John Cantius

ON ST. JOHN CANTIUS, PRESBYTER, DOCTOR OF SACRED THEOLOGY, AT KRAKÓW,

MORE PROBABLY IN THE YEAR MCCCCLXXIII.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

John Cantius, presbyter and confessor, at Kraków. (S.)

B. B.

§ I. The principal authors who have written on the life of St. John Cantius.

Hartmann Schedel Among the writers who treat of John Cantius, and so bear testimony to his repute for holiness after his death, in order of time the first who occurs is Hartmann Schedel, published at Nuremberg in the year 1493, the twentieth year therefore from the death of St. John. He has, indeed, few things, but things certainly not lacking in merit, considering the circumstances of the time. Under the title, then, of Cracovia, the royal city of Sarmatia, he writes Chronica, after the sixth age, fol. 268.: "There is also a church not far from the gate of Isluta which they call St. Anne's, where blessed Cantus, a celebrated doctor of the university of this city, shines with many miracles and prodigies; although he has not yet been enrolled in the catalogue of the Saints. Next to this church is situated a huge and celebrated university, abounding in many most distinguished and most learned men. There very many liberal arts are lectured, the study of eloquence, of poetry, of philosophy and of physics; but the study of astronomy flourishes most. Nor is any more distinguished found in well-known Germany (as is well enough known to me from the report of many). There Phœbus is now most of all cultivated; who also files their raw talents and renders them polished." Further, Fabricius records thus of Schedel Bibliotheca mediæ et infimæ latinitatis, under the word Hartmannus.: "Hartmann, writer of the Chronicle which is usually called that of Nuremberg, is Hartmann Schedel of Nuremberg, doctor of arts and of both medicines, whose Chronicle of the world, or Chronicle of chronicles, digested from that of Bergamo and others, from the founding of the world up to the year 1492, came out at Nuremberg in 1493, folio, with images cut in wood, etc." Pillet Biographie universelle, under the word Schedelius. asserts that the first edition of Schedel's chronicle came out at Nuremberg in the year 1483; whence he concludes that it is wrongly assumed by Fabricius that Schedel's chronicle was digested from that of Bergamo, or of Foresti; since the work of the latter (which Fabricius himself also has Work cited above, book IX, p. 15.) was printed at Venice in the year 1483.

[2] [Długosz in his Polish history is silent about St. Cantius; he makes mention of him in another, manuscript work.] It will surely seem strange that John Długosz, or in Latin Longinus (less rightly, says Fabricius in the work cited, written by others Duglossus, Dugloschus, etc.: for in the Slavonic dialect lugos, dlugos is "long"), in his Polish History placed not even a single word about St. Cantius, with whom he nevertheless lived altogether as a contemporary, since Długosz was born in the year 1415 and died in the year 1480; while St. John Cantius died towards the year 1473, advanced in age. It is known, moreover, that the thirteenth book of his Polish History extends up to this same year of Christ 1480. Add that Długosz was a canon of the church of Kraków, so distinguished for piety and the other virtues that he too is held Venerable. It will help to set down here the words of Michael Wiszniewski, translated from Polish into Latin: "Długosz in his great Chronicle makes no mention of John Cantius: although the latter was known to him, and he survived him by seven years. But in the Description of the parish churches of the diocese of Kraków, where he treats of the church of St. Anne, he relates thus: 'The church of St. Anne at Kraków is counted among the parish churches of the same. It is situated towards the west not far from the great College. This church has been made illustrious by the body of master John of Kęty, professor of sacred Scripture, who shines with the excellence of most famous miracles' Historia litteraria Poloniæ, vol. V, p. 6 and 7, Kraków edition, 1813.." And at the foot of the page there is the following note: "This book" (namely Długosz's) "was written out by the hand of various persons. It is not, therefore, inconsistent that these words should be reckoned to have been added by another, Długosz being already dead." For the rest, that manuscript work is preserved in the library of Kraków. Fabricius too Under the word Dlugossus. makes mention of it. After he has reviewed the works committed to type, he adds: "Besides these, these writings of Długosz are mentioned by Matthias of Miechów, IV. 72 of the Polish chronicle, all unpublished, and certainly worthy of publication"; among which, in the third place: "Books of the inventory of the revenues of the cathedral church of Kraków and of all the collegiate, conventual and parish churches of the diocese of Kraków." And Fabricius adds: "This work Simon Starowolski, page 31 of the Hecatontas of Polish writers, calls: The Acts of the Church of Kraków and a Synopsis of the ecclesiastical Benefices in that Diocese." Recently we received from Lwów Excerpts from various historians concerning the servant of God John Cantius, which are found in the celebrated Ossoliński Library. In these we suppose the words of Długosz are recited as they were first written by the author. Wherefore we have thought fit to render them here: "Among the parish churches of the city of Kraków," he says, "there is one situated towards the west and near to the college of the artists, and ennobled by the body of master John of Kenthy, professor of sacred Theology, who shines with much sublimity of prodigies, built entirely of brick, and roofed also with brick." As regards the sense, these words do not differ from the others cited above from Wiszniewski.

[3] Of Matthias of Miechów But we have also a third contemporary who wrote about John Cantius, and indeed somewhat more fully than the two former: namely Matthias of Miechovia, or Miechów. He, born in the fifteenth century, devoted himself to studies at the university of Kraków; which being finished, he visited the principal universities both of Germany and of Italy. When he had returned to Poland, King Sigismund I took him as his chief physician. But soon weary of the court, he embraced the clerical state, and died a canon of the church of Kraków in the year of the Lord 1523 [Compare Simon Starowolski, Scriptorum polonorum Εκατοντας, p. 106 and 107, Venice edition, 1627.]. From these it is clear that Miechowski, or Miechovita, was a contemporary of John Cantius; nay, considering the age and the fame of both, it could scarcely have happened that the one lived unknown to the other. This is certain, that nothing prevents Miechovita as a young man from having seen and known Cantius when advanced in age. Among the other works of Miechovita there are the Chronicles from the origin of the Poles up to the year of Christ 1504, first published in type at Kraków in the year 1521; then rendered into Italian by Annibale Maggi and printed at Venice in the year 1582. They are also found in the second volume of the Corpus of the History of Poland of John Pistorius, Basel, in the year 1584. In these the life of St. John Cantius is briefly touched upon at the year to which his death is commonly bound, 1473; and that in a quite barbarous style, as will easily be recognized from his words subjoined.

[4] His splendid testimony concerning Blessed Cantius. "In the year as above, the 73rd above the thousand four hundred, the most celebrated and excellent man, master John, a native of Canthi near Oświęcim, professor and ordinary lecturer of sacred Theology in the university of Kraków, died on the 24th of December, on the vigil of the nativity of Christ, and was buried in the church of St. Anne under the ambo on the aforesaid vigil. He in the same year began to shine with signs and miracles, and up to this day, by divine propitiation, he relieves various infirmities and diverse diseases of men and of beasts of burden, at their vows and the invocation of his name, so that he is found most worthy of being enrolled in the decalogue (sic) of the Saints. But, just as the other Blessed in this kingdom of Poland, wonderful and glorious in deeds and prodigies, so he too, John Cantius, is neglected to be canonized. He, toiling in works of mercy, used every year to distribute to the poor clothes and shoes bought with his own money. Sometimes on colder days, seeing a poor man unshod, taking off his own shoes he would give them to the cold needy man, and he himself, barefoot, would return home with his cloak let down towards the ground lest he should be noticed to be unshod. Setting out as a pilgrim to Rome, despoiled by robbers, when he had gone some distance from them he began to cry out that he would have lied, saying that he had no more money; because he found some gold pieces sewn into his doublet, of which he had been unmindful; let them come back, therefore, and take them. And they, recognizing his sincerity, gave back even what had previously been taken. Asked at Rome

by the Polish courtiers why he came to Rome, since he was not pursuing lawsuits and was not seeking benefices, he answered that pilgrimage and the visiting of Rome was a purgatory, and that he frequented Rome in order to be purged of his vices. When in the assemblies of the doctors and masters he had poured out words for the truth, going to the cell and cells of those men he used to say that he was about to celebrate the divine mysteries, and therefore, if he had upset anyone by any word, he begged that he might be spared. Sometimes, hearing in the assembly reproaches and injurious words, he wrote on the whitewashed wall of his dwelling, on the outside towards the cloister-walk, with charcoal, lines running to either end: 'Beware of stirring up strife; to appease it is not sweet. Beware of defaming; for to retract is heavy.' And this writing was guarded lest it be erased, until in the course of building the wall was thrown down with the other dwellings. From the day of his death, moreover, up to the year of the Lord 1512, eighty-three persons oppressed with various sicknesses were cured on making a vow. Of those with fever, thirteen. Paralytics, five. Truly dead restored to their former life, sixteen. Almost dead and given up for lost, six. Frenzied, six. One demoniac freed. Beasts of burden dying, a vow having been made for them, two healed. Praise to you, Christ, who are daily glorified in our doctor Cantius. The epitaph afterwards added at his tomb begins:

'Do not, my pipe, in song keep silent with me the praises of the hyperborean race, whose glory, of the Most High, may now grow beyond measure, the saints demanding odes; and behold your titles in the last time, etc.' See it in the church of St. Anne." What are called an Epitaph by Miechovita are said, in the writing on the Life and deeds of St. John Cantius (on which see below, n. 13), to be a hundred and fifty-two lines of verse composed on parchment, embracing his life and deeds. "Some of which I shall bring forward," says the author, "as being a most excellent monument of older memory: 'Do not, my pipe, in song keep silent,' etc."; and there is added: "At the foot of the parchment the year and day of him" (the deceased Cantius) "is thus noted beforehand: 'In the one thousand four hundred and seventy-third year, on the twenty-fourth day of December.'" It must certainly be confessed that no one will easily believe that so prolix an epitaph was added to the tomb not so very long after his death. And hence it may be concluded that Miechovita here perhaps departs more or less from the truth.

[5] A remark on the three aforesaid writers. And since those three aforesaid writers, all of no unknown name in Poland, nay even held in great esteem, especially Długosz, lived as contemporaries of St. Cantius, it is clear enough of how much account their testimonies are to be made; from which it is clear moreover that the repute of holiness began from the very day of his death, and thereafter grew strong in an astonishing manner.

[6] [Benedict XIV slips in asserting that Martin Bielski wrote the life of Blessed Cantius,] According to Benedict XIV, Martin Bielski is to be numbered among the older writers who wrote on the life of Blessed John Cantius. "It was noticed, therefore," he says De Servorum Dei beatificat., etc., book II, chap. XXXIV, n. 9., "that the Blessed was born in the year 1397, and that only historians very far removed from his time asserted that the Works" (about which there was sharp dispute, as will be set out below in § IV) "were Blessed Cantius', the ancients being silent, and notably Martino Biellesci, who, when he had undertaken to illustrate his life and acts, made no word about the writings." There seems to be no doubt that the learned pontiff has in view Martin Bielski, a rather obscure writer, whose surname he bends a little according to the genius of the Italian idiom. If this be so, I do not see how his assertion can stand. For in this manner the reply was written to us from Lwów in Galicia by Fr. Joseph Brown, S.J., on the 20th of December of the year 1851: "I, as also all the officials of the Ossoliński library of Lwów, wondered at such an assertion put forward by Benedict XIV, and having received your second letter, given on the 3rd of December, again on the 12th of the aforesaid month I went through, in the said library, the works of Martin Bielski, in which I found not even a word by which mention was made of Blessed John Cantius." It is clear, therefore, that the learned Pontiff slips; unless someone should say that the work which he mentions was never published, nay even perished. Since this would be a mere hypothesis, built on no sufficiently suitable argument, we think it better to admit that Martin did not write about St. Cantius. Surely Simon Starowolski In the Hecatontas, p. 184 and 185. records thus: "Joachim Bielski, son of Martin Bielski, no inept writer of Polish history, well versed not in history only, like his father, but also in the oratorical and poetic art, and in all more polished literature." And a little below: "He wished to choose for himself no other kind of writing than that which he thought belonged to him by a sort of paternal and hereditary right, namely the history of his nation, which, written by his father, was wholly neglected by catholic readers on account of a suspicion of heresy. Since, therefore, the wise have judged that it pertains much to human praise that the honour of the fathers should shine forth in their offspring, he, wishing to propagate his father's name, brought out from his own store Polish Annals, and indeed in the Polish tongue, where at the same time he frees his father from calumny, affirming that he was a sincere catholic, and in the agony of death was provided with the sacraments according to the catholic rite." From this account, certainly, it would not easily come into anyone's mind that Martin Bielski was greatly concerned about St. Cantius. Lastly, in the Biographie universelle both Bielskis, father and son, are treated in very few lines indeed. Martin wrote a Chronicle of Polish affairs from the origin of the nation up to the year 1587, with images of the kings; Joachim, Annals of Poland in Polish, and epigrams, etc. They lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Catteau, Biographie universelle..

[7] The Life of Blessed Cantius by Fr. Peter Skarga, S.J. The Life of blessed Cantius was written by Fr. Peter Skarga of the Society of Jesus, a man, as our Alegambe says Bibliotheca scriptorum Societatis Jesu, under the word Petrus Scarga., most celebrated throughout Poland, born in the year 1536, died in the year 1612. And this I take to be the first of all which, composed expressly and digested in fixed order, came out in print under this title: The Life of blessed John Cantius, doctor of the university of Kraków, collected from the old writings (on parchment) of the church of St. Anne at Kraków and from the chronicles of Poland of Matthias Miechovita, book 4, chap. 60. So, namely, runs the title, rendered into Latin from the Polish (for in this idiom the Life was written). It came out, however, not separately but collected with other lives of Saints. "Peter Skarga," says Alegambe, "wrote many things both in Latin and in Polish, which, first published separately, came out at last comprised in 4 volumes. Volume I, moreover, contains selected lives of the Saints digested for the several days of the year, with instructions added suitable for forming morals. This volume was reprinted eight times while he was living, to which at the last he added the lives of the Saints, Blessed and Martyrs of the Society of Jesus." And a little below: "In Latin, however, there came out separately: The seven columns on which the catholic faith concerning the sacrament of the Altar is founded… The Life of Blessed John Cantius and of Casimir." I doubt whether Alegambe asserts this last altogether rightly. This is certain, that the Rev. Fr. Nicholas Baworowski, provincial of the Society of Jesus for Galicia, wrote to us under the date of the 7th of April 1851: "Since the life of St. John Cantius by Fr. Skarga does not exist in Latin, I add here a version just made from Polish into Latin by Fr. Matthias Czyhir, my companion." Simon Starowolski agrees in the Hecatontas Page 219., where he weaves a catalogue of the works. "He wrote," he says, "many volumes, both in the Roman tongue and also in his native one, very learnedly, for public use and the defence of the church; that is: On the sacrament of the Eucharist; On the impostures of the Calvinists …"; and he adds: "these in Latin; the rest in Polish, namely: a compendium of the annals of Baronius; lives of the Saints, with notes and moral doctrine; Sermons, etc." For the rest, from what has been said it follows that the life of Blessed Cantius written by the aforesaid father came out in print at least at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This writing is not prolix. It begins from a magnificent encomium of the university of Kraków; then it touches upon the deeds of the blessed Man in order, from his birth to his death, and is concluded with these words: "At his body, divine grace operating, immediately after his death very many miracles were performed, of which some, taken from Matthias Miechovita, the Polish historian, I shall set down here below. — Besides these, various and many followed, which having been examined, the supreme vicar of Christ on earth, Pope Clement XIII, enrolled this servant of God in the number of the Saints in the year of the Lord 1767. — Wherefore in his Servant be praise and glory to Christ. Amen." It is evident that the things pertaining to the canonization were added by another hand. In particular a few miracles are subjoined, with this note prefixed: "Other miracles of this Saint, various and notable, with which God most good honoured his Servant in life and after death, and deigns to honour him up to this present day, the professors of the great college of the university of Kraków, together with the priests of the church of St. Anne, where his body rests in honour, have diligently collected from certain testimonies and from acts both old and more recent, which are preserved in the treasury of this church, and also from the ancient traditions of their predecessors, and have reviewed them and committed them to writing; which, received from the same professors of the Great College in this year 1610, Fr. Frederick Schembek of the Society of Jesus carefully went through, and having made a compendium, sent to me. Of these the more notable are the following." As we have already said, these are few, and the last are referred to the year 1603. Moreover, from the note just recited it seems to follow that the things which pertain to the miracles are, at least in part, wanting in the earlier editions; since, as Alegambe has it, the volume containing the selected lives of the Saints was reprinted eight times while Skarga was living; from which work the life of St. Cantius, rendered into Latin from the Polish, was sent to us from Lwów in Galicia; for it is said at the beginning that it is contained in the book whose title is: Lives of the Saints … collected by the Rev. Fr. Peter Skarga, S.J. It is placed on the 19th day of October.

[8] A Life of St. John Cantius among the Bollandist manuscripts. We have among the hagiographical manuscripts of our predecessors a Register, written out by the hand of Bolland himself, in which at the 24th day of December these things are noted: "We have a life of Blessed John Cantius taken from Michovius, which begins: 'Blessed John Cantius, a Pole, doctor of sacred Theology and public professor of the celebrated university of Kraków, etc.' There are 6 leaves." The Life indicated by these words I have in my hands, which I suspect was composed at the request of Bolland, who, however, did not render the title accurately: for from this it would seem that it was drawn from Miechovita alone, and indeed in the form of a compendium; which certainly departs altogether from the truth, as is sufficiently established even from this, that the whole writing of Miechovita would not fill even a single leaf entirely. Hence also

the manuscript life of which there is discourse here bears the following superscription or title: "The Life and miracles of blessed John Cantius, a Pole, doctor of Sacred Theology and public professor in the bountiful and renowned university of Kraków, taken from the old manuscripts of the church of St. Anne at Kraków, in which his sacred body rests, and from Matthias Miechovita, the chronographer of the Poles." And hence it is clear enough that this life was drawn from the same sources which Fr. Skarga used. After very many miracles have been reviewed, it is concluded thus: "There are also other miracles besides these, more than a hundred, which I myself have read and counted; very many of them certainly splendid, but for brevity's sake, since there was not time, I did not order them to be written out. Let Your Reverence not omit these two. In the year of the Lord 1603, 130 years after his death, when his sepulchre had by chance been opened, a most sweet odour miraculously poured forth from it, which many perceived, and confirmed the truth of the matter by oath. — His gown the renowned university of Kraków carefully preserves, and with it, twice every year, it invests the newly created deans of the philosophical and arts faculty; and from those so clothed it receives the oath of their office." These words in the manuscript life at the 24th day of December have been added by another hand.

[9] [Adam Opatowski wrote the life of St. John Cantius in Polish; it was given a Latin dress by Fr. Boym, S.J.] Our Bolland adds in the Register already praised: "We have learned that his" (Cantius') "life was published in Polish in the year 1632, by Adam Opatowski as author. We desire this, but rendered into Latin." And in truth our Andrew Stredonius had written to Bolland on the 1st of September 1635: "I received a few days ago from Kraków the life of Blessed John Cantius, priest and doctor, born in Silesia, published in Polish type by Adam Opatowski in the year 1632. This, because they say it is not available in Latin, I shall try to make Roman in a rough style, and send to Your Reverence." The letter was given at Neisse in Silesia. And again the same Stredonius writes to the same Bolland on the 15th of December 1655: "The acts of John of Kęty published in Polish in the year 1632, by Adam Opatowski as author, I have, not yet given a Latin dress, so far as I know. If Your Reverence has the same, I shall refrain from the labour." At length, from a third letter, given at Breslau on the 17th of November 1660 to Bolland by Fr. Albert Tylkowski, we learn first that Fr. Stredonius did in fact refrain from the labour, nay perhaps never put his hand to the work; next, that the matter was commended to the aforesaid Fr. Albert, who, being himself hindered, had recourse to another. "At the urging," he says in the letter just praised, "of Rev. Father Moretus, I sent to Your Reverence the life of Blessed Cantius printed in Polish, to translating which I myself would have put my hand, had I not begun to be recalled from this province to my native land. This holy occupation, therefore, I present to Father Boym." Since he adds at the end: "I greet Fr. Boym, to whom I have given two letters, in which I described the better fortune of Poland, which is being confirmed," it is rightly concluded that this father was staying at that time among the Belgians. And there scarcely remains room for doubting that he there made the life of Blessed Cantius Latin from the Polish. Which shines out still more clearly from the following title: "Life of Blessed John Cantius, doctor of S. theology at Kraków and interpreter of S. scripture, written in Polish by Adam Opatowski, doctor of S. Th., and published at Kraków in the year 1632; here rendered into Latin by Rev. Fr. Benedict Paul Boym of Lwów, S.J., in the year 1661." To this title our Papebroch subjoined in his own hand: "Who" (Fr. Boym) "was a theologian at Louvain with Papebroch, and died preacher of the professed house at Vilna." From these, therefore, we have both who gave Opatowski a Latin dress, and at what time and place he undertook this labour, namely in the years 1660 and 1661 in Belgium, and indeed most probably at Louvain in the seminary of the Society of Jesus. And thus the desire of our Bolland was satisfied almost four years before his decease, since he died on the 12th of September in the year 1665.

[10] [Another life of Blessed Cantius, earlier published in Latin by the same Opatowski.] From these, moreover, it would seem to be inferred quite expressly that the life of St. Cantius by Opatowski was only in Polish, and was never either written or published in print in Latin. Nevertheless Benedict XIV, having mentioned certain others who wrote on Blessed Cantius, adds De Servorum Dei beatificat. et canonizat., book II, chap. XXIV, num. 41.: "Besides that Adam Opatowski wrote out expressly the life of the same Blessed, in the Latin tongue, and published it at Kraków in the year 1628." We candidly confess that on reading these words we were persuaded that the learned writer had slipped or been led into error; and that even today no other life of St. Cantius published in Latin type can be found, besides a certain composition, not so extensive, published at Rome in the year 1767, namely on the occasion of the solemn canonization of that Servant of God (discourse about this little work will recur below). But, letters having been sent on this matter to Poland, we received from the Rev. Fr. Nicholas Baworowski, S.J., provincial of Galicia, an answer of this sort: "Not erroneously (as the Bollandist Fathers suppose under No. 7 of the questions sent to me) but most truly does Benedict XIV affirm that the life of St. John Cantius was written in Latin by Opatowski and published at Kraków in 1628; of which two copies are found here at Lwów (in Galicia); one in the celebrated library of Count Ossoliński, and the other with Count Casimir Stadnicki; a copy of which life I shall take care to send shortly."

[11] Comparison of the Polish life with the Latin Which he in fact performed a little later. And so it was granted to us to compare the two lives composed by Opatowski, the one with the other. From which comparison we found that the life published in Polish with the Kraków types in the year 1632 is nothing else (as regards, namely, its first part) than a version, here and there a little enlarged, of the earlier life published in the Latin idiom in the year 1628. Both contain the same deeds, and indeed in the same order of chapters; except that in the Polish there is added a quite long exposition of the virtues, namely in the ninth chapter, of which this is the heading according to the version of Father Boym: "On the love of God and the perfection of the spiritual life"; which is nothing else than a quite prolix dissertation on the theological and cardinal virtues, which it asserts were in general exercised by St. Cantius in an eminent degree, without relating any deed by which the life would be particularly illustrated. The first part of the Polish life, therefore, consists of fourteen chapters in all, the Latin of thirteen. The rubric of the last chapter in each respectively runs differently. The Latin has: "On certain miracles which followed his" (John Cantius') "death"; the Polish: "On the translation of his sacred relics, and the testimonies of holiness." Which latter rubric fits more aptly with the matter contained in the aforesaid chapters, which for the rest, a few things excepted, is the same in both lives.

[12] The Latin the forerunner of the Polish. Further, in the mind of Opatowski, the earlier Latin writing paved the way for the other, more ample one. "But these," he says, "and the rest which, even after the edict promulgated by the Lord Commissaries, that by the power delegated to them by the most illustrious and most reverend lord Martin Szyszkowski, bishop of Kraków, most desirous of the honour of the saints, the patrons of his nation, they should look with diligent examination into his life and miracles: after, I say, the edict of the commission was promulgated, the admirable deeds which divine power has worked even in these days, if God shall assent to our wishes, we shall make public. That He may kindly grant this to us, in this supplication, which we offer to God at the tomb of the divine Man, let us beg with most ardent prayers that He may will, what we uniquely desire, to associate him by the judgment of the church to the order of the Blessed, the business of the examination having been happily dispatched." So, namely, is concluded chapter XIII, and so the Latin life itself. Four years later, namely in the year 1632, there came out the second, and that far more prolix, composition of Opatowski on St. John, written in the Polish idiom. Its first part (as we advised a little above) is scarcely anything other than a mere version from the Latin, with one chapter added or inserted and the text here and there elsewhere developed and extended. To this first part he added three others, all, as the author had announced in the year 1628, pertaining to the miracles, of which he reviews a huge number.

[13] Of how great merit a man Opatowski was. For the rest, Opatowski was a man distinguished in learning and ecclesiastical dignity, as being a doctor of the sacred Page and dean of the church of St. Anne. Moreover, of no common literary culture, as shines out from both the writings just praised. He uses a Latin style quite polished, and not inelegant; as regards the Polish diction, on the testimony of the Rev. Mr. Semenenko, a Polish priest (who gave me very much help when I was investigating the matters of Cantius at Paris): "Opatowski's style is truly classical; he uses the language of Skarga." It is known, further, that Fr. Peter Skarga of the Society of Jesus is held in the first place among all who ever wrote in this idiom. From which it is certainly right to conclude with what ability, with what study and zeal he girded himself for his work, when he was narrating the life of one who had himself formerly been a doctor of the sacred Page, and had in the church of St. Anne a tomb most celebrated throughout the world by the glory and fame of innumerable miracles. Add that documents of every kind were easily at hand for the writer: which indeed he himself declares sufficiently right at the beginning, where he professes that the life is excerpted "from the manuscripts of the great College, and the archives of the church of St. Anne, which preserves the deposit of his most blessed body; likewise from Matthias Miechowski, the Polish historiographer, and also from other weighty and faithful authors describing his illustrious deeds." It is no wonder, therefore, that Opatowski's work was received with great applause, and was invoked and used by all who after him wrote on the life of blessed Cantius. Opatowski is certainly copious, nay perhaps excessive, in narrating the prodigies performed by the help and intercession of the Man of God, as is clear even from the division prefixed to the work: "The whole series and narration," he says, "will be completed in four parts: the first will begin his illustrious deeds and the miraculous graces with which he flourished while living and still breathing. The second will review those prodigies which followed upon his death. The third will go through those by which he became famous before and from the finding and opening of his monument. The fourth will put an end, where it will set out those benefits which were attested before the episcopal commissaries." He has few things, therefore, about the deeds; very many about the miracles: the former take up forty-six pages, the latter a hundred and twenty in all. But it helps to have noted that the manner of living, and so the very kind of life which blessed Cantius constantly embraced and followed, by its own nature furnishes slight material to the writer.

[14] [The life of St. John Cantius published by the doctors of the university of Kraków.] In the year of the canonization, namely 1767, there came to light with the Roman types, and again in the following year according to the Roman exemplar with the Ingolstadt types, the writing: Of the deeds of saint John Cantius, a Pole, a secular presbyter, and in the bountiful university

of Kraków doctor and professor of sacred Theology, a single book. It is a little work written in Latin, and by the Doctors and Professors of the general school of the university of Kraków dedicated to the sacred Senate of the bishops, to the Prelates of the cathedral and collegiate churches, to the Provosts and Rectors of the parish churches, and to the whole secular Clergy of the kingdom of Poland. This writing, composed with a quite elegant pen, renders the life of St. Cantius in a somewhat different order from Opatowski, but in substance scarcely differs. The very circumstances of the time at which it was composed, as also the men in whose name and by whose authority it came to light, all these by themselves show sufficiently that each and every thing was submitted to diligent examination, and the rules of sound criticism were not neglected. To the life is attached a compendious narration of the acts in the process of beatification and canonization, and in particular five miracles approved by the sacred congregation of Rites are developed. Nevertheless the author advises at the end of chapter XXII: "For the rest, what I have narrated of Cantius' life and the things done by him have been sipped as it were with the outermost lips of the pen. Yet let the reader not be angry with me; for neither was there abundance of time, nor were richer records presented: the former so narrow that it scarcely sufficed for writing; the latter so scanty that it was to be lamented in each chapter that the material had been taken away by the injury of time. I undertook the task of writing entrusted to me on the fourth day before the Kalends of April (that is, the 29th of March) of this year MDCCLXVII from the beginning of the Redemption of the human race, so that the glory of the divine name, which shone forth in a wonderful manner in so great a Patron of our kingdom, might be spread further and more widely; and that the memory of the supreme Man himself, which has always been dear and pleasant to us, rescued from the oblivion of men, might reach even foreign nations, never to perish" Work cited, p. 54..

[15] Putanowicz. At length in the year 1780, at Kraków, M. Joseph Putanowicz, doctor and professor of sacred Theology and canon of the cathedral of Płock, published in Polish a full volume on St. John Cantius [Life, miracles and history of the canonization of St. John Cantius, Kraków, in the year 1780.]. The first part (which takes up forty pages, and makes about a fifth or sixth part of the whole volume) treats of the life of the blessed Man; and it is nothing else than an amplification, and indeed not a little verbose, of Opatowski's text, which is far more elegant and polished. It will not be beside the point to set before the eyes the sum of this writing (which is the most prolix of all) through the order of its chapters. 1. The birth and education of John; 2. He is sent by his father to the university of Kraków; 3. John gives a specimen of his progress in letters and piety; he is made first Bachelor, afterwards Doctor of philosophy, and in this faculty twice Dean. 4. He applies himself to Theology, is created doctor of sacred Scripture. 5. Made professor of S. Scripture, he teaches with great fruit. 6. He dedicates himself to the ecclesiastical state, is ordained priest, and is instituted parish priest of Olkusz, and at the same time cantor of the collegiate church of St. Florian. 7. On the theological virtues of St. John. 8. On the cardinal virtues. 9. His mercy. 10. Alms. 11. On his humility and wonderful simplicity. 12. On prayer and contemplation. 13. On mortification and patience. 14. On supernatural gifts. 15. On his death, burial and the translation of his body. 16. On the repute of his virtues and holiness, and his perpetual cult. 17. On the miracles. 18. On the miracles approved by Clement XIII. Five miracles are reported at greater length; of others, indulging the genius of his age, Putanowicz reviews very few in particular. But he is very prolix in weaving the history or process of the canonization. He sets down entire the votes of the Cardinals, as also the bull of Clement XIII; he goes through most fully the ceremonies, solemnities and feasts celebrated at Kraków in honour of the Newly-canonized; he presents word for word the sermons, poems and emblems. He also records many things about the foundation of the university of Kraków.

