the loss of such a holy Father and good Master.

[73] departing for Seville, on the road he finds his companion: When morning came, about to depart, he asked for the blessing of the Prior, who, after much humanly natural reluctance, imparted it, persisting in that affliction of mind which the matter demanded; so that he could not speak for tears. He departed alone, his neck burdened with a double wallet, in which he carried a few little books and some small cloths, and went to celebrate Mass in the convent of St. Mary of Jesus, of the Order of St. Francis, placed outside the walls of the city, which he said there with that spirit which anyone can imagine for himself, commending his journey to God, and offering what he was to suffer on so long and laborious a way. When Mass was finished, reckoning as excessive riches and excessive comforts the few things which he had brought with him, he sent them back to the convent. Then, walking along the royal road, when he had come to the Cross of Xàtiva, half a league distant from Valencia, he saw his companion going before him, whom he had sent ahead three days before, but who on account of the grave infirmity of one of his relatives had only then gone out of the city; God so disposing, lest Blessed Bertrand should make so long a journey without a companion.

[74] When his brothers heard that he had departed, following him with great diligence they came upon him at Xàtiva, distant a day's journey from Valencia, sailing from Seville, one gravely injured and tried with many arguments to move him to desist from the journey he had begun; but, when they effected nothing, they bought him a beast of burden, because they saw that on account of the weak constitution of his body he was unequal to making the journey on foot. They bade him farewell at last, not without tears shed; and he went on to Seville, where he committed himself to a ship in the first fleet which set sail for those shores. The captains and masters soon learned what treasure they were carrying: for they presently observed his upright habits, the austerity of his life, his conversation, modesty and humility; for which reasons all held him in great veneration, and when a storm arose they had recourse to him as to a safe refuge, thinking themselves safe while they were near him. It happened that, as a certain Dominican brother was fixed in deep meditation in the armoury of the galley where Blessed Bertrand was staying, a part of a plank fell from the masthead on his head and so injured him that he lay as if dead.

[75] The physician and surgeon, running up at once, began to cut away the hair of his crown; applying water, he heals. but Blessed Bertrand asked them not to do so, for he would give water which by the grace of God would heal him. The esteem which they had of the good Bertrand persuaded them to wash that man's head with the water given by him; and, it having been carefully bound with bandages, they carried him to a cabin, in which he remained until the following morning, deprived of his senses as before; then, recovering them, he sees the Servant of God bringing his own head close to his: and without delay he rose to his feet and went out into the main cabin of the galley: where the captain, seeing him, ordered in a loud voice that he should return to his cabin, for he was in danger of his life. But the brother, wondering, answered that he was healthy; and, hearing of the wound of his head, he put his hands to it and tore off the bandages; and so all recognized that great miracle, that there was no wound in him, nay, not even the least trace of a scar ^g.

[76] The fleet put in at the port of Cartagena, a city of the Indies ^h, Living at Cartagena of the Indies, he is sent to various places: and Blessed Bertrand stayed there in the convent of St. Joseph, which belongs to the Fathers Preachers of the province of St. Antoninus, although it is situated in Peru and is part of the New Kingdom of Granada, and under the government of Cartagena, of Santa Marta ⁱ and of Venezuela ^k. In that house he lived as a conventual; and thence he was sent to various peoples to teach the Indians; for it is established that he was at Tubara, Cipacoa, Paluato, Mompox ^l, the Sierra of Santa Marta, Turvaio, Tenerife and other places. But although God, through the patronage of Blessed Bertrand, worked many wonders in the Indies, few of them have come to our knowledge, some of which, which we are about to relate here, he himself narrated, others were written here from there.

XI.

[77] When the Blessed man was labouring in his last infirmity, a certain Religious coming to Valencia from the Indies preaching in Spanish, he is understood by the Indians: narrated things worthy of note about him; and first indeed that he was that Preacher who brought forth more abundant fruit than the others in those kingdoms; because, although he used the Spanish tongue in his sermons, he was nevertheless understood by the Indians, which did not happen to other preachers, who needed interpreters. And the reason why God granted him this gift, as he himself once narrated to his intimates, was this, that, when he had once used an interpreter who, whether from ignorance or from malice, had expounded his words badly, he prayed God that he might be understood in his vernacular tongue, as once St. Vincent Ferrer was. He was heard and answered ^m: and by that grace he gathered such copious fruit.

[78] amid hardships he consoles himself with the fruit of souls: The aforesaid Religious set out besides the grave hardships which the good father Bertrand suffered in making journeys through that region, from hunger, thirst, heat, cold and want of clothes and other things of that kind; which the Servant of God himself too narrated to some who were eager to know from him what had happened to him on such remote shores; but always with pleasure and gladness. But he grieved more that, since in the most vast province there were few convents, and these far distant from one another, the Priors, to provide for the need of the Indians, had been accustomed to distribute their Religious through different places, so that one of them lived ten leagues from the convent, another twenty, another thirty, who, so that they could confess their sins sacramentally, came together from both sides to the middle of the way: which Blessed Bertrand, since he took such delight in the Sacrament of Penance that he had formerly been accustomed to confess twice daily, bore most bitterly: he consoled himself, however, with the fruit which he copiously gathered from that people.

[79] trusting in God, his travelling companion, who complained much, A certain Jerome Cardiglia, of Valencia, when he had come to those shores and Blessed Bertrand had recognized him, being otherwise destitute of all helpers, accompanied him as his countryman while he went to distant lands to preach, whither he always went barefoot; and Jerome, performing the office of a servant, carried the wallet, in which nothing was contained but the Sacred Scripture and the Breviary. Wherever they came they were most welcome, and were received with signs of huge love: and when they were about to leave, provisions for the road were offered them; but the Father would accept nothing, nor permit Jerome to accept anything; which he took ill, because on those long and deserted roads hunger and thirst often had to be endured. One day, when they had strayed from the road, Jerome, his stomach gnawing, complained much of the Blessed man that he made him carry a wallet empty of food; but he, with his usual gentleness, exhorted him to patience, and admonished him to suffer a little for the love of God with firm trust in Him. But the more the Blessed man commended this virtue to him, the less he would learn it, and he went on always murmuring.

[80] he feeds wonderfully, and is deserted by him; The Blessed man, therefore, seeing him seized with excessive choler, said: Come now, let us turn aside here a little; and, the road from which they were departing having been marked, they entered a thick wood, in which, as they went on a little, there met them a small tree laden with beautiful ripe fruit (nor was another seen in the whole wood), and at its root clear and crystalline water was gushing as if bubbling up in the middle of a rustic fountain formed by nature, and as cold and pleasant to the taste as it was agreeable and elegant to the sight. Hence Jerome, all cheerful, after he had eaten and drunk as much as he pleased, was satisfied and content: and because those fruits had tasted good, and he had experienced want, providing for the future he wished to provide for himself and pick other fruits from it; but the Blessed man, running up, forbade it: yet he nevertheless secretly gathered some and hid them in the wallets; which a few paces from there the Blessed man seized with his own hands, and, having sharply reproved him, threw away. That thing roused such anger in that rough man that, when they had come to the first village, he shamefully went off and left the Blessed man alone; who said to him: Brother, I grieve that I have nothing to give you: go, God being propitious; but I grieve more that you will always live and die miserably: which prophecy was fulfilled. On this man the Blessed man conferred a miracle, healing a deadly wound of his head, as will be said in book III, chapter I.

[81] What has been said above of his custom of making journeys on foot [his hard manner of travelling: he restrains fierce animals with the sign of the Cross.] he so observed that, when he had been called from Tubara elsewhere to administer the Sacraments, and on account of his infirmity they wished to compel him to use a horse, they could by no means persuade him to it, although the road was rocky and full of troublesome slopes. A certain labourer, named Jerome Fernandez, also a Valencian, who had likewise accompanied him in the Indies for a little more than seven months, narrated that, as they went through the region, Blessed Bertrand with his companion several times (having bidden him wait meanwhile) withdrew into the woods; and that, because they did this generally more often on Fridays than on other days, he suspected that they were beating themselves with scourges; and that he saw with his own eyes that this was so. The same Fernandez related that, while he was going with him through those mountains and woods, terrible tigers and other fierce animals frequently met them, and that, terrified by these, he said: Where are you leading me, Father? Do you wish these monsters to devour me? And that he answered: Do not fear, son; for God is with us: and the sign of the Cross having been made by him towards the beasts, these, laying aside all their native ferocity, allowed the travellers to finish the journey they had begun not only unharmed but also secure.

ANNOTATA.

opportunities he was, and in it he so restored to his former health a Religious of his Order, most gravely injured by a heavy pulley falling, his wound having been washed with water, that the next day, to the wonder of all, not even a trace of a scar appeared.

CHAPTER VI.

Other deeds of the same Saint in various places in America.

CHAP. XII.

At Cartagena, on account of the general applause, he incurs the envy of some: Blessed Bertrand, when he was not being sent elsewhere by his Superiors, ordinarily lived at Cartagena in the convent of St. Joseph, in which, as also in all other places, he gave remarkable signs of his sanctity; and his words were strong with such power of moving, especially when he preached, that even the hardest hearts were softened, and all set aside even the most urgent business to hear him speak: so much did he please. The sermon, however, which he gave on Good Friday in the said convent was memorable above the rest on account of the pious affection with which he expounded those sorrowful mysteries, and the penance and tears to which he roused all his hearers. His reasonings were not those of a mortal man but of an angelic spirit, and his words were so sweet that they carried away anyone and drew them ever more and more to listen. To put it in few words, they looked up to him as a man sent from heaven. Which was the cause that certain persons, whose part it was to rejoice on that account, seeing him so highly esteemed, moved by deadly envy, stirred up persecutions against him, and very often insulted him, calling him with injurious words a Hypocrite. But the most gentle Servant of God bore everything patiently, and repaid good to those who did him evil.

[83] he utters a threefold prophecy: When the Prior of the same convent, master brother Peter Martyr, wished to continue the building he had begun, he took counsel with the Servant of God and with the Presentate brother Jerome de Barros, all three of whom were to preach in the following Lent; namely the Prior at Veragua ^a, the Presentate at Rio de la Hacha ^b, and Blessed Bertrand at Nombre de Dios ^c. The council finished, Blessed Bertrand said most openly to the Prior: That father who goes so willingly to Rio de la Hacha will not return from there; but your Paternity and I will be brought to the extremity of life: we shall not, however, die of that infirmity. So it turned out: for father Jerome died at Rio de la Hacha; and the Prior and Blessed Bertrand lay ill near to death, and from the weakness contracted returned with difficulty to the said convent, where shortly after they restored their strength.

[84] Blessed Bertrand, having set out from Cartagena to Barahona ^d to celebrate Mass there, likewise other things when he learned how unworthily those wretched Indians were treated by their governors, said to Andrew Martini: God will free those unhappy people from a great calamity, because one of those governors will die within a few years. After Blessed Bertrand's departure, Martini narrated to others what the Servant of God had said; which, when it had reached the ears of Ferdinand dell'Alle (who was one of the two governors) and of lady Ines de Mendoza, his wife, they were vehemently saddened; and therefore Ferdinand met Blessed Bertrand about that matter. He answered that it was not he who was to die, but his steward, a cruel tyrant of the Indians: and his death two years after proved the prophecy. He admonished the wife of Peter Barros to reconcile God to herself; that she was near to death; although she then enjoyed prosperous health. After a few days, seized by illness, she departed from life.

[85] When those who were with the knight Parafan de Ribera, labouring gravely with frenzy, he foretells in different places. noticed that he was hastening to death, they asked Blessed Bertrand, who visited him, and, seeing him frenzied in so pitiable a manner, asked for an inkstand and wrote certain sacred words on paper, which he tied with a thread to his forehead. At the same time the whole house resounded with such a din and horrible shrieking that it struck terror into all; and the knight so recovered his sound sense that he died piously with the help of Blessed Bertrand. Bertrand, however, perceiving beforehand the various thoughts of others about that din, and that some suspected it had been a sign of the knight's damnation, bade them be secure; for it was a sign of his salvation; and he proved this with such certain reasons that he satisfied all and cheered them all. When the Prior and the Subprior of the convent of St. Joseph lay gravely ill, Blessed Bertrand, being asked by some what would happen, answered that both would die on the same day; as happened; and they were buried together.

XIII.

[86] Blessed Bertrand, sent by his superiors to Tubara ^e Staying at Tubara, he lives austerely, to bring that people to the worship of the true God, used his usual method suited to this end, leading an apostolic life. He would never keep by him any provisions whatever, or accept those owed to masters of sacred doctrine and parish priests; but he entrusted everything to the steward of the Indians, who took care to provide him with food; and when he (called Francis Ribera) was absent from the place, the poor man often remained fasting until evening. In food he kept his usual parsimony, and exercised his usual works of penance; but instead of scourges he used iron chains. He inhabited a tiny hut rather than a chamber, and slept on pieces of wood arranged almost in the manner of a gridiron, without mattress, without linen, without pillow. He laboured very much in delivering Christian doctrine to that rude people, so that no preacher there gathered as much fruit as he.

[87] he converts all the infidels of the place, he repels the demon: He converted at Tubara all who were infidels, as is noted in the Baptismal book. He preached with such spirit that he gave no sermon without tears and contrition of heart; and many entangled in public mortal sin, moved by his sermons and good examples, gave up their licence of evil living and gave themselves to the divine service. Day by day they were more and more astonished, because they could not grasp how it could be that he, although a man, by that manner of living removed human things from himself. For which reason, instigated by the demon, they wished to test his virtue by tempting him through a cunning and malignant Indian woman, as will be told in the chapter on his chastity. He was most devoted to St. Mary of the Rosary, and therefore in his sermons always commended this devotion, and to kindle minds more to it he was accustomed to narrate some remarkable miracle. The demon, seeing that loss was being inflicted on him by Blessed Bertrand through the conversion of so many Indians to the holy faith, appeared to him in the habit of a hermit, and persuaded him not to torment himself so much in converting that people; for all his labour would be in vain; and that he himself pitied him; and with many reasons he tried to persuade him of what he wished: but, recognized by the Servant of God, he vanished from sight with great clamour and horrible howlings.

[88] he happily baptizes an infant brought by its idolatrous father. In the first days after Blessed Bertrand's arrival in that place, when on the Vigil of St. Michael he was alone in the church, behold, an Indian entered it, carrying an infant in his arms and crying out vehemently; and since the Blessed man did not understand him, he heard from the interpreter that he was asking Baptism for that dying infant. The Blessed man answered, why did he, who was an idolater, ask this. Because (the Indian added) up on that mountain a certain good spirit told me that you had come into these lands for this, and that, if you pour water on the infant, he will be saved. Blessed Bertrand therefore baptized him and called him Michael, giving great thanks to God that the first whom he had baptized in the Indies had flown to heaven ^f. Blessed Bertrand narrated these things several times, when he was holding discourse about the wonderful effects of divine predestination.

[89] he baptizes very many, burns idols, is strong in great authority. His eminent manner of living won for Blessed Bertrand an opinion and fame of great sanctity among those peoples, and God added such efficacy to his words that in the space of three years he converted and baptized with his own hand more than one thousand five hundred, who, by his counsel, publicly burned certain straw huts in which their idols were kept; and so that the Servant of God might discover also other places in which idols lay hidden, he used the help of boys, who, enticed by coaxing, indicated them to him. One night he himself with his companion burned two such huts of idols, which were never rebuilt: which thing roused the Indians to such anger that they laboured with every effort to discover the incendiary. Blessed Bertrand did similar things whenever he could, so that they should not be an occasion to the converts of returning to idolatry. And such was their regard for him that, when once they had rushed out with great violence from a little tavern in which they had assembled, to kill the steward, and he had escaped their hands into the church in which Blessed Bertrand was, the latter, noticing the danger, went to meet them, who were more than two hundred, and alone by his presence and authority held them back, calmed the tumult, and the steward escaped death.

[90] In a certain sermon Blessed Bertrand sharply rebuked a certain Indian, An attempt at murder by an unchaste Indian a man of great condition at Tubara, but an idolater; and, as the custom of the country there holds, leader of the people in time of peace. He came to the sermons and to the Doctrina ^g, and, although he was married, he had unchaste commerce with an Indian woman married to another man: which, besides being contrary to the law of nature, was also prohibited by the decrees of the Indians. The offence was public, and all grieved, were offended and detested it, because among them too marriage is considered inviolable: and as he was a chief among them, so his sin was the more notable. This man, therefore, the Blessed man sharply reproved, and on account of the pernicious example said even in public sermons that he, although he was not a Christian, was by no means exempt from the laws of nature, which forbid adulteries and expressly prohibit that anyone take another's wife.

[91] But he, most vehemently moved by these things and blazing with anger, he escapes undaunted: he suffers much from demons: not waiting for the end of the sermon, rose to his feet, and, seizing a military weapon which, made from palm, is called in their tongue Macana, hurled it with both hands at the Servant of God, who was preaching standing upright on his feet above * the door of the church; but it (the impious man thinking that it had struck his head) near the Blessed man's feet

fell to the ground with such force (because that Indian was very strong) that its point was fixed quite deep in the ground, the Blessed man being wholly unharmed and free of all ill; which was held for a remarkable miracle. But the Servant of God, not at all terrified by so unusual a deed, with his mind calm as usual, after pouring forth some prayers celebrated Mass, as though he had not at all been exposed to so present a danger of death. Blessed Bertrand suffered many things in converting that people, not only from men but also from demons, by whom he was savagely beaten, and in particular when he converted and baptized a certain old chief who was dying. For on that account the demons tormented him most cruelly, and that Indian too; and when the latter complained to the Blessed man, while he was being visited by him, of the great troubles which those malignant spirits were causing, he set up there a cross formed of canes; nor did they dare any longer to trouble him, nay, not even to enter the place in which that Indian was staying.

[92] While Blessed Bertrand was still at Tubara, he learned by divine revelation divinely foreknowing, he helps a shipwrecked friend: that a certain friend of his in the kingdom of Valencia, James Raphael Frances by name, who was sailing in a fast vessel towards Cartagena of the Indies, was to suffer shipwreck. Wherefore the Servant of God, having procured clothes and food, went to the shore, where he found him more like a dead than a living man. For, the ship having been driven towards the shore, he, commending himself to the B. Mary of the Rosary, had escaped by swimming for one day and two nights, by a twofold miracle, both that he had not been drowned and that he had not perished from hunger and distress, nor been devoured by the sea monsters frequent in that sea; and had not that timely refreshment also been furnished there by the Blessed man, he would certainly have died, destitute of all strength from what he had suffered and from toil and fear. James informed his brother John Robles, rector of Enguera in the kingdom of Valencia, of what had happened to him and of the help conferred on him by Bertrand, to whom he ascribed the preservation of his life: and that rector, when the Blessed man had returned to Valencia, strove to render thanks for the benefits shown to his brother; but he begged him to be silent; yet, so that the miracle of the most blessed Virgin of the Rosary should not be concealed, he permitted it to be made known.

[93] how highly the Saint came to be esteemed at Tubara. The Indians, having once by chance entered the tiny hut which Blessed Bertrand inhabited, beheld him in ecstasy raised from the ground; from which thing (which carried them away in wonder) and from the other things which they saw continually done by him, they conceived such devotion towards him that, whenever by the command of his superiors he had to go elsewhere, they strove in every way to keep him from leaving Tubara. And when nevertheless he had departed from there, they wept bitterly; and so dear and holy a memory of him remained among them that they invoked him in their prayers ^h: and it appears that that people, under his patronage, persevered sincerely in the duties of the Christian law. They remained so piously disposed towards him too that they converted his poor little hut into a hermitage, in which not only Indians but also Spaniards, priests and Religious, sought heavenly favours from him.

XIV.

[94] When Blessed Bertrand was sent to preach the holy faith at Cipacoa and Paluato ⁱ, Preaching at Cipacoa and Paluato the governor Francis Sanciz, as administrator of the region, wished, as he was accustomed to do for other sacred heralds, to assign him young Indian women and men to serve him; but the Father would not, pleading that he was a poor little friar who had not to maintain a household after the manner of seculars; and he only permitted two young Indians to come to see whether he needed anything; who, having observed that he frequently beat himself with scourges, especially on the days on which he abstained from meat, and that he was therefore weaker and paler than usual, reported it. He always refused the alms offered for Masses, which he indeed celebrated for the intention of those who asked; but he ordered those alms to be distributed to the poor. In like manner he would accept nothing for conferring Baptism, for joining persons in marriage, for celebrating funerals and Masses for the dead, nor did he admit hens, nor eggs, nor any other gifts whatever from his parishioners. Accordingly that people, seeing that he took no account at all of his own advantage in anything, commonly called him the Friar of God.

[95] by the sanctity of his life he wins all to himself: The governor Sanciz, considering the extreme poverty of the life which the good Father led, and that he, because he would not have women to serve in his house, suffered a kind of servitude himself, brought it about that he should thereafter always eat in his, the governor's, house; and when he himself was at home he had him as a guest at his own table; and when he was away, he had ordered that he be suitably provided for. But the good Father, if food was not given of its own accord, did not even ask: and his food was most sparing; his drink a little water lightly mixed with wine, so that to all who noticed it he seemed to live prodigiously. Not only on Sundays and feast days, but also on other days through the week, the inhabitants of Cipacoa and Paluato diligently ran together to be present at the Mass, the Catechism and the Sermons, eager to listen to him; rejoicing to frequent the church beyond their custom.

[96] When one year the weather was so dry that a great scarcity of grain was feared, rain divinely obtained, he procures a rich harvest: the lord of Cipacoa, an idolater, with many other infidels and Christians, on the Vigil of St. Catherine, virgin and martyr, had recourse to Blessed Bertrand, beseeching him to pray for seasonable rains to be obtained from God, lest they perish of hunger. Trust, answered the Blessed man, in God and in the Saint whose feast we keep tomorrow, who is very powerful with God, and whom we shall pray to be our patron in this necessity. Therefore have the road cleaned from here to the mountain in sight of the sea, and there build a little shrine of branches, and in it erect an altar; to which tomorrow, God being propitious, we shall go forth in suppliant procession, and I shall celebrate Mass there: so it was done, about a thousand persons assembling there. After the Mass had been celebrated, he gave a sermon in which he set out the frauds by which they were deceived by the demons, and then narrated the wonderful deeds of that great Saint, and exhorted them to sure confidence that God would grant abundant rain. So it turned out: for a few hours after the sky began to be troubled, and the clouds, continually thickening more and more, to grow dark. All therefore returned to their homes; and they had not reached the middle of the way when they already saw rain impending; they had scarcely arrived at their village when it began to rain copiously; and it rained for three days, both there and in the neighbouring places round about. In this way, the parched fields being seasonably soaked, the crops were made so fertile that a most abundant harvest followed.

[97] When Blessed Bertrand once wished to cross on horseback the Cienaga ^k of Mansaniglio ^l, the governor Sanciz held him back, he crosses a river happily: he keeps off rain: because the river seemed to have swollen too much; and to make the test, he himself, mounted on a horse between two naked negroes, went in. He had not gone far when the horse began to sink, and he reached the opposite bank by swimming, from which with a loud shout he urged the Blessed man not to expose himself to so great a danger, promising that he would procure a boat for him; but he, intending to cross in another place, the river having been signed with the Cross, happily reached the other bank. When once, making a journey, he had come to the corner of the Icacios ^m, and the governor Sanciz and brother James Sciaveria, companion of the same Blessed man, wished to take food, with heavy rain impending, the Blessed man began to pray; and when he delayed somewhat, being called by them to refresh himself together with them, he answered: I am praying B. Mary of the Rosary to keep that rain off us; I who have nothing with which to cover myself. And he was heard: for where they were not a drop fell: but round about abundant rain had poured down, whose manifest traces they saw as they continued their journey.

XV.

[98] Blessed Bertrand, preaching to the Indians at the foot of the Mountain of Santa Marta ⁿ, [Rescued from the hands of men raging on account of the bones of an impious man he had carried off] brought more than fifteen thousand of them to the Christian faith and washed them in the sacred font. After these he came to two peoples of the Caribs ^o, called Sapenco and Petua [p]; they adored the bones of a certain priest, of whom in those parts there was a most ancient memory, and by the persuasion of the demon they believed that the sky would fall on their heads if they were deprived of those bones: which was the cause why they kept and honoured them wonderfully, celebrating their feasts before them with ridiculous ceremonies. After Blessed Bertrand had very often, but in vain, tried to take away their error from those blind men, he grieved that they were held so miserably deluded by the demon. But, when it pleased God, he secretly carried off the little chest in which the bones were kept: when the Indians found this out, they decided to kill him: but those who had already been converted to the faith protected him and brought him safe to another place, four leagues distant from there, whither he carried the same bones with him.

[99] [poison is given him to drink; nor does he die, but the bones, while he is helpless,] The deluded Indians, seeing that they were prevented by the converts, who were in great number and loved him very much, from killing the Father publicly, agreed with a certain impious old idolatrous priest that he should give the Father poison to drink. The wicked man did it, and presently the Servant of God was seized with a deadly fever, which burned his stomach and whole belly. There were with him two negroes whom they had brought to the Christian faith, who helped him in that torment, which he bore cheerfully, joyfully awaiting death. His only grief (the Father said) was that there was no priest present to confer the Sacraments on him: he consoled himself, however, with an image of the Crucified which he carried fixed to his Rosary, and commended his soul to God amid tears. While he was in these straits, behold, there came five chiefs of the Moors with their banners, and carried off the chest with the bones. On the fifth day after he had drunk the poison he vomited up a serpent by a miracle, and so came out entirely safe.

[100] are carried off, and he, again rescued from the weapons of men raging, Blessed Bertrand, afterwards relating this miracle to his closest friends, and in particular to master Natalis, rector at Torrente, showed great grief that he had not been well when the bones were being carried off (for from the gravity of the illness he was deprived of his senses), and said that, if his health had permitted, he would rather have spent a thousand lives than permitted those to be taken from him. He blamed the poison too, because he had not died of it, and added: O blessed death, through which I could hope for the palm of martyrdom, and that happy Carmelite father who, infected with poison by the same priest, within a few hours obtained that sublime lot. The Indians, having learned that the Blessed man was recovering from his illness, assembled more than three hundred, armed with weapons, to kill him: wherefore one of the above-mentioned negroes, more loving of him and more spirited than cautious, loaded an iron war-tube with nitrous powder,

thinking that he could be defended in this way; but the Blessed man ordered him to abstain from what he had begun.

[101] he converts and baptizes many of them: After this a certain lord of chief condition among them, whom the Servant of God had converted, interceding, withdrew him from this danger: and accordingly the Blessed man, coming forth and calling their chief men, began with the usual fervour of his spirit to discourse, setting out his grief at their damnation, and admonishing them to recognize in future the foul lies of the demon; since neither had the sky fallen on them, although they had been bereft of those bones, nor had they suffered anything of all the other ills which he had threatened. By these admonitions, and having found that the poison, whose force they knew very well by experience, had not prevailed against him, they were so softened in mind that the impious, having become penitent, prostrating themselves together before the Blessed man, promised amendment. The Blessed man therefore, adding suitable admonitions, brought a great part of them to the faith of Christ and purified them in the sacred font.

[102] various others At another time the Blessed man asked a certain lord why he omitted to frequent his sermons; he answered: because his demon had threatened to kill him and his wife and his children if he were present at them in future. Then the Blessed man said: Come now, let us go and test how little that one can do; and going up to the idol he struck it with his foot, nor did any sign, any movement appear in it. The Blessed man repeated the same experiment rather often, and so converted that Lord who, we said above, saved his life.

[103] There came to the Blessed man once together more than one thousand five hundred Indians from a certain place he instructs and washes in the sacred font, where he had been able to convert no more than two, and they urgently asked him to instruct them in the Christian faith. Being asked the cause of this, they answered: that when they were celebrating a certain feast, at which the said two baptized Indians were present, and were invoking the demon according to their custom, he appeared, horrible to see, and said: Why do you invoke me while two Christians are present here among you? Take them away from here. And that meanwhile, near the demon, there appeared a man clothed in the manner of Christians, who said that he had been sent by Bertrand to set out to them how much they were deceived by the demon: and that, when they had disputed for some time, the demon remained confounded, and both vanished from sight: for this reason they were coming to become Christians. Blessed Bertrand, therefore, joyful, baptized them, having first instructed them.

[104] The Blessed man had baptized an Indian of decrepit age and sick, and among these a decrepit sacrificing priest, and was assisting him to die well; but he had scarcely withdrawn from him for as long as was needed to go to his house when, returning, he found another Indian assisting him, who was striving to pervert him. The Blessed man drove him out; and the sick man, strengthened, died in the sacred faith as a Christian. Blessed Bertrand laboured much to convert an Indian priest, a man of great judgment, thinking that his coming over to Christ would avail for converting many others. For this purpose he implored God's help by sacrifices and the afflictions of his body for two years; which time having elapsed, when he least expected it, that Indian, lying ill of a grave disease, sent someone to summon him. The Indian, being asked by him what he wished, answered that he believed that almighty God had sent His Son into the world to teach men the way to heaven; and that He had died on the cross to free them from sin and from the power of the demon, and that therefore he wished to be a Christian. The Blessed man, recognizing him well instructed in the faith, baptized him: which done, he began to tremble, and being asked the cause he said that the demons, in the form of fierce beasts, were threatening to tear him in pieces, because, although they had honoured him greatly while he lived and had made him greater than all the other priests of that kind, he was deserting them at the end of his life. Hearing these things, the Father formed a cross of rushes and, having placed it by the bed, withdrew. Afterwards, when he returned, the Indian narrated that the demon had howled before the doors, but had never dared to enter any more.

[105] He had also converted another of the chief men, and another of the chief men. who, when he had fallen ill, asked Baptism of the Blessed man; but while the latter was fixing a cross outside his house, the Indian said that there was no need. Astounded at this saying, the Blessed man feared that the Indian repented of his purpose; he went on, however, carrying the cross in his hand, exhorting him to persevere constantly in the holy faith; but the Indian, pointing with his hand to a certain place, said that a cross had appeared to him in it, and that therefore he had said that there was no need for another to be placed. When, therefore, he asked again for Baptism, the Blessed man conferred it.

ANNOTATA.

p. Whether these are the names of peoples or (as rather seems) of places, I have sought in vain in the Lexicons.

* Perhaps "under the door"?

CHAPTER VII.

Other deeds of the same, and miracles performed by him in America before and after his death.

CHAP. XVI.

At Tenerife to a certain noble matron various things Blessed Bertrand also discharged the office of Vicar and parish priest in the land of Tenerife ^a, where with his usual diligence and sanctity of life he strove to convert that people to Christ, and among whom he made singular progress by showing the Crucifix as the opportunity of the sermon allowed. There lived at that time in the same place Isabella Mexia, wife of John Bernal, governor of the place, who was accustomed to cleanse the faults of her soul with the Blessed man, and to have recourse to him in straits; and when she wished to do so, she came in time to be able first to be present at his Mass. And always, when she had gone there with that intention, the Blessed man, after the Mass was finished, uncalled, asked what she wished. Whence she perceived that he was strong in the prophetic spirit; and therefore, desiring to know the end of her husband, who was desperately given to gambling, she consulted him, asserting that on this account she was the most afflicted and wretched woman in the whole world. He answered kindly that she should not reckon this among her afflictions, but that others would befall her, incomparably greater. As she in fact suffered most grievous things; and among them, infected with poison, for which reason she was anointed with the sacred oil, yet did not die.

[107] The same lady, when she was at Cartagena, pregnant for many months, he foretells. begged the Blessed man to tell her whether she would bring forth happily, and whether a male or a female. He answered smiling that the first who was born on earth was a man; signifying that it would be a male; who was also baptized by him. Some months after, the same lady asked again what was to become of that boy; he replied that he would live a short time; as was done, God calling him to Himself within a short time. The same lady had at Tenerife a maidservant, Hieronyma by name, on whose forehead, whenever she came to church with her mistress, the Blessed man formed the sign of the Cross; the lady diligently observing it. It happened that, when the Blessed man had set out elsewhere on a two days' journey to hear confessions, that servant fell ill and died; and within a few days, when he had returned from there, the lady narrated to him her servant's death. To whom he said: Why then did you think that I signed her forehead, except that I saw her near both to death and to eternal salvation?

[108] At the time when Blessed Bertrand cultivated that land, About to return to Spain, he foreknows the time of the fleet's departure, he lived in a hut near the church, and was accustomed to dine in the house of a certain nobleman, a singular friend of his. This man, when he was passing that way on his return to Spain, received him into his house, until food and other things necessary for the sea voyage should be prepared. On the second day after his arrival news was brought there from Cartagena that the departure of the fleet had been fixed within the next eight days, three of which having elapsed, that nobleman said to his Guest: Father brother Louis, everything is ready; go happily to Cartagena, before the fleet sets sail. To whom he answered: The Lord God, who has granted me the permission to return to Spain, will not permit the fleet to depart without me. I will tell you the day of my departure: and having said this, he remained there.

[109] and imminent death to a certain noble woman, Within fifteen days the wife of the same knight, whose confession the Blessed man had heard, gave birth, and he baptized the child; and as he was about to go out of the house he commanded that they should not leave the woman in childbed alone; which the women who were present, caring little, as soon as they saw her asleep, withdrew from her, forgetful of the warning not to desert her. But she, waking in fear from a great noise which one of the thickest serpents that are found in those fields, equal to a human thigh, was making in the same chamber, trembling at so horrid a sight leapt naked from the bed, and, fleeing with a huge cry, ran now this way, now that, through the house as far as the lower courtyard; at which time, since a cold little breeze was blowing from the sea, she was mortally stricken by it. Then at last the women remembered the warning received from the Blessed man not to leave her alone: and she, more like a dead than a living woman, laid in another bed, expired after four hours.

[110] and to her widower, unless he takes care, he prophesies divine vengeance. The next day her corpse was buried, and the Blessed man celebrated Mass for her soul,

and gave a sermon to the people, and, the funeral rites having been completed, returned home with his widowed host, where during dinner he said to him: The Lord God detained me here so that I might pay your lordship the price of the food prepared for me, as I have done: for I heard the lady's confession, stood by her as she died, watched by her corpse this night, celebrated Mass for her, spoke in her praise in a sermon, and baptized the infant: other coin with which to pay for the benefits shown me I have not. What occurs to me besides is to warn your lordship not on any account to permit to enter your house a certain woman who within a few days is going to come to you; otherwise you will offend God with her, and she will shortly after pay for it by her death. All these things turned out exactly so. For that woman appeared, he permitted her entrance, and fell with her (and what is worse, she was his co-mother at baptism), and he asked for a dispensation in order to join her to himself in marriage: but before the dispensation was brought, God avenged His offence by the death of the woman before the end of the year in which the threat had been made.

XVII.

[111] At Tenerife he is held for a Saint, as also at Mompox, So great, indeed, was and is the devotion of the people of Tenerife towards Blessed Bertrand that in particular Louis Vasquez de Guevara, the ordinary governor, since he could obtain nothing else of his belongings, had the Baptismal book brought to him, in which there were many signatures written by his own hand. On this occasion he also tore out some leaves from it and kept them as sacred relics; but he would never restore them unless compelled by a sentence of excommunication: and they are kept to this day, with the consent of the chapter, in great veneration in the sacristy. The Blessed man also preached at Mompox ^b, where he commended his words with his usual sanctity of life, and in that way performed wonders. He won for himself such fame there that he went by no other name than that of Saint.

[112] Captain Bernard de Bentacourt, when he had heard him preaching on a Friday about Lazarus, shining with wonderful light in the company of two Saints came to him about the second hour of the night, asking that he would hear him confess his sins the next morning; and, opening the door of the cell little by little a little way, he saw in it a great light, as of many candles, and before his oratory Blessed Bertrand bent on his knees: he saw besides two venerable lords, notable in majesty, with garments radiating like the sun; and when he wished to look at this vision more accurately, he could neither go forward nor go back, and, all trembling, stood astounded. But, the door having been somewhat struck by the force with which he was striving to move, Blessed Bertrand, turning towards the noise, rose and came forward to see who was there and to learn what was being asked. But the captain, all trembling and not master of himself, in that disturbance did not know what to answer: and had not the Blessed man helped him to go out of the house, he would not have found the way out. The Saints seen by him seemed to him to have been Sts. Ambrose and Thomas Aquinas; and being asked why he thought these two were Saints, he answered that they were like their painted images, which he had often seen, and that for the space of twenty years that opinion had clung to his mind.

[113] The same captain saw Blessed Bertrand, while he was celebrating Mass, [and at other times too he is seen in ecstasy: he prophesies: he grieves at the murder of a boy:] remaining in ecstasy after the consecration, and, thinking that he would be doing right, wished to rouse him by seizing his chasuble. To a certain young man from Espeleta, not far from Mompox, of forty years, he prophesied that he would reach fifty years, but not exceed them; and in fact it happened that in the fiftieth year of his life he was seized with illness and died. In a place called Turvaco he converted a certain young man, and in Baptism named him Louis, who, brought up holily by him, was accustomed to serve him at Mass. Which the demon greatly resenting, when he was asked by the Indians to grant them maize (which is their grain), answered through the idol that he would never grant it unless they had immolated little Louis. For which reason, waiting until the Blessed man was absent, they seized him and immolated him. And when he returned and inquired about his Louis, they tried to persuade him that he had been devoured by the caimans, which are animals like crocodiles, which, often coming out of the river, devour travellers; but the Blessed man, knowing well the malice of the demon, on the one hand grieved vehemently at this; on the other rejoiced over the merit of that innocent soul.

[114] When he was preaching on the island of St. Thomas ^c under the shade of a plane tree, on the islands of St. Thomas there was present there in that great congregation a multitude of impious Indians, who, armed with stones, wished to stone him; being warned of this by a certain ecclesiastic who was with him, and who advised him to desist from preaching, he answered: Do not fear; for they have not so much strength, not only to hurl a stone at me, but even to harm me in the least. He went on therefore preaching, and his words had such force that not only did they not hurt him, but more than two hundred of them, when the sermon was finished, piously followed him and were converted and baptized by him.

[115] He went on to another island, called the Promontory of St. Vincent ^d, and of St. Vincent he gathers most abundant fruits. with many baptized persons and others, where, while he was giving a sermon to a very crowded congregation on a spacious plain, there came one of the chief men, clothed in a red ankle-length garment, with bare legs and feet, and wearing earrings. He, going up to the Blessed man when the sermon was finished, asked him what those things were which he was preaching about the Cross, and what thing the Cross was, which he desired to see. The Blessed man, in order to instruct him rightly, applied himself to the thick trunk of one of the trees which crowned the place, with his arms stretched out in the manner of one crucified: and when he withdrew from it, that trunk kept the image of the most holy Cross impressed: at which miracle all that people, carried away into great wonder, applauded with loud shouts. And the aforesaid chief man at once went back to his house, from which, returning a little after to the place where the Blessed man was, and falling on his knees, he first took his hand and led him to his house, in which he stayed nine days with his companion Jerome Fernandez; during which time he baptized the same man, well instructed, with many of his family and others; and on withdrawing, as he was accustomed to do elsewhere too, he left him the Articles of the holy faith, the Precepts of the Decalogue, and the other more necessary prayers committed to writing.

XVIII.

[116] Although we have already related many of the wonders which Blessed Bertrand worked in the Indies, In testimony to the true Faith he drinks poison harmlessly: we have nevertheless particularly destined this chapter to recording the miracles which, done by him both before and after his death, were noted in writing in those same parts. Christ said in the last chapter of Mark that His preachers in His name would cast out demons, would speak with various tongues, would drive out serpents, and, if they should take poison, would remain unharmed, and finally that the sick whom they should touch with their hands would be healed. That these graces were granted by God to Bertrand, as to an Apostolic preacher, is certain from many things which we have already said, and will also become manifest from what is to be said in this and the following chapters. Lord Raphael Figueroa, having stayed in the Indies, asserted that it was public fame on those shores that Blessed Bertrand, in order to convert to the faith one of the grandees of that nation, in testimony to the truth of the Christian faith and the falsity of the Indian superstitions, offered himself to drain a cup infected with poison, and drank it without harm ^e. The Servant of God himself also indicated this to father brother Andrew Cabrerizo; adding that God often performs miracles of this kind through great sinners, so that His holy name may be recognized and praised.

[117] [by the use of his girdle he procures delivery for a despaired-of woman in childbirth:] An Indian woman called Marinitta, whom Blessed Bertrand had baptized, had recourse to him, grieving that her infidel sister had already for three days been dying from an unhappy labour, because the foetus lay crosswise; and it was held for certain that she could by no means bring forth and live. The Blessed man, consoling her, bade her place her hope in God, that her sister would bring forth happily; and he gave her his girdle, with which to gird her sister; and he himself meanwhile applied himself to prayer for the sick woman. Girded with it, she gave birth to a beautiful and healthy son; of which thing Marinitta informed Blessed Bertrand within half an hour; and, moved by that miracle, the infant's father and mother, with the paternal and maternal grandparents and many others of their companions, were washed in the sacred font by the same Blessed Bertrand.

[118] with his handkerchief and the sign of the Cross he heals scrofula, Another Indian woman, not yet baptized, most grievously afflicted with scrofula, so that through the sores with which almost her whole neck was surrounded her sinews could be seen, falling down before the Blessed man said: I vehemently beseech you to heal me. He, after making the sign of the Cross over her neck, wrapped her neck with his handkerchief and said: Go, God being propitious; trust that you will be healed by Him, and come back tomorrow. She came back the next day, and, the handkerchief removed, found herself healthy, as though she had never laboured with any ailment, not even any sign of the disease remaining. His companion, seeing this remarkable miracle, said: Father brother Louis, this is a great miracle! To whom he said: Be silent, dearest brother, this is the work of God: for nothing good is done by me; and the divine Majesty works it for this reason, that those Indians may be converted. In a certain port of the same region a certain girl, by the sign of the Cross alone being formed, was freed from the same ailment with which she was infected.

[119] When lady Agnes de Mendoza, at eight years of age, and fever: he escapes shipwreck, he restores the dangerously ill to health. had already been ill for two months in her grandmother's house on the borders of Tubara, the old woman went to beg Blessed Bertrand to come there (as he did) to celebrate Mass; which being finished, he read the Gospel over her and signed the sick girl with the cross, and on the same day she was free of fever. While he was sailing with four or five other persons on the great river Magdalena ^f, so fierce a storm arose that, the boat being overturned, all were immersed in the waters: but, the Blessed man praying to God, the boat was righted and brought them all to the bank, onto which, grasping a tree, they escaped. In like manner, travelling through the Indies, he found among various peoples many dying of a certain disease like catarrh; and that contagious disease was such that it seemed a plague. Accordingly he went round each hut, blessing the sick; nor did any of those on whom he had imparted his blessing die of that ill. Then, when one of his companions was suffering from the same disease, a certain Indian said: Why do you not go to the holy Father, that he may heal you?

[120] The Religious of whom we made mention above ^g,

having returned from the Indies, He is believed also to have restored to life a dead girl related in the convent of Valencia that, while he was making his journey through the Indies, he had understood from many that the Blessed man had raised from death in a certain village a certain girl of tender age, the daughter of an Indian woman, whom he himself had baptized. Bertrand himself, being afterwards asked rather often whether God had truly called back a dead girl to life through his patronage, seemed neither to affirm nor to deny it; whence he was believed to have done it in fact; for he knew well that a lie in things of this kind gravely displeases God. But what makes the matter more certain is this, that, when he was gravely ill, to a certain citizen devoted to him who asked whether he had restored life to a dead girl in the Indies, he answered: How much do you think that is? God acts like an ironsmith who, intending to make a saw, out of many plates fit for that work which he has before him, chooses this one in preference to another at his own will: and having said this, he was silent. By which words he said in substance: Do not make more of me than of others because God has used me for performing that prodigy.

[121] This opinion is confirmed from the words of the same Blessed Bertrand to a certain person of notable condition, in America. to whom, giving a Marian Rosary, he bade him hold it in great veneration, because, when about to sail towards the Indies, he had received it from father brother Thomas Arenas, a celebrated preacher and a man of great spirit, to whom he himself had likewise given his own; and he added: This Rosary in the Indies healed the sick, converted sinners; and besides I think it raised the dead: hold it in great veneration. Nay, the Father himself too esteemed it so much that several times he asked that it be sent to him, for the sake of placing it on the heads of the sick. To another devout person too he said: God has done me this grace, that with this Rosary I have raised the dead. By its use also after his death many miracles were obtained, as will be told in book III, chapter IX.

[122] Some of the miracles obtained after his death After the death of Blessed Bertrand too it has been found that God performed many miracles in the Indies through his patronage. At Tubara Martin Campanero, an Indian, had been seized with a grave lethargy and brought to his last extremity, and deprived of speech and sight; and what was worse, he had not confessed his sins, because he had suddenly lost the faculty of speaking. Pitying him, Francis Lopez Cabrera, cleric and parish priest of Tubara, and grieving that he was dying without previous confession, commended him to Blessed Bertrand as to the Father of the Indians of that place, and, having taken out a leaf from the Baptismal book written by the Blessed man's hand, devoutly and with great faith applied it to the sick man's neck; who within a day and a half, no remedy whatever being applied, recovered his speech, confessed to the parish priest, and lived surviving in health many years. The same Francis Cabrera testified that he had been summoned to a certain Indian woman, Francisca by name, after she had been tormented for several whole days with the pains of childbirth and could not give birth, to hear her confession, because it was not doubted that she would die in childbirth; and that after he had heard her confess, he ordered that same paper written by the Blessed man to be applied to her; and so she gave birth within five hours, and remained sound.

[123] through his patronage in America. Father master brother Augustine d'Avila Padiglia, of the Dominican Order, a remarkable preacher of Mexico ^h, and afterwards archbishop of the island of St. Dominic ⁱ, while he was living in the college of St. Louis of the Fathers Preachers in the place called Puebla ^k in the Indies towards Mexico, labouring with a grave infirmity of a flux in his tongue, having heard of the miracles of Blessed Bertrand, placed in his mouth a particle of thread from his garment which had been given to him, and swallowed it, and was healed.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER VIII.

The cause of his returning, and his return to Spain: a storm at sea calmed: his residence at Valencia: the Priorate in the convent of St. Onuphrius held by him.

CHAP. XIX.

Having stayed seven years in the Indies, Blessed Bertrand deliberated about his return to Spain, Not bearing the cruelty of certain men towards the Indians because he bore ill the cruelty of certain governors, who not only for light causes unjustly killed the Indians, but also impeded the sacred sermons. Sometimes too some of the governors, while the Servant of God was preaching, broke in upon the sermon, and with impious words and blows of cudgels drove the hearers out of the church ^a: and since that wretched people is unarmed, nay even altogether naked (for there are places in that province in which no clothing at all is in use), they burst out of the church at once and left the Blessed man in his pulpit. Above all, however, the letters which he had received from lord brother Bartholomew de las Casas ^b persuaded him to return; who not only, while he was still a secular cleric, had made various journeys from Spain to the Indies and from the Indies to Spain, but also, after taking the habit of St. Dominic, during the little less than fifty years in which he wore it, was the perpetual patron of the Indians; and so that he might apply himself more earnestly to this work, he had renounced the bishopric of Chiapa and returned to Spain, where he carried on such care of them with many that he obtained very many favours for them from king Philip II, as he had also obtained from the emperor Charles V of glorious memory.

[125] And although, on account of certain adversities which frustrated his good desires he asks leave of the General of his Order to return to Spain; while he was a cleric, and on account of his huge zeal, when he had already professed Religion, in procuring that the Indians should not be unjustly treated, he was blamed by some historians ^c who flattered the malevolent; nevertheless, always having the honour of God before his eyes, in season and out of season he attacked and reproved the violence of certain men, and interceded for the Indians on the basis of everything in the law of nature and the royal sanctions that favoured them. And the sum of the letters which this bishop gave to Blessed Bertrand was that he should labour vigorously in converting the Indians, and proceed prudently in hearing and absolving the military commanders and governors who confessed to him, who, not content with the royal privileges, treated the natives tyrannically against the express will of the king. Wherefore Bertrand, since he esteemed these letters greatly, vehemently desired to return to Spain, so as to relieve himself of the scruples which he was suffering for the same cause. The Servant of God therefore wrote to his brothers in Spain and communicated his intention to them. And they, from the desire by which they were held of seeing again so good a Brother, sent at once to the most reverend father General of the Order, who at that time resided in Spain, and was father master brother Vincent Justiniani (whom Pope Pius V created Cardinal), and after many importunate prayers he sent him by different ways three letters patent granting the faculty of returning.

[126] meanwhile ordered to accept the Priorate of the convent of Santa Fe Meanwhile it happened that, the fame of Blessed Bertrand's miracles having spread, the Provincial of St. Antoninus in the New Kingdom of Granada ordered Blessed Bertrand to be elected Prior of the convent of Santa Fe ^d, which is the metropolis of that province, asserting that it was not fitting that a Man of such virtue and sanctity should stay in common places, but that he ought to live in the city of Santa Fe, in which the archiepiscopal see and the royal tribunal were fixed. The electors therefore with common consent elected the Servant of God, and the Provincial sent that election, with its confirmation and with censures if he did not accept, by a certain brother to the convent of Cartagena, whither Blessed Bertrand, being summoned by the Prior, when he heard of the confirmed election of himself to the Priorate and the censures threatened by his Superior, grieved vehemently; for he had always shunned honours; and, as much as he could, he refused, so as to avoid vainglory, to which the prelacy could give occasion, and the applause to be made for him, because through the whole region he was called a Saint and was awaited as such in the city of Santa Fe. These things therefore afflicted him greatly.

[127] he sails thither; but, having received on the way Compelled, however, by obedience, he most humbly accepted that office, and girded himself for the journey thither. But before he went away he asserted that he was indeed setting out for the city of Santa Fe, yet would not arrive there, nor discharge that office; because God had decreed otherwise. The Blessed man departed from Cartagena towards Tenerife, and put in at Barranca ^e, a port of the great river Magdalena, where he committed himself to a boat ^f which certain merchants had loaded and were sending with six other boats. The navigation on that river ^g is ordinarily completed within twenty-four and twenty-six days, unless they enter the port of the city of Mariquita ^h; but the boat which carried the Blessed man could not in even thirty days complete half the space of the journey which the others ran through speedily. And when the Indian sailors murmured on that account against their master because he had not tried to hasten along with the others, he pleaded the great quantity of water that had got into the boat, which hindered swift navigation, not without danger of sinking.

[128] Fifteen days after, another boat overtook it, in which was being carried a particular friend of Blessed Bertrand, bringing him the mandate of the most reverend General [having received letters from the General, he returns to Cartagena, and thence is carried back to Spain.] that he should return to Spain (which boat in a single day reached the one in which the Servant of God was), and asking from afar whether father Bertrand, Prior of Santa Fe, was being carried in it, and receiving the answer that it was so, the boats having been brought together, the Blessed man those destined for him

received letters from Spain, and when thanks had been given by him to God, that boat of his went forward with the same speed as the other. Thence they reached as far as the port of Angostura, which is a strait of the river; where the Blessed man stopped and wrote to the Provincial and the brethren of Santa Fe, to inform them of the mandate received from the General, adding a copy of the same mandate, and of his resignation of the Priorate. Thence three days later he came to Tenerife, where there happened what I have narrated above concerning the noble knight his friend, by whom he was received in hospitality ⁱ; and from here, with provisions for the journey given him by the same man, in the space of three days he came to Cartagena, where he found the fleet ready, which seemed to be waiting for nothing but him; for scarcely had he gone down into it before it set sail towards our Hesperia.

[129] On the way, when a horrible tempest arose, the sail was torn in various places, He calms a tempest with the sign of the Cross: the yards were broken, and it wanted little but that the rudder too was torn away; and the whole ship was tossed now this way, now that, as the waves drove it, which with a horrible crash now lifted it to the sky like the highest mountains, now, opening up the deepest valleys, hurled it down into the abyss. For which cause Bl. Bertrand, betaking himself to that part of the vessel which was most assailed by the waves, formed the sign of the Cross against them again and again, and they, as though they had acknowledged the power of that most holy sign, the nearer they came to the ship, the more gently did they dash against it. But Bl. Bertrand, fearing vainglory from this thing, leaving the vessel to the waves, withdrew to another part. But as soon as he had withdrawn from there, the sea boiling up and the vessel being in greater danger than before, the sailors immediately ran to him, beseeching him with the utmost entreaties to return to the place he had deserted; where, when he applied that remedy as before, the sea not only raged less, but was even rendered tranquil and calm. When the Blessed man at some time related these things, he added what he had also said on other occasions, namely, that from deeds of this kind it is not sanctity that is proved, but faith; and to that purpose he added: God granted more light to Lucifer than to me; and yet he was damned; and more authority to Judas, who afterwards hanged himself. That can happen to me too; since it is written that no one in this life can know whether at its end he will be worthy of hatred or of love.

[130] In the year 1569, on the feast day of St. Luke ^k, Bl. Bertrand landed in Spain, having landed in Spain, he lives in the convent of Valencia: and not having stayed long at Seville, he set out for Valencia, where, arriving in the evening, he was obliged to pass the night in his brother's garden, situated outside the walls of the city near the monastery of St. Mary of Succour of the Order of St. Augustine. The next day, very early in the morning, when the report of Bl. Bertrand's arrival had spread, the father master brother Lawrence Lopez, the Prior, needed his authority to hold back the brethren, lest they should all run to him for the sake of seeing him again and asking his blessing: for from the immense joy with which his return had filled them all, each one burned to be the first to see him; and the Prior himself could not contain himself for gladness, considering how great a benefit God in His own time was conferring on this house by restoring to it such a Son, who was going to make it illustrious in the highest degree by the holiness and examples of his life. Entering the convent, Bertrand said that he now wished to begin to serve God in earnest and to be held as a novice; and he also made this good, conducting himself so humbly that he carried them all away into amazement.

XX.

[131] The Blessed man was not permitted long to enjoy solitude and the quiet of his cell: [Made Prior of the convent of St. Onuphrius, he governs the brethren in a holy manner] for the fathers of the convent of St. Onuphrius, about two leagues distant from Valencia, desiring him to be set over them, because they were persuaded that their convent would be increased by his efforts, in spiritual as well as temporal things, elected the same man Prior by a unanimous vote with great joy. He indeed desired to decline that office by excusing himself, but, constrained by obedience, he accepted, and towards the end of October of the year 1570 he began to discharge it, after his manner, with immense fruit, handing on excellent precepts and going before by example, most watchful in the divine service. He exhorted those fathers that, just as that place, the more solitary it was, the greater devotion it moved in those approaching it, so they should strive the more to excel in the services of the divine Majesty, and to surpass other Religious living elsewhere. And as he himself was most observant of the constitutions and the Rule (which he held in the first place of all), so he took care that his subjects should keep the same promptly and cheerfully, all the more so as he governed them with the greater charity and procured for them all necessary things the more liberally.

[132] and he feeds them liberally: he puts up a building: he succours the poor: And since he governed prudently, notwithstanding barren years and the debts of the indebted convent, the brethren were abundantly provided for. Nor did he only pay off the debts of the convent, but he also built things worthy of note in it, exercising the talent received from God, notably in the building called the Covered Cross, beside the convent at the end of the road, which is planted on both sides with most beautiful cypresses: and when he seemed to someone to be spending too much on this matter, he answered that even more was spent by the Lutherans in destroying Crosses in Germany and France ^l. They had had his name placed there in memory of the founder; but he, abhorring human glory, had it effaced. He was a generous almsgiver, and he sent no poor man away without solace, even if he came at an inconvenient time; distributing bread and wine liberally to each, and often repeating to brother Joseph Viudes, the steward: Give alms, brother; let it not irk you to be generous towards the Lord our God, and alleging that word of David in Psalm 40: "Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor, etc."

[133] the poverty of a noble matron having been divinely understood, Beyond the common alms which used to be distributed at the gates of the convent, Bl. Bertrand also bestowed other secret ones on bashful persons in their houses; as Angela Bayarri of Museros testified, a good servant of God, who was accustomed to confess to him. For through her efforts he succoured many needy people, and in particular a certain lady of eminent rank, who lived in a certain village not far distant from the convent, and, burdened with little children, was suffering bitter want, so much so that often, when bread was lacking, she cooked herbs for those poor little ones; and if she had bread, but not enough for all, she divided it among them one by one, herself abstaining from bread, and frequently, set in that want, she lived with her own on a few dried figs. Which poverty indeed, since she was noble and honoured, she would reveal to no mortal whatever, fearing lest having done so might some time do her harm.

[134] While on a certain day she was in straits of this kind, he sends her alms, and prophesies: Angela Bayarri came to her, bringing her a certain sum of money; and when the good lady saw it, she asked whether it was being restored to her by someone led by conscience. The other answered that it was not so; but that it was sent as alms. If it is alms (replied the lady), without doubt it is sent to me by the blessed brother Louis Bertrand, to whom God has revealed my need. Angela admitted that this was true, but forbade her to tell anyone by whom it had been sent. Then the lady accepted the coins, saying: Truly God has revealed my straits to His Servant; for it was impossible that he should know otherwise; and she rendered thanks to God for so timely a succour. To the same lady, when she was pregnant, Bl. Bertrand said that she would bear a son, and admonished her to take diligent care of him, for he would be a great man; and he also repeated this after the boy had been born and, at his mother's bidding, had been brought to the convent of St. Onuphrius to be shown to the same Father.

[135] Just as the Blessed man was liberal towards the poor and needy, He experiences God as wonderfully liberal. so God moved the minds of the faithful to give him alms equally generously; and hence he was divinely furnished with every necessary thing, as he himself related to father brother Vincent Ribera, saying that he truly did not know by what means he had several times found in his cell reales ^m, and could not understand whence they had been brought there. Likewise Vincent Garriga, a bookseller, from whom Bl. Bertrand used to buy books on credit, testified that he had been paid by him exactly whenever he wished; and that once, when he had entered his cell, the same man had said to him: For the love of God forgive me, brother, that I have forgotten to procure money for myself; that he had replied that he came for no other reason than for the sake of visiting him, and that the Blessed man had rejoined: Come then, sit down, let us talk a little while, until God provides; and in the middle of the conversation, stretching out his hand to a neighbouring table, he said: Take the money owed to you: and exactly as large a sum was found there as was owed. At which thing the bookseller was greatly astonished, because he had seen no money on that same table before.

[136] The Blessed man went round the places situated about the convent of St. Onuphrius to preach, Going about the neighbourhood to preach, he walks on foot while he may, and ordinarily on foot, even when he was going to Valencia, although with difficulty, because he suffered from a sore on one of his legs. But so as not to be reproved by the fathers for going on foot, he used to leave the convent sitting on a horse, and a little way from there to continue the journey on foot, reciting his prayers meanwhile; which he did in like manner on the return. One day, on Good Friday, going to preach at Moncada, where he was giving the Lenten sermons, he left the convent sitting on a horse, but soon not only leapt down from it, but even took off his shoes, and so went barefoot as far as the entrance of the place: and he did the same when, after the sermon had been delivered, he was returning to Valencia, on approaching which, when he could be recognized, he put on his shoes and mounted his horse again. Like a good pastor of his priorate, he desired so greatly to stay at home that he ordinarily returned there the same day.

[137] We have already recalled above how well he left the peoples to whom he preached imbued, by his examples, with humility, penance and piety. Furthermore, at Moncada, after the sermon was ended, betaking himself to his lodging, and he gives various examples of the virtues: having wiped away the sweat, instead of resting he would withdraw into the oratory to pray, until he was called to dinner, at which he was so abstemious that he was an object of wonder to others; nor would he have any delicacies or dishes offered him except sparing ones of common price. In the village of Liria, three leagues distant from the convent of St. Onuphrius, where he had gone to preach at the Nativity of the Lord, lodging in the house of the Rector, when he had understood that all the others were now asleep, from a vivid representation in his mind of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, leaving his bed disordered as though he had slept in it, he went down into the stable, and approaching the manger, he kept vigil there with the most loving child Jesus, who, born that night, lay laid in a manger.

[138] of his subjects A certain Religious of the convent of St. Onuphrius asked the holy Prior for leave to go

to Valencia, and having obtained it, he did not go there, but to the convent of Porta Coeli of the Carthusian brethren. When he had come back from there, after the blessing had been imparted, the blessed Father said: How did you conduct yourself among the Carthusian fathers of Porta Coeli? And when he answered that he had neither gone to Porta Coeli nor seen the Carthusian brethren, the Prior rejoined: Take care what you say: for in the three days in which you were absent from this convent you stayed at Porta Coeli, and you were present at their Matins Office, and you asked dom Bellot for the habit of their Order; and know that your wishing to become a Carthusian brother is a grave temptation from the demon. The Religious stood stupefied, recognizing that he had said nothing but the truth, and especially about the habit, which had been treated most secretly. To another Religious, by name brother Andrew Cabrerizo, he often told most hidden things, which could not have been known except by divine revelation; and in particular, when he had once gone to his cell, the Servant of God said that he had committed such and such a thing, and kindly reproved him; but since that thing was hidden and could be known by no one, he boldly denied it: but the Blessed man added with the same kindness: I say this to you only for your benefit, and so that, when you are about to confess your sins, you may remember to accuse yourself of it. But when that same man confessed to Louis, he heard not a word about that matter from the same Blessed man.

[139] and he knows the secrets of others divinely, Meeting the same brother Cabrerizo one day as he came out of his cell to go to choir, Bl. Bertrand told him to drive out of his mind the thoughts in which he was entangled, and set out what they were, and reproved him, so that he might attend to what he was doing and what was fitting for the divine service. Then, coming out of choir, brother Cabrerizo saw Bl. Bertrand speaking with a certain Religious, who, holding his Breviary in his hand, was praying before the refectory of the convent of St. Onuphrius: after which conversation that Religious, all astonished, told brother Cabrerizo that Bl. Bertrand had told him to amend certain things done very secretly, and had bidden him serve God and not fear that any harm would come to him from it. When a certain Religious guest had come to the convent of St. Onuphrius and, as is the custom, was asking a blessing of the Prior, with whom many Religious were present, the Servant of God said to the guest that the arms and shield of Religious are the Rosary. When the bystanders wondered at words which they did not understand, and asked the guest what they meant, he answered that he had under his habit a large hunting knife; but that it was impossible that this should have become known to him without divine revelation.

[140] One night the blessed Prior called the porter, ordering him to open the doors of the convent, and he understands things absent: because a Religious, whom he named, was coming from Valencia full of dread and fear, since on that road three men had attacked him, indeed only for the sake of frightening him, but whom he had taken for robbers and cut-throats. The brother opened the doors, and looking out saw the Religious appearing, all trembling; who, finding the gate open, asked whom he was waiting for, and for what reason he was standing there so late. And when he heard that it was done by order of the Prior, he wondered exceedingly, thinking it altogether extraordinary that what had happened to him on the mountain was already then known to the Prior.

[141] In the year 1572, when a certain one of the grandees of these kingdoms was entangled in great troubles, [he foretells to an illustrious woman that her husband will be rescued from the peril in which he was placed.] and his wife was gravely afflicted, Bl. Bertrand, coming to console her, admonished her not to grieve; for there was no reason for her to do so. How, said she, is there no reason for me to grieve, when my husband is so gravely afflicted? Because, he answered, our Lord will console him, and you, most illustrious lady, will see him alive and governing his estate. When six months had passed she thought that her husband was now on the very point of being freed from his troubles; but Bl. Bertrand asserted that this would come about not so quickly, but after three years. And so it exactly happened; which nevertheless could in no way have been foreknown by human means. It is moreover worthy of note that before all these things the aforesaid lord had been seen, by a certain Carmelite nun, by name sister Teyeda, in the monastery of the Incarnation, a most spiritual woman and servant of God, in danger of drowning; which signified the peril in which she was to see him a little after. She saw besides that the same man would escape from that same peril, because Bl. Bertrand was helping him by his holy signs: by which it was indicated that he, though absent, was signed daily by the Blessed man from his cell with the sign of the holy Cross, as long as he was placed in that same peril, as he had promised his wife.

[142] Two Religious, collectors of alms for the convent of St. Onuphrius, Other things done by him there up to the end of his Priorate. when in a certain week they had collected much, resolved that one should keep back a real of four, the other a gold ducat, so that, if perhaps in the following week the alms should be scantier, they might add them, and so bring in the usual sum. Before they drew near the convent, then, one of them put the real into his shoe, the other the ducat into his sleeve. When they had come to the Prior and handed over the alms, the Servant of God ordered them to hand over to him all the money collected; and when they answered that they had given all that they had received, he said: Give me, you, the real of four which you put in the shoe of your left foot; and turning to the other, And you, bring out the ducat which you have in your sleeve. Hearing this, they stood in amazement. Moreover the Religious, noticing that nothing of all that they did escaped him, said to Jerome Abella: Truly, sir, we do not know what we are to do with our Prior, who is deaf and short-sighted, and nevertheless knows everything that we do. A certain Religious, a little after making his profession, confessing the sins of his whole life to Bl. Bertrand, when he had reached a certain deed, began from shame to hesitate: to whom he said: Are you a Judas? Why do you not accuse yourself of such a sin? and he pointed out what he had committed. These and other wonders having been wrought there, which are to be set forth again below as well, Bl. Bertrand at the end of the two years of that Priorate of his returned to Valencia, leaving the convent abundantly furnished with all necessary things, and increased in spiritual and temporal goods.

ANNOTATIONS.

i. Above, number 108.

CHAPTER IX.

What he did when set over the novitiate again at Valencia: appointed Prior of the convent there, he shines before others by his virtues: the Man's wonderful trust in God and liberality to the needy.

CHAP. XXI.

[He is again set over the Novices at Valencia, the demon gnashing his teeth in vain.] Nor even then did it fall to Bl. Bertrand's lot to be able to enjoy the holy leisure so greatly desired. A little after he had come to Valencia, the Prior, master brother Onuphrius Clemens, a man of great virtue and learning, and a distinguished preacher, commanded him to undertake the mastership of the novices; and accordingly he discharged that office then as most diligently as before. He taught them by deeds and by words to bear the yoke of Religion cheerfully; and as those brethren, in the company of so good a Master, made much progress in the divine service and in regular observance, so they exercised themselves in every kind of virtue. The demon, not bearing this, tried with all his strength to be troublesome to him; accordingly one night a Religious in the novices' house experienced certain things which he judged could not have proceeded from a mortal man, and for that reason he reported them to the holy Master. He answered: Know, son, that there goes about this house a demon, who strives to disturb you; but do not fear. And he added: Ever since this office was committed to me, there has been a certain Moor about here, who, although he is all loaded with chains, is nevertheless very agile, and I have seen him.

[144] At this time there came to Valencia a certain father, He knows the secrets of minds, called brother Michael Ferreri, of the Order of Preachers, who was coming from Calatayud ^a with the desire of knowing Bl. Bertrand, by whom he was received with joy, and with him he walked for some time through the garden of the novitiate, discoursing meanwhile of God. Before he withdrew from him, Bl. Bertrand signed his forehead with the cross (as he had been accustomed to do to many who had dealings with him), and said: Father, remember to confess such and such a sin; and he brought back to his memory a fault which he had committed four years before he entered Religion, and which he himself had never remembered to confess. Brother Andrew Cabrerizo was confessing to Bl. Bertrand, and had already finished going over his sins, when the Blessed man said to him: Do you know what thing Confession is? Tell me why you do not accuse yourself of the perverse counsel which you gave your brother, dissuading him from entering Religion, and persuading him to become a notary in aid of your old father?

[145] But although this had truly been done, it had nevertheless been so secret and he points them out in various ways: that it could have been heard by no one; nor had his brother himself ever spoken of it, indeed he had not seen Bl. Bertrand up to then: so that it could by no means have been known except through divine revelation. For which reason that brother Andrew wondered exceedingly; although Bl. Bertrand had also on other occasions in the convent of St. Onuphrius revealed most secret and most hidden things to him, as in the preceding

chapter it has been said. It was so ordinary for him to know hidden things that many were afraid to speak with him, lest he should see into their sins; and father brother Francis Clemens admitted that he had several times avoided conversation with him when he had not confessed beforehand. And Violanta Juncar once said to him: Father, I should not like to confess to your paternity: for before I begin to confess and set out my errors, your paternity already knows them. And he answered: Be silent, daughter. Who would tell me these things? The good father brother Nicholas Fattore ^b, too, never went to visit him without having confessed beforehand, as he himself wrote in a certain letter given to the same St. Bertrand.

[146] He preaches to the people of Brigiana by word and example. In the year 1574 Bl. Bertrand gave the Lenten sermons in the village of Brigiana ^c, one day's journey distant from Valencia, shining before others with the accustomed examples of his holy life, and he lodged in the house of the chief Jurat ^d, Andrew Adrouer, to whom, as to all the others, his severe abstinence and sparing diet were an object of wonder; and that he would never consent to any special dish being prepared for him. If ever one had been set before him, he did not even taste it, but asked that only herbs and pulse be given him; nor did he live on any other food through the whole of Lent; and he was altogether content with such sparing nourishment. He also practised solitude there severely, never going out of the house except in the morning to the church, to say Mass and to preach; nor did he have dealings with other persons than the household, and not even with these except at mealtime, and briefly, and soon he would withdraw alone into his chamber, nor was he seen by anyone besides for the rest of the whole day. By this so singular rule of living he sowed such wonderful fruits in souls that, according to the report of the Jurats of Brigiana (as is read in the Process ^e), they cannot be set forth. In this village the Blessed man wrought a great miracle on a man who, having fallen from an olive tree, was dying without previous confession, as will be told in the second book, chapter 10 ^f.

[147] The death of brother Bartholomew Pavia. In the same year 1574, in the Octave of the Ascension of the Lord, there died in the convent of Valencia father brother Bartholomew Pavia, a native of the village of Cervera of the magistracy of Montesa ^g, and some days before his death he suffered such grievous torments of the stomach and belly that he moved the compassion of all who heard his bitter laments, amid which he cried with a loud voice: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. On the one hand the Religious wept because they saw in such pains one of the kindest and gentlest men whom they had ever known; on the other they wondered that this same man, in other illnesses in which steel and fire had had to be applied, had not stirred himself more than if he had been a lamb, nor uttered any word, except that once he had invoked the name of Jesus. Bl. Bertrand, coming to him, read the Gospel, and then, returning to his cell to pray for the sick man, saw in spirit that he, by God's permission, was being tormented by two demons, who were striking his body to his greater merit and glory; and that this was the cause why he so cried out and felt the bitterest pains.