[16] Several other writers are reviewed Butler has the life of St. John Cantius at the 20th day of October. He says it is taken from the bull of canonization and the office in the Roman Breviary. He indicates no other sources. There exists a work after the manner of Butler, written in Polish and published at Kraków in the year 1767 by Florian Jaroszewicz, under the title: Polonia mater Sanctorum, or lives of the Saints, Blessed, Venerable and Pious of both sexes. The life of blessed Cantius there is taken from Fr. Skarga and Miechowski. Among the Acts of the canonization of six Saints [Acta canonizationis SS. Johannis Cantii, Josephi Calasanctii, Josephi a Cupertino, Hieronymi Æmiliani, Seraphini ab Asculo, et Joan. Franciscæ de Chantal, collected by Joseph Andrew Mariotti, Rome, in the year 1769.] there is found also a splendid Compendium of the life, virtues and miracles, and also of the acts in the cause of canonization, of Blessed John Cantius, secular presbyter and doctor and professor of sacred Theology in the university of the academy of Kraków. From the secretariate of the congregation of sacred Rites. Almost the same things are repeated in the Consistorial Oration delivered before the Pontiff by the R. P. D. Alexander Litta, as also in the bull of canonization itself. Martin Hanke too, in his work on the learned natives of Silesia Leipzig, in the year 1707., briefly, according to the plan of his work, touches upon the life of Blessed John Cantius, and concludes with these words: "Writers of the Life of Cantius: Peter Skarga, Simon Starowolski, Adam Opatowski." And in truth Starowolski, in the Hecatontas, or book of a hundred illustrious Polish Writers Frankfurt, in the year 1625., weaves a brief and not inelegant synopsis, in which some things are unfolded more distinctly than in the other compositions on Blessed Cantius. Whence it will also be of use to us several times in elucidating the life. In passing there is also to be named here Abraham Bzowski, who in his ecclesiastical Annals Vol. XVIII at the year of Christ 1473, n. XXI. presents the deeds of Blessed Cantius in a brief compendium. And these are the principal writers whom it has seemed good to mention. For the rest, it is self-evident that very many others have treated of the same subject at least incidentally.

§ II. The native place of St. John Cantius, his parents, his studies at the university of Kraków. In what year St. John was born and died.

St. John Cantius was a native of the town of Kęty, The native place of St. John Cantius was the town of Kenty, of which Adam Opatowski has thus: "The native soil of the venerable John Cantius was the town of Kenty, as if you were to say 'of the Corner.' Perhaps so named from this, that by its situation it faces towards the south two mountains (the Poles call them the Tatras), which, spreading and stretching themselves out not only in height but also in breadth, at one of their extremities measure out a long length, but at the other, running into each other near the said town, form and imitate a Cone or Corner. Or it must also be confessed that this name was imposed by the princes of Oświęcim, who, frequenting this place for the sake of hunting, invited one another, pointing to the present site of the town, to prepare their journey to the Corner with a band of keen-scented dogs. This town borders on Silesia, which it divides from the kingdom of Poland, and is distant from Kraków by an interval of eight miles" [Life of Blessed John Cantius written in Polish, published at Kraków in the year 1632, book I, chap. I, according to the ms. Latin version of Fr. Boym, S.J.].

[18] situated, according to many, in Silesia. The words of Opatowski, as they lie, seem to indicate that the town of Kenty belongs to Poland rather than to Silesia, whereas our Andrew Stredonius expressly relates the contrary in a letter to Bolland written at Neisse, a city of Silesia, on the 1st of September in the year 1635. "Nor," he says, "let Your Reverence wonder that I have attributed the name of Silesian to Blessed Ceslaus and Blessed Cantius, as also to St. Hyacinth, because they were truly born in Silesia, which, once joined to Poland, was called chiefly by the same name, because it had the same king; from which kingdom it fell away on account of violence about the year of Christ 1340, on the testimony of John Longinus in his Bishops of Wrocław." Which indeed Longinus, or rather Loninus or Długosz, does not have distinctly, but it could perhaps be inferred from his words. His writing is found among the writers of Silesian affairs collected by Sommersberg Vol. II, p. 158 and following, under the title: "The history and acts of the churches of Smogorzów and Pitschen, which is now that of Wrocław, of John Loninus or Długosz, canon of Kraków." A little above, Stredonius had said, loc. cit.: "I received a few days ago from Kraków the life of Blessed John Cantius, born in Silesia, published in Polish type by Adam Opatowski, etc." In another Letter of the same to the same, given on the 15th of December 1635, I find these things: "I inform Your Reverence that this Blessed one" (namely Cantius) "was born in the Silesian town of Kant, whence his surname. For where the eastern side of Silesia runs out from the Carpathian mountains, called the Tatras in Polish, to the springs of the river Brednicius, there are intercepted the duchies of Oświęcim and Zator, formerly of Silesia, now of Polish dominion, made so by Sigismund I, king of Poland, previously duke of Głogów and Opava in Silesia. Which duchies are now joined to the palatinate of Kraków, as Martin Cromer testifies in book I of his Poland, and it may be seen in the maps of Mercator, Bertius, etc." Further, Cromer has thus, loc. cit.: "That part of Silesia which is still of Polish dominion is so entangled with the palatinate of Kraków that it is in great part surrounded by it. It has no palatinate, but is generally reckoned in that of Kraków. It has, moreover, three territories: those of Oświęcim, of Zator and of Siewierz, of which the two former in an earlier time had their own dukes: now they are royal prefectures. That of Siewierz is in the dominion of the bishop of Kraków" [Polonia, sive de situ, populis, moribus, magistratibus et republica regni Polonici libri duo, Cologne 1578, p. II.]. Hence also Martin Hanke does not at all hesitate to number our Saint among the learned natives of Silesia (in the work inscribed with this title) Chap. XXXV, p. 153, Leipzig edition 1707.: "Kęty," he says, "an episcopal town in the duchy of the Wrocław people" (belonging, namely, to the bishop), "produced our John; whence, the family surname being suppressed, he received the name of his native place. As a youth he departed from Silesia into Poland, to add a greater increase to the studies he had acquired in the university of the Cracovians." And in the little book on the life and deeds of St. John Cantius published in print at Rome in the year 1767 there is reported Chap. XIX, p. 37. a Poem inscribed on his tomb immediately after his death, in which among others there is this little line:

De Kanty Doctor jacet hic Slesita Johannes. Here lies John of Kęty, a Silesian, Doctor.

Gustav Adolf Stenzel notes, in his work Scriptores rerum Silesiacarum, published partly in Latin, partly in German or the vernacular, in four volumes at Wrocław 1835 – 1850, that Matthias of Miechów was not inspected by Hanke; for he, "since he treats of John of Canthi near Oswantzin," would have led him to inquire whether Cantius was a Pole or a Silesian Vol. III, p. 332.. We therefore judge it to be our duty to elucidate this question more distinctly, or even, since (unless we are very much mistaken) the means have been given us, to settle it.

[19] [The duchy of Oświęcim, to which Kęty belonged, a part of Silesia, is restored to the king of Poland in the 15th century.] And first of all it helps to remember that in the Topography of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, published in the German idiom by Matthæus Merian at Frankfurt in the year 1650, a twofold Cantium is distinguished. For so it is read there Page 137.: "Cant, Kant, Canthena, a little town in the palatinate of Wrocław, which is accordingly other than Cantium, likewise a little town, which is situated on the river Sola (Soln) and lies on the borders of Silesia, towards Cieszyn near Oświęcim, in the Polish duchy named after this city; which duchy indeed formerly belonged to Silesia." Andrew Cellarius agrees where he says: "The Palatinate of Kraków, named from the royal city of Kraków, touches Silesia, Hungary, Greater Poland and the palatinate of Sandomierz, and contains four great Districts and three Duchies, namely those of Oświęcim, Zator and Siewierz, parts of Polish Silesia" Novissima descriptio regni Poloniæ, p. 135, Amsterdam edition 1659.. And below Ibid., p. 166.: "Osvecimia, Osviecimum, Oswieczin (otherwise Oswantzin, Oswentzin, to the Germans Auschwitz), the metropolis of the duchy of Oświęcim, situated in Polish Silesia, sits almost on the river Sala, which soon falls into the Vistula, distant from Kraków by an interval of 7 miles… The duchy of Oświęcim, bordering on Silesia, which together with the city the Germans, on the testimony of Bertius, call Auschwitz, returned in the year 1454 into the possession of the king of Poland, although John, duke of Oświęcim, afterwards did not acquiesce until, the pacts having been renewed, he received more money. Which being done, three years later he ceded all his right to the king, as Cromer teaches in book 22." Whose words run thus: "Meanwhile peace was granted to John at his request, on condition that, a certain price having been received, which was then agreed upon, he should cede altogether the whole dominion of Oświęcim to the king and the Poles. So at length the region of Oświęcim, as if by a long postliminium, returned into the dominion of the Poles; and all the nobility of that region, at the beginning of the following year (1454), bound their fealty to the king and the kingdom by a solemn oath. Although not even afterwards was John at rest, until, the pacts being repeatedly renewed and the price increased, after the third year he ceded all his right to the king" Cromer, De rebus Polonorum, book XXII, p. 522, Basel edition 1558..

[20] [In the 14th century Silesia, and in particular the duchy of Oświęcim, had passed from the Poles to the Bohemians.] As regards that long postliminium, it is established from various charters that all Silesia, and in particular the duchy of Oświęcim, passed from the Poles to the Bohemians in the thirty-ninth year of the fourteenth century. Those charters, four in number, may be read entire in Sommersberg Rerum Silesiacarum scriptores, Leipzig 1729. The first in order bears this rubric: "The Procurators of Casimir" (namely III) "king of Poland profess that the king and kingdom of Poland have no right in Silesia. In the year 1335" Ibid., vol. I, p. 774, in the Specimen of the Diplomatic Codex of Silesia.. The second in order of time is headed with the following rubric: "Charter of Casimir, king of Poland, by which he confesses that he has had and has no right in Silesia," and it is of the year 1339: "Casimir, by the grace of God king of Poland … we say and publicly protest that we have not and have not had, that there does not and did not pertain to us, any right, property or dominion, possession or title in the magnificent princes, the lords dukes Bolesław of Legnica and Brzeg, Henry of Żagań and Krosno … and John of Oświęcim, dukes, and their vassals with their duchies and lordships, lands, districts, jurisdictions, appurtenances, bounds, appendages and any ancient limits whatsoever, nor in the cities of Wrocław and Głogów with all their districts, limits, borders and appurtenances… Nay rather it pleases us and we favour them most well, renouncing moreover in their favour and ceding, for ourselves and our heirs, co-heirs and successors, every right, action, claim, property and title in perpetuity, if any pertained to us or to our heirs or successors, or should pertain, or could pertain in any way in the future" Ibid., p. 775.. What is contained in the remaining two charters pertaining to this matter the praised Sommersberg presents thus: "This business having been accomplished according to wish, and Silesia claimed for Bohemia, Charles IV, emperor and king of Bohemia, successor of his father, who was killed in the battle of Crécy in the year 1346, by a notable charter fortified with a golden bull, issued at Prague in the year 1355, Ind. VIII, on the seventh day before the Ides of October, 'joined, incorporated, embowelled, inscribed, appropriated, and indivisibly and inseparably co-united Silesia, as the useful and immediate dominion of himself and of the kingdom of Bohemia, to the same kingdom and its happy crown for ever' Ubi supra, p. 776 and 777.. And lest any fear should remain of Silesia's ever being torn away from the Bohemians, there was added the charter of Louis, king of Hungary and Poland, whom Casimir III, king of Poland, lacking sons, had destined as his successor, his nephew through his sister Elizabeth, wife of Charles Robert, king of Hungary, issued in the year 1372 on the feast of the Holy Trinity at Visegrád Ibid., p. 778 and 779.. 'By which, in his own name and in that of his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen, king of Bosnia, and of his heirs and successors the kings of Poland, under a corporal oath, which he himself and his most dear consort swore upon the wood of the life-giving Cross and upon the Gospels of God into the hands of the Reverend Father in Christ, the Lord John, Patriarch of Alexandria, legate of the apostolic See, he professed that for himself and the queen and his heirs and successors there was no right to be claimed or usurped in the principalities and duchies of the kingdom and crown of Bohemia, namely those of Wrocław, Świdnica, Jawor, Ziębice, Legnica, Brzeg, Oleśnica, Głogów, Krosno, Żagań, Opole, Niemodlin, Strzelce, Cieszyn, Racibórz, Opava, Koźle, Bytom, Oświęcim, Ścinawa and Kłodzko; nay, if any of these princes should wish voluntarily or of his own accord to submit himself, that he, his heirs and successors would in no way wish to take him up.' In this way, therefore, Silesia, torn away from Poland, began happily to be part of the kingdom of Bohemia." So, namely, Sommersberg, in the historical dissertation which illustrates the affairs of all Silesia and the vicissitudes and fortunes of the individual duchies, with diplomatic fidelity, up to our own age Ibid., p. 259..

[21] Some Polish writers dissemble this cession of Silesia. Sommersberg notes moreover Ibid., p. 258. that the Polish Writers dissemble this cession. And in truth Cromer De rebus Polonorum, book XII, p. 306. touches upon it lightly, nay quite obscurely. For after he had said that King Casimir, desirous of quiet and leisure more than was fitting, had accepted peace with the Crossbearers (they are commonly called the Teutonic knights), a little below he continues in this manner: "Dubravius with Hájek record that between the kings of Poland and Bohemia themselves too, by the arbitration of the Hungarian, pacts were then (about the year 1335) agreed upon, that the Pole should cede to the Bohemian all right in Silesia; and the Bohemian should not thereafter usurp the title of king of the Poles" (which indeed is also expressly contained in the 1st charter praised by us above) "and should remit the right of exacting tribute from the Polish king, five hundred pounds of pure, unalloyed gold having been received from Charles. And on these conditions indeed they agree: but on this they disagree, that Dubravius writes it was agreed that the Pole should pay the Bohemian the money owed: Hájek on the contrary will have it that twenty thousand marks were paid to the Pole by the Bohemian, that he should claim no right for himself in the Wrocław dominion and in all Silesia and that of Opole. The same adds that an alliance was then entered into by all three kings (the Pole, the Bohemian, the Hungarian) against Louis the Emperor, which Dubravius passed over; and the same holds, and indeed alone, that all these things were accomplished while Łokietek was living and present. Something of these perhaps was then done. For the rest, the Bohemian had not yet then brought all Silesia under his dominion. But whence and when that tribute arose for him in Poland, these writers cannot show, if they wish to weave the last things fitly and suitably with the first. But let everyone's judgment be his own."

[22] John Cantius truly a Silesian; he is called a Pole only improperly. From these, unless I am mistaken, it is first manifestly had that the duchy of Oświęcim, to which the town of Kęty belongs, is part of Silesia; next, that all Silesia, and in particular the duchy of Oświęcim, passed in the year 1339 from the Poles to the Bohemians; and since it is established from elsewhere that the aforesaid duchy returned into the possession of the king of Poland only in the year 1454; and since it is moreover certain that St. John Cantius was born either at the end of the fourteenth century or at least at the beginning of the fifteenth, it follows that the blessed Man was a Silesian by native place, and that his native soil, withdrawn from Polish dominion for far the greatest part of his life, was subject to it only in the last twenty years of the same life. And in this way he can to some extent be numbered among the Poles; all the more so because the town of Kęty is found situated on the extreme borders of Silesia, bordering on Lesser Poland. Lastly it helps to have added what Martin Hanke has De Silesiis indigenis eruditis, chap. VI., where he begins the life of Hyacinth Odrowąż (more probably a native of Kąty, not far from Wrocław): "According to the old custom which makes Poles of Silesians, he was called a Pole by most; in reality he was not." And these things concerning the native place and natal soil of blessed Cantius. Now we shall dispatch the rest more briefly.

[23] The birth of St. John Cantius. "Blessed John Cantius was born," says Adam Opatowski according to the version of Fr. Boym Life, part I, chap. I., "on the day sacred to St. John the Baptist, whom the very autographs written here and there in his books attest that he venerated with singular devotion during the whole course of his life. He had honest and catholic parents; and indeed his father Stanislaus entered upon the magistracy of the town, and was eminent for no common piety. Pleasing to the Deity, with Anne his consort, of equal virtue and devotion to God, he instructed not sluggishly in the things which concern God the offspring given him by Him." The rest agree, among them the author of the manuscript life of which we spoke above at num. 7: "In the time of Władysław Jagiełło, king of Poland, on the feast of St. John the Baptist, he is born of pious parents, namely his father Stanislaus Vacenga, consul of the same place, and his mother Anne." And this is the only life in which the family name, namely Vacenga, is found. In the others the father of our St. John is indicated only by the name of Stanislaus. In the acts of the canonization Stanislaus is called a man of consular rank; in the bull itself there is: "In the town of Kęty in the diocese of Kraków blessed John Cantius was born, of parents illustrious for consular race and christian piety, on the 24th day of June." Further, as regards the dignity of consul, Martin Cromer writes: "Besides the Lords, moreover, and their Prefects and Procurators, every commonalty, town by town, village by village and hamlet by hamlet, has its own magistrates. And in the hamlets indeed they call the Scultetus or hereditary advocate, who is as it were the leader and defender of the colony; who either himself in person or by his deputy, whom too they call an Advocate or Judicial

, with some Scabini added from the number of the ploughmen (so are called the judges or assessors of the court), pronounces justice. But in the cities and towns and villages, besides these, there are also Consuls. So we call those who were called decurions by the ancients, with whom rests the government and custody of each city; the punishment of delinquents; the administration of public conveniences, and the care of the buildings and of keeping the public roofs in repair. Among them, moreover, one presides, the master of the citizens, whom they commonly call the Proconsul, who calls them together whenever there is need and takes them into counsel: for lighter matters he manages himself without them. The number of Consuls is not the same everywhere" Polonia, book II, p. 155 and following, Cologne edition 1577..

[21] He is sent to the university of Kraków And again the praised Opatowski Life, part I, chap. II.: "When the youth had obtained a careful education at home and had there laid the good first principles of letters themselves, under the guidance of his parents he went to the university of Kraków, which was beginning day by day to grow illustrious throughout the whole christian world for reverence of the Deity and for the whole range of the sciences, and to join notable increases to its very beginnings": and below Ibid., chap. XII.: "The youth, therefore (what we call the first access to the university), was inscribed on the roll of students in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and thirteen, Stanislaus of Skarbimierz, doctor of Canon law, discharging at that time the office of rector. And having heard certain first sciences, designated for that purpose, and having shown in them a singular specimen of progress, at the first testimony and approval he was created bachelor in the sciences and philosophy in the year of the Lord 1415, as an old matriculation codex attests; and in the 15th year from the founding and erection of the university of Kraków. That honour was an incitement to him to undertake other labours: for, intending to advance higher, for two years, according to the statutes, he both listened to the professors and exercised himself excellently in assiduous reading and in disputations. Then, having furnished a splendid testimony of his learning, he was created doctor of philosophy in 1417. Twice he discharged the office of dean in philosophy; first in 1432, the second time in 1438."

[25] In what year this university was founded is not agreed among writers. Opatowski is silent as to in what year of his age St. John was created either bachelor or doctor in philosophy. If the chronology of certain writers be assumed, as we shall dispute more broadly below, he would either not yet have been born, or would have been of boyish, nay even infant age in the aforesaid years. In this place let it suffice to have elucidated by whom and in what year the university of Kraków was founded. For various writers have written various things. Opatowski places its beginnings at the year of Christ 1400, since he says that Cantius was distinguished with the baccalaureate in the year 1415, the 15th from the founding and erection of the university of Kraków. Wiltsch Handbuch der Kirchlichen Geographie, vol. II, p. 263. refers the beginnings of the general school to the year 1343; Friedrich Lucæ Europäischer Helicon, p. 274 and following to the 17th of August 1344; the Benedictines Art de vérifier les dates, p. 499, Paris edition 1770. to the year 1347; Salvandy Histoire de Pologne, vol. I, p. 46, Brussels edition. and Malte-Brun Tableau de la Pologne, p. 447, Paris 1807. to the times of King Casimir (he reigned from the year 1333 to the year 1370 Art de vérifier les dates, p. 499.) without noting in what precise year; Andrew Cellarius Regni Poloniæ novissima descriptio, p. 142 and 143. to the year 1361, affirming that it was done with the permission of Urban V: "The same king (Casimir)," he says, "in this new city (named from his name) Casimiria, in the year 1361 instituted an Academy, permission having been obtained from Pope Urban V." These things, however, cannot stand together: for, according to our Papebroch Propylæum of May. (and the Benedictines agree in designating the year Art de vérifier les dates, p. 304.), Urban was elected on the 23rd of September of the year 1362, crowned on the 6th of November of the same year. The bull of Urban, therefore, was not given in the year 1361, as Cellarius writes; but rather at Avignon on the Kalends of September in the second year of his Pontificate, or of Christ 1364. Casimir, namely, asked the Pontiff (as Raynaldus narrates Annales ecclesiastici at the year 1364, n. XIII.) that, since the Poles were separated by so great a distance from the more celebrated universities that many were drawn away from the study of letters by the dangers of the roads, and hence there were fewer lettered men in that kingdom, he would raise up academic studies at Kraków, from which streams of the sciences might flow into Poland and the neighbouring kingdoms. Urban assented, ordaining that in the said city of Kraków there should henceforth be a general school, and that it should flourish there for all time, as well in canon and civil law as in any other science, except in the theological faculty. Hence, in our opinion, it is quite probably made out that Cellarius referred the beginnings of the university of Kraków to the year (which, however, the same Cellarius does not rightly designate) of this foundation; but as regards the other writers praised above, they could perhaps be reconciled with one another and with Cellarius in this way, that different writers assumed a different beginning of the university, namely either from the buildings begun or from the beginning of the schools and other things of that kind. This further is certain, that Casimir, having founded the city called from his name Casimiria, formerly separated from Kraków only by the stream of the Vistula (for it is now reckoned a part of the latter), applied his mind and care to adorning it with the culture of a general school. "Having begun with an elegant construction of houses, while in hunting he was pressing upon a fleeing stag, crushed by the weight of his falling horse, and having long struggled with the illness contracted from that accident, on the Nones of November MCCCLXX he was snatched away both from life and from the glory of completing the work." So in the little Work (which we mentioned at n. 13) on the life and deeds of St. John Cantius Chap. II, p. 3 and 4., published at Rome in the year of his canonization, and dedicated by the doctors and professors of the general school of the university of Kraków to the sacred senate of the bishops and the whole secular clergy of the kingdom of Poland. Whence it would seem that Casimir, having begun with an elegant construction of houses, was prevented by death from going further, and hence that the schools were not opened under his reign. Something more, however, is attributed to Casimir by the last writer of the life of Cantius, Putanowicz [At the end of the Life of St. John Cantius, where he treats of the erection of the university, Kraków edition 1780.]. "There came at length," he says, "the year 1400, the second birthday of the university of Kraków, far happier than the first, in which it began to rise from its first beginnings and foundations. For although Casimir the great … with a huge work and splendid adornment had built for his new university, in the city named after him next to the city of Kraków, houses, chambers and lecture-halls of squared stones for the dwellings and lectures of the doctors and masters; had assigned to it privileges and sufficient stipends for the professors; yet that he did not put the finishing hand to so great a work was not of his will but of that of the supreme Deity." Which certainly extend more widely than the words recited from the other little work. However that may be, it is established that the work thereafter had no increase for the space of some years, namely under Louis the Hungarian, who succeeded Casimir. But when Hedwig, wife of Jagiełło, or Władysław IV, who after the Hungarian obtained supremacy in Poland, had bequeathed part of her goods for completing the university, Władysław, immediately after the death of his wife, which happened in the year 1399, brought Casimir's undertakings to completion. "Jagiełło," says Cromer, "easily added to what had been found from Casimir whatever was wanting, and introduced the form he wished into excellent material already prepared for sixty years." From which words it is clear that Cromer refers the academic beginnings under Casimir to about the year of Christ 1340. As regards the second foundation, the writers with one voice refer it to the year 1400: "The chairs," says Putanowicz Ubi supra., "having been hastily transported from the college of Kazimierz and the lecterns arranged through the halls, by common counsel, for beginning the auspicious and fortunate renewal of the general school of Kraków, the Monday after the feast next following of St. James the greater, the apostle, was decreed, to which it pleased them to invite the royal majesty and the senate and nobles of Poland. Which was also so done. The king was present at the first lecture, and gave the beginning of the new matriculation register by the insertion of his name, whom all the senators then present followed in this notable deed." And all these things the same Putanowicz resumes at the end of his book on Blessed Cantius in the form of a sort of inscription (he himself calls it an Altar of Thanks to God the Best and Greatest, to the holy founders of the University), which he begins in this manner: "To the saint Casimir the great, who, having invited professors of law and philosophy from Paris, founded the University at Casimiria, which he had built, and obtained its confirmation in the year 1364 from Pope Urban V. To the saint Władysław Jagiełło, who in the year 1400 most happily completed the great endeavours of Casimir; transferred the university of studies from Casimiria to Kraków, enriched it with ecclesiastical benefices, and assigned stipends from the customs-house; consecrated to the University as its arms the Polish Eagle in the hands of St. Stanislaus (the martyr), twin sceptres to the magnificent rector, the house which is called the Great College, and the rights and benefices ratified and confirmed by Popes John XXIII and Martin V. To the saint Queen Hedwig, etc." Lastly, from all these it seems rightly deduced by us that Casimir seriously thought of founding a university at Kraków, put his hand to the work not sluggishly, nay even made at least some sort of beginning of the general school (whence Putanowicz too ascribes to Władysław the renewal of the general school of Kraków, Spondanus Ann. ecclesiast. at the year 1399, n. XIV. the institution or restoration of the university of the school of Kraków), but was prevented by death from completing what he had begun; next, that the work remained unformed for the space of some years, until at length, taken up again by Władysław Jagiełło, it was completed in all its parts in the year 1400.

[26] Authors disagree wonderfully about the year in which Cantius was either born Again, different things are related by different writers, and differing from one another not so slightly, concerning the year of the birth and of the death, as also concerning the age which blessed John Cantius had reached when he died his last day. And in the bull of canonization indeed it is read: "born on the 24th day of June, in the year one thousand three hundred and ninety-seven." The Compendium of the life from the secretariate of the congregation of sacred Rites agrees: "John Cantius was born in the year of the Lord one thousand three hundred and ninety-seven, on the 24th day of the month of June" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 113.. But the Oration delivered by the R. P. D. Alexander Litta before Clement XIII, in public consistory for the approaching solemnities of the canonization, on the 7th of March 1767, disagrees vehemently: "In the year from the Nativity of Christ MCDXLVI (1446), on the eighth day before the Kalends of July, John was born" Ibid., p. 179. You would scarcely doubt that it is a typographical error, were it not that, as regards the age, as we shall declare below, a similar, though not so great, discrepancy with most others were found in the praised Oration. I would not dare, however, to affirm that an error has not crept in. In the life

of blessed John Cantius in manuscript from the Bollandist collection he is said to have been born in the year of the Lord 1412 on the feast of St. John the Baptist. The more prolix manuscript life according to Adam Opatowski, from the Latin version of Father Boym, does not indicate the year of birth expressly; but since it is said there that he died in the year 1471, aged 83, it follows that he was brought into the light about the year of the Lord 1388. Butler will have him born about the year 1403. Lastly, in the other writing, printed with Roman types in the year 1767 under the care of the doctors and professors of the general school of the university of Kraków, under the title Of the deeds of St. John Cantius, a Pole, he is related to have been brought into the light on the eighth day before the Kalends of July of the year MCCCLXXXVII Chap. I, p. 2.. The year of birth is therefore uncertain, since a different one is assumed by different writers; three place the year 1397; one the year 1388 or 1387, another the year 1403, or 1412, or 1446; which last certainly departs from the truth, nay rather seems a typographical error.

[27] or died. Nor do the writers disagree less in assigning the year of death. The bull of canonization establishes thus: "He happily flew away to the embraces of Christ Jesus, for which he was panting, on the 24th day of December in the year of restored salvation MCCCCLXXIII, when he was passing his seventy-sixth year." In the Compendium of the life from the secretariate of the congregation of sacred Rites the year and day of death agree, but the age differs greatly: "When he had reached the sixty-seventh year of his age … he knew that the time of his dissolution was at hand … on the 24th of December, on the vigil of the Lord's nativity, in the year of the christian era 1473, happily released from the prison-house of the flesh, he flew away to everlasting joys" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 118.. Similarly the R. P. D. Alexander Litta, in the Oration delivered before Clement XIII, asserts that John, having entered the LXVIth (66th) year of his age, knew that the last day of his life was at hand, without determining in what year of Christ his death occurred Ibid., p. 182.. Benedict XIV: "Blessed Cantius died," he says De servorum Dei beatif., book II, chap. XXIV, n. 41., "in the year of the Lord 1473." Butler agrees, as also the earlier Factum concordatum (on which consult n. 30). The manuscript life in the Bollandist museum, as also the life by Adam Opatowski translated from the Polish tongue into Latin, relates that he fell asleep in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and seventy-one, on the 24th of December. Lastly, the composition on the deeds of St. John Cantius, printed at Rome in the year 1767, has thus: "In the year from the restoration of the human race MCCCCLXXIII, being more than seventy, he died" Chap. XVIII, p. 35 and 36.. And there at the foot of the page the following note is added: "Blessed Cantius died his last day passing the LXXVIth year of his age. But in order that it may be clear that I have used a right arrangement of the time, let the reader consult the records of the university of Kraków, and the anonymous author who in MDCXLVIII wrote his life. Those" (namely the academic records) "have reported that in MCCCCXIII he (John) gave his name to the roll of students of that university, and in MCCCCXV obtained the first laurel in the faculty of philosophy. This one, however" (namely the anonymous author of the life), "asserts that in the XVIth year of his age, having completed the studies of humane letters in the school of his native parish of Kęty, he made his way to Kraków, and in the XXth was proclaimed master in philosophy. Since, therefore, from MCCCLXXXXVII, in which I have narrated that he was born, to MCCCCXIII, in which he betook himself to the university, XVI years are numbered; and LX from the year MCCCCXIII up to MCCCCLXXIII, in which he departed, I do not seem to deserve to be branded with the mark of error. Peter Skarga, however, is to be disapproved, who judges him born in MCCCCXII, not to say that, scarcely torn from his mother's breasts, he would have been decorated with the laurel. Nor do I adhere to Adam Opatowski, who affirms that he was brought into the light in MCCCLXXXX" (rather in the year MCCCLXXXVIII, according to what we said in the preceding number), "for then he would have died not more than seventy, but more than eighty" (which also Opatowski expressly pronounces, as one who writes that John died in the eighty-third year of his age). For the rest, I have nothing to oppose to the chronology just cited, except this one thing: namely, that the year of birth posited by the anonymous author is assumed as certain. But on this turns the principal hinge of the matter. For the whole question comes back to this: in what precise year was St. John brought into the light? Since on this matter there is no agreement among the writers; some positing one year, others another, as is plain from what has been said. Thus far we have two different years to which St. John's death is bound: namely the year 1471 and the year 1473. The latter numbers many more authors favouring it, and in truth it is more probable that the death of the blessed Man fell in it. Hence also Martin Hanke writes of John Cantius De Silesiis indigenis eruditis, p. 154, Leipzig edition 1707.: "Among the people of Kraków, very old, he expired in the year 1473"; and he adds from Joachim Curæus, in the latter's annals of the Silesians at the year 1473: "At Kraków in that year died the celebrated Silesian theologian John of Kęty."