[149] A certain woman, while confessing, told him The Saint uncovers the frauds of the demon. that a youth of extraordinary beauty and surrounded with light was accustomed to appear to her, and that the same was from time to time seen by her through the streets and squares, very splendid in a chariot, and had told her splendid things about the future life and revealed wonderful secrets. To whom the Blessed man answered that she should beware; for it was not an angel but a demon. But she nevertheless persisted in asserting that it was an angel; and she went away from him. On another occasion that being, appearing to the same woman, said: I know well that brother Louis Bertrand is much opposed to you, but do not care for his sayings, but follow my counsels, who tell you true things; and that you may find by experience that they are true, you see that youth walking through the square, sound and lively; follow him with your eyes, and you will see him fall down dead on the spot. So it came about, and she, more confirmed in her error than before, returned to Bl. Bertrand and related what had happened. But he nevertheless urgently admonished her to beware: for that had happened by diabolical agency: and although the woman did not then put faith in the Servant of God, she afterwards nevertheless acknowledged her error. Something similar has been related above in chapter VIII ^h.

[148] A great rumour was spread at Valencia that a large multitude of Moors was approaching to the destruction of that city. He teaches that the rumour spread about the Moors is empty. For which reason, that provision might be made against them, a great store of arms and other necessary things was gathered, and many deliberated about carrying their wives and children away from the city and the whole kingdom elsewhere. Among these Michael John Beneyto, a noble knight, advised his wife Frances Ferreri to prepare herself to set out for Manzanera in the kingdom of Aragon, where the said knight had a brother into whose house she could betake herself. Hearing this, the lady, much afflicted, went to Bl. Bertrand, her confessor, for the sake of seeking consolation; and when she had related what had been done, he consoled her, saying that she should not be troubled, nor leave her house; for the Moors would by no means come to Valencia.

CHAP. XXII.

[150] After father master brother Onuphrius Clemens had completed his Priorate of the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, Appointed Prior of Valencia, he implores the help of St. Vincent, the blessed brother Louis Bertrand was elected his successor, with the immense eagerness and joy of all those good Religious, who, looking up to his holiness, sought him as their superior. He alone was sad, and as he took it ill to be so honoured, so he left nothing undone so as not to take up that burden; but he tried everything in vain, obedience compelling him. Wherefore, feeling himself sick at heart, for the sake of seeking solace he had recourse to St. Vincent Ferrer, to whom he was devoted, and entering the cell of the same Saint, which is situated in the lower dormitory of the convent, he fell on his knees, and, bathed in tears, prayed thus before his image: Holy Father Vincent, they have made me, undeserving, Prior of this convent, and I feel myself unequal to so great an office. Accordingly I transfer the priorate to you, and I pray, glorious Saint, that you will be pleased to act as Prior of this holy house; I will be subprior, and I will govern according to the commands which you shall lay upon me. Then, as he bowed himself to kiss the feet of the sacred image, the image bowed itself, and embracing blessed Bertrand lifted him from the ground.

[151] whose sacred image embraces him. This deed was spread through the convent, yet it could not be learned who had seen it or made it public. Nevertheless the lay brother Anthony Bagliester and brother Louis Primo, who served him, resolved, when an opportunity offered, to inquire into it from the man himself. While, then, he was labouring under his last illness, they both came to his bed, and mingling pious conversation with him, brought in talk of the great holiness of father Vincent Ferrer; on which occasion one of them said to him: Father, is it true that there is a brother in this convent whom, when he wished to kiss the feet of the image of St. Vincent, the image itself embraced? Bl. Bertrand answered: It is true. A little after the other said: Moreover it is said to be your Paternity: but he, bowing his head somewhat, in humble words compared himself to Balaam's ass, saying that the piety and kindness shown him by St. Vincent had been rendered for no merit of his, but almost in the same way in which God spoke through Balaam's ass ⁱ without any merit of that animal.

[152] He strives to please God alone: he has a wonderful vision: by humility, The Servant of God entered on his Priorate on the 15th day of May of the year 1575 and completed it in the year 1578, and at the outset of that office he placed in his cell this inscription in capital letters, in the words of St. Paul: "If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of God ^k:" that is, If I took care to satisfy men while their will is not conformed to the divine, I should not be a servant of Jesus Christ. A few days after he had begun the priorate three Veronicas ^l appeared to him together as he prayed, and relating this vision to father Justinian he added that by them were signified the troubles which he was to suffer in that triennium; as came to pass. He always persisted in his humility: he would never be addressed by his subjects with the title of Paternity, because he reckoned it too honourable. Nor did his most lofty contemplations ever hinder him from fulfilling all the parts of a most exact prelate, indeed even more abundantly than the rest. He gave orders to others, and he himself was the first to carry out all the most difficult things.

[153] by chastisement of the body and by Regular observance he shines before all: Nor, because he was discharging the priorate, did he give up his accustomed abstinence and the works of penance or the scourgings of the body: for in the same way as before his cell was seen sprinkled with blood, and he was often heard to beat himself with scourges so harshly that his shoulders had to be treated. And particularly in the last year of his priorate father brother John Baga once saw him an hour before midnight entering the cell of St. Vincent and scourging himself there long and hard; and he observed that the same man, as he came out, stopped somewhat at the door to inquire whether there was anyone in the dormitory by whom he could be detected: for he could not see the said Religious, because he was lying hidden near the door of the cell, from which place he also saw him returning to his cell, and heard him, when he had entered, sighing vehemently. He frequented the choir at the day and night hours, nor was he ever absent from it unless hindered by illness. Often, after Matins Office was finished, he remained in choir resting on his knees until the signal was given for Prime: and when infirmity so pressed him that from weakness he could not stand on his feet during the functions of the choir, he wished at least to be present at the divine Offices sitting.

[154] In the first months of his priorate he began to suffer from his legs; but nevertheless he always wished he suffers in his legs: neglectful of his own comfort, careful of others', to eat in the common refectory; nor did he betake himself to the infirmary except unwillingly, because he knew that the attendants of that place were too kind, and would complain of his sparingness in eating; and that he would not be free to share his portion with the poor, as he had been accustomed, but would be compelled to restore his strength with food. He was nevertheless forced to betake himself there; whence after his own meal he would go to the common refectory to see whether his Religious were well fed. He watched much that the study of letters should be promoted most diligently, and took care that of his subjects some should be continually occupied in hearing confessions, others in other sacred exercises. He wished all to be devoted to solitude, and he was a severe exactor in seeing that no one went out of the convent without urgent necessity; and accordingly, when anyone asked that permission, he frequently refused it. As soon as he had heard that there was some tare in his convent, he would try without delay to root it out, lest it should sprout.

[155] He made very much of purity in his subjects

of conscience, kind towards all, most of all towards the upright, and therefore he was very sparing in reserving cases, but most liberal in granting the faculty of choosing confessors; he was accustomed to say that he preferred to be liberal in this respect rather than to give anyone occasion of not confessing wholly. Towards Religious devoted to virtue he was most kind, and he always encouraged them to make more and more progress. He used his accustomed care that nothing should be lacking to the brethren, not only in food, which he wished to be supplied to them altogether good, as befits religious, but also in clothing and other things of that kind. For, as he used the utmost diligence in promoting the divine service, so likewise he studied to provide the house with all suitable things, and that abundantly, although the three years of his Priorate were barren, and the convent was exhausted and burdened with debts contracted before. He was accustomed to say in this matter that, if the Religious procure alms by their labours, it is just that they be spent for their use.

[156] Moreover his kindness towards all was equal; all recognized in him the converse of a brother, and made all things to all men, the love of a father, the counsel of a prudent man, the perfection of a Saint, and finally a gathering-together of all the virtues. He was full of charity and mercy towards his neighbour, so that, if he caught anyone negligent, he would rebuke him lovingly; but neither would he omit, if the matter so required, to chastise him, yet with fatherly zeal. For which reason he achieved more by his admonitions than others by chastisements. In the chapters, which he used to hold on all feast days, he gave holy admonitions to his Religious, exhorting all to virtue and the fear of the Lord, and warning them to beware of the wrath of God and of the punishments which He has prepared for the wicked. He commended abstinence, and that they should withdraw some portion from the food set before them, to be given out to Christ's poor. He urged poverty of spirit, so that, freed from earthly things, they might always be joined with God.

[157] He pressed them to do penance for their sins, [he gives pious admonitions, stirs them strongly to the virtues, and protects their good name:] and to avoid every occasion of offending. But above other things he would discourse at greater length in order to persuade them to the obedience and subjection due to prelates. He said that the poverty which God esteemed most was that when a man leaves his own will. He set out the perfection of this and other virtues with such spirit and such arguments that all remained convinced and ready to fulfil their duty willingly in every part. He took it ill that the honour and good name of his Religious should be detracted from, and he defended them. When once he had somewhat grieved certain brethren, and they wished the Servant of God to be excepted from the general rule, he would not enjoy that privilege, and answered in the words of the prophet Elijah: "For I am not better than my fathers ^m."

[158] he cares diligently for the sick, he succours the poor liberally. He embraced the sick with his accustomed piety, and took care that they were diligently provided for. Towards the poor too he was most liberal, so that he greatly increased the ordinary alms of this convent, which were not small, commanding the venerable father brother Dominic Anadon, for more than forty years the almoner of that same house with great charity and good example (whose holiness and miracles have now become known to many in Spain through print), to increase, beyond the accustomed alms, the bread which he needed for succouring the poor. Add that, although he distributed much to beggars at the gate of the convent, he nevertheless bestowed much more, and in greater quantity, in secret on persons of honour whom necessity pressed. And if it seemed to anyone that he exceeded measure in giving, he was accustomed to relate the saying of father brother Michael of St. Dominic (of whom mention was made above); that in the time of the famine of the year 1556 the alms of that same convent had greatly increased. When some wondered how the Friars could bestow such copious alms, he would say: If much is carried out through the door of the house, much more is brought in through the gate of the church. In this trust the holy Prior distributed so many alms both publicly and secretly; and although he helped more than three hundred daily, of beggars and students, there was nevertheless never lacking to him something to give; because, if he gave much for God's sake, God gave him much more, spiritual as well as temporal things.

[159] He treats the fathers of the chapter sumptuously, God giving the means: In the year 1576, in the month of May, the provincial assembly was held in the convent of Valencia, and on account of the great expenses to be incurred, as is usual on such occasions, copious alms were contributed to Bl. Bertrand by people from whom he least expected them, and among these the one which father dom Lawrence Zamora, a Carthusian, related: namely, that while he himself, at the time of the said chapter, had entered Bl. Bertrand's cell, someone appeared who was bringing him something or other useful for that time; to whom the Blessed man said: You are bringing no less than a hundred pounds: and when the bearer asked who had told him this, stretching out his finger towards the Crucifix, he answered, Behold the one who told me. Furnished by God with such copious alms, he received all the members of the chapter with such sumptuous hospitality that after the chapter was completed each strove to praise, as much as he could, the abundance of things, the kindly hospitality, and the charity of the Prior; but he nevertheless, with his accustomed humility, bowing his body, asked pardon of all for not having treated them according to their deserts.

[160] he exposes a hidden lie. One day Bl. Bertrand committed to a certain Religious some business to be completed with a certain person; and he, reckoning that person would be intractable, came back and told the holy Prior that he had dealt with that person, but had not been able to complete the business. The Blessed man, approaching him, signed his forehead with the Cross, and smiling said: I know indeed that you omitted to do that not out of malice; but for no created thing was it lawful for you to lie. And the same Religious testified that he could by no human means at all have known whether he had told the truth or a falsehood.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

The other things done by him in the time of his Priorate in the convent of Valencia.

CHAP. XXIII.

He frees a soul from purgatory: Many other things worthy of note besides happened to Bl. Bertrand in the time of his aforesaid priorate. One night after the Matins Office, as he was intent on prayers in choir, there appeared to him the soul of a certain Religious whose spiritual father the Blessed man had been from boyhood, and this was the very one by whom the same man, when not yet Prior, had been held for an ignorant person, and who had answered that Lucifer had known many things and yet had been damned. That soul appeared surrounded by flames, and said: Forgive me, Father, what I said to you on such a day; for God does not will that I should ascend into heaven until you remit this fault to me and celebrate one Mass for me. The Blessed man answered that he forgave it willingly, and at daybreak he celebrated Mass, and on the following night he saw the same soul surrounded with glory: and when the Blessed man had asked it: Father, do you know in what place I stand with God, he received the answer: Study to serve God, for you are very dear to the heart of the divine Majesty.

[162] On a certain occasion that occurred, the Servant of God said to father master Francis Alemani: he discerns between the just and sinners in a wonderful manner: I do not know what it means that at the sight of certain persons I exult so greatly that I should like to embrace them; but at that of others I am notably saddened. The aforesaid master learned the cause of this thing by experience; because, when a man of perverse life knocked at the door of the Blessed man's cell, he was at once troubled, and, dismissing him suddenly, drew back, no reason appearing why he acted so. Accordingly he held it for certain that what that other man was hiding in his soul had been known to the Servant of God. With this agrees another thing which a certain prelate of Valencia related to the patriarch; that a certain ecclesiastic, when he visited Bl. Bertrand, had been harshly dismissed by him; and that, having weighed this matter, he had attributed the cause to his sin; and when he had washed it away by contrition and amended himself, he had returned to the Saint; and so had been received by him with a joyful countenance, and had conversed familiarly with him for a good space of time. Hence is confirmed also another case, that of a certain doctor, at whom, returning from a certain jubilee in which he had received the Sacraments of holy Confession and of the Eucharist, the Blessed man wondered silently for a little at the very entrance of his cell, but then said to him: Take care not to change, for now you are in a right state.

[163] he uncovers a secret counsel: he is divinely refreshed: Doctor Roderick Salzedo ^a, secretly asked by the viceroy of Valencia whether he would be willing, in the king's service, to discharge the office of assessor under the governor of Orihuela ^b, after holding secret counsel with one single person, agreed. But then, reflecting that he had not consulted Bl. Bertrand on this matter, he went to him, to beg him to pray God whether it pleased Him that he should accept that office. But the Father, smiling, said: Is it now time? At which word the doctor stood stupefied, certain that what he had decided could not have become known to him by human means. On the day sacred to St. Catherine, virgin and martyr ^c, when a certain good man was reading the Life of that same Saint before Bl. Bertrand in his cell, he suddenly raised his eyes to heaven and cried out with a loud voice: Ah! ah! At this the one who was reading, terrified, asked what the cause was. He answered in tears: It will be well: it will be well: and when the aforesaid other insisted that he explain what it was, he said: I saw a great light in heaven, and from that wonderful and delightful splendour there came forth a voice saying to me: Though I now live in darkness, it will come to pass some day that I shall enjoy light and splendour.

[164] he heals a sick man at his first word: he foretells the death of another: In the following season of the Lord's Advent, in the evening, father Gaspar Valpedrosa, of the Society of Jesus, compelled by heavy rains to spend the night in the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, seized by a certain ailment which permitted him no sleep, was afflicted with such pain of the head that he thought it was bursting, and he was deprived of the faculty of seeing. For which reason he asked his companion

to have him carried to Bl. Bertrand's cell: and as he entered, blessed brother Louis asked him how he was, and at that same point of time he found himself free of all his ailment. Which the Jesuit father held for a great miracle. On the Saturday following the Epiphany of the year 1578, Angela Cimarra, wife of Joseph del Campo, a merchant, went to Bl. Bertrand, begging him to visit her niece Beatrice, who was gravely ill; and although the Blessed man had never seen her, he said, Your niece? turning his head, as though he were saying: My going to her will profit her little. And he hinted this so plainly that the woman said to her companion: My niece has died. Nevertheless she begged the Father to deign to visit her: and after he had excused himself in many ways, moved at last by her prayers, visiting the sick girl in the evening, he consoled her mother, asserting that such was the divine will, and he also repeated this after he had read the Gospel with the father, as though she were already dead. At this they were much astonished and saddened, because the illness had not yet come to that point, and, although she was suffering from consumption, it was believed that she could still survive for some months. But on the following night she grew so much worse that she passed to the other life; and then the woman remembered that, when she was begging the Blessed man, if he could not on that day, to visit the sick girl on the next, he had answered that if he could not on that very day, he would not be there in time.

[165] When Frances Ferreri, wife of Michael Beneyto, a noble knight, he succours a woman in danger in childbirth: was pregnant and drawing near to her delivery, she fell several times, whence it was feared that she would give birth unhappily. Then, when the straits of childbirth came on, she was brought so low that this fear grew. While she was in these torments, behold, Bl. Bertrand came, who, having consoled her in proportion to the greatness of the danger, bade her trust in God, saying that she would give birth happily; and having asked for the things necessary for writing, he wrote the Antiphon: "The Virgin Mother knowing not man," etc. ^d, and ordered that she should hold this slip so inscribed, with a lighted taper, in her hand. When this was done, at that same point of time, she brought forth her offspring, but so badly affected by the aforesaid falls that the midwives and physicians agreed that it could not be humanly brought about that it should be able to live properly. It was therefore baptized at once, and within two days flew away to heaven.

[166] In the month of February there died in the convent of Valencia, as if by sudden death, brother Peter Glioret, a lay brother, [he is divinely taught the glory of a dead man, and the prayers poured out for himself:] and although he had been refreshed with holy Communion the day before, the Religious grieved at such a death, especially the father Prior. A month later the latter said with great joy to some Religious that he had indeed been afflicted for several days by the death of brother Peter, but that then he had received solace from God; and to another he said more openly that God had shown the glory of that same brother to a certain brother of the convent; who was Bl. Bertrand himself, since in cases of that kind he was accustomed to use that manner of speaking. In the last year of his priorate, as Auditor Salzedo was coming out of his cell, a certain old layman said to him: Sir, be a friend to this Friar, who is holy; and being asked how he knew this, he rejoined that once after midnight, intent on mental prayer, he had prayed fervently for him; and when afterwards he visited him, he had heard from him: Brother, I give you great thanks: and when he asked him: For what reason, Father? he had been answered by him: Because at such an hour you prayed for me, and while you prayed you held your arms stretched out in the form of a Cross; and you did that today too in choir. Which things indeed could have been known to God alone, since that man had done it ^e shut up in his own oratory.

[167] On the day of the feast of St. Peter Martyr ^f in the year 1578, the Blessed man, returning to his cell after the Matins Office, he is instructed by a heavenly voice: to his barber heard a voice beyond nature saying to him: "Affliction of heart, contrition and tribulation please God more than sweetness, solace and consolation." Asked afterwards by a certain friend of his, to whom he had entrusted this in secret, whether he had been saddened by that voice, he denied it; but said that on the contrary he had felt solace in some troubles and melancholy with which he was burdened at that time. Brother Bartholomew de Penaranda, a Carthusian, while he was still a layman, discharged the office of barber for three years in the convent of Valencia, and in that time often rendered his service in cutting Bl. Bertrand's hair, and observed his remarkable patience when, whether through the fault of a blunt razor or from weariness of hand, he made some slight cuts on him: for he never saw him take it ill; but he affirmed that he always conducted himself like the least of all the novices.

[168] [he foretells that he will take up the Religious state: he completes his Priorate.] When the same Bartholomew had once entered his cell, the Blessed man asked him whether he wished to become a Religious. He answered that he had that least of all in mind; then the Blessed man, smiling, said: Take care: for I know that you will be a Religious. And although he at that time had by no means any purpose of embracing that state, yet at that same time God roused in his soul so great a desire that he never rested until he saw himself clothed in the habit of the Carthusians. When the triennium of his priorate had been brought to its end, the Servant of God exulted, having long desired to be freed from cares, so as to be able to enjoy the quiet of his cell, which was dear to him. He had often too been accustomed to tell the brethren to pray God for him that he might not die while he was Prior, but while he was free from the care of souls. He left this house (as he had done elsewhere) increased in spiritual and temporal goods, and the Religious well furnished with all that they needed.

XXIV.

[169] From the time when the Servant of God had finished his priorate, Leading a private life, he serves the salvation of his neighbour: he conducted himself as the least of the brethren, mixing himself in no business of the convent except the instruction of the novices, for which he seemed to have been made by God. He was continually in his cell, and scarcely even after dinner did he converse with the others: but the piety of the faithful from time to time disturbed his beloved solitude, often calling him out to the confessional seat: nor was there, so to speak, a sick person in the city who did not seek him for the sake of solace; to whom accordingly he read the Gospels. At other times he was called for the sake of asking counsel in difficult matters; at others for the sake of enjoying his holy conversation: for he was the common refuge and solace of the afflicted.

[170] he is refreshed by a heavenly vision In the year 1579, on the solemnity of the Resurrection of the Lord, after the procession customary in this convent was completed, as dawn was breaking, while he was betaking himself to his cell, a little after he said to his companion: O brother, if you had been here, you would have beheld something which filled me with the greatest joy; for from yonder (he was pointing to the house of the brethren of Jesus, of the Order of St. Francis) there flew some most beautiful birds, among whose great number there were besides certain ones of another kind than those we see everywhere. O, if you had seen what happened above that house! There is no doubt that some vision of angels, or of other heavenly things, was then offered to Bl. Bertrand.

[171] and at other times by the friendly approach of SS. Francis and Dominic, In the same year, two or three days before the feast of St. Francis, Bl. Bertrand went to the house of Auditor Salzedo to intercede for some captives, and when mention was brought in of the wonderful holiness of St. Francis, I, he said, know for certain that a certain brother of the Preachers, on the last feast of St. Michael, coming out from Matins, when the Hymn Te Deum had been begun, met the holy father Dominic and the holy Seraphic Francis in the cloister, and, throwing himself at the feet of St. Francis, kissed the wound of his right foot; and that Francis meanwhile held up and stroked his head with both his hands, and also gently rubbed his face, and bade him hope well of his eternal salvation; and that after this the same Brother also bowed himself at the feet of St. Dominic for the sake of kissing them, and that this Saint stretched out his hand, to which he at once devoutly put his mouth. The Auditor, suspecting from his manner and force of speaking that he was the very one to whom that vision had befallen, said: Why, I ask, is that father, favoured by God with such great favours, nevertheless always sad? Indeed for that very reason, answered the Blessed man, he is even sadder than before; and although he then gave no reason for this saying of his, it was nevertheless understood afterwards that the cause was that by the troubles of his body he might acquire for himself greater merits for attaining that supreme good which he hoped for.

[172] Going out of the house, Bertrand saw an image of St. Francis, at other times by the sight of Christ crucified, and of the divine Majesty. and stopping a little with his eyes fixed on it, he said in a low voice: Truly this is like him: which words Auditor Salzedo understood. Whence it is to be concluded that he was altogether the one to whom the aforesaid Saints appeared. When Auditor Salzedo had related these things the next day to the patriarch, the archbishop of Valencia, the latter asked Bl. Bertrand to tell him what there was in that vision, and he answered: My lord, I saw as clearly as I now see your lordship. The aforesaid Auditor Salzedo, visiting Bl. Bertrand once, found him very cheerful, and when he asked the cause, the Blessed man replied: Because God today granted me a singular grace: for a little before dawn, when I had the window of my cell open, our Redeemer appeared to me on the cross, in the manner in which He hung on mount Calvary: which filled me with the greatest solace. Asked by father master brother Peter de Salamanca to relate something particular revealed to him by God, the Servant of God related that, when on the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord he had risen from bed at night before the rest of the brethren, and had been alone in choir for a good space of time, he had suddenly shuddered there, and had seen our Lord in such majesty that, compared with Him, the whole world appeared as nothing and like a tiny bubble formed out of water, conformably to what St. Gregory wrote of Benedict ^g.

[173] Father dom Michael de Vera, a Carthusian, related [He understands that his sins have been remitted; he foretells things absent and future] that Bl. Bertrand one day, while conversing with a person who had made very great progress in the divine service, with great simplicity, having enjoined secrecy, said that he had heard a voice saying: Brother Louis, your sins are remitted to you; and that soon he had beheld with his bodily eyes a dove inserting its beak into his mouth. The aforesaid person kept the secret as long as he lived. In the month of November of the same year Dorothy Garzia, wife of Christopher Perez de Almazan, was gravely afflicted because she heard no news of her husband, who was staying in Sicily. For the sake of seeking solace she went to Bl. Bertrand, to beg him to pray God for her husband's welfare; but she had not yet moved her lips when he said: Lady, pray for your husband, who has need of it. At which word the woman, saddened, said: Is it so, Father? has he perhaps died? No, replied the Blessed man, he will return to Valencia, and you will see him again alive and well. Then after

a month the same lady received letters from her husband, in which he informed her how, sailing from Palermo to Naples, he had run the danger of falling into slavery to the Moors, and besides had struggled with so violent a tempest that he was believed by many to be dead. And when the time at which these letters had been signed was observed, it was found that those things had happened at the same time at which the Father had said these words. Furthermore the aforesaid citizen returned to Valencia, and after some time, his wife having died ^h, he betook himself into the Society.

[174] and secret things A certain man who was accustomed often to visit Bl. Bertrand gave up the custom of frequenting the Sacraments of Penance and of the Eucharist because of enmities which had arisen between himself and some others. And although often asked by a certain doctor to resume his former good custom, he would not, until, God moving his heart, he visited the Blessed man with the same doctor, by whom he was received with many and particular tokens of friendship, but he kept silent about the cause for which he had come. Then, when a Religious of the Order of St. Jerome came in for the sake of a visit, Bl. Bertrand dismissed them both, and the said man, having now come out of the cell, gave the doctor a real to hand to the Blessed man for a Mass to be celebrated the next day in thanksgiving. The doctor therefore returned, and seeing the Blessed man conversing with the Hieronymite father, handed him the real, but time did not allow him, or perhaps he forgot, to say whose this real was, and for whom the Mass was to be said. Wherefore he stayed about the same place until he could indicate it to the Blessed man; when behold, the latter came out with the Hieronymite; and the doctor, approaching him, said: Father, I forgot to indicate for whom and for what reason the Mass is to be celebrated. But he said: I know already; it is to be said of Blessed Mary of Graces, and for that companion of yours.

[175] he knows and foretells: In the same year, on the morning of the day of St. Stephen, doctor Cosmas Clemens came to Bl. Bertrand, to whom he was much devoted, to beg him to pray for his wife, the lady Hieronyma Centeglias, who, pregnant in the seventh month, had begun to be distressed with pains, and not without manifest danger, in the judgement of the physician. But finding that Bl. Bertrand was just about to begin his Mass, he grieved vehemently, because he desired that it should be said for his intention. But the sacristan consoled him, asserting that it was his office to apply that Mass, and that he assigned to him the one which Bertrand was then celebrating. He went therefore to hear it, and with many tears prayed God for the life of his wife. And while the Host was being elevated, the doctor felt immense consolation, so that he firmly believed that his wife would be safe. When the Mass was finished, the doctor related his affliction to Bl. Bertrand; who bade him give thanks to God, and promised that he would pray for her. Returning home, he found that his wife, at that very time at which the sacred Host was elevated, had given birth to a dead son; and (as the midwife testified) not without a miracle, since it appeared impossible that she should ever give birth. Yet the woman in childbed was still in great peril from the preceding fever: for which reason the husband had recourse again to Bl. Bertrand, who bade him be secure of her life; and the effect followed shortly after.

[176] he foretells a barren year: he preaches at Saetabis through Lent: In the winter season of the same year, as Bl. Bertrand was watching the rain falling past the window of his cell, Alphonsus Emmanuel Palomeque ⁱ, chamberlain of the duke of Nájera, viceroy of Valencia, said to him that it was a suitable time for sowing. To whom he answered: On the contrary the harvest will be very scanty on account of the many sins of this city. Which prophecy that man reckoned would by no means be confirmed by the event, since the weather had always favoured the crop, and an abundant vintage was expected. But the truth was evident from the effect: for scarcely was any corn or wine gathered, moisture failing in the month of April, and the rivers overflowing in the month of September, whence the vintage perished. In the year 1580, the Jurats of the city of Sciativa ^k, desiring that the Servant of God should give the Lenten sermons among them, asked him through a procurator; and however much the Blessed man, alleging his infirmities, excused himself, and believed that it would come about that he could not say even three sermons, nevertheless he could not but assent to those who asked with such devotion and constancy, and asserted that, if it could not be done otherwise, it would be enough for them if they had beheld him even once in their pulpit. He went there therefore, and God conferred such strength on him that he preached through the whole of Lent, no sermon being omitted.

[177] On the second day of the month of November of the aforesaid year, lord James Ferreri, governor of the kingdom of Valencia, [he promises that writings of the highest importance that had been lost will be recovered.] was in the greatest straits of mind, because, when he had received from the royal council, committed to his trust, a chest containing writings of the greatest importance, and many years afterwards the duke of Nájera, viceroy of Valencia, asked for a copy of two testaments which had been deposited in the same chest, these could by no means be found. Hence he conceived such grief that he would have preferred to have been deprived of all his goods, as much by reason of his good name as from fear of other adversities which he foresaw would arise from it. In these straits, having communicated the matter to no one else, he went to Bl. Louis and opened his anxiety to him, who gave him great hope that by praying to God he would find them, and promised that he too would pray fervently, and added that he should recite daily nine times the hymn Magnificat in memory of the nine months in which Christ our Lord was enclosed in the womb of His most holy mother, the Virgin Mary. On the following day, while he was piously performing this, lo and behold a cleric bringing both the aforesaid testaments. For which reason lord James went to give thanks to the Blessed man, and not finding him in the convent, waited in the cloister; and the Blessed man, arriving there with father Xuarez, before lord James had uttered a word, said to father Xuarez: Lord James has now found the writings which he was seeking.

[178] A certain man, coming to Bl. Bertrand on business, Two other wonders which are related of him, found him celebrating Mass, and a corpse stretched out before the altar. After the Mass he asked the Father who that dead man was. He answered that he had celebrated for a dead man. But on that day no one had been buried in that convent; but God had shown the corpse of that soul for which Bl. Louis Bertrand had offered the Sacred Mysteries. While he was offering the most holy Sacrament to a certain layman who had long hair, he saw him suddenly changed in countenance, and his hair standing up in a horrible manner. Leading him aside, then, he asked him to say what had happened to him. The layman answered that an immense splendour had shone forth from the sacred Host, which had affected his soul wonderfully and delightfully together at such a sight of the most holy Sacrament, and that accordingly he had been so changed.

[179] One night the Blessed man saw in spirit the common sepulchre of the brethren in the cemetery of this convent being opened, in which many bodies were seen entire, and his vision concerning the cemetery of the Friars. and a certain man who had gone down into it turning them this way and that very irreverently; and the Blessed man noted that none of those corpses stank; and he wondered that this man had dared to handle so unbecomingly the bodies of those who had been such perfect Religious. Restored to his senses, he pondered in wonder what this vision meant, and towards sunrise he asked the porter of the church whether the sepulchre of the cemetery had been opened in those days. When he said no, he ordered him, if perhaps he was going to open it, to let him know. Two days later it happened that a corpse was to be buried in it. Bl. Bertrand therefore, being called, came, and leaning on his knees over the mouth of the sepulchre, looking in with the aid of a probe, saw attentively the corpses there, many of which were entire, although the place was very damp, and often even full of water. And when they now wished to put the bier there, they could not because of the multitude of corpses: wherefore the bearer went down into the sepulchre, and, transferring the entire bodies of the Religious to another part of the place, said: Truly these entire bodies do not stink, nor do they breathe any unpleasant odour. Then Bl. Bertrand said to the porter: Now recognize, son, what I was telling you lately. And truly no bier ought to have been put there, since it is not fitting that those holy bodies should be so irreverently handled; and the Blessed man grieved with good reason, because in that place there were certain bodies of Religious of such exemplary life and so distinguished that they deserved to be put in special and honoured sepulchres.

[180] He consoles the sorrowful. When a certain notary, by name Girbau, was ill, his wife came to Bl. Bertrand to beg his prayers for her husband's recovery. But the Servant of God, exhorting her in the chapel of St. Vincent, said that no remedy remained for her husband (although he had not seen him), but that he must by all means die of that illness. At which word the woman was pierced with grief, but the Blessed man consoled her with various arguments, and she submitted herself to the divine will, and after a short time was widowed of her husband. Anne Guttierez, wife of John Cabrerizo, a notary, was most vehemently afflicted by the death of her son, whom she had hoped would turn out a distinguished man, because he was most devoted to the study of letters, and already adorned with the mastership of philosophy. This grief was very harmful to her health, and as often as she spoke of this loss, so often was her heart as it were wounded; finally even in her bed she was so agitated that not only could she take no rest, but she even increased her torment. At last, unable to bear the grief, she went to Bl. Bertrand, and not finding him, asked her husband to consult him himself as to what this was, and whether perhaps the soul of her dead son needed pious suffrage. The Servant of God told him that these things were being done by the demon for the sake of disturbing her, and that accordingly she should not omit those accustomed exercises of piety of hers, and especially the recitation of the Rosary: for by this means she would be disturbed no more. Doing so, within a few days she came out entirely free.

ANNOTATIONS.

BOOK II.

THE OLD DIVISION OF THE CHAPTERS.

Chapter I. Of his profound humility.

II. Of his charity and love towards God.

III. Of his charity towards his neighbour.

IV. Of his fervent prayer.

V. Of the severe chastisement of his body.

VI. Of his purity and chastity.

VII. Of the persecutions which he endured.

VIII. Of his preaching.

IX. Of the gift of prophecy and of the discernment of spirits with which he was endowed.

X. Of the miracles which he wrought while living.

XI. Of the testimonies which some servants of God gave of his holiness while he was dwelling among the living.

XII. Of the many infirmities which he suffered.

XIII. Of certain wonders which happened before his death.

XIV. Of his happy death.

XV. How God declared his glory immediately after his death.

XVI. Of the immense concourse of the people to kiss the hands and feet of the dead man.

XVII. Of the miracles wrought by the Blessed man before he was buried.

XVIII. Of his burial.

XIX. Of the testimony of Bl. Nicholas Factor concerning the holiness and glory of Bl. Bertrand after his death.

XX. Of the translation of Bl. Bertrand's body.

CHAPTER I.

The Saint's humility, and his charity towards God and his neighbour, proved by deeds.

CHAP. I.

A humble man, he rejoices to be reproved even by novices, However easily the remarkable virtues of Bl. Bertrand can be gathered from what has been said so far, it will nevertheless be helpful to treat of them here one by one ^a, beginning from humility, which is the foundation of all the other virtues. This was so great in him that many of the witnesses in the Process say that it was very great; others add that it was the highest which they had ever seen in any man. For all his endeavour and all his thoughts tended to this, that he might reduce himself to nothing, and call himself the greatest sinner of the whole world, and he wished to be held as such. He took care to be despised and to be occupied in lowly works. In conversations he reckoned himself the vilest and most abject of the whole Order of Preachers. While he discharged the mastership of the novices, he ordered them to point out his faults to him; and while they pointed them out he rejoiced greatly, and remitted to those same admonishers punishments otherwise deserved. To a certain novice whom he wished to chastise with the scourge, and who said that he was too rigorous, he answered: You say rightly, son; and because he had said this, he pardoned the same novice the punishment of the scourge.

[2] he strives to be despised by all, and to be held for the greatest sinner He rejoiced so much in being held cheap that, on the testimony of the venerable father brother Dominic Anadon, he (Bl. Bertrand) on occasions of this kind, having returned to his cell, with door and windows shut, would give thanks to God that he had seen himself little esteemed. And because no one treated him as badly as he wished, he heaped insults on himself, calling himself lame, mad, a troublemaker, a sower of tares, and the cause of all evils. He said that he was a firebrand of hell, and deserved to dwell among demons and with Judas. He was heard once to say that line of Terence: "I am Davus, upsetting everything." He said also that the cause why many came to his cell was that he was reckoned an Egyptian ^b; and that he would keep babbling until at last he should be caught in his words. Once, going on foot with his companion, brother Joseph Viudes, to preach at Vetera ^c, when he had come near the place, he said to him: If they ask you who is to preach, answer that it is a deaf, blind and grievous sinner.

[3] he flees from being honoured; In the convent of St. Onuphrius, asked by brother Anthony Catalano: Who is the more grievous sinner, you or I? he answered: Father, I am: and the Blessed man went on to say fervently: It is true that I am the greatest of all sinners who dwell in the world: and at that time he struck his breast, saying: O wretched deaf sinner! Deservedly does God keep you bound with so many fetters. Fetters and chains of the feet he called his infirmities, by which he was continually tormented, as will be said below. He sometimes asked the brethren whether they believed that God would remit his faults to him and that he would be saved, and at the same time he asked their prayers for himself. It was very troublesome to him to be honoured by others; as happened when the noble knight Francis Blanes, meeting him, kissed his hand and put his knee to the ground: wherefore he too prostrated himself at the feet of Francis, and most humbly asked him not to deal so with him; asking again and again why he humbled himself so before so wicked and perverse a sinner. In like manner he was afflicted when he was named with the honourable title of Paternity, reckoning himself unworthy of that honour. And while he held the priorate he forbade (as has been said above) that they should give him this title, and if anyone had nevertheless done so, he reproved him. He forbade this also to other persons, alleging that he was a grievous sinner.

[4] If ever it seemed to him that he had committed some fault, he asks pardon for the least faults, he expiated it without delay by confession; and if he had noticed that by his melancholy he had been a bad example or troublesome to anyone, he would at once, prostrate on his knees, beg pardon: as happened while he was ill at Godella, where the patriarch of Antioch, archbishop of Valencia, fed him with his own hand. For when father master brother Peter di Salamanca was present there, a decrepit man, a Religious of great virtue and a distinguished preacher, and he too wished to offer a small cup of water to Bl. Bertrand with his trembling hand, he spilt the water; and the Blessed man said to him that his hand trembled like his tongue (for he was a stammerer); but fearing lest he had offended him by this saying, he embraced him and asked pardon. When at another time Bl. Bertrand was conversing with the same master Salamanca, and the latter seemed to him to be affected with weariness, he likewise asked pardon, falling on his knees; but when the aforesaid master attributed this to the Man's simplicity, and judged that there was no need of this apology, he would not hear him, and went away, so that he should not do it in future for a like cause.

[5] But on the following night God sharply rebuked the master in his sleep God Himself taking his part: other examples of humility for having refused to hear the Blessed man; which he, on waking and driving away the dream, made nothing of. But on the following nights, being reproved in like manner a second and a third time, in the morning he went to the Servant of God, and on bended knees begged pardon for what he had committed; and although he had up to then esteemed the Blessed man as a Servant of God, yet for the future he made much more of him. One day Bertrand, hearing the confession of lord John Boil de Arenos, who was accusing himself of a certain feeling of anger which he had conceived from a saying of a certain Religious about him, stopped thoughtfully, and said: Lord John, tell me truly, am I perhaps that Religious who was a bad example to you? For as I am an old man, it may have happened that sometimes I did not attend to what I was doing, and so did wrong. He answered: by no means; nor had he ever spoken to him so. Lord John therefore wondered at so great a humility of the blessed Man.

[6] And as he was so humble, he not only longed to hear the sermons of any preacher whatever, given by him on various occasions. but he even joined himself as companion to some of them when they went to preach, although these were even of the lesser ones whom he himself had appointed. And when the argument of a sermon pleased him much, he forgot to warn the preacher that the time was up; but afterwards, noticing the excess of time, he begged pardon. Nor did he ever despise any preacher, however unlearned and little suited, unless he had noticed pride and self-esteem in him. He likewise proved his humility in the time of his illness, when he asked many of those who visited him for their hands to kiss; and if any refused, he took it ill, and went on begging them to offer them, and to read the Gospels to him. Having heard that a certain simple man was accustomed to recite certain prayers over the sick, and so healed some; and being asked accordingly whether he wished him to be brought, he most humbly assented; and in those few days in which that man came to him and recited his prayers, he conducted himself most devoutly. If the attendant of the sick offered him badly seasoned food, he was never seen to take it ill; but he always gave thanks for the services rendered him, and asked to be forgiven for causing him so much labour.

[7] Vainglory from the divine revelations In the revelations with which he was honoured from heaven he likewise showed profound humility. In the year 1578, in his cell, he said to three or four Religious, one of whom was father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist ^d: I do not know what it means that I have seen through this window the whole outcome of the Portuguese war. One ^e of those Religious answered: Father, that could proceed from God, and could proceed from the demon: for which reason you must commend it to God with all your strength. Then the Blessed man, shrugging his shoulders and raising his eyes to heaven, said: Without doubt one must commend these things to God: and not only did he not take the Religious' saying ill, but he even humbly approved it, asserting that so it often happens. At another time too, when he was communicating secretly certain other things which God had deigned to reveal to him with father master brother Jerome Baptist della Nuza, now the Lobetan bishop ^f, and the said father master said on purpose: Take care, my Father, that these things are not the offspring of your imagination, not revelations; he was of such humility that he was not saddened at all by it, nor did he reply a single word.

[8] he carefully shunned, Asked repeatedly by a friend of his to relate to him something of the favours with which he was honoured by God, after he had answered for some days now: I know nothing to relate but sins; when the same man at last rejoined that he desired it for this reason, that he might hand it down to posterity consigned to writing; he said: "They have Moses and the Prophets"; that is: You already have the Gospel, the doctrine and the examples of the Saints: let these suffice you, nor is there need to hear anything else from me. And he added: Lucifer knew more than I, and was cast out of heaven; and Judas was an Apostle, and wrought miracles; and afterwards he hanged himself, burst asunder, and was buried in hell; which things it was customary with him to say. The friend rejoined: These things will serve no one else but me, because I am beginning to serve God. You want nothing else? said the Blessed man: Come, bow yourself at the feet of Jesus Christ crucified; I promise that I will tell you more than you think; and know that the wonders which you desire to know profit me little; since I do not know whether I am in the grace or in the hatred of God. I say only that wonderful things happen to me daily, but I care nothing for them, because I do not know from what spirit they proceed; indeed I know that, unless God bestows His mercy on me, I shall be condemned. May the divine Majesty grant me this grace, that after receiving the holy Sacraments of holy Church I may die humbly.

[9] He asserted moreover that, whenever he read or heard those words of St. Paul: he was accustomed to be shaken with an immense fear of eternal damnation: "Ever learning, and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth ^g," he always felt a dagger in his heart from fear lest he should be one of those. He affirmed besides that, when concerning a favour divinely

conferred on him he wished to rejoice, he had found that God, as with a hard-mouthed horse that wished to rush headlong, had pulled in the reins and inflicted a vehement stroke of the whip, striking into his heart a horrible fear of his damnation; and that then it had actually seemed to him that the earth gaped under his feet and that he was being swallowed up by hell. And although that servile fear, as a singular gift of God, kept him immune from many sins of pride, yet it had cost him very dear to convert it into filial love; and that from that fear proceeded his accustomed melancholy and sadness.

[10] Nor was the Servant of God content with his own humility, he urges humility on others also by deed and word. but he also persuaded it most effectively on his subjects while he was over them; and for that reason he strove to show himself the humblest of all, and he rejoiced to deal with persons of that kind and with those held cheap, even with boys, being accustomed to say that whoever wishes to be a perfect Friar must have these four things: "To despise himself, to despise no one, to despise the world, and to despise being despised." He said that it is necessary for us always to go along the earth on our breasts, reckoning ourselves wretched and frail, who, if we are good today, may be perverse tomorrow: just as St. Peter, when with such boldness and confidence he said that, though he were to be killed, he would not fail to confess Christ, nor ever be scandalized, however much all the others should be scandalized; and nevertheless a little after denied Him three times, and finally swore that he did not know Him ^h. In which matter Peter had so thoroughly learned his lesson by experience that, when he was asked three times by Christ whether he loved Him more than the others, he was saddened and answered humbly ⁱ, not daring to prefer himself to another.

II.

[11] In the love of God Bl. Bertrand so excelled that he sometimes seemed another Elijah, By zeal for God's glory, and wonderfully burning with His love, in his zeal for the honour of the divine Majesty; if any violation of the divine law had reached his ears, he grieved most vehemently, and if the guilty were among his subjects, he chastised them severely. This zeal shone out on certain occasions, when certain more atrocious offences against God were committed at Valencia, when he said that it was the divine will that sins should be rigidly corrected, and he roused in himself such holy wrath that, raising his arms to heaven, he said with St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 7: I think that in this matter I have the spirit of God ^k. He spoke always of God, never mixing anything of worldly matters into his conversation. He was not accustomed to speak of, or to listen to, news. All his conversations tended to induce his hearers to serve God and to do penance for their sins; and he adduced examples from the Lives of the Saints, and brought forward many passages of Sacred Scripture; and he warned them threateningly to beware lest they fall into the hands of an angry God.

[12] He seemed wholly to burn with divine love; and when once he was going with a certain friend of his to the spring near Rusasfa ^l, in the field of a certain farmer, by name Peter Ximenes, he kindled the same in others: both in going and in returning he always spoke of God with such fervour that it seemed a singular thing to those present, and his body together with his soul seemed to be a heavenly flame. With this agrees what he himself, when an opportunity offered, said to a certain friend of his, that it had often happened that, when he was lukewarm in divine love, as soon as he had received the most holy Sacrament, he felt so great an inward heat that he seemed to himself to stand body and soul in a burning furnace. Hence his words and discourses wonderfully roused devotion, as has been said above, book I, chapter VII ^m, and many witnesses affirmed that, returning from his conversation, they always felt new spurs to serve God; and in particular the venerable father brother John Alarconi, who died with the repute of great holiness. Such were his desires of serving God and loving Him more, which he frequently renewed with these words: Let us serve God, for we have a good Lord.

[13] Fervent in spirit, he burned with a great desire for martyrdom, When it had been announced to him by brother Louis Primo that a certain novice brother, called Peter John Saragozza, was going to pronounce his Religious profession on the 29th day of April of the year 1581, he exclaimed: O that one were now a novice, like that brother, and might profess anew, and begin to serve God, which I have not begun up to now! Throughout the whole time of his life he ardently desired martyrdom, and daily at Mass, when he elevated the sacred Host and the chalice, he recited that prayer of St. Peter Martyr: Grant me, Lord, that I may die for Thee, as Thou didst will to die for me ⁿ. Often too he had in his mouth these words of the most unconquered Vincent ^o amid his torments: This is what I have always desired! This is what I have sought with all my strength! And while Bl. Bertrand said these things, he would look at a certain image of the same St. Vincent, martyr, and sometimes he even added tears. At other times he would say: O if we were so happy as to be led to prison for Jesus Christ, and dragged bound in chains through these streets! Then we should experience how sweet it is to suffer for Christ: then we should rightly grasp what St. Luke wrote of the Apostles, when they were cast out of their council by the Jews: "The Apostles went rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus [p]." And the Blessed man would add: But we are not worthy of so great a benefit as that is.

[14] for the sake of obtaining which he had even sailed to America, He said once to one of his friends: I am not worthy of martyrdom, but if God granted me this grace, I should accept it most willingly, and should pray (here he was imitating his father St. Dominic) that the greatest torments of the whole world might be undergone by me: nor is there doubt that then I should die gladly for Him and for His Roman Church. Indeed certainly, indeed certainly, indeed certainly: there is no doubt. Relying on God I say these things; for I in no way trust in myself: God has strengthened me inwardly with a solid and firm faith. This so ardent desire of martyrdom persuaded him to leave his country, his kinsfolk and his convent, in which he was so greatly loved by all, and to set out for the Indies, although he was of weaker health than so great a journey required. Neither the pious dissuasions of his brethren could detain him, nor the hindrances put in his way for the same end by the Religious; indeed, after he had now returned from there, he betrayed great grief that it had not pleased God that he should die of the poison given him; giving this reason (as has been said elsewhere), that, as he would in that way have died on account of the Gospel preached and on account of rescuing those Indians from the darkness of unbelief, so he would truly have been a martyr. But although he did not suffer martyrdom there, he nevertheless proved exceedingly his remarkable love towards God, by enduring the greatest hardships of cold, heat, nakedness and others in order to convert so many thousands of souls, whom by his extraordinary zeal he brought to the knowledge of God.

[15] When news was brought to Valencia of the martyrdom endured at Jerusalem by a woman He was on fire with desire. who before undertaking her pilgrimage had confessed to Bl. Louis, he exulted beyond measure; and although he was then at the point of death, his heart seemed to him to have leapt out for joy; and he said: O happy woman, who, if what is written of her is true, has obtained so remarkable a favour from God! But I, a sinner, do not deserve so great a grace! With no less joy he received the news of the martyrdom which, with the most solid constancy, on the 18th day of the month of May in the year 1577, father brother Michael Arandiga of Valencia, of the Military Order of St. Mary of Montesa [q], underwent at Algiers: for his whole desire was to suffer for Christ Jesus, and to shed his blood for Him.

III.

[16] The love with which Bl. Bertrand was borne towards his neighbour Perpetually intent on his neighbour's salvation, by the torment of his own body was such that with the tenderest affection he strove to console each one, and desired to make all servants of God. Hence he was assiduous in hearing confessions morning and evening, before and after Mass. Having heard of anyone's fall into sin, he not only grieved and lamented, but also scourged himself, interceding for the unfaithful. In particular, when a certain woman of a respectable family, seized with love of a certain man, had fallen shamefully with him, he beat himself so atrociously with the scourge, even to blood, that he altogether lacerated his shoulders; this crime of the woman, though secret, he had known by divine revelation; and one evening he went to visit her, where he found that man; and the woman wondered at his coming, because the Blessed man was not accustomed to visit her house. But Bertrand told that man to go away, because he had something to communicate with that lady. When he had gone away, the Blessed man began to weep bitterly, with such feeling that the lady, stupefied, inquired the cause of his weeping.

[17] He was silent for a while, unable to speak for tears: he solidly converts a fallen woman: and at last bursting into words, he said that the cause was the sins which she had committed there with the man who had then gone away; pointing with his finger to the place in which the crime had been consummated, and adding the number and circumstances of the sins. And that you may see (so he went on) how much it costs me, turn your eyes here; and he somewhat bared his shoulders: and when the woman beheld them so torn on her account, and heard her crime, for which the Servant of God was mourning so greatly and had treated himself so harshly, revealed to her by him, she broke out into vehement and inconsolable lamentation, and showing a truly penitent mind, she begged pardon of God for her frailty. And the Blessed man strengthened her, bidding her place her hope in God, saying that it would come about that in future she would never relapse into a like sin; and he added: You may now see to it that the Masses be celebrated which you promised if God should bring you out of those faults. At which answer she stood astounded, because that vow had been known to God alone, and she was just as much contrite of heart; so that she lived thereafter in a very Christian manner, and it was established to be true what the Blessed man had asserted, that she would never relapse.

[18] [he keeps a girl from falling: he succours the poor generously, even in time of plague] He did something nearly like this on another occasion. A marriageable girl, most vehemently solicited by a certain man, had at last, after some months had passed, resolved to consent to him. At night therefore she sent to summon him; and at her window she waited three hours for his coming, as he had been accustomed to come on other nights: but then he did not appear, because he could not be found. She persisted in her wicked purpose until the morning, when the Blessed man met her at her house and said: May God forgive you, foolish lady, that you have forced me on your account to keep vigil the whole night, to pray God that you might not fall. At which thing the young girl wondered exceedingly, and, repenting of what she had committed,

strove thereafter to serve God. In like manner he pitied his neighbour in his necessities, and helped him while he could. And this he proved most of all by bestowing alms wherever he was. Passing over the deeds which have been told above, thus in the convent of St. Anne of Albayda in the time of the plague, although that house was very poor, he was nevertheless seen to have brought to the convent as many beggars as he had found in the streets: and when brother John Perez once, wondering at this, asked him why he did it, when he well knew the necessity of the brethren, he answered with great feeling of mind: Is it so, brother: will God fail us? Besides, he went out through the streets and the hills of the place, to see whether he could find anyone dead of the plague, in order to bury him (as has been said), caring nothing for the danger.

[19] assisting the sick untiringly, he heals many, As regards the sick, so great was his charity towards them that, besides having frequented the hospitals before his entrance into the Order (concerning which matter see what was said above), he never refused, as often as he was asked, to go to them for the sake of consoling them, and that all the more willingly, the more troublesome it was to him to leave his cell, which was dear to him. He was accustomed to read the Gospel over them, and the prayer of St. Vincent with some other devout prayers of his own. This prayer was: "And these signs shall follow them that believe. They shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. May Jesus, Son of Mary, Salvation and Lord of the world, who drew thee to the Catholic faith, preserve thee in it and make thee blessed, and by the merits of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of St. Dominic our Father, and of blessed Vincent, and of all the Saints, deign to free thee from this infirmity." And of such efficacy were his visit and prayer that many were healed, as will be said below, chapter X [r].

[20] and in particular one for whom he had offered his own life to God: This charity of the Man towards the sick shone out singularly in the most grievous illness of father master Francis Alemani (a Religious endowed with the rarest gifts, and most highly regarded in the Order for his learning and singular art of preaching beyond all who had been heard over a long course of years at Valencia, where he gave the sermons in nine successive Lents, listened to with the same applause in the last as in the first), so that doctor Collado, most famous in the medical art, ordered him to be anointed with the holy Oil, and, turning to his pupils, said in a low voice: This father is as good as dead already. But Bl. Bertrand, visiting him, and finding him without sense, immediately celebrated Mass for him; and when it was finished he came back cheerful with relics of St. Peter Martyr, and said to the sick man in Latin speech: Do not fear, you will not die. When these words had been spoken, something befell the sick man so that he was believed to have already expired; but the contrary happened: for the fever ceased at once. Wherefore the physician, seeing him so changed, ordered him to get up from bed, because God had wrought a miracle. When after some days he had now entirely recovered, the Blessed man, looking at him, wept twice, and asked the cause by him, answered: O! if you knew, father, how much you cost me. Know that, when, while celebrating Mass for you when you were ill, I was holding the most holy Sacrament in my hand, I understood that you were then to die, and accordingly I prayed that God would accept my life for yours, and while I often repeated my prayers it was told me that you would live, as I signified to you when I brought those sacred relics to you.

[21] The Blessed man was very greatly saddened if he heard that discords had arisen anywhere, he reconciles those at variance: he protects prisoners. and he laboured with all his strength to compose enmities. So he did at Albayda, where, when enmity was raging between two men, from which great evils were certainly believed to be about to arise, without any hope of a suitable remedy, the Servant of God by his accustomed charity and prudence brought them back into concord; and all fear of the evils that would have followed vanished. Those detained in prisons too he helped with his accustomed charity, especially when it happened that they were suffering for unjust or doubtful causes, and he defended them. Understanding once that a judge wished to pass sentence of beheading on a certain nobleman, the case being already far advanced, the Blessed man, under no other obligation than that of charity, so pleaded his cause that the judge, out of his regard for the Blessed man, deferred the penalty, and the prisoner even came off free. When an accused man was being led to torture, and, to make him reveal his accomplices, was pressed with a knife put again and again to his throat, the Blessed man, indignant with just anger, said that in this way death was being inflicted on him not once but a thousand times; and he said this with such spirit that the judges, pious as they were and not wishing to offend God, ordered the accused to be led back to prison, and at last granted him his life. In like intercessions with judges, ecclesiastical as well as secular, when the offences were not atrocious, or not rightly proved; as also on behalf of wretched persons, he shone with extraordinary charity, and he set many free.

ANNOTATIONS.

e. Antist.

i. John, chapter 21.

p. Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5, verse 41.

q. In Antist, from whom Avignone received these things, in the first Life, number 182, it is added that he was a priest; see what has been annotated concerning Michael above, chapter X, letter f, page 345.

r. According to my division, chapter 5.

CHAPTER II.

The Saint's assiduity and fervour in praying: the severe chastisement of his body: his virginal chastity.

CHAP. IV.

His delight and assiduity in praying, Among the remarkable virtues which made Bl. Bertrand illustrious, a very heroic one was his most lofty and assiduous prayer; to which he was so intent day and night as though he had nothing else to do. His sweetest converse and most delightful occupation was to pray to God continually. Every day he spent four hours in mental prayer, two in the morning, two others in the evening, besides the half hour which he passed after dinner in considering the seven joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And when he was ill, he asked the attendants of the infirmary not to let anyone in for the sake of visiting at certain hours of the morning and afternoon, lest this devotion of his should be hindered. And those entering his cell ordinarily found him praying. At night he kept vigil many hours in the church, both from nightfall and after midnight, when the Matins Office had been completed; and sometimes he remained there until the Office of Prime; and he was often heard to weep.

[23] its constancy, bodily posture, manner and exactness. Brother John Perez observed that when he went to Matins he could scarcely stand on his feet, and from weariness and weakness went along leaning on the wall, but when he returned from the church he was strong and fortified with strength granted him. He performed his prayers now resting on his knees (whence his knees had grown thick with callus), now prostrate on the pavement, with his body bent on his knees and his face placed on the ground; now too standing upright, always seeking a new manner of praying. He recited the canonical Hours most devoutly, and before each one he put first certain Antiphons on some mystery of the Passion of Christ, which he had so distributed that a particular mystery was put before each Hour of the Office. When he took the Breviary in his hand, he said:

"O Christ, most clement King, Do Thou possess our hearts, That we may render Thee due praises At every time."

Throughout the whole time of his life, notwithstanding many occupations, he never changed the times of reciting the Office, but always performed it keeping a most exact order of time.

[24] He was so assiduous in prayer that sometimes he seemed confused in mind and not master of himself, In contemplating, withdrawn from the senses, and even in body

and it often happened that, asked about some matter, he answered about another far different. So it happened to a certain priest, one of the most solitary men of best example in this kingdom, who, when, visiting the Blessed man on the Mountain of Albayda, he had greeted and embraced him, and asked him about his health, he, with his whole face turned cheerfully to heaven, answered in these words: Ah! we can be sons of God! Whence the priest understood that the Blessed man was then intent on the loftiest contemplation, which father brother Andrew Cabrerizo testified had also often happened at other times. So did he contemplate that at times he was not only rapt into ecstasies, but his body was also lifted from the earth; as happened when he returned from Moncada on the same day on which he had preached there.

[25] For leaving behind him the servant who was leading his horse, lifted from the earth; at other times also with his face he entered a field full of tall standing corn, in which he could not be seen by the servant. There he began to contemplate so fervently that his body was raised into the air above all the ears of corn. Meanwhile there passed by that way a certain inhabitant of Moncada, called Baptist Ferreri, who asked the servant what he was doing there. He answered that he was waiting for Bertrand: hearing which, the man, led by curiosity, wished to see him, and leaping up on to a higher place at the edge of the road, saw him raised into the air above the ears of the crop. Something similar was beheld by certain Indians at Tubara, who, having by chance entered the little house in which he was lodging, saw the same man raised fully half a cubit ^a, as has been said above. As St. Luke, speaking of the transfiguration of our Lord, says: "While He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered ^b;" that is, the face of Christ praying was seen to be shining like the sun (which was to approve the holiness of prayer): so from the Blessed man's face, while he prayed or spoke of God, rays of splendour proceeded at times; and that happened rather often.

[26] A hermit from Cullera, by name Michael Pons,

coming to Valencia, wonderfully shining knocked at the door of the cell of Bl. Bertrand, with whom he cultivated a close friendship, for the sake of visiting him: and when the Blessed man opened it, he was seen to have his face gleaming with great splendour; which was to the hermit at once an object of wonder and of fear. Christopher Ferreri, a notary of Valencia, the forty-ninth witness in the Process formed by the authority of Sixtus V, asserted that it had often happened to him, when he went to the Blessed man's cell and wished to enter it, that he was compelled to draw back, not daring to go in on account of the immense light which he saw. Father brother Michael Herrero experienced that very thing in the same convent. Yet Bertrand otherwise had a face commonly pale and colourless, as men worn by labours are wont to have. In like manner at Moncada, when he had licked with his tongue the scrofulous sores of Sperantia Assensi, he was at once rapt into ecstasy, and his countenance shone again, as will be told below. In the convent of St. Anne at Albayda too the venerable father brother John Alarconi often saw him through the chinks of the door gleaming with supernatural brightness.

[27] and with his hands also Frances Ferreri, wife of the knight Michael John Beneyto, on the Wednesday of Holy Week, one year before the death of Bl. Louis, going to him for the sake of confessing, at the same moment at which she was falling at his feet, saw him so shining in face and hands as though he were a Saint who had come down from heaven, and she perceived a most sweet odour coming forth from his garments, so that after confession she went away from there full of joy, and as though she had risen from the feet of a Saint already endowed with glory. Joanna Marachiglia experienced another thing like this, at the time when Bl. Louis was lodging, sick, in the hospital of the confraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which his brother lord Jerome had in his care. For when she was going in with a household maidservant to give him some remedy, carrying in her hand a lighted taper because that chamber, closed on every side, lacked light, and, that taper having been put out, the place had remained very dark; and she was going to light it again, at the same moment so bright a splendour shone out there that all things appeared clearly to sight: which splendour indeed lasted until the maidservant returned with the lighted taper.

[28] and he was seen rather often to gleam with heavenly light in his garments. While the Blessed man, in the year 1573, on the feast of the Ascension of our Lord, was preaching a sermon at Valencia in the church of St. Michael, a certain physician likewise beheld his countenance and garments shining, and himself lifted up from the pulpit. In the village of Monpoix in the Indies, captain Ferdinand de Bentocout, having one night entered the hut in which Bl. Louis Bertrand was lodging, though he had neither torch nor candle with him, beheld as it were the light of many burning candles, and the Blessed man himself kneeling bowed before his oratory, and two men standing by, as has been recorded above. The Servant of God having entered the cell of St. Vincent Ferrer together with blessed brother Nicholas Factor, both, intent on prayer, were covered with a great light, so much so that Luke Portina, a beneficiary of the cathedral church of Valencia, and the companion of Bl. Nicholas, who were present there, ran up to see the splendour; and they saw it, but did not see the two said Blessed men before that splendour had ceased.

[29] Daily, however weak, he celebrates Mass, or communicates; Although the things related so far exceedingly prove the fervour of his spirit in prayer, he nevertheless made most progress in devotion towards the most holy Sacrament of the altar; because of the delight which he enjoyed in the Mass, which he never omitted to celebrate, except when sometimes hindered by grave illness. He kept most joyfully the day of the Lord's Nativity, on which it was lawful to say three Masses, as also the day of All the Dead, on which the fathers Preachers in the whole province of Aragon celebrate three Masses by special privilege of Julius III. Certain potions had been prescribed for Bl. Bertrand against his deafness, to be taken morning and evening, by which the physician strove to consume his harmful humours, sharp as they were; yet he did not omit to celebrate. But when he made no progress with these, they suspected that perhaps it was for the time harmful to him to say Mass: but he nevertheless wished to persevere in celebrating, asserting that he cared nothing for his health except so far as was needed for him to be able to say it. And although he so failed in strength that after Mass he could not govern his feet, and sometimes even fell to the ground, yet he would not be deprived of that holy solace. But when he was prevented by the excessive force of his ailment, he received the holy Eucharist daily, and so that he might receive the most holy Sacrament with due purity of mind, he was accustomed to make confession beforehand both on the evening before and again on the morning itself.

[30] And he celebrated Mass with such devotion that he inspired it even in those standing round, and he wept for the greater part of that time, at Mass he breathes his fervour into those present, and with heavenly light

particularly from the time of the Consecration to the Communion. Brother John Perez often used to serve him in this holy Sacrifice, who also asserted that, as long as the Mass lasted, he had a very shining face. Jerome Abella too, named here so often, when he was present at his Masses in the convent of St. Anne at Albayda, observed that the same man was accustomed, when there were no others in the church but himself with his boy, to stay a good quarter of an hour with the most holy Sacrament in his hand before he took It into his mouth, and meanwhile to weep continually; and that his countenance became as it were crystalline, and that round the most holy Sacrament and the Blessed man's head a great circle of splendour was seen. For which reason his boy, who was thirteen years of age and was called Melchior Magnez, once said to the same Abella as he was returning from there to Belgida: Did you see, sir, the splendour with which father brother Louis had his face girt while he wept with the most holy Sacrament in his hand? Be silent, his master answered him, and say nothing of the things you saw. This same Melchior Magnez afterwards, having left the service of the said Abella, served the fathers in the convent of St. Anne for two years, in which time, serving Bl. Bertrand as he celebrated Mass, he often saw a most white cloud descend upon him while he held the most holy Sacrament in his hand, and certain shining arcs formed like burning torches.

[31] When John Mark Corbera, a priest beneficiary of the church of St. John del Mercato at Valencia, he frequently gleams. had gone to the convent of St. Onuphrius, while Bl. Bertrand was Prior there, in order to make a general confession of his sins to him, as he did; and on the next day (which was a day of the Carnival), before he was to depart from there, wished to assist the same Blessed man at the Mass to be celebrated at the high altar, it happened that, while he was holding the most holy Sacrament in his hand, his countenance grew very bright, and certain shining rays came forth. Wondering at this, he rose to his feet to see whether there was some light there from which that splendour could arise. But finding none besides the two tapers of the altar, and those indeed rather distant from him; and having observed too that the church was dark because of the closed windows, he saw the Blessed man's countenance, like the moon, scattering that great splendour round about; and the Blessed man himself, with his eyes fixed on the most holy Sacrament, smiling sweetly. Seeing this, the priest was astounded, and said to himself: Truly this Man sees God with his eyes!

[32] Although Bertrand received the greatest favours from heaven, he nevertheless never gave up his accustomed rigour of penance, because, as has been said above, he observed a perpetual fast, since he wrapped himself in his humility, those same favours caused him to esteem himself so much the less, and to reckon himself so much the more grievous a sinner. Hence he always lived in horrible fear of his damnation, and accordingly his penance was so severe and extraordinary that it can scarcely be set forth; nor did it last only for some certain space of time, but as long as he lived. He began from tender years to macerate his body with fasts and vigils, and such was his abstinence from food that it seems incredible that a human body could be sustained by such slight nourishment. The fasts of his Order did not suffice him, which are observed for seven months, from the feast of the holy Cross in the month of September to the Easter of the Lord's Resurrection, and besides on all Fridays and certain other particular days; but he fasted always, content with what the Order allowed, which is very little, and from his portion he even set apart a part to be given to the poor, as has been said.

[33] making his food tasteless, and eating only of the cheaper sorts. So as not to indulge his taste, he ate his food without salt, and often even sprinkled aloes on it; and asked what he was doing, he said that it was good for him. When once he said to a certain layman that he so loathed food that, unless certain small loaves ^c were given him, he could not swallow even a mouthful, he received the answer: How can food taste good to your Reverence, if you sprinkle aloes on it? Hearing this, the Blessed man, recognizing that his secret was known, blushed vehemently and was silent. In the time of his infirmity he would have no delicacies, and if any were given him, he sent them to the infirmary, and used what the convent supplied. Once, when he was preaching through Lent at Moncada, a certain sea-fish was set before him as he dined in the house of Joseph del Campo; but by no means could he be induced to taste it, alleging that it was not fair that he who preached abstinence should himself eat a Pagelus (so that fish is called); and in like manner he did elsewhere too, admitting nothing but pulse and herbs.

[34] Intent on vigils, he does not use a bed; when forced to use one, His vigils were very prolonged, because he passed the greater part of the night in praying; he betook himself late to sleep, rose very early, was always present at the Matins Office, after which he frequently remained in the church until morning; and if he had returned to his cell, he applied himself to studies; or, if drowsiness did not allow it, he rested for a very short time, being accustomed diligently to rise early. His bed was a bench or a chest, with two books in place of a pillow; nor did he ever lie in the bed, which he always tumbled as though he had lain in it; and he likewise did this when he was away from the convent for the sake of preaching. Indeed, reckoning it too soft to sleep on a chest, he made for himself out of rough and harsh cloth a band interwoven with knots, girt with which, to whatever side he turned, he was tormented. But when compelled by the physicians, by reason of grave illness, to lie undressed in bed, he found a way by which even so undressed he might do penance, not allowing his wretched body to enjoy any rest.

[35] he torments his body in it in another way. Hence, a little before his death, father brother John Lescano, visiting him, when he had asked that his hand, which he held under the coverlet, be offered him for the sake of kissing it, and he out of modesty had refused, being obstinate in mind put his own hand under the coverlet, and discovered a brick which he had put under his shoulders between flesh and tunic. For which reason, wondering, he said: O father, brother Louis, why do you do this while you are ill? My father (he answered

the holy Man to him), the day is now drawing very near, and you must shortly pass to heaven; but I beseech you not to reveal this to any of the men who are in the world. Besides the aforesaid chastisements of the body he wore a hair shirt, which, although he did it as secretly as he could, yet when he gave his tunic to be washed some bristles always stuck in it. Besides this, at certain times he girded himself with a most harsh iron chain; and when he had set out for the Indies, on opening a small chest which he had in his cell, they found a great store of scourges and other instruments of penance, which he always had ready to hand. Reproved once by a friend of his for scourging himself so severely, he replied with a cheerful countenance: What would you have me do in this matter, if I am a fool? In this way he repelled all vainglory which might have crept upon him from it.

VI.

[36] Since Bertrand from his boyhood always went forward with great fear of God and led an angelic life, it can easily be gathered what his purity and chastity were, An extraordinary cultivator of chastity, since he never spoke of anything other than heavenly things. Accordingly he was not only chaste but also a virgin. Never did a word fall from his mouth that was not most decent; and when he held discourse about chastity, he urged it with such ardour that he betrayed outwardly his most chaste mind. All these things were testified by Lawrence Perpignano, a notary, who knew the Blessed man from his age of five years and cultivated familiarity with him, both before and after he professed Religion, and was his companion on many journeys; and the same man held it for certain that on the very day on which he died he was as much a virgin as on that on which he was born. But others too, wondering at his remarkable purity, reckoned him an angel rather than a man.

[37] He was of such singular modesty that, if he had contracted any infirmity in his body, he watches carefully to preserve it,

he would not have hands applied to it by anyone. He never cultivated familiarity with women, and when he spoke with them, he did so either to impart some spiritual solace in their straits or to lead them into the way of the divine service. And in these matters besides he was so restrained that after a few words he would withdraw: and if they replied, so as to hear him speaking longer, he would say, Go, daughters, I will not forget to pray God for you; and so he dismissed them. This was especially observed in the Indies, where he never admitted any woman into his service; although in those parts Indian women are accustomed to serve the teachers of Christian doctrine, or parish priests. Many of the more principal persons affirm besides that they had never conversed with a more modest man, or one in whom purity and candour of soul shone out more; for which reason he was held in singular honour and was called a Saint.

[38] We have a remarkable proof of this thing from an occasion he drives away with blows a woman sent in to violate it; which the demon offered him among the Indians. For these, looking up to the irreproachable life of the good Father and his love of solitude, wished to try his modesty at Tubara, sending in a cunning and crafty woman to incite him to offend God. When she had craftily called him out to the door and provoked him to sin with diabolical artifice, the Blessed man, seizing the girdle which he used, drove her off with blows inflicted. Then, Forgive me, said the woman: for I did not undertake this of my own accord; but driven by force: and she set out how she had been suborned to this crime by the Indians. And this event affected them so piously that his good repute among them was not only confirmed, but even increased.