[28] Nor can a certain year of age be assigned either. After this no one will wonder that the writers, as regards the years of his age, go off in different directions: for this flows straight from the uncertain year both of his birth and of his death. The bull of canonization, with which the writing on the deeds of St. John Cantius agrees, relates that he died in the seventy-seventh year of his age; Butler, in the seventieth; the Compendium from the secretariate of the cong. of sacred Rites, in the sixty-seventh; the Oration delivered before Clement XIII, in the sixty-sixth (but since in this same Oration John is said to have been born in the year of the Lord 1446, it would follow that he prolonged his life up to the year of Christ 1512, which certainly not a single one of the learned would say); the life according to Opatowski from the manuscript version of Father Boym, in the eighty-third; in the shorter manuscript life of our museum the year is indeed not distinctly noted, but since it is expressly said that John was born in the year 1412 and died in the year 1473, it must be concluded that he died in the sixty-first year of his age. Here, therefore, we walk amid thicker darkness than in what precedes. And therefore Hanke probably left the matter in the middle, affirming this in general, that he expired very old; which seems to us too more consonant with reason from what has been said.

§ III. On the process of the canonization of Blessed John Cantius. The manifold and long-lasting difficulties which arose in this cause. On the relics of the blessed Man, and his cult both ancient and present.

[A synoptic narration of the acts in the cause of Blessed John Cantius, from Andrew Mariotti.] What was undertaken at various times in this cause, troubled certainly by many difficulties and obstacles, Joseph Andrew Mariotti, sub-promoter of the faith, briefly summarizes thus Acta of the six Canonized, p. 2 and following.: "Blessed John Cantius in the most celebrated university of Kraków taught his hearers the philosophical and theological sciences, not without a name for erudition and learning, and shone so in christian virtues, and was distinguished by the Most High with such glory of miracles, that when he flew away to the realms above, the citizens of Kraków at once honoured his memory with the veneration due to the Heaven-dwellers. But when the renowned king of Poland and all the nobles of the kingdom desired that this blessed Man should be enrolled in the calendars of the Saints through the apostolic See, they began earnestly to urge Pope Urban VIII to sign the commission of Introduction of the cause. Whose wishes, the matter having been diligently weighed in the scales of the sanctuary, the Pontiff kindly received in the year MDCXXIX. Hence the remissorial letters, as they call them, were given to the prelate of Kraków, that he should inquire by apostolic authority into his virtues and miracles. But meanwhile, some difficulties having arisen, the cause stood still up to the year MDCLXVI, in which year Pope Alexander VII confirmed the commission, as they say, of Resumption, chose as relator of the same cause Cardinal Volumnius Bandinelli, and gave command to the most reverend bishop of Kraków to institute a judgment upon the case which they call excepted from the decrees of Pope Urban VIII. Not so very long after, Cardinal Bandinelli dies, and Angelo Celsi is substituted for him, in whose place Peter Vidoni is subrogated; he pressing the matter vigorously, on the twelfth day before the Kalends of August MDCLXXVI the public cult which the postulators of the cause contended had been shown to the Blessed for a hundred years and more before the age of the same Pope Urban VIII came into question, and with an auspicious and happy issue was strengthened by pontifical oracle. Afterwards Cardinal Decio Azzolini, whom the venerable Pope Innocent XI had chosen as ponens in the cause, dispatched other remissorial letters for compiling new acts on the virtues of the Blessed, which acts the ordinary congregation of sacred Rites, on the report of Leander Cardinal Colloredo, who had succeeded Azzolini, recognized and declared to have been prepared according to the rules of law and of the remissorial letters; and this, by a received word, which we too shall by no means decline to use, is called the Validity. And although the most diligent postulators had it again and again in their wishes to come to the examination of the virtues of the Blessed, this was nevertheless by no means given and granted to them, until the dispute concerning writings rashly attributed to the Blessed, undertaken by Cardinal Colloredo, which was still sub judice, was concluded through the sacred congregation of Rites on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of October MDCCXXX, by the care of Cardinal Louis Pico della Mirandola; wherefore before the fourth day before the Nones of July MDCCXXXIII the ordinary congregation of sacred Rites began to discuss these virtues, and, having examined them in a stricter balance, judged: that it was so established concerning the virtues (of the Blessed) that one could proceed to the discussion of the miracles; to which response of the sacred congregation Pope Clement XII on the Nones of the same month added the firmness of strength by his authority. The postulators, having thus obtained their wish, laboured with all their strength that the miracles which God had worked to declare the holiness of the Blessed should be approved by the Roman Pontiff; but because there was need first also to prepare an inquiry about the miracles themselves, and to weigh its validity, much time accordingly had necessarily to elapse before they were disputed. Meanwhile Pico, the ponens of the cause, departed from the City; hence the judgment of these miracles was first begun in the antepreparatory congregation on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of July MDCCXLII before Camillo Cardinal Cybo, who was acting in Pico's place, which, pursued in the preparatory on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of September MDCCXLIV, Annibale Cardinal Albani being then ponens of the cause, was at length brought to its conclusion in the general assembly on the third day before the Nones of August MDCCXLV before His Holiness Pope Benedict XIV. But when the postulators understood that of the four miracles which they had brought forward, only two had been approved by almost the common vote of the most learned voters, and had it excellently in view from the new decrees of Pope Benedict that in these most ancient causes, which proceed by way of the excepted case, four miracles are required for one to be reckoned in the catalogue of the Saints, they by no means entreated the approval of the same from the most learned Pontiff, thinking it better to wait until the Most High should increase the glory of his Servant with new prodigies. Scarcely a few years had elapsed when the rumour arrived at the city of Rome that God, to show the riches of his glory in Blessed John Cantius, was working new miracles and prodigies day by day. Moved by which rumour, the postulators, and in

hope that the finishing hand would very soon be put to this cause, saw to it that other processes were drawn up, in order that they might come also to the examination of these miracles. These processes having been completed, three assemblies of the most wise fathers were held: the first, namely, on the seventh day before the Ides of July MDCCLXIV in the house of the most eminent Cardinal John Francis Albani, bishop of Sabina, the last relator of the cause; the second on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of September MDCCLXV, in the apostolic palace of the Quirinal; and lastly the third on the fourth day before the Nones of December MDCCLXVI before Our Most Holy Lord Pope Clement XIII, in which almost all the most learned and most wise voters judged the same miracles to be of such weight that they would be worthy to be approved by the certain judgment of His Holiness. These new miracles, however, because they were three in number, did not themselves seem sufficient to bring the cause at length to the desired end; wherefore the postulators by a suppliant petition entreated Our Most Holy Lord to confirm by his decree those ancient miracles, already discussed and debated while Pope Benedict XIV was guiding the reins of the church. The most kind Pontiff, according to his religion and prudence, lest he should seem to decree anything rashly and inconsiderately in a most grave matter, determined and decided that a special congregation should be instituted, in which their Eminences and most Reverend Lords the cardinals Charles Albert Guidobono Cavalchini, bishop of Ostia, prodatary of Our Most Holy Lord, John Francis Albani, bishop of Sabina, ponens of the cause, Joseph Maria Feroni, of the title of St. Cecilia, prefect of the congregation of sacred Rites, Mark Anthony Colonna, of the title of St. Mary of Peace, archpriest of the Liberian basilica and vicar of the Lord Pope in the bountiful City, and Anthony Andrew Galli, of illustrious memory, of the title of St. Peter in Chains, major penitentiary, and also the most illustrious and most Reverend Lords Scipio Borghese, then secretary of the congregation of sacred Rites, and Cajetan Forti, who at that time was acting as promoter of the faith, together with the most reverend father Thomas Ricchini, master of the sacred apostolic Palace, and father abbot Maurus Sarti, of blessed memory, of the Camaldolese order, should set out most freely what they judged of those miracles; all of whom did not at all hesitate to come down to an affirmative opinion." Thus far Mariotti. All of which rest almost on two Facta Concordata, as they call them, which, being authentic documents, it would be wrong to pass over in our Work. They are, moreover, of this sort. And the first runs thus.

[30] [The Factum Concordatum in the cause of St. John Cantius. Things done before the decrees of Urban VIII.] "John Cantius, born at Kraków of catholic and pious parents, after obtaining the priestly dignity and the doctoral laurel in the university of the academy of the said city, in which he also lectured publicly in sacred theology and discharged with the highest praise the office of Dean of that celebrated high school, imbued with most holy morals and wonderfully adorned with christian virtues as long as he lived, died with the greatest repute of holiness in the year 1473, so that from then onward he was honoured with public and ecclesiastical cult as Blessed. In the year 1629, after previous discussion of the process constructed by ordinary authority in the aforesaid city of Kraków on the repute of holiness, virtues and miracles of the said Blessed, Urban VIII of holy memory, by a special commission signed with his own hand, committed his cause to be inquired into and discussed to the sacred congregation of Rites, commanding that in the same, without any other making of processes in general, they should come to the inquiry in particular. In consequence of this commission, in the same year remissorial letters for the special inquiry were decreed and dispatched by the sacred congregation of Rites; but on account of various impediments which supervened, such letters could not be wholly put into execution, and the cause was silent until the year 1666.

[31] "Meanwhile, however, the general decrees published by Urban VIII of holy memory under the date of the 23rd of March of the aforesaid year having supervened, It is decided on the excepted case. application was made for the signing of the commission of resumption, and Alexander VII of holy memory, with the previous counsel of the sacred Congregation, signed the same commission in the state and terms in which the cause was found. Afterwards, under the date of the 26th of June of the year stated above, remissorial letters were decreed and dispatched for constructing a particular process on the cult shown from time immemorial to the said Blessed, or on the case excepted from the aforesaid decrees; which process having been completed, brought to the City, and, the things to be observed having been observed, opened, on the report of the most eminent Cardinal Vidoni, substituted in the place of the most eminent Celsi, who had already been subrogated in the place of the most eminent Bandinelli, formerly relator of the cause, the doubt on the immemorial cult, or on the case excepted from the said decrees, was proposed and discussed, which was favourably resolved under the date of the 21st of March 1676, the supreme Pontiff confirming the like resolution of the sacred congregation on the 28th of the same month and year.

[32] The office and mass in honour of Blessed John Cantius are granted. "Hence, other remissorial and compulsorial letters having been dispatched for constructing the apostolic process on the virtues and on the miracles in particular, worked by God through the intercession of the aforesaid Blessed, and these having been transmitted to those parts, while the delegated judges were still engaged in its compilation, petitions were presented in the name of the most serene king of Poland in the sacred congregation of Rites for the grant of an Office and Mass in honour of the aforesaid Blessed; the sacred congregation itself, however, enjoined on the R. P. D. Bottini of good memory, then promoter of the faith, that he should examine whether from the apostolic process made on the cult such things resulted concerning the virtues and miracles of the same Blessed that there could be room for the indult requested. And the report having been made by the said promoter of the faith in the congregation of S. Rites of the contents of the said process, as well as regards the virtues as regards the miracles, Pope Innocent XI of holy memory, under the date of the 17th of September of the year 1680, by his letters dispatched in the form of a Brief, kindly bestowed the indult that every year, on the anniversary day of the death of the same Blessed, the office and mass of the Common of a Confessor not a Pontiff under the double rite might be recited and respectively celebrated, as well in the city of Kraków as in the whole kingdom of Poland; and a little after, namely on the 9th of August of the year 1681, the sacred congregation granted that the feast of the Blessed himself might every year for just causes be transferred to the 19th of October,

[33] The process on the virtues. "The most eminent Cardinal Vidoni having afterwards departed this life, and the most eminent Cardinal Azzolini having been substituted in his place under the date of the 20th of September of the aforesaid year, on his report the sacred congregation, attending to the dispensation from the process in general contained in the body of the twofold commission signed in the present cause by two supreme pontiffs, namely Urban VIII and Alexander VII, on the 22nd of November of the year mentioned above, issued new remissorial and compulsorial letters for completing the process on the virtues and on the miracles in particular, in so far as it had already been begun, or for compiling it entirely, in so far as it had never been begun. Thereupon, however, under the date of the 20th of July 1686, since on account of the imminent ruin which threatened the collegiate church of St. Anne at Kraków, in which the body of the Blessed had always been preserved from the time of his happy falling asleep in the Lord, it had to be restored, the sacred congregation, with the supreme Pontiff also assenting under the date of the 7th of August of the same year, granted that the said body might meanwhile be transferred to the oratory, or chapel, of the university of the academy of Kraków, or to another decent place, at the discretion of the Ordinary of the aforesaid city. Under the same aforesaid date also the sacred congregation subrogated other bishops in place of those first delegated, who had already died or were about to be absent from Kraków in the near future, as judges for making the process on the virtues and on the miracles in particular, the term of one year otherwise granted for completing the said process being also prolonged to another year, the supreme Pontiff confirming both decrees of the sacred congregation, the first on the 7th of August 1686, the second on the 29th of March 1688. A similar prolongation of the term too the sacred congregation renewed several times afterwards with the assent and approval of the supreme Pontiff, on the 12th of March 1689, the 11th of February 1690, the 11th of August 1691, and the 13th of September 1692. The aforesaid process having now been completed, and brought to the City, on the 15th of May 1694 the sacred congregation, with the supreme Pontiff assenting on the 19th of the same month, ordered its opening, and under the date of the 30th of March 1697 granted that the doubt on the validity of the said process might be proposed and discussed in the ordinary congregation without the intervention of the consultors, and this same resolution of the sacred congregation the supreme Pontiff approved and confirmed on the 3rd of the following month of April. Successively, the doubt on the validity of the aforesaid process having been proposed by Cardinal Colloredo of illustrious memory, subrogated as relator of the cause on account of the death that had already ensued of the most eminent Cardinal Azzolini, in the ordinary congregation under the date of the 5th of October 1696, an affirmative rescript came forth, which was confirmed by the supreme Pontiff on the 19th of the same month and year. Then the sacred congregation on the 5th of June 1698, with the kind assent of the supreme Pontiff intervening, decreed and issued compulsorial letters to the effect of extracting from the archive of the episcopal curia of Kraków the process constructed by ordinary authority in the cause, and of making a new copy of it, to be transmitted to the City, attending to the loss of the first transcript previously transmitted. Again on the 7th of February 1699 the sacred congregation granted that the body of the Blessed might be extracted from the old sepulchre and casket in which it was preserved, and translated and placed in the new marble monument lately built, and the supreme Pontiff approved the grant of the like indult under the date of the 14th of the same month. But on the 23rd of January 1700 the sacred congregation, with the supreme Pontiff assenting under the date of the 17th of the following month of February, committed to the most eminent Colloredo, the ponens, the revision of the Works attributed to the Blessed, with the usual faculties. The new transcript of the ordinary process otherwise constructed in the cause having afterwards been brought to the City, its opening was ordered on the 5th of December 1716, and under the date of the 12th of June of the following year 1717 the sacred congregation kindly dispensed and granted that the doubt on the validity of this process might be proposed and discussed in the ordinary congregation without the intervention of the consultors, and the supreme Pontiff on the 12th of January and of July respectively of the same year approved both rescripts of the congregation.

[34] Incidentally, something about the writings of St. John Cantius. "The most eminent Colloredo having now died, and the most eminent Cardinal Pico having been subrogated in his place by the supreme Pontiff on the 18th of June 1727, the latter, sparing no more exquisite diligence for bringing out the truth concerning the Works which were attributed to the Blessed, caused to be brought to the City both the original volumes of the said Works and the Album of the university of Kraków, in which the certain handwriting of the Blessed was contained. The aforesaid volumes having therefore been brought to Rome and gone through, and also, having heard upon them of several experts in writings" (here a word seems to be wanting, say "opinions") "together with the vote of the most reverend archbishop of Ancyra" (namely Giusto Fontanini), "most expert in ancient handwritings, on the report of the said most eminent Cardinal Pico, on the 17th of September 1730 a decree came forth: that it was not established that the Works compulsed in the apostolic process and attributed to the Blessed were the Blessed's own, and therefore that one could proceed further; and

the supreme Pontiff kindly confirmed such decree of the sacred congregation on the 20th of the same month and year.

[35] The process on the virtues is concluded. "On the 14th of August 1732 Pope Clement XII of holy memory kindly granted that the doubt on the virtues in the heroic degree might be discussed in the ordinary congregation without the intervention of the consultors. On the 21st of March 1733 remissorial letters were decreed and issued by the sacred congregation of Rites for constructing the apostolic process on the miracles recently worked at the intercession of the Blessed. The doubt on the heroic virtues of the often-mentioned Blessed having thereupon been proposed and discussed under the date of the 4th of July of the aforesaid year in the ordinary sacred congregation, the answer was: that it was so established concerning the virtues that one could proceed to the discussion of the miracles: which rescript the supreme Pontiff approved on the 7th of the same month.

[36] The process on the miracles. "Again on the 17th of July 1734 the sacred congregation granted to the official general of Kraków the faculty of naming other Dignitaries or canons of the Cathedral church as judges in the place of the dignitaries and canons absent and already named by the bishop of Kraków for completing the aforementioned process on the miracles recently worked; which also the supreme Pontiff approved on the 20th of the aforesaid month. On the 6th of August of the year 1734 the sacred congregation prolonged the term otherwise granted for completing the stated process, and bestowed on the delegated judges the faculty of receiving the examination of witnesses as well on miracles not contained in the remissorial letters, as on those following after their dispatch, and perhaps to follow in future; and the supreme Pontiff on the 10th of the said month kindly confirmed both grants. On the 16th of February 1737 the sacred congregation confirmed the election of the Blessed as principal co-patron of the whole kingdom of Poland and of the grand duchy of Lithuania, and attributed to him all the prerogatives pertaining to principal holy Protectors, and raised his office to the double rite of the first class with an octave; which decree also the supreme Pontiff approved on the 20th of the aforesaid month and year. Under the date of the 12th of September 1738 the aforesaid Clement XII of holy memory granted that the apostolic process on the new miracles, already completed and brought to the City, might be opened, with only the recognition of the seal of the official general of Kraków being made, without any other recognition of the seals of the other co-judges. On the 31st of March 1739 the sacred congregation approved the Prayer and proper Lessons for the second Nocturn of the office of the Blessed, to which approval too the supreme Pontiff assented on the 11th of September of the same year. Then, however, the doubt on the validity of the process mentioned above, constructed on the miracles in particular recently worked, having been proposed in the sacred congregation of Rites, on the 5th of September 1739 it was rescribed: that His Holiness was to be consulted for a sanation on account of the subscription of the judges not having been made according to the decrees: but the cause having been proposed again on the 28th of November of the same year on this doubt, namely: whether one should depart from the decisions as regards the sanation: the sacred congregation itself, after previous departure from the decisions, answered: that the validity of the stated process was established in all respects: and such answer of the sacred congregation the supreme Pontiff approved and confirmed on the 4th of December of the aforesaid year 1739. On the 19th of June 1742 an antepreparatory congregation was held in the house of Cardinal Cybo of illustrious memory, the most eminent Pico, the ponens, being absent from the City, on the doubt: Whether and of what miracles it is established after the veneration granted to the Blessed, in the case and to the effect in question. On the 9th of September of the aforesaid year 1742 Your Holiness granted that in honour of the above-mentioned Blessed, on every Thursday through the year, even if a feast of the greater double rite should fall on it, a Votive Mass might be celebrated after the customary conventual one in the church of St. Anne at Kraków, where his body rests. I, at length, having been subrogated as relator of the cause by the same Your Holiness, first on account of the grave infirmity of the most eminent Cardinal Pico, and again after his death which recently ensued, on the 7th of August 1743, subscribed the doubt written below as Concorded with the promoter of the faith, and proposed it in the preparatory congregation held on the 20th of August of the year just elapsed, and now before Your Holiness I propose again the doubt: Whether and of what miracles it is established after the veneration granted to the Blessed, in the case and to the effect in question. It was signed: A. card. of St. Clement, Ponens."

[37] [The other Factum Concordatum, where it treats of the miracles worked after the veneration granted to Blessed Cantius.] And this is the first Factum Concordatum, from which it is abundantly established in how many and how great difficulties this cause was entangled. But a new obstacle arose shortly after, whose nature and solution the other Factum Concordatum will declare, which is of the following tenor: "Most Blessed Father. Since, after the Factum Concordatum distributed for the general congregation held on the 3rd of August 1745 before Benedict XIV of holy memory, predecessor of Your Holiness, for the discussion of the miracles worked by God the Best and Greatest after the veneration granted to blessed John Cantius, new miracles had supervened, the postulators of the cause petitioned the sacred congregation of Rites for the grant of remissorial letters to the effect of constructing a process by apostolic authority on the same new miracles; which having been granted on the 11th of December 1751 and successively dispatched, on account of the absence of the prelate of Kraków from his residence it was necessary to put off their opening beyond two years; meanwhile, however, the Most High deigned to work another miracle at the intercession of the said Blessed. Wherefore the postulators on the 16th of December presented humble prayers to the praised Benedict XIV of holy memory for the grant of other remissorial letters, in which there should be added the faculty for the judges first delegated of receiving proofs also on the said new miracle. These letters having been kindly granted and dispatched, since, the most Reverend bishop being absent from the city of Kraków, the presentation and opening of neither letters could be made, the postulators petitioned the S. R. C. for the faculty that the act of presentation and opening of both the above-mentioned letters might be performed before the Suffragan, or the Vicar general of the bishop of Kraków, and that by the latter also might be made the nomination of the Dignitaries or Canons of the Cathedral church who were to intervene and assist as co-judges in the fabrication of the said process. And because the same sacred congregation kindly imparted such faculty, on the 14th of April 1753 the presentation and opening of the above-mentioned letters was performed before the Vicar general of the bishop of Kraków, but by no means before the suffragan of the same bishop; wherefore, to provide for the speedier completion of the process, on the 22nd of December of the aforesaid year a new delegation of the same suffragan as judge of the same process was sought and obtained. The Vicar general of the bishop of Kraków afterwards exchanging life for death, the process not yet being completed, on the 29th of November 1755 petition was made to the S. congregation both for the delegation of the new Vicar general as judge of the process, and for the prolongation of the term next about to expire, though otherwise prolonged, for completing it; and both favours the said sacred congregation bestowed, which also granted a new prolongation of the term on the 26th of August 1758, since the process could not yet be brought to its due completion. The process having now been completed, and brought to the City, and presented according to custom in the acts of the S. R. congregation, on the 9th of January 1760 there was obtained from Your Holiness both the faculty of opening it, and also my subrogation as ponens, or relator, of the cause in place of Cardinal Annibale Albani of illustrious memory, who had already paid the debt of nature. The doubt on the validity of the above-mentioned process having then been proposed by me, after previous pontifical dispensation, as they call it, in the ordinary sacred congregation of Rites, held on the 9th of February 1767, without the intervention and vote of the consultors, an affirmative decree came forth, confirmed by Your Holiness on the 27th of the same month of February. The postulator then petitioning Your Holiness for the approval of two of the old miracles discussed in the general congregation before Benedict XIV of holy memory, to whose approval, although the consultors and cardinals had voted in sufficient number, nevertheless the decree of approval had never come forth, Your Holiness on the same 27th of February 1762 ordered the two old miracles to be proposed again and discussed with new animadversions of the promoter of the faith in another general congregation to be held before yourself on the four miracles newly produced; but afterwards, at a new petition of the postulator, the same Your Holiness ordered the examination of the said two old miracles to be made in a particular congregation to be assembled before yourself, as has already been done. Lastly, on the 10th of July 1764 there was held in my house the antepreparatory congregation on the examination of four of the new miracles which supervened after the veneration granted to Blessed John Cantius; which miracles indeed were discussed again in the preparatory congregation assembled in the apostolic palace of the Quirinal on the 20th of August 1765. Now, therefore, before Your Holiness I propose the doubt written below, first concorded with the Rev. Fr. promoter of the faith and subscribed by me. Doubt: Whether and of what miracles it is established after the veneration granted to Blessed John Cantius, in the case and to the effect in question. It was signed: J. Francis card. bishop of Sabina, Ponens."

[38] [A new difficulty supervened from the decrees of Benedict XIV in regard to the miracles;] It is established, therefore, both from the two Facta Concordata recited and from the synoptic narration of the distinguished Joseph Andrew Mariotti, likewise reported above, that the cause of blessed John Cantius stuck fast for many years, miracles proved in suitable number being lacking. For of the four first submitted to examination, only two had been accepted by common vote under Benedict XIV. But since this Pontiff, by a general decree issued on the 23rd of April 1741 (which he himself too reports De Servorum Dei beatif., book III, chap. III, n. 25.), had decided that in causes proceeding by way of immemorial cult, or of the excepted case, no step should thereafter be made to canonization unless, not now two miracles, as had hitherto prevailed and is still observed in causes proceeding by way of non-cult, but four in all had been proved; hence it came about that while Benedict XIV was living nothing further was undertaken in regard to canonizing blessed John Cantius. The cause was taken up again, however, under the next successor of this Pontiff, Clement XIII. But only three new miracles were being proposed, which, although each was proved, were nevertheless not of sufficient number. Wherefore it was requested that to these three more recently discussed the two older ones, long since admitted, should be joined. Clement XIII assented, as will be clear from the following decree.

[39] It is resolved by Clement XIII, whose Brief is recited. "Although the Holy apostolic See rightly and deservedly trusts that the help of the divine Spirit will never fail to be present to it, it does not on that account, especially in those things which are of graver moment, pass over anything of those things which are required by the customary laws of prudence for deliberating well and wisely. And so indeed it thought fit to act in the cause of Blessed John Cantius, secular presbyter, and doctor and professor of S. Theology in the university of the academy of Kraków. For the two miracles having been recalled again to the balance, which, at his own intercession

were reported to have been divinely worked, first indeed in the general congregation held on the 3rd of August 1745 before Benedict XIV of holy memory, then in a particular one of five most reverend cardinals and four consultors before Clement XIII, happily reigning, on the 22nd of April of last year" (namely 1766); "although in this the votes of all the voters had gone into the affirmative opinion, it nevertheless seemed good to the most holy Pontiff to decide nothing yet, until he should hear what each of the most reverend cardinals and consultors would think concerning other miracles to be examined in the general congregation before himself. When, therefore, on the second day of the month just elapsed the general congregation had been assembled on the new miracles, and by almost all the votes they had seemed altogether worthy to be approved; His Holiness nevertheless judged that so grave a business was still to be put off, until, namely, he should entreat the Father of lights by his own and others' prayers. These things having been abundantly performed, having summoned before him, on the day written below, the most reverend cardinals John Francis Albani, bishop of Sabina, ponens of the cause, and Joseph Maria Feroni, prefect of this sacred congregation of Rites, and also the Rev. Fr. Charles Alexis Pisani, promoter of the faith, and me, the undersigned secretary, he approved the two miracles proposed again and discussed in the aforesaid particular congregation, in the third class, namely, of the instantaneous healing of the boy Sebastian Luzark from hereditary and confirmed consumption; and of the sudden healing of the girl Hedwig Paskovuna from an acute fever, with an entire and complete restoration of all her strength; and he likewise approved the other three miracles examined in the general congregation; the first in the second, and the second and third in the third class, and they are: I. The return of goods, which had fallen into the river Sola and been carried far off by the force of the flowing waters, against the stream, to the place of their sinking. II. Of the instantaneous healing of Marianna Gavulicka from a grave pernicious fever, brought to the agony of death, with a sudden and perfect regeneration of her strength; and III. lastly, of the instantaneous and entire healing of a great and deep ulcer, which from the throat almost up to the jaws had eaten away almost everything except the tendons and the larger vessels, foul and teeming with most fetid putrefaction, with a falling of food through its opening, in the person of Anthony Olexovvic. And it seems to have been done by divine counsel that this decree on the approval of the aforesaid miracles of blessed John Cantius should come forth on that day above all on which the joyful memory of the admirable name of Jesus is celebrated; since we are taught by the divine letters that all the wonders that are reported of all the servants of God have been worked in his name itself. Surely, if anywhere else, the name of Mary has a singular veneration among the Poles; and that the same thing will be done much more with regard to the most holy name of Jesus among them their excellent religion guarantees: not only on account of the ineffable dignity of so great a name, but also because on the day sacred to this most august name the miracles of the mentioned Blessed have been approved. So surely both the fervent and repeated wishes of that most noble nation will be satisfied, and it will add a new incitement and spur to its ancestral piety. This Decree, moreover, His Holiness has ordered to be entered in the acts of the sacred congregation of Rites and published. This first day of January 1767. It was subscribed by Card. Feroni, prefect; and Macedonio, secretary of the S. Rit. cong."

[40] The decree of canonization; Then on the sixth day before the Kalends of February of the same year 1767 the supreme Pontiff again held a general assembly before himself, in which this was the one sense of all, that one could safely proceed to the solemn canonization. At length on the fourth day before the Nones of February, namely on the feast of the Purified Virgin, by command of the Pontiff the decree came forth for the canonization of Blessed John Cantius to be performed whenever it might be, which also we set down here by way of a crowning finish: "The renown of the life of blessed John Cantius, holily passed, joined with extraordinary virtues in the heroic degree, wherefore it was an object of admiration above all to the Polish nation, God the Best and Greatest, in order that the light of the church might shine forth more brightly, and that not only his fellow Polish citizens but also all the faithful might imitate the steps of his Servant, having willed to confirm more strongly by the grant of five miracles worked at the intercession of the said Blessed, which after mature discussions Our Most Holy Lord Pope Clement XIII on the first day of January of the current year confirmed with the apostolic strength of his authority, the doubt was then proposed in the general congregation, assembled on the 27th of the month elapsed before His Holiness: 'Whether, the approval of the aforesaid miracles standing, one could safely proceed to the solemn canonization of the said Blessed': to which the fathers, their votes having been compared, answering affirmatively with unanimous sense; Our Most Holy Lord nevertheless judged that this work of divine rather than human judgment should not be completed before he had consulted the mouth of the Lord. Hence, the day of the Purification of the Virgin Mary now recurring in the universal church, on which the most sacred Mother, loftier than the temple, went up into the temple, clothed with the twofold glory of unstained virginity and ineffable fruitfulness, it came about, the Deity himself inspiring, that His Holiness, the sacred rite being completed, having summoned before him the most reverend cardinals John Francis Albani, bishop of Sabina, relator of the cause, and Feroni, prefect of the sacred congregation of Rites, and also the Rev. Fr. Charles Alexis Pisani, promoter of the faith, and me, the undersigned Secretary, issued the present decree of the canonization of blessed John Cantius to be made whenever it might be, and ordered it to be entered in the acts of the sacred congregation of Rites. This day the 2nd of February 1767."