[39] [and another, suborned to the same end by an honoured man whose lust the Saint had reproved,] Another case is related by the archbishop of the Island of St. Domingo in the Mexican History of the Order of Preachers ^d. Namely: while Bl. Louis was preaching in the New Kingdom of Granada, a certain one of the principal men, very devoted to him, and no less an admirer of his holiness and a lover of his conversation, burned with an inordinate affection towards a certain most respectable woman; whose strong citadel of virtue, insidiously and continually assaulted through the cunning diligence and lavish promises of the shrewd lover, was at last overcome, and both fell into sin and persevered in it. The Blessed man, struck beyond measure by this thing, in order to discharge his office, strongly rebuked the perverse lover; but he, as one too incautiously plunged into the sea of these pleasures, listened to him little. Then, when the Blessed man returned full of zeal and repeated his reproofs, at first gentle, then sharp, the perverse man began to feel disgust; and his blindness went so far that he, who ought to have assented to him and carried out his sound counsels, entered on another plan suggested by the demon, attempting to violate the holiness of the most chaste Father.

[40] To this end he gave a good sum of money to a certain shameless young woman, that she might strive by her detestable arts to defile the candour of the most pure Religious. She was beautiful and wonderfully charming, and adorned proudly with elegant frivolity: and she hoped that on account of her precious garments she would be more highly regarded and less exposed to reproaches, and that, believed in any event to be of respectable condition, as a person of some authority she would compel the Blessed man through fear to keep silent about her deed. The bold woman came, at a time when he was living most solitary, about midnight, and finding the gate of his little lodging closed, she rang the bell. The pious Father, who was keeping vigil, suspecting from the unseasonable time that he was being called out to hear a confession or for some other urgent cause, ran to the gate with a light; but before he opened it he asked who was there and by whom sent; and she indicated her wicked purpose as well as she could.

[41] by most sharp scourging of himself and prayers poured out to God, On hearing this he shuddered all over, often signed his forehead and breast with the cross, and having diligently made fast the door, withdrew into the church, where he scourged himself severely and with unwonted rigour, with blows sounding so vehemently that the curious woman, not yet having cast away all hope, was impelled by their noise to see what this was. She came therefore to the church, and peering eagerly through the chinks, she saw the cause of the noise, and the Father, after a long scourging of himself, persisting likewise in long prayers that God would free him (as he himself afterwards asserted) from diabolical wiles. The report there has it that, when after the scourging the Blessed man had swooned and was stretched on the ground, SS. Mary Magdalene and Catherine, martyr, appeared to him, strengthening him, and that they were seen by those who were with the woman, and recognized by their emblems.

[42] After the space of three hours the Father, returning to the gate of his lodging, found the same woman, as also he brings to penance the man who had suborned her. as much changed now as she had before been obstinate in evil, and so fearful that she did not dare return to her home. To whom the Father said: Go, daughter, in peace, and take care not to attempt anything like this in future, lest God chastise you when you least think it. The instigator of the crime too grieved so much that on the next day, falling at the Father's feet, bathed in tears, he begged pardon for what he had committed, and showed himself ready for whatever he should command. The blessed Father received him with his accustomed gentleness, and gave him wholesome counsel; and he, contrite in mind and obedient, did penance. Thus he gained two souls, and left us an admirable example of his chastity.

[43] Another argument for persuading us of the virginity of Bl. Bertrand is sought from the supernatural fragrance [This unblemished virginity of the Saint God willed to be attested by a heavenly fragrance,] which his holy body breathed, not only after his death, but also for many years before; with which favour God has honoured many Saints, and commonly virgins. Of our father St. Dominic it is read that a certain student of letters, when he wished to kiss his hand, perceived a sweet odour, and through it was freed from a sensual temptation. St. Vincent Ferrer, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Catherine of Siena, and many other Saints who are established to have been virgins, enjoyed that grace; and our Bl. Bertrand also, not once or twice, but very often and for many years before he died, and besides after he was dead. Innumerable are those who have given testimony for this odour.

[44] Brother Anthony Catalano of the convent of St. Onuphrius says perceived by very many, that an unwonted, most pleasing odour came forth from the Blessed man's hands, and such as the chasuble breathes even today which St. Vincent Ferrer used, which is preserved up to now at Alcagniz. Frances Ferreri, who was accustomed to confess to him, asserted that she had smelt a heavenly fragrance from him and from his tunics; as will also be said in the chapter on Prayer. Violanta Guincar, having confessed to the same man, on withdrawing from the confessional seat, experienced a most sweet odour. Father brother Melchior de Moreglia affirmed that, whenever he stood by him, he always perceived the same good odour, by which he was greatly refreshed; and that often, when he was present at the Salve ^e, and had his eyes cast down on the ground, he perceived from the same odour when he was passing. The first of the Religious whose Mass brother Peter John Saragoza, rector of the college of Orihuela, served while he was a novice, was Bl. Bertrand, and from his sacred vestments, when he was taking them off in the sacristy, he perceived a most pleasing odour coming forth.

[45] This same man, serving the Blessed man in his cell for the space of six months while he was labouring under his last infirmity, both while he was living, smelt the same odour which he had perceived before in the sacristy, and continued to smell it as often as he touched his garments or books. Brother John Baga too testified to something very like it, who asserted that he could not attain even by guessing what kind of odour it was with which Bl. Bertrand was fragrant, since it was like no earthly one. In like manner the physicians Louis Collapo and Joseph Reguart, who ordinarily visited him, testified that the same man, notwithstanding his infirmities, from which he ought to have stunk, smelt wonderfully good, and that they had experienced this as often as they came to his bed to examine the pulse of his artery; so that Reguart, having diligently searched the coverlets and the linen of the bed for the sake of investigating the cause of this thing, wondered exceedingly at the quality of the unwonted odour, which was like neither flowers, nor musk, nor amber.

[46] and when he had died, Moreover, that this fragrance was perceived not only while he was living but also when he was dead is established from innumerable witnesses ^f, among whom the noble knight Francis Louis Blanes said that he had indeed perceived it while he was alive, but had smelt it with much greater wonder as soon as he expired; and before the corpse was clothed, kissing his feet out of his devotion towards him, he was astounded beyond measure at so great a sweetness of odour; for which cause he too searched all round about, in case some perfumes happened to be present anywhere; but finding nothing of the kind, he wondered the more, the more the opposite ought to have happened

in the body of Bl. Bertrand, both because he had his shins infected with sores, and because he had lain sick in bed for so long a time. That very thing was also affirmed by various persons; and in particular by Philip Fuset, a citizen of Valencia, who also entered the cell after the Blessed man died, and others, while the body lay unburied in the church; and especially by Gaspar Gari, a subdeacon, who, imprinting kisses on his hands, recovered his sense of smell, which he had lost more than thirty years before, and drew in a most sweet odour, concerning which the discourse will return below.

[47] and also afterwards, when his body was translated into another sepulchre. The same fragrance was besides perceived on the day of the translation of his body into the sepulchre in which it is situated even today, and as soon as the tomb was opened in which it had first been placed; which Joseph Monleone, a student of letters, dom Henry Ferrerius, and Francis Vaziero, a notary, specially testified. From all of which it is plainly concluded that Bl. Bertrand was most chaste and a virgin. There is also another thing which greatly confirms that very point; namely that he himself, while he was living in the Indies, told a certain lady whose confessor he was that by the grace of God he had always preserved his virginity, and was a virgin such as he had come forth from his mother's womb.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

The persecutions which the Saint endured from demons and perverse men: his intrepid preaching and its fruit: dangers to his life overcome on that account.

CHAP. VII.

Often by demons It pleases God to exercise His friends in the virtue of patience, and to this end to loosen the reins of the demon, so that he may be able to afflict them with troubles and persecutions, and in that way that virtue may be made manifest and shine in the whole world and through all ages. Persecutions are accordingly very useful to the servants of God, that they may be more and more cleansed, and made illustrious by glorious triumphs, by which they move wonder in men and joy in the angels, and increase the glory of the divine Majesty. Bl. Bertrand would not have attained so lofty a degree of holiness if the snares and persecutions of the demon had been lacking to him; because from these, by the arms of penance and prayer, in open war against the demon himself, like another St. Anthony, he carried off secret victories. To this purpose he himself spoke thus to a certain friend of his: You would be astounded, brother, if you knew what troubles the demons cause me. Sometimes they throw me out of the place in which I sleep, and force me to defend myself with my hands; sometimes they beat me with cudgels; at other times they strive to terrify me with horrible spectres, so as to disturb me as I pray; but by the grace of God they always at last go away confounded.

[49] He also related to someone that, while he was walking at night through the church of the convent of Valencia, he is treated in dreadful ways.

he had seen a demon of ferocious countenance near the vessel of holy water, who seemed to stand there in order to hinder the use of that water, which he hates. In the Indies the demons persecuted him vehemently; for when he often went up a certain mountain for the sake of praying and scourging himself, he was punished there by them with blows; and some who had followed him secretly heard him complaining in these words: Let me be, traitors! At Tubara too, in his tiny hut, he was received with blows by the same, as we have said above; and in the same place he was very evilly handled on account of one of the principal men, an old man and sick, having been converted to the Christian rites and baptized.

[50] Nor was it enough for the demons to have treated him so savagely, Gibes, calumnies, but they also stirred up men to afflict him. Of these there were some who, envying him because he was held for a Saint, slandered him with insulting gibes, calling him Hypocrite, Deceiver and Idiot; all which he bore most patiently and without any sign of feeling. At Cipacoa ^a, when he was in the church with Francis Ribera, a certain person came up who, roused with anger, heaped many insults on him: to whom the Servant of God answered with extraordinary gentleness and cheerfulness that he had said everything rightly, and he asked pardon, because he was a grievous sinner. And when Ribera wished to defend the Blessed man and to throw back on the slanderer's head all the injuries and ill deeds heaped on Bertrand, he opposed it, and brought them back to peace.

[51] he bears with an even mind the injuries inflicted on him by men, At Valencia, when the Blessed man had judged that it was not expedient for him to take up the cause of certain noble knights, they, indignant and desirous of revenge, agreed that one of them should feign himself gravely ill and have the Servant of God summoned to him in a certain house. When this was done, forgetful of their nobility, they began to mock him there and to receive him with unworthy manners and words, reproaching him with being a depraved Religious, and with running about to these and those houses, wherever he pleased. To these things the Blessed man, after his manner, answered gently and with his accustomed patience: I, sirs, was in my cell, and you summoned me here: but what you say, that I am wicked, is so true that no one knows me better than you. Which things accordingly he suffered from them willingly, and he returned to his convent.

[52] and he grieves that another very grievous one was avenged by another man, The demon tried, as much as he could, to defame him, so as to hinder the fruit of his sermons. Captain Sanciz testified that he had been accused by a slanderer of having begotten two sons by two infidel Indian women, whom the Captain himself was supporting in his house. The same Captain, taking this calumny very ill, ordered its author to be called to him, on the pretext of treating business of great moment: but when he would not come, he went to him himself, and said: Coward, whence have you this audacity, to fasten so great a calumny on a holy Man? and at the same time he struck his face with his sword and wounded him. When the Blessed man learned of this, he grieved most vehemently, and complained of it to him, asserting that he was a greater sinner than that man, and that much worse things could have been said of him.

[53] and he obtains that the penalty of his crime be remitted to another slanderer. In like manner the demon incited a certain Indian woman, by name Marinitta, to defame the Blessed man. She was the concubine of a certain Spaniard, by whom she had children; and so that he should not pay the penalty to the investigator whom the bishop had sent there, she persuaded him to fasten the guilt on Bl. Bertrand. This infamy was spread through that whole region, to the grief of all good men, among whom the opinion of the Father was excellent. He himself too felt this injury, as one may conjecture; but he consoled himself with Christ crucified. But it pleased God that, when an inquiry had been made, the truth came to light; and when the magistrate wished to chastise the concubine's lover, the Servant of God interceded for him, and by his prayers obtained pardon for him; and to his companion, who was urging him to allow that infamous slanderer to be punished, he answered, Be silent, dearest brother; one must not proceed in every cause from the rigour of justice, and one must bear a little and suffer for the love of God. Nor did the Blessed man only forgive him the injury, but also, after he had withdrawn him from punishment, he dealt familiarly with the same man thereafter, just as though a close friendship had always existed between them.

[54] On another occasion likewise the Blessed man proved that he adhered exactly to the doctrine of the Gospel, which bids us do good to our enemies. He had reproved two men for certain vices, Divine vengeance on two who injured the Saint. who for the sake of revenge befouled the door of the hut in which the Blessed man was lodging, as is usually done to defame someone. And he indeed bore this patiently and with a glad mind; but God, to whom the honour of His own is dear, chastised those wicked men, permitting that one of them should be taken out of the way by a sudden death, and when dead should appear black as pitch; and that the other, who perhaps was less guilty, should fall into an illness, and so atone by suffering for some years, crippled in hands and feet, and come to such a state that, though he was of sound mind, he himself befouled his own face, as he had befouled Bertrand's door.

VIII.

[55] The Servant of God was most assiduous in procuring the salvation of souls, He was assiduous in preaching and sought by all: not only by private admonitions but also by public sermons, which he gave continually (unless prevented by ill health) in all the places in which he lived; and on account of the repute of his virtues and holiness he was heard willingly, and on account of the spiritual fruit he was sought in all the churches. Accordingly he often gave sermons in the cathedral church of Valencia, in the parish churches, and in his convent. He also preached for some time in the house of the boys of St. Vincent Ferrer, expounding Christian doctrine to them. He was besides asked by the sacred inquisitors to preach at a public act of the Inquisition; but he excused himself humbly; yet it was necessary for him to do it at least once; as he did. And although at that time, from his many infirmities, he had his chest full of phlegm and a hoarse throat, nevertheless, notwithstanding also the great size of the square and the immense multitude of hearers, he was well heard by all; as doctor James Hernandez de Heria, promoter fiscal of the holy Office, testified, asserting that God had then willed thus to reward the Blessed man's merits.

[56] He was not accustomed to invite his hearers to the next day; what arguments he chiefly treated: before the sermon he consulted God: because out of his humility he had not been accustomed to call himself a Preacher, but a poor little deaf man. But although he did not use the ornaments of Rhetoric with which to delight the ears, he was nevertheless vehemently sought after, because the word of God uttered by his mouth produced admirable effects. He urged effectively (imitating his glorious father St. Dominic) devotion to the Rosary, and he had been accustomed always to relate some example of the remarkable favours which the Mother of God has shown to those reciting the Rosary, to which he himself was most devoted. With pious affection too he commended prayers for the souls detained in purgatory: nor did he less effectively exhort them to do penance and to avoid the occasions of sinning; he himself, pale in face, wasted in his whole body, exhausted in strength and weak, showing himself truly penitent; whence he brought back abundant fruits. Just as before the sermon he consulted God in his cell about what he was going to preach,

so too he did in the sacristy of the church where he was to speak, from which he came out with so inflamed a countenance that at times he was seen to radiate with the splendour of which we spoke above.

[57] he fearlessly reproves public sins; wherefore a nobleman He was severe in reproving sins, especially if they were public; which certain persons took so ill that they at last threatened him with death; but the holy Man did not fear on that account; on the contrary he displayed so much the more unconquered a spirit, and answered that he would willingly bear for Jesus Christ whatever they could do against him; and that he would not omit to say what he felt. While he was over the convent of St. Anne of Albayda, reproving public sins in a certain sermon, he gravely offended a nobleman, who thought that certain particular things had been said by him about himself. As the Blessed man, then, was coming out of the church to go to the house of a certain man called Moton, accompanied by a servant, by name Francis Mora, the said nobleman made known to him through a certain dependant of his that he would slaughter him unless he sang a recantation of what he had said in the sermon: which things were announced to him in the presence of the aforesaid Mora and others.

[58] tries to discharge a firearm at him; The Blessed man answered gently after his manner that he would reckon himself happy and blessed if it should befall him to die on account of what he had preached; for in this way he would be a martyr and would obtain a singular benefit from God. On the next day the Blessed man, and with him the same Francis Mora, returning to the convent, beheld from a place far distant from there that nobleman coming on with great strides on horseback, his hand armed with a smaller fire-spitting war-piece. Mora, all terrified, urged the Blessed man to avoid the encounter, and begged him urgently, as much for the sake of saving the Father as, still more, himself: but he, relying on God, fearlessly continued on his way. The nobleman, running up with a most ferocious countenance and a hoarse throat, burst out into these words: Wicked friar, have you dared to reprove me? And at the same time, turning the gun on the innocent Religious' breast, he let go the wheel-lock to kill him.

[59] [but, the barrel being turned into an image of the Crucified, he asks pardon and obtains it;] But Bertrand, without the least sign of base fear, raising his right arm towards the gun, formed the sign of the Cross, and behold, at once that hellish instrument was burst asunder, and it seemed heavier than usual to the knight; and when he looked at it, he saw it (O highest prodigy!) changed into an image of the Crucified. Astounded and pricked in heart by this unexpected event, he got down, or rather threw himself headlong from his horse, all trembling, and bursting into bitter tears, falling at the Blessed man's feet, he most humbly asked pardon for his offence. And the Servant of God, with his accustomed clemency, consoled him and sent him away. Then, turning to Mora, he signed his breast with the sign of the Cross with his right thumb, commanding him not to reveal it to anyone as long as he lived; Though (he added) you will not be questioned on this matter before thirty years have passed. And that it truly so happened the said Mora testified, since he was first summoned in the year 1598 ^b to confirm so wonderful a case by his testimony. In which matter the Blessed man proved himself no less a prophet than a Saint.

[60] two others, plotting his death, brought to penance: Two men of honoured condition were living, with public scandal, in notorious concubinage; and when the Blessed man had warned them, first several times privately, then also on some occasions in public sermons, by assailing that sin in general terms, and made no progress, he resolved (the public offence so requiring) to reprove them publicly from the pulpit; which he did too, most sharply. And it happened thus: as the Blessed man was going up into the pulpit, he felt the things that were to be said being told him in his breast, and he held each word imprinted on his memory. Hence with great spirit and a resolute will, like another St. John towards Herod, he began to rebuke these public sinners; one of whom was roused to such uncontrolled anger that he altogether resolved to hurl him headlong from the pulpit; but he was prevented by a flame with which he saw him surrounded: at which, trembling for fear, he hastened to his house and set out to his concubine what had happened. And she, likewise full of terror, running without delay to the Blessed man, on bended knees bewailed her offence, and, confirmed by him in her good purpose, was sent back to her father's house. The other partner in crime, raging with like anger and blinded, resolved to strike the Servant of God most cruelly; and he, when he was standing about the doors of the church and saw him approaching with evil intent, although he could have betaken himself into the church, not only did not do so, but, inflamed with the desire of dying for truth and justice, went to meet him, and having greeted him kindly asked whether he wanted anything of him. But the man suddenly changed his mind, and, putting his knees on the ground before him, begged pardon for his rash and impious purpose.

[61] When the Blessed man was preaching in a certain country church, a certain man of some authority spies sent by an ill-wisher restrained: longed to know whether he would say anything against his wicked morals, and therefore he bound three men by oath, each separately so that one should know nothing of the other, to report to him if anything was said by him against him. It happened that, since the church was distant from the village, the last of the three overtook the third, and all were at once seized with heavy sadness, nor did any of them dare to disclose his grief. At last one of them spoke thus: Friends, we are all sad, and I suspect that the grief of all arises from one and the same cause. By your life, tell me why you are sad. Two answered: We grieve that we have been sent as spies against this holy Man. The same is the cause of my grief too, added the third. Meanwhile they reached the church, the sermon having already begun, and they heard the Blessed man uttering these words: The Pharisees sought only one Judas against Christ; but he who wishes me ill has sought three against me. When these words were spoken, the three stood astounded, and they were more confirmed in the good estimation which they had conceived of Bl. Louis Bertrand before.

[62] Once, while he was returning to the convent laden with a wallet full of begged bread, hired robbers frightened off: an adulteress brought back to good ways. two men attacked him on the road to kill him, sent by someone whom he had reproved. But it came about that, looking on his face, they were seized with such trembling that, deprived of strength and spirit, they could not carry out the execrable command. He had often preached against a certain adulteress, who nevertheless would not desist from sinning. But one night, when she was alone, awakened at an untimely hour, she saw in her chamber a great splendour, and in the midst of it Bl. Louis, all shining, threatening her with his finger set against his forehead. Which terrified her so greatly that, having summoned the adulterer, she declared to him that she would not persevere in that sin with him in future: whence he too, repenting of the deed, brought it about that the woman returned to her husband.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

The gift of Prophecy and of the Discernment of spirits with which the Saint was endowed.

CHAPTER IX.

He encourages St. Teresa to the institution of the Order of the Discalced, It is established from many events that God communicated the spirit of prophecy to Bl. Bertrand, and besides very many things which we have already related above on this matter, we shall record certain others in this chapter. St. Teresa, foundress of the Order of the Discalced Carmelite fathers ^a, in the first years, when she began to institute that Order, consulted various spiritual persons on this purpose of hers; and in particular she wrote to Bl. Bertrand, setting out her desire and the reasons by which she was induced to undertake a thing of so great moment, and one exposed to so many difficulties and disturbances. Having received this letter, the Blessed man commended this business to God, and after three or four months sent her the following answer.

[64] and foretells its happy progress. "Mother Teresa, I have received your letter, and since the business about which you have consulted me pertains very greatly to the worship of God, I wished first to commend it to the divine Majesty in my lukewarm prayers and Sacrifices; and that is the cause why I have been slow to answer. Now in the name of the same Lord I tell you to take courage to undertake so great a work, that God will help you and favour you; and in His name I assure you that fifty years will not pass before your Religion will be one of the more illustrious which the Church of God has, who, etc. Valencia, etc. ^b" Having received this answer, St. Teresa pursued with happy success the work inspired in her by God; and the truth of the prophecy was evident, as the whole world has acknowledged and acknowledges, since that Religion has grown so greatly and bears such great fruits in the Church.

[65] Of three Religious of one Order who had come to Valencia, He prophesies variously about three Religious, two visited Bl. Bertrand, whom he led to the cell of St. Vincent Ferrer, and leaving them there returned to his own, in which he stayed three hours (in which time meanwhile he is believed to have prayed). After this, returning to them, he sat down with them in the middle place, and said to the one who was sitting on his right: Father, your reverence is Benjamin, that is, Son of the right hand; and he, since he was called by that name by his father Prior, wondered at the saying. Continuing the conversation, the Blessed man added: Did not three come to this city? Why did only two of you come here? They answered: The third, Father, would not come with us. Then indeed the Servant of God said: It would please me if you had pen and ink to write what I am about to say. I see there a tree with three branches, the first of which, however much it is watered, will bear no fruit, and for that reason will be cut off and placed in a closed place. The second will give fruit, but bitter, and accordingly will shortly be lopped off; and already I seem to see it in the sepulchre. The third will bring forth sweet fruit; and therefore it will be preserved.

[66] Having said these things, he suddenly imposed silence on them about what he had said, the threefold event proving it. alleging the words of Christ to the Apostles after the Transfiguration, Matthew XVII: "Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of man be risen from the dead." Then, asked by them whether it was true that that image of the Mother of God, placed in the same cell, had spoken with St. Vincent, he answered that it was true, and that it had besides spoken with a certain brother living in the same convent. And when they said: That will have been your Reverence, he replied that it was not lawful for him to say who that was. Furthermore, of the aforesaid Religious one became so incapable that, having lost the use of reason, he was shut up for the rest of his life. The second, although a good Religious, was nevertheless of a harsh and troublesome nature, and died a short time after. The third, a man of good example, lived very piously in his Order ^c.

[67] Lord John Boil de Arenos, while conversing with the Blessed man, He foretells that one who injured a prelate will be punished by God, told him that a certain noble knight of eminent rank was causing troubles to a certain prelate without cause, and he set this out at length. Let your lordship not wonder (replied the Blessed man) if God chastises him. After a few days the said knight himself fell into great troubles; nor did lord John doubt that this was the divine chastisement which the Blessed man had indicated. But that man came out of them with great honour. Lord John, noticing this, doubted whether the Blessed man had not been mistaken: but a few days after the truth of the prophecy was made manifest: for that noble knight was carried off by a sudden death, having found neither the opportunity of a priest being present, nor time in which he could invoke the name of Jesus.

[68] Lord James Ferreri, governor of Valencia, [and he promises that an only daughter will be healed, and that a son will be born to her mother:] when he had an only daughter (who was afterwards viscountess of Celva) suffering sharply from smallpox, begged Bl. Bertrand to visit her and pray for her. He came, and said to the lady Blanca, the mother of the sick girl and wife of lord James, who was vehemently afflicted: Take courage, lady, and trust in God; your daughter will be healed and will live: and to you the divine Majesty will grant a son, who likewise will be safe and sound. And so the sick girl recovered, and within a year a son was born to her, who is living even today and is called lord Louis.

[69] he foretells glad things to a certain lady: he knows another's secret. The lady Raphaela Fernandez de Heredia, an unmarried virgin, was very sad because for a long time now she had received no letters from her brother, who was staying at Naples, fearing lest he had died, since at other times he had been accustomed to write to her every month. For the sake of solace, then, she went to the Blessed man, who bade her not fear at all: for her brother was not only well but even faring most prosperously, and on that very day she would receive letters agreeing with this, with some subsidy besides. The lady returned home glad, and from the confidence which she had conceived from Bl. Bertrand's words she would not eat any food before she had received letters from her brother. These were brought at the twenty-first hour of the day, announcing his prosperous state, with an enclosed bill of exchange for ninety scudi, which he was sending her. Asked by the same Raphaela to say Mass for her, he said it soon; and when it was finished she grieved that she had no coins with her from which to give him an alms; and for that reason she did not dare go up to him to kiss his hand; yet she went up, and the Servant of God bade her betake herself to his seat appointed for hearing sacred confessions, where, before she had uttered a word, he said: Do not be troubled on my account, lady; for I do not want an alms for the Mass. Hearing this, she wondered and was astounded that he had known her thoughts.

[70] The calamities of two religious, the death of a certain lady, While he was Prior of the convent of St. Onuphrius, Bertrand, coming out of his cell, said to brother Andrew Cabrerizo, his companion: Do you see that Religious? The habit is very heavy to him, and therefore he will put it off, and the gravest evils and adversities will befall him. Remember what I am now telling you, and you will find that I speak the truth. Many years after the same Religious put off the habit, and was wretchedly afflicted by adverse misfortunes. To the same brother Cabrerizo he also said of a certain Religious of another convent that a great tribulation threatened him; and that the same man was very negligent. That seemed incredible to Cabrerizo; yet it was established to be altogether true. The lady Anne de Castelui, wife of the nobleman Christopher Pertusa, living at Museros, on the night of the Lord's Nativity came with other ladies to the Matins Office at the church of the convent of St. Onuphrius. When the divine Offices were finished, blessed Bertrand greeted them all as they were going out of the church; but to the said lady Anne he added: Lady, your ladyship has come this night to visit the new Mother. Well! she will repay you in turn, and will come to be present with you at your death, which is to happen shortly. And so within fifteen days such an illness seized her that within four hours she passed to a better life.

[71] he foretells the recovery of two sick persons; a hidden offence, When lord James Centeglias had a son suffering from so sharp a fever that he had now been given up by the physicians, he hastened at full gallop to the convent of St. Onuphrius, to beg Bl. Bertrand's prayers for the sick boy; and not finding him there, he went on to the church of St. Mary of Albuycec, where he was preaching that day, and with anxious fatherly affection besought him to intercede for his dying son. To whom the Blessed man, after pouring out prayers, said, Go cheerfully, lord James; for your son will not die of that ailment; and he, returning to Valencia, found the sick boy out of danger. He rendered another like benefit to the same lord James when his wife, the lady Frances Mercader, was ill. Of Angela Baiarri from Museros, after he had heard her confession, the Blessed man, before he absolved her, asked whether she remembered anything more; and when she said no, he added that she should remember the sin which she had committed in the carriage in days past. Then she, reflecting somewhat with herself, remembered that a few days before, while she was being driven in a carriage with other noble women, she had committed a rash judgement; which, when she had confessed it, the Blessed man absolved. For which reason she told him that he was a great prophet; but he, with remarkable and holy simplicity, and almost smiling, answered that he was nothing but a great sinner.

[72] Brother Anthony Catalano, while he was a novice in the convent of St. Onuphrius, the temptations of a novice, losing heart in bearing the burdens of the Order, resolved to run away just as he was, clothed in the habit; but Bl. Bertrand, meeting him where he was standing, said to him: Little brother, brother Anthony, it has come to my ears that you wish to go away, and still wear the habit. Take notice that this is a great temptation of the demon. With these and other words the novice was set at rest; but he could not sufficiently wonder by what means that could have come to the Blessed man's knowledge, which he had never communicated to anyone. On another day, sacred to St. Onuphrius, the same brother, now professed, was serving in the kitchen, and, much troubled, desired to withdraw to the mountain, thinking that he would live more tranquilly there, and that there would be no one to reprove him. The Blessed man entered the kitchen and said to him: I know what you are turning over in your mind: you have just now suffered an immense temptation. I will come back to console you; as indeed was done, and he recovered tranquillity of mind, and was no less made certain that even his secret thoughts were manifest to Bl. Bertrand.

[73] It had often happened to lord John Valterra that he suffered troubles from his household and from others, another's domestic troubles, the death of an absent man,

whence once, for the sake of solace, he went to Bl. Bertrand. And he related to him exactly all that had happened, and for what cause, and with whom. At which indeed John wondered the more, the more certainly he knew that he had never said even a word to anyone on this matter. News had been brought to the convent of Valencia that father master brother Vincent Ferrandez, a man most highly regarded in Religion and in letters, a son of this convent, professor in the University of Tarragona, was lying very gravely ill in the convent of that same city, in which he held a doctor's chair; and at that time Bl. Bertrand asked his companion, brother Francis Palau, what was being said about father master Ferrandez, and when he answered that the report was that he was better, he rejoined: That cannot be true; because he has already died, and I saw him dead above that chest. A few days after it was announced that he had departed from the living on the same day on which Bl. Bertrand had said it.

[74] When Vincent, son of Francis Vaziero, a notary, was ill, he knows of the death of a sick man, the healing of a sick woman, yet in the opinion of the physicians and of others who were present beyond all danger, Bl. Bertrand, happening to pass that way, was asked to go up and visit him and read the Gospels. Entering the chamber, he said to the sick youth: Take courage, son; for God is calling you to Himself, and wishes to lead you to heaven. Having thus consoled him and his parents, he withdrew; and a few days after the sick youth died. Joanna Anne Marco, a Beata of the third Order of St. Dominic, was lying ill of a grave and dangerous illness; and the Blessed man, visiting her, asked whether she was content to die of this infirmity; she answered that she wished nothing other than what pleased God: and he added that she would not die of that ailment, but that on the day sacred to St. Thomas Aquinas, recurring within a few days, she would be healed and would go to church; which also came about.

[75] [he foretells the unhappy marriage of a noble virgin, the recovery of a sick woman, and the entrance of a boy into the Order of St. Dominic.] The daughter of Salvator Perez, a marriageable virgin, had resolved to embrace the monastic life, and was acting most diligently to put this purpose of hers into execution, when the Blessed man, having entered her house, told her all that had been done in this business, and added that she would not be a nun, but would marry a husband, and in that marriage would suffer many grievous things. Which all who had heard thought could not happen, and yet they came about as the Blessed man had foretold. Sperantia Vaglies, sister of the lord of Anteglia, whose recovery the physicians had already despaired of, he bade place her hope in God, saying that she would not die of that illness; and at that same point of time the ailment began to change, and in a short time she was healed. A certain old man, by name Francis Mari, brought to Bl. Bertrand a boy nine years of age, called Jerome Almenara, that he might hear his confession; which he did; and suddenly rising from his seat he said to the same Francis: God protects this boy, and will bring him to become a Religious of our Order. And at the time when the Blessed man was living in the Indies, the same youth put on the Dominican habit, and turned out a distinguished man in the chair and the pulpit, and died holily, and on the day of his death Bl. Bertrand saw a great brightness above his cell.

[76] Again he knew of the death of an absent man: To master Jordan, a cleric, a good servant of God, near to death in the village of Alcoy, a day and a half's journey distant from Valencia, one of his kinsmen said: Is there no remedy left for you on earth, sir, by which your lordship may escape? One only (he answered) I believe is left me, namely if Bl. Bertrand prays for my recovery. Hearing this, a courier is sent without delay to Bl. Bertrand, with a reward promised that would be the greater the sooner he delivered the letter to him. The letter-carrier went very swiftly and delivered the letter: and having received it, and not yet unsealed it, the Blessed man said: Go back, brother; there is no remedy: and when the courier asked him to unseal the letter, he answered that it was not necessary; and finally, when he begged him at least to attest in writing at what hour he had reached him, he did it willingly. And so it was established that master Jordan had died some hours before the courier delivered the letter to the Blessed man.

[77] other prophecies of his concerning a certain maidservant and two sick persons, A certain maidservant of John Marco, a notary, by name Sperantia, was treating of embracing the Religious state; and the business was already concluded, when Bl. Bertrand, passing that way and asked how far it had now advanced, answered that she would never be a nun. And so it came about: for the said Sperantia a few days after fell ill, and before she could be clothed in the Religious habit, she departed this life. When the physicians despaired of the life of Salvator Perez, a notary, and denied that he could escape death, his household sent someone to commend him to Bl. Bertrand; and since he could not then speak with him, he asked the porter to bring back the message. He came back with the answer that the sick man would by no means die of that illness. So it came about, the same man being swiftly restored to health. Angela Simarra, when her husband Joseph de Campos was in present danger of his life, sent her maidservant to Bl. Bertrand to pray for him; and since he was then unwell, a certain Religious reported it to him. He gave the answer that he would quickly be healed. Which was true; for the physician Asnares, visiting him again in the morning, found the same man not only placed out of danger but almost entirely healed, although on the night just past he had despaired of his recovery.

[78] When John Pellesciero, sacristan of the cathedral church of Valencia, [he foreknows a sacristan's requests and his long life, and the childbirth of a pregnant lady;] was often sent to the Blessed man to advise him about the sermons to be given in the same church, when he had already come to him, before he had set out the cause of his coming, he would hear these words from him: I know what sermon you are about to commission me with; and he knew how to state exactly both the day and the argument of the sermon to be given, although sometimes they were still about two months away from the time when he was to preach. On one occasion too the Blessed man asked him how many years he had; and when he had answered, he added: See that you are good; for many years of life remain to you. When John testified to this he was sixty-four years old, and more than twenty years had passed since the Blessed man had prophesied it to him. When Catherine Pedros was pregnant, Bl. Bertrand was passing before her doors, whom she did not know; but having heard from her household that he was the Servant of God, she ran out into the street and kissed his hand; to whom he said: Lady, you are carrying twin offspring, and God will grant you a happy delivery: and a few days after she happily gave birth to a son and a daughter.

[79] The Blessed man had preached in the place of Cataroscia, and knowing he knows hidden sins and desires, that a certain woman from Castile had come there, he said that unless she were driven out from there, one of the most honoured women of that region would fall into sin; as came about. Frances Garzia, who was accustomed to approach the most holy Sacraments rather often, desired vehemently that it might be permitted her to receive the holy Eucharist daily: and when once she was confessing to Bl. Bertrand, although she had come with the purpose of asking that permission, she did not dare to ask. But the Blessed man of his own accord said: I grant you, sister, leave to confess and communicate daily. After the lady Feliciana de Rebolay, wife of lord Louis de Romani, had set out her sins to the Blessed man in confession, he asked her why she did not accuse herself of a certain sin which she had committed in a carriage, and he added with whom she had then been in the carriage, and what the sin was. She was astounded, because it was a secret matter, nor known by any others than those with whom she had been in the carriage.

[80] Catherine Spina, a virgin of sixty years, who had been accustomed to confess to Bertrand, a little before the Nativity of the Lord asked him likewise a hidden poverty, the cause of a sadness, to celebrate for her the three Masses customarily said on that solemnity. The Blessed man answered that he would do it, but on condition that out of the alms to be given for that purpose she should buy herself a pair of shoes, which she greatly needed. At this answer the woman was astounded, because she had revealed her poverty to no one. To the same Catherine Spina the Blessed man gave a Rosary, which she valued most highly as having come from him; but when a certain Religious of the convent of Jesus had taken it, she grieved vehemently. And when afterwards she had gone to him, before she had spoken, the Blessed man asked her why she was so afflicted, and when she would not say, Come now, he said, be at rest: I will remedy it by giving you another Rosary; as he did, saying that it was for this that she was melancholy.

[81] again hidden sins, Violanta Juncar, visiting Bl. Bertrand together with her brother, lord Jerome, while he was ill in the confraternity of St. Mary, related among other things that she had hired a maidservant from Aragon. The Blessed man answered that he desired to see her; and when he saw her, he added that it was not expedient for her to keep her. But when Violanta would not agree with the Blessed man, he, on another occasion that occurred, rejoined that that young girl would cost her dear and with many troubles. The event proved the prophecy; for the young girl lived badly; and at last ruined herself. When the same Violanta at another time, after confession, asked him to pray for a certain person who was in a bad state, he asked who she was, and when she said that it was not lawful for her to name her, he added that she was called by such a name and was in such a state. Then, as Violanta withdrew, she perceived a most sweet odour.

[82] the defeat of the king of Portugal, the recovery of health by Francis Borgia. In the year 1573, on the day of the feast of our holy father Dominic, after dinner, Bl. Bertrand, very sorrowful, said to brother Louis Primo, his companion: Brother, they told me today that the king of Portugal is dead and his army routed; and you will find that I speak the truth. After this he also told other Religious that he had seen through the window of his cell the army of the king of Portugal fighting, the king dead, and the army scattered. Ten days after he had said this, news was brought of the death of that king and of the slaughter in Africa and the kingdom of Fez. When lord Francis Borgia was in great peril of his life from a vehement fever and flux, his physician Asnares advised his son, lord John, that his father would die without any doubt, and that accordingly he should see to it that he provided for his soul and made his will. For which reason lord John wished to fetch a confessor himself; but returning home he understood that Bl. Bertrand had already come to visit the sick man, and he heard him saying that he should hope; that he would not die of this illness, but would live, and would see two of his sons joined in marriage. So he recovered, and saw the things foretold.

[83] hidden business, and the recovery of Philip II obtained by his prayers. To a certain doctor of the royal council the Blessed man said in his cell: Hold out bravely, hold out bravely. What, Father? he answered. The cause, said he, which was treated today in such a business. Since this business was most secret, the doctor, full of amazement, asked by what means, or who, had indicated it to him. To whom he replied: This one; pointing to the Crucifix which he had above his table. In the year 1580, when the viceroy of Valencia, the duke of Hagiara *, visited the Blessed man in his cell, as he was often accustomed to do, the latter asked him what news he had of the health of the king (who was Philip the Second). He replied: Very good. On the contrary, very bad, rejoined the Blessed man: it is necessary to pray for his Majesty. Within a few days news was brought from the court that the king was most gravely ill, and already given up by the physicians and courtiers, and finally that even his face had been veiled, as is usually done for the dead. Some days before those letters about the king's infirmity, and the abatement of the same illness, had been brought to the viceroy, Bl. Bertrand had signified to the same viceroy that the king would not die of that illness: and he asserted for certain that health had been obtained for him by miracle through the prayers of a certain servant of God. This servant of God, replied the viceroy, I believe is your Paternity. At which answer Bertrand was vehemently troubled, grieving as often as he was praised and effects of this kind were ascribed to him. Concerning this singular deed there will be given, in the fourth book of this History, the letter of the same viceroy addressed to Pope Clement VIII.

[84] In the same year, on the vigil of St. Denis, the Blessed man, together with father master brother Peter de Salamanca, He foretells his own death, he points out a lady's future enemy; going out of the convent to confirm in the faith a certain Moor who was to be punished by hanging, while he was still in the greater cloister of the convent, said to his companion: I do not know why they summon me, who am unskilled and a sinner, to such things: but in the year next following they will not summon me any more, because I shall be dead. The Blessed man warned the lady Angela Diaz Ferrando, wife of lord James Ferreri, to beware of a certain man, whom he also indicated by his name; because he would be her worst enemy; and it came about as he had foretold.

[85] In the month of December of the year 1580 lord Michael Viche, of a canon canon of the cathedral church of Valencia, was ill; and although he was better, and was said by the physicians to be out of danger, Bl. Bertrand with brother Anthony Bagliester visited him three days before the Nativity of the Lord, and, approaching the sick man, warned him with sweet and pious words to prepare himself for death, for these feasts were to be celebrated by him in heaven: and accordingly that he should receive the holy Viaticum and dispose of his affairs. The canon carried out the holy counsel, and three days after, on the very day of the Lord's Nativity, he passed to the other life. All these things having been ascertained, brother Anthony Bagliester asked the Blessed man how he had foreknown the death of that canon; he answered that three days before he had already seen him dead in his cell. And when brother Anthony rejoined by what means from that alone he had divined the time of his future death, Know, son, he said, that God often, when He reveals something to our understanding, also grants a light by which we may know for certain what is signified.

[86] The lady Frances de Castelui, wife

of Jerome de Ixar, a knight of the habit of Montesa, [and he foretells the death of a boy, he knows and drives out hidden temptations of the demon, he sees a demon as someone's companion,] when she had a sick son fourteen years of age, asked father brother John Lescano, of the Order of Preachers, to induce Bl. Bertrand to pray for him. But he, on receiving that message, answered: Let your paternity tell that lady to bear it patiently and submit herself to the divine will, which has destined this knight for heaven. So the youth was snatched from the living two days before Bl. Bertrand. A certain man had for several years now suffered many temptations so vehemently that he was in danger as to the use of his reason; and Bl. Bertrand, looking at him, said that he was being tormented by the demon; for which reason that wretched man, dealing often with the same Blessed man, was freed from all trouble. The Blessed man, seeing a man passing by, said to his companion: Do you see that man? A demon accompanies him. And not long after he was handed over to the holy Inquisition, and was punished as a heretic.

[87] A certain friend of the Blessed man, hearing his three Masses which are celebrated on the day of All the Faithful Departed, earnestly prayed God to keep the said Blessed man safe from his spiritual enemies [he knows of prayers poured out for him; he foretells the day of someone's death, and that the number of votive offerings in a certain church will be increased.] and to grant him a perfect end of life. When the Masses were completed, the Blessed man said to him: You, while hearing my Masses, prayed for me. Once, returning from the Grao, he said to his companion: See this deaf and lame man (he meant himself), but let him die, and you will see what will become of him. To this he added that another man would die unhappily on the same day on which he himself was to die. The Blessed man fell asleep on the day of St. Denis, and on the same day a certain man at Valencia fell into utter despair. When brother Anthony Bagliester told the Blessed man that he had seen in the monastery of Succour very many votive offerings and gifts in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and that the order in which they were arranged had pleased him much, he said to him: Some day there will be many others to see; and brother Anthony will receive them and will rejoice. He said this because, when the Blessed man was dead, very many votive offerings and gifts were brought, which the said brother Anthony, to whom the care of the church had been committed, received and hung up in order; which he carried out with great pleasure, because he was always most devoted to the Servant of God, both in his life and after his death.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Otherwise Nagara.

CHAPTER V.

Miracles which the Saint wrought while living.

CHAP. X.

While Bl. Bertrand was over the convent of St. Anne of Albayda (which may have been in the year 1558 or 1559, in August or September), shepherds, He puts out a fire by the sign of the Cross, pasturing their flocks in the territory of Albayda, kindled a fire on the mountain, as they were accustomed, and, a vehement wind having arisen, the flame, driven on, grew so much that it was to be feared that all the surrounding trees and vines would burn, especially those which belonged to the convent, towards which the flame, rapidly driven, was approaching. On receiving news of this thing, Bl. Bertrand ran there swiftly with his brethren, and the more sorrowful they were about the impending damage, the more tranquil he showed himself, so that he seemed to be thoroughly instructed about the future outcome. When they had reached the place, they saw that where the fire had been kindled there were many dry pieces of wood, which the wind was driving with great force towards the vineyards. Then Bl. Bertrand, looking at the sky through his spectacles, raising his right hand, formed the sign of the Cross towards that huge conflagration, which at the same point of time was extinguished, just as though it had never burned there; only a black band being left, as if drawn by a line: which thing moved great wonder in all ^a.

[89] While he was discharging the priorate of the convent of St. Onuphrius, he multiplies bread, one day, when the usual dinner hour had long passed, he ordered father Joseph Gacet, the subprior, to give the signal for dinner by striking the bell; for it was late. The subprior ordered the refectorian to do it; but he answered that there was only a very little bread present, while he was waiting for the bread which (as he believed) was just on the point of being brought from the oven at Museros, where it had been carried to be baked; where he thought it was held up by the rain. But the subprior, wishing to see how much bread there was, so as to be able to report to the Prior, found that there was nothing in the bin except seven pieces; whereas otherwise seventy ^b small loaves were ordinarily needed. He brought back the answer to the Prior, who, notwithstanding that scarcity of bread, ordered the bell to be rung. The Religious came into the refectory and sat down at table, who were more than thirty at the first table. The blessing was said, though they had no other bread than those seven pieces, and from them all ate abundantly, as at other times, and besides some of the same was left over for the other brethren who came to the second table ^c.

[90] In the year 1577 Bl. Bertrand was giving the Lenten sermons at Moncada ^d, and one feast day after dinner in the house of Joseph del Campo he was speaking after his custom of heavenly things, long-standing when Angela Simarra, the wife of the same Joseph, told him that there was in her house a niece of hers, by name Sperantia Assensi, a virgin, who had her neck full of scrofulous sores; and that nine years had now passed since she had been taken to the king of France ^e without remedy; and that she was very ill, and even worse when she used medicines; and accordingly she besought him to touch her and read the Gospel over her, hoping that so she would be healed. The Blessed man most humbly excused himself, asserting that he was a wretched sinner, and that he had heard that there was someone at Saragossa who cured this ailment; let them therefore call him.

[91] But, overcome by their importunate prayers repeated, he ordered the sick girl to be brought to him, he heals scrofulous sores, and sat down at the window, where he ordered the bandages and plasters of the scrofulous wounds to be removed, which were so full of corruption and pus and so fetid that no one could come near her, and finally the virgin herself said that the stench was intolerable to her. Nevertheless the Servant of God formed the sign of the Cross over her, and licked all the sores with his tongue, and lingered somewhat over that work, nor did he desist until he had sucked out all the pus and cleansed all the sores. After this he signed her again with the Cross; and when, as though deprived of his senses and rapt into ecstasy, with his tongue put out a little from his mouth, but with a most shining countenance, he remained so, they placed him on a seat in the same place where he had stood. All who were present stood astounded at so extraordinary a spectacle, and wept for devotion. And as soon as the Blessed man was restored to his senses, he continued the conversation about divine things begun before, and the said virgin from that very point of time remained thereafter free of all stench and pus. Eight days after, when the Blessed man had preached again in the same place, he was asked to visit the virgin again; but he, without having seen her, said that it was by no means necessary. And in the week immediately following she was entirely healed.

[92] he restores the senses of one who fell from a tree, In the year 1574, while Bertrand was preaching in the time of the Lenten fast at Burriana ^f, a certain workman, James Roca, fell from an olive tree with so heavy a fall that, deprived at once of speech and senses, he was believed dead. They carried him into the house of his father Bartholomew, and called the vicar, to see whether he could in some way hear his confession, at least by signs; and he could not at all. The Blessed man too was called, and when he merely spoke to him, he opened his eyes, and at the same time recovered his speech, confessed his sins, and was refreshed with the most holy Viaticum; and having again lost the faculty of speaking, he died. Bertrand consoled his parents, most afflicted by this misfortune, bidding them be certain that that soul was on the way of eternal salvation.

[93] fevers, Some years before the death of Bl. Bertrand, the wife of Anthony Matthew, a citizen of Valencia, lay so gravely ill that all the household lamented her as dead. Father master brother Peter Salamanca was called, who took Bl. Louis with him. He, approaching the bed, called out to her: Lady, lady. At which she opened her eyes to see by whom she was called. He added: Do not fear: for now you will not die; on the contrary you will shortly be well. Having recovered her senses, the woman, recognizing that he was Bl. Louis, begged him to read the Gospels to her. He refused to do this out of humility, affirming that it pertained to father master Salamanca: but he and the rest insisted so vehemently with their prayers that at last he complied. And at that very moment of time at which, laying his hands on the sick woman's head, he finished the reading, she was rid of all fever and all ailment.

[94] scrofulous sores, Four or five years before the Blessed man's death, the lady Hieronyma Vives, wife of lord Francis Valterra, was suffering from a sharp fever, by which she had been vehemently afflicted for fourteen days. Bl. Louis visited her in the presence of the reverend Luke Porsina, priest of the lady Frances Vives, and other persons, and having examined the pulse of her artery, said that she was sharply feverish; but that she should trust in God, she would shortly be healed. And so, having laid his hand on her head, he read the Gospels, and she was healed at the same point of time. This happened on a Friday, and on the next Sunday she went to the church of the Preachers to confess her sins and approach the divine Table. On Sperantia Monton, a virgin, maidservant of the lady Violanta Milan and de Cruiglies, certain little fissures had appeared on her neck, which, increasing gradually, spread over her breast, infected with much fetid pus, which ailment was believed by the surgeons to be scrofula. And she had now applied treatment for fourteen months without any progress, when she, with Frances Ferreri and de Beneyto, came to the church of the Preachers, and after hearing the Mass of Bl. Louis asked him to show her his charity. He read the Gospels over her, therefore, and touched her with his hand; and the scrofulous sores began to dry, and that pus to diminish so that almost nothing more flowed out; and on the next day she was perfectly healed, nor did she ever suffer that ailment thereafter.

[95] For four weeks now John Vincent Pellicciaio had been burning with a vehement fever, dysentery and a disease of the heart, and now

on that account a vein had been opened four times, and it was to be opened again, when, dysentery coming on as well, which had vehemently weakened him, the physicians did not dare to do it, and accordingly held him as past hope. His father, by name John, sacristan of the cathedral church, seeing his son brought to that state, had recourse to Bl. Louis, beseeching him to visit him. The Blessed man did so, and laying his hand on his head, bade him place his hope in God, saying that he would swiftly recover; and that when he had been healed he should go to the chapel of St. Vincent in the church of the Preachers; and he at once came out safe and well. The lady Anne Beluis was suffering beyond measure from a disease of the heart, and for fifteen days now had been able neither to sleep nor to rest. She had recourse to Bl. Louis, who gave her a Rosary, which he said he had brought from the Indies. And as soon as she received this into her hands, all her ailment left her, nor did it ever return.

[96] On John de Huerta Candelaro a huge swelling had grown on his neck, and again in the presence of the archbishop of Valencia a scrofulous man which in the judgement of the physicians and surgeons was a scrofula. And distrusting that medicines would profit him, he resolved to betake himself to the king of France: but a certain Religious, called brother Moreno, persuaded him to see to it that he was touched by Bl. Louis and that the Gospels were read over him by him, asserting for certain that he would be healed; since public repute reported that the same man had wrought many miracles in similar illnesses. Huerta went to Godella, where the Blessed man was staying with the lord patriarch, and found them both sitting at a certain window; and asked by them what he wanted, he answered that he had come there to be touched by Louis, and that he might say prayers for him. Wherefore the patriarch advised the Blessed man to console the man. But the Servant of God excused himself, alleging that it belonged to his most illustrious lordship to impart his blessing to him. But, ordered again, he obeyed, blessing the sick man, adding also his accustomed prayers. Without delay, at one point of time, the swelling vanished, and he came out sound, nor did he afterwards experience a like infirmity.

[97] When Violanta Juncar, a virgin of forty-five years, heals, was afflicted with a most grievous fever, on account of which blood had already been let from her seven times, the physician ordered her to be fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, because she was going to die. When she had confessed and been refreshed with the holy Eucharist, Bl. Louis visited her late on the same evening; and finding that the sick woman could not speak for the excess of her ailment, he raised his hands and eyes to heaven, and then said to her: Do not doubt that God will help you; and at the same time she began to speak, and confessed again. And the Blessed man commanded her that, when she was about to go out, she should receive the holy Eucharist again: and so on the next day she was well. The same Violanta, afflicted with a certain other very troublesome ailment, consulted blessed Louis, who answered that she should commit herself to a certain person to be treated. But when she made no progress with this person, she returned to the Blessed man, who, signing the ailment with the Cross, healed her at once.

[98] he obtains rain, Once, when blessed Bertrand was staying with the patriarch in the place called Torrente, one league distant from Valencia, one evening, walking with brother Michael Herrero through the fields towards a spring, he met a farmer by name Luke Blasco, to whom, after he had said some pious things after his custom, the latter set out the great scarcity of water, because it had not rained then for six months, with immense damage to the land, for which cause many processions had been held through the whole kingdom of Valencia. He signified also that much damage would follow unless it rained as soon as possible; and finally he added his prayers that he would implore God's mercy for this kingdom. Piously moved by so great a necessity, Bertrand, raising his eyes to heaven, prayed for as long as it would take someone to recite the Apostles' Creed twice, and having formed the sign of the Cross towards the air, he said in tears: Let us trust in our Lord that He will give water. And although the sky was then clear and without any cloud, yet a few hours after it began to be overcast, then to rain gently, and finally to pour out showers through that whole night and the following day so abundantly that it watered the land opportunely.

[99] he endows a spring with perennial waters, In the same place of Torrente there is a spring which in dry weather is wont to diminish in its waters, and sometimes even to fail completely. On the aforesaid occasion Bl. Bertrand drank from it and blessed it: from which time up to now it has never failed again, but has always flowed, even in a time of extreme drought, from which other springs dried up. Francis Vaziedo, a notary, very badly affected by an acute fever and placed in danger of death, sent persons to beg Bl. Louis to deign to visit him, trusting that he would be healed by his patronage. He came kindly, and as he entered the sick man's chamber, he bade him hope well, saying that God would bestow on him life and health, so that he might be able to provide for his children: and when the Gospel had been read, he recovered his health shortly after, and saw his children joined in marriage, surviving many years.

[100] [he restores the senses of a woman given up by the physicians, a fever and a scrofula,] Castellana Vazieda, wife of doctor Jerome Pasquali de Bonanza, counsellor of the king in the royal tribunal of Valencia, had been brought to such a point that she had been given up by the physicians and deprived of her senses. Her father Francis went to Bl. Louis to beg him to visit her: and since the solemnity of the Mother of God taken up into heaven was then being kept, he found him late in the cathedral church a little before the procession began; and he indicated his daughter's desperate state. He answered that he would come after the procession was over; meanwhile he should ask leave of the father Prior. He visited her, and having read the Gospels, he said: Today is the feast of the Assumption of the Mother of God, who will obtain life and health for you; saying this he laid his hand on her head, and at the same moment of time she opened her eyes and recovered her senses, and a little after was able to refresh herself with food, and recovered properly. Louise Panes, a virgin, brought her nephew, a boy suffering from fever and scrofula, accompanied by Anne Marco, to Bl. Louis, who, coming into the church, read the Gospels and touched him. On that very day the fever left him, and shortly after the scrofula too.

[101] When a certain foster-son of the marchioness of Navarres had been mortally wounded and was failing daily, he heals a mortal wound, a fever, the smallpox, she sent a cleric, named Luke Porsina, to the lady Hieronyma Vives, that she might lend her a girdle, one of those which Bl. Louis had worn (which she had done three or four years before his death); and when it was placed on the sick youth's head, he at once began to be better, and within a few days came out entirely well. When Mary Joanna Boil had been seized with a malignant fever and purple smallpox, her son Vincent Folches had recourse to the venerable father brother Nicholas Factor, of the Order of St. Francis, beseeching him to visit his mother. He answered that he should fetch Bl. Louis Bertrand in his place; and if he refused, he should beg him in the name of God, of the sick woman, and of Bl. Nicholas himself. Bl. Bertrand came to her, and after the Gospels had been read according to custom, he also laid his hand on the sick woman's head; and while the Blessed man was withdrawing it, the sick woman (not knowing whose hand it was) cried with a loud voice that it should not be removed, because it so greatly soothed her ailment that it could be no other's than St. Vincent Ferrer's. At the same time she began to recover, and went on to be restored to her former health.

[102] Philip Folches, burnt in the secret parts of his body, fell ill; he heals burnt parts of the body; a scrofula, a contagious ailment, but when the Blessed man had blessed him and recited some prayers for him, and bade him hope well, saying that the ailment would not progress, that vehement burning soon began to diminish, and so he went on recovering that within a short time he was made well. Alphonsus Lopez de Victoria, afflicted with scrofula for seven years, since he could not bring himself to leave his house and go to the king of France for the sake of treatment, thought of having a Mass celebrated at the altar of the Rosary by father brother Louis Bertrand, and asked the sacristan to have it done, promising the Mother of God a silver neck. Bl. Bertrand celebrated the Mass, read the Gospels over him, and touched him, and soon the ailment was diminished, and shortly after perfect health followed. Angela Bayarri asked Bl. Bertrand for a little white wine to wash the head of a little girl suffering from a contagious ailment; when this was done, washed only once, she recovered.

[103] Augustine Naves, skilled in the art of gilding, had for two years now suffered the ailment which they call Aliacran ^g, jaundice, blindness, and seemed to be failing little by little, without hope of remedy. He went to Bl. Bertrand, that he might intercede for him; and finding him at the altar, he waited until the Mass was finished. Then, having said nothing up to then to anyone, he was called by him, who bade him kneel down, poured out some prayers, and touched and blessed him. When these things were done, he found himself free of the ailment, against which in the aforesaid two years many medicines had been applied, but in vain. To a certain silversmith, by name Alfagiari, entirely blind, Bl. Bertrand, once meeting him in the street, said that he should commend himself to the divine Majesty and betake himself to the convent of the Preachers. The blind man went there; where, after prayers had been recited by the Blessed man and his eyes touched, he suddenly recovered his sight.

[104] An unwonted appetite for eating the white crusts of walls had seized Hieronyma Augustina, a virgin, a depraved appetite and scrofulous sores which, when she had heard from a certain friend of hers that it was a mortal sin, she abstained from; but, the same so extraordinary appetite persisting, she became so weak and deformed that she caused nausea in those who looked at her. Her friend took her to Bl. Bertrand, who heard her confession and consoled her, saying that he would pray God to take away so unwonted an appetite; and from that same moment she was thereafter freed from it, and returned home as well as before. John Cas, a butcher, had three children, two male, one female, all infected with scrofula, whom their mother brought to Bl. Bertrand, that he might impart his blessing to them. He, after celebrating Mass, touched them and read the Gospels; which he also did on the next day. But on the third day, when he had touched them again, he said that it was not necessary to bring them again: and so it came about, and the same in a short time entirely recovered.

[105] he drives away from various persons, a flow of blood, When Sperantia Bernardo had lost two sons who died of scrofula, and two others who survived showed clear signs of the same ailment, she brought them to Bl. Bertrand to be touched. One of them was healed at the first touch, the other at the second. For which cause she conceived such devotion towards him that afterwards, in another different infirmity, when her neck was swelling, after the Blessed man had already departed from the living, she had the badly affected part touched with a little piece of his garment, and the ailment vanished at once. Barbara Abarca had lain in bed fourteen months from a flow of blood, and had been brought to such a point that whole days without

food she passed, and she had been fortified with extreme Unction. Bl. Bertrand visited her and bade her hope, saying that she would not die of that ailment; and after four days she was healed. Isabel Abarca, a young girl of fourteen years, suffering from scrofula, together with Barbara, her aunt, visited Bl. Bertrand, who at that time was in the confraternity of Our Lord; bidden by him to kneel, after prayers had been recited and her neck touched by him, she felt herself better, and within a few days came out entirely well.

[106] and he stops sciatic pains. Brother James Ordognez, of the Order of Preachers, had now for eighteen months been tormented in his right hip with such bitter sciatic pains that he was able not only not to walk, but neither to eat nor to sleep. Being in this torment, he besought brother John Lescano, who was serving the Blessed man, that before the Servant of God died (this was done on the same day on which he passed to a better life) he would procure him an opportunity in which he might be touched by him, trusting for certain that he would be healed. And so brother Lescano lifted the sick man in his arms, and, the linen of the bed in which Bertrand was lying having been raised, he put the badly affected part of James to the legs of the same Blessed man. Without delay James felt the pains assuaged, and continuing to be better, within three days he so recovered from them that he was never seized by them afterwards.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

Testimonies which some servants of God gave of his holiness while he was dwelling among the living.

CHAP. XI.

Father Mico foretells that Louis will turn out another St. Vincent Ferrer: Master Natalis de Mena, doctor of sacred Theology, who was Rector at Torrente, a man of great virtue and learning, cultivated a close friendship with father master brother John Mico, and communicated his counsels to him. This man, when he was younger, was hesitating in doubt whether he should become a priest among the clergy or a Religious. Consulted by him on this matter, father Mico answered that the light of the Holy Spirit must be implored; and asked to declare what seemed to him expedient, he asked whether he had consulted father brother Louis Bertrand. Then the other said, No, father; for he is a young man (he was then numbering about twenty-seven years, and was master of the novices), and business of this kind is to be treated with mature and experienced men. I promise you, replied father Mico, that although brother Louis seems to you a young man, he will be here at Valencia another St. Vincent Ferrer: and you will see it. From this master Natalis thereafter always made much of Bl. Bertrand, and communicated the deeds of his life to him. Having seen too the miracles which followed his death, and having heard the repute spread of them, he acknowledged that the things which had been said by father Mico were true, and that his prophecy had been true. The same master Mico, now dying, said to the Religious who were weeping at the loss of so good a father: Console yourselves, beloved brethren; for you have a most holy man, father brother Louis Bertrand, another St. Vincent Ferrer.

[108] At the time when Bl. Bertrand was living in the convent of Albayda, A certain pious hermit calls him an Angel, an old hermit visited him, who lived in a solitary place ten leagues distant from the said convent of St. Anne, with the repute of holiness; because he had distributed all his goods to the poor, went with bare feet, was clothed with a single tunic, and carried in his hands a Breviary and a Rosary. And when he had come to the gate of the convent where the Blessed man lived, he bowed himself to the ground to kiss the feet of the man, whom he had never seen before, and exclaimed with a loud voice: You are an Angel of God, brother Louis Bertrand; you are an angel of God! O what a seat, what a glory God keeps prepared for you! After this, dealing with him about spiritual things, the hermit stayed there for three whole days, confessing his sins each day and being refreshed with the holy Eucharist. And Bertrand, asked by Jerome Abeglia what he had thought of that hermit, answered: I saw a man of severe penance, of much prayer and of strict poverty.

[109] While Bl. Louis was discharging the Priorate in the convent of St. Onuphrius, another hermit came to him from Castile, [likewise another hermit names him a great Prophet and another St. Vincent: his holiness is wonderfully proclaimed by deeds and words] moved by the repute of holiness that was spread about him, and he fell on his knees to kiss his feet, which the Blessed man likewise did. The hermit began to tell him that he was a great Prophet and another St. Vincent Ferrer; and when the Blessed man strove to signify to him that he was not the one whom he said; the hermit replied: You are that Prophet, and not another; and he raised himself to his feet. And when the conversation was over, Bl. Bertrand said to brother Cabrerizo, who was present, that whatever the hermit had said were prophecies. The blessed father brother Nicholas Factor, whose holiness and miracles are so manifest in the kingdom of Valencia and all Spain, held Bl. Bertrand in such esteem and veneration that often, when he had someone sick or gravely afflicted, he would send him to him, as to a man who was of much avail with God; and on various occasions, besides those which we have already related, he gave testimonies for his holiness.

[110] by Father Nicholas Factor, the witness of his future glory, Two years before the death of Bl. Bertrand, the blessed father brother Nicholas visited him in his cell, in the presence of Gaspar John Perez, a rope-maker of bristles, where, while these two Servants of God were holily conversing, Bl. Nicholas remained in ecstasy for three quarters of an hour, and then, restored to his senses, said with great joy to Bl. Bertrand: O brother Louis, God keeps a seat prepared for your paternity among the Seraphim; but Bertrand most humbly said that he should not address him with the title of Paternity; since he was the least brother and a great sinner. When Bl. Bertrand, in a certain public sermon given in the cathedral church of Valencia, treating of ecstasies and raptures of the mind, had said that, although in his times good raptures of that kind sometimes happened, they were nevertheless of that kind of things which are not evident signs of holiness, and that they could be natural and contain something of poison, alleging to this end St. Vincent Ferrer in the Treatise on the spiritual life, chapter XII, where he was of opinion that many raptures of his time had happened by the help of the demon; when (I say) the Blessed man had said these things, there were those who believed that he had wished to cast imputations on the ecstasy of blessed brother Nicholas; and they reported this to him.

[111] that St. Louis was in the highest esteem with him But he, in his humility, was by no means offended with Bl. Bertrand on that account, but came to visit him, and when he had stayed with him the whole afternoon, he was kept by him for supper, to be taken with the Religious in the refectory. Nevertheless Bl. Bertrand did not seem to have shown Bl. Nicholas his accustomed tokens of friendship, nor to have been as affable as before. For which cause Bl. Nicholas, having returned to his convent, wrote the following letter to him on the 18th day of August, on the vigil of St. Louis, bishop, of the Seraphic Order of St. Francis ^a, in which he set down a remarkable testimony of his holiness, and called him Holy and Angelic.

"To my much beloved father brother Louis Bertrand, in the convent of the Preachers.

Jesus, Mary.

My Saint in the wounds of Jesus Christ.

May the grace and love and charity of the Holy Spirit dwell in the soul of your charity, and inflame that angelic breast in the love of the most sweet Jesus. At this very hour, in which I was reading in St. Antoninus, my devout historian, of the grace of elevations of the spirit and of the ecstasies of the Angelic doctor St. Thomas Aquinas, an occasion of writing to you being offered through this bearer, I say, my Father, concerning the friendly reception lately shown me in that house, that God is my witness that I came with the same simplicity of mind with which I have always visited your charity; and that there never came into my mind any suspicion against my Bertrand, nor anything else that could disturb my mind.

[112] For which reason neither with the lord patriarch, is evident from his letters, nor with anyone whatever did I complain, or give any sign of slight love; nor did I put the least faith in him who reported to me that you had preached against me: for even if that had been true, I should have held it in place of a spiritual exercise. And as I say this to your charity, so may I be a friend of God; and I went out of that holy house inflamed with greater devotion than when I entered; and it would have been pleasing to me if a blessing had been imparted with the relics of St. Vincent; but I noticed that your charity seemed to flee from me. And I easily believe that an Angel fled from a demon, such as I am, nay even worse and more abominable. Although your charity treated me somewhat harshly in that holy refectory, eating that head of fish, there came to me afterwards a consolation from my father St. Dominic and from St. Vincent, which was by no means small.

[113] I say it to the great glory of God; whether it was in the understanding, which here or in bodily vision; God knows. Father, father, father, of whom are you afraid? Do not fear, Father; we have God, and His truth; there is nothing to be feared. And who would say that it is ill with a soul that thinks of God and keeps a continual memory of Him? And to be suspicious does not please God. Your charity is a Catholic and a servant of God. We pray the divine Majesty to preserve you and protect you under the divine hand. For me, I beseech you, pray God to make me His servant; and preach against me that I am a demon. I give thanks to God that indeed the father master adjured me five times by St. Francis, and my dearest Bertrand fled from me. But if he were not now propitious to me, and if my St. Vincent Ferrer did not give me confidence, whither should I turn? I trust that my lord St. Vincent will not be ungracious to me; for the Saints are not such.

[114] Father, Father, Father, why do you forsake me? Why do you flee from me? are given, But I will come daily to see you, and to receive those favours; and when not, there is that holy gate, from which the father porter will not repel me as a poor man, and when it will be least thought, they will see me eating among the poor, which is most delightful to me. Today I offered to God the life

of Jesus Christ from my strokes, which may God be pleased to hold accepted. I felt great joy in supping among so many angelic ones who are in that holy house. I seemed to myself to be Satan among the sons of God. Pray God for me, holy Louis Bertrand. Tomorrow is your Saint's day, and also mine. Believe one thing, that when I am to come to visit you, I shall first confess my sins. Yours in the Lord Jesus Christ crucified, this abominable dragon of hell,

Brother Peter Nicholas Factor."

[115] with Avignone's observations on them. It is to be observed concerning this letter that blessed brother Nicholas, wholly intent on fervour of spirit, left certain things imperfect in writing. What he hints concerning St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer is that, when he supped in the aforesaid convent, he saw those two glorious Saints sitting at table with the other Religious and likewise supping (as he himself related to Bl. Louis and to his brother lord James Bertrand), to whom he was most devoted, and especially to St. Vincent. As regards the confession to be made beforehand when he was about to visit Bl. Louis, he says this because he venerated him so greatly, and had conceived so great an opinion of his perspicacity in penetrating thoughts, that as often as he was going to approach him, he first confessed: which he himself too declared to the lord patriarch and to others. By the life offered to Christ he signifies that he scourged himself with thirty-three strokes inflicted, as many as the years Christ lived among us on earth; and meanwhile prayed for Bl. Bertrand.

[116] The same Nicholas foretells that St. Louis's cell On another occasion the same Bl. Nicholas, visiting Bl. Louis, gave a remarkable testimony of his holiness in this manner. Going to the Preachers, on the open ground of that convent he met a cleric, his friend, Luke Porsina, whom he took with him. Having entered the convent, when they had reached the gate by which one goes from the cloister to the dormitory, they found Bl. Louis coming to meet them, to receive Bl. Nicholas; where, after they had embraced with great love and charity, Bl. Louis said: Father, brother Nicholas, welcome to your paternity. I was writing the sermon which I am to give to the people next Sunday, and the thought occurring to me that I seemed to see your paternity coming, I came to meet you. Having said these things, each strove to kiss the other's hand; and when neither could do it, both fell to the ground to kiss each other's feet, and after they had contended a little, at last they went to the cell of St. Vincent, where on bended knees they applied themselves to prayer, in the presence of the aforesaid cleric and of Bl. Nicholas's companion, called brother Peter, who beheld both Servants of God surrounded with a great light, which so covered them that they no longer saw them.