[41] The decree of safe progress to canonization having been issued, before one comes to its solemn celebration, The solemnity appointed for the 16th day of July. a threefold consistory is held De Servorum Dei beatific., book I, chap. XXXIV.. In the first, which is called Secret because only cardinals attend it, the Pontiff addresses those present, and then a very brief report of the whole cause is made by the cardinal prefect: lastly the Pontiff asks whether it pleases that one proceed to the canonization; the cardinals answer, rising in turn: placet or non placet Ibid., n. 4; likewise Azevedo, p. 26.. In the cause of Blessed Cantius this first consistory took place on Monday, the 28th day of May of the year 1767, and the report was made by Cardinal Feroni Acta of the six Canonized, p. 168 and 169.. The Secret consistory is followed by the Public, to which entry is open to all, and the consistorial advocate sets out in a long oration the life and miracles of the one to be canonized, and the petitions of those who supplicate for the canonization; after which the secretary of Briefs to princes, in the name of the Pontiff, exhorts all to implore the divine help by pious works and prayers Ben. XIV and Azevedo, locc. citt.. The Oration on Blessed Cantius was delivered by the R. P. D. Alexander Litta in the consistory on the 7th day of May of the aforesaid year Acta of the six Canonized, p. 179 and following.. The third consistory is called Semipublic, because the bishops too have in it the faculty of casting a vote. There are convoked, therefore, the cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops and bishops staying in the City, and they are admonished to give their opinion on the canonization, which each one, subscribed, shall hand to the secretary of the congregation of Rites, to whom also those absent from legitimate impediment send their vote. The votes having been read, the Pontiff fixes the day for performing the canonization Ben. XIV and Azevedo, ubi supra.. In the cause of Blessed Cantius, on Monday, the 1st day of June 1767, in the hall of the Quirinal palace, the cardinals and bishops, fifty-four in number, gave their opinion, besides ten others who, legitimately hindered, sent their vote in writing [Acta of the six Canonized, p. 203 and 204; likewise, p. 206 – 222; and again, p. 238 – 242]. Meanwhile, to the earlier prayers of the kings and of the other christian princes, presented to the Holy See from the beginning of the cause, there were added the supplications both of the most serene king of Poland Stanislaus Augustus and of the bishops of the same kingdom. To the same end the whole city, and in particular the university of Kraków, strove with all their efforts. Hence the sixteenth day of July, on which the solemn commemoration of the most blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel takes place, was appointed for performing the canonization De rebus gestis S. Johannis Cantii, p. 70 and 71..

[42] The cavils, or rather injuries, of Hugo Kołłątaj. These things being so, it is clear enough how far from the truth Hugo Kołłątaj departs and how much he hallucinates, cited by Wiszniewski in the Literary History of Poland. The aforesaid Kołłątaj was a secular priest, and lived towards the end of the century just elapsed and at the beginning of the present one, a member and at the same time a reformer of the university of Kraków. A writer known in Poland, he composed many things on political matters, not a little attached to new doctrine in this as in other matters; but especially hostile to Molina and to his supporters and associates. These things being premised, let us see what the mentioned writer says. "The doctors of the university of Kraków desired to have a doctor of the church of their own. They decided, therefore, to raise John Cantius to that honour." And below: "It remained that (blessed Cantius) should be decorated with the title of Saint and Doctor of the church. But by a case unhappy for them, Lambertini was raised to the supreme Pontificate, famous under the name of Benedict XIV. He, as one who had previously for many years been head of the sacred congregation of Rites, had well in view the innumerable objections born of the canonization of Saints. He was not unaware with what gibes too frequent canonizations were assailed not only by the followers of Luther and Calvin, but also among catholics by every more prudent and wiser man. Wherefore in his famous work on the beatification of the Servants of God he threw in so many difficulties, and himself adhered to them so faithfully, that as long as he lived no canonization was celebrated; whence the cause of blessed John Cantius too had to be put off to another time" [Historia litteraria Poloniæ, by Michael Wiszniewski, vol. V, p. 7, Kraków edition 1843].

[43] They are refuted. In these, as many words as there are, almost so many errors, shall I say, or hallucinations, are numbered. And first indeed, besides Hugo Kołłątaj, I have found no one else who has fastened such either a mind or a pretension on the academics of Kraków. A far different question was being moved in this cause. Certain writings, namely, were carried about, attributed here and there to the blessed Man. In these some things were found contrary to sound doctrine. Unless, therefore, it had been established that those writings were composed by another, not only would Cantius never have been numbered among the Saints, but he would without doubt have been struck out from the roll of the Blessed. To this, accordingly, the labour of the academics of Kraków tended, that those writings should be adjudged not to be their Cantius', as also in fact, as I shall set out below, they were so adjudged. Next, Benedict XIV was not the man to abstain from promoting the cult of the Saints, whether on account of the objections of certain persons, or on account of the malevolent and insipid gibes of the sectaries or the too human prudence of some catholics. But what follows about the difficulties thrown in by the learned pontiff in the celebrated work on the beatification of the Servants of God is simply absurd: for to everyone even very slightly versed in this matter it is most well known that there are contained there not the commands of the supreme Pastor, but the judgments and doctrine of a private doctor. And the utter levity or ignorance of Hugo Kołłątaj is betrayed where he so confidently asserts that no canonization was celebrated under Benedict XIV, since from the very work to which he appeals the contrary clearly

follows, whence too it is clearly established that this writer either did not see the praised work at all, or at least never seriously went through it. In the third Appendix to book I [De servorum Dei beatif., vol. I, p. 208 and following, Venice edition of the Works, 1788.] there is recited the bull of the canonization of blessed Elizabeth, queen of the Portuguese, celebrated by Ben. XIV; and in the same place, in the fifth Appendix Ibid., p. 227 and following., there are found two Briefs of beatifications performed by the same Pontiff: the one of the servant of God Alexander Sauli; the other of Camillus de Lellis. Moreover, in the Roman Martyrology According to the Mechelen edition, 1846. there is read at the 13th day of January: "At Prato in Tuscany, of St. Catherine de' Ricci, a Florentine virgin of the order of Preachers, distinguished by an abundance of heavenly gifts, whom Benedict the fourteenth, Supreme Pontiff, enrolled in the calendars of the holy Virgins. She died full of virtues and merits on the fourth day before the Nones of February, but her feast is celebrated today." And again at the 14th day of July: "At Rome, of St. Camillus de Lellis, confessor, founder of the clerics regular who minister to the sick, whom, renowned for virtues and miracles, Benedict the fourteenth, Supreme Pontiff, reckoned in the number of the saints." By way of a crowning finish we add what Azevedo has at the beginning of book V [Benedicti papæ XIV doctrina de Servorum Dei beatificatione et Beatorum canonizatione in synopsim redacta, p. 327, Brussels edition 1840.]: "Since it belongs exclusively to the supreme Roman Pontificate to refer the servants of God among the Blessed, and the blessed among the Saints, Benedict XIV, who demonstrated this very thing abundantly in his work on the beatif. of the servants of God, etc., having beatified Alexander Sauli and Camillus de Lellis, and having approved the immemorial cult of Nicholas Albergati and Benedict of Philadelphia, canonized Blessed Fidelis of Sigmaringen, the same Camillus de Lellis, Peter Regalatus, Joseph of Leonessa and Catherine de' Ricci." To have disputed more on this subject would certainly be superfluous.

[44] A little below (loc. cit.) Hugo Kołłątaj sets out how under Clement XIII, "who," he says, "had it in his wishes before all things to proclaim Saints in as great a number as he could, Another hallucination of the same writer the cause of Blessed John Cantius was taken up again, and at last this alone remained, that Cantius should be declared a doctor of the church; wherefore his writings were sent to the City." He adds then that in the age of Cantius the church was afflicted by the great schism of the west; that the university of Kraków held the side of John XXIII; and saw no other remedy for the evil than the convocation of a general council, as was also done at Constance; but that, in order that the schism might be removed by the roots, it was altogether necessary that it should be acknowledged by all that the council is pre-eminent over the pontifical authority; that John, at that time lecturing on theology at Kraków, sharply defended this opinion both in public lectures and in certain little written books; nay, that the doctrine of Cantius was admitted in the council of Constance, since there those who then held the Pontificate were deposed, and a new pope created, namely Martin the fifth: who, however, as Kołłątaj asserts, after his election revoked all decrees contrary to the pontifical authority.

[45] is demonstrated. And these things indeed, if taken in their obvious sense, seem to indicate that John Cantius, previously to the holding of the council of Constance, defended the doctrine which prevailed there in the earlier sessions. And if this was the mind of Hugo Kołłątaj, it appears again how excellently that man was versed in historical and chronological matters. For it is known that the council of Constance was begun on the 5th of November in the year 1414, and the first session held on the 16th of the aforesaid month; the second on the second of March of the year 1415; the third on the 26th, the fourth on the 30th of the same month, and that in this last the celebrated decree which Kołłątaj mentions was drawn up; next, that in the forty-first session, held on the 11th of November 1417, Martin V was elected; and lastly, that in the forty-fifth session, on the 22nd of April 1418, the assembly was dissolved Art de vérifier les dates, p. 232.. Now it is admitted by all that Cantius as a youth (he was indeed a young man, but at what precise age is not altogether established, as we have said elsewhere) "was inscribed on the roll of the students of Kraków in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and thirteen, Stanislaus of Skarbimierz, doctor of canon law, holding at that time the office of rector" (the words are Opatowski's Life, chap. XII.); "and having heard certain first sciences designated for that purpose, and having shown in them a singular specimen of progress, he was created Bachelor in the sciences and philosophy in the year of the Lord 1415, as an old matriculation codex attests… Then he was created doctor of philosophy in 1417." How then could Cantius have prepared the way for the fathers of Constance, when, having scarcely attained the twentieth year of his age, he was first imbued with the sciences and the philosophical disciplines when an end was being put to the council? For this is repugnant to sound reason beyond all measure. There will perhaps be someone who suspects that Hugo had in view the council of Basel, and from a certain wandering of the mind wrote that of Constance in its place. But the whole context of his words sufficiently indicates that this does not hold. For the rest, on the testimony of Spondanus Annales ecclesiastici, at the year 1440, n. XIII., the fathers of Basel sent from the general congregation on the sixth day before the Ides of November (that is, the 8th, in the year 1440) a letter to all the faithful of Christ, by which they tried to persuade them that it was all over with the christian commonwealth and with the discipline of the catholic faith if the authority of councils were depressed; whose superiority they support with many arguments, they thrust forward the deposition of Eugene and the subrogation of Felix; they exhort, ask, command that their decrees be received and obedience shown to Felix. And Spondanus adds from the acts of Patricius: "About the same time the school of Paris and very many universities of Germany, namely those of Vienna, Erfurt, Cologne, and also that of Kraków in Poland, declared by their writings that the supreme power was with the council of Basel, which even the Pope was bound to obey." And Raynaldus reports at the year 1444 Continuat. Baronii, n. XIV. that Eugene, "when he had heard that there were not lacking some suborned by their (the Basel fathers') tricks, and especially in Poland and the neighbouring regions, who favoured their side" (for "the university of Kraków held with the Basel innovators … the Polish history narrates"), "exhorted them by apostolic letters given on the tenth day before the Kalends of March (in the year 1443) to return into the bosom of the catholic church; and unless within the space of one month they laid aside their obstinacy, set before them grave penalties." See the tenor of the letters in the same place. Ineptly, therefore, did Hugo Kołłątaj transfer to that of Constance what pertained to that of Basel. Other things put forward no less rashly by the same writer we shall mention below, after, namely, we have set out what was at length decided in the sacred congregation of Rites concerning certain writings attributed to John Cantius. For it is necessary that this question be elucidated by us as far as can be done, which also we shall perform in the following paragraph. Here we shall briefly render the other things pertaining either to the cult or to the relics of the blessed Man.

[46] The solemnity of the canonization at Rome and at Kraków. The solemn canonization of Blessed John Cantius was celebrated by Clement XIII, as we have already indicated above, in the Vatican basilica on the 16th day of July, the feast of the blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, in the year MDCCLXVII, together with Blessed Joseph Calasanz, Joseph of Cupertino, Jerome Emiliani, Seraphinus of Ascoli and Jane Frances Frémyot de Chantal Acta of the six Canonized, p. 2. This canonization was all the more pleasing to the whole Polish nation because the inhabitants of that kingdom generally held it, and still hold it, as a sign of the manifest benevolence with which the supreme Pontiff regarded them in those wretched times, when the ruin of the Polish dominion had already been decreed. For it is known that from the year 1758 there was serious thought of dividing the kingdom of Poland among the Austrians, the Prussians and the Russians; which design indeed was in great part put into execution in the year 1772 See Malte-Brun, Tableau de la Pologne, p. 469 – 472, Paris edition 1807., namely five years after the solemn enrolment of blessed John Cantius among the Saints; and was carried further in the year 1793, and lastly consummated in the year 1795 Ibid., p. 478 and 484.. This further is certain, that the Roman pontiffs could not look without intimate grief of heart, nay even anxiety, on the ruin of that ancient and most illustrious kingdom, which for so long a time had been the citadel and bulwark of the catholics against the irrupting barbarism of the Turks and Tartars; besides that by the partition most of the Polish provinces were coming into the hands of heterodox princes. It was natural, therefore, for the Poles, tossed by so great a storm at that time, to draw from this benevolence shown by the holy See at least some hope that the catholic kings throughout Europe would oppose their ruin more strongly than before. Clement XIII at the end of the bull of canonization speaks thus: "There is moreover cause for us to congratulate the renowned Polish nation, which, since it is devoted to piety above all others, cannot surely fail to exult with the highest joy that in so great a disturbance of affairs, and in so great a danger to religion, this new protection has been added to it, whereby the excellent and generous disposition of its people, more and more terrified by no dangers, may both closely retain the Roman faith against its neighbours, heretics as well as schismatics, and bravely defend it, as it has always done with great praise, even to the shedding of blood." Cardinal Corsini had said in his vote: "I judge that (Cantius) is to be enrolled in the roll of the Saints, that he may be heaped with honours for his merits, and may be to the most christian kingdom of Poland, in the most difficult affairs by which it is pressed, as it were an auspicious sign for good hope, when it sees offered to it in its most holy Citizen an opportune and most present protection with God" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 212.. Nevertheless those very disturbances and storms, nay perhaps also the machinations of the princes among whom the parts of the Polish kingdom were to be divided, delayed the solemnity of the canonization of Cantius to be celebrated in the city of Kraków, and put it off to the year 1775, when Poland had already been diminished by a third part of itself Malte-Brun, ubi supra, p. 472.. In the year just mentioned, however, that solemnity was held with the highest applause and concourse of all orders, as may be seen at the end of the life of St. John Cantius by Putanowicz, in the diary of the solemnity of the canonization celebrated through the octave at Kraków; where the whole apparatus employed in the churches, in the university and through the city is broadly described; the sermons delivered to the people, the panegyric orations spoken in the university, and the poems sung, both Polish and Latin, are recited. From all of which it is clearly made out that perhaps no ceremony of this kind was ever performed elsewhere outside the City with such unanimous applause and so great magnificence. It had been in our wishes to insert in our acts the whole series of the matter rendered into Latin from Putanowicz; but, besides that this would not be so consonant with the practices of our predecessors, we had to abstain from such a design because those who had promised us their help were prevented from having the things ready at the opportune time.

[47] On the relics of St. John Cantius, and their translations. It remains for us to speak of the relics of the blessed Man,

and of his present cult both at Kraków and in the town of Kęty. And as regards the Relics: "As soon," (so in the little work on the life and deeds of St. John Cantius published at Rome in 1767 Chap. XIX, p. 36.) "as it was reported to the people of Kraków that Cantius had died, there was grief on every side, weeping on every side and wailing… The professors of the greater college and the pupils of the schools vie with one another in putting their hands to the care of the body; they place it on the bier, a crowded column of citizens of every order and age leading it to the sacred church of St. Anne; and, the funeral rites having been performed, they lay it in a humble sepulchre, but one to be made illustrious by the greatest prodigies, under the preaching pulpit." And a little more distinctly in the manuscript life of which n. 7: "He was buried in the church of St. Anne, opposite the greater college of the university of Kraków, in the same year" (in which he died, namely 1471; see above, § II, n. 27), "on the same day of the same month, on the vigil of the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now let us hear Opatowski: "I find moreover that these sacred relics, buried immediately after his death under the preaching pulpit, were raised, entrusted to a tin coffin, and enclosed in the wall in the nearest side of the church. The very Inscription testifies, taken from the tin coffin by the lord commissaries (the most illustrious and Rev. Lord Martin Szyszkowski, bishop of Kraków, ordering inquiry whether his relics truly existed), that this happened in the year 1539" [Life of Blessed John Cantius, part III (with us part II of the Miracles), in the Prologue.]. The praised Opatowski renders this same thing more clearly in the same life, from the version of Father Boym Chap. XIV.: "The continuous multitude of miracles brought it about that his sacred remains, which had been buried under the preaching pulpit in the church of St. Anne, were raised, and, placed in a tin casket, were set further off by the wall of the church, in a place sunk in the ground, in a vault made for this purpose, upon ironwork, and were walled round, earth being again thrown over them. Above the same place a monument of cut stone was placed for the man of God. It represents the person of the man of God before an image of St. Anne, associated with the Mother of God and Christ Jesus, carved from similar stone, lying on his back. This translation of his sacred relics, moreover, fell in the year of the Lord one thousand five hundred and thirty-nine." Then, in the place cited a little before Life, part III (Miracles, part II), in the Prologue., the same writer continues: "Moreover I learn from old writings that in the year 1553 Kleparius, doctor and canon of Kraków, erected in the same church a monument to Blessed John Cantius, of cut stone, with excellent art and proportion, which lasts up to the present day" (1632). Elsewhere De vita et rebus gestis S. Joan. Cantii, Rome 1767, chap. XIX, p. 36. it is said that James of Kleparz enclosed in a tin chest the Body, raised from the old tomb in the sixty-sixth year from the day of its deposition, incorrupt and entire, and, a monument of elegant work having been built of mettertico stone, placed it in the more elevated part of the church. Lastly Opatowski adds Part III, ubi supra.: "For the space of almost seventy years his" (Blessed Cantius') "miracles were celebrated, and yet behind his monument there was seen an altar, adorned with an image of St. Anne. This afflicted people venerated and felt that it was present to them. The priests of that church were astonished why the devotion of the people did not rather turn to the high altar, where Blessed Anne was sculptured (which now hangs in the middle of the church). The old professors of the great college, however, gave as the reason that near this altar rested the sacred relics of the venerable John Cantius… Yet in what place they were situated they could neither say nor point out. In the year 1603, therefore, in which we were celebrating the jubilee for Poland in the basilica of St. Stanislaus, when certain stones of the tomb were moving out of their seat and were about to fall out, by consent of the chapter it seemed that the tomb was to be moved. And when it was being taken apart, the wall being disturbed, a certain brick too was moved by chance, and thence there appeared the tin coffin with incredible fragrance and great miracles." A little below Opatowski sets down a threefold report of this fragrance, which see in the Life itself Part III, towards the beginning.. There exists also on the same matter a splendid testimony of John Janusowski, by no means to be passed over here. "At the very time," he says, "of the jubilee, while, for renewing the sepulchre of blessed John Cantius in the church of St. Anne at Kraków, the foundations began to be moved, on the twenty-third of May, a Monday, the bones of the blessed Man were found with the tin urn, fastened with iron hooks. This church was filled with a most fragrant odour, which both I and very many others breathed in excellently with no small consolation." So the praised writer in the Compendium of the jubilee celebrated at Kraków in 1603, and published in the same year. To the sarcophagus this inscription was attached De vita, etc., p. 38:

THE DEPOSIT

OF JOHN CANTIUS

DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY

WHOM AS ENROLLED IN THE NUMBER OF THE BLESSED

BOTH HIS LIFE MOST HOLILY LED

AND THE MIRACLES WROUGHT AFTER HIS DEATH BEAR WITNESS.

YOU WILL HAVE HONOURED HIM ENOUGH IF YOU HAVE IMITATED HIM.

[48] The present state of the holy Body. And that the sacred remains so remained up to the year 1686 is concluded from the first Factum Concordatum recited above at n. 33, where these things are had: "Thereupon, however, under the date of the 20th of July 1686, since on account of the imminent ruin which threatened the collegiate church of St. Anne at Kraków, in which the body of the Blessed had always been preserved from the time of his happy falling asleep in the Lord, it had to be restored, the sacred congregation, with the supreme Pontiff also assenting under the date of the 7th of August of the same year, granted that the said body might meanwhile be transferred to the oratory or chapel of the university of the academy of Kraków, or to another decent place, at the discretion of the ordinary of the aforesaid city" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 6.. That this was indeed so done at that time both the petition and the apostolic grant altogether suggest; yet nowhere, either in manuscripts or in printed books which are at hand for me, do I find anything on this matter. Nor do I find either when and how the sacred remains were brought back to the church of St. Anne (if indeed they were ever taken away from it); unless perhaps this happened in the year 1699: for it is added a little below in the praised Factum Concordatum: "Again on the 7th of February 1699 the S. congregation granted that the body of the Blessed might be extracted from the old sepulchre and casket in which it was preserved, and translated and placed in the new marble monument lately built; and the supreme Pontiff approved the grant of the like indult on the 14th of the same" Ibid., p. 7.. As regards the present state, Joseph Brown, S.J., wrote back to me from Lwów on the 3rd of February of the current year 1852 in this manner: "In the church of St. Anne there is seen at its right side an altar dedicated to his (St. John Cantius') honour, where his body is placed, deposited in a marble tomb which four figures, representing men, made of white Carrara marble, sustain on their shoulders. Moreover in the treasury of the same church there is preserved the head of St. John in a magnificent pyx, adorned with precious stones, as is the head of St. Stanislaus, bishop and martyr, in the treasury of the cathedral church." And so the praised Fr. Jos. Brown, advising that he received these things from the Rev. Mr. Valerian Serwatowski, a priest distinguished at Kraków no less for learning than for zeal and virtues, whose Polish words, given on the 26th of December 1851, he translated into Latin altogether faithfully, anxious before all things to render word for word. And these things concerning the body of the blessed Man and its translations.

[49] The gown of St. John Cantius preserved up to this day. "This too," says Fr. Skarga Life of John Cantius, at the end., "is not to be passed over, that the university of Kraków preserves his purple gown (it is called the Reverenda) as venerable relics, and that the newly elected dean of the faculty of philosophy is clothed with it while he takes the oath before the professors of philosophy, which is customarily done twice in the year, namely on the Saturday before St. Gall and St. Adalbert. I judge that this is done not now on account of the ceremonies customary in this act and the external veneration of this Saint, but more for the sake of obtaining an interior and spiritual fruit, that by the sight of this gown and the memory of so distinguished and holy a Doctor, as by a domestic example, they might be roused to bear labours in educating youth, to exercise the virtues proper to learned men, to promote the greater glory and utility of the church of Christ; and, remembering that reward which this servant of God obtained from God, the rewarder of all good things, for his labours endured in the vineyard of the Lord, and hoping and expecting the like for themselves, they might be spurred more and more to fulfil their office duly. This gown has two wings of the same material sewn on … on the front part it is sewn in the manner of the habit of religious." So Fr. Peter Skarga, from the Latin version prepared by Fr. Matthias Czyhir, S.J., that it might be of use for directing our Acts of Cantius.

[50] His rooms and chapel in the building of the Library. Lastly, not incongruously are reckoned among the relics the following, diligently noted and described by the praised Valerian Serwatowski. "In the Library of the university are found Autographs of St. John. Moreover, immediately by the door of the principal entrance to the building of the Library, on the left side, there are two little rooms, in which St. John formerly lived, while he was professor in this university. No one now lives in them; their entrance, moreover, is closed not indeed by doors, but by an iron grating, through which one may look at the interior of these rooms. In the middle of the first room there rises a wooden statue of the blessed Servant of God, of natural size, showing the Saint kneeling and in the gown of the university. In the second room, by the wall where his bed formerly stood, there is a certain epitaph of his of black marble in the wall itself; and above it an image of the most blessed Virgin, and before it, on a gilded shield, the arms of the university of Kraków. On the side opposite the door, that is, on the right side of the entrance, there is, in a hollow of the wall, an altar of the Blessed Virgin of Częstochowa, likewise closed by an iron grating, at which, according to tradition, St. Cantius was accustomed to pray. All these monuments are preserved with diligent study and care." It helps to have added from a certain letter of the Rev. Fr. Victor Tych, Reformed, of the Order of St. Francis (of which more prolix mention will recur a little below), that the house which he (St. Cantius) inhabited while living is to be seen at Kraków in the street called after St. Anne. Of this, however, nothing occurs in the letters of Fr. Joseph Brown and of Valerian Serwatowski.

[51] [Certain particular monuments of the cult shown to St. John Cantius at Kraków are reviewed;] That St. John Cantius immediately after his death became renowned for the repute of holiness among the citizens of Kraków, and obtained a most frequent cult, is testified by the long and continuous series of miracles which you will find shown after his Life. The same thing clearly

follows from the two Facta Concordata which we recited at the beginning of this paragraph, as also from the history of the whole process in regard to his canonization. Wherefore it would be superfluous to bring forward other things here on this matter, besides certain particular facts passed over elsewhere or at least not sufficiently explicitly rendered. "The sepulchre received the body of John; glory too received it, with that splendour to which the gifts of gold and silver and the votive tablets bear witness. Of these, of the older ones, it is established that the first was attached in the second year from his death, another in the fourteenth; not to review others of the greatest number, hung at the sides of that altar, which was privileged for the dead even from the year MDLXXX by Gregory, the thirteenth supreme pontiff of that name, and preserved in the archive of the collegiate church of St. Anne." So, namely, the author of the often-praised writing on the Life and deeds of St. John Cantius, published with the Roman and Ingolstadt types Chap. XXI, p. 41. And there is added in the same place at the foot of the page: "Of silver work, besides a foot of extraordinary size and a gilded chalice, in the above-mentioned archive … very many votive tablets are seen. Among them, twelve hanging from their own chains of the same metal; and one or two offered by the citizens of Kęty are numbered as the more excellent. Each of these was attached on account of the plague of pestilence having been driven from their native homes. Of the former this is the inscription:

'Receive the votive tablet for the pestilence driven away, which the natives give to you, holy Patron.

The Clergy and people of Kęty to their John Cantius dedicated it, in the year of the Lord MDCXXVI.' And this that of the other: 'A tablet for eternal memory dedicated by the city of Kęty to the Lord God, one in Trinity, to the most holy Mother of God and to Blessed John Cantius, in sign of gratitude, because in the raging plague of pestilence, through a vow unanimously made to its Blessed Father and protector, it was wonderfully preserved and consoled. In the year MDCXXXIII.'" Lastly these things are subjoined Ibid., p. 42 and 43.: "But what shall I write of the images representing the Man of God? Very ancient they are, and very many, depicting either his holiness, or his learning, or his prodigies, or the devotion of the people. There exist also prayer-Hours to him, shaped as Litanies; there exists also an office, shaped in the Polish idiom and published in print; there exist also, on parchment, a hundred and fifty-two lines of verse composed, embracing his life and deeds… To these weightier arguments of the cult shown to John there are added two Standards, though of more recent memory, snatched from the hands of the Turks at Vienna in Austria, and fixed to his sepulchre by the most valiant king of Poland John III" (this John is Sobieski, the renowned king of Poland, who was elected in the year 1674, and died in the year 1696 L'Art de vérifier les dates, p. 502.), "in order to render to the titular Saint thanks for the victory obtained by prayer at it before he departed from the kingdom to engage with the enemy."

[52] the present state both at Kraków, Nor have the people of Kraków ceased today to venerate their excellent Patron devoutly, as is clear from the words of the aforesaid most distinguished man Valerian Serwatowski, in his letter of which above, and which Fr. Joseph Brown, S.J., sent to us rendered into Latin on the third of February of the present year 1852. "The devotion to St. John," (so, namely, he) "is solemnly performed every year through the whole octave in the church of St. Anne. On which occasion his Head is offered to the faithful to be kissed, and his rooms in the building of the Library, with the adjacent chapel, are always magnificently illuminated in the evening and visited by the faithful in very great crowds. Every day through the whole octave sermons are given at the time of vespers, and the people of Kraków then gather in throngs at the church of St. Anne. His sepulchre is wanting. For at the beginning his body was deposited in the church of St. Anne, now it rests in the altar. The conclusion of this devotion is performed with special solemnity at the second vespers of the day of the Octave. The church is then filled with the people of Kraków, as also with the academic youth. And all the professors of the university, clothed in their ancient gowns, in which St. John is represented in the rooms mentioned above, the insignia of the faculties going before, which the beadles carry, and holding burning candles in their hands, walking two by two in procession, come to the church, and in the same order, after the Te Deum has been sung, return to the university." And these things at Kraków.

[53] and in the town of Kęty. In the town of Kęty, however, besides the other things mentioned here and there in the course of this Commentary or to be mentioned below in the life of Blessed Cantius, I learned these things concerning the cult of the holy Man from the letters of the Rev. Fr. Victor Tych, a Reformed religious of the Order of St. Francis, given from the very town of Kęty on the 16th of May 1851: namely, "that in the town of Kęty there exists a church dedicated in honour of St. John Cantius, in that very place where formerly was seen the house in which he was born, of which, however, no traces whatever exist today. Moreover, both in our conventual church and in the parish church of this town there is seen an altar consecrated to his name. Further, in the holy Man's church itself, above the sacristy, there is found a stone tablet, on whose front is read the Inscription carved, of the following tenor: 'For perpetual memory. In the year from the incarnation of the Lord 1781, on the eighth day of July, the most high, most illustrious and most reverend Lord Christopher, count Szembek, bishop of Uranopolis, coadjutor of Płock, duke of the Selunenses, consecrated with solemn rite this church dedicated to St. John Cantius. He established and determined the anniversary, as regards the office and mass, to be observed on the first Sunday after the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. By the care of the Rev. Stanislaus Pesuleski, actual prebendary of this church.' Besides those brought forward here, no documents at all pertaining to the life and miracles of this Servant of God, nor anything else, are found in the town of Kęty." Thus far the Rev. Fr. Victor Tych, formerly Provincial in his order and today living in the very town of Kęty. This lastly I add, according to the letter of Fr. Joseph Brown (20 Dec. 1851), that there is to be erected to St. John Cantius in the aforesaid town a statue, made at Kraków, eighteen feet in height, and of no small price.

§ IV. On the writings of St. John Cantius. What was decided on this matter in the congregation of sacred Rites, in regard to his canonization. The Life of the blessed Man to be published by us.

On the revision of the writings in regard to canonization. It is known that the works of the servants of God are to be revised when there is question of their beatification or canonization; that it may be established, namely, that their doctrine is free from any theological censure. Whatever, therefore, has been written by Servants of God, even martyrs, is subjected to the law of revision; whether they constitute a huge mass or are contained within a few little pages; whether they were composed to be published or for the instruction of others, or so that they should never see the light, or for private instruction or convenience. If the works are in manuscript, the congregation of Rites commands the ordinary to send them to the City. If they are in the City, it orders the promoter to receive them and bring them to the secretary. Their genuineness is inquired into from the subscription of some notary, or by comparison with a certain writing of the servant of God, or through witnesses knowing his handwriting. Supports are accumulated from common opinion and from the assertions of authors, especially contemporaries. Experts in ancient handwritings are called in, whose reports, confirmed by oath, are inserted in the particular process which is made, so that the congregation may decide from all these whether the work is the servant of God's and is to be submitted to revision; and if it judges that the work was not composed by the servant of God, one proceeds further without its being weighed; otherwise, if it appears to be his. And these things according to Benedict XIV De servorum Dei beatificatione, etc., book II, chap. XXV to XXXIV. from Azevedo [Benedicti XIV doctrina de serv. Dei beatific. in synopsim redacta, p. 83 – 89, Brussels edition 1840.]

[55] Did Blessed Cantius by his writings favour the schism of Basel? We mentioned above at n. 45, from Spondanus and Raynaldus, that the university of Kraków about the year 1440 and following favoured the side of the fathers of Basel. But whether at that time St. John Cantius was teaching the Theological disciplines in the praised university is not altogether clear. It is certain that the blessed Man, called away from the office of teaching, administered for some years the parish of Olkusz. "When the city of Olkusz" (the words are Opatowski's Life, chap. VI, from the version of Fr. Boym.) "lacked its pastor, and asked the professors of the great college, whom that collation concerned, to offer it from their midst some fitting and suitable priest; this pastoral care was unanimously entrusted by all to the holy Man; and he, as if called forth by the voice of God, embraces it and fulfils it in all its parts… And he persevered faithfully in keeping watch for the eternal advantages and for the salvation of the sheep committed to him until, at the nod and command of the superior professors of the great college, a successor having been obtained, he was called away to the scholastic burdens which the professors were accustomed to undertake, leaving behind a great longing for him among the citizens." But in what years, and for how many years, Blessed Cantius stayed at Olkusz I have nowhere found. For in general the writers of his life show themselves little concerned about noting any chronology whatever. Did it perhaps happen in that space of time in which the opinions of the innovators were gaining strength among the doctors of Kraków? Arguments by which we might prove this directly are certainly lacking; nothing, however, prevents anyone from choosing so to decide; all the more because from the whole life of Blessed Cantius there shines forth a singular veneration and observance towards the holy See, as is declared quite clearly even by his fourfold pilgrimage to the City. Nevertheless, since the aforesaid opinions had prevailed among the people of Kraków, and that indeed at the time at which the holy Man was numbered among the doctors of that university, and since moreover certain writings in which the doctrine of Basel was defended were attributed to him, although wrongly; no one will wonder that the question was seriously moved in the sacred congregation whether from the works ascribed to the blessed Man there existed any obstacle to progress being made further in the cause of canonization. And this is the question which we undertake to treat in the present paragraph: namely, whether the writings commonly attributed to Blessed Cantius were truly written by him, or rather by some other of the same name.

[56] The works attributed to Blessed Cantius. Opatowski writes in the earlier life of St. John Cantius published in Latin Chap. XI.: "In which office" (of professor) "of what sort his efforts were it is not difficult to divine, since we retain the Commentaries on St. Matthew written by his hand and digested into three volumes. We retain also a book of Sermons, with which he announced at Kraków the word of life, the mysteries of salvation, and the admonitions necessary for obtaining the promise of heavenly glory." And again the same Opatowski in the more prolix life, published in the Polish idiom Part I, chap. XII.: "Hence are to be estimated his labours Cantius'). And having inspected the Commentaries on the gospel of St. Matthew,

which he himself wrote out with his own hand and divided into four volumes, at the end of the third volume he noted that he completed it in the 71st year of his age. And truly, so advanced in age, he still completed a fourth volume. There is still offered to be seen the Book of his sacred sermons, in which he toiled vigorously in preaching the word of God, deterring from vices, and exhorting to virtues." And so from the version of Father Boym. Let us note in passing that in the earlier text only three volumes on St. Matthew are mentioned, but in the later four volumes are enumerated. Likewise Simon Starowolski, by the very fact that he inserted the name of blessed Cantius in the Hecatontas, or book of a hundred illustrious writers of Poland, shows sufficiently that he was persuaded that certain works had been left in writing by the holy Man; otherwise who would have numbered him among the writers of Poland? He adds moreover: "His writings, moreover, especially three books on Matthew and one book of Sermons, the academic community preserves in its archive as a most precious treasure" Hecatontas, p. 54.. So also Martin Hanke De Silesiis indigenis eruditis, chap. XXXV.: "Among those things," he says, "which he (Cantius) committed to letters, the first work is a book of Sermons; the second is a Commentary on St. Matthew, in three books. These the library of the university of Kraków decided to add to its manuscripts … and to preserve for posterity." Thus far we have two works attributed to the blessed Man: namely, the Commentary on St. Matthew and the book of Sermons. Michael Wiszniewski Historia litteraria Poloniæ, vol. V, p. 7 and 8, Kraków edition 1843. reviews certain others. It is worth while to set down his words, translated from Polish into Latin: "Starowolski makes mention of his exposition on St. Matthew. There is found also among his Writings a treatise 'on the power and authority of the council,' where among other things he has these: 'The general council holds supreme authority over the pope in the church, and the Statute of a general council prejudices the Statute of the Pope, even if it contradict it.'" In a Note added at the foot of the page the following indication is read: "Ms. codex of the Library of the university of Kraków under the mark AA, XIV, 4." And Wiszniewski adds: "By tradition, I suppose, it will have been established among the academics that the aforesaid ms. codex is a work of Blessed John Cantius, since they had sent it to the City (namely while the cause of canonization was being conducted). For the rest, no other document can be found by which that codex is ascribed to Cantius. A more recent hand, perhaps in the 18th century, added: 'Sermons of I know not whom.' At the end, however, is read: 'So Julian perorated in the Council.' Moreover, in the same library of the university of Kraków there is found another ms. Codex with this title: 'Disputatorum super phisicorum, in Orastino (sic; read Crastino) S. Petri ad vincula per Johannem Canti,' under the Mark B B XVII, 15; and also: 'Secunda pars nove logice de manu doctoris Canthi,' under the Mark B B XVII, 4." Thus far Wiszniewski.

[57] Since in these propositions are found not cohering with sound doctrine, Now let us hear Benedict XIV, who sets out clearly how the difficulty was both moved and solved, or removed, in the sacred congregation De Servorum Dei beatific. etc., book II, chap. XXXIV, n. 8 and following: "Some writings were ascribed to him (Blessed Cantius) as author, which were also inserted, as composed by him, in the processes made on his immemorial cult, virtues and miracles; and likewise Polish authors here and there commemorated the same writings as writings of the Blessed; namely Simon Starowolski, who wrote in the year 1625, and Adam Opatowski, who wrote in the year 1628. But since in the course of the cause it was necessary to subject the same works to examination, and since many propositions were found in them by no means cohering with sound doctrine; it came into the minds of the postulators to weigh whether the works which had been ascribed by themselves and by others to blessed John Cantius were in reality works of the same Blessed." From these it seems to be made out that the question was chiefly about the commentaries on St. Matthew and the book of Sermons, since only these Starowolski and Opatowski mentioned. In these, therefore, are found many propositions by no means cohering with sound doctrine. But as regards the other writings reviewed by Wiszniewski, it is not altogether openly gathered from the words of Benedict XIV that a question was moved about these. And in truth they are such that by themselves they indicate sufficiently that scarcely any even the slightest argument is had for their authenticity. However that may be, it is clear that these too, if they were inspected, were adjudged not to be the blessed Man's. But let us return to Benedict XIV.

[58] [It was examined in the congregation of S. Rites whether those works were truly Blessed Cantius';] "It was noticed, therefore, that the Blessed was born in the year 1397, and that only historians very far removed from his time asserted that the works were Blessed Cantius', the ancients being silent, and notably Martino Biellesci" (this indeed wrongly; see above, n. 6), "who, when he had undertaken to illustrate his life and acts, made no word about the writings. A little sheet too, of certain handwriting of the Blessed, was found, and a comparison having been made by most expert and most diligent writers of the handwriting of the little sheet with the handwriting of the work, it was detected that the one differed exceedingly from the other. Moreover, from the catalogue of the professors of the university of Kraków it was gathered that there were two John Cantiuses at one and the same time; so that it ought at least to be uncertain to which of them the works in question were to be ascribed as author. The controversy having further been reduced to this point, the postulators added that it was more probable that the works ought to be ascribed to the other John, and not to Blessed John Cantius. To make which plain, they demonstrated that the author of the controverted works wrote them, as he himself testifies in the works, in the school of the place of Micovia, while he was its rector; and that the same in some places signed himself with the surname Maleus, otherwise Kanti, and elsewhere with the surname de Martha: whereas of Blessed John no one had ever written that he was rector of the aforesaid school of the place of Micovia; nor did he himself have any other surname besides Cantius. Lastly, the author wrote in the works that he completed some of them in the year 1454, at which time he was passing the sixty-fourth year of his age; and that he completed others in the year 1461, while he was passing the seventy-first year, where, retaining the theme of the nativity of the Blessed, which from what has been said had occurred in the year 1397, everyone could easily see that the years of his life expressed by the author of the works did not agree with the true age of the Blessed." (Let us note in passing that from these it follows that Opatowski did not altogether accurately inspect the commentary on St. Matthew: for he relates in the more prolix life of St. Cantius, written in the Polish idiom: "Having inspected the commentaries on the gospel of St. Matthew, which he himself (Cantius) wrote out with his own hand and divided into four volumes, at the end of the third volume he noted that he completed it in the seventy-first year of his age." Opatowski is silent about the other year of his age which the author ascribed in another place of his commentary, as is clearly made out from the acts of the S. Congregation. "And truly, so advanced in age, he still completed a fourth volume. There is still offered to be seen the book of his sacred Sermons, in which he toiled vigorously in preaching the word of God, deterring from vices, and exhorting to virtues." Let us return to the words of Benedict XIV): "From these, therefore, and from several other conjectures and circumstances, the doubt having been disputed in the congregation of sacred Rites, on the 16th of September 1730, whether it was established that the asserted works in question were Blessed John Cantius', the answer was given, I hearing and voting, as one of the cardinals enrolled in the said congregation: that it is not established that they are works of Blessed John Cantius, and that one can proceed further; and the decree was issued in the following words:

[59] and a decree was issued to the contrary opinion. "'Since, for advancing the cause of canonization of Blessed John Cantius, venerated in the kingdom of Poland with special devotion and concourse of the peoples on account of the renown of his holiness and miracles, his postulators were applying themselves very earnestly, but certain works compulsed in the apostolic process were obstructing the progress of the same cause; although it might appear from the very works themselves that they had been wrongly assigned to the same Blessed by certain authors, not, however, contemporary ones; nevertheless, in order that in a matter of so great moment one might proceed not only more cautiously, but also altogether safely, the sacred congregation, on the 20th of March 1728, ordered the promoter of the faith to be heard; and thereupon the most eminent and most reverend lord Cardinal Pico, Ponens, lest even the least thing should be lacking to more exact diligence for attaining the truth, caused all the original works, and some leaves, if there were any inscribed in the certain handwriting of the Blessed, to be transmitted to him from Poland. The works, therefore, comprising ten volumes, having arrived at Rome, together with the album of the university of Kraków of that time, which contains the genuine handwriting of the Blessed, and moreover the original catalogue of the doctors, among whom is reckoned not only the Blessed, who was lecturer in theology and dean of the same university, but also another John Cantius, who lived at the same time: and all these having been subjected to the investigation both of the R. P. D. Fontanini, archbishop of Ancyra, most expert in ancient handwritings, and of four more expert writers of the City, that they might learn and report whether it was established that the said works had truly been written out by the hand of the Blessed; and having been attentively and with all diligence recognized, gone through and weighed; it having been found also that neither the place where the author of the works, nor the years of his age in which he records more than once that he wrote, in any way agree with the places in which the Blessed led his life, and with the time at which he was born; and several other arguments having been drawn from the very works themselves: the same sacred congregation, having heard the most reverend archbishop of Philippi, promoter of the faith, both by word of mouth and in writing, and having maturely and carefully examined and discussed the reasons of the aforesaid most reverend archbishop of Ancyra, and also of the aforesaid experts, and all the moments of the other reasons brought forward on both sides, judged and decreed that it is not established that the works in question are the Blessed's, and that therefore one can proceed further, if it shall seem good to our most holy Lord. On the 16th day of September 1730. And a report having then been made by me, the secretary, of the aforesaid things to our most holy Lord, His Holiness kindly assented, on the 20th of the same month and year 1730.'"

[60] How lightly Hugo Kołłątaj writes on this subject. And these things from Benedict XIV, loc. cit.; clear surely, and demonstrating on every side with what circumspection, with what mature counsel the Roman curia proceeds in causes of this kind. Whence again, not to use a graver word, the levity of Hugo Kołłątaj in writing is betrayed. For treating of the aforesaid dispute about the works attributed to blessed Cantius, he has thus: "Żołędziowski, a doctor of Kraków, sent by the university to the City with power to urge the cause, asked that the sentence by force of which Cantius was to be struck out of the roll of the blessed, and his body cast out of the church of St. Anne, because, namely, his writings contained heresies, should not be promulgated" (nowhere do I find

that the matter was brought to this point), "until it should have been granted to him (Żołędziowski) to confer with the advocates of the sacred congregation of Rites; which when he had obtained, not without much money, it was decided that it lay upon the university of Kraków to prove that the writings subjected to examination were another's, and not our John Cantius'. The academics, therefore, who for a whole decade had aimed at this, that Cantius should be declared a doctor of the church" (we saw above how rashly this is asserted by Hugo Kołłątaj), "now toiled for another six years to prove that the writings in question were falsely attributed to John Cantius, and showed that another John is found in the Register, likewise a theologian of the XVi century. And so, satisfaction having been made to the congregation, a decree was rendered by which it is defined that nothing now stands in the way of proceeding safely to the canonization." Thus far Kołłątaj See Wiszniewski, Historia litteraria Poloniæ, vol. V, p. 8 – 13.. These last things, although they are not precisely erroneous, are nevertheless far from rendering the matter in the manner in which it was done, as is clearly established from what we reported above from Benedict XIV.

[61] What was said above is confirmed. Moreover, it will not be beside the point to have noted that the writers do not speak so distinctly either of the doctorate or of the professorship of Blessed Cantius. He is said to have been created doctor now in the sacred Page, now in S. Theology. Whence perhaps someone might infer that both titles belong to him with equal right. "From the philosophical studies," says Opatowski Polish Life, chap. XII., "he made a step to theology, which is wholly occupied with the attaining and the reason of the difficult mysteries to be believed; and in these he measured out a five-year labour, ascending to those honours which are prescribed by the academic laws. At length he was created doctor in the sacred page." In the other writing on Blessed Cantius published at Rome De rebus gestis, etc., p. 7., the following title is prefixed to chapter VI: "He enters on the studies of sacred theology; he is proclaimed Doctor in it, and is initiated into the Priesthood." Starowolski agrees, as will be seen presently. Nor do the writers relate more distinctly what lectures precisely St. Cantius gave at Kraków. Several speak of S. Scripture. In the lessons of the Roman Breviary, accurately digested and written not without elegance, an indeterminate word is used: "First a hearer of philosophy and theology; then, ascending through all the grades of the university, professor and doctor, by the sacred doctrine which he taught for many years he not only illuminated the minds of his hearers, but also inflamed them to all piety, teaching, namely, and doing at the same time." In the decree of the S. Congregation (above, n. 59) it is read thus: "The Blessed (Cantius), who was lecturer in theology and dean of the same university." And more clearly Simon Starowolski Hecatontas, p. 52.: "He obtained the first laurel in philosophy in the year 1415, and at length, successively proclaimed doctor of S. theology, he expounded for many years, with a great concourse of disciples, the epistles of St. Paul, afterwards the books of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, and at length the Summa of St. Thomas." From these it seems easy to conclude that Blessed Cantius expounded first Scripture, but afterwards Theology, and this indeed chiefly. And if this be so, no one will easily suppose that Blessed Cantius applied himself for very many years to writing Commentaries on St. Matthew, whom he is nowhere read to have expounded. And from these it is at least to some extent supported that such a work was falsely attributed to him.

[62] It would be rash to ascribe the aforesaid works to St. Cantius. From this whole disputation, therefore, it follows that the works attributed here and there to St. Cantius were, by the sentence of the congregation of S. Rites, adjudged not to be his; or at least that such a doubt arose about them that they no longer prevented its being lawful to proceed further in the cause of canonization. Hence in the first Factum Concordatum, recited in the preceding paragraph, it is read: "But on the 23rd of January 1700 the sacred Congregation, with the supreme Pontiff assenting under the date of the 17th of the following month of February, committed to the most eminent Colloredo, the ponens, the revision of the works attributed to the Blessed, with the usual faculties" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 7.. And a little below: "The most eminent Colloredo having now died, and the most eminent Cardinal Pico having been subrogated in his place by the supreme Pontiff on the 18th of June 1727; the latter, sparing no more exquisite diligence for bringing out the truth concerning the works which were attributed to the Blessed, caused to be brought to the City both the original volumes of the said Works and the album of the university of Kraków, in which the certain handwriting of the Blessed was contained. The aforesaid volumes having therefore been brought to Rome and gone through, and also, having heard upon them of several experts in writings, together with the vote of the most reverend archbishop of Ancyra, most expert in ancient handwritings, on the report of the said most eminent Cardinal Pico, on the 17th" (Benedict XIV has the 16th) "of September 1730 a decree came forth: 'That it is not established that the works compulsed in the apostolic process and attributed to the Blessed were the Blessed's own, etc.'" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 7.. By what reason, then, I do not know, or on what foundation, the common opinion still obtains in Poland even today that St. Cantius is the author of those works. Nay, in various sermons (which Putanowicz presents entire in his book on the life of Blessed Cantius) delivered in the solemn octave of the canonization celebrated at Kraków in the year 1775, the servant of God is several times praised specifically for his writings; from which, however, nothing further can reasonably be inferred than that those sacred heralds followed the common opinion, not knowing what had been done in the sacred congregation, and decided or decreed forty years before. What? that even before Clement XIII himself St. John Cantius was commended by one of the purpled fathers for those same writings? Namely, on Monday, the first day of June, in the hall of the Quirinal palace, a semipublic consistory was held at the thirteenth hour, in which, the method according to the schedule already distributed being kept, the Most Holy Lord Clement received the votes as well of the most eminent cardinals as of the most reverend patriarchs, archbishops and bishops for the future canonization of the blessed John Cantius and Joseph Calasanz Ibid., p. 204.. There, then, Philip Maria Pirelli, presbyter cardinal of the Title of St. Chrysogonus, gave his opinion in this manner: "I judge it most opportune at this time that Blessed John Cantius be enrolled among the Saints, who in the midst of the error of the surrounding peoples" (the poison of the Hussites was then chiefly creeping about) "most constantly professed, while he lived, the entire and sincere doctrine of religion, and illustrated and defended it among his own both by voice and by writings, etc." Ibid., p. 211.. Which indeed I would think was put forward by the most eminent Pirelli not with sufficient meditation. This further is certain, that among the votes, fifty-four in number in all Ibid., p. 206 – 222., no other is found in which even the slightest mention occurs of the writings of the blessed Man; although several, whether cardinals or bishops, extol magnificently his zeal in asserting the catholic faith, using these or similar words: "an excellent doctor and preacher, he continually taught the youth from the chair, the people from the pulpit, with the science of the saints; and he vigorously defended the orthodox faith against the errors raging in his age" Ibid., p. 212.. Lastly, to the words of Pirelli we oppose the words of the bull of canonization itself: "Since certain writings compulsed in the process were falsely attributed to blessed John Cantius, the same congregation of Rites declared on the 17th of September MDCCXXX that it is not established that the works compulsed in the apostolic process, attributed to the Blessed, were the Blessed's own, and therefore that one can proceed further." From all these, therefore, it is right to conclude that it is rashly (not to say more gravely) asserted that those works were written by St. John Cantius.

[63] The Life of Blessed Cantius to be published here It remains for us to say which life of Blessed Cantius we are going to publish. Above, at n. 9 – 13, we noted that there is had a twofold writing of Adam Opatowski on St. John Cantius, the one in Latin, the other in Polish. The former, as it is earlier in age, so it is also briefer, and was published with the Kraków types in the year 1628, under this title: "Life of the excellent man John Cantius, doctor of S. Th. and professor in the university of Kraków, collected and written out, both from the Ms. of the greater college and of the church of St. Anne (in which his sacred Deposit rests), preserved in the archive of the same: and from Matthias of Miechów, historiographer of Polish affairs, and from other more recent writers worthy of credence who have celebrated the deeds of his life, for obtaining his beatification, by the study and labour of M. Adam Opatowski, professor of S. Th., dean at St. Anne's," and approved, on the 25th of March of the same year 1628, by Sebastian Nucerinus, D. of S. Th., ordinary preacher of the cathedral church of Kraków, censor of the books coming to light in print in the diocese of Kraków. This life, therefore, since it is older than the rest and moreover very rare copies of it survive today, we publish according to a transcript of the copy which is preserved at Lwów in the celebrated Ossoliński library, altogether most faithful, as is clear from the following attestation: "I attest that this Copy agrees word for word with the original printed in type and to be found in the Ossoliński library of Lwów. Lwów, on the 6th day of May 1851. It is signed: Augustus Bielowski, librarian." Afterwards, as has already been said elsewhere, Opatowski likewise at Kraków in the year 1632 made public another life of the same Blessed John Cantius, written in the Polish idiom, and much more ample, and distributed into four parts, of which the first presents the deeds done by the Blessed Man, the remaining three review the miracles worked chiefly at his sepulchre. As regards the life, both writings, the Latin and the Polish, agree, except that the later one enlarges the deeds more; but if new things are added anywhere, they will be found in our Annotations according to the ms. version of Father Boym, as also other things which will come up to be taken from Skarga, Starowolski, Putanowicz, and the shorter ms. life of our museum and others. Lastly, the miracles from Opatowski, rendered into Latin by the same father Boym, will follow the life.

THE LIFE OF ST. JOHN CANTIUS,

by Adam Opatowski, published at Kraków 1628.

John Cantius, presbyter and confessor, at Kraków. (S.)

BY AD. OPATOWSKI.

PREFACE.

We bless the God of heaven and earth, the Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit, one God in Trinity, and the same Three in unity, ineffable and glorious: and before all the living we confess to him, because he has done his mercy with us, choosing in the Kraków university of the northern kingdom of Poland his beloved servant John Cantius, and manifesting in him innumerable gifts of graces and admirable works of virtues. Which indeed, since we strive to comprehend them in a brief and simple style, together with the holiness of his life, trusting in the help of the grace of God, we intend, according to our slenderness, to reveal the works of God, and to confess, what is honourable, in the order which follows:

1. On the Native place, parents and domestic education of the Venerable John Cantius.

2. On his illustrious youth, passed in academic studies.

3. On his zeal for Humility with contempt of himself.

4. On his admirable simplicity.

5. On his piety towards God, or the fervour of divine worship.

6. On his patience and endurance of adversities voluntarily undertaken.

7. On the mortification of the body.

8. On the works of mercy.

9. On the gift of Prophecy.

10. On his converse with Blessed men, who were renowned in his age for holiness of life.

11. A brief catalogue of the labours which he sustained in his academic station.

12. On his passing from this life to the immortal one.

13. On certain miracles which followed his death ^c.

ANNOTATIONS.

Chapter I. On his native place, parents, his domestic education, and academic studies.

CHAPTER I.

The birth and boyhood of St. John Cantius. The excellent John Cantius obtained as his native soil the town of Canty ^a, which in Latin sounds "angulus" (corner), because it faces towards the south two very high Carpathian mountains, which, with the extremities of their sides stretched out in length and coming together very near, seem to form a corner: it occupied a place near Silesia ^b, marking the bounds of the Polish dominion, near Oświęcim, distant from Kraków by a space of eight miles. In this town he was born of honest and above all catholic ^c parents, on the feast of St. John the Baptist, in the year of salvation MCCCXCVII ^d, his father being Stanislaus, a man of consular rank and a notable cultivator of piety: who, together with his wife Anne, a woman most loving of chastity and divine worship, strove to imbue the boy he had received with the knowledge of God and the first rudiments of the catholic faith, and to shape his tender mind to all uprightness. He grows accustomed to obey in all things, to embrace the admonitions of his parents, to spurn boyish games ^e, bearing before him in countenance and deeds something serious and grave, and he gave splendid proofs of heavenly grace already from that time dwelling in his heart ^f.

CHAP. II.

[2] The years of boyhood having been passed under the discipline of his parents, and the first elements of letters having been tasted, Studies in the university of Kraków. by their will he goes to the most celebrated dwelling-place of piety and of all the sciences, which, then restored by the munificence of the Lord Jagiełło, was flourishing with the concourse and assiduity of the students and the highest effort of the professors in teaching ^g. Under these masters that pious mind, burning with zeal for knowledge and already by the secret judgment of God destined to be an illustrious ornament to this very place, brought forth rich fruits bursting into the light with increase, and so much the more pleasing than others, as from innocence of life, modesty and abstinence they took on a certain very pleasant grace. The increases of his studies and the sharpness of his perspicacious talent could not remain hidden, although they were depressed by contempt of himself and quite often humbled by love of being despised; but in the due and customary exercises, shining forth sometimes like sparks, sometimes like rays after the manner of lightning, they betrayed themselves by their native force. And because, like a burning lamp, he had to be placed upon the lampstand in the house of the Lord, that he might give light to those walking in it: and like a branch grafted into the vine, by the example of a most upright life, as by the greenness of leaves, he was being prepared as a shade for those distressed in the heat of tribulations, and as one who by the richness of saving doctrine, as by the sweetness of grapes, might cheer the anguish of the soul: and because, like a small spring, he had to grow into a river and overflow into very many waters, with which he might water and make fruitful the souls of Christ's faithful as plants, so God disposing, and the counsel of those to whose power he had committed himself coming in, he received by degrees all the dignities in good letters and in philosophy: at the last he submitted his head to the supreme honour itself of the doctorate in theology, and put his shoulders under its laborious office. Already, too, the office of the priesthood, which he had undertaken, had imposed on him the duty and necessity of teaching so much the more earnestly: always turning over in his mind that saying of St. Paul, as if directed to himself: "Be an example of the faithful: in word, in conversation; attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine; take heed to thyself and to doctrine, be earnest in them: for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee." 1 Timothy IV. 12, 13, 16. That admonition too of St. Ambrose, as drawn from this fountain of the divine oracle, he diligently pondered: "Life is to be sought before doctrine: for a good life even without doctrine has grace: doctrine without life has not integrity." He sets for himself, therefore, this law, that his deeds should agree with his words, and that he should be the first to make trial in himself of that virtue to the pursuit of which he invites others, and that that doctrine alone germinates in the souls of the hearers like the lily, and brings forth the fruits of the virtues * , which is confirmed by the teacher's example of right living. To this, therefore, trusting in the support of assisting grace, he turned all his care and solicitude, that he might compose his life according to the prescriptions of the gospel as according to a mirror, until he should form Christ in himself by imitating His footsteps.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Supply: reckoning

Chap. II. The virtues of Blessed John Cantius; his humility, admirable simplicity and fervent piety towards God.

CHAP. III.

First of all he loved humility very greatly, because it was sanctified by the example of Christ and commended by His praise, Humility as the firmest foundation of all the virtues, on which the spiritual edifice of holiness must be built and raised up to heavenly things. This he desired above all to be fixed in his soul to the marrow, this to be engraved on the tablets of his heart: assiduously reflecting with himself that excellence, sublimity and loftiness, on account of the duration of eternity, are proper and hereditary to the divine majesty alone: but that nothing is more akin to man than vileness and abjection, since he is a thing fashioned of the vilest clay; and after his departure from this life, rottenness and worms shall inherit him. He considered how vehement, how violent is the readiness to vices, to destruction, contracted from the stain of the first sin: and with how strong helps of divine grace one needs to exercise the works of piety and justice. He became vile, therefore, to himself by a most true knowledge; he judged himself, in truth, worthy of any contempt and disgrace. For all whomsoever he saw he set before himself, and anticipated them in honour as better than himself. Knowledge, furnished with manifold learning and variety of things, did not puff him up: the swift motions of his talent, kindled by the fervour of disputations and brandished with sharpness, did not, nor could the academic honours due to his virtues and learning, exalt him: nor lastly did the supreme dignity which precedes the others, the Doctorate in theology, conferred on him, make him more elated, but, the austerity of his life being multiplied, in the hidden recess of his soul he appeared viler in his own eyes, and strove to be held so by all. In the common life of the college there were enough occasions for humbling himself, but this humility seemed to him honoured, because he was not despised by all, on account of a certain opinion of holiness already conceived ^a. He travelled, therefore, to remote regions, having put on the vile habit of a poor pilgrim, both for other reasons,

and in order that, stripped of all honour, he might be filled to satiety with contempt, abjection and reproaches.

CHAP. IV.

[4] His soul having thus been brought down and fixed by true humility to the depths of profound abjection, Simplicity. A splendid example. there followed a certain temperateness of manners, graced with a wonderful simplicity, recalling the image of lost innocence. For in the actions of his life he cultivated candour of soul without any craftiness: he did not know the wisdom of this world, which feigns many things through ostentation and hunts glory through pretence; but he had learned the wisdom of God and the science of the Saints; 1 Pet. II. 1, 2. laying aside all malice and all guile and dissimulation, as a newborn babe ^b, and the innocence and purity which he kept in his soul he showed, all variety being shut out, in words and deeds. For when, alone, having no one in his company, but sure of the presence and protection of God, in the continual remembrance of whom he rejoiced as he walked in all his ways: since his discourse is with the simple: when thus, I say, alone, he was directing his steps to Rome, behold, suddenly robbers leap out from their hiding-places: they assail the Saint: they treat him in unworthy fashion: they despoil him, bruised with blows: whatever money there was for the support of his journey they take away: moreover they threaten torments unless he of his own accord hand over the rest. From this unexpected disturbance, forgetting some gold pieces which lay hidden sewn into his garment, he confessed that he kept nothing more. But after he had recovered his mind from fear and had remembered the more hidden money, he shuddered, and, overwhelmed with grief and anxiety of mind, he followed with hastened step those who were going away, inviting them with many prayers to come back to him; before whom, falling on his knees, he confesses that he has forsworn himself before God and has deservedly incurred the divine indignation: and whatever had been kept back through forgetfulness he gladly hands over entire. They, wondering at so great simplicity of the Man, roll themselves at his feet, restore what they had snatched, beg pardon, which he readily grants. Thine is the teaching, O Saviour of the world and sower of the heavenly precepts: Be ye prudent as serpents and simple as doves. Reap now the fruits which thou hast sown in the holy Man. He imitated the prudence of the serpent, when he dreaded even the appearance of a lie, committed through inadvertence and present to his mind. He imitated the simplicity of the dove, when he did not think of avenging himself: but approached his enemies as friends; and, forgetful of injuries, adorns them with new benefits, fulfilling that word of the Apostle: But you, be not weary in well-doing.

CHAP. V.

[5] The pursuit of piety and of the worship of God he embraced so greatly from his earliest age, Piety. as soon as reason began to discharge its office, that, blotting out the desires of earthly things, he seemed already to have his conversation in heaven; and her ^c, lastly, through the whole time of his life, he kept clean and unstained. He knew that the mind is to be directed thither whither the countenance is raised: which, wondering at the beauty and amplitude of heaven, invites to worship the maker of so great a workmanship. He knew that from the office of his vocation the knowledge of wisdom pertained to him, but he did not wish to be wise of himself, but by Him enlightening, of whom it is written: All wisdom is from God. And the wisdom of man is piety, which illumines devout souls bound to God with an admirable knowledge of sublime things. And he burned, inflamed with so great an ardour for God, that he chose the church as his dwelling rather than the College ^d: for his breast, wounded with pious love and glowing with the affection of holy devotion, the duties of his profession being dispatched, sought in the house of prayer the most sweet presence of Christ God, which he acknowledged in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist. Thou didst bring him, Lord, into thy holy mountain, and didst make him joyful in the house of thy prayer. Truly thou didst bring him; for how would he run to the odour of thy ointments, hadst thou not drawn him with the cords of loving affection? You, O strong cords, twisted in the weaving-house of divine love, you bound his heart; and you set it, fattened with sweet joy, in the sight of God. You brought him into the holy mountain of blessed contemplation, where his spirit, irradiated by the understanding of heavenly things and kindled by the desires of eternal sweetness, was rapt into God. Thou didst make him joyful, Lord, in the house of thy prayer, while thou didst stir up in him a continual desire of loving thee more vehemently: while thou didst manifest thyself to him by frequent inspirations: and as a friend, in a house not another's but thine own, which is that of prayer, didst satisfy him with the most sweet banquets of divine consolations.