[117] will be honoured. Having stayed there a little while in such a manner, they went to the cell of Bl. Bertrand, in which, while they were conversing about heavenly things in the usual way, blessed Nicholas remained rapt in ecstasy for two hours, during which time Bl. Louis conversed with the cleric, relating splendid things of Bl. Nicholas, and, praising him as a remarkable servant of God, asserted that he was to be honoured as a Saint in this city and kingdom. Restored to his senses, Bl. Nicholas asked leave to go away, because it was already late; and to Bl. Louis, who was escorting him, as they were passing before the cell of St. Vincent, he said: Not many years hence we shall see in this dormitory another cell venerated like this one, and it will be your Paternity's. Then Bl. Louis, his face tinged with a modest blush and his eyes cast down to the ground, said: Your paternity says these things to humble this great Sinner; and your paternity, when you are to confess tomorrow morning, will have this too to accuse yourself of. That prophecy was most true; for a few years after the death of Bl. Louis his cell was changed into an oratory, Masses were celebrated in it, and it was piously visited, like the cell of Bl. Vincent. On another occasion besides, in a public sermon, Bl. Nicholas clearly declared these words: I am not a saint, but brother Louis Bertrand certainly is. And after the death of Bl. Louis he said splendid things of his extraordinary holiness and glory, which we shall narrate in the following chapter XIX.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

The infirmities of body which the Saint suffered, and certain wonders which happened before his death.

CHAP. XII.

Accustomed from his earliest years to suffer infirmities, God seemed to have willed to grant blessed brother Bertrand no day of firm health, so that his patience might obtain so much the greater reward in heaven, and he might be able to glory with St. Paul in his infirmities ^a. From his very infancy he lived infirm, and in Religion, whose observances are much harsher than others believe, new infirmities were always added. He was very short-sighted and weak of hearing, and for the sake of a cure he tried many remedies and endured great torments. For many years he suffered a painful sore on his leg; he laboured under a vehement giddiness of the head. In the last two years of his life he suffered a flux of the belly, and no remedy was of use; and accordingly he was always weak and pale, and had his eyes somewhat sunken, but he was so full of spirit that, when he felt even the least bit less unwell, he would resume the exercises and bodily chastisements customary in the Order, and many others which he added to these; and for that reason he quickly relapsed into illness.

[119] To cure these infirmities, his kinsmen and friends called in many physicians, he gave to others the health which he himself lacked:

and used extraordinary medicines; but all these at last availed nothing but to torment him. Wherefore he sometimes said with tears: Ah, let God act, and let Him do His will. Meanwhile, God working, it was wonderful to see the devotion of very many who came to seek health from him who had never enjoyed it. But it was no great thing if he gave to others what he did not have for himself; because he gave not in his own name, but in that of Jesus Christ, the fount of all health and of all goods. He was accustomed to recite over the sick the prayer likewise used by St. Vincent, which we have given above ^b, and by which he healed many, as has also been said: but to cure his own health he said that saying of St. Augustine: "Lord, burn here, cut here; that Thou mayest spare for ever." At other times too he said: "Lord, spare not here, that Thou mayest spare for ever." God satisfied his desire, since (as has been said above) he passed no day of entire health; and for the remarkable patience which he always exercised in his illnesses, God granted him the grace of healing others.

[120] in the year 1581 At the beginning of the year 1581, after he had preached on the day of the Epiphany in the principal church of the city, and on the following Sunday in the church of the temple, at the request of the Master of Montesa and his wife the marchioness of Navarres, who were most devoted to him, his old infirmities so increased that he became altogether unable to preach, as he had agreed, through the next Lent in the parish church of St. Stephen, in which the Servant of God had been baptized; for which reason he asked father master brother Vincent Antist to take his place; which he accepted, relying on the Blessed man's prayers, by which too he was greatly helped. In the time of Lent his ailments grew so strong that the fathers of his convent deliberated about administering the holy Viaticum to him; which they also did, lord John de Ribera, patriarch of Antioch, assisting, who tenderly loved him and was continually with him. There stood by besides lord Michael de Spinosa, bishop of Morocco, and the governor lord James Ferreri, with other illustrious men and persons of the first rank. Before he received the most holy Sacrament, Bertrand made beforehand a long protestation, confessing the holy Catholic faith and whatever the holy Roman Church believes, and with many tears he asked mercy of God through the merits of the passion of Jesus Christ, and the intercession of His Mother the ever Virgin Mary.

[121] fortified with the Sacraments of the Church, He invoked besides the choirs of Angels, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors and Virgins. After this he commended himself in particular to the holy father Dominic and to all the holy brethren of his Order who are in heaven, naming expressly St. Peter Martyr, St. Antoninus, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Vincent Ferrer. Then, pausing a little, he added: O holy father Vincent, my father, my father, "The chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof ^c!" Then he invoked St. Raymond, St. Catherine of Siena; and afterwards St. Francis and all his holy brethren: St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Bruno, and all the Saints, men and women, of their Orders; and finally all the blessed spirits of heaven; and he prayed God not to revoke the sentence of his bodily death. These and other like things Bl. Bertrand uttered with such fervour that all who were present dissolved in tears. After he had received the Eucharist the patriarch embraced him, and deftly took from his finger a ring of bone which Bertrand wore by reason of his infirmities.

[122] for a noble girl, While the Servant of God was lying so gravely ill, the lady Isabel, daughter of the noble lord John Boyl de Arenos, was so vehemently ill that the physicians pronounced that she would not survive beyond four hours. On account of this impending loss of the sick girl, and the grave harm that would follow from it to the tranquillity and peace of the family, her father resolved to meet Bl. Bertrand, that he might bring help in so great a peril. He came to the convent three hours before midnight; and although he knew that the Servant of God was very ill, and already brought to the point that he could speak to no one, he nevertheless found father master brother de Salamanca, who, having understood the grave necessity, brought him into the cell of Bl. Bertrand, who, holding a Crucifix in his hand and with his face turned to the wall, was in distress.

[123] He, hearing the noise, turning his face, beheld lord John, at the point of death, he obtains health: who said to him: My Father, pardon me for coming at this hour: the grave affliction by which I am pressed has compelled me to be so importunate. And when he began to set out his grief briefly, the Blessed man bade him sit down, and as tranquilly as though he had not been ill at all, asked about many circumstances of the matter, and then said: Lord John, let your lordship be of tranquil mind, and know that your daughter will not die of that illness: for God will make her safe: and tell her to confess again and receive the holy Eucharist in thanksgiving. Having said these things, he turned his face to the wall again, as before, and began to be in his death-agony. Lord John, noticing that he answered nothing more, kissed his hands and returned to his house. He had not yet reached the place where the sick girl was lying when it was reported to him that his daughter was better and was speaking. Entering the chamber, Take courage, dear daughter, he said, for from this ailment

you will not die; and he added the rest; and she shortly recovered entire health.

[124] The Blessed man too became a little better, and as often as his slight strength permitted, [recovering a little, he applies himself to sacred things; when his ailment breaks out again]

he rose to celebrate Mass in the chapel of St. Vincent; and although it sometimes happened that, when the Mass was finished, he suffered a fainting of spirit, he did not on that account abstain from celebrating the next day. Admonished by a Religious to stay in bed, because by rising he was hastening his death, he replied: My brother, the Sacraments of the Church kill no one, but help to salvation, not only of the body but also of the spirit, when it is so fitting for the salvation of the soul. In the middle of the month of May his ailment broke out again so vehemently that he was sustained only by a very nourishing liquid. He suffered most bitter pains through his whole body, and he bore them patiently and cheerfully, saying that, although he felt his breast being divided, his bones crushed, his legs cut, yet these things were dearer to him than the whole world, because it was a great mercy and a gift destined for him by God.

[125] The lord patriarch, hearing him sometimes lamenting, [he bears his pains most patiently; confessing his sins daily, he receives the Eucharist,] and indicating great torment by the agitation of his body, said to him: Father brother Louis, are you not content with what God sends you, willing that you should suffer something of the many things which He Himself suffered for you, so that you may depart from this world the purer? Truly, my lord, he answered, I would not exchange these pains for any good of the earth; and I blush that our Lord shows me, undeservedly, such great favours, who am a great sinner; and he added that accustomed saying of his: "Lord, burn here, cut here, etc." It was a pious thing to see him not only confessing his sins daily and receiving the holy Eucharist, but besides giving two hours to prayer, one in the morning, the other in the evening. And he had asked the attendants of the infirmary not to let anyone in at those times, lest he be hindered; and he exhorted them to let no day slip by of which they had not spent some part in prayer, because this was the food of the soul and the occasion of the increase of all the virtues.

[126] and he invokes the Saints, The attendants of the infirmary noticed that, after pouring out prayers to the most glorious Virgin Mary, whose image he always had, he was accustomed to invoke many canonized Saints, and many Religious who had died in the same convent in former years, and especially the blessed martyr and reformer brother Dominic de Monte-majore, the venerable father Mico, brother Michael of St. Dominic, brother Lawrence Lopez, brother Bartholomew Pavia, brother Bartholomew della Costa, his confessor, and brother Charles di Mencos, a native of Tafalla ^d, who had died a little before at the age of twenty years, whom Bl. Bertrand called Angelic, and he said of him: "The Lord snatched him away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding ^e." Sometimes his friends, to refresh him, had music made in his presence, at which time he, so as to be able better to contemplate heavenly things, would cover his face, which afterwards, when uncovered, was wet with tears.

[127] he is pressed by hunger and thirst, For many days he suffered bitter hunger and intolerable thirst, because the physicians did not allow him to drink and eat except very moderately, because, since his ailment was extraordinary, they judged that they must proceed most cautiously: and since he was labouring under an inward fever, which was consuming the radical moisture, he was so pressed by hunger and thirst that he begged father master brother Justinian Antist, by the wounds of Jesus Christ, to induce the physicians to allow some pieces of bread to be given him in his broth. Which indeed moved wonder, namely that a man who had always treated his body so harshly should then so humbly, and as though by way of alms, ask for that slight relief. And indeed it was evident that Bl. Bertrand then most needed what he was asking; for after taking the food he was at once so much better that it was a matter of astonishment, and so little by little he recovered somewhat.

[128] [he is transferred from the convent to the hospital of the clerics; thence to the archbishop's country house;] And that he might recover more easily, his brother lord James asked leave to take him to the confraternity of our Lord, into the hospital of the clerics, over which he presided, where, while the Blessed man was lodging, he enjoyed the solace not only that the fathers of his convent came to him from time to time to hear him confessing and to refresh him with holy communion, but also that he himself on some days put on his vestments and celebrated Mass in the hospital, with the consent of the patriarch, who also often visited him, and yielded to no one either in this respect or in sending him suitable little gifts. After some time the physicians judged it expedient that the Servant of God, before the dog-day heats came on, should leave Valencia for the sake of a change of air. Hearing this, the patriarch insisted that he should betake himself to the place of Godella, where he himself was then staying.

[129] he admits only so much of common foods, Bl. Bertrand went there, and lodged about two months: during which time the good example which the patriarch gave was worthy of divine praise, serving the Blessed man with such sincerity and simplicity, and offering him food with his own hands, just as though he had been another St. Vincent Ferrer: but the Servant of God was so troubled at admitting any delicacies and dainties whatever that neither that prelate nor any of his noblemen dared offer him anything but common food, fearing lest the vexation with which he was affected by it should harm his health. He frequently repeated with the greatest feeling of mind these words: Am I, who am a great sinner, to experience such charity and mercy? I know well what God intends in impelling your most illustrious lordship to show me such great favours; He does it in order to bind me more and more, so that I may begin to serve His divine Majesty. Whatever person of whatever dignity and condition the patriarch had with him, when the hour approached at which Bl. Bertrand was to eat, he would leave that person and go to serve the sick man, blessing the table, cutting the bread, and sometimes even cutting up a little meat into small pieces.

[130] When the meal was over, the Blessed man, who meanwhile was always silent, he foretells the death of a sick woman, as also his own, would ask for the patriarch's hand to kiss, and kissed it. After supper both would betake themselves to a certain window, where they treated of heavenly things, and the Blessed man rejoiced to have his eyes fixed on heaven; and not undeservedly, because this was to be his dwelling. The physicians, omitting nothing by which he might be restored to perfect health, said that it would profit him very much if he used a little bodily exercise by walking over that hill. For which cause the patriarch had a chair made, which two litter-bearers carried; and in that way on the 4th day of August he betook himself to Burgiazor, a place a short league distant from Valencia. There, when he had received the holy Eucharist, seeing that church excellently furnished, he asked John Pegliesciero, one of the senior sacristans of the cathedral church of Valencia, who was present, who had decorated it so beautifully. He answered that Mary Pagliares, wife of Bernard Simo, lord of that place, had done it; and he added: Father, pray God for her, because she is vehemently ill. Then the Blessed man said, John, tell her that the Mother of God will shortly repay her for what she has conferred on the church: for she will die shortly, and not long after I too. And so it happened; for she died on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he on the 9th day of October next following, as we shall say in its place.

[131] On the next day they took Bl. Bertrand to the convent of the Augustinian fathers in the village of Rocca-forte, the scapular which he had used is fragrant. where, before he received the holy Eucharist, his scapular was stained with a spot, and on that occasion father master brother Gregory Satore lent him his own: and when he received it back afterwards, he perceived that it was fragrant with so copious and unwonted an odour (which lasted eight days) that he wondered greatly. On the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary the patriarch went to Valencia to preach; and since there was no Mass in the place except the solemn one, at which Bl. Bertrand on account of his infirmity could not be present, he rose very early in the morning and had himself carried to Rocca-forte, where the said master, brother John, heard him confessing and refreshed him with holy Communion; and after this Bertrand returned to Godella. The Blessed man showed plainly with what hunger he sought the most holy Sacrament; since he strove with all his strength to go daily to the church, although far distant from the house, to receive It, which the lord patriarch commonly administered to him at the Mass which he was accustomed to celebrate in his presence.

[132] To the hospital of the clerics, With so many friendly attentions the Servant of God had so far recovered in the patriarch's house that the physicians hoped that he would recover entire health: but he himself always persisted in the revelation divinely made to him about his death. And when the patriarch told him that the physicians indeed promised that he would live; but that he nevertheless feared on account of what he himself had said the year just past to master brother Peter de Salamanca; the Blessed man replied: My lord, I well remember the day on which I said it to him, and I am ready that the Lord God should carry out His will in me. When one day the Blessed man had gone to the church of Godella for the sake of receiving holy Communion, a vehement and harmful wind blowing, his ailment broke out so badly that he had to be carried back to Valencia to the hospital of the clerics, in which, as has been said, his brother was living.

XIII.

[133] His illness grew so strong there and then he is carried back to his convent, and from his own prediction that the fathers of his convent, fearing lest he should die outside their house and fellowship (which would have been to them the greatest affliction), pressed the father Prior, master Francis Alemani, with their prayers to have him brought back to the convent; which was done too with great joy and pleasure of the Servant of God, whom they laid in a cell of the house infirmary, in which he remained for one month until his death. As the estimation of the holiness of Louis Bertrand was great, so many desired to see him and deal with him, especially because it was held for certain that he would die on the feast day of St. Denis of that year 1581: and this was public, because he himself had said it the year then just past, and often too in the same year; and the report of this thing, being spread, came to many; and in particular father dom Lawrence Zamora, a Carthusian, Prior of the convent of Porta Coeli, having heard this prophecy from the patriarch, on returning to his monastery noted down the following words: "Revelation. In the year 1581. On the feast of saint Denis Brother Louis Bertrand dies."

[134] he is believed for certain to be going to die on the feast of St. Denis: This paper, folded and sealed with the seal of the convent, he inscribed thus: "A secret to be opened on the feast of All Saints of the year 1581": and he ordered the fathers who held the keys of the common chest not to open that paper before the feast of All Saints without his leave; yet immediately after the death of Bl. Bertrand, knowing the prophecy to be now fulfilled, he told the monks that they could now read it. And while they were doing so, vehemently

wondered that so long before and so certainly Bl. Bertrand had written down his death. That same paper was given by the Carthusian fathers to father master Vincent Justinian, who first of all wrote the Life of Bl. Bertrand.

[135] hence a great concourse is made to him, Then, when the approaching death of Bl. Bertrand had been made known through Valencia, people ran together in great numbers to visit him and to obtain his blessing, so much so that the attendants of the infirmary had to labour manfully to keep so great a multitude of men of every condition away from his cell. Those who could not be let in were satisfied if at least their Rosaries had touched his coverlet and linen; and those to whom it befell to be able to see him reckoned themselves most happy; and many of the more principal persons held it for a singular benefit if they were allowed to kneel before the Blessed man's bed. Among very many noblemen adorned with honourable titles who visited Bl. Bertrand on various occasions, one was the Master of the Order of Montesa, lord Peter Louis Galzerano de Borgia, son of the duke of Gandia, lord John, who, since he had to be away from Valencia and feared that on returning there he would not find him among the living, asked his blessing of him, and, falling on his knees before the bed, kissed the feet of the same Blessed man with great devotion and tears.

[136] This displeased Bl. Bertrand not a little, who said with inmost feeling of mind: a concourse against the will of his humility. How can it be that your most illustrious lordship does this to so great a sinner? That very thing was done also by lord John, Grand Commander of Montesa, imitating his humble father; and Bertrand, who could not move, defended himself as much as he could with his weak voice. It was a worthy spectacle to see both weeping, the one from piety, the other from humility. Since that desire was common, it burned also in women; but these, forbidden to enter the cloister, betook themselves to the church, so as to learn continually through others what was being done about him.

[137] On the Vigil of St. Denis the attendant of the sick, entering to see Bl. Bertrand, it is divinely granted to a Religious woman to kiss his feet;

heard him saying, like one grieving and at the same time wondering: How do women come in here? At which the attendant wondered, well aware that this could not have happened; and to the patriarch, coming to assist him as he was always accustomed, he related what he had heard. And the patriarch, entering, asked the Blessed man how he was. He answered: How do women come in here? What women? said the patriarch: and the Blessed man replied: Certainly women, who were here this morning. Then, asked by the patriarch what they had said, he answered, Nothing; at which the prelate wondered. On the next day sister Angela Agugliona, a Religious of the Order of St. Francis of great holiness, said to the patriarch: Our Lord, yesterday morning, while I was praying most devoutly for father brother Louis Bertrand, whom I desired to see, granted me this grace, that I was able to kiss his feet. The patriarch at once remembered what the Blessed man himself had said to him the day before; and the nun, being asked whether she had said anything to the Blessed man, and he to her, answered: Nothing; but that it had been permitted her swiftly to kiss his feet.

[138] In these months there had come to the place of Torrente ^f, sick, lord Peter Angelo Cernovicius, the same happens prince and duke of Sabiaca, and despot of Bulgaria ^g, most grievously afflicted because he was dying in the flower of his age and in a region far removed from his own people. But after he had confessed his sins and been refreshed with holy Communion by master Natalis, the rector of the place, he seemed to be more tranquil and to admit consolation. A few days after the rector bade him be of good heart and hope in God that he would be healed. The prince answered: Two came to me who carried me to Valencia to the convent of the Preachers, and into the cell of a certain holy Monk (for so he always called Bl. Bertrand whenever he spoke of him), who, strengthening me much, said that I must die of this ailment on Sunday.

[139] to prince Cernovicius, At this answer the rector was astounded, knowing that the prince had not got up from bed for so many days now; and to inquire into the truth of the matter he went to Valencia and related the case to many Religious and other inhabitants of the city; and going to Bl. Bertrand himself, he asked him whether some prince had visited him. The Servant of God answered: Many persons come here. Understanding from these words that the Blessed man would reveal it unwillingly, the rector, adding nothing further, asked leave to go. Having heard this, the patriarch secretly asked the Blessed man whether some foreign prince had visited him. To whom he answered that it was so, and added: He is a good man, and on one of these days he will pass to heaven. Father brother Francis Ferreri, of the Order of St. Francis of Paola, had gone with another Religious to visit the said prince at the time when the holy Viaticum was being administered to him, and when that was done, entering his chamber, he saw a great brightness, but did not see the prince either in the bed or in the chamber until some time after; and asking what that splendour had been, he received the answer from him that St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer had led him to visit the holy Monk of the Order of Preachers.

[140] who dies happily the day before the death of St. Louis. On the following Saturday, which fell on the 7th day of October, the prince, in the presence of the rector, put his hands out from the linen, saying: Do you not see, lord rector, with what glory the most blessed Mother of God is entering this chamber? O blessed one! O glorious, O most beautiful Queen of heaven, O my Lady, O sweetness of my heart! Whence did I ever deserve that thou shouldst so visit me? But what shall I say of Thee, most beautiful little Child, who sittest in her arms, whose loveliness surpasses all other beauty? With these and other like words he exulted in that heavenly vision. And on the following day, Sunday, the same man said: This is the day of gladness, because on this very day I shall see God; and three hours before midnight, having confessed his sins again to the rector, and often repeating these Latin words: "Jesus, be to me Jesus." Jesus, be to me a Saviour, and save me, he gave back his soul to God with great signs of holiness. His body was buried at Valencia in the chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, as he himself had provided in his testament, because he was most devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, whose habit he wore: and on the following day Bl. Bertrand died, as we shall say.

ANNOTATIONS.

d. A town of Navarre.

CHAPTER VIII.

His pious death, and the glory of the Saint soon made manifest.

CHAP. XIV.

With the highest desire Bl. Louis awaited the day so greatly happy for him, The desire of death he relieves daily with the heavenly bread, on which he was to obtain the most desired sight of God, and even the least moment of time seemed a thousand years. On the Friday ^a before his death he asked father brother John Lescano (to whom he had often said that he would die on the day sacred to St. Denis) what the present day then was, and when he answered that it was Friday, he counted on his fingers up to Monday ^b, and said: Blessed be God! there still remain four days! But although death seemed to him to delay, he consoled himself, and prepared himself through the heavenly Bread, strengthened by which he was to ascend the mountain of glory. After he had received the divine Sacrament as viaticum, he confessed daily and received the holy Eucharist up to the day of his death; observing this order, that up to midnight he would take any medicine or broth whatever, but from that hour he could by no means be induced to admit any nourishment, awaiting the time when someone was to celebrate Mass in the infirmary and offer him holy Communion.

[142] He had a pious image of the Crucified at his pillow, and with pious colloquies with Jesus, Mary and St. Vincent Ferrer: which he very often took into his hand, venerated Its hands and feet, and uttered many words from the tender affection and love of his heart; and in like manner, fixing his eyes on a certain image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he conversed most devoutly, whose words were heard by many who entered the cell without his knowing, because he took diligent care not to be perceived, since he had always shunned every outward appearance of holiness. The patriarch rejoiced very greatly to be for many hours alone with the Servant of God in the cell, as he did some days before his death, and once he asked him whether the holy father Vincent Ferrer had never visited him in the time of that illness. He answered that it had happened once, and added: And now too he is standing there, and he pointed out the place with his finger. Nor is there reason for anyone to wonder at this: for, to omit many things which we have already related in this history, once, consoling a certain lady much afflicted on account of the pitiable death of her husband, who had died on Holy Thursday as he was coming out of church, the Servant of God said that his soul was already in heaven, and to make her much more certain he added these words: Do not doubt about this matter, lady: for St. Vincent revealed it to a certain brother who was speaking with him, as I am now speaking with your ladyship.

[143] When the illness had increased vehemently, the Blessed man was brought to his last; [having received extreme Unction two days before his death, he suffers a paroxysm,] wherefore two days before his death he asked for the Sacrament of extreme Unction, which he received with his accustomed devotion, making the responses when required, and silently reciting the psalms. When this was done, he remained in great quiet, awaiting the heavenly quiet. On Sunday, which was the Vigil of St. Denis, a little before the 23rd hour, so vehement a paroxysm seized him that he was believed to be dying. The board having therefore been struck, as is customary when a Religious is dying, all the brethren ran together to the infirmary, of whom some wept, others groaned, all grieved. There were present there too the patriarch and the bishop of Morocco, lord Michael de Spinosa, and after they had been there a little while, the Blessed man, opening his eyes, said: Let them withdraw; they will be able to be present in time. For which reason the patriarch went away from there, because he was not going to die that night, and he had such firm faith in his words that, although a little before he had signified that he wished to keep watch that night beside the sick man, he returned to his palace, suspecting nothing of his dying then, nor did he come back before the next morning.

[144] and he desires to die in the Dominican tunic; After some hours the attendant of the sick

asked the physician Almenara what was to be given the sick man for food the next day; and the Blessed man, hearing this, said: There is no need for any food to be got ready for me for the next day: and he spoke the truth, since on the next day, before he had taken anything, he departed from the living. On the said day, which was sacred to St. Denis, towards morning, although his senses had already notably failed, nevertheless, since his woollen undershirt seemed to him to be linen, because it was very white and somewhat soft, driven by this imagination he said, even with tears: For the love of God, for charity, for the love of Jesus, take this shirt from me, and give me the tunic of St. Dominic, my father; and he repeated this so often that, for the sake of consoling him, it was necessary to take that tunic of his off him, and a little after to put the same on again as though it were another. And in this way he remained tranquil, showing in this matter too how much he had always loved the chastisement of his body, to which he had been accustomed from adolescence. The Blessed man held a Crucifix in his hands, on which he had fixed his gaze with such fervent affection that at each outburst of tears he seemed to pour out his spirit through his eyes, and his heart through his mouth, as often as he kissed Its most divine wounds.

[145] and having received the patriarch's blessing, he dies holily When the 15th hour ^c had been heard, it appeared from the signs that the ailment had reached its extremity; and the dying man, noticing this, begged the patriarch to read the Gospel over him and to impart his blessing, urging him to do it quickly, because he felt himself dying. The patriarch discharged this office bathed in tears, and grieving in proportion to the tender love with which he regarded him; and the Servant of God received it gratefully with equal affection and devotion. Many Religious and persons of eminent rank surrounded him there, all mourning, and, the board having been struck, the brethren according to the custom of their Order were reciting the Office of the Commendation of the soul; and when they had finished these words: "That, freed from the bonds of the flesh, he may deserve to come to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth for ever and ever"; that blessed soul passed out of this earthly prison, and the glorious angels received it and accompanied it to the eternal rest in heaven, which he had striven to gain by so many labours here below on earth.

[146] [in the year 1581, on the 9th day of October; and his glory then by a sweet odour sent forth from his body,] The brethren dissolved in tears, although they had cause to rejoice at the beatitude and glory of so great a Servant of God, and, falling on their knees, they strove each before the others to imprint kisses the more often on his feet. And although the Dead man had in one of his legs a long-inveterate sore, there nevertheless burst forth from that part of the bed a most sweet odour, different from all the spices that are to be found in this world. Nor did they kiss only his hands or feet, but also the coverlets and linen of the bed and the garments, all of which they held for blessed and consecrated things. Bl. Louis Bertrand died on Monday, the 9th of October, the day of St. Denis, martyr, in the year 1581, before noon, as he himself had exactly foretold, at the age of 55 years. The cell in which he died has been changed into an oratory, in which Mass is celebrated for the solace of those who are in the infirmary. The Blessed man was tall of stature, with a lean face, cheek-bones somewhat raised, a sharp aquiline nose, the flesh of his countenance stretched, the hair of his crown mixed white and black, and very bright eyes.

XV.

[147] At the same moment of time at which he gave up his soul, an immense splendour was seen to come forth from his mouth, and by a splendour coming forth from his mouth; which lit up the whole cell, and was like lightning, and most delightful to behold, and lasted for as long as it would take someone to recite the Ave Maria. Many Religious and laymen saw it, among whom were Francis Louis Blanes, a noble knight, brother Michael Ferreri, brother John Martinez, brother Peter Foix, brother Michael Luca, and Onuphrius Dassio, a citizen and syndic of Valencia. Lord Matthias Paglias, a canon of the cathedral church of Valencia, most devoted to the Blessed man, desiring to be present at his death, ran there in haste; and when he had reached the square of the Preachers, he saw a brightness on the roof, so that he was astounded; then, reaching the infirmary, he found that he had expired at that very moment of time, and hearing from those who were present there of the splendour seen in the cell while he was dying, he too related what he had seen. But father Presentatus brother Jerome Almenara also beheld at the same moment a great splendour above the cell.

[148] Brother Anthony Bagliester, porter of the church, then by heavenly music, who loved the Blessed man most tenderly, visited him on the same morning as often as his office allowed, and when he was present while he was dying, he could not contain himself there; but returning into the church, when it was announced that he had expired, he heard music of unwonted sweetness, and wondering why it was being made, he wondered all the more because he could not rightly discern in what place it was being made, since it seemed to be held now at the high altar, now towards the chapel of the Rosary, now towards the cloister; and he heard it for a good part of the time. But noticing that it was not perceived by all who were in the church, he understood that it was a heavenly melody, by which God wished to indicate the festivity which was being celebrated in heaven on account of His new Courtier. That music was likewise heard by many on the same evening, while the Dead man's body lay in the church, and on the following morning, before he was buried; and again at the time of the obsequies, which were performed on the following Friday. All the musicians of the city swore that at the aforesaid hours they had neither sung nor played musical instruments in those places, nor even in their neighbourhood; and even if they had sung or played, they could by no means have been heard in the church because of the excessive noise from the concourse of the people.

[149] Mother sister Augullona, a Religious of the Third Order of St. Francis, who living and dead obtained the repute of a great handmaid of God, and by various visions, which to various persons, either a little before, a few days before the death of the Blessed man saw heaven open above the convent of the Preachers towards the cell in which he was staying. A certain pious person, intent on prayers on the night of St. Denis, beheld a soul ascending to heaven, crowned with a golden crown and carried by two angels; and saw that in the church of the Preachers a bier was being got ready to place its body on; and understanding from the other that Bl. Bertrand had died, she went to the said church, and found what she had seen in spirit, and looking on the face of him who was lying on the bier, she was made certain that the soul which she had seen was Bl. Bertrand's.

[150] or a little Another very splendid vision of the glory of Bl. Bertrand was had by a certain father of the Order of St. Francis, which he revealed most secretly under oath to father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist ^d, and to father master brother Jerome Baptist della Nuza ^e, bishop of Lobetum; which Religious had for two years desired to know Bl. Louis, of whom he had heard great wonders, and had never been able to see him before the month of August of the year 1581 at Godella in the patriarch's house, although he said not a word to him. On the Vigil of St. Denis, which had fallen on a Sunday, to the same Religious, as he prayed in choir after the Matins Office for Bl. Bertrand, whom he had heard was dying, there was shown a church shining brightly, from which there came forth a very great light; and coming nearer to that church, he saw that its walls were of crystal and gold, and in the middle of it a raised bier covered with a cloth woven with gold, and on it Bl. Louis Bertrand dead: behind the bier many golden crosses, and four brothers of St. Dominic, two at his head, and these seemed old men, and two at his feet, who seemed young men.

[151] after his death All four sent forth splendour from their faces, in the manner of the rays of the sun: but with this difference, that the one who was at the head on the right sent forth from his forehead one ray more splendid than the rest, which rose above the church: that the one who was on the left sent forth a like ray, but from his mouth; and that in like manner from the one who was at the right foot there came forth from his hands two rays, which also rose above the church, and he held his hands spread out as though in wonder; and finally that from the fourth there came forth a like ray from his breast, and he had a palm in his hand. Besides, he saw two choirs of angels, carrying lighted white tapers, suddenly coming through the church as far as the high altar, and singing: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory, Hosanna in the highest." These angels showed wonderful honour to the body of Bl. Bertrand, and, going before it, they were divided into two choirs. After them followed a great people, men and women singing, and, venerating the said body, they kissed its hands and feet, the angels meanwhile continuing to sing: "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest."

[152] were offered, When he had seen these things, that Religious recovered his senses. In the morning he tried to learn what news there was of Bl. Bertrand; and he could not learn it until the following Tuesday, which was the day of his burial. Having asked leave, therefore, of his superior, he went to Valencia, and on the following Friday was present at his obsequies; so that God signified his death to him one day before it happened. That Religious had resolved to reveal the vision to no one but his confessor, by whom he was ordered to publish it. But when he had put off doing so for some days, troubled by a vehement scruple, he resolved to communicate it to Bl. Nicholas Factor, together with some other things pertaining to his soul. And on the following night the same Bl. Nicholas appeared to him, saying: Rise, son, and go to the Preachers, and tell them what you know of Bl. Bertrand; and in the other business about which you wished to consult me, act thus and thus. Two days after he went so to the Preachers, and set out the vision to them amid many tears; and asked whether he knew who those four Saints were, he said no, saying that this had not been revealed to him by God.

[153] No less a demonstration of the glory of Bl. Bertrand visions was what happened to master Natalis, Rector at Torrente ^f, who, as soon as he learned of his death, sang a solemn Mass to help his soul to go forth from purgatory, if it were detained in it. But at the MEMENTO he not only forgot to apply it to him, but did not remember him in any way until after the Mass was finished. He imputed this to his own fault, and accordingly on the next day celebrated another Mass of the Dead, in which he likewise forgot him. The same happened in a third Mass; having observed which wonderful event, he acknowledged that it so pleased God. For which reason, from then on, instead of praying for the said soul, he invoked him like the other Saints, and honoured him with singular devotion.

XVI.

[154] As soon as that holy soul had departed from the body, is made manifest, the noble knight Francis Louis Blanes, before the body was clothed, out of the extraordinary devotion with which he was borne towards the Blessed man, came to kiss his feet, and in removing the coverings of the bed he smelt so sweet a fragrance that he thought some spices were hidden there. But being assured that there was nothing of the kind there, and seeing the Blessed man's legs infected with sores, and weighing that he had now lain in bed for a long time (all of which things were foreign to a sweet odour), he concluded that it was a heavenly thing, as truly it was, all the more because it was not like earthly odours. The same fragrance was likewise perceived by others, as has been said in chapter VI of this book.

[155] The Blessed man's body, clothed in its garments and neatly composed, was carried into the church by the fathers of his convent, weeping abundantly, which God besides, while to his bier which so numerous a people had at once filled to kiss his hands and feet and to carry off pieces of his garments that it was a wonder to see. That sacred corpse was so beautiful that not only did it strike no horror or dread, as corpses are wont to do, but it breathed great devotion and delight, so much so that the onlookers seemed unable to turn their eyes away from it. This wonder was increased because, while they handled the hands, face and arms, they seemed to themselves to be handling a living body, yet cold; and whoever wished handled and bent those limbs. The multitude of those running up grew in such a manner that it was with good reason feared lest something unworthy should be done: wherefore the Prior of the convent sent someone to beseech the count of Aytona, viceroy of Valencia, to grant his bodyguards to restrain the crowd; and meanwhile they carried the body into the sacristy, especially because by then one finger had already been cut off it.

[156] an immense multitude of men, The people, who kept running up continually in great numbers, lamented (and not undeservedly) that they were deprived of that treasure, and begged that it be brought out in public: for which reason the fathers, to satisfy their devotion, agreed that it should be placed in a certain chapel within the same sacristy, which has a door into the cloister, furnished with wooden lattices, through which they permitted those who could approach to kiss the hands. When the guards had come, the body of the Blessed man was carried from the sacristy into the church, borne on the shoulders of lord Christopher de Cardona, admiral of Aragon, lord John de Borgia, Grand Commander of Montesa, lord Michael Mercader, and other noblemen and devout persons, and deposited with the bier within the last iron grilles of the high altar, the guards and many Religious surrounding it; yet even all these were not enough to restrain the force and onrush of the most devout people.

[157] of laymen as well as clerics, At the same time there appeared in suppliant procession the whole clergy of the cathedral church with its college of musicians, who sang a Responsory for the Dead man, which likewise all the twelve parishes and the convents of the city did, joining manifest tears to the mournful chant. And the fathers Preachers, noticing that the body of the Blessed man could not be protected from the growing crowds by the precaution taken, carried it again to the sacristy, where the viceroy, lord Francis Moncada, count of Aytona, came with the vicereine, lady Lucretia de Graglia, and his children to kiss its hands; as did also the duke of Cardona, the marquis of Comares, lord James de Cordoua, who was then opportunely at Valencia, the count of Albayda, and other noblemen and principal knights, and almost all the doctors of the royal council.

[158] runs together, After two hours had passed, so as not to send away without solace so many persons, especially those who were in the principal chapel, two ladies distinguished by honourable title, and many other ladies and noblemen, they took up the Blessed man's body again, letting in as many as they could, and barring the gates, lest tumults should arise again. But although it was then late, it could not be prevented that, while these were going out, others came in who had gathered in the square before the church. There came in besides, very late, the marchioness of Navarres with several ladies and illustrious men, to whom there joined themselves an immense multitude of men, whom the guards could by no means keep from entering. This devout confusion lasted until the third hour of the night; which displeased the fathers, because they desired that the Blessed man might be painted accurately by someone in his natural stature without disturbance, and that in that way they might enjoy a memorial so dear to them. He was painted only down to the middle of the body, holding the Crucifix in his hand in the bodily posture in which he died, with eyes cast down, with a scroll coming forth from his mouth inscribed with these words: "Lord, burn here, cut here, that Thou mayest spare for ever"; which he had frequently had in his mouth.

[159] He willed to be attested by various benefits. At the dawn of the following day so numerous a people was present that, for the sake of indulging their prayers, it was necessary to unbar the doors of the church before the usual time. The sacred body was placed on a very high wooden platform, covered with a cloth of silk woven with gold, and so arranged that his hands lay open to kisses. At the bier stood three Religious to receive the Marian chaplets and Rosaries to be put to the body of the Blessed man. This great concourse lasted the whole morning, especially as others also came from the neighbouring places. Many sick persons too were brought and obtained health, God willing to work many miracles through his intercession, some of which we shall narrate in the following chapter.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IX.

Various benefits shown to various persons a little after the Saint's death, and his burial.

CHAP. XVII.

Before he was buried, a splendour came forth from his body, It pleased God, of His infinite goodness, to honour His good Servant before he was buried with many and remarkable miracles, which, to be added to the two related above concerning the splendour and the angelic singing, will be reviewed in this chapter. Raphaela Soler, of 55 years, having likewise beheld the Blessed man shining, wished to kiss his hands and feet, but, seized with a scruple whether this was lawful at a time when he had not yet been canonized, went to her confessor, and not finding him, returned to the Blessed man's body, and beheld it again gleaming with the splendour as before. That very thing was beheld also by Eugenia Specchio, a widow of 50 years, and likewise by brother Anthony Bagliester, a lay brother of 40 years of age. Andrew Armengol, a maker of silk cords, a native of Moreglia ^a, but a resident of Valencia, came, though with great labour on account of the crowding of the people, to kiss the hands of the dead Blessed man, and while he was doing so he saw them so clear and shining that he beheld his face in them as in a mirror.

[161] Lord John Vives de Canamas, of 70 years of age, most devoted to the Blessed man, which also moved of its own accord; coming there for the same cause, when he had already come near the bier, and had seen that one of the Religious watching over the sacred body, who was holding the left hand of the same body so that the thronging people might kiss it less inconveniently, had then let it go for a little, because he was occupied with some other thing, could not reach it to kiss it; and he saw that the Blessed man moved his body and countenance, and looked at him, and stretched out his hand to him, so that John himself was able to touch it and kiss it. Isabel Joanna Salone, wife of Anthony Perez, from the village of Benifaraig ^b, about twelve years of age, was living at Valencia in the house of her maternal aunt ^c, the wife of Jerome Vagliadolid, a clothier, and from her childhood had suffered a fistula under her right cheek, which had penetrated into the throat, from which much flowed; and although many medicines had been applied for several years, the ailment had not at all diminished, but on the contrary increased so much that the jaw-bone began to rot. For which cause the physicians and surgeons, asserting that the ailment was incurable, bade her farewell.

[162] he heals a fistula, On the same day on which Bl. Bertrand died, her aforesaid aunt and Sperantia Vagliadolid, of the Order of St. Dominic, took her to the church of the Preachers, and because on account of the crowding of the people they could not reach as far as the body of Bl. Bertrand, they advised her to strive to get there herself, and devoutly touch the afflicted part with the Saint's hand, or at least his garment. The young girl got there with great labour, and with the help of pious men took hold of the Blessed man's hand, with which she formed the sign of the Cross three times over the fistula, and, returning to the place where her aunt was, said what she had done, and was taken back home. There her aunt, out of some indignation, struck her a slap, and when she wished to wipe away the blood which always flowed from there whenever her face was struck, on the neck being bared not only did no blood appear, but the fistula was found entirely healed.

[163] he restores the sense of smell, he drives away a stench of the nostrils, Gaspar Gari, a subdeacon, of 44 years of age, when he was a little child of 5 years, entirely lost his sense of smell; so foul an ailment infected his nostrils that for the stench no one could stand near him. Three years before the death of the Blessed man he had some business to treat with him, and when, before he spoke, he wished to kiss his hand, the Blessed man refused, and refused again as he was going away, resisting with all his strength. At which the said Gaspar was gravely afflicted, and feared lest this had happened to him on account of some sin; after the death of the same Blessed man he went to the convent of the Preachers, and taking hold of his right hand, said: Servant of God, since you afflicted me while living, console me now by freeing me from this infirmity which I have suffered so many years; and he kissed that hand. Then, wishing to kiss the right hand too, he smelt so sweet an odour that he was filled with great joy, nor did he rejoice less at the recovered sense of smell. Returning home, on blowing his nose he expelled all the ailment into his handkerchief, and from then on he always remained free of it.

[164] an ailment of the belly, An ailment of the belly, which is called Llosa matris, had attacked Mary Tudela, wife of John Gremoli, and had brought her into a most afflicted state of health and made her unfit for her duties, many remedies having been applied in vain. When she learned of the death of Bl. Bertrand and of the repute of his holiness, she resolved to betake herself as best she could, though with the greatest torment, to the church of the Preachers, to beg for her health, so that she might be able to support her family by her labour; and leaning on the walls (for otherwise she could not), going forward little by little, she reached the said church. But since she could not pass before the altar of St. Bernard, placed near the door on the right, nor did her spirit or strength suffice to enable her, especially in the thronging crowd, to reach the very body of the Blessed man, she stayed there and commended herself most devoutly to the Blessed man. Which

persevering in prayer for a notable space of time, she seemed to herself suddenly to be better, and not to feel so much the weight and pain of her body, and finally, supported on her own feet, she returned home well, with as much agility as though she had never suffered any ailment.

[165] The wife of Anthony John Isola, a clothier, had now for four or five days been tormented with so bitter a toothache he heals pain of the teeth and of the sides: that she could not rest, and ran about the house shouting like a madwoman. On the very day on which Bl. Bertrand died, towards evening, a certain blind man passed before her doors, whom they bade recite certain prayers. And the blind man, hearing the woman's great cries, asked the cause of this thing, and having learned it from her husband, added that she should invoke Bl. Bertrand; that he had with him a handkerchief which had touched the body of the same Blessed man; and that accordingly she should apply it to the diseased jaw, forming the sign of the Cross with it. The woman did this most devoutly, and at the same moment of time the pain was not only mitigated but entirely taken away, nor was she ever seized by it again afterwards. Isabel Anne, wife of Christopher Sancez de Ayala, a notary, was gravely tormented with pains of the sides, which attacked her sharply two or three times each month; and this lasted a long time, with vomiting. On the very day on which the Blessed man died, being most sharply seized by them, she went to kiss his hand and prayed for her recovery, and at the same moment she was healed, nor did she ever relapse.

[166] Euphemia Ayala, daughter of Christopher Ayala, had a lawsuit of great moment, a lost testament is recovered, whose happy issue depended solely on the testament of Angela Serra. On the day before the Blessed man died, Christopher Sancez de Ayala, the notary, had ordered the testament to be sought by Francis Bitor, a notary, but it could not be found. The said Ayala, on the day on which they buried the Blessed man, which was the 10th day of October, went to the convent of the Preachers, and after giving kisses to the hand of the Blessed man's body, prayed for the finding of that blessed testament, which it was of such importance to his daughter to find. Withdrawing from there, he went again to the notary, and begged him again to look for that writing once more. He answered that, since he had already applied all diligent effort, he did not wish to lose any more time; but Ayala himself should look for it. There were there many books placed on the table, and opening the first of them that had come into his hands, he found the said testament. For which reason, both from wonder and from joy, he was so struck that he rose all in a sweat, and held it for a great miracle.

[167] Vincentia Josepha Burdeus, a spot having arisen on her eye, [he restores sight, stops the spitting of blood, a salty humour of the head, a foul swelling under the ear,] which took away her sight, went in time to the church of the Preachers on the very day of Bl. Bertrand's burial, to try whether she could kiss his hand, which the day before she had not been able to do for the crowd. When she had reached the sacred body, the hand having been laid on the obstructed eye, the spot was at once dissolved, and she saw as before that impediment had arisen in her. Sperantia, a grown virgin, daughter of Peter Tudo Pelayre, labouring now for a whole year with spitting of blood, remedies having been tried in vain, came to Bl. Bertrand while he lay on the bier, and having kissed his feet came out at once well, nor did she spit up any blood thereafter. Sperantia Vincentia, a girl, daughter of Job Perez, a maker of firearms, of 15 years of age, had been afflicted now for three years with a salty humour in the head, which swelled from it and was befouled as with a crust, and sometimes that humour was spread through the neck into abscesses. After her mother had spent much on medicines in vain (for the ailment was renewed every month), she took her to the Blessed man, seeing to it that the sick girl's head touched the Blessed man's head: when this was done, the ailment vanished, nor did it ever seize her again afterwards. On Joanna Villalua, of 18 years of age, there had grown under her right ear a fleshy swelling so foul that it seemed another ear, which she had striven for some months to hide with veils and other ornaments; but having once kissed the feet of Bl. Bertrand and four times his hands, one of which touched that growth, without any delay she was entirely free of that ailment.

[168] he heals a flow of blood, a pain of the nostrils, and a fever. The fourth year was now running since the widow Arenosa had been suffering a vehement flow of blood, which, as soon as she kissed Bl. Bertrand's feet, suddenly ceased, and she lived well from then on until her death. The son of Simon Alvarado, of 12 years, at Museros, put into his right nostril a root which grows in this kingdom, called Ciufa ^d and fit to eat, and drawing it upwards with his breath fixed it so deep that it could no longer be seen: whence both the boy felt great pain, and his parents were much afflicted, because the ailment was incurable. At the ringing of the bell for the Ave Maria the said Alvarado received a note from Valencia, by which he was informed of the death of Bl. Bertrand, of the great concourse of the people to kiss his hands, and of the immense repute of his miracles; at once falling on his knees he most devoutly commended his son to him, and at exactly the same time the root, which had already swelled much in the nostrils, fell out. Vincentia Beneita, a girl of nine, was labouring under a continual fever with oppression of the chest. Her mother Frances Ferreri, wife of the nobleman Michael John Beneito, went to venerate Bl. Bertrand, and returning home from there put on the sick girl's finger a ring which the Blessed man had worn for some time in his infirmity; and soon the fever left her, and her chest remained free.

XVIII.

[169] On Tuesday, the 10th of October of the year 1581, after the solemn Mass, His body, carried with difficulty to the sepulchre, when the Blessed man's body was now to be buried, a great and tearful lamentation was heard in the church, all who were present, out of ardent devotion, trying to carry off the garments which covered that sacred body; and although the hands of these pious thieves were scorched with lighted torches, it could not be prevented that it remained little less than stripped. Taken up from the bier in the presence of the usual guards, it was carried as quickly as could be done to the sepulchre in which it was to be placed. The patriarch, his cheeks bathed with tears, went forward to meet his holy Friend, and embraced him with great devotion, which he likewise roused in all the onlookers. But since the importunate people did not yield, nor give room for the accustomed Office of burial of the brethren of our Order to be completed, they placed the sacred body in the sepulchre as quickly as they could, and covered it with the sepulchral stone, by which means alone that office could be finished.

[170] Towards evening another multitude of outsiders appeared, so numerous that the grief which they displayed, because the sacred body had been buried so quickly, before they were allowed to see it, was worthy alike of wonder and of pity. [while the burial is being completed, it is seen white and tractable like a living body,] When night came on, the doors of the convent being closed, there were let in only the most reverend father master Francis Maldonado, General of the Order of Mercy, the Prior of Porta Coeli, dom Lawrence Zamora, a Carthusian, master brother George Olivares, Commander of the monastery of Mercy at Valencia, with some laymen devoted to the Blessed man. The Office of burial was then completely performed. Four Religious had gone down into the sepulchre, and stayed in it a notable time, in order to put Rosaries, rings and jewels to the sacred body; they observed there again what all had done before he was buried, namely that, whereas all corpses are wont to grow black and stiff, the body of Bl. Bertrand was not only not disfigured, but even beautiful, with an angelic countenance, and the hands and feet white like alabaster; and besides the whole body (as has already been said) tractable, not otherwise than if it had been living.

[171] After this they took it up reverently and devoutly, and he is placed among the bodies of the holier religious: as was fitting, and enclosed it in a wooden coffin, and put back the cover on the sepulchre; within which (which was not the common one of all the brethren, but of some distinguished by eminent holiness, and was situated under the choir on the right of the principal altar) in which were some bodies of Blessed men who shone with great miracles. There lay there in a wooden chest the body of the blessed father master brother Mico, who, as has been said, granted Bl. Bertrand the habit of the Order, and whose body was translated into an honourable sepulchre, in which it is preserved even today, built by his nephew, master brother John Vitalis, a remarkably learned man and preacher, who held the priorate of this convent three times with great praise and to the benefit of the city.

[172] There lay there likewise the body of blessed brother Michael de Fabra, bodies: founder of the same convent, who was with king James of Aragon on the expedition to Majorca ^e, and was seen in the battle, carrying a drawn sword in his hand, following the most blessed Virgin Mary through the air, and working a great slaughter of the Moors. There is also the body of that remarkable mirror of religion and holiness, brother Michael of St. Dominic; and two bodies of glorious martyrs, masters, brother Dominic de Cordoua de Monte-majore, and brother Amator Espi, who was Prior of the same convent of Valencia; whose Lives are written in the History of the province of Aragon, by master brother Francis Diago ^f. The bodies of these blessed Religious were translated in three small wooden chests into the sacristy of the same convent, and deposited among the other relics.

[173] On the following Friday, which was the 14th of October, [and those solemn obsequies were held by the patriarch on the 14th day of October.] the patriarch celebrated most solemn obsequies for the Blessed man, at which all the Religious Orders were present; but because the church was so full, they had to enter through the convent and proceed by another way to the choir to sing their Responsories. The bishop of Morocco sang the Mass: the most illustrious lord patriarch went up into the pulpit to preach, but because of the noise of the most crowded people silence could by no means be obtained for his most illustrious lordship to be able to speak out what he had prepared to say in praise of the Blessed man. Yet he said that, although this blessed Father was not then canonized, and accordingly his holiness and glory before God were not so certain, nevertheless so many indications concurred that nothing was lacking to him except the ceremony of canonization. And having uttered these words only, he withdrew from the pulpit because of the noise of the people, which did not cease. Which indeed displeased all, since each desired to hear from the patriarch's mouth some of the many things most worthy to be known which he knew of the Blessed man.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

Other testimonies of Nicholas Factor concerning his holiness, and the translation of the body.

CHAP. XIX.

After the Blessed man's burial, blessed brother Nicholas Factor gave a remarkable testimony of his holiness and glory. A remarkable For after he had been present at the burial, after some conversation with those fathers he betook himself into a cell, where he remained in ecstasy for the space of an hour and a half; and when it was ended, he, however, being still as if deprived of the use of his senses, in the presence of the most reverend father General of the Order of Mercy, brother Francis Maldonato, master brother Michael Salon, Prior of the Order of St. Augustine, father brother George d'Olivares, Commander of Mercy at Valencia, father brother de Figueroa, an Augustinian, a distinguished preacher, and many other Religious of the said convent, many of whom were weeping, began repeatedly, for the space of about half an hour, to speak, now in Latin, now in the vernacular, calling him commonly St. Louis, sometimes Brother, as follows.

[175] Saint Louis, beloved of God and men, now you see God face to face; testimony of Bl. Nicholas Factor now you are melancholy no longer; now it has been said to you: Enter into the joy of our Lord. The angels received you festively when you entered heaven, but they also soon said to you: Friend, go up higher: that very thing was said to you by the archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominations, thrones, and even the cherubim themselves. "He ascended upon the cherubim, and flew upon the wings of the winds ^a." The cherubim admitted you into their choir beside St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Vincent Ferrer. There again you stand burning with the love of God, and are blessed with the sight of Him. Now you are certain of that about which St. Thomas and Scotus disputed, and which we do not know, whether beatitude consists essentially in seeing God or in loving Him. Now you sing with David: "As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of our God ^b." You are in heaven, delighting yourself in that abyss of the divine essence, like a great fish in the deep waters of the sea. Now is fulfilled that word of the Canticles: "The King brought me into the cellar of wine ^c."

[176] O how like you are to St. Jordan ^d, who on different occasions and at different times granted the habit to a thousand novices; concerning the beatitude so you too admitted those who now make your Order illustrious and will make it illustrious. They will not call you Brother Louis hereafter, but Saint Louis. Saint Dominic, pray for me; St. Peter Martyr, pray for me; St. Antoninus, pray for me; St. Thomas, pray for me; my lord St. Vincent Ferrer, pray for me; St. Louis Bertrand, pray for me: since you are now in heaven with them, rightly did you tell me that you would preach no more. Your garments were today carried off from you in rivalry by the laity; what will be left for your brethren? There will be left to them your humility and your good example. O how humble you were! O, when my friends told me to visit you, sick, in your cell, I first confessed my sins: but you, my Friend, told me to read the Gospels to you and pray for you; whereas you, who were truly a Saint, ought to have prayed for me.

[177] Remember that you promised me two things in this mortal life: one you have already kept, of St. Louis Bertrand: the other remains. "Saint Louis, every promise is a debt." Observe that it is the part of a just man to do what he promises: I trust very much, and I stand on your word. O how I rejoice! Rightly did St. Paul say: Rejoice always in the Lord; and secondly he said: Rejoice ^e: but so that that joy should not exceed measure, the same Apostle added: Let your modesty be known to men ^f. So far are the words of blessed Nicholas Factor while he was in ecstasy. From some indications it is gathered that blessed father Nicholas had asked Bl. Bertrand, while he too was still among the living, that after his death he should indicate two things to him, one of which was the state of the same Bl. Bertrand in the other life (and this he had now revealed to him, as appears from the aforesaid ecstasy), the other, whether Nicholas himself would be saved; and it is credible that this too was signified to him after many prayers, since he said, before he was restored to his senses, that he rejoiced much, and after the end of the ecstasy was so glad that it was a matter of wonder, and uttered certain words so inflamed with divine love that they called forth tears from the hearers.

[178] In particular he said too with great spirit to the father General of the Order of Mercy: O father General, he was a brother: [the same praises the Order of Bl. Mary of Mercy, and foretells death to a Dominican Father;] do you not believe that in your Order too there are in various places some holy brothers? There are indeed; and this Order, since it was founded by St. Raymond of Peñafort for redeeming slaves, is very greatly bound to imitate Christ, the Redeemer of the whole human race, of whom St. Paul says to the Ephesians: "For His exceeding charity wherewith He loved us ^g"; (which word EXCEEDING he repeated several times and amplified) and it is obliged to exercise works of extraordinary charity; the redeeming fathers remaining as slaves at Algiers in order to redeem other slaves. While blessed brother Nicholas was saying these things, turning his eyes to a certain Religious of the Preachers, called father Presentatus brother Luke, he said to him: Brother, prepare yourself; for you are going to die. And although this seemed to that Religious to be asserted without any reason, yet he of whom Bl. Nicholas had said it was the first of the fathers of that convent to die, though some months after; for he died on the second day of July of the following year.

[179] to praise St. Louis, After these and other sacred discourses, between which he relapsed again and again into ecstasies, they told him to come and dine; for three hours had already passed after noon; to whom he answered: What dinner can you give me that equals that which my brother St. Louis has given me? Then, led as though by force to the refectory, as he passed before the cell of St. Vincent, he exclaimed with admirable devotion: O, if God would grant me this grace, that I should some day enter this house and die, so that they might bury me in this cell near the altar where St. Vincent so often prayed, and brother St. Louis celebrated Mass! When he had reached the door of the refectory, pointing his finger at the head of the cross-table placed on the left, he said: What would you have me eat? Let me sit in that place in which God showed me so great a favour. And he said this because there at supper he had seen St. Dominic and St. Vincent with the Religious, as has been said above: and suddenly rapt in spirit he said many things of the glory of Bl. Louis Bertrand, nor could he be induced to eat anything of any substance.

[180] which he did on other occasions too, he goes on: When he had returned to his monastery of Jesus, somewhat distant from the walls of the city, for scarcely two or three days could they persuade him to take food. For as soon as they spoke about that matter, he would speak of the banquet shown him by the holy brother Louis, and, entering the church, with his accustomed simplicity he would say to the most holy Sacrament: Is it so, Lord, that all Thy love, all Thy caresses are for your brother Louis; and for poor brother Nicholas there is nothing? On other occasions too the same father Bl. Nicholas gave remarkable testimonies for the holiness of Bl. Bertrand. Coming with the Religious of his convent to recite a Responsory at Bl. Bertrand's funeral in the church, falling on his knees he kissed his feet, and remaining kneeling for a good space of time he frequently repeated: Pray for us, blessed Louis Bertrand. In like manner, as long as Bl. Nicholas survived, in the litanies among the other holy confessors he always invoked Bl. Bertrand in these words: "Saint Louis Bertrand, pray for us."

[181] At another time Bl. Nicholas, coming to the convent of the Preachers to visit the cell in which Bl. Bertrand had lived, he has St. Louis appearing to him;! received as sacred relics a pious printed image, which was one of those that had belonged to Bl. Bertrand, and he asked for other relics of the same man. Again at another time, when he was in the church of the Preachers in the evening, nudging a certain father with his elbow, he said: Do you not see, brother, do you not see? What, father Nicholas, the Religious answered. To whom he, pointing to the high altar, replied: The Friend, the Friend. Whence it was understood that Bl. Bertrand had then appeared to him. In his convent of Jesus one day he held his eyes fixed on heaven with such fervour and affection that he seemed to wish to raise himself from the earth, and exultantly he said: Do you wish me to ascend, my little Brother, brother Louis, do you wish me to ascend? frequently repeating these same words. On another day, after celebrating Mass, he remained kneeling for a notable time before the high altar, and then, as though deprived of the use of his senses, he said to those standing round: Why do you think I am like this? I saw father St. Francis, father St. Dominic, and between them in the middle that blessed one, that blessed brother Louis Bertrand. Is it so, or, because we are not all of the same habit, are we not all brothers?

[182] Likewise for the rest of the time that he lived, in his sermons a commemoration given at Valencia and in Catalonia (where he put on the habit of the Capuchins, being called brother Francis a Plagis), he always spoke of Bl. Bertrand with much praise, and out of his particular devotion he composed a commemoration of him, in which he plainly showed how certain he was of the glory and beatitude which Bl. Bertrand was enjoying in heaven. And this is the commemoration which follows: "Commemoration of blessed Louis Bertrand of Valencia, of the Order of Preachers. Antiphon. O most illustrious Offspring of the city of Valencia, O radiance adorned and decorated with the perfection of all the virtues; O most ruddy rose of charity, blooming and fragrant; O most ardent Seraph of flame-bearing divine love; O Man truly Catholic and Apostolic; O most pleasing and fragrant little flower of the flower-bearing Dominican Religion; O most resplendent gem of priests; O lawful Son of our most holy father Dominic, blessed Louis Bertrand, lover of the divine law, pray for us to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has deigned to crown thee in the number of His Blessed ones.

[183] he composes concerning St. Louis, ℣. Pray for us, blessed Louis Bertrand. ℞. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Prayer. Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty and merciful God, that we who celebrate the holiness and glorious life of blessed Louis Bertrand may also imitate his virtues, and by imitating may make progress, and by making progress may be able happily to attain to the heavenly kingdoms. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, etc." Afterwards he wrote to a certain doctor of the royal council of the kingdom of Valencia that his dearest St. Louis Bertrand had obtained a certain grace for him from Jesus Christ our Lord, and that, before he obtained it, he had been seen by him before God in one manner, and then in another; and soon he added: In these things there intervened my glorious father St. Dominic and my lord St. Vincent.

[184] and when brought to his last, he receives his finger with the highest joy. Finally the blessed father brother Nicholas, gravely ill of the illness of which he died, was visited by the father subprior of the convent of the Preachers at Valencia and the venerable father brother Dominic Anadon of good memory, and by them there was brought to him a finger of Bl. Bertrand; at which he so exulted that he did not cease to kiss it and put it to his face and neck, saying: O Saint Louis! O Saint Louis! Two or three times too he repeated that in this infirmity SS. Dominic, Vincent and Louis Bertrand had been present with him, and he expressly affirmed that he had seen them. He said besides that those birds were present which father St. Louis Bertrand had seen on the day of the Easter of the Resurrection: and asked in what place they were, he answered that they had flown away to heaven. Asked again what those birds were, he replied that they were angels. On this argument too there has been treatment above, book 1, chapter XXIV. Besides, he related that he had once gone to Bl. Bertrand to inquire something of him, but that he, being a lover of secrecy, would not tell it; then, asked whether he (Bl. Nicholas) would be saved, he had said three times with singular affection: Yes, yes, yes.

XX.

[185] As the number of the miracles which God worked through the intercession of Bl. Bertrand increased day by day, His body, the number of miracles having increased, in the year 1582 there ran together to the convent of the Preachers a very great throng of people to honour his sepulchre; which, as has been said, was under the choir, to which entrance was not open to visitors according to their desire. For which reason, so that the wishes of the people might be satisfied and the Blessed man's body be kept with due decency, his brother James Bertrand had a sepulchre of stone made for him in the manner of a small chapel, in which the sacred body, enclosed in a stone tomb, was placed with the consent of the ordinary (who had already then received many testimonies from which the holiness of life and the miracles of the same Bl. Bertrand were established); and this translation took place on the 25th day of March, the most solemn feast of the Incarnation of the Son of God, in the year 1582.

[186] [in the presence of the patriarch, of principal men, and of a multitude of the people] But although they strove to do it secretly, to avoid noise and concourse, and that only some persons of more distinguished condition should be present, the thing could not be concealed; but on the vigil of the Annunciation there was present so great a throng of men, who thought that the translation was to be performed that night, that it was a matter of wonder. From which thing the father Prior, understanding that the citizens were persuaded that the translation was to be done at night, resolved to perform it at midday. But when the patriarch, and with him the bishop of Morocco with some of his household, were seen to enter by the gate of the convent, and through the church the vicereine with a small retinue, namely her son lord Gaston de Moncada, now marquis of Aytona, and her daughters, and her son-in-law lord Jerome Coreglia, eldest son of the count of Cozentayna, and a few of the household, at so unusual an hour, the people understood what the matter was, and although the doors of the church were suddenly shut, nevertheless more than five hundred persons were present in it, among whom were many noble knights, illustrious men, doctors and Religious.

[187] it was found incorrupt, They opened the sepulchre, and there went down into it to lift the body the Provincial, master brother John Loares, the Prior, master brother Francis Aleman, and the masters brother John Vitali and brother Vincent Justinian Antist, who, having unlocked the chest in which the sacred body lay, found it unharmed and without any corruption, as was manifest to all, although that place was very low; and they stayed there a little while to clothe the sacred corpse in new garments and take away the old ones to be kept as relics; and so they brought it straight out through the mouth of the sepulchre, just as though it had been living, into the sight of the bystanders. While the tomb was being opened, a certain student of letters of 24 years of age, called Joseph Monleo, perceived a great fragrance coming forth from it, and a greater one when the body was being taken out. The same was perceived also by lord Henry Ferreri, Francis Vaziedo, and many other persons, who affirmed that it was a sweetness unlike all other ordinary odours.

[188] People went into tears for devotion, and praises were given to God, with remarkable devotion when that holy body was beheld so incorrupt and tractable, as though it had only a little while before expired. They placed it on a bier, and the patriarch in tears kissed its feet, and as many as could approach imitated him, putting Chaplets, Rosaries and jewels to it, which things were done with the highest devotion and joy. But when afterwards the multitude of those kissing it and putting Chaplets and other things to it was growing, they hastened to lay it down where it now is, all the more because two fingers of the hands had already been taken off, and the smallest of one of the feet; although the father Provincial, the thief being discovered, recovered both fingers of the hands. Fearing therefore lest other parts of the body too should be carried off, they swiftly put it back in the aforesaid place, and from excessive haste they placed the sepulchral stone the wrong way round.

[189] Wherefore, returning the next day at midday is transferred into a new sepulchre, to place the stone rightly, they took out the sacred body again; and although this was done so secretly that it scarcely became known to the brethren of the convent, except those who were performing it, yet more than two hundred laymen were present; and it was a pious spectacle. The father Prior of the convent put on a most precious cope of cloth of gold, and the ministers and acolytes were clothed in like vestments, and all together raised the holy body on their shoulders, the father Prior intoning the Hymn of father St. Dominic: "Rejoice, mother Church, keeping a glad memorial, who sendest the joys of a new Offspring to the court of heaven;" and while the organ responded and the verses alternated, time allowed the Religious and also the laymen to kiss his holy hands one by one. After this, the Prayer of St. Dominic having been said, they placed the sacred body in the aforesaid sepulchre, in which it is kept even today and honoured with eleven silver lamps, which ordinarily always burn there.

[190] From the 26th day of March of the year 1582 up to the present year 1622 that sepulchre has never again been opened, [some relics, however, having been separated from it, which went to the persons here reviewed.] nor the sacred body seen. It lies there entire except for three fingers of one of the hands and the little toe of the foot. And because, when the two fingers were cut off, it was noticed that the little finger of the same hand too had begun to be cut away, which now adhered only by a thin sinew, they cut it off entirely, so that some relics might remain in the convent to be carried to the sick, and enclosed in silver they deposited it in the sacristy, by which many miracles have been done. Of the two others the father Provincial sent one as a gift to the Cardinal of Alessandria, brother Michael Bonello, nephew of Pius V; of the other finger he gave one joint to the father Prior, the other two to father master brother Vincent Justinian, who gave them as a gift partly to the most serene Infanta lady Isabel Clara Eugenia of Austria, daughter of king Philip II, when she was at Valencia in the year 1586; partly to lady Guiomar de Moncada, daughter of the marquis of Aytona and mother of the count of Cozentayna, who keeps these relics up to now. The little toe came into the hands of the Inquisitor, lord Peter Zurate, who gave it to a certain nun, his niece. His garments and the wooden chest, taken out of the former sepulchre, applied against various infirmities, were made famous by many miracles.

ANNOTATIONS.

a. Psalm 17, verse XI.

b. Psalm 49, verse 9.

f. Ibid., verse 5.

BOOK III.

CHAPTER I.

Apparitions of the Saint.

CHAP. I.

To Michael Pons, sick with fever, Eight days after the departure of Bl. Bertrand from the living, a certain hermit of Cullera ^a, by name Michael Pons, who had contracted some familiarity with him, labouring most gravely from a fever which had afflicted him now for a whole month and a half, said silently at night: O father, brother Louis Bertrand, if I had been well, I should have been present at your death; and at once he saw through the door of his chamber the same Blessed man entering with one companion. And the Blessed man himself asks him, saying: What are you doing, brother Michael? How are you? Rejoice, for no harm will come to you: and he formed the sign of the Cross on his forehead, and touched his cheek. When the hermit asked who his companion was, he answered that it was master Mico; and suddenly he vanished from his eyes; and the hermit remained free of all fever and entirely well.

[2] [he appears to Hieronyma Juliana, suffering from an ailment of the throat, and to a Religious woman who did not believe in his holiness:] On the very day on which the Blessed man died, so dreadful an ailment attacked the throat of Hieronyma Juliana, wife of James Caldet, a rope-maker of bristles, that it twisted her mouth as far as the right ear, so that she could not speak, and suffered vehemently. But hearing that the Blessed man was working many miracles, one evening she devoutly commended herself to him, and on the following night the Blessed man appeared to her with St. Vincent Ferrer, and sitting beside the pillow of her bed warned her not to let blood be drawn from her, saying that she would shortly be healed; and having given her his blessing, both vanished from sight, and her mouth was brought back to its place, her speech was restored, all pain departed, and she was healed. Ursula Clara Ayessa, of the third Order of St. Francis, did not believe that Bertrand was a saint; but a little after his death, one evening, while the signal was being given for the Ave Maria, as she was shut up in her oratory for the sake of praying, the Blessed man appeared to her in the white and black habit which the Preachers use, gleaming very much, and wearing a hood sprinkled with precious gems, and breathing a most sweet odour; he touched her forehead and said: Now you will believe what I am? and, having said this, he appeared no more.

[3] In the year 1582, on the 5th day of February, there died at Valencia a noble knight, to a noble knight, of much virtue and honoured condition, William Raymundi Catalano, to whom in the time of his illness the Blessed man appeared several times, particularly after he had received the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist and made his will. A certain person who

was attending him heard him for a notable space of time now speaking, now listening, then answering cheerfully; and asked what the cause was. May God forgive you, answered the sick man: there were present with me the blessed Virgin Mary, St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer with blessed brother Louis Bertrand. A little after he begged the same person, for the love of God, not to report to any mortal what he had said. But the Saints must afterwards have commanded him to reveal it: for he himself related the vision in the presence of lady Frances Vives, his wife, and lord Francis Valterra, and others: and since he was wearing on his head a night-cap, at his neck a Rosary, and under his pillow a girdle, all of which had been Bl. Bertrand's, he added that the same Blessed man had spoken of those relics, and that he had been invited by them to go with them.

[4] Some hours after he said again that the same Saints had also been present with him at other times with others of the same Order, lying sick of an illness, who, as in the manner of a procession, stood in a row behind the bed reciting the Litanies, the holy father Vincent and Bl. Bertrand discharging the office of cantors, naming in the Litanies not only the canonized, but also others of the same Order not yet then enrolled among the Saints with solemn rite, and especially the martyrs brother Dominic de Monte-Majore and brother Amator Espi, and the holy brother John Mico, and the holy Pontiff Pius V ^b, from whom he said he had obtained many benefits. While they were reciting the Litanies, the glorious St. Nicholas of Tolentino also entered the chamber, whom they all venerated and placed near St. Dominic; he held a staff in his hand, and from his forehead came forth a most splendid light; and he, by special favour, put the staff under his pillow, and so the sick man was able to sleep the following night, whereas before he had passed many sleepless ones.

[5] Enjoying so holy a company, he begged them all to obtain health for him, again which he desired for the consolation of his wife and children. Bl. Bertrand intimated that this petition displeased him, saying that he would not die of that illness, and then, having struck him on the neck, the whole vision ceased. When he had reached the fourteenth day of his illness much better, but in pain in his neck, he said to his wife: O lady, what a blow the Saint dealt me! how much it hurts me! When the physicians and surgeons afterwards came, they found no trace of ailment; but two days after a grave inflammation infected the same part of the neck, whence he lamented vehemently, and within two more days he died, proving by the fact that what the Blessed man had asserted was true, that he would not die of that illness from which he was then suffering.

[6] visits, On the day before the death of the same nobleman, after he had received the holy last Unction, he suffered a vehement attack of the illness, from which, restored to himself but deprived of speech, he stretched out two fingers towards the pillow; and since they did not know what he meant, they asked at last whether Bl. Bertrand and St. Vincent Ferrer were standing in that place; to which he assented cheerfully by closing his eyes. But those who were present, fearing an illusion, sprinkled him with holy water, and asked whether the vision ceased; but he denied it with a nod. Then his son, master brother Vincent Catalano, from a like suspicion, said: "The Word was made flesh": and he clearly added: "And dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as it were of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Praise be to Thee, O Christ"; and being urged again to say besides: "Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on us": he answered: It is enough, son, there is no need of so many words.

[7] and invites him to heaven. Then the same sick man, asked what had been said to him by the Saints, answered that he had been called by them to go with them swiftly. Asked besides what he had then answered them, he replied that he would willingly accompany them. And asked again who had held him back, You yourselves, he said. And that was true: for all had prayed God to preserve his life. Then too was fulfilled what Bl. Bertrand had promised him some months before. For when he had come to him four days before the Blessed man died, to visit him and ask his blessing, he heard from him these words: Go, God being favourable, lord Catalano; I shall remember your lordship, as you will find in fact.

[8] He appears at Gandia to a Clarissan nun dying, When sister Margaret Saliglias, a Religious of the Order of St. Clare, on the day of St. Valentine, the 14th of February of the year 1582, had been brought to her last by illness without any hope of recovering, the mother abbess ordered a Mass of the Dead to be sung, and offered it to Bl. Bertrand. While this Mass was being sung, sister Joanna of the Cross visited the sick woman, and advised her to commend herself to Bl. Bertrand, to whom that Mass had been offered, that he might intercede for her health. The sick woman answered: Bl. Bertrand is already here. This was heard by another sick woman, by name sister Mary Anne Figuerola, who was lying in bed with her arm so badly affected that there was question of cutting it off, and who had already invoked Bl. Bertrand most devoutly, as had another nun likewise ill.

[9] he heals others. And when sister Figuerola heard that Bl. Bertrand was present, she said to her who had seen him: Friend, where is he? There on that seat, answered sister Margaret. Ah! replied sister Figuerola, why does he not heal me, who have invoked him so long! She answered: He has just now imparted his blessing to you and to the other sick women; and accordingly reckon yourselves all healed: for me he has indeed obtained the salvation of my soul, but not the health of my body. Sister Figuerola asked how old he was, and in what garment clothed. Not very old, she answered, nor entirely grey; and clothed in a white and black garment. These things happened at the sixteenth hour ^c; and half an hour after Margaret expired her soul most peacefully; and the other two sick women suddenly began to recover, and sister Figuerola's arm was perfectly healed.

[10] Lady Mary de Castelui had been present at the translation of Bl. Bertrand; He is seen by a certain lady, whom he encourages to bear adversities bravely, but because of the excessive crowding of the people she had not been able to reach as far as the sacred body. Whence, grieving greatly, at the time of Vespers she entered the principal church while the hymn Magnificat was being sung; and as she stood up on her feet, a church of crystal shining very brightly appeared to her, and in the middle of it she saw Bl. Bertrand, crowned with a golden crown, clothed in a white and very shining habit, with a hood in which only the extreme border appeared black, while the rest was of cloth of gold; and round his neck he had many necklaces and strings of pearls, and in the middle a little silver chain from which a huge shining pearl hung. And when Mary feared lest she was being deluded, Bl. Bertrand, behind whom many brethren were standing, said to her: Do not doubt that I am brother Louis Bertrand; and raising his hood, See, he said, that I am a Dominican brother; and I enjoy in heaven that glory in which you now behold me. Be of brave heart; for besides the adversities which you have suffered, others remain to be borne; and you will say the same in my name to your confessor. And when the lady feared to carry that message, lest she should catch vainglory from it, the Blessed man forbade her to fear.

[11] And she, although Vespers were now finished and the people were now withdrawing from the church, and he frees her from a pain of the cheek. having had the vision, nevertheless remained, struck, still on her feet: for which reason a certain maidservant of her sister, by name Catherine Blesa, pulled her cloak, at which jolt she said, as though disturbed: Why did you pull my cloak like that? And then the whole vision ceased. Having returned home, the next morning she went to the convent of the Preachers to receive the Sacraments of Penance and of the Body of the Lord, and communicated her vision to her confessor, master brother Andrew Perez, who testified to this fact in the Process, keeping silent the lady's name, which, because she has now died, is set down here. When one of the cheeks of the same lady Mary had swelled with such pain that it allowed her no rest from evening to morning, when she had caught a little sleep, Bl. Bertrand appeared to her with master brother Onuphrius Clemens, who had been her confessor, and asked what she wanted; to whom she answered: Health. And blessed Bertrand touched her cheek; and as he did this, she, waking, found herself sound and free of all pain.

[12] A girl, daughter of lady Frances de Casteliu, suffering vehement pains from a blow received, invoked Bl. Bertrand often, He appears to a girl in pain from a blow, to an incredulous cleric, and as she slept he appeared to her, showing her a little piece of flesh placed on his finger, and saying that that had been the cause of the pain, which he had now taken away; and on waking she felt herself well. A certain cleric, who for fourteen years had had Bl. Bertrand as his confessor, hearing of the remarkable miracles which he was working after his death, prayed to him for more than a whole year to obtain a certain grace from God for him; and seeing that he was not heard, he complained of the Saint to certain persons, and called his miracles into doubt. One night, going out to visit a sick man, when he had come before the church of St. Stephen, he felt force being put on him, and himself being carried to the square of the Preachers, where, placed before the doors of the church, he could neither go forward nor go back. He invoked Bl. Bertrand, and suddenly saw in the sky a great splendour, and in the middle Bl. Bertrand and St. Vincent Ferrer; but fearing lest it was a diabolical fraud, casting down his eyes he said: "And the Word was made flesh;" and he felt a singular devotion towards Bl. Bertrand roused in himself, and then, when he raised his eyes again, the same vision was offered to him, and held him altogether astounded for the space of half an hour. Then the Blessed man, speaking to him, said: Because of your incredulity I have appeared to you; and he revealed to him many secrets about which they had both conferred while they were living, and others besides which came about within two months: and this vision ceased.

[13] to a lethargic virgin, to a man gravely struck, Joanna Navarro della Ragoyen, a virgin of 30 years, was labouring under a deadly lethargy, on account of which she had received extreme Unction. They put on her an undershirt of Bl. Bertrand, and commended her to him, as she herself too had done before she was deprived of her senses. Within the space of time in which the Apostles' Creed could be recited twice, she recovered her senses, asserting that Bl. Bertrand had appeared to her with St. Vincent Ferrer, and had commanded her to put on the habit of St. Dominic, as she had promised. At that very moment of time, except for a little weakness, she remained thereafter entirely well. Jerome Cardiglias, a dependant of lord John Boil, working in a garden, began to quarrel with a certain workman, by whom, struck with a stone on the head, he was gravely hurt and brought into danger of death; and when the nature of the wound so demanded, the surgeons

wished to remove the skin the next day, so as to cut into the wound in the course of treatment and be able to complete the rest according to the laws of the art. At night the sick man invoked Bl. Bertrand, saying, Father, since I accompanied you in the Indies and rendered you what slender service I could, help me in this peril. After this, as he slept, the Blessed man appeared to him and laid his hand on his head: and the next morning the surgeons, coming, found the wound so changed for the better that there was now no further need to cut into it; and he was healed within a short time.

[14] to a girl, of the throat; to three Anne Louise, a girl, while she was living with her uncle Michael Pellegrino, perpetual vicar at Rufusssa ^d, was labouring under a most grievous ailment (called in these parts Papera ^e), from which she was so swollen all over that her eyes did not appear: and at that time many were dying of the same ailment. For which cause the Sacrament of extreme Unction too was conferred on her, the physicians asserting that little of life remained to her. On the following night the sick girl heard at the pillow of her bed the voice of one saying: I am brother Louis Bertrand; turning herself to that side where she had heard the voice, she saw no one; but a little after a very shining Friar appeared to her, who, raising his hand, blessed her; without delay all the swelling vanished, and she recovered at the same time. To Elvira Herrera, of the village of Almansa ^f, brought to the end of life by a deadly fever, on that very night on which the physicians had pronounced that she would die, Bl. Bertrand appeared, and, laying his hand on her face, said that she would come through that grave illness, and at the same time she was free of the fever, and a few days after, restored to her former health, she survived many years. And when she died, which happened on Palm Sunday, while her brother, father Michael Herrera, was giving the Lenten sermons at Mora in Aragon, Bl. Bertrand appeared to him and announced her death.

[15] Lawrence Roig, a student of letters, of 24 years, with fever lying dangerously ill of fevers, commended himself with a vow made to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary; and she appeared to him, asserting that he would by no means die of that illness; but that he would be healed through blood to be emitted from his nostrils; which also came about. But he gave no thought at all to fulfilling his vow. Not many days after he relapsed into the same illness, and, mindful of his vow, he did not dare pray again to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary for his health; but he commended himself to Bl. Bertrand, who, appearing to him the next night in his sleep, consoled him, saying that a certain flux of the belly would follow, and so he would be healed. He related this vision to his parents, and so it came about, and on the second day after he got up from bed, on the third he went out of the house.

[16] Andrew Gaglient, labouring gravely from a fever, so that he could take nothing, suffering, had reached the end of life. By a certain father Preacher who visited him he was persuaded to invoke Bl. Louis, and he received from him a little piece of the habit of the same Blessed man, which he piously accepted, and he promised to visit his sepulchre for nine successive days. On the following night Bl. Bertrand appeared to him, saying: Give me this ailment; and soon, the fever ceasing, he was well. Then he began to fulfil the promised devotion (they call it a Novena); and when from forgetfulness he did not complete it, he fell into a fever again, but more gently. He had recourse therefore again with his prayers to blessed Bertrand, and so, while feverish, he went on to carry out his promises, and when they were fulfilled, he was healed again.

[17] Sperantia Escobar, wife of doctor Peter Torres, assessor of the governor of Valencia, to a woman infected with a poisonous pustule, going to the sacred Offices on the Wednesday of Holy Week, suddenly felt a huge pain in her shoulders, and, pressing hard on the place where it hurt, burst a certain very poisonous pustule, and soon was seized with fever, and, returning home, lay down in bed. The physicians who were called, wondering at so great an ailment, applied a plaster, by which she seemed to be the more burned, and as it were pricked with the sharpest thorns, and with that pain she was afflicted the whole following day without any rest. Then in the evening, remembering the many miracles of Bl. Bertrand and the great holiness of father brother John Mico, she turned to this father Mico, that he might intercede with Bl. Bertrand and have pity on her family and children. On the following night, towards dawn, she heard a certain noise about her bed, and, turning her eyes, she saw Bl. Bertrand in a place nearby, and in another Bl. Mico, who greeted her with a movement of his head. When she turned to look at Bl. Bertrand, she found that he had gone away, as had Bl. Mico also, but at the same time she felt herself freed from her pains, and, having called her daughter, she found that the ailment had ceased and that she was free of fever.

II.

[18] Vincent Louis Andrea, on the Monday of Pentecost in the year 1592, after he had played ball, all sweating, drinking a great vessel of cold water, was seized with the falling sickness, the falling sickness which attacked him very often, even six and seven times in one day: and while the attack lasted, he struggled so much that even many together could not hold him. And through medicines the ailment was so exasperated that he often fell into it thirty times a day, and so vehemently that, when the trembling ceased, like a madman he would hurl indecent and insulting words even at his parents; who, placed in so great affliction, implored the help of Bl. Bertrand and St. Vincent. After this, on the following night, both Saints appeared to the sick man, of whom St. Vincent, sitting at the pillow of the bed, blessed him three times, and warned him not in future to receive his parents ill with such unworthy words; and Bl. Bertrand, who was present round about there, forbade him to fear, and, approaching him, signed his forehead with a single sign of the Cross, his eyes with a double one, and his ears with a double one, and at the same moment the sick man recovered the hearing lost through the severity of the ailment: and the Blessed man warned him to conduct himself well and pray God to heal the wounds of his head too.

[19] to one who very often suffered, Finally he commanded him not to reveal to anyone what he had seen, except to his parents and his brother Anthony, a doctor of theology (who died a Discalced Religious of the Order of St. Francis); and the sick man was healed, and remained well until the 25th day of September of the same year, when, on the Tuesday preceding that same day, as he was hearing Mass in the chapel of St. Vincent within the church of the Preachers, both Saints appeared to him again, and said that he would be seized again by the same ailment on the following Sunday ^g, so that he should accordingly pray God and ask the prayers of pious persons for himself: yet that that infirmity would not exceed a period of three months, nor would anything befall him by which he would be brought into danger of burning, drowning, or other harm. All these things he related to his parents, and on the following Sunday the same ailment attacked him, and lasted the whole time foretold by the Saints, seizing him five and six times each day; but without the former violence and without those unseemly words which he had used before. Yet no remedy was then applied, because the Saints had warned that no natural remedy would profit him. So all things in fact came about, and at the fixed time he was entirely healed.

[20] to one suffering from a swelling of the arm, to a man John Portero had for a long time suffered from the ailment which in Spanish is called Louaniglio, and in Italian Natta ^h, at the pulse of the artery of his left arm, which tormented him vehemently, and did not permit him to support his family by the labour of his hands. When one night he had commended himself to Bl. Bertrand, the latter appeared to him in sleep that same night and pressed the afflicted part with his hand; and he found himself healed. James Almanar, afflicted with a grave continual fever for ten or eleven months, fell into such weakness that the physicians affirmed that he could by no means recover. But one night, while his wife and mother-in-law were keeping watch by him, to him, likewise awake, Bl. Bertrand appeared with other Religious of the Order of St. Dominic, who surrounded the bed, and after Bertrand had laid his hand on the sick man's face, they withdrew. And since the wife and mother-in-law were occupying the place by which they were going out, the sick man told them to move away from there and give passage to the brethren going out; and because they did not see them, the mother-in-law said: Alas, daughter, your husband is dying! Do you hear how he raves? I am not raving, no (said the sick man), nor am I dying; but I know well that I am well and free of all fever: and although he was still very weak, he recovered his strength shortly after.

[21] Catherine Frances Vilana, wife of John Seguarra, a hosier, [and appearing to a woman sick with fever, and likewise to one out of her mind, he restores health:] lay ill of a fever and was all infected with purple spots. When she had passed fifteen days in this state without any useful remedy, she commended herself to Bl. Bertrand, and he appeared to her the following night, and although there was no light in the chamber, she nevertheless saw him clearly; and then, the fever ceasing, in the morning she left her bed and remained entirely well. When the mother of Thomas Peter Andrea, keeper of the workshop and building of the royal mint of Valencia, was afflicted with a very bad illness, from which she remained out of her mind for three days, with eyes and mouth closed, and taking nothing meanwhile; noticing that she was in that state, she implored the help of Bl. Bertrand with the inward voice of her heart, and when he appeared to her, restored without any delay to her senses, she said that the Blessed man had obtained health for her, and that she would not die of that illness: and so within a few days she recovered perfectly.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

Continuation of the same argument.

To one mortally wounded, Francis Perez, a citizen eighteen years of age, returning to Valencia from Mislata ^a on the Vigil of St. Peter, about midnight was attacked by three men and mortally wounded; in which peril, invoking Bl. Louis (towards whom he was devout), he was freed from every graver harm that could have been inflicted on him by them. While he was being treated, his blood could not be stanched for the space of five days. There was brought to him a Rosary of Bl. Louis, which Catherine Spina then possessed, and he commended himself to St. Mary of Succour, and invoked blessed Louis again. Then, with the said Rosary placed on his head, he fell asleep, and saw in his sleep the most blessed Virgin in that habit in which

she is seen in the church of Succour at Valencia, and with her Bl. Louis, surrounded with great light. The Mother of God touched his head; which Bl. Louis likewise did; and the sick man, waking, raised his head, which he had not been able to do before, and, having called his mother and maidservant, said that he was well; and he began to sweat; the fever left him and the blood ceased to flow. The next morning the wound was found in a much better state, and within ten days it was perfectly healed.

[23] smallpox, the falling When Frances Paula, daughter of Louis Fababuix, a notary, six years old, in the year 1586, on the night of the Wednesday of Holy Week, was suffering from smallpox, the illness had so increased that she was deprived of her senses, her eyes too darkened, her lips pale, and her mouth closed, so that she could admit neither any food nor liquid. Her parents and grandparents, afflicted by this misfortune, seeing that she was hastening to death, asked the help of Bl. Louis, promising to carry a funeral pall to his sepulchre. When this prayer had been finished with devout affection, the girl opened her eyes and recovered entire health. Beholding so great and so sudden a change, they asked her whether she had seen anything. Two Friars, said she, who were just going out of the chamber, and one of them had been Bl. Louis, and he had opened her mouth. Eleanor Montfort, of Mirambel near Valencia, a virgin of forty years, very badly afflicted by the falling sickness, which attacked her often and for long, grieving at her misery betook herself to the sepulchre of Bl. Louis to pray for her health. There, seized with sleep for two whole hours, the same Blessed man appeared to her in her sleep; then, waking, she found herself freed from all ailment, nor did she experience it thereafter.

[24] sickness, fever, To a certain daughter of Baptist Tibona, fourteen years old, there suddenly happened so vehement an ailment that she fell to the ground and foamed copiously from the mouth, and the ailment grew so much that she was held for dead, and funeral arrangements were already being prepared for her. But when her mother Ursula March invoked the most blessed Virgin of the Rosary, and St. Vincent Ferrer and Bl. Louis, and prayed them to have pity on her daughter, at that very moment the sick girl recovered her senses, and said that the Mother of God had appeared to her with St. Vincent and Bl. Louis, and that she had been healed by them; as in fact she remained well without any ailment. When Francis Dominic was suffering from a continual fever, and a vein had already been opened for him fourteen times, and the physicians despaired of him, having heard from a certain student of letters of some miracle which Bl. Louis had wrought, he commended himself to him most devoutly. Then one morning, awake, he saw two Dominican friars entering his chamber, and although he did not know which of them was Bl. Louis, he took hold of the hand of the one whom he believed to be he; and he told him not to fear, for he would be healed: and within two days the sick man was free of all fever, yet not of bodily pain, until, when he appeared to him a second time, that too suddenly ceased.

[25] to those suffering from some species of madness, Catherine Augustina Borgia had begun to feel a horrible infirmity, which she believed to be a species or beginning of madness. On Palm Sunday in the morning she betook herself to the convent of the Preachers, where, feeling ill, she returned home. But before she withdrew from the church she prayed fervently to Bl. Louis for her health, and repeated the same prayer in the evening when she was going to bed; that same night in her sleep she saw in her chamber so great a splendour that the sun's seemed by no means to be compared with it, and in it Bl. Louis, who, laying his hand on her head, said three words, slowly indeed, but which she nevertheless did not understand, because she was too much astounded at the sight of the Saint and his splendour, which a little after vanished; and she found herself safe.

[26] There was somewhere in Spain a certain person of most illustrious condition, to a person who had long kept silent about a sin, who for eighteen years had concealed a certain sin of hers in confession out of shame. She, having heard of the remarkable miracles of Bl. Bertrand, for a long time prayed him to pray God not to permit her to die liable to this sin. Then, when she had fallen ill and was persevering in her prayer, one night that Blessed man appeared to her in sleep, showing her a certain Religious clothed in the Dominican habit, who, making a journey, was passing through that place, and saying: Look carefully at this brother, who is of my convent of Valencia: to him you will be able to confess your sins. The next day that Religious came to the convent which the Order of St. Dominic has in that same place, and, asked by a certain father of the same convent to accompany him to visit a sick person, he was led to the house of that same person. She, on seeing the stranger Religious, was troubled, and reckoned her vision to be true; and when she had also understood that he was a son of the convent of Valencia, she said that she would send for him the next day, because she wished to confess to him. So she did, begging pardon of God for her offences with most abundant tears; and she related her vision to the confessor, and that he truly was the Religious who had been shown her, and she gave the greatest thanks to God for the great mercy which He had used towards her through the Blessed man's patronage.

[27] From Peter Fos of Rusafa ^b, on account of a certain infirmity, blood had been let more than thirty times, to a boy held by a long infirmity; to the son of a man dangerously ill, for which cause he had to be supported in people's arms, and he remained in that state a good nine months. But one night, when he had commended himself to the Blessed man, he fell asleep, and then, waking, saw Bl. Bertrand, and at the same moment of time at which he saw him, he felt himself sound. Accordingly, leaping out of bed, he mounted a horse, went on to the church of the Preachers, and before the Blessed man's sepulchre rendered thanks for the health obtained, and walked through the whole church, just as though he had never been seized by any ailment. When John Marco, a notary of Valencia, was lying dangerously ill, there were present with him one night his wife Susanna Carzegliera, and his children and other persons, and among them a boy of seven, by name Gregory, a son of the same sick man, who likewise was awake, and was quite sound in body and mind. He told his parents and all who were present that the holy father brother Louis Bertrand was standing in the same chamber alone with a Crucifix in his hand, and he pointed out the place in which he was standing; but none of them could see him. Yet they found that what the boy had asserted was true, because the sick man at the same moment came out well, and the physicians, seeing him out of bed the next day, wondered at the fact and reckoned it a remarkable miracle.

[28] to a woman wasting away from a parotid swelling, A parotid swelling had attacked Simona Cabanes, wife of Honoratus Toldrano, which inflated her neck and face, whence she, wasting away, was brought to such a point (because for more than three weeks she had not been able to sleep, and was therefore as if out of her mind) that the physicians affirmed that she would survive only a few hours. A certain friend of hers persuaded her to commend herself to Bl. Bertrand, and put on her head a little piece of the habit of the same Blessed man; and however much she, as has been said above, was not fully in possession of herself, she understood her friend's words, and after invoking the Saint she fell asleep. And in her sleep she saw Bl. Bertrand with another Religious, who treated her; and on waking she found herself in such a state that she needed no more medicines. Shortly after, going out of the house, she piously venerated the Blessed man's sepulchre for nine days in thanksgiving.

[29] to a woman sick of the stone, Isabel Moya, wife of Michael Martinez, on account of acute pains of the side and a grave fever by which she was shaken, had been pronounced by the physician Almenara to be past hope of recovery, when master Palmireno visited her and brought a stone which Bl. Bertrand, when he suffered from stones, had passed. She put this to her side and, having invoked the Saint's help, fell asleep. And in her sleep he, appearing to her, struck her arm three times, which she put out from under the coverlet, thinking that it was the physician who wished to examine the pulse of the artery; but the Blessed man said that he was not the one she thought; But trust, he added, in God that you will be healed; and at the same time she was freed from all pain and rose from bed. And on the eleventh day after she passed a stone of the size of a pigeon's egg, and rough with angles: which was held for a remarkable miracle.

[30] to a woman praying for one with a bad stomach, A certain poor man, by name Calderone, was afflicted with an ailment of the stomach and a continual flow of blood, so much that the physicians despaired of curing him. Raphaela Soler, of the third Order of St. Dominic, pitying him because he was a dependant of her sister and could by no means live comfortably, began to pray for him, commending him to Bl. Bertrand. And while she was doing so, she plainly saw Bl. Louis Bertrand and St. Vincent Ferrer, who advised her to take something of their relics to the sick man; that thus he would be healed. She found therefore something of the garment of St. Vincent and a band of Bl. Bertrand, and applied them to the sick man's stomach, adding a vow of a wax image to be hung at the Saint's sepulchre; without delay the pain and flow at once ceased. But when after two hours the relics were being taken from him, feeling the pains coming on again, he begged that they would leave them with him. The next day he suffered a fainting of spirit, vomited three rough masses, like stones, and so hard that they could scarcely be broken with a hammer; and so he remained well.

[31] to one afflicted with pain in the secret parts, When Melchior Ruvio, a sail-maker, had slept naked on the weaving-floor, he was infected with certain small swellings, and when on that account blood had often been let from him, the whole ailment descended to the secret parts of the body, so that he was tormented very greatly, nor did he find any remedy. But after he invoked Bl. Bertrand and began the nine-day devotion at his sepulchre, anointing himself with the oil of his lamp, on the following night three little fissures opened in the skin, from which much pus flowed out, and which, while they were being treated by the physicians, grew so violently worse that he could no longer walk. For which cause, out of his remarkable trust in the Blessed man, he bade his wife perform the nine-day devotion to him for him; and when it was begun, on the first night he slept well, and, waking, saw the Blessed man in the chamber, saying: Do not be anxious any more about medicine and ointments; for there was no further need of these. So he was healed.

[32] When the sister of Raphaela Soler, of the Third Order of St. Dominic, was afflicted with a vehement fever, to a woman sick with fever,

she asked her aforesaid sister to put on her the band of Bl. Bertrand which she had; she, fearing lest it should be soiled and lose its extraordinary odour through washing, hesitated doubtful for a little. Yet she did what she had asked; and soon the sick woman fell asleep, and in it saw a certain Friar (this was Bl. Bertrand) who said to her: I am here; and on waking she felt herself sound, and rose from bed, having used nothing else; and although the band was afterwards washed, it kept the same extraordinary fragrance.

[33] Louis Garzia, a mason, working in

the college of St. Mary of Succour, to one hurt in the groin by a fall, of the Order of Preachers, at Orihuela ^c, falling from a wooden ladder, was hurt in the groin by a piece of wood broken off from another ladder on to which he had fallen. From this fall and hurt he thought that his bowels had been moved from their places, and he was deprived of the use of tongue and ears, all who were present thinking that he was just about to die. But after a particle of Bl. Bertrand's garment had been put on him, when he was restored to his senses they urged him to invoke the most blessed Virgin and Bl. Bertrand. A little after he began to sit up in the bed to which he had been carried, and asked whither Bl. Bertrand had withdrawn, by whom he had been healed; and when they asked what he was saying, he answered that Bl. Bertrand had appeared to him, and, having touched the wound, had restored health to him, as he was finding excellently by experience, all wondering who a little before had seen him carried to bed as though dead. And although he had never seen Bl. Bertrand before, he nevertheless gave his features accurately, asserting that he had been clothed in a linen garment and a stole, in the way in which a priest is wont to come forth on Sunday to sprinkle the people with holy water. He wished then to resume his interrupted work, but the Religious forbade it, and sent him back to his house to rest, from which three days after he returned to his usual labours.

[34] A year and a half after the death of Bl. Bertrand a certain man was gravely incensed against the judge of a certain village, to one detained in prison, because he had been assailed by his enemies, for the sake of ruining him, with six accusations on one and the same day, and the judge, having admitted them, had consigned him to an underground prison, in which, being damp everywhere with water breaking out, he did not even have a bed on which to rest. After some days had passed, feeling that his life was in danger, he commended himself to Bl. Bertrand, praying that he would be pleased to remember some services which he had rendered him while he was living. And while he was repeating these prayers and invoking the most blessed Virgin, he fell asleep, and meanwhile the same most blessed Virgin and with her Bl. Louis appeared to him: and he, on waking, wished to fall on his knees; but the vision at once ceased. And immediately the chain (which was very heavy, and came down through a hole in the vault, and was fastened with a very strong padlock) fell in pieces to the ground. A little after the same man, at the order of another judge, was set free, and the former judge, who had treated him so cruelly, was arrested, and it was necessary that that devoted client of Bl. Bertrand should intercede for him.

[35] to a dying woman, to one suffering fever and faintings of spirit, Isabel Joanna de Valgranera, mother of the illustrious lord Joseph Stephen, bishop of Orihuela ^d, gravely ill and very weak, suddenly raised herself up in bed, and, resting on her knees, prayed for a quarter of an hour. Those who were present, fearing lest she should faint, wished to lay her back to rest again; but she told them to leave her so; for St. Dominic and St. Vincent Ferrer were present, and Bl. Louis with master brother Mico, and they were saying that she must die of that illness. And when one of her sons observed that these things could be a diabolical illusion, she denied it, and said that she remembered rightly the countenance of master Mico while he was living; and that the same often uttered the most holy name of Jesus, of which he had been a most devoted worshipper, and on which he had written some little Works ^e. When the vision was finished, she showed herself most glad, and, having received all the Sacraments, she ended her day most devoutly. To Susanna Carcellera and de Marco, suffering from fever and faintings of spirit, there came, for the sake of hearing her confession, master brother Francis Aleman, Prior of the Preachers, bringing her a finger of Bl. Louis, and when it was placed on her heart the faintings ceased at once; and at night the same Blessed man appeared to her, saying that this illness would not be deadly; and so, contrary to what the physicians had thought, she suddenly recovered.

[36] to one affected with a long-standing asthma, The sixth year was now running since John Arcis, a workman, had been suffering from asthma with such difficulty that he often had to get up from bed at night to breathe free air. After all remedies had been tried without success, he vowed to complete a nine-day devotion at the sepulchre of Bl. Louis Bertrand and to hang up a silver breast to him: but when the nine-day devotion was finished, since he was no better than before, the whole vow was not fulfilled. On the night of St. Denis (on which day the Blessed man died) he dreamed that, while he was walking through Valencia, seized with the same ailment, he had coughed with great distress, and had met a brother unknown to him, who said: What are you doing here, brother? To whom he related his illness. Then the other: Did you commend yourself to Bl. Louis? Yes, he replied, but without any success. The brother added: Did you also bring to the sepulchre the silver breast which you promised? I did not bring it, the sick man answered; because he had not healed me. Bring it now, he rejoined, for I promise you that you will be healed. Meanwhile the sick man heard a great crash, and, waking, found himself perfectly healed.

[37] of the eyes, A certain Cistercian nun in the monastery of Zayda ^f had for two whole years suffered so sharply from her eyes that she could scarcely bear the light, and sometimes even had to be fed by others' hands. The physicians strove diligently to cure her, but in vain. Afterwards, having found that, when she had touched her eyes with a certain particle of Bl. Louis's garment, they were better, she abstained from every other remedy, and devoutly put on a pair of spectacles which the same Blessed man had used, and recited the seven Penitential Psalms for thirty successive days, at the end of which the Blessed man appeared to her in sleep, blessing her eyes, and when this was done they came out sound and clear.

[38] When James Montiel, a public scribe of Orihuela, fever, and his wife Agnes Pedrazza were lying dangerously ill of fever, the wife, much devoted to Bl. Louis, urgently asked that the hair shirt of the same Blessed man, which is kept in the college of the Order of St. Dominic in the same city, be brought to her. With this desire she fell asleep, and saw at her pillow father master brother John Gauarda of Orihuela (a man of remarkable learning and holiness, who died in the same college) and with him another Religious of the same Order; and she asked father Gauarda, whom she had known when living, whether she was then going to die; he answered: When it shall please God: at which she, smiling, asked the same of that other Father, and woke; and when the hair shirt had been brought, on the same day the fever left her. For which reason her husband too was touched with the same hair shirt, and on the next day was likewise healed.

[39] Beatrice Martinez of Orihuela, a woman of great piety, melancholy, when once, for a cause unknown to herself, she was very melancholy, began to invoke ardently the glorious St. Dominic and Bl. Louis, to whom she was most devoted. As she continued her prayers, two Religious of the Order of Preachers appeared to her, one of whom said: This is St. Dominic, and I am brother Louis Bertrand, through whose intercession God has freed you from a loss which was threatening you: go on praying: and these words said, she saw them no more. In the evening the mother asked her son Andrew, returned from the field, whether anything untoward had happened. He said no; but when she added that he had nevertheless without doubt been anxious, he confessed that this was true. For the mules, frightened while ploughing, had taken to flight, and, dragging the plough after them, had often been struck by the ploughshare on the legs and belly, so that he had held them for dead; but God had kept them free of all harm.

[40] Erysipelas attacked the face of Catherine Fongliana, to those suffering from erysipelas, and since it did not allow her to speak, she used signs instead of words, and indicated that she desired the hair shirt of Bl. Louis to be fetched. Her mother bade a certain son of hers fetch it; but he, because it was deep night and an unseasonable hour for meeting the Religious, put off going there until the morning. Meanwhile the sick girl was waiting for these relics, and when they did not appear, she invoked Bl. Louis most devoutly. The next day at dawn she felt her arm being touched, and, looking round to see by whom it was being done, she saw two Dominican friars, to whom she said: Fathers, why did you not bring the relics yesterday evening? One of them answered: Daughter, because the brethren do not go out at night: and, taking the hair shirt from the other's hands, he put it on the sick girl's head and read the Gospel over her; and at once the fever left her and the inflammation ceased. The mother, visiting her daughter again, found her quite well, and, having heard what had happened, wondered the more because the doors were shut, nor had she heard anything of Religious having come in. From these things it is evident that the Saint appeared to the sick girl, and that his hair shirt was brought by himself. That very thing is confirmed also from the sayings of the sick girl, who, asked about the bodily appearance of the Religious who spoke with her, set out the figure of Bl. Louis most accurately. When some time after a procession of suppliants was made through the cloister of the said college, in which among others an image of the same Blessed man too was carried round, as soon as Catherine saw it she told her mother that this was that Friar who had read the Gospel over her.

[41] to a woman asking for his relics, Sister Isabel Mires of Orihuela, of the Order of St. Dominic, was held by a great desire of having a piece of the tunic of St. Louis, whom she venerated very much. Once, intent on prayer, she saw an altar splendidly adorned, from each horn of which there came forth a procession of many Saints, among whom, when Bl. Louis was walking near her, she, stretching her arm over the shoulder of St. Martin, bishop, plucked from his tunic a strip of the size of a handkerchief. She communicated this vision to father master brother Joseph de Luchian, her confessor, a man of excellent learning, prudence and religion, who bade the strip be brought to him; and it was divided into several pieces, which became famous for many miracles. The said sister Isabel, relating the same vision also to father master brother Peter John Saragozza, gave him too a piece of it, through which God wrought a miracle at Alicante, as will be told below, chapter XII.

[42] to one agitated by convulsions In the year 1587, on the 24th day of September, Lucy Gloriet, nine years old, in the city of Alicante ^g, was suffering from fever and convulsions; and her father, afflicted, seeing her near to death, went to the convent of the Preachers, beseeching that something of the relics of Bl. Louis, to whom he commended his daughter with great devotion and most abundant tears, be brought to her. Father master brother Peter John Saragozza brought to her a stocking of the Saint, and read the Gospel with other prayers. As night came on, the little girl said to her mother: Madam, who is that woman clothed in a cloak? Wondering that she spoke, Gaspar her father, out of his trust in the Saint, answered: Look carefully, daughter; for it ought not to be a woman. Then the girl added: It is a Friar, sir: and, the agitation arising from the convulsions ceasing, she fell asleep. In the morning her mother found her very cheerful; she asked her to give her something to eat, and then to dress her, asserting that she was well. Dressed by her mother, she walked

on her own feet through the street, she herself who the day before had been dying. Some days after, her father, unknown to all, hung up an image of Bl. Louis in a well-closed chamber, and summoned Lucy with her other sisters, for the sake of testing whether she would recognize Bl. Louis; and she, as soon as she saw the image, not waiting until she was asked, said: Sir, that is the friar who healed me; and because this image had been hung among many others, the father bade his daughter point it out with her finger; and in this way the truth of the vision was confirmed.

[43] to those lying ill of fever, John Cardona of Orihuela, lying in bed from fever and torment of his whole body, contracted from excessive moisture on a long sea voyage, and besides crippled in one arm, which he could not use; after he had tried all remedies in vain, implored the help of SS. Dominic and Vincent, and vowed to Bl. Louis that he would go on his own feet to visit his sepulchre at Valencia, which is a journey of thirty leagues. On the following night the same three Saints appeared to him, of whom Bl. Louis took hold of his arm, and, raising it on high, said: Since you have called on me so greatly, behold, I have come to visit you; and the vision vanished from his eyes. Then, when he cried out with a loud voice, the women who had the care of him ran up, and found him free of all ailment

[44] When Christopher Rodriguez of Valencia was lying ill at Madrid of purple spots, he appears to one sick of purple spots, and favours the vows of all.

the physician despairing of his recovery, his wife Gratia Picaza commended him to Bl. Louis, promising that she would send a silver effigy to his sepulchre; and, having taken out of a certain book a page which displayed the effigy of the same Blessed man, she put it under her husband's pillow. He began suddenly to sleep; and then, waking, he said: Where is that friar who stroked my face with his hand? His wife answered that no friar had been there, but that she had commended him to Bl. Bertrand, and put his image under his pillow. From then on the sick man began to recover, and the next day he was quite well.

ANNOTATIONS.

f. Near Valencia.

CHAPTER III.

Miracles which God wrought through the intercession of St. Louis at a spring blessed by him.

CHAP. III.

When once Bl. Bertrand, as he commonly was, was in afflicted health, Drinking from a spring which the Saint had blessed, one is freed from fever; a certain one of his friends, for the sake of refreshing him, asked him with his assiduous and importunate prayers to deign to go with him to a spring welling up on the boundary of Rusaffa near the walls of Valencia: and since the Servant of God, among his other infirmities, was pressed by continual thirst, he consented to his friend's request to go with him to the said spring, from which, after he had purified it with his blessing, he drank. While they were conversing there, he saw a certain sick man (who was in the service of the lord of that field where the spring was), by name Peter Ximeno, a countryman native of Rusaffa, and the Servant of God asked him what ailment he was suffering from. He answered that it was now six months since he had been suffering from fever. Drink (said the Blessed man) of this water. But he refused, because it would be harmful to his ailment. But when the Blessed man persuaded him to drink, saying that it would not harm him, he drank, and was healed at once.

[46] When, after the Blessed man's death, this miracle was published together with many others wrought by him, hence an immense concourse is made there.

the people began to run together in crowds to that spring and to bring their sick there. For this reason the rector of Rusaffa, called Michael Pelegri, ordered those who were collecting alms for the worship of the most blessed Virgin Mary and for the refreshment of the faithful souls dwelling in purgatory to go there too, because that spring is situated in the parish of Rusaffa; and they in those first two or three days collected about six scudi there. And God wrought so many miracles there through the Blessed man's patronage that in memory of them the trees set round about were laden with votive gifts. Nor is it to be passed over unobserved that that same water, before it was blessed by the Blessed man, had been scanty and easily dried up; but afterwards it never ceased to well up.

[47] and by its virtue a hernia, a fever, Isabel Gerb de Fortea, of the place Catarogia, one league distant from Valencia, had a son of twenty-three months, seized with three most grievous ailments: a hernia larger than a human head, a flux of the belly, and a fever now for many days; so that in the judgement of the physicians he could not recover. She, having heard of the wonderful virtue of this blessed spring, asked leave to carry the sick child there. The father and mother therefore went, with the boy's sister, and the mother, having invoked Bl. Bertrand, in honour of the most holy Trinity three times immersed him naked (he seemed as if bloodless and just about to expire) in the spring up to the loins; and as she was drawing him out the third time, she saw the hernia taken away, not even a fissure remaining where the bowels had previously descended: at that moment too the fever and the flux of the belly ceased: and although the boy was still weak, he nevertheless shortly after recovered his strength.

[48] likewise two other hernias, Hieronyma Capegli, a widow at Rusaffa, had an infant of eighteen months, ruptured beyond measure, who, his intestines descending, cried so vehemently from excessive pain that he mingled even blood from his mouth with his tears and cries. His mother had indeed heard of the wonders of the spring, but from negligence had not taken the boy there. But when once her sister was with her, working in a field not far from the spring, and had heard the boy crying piteously, remembering the spring she carried him there, and, commending him to Bl. Bertrand, with the linen cloth in which he was swaddled, dipped in the water, she washed the hernia two or three times: when this was done, he came out sound at once. In the same way the wife of Louis Capegli, washing with the same water the ruptured son of a certain noble knight, whom she was nursing, healed him.

[49] paralysis, Anne Monforte, a widow at Rusaffa, made paralytic from a certain illness, lay for a long time fastened to her bed, deprived of the use of feet and hands; and one night, another ailment coming on as well, she was fortified with extreme Unction. Then, remembering the said spring, she asked her son Benedict and a certain paternal uncle, as best she could with her mouth twisted by the illness, however deep the night was, to bring her water from it, trusting that through the invocation of Bl. Bertrand she would be healed by God. They therefore brought water from there, and poured it, though with difficulty, into her mouth; and as she drank it, her mouth was brought back to its place, and she suddenly recovered entirely, and recovered the perfect use of her feet and hands; and the next day, to the common wonder of all, she rose from bed. Besides this, her son testified that that water, while he was bringing it, breathed a most sweet odour.

[50] When John Segarra, a maker of stockings, of Valencia, lameness, blindness, had come with his son and maidservant to the said spring, they found there a lame man walking supported on wooden crutches under the arms, who, when he reached the spring, having invoked Bl. Bertrand, washed himself with that water; and at the same time they saw him sound, and hanging his crutches on a nearby tree. That same Segarra had a daughter of six years, now for two years entirely deprived of sight; whom he brought to the spring, and after invoking the help of Bl. Bertrand washed her eyes twice with the same water; and the girl said that she now saw rightly. To test whether this was true, the father threw on the ground a coin, a little piece of bread, and other things of the kind, all which the girl picked up. Another blind girl too, from the mill of Philip Martin, her eyes washed with the same water and the patronage of blessed Bertrand implored, was endowed with sight and returned from there.

[51] Catherine Fuster de Pedros, a widow living at Valencia, a broken spine and a hump of the breast, ulcers of the legs, had a daughter of three years, by name Isabel Anne, who, playing on the gallery of the house, stumbled, and fell down through an opening from the height of two lances, and so vehement was the shock that her spine was broken, and it raised so great a hump on her breast that she was bent backwards in the manner of a bow. With this infirmity, with intolerable torment and difficulty of speaking, she was afflicted for sixteen months. Since in that time remedies had been of no use, her mother took her to the spring; where, after pouring out prayers, she washed her daughter's breast with the water, and with water from the same spring carried home with her in a vessel she washed the same part of her body, at the same time imploring the Blessed man's help: and in that way the daughter began to recover, and on the fifth day her breast was made level as formerly, when she was well. James Elias Buyrac had a son with very ulcerated legs; whom the father, having heard the praises of that spring, took there, washed with the water, and prayed most devoutly to the Blessed man for the health of his son; and at the same time at which he was being washed he entirely recovered, using no remedy thereafter.

[52] John Andrew Sapuerta, standard-bearer of the troop of horse of Gaspar Vitalis, long faintings was seized with an illness at the place of Canet near Morviedro ^a, and it grew in the space of two months to such a point that his life was feared for. Seeing himself brought to this, he had himself conveyed to Valencia, so as to have physicians and medicines more conveniently at hand; and he got there with difficulty. The physicians reckoned him as dead because of the grave faintings of spirit which at times befell him with long deprivation of the senses; and in particular once they lasted beyond twenty-four hours; on account of which he was urged to commend himself to Bl. Louis, who was working many miracles; and in particular mention was made of the spring. He commended himself therefore to the same Saint, and proposed to go there on his own feet, as he did eight days after he had suffered that long fainting; and there went with him Roderick de Soto and Carrasco, both soldiers of his troop.

[53] Going out of his house, which was situated in the street of Montanari, of spirit, he went on with great difficulty to the Preachers, so that he prayed to Bl. Louis before the gate, and from there took the road which leads to the spring. But when he had reached the gate by which one goes to the sea, he was compelled to sit down, because from excessive weakness he could not go further. And however much his companions urged him with importunate prayers to mount the horse which they had brought, he would not, because for the sake of devotion he wished to complete on foot the journey he had begun, stopping again and again and leaning on the two soldiers. When he reached the spring, he invoked the Blessed man again, and a good draught of water

he swallowed, so that all rebuked him for it, because it would harm him; but he did not on that account omit to drink from it again. And after he had stayed there for about the space of an hour, sound and well and without any weariness he took the road back towards Valencia on his own feet, and went straight on to the Preachers to give thanks to the Blessed man.

[54] a grave catarrh of the eyes, Francis Polus, when he was a boy of nine, had his eyes affected with so grave a catarrh that he remained blind for two years, a tormenting fistula having also arisen in one of them. Remedies were applied, but in vain: for which reason his mother resolved to take him to the spring; as she did, others of the neighbourhood accompanying her. Arriving there, they found so great a crowd of people that they could not reach the water. Accordingly they had some of it given them in a vessel, which the mother gave the sick boy to drink, invoking the Blessed man at the same time, and with the same she washed his eyes (which seemed to the boy to grow clear), and carrying with her a flask full of the water she returned home, where she went on washing her son's eyes daily with it. When the water was used up, as the boy was happily recovering, she ordered more to be fetched from the same spring, and, the washing being continued, he was healed shortly after, nor did he ever afterwards suffer a like ailment.

[55] a broken spine and a hump of the breast, Dorothy, wife of Martin Sanciz, a notary, had a boy of three years, who, his spine being broken, bore a hump on his breast, and was so infirm that he was as if immovable, and was watched as though just about to die. The mother, struck with grief, bringing him in a carriage to the spring, commended him to the Blessed man, and with a cloth dipped in the water (not daring, because of the cold weather, to strip him of his garments) she washed his breast, and when that was done returned home, no sign of better health appearing in the boy. On the following day, at the same hour at which she had washed the boy the day before, the mother and those standing round noticed that he was stirring and turning himself over, which he had not done before; and they implored the Blessed man again; and then he began little by little to go along creeping, as children do, and so reached his mother and aunt: so that, recovering little by little, within two days he was freed from that ailment, and survived for many years quite well.

[56] ulcers of the neck, a scurf of the head, a leg hurt by a reed, Francis Doza, a workman, certain swellings having arisen on his neck, which turned into putrid ulcers, after he had experienced no relief for two years from the medicines applied in the meantime, at the persuasion of his sister implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, and going to the said spring washed the ulcers, promising that he would come for nine days to wash at the same place: and soon he began to be better, and at the end of the nine days he was perfectly well. John Baptist, son of Hieronyma Stephana, widow of Philip Perez, a merchant, had his head infected with certain little blisters, which seemed to be scurf, nor in two whole years did he find any help in medicine. Afterwards he commended himself to Bl. Bertrand, and ordered water of the said spring to be brought to him; and having washed his head with it, experiencing relief, he ordered more to be drawn from there, and, continuing to be washed with it, within a few days he came out entirely sound. In Angela Roger, wife of Francis Gomez, a workman of Rusaffa, a piece of reed had been fixed between the two ankle-bones of one of her legs, nor could any of the surgeons in the space of fifteen months take it out from there. Seeing then that nothing was gained by remedies, having implored the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, one morning she went alone to the spring to wash the sick leg, and at the dawn of the following day, waking from sleep, she found herself sound.

[57] Francis Gomez, the husband of the said Angela, was attacked in the month of August by so dangerous a fever fevers, a twofold illness, that he was fortified at once with the holy Viaticum and extreme Unction: and for that reason the physicians who were treating him advised his wife to think of preparing the funeral. Seeing herself placed in this affliction, the unhappy woman implored the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, and she herself hastened as quickly as she could to the spring, and gave her husband water drawn from it to drink, and at the same moment, the fever being driven out, he remained safe. The wife of Anthony Forte at Rusaffa was one evening in such peril of her life that, she having already been anointed with the holy Oil, they were standing by her to help her die as a Christian: but when a portion of the same water had been poured by her husband into her mouth, which she held open after the manner of the dying, the next morning she was found restored to entire health. A little servant of Peter Ximeno, a fisherman of Rusaffa, called Francis Gomez, was sick in his master's hut on the bank of the Albufera ^b, where he helped him in fishing. To him, so ill in that solitary place, his master brought water of the said spring, and when he had drunk it, invoking Bl. Bertrand, he was healed at once, and returned to his usual labour.

[58] Catherine Grau, wife of John Salvator, near Alberaya ^c, fevers and a swelling of the belly are healed. when she had now suffered from fever for many days, remedies having been tried in vain, had herself taken to the spring, and after she had invoked Bl. Louis Bertrand and drunk from the spring, she recovered health. In Bernard Torino the belly had so swelled that for the space of five days he could neither eat nor drink anything at all, nor relieve his bowels. He ordered an urn full of the same water to be brought, and when he had drunk it, as much as there was, the swelling of the body was dissolved without other excrement, and he came out sound. Baptist Ximeno, a fisherman of Rusaffa, in the year 1596, plying his trade on the boundary of Oliva, at a place called Calapatar ^d, was seized with a tertian fever; and when he had suffered from it for twelve days and been very badly punished by it, he had himself carried by sea to the coast of Valencia, whence he made for Rusaffa. The next day, although feverish, he had himself carried to the spring, where, having implored the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, he drank of that water, and at the same moment the tertian fever left him, nor did it seize him afterwards; but when two months after this, fishing in the Albufera, he was swimming and conducting himself indecently, he fell back into the illness; and having invoked the Blessed man again and drunk the water of the spring, he recovered his former health once more.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

Miracles done at the mere invocation of Louis Bertrand.

CHAP. IV.

When lord Louis Esalva Castellar de Villa-nova, lord of Bicorps ^a, At the mere invocation of the Saint a swelling of the arm, had to be let blood by reason of a grave illness, in opening the vein a nerve was hurt, and at once his arm swelled, and such torment came upon him that for two days he could take no rest either by day or by night, nor tolerate even the soft sleeve of his linen shirt. Placed in this ailment and in danger of convulsions, he invoked Bl. Bertrand, adding a vow of a silver arm to be sent to his sepulchre if he recovered. Without delay, the pain ceasing at once, he fell asleep, and afterwards, waking, he found his arm moist, and so reduced in its swelling that in the evening of the same day he was able to write a letter: so well had he recovered.

[60] and of the belly The illustrious Bertrand Boil, a boy of three years, son of the illustrious man John Boil de Arenos, taken by his father to Alsafar ^b, at midnight was unexpectedly seized with so terrible an ailment that he broke out into piteous and inconsolable wailing. At which the father, no less astounded than afflicted, at once lit a candle, and seeing his son twisting himself in a wonderful manner and raising his cry to the heavens, did not dare leave him alone while he summoned the servants, who were far from there; nor indeed could he dress, because he was holding up the sick child with his arm, whose ailment was always growing worse, the belly too swelling: for which cause the innocent boy, overcome by bitter pain, was biting his own hands. The father, at so piteous a spectacle, as though not master of himself, had recourse to the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, beseeching him with most vehement affection that, since the boy had had the name of Bertrand imposed on him in baptism out of devotion towards him, he at least would not permit his own son in baptism to die so cruelly. Scarcely had he uttered those words when the little boy, calmed, fell into a peaceful sleep, and the belly went down, so that in the morning he was found sound as before.

[61] pleurisy, deadly convulsions, The father of Simon Alvarado was suffering from pleurisy, of which the physicians had no good hope. His son advised him to commend himself to Bl. Bertrand, and he, turning to his image, invoked him devoutly, and promised that, if he were healed, he would hang a silver breast at his sepulchre. And so he shortly recovered, but did not fulfil the vow. Hence, when eighteen months after he was seized again by the same ailment, his son asked him whether he had fulfilled the vow by which he had bound himself long before: and when he said no, bathed in tears he repeated his promise and prayers, and without any delay recovered health; nor did he put off hanging up the silver breast that was owed. A certain son of John Pagliares, a physician, and Magdalen Quartada, one year of age, had fallen into convulsions, and while he was lying in his mother's arms he suddenly appeared pale, cold, mute, and affected with other signs of death. At which the most afflicted mother, falling on her knees, said with a loud voice: O holy brother Louis Bertrand, help me, and intercede with the Lord our God that my son may not die. When she had said this the third time, the boy was at once restored to his former health, nor did he ever afterwards suffer that ailment.

[62] Candia Esplugues, while she was present at Mass in the church of the Preachers with her aunt, Thecla Sangenis, a widow, pain of the heart, acute fevers, was attacked by a pain of the heart, which she had often suffered at other times, so bitter that she remained as though dead; and it was then so vehement that for more than the space of an hour she was held for dead. Her aunt, vehemently dismayed by this misfortune, commended her to Bl. Bertrand, and vowed that, if she recovered health, she would bring a silver heart as a gift to his sepulchre. At once the ailment left her, nor did it ever seize her again. James Cifre, a beneficed priest of the church of St. Catherine, martyr, at Valencia, was suffering from acute fevers, which lasted some days. On that account he had been let blood five times, and besides there had been added most acute torments of the side. The woman who served him urged him to implore the help of Bl. Louis Bertrand; but he, indicating that he made little of this, bade her prepare the things which the physician had prescribed. But while she was preparing them, the sick man resolved to invoke the said Blessed man, and he invoked him with the whole affection of his heart; and at the same moment of time he came out free of all ailment; and the woman, bringing the medicines, found that there was no further need of them.

[63] Isabel Joanna Ferrando, a virgin, after she had been afflicted for many days with a grave fever, contraction of a leg, fever, pain of the head, and had at last recovered from it, kept one of her legs so contracted that she could not stretch it out,

and she had to lie in bed for one month. At last she commended herself to Bl. Louis, adding a vow of performing a nine-day devotion at his sepulchre and of hanging up a wax leg there. Then she began to be better, so that she was able (although with great difficulty) to begin the promised devotion; and when she had prayed at the sepulchre, she felt herself even better, and returned home comfortably, and before the nine-day devotion was completed she was entirely well. The same virgin, at another time afflicted with fever and a vehement pain of the head, so that for many days and nights she could take no sleep, having recourse to Bl. Louis with pious prayer, slept that same night, and the next morning felt herself free of fever and without any pain of the head.

[64] On Agnes Valero, daughter of John Gari, a furrier, a pestilent abscess arose on her face, a pestilent abscess, apoplexy,

from which she swelled all over, and that poison and swelling were of such a kind that the physicians pronounced that it was all over with her life. One of her sisters, by name Ursula Antonia, pitying her lot, begged the patronage of Bl. Louis for her, and soon the face went down, the fever left her, and the sick girl at once recovered. Jerome Salvatore, a sail-maker, when he had been enjoying himself with some friends of his with whom he had supped, and was returning to Valencia, near the convent of Remedy ^c was seized with so vehement an apoplectic ailment that, having fallen from his horse, he lay deprived of his senses, his mouth twisted almost as far as the ear, and all turning black. Him, placed on a ladder, they carried about midnight to his mother's house; where, when they had begun to give him the medicine prescribed by the physician, he trembled so much that they did not give the rest. But his most afflicted mother invoked Bl. Bertrand, beseeching him to look on her son mercifully: and as she prayed, behold, the sick man's mouth is brought back to its place, his eyes are opened, and in the morning he found himself safe. Accordingly he went to the Saint's sepulchre to render due thanks; wondering at the grave peril which he had undergone, of which he did not remember anything, nor had he felt any pain.

[65] a wound of the palate, a swelling of the head, Paula, daughter of John Gregory, a carpenter, twelve years old, falling on a cane, drove it into her mouth, and from it received a grave wound in the palate. Hence she poured out from her mouth and nostrils such copious blood that she seemed to herself to be suffocating. Many remedies were applied to stanch it; but in vain, and she remained in that state for three days, nor could she eat or drink anything meanwhile. Her mother Agnes Garzia commended her to Bl. Bertrand, promising that she would celebrate a nine-day devotion and offer a wax throat at the sepulchre; and without delay the blood stopped, and, the nine-day devotion having been begun, before it was completed the girl had recovered. On Sperantia Vergara, wife of Vincent Monforte, there had arisen on her neck a swelling of the size of her head, which clung to her for seventeen years with great pain, nor did it permit her to work. And the physicians asserted that, if the growth were cut off, she would without doubt die. Recognizing then that nothing was left to her in human help, and that she could not work for the support of her family, she sought the patronage of Bl. Bertrand; and one night, after pouring out prayers, while she was sleeping, the swelling was opened without any feeling, and from it copious water flowed out through a tiny hole, which was afterwards easily treated.

[66] a wound of the throat, a vehement pain of the arm, Vincent Monforte, husband of the aforesaid Sperantia, in brawls held with some persons little friendly to him, was very badly hurt in the throat by a firearm, so that he could pass nothing from his mouth into his stomach, and, from the blood bursting out, deprived of his senses and fallen to the ground, he lay for more than the space of an hour as if dead. Hearing this, his wife flew to her husband; but she was not allowed to approach him, because he was dying. She threw herself therefore on her knees, and earnestly begged blessed Bertrand at least not to permit him to die liable to mortal sin. A little after the wounded man raised himself from the ground, and strove with all his might to go to his house on his own feet and without the help of another; and, his wife persevering in her prayers, within a short time he was healed, all wondering who had seen him so mortally hurt. When Anthony John Poncet, a shoemaker, was being let blood by reason of a slight fever, in the very opening of the vein a vehement pain arose in his arm, from which he raged for two nights and one day, and could neither sleep nor find any relief. For which reason he prayed to Bl. Bertrand and to blessed Nicholas Factor, and a little after, falling asleep, rested for three or four hours, and, waking, found himself free of fever, inflammation and every ailment.

[67] Anne Ruuio, wife of James Angel, a rope-maker of bristles, ulcers scattered over the body, after her childbirth was seized with a singular loathing, and the next day many small swellings appeared scattered over her body, which, when they burst, made several holes, especially in the legs, and in particular one in the knee very deep, and so fetid that, when the bandages were taken from it, it could not be borne; with which infirmity indeed she was afflicted for two years without any comfort from the remedies applied. At last, after some days had passed without plasters applied, a certain man, by name Gaspar Perez, persuaded her to ask the patronage of Bl. Louis, and to apply to her ulcers crosswise, in the form of a Cross, some leaves of the black vine, because Bl. Louis himself had used that remedy in the ailment of his legs, and at the same time to recite a certain prayer on the Passion of Christ, which the Blessed man likewise used to recite. The woman, following the counsel, applied the said remedy, and besides promised to perform a nine-day devotion; and when she had begun it for two days, she was found entirely healed, and this miracle appeared the greater because, although she had not put the said leaves on all the sores, she had nevertheless recovered from all in the same two days.

[68] The body of Joanna Explugues, wife of William Picot, a Fisherman, a swelling of the body after childbirth, had remained swollen after childbirth for seven weeks, so that she could not move herself. The physicians, many remedies having been tried in vain, pronounced that she would die of it. Wherefore she cleansed her soul by a general confession of sins, and, having invoked Bl. Bertrand, vowed that she would have a Mass said and offer a taper of good size at his sepulchre. On the following night she slept peacefully (which before she had not been able to do for pain), and the next morning she was healed, and shortly after recovered her former strength.

[69] The wife of John Segarra, a maker of stockings, Catherine by name, [the fever of a woman in childbirth, and the ailment of the stone, are driven away.] expecting her delivery from day to day, fell into a sharp fever, and, turning for the worse, was infected with very black spots; which ailment is of such a kind that few recover from it. In this state the pains of childbirth came on her, and she, so as not to die of that illness, invoked Bl. Bertrand; and when the midwife had been brought, she had already given birth, and remained free of the fever and the spots; which miracle the physician could not sufficiently wonder at. The Rector in Bicorb ^d, called Acacius Frances, suffered from stones at Valencia for two months, continually crying out; but when, after many remedies tried in vain, he had invoked Bl. Louis for three whole days, without any pain he passed a stone as large as the stone of a date, which he had enclosed in gold, and hung up at the sepulchre of the same Blessed man in memory of so great a benefit.

ANNOTATIONS.

d. See letter a here.

CHAPTER V.

Miracles wrought by God through the relics of St. Louis Bertrand.

CHAP. V.

King Philip III ^a from his birth suffered from a certain trouble, Through the Saint's relics Philip III on account of which his father king Philip II wished that in his boyhood he should wear a white scapular embroidered with a golden palm, out of devotion towards St. Peter Martyr ^b, the singular patron of tender age. And when the said king had come to Valencia in the year 1586, and with him the aforesaid most serene prince, after he had honoured the convent of the Preachers with his royal presence before all other churches, the archbishopric excepted, he came to the same convent a second time; and visiting the sepulchre of Bl. Louis Bertrand, he commanded master brother Vincent Justinian, then Prior of that same place, to have as much cut from the scapular of the same Bl. Louis as would suffice for making a small scapular for the said royal prince.

[71] freed from a certain trouble, The Prior did this in the royal palace which the king had at Valencia, and received that which the prince had been accustomed to wear. After a long time, reflecting that the scapular which the prince was wearing was now perhaps worn out, he sent another to Madrid, made from the remainder of the said scapular of Bl. Louis; and when the royal prince had accepted it for his particular use and had begun to wear it, he felt his trouble diminish, and at last he came out entirely free of it. For which cause, mindful of the benefit received from the saint, as soon as he began to reign, he sent letters to Clement VIII, the supreme Pontiff, for the solemn enrolment of the same among the Saints, and repeated them often, as will be seen in book IV of this History.

[72] ulcers put to flight; Vincentia Moregli, daughter of the widow Casaus, had been fastened to her bed for seven months, gravely swollen, and full of certain fetid ulcers scattered over the whole body; and the physicians, having tried in vain to heal her with very many medicines, had left her to herself, attempting nothing further. There was brought to her a piece of the cloth which Bl. Louis, then recently dead, had been accustomed to use for wiping the sore of his leg; which she received into her hands with great devotion and joy, and, invoking the Blessed man, she formed with that same piece the sign of the cross over each ulcer, beginning from the knee, which, as soon as it was signed, she was able to stretch out; and in like manner, as she went on touching them, the other ulcers were cured; from some of which, which had infected the arms, little pieces of bone came out. After she had finished touching them all, every ailment ceased, and she found herself so well that she was soon able to get up from bed and carry on her household business, and she went to the sepulchre of the same Blessed man to render due thanks.

[73] a woman given up by the physicians, one deprived of sight, Lady Isabel Escriva had been despaired of by the physicians, when her mother, taking the opportunity that at that time a finger of Bl. Bertrand (the very one which is kept in the sacristy of the Preachers at Valencia) was to be enclosed in a silver case, begged that the sick woman be touched with it; and when this was granted, while that finger was being placed on her head, she became better, and shortly after recovered entirely. Mother sister Agugliona, of the Order of St. Francis, had for many years suffered from her eyes, and had now come to the point that she was as if entirely deprived of sight: but

as soon as the most illustrious lord bishop Michael Espinosa formed the sign of the cross over her with the girdle of Bl. Bertrand, she suddenly recovered perfect sight.

[74] The illustrious lord James Ferreri, knight of St. James, the governor of the kingdom of Valencia, his son and daughter, and governor of the city and kingdom of Valencia, while in the year 1585 he was at Montio ^c, where king Philip II then had his court, fell into a fever and was brought to his last. Then, having implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, he had his painted effigy hung in the chamber within his sight, and put on his tunic, which he held in great veneration. When these things were done, he was suddenly healed. In the same way his son lord Louis, while he was ill at Valencia, and his daughter the viscountess of Celua, in a dangerous childbirth and the miscarriage of three offspring of seven months, obtained good health.

[75] Gregory Marco, a boy of about four years, a boy contracted from smallpox, suffering from smallpox, had been so contracted by the force of the disease that, his knees being drawn together over his breast, he could not move. The same cause stood in the way of their being able to carry him to Bl. Bertrand, who was then still living, though this servant of God died within a few days after. On the first Wednesday after his death, sister Joanna Marco, of the third Order of St. Dominic, the said sick boy's sister, on bended knees commended him to Bl. Louis in the place in which he had been buried, and, carrying with her a particle of the garment of the same Blessed man received from the fathers Preachers, she returned home and asked the boy in what part of his body he felt most pain; he answered: In the knees. To these she applied the particle of the garment; and at the same time the boy said that he no longer felt any pain in his knees.

[76] In like manner, questioned about the other limbs which were most afflicted, suffering from other ailments at other times, he indicated them one by one, and at the touch of each by his sister he said that each no longer hurt; so that now he was afflicted in no part of his body, and, with his legs rightly stretched out, he was entirely sound. On another occasion too the same boy fell ill, and, the said relics being put on him, recovered. When the same boy for the third time had fallen into an illness, and that a most dangerous one, he himself asked to be carried to the church of the Preachers, where he bade them lay him on the burial place of Bl. Louis, and soon he obtained the desired health so that the next day he returned to the same church on his own feet, and went on walking wherever he wished. Finally at other times too he was gifted with health through the use of those relics.

[77] Lady Isabel Boil, daughter of the illustrious lord John Boil de Arenos, swollen in the knee and legs, oppressed with lethargy, lord of Alsafar ^d, after childbirth kept one knee and leg afflicted with so bitter a pain that, her whole body being badly affected from it, she had to be carried in a chair. Her father, the illustrious lord John, went to Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre to pray for his daughter, and sent to the same daughter of his, staying at Alsafar, a particle of the tunic in which he had died, obtained with much entreaty from father master brother Peter de Salamanca; and when she had received it with due devotion and, the saint's name having been invoked, applied it to the knee, this, together with the leg, at once went down, all pain departed, and she was able to walk excellently. A few days after, a maidservant of the same illustrious lady Isabel fell into a deep lethargy, whence she was in danger of her life; and since she had seen before the wonderful effect of the aforesaid relics in her mistress, she asked that a particle of the garment of that holy Friar (so she called him) be put on her head too, trusting that she would be healed, as truly happened; for, recovering from that time, shortly after she was entirely healed.

[78] persons badly affected in the eyes, The illustrious lord Balthasar Escriva, from a cataract of the eye, was so weak of sight that he was as if entirely blind; nor had various remedies tried been of any use. And since the illustrious lord John Valterra had the spectacles which Bl. Bertrand had used, he lent them to him, and he, having implored the help of the same Saint, using them for nine days without any other remedy, perfectly recovered his lost sight, nor did he afterwards suffer any ailment in his eyes. A certain merchant, called Perpignano, his sight despaired of, had himself led to the house of the said John Valterra, and begged him to allow the spectacles of Bl. Bertrand to be put on him, trusting that in this way his sight would be restored to him. Valterra assenting, he came for nine successive days to the same house for the sake of using the spectacles, and when these nine days had passed, he recovered his entire sight.

[79] a woman often suffering fainting of spirit, and deaf, To lady Frances de Castelui, wife of Jerome Dixar, from an unhappy childbirth there clung certain faintings of spirit, which seized her from time to time for many years. But after she had found that all the remedies which she had applied were not only useless but even harmful to her, her sister, by name Mary, urged her to put on her heart a band which she had, cut from the linen cloth in which Bl. Bertrand had died, and to commend herself devoutly to the same Blessed man. Lady Frances did this, nor did she ever afterwards experience that ailment. When a few years after the left cheek of the same Frances had swelled with a bruise-like colour, and deafness in both ears had followed, and she noticed that the ailment had grown stronger in the space of twenty-four hours, rejecting all medicine she invoked Bl. Bertrand, and put the extreme edge of the aforesaid band into her ears: when this was done, without any delay the cheek went down, her hearing was restored, nor did that ailment ever seize her afterwards.

[80] [a girl despaired of by the physicians from fever, and another from smallpox; one impeded in his limbs, restored to health:] A few days after the death of Bl. Bertrand lady Mary, daughter of the illustrious lord Philip Castelui and lady Joanna Ribot, then about three years old, had fallen into an illness, namely a fever and flux of the belly, which so vehemently weakened her and affected her with nausea that, since for some days she had been able to taste no food, she had to be sustained by broth alone: for which reason the physicians, deprived of all hope of her recovery, affirmed that she could be healed by God alone. But the little girl asked that they put on her stomach the woollen sock of Bl. Bertrand, which was kept in the house, and when it was brought she herself applied it to her stomach; and at the same moment of time, the fever being driven out, she asked for food, ate, and was well. The physicians, coming the next morning rather to ask whether she had died than to visit her, when they heard that she was alive, and saw it, stood very much astounded. Lord John, son of the same lord Philip Castelui, when he was about four years old, from smallpox kept his arms, hands and feet impeded; but after many remedies applied in vain, wrapped in a strip of the linen which had been spread on Bl. Bertrand's bed when he died, he suddenly recovered. At another time too, when the same lord John was so crippled in his feet that he had to be carried in arms and in a little bed, he told lady Mary de Castelui, a widow, who had been the wife of the illustrious lord Francis Martin, that, if a band made from Bl. Bertrand's linen were applied to him, he would be healed. When this was done, without any delay he walked about the house.

[81] Catherine Blesa, a marriageable girl, affected with great pain of the teeth, pain of the teeth, a grave ailment of a finger, fever, a twisted foot, putting a band of Bl. Bertrand to her mouth, was freed. A grave ailment seized one of the fingers of the right hand of sister Raphaela Soler, a virgin of the Third Order of St. Dominic, which tormented her sharply. When, after various remedies applied, it abated nothing, she put to the afflicted finger a band which Bl. Bertrand had once used, received from father brother Michael Herrero, her confessor, and in the same hour that ailment ceased. By the use of the same band a certain sister of hers, gravely feverish, likewise obtained health, and at once leapt out of bed. The same sister Raphaela was so tormented by a twisted foot that she believed it broken. When she was urged to strive with all her effort to visit the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, for there she would be healed; although a certain kinsman of hers, laughing at the counsel given, told her to send for someone skilled in curing an ailment of this kind, she nevertheless, relying on the aforesaid Blessed man, would admit no remedy then except a little piece of his habit to be put under her foot. When this was done, she had strength enough to be able to be brought to the place where he had first been buried; and there, having poured out prayers and completed a nine-day devotion, she was healed.

[82] A certain girl, by name Justa Gliosa, in the service of Raphaela Soler, a dislocated arm and a pleurisy driven away: senses restored, had committed her dislocated arm for the space of nine days to be treated by a certain man of great name and experience in that profession; but since the pain in it always grew worse, when relics of Bl. Bertrand were applied to that arm, without any delay intervening, without other medicine she came out well. Vincentia Martinez, in the service of the same Raphaela Soler, when she was suffering from a sharp pleurisy, after various medicines used in vain, relics of Bl. Bertrand being put to her, fell asleep, and waking found herself sound. Isabel Joanna Lopez, afflicted for six weeks with a vehement fever, had now for three days been deprived of speech, sight and the sense of touch, nor had she taken any nourishment, except that they cooled her mouth with cotton dipped in water; the physicians themselves wondering that she survived among the living so long without any nourishment. There were present two Religious of the Order of St. Dominic, who told her master, Francis Blanes, a noble knight, that since the sick woman was deprived of her senses, so that they could not console or otherwise help her, they would withdraw, leaving on her body some Relics of various Saints which they had brought; and so they did. And when each was applied to her, she did not move at all; but when the relics of Bl. Bertrand (to whom her master commended her, beseeching him by the devotion with which he had always regarded him living and dead) were applied to her, at that very moment of time the sick woman, opening her eyes, began to be much better, and within a few days she entirely recovered. As a memorial of this miracle the things which had already been prepared for her funeral were brought to the saint's sepulchre.