[6] He passes sleepless nights before an image of Christ and the Blessed Virgin. It was frequent and usual with him to spend sleepless nights in offering sacrifices of praise to God: and while the silence of the night was profound, to go to the image of pity fixed at the entrance of the college as in a household shrine, which represents Christ stripped, and projecting from the sepulchre with half his body, and pouring forth abundant blood from the wound of his side, by whom the exceedingly tearful and sorrowful Virgin stands; and to cast himself down before it, to meditate within himself the bitterness of the sorrows of God who suffered in the flesh: to accuse the gravity of his sins: to wash out their stains with most abundant tears: to wonder at the readiness of the divine mercy in pardoning offences: and in this fervent outpouring of his heart, to suffer ecstasies of the mind: and while he was thus afflicted, full of bitterness, a heavenly voice rendered from the same image quite often consoled him, as the tradition of the fathers of the greater college constantly affirms. And when the same image, with the consent of the same fathers, after its supreme Venerator had departed life, had been transported into the church of St. Anne, that greater veneration might be shown to it, it miraculously went back to its former place; in which it is even now seen, namely, that it might be a witness of so great a benefit with posterity; and that by its custody and patronage it might protect this place divinely committed to it.

[7] He celebrates Mass every day most devoutly. The office of the priest, to be trembled at even by angelic shoulders, he knew to have been instituted for the ministry of the altar, that by the life-giving mysteries offered in the odour of sweet fragrance it might show to God the worship of thanksgiving for all the benefits bestowed on the human race: and might be able to appease His indignation, provoked by sins; and from this, that he knew that on the offerer, on account of the divine refreshment received, a fount of graces and of satisfaction overflows. He suffered, therefore, no day to go by on which he did not perform the sacred rites.

[8] Tenderness of conscience. But if it happened that in the public deliberations, asked for his opinion, he had vigorously defended the truth, or had pursued vices somewhat more fervently; he afflicted his soul with vehement grief, fearing lest he had disturbed someone's tranquillity of mind or wounded his reputation: again and again, as a bitter avenger of the injuries of his neighbour, he reproached himself with these little verses composed by himself in reproof of himself:

Beware of stirring up strife; to appease it is not sweet: Beware of defaming; for to retract is heavy.

At length, with the greatest lowliness of mind, he would go to each one, beseeching them to give pardon to his errors; since, unless this was obtained, he affirmed that he could not offer sacrifice. O good Jesus, master of the humble, if this is injury and insult, which bears testimony to the truth and is indignant at vices; and if it is expiated with such grief and confusion of oneself before the sacrifice of the Mass: what will become of us, who, laden with hatreds and enmities, approach the communion of the altar! This worship of the daily sacrifice tormented very greatly the enemy of God and of his servants; whence, for the sake of disturbing it, he devises a wonderful thing.

[9] [He drives out of the church a demon which had counterfeited the form of a swallow.] One day, when according to his custom, most burning with devotion, he was engaged in the divine mysteries at the altar, and a frequent multitude, with their knees set on the ground, were receiving no slight consolation; the infernal dragon counterfeits a swallow (the middle of winter was then raging with cold), and when the sacred host with the chalice was to be elevated, and the people were preparing a devout adoration, it began to fly round about, to clap its wings, to make a din with the swallow's song, and to distract the minds of men with the novel spectacle. The holy Man, divinely taught, recognized the art of the infernal Polypus, and the sacred rites having been brought to an end, he beset the doors; and as it was eager to burst out of doors, he seized it with his hand; and when he raises it on high to dash it down, the people flowing round do not cease to cry out and vehemently to beg the Saint to spare a harmless bird ignorant of divine things. To whom he said: Soon you will learn what kind this bird is. Scarcely was it dashed down when it assumed the appearance of a horrible dragon, which, testifying its indignation with a hiss, disappeared ^e.

[10] He becomes pastor of Olkusz. From this affection of the highest piety towards God this too had proceeded, that when Olkusz ^f (most celebrated for its metal mines and for the virtue and commerce of its citizens), deprived of its pastor, earnestly requested from the fathers of the college, to whom by right the conferring of this office belongs, another suitable one in place of the deceased, it pleased all to impose so great an office on the Venerable Man: which he undertook not unwillingly, and strove to fulfil in it all the parts of a good pastor. For by the blameless innocence of his life, and by the divine precepts scattered by his voice, he admonished them to the pursuit of religion and the virtues. You would see very many renounce their vices: expiate the pollutions of their sins: break off wicked habits: take upon themselves punishments for their offences with various torment, following the footsteps of their pastor, and imitate the trophies of uprightness he had set up.

[11] He returns to the university. And while, like a true pastor set on the watch-tower, he kept the night-watches over the flock committed to him, again by the will of the fathers, a successor having been received, he was called back to the burdens of his profession, and withdraws, leaving a great longing for him among all ^g. Blessed are the cities which in this life have merited to have men illustrious for holiness as pastors: for after this, in that immortal life, they will experience them as patrons *.

ANNOTATIONS.

which could distinguish nothing between sacred and profane. But the holy Man said: Soon you will perceive with your own very eyes and clearly understand what kind this bird is. So, as soon as it had been dashed by him upon the ground, it at once showed itself in the terrible form of a dragon, and, having uttered threats of a certain implacable wrath, disappeared entirely." The same deed is recorded in the bull of canonization.

* patrons.

Chap. III. Patience in adversities and the mortification of the flesh.

CHAP. VI.

And since the endurance of tribulations is a step to the sublimity of perfection, Domestic vexations and its proper office is to suffer evils inflicted by others with equanimity and with joy for Christ, he began to burn with love of exercising and acquiring it; and he entered on a twofold way of struggling with adversities. His first contest was in bearing the vexations (and) harassments of those with whom he lived. For envy, the adversary of virtue, armed with various ways of harming, contrived very many calamities by which it might shake the constant soul of the Saint, now assailing him with curses: now grazing him with insults: now fastening likenesses of vices upon his virtues: now fraudulently praising him to his face: now disturbing the gravity of his manners with biting jokes contrived for the purpose. And that all these stings of disturbances must be suffered by those who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus he learned from the teaching of the Apostle. But with what shield he received these darts, because it was proper to him by assiduity, and ought to be common to others by imitation, is to be shown for public use.

[13] by what device, proper to himself, he dispelled them. Did anyone sting him with his tongue? He was accustomed to receive the blows with a single word, saying to himself: UT SUPRA ^a (as above), that is, I suffer nothing new, but what He who is above, who suffered above all, Christ, bore before. To the archetype, therefore, and exemplar of supreme patience, which was shown above on the mount, he turned his eyes, and so he rendered his sorrows lighter by the antiquity of the exemplar, and their bitterness lighter, nay most light, by the excess of the cross, and in every tribulation he abounded exceedingly with joy. And lest in him the charity commanded by Christ towards neighbours, even ill-willed ones and those raging against him, should grow cold, he recalled this same thing within himself, UT SUPRA: namely that in Christ fixed to the cross love towards enemies could not be extinguished either by stripes, or by the ignominy of the cross, or by the laceration of the whole body, or by the very bitterness of death. To this ABOVE, therefore, one must strive; injuries are to be blotted out, useless complaints cast away; and those by whose work a crown is woven for our head, now indeed thorny but afterwards glorious, are to be embraced above all. This saying UT SUPRA, lastly, recalled to him the torments of the Saints, the prisons, the starvation, and the kinds of death devised by the utmost cruelty; and that, having overcome the steps of harshness, they obtained entry to supreme beatitude: and animated by this remembrance, he bore with a brave soul all the assaults of all vexations.

[14] The pilgrimage to Jerusalem, His soul, strengthened in these domestic preliminary exercises of patience, enters another arena, far more difficult; kindled with the ardour of the christian religion and inflamed with that of the Lord's passion, he seizes upon the pursuit of pilgrimage; and first of all he decided to go to and travel through the most holy land which has been consecrated by the footsteps of God conversing in our flesh and working human salvation; and he desired that that desire should be fulfilled in himself: We will adore in the place where his feet have stood. One by one in order he visited the life-giving places, watered with a shower of tears; adoring and kissing above all the mount of Calvary, sprinkled with the blood of Christ and most celebrated by the victory of the Cross; and with groaning he venerated the Sepulchre itself, the most holy of all sepulchres and most glorious by the triumph of the resurrection. While he travelled through these regions, how much was it necessary for him to suffer, while he was among a barbarous people, hostile to the Cross of Christ and to its worshippers: and was advancing his journey through various windings of places: enduring cold, heats, thirst, hunger, want, and the difficulties of life, and other hardships? But these inconveniences, and others graver than these, brought a remedy to his soul; while he thought that his mind could be healed by these labours of tribulations from venial offences, which he deplored like mortal ones, and that he would experience for them the kindness of the divine countenance in the retribution of the Saints ^b.

[17] and to Rome four times repeated. After, full of joy, carrying about the mysteries of the passion imprinted on his mind and assiduously pondering them, he returned to his own: scarcely had he yet granted his body a little rest, as much as was enough for gathering his strength after so long and laborious a journey, when behold, he girds himself for a new journey. He hastens to visit Rome, the mistress of the faith, the guardian and interpreter of the christian religion, and with great pleasure of soul he comes to those sacred thresholds to which the whole world sighs; and he venerates the precious pledges of the prince of the apostles and of the doctor of the gentiles, enclosed in the same monument: thence, exulting in spirit, he directs his step to the remaining places, glorious with the contest of the martyrs and purpled with their blood: and, as if present, he enjoys the fellowship of those standing there and offering to God the vows committed to their intercessions: commending himself and the course of his life, and his departure from it, to their prayers: he received in his soul no slight solace, and thought that he was taking part in the converse of the heavenly ones. And although his limbs were pale, exhausted with fasts and vigils, and drooped, emaciated by the hardships of the journey, which he always made on foot: yet his soul, raised up by a certain heavenly joy, sustained the infirmity of the body, and virtue was made perfect in infirmity. What wonder then? His body cheerfully bore the weariness of the road, the heat of the sun, the fierceness of the winds and rains, the lodging of the open sky, the soft bed which the ground gave, chanting that verse from the Psalter: According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have gladdened my soul. In the same pilgrimage, when he had been seized, despoiled and beaten by robbers, as has already been mentioned, nevertheless, fortified with the shield of patience, he went on rejoicing that he had been held worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus. And indeed these so many sad things, so many bitter things, so many perils of life experienced on the Roman journey, which are accustomed to hold others back from repeating it, induced him to repeat this very thing three other times. And when he was asked by men of his own nation the cause of so frequent a visiting of Rome, he answered: The Roman journey seemed to him a purgatory: and by frequenting it he desired to be cleansed from the penalties of his sins ^c.

[16] Pilgrimage to the holy places permitted to the academic professors. And by this pilgrimage, so frequent, the venerable Man never brought any loss to the due duties of his profession, since there is a public law which permits to the professors the faculty of going to the holy places, which by its prescription, the intervals of time being kept, can be done conveniently without any mark of negligence, especially in so great an abundance of professors as that of which the university of the school of Kraków is composed, so that one can even render mutual service to another, whether he be oppressed by sickness or given to a pious business.

CHAP. VII.

[17] The mortification of the body. Although the flesh of the holy Man had been sufficiently afflicted by these so many and so great calamities, yet he never ceased from inflicting others upon it. For he knew that the flesh lusts against the spirit, and is a great impediment to those who follow the institute of a cleaner life. Spurning softness and splendour of garments, he used an external care of the body neither elegant nor too abject, but moderate and befitting his state, as one may conjecture from a garment of this kind preserved in the archive of the church of St. Anne; inwardly, however, that he chastised his flesh by some harder manner of severity we suspect from what we shall say ^d: for he was assiduous in fasts; frequently spending the night in vigils and prayers: and when all things were stiff with the bitterness of winter, with bare feet covered over on top, so that he might not be noticed and observed by anyone as he went, he would go to the churches, and in them, burning with divine prayers, he would stay with the greatest gladness of soul. When he had been proclaimed doctor in theology, he forbade himself the eating of meat, and kept that law inviolate to the last breath of his life. When the enemy tried at one time to break this abstinence, a grave desire of eating meat having been aroused, the excellent Man perceived the adversary's trick; he orders at once a piece of meat to be roasted, and to be brought taken off the spit, and, having seized it, while it was burning like a glowing coal ^e, he burned first his face, then his whole body, beating it, uttering these reproachful words: "Flesh, thou hast longed for flesh; use flesh to satiety." By this so sublime act of affliction, by which, care of himself being cast aside, he did violence to himself, he baffled the wiles of the enemy, and extinguished in his body every appetite for meat for the future, never, I would believe, by divine benefit, to return any more. If ever he committed his weary limbs to sleep to be refreshed, he would throw them down on the hard ground; sometimes, when they were already aged, destitute of native warmth and constricted by cold, he would cherish them with a bear-skin spread under him.

ANNOTATIONS.

This pilgrimage to Jerusalem Opatowski, according to his custom, enlarges more broadly in the Polish life, without, however, adding other things done there by Cantius. Of this too it is sung at Vespers on the feast of the Blessed Man:

You seek the city of Jerusalem; you venerate the footsteps of Christ marked with sacred blood, and water them with tears poured forth.

Further, if credence be given to Putanowicz Life of St. John Cantius, where he treats of his Office, fol. 0.2., the hymns proper to the Saint were composed by the postulator of the cause, the Kraków doctor Żołędziowski.

Of these pilgrimages several cardinals and bishops in their votes (see Prelim. Comm. n. 67)

have made mention. So Cardinal Colonna Branciforte: "That he might decline the offices of veneration and reverence offered to him by his fellow citizens, once to the holy places of Palestine, four times to Rome he set out on foot" Acta of the six Canonized, p. 211.. Of the Roman pilgrimage there is had in the Breviary at Vespers:

The thresholds of the Apostles you visit, a traveller on foot; to the fatherland to which we tend direct our steps and way.

Chap. IV. On the works of mercy and the gift of prophecy.

CHAP. VIII.

In performing the works of mercy and in relieving the necessities of the needy, He shares his academic stipend with the needy. he was the more fervent because they are enjoined by divine command, and enlarge the spaces of charity, and merit the favour of the supreme Judge. The stipend earned, therefore, by his academic labours he shared every year with the needy: a slight part being reserved for himself for sustaining life; the rest he paid out in various uses of the poor; now buying garments, now shoes, and laying it out on the other necessities of want. He had advanced so far, lastly, in showing mercy to the poor that he would strip himself of the necessaries of life and body in order to come to the help of their want. It was usual with him, and had altogether passed into custom, that if he saw one of the needy coming to meet him without shoes, he would take off his own and cover the other's nakedness; he himself, unshod, would return home covering his nakedness with his cloak let down to the bottom of his feet.

[19] He covers a poor man with his own cloak. At one time, when passing in the street he had found a poor man covered with snow and trembling in all his limbs with the sharpness of the cold, moved with mercy, he bestows on him his own cloak (first using care that the deed might not be seen by anyone); fulfilling that which the Truth commanded through John: He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none. Returning home, while he persisted prostrate in prayer, the Mother of mercy herself, the most blessed Virgin, deigned to visit him and to refresh him with her most delightful countenance; wonderfully praising this so great work of mercy bestowed on another's calamity, and she restored to him that very garment with which he had covered the poor man's nakedness. There was fulfilled abundantly in the holy Man that divine promise: He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him his recompense.

[20] [Once sitting at table, he wonderfully receives back his portion offered to a poor man.] This too was a most clear proof of his soul poured out lavishly on the poor. The holy Man was reclining at table, and with him some sons of nobles committed to his care and instruction: and when he had distributed pieces of meat to each, he took the last for himself (for he then still ate meat), when behold, the voice of a poor man asking alms sounds; he orders at once his own portion of meat to be given to the poor man. His table companions do not cease to wonder, and to mutter among themselves, and even anxiously to inquire, solicitous what he would eat: at length, unexpectedly, the divine power bestowing it, they see, all being astounded, that very piece of meat placed back on the table before the holy Man; which he, receiving it with joy as provision sent to him from the storehouse of divine providence, having given thanks to God, refreshed his strength with it. Truly he cast his care upon the Lord, and He nourished him.

[21] Hence arose the custom of the professors of feeding a poor man every day. And this miraculous specimen of divine retribution, by which God then rewarded in the Saint the beneficence shown to a poor man, gave the beginning, and was an incitement, to a certain new and memorable holy custom to be kept for the future. For the fathers and professors of the greater college, moved by that spectacle, decreed that they should have a poor man, or Christ in the form of a poor man, as companion at their table, to be fed daily from their allowance, by a law never to be changed: which law and custom is religiously kept up to now. And if it happens that a poor man comes to the doors of the place in which the professors take their meals, at once one of the professors' boys, to whom this business has been assigned in turn, runs out to him who presides at the table, announcing in these words: A poor man comes. He, receiving it with veneration, answers: Christ comes. Soon alms are given to him with charity. From this fountain of kindness too there flowed a pious foundation, procured from the private means of certain professors, for clothing poor persons every year.

[22] He miraculously restores a broken pot and spilled milk. This too was a miraculous work of mercy of the Venerable Cantius, that when a certain maidservant, returning home from the market, was carrying an earthen vessel full of milk, she suddenly fell before his sight, while he was hastening to the church of St. Anne: from this accident, when she sees the vessel broken and the milk spilled, she begins to lament with weeping. The Venerable Cantius, moved by her tears, with which she was complaining of her mistress's severity, orders her to gather the shards and give them to him. She gathers them and holds them out to the Saint: a wonderful thing, at his touch the vessel is made whole. The woman, because the milk was still wanting, does not cease from weeping; therefore the Venerable Cantius again bids her draw water from the neighbouring little river called the Rudawa, which washes the walls of the city. She draws it, trusting in the Saint's merits: and behold, she sees the water turned into the purest milk. So she returns home joyful, proclaims the miracle, and praises the power of God in the holy Man ^a.

CHAP. IX.

[23] The holy Man was also honoured by the Lord with the grace and dignity of prophecy. He foretells a future conflagration in the city of Kraków. For when at one time a fire which had broken out was bursting into the street of St. Anne with balls of flames, and raging against the buildings, and devouring the goods of many, pitying so notable a calamity of men, when he had scarcely turned to implore the mercy of God, he suddenly sees a man in the flower of age and shining with very great light, St. Stanislaus, Bishop of Kraków, who bids the Saint be of untroubled mind, promising that the violence of the fire would not advance further; but enjoins on him to announce to the whole people that there would shortly be a far graver conflagration. He foretold it, inviting all to bring forth fruits worthy of penance; but since they heaped new crimes upon their old offences, the just indignation of God proceeded to inflict that punishment which had been foretold by the holy Man; for a violence of flames was let loose which could not be restrained ^b, and laid waste no small part of the city.

ANNOTATIONS.

Chap. V. Certain more notable men contemporary with Blessed Cantius, and his labours in the university of Kraków.

CHAP. X.

After the labours of his profession had been completed, and after the incense of his most sweet prayer had been offered to God, Men renowned for holiness contemporary with Blessed Cantius, he enjoyed, rarely indeed in body, but always in soul, the company of the most holy men who lived in his time: and from converse with them, or from the mere remembrance alone of the purity of their life and of their sublime merits, he burned with the warmth of divine love. Kraków shone at that time as though girt about and illuminated on every side with most bright luminaries; while that splendid star Blessed Świętosław, by office a Mansionary in the church of the Blessed Virgin set in the market-square, admirable for perpetual silence, illumined it ^a: and while that most splendid luminary, Blessed Simon of Lipnica, in the church of the Friars of the Observance, stretched forth upon it the rays of seraphic charity and holiness ^b: and while Blessed Stanislaus of Kazimierz, of the Order of Canons Regular, from the church of Corpus Christi scattered the poured-out light of integrity and innocence of life: and while Blessed Isaiah, of the order of hermits of St. Augustine, sparkling like a most bright star with the highest virtues, poured light into thee: and while Blessed Michael, of the order of St. Mary de Metro, like a starry lamp, fixed in thee the light of his uprightness ^c. Why should I not say even now? That thou art not only irradiated by these splendours, but walled round by their most holy relics, as by most firm bulwarks, against all the assaults of the enemies of soul and body? Blessed art thou, if thou acknowledgest thy happiness, and if thou showest thyself grateful to God for so great a benefit: and if, fleeing to the protection of the Saints, thou wilt imitate the examples of their virtues. And these most holy men the excellent Man made so much of that in the silent thought of his mind he judged that he would be supremely blessed if he could attain even the least part of their holiness, and be admitted into the fellowship of the eternal reward.

CHAP. XI.

[25] It has pleased me to subjoin here a brief catalogue of the labours, The labours of Blessed Cantius in the university. and to set forth as a mirror those with which the renowned Cantius acquitted himself in his academic station. The academic function of teaching is committed to no one to be exercised publicly unless he has been decorated with some honour obtained from the praise of his talent and from letters, and, having taken the oath of promoting the common good, has been co-opted into the bosom of the professors. Having therefore obtained the first degree and the first laurel in philosophy, as the old matriculation tables testify, in the year from the Virgin's childbearing MCCCCXV,

in the fifteenth year after the first ^d foundation of the university of Kraków . Having completed the two years which according to the prescription of the laws must be spent both in the study of philosophy and in the contests of lectures and disputations, in the year of salvation MCCCCXVII he received the doctorate in philosophy: at length he was twice ^e elected dean of the philosophical faculty, VCZT in the year MCCCCXXXII and in the year MCCCCXXXVIII. Which office is conferred on no one except for singular learning proved by many arguments; and it belongs to that office, besides the resolutions of questions in natural philosophy (to which he is bound every day), to preside over all the disputations which are held publicly twice in the week, as their supreme moderator and arbiter. Having finished the course in philosophy, admitted to the theological faculty, he toiled in it for the space of five years, grasping with the highest labours the various grades in this faculty prescribed by the laws. At the last he is distinguished with the doctoral laurel ^f. This dignity having been conferred, he began to think that he was invited to meditate on the law of the Lord, to break and dispense to the little ones the bread of heavenly wisdom: to overturn the chairs of pestilence: to rout the monsters of vices from the hearts of men, and to establish the tender minds of the faithful in the purpose of religion and the virtues. And lest, while preaching to others, he himself should be found reprobate, he decided to fortify himself, as a minister of God, for receiving the illumination of the knowledge of God and for keeping it, by perpetual abstinence from meat enjoined on himself, by frequent exercise of meditation, and by the institute of a stricter life ^g. In which office of what sort his efforts were it is not difficult to divine, since we retain the Commentaries on St. Matthew ^h written by his hand and digested into three volumes. We retain also a book of Sermons, with which he announced at Kraków the word of life, the mysteries of salvation, and the admonitions necessary for obtaining the promise of heavenly glory.

ANNOTATIONS.

All these are praised in the following poem in Putanowicz, in the life of Blessed Cantius:

Cantius and Simon, Giedroyć, Stanislaus, Boner, Świętosław together in the city of Krak live as heavenly souls. A happier age and lot has scarcely befallen another place. The city nurtured citizens, the university made them learned; that they should become Saints, whose is the greater glory?

Further, he who is here called Giedroyć is the same as Blessed Michael, whose life John of Trzciana published in the year 1544, and which may also be read with us at the 4th day of May in the acts of the same Blessed illustrated by Papebroch Ibid., vol. I of May, p. 552 and following.. The Acts of Blessed Stanislaus, a Pole, Lateran canon regular at Kazimierz near Kraków (so in the Title), of the Order of St. Augustine, Fr. Henschen gave in the Appendix to the first four days of May Ibid., vol. I of May, p. 779 and following.. Blessed Stanislaus died in the year 1489, and accordingly survived St. John Cantius by almost sixteen years. His day is kept on the 3rd of May. Lastly, he who in the praised little verses is called by the family name Boner is called Isaiah in Opatowski, of whom I have found no mention among us.

* the fifteenth

* namely

Chap. VI. On his passing from this life to the immortal one, and his burial. Miracles.

CHAP. XII.

When now the excellent Man saw himself broken by years and labours and vigils and fasts, The death of Blessed John Cantius. and saw the tabernacle of his body languishing with various infirmities, and already foresaw that the day of his dissolution was at hand; he turned himself wholly to preparing a christian departure for his soul: whatever of things necessary for the preservation of life he had still kept, he distributed it all to the poor: at length, bathed in tears, he expiated his sins by sacramental confession, and strengthened himself with the life-giving refreshment of the body and blood of Christ, intent with all the powers of his soul, by elevation of the mind, upon the author of life and the bestower of the greatest benefits. Lastly, the other sacraments having been duly received, in the presence of the fathers of the college ^a, he gave up his most pure soul to God and the most blessed Virgin, and fell asleep most joyfully in the Lord, in the year of salvation MCCCCLXXIII, on the 24th day of December, on the vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ ^b. His body was honourably buried in the church of St. Anne (which is the parish attached to the university, lying opposite it ^c). Thus the venerable Cantius, as in life he was renowned for many virtues and miracles, so also after death he grows renowned, while the divine mercy comes to the aid of very many imploring his help on account of his merits. For to many dead he obtained life, to the blind sight, to the lame walking, and to those oppressed with various infirmities and placed in the greatest necessities, health, relief, help and consolations, and up to now he obtains them. Our Lord Jesus Christ accomplishing all things, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit through the infinite ages of ages is God glorious and blessed. Amen.

CHAP. XIII.

[27] After his spirit, loosed from the bonds of the body and clothed with the robe of immortality, Burial. was admitted to the everlasting fellowship of enjoying the Godhead, God did not suffer his sacred ashes to lie hidden ingloriously; but willed them to shine with very many and continual miracles, as seals affixed of his will and most evident pledges of love, by which he might attest his holiness. The frequency and greatness of which brought it about that his sacred relics, which had lain buried under the pulpit of the church, raised and washed and enclosed in a little tin chest, were translated to that place which is seen wrought of cut stone with elegant work and art, showing to be seen a statue of the Saint lying before the image of blessed Anne ^d.

[28] The fame of the miracles. The fame of these seems to have pervaded and filled even more remote regions: so that Marcus Antonius Sabellicus, in volume II, Ennead X, book IV, in the description of Poland, thought him to have been enrolled in the catalogue of the Blessed. For so he says: "The capital in that nation is the city of Kraków on the bank of the river Isluta, with a celebrated university of all the liberal arts." And a little below: "Hyacinth, companion of Dominic of Calahorra, laid at Kraków, and Cantius, formerly doctor of the university of Kraków, both brought into the number of the Blessed," ^e. But what these are we meanwhile keep silent about, until they shall have been approved by the judgment of those to whom this business has been committed: a summary of them, however, which Matthias of Miechów made, of those with which God illustrated him in his times, we subjoin in his words: "From the day of his death, moreover, up to the year of the Lord MDXV, eighty-three persons oppressed with various sicknesses were cured on making a vow: of those with fever, thirteen: paralytics, five: truly dead restored to their former life, sixteen: almost dead and given up for lost, six: frenzied, six: one demoniac freed: beasts of burden dying, a vow having been made for them, two healed." And to these far more others followed, especially in the year of salvation MDCIII, which was the year of Jubilee in Poland, under Pope Clement VIII, when, in the restoration of the sepulchre, which seemed to be collapsing from age, inquiry had been made about the place in which the sacred pledge rested, at once, one or two bricks having been dug out and removed from the pavement, the coffin shone forth, breathing a most sweet and most fragrant odour, with various miracles performed ^f. "But these and the rest, which even after the edict promulgated by the Lord Commissaries, that by the power delegated to them by the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Martin Szyszkowski, bishop of Kraków, most desirous of the honour of the Saints, the patrons of his nation, they should look with diligent examination into his life and miracles: after, I say, this edict of the commission was promulgated, the admirable deeds which divine power has worked even in these days, if God shall assent to our wishes, we shall make public. That He may kindly grant this to us, in this supplication, which we offer to God at the tomb of the divine Man, let us beg with most ardent prayers that He may will, what we uniquely desire, to associate him by the judgment of the church to the order of the Blessed, the business of the examination having been happily dispatched."

Let thy saints exult, O Lord, in thy glory, let them rejoice in their beds. Psalm 149. And blessed be the name of thy Majesty for ever. Psalm 71 ^g.

ANNOTATIONS.

of his birth and about the year of his death, as also about the age of Blessed John Cantius. Nay, Opatowski himself is not consistent with himself. For in the Polish life of the blessed Man, which he published in print four years after the Latin, he writes thus according to the version of Fr. Boym: "He fell asleep blessedly in the Lord his God in the year of the Lord one thousand four hundred and seventy-one, on the 24th of December, on the vigil of the birth of the Son of God in our flesh; in the 83rd year of his age."

THE MIRACLES OF THE VENERABLE JOHN KANTIUS,

by Adam Opatowski.

John Cantius, presbyter and confessor, at Kraków. (S.)

BY AD. OPATOWSKI.

FIRST PART.

Of the miracles with which the Servant of God was renowned from his death up to the finding and opening of his tomb.

PROLOGUE.

The concealing of miracles, a mark of an ungrateful soul; Not to acknowledge, nor to set forth into the public light, the wonderful works of God with which he illumines his servants and favours the people from whose midst he has chosen a Saint for himself, is to be reckoned among the first marks of ingratitude. This the royal Psalmist deplores: "We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity." Ps. 105 And why? "Our fathers in Egypt understood not thy wonders; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercy." And a twofold crime was contracted in this; the one, that they did not recount the wonderful works of the Lord; the other, that, the knowledge of so great signs of the Deity towards them having been buried in oblivion, by the mere memory of which they could have been called back and held back from crimes, the Jews were nevertheless moved not at all by such great benefits. The same Psalm further breaks out into its wishes when it exclaims: "Who shall speak the powers of the Lord, shall make all his praises heard?" This ingratitude and this defect dries up, or rather stops up, the fountain of divine kindness which pours itself forth largely. Let there come into our mind the demand of the Nazarenes to our Saviour for the working of miracles in his native soil, to whom it was given for answer: That no prophet is accepted in his own country. They looked upon the poor nativity of Christ, and so esteemed God-made-man the less, did not receive his saving doctrine, and accordingly did not seem likely to give credence to the miraculous prodigies either. That incredulity held back the kind will of Christ from working graces in that place. So it still for the most part happens that God shortens and contracts his hand, otherwise inclined to miracles, because a certain hidden and secret incredulity springs up, and ingratitude itself, when you do not celebrate and proclaim the heavenly gifts. Rightly and deservedly, therefore, … (a word is wanting) shall I use, as I approach these things, the discourse: if we wrap in silence the admirable graces which God pours forth through the interposition of his servant Blessed Cantius, and bury them in the darkness of ignorance, it will not be possible for us to be without grave guilt and crime.