[83] The daughter of Francis Ferreri and Benedict, who afterwards became a nun in the monastery of St. Julian, of the Order of St. Augustine ^e, a pain of the sides driven away, a mortal wound healed, was wretchedly tormented by an ailment of the sides; and when her mother had put on her finger the bone ring which Bl. Bertrand had once used, all pain at once left her. Thomasa Angela Alberola, wife of Cosmas Morat, a shoemaker, had been brought to such an extremity of her life that she no longer saw, nor spoke, and had already been anointed with the holy Oil of the sick. Father Francis Clemente brought her a finger of Bl. Bertrand, and put it into her mouth, crying out with a loud voice that she should commend herself to the Blessed man. She perceived the words, and,

as devoutly as she could, she implored his help in her heart: when behold, at once recovering sight and speech, she asked what it was that they had put into her mouth; and having heard that it was a finger of Bl. Bertrand, she at once was even better, and shortly after obtained entire health. John Lopez, the governor's porter, had been so hurt in the belly with a sharpened stake by a certain Moor, whom he wished to compel to return to his master, that blood and other things flowed out of his mouth. For which reason the physicians affirmed that his life was certainly past hope: but when the tunic of Bl. Louis had been put on him, he suddenly began to be better, and was shortly healed.

[84] a fever and a swelling of the neck driven away, a wound of the head cured, Brother Gaspar Lopez, of the Order of St. Jerome, before he had taken up the religious state, was suffering from a strong fever and a swelling of the neck, when a certain woman urged him to invoke Bl. Louis and put on his neck a piece of his garment which she had. He obeyed her advice, and soon both the swelling of the neck and the fever departed. A certain young lad, called James Eruas, a native of Alcudia de Carlet ^f, plucking mulberry leaves, fell from the tree, and so hurt his head that the physicians denied that he could be healed; but when a particle of the Blessed man's habit had been applied to his head, he slept that night and felt better: and the next morning the physicians came to ask whether he had died; and having heard that he was better, they wished to treat him; and finding the said relics, not knowing what they were, they threw them on the ground: but when the young lad said that they were from Bl. Louis's habit, they took them up and kissed them. Then, examining the wound, they found him in so happy a state that the young lad at once went out of bed and out of the house.

[85] a pain of the foot extinguished, an abscess of the neck removed. Eugenia Specchio, wife of Thomas Gregory Falegname, was suffering great pain in the little toe of her left foot, which had afflicted her for many years. The surgeons said that for curing it it was necessary to amputate the last joint of the same toe, because the ailment was deep-rooted, which had kept her at home with most grievous pain for six months: but when a certain neighbour of hers, by name Gomiza, had applied a particle of Bl. Bertrand's habit to the badly affected toe, on the following night she slept, and began to recover notably, so that within six or seven days, perfectly healed, she went to the Blessed man's sepulchre to give thanks. A certain widow, called Barranca, had a little daughter, whom she was still suckling, afflicted with an abscess on the neck, which the surgeons had resolved to cut the next morning. Matthew Benet Comes, a notary, moved by pity, gave the mother a little piece of Bl. Bertrand's habit, and when she put it on the afflicted part, the infant was found well the next morning.

ANNOTATIONS.

a. Of Spain.

CHAPTER VI.

Continuation of the same argument.

CHAP. VI.

Anne of Jesus, a virgin from the place of Toro ^a in Castile, Likewise through the Saint's relics a twofold fever, forty years of age, living at Valencia, had been brought into peril of her life by fevers, nor did she retain in her stomach anything, whether of the food or of the medicine which was given her; for which reason the physicians too affirmed that it was all over with her. Lord Michael de Espinosa, bishop of Morocco, visited her, and gave her a little piece of a scarlet band which had been Bl. Louis's, and the sick woman, having kissed it, put it on herself, imploring the Blessed man's help at the same time, and, no delay intervening, she felt herself sound, and betook herself to his sepulchre to give thanks to the Blessed man, and hung up a votive image. Mary Ruiz, wife of Anthony Cavaliere, was lying gravely ill of a lethargic fever so strong that for the greater space of time she remained deprived of her senses and of knowledge. When she was in this peril, a certain one of the household of the patriarch, archbishop of Valencia ^b, by name Gaspar, going to her house, with a loud voice admonished the sick woman to commend herself to Bl. Louis, of whose habit he had something with him, asserting that he would put it on her, and that, if she had sure trust, she would be healed. The sick woman, although much oppressed by the severity of the ailment, nevertheless understood him speaking to her, and, as she could, invoked the Saint; and when the said relics were applied to her, she was at once freed of the fever, and the physician was astounded that he saw her, I do not say entirely well, but even alive.

[87] Frances Villalua, widow of Gaspar Escolano, a citizen of Valencia, colic pains, who neither regarded the Blessed man with any devotion nor believed in his miracles, being accustomed to suffer colic pains, one evening in the summer season after the Blessed man had died was seized by them. And there came to her house a certain person bringing a little white cloth from the Blessed man's habit, which she, though (from what has been said above) incredulous, nevertheless accepted, with little devotion; and at the same time at which she applied it to her body, the pains ceased: she therefore, finding herself healed, gave the same relics to her son, doctor Escolano ^c; but as soon as she was without that sacred remedy, she relapsed into the ailment, and having received it back, was healed again. Those same relics having then been lost through negligence, when the said woman was once in the chapel of St. Vincent, she entered the church of the Preachers at Valencia, and was there seized again by the same ailment. Then indeed she considered her slight devotion towards Bl. Bertrand, at whose sepulchre she had never up to then bent her knees; and she commended herself to him with the whole affection of her heart, promising that, if she obtained health, she would visit his sepulchre and perform certain particular prayers. At the same moment she obtained health, and, going to his sepulchre, gave thanks to the Blessed man, and persevered thereafter in frequently visiting it and in remarkable devotion towards him; nor was she ever again afflicted with the aforesaid pains.

[88] a deadly melancholy, Lady Isabel Anne Garces Marsiglia, wife of John Perez, major-domo of the patriarch, archbishop of Valencia, from a most grievous infirmity had fallen into such melancholy that on the following night no pulse of the artery was detected in her, no faculty of knowing, and accordingly she was judged by the physicians to be past hope of life; but as soon as the most illustrious lord Michael Spinosa, bishop of Morocco, had put on her the girdle of Bl. Louis, and had commended her to the same Blessed man, and the sick woman herself too had done the same as devoutly as she could, she recovered entire health together with the pulse of the artery, nor was there need besides either of medicines or of physicians.

[89] the pain of a burnt hand, When John Lawrence Roig, in the year 1581, on the day sacred to St. Denis, had in his hand a paper in which gunpowder was wrapped, it, kindled by fire, burned his hand: and the pain was so vehement that from the way in which he twisted himself, or from some other ill-counselling madness, he seemed as if he would have thrown himself headlong into a well. Many remedies were applied, by which, however, the immense burning was not mitigated: when his mother, returning home, without delay applied a particle of the linen of Bl. Bertrand's bed to the burnt hand, and invoked him with more tears than words: and soon the pain ceased and the son was at rest. There still remained then some blisters on the same hand; but these vanished within a short time, no trace of burnt flesh being left. In memory of this miracle they hung up a wax hand at the Blessed man's sepulchre.

[90] asthma, When the same John Lawrence Roig was afterwards suffering from asthma, they gave him hot water to drink for several days in the morning, by which he so stirred up the corrupt humours of his chest and stomach that, feeling himself suffocating, he was in danger of his life, and accordingly his confessor was quickly summoned. His mother, who besides the impending loss of so dear a pledge feared much that he would die without having received the sacraments, on bended knees, weeping, implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, that at least he should not depart from this life without confession of his sins, and applied the aforesaid sacred relics to her son. As she did so, he recovered at once, as though he had never suffered any ailment. At which miracle all those wondered very greatly who had run up, roused by the wailings which a little before had filled the house.

[91] an abscess of the cheek, a swelling of the arm, At another time an abscess infected the left cheek of the same John Lawrence, and many remedies were tried so that it might be dissolved without cutting, lest the face be disfigured by a scar. But the physicians, seeing themselves forced to cutting, resolved to do it the next day. Meanwhile the pious and grieving mother, with her accustomed trust, having recourse to the Blessed man's patronage, now often proved, and to his relics, put them on the abscess. When this was done, he rested that night; and in the morning the cheek was found brought back to its natural state; and in his mouth much pus, which had flowed out of the cheek through a tiny fissure, which, since it was of no moment, was treated with no medicine, and shortly after closed of itself. Five or six years after, in the month of July or August, the same John Lawrence was wounded in the arm, in which, when it was necessary to open a vein for him, it could not be done because of the humours which had flowed together in it and had made the whole swell as far as the face. But the mother, imploring Bl. Bertrand, asked his brother lord Jerome to lend her an undershirt of the same Blessed man, and as soon as she clothed her son in it, the face and arm at once went down, so that the vein could be opened for him without any inconvenience.

[92] Christopher Agramontelli, brother of Amator, a beneficiary in the parish of St. Stephen at Valencia, a grave illness, various lay so gravely ill that, already deprived of speech and pulse of the artery, he had been anointed with the holy Oil. For which reason his aforesaid brother commended him to Bl. Bertrand, put a little piece of his habit on his head, and applied every effort that the sick man too should invoke him in his heart. At the same point of time he began to recover, in the evening too he was better, and shortly after he was gifted with perfect health. When a boy of ten, son of lord James Ferreri and lady Angela Diaz Ferrando, had been brought by fevers to such a point that the physicians despaired of curing him, a certain Religious of the Order of Preachers, named Dominic, coming to that house, urged that, the help of Bl. Bertrand having been implored for the sick boy, they should remove the things which they had applied to his head, and put on only something from the Blessed man's habit; for so he would be healed. The mother carried out the counsel, and as she was putting on those relics of the habit, the young lad felt himself well, and asked for food and ate, and remained sound for five continuous years, at the end of which the same illness attacked him. Hence the mother, remembering the neglected vow by which she had bound herself, of a coverlet to be offered at the Blessed man's sepulchre, repeated the vow with prayers; and soon the sick boy came out sound, and the mother without delay sent the coverlet with a large taper to the sepulchre, and the youth the next day walked through the city.

[93] In the year 1591 Roch Augustine Banchiere

was brought into peril of his life by a sharp fever, again already deprived of sight and sense and fortified with the holy last Unction. His wife's sister, pitying the state of her sister and of her kinsman, had an undershirt of Bl. Bertrand lent to her by Violanta Giuncar, which, after prayers had been poured out, they put on the sick man; and he, who before had been able to hear nothing at all, understood them when they said that they had Bl. Bertrand's undershirt. Scarcely had they put it on the dying man when he felt himself sweetly cooled; and hence, after he had rested well that night, in the morning he was well, and asking what they had wished to indicate by the undershirt of the said Blessed man, he received the answer that he had been healed by the use of it.

[94] In the year 1582 or 1583, towards its end, fevers, a strong fever attacked the wife of Gaspar John Perez, a maker of silk cords, and there appeared in her a malignant dryness, with great inflammation, which, beginning from the left breast, had infected the whole arm. In this case her husband orders a confessor to be summoned as quickly as possible, to whom she could scarcely confess for fever and pain. After this she ordered that what she had from that habit of Bl. Bertrand be given her, and she applied it to her breast. The husband, who meanwhile had gone down into the lower chamber, in which he had stayed for the time in which the Apostles' Creed could be recited once, returning from there found his wife restored to entire health, the confessor still being present, who was father Barci of the Society, with other persons, all carried away into wonder.

[95] a pain of the sides, The noble knight John Baptist Benedicti was accustomed to be afflicted with frequent torment of the sides, and indeed sometimes so sharp that he was almost driven to death. When this had once so happened, his wife lady Agnes Antist advised him to pray to Bl. Bertrand, and to allow a piece of his habit, which she had received from father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist, to be put on his body, and the afflicted part to be touched with it. But he refused it twice, adding that he did not lack many Saints solemnly canonized whom he might invoke, and to whom, and not to others, he commended himself. But as the ailment grew more and more severe, the woman, without his noticing anything, put the aforesaid relics on the badly affected part, and told him so. Then the sick man, understanding his wife's constant trust, moved by piety, implored Bl. Louis, and at once the pain ceased, nor had he ever afterwards experienced any trace of the same ailment when, thirteen or fourteen years having passed from then, he testified to all these things.

[96] an incurable illness, a malignant fever, Sister Margaret Agugliona, of the Third Order of St. Francis, was ill, and in the judgement of the physicians could be cured by no remedy; and when the patriarch had sent to her Gaspar Aguglioni, a priest and the brother of the same sister, with the girdle of Bl. Louis, and this had been tied to her neck, and the Gospel of St. Mark had been read, she at once opened her eyes and moved her head, which before she held immovable, and rose from bed safe and sound. When Vincent Matthias, about fifteen years of age, son of Vincent Ceuco, a stonecutter, was suffering from a malignant fever, and five openings of a vein had been of no use to him, the physician Almenara augured very badly of him. Wherefore the mother, having exhorted her son, placed in so great a peril, to beg the help of Bl. Bertrand, put under his head a particle of the tunic of the same Blessed man. The son obeyed, and at once began so to recover that the next day he visited his sepulchre to give thanks to the Blessed man.

[97] a pain of a hardened breast, a flow of blood, Catherine, wife of Michael Sayas, a workman, was tormented with great pain under one of her breasts, which had hardened like a stone, and she had a contracted arm, which she could not stretch out, and she was suffering from fever; by which illness she was often afflicted. But remembering that lady Magdalen Magnoz Borgia had something of Bl. Bertrand's habit, with which she had once cured a pain of the breast, she begged her to lend her those relics; and as soon as she put them on her breast, the pain departed, the hardness was dissolved, the fever ceased and the arm was stretched out, nor did she ever afterwards suffer that ailment. Eugenia Fontana, wife of Philip Fuset, a citizen, had been vehemently weakened by a flow of blood for fifteen days; and as she was very devoted to Bl. Louis, she bade her husband give her something of the habit of the same Blessed man, trusting that by its use she would recover health. She received it, and put it on her body; without delay the flow of blood stopped, and she got down from bed the next day, and was never afterwards seized by that ailment.

[98] Angela Vera, wife of Christopher Corvi, a notary, ulcers of the breasts, an abscess of the neck, had already given birth four times, nor had she ever been able to suckle her offspring except with the left breast alone, because in the right she always had ulcers instead of milk. At the fifth childbirth the ailment infected the left breast too, so that she could no longer suckle without bitter pain. Something of Bl. Bertrand's habit was brought to her, and when it had been applied to the aforesaid breast, she was at once freed of the ailment and could suckle easily. She had now suffered that infirmity for four months; and eight days after the healing of the left breast she put the same relics on the right too, which she likewise obtained to be healed, and she could give this too to be sucked, which she had never been able to do before. On Raphaela, daughter of doctor Almenara, eleven years of age, an abscess arose on her neck, whence she also fell into a fever. And when it had now been brought to the point that it had to be cut, in the evening they applied to her something from Bl. Louis's habit; and the surgeon, coming the next morning to make the incision, found that the whole swelling had vanished, to the singular wonder of the father, who was a famous physician.

[99] Magdalen Pastora and di Ordognes had a daughter, a split head, a quinsy, deaf ears, Crispina by name, who two days after she was born uttered a loud cry at night, and her head was found split like a pomegranate with a very deep fissure. When the midwife denied that the infant could be healed, the mother put on her head something from Bl. Louis's habit, and most piously begged his help, vowing that, if her daughter recovered from it, she would offer a coverlet with a taper at his sepulchre and have one Mass celebrated. And within two hours the infant perfectly recovered. Magdalen Meca, wife of Matthew Benet Comes, a notary, frequently suffered from quinsy, which afflicted her vehemently; and when, seized by it, she was in the church of the Preachers, she had recourse to Bl. Bertrand with a vow of a wax neck to be brought to his sepulchre. Then, returning home, she put a particle of the same Blessed man's garment to her throat, and the next day she was sound, nor did she ever afterwards suffer that ailment. The same woman testified that she had been freed from various infirmities by the use of the same relics. When Catherine Occagna, a virgin, had for several days been entirely deprived of all faculty of hearing, father brother John Ferreri, of the Order of Preachers, passing before her house, having read the Gospel, put something from Bl. Louis's habit into her ears, and at the same moment of time she perfectly recovered her lost hearing.

[100] Lord John Vives de Canamas was suffering from an obstruction of the stomach, an obstructed stomach, a swollen throat, so that he could digest and drink nothing except tepid water; and hence he was passing a very troublesome old age. His daughter, lady Hieronyma, gave him a little case which had once been Bl. Bertrand's, by which, placed on his stomach, he was so helped that he shortly recovered, and was able even to drink snow-cooled water. In Isabel Joanna Sapena a fish-bone had now for thirteen or fourteen days stuck crosswise in her throat; and since she could neither swallow it nor eject it, she had begun to fear that she would be suffocated, especially because her neck had already swelled vehemently. At last, a particle of Bl. Louis's garment having been tied to her neck, she slept that night without feeling; and on the following morning the swelling had gone down, nor did she feel the bone any longer, nor did she ever know what became of it.

[101] a trembling of the body, a double fever, Lady Mary Costa, having taken a medicine, from a vehement disturbance of the body fell into a grave ailment, which so tied her tongue that she could utter no complete word, and she trembled in her whole body: and when this ailment had held her now for two hours, remembering Bl. Louis, her kinsman, she asked by signs of her husband James Bertrand for the little chest in which he kept some relics of the Saint, and from it she put a little piece of his habit to her neck, and at the same time she recovered complete speech, and the trembling of the body ceased. Lady Anne Gasco, a kinswoman of Bl. Bertrand, suffering from a double tertian fever, was attacked in the right part of her head by an intense pain, which deprived her of sense for ten days; for which reason her hair was cut off, and a vein opened eight times, from which, however, she was none the better, but on the contrary was much inclining towards death. But when she had heard from her confessor, who was of the Order of Preachers, of a miracle which had been obtained in those days through the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, she invoked the same Blessed man, adding a vow of offering him, if she were healed, a silver head; and after this, a little cap which he had used being put on her head, the pain was at once mitigated, and on the following night entirely driven away.

[102] and an erysipelas are healed. Boniface Ferreri de Altesa, a student of letters, by reason of an erysipelas, from which his face and neck had swelled, already fortified with the holy last Unction, when he had sent someone to bring him the finger of Bl. Bertrand, there came two fathers Preachers, who brought one of the bones of St. Peter Martyr and a shoe of St. Vincent Ferrer, because the desired finger was not at hand, which other fathers had carried elsewhere. When the household grieved that it could not be had, the said Religious promised that they would bring it; and so they did; but only three days after. And when at last they brought it, the sick man had already been brought to such a point that he neither spoke nor heard. When the finger was put to his forehead, he suddenly spoke, saying: What is that which you have put on my forehead? Seeing so wonderful a thing, they touched a little vessel of water with the same finger, for the sake of testing whether he could drink; and he drank successfully, although now for four days he had been able to swallow nothing at all. The next day all the swelling vanished, and within three days he perfectly recovered. This miracle happened on the 17th day of April of the year 1600.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

Certain miracles done to those piously visiting the sepulchre of St. Louis Bertrand.

CHAP. VII.

Gaspar Ramires, a workman of the city of Valencia, in the seventh year of his age, seized with an ailment of the eyes, At the saint's sepulchre was as if entirely deprived of sight for two years, and after various medicines had been applied he at last became entirely blind, and remained so for two whole years. His stepmother Joanna Anne Vincenza urged him to commend himself to Bl. Louis, and to vow a nine-day devotion at his sepulchre. He, though of so tender

an age as he was, invoked the Saint with the greatest devotion he could, and, led by his sister Hieronyma, began the nine days' devotion. And on the sixth or seventh day he besought a certain father, by name brother Gaspar Arnau, to give him leave (which he greatly desired) to put his eyes to the stone chest in which the sacred body lay.

[104] The place being opened, then, he most devoutly applied his eyes nine times to the said tomb, sight to a blind boy, at the same time imploring the Blessed man's help. And at the last time his eyelids were opened, and there flowed out of his eyes a great quantity of muddy water; and then he was led back home by the same sister of his. His stepmother, seeing so much water flowing from his eyes, asked what he had done, that they were running so; and he, setting out the matter as it had been done, answered that that water was prodigious, and that in proportion as it flowed out his sight was getting better, so that he was now beginning to see a little. His stepmother therefore wished to wash his eyes with a little water; but the boy would not allow it, asserting that he hoped that the Blessed man would heal them without any other remedy. So, continuing the nine-day devotion, he was better from day to day; so that, when it was finished, his blindness too was finished, and he thereafter always enjoyed perfect sight.

[105] John de Pedevera, being in the service of the patriarch, the power of walking to a lame man, was standing playfully in the great courtyard of the archiepiscopal palace of Valencia under a window through which certain sacks full of cloves were being drawn up on high: and when one of them, very large, had already been raised, the rope broke, and the sack fell from on high straight on him, and struck him so badly that by its weight it broke both his hips. Hence he lay in bed as if maimed for nine months, at the end of which, when he had begun, though only with great difficulty, to walk supported on crutches, he was sent with a certain man to the sepulchre of Bl. Louis, whither he dragged himself with most grievous torment; and when he had reached that sacred place, he wished to strive in every way to fall on his knees; which he also did. After he had commended himself there to Bl. Louis with many prayers, he rose from the ground using the help of no one, whether of man or of crutches, and found himself so sound and firm on his feet that he walked without any inconvenience, just as though he had never suffered the aforesaid fractures. Wherefore, as a memorial of the miracle, he hung his crutches at the same sepulchre.

[106] hair lost from scurf restored: Hieronyma Giner, a girl, daughter of Francis Giner, a workman, in the street of Morvedra, being vehemently ill, lost all her hair, and was ulcerated over her whole head; which many ascribed to scurf, many to scrofula. Many remedies indeed were tried, but she was losing her hair more and more from day to day. Having learned this, her mother Ursula Soler, taking her with her, began a nine-day devotion to Bl. Bertrand, and on the first day, after pouring out prayers before the Saint's sepulchre, she dipped a little cotton in the oil and water of one of the lamps which were burning there, and anointed her daughter's head with it. When certain of the bystanders had seen this, they told her that she was doing wrong in anointing the head with oil; for it would do much harm. But she, caring nothing for these things and relying on the Saint, went on anointing, and on the anointed head put nothing but a fine veil. On the third day the hair already began to appear, and at the end of the nine days it had grown in its places over the whole head, thicker than it had been before, and she was in every way healed.

[107] dry breasts endowed with milk. Andrea Alreus, wife of Jerome Soler, a workman in the street of Morvedra, had already given birth three times, and the first and second offspring, because she lacked milk, she had committed to a nurse, and they had died. The third time she bore a girl, whom for the same cause she gave to be suckled to a woman whom she was keeping in her house: and when the infant was now three months old, on account of a certain quarrel with the same nurse, she strove with every means to procure milk for herself, and among other things she had her breasts sucked by a certain girl; whence it came about that blood often flowed from them, and she was compelled to abstain both from this and from other efforts. Meanwhile, the aforesaid nurse falling ill, it was necessary to hire another; which caused much trouble to the wretched woman. In these straits she resolved to beg the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, and vowed to perform a nine-day devotion at his sepulchre; and when she had begun it, on the sixth day she abounded with such a plenty of excellent milk that she was able herself without any inconvenience to suckle her infant, who was now passing the fifth month of her age. Afterwards too she gave birth several times, and suckled her offspring happily using no other remedy.

[108] scrofula, When Christopher Benet Gomez was a boy, a great quantity of scrofulous swellings infected his neck, especially one as large as a hen's egg, which ailment he suffered for many years before Bl. Bertrand died. But after his death, when the repute of his miracles was growing famous, the wife of James Antolini, a merchant, who had brought up Christopher and was caring for him, urged him to commend himself to the same Blessed man and to perform a nine-day devotion; and she herself wished to accompany him on the first day to the Blessed man's sepulchre. And while the young lad was continuing the devotion, the scrofulous swellings began one by one to dry up, so that, when the nine days' devotion was finished, all the ailment too had an end.

[109] a fever and swellings of the neck driven away: An infant called Mark Anthony, son of James Perez de Isteglia, a noble knight and doctor of laws, two months of age, had been seized with a sharp fever, and there appeared on his neck certain swellings, whence his face too had swelled; for three days now he had not sucked the breast, nor could anything be dropped into him through the mouth; so that the physicians had despaired of his life, and he lay without motion. For this cause they carried him with veiled face into a certain lower chamber, so that the mother should not see him dying. But lady Joanna de Heredia and de Pagliares, the infant's maternal grandmother, moved by piety, sent her son, called Thomas in the world, afterwards Brother Jerome, with a piece of taper about one palm long, bidding him light it at the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand and pray there for the infant until the taper was consumed. When this was done, and he had returned to render account to his mother, they uncovered the infant, and saw him moving, the neck too and the face without swelling, the eyes open, the rest of the body too lively, and free of all fever. Without delay he began to suck milk. The same Mark Anthony, when he had reached the age of ten or twelve years, was freed through Bl. Bertrand from a most grievous ailment which he was suffering in his knee, at that very moment of time at which his mother was praying to him for him.

when the surgeon, opening a vein of the left, hurt one of the nerves, and so she was crippled in both arms with intolerable pain. But when, on the counsel of a certain friend of hers, she had had her arms anointed with the oil of the lamps burning before Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, both were at once restored to their former vigour. Ursula Marc, wife of Francis Tibona, from a certain infirmity of both arms, using remedies, was worse from day to day. Having recourse therefore to the patronage of Bl. Louis, she vowed him a nine days' devotion; and when it was begun, the impediment of her arms likewise began to diminish, and before the end of the aforesaid devotion she came out well.

[111] Catherine Alegre, a gangrene the size of an orange having been discovered in one of her breasts, and a gangrene of the breast:

which the physicians pronounced incurable, turned to Bl. Bertrand, towards whom she had been piously disposed before too, promising a nine-day devotion. And the further she advanced in fulfilling the vow, the better she felt, so that when the nine-day devotion was finished no trace of that ailment remained in her. A certain surgeon, by name Morano, who had asserted to her that the ailment was incurable, seeing her so healed, could not sufficiently wonder, affirming that he would never have believed it had he not seen it with his own eyes. Some time after the aforesaid Catherine had seen herself healed, as she was God-fearing, a scruple of conscience came upon her for having asked for that grace; because it seemed to her that she could have used that ailment, by bearing it, for acquiring an immense gain in heaven. For that cause she undertook another nine days' supplication, beseeching the Blessed man that, if it were more useful to her soul, he would intercede with God for the same illness to be sent upon her again. When that devotion was completed, her breast began to swell again; then so deep a sore appeared in it that the surgeon asserted that he could see her intestines through it: and she bore that infirmity most patiently for more than a whole year.

[112] Anne Salvador after childbirth came out swollen in such a manner a woman swollen after childbirth, one contracted in the arms, that she could not move herself, and so she remained from the day sacred to St. Roch, which is the 16th of August, to the 30th of November; in which time, making no progress from remedies, she began to use crutches, supported on which she walked with great torment. At last she commended herself to Bl. Louis, and betook herself to visit his sepulchre, and when she had reached the doors of the church, leaving her crutches there, she went forward with what effort she could to the aforesaid sepulchre, and, having prayed there a good space of time, she rose safe and sound, and, going forward readily, hung her crutches at the sepulchre. Beatrice Spina, a virgin of thirty-three years, testified that, when she was with others before Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, she had seen a poor little woman, who had been a washerwoman, contracted in both arms so that she could not move them, praying there, and with great labour putting her arms to the sepulchre; and that then she had heard the same woman saying with a loud voice, with weeping, that she was healed; as was in fact found by the bystanders and by others who had run up at her cries.

[113] a woman very badly affected with scrofula, Angela Hieronyma Castelli, wife of Augustine Perez, when she was eight years old, had fallen down from a gallery; from which fall there arose round her neck many small swellings, which the physicians held for scrofula, and which, when they wished to cure them, made such large sores that her sister, seeing them being treated, fainted. The mother, noticing that nothing was gained by human medicines, took the sick girl to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, and there, shedding many tears, prayed him to deign to look kindly on her poverty, since she had not the means to support herself and her family. In this affliction the porter, brother Anthony Ballestrier, saw her, consoled her, bidding her trust that Bl. Bertrand would provide her a remedy; and he gave her a particle of the garments of the same Saint, which the mother without delay tied to her daughter's neck, and both the one and the other vowed a nine-day devotion; and when it was performed, the daughter was so perfectly healed that no trace of the former ailment appeared in her.

[114] a woman crippled in the arm, suffering from a hernia, When the same Hieronyma for some years

after was at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre in the evening, she saw a certain stranger woman, who was carrying in her bosom a little girl, as it seemed to her, of eight or ten months of age, crippled in one arm; and this woman, having fallen on her knees there for the sake of praying, asked for a little oil from the lamps which were burning in the same place. A certain one of the Religious, therefore, meeting her, let down one lamp, and obliged the woman; and she anointed the infant's arm with that oil, and it was healed at once, and the mother, weeping for joy, gave thanks to Bl. Bertrand for so remarkable a benefit. Peter Siria, a harness-maker, who had suffered a hernia from his boyhood, as soon as Bl. Bertrand died (at which time he may have been about forty-three years of age), having heard of his remarkable miracles, began a nine-day devotion at his sepulchre, praying that he might be freed from so troublesome an infirmity; and when the devotion was completed, he found the hernia healed and himself well.

[115] persons infected with scrofula healed: to a workman Lord John Boil de Arenos used to bestow alms on a certain poor young man begging through the city of Valencia, a Lombard by nation, infected with scrofula, and he once urged him to go to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand to pray for health. The young man complied, and, having poured out prayers, anointed his neck with the oil of the lamps which burn beside it, and obtained health; as he himself set out to the said lord John, showing the traces of the scrofula. John Salvatore, a workman at Alboraya ^a, one day while working felt so vehement a pain in one of his feet that he believed it broken; and accordingly he went to a certain woman at Valencia skilled in curing ailments of that kind, to have her treat him. She applied her medicines, by which he was not only not healed, but even crippled in that whole right side of his; so that, since he could neither walk nor stretch out his foot, he had to be carried in arms; in which afflicted state he remained more than a year without any relief from the medicines applied.

[116] But having heard of the many miracles which Bl. Bertrand had wrought, the use of his feet he brought it about that, placed by his wife on a borrowed beast, he was taken to the sepulchre of the same Blessed man, whither, from excessive weakness and the troublesome carriage from Alboraya, he arrived with labour and torment. When they had reached the doors of the convent, his wife set him down from the beast as comfortably as she could, and led him into the church; and because he was very much worn out, he suffered a fainting of spirit, and remained in it for a good space of time. Then, his spirit having been recovered, he strove with all his strength, so that with the help of his wife he reached as far as the aforesaid sepulchre, before which, placing his knees, he invoked Bl. Bertrand to be propitious to him, and a little after he visited the chapel of the Rosary and other altars comfortably and without help. But when, having gone out of the church, he had mounted the horse again so as to return home in the same way in which he had come, the first ailment seized him, and so it happened to him two or three times besides.

[117] restored Wherefore, weighing that, while he was in the church, he could walk, and as soon as he had gone out of it he was hindered by the same ailment, he suspected that perhaps it pleased God that he should go to the church on his own feet, not on horseback. He bade his wife therefore carefully procure a pair of crutches, and, having prayed the Saint to supply him with strength by which he might be able with their help to reach his sepulchre, he committed himself to the journey from Alboraya to Valencia (which are about half a league distant), moving himself along little by little, and spending more than four hours. The next day he spent no more than an hour on the same journey, already then beginning to be better; and when meanwhile he had continually invoked the Blessed man with sure trust, rising to his feet he seemed to himself to be well, left his crutches there, and returned home on his own feet, and was able to resume his former labours, and remained sound for two months.

[118] But when he was then giving his attention to bird-catching, wetted in the field by a thick shower, he relapsed into the same infirmity; restored again; scrofula of the neck driven away. but, the same devotion being resumed, on the third day on which he visited the sepulchre he again obtained perfect health, and afterwards always kept it. Lord Michael de Villanova, a boy, had his whole neck sprinkled with large and ripe scrofulous swellings: he performed a nine-day devotion at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, and while he was doing so the scrofula was continually driven away, so that, when those nine days were finished, all that ailment likewise entirely ceased.

ANNOTATION.

a. See number 117.

CHAPTER VIII.

Likewise other miracles done at his sepulchre.

CHAP. VIII.

On Joanna Angela Lopez, eleven years of age, a certain fleshy growth arose in one of her eyes, At the same Saint's sepulchre a fleshy growth, pains of the whole body, by which her sight was impeded; which ailment, because it was in so delicate a part of the body, they did not dare to treat, fearing worse. Her mother Isabel Joanna Armengol, on the counsel of lady Anne Valterra, brought her to the sepulchre of Bl. Louis, and there, after pious prayers first made, took some of the oil of the hanging lamps, and anointed that growth with it, and promised a nine-day devotion to be performed at the sepulchre. And on the first day on which they began it, after prayers poured out, she anointed it again; and while she was returning home, she found that it had fallen off; and the eye remained pure, clear and unharmed. Margaret Begliot, wife of James Buyrac, had a little daughter, by name Clementia, about eight years old, who suffered many pains in her body, which were even increased by the use of medicines. One day the little girl asked her father to bring her the measure of Bl. Bertrand's body according to his stone effigy placed above his sepulchre; for she hoped that in that way she would be healed. The father measured that effigy with a towel, and as soon as he put it on the sick girl, she recovered health, nor was she afterwards seized by that illness.

[120] fever, an eye and an arm badly affected, Fever and a disease of the eyes so attacked the son of Augustine di Naves, a gilder, in the fifth year of his age, that he scarcely saw; but after a nine-day devotion had been performed at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre he soon perfectly recovered from both ailments. On the left arm of the one-year-old daughter of Isabel Joanna Beltrani, wife of Francis Ferreri, a weaver of silk velvet, certain crusts settled, running with muddy water, which infirmity had clung to her for three months, many remedies having meanwhile been tried in vain. At last they carried her to Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre and commended her to him, and the little dried flowers found on the sepulchral stone they diligently rubbed on the same stone, and, having collected their dust, when they had returned home, the plasters having been removed from the arm, they sprinkled the same arm with it, at the same time invoking the name of Bl. Louis. The next day, the arm being bared for the sake of examining it, they found that it had entirely gone down, and was sound, and free of all ailment and trace of ailment.

[121] blindness, madness, When Vincentia, daughter of Gines Martinez, a fisherman of Valencia, in about the sixth year of her age, had entirely lost her sight, a certain maternal aunt of hers, by name Casaus, took her to visit Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, and, having placed her there, bade her persist in prayers until she herself had heard Mass in the chapel of St. Vincent. The little girl therefore prayed, and while praying opened her eyes and saw perfectly; and, full of gladness, she went about in the church seeking her aunt, and she together with her gave thanks to the saint. Hieronyma Augustina, wife of Francis Garzia, a surgeon, from the month of June to October of the year 1591 had suffered from fevers and lethargy, from which, when she had recovered, she remained so weak in the head that she became mad. Many remedies indeed were tried; but nothing was gained by them. But it happened that her husband at Gestalgar ^a, whither he had gone to open a vein for a certain lady gravely ill, saw her suddenly healed when the help of Bl. Louis had been implored. Hence he too resolved to perform a nine-day devotion at the same Blessed man's sepulchre for his wife's recovery. When this devotion was begun, the woman too began to be healed, so that, when it was completed, she recovered the perfect use of reason. Wherefore, having received the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist, she rendered thanks to the saint, nor did she ever afterwards feel that ailment.

[122] Isabel Joanna Lopez, wife of Francis Bitor, a notary, delirium, a broken leg, a swollen arm, lost the use of reason from a grave illness, and, raging, tore all the garments with which she was clothed, and her madness went so far that she even broke her teeth. Wherefore she had to be bound and constrained with iron manacles: and that delirium lasted twenty-two months. But a certain paternal aunt of her husband, seeing that nothing was to be hoped from human remedies, undertook a nine-day devotion at Bl. Louis's sepulchre for the sick woman, before the end of which she began to use the same reason again, and afterwards always used it. Joanna Eugenia, a marriageable girl, testified that a certain maidservant of her aunt, having fallen from a horse, had broken her leg, which, badly treated, remained so bruised and without feeling that she dragged it along the ground. But when a nine days' devotion had been completed, which she performed with the same Joanna, the leg was restored to its vigour, as though it had been afflicted by no ailment. The right arm of Thomasa Angela Alberola, wife of Cosmas Morat, a shoemaker, had swelled with great pain, and had become so black that it was feared she would lose it. She went to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, and put the said arm on the sepulchre, meanwhile invoking the Blessed man with lively faith, and without any delay the arm went down, the pain departed, and the former colour returned.

[123] Angela Colombar and de Barranca, a widow, with no previous disease of the eyes, blindness, scrofula of the throat and neck, had been so deprived of sight that she could move no step through her house without a guide; and this blindness lasted three or four months, in the space of which she had tried various remedies in vain. After this she began a nine days' devotion at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, her daughter Angela guiding her, and as far as she advanced in performing that devotion and anointing her eyes with the oil of the lamps burning there, so far too did she progress in recovering her sight, so that at the end of the nine days she recovered the perfect faculty of seeing. The throat and neck of Joanna Anne Chiles, who was married to Onuphrius Roselli, an artisan, when she was nine years old, were full of scrofula, and that illness afflicted her for four years at Madrid, several remedies having meanwhile been applied without any success. Then, returning to Valencia, performing a nine-day devotion barefoot at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre and daily anointing herself with the oil of the lamps hanging there, she so recovered that, when the nine days were completed, she was free of all ailment.

[124] When a vein was to be opened for Susanna Magnez and de Montesini, a nerve was hurt; a contracted arm, an obstructed throat, whence for the space of four months she had her arm contracted with great torment. And when someone advised her to betake herself to Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, she obeyed, and, having prayed to him, put the afflicted arm three times to the sepulchre, and soon got it back sound. A little girl, daughter of Michael Grau, a notary, because for three or four days she had been able to swallow nothing,

had been brought to her last, and for that reason funeral arrangements were already being prepared for her, when Isabel Anne Guimera, wife of John Grau, a notary, and the girl's paternal uncle's wife, implored the help of Bl. Bertrand at his sepulchre for the life now despaired of, and had a Mass said at the altar on which the effigy of the same Blessed man stands. And returning home to inquire whether she had already died, she found her not only alive but even well and sucking milk, as though she had never suffered any ailment.

[125] a pain of the foot, an ailment of the stomach, and a trembling of the hand, Lady Mary Castelui and di Martini, seized with so great a pain in one of the toes of her foot that she could neither walk nor rest, sent a girl of her household, by name Catherine Blesa, to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, to pray for her, sick as she was, and to promise a silver toe if she recovered health. The nine-day devotion had not yet been completed when, all pain ceasing, she enjoyed her good former health. Sperantia, daughter of James Nager, ten years of age, had suffered for four months from a grave ailment of the stomach and a trembling of the hands, so that she could not put food to her mouth: and since no remedy was of use to her, her mother Sperantia Villalonga brought her, sick as she was, on foot to Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre with great devotion, where, after prayers poured out, she tried to put her to the sepulchre and to insert her hands through the iron grilles; but for excessive trembling she could not. The next day she returned less impeded, and touched the sepulchre; and while she continued this for nine days, she was better from day to day, so that her stomach was strengthened, and all the trembling departed.

[126] a swelling of the arm, pains of the loins and of the ears, When on brother Antoninus Garro, a priest of the Order of Preachers, before he had embraced the Religious state, one of his arms had swelled and pained him vehemently, fearing lest it was some species of plague, after various remedies applied without any fruit, he began a nine-day devotion at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, and, meanwhile daily anointing that arm with the oil of the lamps hanging there, when the devotion was completed he was healed. So great a pain of the loins suddenly seized Peter Ortoneda, a silversmith, that he could not move himself; and that illness afflicted him beyond four months. And since medicines did not help, he went to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, where, after he had poured out his prayers, he took some flowers which were there, and with great devotion and faith put them on the badly affected parts, and returned home: and the next morning he found himself entirely well. Sister Joanna Marco, suffering a vehement pain of the ears, and finding no remedy, went to Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, and, invoking his help, smeared her ears with the oil of the lamps, and soon was freed from all that pain, nor did she experience it afterwards.

[127] a dangerous sore of the hand, a stiffness of the hands, Two or three years after the death of St. Bertrand, a certain swelling occupied the left hand of Mary Anne Hernandez, a young dependant of lady Frances de Mendozza, mother of the marquis of Terranova, from which she suffered much; which, lest the ailment should grow worse, on someone else's counsel she held in with a plaster of lead; but when she noticed that it was even being increased by this, she removed that plaster. Then hot bread was applied, which made the swelling give way, and opened a dangerous sore, for treating which medicines were of no use, nay even did harm. But a nine-day devotion having been begun at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, before it was completed she was healed. Anne of Jesus, a virgin of forty-nine years, could neither open nor fold her hands, and the physicians said that the ailment was incurable, which experience also confirmed; for no remedy was of use to her. But beginning a nine days' devotion, on the first day she put her hands through the grilles of the sepulchre, and, holding them joined, offered pious prayers for obtaining recovery; and soon she began to be able to open and close them, so that at the end of the nine days she recovered their perfect use.

[128] Lady Magdalen Marsiglia, wife of Alphonsus de Heredia, a flow of blood, ears growing deaf, knight of the Order of Montesa, while she was still a girl in her father's house, began to throw up copious blood from her mouth, which they could stop with no remedy. For which reason the physicians reckoned her past hope, and already a funeral veil was being sewn for her. But the sick girl, seeing herself placed in that danger, vowed to Bl. Bertrand that, if she were restored to health, she would hang a silver image at his sepulchre and perform a nine-day devotion. A little after, when the same girl was suffering a fainting of spirit, her mother ran barefoot to the sepulchre of the same Blessed man, and after pouring out pious prayers for her daughter, returning home found her restored to her senses and, the flow of blood ceasing, entirely well. When lady Louise Borgia, wife of lord John de Cardona, had become as if deaf, after a nine-day devotion completed at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre she suddenly recovered the perfect faculty of hearing.

[129] Peter Cyprian, a carter, after he had been crippled in his arms for eighteen months, arms crippled, so that he could not put on his clothes, and much less raise them up to his mouth, prayed Bl. Louis to obtain for him strength to visit his sepulchre; for he lay continually in bed from weakness of strength, nor could he support himself on his feet. On the day of the Easter of the Resurrection he went on as he was able to the church of the Preachers; but since for the excessive crowding of people he had not been able to reach the sepulchre of Bl. Louis Bertrand, he returned there the next day, and, placing his knees on the ground and praying to the Saint, he strained all his strength so as to be able to touch his sepulchre; and when it was touched, he felt the bones of both his arms crack, to his great solace, so that, returning to his house, he found himself sound, and was able to resume his former manner of life.

[130] The arm of Magdalen Castigliana, wife of James Castigliano, a merchant, a dislocated arm, ulcers of the body, was from a fall so badly dislocated about the pulse of the artery that, though they tried twice to restore it to its place, they could by no means do so, nay they even increased the ailment. Almost a year's space having therefore passed, seeing that it was incurable, she began a nine-day devotion at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, on the third day of which she began to be better, and on the ninth she was entirely sound. Ursula Nicolas, wife of John Navarro, a merchant, had eight months before found herself ulcerated in three different parts of her body, and after various remedies tried in vain she began a nine days' devotion in honour of the Blessed man, on the third day of which she came out well.

[131] deafness, wounds of the legs; When Eleanor Monforte, a virgin, born at Moreglia, a principal village of the kingdom of Valencia, deprived of the faculty of hearing for three years, had come to Valencia, having understood by signs that a certain Friar (that is, Bl. Louis Bertrand) who was working many miracles was buried there; at his sepulchre she promised him that she would perform a nine-day devotion to him and wear the habit of St. Dominic if she obtained health; and when it was completed she obtained her wish. Melchior Joseph de Castro, going up a staircase, some steps having broken, remained hanging from a step separated from the wall, with great danger of falling; and besides he had his legs vehemently hurt by bricks tumbling down. And he made a vow of a wax image to be offered at Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre if he were rescued from this danger and his wounds were healed. Then he betook himself to bed very greatly afflicted, and three hours after midnight, waking, he saw a great splendour in his chamber, and found himself sound, and noticed only that a great quantity of blood had flowed from him while he slept.

[132] [persons are healed of a flow of urine, and, teeth having been knocked out, new ones grow.] Angela Boluda, from the fifth year of her age, from a certain fright began to suffer from a flow of urine, and suffered from it to about the thirteenth year; and since she had found no useful remedy for this ailment, she had recourse to Bl. Bertrand, and visited his sepulchre, having promised a nine-day devotion. On the following night the infirmity ceased, nor was it ever troublesome to her afterwards. A certain girl of about eight years had all her teeth knocked out by a fall. For which cause, on the counsel of sister Raphaela Soler, of the third Rule of St. Dominic, visiting the sepulchre of Bl. Louis Bertrand she prayed that, in memory of the grace of God by which the Blessed man had happily overcome the poison given him in the Indies, he would intercede that the teeth, which had already once grown again in her, might grow again. When these things were done, all her teeth grew again anew.

ANNOTATION.

CHAPTER IX.

Miracles divinely wrought through the rosaries of Bl. Bertrand.

CHAP. IX.

As Bl. Bertrand was most devoted to the devotion of the most holy Rosary, Through rosaries given by the Saint to various persons, and extolled it in his sermons with the highest praises, so, in order to stir up others more and more to the same, he had been accustomed often to give Rosaries, and in particular he gave one to lady Agnes Pugiadas, which after her death a certain young dependant of hers, Barbara Abbarca, obtained. He gave one also to Catherine Espina, a virgin of sixty years; as has been said above, book 2, chapter IX. Another likewise he gave as a gift to lord John Boil de Arenos, lord of Alfasar ^a, and another to lady Anne de Beluis, as is to be read in book 2, chapter X. These and other Rosaries which had been the Blessed man's God willed to use for working many miracles, part of which we shall review in this chapter.

[134] Isabel Vincentia Pugiadas de Marrocchi, a widow, a fever, when, lying ill of an acute fever, she was given up by the physicians and judged incurable by any human help, had a Franciscan habit made for herself, in which she might be buried. And when she was now in her last extremities, Barbara Abarca visited her, and urged her to invoke Bl. Bertrand, and said that, if she wished, she would bring the Rosary received from the same Blessed man; and she bade her conceive sure hope of recovering health, since she herself by its use had done many miracles. The sick woman, though she could not speak, was yet in possession of herself, and assented by signs, and commended herself to the Blessed man. The Rosary, then, having been brought, they put it on the sick woman with great devotion and fervent prayers; and she was at once free of all fever, to the vehement astonishment of all those standing round.

[135] Anne Vasquez, wife of Anthony Vasquez, was gravely tormented by a swelling grown on her right hand, a swelling of the hand, fevers, a wounded head, and as large as a nut. After she had tried various remedies without success, she asked Barbara Abarca to lend her the Rosary which she had from Bl. Louis, and she commended herself to the same Blessed man, and applied the said Rosary to the afflicted part; and without delay the swelling vanished, the pain ceased, and she remained excellently sound. On the 15th day of December of the year 1581 Vincent, nephew of Ximenes, scribe of the civil court, when he was suffering from burning and cold fevers, hanging round his neck the Blessed man's Rosary, received from lady Agnes Pugiades, at once recovered, and the next day, leaving his bed, walked about the house. When Peter Monclus, a student of letters, a dependant of the aforesaid Lady Agnes, the Rosary

carrying that with him, was passing before a certain house in which he heard that someone was dangerously wounded in the head, he showed it to him, saying that it had once been Bl. Bertrand's; and when he had received it most devoutly and put it on his head, he was at once so much better that the surgeon was astounded, and within a few days the wound was entirely closed.

[136] A certain woman, living by the parish church of the Holy Cross in the city of Valencia, a swelling of the body, a growth of the belly, a grave illness, of the neck sick and swollen all over, as soon as she put to her body the Rosary lent her by the above-mentioned Catherine Espina, the swelling vanished, and she came out safe. When Anne Espina, a virgin, a kinswoman of the same Catherine, was in danger of her life from a swelling of the belly, which the surgeons wished to cut into, having invoked Bl. Louis and received the aforesaid Rosary from her aunt, a little after that growth, bursting, poured out a great quantity of pus, and without any salve was shortly healed. While the wife of the elder lord of Brugnolo was so gravely ill that she could not swallow even a little water, and the physicians despaired of her life, one night the said Rosary was brought, and as soon as she touched it she recovered, all who were present wondering beyond measure. The surgeons had resolved to cut an abscess which commander Perpignano was suffering on his neck; but when he had hung that same Rosary on his neck, and piously touched the badly affected part with it, he was at once healed, so that the surgeons, coming to make the incision, found him well.

[137] The wife of Blanes, assessor of the governor of Valencia, suffering an ailment like the aforesaid, and also on the neck, abscesses, a fever, had sent someone to summon the physicians and surgeons for the sake of treatment; but when the Rosary of which we spoke above had meanwhile been put to her neck, the abscess at once vanished, so that the physicians when brought found nothing to treat. Baptist Dionis, a workman of Valencia, in the month of September of the year 1593 had now for three months been suffering from a vehement fever, so that the physician, despairing of his life, had already ceased to visit him. Hearing this, the widow Espina, taking the Rosary which Bl. Bertrand had given to her kinswoman, went to visit him, and although she found him raving, she noticed nevertheless that he had understood when she told him to commend himself to Bl. Bertrand, and had seen the Rosary being put on his head: for, restored to a sound mind, he invoked the same Blessed man most devoutly, and at once was better, so that within a few days, having recovered his strength, he was able to resume his former labours.

[138] breasts deprived of milk, Magdalen, wife of Peter Arbolay, a workman in the place of Alaquas ^b, having given birth to a son, a few days after was seized with a sharp fever, by which her breast was so dried up that she could not suckle him; and because her poverty did not allow her to commit him to a nurse, she grieved vehemently, and so much the more because she seemed to herself to grow worse from remedies. She went to Valencia to the house of lady Angela Marti, in which she had been brought up; who, when she saw her so afflicted, persuaded her to implore the help of Bl. Bertrand; for she would obtain sure solace from him. She did this, and through the Rosary, once given by the Saint to Catherine Espina, which the lady applied to her, a little after the poor little woman felt a movement in the left breast, and, inspecting it, saw that it abounded with milk; and that she then found in the right too; and she was able to suckle her little son happily.

[139] a pain of the heart, a difficult childbirth, an obstructed throat are healed; When lady Anne Beluis, a virgin, in the house of her uncle Jerome Abeglia had been tormented for fifteen days with a sharp pain of her heart, which allowed her to rest neither by day nor by night, her uncle went to Bl. Bertrand and besought him to visit her. Which he kindly did, and gave her a Rosary which he said he had brought from the Indies: and by its use all the pain was driven away. A certain Moorish woman, married a long time before while still a young girl, when, being pregnant, she had come to her delivery, was in danger of her life from difficulty of giving birth. The aforesaid Anne Beluis, pitying her lot, put the Rosary given her by Bl. Bertrand on her belly; when this was done, she suddenly gave birth to a living male child, which all had judged could not happen. In the same lady Anne Beluis the stone of an orange she had eaten had stuck crosswise in her throat for about eighteen hours with great torment to her, and from the force of the remedies which she had tried in order to expel it she had spat blood from her mouth: but remembering the Rosary of Bl. Bertrand she applied it to her neck where it hurt, and swallowed the stone most easily.

[140] speech to a dying man, In the city of Saragossa ^c a certain doorkeeper of the court of the judge of Aragon, from a grave infirmity from which he was suffering, had lost speech and senses, whence the physicians affirmed that he would not survive twenty-four hours. A certain man, by name Philip de Torres, was vehemently saddened that he was dying without having received the Sacrament of penance, especially because that sick man had always led a rather loose life. Wherefore he set out the case to lord John Boil de Arenos, who was then staying at Saragossa and lived in the sick man's neighbourhood. And he answered that he had with him a Rosary of Bl. Bertrand, by whose use he hoped that not only speech but also health could be restored to the sick man. Having received the Rosary, then, the aforesaid de Torres brought it to him, and as soon as he put it on the dying man, the latter was able to confess his sins sacramentally and receive the holy Eucharist; and a few days after he even obtained perfect health.

[141] Frances Ferreri de Benedetto also had a certain Rosary from Bl. Bertrand; health is restored to the sick, a woman in childbirth is freed of a dead foetus; and as often as her children were ill, however gravely, she healed them by putting the aforesaid Rosary on them, and in particular one who, when he was already said to be dead, being commended by her to the Saint, recovered by the use of the same Rosary, and survived eight years. A daughter of the same Frances suffered from a grave illness and flow of blood, and this ailment lasted a long time, and was judged incurable by the physicians: but after the sick girl hung the same Rosary on her neck, she gradually recovered. When Beatrice Penarogia, wife of Philip de Robolay, a knight, was pregnant and near her delivery, the offspring died in the womb from a great hurt to the mother, and, having begun to come forth by the feet, could not be expelled; whence the said lady was in great straits and peril of life. Since she well recognized this, she besought Angela Bayarri to lend her the Rosary received from Bl. Bertrand. Meanwhile, while Angela had gone away to fetch it immediately, Beatrice invoked Bertrand, and then put the Rosary when brought on her belly; and as she did so, the offspring was driven back, and soon expelled outside dead, and very fetid and ulcerous, because it had died some time before. This deed was held for a notable miracle.

[142] When Dionysius Montesini was lying ill, a vein was opened in one of his nostrils, a flow of blood is stopped, a fever is driven out, from which so much blood flowed that it was a matter of astonishment, and since it could be stopped by no remedy, the physicians, all hope cast away, pronounced that a certain vein of the heart had burst in him. His mother Sperantia Godos, the more afflicted because her husband was away, had recourse to Bl. Bertrand, and after she had seen to it that the sick man confessed his sins, she put one of the same Blessed man's Rosaries on the sick man; and in that way the blood suddenly ceased to flow, the sick man fell asleep, and was made well. For Gratia Benedicta Joanna, on account of a vehement fever, a vein had been opened seven times, the fever not being diminished at all by it. For which cause a certain pious woman brought her a Rosary which had been Bl. Bertrand's, and told her to pray to him, and that the next day she would be sound; and so it came about.

[143] Lady Frances de Mendoza, marchioness of Terranova, one gravely wounded by the blow of a stone is restored to health. kept in her house a boy of eleven years, called Francis John, who was struck in the side by the blow of a stone so gravely that he fell dashed to the ground: deprived of speech and with his side bloodied, he began to vomit copious blood, and instead of urine too he poured out much clotted blood; on account of which his life was reckoned despaired of. The said lady, seeing him in this peril, applied to the hurt part a bead of the Rosary which Bl. Bertrand had once used, admonishing him to commend himself to the same Blessed man: and when he did so, the pain suddenly began to diminish in him, although, when the bead of the Rosary was taken from him, it broke out again; so that night he rested well, and within two days he was able to go out of the house safe and sound.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

The dead recalled to life by the intercession of Bl. Louis Bertrand.

CHAP. X.

Above, in chapter XVIII of book I, there was related the miracle of the girl raised from death in the Indies by Bl. Bertrand while he was living; By the Saint's prayers there are raised the son now we must treat of the dead restored to life by him after his death. Melchior John Gagliac, a citizen of Xativa ^a, had a son, by name Marian John, brought by illness to such a point that he already had his eyes closed and the other signs of a dead person, and a third time had opened his mouth in the manner in which those who are breathing out their soul are wont to do, so that accordingly he was lamented as dead. His mother, by name Anne Tarrega, very devoted to Bl. Bertrand, whom she venerated as a remarkable Saint, and to whom she had often confessed her sins while he was giving the Lenten sermons in the cathedral church of the same city, falling on her knees addressed him thus: O father, brother Louis Bertrand, I beseech you to raise my son; and she repeated those words for more than a quarter of an hour.

[145] And when these cries and wailings seemed to her husband to exceed measure, of Melchior Gagliac, as he was coming to console her he turned his eyes to the bed in which the boy held for dead was lying, and saw him having his eyes open, clear and cheerful, and his cheeks and lips too reddening, as though he had never suffered any illness, and finally he beheld him perfectly sound. When this miracle was known, the father and mother and a certain young dependant, by name Isabel Sala, who was present, betook themselves to Valencia to visit the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand and to render him thanks for so great a benefit shown them in raising their son from death; and they offered there a wax image and other tokens of their devotion; and that son was still living in the year 1596.

[146] of an anonymous woman, Catherine Espina, a virgin of sixty years, testified that a woman carrying a dying little boy in her arms had come to her, so that she might touch him with the Rosary of Bl. Bertrand. To oblige her request she looked at the little boy; but since, the more she examined him, the more he seemed to her to be dead, and so too all who were present judged, she would not touch him otherwise. But overcome by the fervent prayers and tears of his mother, the Rosary to him

she put on the dead little boy; who without delay lived, opened his eyes, asked for food by signs, and at length was sound.

[147] Catherine Donat, wife of Vincent Valvert, a workman in the village of Ontinente ^b, of Vincent Valvert was so gravely ill that for six days now she had been deprived of the use of her senses, and was at last brought to such a point that to all who saw her she seemed dead, and after various tests she was believed certainly to have died, and accordingly her face was covered, as is usually done for the dead. Hieronyma Segriana, wife of Lawrence Conca, and others, pitying the dead woman's poor little daughter and family, although it was already midnight, went to the convent of St. John, of the Order of St. Dominic, in whose church there was a painted effigy of Bl. Bertrand, and when they had obtained that the doors of the same church should be opened to them, they prayed prayers before the said effigy for the life and health of that woman. When the prayers were finished, returning to the dead woman's house, some time after they observed that she was moving, and had been restored to life.

[148] She herself, calling the aforesaid Segriana, a particular friend of hers, the wife, told her in secret that she had been dead, and had been brought before the tribunal of God, and that, because she had been an evil-tongued woman and had hurt many with her insults, on the one side the demons had contended that she was theirs, on the other the angels had denied it. And in this contention Bl. Louis had appeared, who, having prayed God to raise her up to amend her life, taking her hand, said: You are mine; and then she had been restored to life. And she survived safe and well for four years; and whereas before she had been a terrible woman, who insulted now these, now those, in that four years she amended her former ways, and conversed with all with great simplicity and charity. The same Catherine often related all these things to the aforesaid Hieronyma and to her husband.

[149] When a certain little girl two years old, sister of Anne Perez, the sister of Anne Perez; was so ill that no care was any longer spent on her, she was carried by her mother to the sepulchre of Bl. Bertrand, where she was seen in such a state that all those standing round believed her lifeless. For which reason the mother, struck with grief and wailing, and prostrate on her knees on the ground, prayed the Blessed man with the utmost effort of soul for her dead infant, and at the same moment of time she opened her eyes and recovered life, as is the common opinion of all. In the year 1597, in the time of the Lenten fast, a certain infant of nine months was seized with a fever, which clung to him for four weeks, and was of such a kind that for more than three days he did not suck the breast nor admit any liquid. At the end of these three days he was held for dead, such as all the signs showed. After he had remained in that state for two hours, there entered the house a woman by name Sperantia Bonanat, wife of Louis Pugiol, a blacksmith, who, seeing the infant dead, fell on her knees, admonishing those who were present to do so too, and all to pray most devoutly to Bl. Bertrand to give back life to the boy; for he would without doubt do it. They all did this most devoutly, and promised that they would offer at the sepulchre of the same Blessed man the linen prepared for wrapping the dead child. At exactly the same time the infant began to cry, sucked milk and came out sound: for which miracle the parents paid what they had promised.

[150] A boy, son of John Andrew Armengol, a rope-maker of silk, likewise the son in the months of July and August of the year 1588 had suffered from fevers, and the illness had grown to such a point that, infected with purple spots, he also suffered convulsions and fell into frenzy, and finally lay for fifteen days deprived of the faculty of speaking, and for that reason was abandoned by the physicians. His father commended him to various Saints, and had Masses and other pious works done for him; but he was nothing better meanwhile, nay worse. Then, remembering Bl. Bertrand, he directed his prayers to him, and after them, visiting the boy again, found him without motion, without breath, without any sign of life.

[151] of John Andrew Armengol, Accordingly, recognizing him as dead, he veiled his face; and, unable to bear his grief, he was preparing to go out of the house, when, remembering that his wife's delivery was expected from hour to hour, doing violence to himself so as not to give occasion to a new loss, he turned back, and as he was going up the stairs he said: Blessed be God, that neither He, nor the Saints whom I invoked, nor brother Louis, have been willing to hear me in so great an affliction of mine; and again he implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, that he would not desert him in so great a sorrow. When he had come to the place where the dead boy lay, raising the linen veil, he was preparing for new laments; but, looking at him, he saw that he had his eyes open. Exulting with this sudden joy, he bound himself with new vows, and promised Masses to be celebrated and a funeral linen to be offered at Bl. Louis's sepulchre: and the boy willingly took the food offered him, and within two days left his bed sound and well.

[152] of Jerome Cabrera, Another little boy of twenty-two months of age, son of Jerome Cabrera, a workman of Valencia, had been feverish for many days, when at last, in the evening of the 18th day of October of the year 1585, he grew so much worse that he was deprived of the use of his senses, and all the signs of death appeared manifestly in him, on account of which in the judgement of all he was held for dead, and in particular the vicar of the parish of St. Andrew said: He has already died; and that common opinion lasted two hours. The most afflicted mother, then, with tears and outcry besought Bl. Bertrand to obtain life and health for her son, and vowed that she would have a Mass celebrated and offer the boy's funeral linen at his sepulchre. Some of the women too who were present promised a nine-day devotion. Amid the prayers and vows of all these, behold, the dead boy opened his eyes, cried, and came out sound.

[153] of Vincent Cubegli, To Vincent Cubegli of Ontinente, in the year 1608, on the 29th day of June, there was born a son, in the judgement of all dead. The infant's grandmother Vincentia Borras, beholding this wretched spectacle and the most afflicted parents, with many tears vowed to Bl. Bertrand, if the dead child returned to life, as much wax as he weighed: and when this vow was made, the infant began to move his arms, and recovered life, and in holy Baptism was called Peter Louis.

[154] an anonymous boy, In the year 1608, in which the festivity of the beatification of Bl. Louis Bertrand was celebrated on the 18th day of December, which was a Sunday, a boy of about four years at midday slipped into a sewer called della Roveglia, very deep and full of water. When Baptist Lazaro, a workman, had seen him falling, among others, he at once leapt down into the same to search for him, and found him, and brought him out; but, as it seemed, dead; because his whole body had already swelled, and, his head being turned downwards so that the water might flow out (which also flowed out copiously), he gave no sign of life. But a certain stage actor, by name Morales, who had played the part of Bl. Bertrand in the aforesaid festivity, said to those standing round: Let us invoke Bl. Bertrand, that he may intercede with God for this boy; and he uttered these words: O holy Bertrand, now is the time for you to show your miracles; I will not go away from here before you have raised this boy from death. The rest likewise did so, on bended knees and most devoutly; and at the same moment of time the boy opened his eyes and mouth. Seeing this, they took off his wet clothes and carried him to his house: and the next day the drowned boy went playing through the street.

[155] In the year 1612, in the month of October, the festivity of Bl. Louis Bertrand having been celebrated through all Flanders, and the son of Francis Raulerio and in particular in the distinguished city named Insulae, three days after, on the 12th day of the said month, when Margaret Bernice, wife of Francis Raulerio, a procurator, an inhabitant of the same city, was at home with a boy of three and a half years and a girl of eighteen months, and it seemed to her that she was being called at the door, leaving those two little ones in the kitchen, she went forward to open the door, and finding no one there, she went out into the street for the sake of inquiring by whom she had been called. Meanwhile a vehement wind arising shut the door of the house, and she, because she had left the keys inside, could not get back into it. Meanwhile she heard the little boy crying at the door and saying in imperfect words: Mother, come quickly: my sister! Terrified by these words, the woman called her neighbour John de Moucri, beseeching him to try to get into the house as quickly as possible; which he did together with another, called Dionysius Desnoullet, a carpenter, entering through the window by means of a ladder, where he found the infant fallen head downwards into a pot full of water, and they at once pulled her out; but she was without motion, and had her nose very much hurt, and her whole body livid and without any sign of life.

[156] They carried her to the fire, and tried whatever they thought would profit her; at Lille in French Flanders. but at last they and many others who had run up all asserted that the infant was dead. Meanwhile the afflicted mother, bewailing her lot in another chamber, was fervently begging divine help in such great straits, when a certain woman, named Catherine Dupré, widow of Anthony Prevost, admonished her to commend herself to Bl. Louis Bertrand, whose festivity they had celebrated in those days, and by whom many and remarkable miracles were related to have been wrought, and in particular a certain boy was said to have been raised from death; and she begged her that she too should pray to him for her daughter's life to be restored. The woman did all these things most devoutly; her brother, called James, likewise did so; and at the same time at which these prayers were being poured out, the infant, crying, showed herself alive and well. The next morning the mother, going to the church of the Preachers, gave thanks to God for the benefit granted her through the intercession of Bl. Louis Bertrand, having a Mass celebrated to his honour and glory.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER XI.

Miracles of Bl. Bertrand done in the district of Fontinentum, in the diocese of Orihuela, and in other parts of the kingdom of Valencia.

CHAP. XI.

In Ontynente, an ample and excellent district of the kingdom of Valencia ^a, St. Louis Bertrand a boy's broken arm, God wrought many miracles through the intercession of Bl. Bertrand: for besides those which were brought into the process, there are many others, which happened one year after the plague raged, consigned to writing by father Presentatus Roca, and related in the Process, to be appended here. Bartholomew Tortosa, nine years of age, having fallen at night down the stairs of his house, had his arm broken. His mother called a woman skilled in fitting bones to their places, who, having inspected the ailment, sent for the things that were necessary for the treatment. But meanwhile a certain aunt of the boy commended him to Bl. Bertrand, and then, the medicines having already been brought, baring the arm, they found it entirely healed. When all wondered at the outcome, not knowing the cause, the aforesaid aunt signified that he had been healed by Bl. Bertrand, whom she had invoked.

[158] a woman's burnt foot, Beatrice Sabater de Marco, a widow, often accustomed to fall into the falling sickness, once sitting by the hearth, seized by it, while she was twisting herself, thrust both feet into the fire, and, deprived of sense, burned the right with a small part of the left. A certain son of hers, outside in the street, smelling the stench, came into the house, and saw what had happened. And the woman, restored to herself, felt a most grievous pain; since she had even the heel-bone and the whole sole of the foot burned, and, treated with medicines by a surgeon for more than four months, she was always worse, so that she had to be carried in arms, and they brought her to such a point that they wished to cut off her foot. Seeing herself so afflicted and placed in pain and poverty, she had recourse to Bl. Bertrand, vowing him a wax leg and foot; and no delay intervening, she began to be better, so that, swiftly and perfectly healed, she was able to go on foot to Valencia, more than twelve leagues distant from there, to testify to the miracle.

[159] a boy held for dead, When the son of Francis Garzia had been brought to his last by a most grievous illness, so that they judged him already dead and had covered his face, his mother, on the counsel of another woman, commended him to Bl. Bertrand, vowing that, if he obtained life and health for him, she would give a certain measure of corn to the convent in which he is buried. Some time after, visiting her son again, she found him having his eyes open, and moving himself, and in such vigour that, continually progressing, he was shortly safe and sound.

[160] he heals breasts destitute of milk; To Peter Hernandez, a clothier, a son had been born of his wife Vincentia Macip, whom, since she could not rear him for lack of milk, they handed over to a nurse: and when two months after Peter did not have the means to pay the nurse, he resolved, impelled also by his wife's prayers, to go to Valencia to visit Bl. Bertrand's sepulchre, to have a Mass done there, and to pray that enough milk might be granted to his wife to nourish her son. He came to Valencia two hours after noon, prayed at the sepulchre, and offered an alms for celebrating a Mass. And at the same hour at which he was doing these things, his wife at once felt a great warmth in her breast, and found that so great a plenty of milk had befallen her that she was able to nourish her son with it. The next day the husband, returning home, found her suckling her son, and understood that this benefit had been conferred at the same hour at which he had begged it.

[161] The wife of Onuphrius Urgeglies was most sorrowful because she had already four times given birth to lifeless sons, he procures a happy delivery for a woman, health for one sick with fever: none of whom had been baptized; when she was pregnant again, and feared a like outcome, she prayed Bl. Bertrand to procure for her a happy delivery, and for the offspring baptism, and she added a vow of wax of the same weight as the offspring to be sent. In due time she bore a boy living and sound, who was also baptized; and she paid her vow with great gladness of her own and of the whole family. When Vincent Cubeglis, twelve years of age, in the year 1593 was suffering from so sharp a fever that in the judgement of the physicians he might be fortified with the Sacrament of extreme Unction, his mother commended him to Bl. Bertrand, vowing that, if he were healed, she would offer an ornament of his altar, or a covering of the altar; and soon the fever ceased, and he shortly after was restored to entire health.

[162] On Magdalen Miconi, a virgin, daughter of Francis, after a long infirmity one of her arms with the hand had swelled, not without immense torment, a swollen hand and arm, eyes badly affected, and after various plasters had been applied for eight whole days without fruit, her mother and brother went to the church of St. John ^b of the Order of St. Dominic, and in it, before the effigy of Bl. Bertrand, they prayed for the sick girl's health; promising that, if she were healed, they would perform a nine-day devotion and offer a wax arm. While they were praying she fell asleep, and then, waking, felt no more pain. A boy of nine months, son of John Ximeno, after he had cried for a very long time, had his eyes so badly affected that nothing but white appeared in them. At which the parents, most gravely afflicted, implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, and the mother, once bringing the boy to the church of the Dominican fathers, placed him before his sacred image: where, after she had prayed, she noticed that he had fixed his eyes on that same image; and so both sight and eyes were brought back to their former state.

[163] Isabel Roselli, a widow, a midwife, while she was assisting a woman in childbirth, when the plague was raging, felt herself seized by the plague, and, concealing it as much as she could, invoked Bl. Bertrand. And when her ministry was completed, she betook herself to the church of the aforesaid convent, and anointed the part infected by the plague with oil from the lamp which burns before the same Saint's effigy; without delay she was suddenly healed, and so great was her trust in him that thereafter, even when she was conversing with those infected by the plague, she always remained untouched by it. Sebastian Martinez and his wife, because they had been seized by the plague, were ordered to leave the village. And the husband said to his wife: Since we have always followed Bl. Bertrand with such devotion, I greatly trust that we shall return to our native place sound and well. And so it came about, although almost all the inhabitants of that house had suffered from the plague. When afterwards, the plague having ceased, their daughter, about three years old, had been seized with some other ailment, they went to beg the help of Bl. Bertrand for her, and, returning home, found her well.

[164] various Hieronyma Linares, wife of Louis Ubeda, infected with the plague, had reached the end of life, nay she was held for dead, and already the bearers were at hand to bury her; when one of her sons, remembering a remarkable benefit which he had obtained for her at another time from Bl. Bertrand, prayed him with a vow to heal his mother. At once the sick woman was so much better that within a few days she recovered perfectly. And the other benefit, of which mention was made above, was of this kind: she was so contracted in her whole body that she could not put a morsel to her mouth: he went to the aforesaid effigy of the Blessed man to beg his help for her, and, returning from prayer, found her restored to her former state.

[165] those taking refuge with him When Magdalen Gazet felt herself seized by the plague, taking refuge at the same effigy of Bl. Louis, within one quarter of an hour she came out well. Nicholas Navarro, husband of the same Magdalen, infected with the same ailment under the arm, having invoked Bl. Louis, was likewise freed within three hours. John Luca, likewise so afflicted with the same pestilence and fever that his recovery was despaired of by the physicians, begged the Blessed man's help, adding a vow that he would have a Mass of all the Saints celebrated, and at the end of the Mass the carbuncle was opened, the fever departed, and he was healed. Sperantia Lopez, of the Third Order of St. Dominic, on the day sacred to St. Peter Martyr ^c, suffering too from two pestilential carbuncles, and from a fever so vehement that it deprived her of her senses, having embraced the effigy of Bl. Bertrand which she had, after she had been for many hours as though not in possession of her senses, when these were recovered, was found with the image on her breast, and free of all ailment.

[166] he endows with health, John Lopez, a nephew of the aforesaid sister Sperantia by her brother, a boy of two years, afflicted with the same ailment in the groin, after he had cried for some time, lay so quiet that he was believed dead. But when the aforesaid aunt had put that same image of Bl. Bertrand on the boy, and had gone to the church to pray to the Saint for him, and, having completed her prayer before his altar, did not dare to return home for fear of seeing the little one dead, it was announced to her that the little boy, while she was praying, had been restored to health. John Molina, suffering from the plague, was urged to go to the aforesaid church to make supplication to Bl. Bertrand before his image; but when he found the doors shut because it was night, praying before them on bended knees he promised that he would once celebrate his feast most solemnly. Having said these things, he remained deprived of the use of his senses the whole night; and in the morning, waking, he found in himself no trace of the said ailment.

[167] he keeps others immune from that ailment Peter Castagno, very piously disposed towards Bl. Louis, as soon as he had understood that the plague had been found in that place, went to the convent, and before the aforesaid image of the same Blessed man prayed him to deign to look with pious eyes on himself and his family, which numbered only eight persons, and to keep them immune from the plague; and he added a vow of keeping one lamp burning there for a whole year. And indeed, as long as the pestilence lasted, that is, from the 3rd day of March of the year 1600 to January 1601, they never withdrew from their village, nor abstained from the company of those infected with the plague, and yet none of them was seized by it, which was held for a miracle.

[168] Like a miracle too was this, that the brethren of the convent of St. John of the Order of St. Dominic, immune: when they had bound themselves with certain vows to Bl. Bertrand so as not to contract the plague, God so preserved that, when all the monasteries were infected with it, even that of the Carmelite nuns, in none of those fathers did even the least sign of that pestilence appear: and this was all the more wonderful because two of them were continually administering the Sacraments to those suffering from the plague.

CHAP. XII.

[169] Violanta Ruigi, wife of the noble knight Vincent Martin of Orihuela, from a fall in which she had had her hand placed under her arm, he drives away a pain of the hand and arm, a white film from an eye, for the space of seven weeks suffered so much pain that she could by no means rest, and fearing lest the surgeons should increase the torment, she would not commit herself to their care. But having heard of the remarkable miracles of Bl. Louis, she went to the college which the Dominican fathers inhabit there, and asked those Religious to show her some relics of the same Blessed man. They courteously brought out his hair shirt, before which, as she prayed on bended knees, and touched the badly affected part of her body with it, it seemed to her that her arm and hand were restored to their natural place, and all pain departed. Lady Isabel de Roccafagli after a long illness lost the sight of one eye from a white film that had arisen in it, and since very many medicines were of no help, she invoked Bl. Louis, promising that she would visit the church of the Dominican fathers (since no particular altar of the same Saint existed in it) for nine days; and on the third day the white film vanished, and she recovered her sight, nor did she afterwards suffer a like ailment.

[170] While Andrew Cafra was returning from a military muster held at Orihuela, a deadly wound from gunpowder, carrying several firearms loaded with gunpowder, one of them, unexpectedly catching fire, struck his sister, a marriageable girl, Joanna by name, in the neck and severed the nerves. For which reason, and on account of the quantity of blood which she was pouring out, the physicians pronounced that she would die. A certain surgeon, having taken the ball out of the wound, stopped it with linen pads, and forbade her to move, lest all her blood should flow out. But she, in so great a peril,

seeing herself placed, put to the wound a little of the hair shirt of Bl. Louis, to whom she was piously devoted, and most devoutly commended her health to him. And the next day the surgeon, returning, when, the bandages being loosened, he saw the wound entirely healed and closed, cried out with a loud voice, Miracle! miracle! and this whole city wondered at the deed.

[171] When Isabel Gardegna, a virgin of Orihuela, had suffered for the space of eight months from an ailment of the eyes, an eye badly affected and moved from its place,

at last the right one of them leapt out of its place with a noise, to the great astonishment of all who were present. Among these was Isabel Garzia, a devotee of the Order of St. Augustine, who gave her a little piece of the habit of Bl. Louis, advising her to beg his help. The woman did this most devoutly, and while she was invoking the Blessed man with a loud voice, the eye was restored to its place. But although a little of the same Blessed man's habit was nevertheless applied to it, she suffered such pain for the space of twenty-four hours that she could neither take food nor rest: then, the bandage having been removed, the same eye appeared clearer and more beautiful than ever before. Lord Gaspar Cabrero of Orihuela, afflicted with a grave fever and a pain of the ribs, once in the evening applied something of Bl. Louis's habit to his body, and, having prayed him for the recovery of his health, found himself sound. Besides these the Saint also wrought other miracles at Orihuela, but they have already been reviewed in the chapter on his apparitions.

[172] an abscess of the finger, In the city of Alicante ^d, of the diocese of Orihuela, on Catherine Guilielma, a young dependant of the mother of father master brother Peter-John Saragozza, there had arisen on the middle finger of the right hand a very bad abscess, which did not allow her to rest, nor was she any better for five days' treatment. It happened that the aforesaid father master was in his mother's house, having with him something of Bl. Bertrand's habit, which he had received from sister Isabel, a devotee of the Order of St. Dominic, and he put it over the plaster applied to the said finger. When this was done, the sick girl commended herself to the Blessed man, and that first night she slept: and the next morning, while she was inquiring why that finger no longer hurt her, the plaster having been removed, the root of the whole ailment too came out; and although a hole remained in the finger, yet, from her singular trust in the Saint, she put her hands into water that same day for the sake of washing and performing the other services of her office without any harm to herself, and she remained healed; the surgeon being astounded, because he knew that the medicines which he had used were not equal to such an effect.

[173] a fever, joined with dropsy and consumption, a hernia, In the same city of Alicante, Josepha Estagna, afflicted with a long fever, dropsy and consumption, and recognizing that remedies were of no use to her, had recourse to Bl. Louis, insisting with many prayers that certain relics of his which the Dominican fathers had be brought to her: and as soon as they had been placed on her, she was better, and without another remedy recovered. Another miracle wrought at Alicante has already been related in chapter 1 of this book, as also many others, which for brevity's sake I pass over. In the town of Ayora ^e, of the diocese of Orihuela, in the year 1606, the little son of the wife of Peter Ortin was suffering from a hernia; and to his mother, after various remedies had been tried, a certain Religious urged that, all medicines being removed, she should apply to him something of Bl. Bertrand's habit, which he was lending, and devoutly commend her son's health to him. She did so; and a few days after the hernia was perfectly closed.

[174] a flow of urine, an abscess of the neck, At Enguera ^f, a place of the archdiocese of Valencia, Mary Anne Perez, maidservant of Peter John Roures, rector of the same place, was troubled with a vehement flow of urine, whence she was always restless and in continual motion. Then, using the counsel of carrying with her something of Bl. Louis's habit, received from the rector, at the same moment of time at which she did this and implored his help, the flow stopped, and she recovered. In the village of Xabea ^g, likewise of the diocese of Valencia, Bartholomew Borrugli, a workman, had a daughter of twelve, who for four years now had suffered an abscess on her neck about the throat, and the surgeons who had undertaken to treat it had at last all abstained from it as from an incurable ailment. Things being thus, a certain priest coming from Valencia related to her some miracles wrought by Bl. Bertrand (whom she on that account began to hold in veneration), and, putting a little piece of the same Blessed man's habit over the abscess, bade her recite daily, morning and evening, once the Lord's prayer and the angelic salutation. And while she was doing so, and on the fifteenth day they wished to inspect it, as the abscess was better, they found it perfectly healed.

[175] At Montesa ^h, likewise in the diocese of Valencia, boae, fevers, a girl of three or four years, called Vincentia, daughter of Louis Primo, a workman, suffering from boae, had her eyes so afflicted that she kept them closed for three months, nor could she open them by any remedy: but when, after the invocation of Bl. Bertrand, they had one evening tied a particle of his habit on them, the next morning one of them was found open, and the other on the day after. In the same town others too were freed of fevers through the invocation of the same Blessed man and the mere touch of his relics, and in particular one woman, who had now been labouring for three days in childbirth with present peril of life, who, when she had applied something of the Blessed man's habit to her body, without delay gave birth comfortably.

[176] In the village of Vistabella under the magistracy of Montesa, the falling sickness, in the diocese of Dertona ⁱ, Mary-Anne Gari, a girl of eight, was suffering from the falling sickness, by which she was very often seized, and once, afflicted by it, she fell into the hearth, so that, had others not been present with her, she would have been burned. That illness clung to her for a long time, until father brother Peter, a remarkable servant of God of the Order of Preachers, who frequently gave sacred sermons in that place, persuaded her to beg the patronage of Bl. Louis Bertrand. She did so most devoutly, vowing, if she were healed, a wax image to be offered at his sepulchre; and from that hour onwards she never experienced that ailment.

[177] In the town of Cerveria ^k under the aforesaid magistracy, Helen di Zeba for about five years had her breast infected with certain swellings, and he heals swellings of the breast. from which certain little bones came out, worn away as of a body long lifeless, the physician and surgeon on that account affirming that the ailment was incurable. But when a little piece of Bl. Bertrand's habit had by chance come to her, she devoutly put it to her breast, and felt herself so much better that within a short time she was healed, and visited the Saint's sepulchre.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER XII.

Miracles done by the intercession of St. Louis in other kingdoms.

CHAP. XIII.

In the city of Saragossa ^a the son of doctor John Ran, By the Saint's intercession at Saragossa a dying boy, royal counsellor and afterwards judge of Aragon, about ten years of age, while playing with other boys on a certain step, falling through a window from the height of two men on to the iron grilles through which a wine-cellar received light, fell so vehemently that the wretched youth was deprived of his senses and vomited copious blood from his mouth, and the physicians and surgeons denied that he could escape death. He remained in that state the whole of that day and the following night without any relief perceived from medicines. But doctor Martin Baptist Della Nuza, now judge of Aragon, because that boy was his wife's nephew and he loved him tenderly, commended him to Bl. Bertrand, and vowed that he would see to it that the boy, when he had recovered, should go to Valencia to visit his sepulchre; and meanwhile he ordered him to wear a little cap which had once been the same Blessed man's. As soon as he had it placed on his head, without any delay he began to recover, and shortly after he was sound, the physicians and surgeons wondering vehemently.

[179] smallpox, frenzy and faintings of spirit, Lady Hieronyma de Palafoix of Saragossa, who from reading the Deeds and Miracles of Bl. Louis Bertrand had conceived a great devotion towards him, in the time of the Lenten fast in the year 1584 fell into a malignant fever with purple smallpox, and from it into delirium and vehement faintings of spirit; on account of which they had fortified her with the holy last Unction as one destitute of strength and of hope of recovering. Her maidservants, remembering the singular devotion with which she followed Bl. Bertrand, sent to the monastery of Bl. Agnes, of the nuns of the Order of St. Dominic, that they might lend them a piece of the tunic ^b which had been the same Blessed man's, and when it was placed over the sick woman's heart, the frenzy and faintings at once ceased, and she passed that night most quietly, to the wonder of all the household, the physicians and others, and so she went on steadily recovering that after a few days she was entirely well.

[180] a gangrene of the breast, of the legs Sister Petronilla Palafoix in the aforesaid monastery of St. Agnes, when she had now for five years borne a gangrene in her breast, from which the physicians judged that she would die within fifteen days, having recourse to the help of Bl. Louis, in the evening applied a particle of his tunic, and recited once the Lord's prayer with the angelic salutation, and the next morning she began so to recover that not long after she came out well. A certain son of Anne de Aybar, a widow, had taken the habit of St. Francis at Saragossa, and when he was suffering from a certain ailment of the leg, the master of the novitiate, by name brother Andrew Martinez, did not omit to have various medicines applied to him, grieving that, unless he were healed, he would be compelled to dismiss from the Order him who was a youth of great expectation: but the ailment so increased that he was compelled to do it. His mother likewise tried many singular remedies, but without success; and at last, commending him to Bl. Bertrand, she tied a particle of his habit on the afflicted part, and at the end of three days he perfectly recovered.

[181] When Martin Salazar, a physician of Saragossa, ailments, deafness, fever and lethargy, had for a long time been afflicted in his left leg, which had swelled with inflammation and immense torment (and there was danger lest the ailment should turn into erysipelas; so that accordingly he did not dare to apply more vehement remedies), his son, a priest, mindful of the miracle which Bl. Bertrand had wrought in sister Petronilla Palafoix by healing the gangrene, applied a little of the same Blessed man's habit to the same leg; and the next day the swelling vanished, and the pain departed, and within a few days he obtained entire health. The son of Jerome Rodiglia, a physician of Saragossa, had been deaf for more than a year.

After various medicines uselessly tried, his mother only devoutly applying to him a certain band of Bl. Bertrand, he recovered his hearing. The wife of John Sala, likewise a physician of Saragossa, suffering from fever and lethargy, through a little cap of Bl. Bertrand put on her at once obtained health.

[182] Sister Gratia de Espes in the monastery of St. Faith had now for six years borne an ulcer on her head, an ulcer of the head, fevers and fluxes are healed: from which, with vehement itching, so much pus continually flowed that it could not be contained by bandages; nor did they dare to treat her, because it affected so dangerous a part. But, having heard of the miracles of Bl. Bertrand, she put a little of the same Blessed man's habit on the ulcer, and on the same day began so to recover that the pain and burning ceased, and on the third day she enjoyed perfect health. Gaspar Bertrano, a merchant of Saragossa, had a little nephew of sixteen months, of which for six he had suffered from fever and flux. To his forehead they tied a particle of the garments of Bl. Bertrand, and Gaspar and his wife and the infant's father commended him most devoutly to him; and without delay the infant began little by little to recover and came out sound. Certain neighbours of the same house had a son brought so near to death by fever and flow of blood that they were already beginning to lament him as dead; but, the above-mentioned relics being put on him, at the same time he began to be better, and on the eighth day he entirely recovered.

[183] On Dominic Salas, a native of Horcaggio, [in the district of Daroca a gangrene, in the diocese of Saragossa a demoniac woman,] a carbuncle which he had on his nose was turned into a gangrene, which ate away the end of his nose and the upper lip with part of the mouth. For which reason, lest he should be an object of disgust and horror to others, he carried that part covered, and so begged through the streets. This infirmity had now lasted three years, when, on the counsel of his confessor and of the Dominican nuns of Daroca, a particle of a band of Bl. Bertrand having been applied, he suddenly felt himself better, and within six months he was perfectly healed, using no medicine meanwhile. In the town of Xorcas ^c, of the diocese of Saragossa, when a certain woman had for many years been possessed by a demon, father brother John Tarino, of the Order of Preachers, called to exorcize her, put to her something of the habit of Bl. Louis Bertrand, and soon, the demon having been expelled, she was freed.

[184] In the town of Borja ^d Isabel Ximenez, at Borja the pains of childbirth, at Teruel a tertian fever are driven away. wife of James Vera, had suffered the pains of childbirth for twenty-four hours, when she asked that something of the habit of Bl. Bertrand, whom she piously venerated, be brought to her; for without it she denied that she could give birth. And as soon as a little piece of this kind had been put on her, she happily brought forth a boy, whom indeed they had expected dead; but he came forth alive, and was baptized. To the same woman, after another unhappy childbirth, there happened a flow of blood, which in the space of six days so exhausted her strength that she feared for her life. She commended herself therefore to Bl. Louis, and put the aforesaid relics to her body again, and was freed from that ailment. When a certain nobleman of Teruel ^e from a long tertian fever was inclining to death, and found that nothing was to be hoped for him from human remedies, having recourse to the patronage of Bl. Louis, he put something of his habit on his body; and on the same day he was free of all fever, nor did he afterwards relapse into it.

[185] [a fistula of the leg and a badly affected thumb are healed, a pregnant woman all but dead,] Hieronyma Ruiz, wife of John Cavallo, had a daughter who suffered a most dangerous fistula in one of her legs, and had the bone of the thumb of one hand so badly affected that many little pieces were taken out of it. The physicians had slight hope of her life, because each ailment was incurable, especially in a body of slight strength and much weakened. Her mother, having implored the help of Bl. Bertrand, touched the mouth of the ulcer with a particle of his habit, and when this was done she began prodigiously to be healed, and shortly recovered. Joanna de Omiste, wife of Michael Matud, being pregnant, fell into a fever, and was infected with purple spots so vehemently that the physicians began to despair of saving her life, and judged the offspring to have been dead in her womb for six days now. But when she had invoked Bl. Bertrand and put something of his habit to her body, suddenly recovering her strength, she got down from bed, and gave birth to a son, to the wonder of all standing by. And because she was in peril of life, they anointed her with the holy oil, since the offspring was in the opinion of all believed dead, and as such was not attended to at all. But after the space of one hour, looking at the same infant, they found it male and living, and baptized it; which, however, within one hour passed to heaven: and the mother on the fourth day entirely recovered, not only from that so dangerous infirmity, but also from a parotid swelling which had arisen in her throat.

[186] a mortal wound, Nicaciana Mendozza was struck by the ball of a firearm let off behind her back, which, penetrating through the shoulder, pressed on one of the ribs, and, driven through the right lobe of the lung, passed through, leaving a great wound near the breast. Because the wound was mortal, she was fortified with the most holy Sacraments. Seeing herself placed in that peril, and the greater because she suffered frequent faintings of spirit, and because together with blood she cast up some pieces of the lung with most grievous stench (for which cause she was believed certainly about to die), she implored the patronage of Bl. Bertrand, carrying a particle of his habit applied to her body, and each day (these were forty) renewing her pious prayers. At the end of these she began to be better, and three months and a half after that wound she entirely recovered from it and from the other ailments with which she was afflicted.

[187] When a certain man of great authority and learning was in great straits both of soul and an anxiety of mind: at Madrid a gangrene, and of body, his conscience tormenting him much because he did not know whether he had rightly discharged it or not, he had recourse to the help of Bl. Bertrand, beseeching him to procure him sure knowledge of this matter. Within three days a certain person, distant thirty leagues from that city, visiting him, of his own accord said: I remember that it is ten years since he did this and that. When these words were said, every doubt by which he was so greatly vexed was taken away. In the royal convent of St. Dominic at Madrid a certain nun, called sister Anne of St. Paul, had now for five years suffered a gangrene in her breast; and although the most famous physicians of the court treated her, the ailment always grew worse: but after she commended herself to Bl. Louis (to whom she promised that she would make his commemoration every day morning and evening), and had applied something of his habit to the gangrene, she was suddenly healed, no trace of the ailment remaining.

[188] In the same city of Madrid ^f a certain nobleman, and a fury of mind; by name Peter Vidagna, who was in the service of the duke of Nagiara, walking alone in the country near a windmill, saw a certain madman, who had escaped from his house, running, and some men who knew the madman trying with all their strength, but in vain, to hold him. Furthermore the raging man approached Peter, who, since he was carrying with him in a little purse something of the habit and hair of Bl. Bertrand, went up to him as he could, and put the said purse into his hand, and soon he, restored to a sound mind, besought Peter to grant him some part of that thing which he had put into his hand; and so, having received from him a particle of the habit, he returned home with a sound brain.

[189] In the village of Tordesiglias ^g, in the year 1584, at Turris Syllana speech and hearing are restored; in the month of August, a certain youth, a footman of the illustrious lord Ferdinand de Castro, count of Andrada, after he had recovered somewhat from a tertian fever, was suddenly deprived of speech and hearing and brought into present danger of death, the remedies applied being of no help. On learning this, the count ordered an effigy of Bl. Bertrand to be brought into his chamber, and all who were present to pray him devoutly for the faculty of speaking and hearing to be restored to the sick youth, so that he might be able to confess his sins to the priest, which in that illness he had not yet done. While they were praying he began to speak and hear, and confessed comfortably; but when they were about to bring the most holy Viaticum, he fell back into the same ailment, crippled in tongue and ears, and remaining so for many hours. And when they saw that he was dying, they brought the holy oil of the sick, and while they were anointing him with it, he spoke again and answered; and when the sacred ceremony was finished, he too finished his life; which was held for a great miracle.

[190] In the same village of Tordesiglias, on the Kalends of March in the year 1585, lord Ferdinand, [a desperate illness is driven away; at Egara a woman almost dead recovers health,] son of lord Ferdinand de Castro, count of Andrada, fell into an illness, and the illness grew until the 14th day, on which the physician lost all hope of healing. On learning this, his mother, the countess lady Catherine de Zunica, so as not to see him dying, went to a certain monastery, having first tied a particle of the tunic of Bl. Bertrand to the boy's neck, and placed his effigy on his bed. And when she returned home from the church, she found him free of fever and speaking very easily. In the town of Egara ^h, of the diocese of Barcelona, Isabel Alavedra, wife of a certain physician, after a long infirmity which had vehemently exhausted her strength, was believed dead, no sign of the senses appearing in her any longer. And already they were lifting her from the bed to clothe her in funeral garments; but she, who was living, and knew that there was treatment of burying her, was suffering a twofold pain of death, because she could not give any sign of life. Caught in such straits, she invoked Bl. Bertrand with the whole affection of her heart, promising, if she escaped, fifty reales for promoting his canonization; and at once she obtained health.

[191] in Sicily a pain of the foot is taken away, In Sicily, when the viceroy of that kingdom, lord James Henriquez and Gusman, count of Alva di Lista, in the year 1590, having long suffered bitter pains in a toe of one foot, had been brought into danger of life, the countess his wife told him that James Bertrand, brother of Bl. Louis, then syndic of the city of Valencia in Sicily, had a little cap of the same Saint, and she ordered it to be brought; but he refused to put it on his foot, because that appeared to him indecent. At last, however, overcome by pain, he allowed it to be done; and soon all that pain departed, nor did it seize him afterwards.

[192] to whom among the Chinese. In the kingdom of China, in the city of Macao, which belongs to the Portuguese, to Mexia Barrozza, wife of Ruydias de Azevedo, lying dangerously ill from a grave fever, one of the two Religious of the Order of Preachers who had been called to read the Gospel over her urged her to invoke Bl. Bertrand, and promised that he would send her relics from the same Saint's hood. She complied and invoked him, and having received the said relics wrapped in a little piece of paper, at once she

was better, and within a few days she obtained entire health. And as she was then accustomed always to carry the same relics with her, it happened that, while the bed was being made and the linen shaken out, they fell to the ground, no one noticing, and were thrown together with the sweepings into the fire, which was there on account of the cold, by a maidservant sweeping the chamber.

[193] where, the woman noticing it a little after, the fire spared even his relics, Noticing that she no longer had them, she searched diligently, and at last, after more than two hours, she found that little paper in the middle of the fire, and the relics in it unharmed, nay not even the little paper itself, which only in the places where it had been folded had some fine holes, like needle-pricks, which the fire had made, the relics being untouched. Which indeed God so permitted that the miracle might be the more manifest, concerning which and the following testimonies were heard by the ordinary of the bishopric of China on the 18th day of November of the year 1617, and brought to the bishop of China, lord brother John Pinto, who, staying at Lisbon in Portugal, on the 17th day of November of the year 1622, with the consent of many learned men, approved this and the following miracle by an instrument of Gaspar Cardoso, apostolic notary, on the day and year aforesaid.

[194] like things, In the same city of Maccao Lucretia de Costa, wife of Dominic Texeira, seized with vehement pains of childbirth, could not bring forth, and was reduced to the end of life. For which reason she made her will, having first confessed her sins to father brother Anthony of the Rosary, of the Order of Preachers, administrator of the bishopric of China, who advised her to commend herself most devoutly to Bl. Bertrand, and sent her a reliquary in which some relics of the same Blessed man were enclosed; and as soon as she put it on herself, invoking his name with most pious affection, she felt within herself a great commotion, as though the offspring had turned and fitted itself for coming forth. And in fact at the same moment of time she gave birth, remaining safe and sound.

[195] Very many other miracles too our Lord God wrought through the patronage of Bl. Louis Bertrand in many other kingdoms, and elsewhere were done. and in particular in Italy and in this City of Rome, which are not reviewed here, both lest prolixity should cause disgust, and also because, although there are reports of those to whom they befell, they have not been confirmed by oath.

ANNOTATIONS.

h. In Catalonia.

BOOK IV.

The Beatification and Canonization of St. Louis Bertrand.

PROLOGUE.

[The author declares why and whence he is going to treat of the things done in the cause of the Beatification and Canonization.] Since in the three former books I have treated of the Life, Virtues and Miracles of Bl. Louis Bertrand, I thought it would not be foreign to my purpose if I added this fourth book, in which should be briefly set out the things which were done for obtaining his beatification and canonization from the holy Apostolic See, so that it may be evident with how great prudence and how mature a judgement holy Church proceeds in such grave causes of the canonizations of Saints. And all the things which we shall bring forward here we have drawn from the Processes, and from the Register made on this matter by Anselm Dandino, apostolic protonotary, in which are contained all the things which were done at Rome in this cause up to the 24th day of August of the year 1600; and the rest in the Registers written afterwards.

CHAPTER I.

The first Process concerning the Life and Miracles of Bl. Louis instituted by the archbishop of Valencia: a summary Inquiry concerning the same made by order of Sixtus V: the cause of Canonization committed to the S. R. Congregation.

[An inquiry into the life and miracles of St. Louis in general is instituted by order of the Archbishop of Valencia] Moved by the many wonders which we have said in the second book happened at the death of Bl. Louis Bertrand, and by the innumerable miracles which God assiduously wrought through his intercession, and at the same time by the continual devotion and concourse of men of every condition running to his sepulchre, the Jurats [a] of the city of Valencia, lest the excellent Deeds of so good a Servant of the divine Majesty should be pressed down by silence and the darkness of oblivion (especially since some had already died who had conversed with him and knew many things about him worth knowing), in the month of November, a little more than a month and a half after the death of the same Saint ^b, greatly besought the most illustrious lord patriarch and archbishop of Valencia, John de Rivera ^c, to order inquiry to be made into the life and miracles of father brother Louis Bertrand, and a process to be drawn up concerning them. The patriarch kindly assented to the supplication; and accordingly he commanded the most illustrious lord Michael Espinosa, bishop of Morocco, to receive the testimonies, which he, beginning to do on the 14th day of December of the said year 1581, examined a hundred and twelve witnesses.

[2] in the time of Gregory XIII, Nor content with these, the city of Valencia also wrote in the year 1584 to the supreme Pontiff Gregory XIII, humbly beseeching that his Holiness would deign to order a process concerning the life and miracles of the servant of God, brother Louis Bertrand, to be drawn up by Apostolic authority, and the other necessary things to be investigated, so that it might be possible, in accordance with the merits of the cause, to proceed to his canonization. And so that there might be someone at Rome who would have the care of treating and urging this business, on the 5th day of July of the year 1584, when the jurats of the said city were Cosmas Matthias de Cruiglias, a noble knight, Melchior Figuerola, a citizen, Michael-Angelus Fax, a noble knight, Francis Sanfelice, John de Brizuela and Gaspar Peglizer, citizens, and Narcissus di Monplau, Rationalis, and John Onuphrius Dassion, syndic, they appointed as procurators father brother John Bru de la Modelana, of the Order of Preachers, and doctor John Baptist Vives, residing at Rome, to plead this cause with all their strength before the supreme Pontiff Gregory XIII.

[3] and when he died, Philip II asks Sixtus V And this Pontiff indeed, although he greatly rejoiced on hearing of the miracles which God had wrought through His Servant, hindered by death could not put his hand to the work ^d. There succeeded him in the Pontificate Sixtus V ^e, before whom the cause was pleaded, Philip II ^f, king of the Spains, contributing much, who out of his accustomed zeal for God and His servants wrote to the same Pontiff, and commanded his ambassador, lord Henry de Gusman, count of Olivares, to beseech his Holiness in his name to order the processes and the acts necessary for bringing that cause to its end to be prepared. The king wrote this letter on the 7th day of October of the year 1585 at Montio ^g, being then with his court in Aragon. His letter to his ambassador is this.

[4] "The King. Ambassador, we have learned from persons worthy of credit to order a process concerning them that on the 9th day of October of the year 1581, in the convent of the Lord St. Dominic in our city of Valencia, a Religious of that Order, called brother Louis Bertrand, passed to a better life, with the opinion that our Lord wrought in his life, and assiduously works after his death through his patronage, some miracles, and that he is held in great devotion by all of this kingdom and of other parts; and at the same time we have been asked, both on account of these things and because his body is in veneration, to be willing to intercede with His Holiness that it may please him to grant a particular Brief of canonization, by which it may be lawful for the inquiries necessary to this end to be made in this city and elsewhere; and, if these should be likely to take too long, that action should meanwhile be taken for his beatification, so that the Office and other things may be performed for him according to custom.

[5] And since this business is of that kind and of great moment, be prepared: we command you, we charge you and we commend to you that you promote it with all zeal, and in our name beseech his Holiness that, according to the norm customarily observed by the holy Apostolic See, he may come to the knowledge of the merits and deeds of the said Father, and, if he finds true the things which are said, may deign to accomplish the desired canonization to the fulfilment of the joy which the aforesaid city of Valencia has conceived from the many things done by him worthy of memory. For which reason you have enclosed here, committed to your trust, letters to his Holiness: and whatever you shall diligently do in this matter, we shall reckon as a service pleasing to us. Given at Montio on the 7th day of October of the year 1583 [h]."

II.

[6] The count of Olivares diligently carried out the king's commands with all zeal, and on the 25th day of June in the year 1586 he offered suppliant prayers to the supreme Pontiff Sixtus V in secret consistory, Sixtus, having committed the examination of the cause to some Cardinals,

that he would deign to order the cause to be introduced, and all the other things necessary up to its conclusion to be done. Which the Pontiff willingly granted, and so that in so arduous a business one might proceed with due prudence, to Cardinal Alexander Farnese, bishop of Ostia and dean of the sacred college; to Cardinal brother Michael Bonello of Alessandria, of the title of St. Mary above Minerva; to Anthony Carasa, Cardinal of the title of Saints John and Paul; to John Baptist Castagna, Cardinal of the title of St. Marcellus; to Henry Caetani, Cardinal of the title of St. Potentiana; to Ferdinand de' Medici, Cardinal of the title of St. Eustace; and to Andrew Battori, Cardinal of the title of St. Adrian, he committed the whole examination of the cause by oracle of the living voice, so that they might report on its state to himself and the whole sacred college, and that one might proceed in it according to the laws and custom of the Church.

[7] and having heard their report, The cause having been inspected and examined by the said Cardinals, and a report on it having been made to the supreme Pontiff and the sacred college, on the 8th day of July of the year 1586 the Pontiff ordered a Brief to be dispatched, by which he commanded inquiry to be made in general into the life, purity of faith, holiness of religion and splendour of miracles of the servant of God, brother Louis Bertrand, and into the devotion of the people towards him and the opinion of his holiness, which is the first process which the supreme Pontiff is accustomed to order in causes of canonization; and he named as commissary judges for preparing the process the archbishop of Valencia, and the bishops of Tortosa and Teruel, with the clause added that at least two of them should be present at receiving the informations. And the Brief is of the following tenor.

[8] through the commissary judges here named "To our venerable brothers, the archbishop of Valencia, and the bishops of Tortosa [i] and Teruel ^k. Pope Sixtus V. Venerable brothers, greeting and Apostolic benediction.

We are taught by the ancient institutions of our most holy mother the Church to follow with due reverence the souls of the faithful who enjoy the gladness of eternal beatitude, which we judge to be then most acceptable to their Creator, and happily joined to the company of the heavenly citizens, when the divine clemency does not disdain to succour, through their merits, the faithful who devoutly implore their suffrages.

[9] a general process, Indeed to Pope Gregory XIII of happy memory, our predecessor, and then to Us, when We had been taken up to the summit of the supreme Apostolate, by frequent letters and other various public attestations and vehement instances sent and made to Us and to the Apostolic See, as well by our most dear son in Christ, Philip, Catholic king of the Spains, and other princes, as by our beloved sons, the Jurats and other citizens and inhabitants of the city and kingdom of Valencia, it has been set forth that, since in that city of Valencia, which, situated in the hither parts of the Spains, is the distinguished metropolis of the whole kingdom of Valencia, faith and religion, divine worship, and singular devotion towards this See greatly flourish; and in our times the aforesaid city, the Lord blessing it, bringing forth very great and abundant fruit, had brother Louis Bertrand of good memory, while he lived among men a professed member of the Order of Friars Preachers, a Man joined not only to St. Vincent Ferrer, born in the said city and long since enrolled in the number of the Saints ^l, by kinship of blood ^m, but also by the office of piety and the imitation of his life; who, when in the year of the Lord 1581, on the 9th day of October, he had died in the Lord, left so very great an admiration of his virtue and piety in the kingdoms of the Spains and in the regions of the new world in which he discharged the office of preaching the word of God, that the men of those parts are persuaded that he has already obtained the heavenly rewards.

[10] having sent to the same For which reason the odour of his holiness was spread far and wide on all sides , both while he lived among men and after his death; and, led by religion and devotion, a great multitude came to visit and venerate his body; and, as is piously believed, the Most High, entreated by the merits and intercessions of the said Louis, has deigned to work very many and diverse miracles among Christ's faithful who humbly implore with their prayers the most salutary help of this Advocate, deferring nevertheless to the future judgement of the aforesaid See. Which also they affirm can be proved by the testimony of very many persons worthy of credit, of whose death, on account of their old age, there is apprehension; and so the memory of so great a Man would perish, and his acts, for lack of proofs, would shine forth less in the future age, on account of which this Louis appears not unworthy to be enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints of God.

[11] Finally our beloved sons, the nobleman Henry de Gusman, count of Olivares, by an apostolic Brief, ambassador of the same king Philip to Us and the said See, in the name of the same king Philip, and John Baptist Vives, also a Nuncio specially sent and destined to Us and the aforesaid See on this matter on behalf of the said Jurats and kingdom of Valencia, humbly and most urgently besought in our secret consistory that We would deign of Apostolic benignity to order an examination of the life and miracles of the same Louis, as is customarily done, and, if he be found worthy, to enrol him in the aforesaid Catalogue. We therefore, wishing to respond with ready mind to so joyful a message, giving immense thanks on that account to almighty God, who, for confirming the purity of the Catholic faith and confuting the obstinate depravity of heretics, especially in our times, wills to honour His faithful and His friends, inclined to supplications of this kind, by the counsel of our brothers, the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, have decreed that an inquiry is to be committed into the conversation of life, merits and repute of the same brother Louis of good memory, and into the aforesaid miracles and the devotion of the people towards him.

[12] And so that in so arduous a business one may proceed maturely, whose tenor is here shown, to our venerable brother Alexander Farnese, bishop of Ostia, vice-chancellor of the holy Roman Church, and protector of the kingdoms of Aragon; and to our beloved sons Michael of Alessandria, of St. Mary above Minerva; and Anthony Carrafa, of Saints John and Paul; John Baptist Castaneo, of St. Marcellus; and also Henry Caetaneo, of St. Pudentiana, priests, and Ferdinand de' Medici, of St. Eustace, and Andrew Battori, of St. Adrian, deacons, Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, whose singular zeal for religion, grave judgement and outstanding prudence We have often experienced in our own and the Church's greatest business, We have committed by oracle of the living voice the whole examination of the premises, and the full, all-embracing and total cognizance of this business, to be reported to Us and our other brothers in consistory, so that afterwards We might be able to effect what the doctrines of the holy fathers and the institutions of the sacred Canons and Christian charity ask and require, to the praise of the divine name and the honour of the whole heavenly court. Over all and each of which things We have granted full and all-embracing faculty: willing nevertheless ⁿ, that they should carry out those things, as is set forth above.

[13] We therefore, by their counsel, trusting greatly in the Lord in the sincerity of your faith, orders to be drawn up; the integrity of your religion, and the candour of your repute, and your accustomed and due obedience towards this See, commit and command to your fraternity by these presents that you, or two of you, by yourselves in our stead, inquire faithfully, diligently and prudently, as the matter demands, concerning the excellence of life, the opinion of holiness, the purity of faith, the sanctity of religion, the brilliance of miracles, and the devotion of peoples, and other things in general, of the said Louis, and receive a summary information, yet from persons worthy of credit and from other suitable proofs, if there be any, and, reduced to writing, closed and fortified with your seals, take care to transmit it to Us by a faithful messenger as quickly as possible, so that, a fitting report having at length been had, We may be able to proceed to further things according to the rite and custom of the holy Roman Church, and the footsteps of our predecessors, and the doctrines of the holy fathers and the institutions of the sacred Canons in like cases. Given at Rome at St. Peter's, under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 8th day of July 1586, in the second year of our Pontificate.

Thomas Gualterutius."

[14] which, drawn up in Spain, This Brief, brought to Valencia, father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist, as Prior of the convent of the Preachers of the same city, on the 7th day of October of the year 1586 offered to the most illustrious lord John de Ribera, patriarch of Antioch and archbishop of Valencia, and to the most illustrious lord John Teres, then bishop of Tortosa; who, obeying the commands, appointed Gaspar Miconi, notary of the archiepiscopal court, in the same cause, and the same judges began on the following day, the 8th of October, to examine witnesses, and they examined ninety, among whom were bishops, dukes, marquises, counts, and other most illustrious men, both ecclesiastics and laymen. And although these were questioned only in general about the excellence of life and virtues of the servant of God, and about the opinion of great holiness held of him both before and after his death, and about the repute of his miracles, yet many of them testified also to certain particular things.

CHAP. III.

[15] The judges transmitted the Process, drawn up, of the summary inquiry concerning the excellence of life and repute of miracles of Bl. Louis Bertrand, closed and sealed, to the Roman curia, and transmitted to Rome, and it was offered to Pope Sixtus V, because Cardinal Alexander Farnese, to whom that cause had been committed, had already departed from the living, and the others who had been added to him were away from Rome. And the Pontiff committed the same cause to the Congregation of Rites, which he had instituted a little before, by a Brief given on the 15th day of July in the year 1589, with power to unseal the said Process and to perform the other necessary things, so that it might then report on the state of the cause to his Holiness and the sacred college in consistory. Have here the Brief subjoined.

[16] of the sacred Congregation of Rites, "To our venerable brother Alfonso Gesualdo, bishop of Porto, and to our beloved sons Gabriel Paleotto, of St. Lawrence in Lucina, Nicholas of Cremona, of the title of St. Cecilia, and Vincent of Monreale, of the title of St. Clement, priests of their titles, and also Ascanio Colonna, of St. Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano, and Frederick Borromeo, of St. Agatha, deacons, so called, Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, Pope Sixtus V.

Venerable brother and beloved sons, greeting and Apostolic benediction.

That God, the giver of all goods, adds to the very great and indeed innumerable benefits with which He daily heaps us, undeserving though we are, in these our times the holiness of most illustrious men in His Church, as a new light to make it more illustrious, we receive as a singular piety and clemency towards us, and, as far as we can attain by human infirmity, we celebrate it with praises, and we take care by prayers and endeavours that these things may be turned to the increase of the Catholic faith and the salvation of men.

[17] Since, then, in the past year we enrolled blessed Didacus of Alcalá, of the Order of St. Francis, with solemn rite in the number of the Saints ^o, a Brief having been issued, now Louis Bertrand , a native of the city of Valencia , professed in the Order of Preachers, *, who, as we have learned by the well-proved attestation of many, flourished a little before in the kingdoms of the Spains and of the new world with great repute of holiness and great brilliance of miracles, seems by like reason worthy to be numbered in the catalogue of the Saints by the solemn declaration of the Roman Pontiff, to whom this properly belongs. Which indeed our most illustrious son in Christ, Philip, Catholic king of the Spains, and most of the prelates and grandees of the kingdoms of the Spains, and especially of Valencia, and the whole Order of Preachers, asked with the greatest prayers, first of Pope Gregory XIII of happy memory, and then of us by letters often, and most recently through our beloved son, the nobleman Henry de Guzman, count of Olivares, the royal ambassador to us.

[18] But we, taught by sacred precepts, and admonished by the ancient example of the Pontiffs, seeing that the utmost care and diligence must be applied in business of this kind, and that one must proceed cautiously and maturely, adhering to the sacred traditions of the fathers and the footsteps of our Forefathers, inclined to their just supplications, by the counsel of our venerable brothers, the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, decreed that inquiry should be made into the conversation of life, repute, merits, miracles of the same brother Louis, and the faith of the people towards him, out of zeal for increasing piety and religion, as is fitting; and for that reason to Alexander Farnese of good memory, bishop of Ostia, and to our beloved sons Michael of Alessandria, of St. Mary above Minerva, Anthony Carrafa, of Saints John and Paul, John Baptist, of St. Marcellus, Henry Caetano, of St. Pudentiana, priests, and Ferdinand de' Medici, then of St. Eustace, and Andrew, of St. Adrian, deacons, Cardinals of the holy Roman Church, we committed the whole examination of the premises, and the full, free and universal cognizance to be had, and to be reported to us and to our brothers in consistory, so that afterwards we might be able to establish what the doctrines of the holy fathers and the constitutions of the sacred Canons should demand for the praise of God and the imitation of virtue, for the honour of the same divine name, and for the common gladness of the Blessed, and for the example of the living; and in all and each of these things we granted full and free faculty to the same Cardinals.

[19] Therefore by our letters in the form of a Brief we commanded our venerable brothers, likewise the archbishop of Valencia, and the bishops of Tortosa and Teruel, that they, or two of them, by themselves, into the excellence of life of the same Louis, into the opinion of holiness, into the purity of faith and the sanctity of religion, into the brilliance of miracles, into the faith of peoples towards him,

and into other deeds of that kind, should inquire faithfully and diligently in our stead, as the matter required, and should receive a summary information, yet from persons worthy of credit and from other legitimate proofs, if there should be any, according to the standard of ancient and true religion and holiness, and, reduced to writing, closed and fortified with their seals, should take care to transmit it to us by a faithful messenger as quickly as possible; so that at length, a fitting report having been had, we might be able to proceed in the premises according to the rite and customs of the holy Roman Church, and the footsteps of our predecessors, and the doctrines of the holy fathers and the institutes of the sacred Canons, as is contained in the same letters. And these archbishop and bishops, obeying our commands, have lately transmitted to us the aforesaid information received by them, closed and sealed with their seals. Wherefore we, trusting vehemently in the Lord in the happy beginnings of this business, have thought it right to go forward to further things, as is fitting.

[20] is shown, But because of the aforesaid Cardinals, deputed by name by us for this, as is set forth above, the first has departed this life, and some others either are away from the Roman curia or are distracted by other business, or are free from that office, and after this deputation was made we erected certain Congregations of Cardinals of the holy Roman Church for dispatching certain business, among which we instituted the Congregation of sacred Rites, and granted to it, besides other things, the faculty of taking cognizance of the things which pertain to the canonization of Saints; for that reason we have judged that this office is to be committed to you, who are set over the same Congregation of sacred Rites, and whose religion, piety, faith and prudence we have often proved in the greatest and gravest matters.

[21] to the examination Therefore, of our own motion and certain knowledge and mature deliberation, and from the plenitude of Apostolic power, revoking for the causes above said that first deputation of the aforesaid Cardinals, we by these presents subrogate * you and your successors in the said Congregation in the place of the said Cardinals as regards this, and depute you to this business; and we commit to you the whole examination of the premises, and the full and free cognizance of this business, to be reported to us and to our brothers in consistory, so that then we may be able to accomplish what by the ancient traditions of the holy fathers and by ancient custom has been accustomed to be obtained, to the glory of God and the exaltation of the Saints, and the salvation of the faithful: giving you sure, full and universal authority, power and faculty of opening, examining and taking cognizance of the information sent by the said archbishop and bishops, as is set forth above, and of exercising all juridical and valid acts, and of drawing up processes by yourselves, or by your mandate through others, duly and rightly, and of doing all other things which in all and each of the premises, concerning those things which shall be necessary, or in any way opportune.

[22] subjects. And we will, and by Apostolic authority enact, that, if any of you shall at times be unable to be present at the premises, the rest nevertheless, provided they constitute at least two of three parts, may freely and validly carry out those things, as is set forth above. Notwithstanding the prior deputation of the said Cardinals made by us, and the Apostolic constitutions and ordinances, and all other things to the contrary whatsoever. Given at Rome at St. Mark's, under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 15th day of July of the year 1589, in the fifth year of our Pontificate.

M. Vestrius Barbianus."

ANNOTATIONS.

c. Or Ribera.

h. Read: 1585.

k. To James Ximeno.

* odor

* diffusus est

* read: Ludovicus Bertrandus

* oriundus

* professus

* subrogamus

CHAPTER II.

The Process concerning the Life and Miracles of Bl. Louis Bertrand in particular instituted, and sent to Rome.

Having been opened, In the year 1589, on the 7th day of August, Laurus Dubliul, the king's agent, in the name of the count of Olivares, the Catholic ambassador, and father master brother Bartholomew de Miranda, procurator general of the Order of Preachers, and father brother John Bru of the same Order, as procurator of the city of Valencia, besought the aforesaid Cardinals set over the Congregation of sacred Rites to open and examine the process of summary information concerning the repute, holiness and miracles of the blessed father brother Louis Bertrand. And when that sacred Congregation had chosen and named Anselm Dandino, apostolic protonotary, to write down all the Acts of this cause, John James Panico, Fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber, having first been summoned to be present at the opening of the said process, the lord Cardinals commanded him to unseal it, and to recognize the subscriptions and seals of the commissary judges and of the notary; and the witnesses produced by the procurators of the cause, Benedict Vagliadolid, John Torresiglia, and Philip Marc, clerics, doctors in Theology, testified that they were the genuine seals and subscriptions of the notary and of the commissary judges.

CHAP. IV.

[24] After the process of summary information concerning the repute of holiness and the miracles of Bl. Bertrand had been examined in the Congregation of Rites, it was decreed and examined that Remissorial letters could be granted for forming by Apostolic authority a process concerning the life, virtues and miracles of blessed brother Louis Bertrand in particular; and accordingly Cardinal Gesualdo, bishop of Ostia, dean of the sacred College and of the Congregation of Rites, on the 21st day of March of the year 1590, in the name of the same Congregation of Rites, reported to Sixtus V that his Holiness, the said process having been examined and the things contained in it duly weighed, could proceed further in the cause of the canonization of Bl. Bertrand, by granting remissorial and compulsorial letters [a] for drawing up a particular process concerning the life and miracles of blessed brother Louis Bertrand; and his Holiness, from the judgement and counsel of the College of Cardinals, assented that those remissorial and compulsorial letters should be granted.

[25] the general process the way is laid open to the process in particular, The Decree of the Congregation of Rites runs thus: "On Wednesday, the 9th day of the month of March, in the year 1590, in the secret consistory held at St. Peter's. The most reverend lord Cardinal Gesualdo, in the name of the Congregation of sacred Rites, reported that there had been diligently examined by the most reverend lord Cardinals set over the said Congregation the Process transmitted from Spain of the summary inquiry in general, made by the most reverend fathers the archbishop of Valencia and the bishop of Tortosa, by mandate of our Most Holy Lord, at the instance of the most serene Philip, Catholic king, and of the city and kingdom of Valencia, concerning the brilliance of the miracles of brother Louis Bertrand of good memory, both in life and after death, and the devotion of peoples towards him; and that it had seemed to the same most reverend lord Cardinals that all the above-said things in general are sufficiently proved by very many witnesses examined in the said process; and therefore that they had come to the opinion that it could be decreed by His Holiness that one should proceed to further things, and that remissorial and compulsorial letters to the parties should be granted for receiving full and special proof of all the same things. Which report having been heard, the same His Holiness, the votes of the most reverend lord Cardinals having been sought, by their counsel decreed that one should proceed to further things, and that the above-said remissorial and compulsorial letters to the parties should be dispatched."

[26] but the remissorial letters, the death of three The death of Sixtus V, which happened on the 27th day of August of the same year 1590, prevented him from effecting anything further in this cause; but, having learned of it, king Philip II, both because the same cause was greatly dear to his heart, and also to gratify the Preacher fathers of Valencia, on the 21st day of September of the year 1590 wrote again to Rome to his ambassador, commanding him to procure from the new Pontiff the dispatch of the said remissorial letters. The royal letter runs thus: "The King. Count of Olivares, I have been informed in the name of the Prior and convent of the Preachers of Valencia that they are labouring diligently for the canonization of blessed brother Louis Bertrand, by the faculty granted them in this matter by a Brief conceded at my prayers in the year 1586, and that already, after the proofs had been produced and seen by those to whom the Pontiff had committed it, a decree had been made concerning another Brief for receiving particular informations on each point, but it had lacked effect; and they beseech me to urge the new Pontiff to dispatch that Brief, and meanwhile, while the completing of the canonization is being treated, to permit the Religious of the said convent to celebrate Mass and other divine Offices of the same Blessed man in that house in which his holy body rests with great honour, veneration and miracles, as it has been granted to celebrate of others too before the canonization was performed. Since that work is of such weight, I have wished to commit it to you, that you may treat it with that zeal which its dignity demands, and in my name with His Holiness and others, as shall be necessary, busy yourself with good offices and suitable reasons, that it may obtain the desired effect. If you do this, I shall reckon it a particular service. In the palace of St. Lawrence, on the 21st day of September 1590."

[27] But although the aforesaid king wrote these things to his ambassador, of Pontiffs intervening and earnestly commanded him to see to the dispatch of the aforesaid remissorial letters, nothing however could then be obtained, because, Sixtus V being dead, Urban VII, chosen into the Pontificate, held it only ten days ^b; Gregory XIV succeeded him, who survived ten months and as many days ^c: after him Innocent IX ^d was elected, who likewise survived among the living only two months; and when Clement VIII had succeeded him, he had so much business to treat that the said remissorial and compulsorial letters could not be dispatched before the 5th day of December of the year 1595, in the fourth year of the same man's Pontificate; on which day the king's Agent, Laurus Dubliul, and doctor John Baptist Vives, as procurator of Valencia, and father master brother Bartholomew de Miranda, procurator general of the Order of Preachers, offered to the Congregation of Rites the articles which they wished to prove.

[28] And when they had first summoned James Nerotto, procurator fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber, are dispatched rather late, for the dispatch of those remissorial letters, the fiscal protested that non-suspect judges should be named in them, and that his Substitute should be present at the examination, doctor Martin Andrew, Pavorde (which is a dignity of the archiepiscopal church of Valencia) and a doctor holding a chair in the university of the same city, or another of those whom the said James Nerotto should indicate. And so the sacred Congregation of Rites gave the Remissorials, naming as commissary judges the archbishop of Valencia, and the bishops of Segorbe and Morocco ^f, with the addition

of the clause that at least two of them should be present at receiving the testimonies. After this, on the 12th day of March of the year 1596, the procurator fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber offered certain interrogatories, by which all the witnesses were to be questioned, and on the 16th day of the same month and year he named as his Substitute doctor Martin Andrea, and others; and the remissorial and compulsorial letters, closed and sealed, on the 16th day of March of the aforesaid year 1596, were handed into the hands of Horace Ciandelier, a merchant, who, receiving them, swore that he would send them by a safe carrier to Valencia to the procurator of his business, Mark Anthony Museffi, a merchant.

CHAP. V.

[29] These remissorial letters, brought to Valencia by a faithful hand, and at length they are brought to Valencia in the year 1596: the syndic of the city, James Bertrand, brother of Bl. Louis, and master brother Vincent Justinian Antist, as procurator of the convent of the Preachers of the same city, and of father master brother Jerome Baptist della Nuza, provincial of the province of Aragon, and of the most reverend father General of the whole Order of Preachers, master brother Hippolytus Mary Beccaria of Mons Regalis, with letters of procuration received from Christopher Ferreri, notary of the city of Valencia, on the 12th day of July of the year 1596; Mark-Anthony Museffi, merchant and procurator of the business of Horace Ciandelier, being also present, on the 17th day of October of the said year offered the aforesaid remissorial and compulsorial letters to lord John de Ribera, archbishop of Valencia, and lord John de Espinosa, bishop of Morocco; who, obeying and accepting the said Apostolic commission, appointed Gaspar Miconi, notary of the archiepiscopal court of Valencia, as notary in the same cause, and John Ferreri as messenger, an oath having been received from them of discharging their office faithfully.

[30] then the due informations, And when on the 27th day of November of the same year 1596 they had summoned doctor Martin Andrea, Pavorde of the archiepiscopal church, and others besides substituted by James Nerotto, procurator fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber, at the time and place appointed, and the witnesses to be received and examined, they began to prepare the process, and examined them first on the interrogatories of the procurator fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber, then on the articles offered by the procurators of the canonization. And they examined witnesses to the number of two hundred and ninety-one up to the second day of December of the year 1598, and formed a long and copious process. And because in the remissorial letters it had been commanded to the judges that whatever proofs or writings pertaining to this cause of the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand should be found, they should insert them in the process; the procurator of the cause, father brother Louis Primo, substitute of father master brother Vincent Justinian Antist, on the 17th day of October of the year 1596 offered for this purpose many other informations received in various places, which are the following, in the order in which they are read in the process.

[31] were made in various places, First the informations made at Valencia after the death of Bl. Bertrand by the ordinary, in which a hundred and twelve witnesses were examined, as has been said above. He offered also a report, written authentically by a notary on the 25th day of April in the year 1583, which the Jurats of the royal town of Burriana in the kingdom of Valencia made concerning the things which they observed in the Servant of God in the year 1574, when he gave the sermons of the Lenten fast in the same place; another likewise made in the year 1583 in the month of May in the town of Montesa; another in the town of Xabea in the month of February 1584; another at Orihuela in the month of February of the year 1585; another in the year 1583 at Cartagena of the Indies, where the Blessed man preached; another made in the town of Mompoix, likewise in the Indies, where he also preached, in the year 1595; another likewise made at Madrid in the year 1598; another at Orihuela in the year 1598; another in the town of Alicante of the diocese of Orihuela in the year 1598; another at Saragossa in the year 1584; another in the town of Daroca, of the diocese of Saragossa, in the year 1584 ^g.

[32] The commissary judges ordered all these informations to be inserted in the process, and the process thence drawn up, and they wrote letters to the sacred Congregation of Rites, placed at the end of the process, in which they reported on all the things which had been done in the process ordered to be formed by Apostolic authority concerning the life and miracles of Bl. Louis; naming in the same all the witnesses heard in the same process, and asserting that they were persons worthy of credit. And the commissary judges subscribed the same process with their own hand, and signed it with their seals, and, fortified with the customary subscription and legalization of the notary, closed it, and, sealed on the outside, on the 10th day of May in the year 1599 handed it into the hands of Mark-Anthony Museffi, that he might send it safely to Rome to the partner of his trade, Horace Ciandelier, a merchant.

CHAP. VI.

[33] After the aforesaid process had been sent to Rome, the kingdom of Valencia desired that the cause of the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand should obtain a happy effect, sent to Rome, and therefore the Elected of the three estates of the kingdom, which are those of the Ecclesiastics, the Military and the people, and the deputies of the kingdom resolved to send to Rome a procurator who should promote it at the kingdom's expense, in accordance with what had been decreed by the same three orders in the year 1585 at Montio in the court, that for the expenses of this canonization sixteen thousand ducats should be granted from the common revenues, and for the beatification a thousand. The aforesaid Elected and deputies therefore appointed as procurator of this cause the very reverend father master brother Louis Ysteglia (as is established from the procuration committed to him on the 13th day of July of the year 1599), a very religious and learned father, public professor of the university of Valencia, qualificator of the holy Office, vicar general of the whole Order of Preachers, and Master of the sacred palace, in which office he died. This father, coming to Rome, handed over the process together with letters of Philip III, Catholic king, to Pope Clement VIII, in which the king besought his holiness to deign to order the aforesaid process, formed by Apostolic authority, to be seen and examined, and besides those things to be done which were necessary for the canonization of the servant of God Louis Bertrand.

[34] The royal letters ran thus: "Most Holy Father. together with letters of commendation The Process of the deeds, which your Holiness ordered to be made for the sure knowledge and proof of the life and miracles of blessed brother Louis Bertrand, by the mandate and commission of my kingdom of Valencia, and with my will and assent, is being brought to your Beatitude by master brother Louis Ysteglia, of the Order of St. Dominic, professed of the monastery of the Preachers in my city of Valencia, a man outstanding in learning and religion, who for many years taught Theology publicly in the university of Valencia, Prior of the monastery of the Preachers, and at present qualificator of the holy Office, and having it in his instructions to give his effort to urging his canonization to its end, because this will turn to the glory and honour of God our Lord, and of the Saint, and the general benefit of the whole Christian world.

[35] And from the particular devotion with which I embrace the same Saint, of Philip II, I beseech your Beatitude that, giving full faith to my ambassador and to master brother Louis Ysteglia, you may deign for my sake to order that this process be examined with the utmost brevity, and that likewise the other acts which must precede the canonization be done. Which, besides being a work worthy of the piety and holy zeal of your Beatitude, I shall receive as a singular grace and favour of your Holiness, whose most holy person may our Lord preserve, and prolong his life for the happy and prosperous state of His whole Church. At Madrid, on the 3rd day of January of the year 1599.

Of your Holiness

The very humble and devoted son Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, Aragon, León, both Sicilies, Jerusalem, Portugal, Navarre and the Indies, who kisses the most holy feet of the same."

[36] of the duke of Nagiara, The same father master Ysteglia offered also to the supreme Pontiff many other letters of princes and prelates, of which I shall review here only that of the duke of Nagiara, who had been viceroy of Valencia, and had dealt very familiarly with the servant of God brother Louis Bertrand, and in it narrated certain particular things about him, as follows: "Most Blessed Father. By the mandate of your Holiness and of your predecessors it was committed to the patriarch of Antioch, archbishop of this city of Valencia, and to two other bishops, to inquire into the life and death of father brother Louis Bertrand, and the miracles which the Lord our God deigned to do in his life and death, so that, if he should merit it, your Holiness might honour him and canonize him, enrolling him among the Saints. The father master brother Louis Ysteglia, destined to plead that cause, has asked me that, for the knowledge of him which I drew while I was discharging the office of viceroy for my lord the king in this city and kingdom, where in the space of three years I often conversed with him, I should inform your Holiness that he was held by the people at that time for so great a servant of God that he deserved the name of a holy Man.

[37] who as viceroy at Valencia I saw him bearing many infirmities and grave pains in various members of his body with great patience. I received there from him remarkable and good counsels, I heard from him many particular things which came about as he had foretold, which however, because more than twenty years have passed since then, I cannot relate specifically to your Holiness. I can only say that, when my lord king Philip II in the year 1580 was brought so near to death that the physicians and courtiers in his palace had already left him with veiled face as dead, and I went to this Servant of God and others of this city to commend the king to their prayers, many days before news had been brought both of his despaired-of health and of the abated illness (of which things I had been accustomed to be informed by couriers), he told me that his Majesty would not die of it, and that he had understood that this had been obtained from the Lord by the orations and prayers of Servants of God, not without a miracle.

[38] and had been familiar with the Saint; And when I ascribed what he was saying to his own prayers, he was troubled and took it ill beyond what the matter required; since it was a disgust to him to be praised by him with whom he was dealing, and that such things should be attributed to him. And because what I relate to your Holiness is true, and it happened between me and him, I feel myself bound to make it manifest to your Holiness, whose most happy days may God preserve and prosper for the safety of His holy Church and of the Christian people, according to the wish of your Holiness. At Valencia, on the 26th day of April of the year 1599. The most obedient son of your Holiness, who kisses his most holy feet. The Duke of Nagiara."

[39] There wrote besides to the supreme Pontiff Clement VIII the Elected of the three estates of the kingdom of Valencia, on the 7th day of July in the year 1599, a very eloquent letter, and by the letters of many others: earnestly beseeching that he would accomplish the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand as a favour to this kingdom. The same thing was likewise begged by the Jurats of the city of Valencia, John Baptist Giuliani, John Baptist Colon, Peter-Anthony Matteu, Gaspar Benedetti and Francis Micheli, by letters given on the 28th day of June in the year 1599. For the same cause there wrote lord Gaspar Punter, bishop of Tortosa, on the 10th day of February of the year 1599; the Jurats of the town of Xativa, Gaspar Simeon Martini, Joseph Alphonsus Apparicio, Mark-Anthony

Anguerotti, Peter Aradoni, Monforte Escrivano, on the 24th day of January in the year 1599. So too did the people of Orihuela, Andrew Soler, judge, and the jurats Nicholas Perez, Louis Maschefa, and Anthony Perez, on the 16th day of February of the year 1599, and the cathedral chapter of Orihuela on the 23rd day of March in the year 1599.

[40] After this the same Pope Clement VIII was besought besides, in the name of the aforesaid king, Clement VIII orders the Process and of the kingdom and city of Valencia, to order the Congregation of Rites to open the said process, and to have its translation made, and to see to the performing of the other things necessary for proceeding in the same cause: the Pontiff granted it, and the congregation had Pompey Moleglia, procurator fiscal of the sacred Apostolic Chamber, summoned. Accordingly John Baptist Bagni, the cursor, summoned him on the 28th day of June in the year 1600 to be present at the opening of the said process, formed concerning the deeds and miracles of Bl. Louis Bertrand by Apostolic authority and for performing the canonization; and, the recognition of the sealing and seals having been made, the process was unsealed, and father master Ysteglia, procurator of the cause, by witnesses produced proved that its subscriptions and seals were those of the commissary judges and of the notary Gaspar Miconi, who had drawn up the process.

[41] There were present as witnesses at this recognition doctor Martin Andrea, Pavorde of the archiepiscopal church of Valencia, to be unsealed; and Philip III, who was afterwards an auditor of the Roman Rota, and had assisted at the forming of the process as substitute of the procurator fiscal of the Apostolic Chamber; and Vincent Moregli, doctor in Theology. And on the 24th day of August of the same year 1600, the same procurator fiscal having been summoned, the sacred Congregation of Rites chose John Jerome Rabassa to interpret the said process and turn it from the Spanish language into Italian; and he swore that he would make that translation faithfully. And king Philip III was held by so great a desire of seeing the cause of the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand completed that, besides the many letters already mentioned, he wrote others to the supreme Pontiff and to his ambassador, the duke of Sessa, ordering the latter to urge it most diligently: he added therefore the two following to the rest.

[42] [his father being dead, commends the cause of the Canonization of St. Louis earnestly both to the Pontiff,] Letter of the king to Pope Clement VIII. "Most Holy Father, I am writing to the duke of Sessa, my ambassador, that he may urgently beg your Holiness in my name to order the things which pertain to the canonization of brother Louis Bertrand of the Order of St. Dominic to be carried out; because I vehemently desire this. I beseech your Holiness to deign to listen to him and to assent to his just petition, for so your Holiness will have shown me a most singular favour and grace, whose most holy person may Our Lord preserve, and prolong his life for the prosperity of His whole Church. At Madrid, on the 14th day of December of the year 1600. The most humble and most obedient son of your Holiness. D. Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, etc."

[43] and to his ambassador. Letter of the king to his ambassador. "Ambassador. I have understood that his Holiness has ordered the process of the canonization of blessed brother Louis Bertrand to be unsealed, so that it may be treated. And although, because you will remember it from the letters written to you on this business by the king my father (to whom be glory), I trust that you with your accustomed diligence have endeavoured to contribute much to its happy success and speedy end; nevertheless, because I greatly desire both the one and the other, both for the greater glory of God that will arise from it and for other just causes, I command you more vehemently than usual to procure both in my name with the greatest zeal and dispatch you can; beseeching his holiness (to whom you will hand the letters enclosed here for giving you credence) not to allow his hand to be removed from that business until he has brought it to its end. You will advise father master brother Louis Ysteglia not to be absent from the curia, so that he may be able to act in the same business and urge the canonization in the manner which shall seem to you expedient. What you shall do prudently in this and in that, I shall reckon a most pleasing service. At Madrid, on the 14th day of December in the year 1600. The King."

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

The Beatification of Louis Bertrand, and his sacred cult extended to the whole Order of Preachers and the clergy of Valencia.

CHAP. VII.

When king Philip III noticed that the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand was being put off so long a time, Philip III, since the business of the Canonization was proceeding slowly, he resolved that meanwhile his beatification should be requested; and, kindled with the same desire, the kingdom of Valencia and the convent of the Preachers of its metropolis offered suppliant prayers to the same king that he would command his ambassador by letter to request it most urgently from the supreme Pontiff. Accordingly in the year 1601, on the 20th day of August, he wrote the following letter. "Ambassador. Surely you remember that in years past, at the prayers of the estates of the kingdom of Valencia, it was commanded you by letter by the king my father and lord [a] (to whom be glory) concerning the beatification of father brother Louis Bertrand, of the Order of St. Dominic; and that afterwards you laboured on various occasions that the process of solemn canonization might be promoted; which I too ordered you, from the desire of procuring the greater glory of God.

[45] But since I have now considered that this business can suffer long delays, commands his ambassador; as we have seen happen in other like ones on account of their moment and gravity; and have understood that devotion towards this Father is growing day by day so much, both in the city and kingdom of Valencia and in all the houses of the same Order, on account of the miracles which it pleases God to work for his merits, that they desire to be able to erect altars to him publicly and to celebrate particular Masses of him. To which end it is necessary (as you know) that he first be enrolled among the Blessed by the supreme Pontiff, as the Apostolic See has been accustomed to enrol other Saints whom afterwards it solemnly canonized.

[46] It seems to me that one must now press with every effort, in accordance with what I said above to request the Beatification from the Pontiff; had been enjoined on you by the king my lord at the prayers of the estates of the kingdom of Valencia; and accordingly, since the Religious of the Order of St. Dominic beg this very thing of me, and it greatly concerns the divine service, I earnestly commend to you that, as soon as you have received these presents (not however desisting from procuring and urging that one should proceed further, and that the things which pertain to the process of the solemn canonization be terminated), you hand to his Holiness the letters which I write to him for giving you credence, beseeching that it may please him, as a favour to the said city and kingdom and to the convents of the Order, now to beatify him for obtaining the aforesaid ends. In which matter you will bring all your zeal and all your effort, at the same time pursuing what concerns the aforesaid canonization, as has been said above: for on account of what I have already recorded, you will so render me a most singular and pleasing service. Given at Valladolid, on the 20th day of August in the year 1601."

[47] Nor was king Philip III content with these letters for quickly obtaining the beatification of the Servant of God, on which matter he writes also to the prefect of the Congregation of Rites, brother Louis Bertrand; besides, in the following year 1602, on the 27th day of April, he gave another to the same end to the most illustrious Cardinal Gesualdo, as prefect of the Congregation of Rites, which I subjoin here. "To the most Reverend Father in Christ Cardinal Gesualdo, his most dear and much beloved friend, Lord Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, etc. Most Reverend father in Christ, Cardinal Gesualdo, my most dear and much beloved friend. You will have already heard that I have urged his Holiness through my ambassador the duke of Sessa to order the cause of the solemn canonization of father brother Louis Bertrand, of the Order of St. Dominic, a native of the city of Valencia, to be dispatched; and most recently, that meanwhile, while that cause is being finished, he deign to enrol him among the Blessed, so that it may be lawful for the convents of his Order and other persons devoted to him (whose number is continually increasing on account of the miracles which God works for his sake) to erect public altars to him and celebrate particular Masses of him.

[48] Cardinal Gesualdo. But although I trust that his Holiness will grant me this grace which I have asked, and which the whole kingdom of Valencia deservedly expects; and I know that you have given your effort to it, and will give it, in accordance with your due office; nevertheless (that you may continue to do it with greater fervour and zeal) I have wished to signify to you by these presents that I most greatly desire a speedy end of this cause, and that meanwhile the Pontiff should enrol the said brother Louis among the Blessed for the cause above said. And so I most earnestly ask you that, as far as the first concerns, you continue your good offices further; and as regards the other, that you render such as may obtain it shortly. Be persuaded that, besides your having in this way much promoted the divine service, it will be most pleasing to me from you; as also if you signify to me what you shall have done in this business. Most Reverend father in Christ, Cardinal Gesualdo, my most dear and much beloved friend, may our Lord guard you perpetually. At Valladolid, on the 7th day of April 1602. I the king."

CHAP. VIII.