[2] wherefore they will be treated here at length: And if this enumeration and description should seem to anyone too prolix, let him remember the command of the Saviour to the apostles, when with five loaves he had satisfied five thousand men, that the very fragments should be gathered up lest they perish, which indeed sufficed to fill twelve baskets. It is our concern, therefore, to gather together not only the more notable miracles, but also the lesser ones, as certain fragments and crumbs of the divine kindness, and not to permit their perishing. For every single gift of the divine benefits is worthy to be retained in human remembrance, by which even the little ones, especially those who with the Canaanite woman liken themselves to the little dogs under the table of their Lord, may live and be fortified; rightly persuaded that no beneficence of the liberal God is slight. And therefore they do not demand miracles after the manner of the faithless nation of the Jews, accounting it in place of notable miracles if they are worthy to experience the least help of grace in their afflictions and necessities. I would wish they would reflect, and turn over in their mind at times, how sometimes a slight hurt and little wound, or the restlessness of some inflamed pustule, creates lamentable weariness, prostrates the strength, and afflicts and depresses one otherwise most robust. Then, if it were granted to him to be so blessed and happy that, from invocation and entreaty addressed to one of the saints, he should feel and experience himself first suddenly relieved, then also freed from the evil of the disease by which he was beset, how would he not doubt to place this divine kindness towards himself, through the intercession of his Saint, among the miracles; how much grateful acknowledgement would he offer to that Saint for this grace, and proclaim his merits? Let no one, therefore, despise any grace obtained by others and judge it slight because he himself has been further removed from a like necessity. Lastly, he who does not report small things among those received is surely not worthy of the greater signs of heavenly munificence.

[3] The miracles recorded by the Rev. Mr. Matthias, with his Preface. We shall begin, therefore, the description of the miracles from those which were written down by the Rev. Mr. Matthias, doctor in canon law and at that time parish priest of St. Anne's (for in the year one thousand five hundred and thirty-five the Provostship with the deanery and canons was erected by the foundation of the executors of the Rev. Mr. Michael of Lublin, doctor in law), and are diligently preserved in the same church. From his preface, which I shall set down, it will not be difficult to learn in what year they began to burst forth, and what reasons moved him to write. "Preface of the Rev. Mr. Matthias, doctor in canon law, parish priest of the church of St. Anne. Although it has been provided by the prohibition of Pope Alexander III that no one should dare and presume to venerate as a Saint any mortal, though shining in life and piety with the illustrious marks of the virtues and after death flashing with miracles at his remains, or to solicit him by prayer and invocation for the necessities by which he might be pressed, until his holiness should be approved, asserted and promulgated to the whole world by the Roman church, which is the head and mother of the rest: nevertheless, since to reveal the works of God, according to the edict of the archangel Raphael, pertains to the glory of the Deity, I, Matthias, though unworthy, doctor in canon law and parish priest of the church of St. Anne at Kraków, in the year from the incarnate Word 1475, dreading the punishment of my silence, since I hear Isaiah lamenting, chap. 6": Woe is me because I have held my peace: "because I have kept silence from recounting the works of the Lord, and have abstained from proclaiming his mercies, which the royal Psalmist commands to be published, Ps. 76:" Recount the mercies of the Lord, "and before the sons of men" announce his wonders. "I have decided, therefore, lest their memory should fall away, both for those who in course of time are to preach them through the churches, and for those who shall be born after them, to consign the knowledge to the pen, that it may thus be ascertained by all what graces, what wonders the almighty mercy of God has worked through the merits of the venerable John Cantius, doctor and professor in the sacred page, for men of various condition in grave diseases and afflictions, coming to their aid with most present help and solace. And I pledge and promise that I shall write down those things which I myself received from their mouth, and which they deposed on oath before me and other witnesses beyond all exception, and which, being entreated, I published openly in my sermons ^b."

[4] A woman healed of quinsy, with her grandson. In the year, then, named above (1475), on the Monday following the feast of the Visitation of the Mother of God [c], a certain Lady Zagorowska, coming, lawfully asserted that, having suffered a grave inflammation and swelling of the throat (it is commonly called quinsy), with an intolerable sense of pain; having moreover an only grandson by her daughter dangerously ill, she conceived a vow that, if she were restored to health by God the best and greatest together with her grandson, through the intervening merits of the venerable John Cantius, she would visit his monument; and at once, when she had come with difficulty to the sepulchre with her grandson, both she and her grandson recovered; having given thanks to God, she went away joyful.

[5] Cured of a disease of the feet and eyes. On the same day and at the same time the Lady Barbara Strzesowa, then living in the house of the princes of Masovia, afflicted with a grave splitting of one foot and as it were a certain perforation of the bones, there being added also to this evil a pain of the eyes, as soon as she bound herself by a vow of visiting the sepulchre of the Venerable Cantius, the pain of the foot and of the eyes soon vanishing, was restored to perfect health.

[6] A nun is cured in both feet. On the following day, which was Tuesday, a certain professed virgin, a nun at St. Andrew's, tormented with pain, both her feet being inflamed, fled to the help of Blessed John Cantius. When she had caused the sacrifice of holy mass to be celebrated in the church of St. Anne, and in it had presented her vow to God through the merits of Blessed John Cantius, she felt herself fully released from her pains; and therefore, in sign of the benefit received, she fixed up feet of wax.

[7] A child freed from fevers; On the Thursday within the octave of the same Mother of God visiting Elizabeth, a certain woman from the street of St. Stephen had a little boy seized with a most burning fever and therefore given up: but a vow having been conceived of having a mass said at the sepulchre of Blessed John Cantius, and of offering a little son modelled in wax, she rejoiced that her little boy had suddenly recovered.

[8] a woman from pain of the eyes. On the same Thursday, a woman of Kazimierz ^d, surnamed Zydkowa, tormented for a long time with pain of the eyes, having heard that mercy was shown by the Deity to those who implore him in their necessities with undoubting confidence in the merits of Blessed John Cantius, or even sometimes with this wavering, chose to bind herself by a vow, and to venerate the sepulchre of the Venerable father Cantius with her visit, and immediately recovered in her eyes, and, grateful for this benefit, offered a wheel of wax and eyes modelled in the middle of it.

[9] A convulsion of the foot removed. On the same day still, another woman of Kazimierz, seized with a grave disease, having suffered incredible distractions of pains in her foot, immediately after the vow made of visiting the sepulchre of the Venerable Cantius was restored to health, and, waxen signs having been hung up there, she returned rejoicing.

[10] A swollen and numb foot recovers its vigour. On Saturday, which had fallen on the 8th of July, the Lady Ursula of Kraków, widow since the death of Mr. Eustace, notary of the same city of Kraków, asserted on oath that on the day sacred to St. John the Baptist she had fallen into a sudden infirmity of the foot, which had so swollen the whole foot that she lost the use of it, and on account of the incredible torment could in no way move from her place. Therefore, as soon as she had bound herself to visit the sepulchre of Blessed John

Cantius by a vow, and moreover to hang up waxen signs of the foot, she immediately recovered her health.

[11] A woman freed from a grave disease. On the eleventh of July, the Lady Anne Morawianka (from) Kazimierz, through the whole winter and spring up to the present month, an ill-health wandering through her whole body, was so failing in strength that she could not raise herself from her bed. Moved by the renown of the miracles which by divine kindness, through the merits and intercession of the Venerable Servant of God, had brought present help to various persons, with great devotion and confidence she promised that she would go to the tomb of Blessed Cantius for the sake of veneration, and would appear there grateful and present with the holy sacrifice of the mass. At once her weakness began to turn for the better, and in a short time she left her bed. And not only on this single occasion, but on several, she went to and frequented the place of Blessed Cantius with devout worship.

[12] Healing from madness. The same month was running its course when the Lady Dorothy, a citizen of Kraków, from the shoemakers' street, saddened for two weeks with so great an ill-health that it both carried her away from herself and induced forgetfulness of her very senses, promised, present to herself, that she would venerate the place of the remains of the Venerable father Cantius, and would bear witness to it with a candle and the sacrifice of the mass to the praise of God: she obtained full and entire health.

[13] Sight is restored to a matron. On the same days of the same month, the Lady Anne, bereft of her husband, surnamed Kind and Podzubek, seized with an intolerable pain of the eyes, which on account of the torment she could neither open nor, if she opened them, reach anything with her sight, from the promise made of going to the sepulchre of the Blessed father John Cantius soon began to be relieved, and recovered her former sight unharmed.

[14] Healing of the eyes and of the hand. A little after, the same month not yet ending, J. Magdalena Winarska, likewise suffering gravely in her eyes, and moreover enduring a certain continual distraction of the hand, implored Blessed Cantius, binding herself by the will of going to his tomb. And she went, and duly confessed the benefit which she received in the healing of her eyes and hand.

[15] A matron helped several times in various pains. Likewise the Lady Morsztynowa, a widow, from the Vistula street, on a certain night, oppressed with a grave and dangerous suffocation, and moreover with pain in the breast, her free breathing being cut off, was thinking of the other life. Her daughter cried out and exhorted her that, mindful of herself, she should commend herself with her customary devotion to God and to the merits of Blessed Cantius. Which when she had done and promised a visit to the sepulchre, she rejoiced that she had at once received divine help and her former health. The same lady asserted that three times, in a threefold disease, she had felt the present help of the servant of God. Once in the same year from the feast of the three Kings, when she was experiencing a truly troublesome pain of the head: again in the pain of a foot most gravely inflamed and swollen, and therefore with the nail too lost. Moreover she affirmed on oath that immediately after the death of the Venerable John Cantius she had perceived a certain interior sense of soul concerning his great holiness and merits before God: therefore, when she was suffering from a pain of the head, and from it a languor of the whole body, half a year having already elapsed since his death, she went, as far as her strength allowed, to the church of St. Anne on the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul at vespers in the year 1474, and went round the altars, praying on her knees at each for gaining the indulgences. She had bent (her knees) also at the tomb of the Venerable Cantius, and soon, the Lord's prayer having been said once, she perceived a miraculous relief and even removal of her infirmity. And so, flooded with huge joy, she returned to her house.

[16] One near to death recovers. On the seventeenth of July, a Sunday, Peter Szocha, from the Royal Bridge, fixed to his bed for four weeks, having lost also the appetite for refreshing himself, so that he admitted absolutely no food, and judged himself next to death. As soon as he promised the Deity that he would devoutly go to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he fell into slumber; waking about the middle of the night, he felt himself unharmed. And therefore, going to the church of St. Anne, in memory of the benefit received he hung up at the place of the sepulchre a breast and head modelled in wax.

[17] Healing of the stone. On the eighteenth of July, the Lady Shelagova from the Castle street had a boy of five years who was tortured every day with the pains of the stone, and filled the house miserably with his wailing. Accordingly, one day, when the stone was wounding the bowels of the little boy, howling tearfully, the sad mother, falling on her knees, offered him to be presented at the sepulchre of the servant of God. And immediately the boy ceased from his wailings, and by the grace of the Deity was freed from that disease.

[18] A twofold cure from fever. The penalty of silence. A certain lady, wife of George Rothgizer ^e, from the Castle street, was struggling with various pains. For a pain of the head, spreading, flowed down into her eyes, thence to the throat, which it occupied: moreover a continual fever burned up her whole body. Accordingly, a visit having been made to the sepulchre of the Venerable John Cantius, released from all pains and diseases, she obtained health. But because she buried the beneficent grace in silence, and neither published it nor caused it to be published, on the next day she was seized with a far more vehement fever; and when she had already been burning with it from the third hour to the eleventh, considering the cause of this fever, she recognized that it was her ingratitude alone. Again, therefore, she offered herself to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and at once released from the fevers, going to it, having procured the celebration of the sacrifice at that altar which was nearer the tomb, she gave thanks to God, and asked that this miraculous grace of God, which she had experienced through the intercession of the Venerable Cantius, should be openly promulgated in the church.

[19] Deliverance from a deadly pain of the head. On the twenty-second of July, a Friday, Mr. Henry the German, a servant in the salt-works of Wieliczka, had fallen into that infirmity of the head which made his life altogether doubtful; having been duly provided with confession and the other sacraments, he was awaiting death. Then, the memory coming to him of the frequent help shown by Blessed Cantius to those who invoked him, scarcely had he almost promised that he would visit his sepulchre, when behold, he was restored to his former soundness.

[20] A boy recovers from his agony. On the same day Mr. James the chest-maker, from the Chest-makers' street, was lamenting with his wife their little son of three years, already in his agony, who bore no drink or food. They vowed, therefore, that they would piously go to the sepulchre of the Venerable Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, together with their little son, and God consoled them: for the little son began to recover and to take food; then he was also restored to full health.

[21] Cure of a mole. Still on the same day a certain woman from the parish of St. Stephen in the suburbs, having suffered an infirmity in the belly which is called a Mole, and therefore, the appetite for refreshment being lost, wasting away day by day, and many physicians and remedies having been applied in vain, conceived a vow of visiting the place of the remains of the Venerable Cantius, with the sacrifice of the mass and candles. At once she began to be better, and, frequenting the visit of the tomb in the course of four whole weeks, she testified that she was recovering entirely and escaping her wasting, and that she gladly ascribed this to the merits of the Venerable Cantius.

[22] Sight restored. On the twenty-third of July a certain woman of Kleparz was for five weeks seized with such pain of the eyes that she now saw nothing. From the vow conceived of going to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, soon, her eyes being opened, she began to use her sight, and, deprived of the pain, was restored to the keenness of her eyes.

[23] Foot and hand are healed. It was the same day when, to the same Rev. Mr. Matthias, doctor in canon law and parish priest of St. Anne's, as he descended from the preaching pulpit, a certain woman of Myślenice testified that, a vow having been made to the sepulchre, she had at once been freed from pain of the foot and hand, and on the whole journey which she had measured out to Blessed Cantius she had experienced no pain, especially in the foot, and that she asserted this in conformity with the dictates of conscience.

[24] A girl out of her mind is restored to her senses. It was the twenty-third day of July. A certain virgin of Prądnik, having become bereft of mind from the feast of the Holy Trinity up to the Sunday following the day of St. Alexis, fell into a certain madness and frenzy, by which she became exceedingly troublesome both to her household and to those joined to her by blood. She would even run out of the house and wander about various places. Her brother, moved with compassion for her, seeing her such that she resembled a wild beast rather than a human being, and wishing for her the use of a saner mind, judged that he must flee to the divine help, which alone is at hand for diseases and for health. Accordingly he implored also the mother of mercy, the Mother of God, in the image of Częstochowa ^f illustrious for miracles; but in vain, God and the blessed Mother of God Mary herself reserving this glory for Blessed Cantius. He, however, was by no means sluggish; he went to various churches, having made a pilgrimage also to St. Catherine's, begging mercy for his sister with ardent prayers and the multiplied celebration of sacrifices. But not here either was it granted him to experience the help which was assigned to be conferred by Blessed Cantius. Accordingly, having heard of the renown of the miracles and the frequency of graces for consoling the wretched at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he decided that he must go to it with his sister; and he carried out what he had vowed. He went to the sepulchre, implored the help of Blessed Cantius with ardent prayer, and by the kindness of God that virgin, bereft of mind and mad, was at once fully restored to herself and to the use of reason, from which she had fallen, by the intercession of this Blessed Father Cantius; for the grace of which benefit may she render perennial praise to God!

[25] An infant healed. From the same Prądnik a certain John had an infant, still hanging from the breasts of his wife, who, suddenly seized by the force of I know not what disease, for four whole days could not be put to the breasts, and was held as given up. But the sorrowful parents, roused by the recent admirable healing of the virgin in their very neighbourhood, with great faith offered him at the sepulchre to Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the holy mass; and at once the infant began to recover, nay fully recovered.

[26] A cow revives. On the same day, that is the 23rd of July. A certain poor widow from the village of Czyrzyn had three children and one little cow, by which she was fed with her children. This little cow, falling down from I know not what evil blast and gathering its last breath, was preparing to die. Which the poor woman noticing, that the nurse of herself and her children was about to expire and would leave them in hunger, on her knees bowed to the ground, weeping abundantly, she vowed that she would visit the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with a living victim; soon that little cow rose up and began to crop the grass.

[27] A like benefit. Very like this a miracle was worked in the village of Taniach: for when two cows had died in the manor, and the third was faring badly; a certain woman who was in service in that place likewise promised that she would go to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the living cow, and at once that cow was restored to its former strength ^g.

[28] A blind woman is given sight. A certain person, being in the service of the nuns of Blessed Agnes, incredibly tortured in her eyes and head, from the Tuesday of Easter up to the 12th of July distinguished absolutely nothing; and therefore there were several who asserted that her sight would never be restored to her. On a certain day there appeared to her, half awake or half dreaming, a Man venerable with mature gravity, all bathed in most beautiful light, and in his appearance representing a physician, addressing her in these words: If you visit the church of St. Anne and the place of my remains, you will recover; and from this vision she experienced a singular lessening of her pains.

But she put off from day to day carrying into execution what she had promised, and had revealed this vision to no one; and therefore the pain which she had lost again attacked her head and eyes. Then she binds herself by a vow of visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and that with the holy sacrifice of the mass; which having indeed been heard, she was most perfectly freed from the torment of her eyes and of her head.

[29] To a woman brought to extremities St. Cantius appears, and heals her. Moreover, a certain one of the women, from the parish of the church of the Blessed Virgin at Kraków, struggling with various fevers, and tossed for more than eight weeks with daily symptoms, and those most grave, was so weakened that she was estranged from herself, and did not distinguish the faces of those who came to her, otherwise well known to her. She, one morning, as devoutly as she could, implored the help of Blessed Cantius for her soundness. Accordingly, as she fell asleep while praying, there appears a Man conspicuous for great age, all shining with rays, who, having disclosed his name, addressed her thus: Rise and go to the church of the Blessed Virgin, and in it hear the sacrifice of the mass: thence you will hasten to the deposit of my relics, which is seen in the church of St. Anne, and there devoutly, with your mind raised up to heaven, you will say fifteen times the Our Father and Hail Mary, in honour of the torments of the Saviour of the world, and so you will be restored to health. Which when she had carried out, through the grace of the Deity she immediately came out unharmed. The same Blessed Father in this apparition of his admonished the woman that this benefit should be published to men; and moreover that there would be no one who, infirm or afflicted, should implore him, or, straitened by any other necessity, should invoke him, who would not bring back effective solace.

[30] A master of arts near to death is healed. On the last of July, a Monday, Andrew Gora, master of arts and doctor of philosophy, living in the Bursa of the Poor, was afflicted for fifteen days with a cruel fever; having suffered repeatedly rigors and chills, at length he was so exhausted and weakened by a flux of the belly that he judged himself next to death, especially since he could not even form words. Accordingly, confession having been made, he besought his confessor to conceive some vow to Blessed Cantius, to the discharging of which he would be willing to bind himself. The confessor did this excellently, and the sick man perceived a miraculous change for the better, proclaiming it a signal working of God, since at one and the same time both the burning fever was extinguished and the flux of blood was stayed; and on the third day, falling on the third of July ^h and a Tuesday, ⁱ he went to the church of St. Anne supported by his own strength, and gave thanks to God that, rescued at the merits of Blessed Father Cantius from infirmities so dangerous of losing his life, He had presented him with miraculous soundness.

[31] Pain of the bowels removed. On the fifth of August, a Friday (Saturday), George Rothgiser [k], from the Castle street, had been convulsed and tortured in his bowels for some years. He applied counsels and medicines, but all in vain. From the vow conceived of visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the holy sacrifice of the mass he experienced a singular relief of his torment. He neglected, however, to fulfil what he had promised: hence a little after the torments broke out again more troublesome than the former ones. Accordingly, recalling that ingratitude was the cause of this evil of his, and the punishment of a neglected vow, all delay being cast aside, he ran to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, devoutly attends the sacred mass, and is soon deserted by his torments, and obtains entire health.

[32] Pain of the head and teeth driven away. On the ninth of August, a Tuesday (Wednesday), on the vigil of St. Lawrence, the wife of Nicholas Czapnick, from the Vistula street, harassed for a whole week with pains of the head and teeth, admitted no food, and moreover her head had swollen. Hence she feared lest she should suffer from the disease of madness. Accordingly, as soon as she promised that she would reverently go to the place of the relics of Blessed Father Cantius with a sacrifice and a sign of a head formed of wax, soon on the same day she felt herself relieved from the pain and able even to eat.

[33] A broken hand is restored to wholeness. Still the same day saw the beneficent Blessed Cantius. A woman, a cap-maker, on the day of Blessed Magdalene, by misfortune, falling carelessly to the ground, broke her hand, which, swollen, could afford her no use. On the Sunday she went, as well as she could by her strength, to the church of St. Anne, and, prone on her knees before the most holy Eucharist, a firm confidence having been roused in herself, most devoutly besought the Deity that, taking pity, through the interposed merits of Blessed Cantius, He would free her from imminent beggary and the uselessness of her hand, again and again recalling that she was poor and needy, and could not procure her living with one hand; she vowed moreover that she would place upon the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius a hand formed of wax. Wonderful to say, she had not yet rested from praying and risen up, and already the pain and the swelling had vanished, and she saw, cheerful and rejoicing, her hand restored to vigour, and so, solace having been received, thanks having been duly paid to God from her heart, she withdrew.

[34] A fever removed. On the tenth of August, a Thursday (Friday), the feast of St. Lawrence, a woman of Wieliczka, as soon as she offered for the visiting of the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius her little daughter of eight years, burning for nine weeks with a continual fever, at last degenerating into a tertian, as they call it, at once the latter appeared free from these diseases.

[35] A similar case, and ungrateful delay punished. On the eleventh of August, a Friday (Saturday); the woman Ruklanska, from the Fishermen's suburb by the Tanners' street, burning with fevers for three weeks, had at last for three whole days admitted no food. From her offering of herself by a vow of visiting the monument of Blessed Cantius she was at once freed from the disease. But because she put off fulfilling what she had promised, she began to struggle more gravely with a relapsing evil: accordingly, the scourge of her ingratitude being recognized, she promised again that, creeping on her knees and hands, she would visit the church of St. Anne and the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius; she did so, and entirely recovered her soundness.

[36] A shoemaker freed from a huge pain of the head. On the thirteenth of August, a Sunday (Monday). Peter, a Shoemaker from the parish of St. Anne, was suffering from an intolerable pain of the head; and on the Tuesday, or the eighth of August, at night he had been seized with such a sense of pain that he feared for himself lest his eyes should be moved out of their seats, and then, on account of the vehemence of the torment, which persisted, he should die. Accordingly, rising from his bed as well as his weakness allowed him, and with his knees set on the ground, he promised that he would visit the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with bare soles, and in attestation of the benefit received would hang a waxen head above it, if the merciful Deity should will to free him from that pain. And when he had not yet raised his knees, the torment was relieved. Accordingly he asked that this should be published to men, and that at the same time he should be helped by them in returning thanks.

[37] One struck mortally by a horse is delivered. On the sixteenth of August, a Wednesday (Thursday), the Lady Margaret Skrzydlowa, from the street of St. Anne, coming to the sacristy of St. Anne's after the divine offices had been completed, asserted on oath that, she being present in the new city of Korczyn ^l and very many others worthy of credence, it had happened on the day of St. Stephen: that when a certain man sitting on a horse was pressing it with drawn-in reins and spurs, the horse, preparing to throw its rider, and leaping about in various ways, at last, raising its hind feet, struck a youth of the Ruthenian religion, who had not yet been initiated by baptism, on the breast behind the heart, so that he presently fell to the ground most like a dead man, and lay so for more than four hours. More than forty men ran up, who, looking at him, all judged him lifeless; there were the signs, because the pallor of a corpse took possession of the body; likewise coldness, the ceasing of the beating artery; moreover no breath could be detected at the mouth. And since it was so, that crowd of bystanders began to beseech the named Lady Margaret Skrzydlowa to offer him at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, which had begun to be celebrated for miracles, so that it might please the merciful God, through the interposed merits of His Servant, that he should be restored to life and health. Lady Margaret, moved by their vehement and constant petition, on her knees bowed to the earth, with tearful eyes, with unshaken and undoubting faith and hope, promised that if God would restore him to her alive and unharmed, she would venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius together with that youth with the holy sacrifice of the mass and a heart modelled in wax. Scarcely had she conceived and uttered this when the youth first raised both hands crossed in the form of a cross, and, his eyes being opened, rose up by his own strength, yet formed no word until the setting of the sun. This youth was thirteen years old. That same evening, however, he walked like a sound and quite healthy man, ate and drank, perceiving no hurt or sense of pain in his breast; nay he asserted that he was as well as if he had never received any blow. On the third day after, namely Friday, the same Lady Margaret brought this very youth and adolescent, strongly in health, to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and, standing by her promises, the holy sacrifice of the mass having been heard with him, ascribing the benefit received to God alone, she hung up there a waxen heart with a candle.

[38] An infant drowned in a tub revives. On the 24th of August, a Thursday, the day of St. Bartholomew, the Lady Ursula Wielizka, daughter of Raciborski (from) Kleparz, had handed her infant of half a year to her husband, who was bathing in a tub for the sake of his health, for the sake of pleasure or of washing: it was the 19th day of August. Meanwhile a certain languor had seized the father of this infant, so that in a swoon, forgetful of himself, he let the boy whom he was carrying in his hands down into the tub; and he himself, raising himself at the edge of the tub and considering, without any memory of his son, was collecting himself. Meanwhile the mother ran up; not seeing the infant, she thinks he has been returned to the cradle; and when she does not find him there either, she hastens to her husband sitting in the tub to inquire about the infant. And behold, she sees the infant in the tub, raising himself upward with his feet, but touching the bottom with his head. She snatches him from the waters already dead, except that she saw some foam still clinging to his mouth. Most sorrowful and most afflicted, she lays him on the ground and beseeches God to free her from the great guilt of a slain son. And the renown of the miracles of Blessed Cantius presenting itself to her, how much solace they had brought to the afflicted and to the despaired-of affairs of many, casting herself on her knees, she offered her dead boy, with the sacrifice of the mass and candles and a waxen image of an infant, if indeed God would console her, at the merits of His servant Blessed Cantius, with the life of her son revived. Scarcely had she finished these words when the infant began to cry and wail, and so he who was already dead had revived. Accordingly, on the named day of the Apostle Bartholomew, she visited the church of St. Anne and the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with her vows, and rendered thanks for so great a benefit to God the best and greatest ^m.

[39] An infant born dead receives the use of life. On the fourth day of September, a Monday, the woman Servatczyna, after long torments, had at last brought forth a dead offspring. And when the infant had lain delivered for more than two hours, and neither uttered cries, as is wont to happen, nor showed any other sign or likeness of life; the women present most devoutly conceived a vow that they would visit the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the infant and the sacrifice of the mass, if at his intercession He would pour back the soul into the boy, and permit him to be brought to the sacred font. They had not yet uttered these words; the boy at once cries; and then, baptized, by the grace of almighty God he enjoys the use of life up to now.

[40] A madman is restored to his senses. On the tenth day of September, a Sunday, a certain youth from the village of Węgrzce, belonging to the virgins of Staniątki, coming to the church of St. Anne, at the very withdrawal from the preaching pulpit confessed to the Rev. Mr. Matthias, parish priest of the same church, that from the vehemence of a certain disease he had fallen into madness (the same Rev. Mr. Matthias had previously, on the past Sunday, noticed in him signs of madness, while he was being led to the church), and that from the vow made and the holy sacrifice of the mass at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius he had returned to himself, and had not further fallen away from the use of reason. The same, for this benefit, gave thanks by hearing two masses at the altar nearest to the relics.

[41] A woman freed from various diseases. On the eighth of October, the Lady Margaret of Sącz, sick for two years, at length, made subject by various attacks of diseases to certain swoons, was estranged from herself. Having heard of the renown of the graces towards those who had stretched out suppliant hands to Blessed Cantius for solace, she vowed that she would visit his sepulchre with the holy sacrifice of the mass and a candle if, on account of the merits of His holy Servant, she should recover. By the wonderful kindness of God she was suddenly freed from her diseases and torments and swoons.

[42] A man healed of quinsy. A certain man of Skała had his throat beset by the disease which they call quinsy, on account of which for four days he could not pass even liquids, nor speak a single word. Entering into himself with a contrite heart, he offered himself at the monument of Blessed Cantius, beseeching the merciful God that, His Servant interceding, he might not be allowed to die unconfessed. He suddenly, by the merciful kindness of God, began to recover his health.

[43] An infant revives. On the eighth of October. On a Sunday, certain parents (from) Krosno, most sorrowful, prostrate on their knees and weeping abundantly, vowed to carry to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius their only infant of five weeks, very dear to them, suddenly seized with a disease and held as already extinct (for they saw him livid and cold in his whole little body, without motion and breath), on this condition (a waxen figure of the little son and a sacrifice of the mass being also added), if they should receive solace from God in a living little boy. At once the infant began to breathe, and, as though he were shaking off sleep, to cry and move himself, and showed no further sense of pain or disease ⁿ.

[44] A priest freed from a dangerous disease. In the year of the Lord 1476. The Rev. Mr. Provost of Vivarium, fixed to his bed by a grave infirmity full of danger, of seven weeks, admitted not only no food but not even any kind of drink, being moreover abandoned by the physicians. A certain nun offered him at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, which he would venerate in person as soon as his strength after the disease would allow him. On the same day he began to recover, to drink and to be refreshed with food. A little after he went to the church of St. Anne, and, a Mass of the Most Holy Trinity having been read, rendered thanks to God.

[45] Another priest recovers from a long disease. The Rev. Mr. Stanislaus, parish priest of Poręba, cast down on his bed by a long ill-health, when he had been offered at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius by a certain woman seized with compassion for him, that if by the will of God he should obtain a longer life, he would present himself at the sepulchre with thanksgiving by the sacrifice of the mass and a candle; suddenly began to return to his strength, and himself within a few days went to St. Anne's and paid his thanks; and likewise through his vicar sent two pounds for candles.

[46] A father healed with his two sons. The Rev. Mr. Pawski, noble of birth, advanced in age, while he was staying on his patrimonial estates, had fallen into an infirmity of the feet, and his two sons, whom he had begotten when married before he took the priesthood, lay dangerously sick. He made a vow that he would venerate in person the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with his sons: and both the father and the sons, freed from their diseases, fully rendered these vows to God.

[47] A noble youth released from a malignant fever. A certain noble youth of Podłęże, burning for a whole year with a continual fever, his bowels injured, his strength lost, was next to the fates. His grandmother bound herself before God that she would venerate the remains of Blessed Cantius with this grandson of hers if the kindness of God, in consideration of the merits of His Servant, should present him with his former soundness. At once the fever left him. Accordingly, having undertaken a journey of 20 miles with his grandmother, he paid his vow and his thanks to God at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius.

[48] A woman suffering for five years from a flux of blood is healed. A certain citizen of Kraków from the Vistula street, belonging to the parish of the Blessed Virgin, through the inexperience of midwives was so injured internally that she suffered from a continual flux. Hence, although she used the least drink, it flowed back in double measure. But since she could be helped by no counsels of experienced women attendants, by no remedies of physicians, long sad and weary of life, her husband's disgust also being added, at length she implored Blessed Cantius, and promised that she would venerate his relics. At this vow the flux stopped. But since, ungrateful, she had neglected to carry out her promises, she relapsed more gravely into the same evil. She confesses, therefore, the omission of the vow: the priest says he will not give her absolution except after the promise has been fulfilled. She fulfilled it, therefore, and by the grace of God brought back admirable solace in her healing.