[49] The cause of the beatification of Blessed Louis Bertrand was being treated in the Congregation of Rites, the Congregation of sacred Rites, the cause having been examined,

and there was given to each of the Cardinals who were of the same Congregation a summary and written instructions concerning all the things that were to be treated in each of the congregations, of which many were held up to the year 1608; and the judge, or Ponent, was the most illustrious Cardinal Serafino. And after the validity of the process, which was in probative form, had first been examined, and the witnesses juridically examined, and finally, his remarkable virtues and heroic deeds, and many and great miracles wrought by God through his intercession both in his life and after his death, having been proved from the Process, the same sacred Congregation on the 19th day of March in the year 1608 decreed that the supreme Pontiff Paul V could (if it so seemed good to him) enrol the servant of God brother Louis Bertrand among the Blessed, and grant him the title of Blessed, and that the Mass and office of a confessor not a pontiff could be celebrated of him; and, if his Holiness wished, could proceed to accomplishing his canonization.

[50] King Philip III also wrote to Pope Paul V, judges that he can be enrolled in the number of the Blessed, earnestly begging the same beatification, and commanded his ambassador Gaston de Moncada, marquis of Aytona, to request it. For which causes the most illustrious lord Cardinal Pinelli, bishop of Ostia,

dean of the sacred College, on the 21st day of April reported to the same Paul V the opinion of the sacred Congregation of Rites on this matter; and his Holiness, approving the decree of the Congregation by the judgement of the whole sacred College, attributed the title of Blessed to the Servant of God Louis Bertrand, and granted the faculty that the Mass and Office of the same could be celebrated in all the convents and monasteries of Religious men and women of the Order of Preachers of the kingdom of Valencia. The decree of the said Congregation is such.

[51] "Dominic, bishop of Ostia, dean of the sacred College, and of this kind Cardinal Pinelli of the holy Roman Church, to all and each who shall inspect, read and hear the presents, everlasting greeting in the Lord. Since, on account of the excellence and holiness of life of brother Louis Bertrand of good memory, of Valencia, of the Order of Preachers, and on account of the brilliance of the miracles which almighty and merciful God, beyond the accustomed course of nature, has deigned to work through his merits and intercession, both while he lived and after his happy falling asleep in the Lord, the most serene Philip III, Catholic king of the Spains, the kingdom of Valencia, and also the whole Order of Preachers, have humbly and with repeated prayers besought our Most Holy Lord Pope Paul the fifth, that, for preserving and increasing the devotion of the peoples, which is very great everywhere, and especially in the Crown of Aragon ^b, towards that same brother Louis of good memory, on account of the innumerable graces received from God through his merits, which the most serene Catholic king himself specially and particularly confesses that he has received, his Holiness would deign to grant that, until the said brother Louis of good memory be enrolled in the number of the Saints, he may and should be called Blessed, and that it may be lawful to celebrate a feast of him as of a Blessed one, and to recite the Mass and Office as of a confessor not a pontiff in the Crown of Aragon ^c and throughout the whole Order of Preachers.

[52] And since the same our Most Holy Lord remitted this business, to be maturely discussed and examined, to the sacred Congregation of Rites, on that matter in which the Processes, legitimately and by Apostolic authority drawn up, concerning the holiness of life, purity of faith, and brilliance of miracles of the same Louis of good memory were presented, and diligently examined by the most illustrious and most reverend lord Cardinal Serafino, of the order of the same Congregation, of which too a compendium or summary was transmitted through the hands of each of the lord Cardinals of the same Congregation, the report of the aforesaid most illustrious and most reverend Lord Cardinal Serafino on the premises having at length been heard, made in the same Congregation on the 19th day of the month of April, since from the said Processes it is sufficiently and most abundantly established concerning the purity of faith, holiness of life and working of miracles of the same brother Louis Bertrand of good memory, so that even from them one could come to actual canonization; the same sacred Congregation of Rites judged (if it should please our Most Holy Lord) that that brother Louis may and can hereafter be called Blessed, and that of him, as of a Blessed one, in the city and kingdom of Valencia, the Office and Mass, as of one Confessor not a pontiff, on the anniversary day of his death [d], may and can lawfully and freely be recited by the Friars and Religious of both sexes of the same Order.

[53] frames a decree; And the same our Most Holy Lord Pope Paul the fifth, having heard the report on all the premises made to him by us in secret consistory, on the day written below assented, and approved the opinion of the Congregation, and indulged and granted that of blessed Louis Bertrand, in the city and kingdom of Valencia, in all the monasteries and churches of the Friars and nuns of the same Order of Preachers, by those Friars and nuns, on the 19th ^e day of the month of October, on which day the solemn memorial of his death is celebrated, every year the Office and Mass of the Common of one Confessor not a pontiff, according to the rite and custom of his Order, may and can be freely and lawfully recited and celebrated. In faith and testimony of all and each of which things we have ordered the presents to be made by the undersigned secretary of the same Congregation, and have subscribed them with our own hand, and have had them fortified by the appending of our accustomed seal. At Rome, in the palace of our accustomed residence, on the 21st day of the month of April of the year 1608. And in the third year of the Pontificate of our Most Holy Lord Paul the fifth, by divine providence Pope.

Dominic, bishop of Ostia, Card. Pinelli.

J. P. Mucantius, secretary of the Congreg."

[54] which Paul V in fact The Brief of the beatification of blessed Louis Bertrand, issued by order of Paul V in the year 1608 on the 19th day of July, is such:

"Pope Paul V.

For the perpetual memory of the matter.

Set by the Lord in the See of the Prince of the Apostles, though no merits of ours support it, we willingly assent to the pious wishes of Catholic kings and other faithful, by which the Lord of virtues is honoured in His Servants, and we indulge them by Apostolic authority, as we see it to be expedient in the Lord. Indeed it has been set forth to us in the name of our most dear son in Christ, Philip, Catholic king of the Spains, of the kingdom of Valencia, and of the Order of Friars Preachers, that Louis Bertrand of good memory, of Valencia, professed of the said Order of Friars Preachers, living with many and extraordinary virtues and graces, was made illustrious by the Lord with the gift of miracles, both in life and after death; and therefore great too is the devotion of the peoples and of the kingdom of the Aragonese towards his name and memory. Wherefore both the said king Philip, and the kingdom and Order aforesaid, have had us besought once and again that, until they obtain from the Apostolic See the honour of canonization, which they hope will one day be had for the said Louis on account of his excellent merits, divine grace inspiring, we would indulge by Apostolic authority that the same Louis may be called Blessed, and that the Office and Mass of him may be performed in the city and kingdom of Valencia as of a Confessor not a pontiff.

[55] Wherefore, the matter having first been maturely discussed by our venerable brothers the Cardinals of the holy Roman Church carries out in the year 1628 on the 29th day of July. set over the sacred Rites, to whom we committed it to be examined, by the counsel of the same Cardinals, inclined to the supplications of the aforesaid king Philip, the kingdom of Valencia, and the Order of Friars Preachers, we by Apostolic authority, by the tenor of the presents, perpetually grant and indulge that hereafter the said Louis Bertrand may be called Blessed, and that of him in all the monasteries and churches of the Friars and nuns of the same Order of Preachers of the city and kingdom of Valencia, by those Friars and nuns, on the 19th day of the month ^f of October, which, as is asserted, is the day of his death, every year the Office and Mass of the Common of one Confessor not a pontiff, according to the rite and custom of his Order, may and can be freely and lawfully celebrated. Notwithstanding the Apostolic constitutions and ordinances, and all other things to the contrary whatsoever. Given at Rome at St. Mark's under the ring of the Fisherman, on the 29th day of July 1608, in the fourth year of our Pontificate.

Scipio Cobellutius."

CHAP. IX.

[56] When the Brief of the Beatification of Bl. Bertrand had been brought into the city of Valencia, very great and magnificent feasts were celebrated, Restricted and devotion towards this Saint grew so much throughout the whole world that many grieved that they too could not use that grace which the supreme Pontiff had granted to the Order of St. Dominic alone in the kingdom of Valencia; and above the others the clergy of Valencia and the Religious of other Orders. For which reason the patriarch, archbishop of Valencia, out of his singular devotion towards the Blessed man, besought Pope Paul V that in his college of Corpus Christi (which is a magnificent house in which the divine Offices are performed with solemn piety) it might be lawful to celebrate the Office and Mass of him on the day of his feast; and he obtained that grace. Nor was the archbishop content with that, but, mindful of the very close friendship which he had cultivated with Bl. Bertrand, he wished to celebrate his feast in the convent of the Preachers of Valencia, a perpetual revenue having been founded, from which on the festal day of the same Blessed man a sumptuous, but religious, banquet should be furnished to the Religious fathers Preachers.

[57] He besought besides the same Paul V that the grace, at first, indulged to the convents of the kingdom of Valencia alone, might be extended also to the whole Order of Preachers, so that the Office and Mass of the same Blessed man might be performed by all of them, and that the clergy and Religious of other Orders in the same city of Valencia might enjoy the same faculty. This grace was begged also by lord Francis de Castro, the royal ambassador, in the name of the king himself, and like things were asked by letter by the most serene princes of Belgium, Albert the archduke and the Infanta of the Spains lady Isabel.

[58] And the Pontiff remitted their memorial to the Congregation of Rites, of Bl. Louis which on the 19th day of October of the year 1610 decreed that His Holiness could (if it so pleased him) grant that the said grace be extended to the whole Order of Preachers throughout the whole world; and that at Valencia, where his body rests, it should be lawful for the whole clergy and all Religious of whatever Order to celebrate the Office and Mass in the manner prescribed; and a report on this matter having been made to the Most Holy Lord in secret consistory on the 25th day of October of the same year 1610 by Cardinal Pinelli the dean, the same Pontiff assented and indulged the grace, and on the same 25th day of October the aforesaid Cardinal Pinelli, as president of the said Congregation of Rites, ordered the following decree to be dispatched.

[59] the cult "Dominic, bishop of Ostia, dean of the Sacred College, Cardinal Pinelli of the holy Roman Church. To all and each who shall inspect, read and hear the presents, everlasting greeting in the Lord. Since, on account of the excellence of faith, the holiness of life, and the brilliance of miracles of Brother Louis Bertrand of pious memory, of Valencia, of the Order of Preachers, and the devotion, veneration and concourse to his sepulchre of the peoples of the whole kingdom of Valencia towards him, at the instance of the most serene Philip III, Catholic king of the Spains, and of the kingdom of Valencia, and of the whole Order of Preachers, our Most Holy Lord Pope Paul the fifth ordered to be examined in our sacred Congregation of Rites the Processes, duly and rightly drawn up by Apostolic authority, concerning the life, miracles and devotion of the people towards the said Brother Louis Bertrand, and, having heard our summary report on the things contained in the said Processes, approved, confirmed and praised the opinion of the same our Congregation; and granted and indulged that hereafter the said Brother Louis Bertrand may and can be called Blessed, and that of him, as of one Confessor not a Pontiff, in the city and kingdom of Valencia only, by all the Friars and Religious of both sexes of the Order of Preachers, in their monasteries and churches, the Office and Mass of the Common of one Confessor not a Pontiff, according to the rite and custom of the same Order, may be freely and lawfully recited, as is more fully contained in the decrees of our said Congregation and in our letters patent dispatched thereon under the 21st day of the month of April.

[60] to the whole Order of Preachers, But since the devotion of the Christian people towards the said blessed Louis Bertrand is increased more and more from day to day, not only in the city and kingdom of Valencia but also through the whole world in the whole Dominican Religion, and becomes and grows greater daily from the whole of Spain and from remote provinces too

the concourse to his sepulchre, on account of the innumerable and great graces which God does not disdain to grant to His faithful through the merits and intercession of the same blessed Louis; the same most serene Philip III, Catholic king of the Spains, both by letters and through his ambassador in the City, and the whole kingdom of Valencia itself, and the whole Order of the Dominican Religion, and also the most serene prince of Flanders, have pressed the same our Most Holy Lord with repeated prayers that he would deign to indulge and grant that the grace granted to the Friars and Religious of both sexes of the Order of Preachers in the kingdom of Valencia only, that they may and can recite the Office of the said blessed Louis, be extended through the whole Order of Preachers everywhere on earth, and that it be granted that in the kingdom of Valencia not only the Dominicans but also all other priests and secular clerics, and Regulars, and whatever men and women of both sexes shall wish, may, as above, recite of the Blessed man, and celebrate, or hear, Mass.

[61] And since the same our Most Holy Lord ordered this too to be examined in the same our Congregation of Rites, and to the whole clergy of Valencia on the 19th day of the present month of October, my most illustrious and most reverend lords colleagues, gathered together with me, having seen the letters of the same Philip III, Catholic king of the Spains, and the instances made in the name of the whole kingdom of Valencia, and of the whole Dominican Religion, and of the princes of Flanders, judged, if it should please our Most Holy Lord, that the aforesaid grace could be extended through the whole Dominican Religion in the whole world, and that it could be granted in the city of Valencia only, where the body of the said blessed Louis rests, that all men and women of both sexes, and Religious Regulars and seculars, may recite the Office of the said Blessed man, and celebrate, or hear, Mass.

[62] And a report having been made by us of the aforesaid opinion of our Congregation to the same our Most Holy Lord in secret consistory on the day written below, is extended. his Holiness assented, and praised and approved the opinion of the Congregation, and granted and indulged that of the said blessed Louis, through the whole world, the Office and Mass may and can be recited and celebrated by the Friars and Religious of both sexes of the Order of Preachers, and in the city of Valencia also by all seculars and Regulars who shall wish, they may and can freely and lawfully recite the said Office, as above, celebrate Mass, or hear it. In faith and testimony of all and each of which things we have ordered the presents to be made by the inscribed ^g secretary of the same Congregation, have subscribed them with our own hand, and have had them fortified by the impression of our accustomed seal. At Rome, in the palace of our accustomed residence, on the 25th day of the month of October 1600 [h]. And in the sixth year of the Pontificate of the same our Most Holy Lord Paul, by divine providence Pope the fifth.

Dominic, bishop of Ostia, Cardinal Pinelli.

J. P. Mucantius, Secret. Congreg."

ANNOTATIONS.

d. The 9th of October.

e. Rather the 9th.

g. Or subscribed.

CHAPTER IV.

The cause of the Canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand brought almost to its end, and at length completed by Clement X.

CHAP. X.

The convent of the Preachers of Valencia, desiring that the Process of canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand should be promoted, The cause of Canonization the most reverend father master Ysteglia, master of the sacred palace and procurator of the same cause, having died meanwhile, resolved to send one of its Religious to the Roman curia, who, succeeding Ysteglia, should take charge of it. Accordingly the Prior of the said convent, master brother Jerome Mos, with the consent of all the Brethren, chose father brother John Baptist Alzamora, doctor in Theology, the mandate of procuration being handed to him on the 4th day of February of the year 1615. He, arriving at Rome on the 19th day of October of the same year, omitted nothing by which he might promote the said cause, and offered to the supreme Pontiff Paul V a memorial, in which he besought his Holiness to deign to commit the cause of the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand to the three senior Auditors of the Rota, that they might examine the Processes pertaining to the canonization.

[64] The Pontiff granted that grace, and committed the cause to the most illustrious lord Sacrato, it is committed to the auditors of the Rota, archbishop of Damascus, the most illustrious lord Coccino, dean of the Rota, and the most reverend lord Manzanedo de Chignones, auditor of the Rota, to whom this commission was offered on the 22nd day of June in the year 1616. And they, having accepted the commission on the 27th day of the same month, appointed as notary of the cause Sebastian Taborino of Verdun, and on the first day of July of the same year the Processes of the cause were transferred from the Congregation of Rites to the Rota and handed to the said notary. And when the aforesaid father procurator of the cause had had three copies of the Process made, each of which consisted of two thousand five hundred and forty-five folios, on the 4th day of July of the same year the commissary judges by a published decree ordered the copies to be collated with the original, the care of that matter being committed to the notary of the cause.

[65] and Avignone is appointed its procurator, When this collation had been made, each judge was given his copy; but when the cause was now to be begun, it pleased God to call the aforesaid father brother John Baptist Alzamora, procurator of the cause, to Himself, which happened in the month of April of the year 1617. For which cause nothing further was done until the most reverend father master brother Raphael Rifoz, vicar general of the whole Order of Preachers (afterwards bishop of Elne [a]), wrote to the convent of the Preachers at Valencia that they should send one of the fathers to Rome to plead that cause. And so master brother Jerome Cucalini, then Prior there, with the common consent of all the fathers of the convent, ordered me to go there to that end with a mandate of procuration, given on the 6th day of October of the year 1617.

[66] I arrived at Rome on the 28th day of December of the said year, Bl. Bertrand's and after the requests had been set out by me to the aforesaid judges, and the necessary writings handed over, there was held on the 30th day of April in the year 1618 the first Congregation on the cause of the canonization of Bl. Bertrand in the Apostolic palace of the Quirinal, in which the most illustrious lord judges decreed that the commissorial Process was in probative form for prosecuting the canonization. The second Congregation was held at Rome in the sacristy of St. Augustine in the same year 1618, on the 17th day of July, in which it was decreed that the witnesses in the remissorial Process had been well and juridically examined. On the 18th day of September of the same year 1618 there was held in the same sacristy the third Congregation, in which it was decreed that, for accomplishing the canonization, the remarkable faith of Bl. Bertrand had been excellently proved, and that it was likewise established concerning his most firm hope and most ardent charity and love of God and neighbour.

[67] In the same year 1618, on the 26th day of September, there was celebrated the fourth Congregation, likewise in the sacristy of St. Augustine, the virtues, in which it was decreed that the virtues of Bl. Bertrand, namely prudence, justice, poverty, chastity, prayer and patience, had been rightly proved for accomplishing the canonization. On the 5th day of October of the same year 1618 a Congregation was held on the Quirinal Hill, and it was decreed that it was excellently established concerning the great temperance, mortification and humility of Bl. Bertrand, and also that it was well proved that the gift of prophecy had been communicated to him by the divine Majesty, and the great concourse of the people, who after his death came to kiss his hands and feet, and carried off his garments for sacred relics; as also the great veneration of his sepulchre.

[68] In the same year 1618, on the 15th day of October, there was held the sixth Congregation in the Apostolic palace of the Quirinal Hill, and various miracles of the living and in it it was decreed that two miracles were well proved for making the canonization; namely, one concerning the great fire which, advancing swiftly from the mountain towards the vineyard on the borders of Albayda ^b, the Blessed man, by the mere sign of the Cross formed, suddenly entirely extinguished; the other concerning the scrofulous sores of Sperantia Assensi healed by the Blessed man by licking the ulcers; which healing was likewise sudden. In the year 1619, on the 18th day of February, the lord judges were gathered for the seventh time in the Quirinal palace, and approved for the canonization two miracles, of which one was the multiplication of bread in the convent of St. Onuphrius, in that from seven pieces of bread more than thirty Brethren were refreshed at the first table, and abundance was left over for the second: and the other miracle was that of Vincentia Moregli, who, when she was entirely contracted and full of ulcers, touching herself with a little piece of the Blessed man's habit, at that very moment of time recovered.

[69] On the 4th day of March of the year 1619 the eighth Congregation was held in the same palace, and of the dead man and three miracles were approved for the same end. The first was the supernatural light which was seen to come forth from the Blessed man's mouth at the moment of time at which he expired his soul; the second the music of angels heard after his death; the third concerning the fistula of Isabel Salon, who, touched by the hand of the Blessed man already dead, was at once healed. The ninth Congregation was held on the Quirinal Hill in the year 1619, on the 20th day of March, in which were approved two miracles concerning two boys gravely ill, one of whom was suffering from fever, flux and a grave hernia; and the other, besides suffering also a grave hernia, was vomiting blood; both of whom, at the same moment of time at which they were washed with the water of the spring blessed by the Blessed man while he was living, were healed.

[70] miracles On the 15th day of April of the year 1619 the tenth Congregation was held in the same palace, in which was approved the miracle done in Anne Monforti, who, when she was paralytic and near to death, drinking from the same spring recovered health. On the 17th day of May in the year 1619 the eleventh Congregation was held in the same palace, and two miracles were approved; namely one concerning Gaspar Ramirez, a blind man, who, visiting the Blessed man's sepulchre, recovered perfect sight; and the other concerning a little girl likewise blind, daughter of John Sagarra, who, washing her eyes with the water of the aforesaid spring, at once recovered the faculty of seeing. On the 14th day of June of the year 1619 the judges met for the twelfth time in the above-said palace, and approved the miracle granted to John de Pedever, a lame man, who, since he could not walk without crutches, carried to the Blessed man's sepulchre, after prayers poured out there, at the same time came out well.

[71] the auditors of the Rota decree to have been rightly proved; On the 3rd day of July of the year 1619 there was held in the same palace the thirteenth Congregation, which approved two miracles, one of the supernatural splendour seen in the Blessed man's corpse in the church; the other of the supernatural odour with which the same body of the Blessed man was fragrant. On the 31st day of July of the year 1619 the fourteenth Congregation was celebrated in the Sapienza, in which three miracles were approved; namely, that, when Isabel Vincentia Pugiades, seized with a vehement fever, and deprived of the faculty of speaking, was lying near death, she was perfectly healed by the mere touch of the Blessed man's Rosary; another, that Andrea Alreus, after

had given birth three times, always destitute of milk, when five months after her third childbirth she visited the Blessed man's sepulchre, abounded with milk. The third, that Hieronyma Giner, when she had her whole head ulcerous and stripped of skin and hair to the roots, after it was anointed with the oil of the lamp burning at the Blessed man's sepulchre, was healed, and her hair grew again.

[72] Philip III meanwhile urging the cause, While the cause was being pleaded in the Rota, king Philip III, burning with an even greater desire than before to see it shortly terminated, wrote this letter to Pope Paul V. "Most Holy Father. I am writing to Cardinal Borgia that he may beseech your Holiness in my name that you deign to order the cause of the canonization of blessed Brother Louis Bertrand, a native of the city of Valencia and a Religious of the Order of St. Dominic, to be dispatched as quickly as possible, for many causes and many reasons so requiring it, and in particular for the solace which this city, and particularly the Religious of the convent in which he put on the habit, lived and died, and where his body rests, would draw from it. I beseech your Holiness to deign to hear him and to give him credence, and kindly to assent to his suppliant prayers, which for the reasons alleged I shall ascribe as a grace and singular favour received from your Beatitude, whose Most Holy person may our Lord keep safe for the prosperous and happy government of the universal Church. The most humble and devoted son of your Holiness, Philip, by the grace of God etc., who kisses the most holy feet and hand of the same. The King."

[73] There besought the same supreme Pontiff by letters for obtaining the same canonization the most illustrious and most reverend lord, and by various cities lord Isidore Aliaga, archbishop of Valencia, on the 8th day of November of the year 1617; the Jurats of the city of Valencia, John Baptist Catalani, Peter-Louis Ramos, Balthasar Dalp, Francis Artes, Alphonsus Sugner, and Raphael Darder, on the 4th day of November of the year 1617; the Deputies of the kingdom of Valencia on the 9th day of November of the year 1617; the Jurats of the city of Segorbe, Jerome Vincenzo, John Climente and Peter Climente, on the 30th day of July of the year 1614; and the chapter of the same city on the 8th day of June of the year 1614; the jurats of the city of Alicante, James Pastori, Francis Camicia, and Martin Perez, on the 13th day of February of the year 1618, and the chapter of the same city on the 13th day of February of the year 1618; the Deputies of the kingdom of Aragon on the 6th day of November of the year 1619; the most illustrious lord count of Aranda on the 17th day of October of the year 1619; the Jurats of Saragossa on the 28th day of November of the year 1619, and the chapter of the same archbishopric on the 28th day of November of the year 1619.

CHAP. XI.

[74] After the lord Auditors of the Rota had held the aforesaid Congregations, the supreme Pontiff Gregory XV at the beginning of his Pontificate created the most illustrious and most reverend lord Francis Sagrati, The Report of the auditors of the Rota having been offered to the Pontiff, archbishop of Damascus, Cardinal for his many merits, and honoured him with the office of Datary. For which cause, since that most illustrious man could no longer give his time to that cause, the Pontiff was besought to substitute another judge in his place, and he substituted in the month of May of the year 1621 lord James de Cavalier, as the senior of the Auditors of the Rota who were then at Rome. After he had reviewed all the things which had been done in this cause in the Rota, and together with the other judges had subscribed the Report composed by the most illustrious and most reverend lord John Baptist Coccino, dean of the Rota, in which all the virtues of the Saint and likewise eighteen miracles proved for the canonization in the above-said congregations were contained at length (which Report, because it is long, I do not insert here), the aforesaid three judges on the 13th day of August of the year 1621 offered it to the supreme Pontiff Gregory XV in the Apostolic palace of the Quirinal with suitable words of the living voice.

[75] And the Pontiff in the following month of September committed it to the Congregation of Rites, the S. R. Congregation reviews the cause, that it might examine the cause of canonization anew; and by this Congregation it was committed to the most illustrious and most reverend lord Cardinal Pignatelli, that he might propose it to the sacred Congregation. And when the whole Process had been consigned to him, and all the writings and summaries handed to all the lord Cardinals of the said Congregation, and to others who took part, and in particular to doctor John Baptist Spada, fiscal of the supreme Pontiff and of the Apostolic Chamber, who was summoned to each of the congregations at their times; the most illustrious and most reverend Cardinals in many congregations pronounced with mature judgement that the Processes were valid, and that all the virtues and miracles which the Auditors of the Rota had examined, and had referred to in the Report offered by them to the supreme Pontiff, were rightly proved. Accordingly on the 22nd day of December of the year 1621 they concluded the cause of the canonization of Bl. Louis Bertrand, a decree being issued that the Pontiff could, whenever it pleased him, enrol the same Blessed man among the Saints. This decree runs thus.

[76] and decrees that one can proceed to the canonization, "Of Blessed Louis Bertrand, on the 12th day of December 1621. The cause of blessed Louis Bertrand of Valencia, of the Order of Preachers, having been diligently discussed and maturely weighed, by mandate of our Most Holy Lord, with a view to canonization, the Congregation of sacred Rites, several sessions having been held thereon, the most illustrious Cardinal Pignatelli reporting, judged that our Most Holy Lord can safely, whenever it shall please him, come to the solemn canonization of the same blessed Louis according to the rite of the holy Roman Church and the disposition of the sacred Canons, and define him a Saint reigning with God, and propose him to the universal Church to be worshipped and venerated.

Francis Mary Card. a Monte.

" Place ✠ of the seal.

"J. Baptist Rinuccini, Secretary."

[77] which Philip IV Furthermore not only king Philip III [c] often wrote to the supreme Pontiff for the canonization of Bl. Louis, but Philip IV, heir not only of his kingdoms but still more of his piety and virtues, gave to Gregory XV [d] of happy memory the following letter to the same end. "Most Holy Father. I am writing to the duke of Alburquerque, my ambassador, that he may beseech your Holiness in my name that you deign to command the cause of the canonization of blessed Brother Louis Bertrand, of the Order of St. Dominic, to be dispatched briefly, on account of the very many just reasons which concur, as the same ambassador will set out at greater length. I humbly beseech that your Holiness may listen to him, give him credence, and deign kindly to admit whatever he shall beg in my name in this respect; which I shall hold as a singular grace and favour of your Beatitude, whose Most Holy person may our Lord keep safe for the prosperous and happy government of His universal Church. At Madrid, on the 12th day of December of the year 1621. The most humble and devoted son of your Holiness, Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, Aragon, León, Navarre and the Indies, who kisses your holy feet and hands. The King."

[78] and by repeated letters he also urged it and would have obtained it, Since the same king always persisted in his desire to see the canonization brought to its end, he gave this second letter to the same Pontiff: "Most Holy Father. So great is the devotion with which I follow blessed Brother Louis Bertrand, a Religious of the Order of St. Dominic, and so great my desire to see him enrolled among the Saints, that, although on the 12th day of December of the past year I wrote to your Holiness on this matter, for giving credence to the duke of Alburquerque, my counsellor and ambassador; nevertheless, having understood how much he has already achieved, I have wished that he should propose anew the things which your Holiness will hear from him; whom I beseech to deign to terminate that business, and to be persuaded that I shall hold it as a favour and singular grace of your Holiness, whose most holy person may our Lord preserve for the prosperous and happy government of His universal Church. From the Pardo [e], on the 16th day of January of the year 1623 *. The most humble and devoted son of your Holiness, Philip, by the grace of God king of Castile, Aragon, León, Navarre and the Indies, who kisses his most holy feet. The King."

[79] This letter the most illustrious and most excellent duke of Alburquerque offered to the supreme Pontiff, had not the Pontiff died when the business was almost finished. and treated that business zealously; and the Pontiff with equal affection signified to the same most excellent lord his will concerning the enrolment of Bl. Louis Bertrand among the Saints; which was believed for certain to be about to be done very shortly, when, the death of the same Pontiff intervening [f], nothing was effected ^g.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Or 1622?

APPENDIX

Clement X enrols Bl. Louis Bertrand in the number of the Saints.

Louis Bertrand, Conf., of the Order of Preachers, at Valencia in Hispania Tarraconensis. (S.)

CLEMENT, BISHOP,

SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS OF GOD.

FOR THE PERPETUAL MEMORY OF THE MATTER.

Among the cultivators whom God has always sent into His vineyard, The Creator of heaven and earth, from the very beginning of the world up to these our times, in which the ends of the ages are believed to have come, has never ceased through the several ages, as though through the hours distributed, to send labourers into His vineyard, who, bearing the burden of the day and the heats, should water it with labour, sweat and blood, and make it bud forth with the fruits of all the heavenly virtues and of eternal life, until, according to the divine oracles of the Scriptures, all, gathered from all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, from the rising point of the sun to the bounds of the earth, provident for the supper of the Lamb, should drink in the heavenly kingdom the newest wine, which the wisdom of God is accustomed to mix for His elect. In cultivating the vine of the holy Cross they have laboured with all care above all, diverse in works, uniform in truth, so that even through kingdoms and provinces previously unknown to our forefathers its power and vigour have become known in the victory of the whole world, and its triumph over the prince of the world, so that now that name, dreadful to all powers, which is above every name, has subdued even barbarous nations to itself, "and in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father [a]."

[2] out of the Order of Preachers Louis Bertrand so excelled, Many labourers of this kind, and strenuous ones, the Order of Preachers has not ceased to supply in continuous series to the Catholic Church, among whom most recently the excellent servant of God Louis Bertrand wonderfully shone, who, burning with most ardent charity towards God Himself and his neighbour, and gleaming with the excellence of the other virtues, with the gift of prophecy and with the Apostolic ministry, is deservedly celebrated by the praises of all tongues, whose piety and devotion shone out even in his tender age, to which, joining both contempt of the world and the perfection of the religious state, he was an object of wonder and an example to veteran professed members. Afterwards, to the West Indians, an Evangelical preacher

sent, brought very many to the faith of Christ. Adorned too with Apostolic signs, charisms and authority, and shining with all the virtues, he was found worthy to be placed upon a lofty candlestick in holy Church, that his rays might shine upon the others who are in the house of God.

[3] that he deserved to be enrolled in the register of the Saints. It is in accordance with reason and equity that this illustrious servant of God, who for His glory and the salvation of souls bore many and very great labours and hardships, whose name God Himself has made glorious, should also be rendered honourable everywhere by Us, who, though undeserving, hold His place on earth. In order, then, that the faithful people and the commons dedicated to God may more fully recognize that he is by right and merit enrolled in the Calendar of the Saints in the Church militant, we have thought it right to set forth his illustrious deeds and the extraordinary ornaments of his virtues, as pre-eminent, to be imitated, so that those adorned with the name of Christ, conforming their deeds to his example for the glory of God, may deserve to have him as advocate with God the Father Almighty in their needs and tribulations; and so that the mouths of Christ's faithful may exult more readily in the divine praises, and the fervour of piety towards so great a Servant of Jesus Christ may be roused more from day to day, we have decreed first to set forth his admirable life, worthy of all praise, led on earth, and, enclosed in a brief discourse, to make it open to all.

[4] His native soil and time, his parents, his pious infancy. At Valencia, then, in Hispania Tarraconensis, of pious, respectable and Catholic parents, John Louis Bertrand and Joanna Anne Exarch [b], Louis Bertrand was brought forth into the light in the year of the Lord's Salvation one thousand five hundred and twenty-six, on the Kalends of January, and was baptized there in the parish church of St. Stephen, and in the same font in which St. Vincent Ferrer [c] had once been reborn in Christ, so that he might touch the Saint, to whom Louis was joined by fleshly lineage, also by the common nearness of regeneration [d]. As an infant he was piously and honourably brought up by his parents, who were wonderfully devoted to the same St. Vincent, and so imbued with the best morals that even in that tender age proofs of future holiness were not lacking; for the tears of his wailing and crying could be stopped by nothing more surely than by images of the Saints offered to his sight, at the beholding of which, at home and in church, he would wonderfully exult. As his age grew, the love of the virtues grew likewise, and his ready affection towards divine things.

[5] Scarcely had he reached the threshold of boyhood when he was noticed often to betake himself to the solitude of his chamber, his boyhood and adolescence, to apply himself on his knees to prolonged prayer. There, hearing the Lord speaking within him, he came out a strong tamer of his own little body; there, scorning the softness of a delicate bed, he took a little sleep either on the ground or on hard wood; there he taught his body to accustom itself to fasts and most sparing food, and began to wear it down with various austerities of penance. Thereafter, frequenting the school and given to the study of letters, he continually avoided with most cautious assiduity bad companionships, trifles and allurements, no less than the slackenings of idleness, as rusts of the good arts and plagues of the virtues. In the simplicity of his heart he sought the Lord, and found Him. For he would linger in churches, and especially those of the Order of Preachers, very often giving his time to prayer. Refreshing his mind too with sacred readings and divine conversations, he found Him whom his soul loved; delighted in frequent, humble and hidden reception of the most holy Eucharist, he burned wholly with the love of God and neighbour. Visiting the hospitals with great charity, he served the poor with the whole humility of his soul.

[6] That he might perfectly fulfil the Lord's counsel concerning leaving home, profession in the Order of Preachers, priesthood; offices discharged by him: brothers and parents, from desire of the desert he secretly fled from home; but, recalled under a specious title of piety, and beginning another flight from the deceitful world, he first took the clerical habit, and soon, not without a great struggle with his family, he gave his name to the Order of St. Dominic in the convent of the Preachers at Valencia, and, having received the habit of Religion, he set before himself to follow the illustrious footsteps of St. Vincent Ferrer, the most celebrated son of the same family. Advancing by his example in every kind of virtue, he overcame with unconquered mind the complaints and blandishments of his father, and, the year of novitiate being completed (in which he gave illustrious signs of regular soldiery), he pronounced the solemn vows of Religious profession. After he had heaped up with many and great increases of virtues the life which up to that day he had led most blamelessly, he received the sacred Orders when the Novitiate was finished [e], and, promoted to the sacred Order of the priesthood [f], a little after he was chosen, by a rare example, master of the Novices [g]; and when he had exercised that office for many years with great praise, he was designated Vicar of the convent of Albayda [h], then Prior of St. Onuphrius. Finally he presided over the convent of Valencia [i], in which places he always went before the other brethren not so much by his prelacy as by his virtue and example.

[27] Among the other things by which he came to a sublime degree of perfection, [Assiduous prayer divinely illumined: hunger for, and reverence of, holy Communion:] the chief was to give his time to mental prayer for four whole hours daily, recalling the mysteries of the Lord's Passion with great fervour and jubilation of mind. To these he added half an hour after noon for contemplating the joys of the most blessed Virgin. In these commerces of heavenly illuminations he was very often seen not only to be rapt in spirit into ecstasy, but also to be lifted in body from the earth and to be conspicuously surrounded with brilliant splendours. Towards the most holy Sacrament of the Altar he burned with a wonderful ardour from his inmost heart, knowing that this is the fair and best corn of the elect, and the wine that brings forth Virgins; for that reason he vehemently exhorted his acquaintances to frequency of receiving it, or at least of visiting it. When about to celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass, desiring to emulate the whiteness of angelic purity, with whatever mortification of the flesh and elevation of mind to God he was adorned, he nevertheless never seemed to himself sufficiently prepared. When hindered from sacrificing, he was refreshed with the holy Eucharist, so that he might continually have Christ abiding in him, and he too might assiduously abide in Him.

[8] the Man's wonderful humility, and his zeal That his conversation might be continually with the Father of lights, he always conducted himself in all things with wonderful simplicity; yet with the great prudence with which he was endowed. He was so devoted to humility that he dwelt perpetually in the knowledge of his own nothingness and in low esteem of himself. Proclaiming himself the least of all in virtues, the greatest in sins, he strove to be beneath all; not only rejoicing to be admonished of his faults by the Novices themselves, but even often commanding it. Calling himself Davus who upsets everything, and worthy only of the company of Judas the traitor and of the demons, he loaded himself with innumerable other reproaches and insults. He was affected with the greatest sorrow when he was either treated or received with honour, so that, falling on his knees, he would beg them not to imprint kisses on his hands; and as Prior he forbade himself to be honoured with the title of Paternity. If he feared that he had hurt anyone by his sadness or otherwise, he would ask pardon on bended knee. He joined himself as attendant to preachers, even to those whom he had instructed, nor did he despise the sermon of anyone, however unlearned. In the very heavenly favours and divine revelations he wonderfully guarded the spirit of humility. Struck with fear of the judgements of God, he seemed to himself to be plunged into hell; to which fear joining filial fear obtained from God by prayers and penances, he continually appeared sad and fearful.

[9] of persuading others to it: his extraordinary charity towards God: When he was superior, he strove to implant the same spirit of profound humility in the hearts of his subjects, being accustomed to say that a Religious desirous of perfection ought to despise himself, despise no one, despise the world, and despise being despised. He said that each one ought so to advance in these things that, however distinguished he might be in virtue and merits, he should never presume of himself or prefer himself to anyone. He glowed with great fires of charity towards God, which the waters of tribulations could never extinguish: whence too, burning with zeal for God, he was scorched if he saw or heard anything attempted against God's precepts; nay, his discourses too burned like torches, containing nothing mixed of the vanity of the world, but were directed either to the service of God or to penance and the detestation of sins; he was frequent in recounting sentences of sacred Scripture or deeds of the Saints, emphasizing with great fervour that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living and angry God. Hence many found by experience that they always went away from his conversation roused with new fervours in the service of God.

[10] his flight from popular applause: his desire of martyrdom: When a certain nobleman had believed that a general rebuke of vices had been directed by Bl. Louis at him in particular, he threatened him with the death which he had menaced him with unless he retracted what he had said in the pulpit; and when he manfully refused, he aimed a drawn gun at him; at once by a wonderful transformation the gun is changed into a Crucifix, the assailant himself being laid low by the force of the miracle and earnestly asking pardon: and blessed Louis, consulting his humility, fearing the praising people more than the gun, commanded his companion Christopher de Mora, signing a Cross on his breast, to conceal the prodigy until, thirty years having passed, being questioned he should reveal the truth. So ardent was the desire of martyrdom in him that at the elevation of the tremendous sacrifice he besought the divine Majesty from his inmost heart with Peter Martyr [k]: "Grant me, O Lord, to die for Thee, as Thou didst will to die for me." At the sight too of the image of St. Vincent, Martyr ^l, he vehemently desired to be affected with the same punishments and tortures with which he contended and conquered. Hearing of the punishments by which some in his age had gloriously closed their last day for the faith of Christ, breaking out from the depth of his heart into jubilation, he desired with his whole bowels to be joined as companion to them with like victories.

[11] Burning with the same charity towards his neighbour too, [his love of neighbour, especially when the plague was raging, proved also by miracles,] he promoted with all his strength the solace and progress of souls. He was frequent in hearing confessions, beating himself with hard scourges to expiate the faults of others; by which too he recalled a woman of respectable condition as regards the world, whose habit of sinning he had known by God's revelation. He obtained too from God by prayers and penances that a young girl should not fall. In the time of the plague, whatever beggars he had met, he brought to be refreshed to the Convent of St. Anne of Albayda, although it was labouring under poverty, where he was then discharging the office of Superior, being accustomed to say that God never fails those who serve Him faithfully. Going out into the roads and hills, he gave burial to those dead of the plague. Often visiting the sick in hospitals and homes, laying his hands on them and praying for them, he restored very many of them to health, among whom, not without evident miracle, a religious man, Francis Allemanus, already near to death, having been assured by Bl. Louis of recovering his health, a little after recovered entirely free. In appeasing hatreds and reconciling minds too the charity of this Man shone out greatly: nor was he lacking in help and aid to those detained in prison or condemned to death, of whom he freed many from miseries and unjust vexations in a wonderful manner, and gently.

[12] Inflamed with these ardours of the love of God and neighbour, into the land of foreign nations truly

wise, he resolved to pass over, [Sailing to America he heals a man gravely hurt: preaching in Spanish he is understood by various peoples:] to gain the souls of the Indians for God, from which he could not be moved by the arts, prayers or tears of friends, or brothers, or sisters; for, bidding farewell to all with great submission of mind, not without tears, he took the road on foot towards the West Indies [m], and, having boarded a ship at Seville [n], he was to all an edification, a solace and a help in their needs; on which ship he so restored to his former health a Religious of his Order, most gravely hurt by a falling heavy pulley, the wound having been washed with water, that the next day, all wondering, not even a trace of a scar appeared. He landed at the port of Cartagena, and there lived in the Convent of St. Joseph of his Order, and, sent from there to the various peoples of the Indians, he evangelized, namely those inhabiting Tubara, Cipacoa, Paluatum, Mompoix, the Sierra of Santa Marta, Tuncarum, Tenerife, and others, and there he performed many and wonderful things. By prayers he obtained from God that, in evangelizing, his Spanish tongue, in which he had been born, should be understood by the Indians without an interpreter. Bearing vigils, thirst, hunger, heat and cold in this Apostolic ministry, always going on foot, and often sick, he exulted to finish his course with the Apostle.

[13] [he works wonders, converts the people of Tubara: he baptizes an infant, God providing:] He once had a companion rude in manners, for whom, not without a miracle, he had cured a mortal wound in the head; nay more, beyond expectation, to succour him, there appeared a fruit-bearing tree, and a spring welled up at its root, to refresh him and to feast him; who afterwards, deserting him discourteously, wretchedly, as the Man of God had foretold him, spent the remaining time of his life and his end. He was also often seen on a journey turning aside from the road to beat himself with scourges. Several times he met tigers or other wild beasts, which, made gentle by him with the sign of the Cross, leaving the travellers unharmed, took their way elsewhere. Appointed preacher at Cartagena in Lent, as was his custom, he was seen to soften the harder hearts, and to send away his hearers only pricked to the heart and weeping bitterly. He carried away the minds of his hearers; for his words breathed the spirit not of a man but of an angel. Attacked on account of these things by carnal men with insults, and even with reproaches and mockeries, he rejoiced that he was held worthy to suffer such things for the name of Jesus. Sent by his superior to Tubara, to imbue those peoples with the knowledge of God and initiate them into the Sacraments of holy Church, by prayers, fasts, scourgings and other penances he obtained from the Lord the grace of conversion for all the infidels of that place, which our Lord deigned to carry out through his sermons. There he uncovered the demon, who in a false guise was dissuading him from these labours, and forced him to go away howling. An infant, who was the first whom he washed in the sacred font, brought by an Indian, although an idolater, he called Michael, the Indian himself openly testifying that he had been admonished by an angel of the Lord that he would obtain eternal salvation with baptism, and that for this very purpose Bl. Louis had been directed there by God.

[14] [he overthrows idols: restrains men raging: suffers much: succours a shipwrecked man:] He also had the huts of the idols set on fire, and so great a repute of his holiness grew strong among the barbarous peoples that he held back very many of them who were raging against a certain official (calming the tumult by his presence alone). There too he sharply reproved a public adulterer, though a powerful one, by whom afterwards he was violently attacked with arms, and, all wondering, the weapon falling to the ground, he came out unharmed and fearless. Nor did he suffer very many things from men only, but also from demons in the conversions of those peoples; especially with a certain veteran priest of the idols near to death, whom he initiated with holy baptism and freed from the infestation of those unclean spirits by fixing the sign of the holy Cross beside him. He foresaw that James Raphael Frances would be shipwrecked from that place, whom on that account, swimming for a day and two nights and assiduously imploring the patronage of the Rosary of the most blessed Virgin, he received safe on the shore; where for that reason he had waited for him with supplies of food and clothing, and rescued him from the jaws of instant death.

[15] [he is raised into the air; he is held in veneration: he converts many Indians elsewhere: he does wonders: he drinks poison harmlessly.] By the Indians themselves he was seen raised from the earth in ecstasy, whom afterwards they honoured with the highest veneration, and wept bitterly when he went away; and it is believed that that people by his intercession still perseveres in the faith of Christ the Lord, to whose lodging, changed into an oratory, both Indians and Spaniards even now run to obtain divine benefits by his patronage. He did things like these in the towns of Cipacoa and Peluatum, where too, observing Evangelical poverty, he led his life glad and willing in the utmost want of things, and by prayers obtained beyond hope the desired rains, and the river Cinaga, impassable for the overflowing of its waters, signing the waters with the Cross, he crossed as he wished. The rains too falling round about on every side, as he piously invoked the most blessed Virgin of the Rosary, touched neither him nor his companions. Under the mountain of Santa Marta he baptized about fifteen thousand of the Indian inhabitants converted to the faith by his preaching, and not far from there, drinking off a most potent poison given him by a petty priest of the Idols, after five days he cast out of his stomach the deadly venom with some worms, or small serpents, and continued well, to the great astonishment of those present.

[16] The demons appearing visibly to those peoples, by the sign of the Cross Other things done by him in America. and in wonderful ways he often put to flight, by which he brought many others to the faith. In the Town of Mompoix the holy Doctors Ambrose and Thomas Aquinas were seen to stand by him as he knelt. In the Island of St. Thomas, when the raging pagans, seizing stones, were aiming death at the holy Man, being urged to flee, he most constantly refused, and by the sole efficacy of the divine word subjected two hundred of the assailants to the yoke of Christ. A certain one of the grandees of the region, desiring to be taught the hidden mystery of the saving Cross, he converted by a sudden miracle; for embracing the trunk of a tree there with his whole body, he wonderfully impressed a conspicuous figure of the Cross on the rough bark; and by that portent he persuaded both him and others to baptism in the faith of the life-giving Cross. Truly this Apostolic man, not only according to the promise of the holy Gospel which he preached, cast out devils in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ from whole regions, took away the infernal serpents visibly threatening the inhabitants, and spoke with new tongues among the nations; but also several times, drinking something deadly in testimony of the faith, he harmlessly overcame the peril of life. An Indian woman, still an infidel, extremely endangered in childbirth, whom he ordered to be girded with his girdle, he freed from death together with her offspring, and cleansed her, now delivered, with her husband, kinsfolk and household, from unbelief by the laver of holy baptism. Sailing with others on the river called Magdalena, a tempest rushing upon them, the ship being overturned and all being immersed in the water, by praying he obtained their emergence and safety. It has been found that he restored former health to many, and recalled a dead woman to life by the application of the most holy Rosary.

[17] Seeing that he was able neither to hinder nor to bear the straits [Returning to Spain, after calming a tempest, he governs the convents of St. Onuphrius and then of Valencia] by which the Indians were very often violently oppressed by certain governors, even with wounds and slaughter, having obtained the obedience, he returned to the Spains. And when the ship was in danger at sea, asked by those sailing he signed the swelling waves with the Cross for so long until, the desired tranquillity having been restored, all arrived safe at the port of Seville. In the Convent of St. Onuphrius after his return from the Indies he presided out of obedience, which he found burdened with debt and labouring under poverty arising from the barrenness of the years, and, satisfying all, he was never lacking to the Religious in any of their customary things. Nay more, to very many needy and pitiable persons he supplied alms generously, sometimes even God revealing their necessities to him and wonderfully furnishing him with money; nay, in the building constructed in honour of the holy Cross he showed that, the Lord governing, nothing is lacking to His servants. In the monastery of Valencia, made Prior by order of his superiors, though unwilling, commending the government to St. Vincent Ferrer in that same Saint's cell, he deserved to be honoured with the embrace of his image, before which he was praying prostrate, as it bowed itself, and to be lifted up.

[18] [he governs excellently: frees a soul from purgatory: is refreshed by the heavenly ones: preaches through Lent:] The mortifications, bloody disciplines, frequenting of choir and utmost abstinence in which he had exercised himself as a subject he gave up neither in preaching nor in governing. He watched carefully that the courses of studies should be exactly completed, desiring his subjects always to be occupied in holy or learned exercises, whose going out from the cloister he did not permit except under urgent necessity. He had inscribed in large characters on the door of his chamber: "If I pleased men, I should not be the servant of God ^o." He had so become all things to all men that everyone found in him the counsels of a prudent man, the familiarity of a brother, the kindness of a father, the perfection of a holy man, and a compendium of all the virtues. It happened to him there to see the soul of a certain former penitent of his, who had hurt the same Blessed man by a word, testifying that God would not admit it to glory unless he forgave the fault and celebrated for it; and when this was done, the following night he beheld it in the glory of the Saints. At other times too he was refreshed by visions of the Blessed reigning in eternal felicity, and especially of the Saints, his patriarch Dominic, and Francis, nay of Christ the Lord Himself, and he heard that all his sins had been forgiven him. At Saetabis, commonly Xativa, asked by the leading men of the city to give the sermons among them in the next Lent, although he recognized himself pressed by grave infirmities and naturally unable, he obtained from God both the will and the power to complete the entire course of Lenten sermons.

[19] he is famous for prophecies and the knowledge of secrets: For James Ferrerius, governor of Valencia, having enjoined on him certain prayers, he obtained by divine means the recovery of writings at whose loss he grieved most greatly. He shone too so wonderfully with the prophetic spirit that he very often foretold very many future things, both prosperous and adverse, both in spiritual and in temporal things, as much concerning health and deaths as concerning the progress and morals of souls: for he foretold to St. Teresa of Jesus [p] that her Congregation of Discalced cloistered religious, then founded, would shortly be numbered among the more illustrious religions of holy Church, as in fact came about. To three regulars he foretold their different successes and ends, as they happened. He said that a nobleman unjustly harassing a certain prelate would shortly experience the vengeance of the Lord; which his sudden death showed to have been known to him by the Lord's revelation. The outcomes of things too showed * that very many secrets, as much in bodily things as lying hidden in the secrets of hearts, were naked and open to the eyes of his mind illumined by God, all being astounded; and in this gift of penetrating the secrets of hearts he was very singular and admirable. Many other things too, naturally unknown, he related so clearly, distinctly and orderly, as they were, either done or thought, that it was found that they had become known to him only by God's revelation.

[20] His virtue in the whole course of his life by God

was perfected so wonderfully in infirmities, he bears many infirmities heroically, especially in the last two years: that there was need of great patience in him for bearing assiduous sufferings; for in his rather delicate constitution not only was his power of sight of little strength and his hearing imperfect, but he was also vehemently tormented for many years by a horrible ulcer on his leg and by giddiness of the head; nay, by bad affections of the bowels and other hidden infirmities, especially for two years before his death, the Lord proved him like gold in the furnace, as he bore all things with a spirit so unconquered that often there resounded from his mouth the words of the doctor of holy Church, Augustine: "Lord, burn here, cut here, spare not here, that Thou mayest spare for ever." As soon as he recovered, he returned to the exercises of mortification and common observance, of his own accord depriving himself of all delights and the reliefs of the convalescent, and shared all the dishes offered him with the other sick; nay, lying on a stone placed under the linen, he was accustomed to torment his body, saying that narrow is the way that leads to life. Thus, made ever stronger by being infirm, he recognized that the fulfilment was at hand of the divine promise which he had once obtained on the feast of St. Catherine, Virgin and martyr [q], when from the midst of a great light it had been promised him that at length he was to pass from this darkness into that eternal light which shines for the Saints of God for perpetual eternities.

[21] For amid the labours of his sermons, the illness growing worse, he lay down with fevers, fortified with the holy Viaticum, while he can, he celebrates Mass: and, when about to receive the Sacrament of the most holy Eucharist as Viaticum, most devoutly, not without many tears, he made an exact profession of the holy Catholic Faith; he implored too most fervently the help of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the patronage of the most holy Virgin Mother of God, and also of the other Saints, and especially of his Order, and, having expressly named St. Vincent Ferrer, he added: "My father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof [r]." He earnestly asked those standing round to pray to the Lord together with him not to revoke the sentence of death; and to John Boil, grieving at the grave infirmity of his daughter, he truly foretold that she would not then pass from life. When the force of the illness afterwards abated a little, he would rise, not without labour, to celebrate the Sacrifice. When the infirmity again grew worse, he had, not without great confusion and humility of mind on his part, John de Ribera, patriarch of Antioch, then Archbishop of Valencia, assisting him and very often ministering to him, who, while he exhorted him in his torments to resignation to the good pleasure of the divine will, heard him saying that he valued those pains more and held them dearer than any earthly goods of this world.

[22] From these torments, however vehement, he could not be held back or delayed he is visited by many, among whom a nun divinely brought there: from giving his time every day for many hours to his accustomed prayer, and, often purifying himself by sacred confession, he was refreshed by the divine Banquet of the altar, and he urged on other sick persons the frequenting of these Sacraments, often repeating that these divine Mysteries work for the most part the health not only of the soul but also of the body. Hearing musical harmonies in that sickness, wholly raised up to God he dissolved in tears. Finally, various remedies and the vicissitudes of the illness having been borne from the heart, as the festivity of St. Denis approached, on which day he had foretold a year before that he would die, many ran together eagerly, desiring to be blessed by him, or to have his linen touched with their Rosaries. Among these the son of the duke of Gandia, on his knees, and kissing his feet in tears, was devoutly and sobbing awaiting his blessing, which the Man of God, calling himself indeed the greatest of sinners with St. Paul, and turned in mind to his own nothingness, most humbly gave. This was also granted divinely to sister Angela Agugliona, a Religious virgin of the Order of St. Francis living in perpetual enclosure, while she was desiring from her heart to venerate the Servant of Christ the Lord in person; for at once (by angelic ministry, it is believed) placed before his feet, and having obtained her wish, she was miraculously restored to her cell again.

[23] anointed with the holy oil two days before, on the day which he had foretold, Meanwhile Louis desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ; nor otherwise than by the daily reception of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar, or by colloquies with the image of the Crucified, did he solace his delays. When on the Friday before his death someone reported that it was Friday, Blessed be God, he answered; there still remain four days. He was refreshed by the frequent heavenly visitation of St. Vincent Ferrer, whom from tender years he had striven to honour with the highest veneration and imitation. Two days before his departure from life he devoutly asked for the holy unction of the oil of the sick, and, answering each prayer, and fortifying himself with holy prayers and exercises of mortification, venerating the image of the most holy Crucified with frequent kisses, and praying, on the feast day of St. Denis, as he had often foretold, at the fifteenth hour, feeling himself gradually failing, he begged the patriarch, assisting him according to custom, for the obtaining of his blessing and for the reading of the holy Gospel, which the most loving prelate, weeping most abundantly, performed.

[24] [in the year 1581, light having come forth from his mouth, he dies, and is made illustrious by miracles.] And when the prayers of the commendation of the soul were being performed according to the rite of his Order, at those words "That, freed from the bonds of the flesh, he may deserve to come to the glory of the heavenly kingdom, through Our Lord Jesus Christ," he commended his spirit, released from the bonds of the flesh, into the hands of the Father, on the seventh day before the Ides of October, in the year of restored Salvation one thousand five hundred and eighty-one, in the fifty-fifth year of his age; and at that moment of time a light like lightning was seen, darted out of his mouth straight to the heavens, to light up the whole cell, and a divine brightness shone above the convent. Nay more, in the church harmonious concerts of the heavenly host were heard several times by various persons, and by many other signs almighty God made known the glory of His Servant, on which there followed the public veneration of the people, proclaiming Louis a Saint on every side, and striving eagerly to touch the sacred pledge of his body with Chaplets and Rosaries; for all hoped that they would obtain mercy from the Lord, and whatever divine benefits, if they should be worthy to obtain him as Protector and Advocate with the divine clemency.

[25] [Among the miracles which he did while living, he extinguished a huge fire with the sign of the Cross, and healed scrofula.] To these was added the assistance of the Most High towards His Servant, so that, his merits supporting, both living and after death, he always stood forth as protector and helper to the peoples in their necessities, through wonderful works and prodigies, by which God Himself is recognized as wonderful in His Saints. For from the processes drawn up and transmitted to the City, and others by Apostolic authority concerning the cause of his Beatification and Canonization, the Congregation of sacred Rites judged that it was established not only concerning their validity, and concerning the repute of holiness, and concerning the Theological and Cardinal virtues in heroic degree, but also that they contained conclusive proofs of remarkable miracles of the same, both living and dead. For when he was Prior of Albayda, shepherds kindling a fire, the force of the winds rushing on, and the flame growing up, the trees in the vineyards and thickets already burning, it was feared that a great fire would be roused to destruction, not without great damage to the convent. The Man of God ran up, and, raising his eyes to heaven, blessed the flame with the sign of the Cross, which at once vanished, as though it had never been there. The same trees, hurt, were seen to remain immune from burning, only a slight line appearing as a sign of the miracle. At Moncada, in the house of Joseph a Campo, the niece of the host, called Speranza Assensia, afflicted with a deadly scrofula on the neck, with a horrible stench flowing from the ulcers, intolerable not only to those standing round but even to the sick girl herself, when the sign of the Cross had been made over the affected part, and it had been smeared with the tongue * by blessed Louis as if withdrawn from his senses, and his face remaining shining with light, the sick girl at once recovered.

[26] His corpse shone with a kind of crystalline purity, His corpse shone wonderfully and was fragrant. Various infirmities so that those standing by beheld their own faces in his virginal flesh as in a most limpid mirror. A most sweet odour too, bursting forth from his whole body, breathed upon not only those nearest but those further distant with a wonderful delight of strange fragrance. The holy Man's corpse had lain buried for about six months in a damp place exposed to drippings, when, taken out to be borne into a more fitting tomb, it was found entire and incorrupt, only the garments being putrefied on every side, and again it filled those standing round with a wonderful sweet-scentedness. Ursula Soler had a daughter from whom monstrous pains of the head had taken away all her hair by the roots. A medicine, which was feared by all to be likely to do more harm, was sought from the lamp which burned before the Blessed Man's sepulchre; the girl's head being anointed with its oil, not only were the pains entirely driven away and entire health recovered, but she recovered her hair too. A certain girl deprived of her eyes, having washed her eyes at the spring of the place Ruzafa, from which the Blessed man used to drink, recovered their former use.

[27] Gaspar Ramirez, a blind man, performing a novena at the Saint's tomb, by many through his patronage, and on the last day applying his eyes with faith to the sepulchre, emitted from his eyes a flow of saffron-coloured humour, and suddenly, glad, wiped away the darkness of his blindness. When the breasts of Andreva Abreus, nursing, had dried up, a novena at the Saint's sepulchre having been completed, she soon obtained her former abundance of milk. Isabel Joanna Salon, when for several years she was gravely tormented by a certain ulcerous abscess, by the touch of the bier which had carried the Saint's corpse obtained the benefit of perfect health. Isabel Gerbin, washed in the above-said blessed spring of Ruzafa, came out well, driving off at once fever, dysentery and hernia. Anne Monfort, from whom paralysis had entirely taken the use of her limbs, and whose mouth the violence of the illness had most foully twisted out of place, by a draught of water from the same spring of Ruzafa, and the name of St. Louis having been invoked, was restored to health herself, and her mouth to its former position. The little son of Hieronyma Capell, his peritoneum ruptured and his intestines thrust outwards, continually wailing and vomiting blood, when at length he had been girded by his mother at the spring of Ruzafa with cloths soaked in it, is carried back home entirely sound. Vincentia Morell, a widow, lying for eleven months from a dreadful contraction of the nerves, and full of foul ulcers on every side, while she seals the nerves and ulcers successively with a cloth which the Saint had used, felt in the same order both these healed and those briskly unfolded, and, the sealing of each having been finished, she left her bed vigorous.

[28] who while living had also multiplied bread, are wonderfully driven away. When in the convent of St. Onuphrius, acting as Prior, he noticed that loaves were lacking for refreshing the community of the Religious, imitating Christ's providence in the desert, he took the seven fragments, which alone were left in the house, and by the mere expenditure of a blessing so multiplied them that they not only sufficed abundantly at the first table for the dinner of thirty brethren and more, but also suitably satisfied the rest at the second table. For John de Pedevera, a domestic servant of the Archbishop of Valencia, a very heavy weight falling from on high had so broken both legs that for nine months, otherwise than on stilts,

supported, he could not move. On these, with the greatest difficulty, coming to the holy Man's sepulchre, having poured out a prayer, he at once leapt to his feet, and, leaving the stilts there, returned home well. Isabel Vincentia Pujades, burned to the marrow by an acute fever, and already abandoned by the physicians, was approaching death. But at the contact of the Rosary which St. Louis had had in use while he lived, suddenly, all who were present wondering, the fever departed.

[29] [He is enrolled among the Blessed by Pope Paul V, and after other miracles too had been proved] Moved by these and not a few other virtues and signs, Paul the Fifth of happy memory, our Predecessor, enrolled the servant of God Louis in the Catalogue of the Blessed. Thereafter, other processes having been duly drawn up, the miracles which follow were approved besides. The first, that of the incorrupt sacred body, after almost eighty years from his burial, although it had never in the meantime been either disembowelled or imbued with any preservatives against corruption. Nevertheless, when in the year 1647 it was being translated into a more precious monument, and in the year 1661 when it was being viewed by judges delegated by Apostolic authority, it was still found entire, unharmed and tractable. The second, in the sudden healing of the little boy Aloysius Vincent Montesinos, who, seized with a most burning fever, exhausted by dysentery and vomitings, swarming with worms, and with his little ribs now drawn together to his stomach, had been brought to such a point that to the household he seemed plainly dead; whence, wrapped in the swathings of the dead, he was being prepared for burial. But the most sorrowful father, having had recourse to the tomb of St. Louis, and having made a vow there, when he returns home in haste, examining his little son's pulse, finds a sign of life, and at once the boy, opening his eyes, is found entirely sound. The third, in the astounding preservation of a girl of four years, Gesualda Gilda Ramirez, whom a cart laden with a mass of charcoal, swift with the rapid draught of six mules, had thrown to the ground to be crushed, and was violently pressing beneath two wheels: but, the protection of St. Louis having been implored, the girl rose unharmed, and in evidence of the miracle there appeared on her head, neck and shoulders the marks of the nails lightly impressed by the wheels. The fourth, in Bartholomew Christopher Dominguez, whom a deformed hernia, with hanging intestines, had so loosened that, whenever he knelt, the scrotum, already eaten by ulcers and putrefying, touched the ground. But at the invocation of St. Louis all this calamity of the poor little man at once vanished.

[30] These and other miracles having been brought forward and approved, a Decree issued from Clement IX of pious memory, by Clement IX it is decreed that his canonization can proceed, which Clement X also our predecessor, that one could safely come to the solemn Canonization of the aforesaid Blessed man; for obtaining which there were added the prayers of our most dear sons in Christ, Leopold the First, king of the Romans, elected Emperor, and Charles the Second, king of the Spains, and also of the Order of Preachers, with which they often asked the same of the aforesaid Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, and of Us. Wherefore, the merits of his most holy life demanding it, and inclined to the prayers of the aforesaid, since now nothing was lacking of those things which were required necessarily to be done and observed for this most sacred function from the authority of the holy Fathers, the decrees of the sacred Canons, the ancient custom of the H. R. C., and the prescription of the new decrees, judging it just and due that those whom God honours in heaven We should praise and glorify on earth with the office of veneration, today in the most sacred basilica of blessed Peter, prince of the Apostles, in which with solemn rite we met in the morning with the Cardinals of the same H. R. C., patriarchs, archbishops and bishops, and our beloved sons the prelates of the Roman curia, our officials and household, the secular and regular clergy, and a very great concourse of the people, after three petitions for the Decree of Canonization presented to Us in the name of the said king Charles by our beloved son Louis de Portocarrero, Cardinal of the H. R. C. of the title of St. Sabina, on the part of the same king; after sacred hymns, Litanies and other prayers, after the grace of the Holy Spirit duly implored.

[31] To the honour of the Most Holy and Undivided Trinity, [completed, his annual feast being fixed to the 10th day of October, with indulgences at his sepulchre;] to the exaltation of the holy Catholic Faith and the increase of the Christian Religion, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and Our own, mature deliberation having first been had, and the divine help often implored, and by the counsel of our venerable Brothers, the Cardinals of the same H. R. C., patriarchs, archbishops and bishops present in the City, We have decreed and defined that Bl. Louis Bertrand is a Saint, and have enrolled him in the Catalogue of the Saints, as by the tenor of the presents We decree, define and enrol: enacting that his memory ought to be recalled with pious devotion by the Universal Church every year on the 10th day of October among the holy Confessors, not Pontiffs. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. By the same authority, to all Christ's faithful of both, truly penitent and confessed, who every year on the feast day of the same St. Louis shall come to visit the sepulchre in which his body rests, We have mercifully relaxed in the Lord seven years and as many quarantines of the penances enjoined on them, or otherwise in any way due, in the accustomed form of the Church.

[32] These things done, having venerated with praises and confessions God the eternal Father, and Christ the Lord, the King of Glory, the Everlasting Son of the Father, [and he celebrated Mass with his commemoration, granted a plenary Indulgence to those present,] and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, one God and one Lord, and the sacred hymn Te Deum having been solemnly sung, We prayed by a special prayer in honour of Bl. Louis through his merits, and at the altar of St. Peter the Apostle We celebrated Mass with the holy Commemoration of the same, and granted to all Christ's faithful then present a plenary Indulgence and remission of all their sins. It is fitting, therefore, that We give thanks and praise God the Father Almighty, who has blessed His Servant with every spiritual blessing, that he might be holy and unspotted before Him, and has given him to all Christ's faithful as a shining light in this night of our sins and tribulations, that he may obtain peace and tranquillity for the Church, the desired concord for Christian princes, and the light of truth for the infidels straying from the way of salvation.

[33] and he exhorts all the faithful to pray for his patronage with God. Let us go therefore with confidence to the Throne of divine Mercy, supplicating with mouth and deed that St. Louis may profit the whole Christian people by his merits and examples, may be present with his prayers and patronage, and in the time of wrath may become a reconciliation. Moreover, because it would be difficult for these our present letters to be carried to each place where there should be need; We will that to copies of them, even printed, yet subscribed by the hand of a public notary and fortified with the seal of some person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity, the same faith be given everywhere as would be given to these presents themselves if they were exhibited or shown. Let it therefore be lawful for no man at all to infringe this page of our Decree, definition, mandate, statute, concession, bestowal and will, or with rash daring to go against it. But if anyone shall presume to attempt this, let him know that he will incur the indignation of Almighty God, and of His blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Rome at St. Peter's, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand six hundred and seventy-one, on the day before the Ides of April, in the first year of our Pontificate.

✠ I Clement, Bishop of the Catholic Church.

Place of the seal.

† I F. Bishop of Ostia, Card. Barberinus, Vice-chancellor of the H. R. C.

† Francis M. Bishop of Porto, Card. Brancatius.

† Ulderic Bishop of Tusculum, Card. Carpineus.

†

†

† Virginius Bishop of Albano, Card. Ursinus.

†

† I Caesar, Priest, Card. Fachenettus.

†

†

† N., of the title of St. Mary in Trastevere, Card. Ludovisius.

† Alderan, of the title of St. Praxedes, Card. Cybo.

† Frederick, of the title of St. Peter in Chains, Card. Sfortia.

† Benedict, of the title of St. Onuphrius, Card. Odescalchus.

†

† Aloysius, of the title of St. Alexis, Card. Homodeus.

† P. Cardinal of St. Mark, Otthobonus.

† Lawrence, of the title of St. Chrysogonus, Card. Imperialis.

† I Marcellus, of the title of St. Stephen on the Caelian Hill, Priest, Card. Sanctacrucius.

† I John Baptist, of the title of St. Marcellus, Priest, Card. Spada.

† I Francis, of the title of the Four Crowned Saints, Priest, Card. Albitius.

† I Octavius, of the title of St. Cecilia, Priest, Card. de Aquaviva and Aragon.

† I Charles, of the title of St. Prisca, Priest, Card. Pius.

† I Charles, of the title of St. Eusebius, Priest, Card. Gualterius.

† I Flavius, of the title of St. Mary of the People, Priest, Card. Chisius.

†

†

† I James, of the title of St. Pancras, Priest, Card. Franzonus.

†

† I Peter, of the title of St. Callixtus, Priest, Card. Vidonus.

† I Francis Mary, of the title of St. Matthew, Priest, Card. Mancinus.

†

†

†

† I Nerius, of the title of SS. Nereus and Achilleus, Card. Corsinus.

† I Charles, of the title of St. Anastasia, Card. Bonellus.

†

† I Charles, of the title of St. Susanna, Priest, Card. Carafa.

† Palutius, of the Twelve Holy Apostles, Priest, Card. de Altieri, Chamberlain of the H. R. C.

† I Caesar, of the title of St. John before the Latin Gate, Priest, Card. Rasponus.

†

†

† James, of the title of St. Mary of Peace, Priest, Card. Ninius.

† I Julius, of the title of St. Martin on the Hills, Priest, Card. Spinula.

† I Charles, of the title of St. Mary in Aracoeli, Priest, Card. Rubertus Victorii.

†

†

†

†

† I James, of the title of St. Sixtus, Priest, Card. Rospigliosius.

† I Louis, of the title of St. Sabina, Priest, Card. Portocarrero.

†

†

† I John, of the title of St. Bernard, Card. Bona.

† I Frederick, of the title of St. Augustine, Priest, Card. Borromeus.

† I Camillus, of the title of St. Mary in Domnica, Card. Maximus.

† I Gaspar, of the title of St. Pudentiana, Priest, Card. de Carpineo.

†

†

† Frederick, of St. Agatha, Deacon, Card. Hassia.

†

† I Charles, of St. Caesarius, Deacon, Card. Barberinus.

† Decius, of St. Eustace, Deacon, Card. Azzolinus.

† Paul, of St. Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano, Deacon, Card. Sabellus.

†

† I Sigismund, Deacon of St. George in Velabro, Card. Chisius.

†

†

Seen by the Curia, S. de Pilastris.

J G. Slutius.

Place ✠ of the Lead. D. Ciampinus.

Registered in the Secretariat of Briefs.

ANNOTATIONS.

h. About the year 1557.

m. Or America.

p. She is venerated on the 15th of October.

q. She is venerated on the 25th of November.

r. Kings 4, chapter 2, verse 12.

* Those two words, ostensa fuisse, are redundant here.

* Perhaps lincta?