[49] The use of her eyes is restored to a woman. In the same year, on the 17th of February. Anne, a citizen of Kraków, living by her small shop, suffered for half a year from blindness of the eyes; she discerned absolutely nothing, since her eyelids had wholly stuck together. At a certain time, returning from the sacred rites, from the place called Skałka, she began to turn over in her thoughts with herself that she would gladly go to the relics of Blessed Cantius for the sake of veneration, if through his merits it should please the divine majesty to present her with the former use of her eyes. Immediately, while she had not yet returned home, her eyes were miraculously opened, so that she clearly distinguished all things, and she returned home joyful. But she paid the penalty of the neglected obligation by a repeated blindness, which, however, she dispelled too by the vow and obligation renewed, and confessed the benefit before the Rev. Mr. Matthias, parish priest of St. Anne's, and Martin of Goszków, public notaries then sitting together. And she added: "I altogether believe and firmly profess that this Blessed Father is a saint and of great merits before the Deity, a present help and the solace of the afflicted; since he mercifully helped and consoled me, given up and deprived of my eyes."

[50] An admirable healing of a broken foot. A certain man of the order of St. Dominic, of the monastery of Oświęcim, related on oath before me, Matthias, priest and doctor of S. Scripture and parish priest of St. Anne's, and others worthy of credence: When one day, by the express will of his family, he was being carried in winter with his superior in a vehicle by two horses along snowy roads to visit his parents, when they were beyond Koszyce, and a descent truly difficult for them remained from a certain hill: the superior, fearing some dangerous fall, ordered him to mount one of the horses and, the reins being drawn in, to moderate the descent slowly. As he is preparing to do this, the horse strikes him gravely in the breast with its fore feet, and in its course beats him back under the vehicle, the superior in vain pulling back the horses with the reins. So, dragged most sadly for almost half a stade, he broke one foot in two places, at the knee ^o, so that the bones lay open, and at the sole, so that the toes seemed to have been brought round to the heel. And had not some pious man by chance met them, who stopped the impetuous course of the horses, that religious would have breathed out his soul under the vehicle in that narrow place. Accordingly that good man, when he had brought the religious, put upon his horse, to Koszyce, commended him to a surgeon. But ten weeks having been spent there in vain, no plasters and industry profiting, having moreover suffered extraordinarily sharp convulsions for two weeks, his strength broken, his orexis (appetite) lost, at the last he was pronounced by those who visited him as given up and next to his fates. One certain citizen of Koszyce was found who gave him this counsel. "How far you are from the extremes you yourself see well enough. The world lacks remedies with which it may restore you. You have still the Blessed doctor Cantius in the church of St. Anne, than whom no one is more experienced in perils and in those already given up to death; of which thing I can be a clear witness. I had so injured my foot with an axe that it was little short of being cut off; with much expense and surgeons I laboured in vain to be restored; moved by the renown of the miraculous help of Blessed Cantius towards the afflicted, immediately from the vow I began to be better, and in a short time I brought back a most full healing of my most gravely and deeply injured foot." The religious heard these things, and, the strength of soul and body being gathered, his heart raised to heaven and the Lord's prayer recited, he bound himself that he would visit and offer to almighty God the thanks of a holy mass of the Most Holy Trinity, if indeed it should be granted him not to be lame, and to be restored to his former health by the merits of Blessed Cantius; and moreover, with his superiors assenting, that he would hang up a crutch with a candle by his foot. Scarcely had he finished these words when immediately he felt the inflammation with the convulsions notably recede; and the turned-away toes of his foot regained their seat within one week; and the bone of the shin grew sound; and so he was restored to himself that he needed no support for walking. Accordingly, grateful for this healing, he joyfully discharged the vows which he had promised.

[51] Likewise a religious relieved of pain of the eyes. Likewise a religious, coming from the Easter feasts, asserted that some weeks before Easter he had suffered an incredible pain of the eyes, that four times blood had trickled from them drop by drop; but when he had offered himself at the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, he had begun to be relieved of that pain, and then in a short time freed. Thanks having therefore been returned to God through the sacrifice, he asked that this benefit should be published to men. He showed also his eyes to those who were then present, who detected only a single bloody spot in the left eye. This religious called Blessed Cantius truly a notable Saint, of great merits before God, and a wonder-working healer; and he professed that he would in no way omit to proclaim such benefits.

[52] A certain man immersed in the waters of the Vistula is rescued. Mr. Nicholas of Mologoszcz, returning from a wedding with very many of both sexes in winter over the frozen Vistula, and leading by hand from his horse a hunting dog, by an unhappy accident, the ice being broken, fell into the waters together with the horse and the dog, was being carried off by the force of the waters, and was plainly given up for lost. Certain noble women, set down safely on the other part of the bank, leaping from the vehicles to the ground, conceive a vow in his name, that if the kindness of God should snatch him unharmed from death in the waters, he would remain bound to visit the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the sacred sacrifice of the mass. And behold, while they and very many others were watching, by the very same hole, he leapt up onto the solid ice altogether unharmed, and that with his horse and hunting dog; confessing openly that he had been thrown out by a certain powerful and unknown force. The same man had satisfied his vow at Kraków: but because he had kept silent about the admirable benefit, and had not reported it to those whom it then concerned, he was thus punished. The business having been dispatched for the sake of which he had come, he had mounted his horse unharmed; when he wishes to be carried by it, the horse falls down, and suffers from some evil. On account of urgent business, he changes and hires another horse, and this one, once its rider has mounted, cannot move itself. He begins to prick it with his spurs; the spurs, otherwise strongly applied, come apart

and fall off. But he himself too perceives that he is unwell and is held back in a prodigious manner. On that day, therefore, he stayed in the inn, turning over with himself the occurrence, and its origin and foundation, and he noticed that the silence about the miracle had merited all these things from God. On the next day he returns to the church, and professes that he was preserved in the order in which we have related, and accuses his imprudence and simplicity, which had held him back from publishing the benefit. Accordingly, some days after, carried unharmed from Kraków on his own horse, he did not cease to be a herald of the divine praises in Blessed Cantius, the preserver of his life.

[53] Strength restored to the feet and hands. A certain citizen of Kraków, residing in the hospital of the Holy Spirit, had lost all use of her feet and hands, so that she could neither support herself on her feet nor was able to dress herself, needing for these things the dutiful charity of others. Having heard of the renown of the benefits which God was conferring on the afflicted at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, relying on the merits of the servant of God, turning these things over with herself with great confidence, she conceived a vow: O most happy me, if by my own strength I should go to venerate the tomb of this blessed Father, and should offer him this honour with the sacrifice of the mass. She turned these things over in her mind, and noticed clearly that she could use her feet and hands. And on Friday, the fifth of July, she goes to St. Anne's without supports; she presents herself without the supporting hands of men, exultingly proclaims the greatness of the benefit, and asks that it be published everywhere; and with the same cheerful fervour of spirit, her soul glowing, she pays devout thanks to the Deity.

[54] A suffocated infant revives. On the nineteenth of July, a Friday, the Lady Anne from the suburb of Kraków, wife of the potter called Herszt, related on oath with many witnesses that on Thursday, which was the eighteenth of July, going away from home to sell earthenware vessels, she commended to her husband's care the infant of almost half a year sleeping in the cradle. But while he was held back by his work, it happened that another little boy of five years, wishing to cover the infant as she was taking sleep, having thrown a pillow too violently over her face, suffocated her. Meanwhile about midday the mother returns, and, struck by the unhappy accident, (seeing) the infant suffocated, falling sorrowful on her knees with her husband, she vows that she will present her alive at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and promises moreover a sacrifice of the mass. Two hours had not yet elapsed (when) the beat of the heart began to be perceived, and at length the divine mercy restored the infant to life. Yet on that day the infant could not be suckled at the breast, except from midnight. Accordingly, on the nineteenth of July, going with the unharmed infant to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius and kissing it, they discharged their vows and thanks at the sacrifice of the mass, and asked that this benefit should be promulgated to men in the sermon [p].

[55] A foot broken for a year and a half is restored. On the twenty-eighth of July, a Sunday, a certain Martin (from) Kleparz resided in the long street. He, bringing down from the upper part of the house a sack of wool of 14 stones, had advised his helper to hold it back while he himself descended the steps step by step. The helper, unequal to holding back the weight, let the most heavy sack slip from him, which, carried downwards with the greatest impetus, * also threw Martin down the steps, and broke the knee in his leg, so that he could neither rise, much less walk. Hence he was carried home by two men. He suffered, therefore, great pain, and was deprived of the use of the broken leg. If he had to go anywhere, he would gird up the injured leg with a linen cloth hanging from his neck, and so with the other foot, supported by crutches, he would creep along. He treated the injury with various plasters, and kept the knee moist, fearing at length lest it should dry up; and so, sorrowful and in pain, he had lived a year and a half, at length losing hope of recovering his health. But when he recalled the frequency of admirable graces with which Blessed Cantius was present to the afflicted who devoutly invoked him, moved within, on bended knees he did not hesitate to bind himself by a vow that, if God would preserve him from beggary, and would deign to console him with the healing of his broken leg, he would devoutly return thanks at the remains of Blessed Cantius. These words being finished, while he raises himself from the ground and leans on his crutches, the crutches slip of their own accord from his hands, he stands firmly on his feet, and in the same hour, delaying not at all, with sound feet, without supports, he runs to St. Anne's, and, thanks having been given from the heart, in memory of the benefit he hung up the supports above the tomb of Blessed Cantius, not ceasing everywhere before mortals to proclaim that the benefit had been conferred on him by the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[56] A man snatched from approaching death. A certain man (from) Bochnia, affected with a long and grave infirmity, when he gathered, from I know not what signs, that he must die on the following day, fortified with the sacraments, in order not to make trouble for others on account of his death, himself, as far as his strength allowed him, having washed his body, put on the mortal shirt, and was now turning over only those thoughts which could help him to a blessed departure. Meanwhile this voice glides down to him: If you have a desire for health, promise that you will visit the church of St. Anne, where at my tomb you will be presented with entire soundness. He gladly made the vow, and afterwards fulfilled it, and obtained the promised health.

[57] A girl drowned in the Rudawa revives; On the twenty-seventh of September, the day of the Translation of St. Stanislaus, a certain subject from the village of Mydlniki, named Gregory, with his wife, having found the only little daughter whom they had, of three years, through carelessness, without their knowledge, drowned in the Rudawa [q] flowing by, vowed that he with her would venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and bear witness with a sacrifice and candles. Scarcely had they fully conceived these words when the merciful God consoled them: for the girl, cold and still full of water, began to yawn as people are wont to do after sleep, and to cry. On the same day of St. Stanislaus they bring their little daughter, restored to life, to the church of St. Anne, and beg the preacher, who was still occupied with the preaching of the word of God, that he would be willing to be the herald of this benefit too to the multitude standing round in crowds. He did what he had been asked, and all praised the kindness of the Deity in the merits of Blessed Cantius [r].

[58] likewise an infant suffocated in bed. It was plainly the same day and hour when, to the Rev. Mr. Matthias, parish priest, as he came down from the preaching pulpit, a certain citizen of Skalbmierz [s] relates that his wife had through carelessness suffocated the infant lying beside her *, and, when she woke, found it extinct; but that, when she had suddenly vowed that they would approach the tomb of Blessed Cantius with devout veneration, she had received the highest consolation in life suddenly restored to the infant. And since he insisted that this benefit should be made known to the people for the increase of divine praise, the parish priest, the preacher, had to mount the pulpit again. The people heard these things, and with tears and voices rendered thanks to God that it had pleased Him thus too to honour Blessed John Cantius.

[59] A woman blind and contracted in her hands is restored to health. A huge pain of the eyes had taken away the sight of the Lady Margaret Piltza for seven weeks; moreover a contraction of the hands shrank from the least labour in her. She vowed that she would venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius if she should obtain even a slight sight. At the same moment she received both the keenness of her eyes and the use of her hands such as she formerly enjoyed. She gave, therefore, the thanks which she owed, and fixed waxen signs of the eyes and hands above the tomb.

[60] A paralytic is healed. On the fifteenth of October, the day sacred to St. Hedwig, Mr. Albert, a citizen of Dobczyce, touched with paralysis, could neither speak nor walk, and lay in bed like a dry trunk for twenty-three continuous weeks. It happened that, descending into the depth of his soul, he conceived such a vow: Most merciful Deity, who, inclined by the merits of Blessed John, raisest up and consolest with prodigious benefits men afflicted and laid low by diseases, deign to grant me the sight of thy ineffable majesty, and look upon me oppressed with this grave infirmity. But if it shall have so pleased thy divine will, at the interposed merits of the venerable John Cantius, console me with thy help, and present me with my former soundness. And I, when my strength shall allow, will visit his tomb and sing immortal thanks to thee. Scarcely had he unfolded these words when he began to recover and to regain the use of his tongue and feet. Accordingly a little after he went to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and himself openly, in plain words, the people filling the church (for it was the time of Jubilee), confessed the benefit with raised voice, and showed his hands and feet firm to all. And approaching the place of the remains, with the highest devotion he pressed it with kisses and embraces, and amid tears offered up praises of thanks to the merciful Deity.

[61] Pain of the feet removed. In the year of the Lord 1477, on the fourteenth of January, a certain citizen of Olkusz was suffering from a truly cruel pain and convulsion of the feet, and for sixteen weeks could not stand on her feet. It came about, with her assent, that she was offered by her friends at the tomb of the servant of God, that if she recovered she would be bound to visit it and show herself grateful to the divine goodness. From this vow conceived she was released from her torments, and was able to walk on her feet, and then came out fully unharmed.

[62] An astounding expulsion of the stone. On the twenty-second of January, John Pociask, innkeeper of Luborzyca, was so tortured with the stone that it injured and bloodied his inward parts and took away his walking. He wished to cure the evil; but, many medicaments having been applied at Kraków, he could not obtain even an alleviation of the evil. A student from the Bursa surnamed Jerusalem, passing and spending the night in the inn, was the author to him that, if he should obtain health, he should promise that he would honour God by visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and that by creeping to it on knees and hands, and attesting his gratitude by a sacrifice paid for. Scarcely had the innkeeper uttered these words when at once, without sense of pain, the stone fell out, and so, Blessed Cantius intervening as intercessor, he was freed from his torments.

[63] A girl freed from an inveterate and most acute evil of the foot. On the seventh of May the Lady Margaret, a citizen of Grabów, a widow, had a wretched daughter of sixteen years, whose whole shin of the leg had swollen with the highest torment and appeared discoloured like a firebrand; for nineteen weeks she could not move from her place by her own strength. A venomous matter had eaten through some parts of the flesh, and although it flowed out as through fistulas, bringing out with it a quantity of hairs of various wild beasts and animals, it brought no alleviation, as is usual; moreover it also loosened bones and sent them out through those fistulas, and they were of considerable size. And in this state she lay for nine weeks almost without sense: sometimes, the most acute pain boiling up, she gnashed her teeth; at other times she appeared most like one dead; scarcely any sign of pulses flashing in the artery. Since neither did any medicines profit her, nor did the imploring of several Saints bring help, she was given up and lamented by all. The most sorrowful mother, remembrance having been made of the graces with which Blessed Cantius had consoled so many wretched, healed the infirm, even raised the dead; vowed that she with her daughter would be bound to the worship and veneration of his admirable sepulchre, if the divine kindness would deign to console her in her most afflicted and most tortured daughter. These words were followed by the benefit of the powerful Deity, and it showed in what place His Servant was with Him: for at the same moment the daughter raised herself from her bed as from a sepulchre, began to use her feet as the unharmed are wont, and to advance day by day with a firmer step. A little after she venerated the remains of Blessed Cantius with her mother, grateful to God, and as signs of her healing the bones which had formerly come forth flowing through the fistulas

she displayed, which easily equalled the fingers of the hand. The daughter, when she was duly examined, narrated the same most fully, as we have related.

[64] Blindness removed On the twenty-ninth of June, a certain woman from Czarna Wieś (the Black Village), adjoining the suburbs of Kraków, appeared in the church of St. Anne, relating that for four years she had been afflicted both with pain of the eyes and with privation of sight, and had thought that she would have to live altogether so until her death; but when she had offered herself with great faith at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and that with the sacrifice of the mass, she had experienced the pain to be mitigated and then to vanish, and with whole eyes, which the pain had closed, she had beheld the light of the sun. She asked that the promulgation of this benefit should be made: for it was a fitting day, sacred to the apostles Peter and Paul, and so she paid her thanks to the divine kindness.

[65] Pain of the foot healed. On the thirtieth of June, a certain torment was racking the foot of the Lady Margaret Rzanczyna, a citizen of Kraków, about the ankles, which being swollen, she could use no stocking for a whole year, although pus flowed from it. From the vow made to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius she was at once freed from the pain and the swelling and the discharge. And she professed that this benefit had befallen her chiefly because she implored the help of the servant of God with undoubting confidence in his merits.

[66] Sight restored. On the twentieth of July the Lady Helen, a citizen of Kraków, hung up in the church of St. Anne above the tomb of Blessed Cantius a female image formed of wax, and related that for fifteen years, all hope of sight being lost, she had lived blind. Moved by the fame of the graces with which Blessed Cantius helped those who invoked him, with notable faith and increased hope, she said that she would bring worthy worship to his sepulchre if she should be delivered from her now inveterate blindness. Then the divine goodness, with which there is no respect of persons nor difference of sex, which looks rather upon the human heart, and the confidence in itself and in its dear servants, when she was visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius and invoking him with her vows, presented her with sight. And she proclaimed before all mortals that her eyes had been entirely restored to her not by human force but by divine benefit, through the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[67] A dying man recovers. On the same day Bartholomew, from the suburbs of Kraków called Kawiory, burning with fevers for almost a year, and racked by them with pain of the head and other evils which he could not even explain, one night fell into those languors from which it was natural for him to judge that the last time of his life was now near. Meanwhile he hears this voice: Bind yourself by a vow to go to the church with the holy sacrifice of the mass, and through the merits of that Man whose body rests there obtain soundness. Like one awakened and collecting himself, he bound himself according to what he had heard, and by the admirable grace of powerful God he was most sufficiently freed from the fevers, pains and very many other evils. Accordingly he asked insistently that the benefit which he had received should be plainly promulgated to the mortals coming together for the preaching of the word of God.

[68] A burning fever extinguished. On the twenty-sixth of July, the day sacred to Blessed Anne, a woman surnamed Cieslina of Sabcastia was burned with fevers for twenty-four weeks. She had once gone to the church of the Bernardine Fathers to implore the mercies of the Lord; and lo, she is suddenly overwhelmed by an incredible swoon, so that she imagined that the whole vaulting of the church was about to fall, and so, gathering her strength, like one disturbed in mind, she burst out of the church, remembering nothing, went back to her house and threw herself into bed; admitting no food, no drink, she seemed to lie out of herself. During the rest of a certain night she seems to herself to see the appearance of a certain very distinguished Lady, who, approaching her bed, addressed her thus: How long, or until when, will you occupy this bed? Why do you not rise, and hasten to my church? For it has been decreed that, through the interposing merits of the new and recent holy doctor John, you shall be presented with soundness. But beware lest you neglect to see to it that this benefit be promulgated to the very numerous people at the sermon by the heralds of the word of God. Accordingly on the next day she rose up strong, and duly carried out every vow that had been commended to her.

[69] Feet strengthened, eyes healed. A certain lady, wife of Gregory of Kleparz, had a granddaughter of four years, entirely deprived of the use of her feet. Bringing her into the church, she bade her, after the manner of others, imprint kisses on the sepulchre of the servant of God. She herself meanwhile doubted within herself of his holiness and turned over such things: Surely he has not yet been enrolled in the canon of the Saints; how then is he a Saint? The granddaughter, after the kisses given to the sepulchre, began somehow to be raised on her feet and to walk; but having collapsed several times she failed. Moreover, seized with pain of the eyes for some weeks, she was most troublesome by her wailing not only to her grandmother but also to the household and neighbours. The grandmother, therefore, having recovered a better belief concerning the merits of the holy Man, offered her with the sacrifice of the mass at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius; which when she had fulfilled, she beheld, rejoicing, her granddaughter both sound in her eyes and walking on her feet, and gave thanks.

[70] Pain of the eyes removed. The Lady Martha of Niesiechowice, a noble woman, with a continual torment of the eyes for four years, still enjoying a slight sight, when she bound herself to visit the church of Blessed Anne and the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, obtained full illumination of her eyes.

[71] A husband with his wife freed from various diseases. On the twenty-second of August Mr. John, a native of Silesia, was afflicted for nine years with grave pain of the feet and acute twisting of the bowels. His wife Anne too was suffering from a long infirmity. Both, having heard of the admirable works of God through the merits of Blessed Cantius, distrusting nothing on account of the age of the evil, with raised soul, full of faith and hope, promised that they would honour the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass. The vow having been brought to execution, both, having obtained soundness, joyful and exultant, celebrated the kindness of the Deity towards them.

[72] A blind woman given sight. On the thirtieth of August. A woman from the parish of the Blessed Virgin, tortured in her eyes for twenty weeks, and for ten discerning absolutely nothing, bound herself by a vow to visit the tomb of Blessed Cantius, celebrated for miraculous benefits. When she fulfilled what she promised, she obtained what she desired. For, present at the sacrifice of the mass and invoking the help of Blessed Cantius at his remains, she was presented with illumined eyes.

[73] Leaping down from a high place of a castle, and dead, he revives. In the year 1478. On the twelfth of May, the Tuesday of Pentecost, Andrew, a youth of fifteen years, in the service of the magnificent Lord Christopher Szafraniec [t], from the Dog's Rock, as they call it, was frequently beaten for his slackened care of a blackbird and a parrot committed to him. It happened in the absence of his lord, by the fault of forgetfulness, that those birds died of hunger. Hence the lord, returning and learning the matter, in anger orders rods to be got ready and the youth to be shut in his chamber. The youth, choosing to perish (rather) than, as he suspected, to be subjected to a cruel chastisement, leapt out of the chamber of the castle built above the rock, and, dashed against the hard rock, was killed. The height, moreover, of the chamber from which he had leapt stood out from the rock by ninety measures, which a man otherwise tall would equal ninety times with his arms stretched out. The fall having been perceived, the lord, accompanied by servants, ran straight from the castle to the youth, and found him lifeless and swollen. Sad in a wonderful manner, prone on his knees, he speaks out in these words: Most beloved holy father Cantius, to thee I commend him, doubting nothing of thy merits. For he had heard of many things which he had performed, and also that a girl leaping from this castle, for I know not what cause, from a place not so high, had been restored to life, having been offered dead at the tomb. Accordingly, so sad, some interval of time having passed, approaching the corpse of the dead youth, he raises it and moves it this way and that. Wonderful to say: the youth opens his eyes, then yawns, as those are wont to do whom sleep is leaving. Then, asked whether he was held by any sense of pain, he says no, except a slight one in his side. He raises himself, and accompanies his lord like the rest. Who could explain the joy of the lord, which dispelled all his sadness? He extolled the divine omnipotence with praises, and incessantly proclaimed the merits of His Servant. On the next day a statue of the youth is modelled from the wax which could be sought out in the whole castle, with which the youth is sent to the tomb of Blessed Cantius. Likewise a cord representing the measure of the height which we have described: thanks are asked to be made, and the series of the whole miracle to be narrated to the numerous people.

[74] One out of his mind is restored to his senses. On the twenty-first of May, the feast of Corpus Christi, a certain man surnamed Szyffer, having been made bereft of mind, even went mad, and afflicted very many with many vexations, inflicting blows and stripes on those who met him, and using stones for protection as such persons are wont; offered by his friends, moved with compassion for him, at the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, he at once returned to himself and to the use of reason. Accordingly, to fulfil the vow he appeared carrying a candle in his hand, and asking that thanks be made to God for this benefit which he had received. He still bore indeed a pale face, but by speech and actions he showed himself altogether in possession of perfect reason.

[75] A woman killed by voluntary hanging revives, A certain citizen of Kraków, in the Shoemakers' street belonging to the parish of St. Stephen, was dragging out a most calamitous life, very frequently beaten and defamed by her husband, who would by no means allow himself to be taught by the apostle that one must condescend more gently in many things to the weaker vessel; but, the least occasion offering, he would show in her no slight signs of his cruel mind, and on the twenty-fourth of May, which fell on the Sunday of the octave of Corpus Christi, having shaken her fiercely, he even shut her in the chamber and fastened it with a bolt. Since he had done this in the morning, in his anger he at length returned home not at midday but in the evening. Meanwhile the wife, loathing the calamitous use of the light, the cacodemon, the sworn enemy of our salvation, thrusting himself into her thoughts, seizes a rope procured by her on the Saturday, throws it over a beam, and at length, her neck having been put in, hangs herself, and thus ends her unhappy life more unhappily. A certain neighbour, when she wondered that neither came out, since no one had answered her knocking, looked inside through I know not what lattice. She sees the woman hanging from the beam; she is terrified, cries out; calls the father of the household and the neighbours. These cries and din brought many. The doors of the chamber are broken in by force; they cut off the new and most strongly twisted rope, over which they groaned that their neighbour was hanging, and lay her down livid and cold in her whole body. There were present certain ladies (matrons), roused by that spectacle, who, cast on their knees, offered her to be presented at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, if by his merits the merciful Deity would grant her even a little of life, whereby she might expiate the past, and then this guilt of life taken from herself in an unspeakable manner. And behold, the woman moves her feet, then raises herself, but very languid, so that it was at once necessary for her to be supported by the arms of two women, and so, at the 22nd hour, while the Salve Regina was being sung, to be led to the church of St. Anne and to the very tomb of Blessed Cantius. O admirable work of the divine mercy, which deigned to incline to the salvation of the lost soul of this woman! O most full bowels of thy compassion, how shall we proclaim them, Blessed Cantius, who, as while drawing the common air with us thou didst bring help to the afflicted, so also, having obtained the glory of the Blessed, dost not cease to be a solace to the calamitous. These things were done

before a very numerous people. Moreover that deadly rope was brought and shown for three days above the top of the tomb, and lastly put away on one side among the other monuments of the beneficence of Cantius [u].

[76] likewise a boy fallen from a height, On the fifth of August. The little son, three years old, of Mr. Nicholas, a citizen of Kraków, stretching out his hand in a window of the house towards a fan placed higher up, fell down into the street paved with stones, from a height of more than forty cubits. Dashed against it, he was shattered; his teeth fell out of their seat, his face could scarcely be recognized for the bruising and swelling. The boy was laid on the ground, but lifeless and extinct. The sorrowful parent, with the other women present at that time and place, rushing on her knees, bathed in a copious shower of tears, offered him at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, if indeed it should please the divine will to grant this solace to her in her affliction. At once the boy revived, and on the fourth day, which was a Sunday, he was presented in good health at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, although the swelling and lividness of his face had not yet wholly departed. We, desiring to be made more certain, having taken with us men worthy of credence, went to the house, looked at the place of the fall and its height, and, the father of the household and those living with him having been called, ascertained that the matter had happened as we have related [v].

[77] as also a newborn infant. The same mother who received back alive her boy dead from the lofty fall confessed before the same witnesses employed for this act that two weeks before the mentioned fall she had given birth to a little son dead, in whom for two hours passing no signs of life could be detected. There were present then some ladies, who, when they had cast themselves to the ground on their knees and conceived a vow with the sacrifice of the mass to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, the dead boy revived; washed in the sacred font, he still survives at this time among the living [y].

[78] A withered hand healed On the same day. A certain woman Catherine, from the town of Cudecz, distant twenty miles from Kraków, for half a year had her right hand subject to grave pains and convulsions, so that for whole nights no part of rest was granted her to take, and the right hand itself almost withered, and came out darkened like a coal. Moved by the fame of the miracles of Blessed Cantius, going on the day of St. Stanislaus to the Castle church at Kraków for obtaining the jubilee, she also visited the church of St. Anne, and, prone on her knees at the remains of Blessed Cantius, amid tears and the other signs of a devout soul, bound herself by a vow that if the Deity, Blessed Cantius interposing himself, would deign to console her and restore to its state her right hand, withered and suffering pain, so that it might be equal to labour and work, she would dedicate, grateful, to the glory of God whatever it should be permitted her (herself) to earn with this right hand. Thus disposed and full of faith, she laid her withered and aching hand upon the tomb, and at once was freed from the convulsion and pain, and fully restored to the desired health. Accordingly she stood by her promises, and willed that what she acquired by spinning should be offered at the sepulchre for the hearing of a mass with thanksgiving. That woman, however, was not one who needed the labour of her hands; for by the blessing of God she abounded with great herds with her husband Świętosław, but what she had proposed to herself for honouring God she carried out devoutly and humbly.

[79] A flux of blood is stayed. A certain citizen of Wieliczka was exhausted for two years by a flux of blood. As much with the strength of her body, so much also with the expense of her goods, she laboured at a cure. At length Blessed Cantius was invoked by a vow of visiting his sepulchre. And he indeed, this having been completed, dried up the flowing fount and restored the woman to her former strength.

[80] An infirmity of seven years cured. The wife of the master of the conduits at Kraków was ill for seven years in her feet, head and eyes. The long duration of the evil creating a loathing of life, she still professed that the Blessed can do much with the Deity. Among these Blessed Cantius seemed to her to shine, who bestowed day by day unfailing benefits on those who fled to him. To him, therefore, she commends her health, and promises that she will honour the tomb with the sacrifice of the mass. She fulfils what she vowed, and obtains the health which she desires.

[81] One crushed by a beam revives. On the twelfth of August. Stanislaus Kossemberski, a citizen and merchant of Kraków, while he was looking at his building, by an unhappy accident, crushed by a huge beam falling from above, scarcely breathing was carried to his house by the hands of his household. The Rev. Mr. Nicholas, preacher of St. Mark's, who was present at this misfortune, fearing lest he should be extinguished by an unexpected fate, with bended knee offered him at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, which was to be honoured by him if he should survive among the living, and he would return thanks by hearing a mass. Accordingly two weeks after, as soon as he recovered, he satisfied this vow, because he had not been crushed by sudden death under the beam.

[82] A fourfold benefit. On the twenty-fifth of August Mr. John Zydek, a citizen of Bochnia, went to the church of St. Anne with his wife and two small children, carrying four candles in his hand, and beseeching that thanks should be rendered to the divine goodness by four sacrifices, answering to as many benefits conferred on him by the intercession of Blessed Cantius. "And first, when my two little sons had been dangerously sick, and had lost the faculty of forming speech, and, next to death, would suffer no food or drink; and moreover for some days lay half-dead, all judging them given up; when we, the sorrowful parents, had vowed that they, made sound by the merits of Blessed Cantius, should be presented at his sepulchre, they suddenly recovered as though they had been subject to no disease. Then to these two graces another succeeded; for half a year ago, my wife giving birth to a dead son, when the merits of Blessed Cantius had been implored by the ladies present, that at least he might be washed in the font of baptism, the dead son began to betray by his crying the life given him, and, lifted from the font, survived half a year. Fourthly, his mother, most gravely sick and lying four days without sense and in agony, from the vow conceived to the sepulchre and the sacrifice promised, began to return to a better state of health and obtained her former health [z]."

[83] Healing of the palate, throat and tongue from pustules. On the twenty-sixth of August. The Lady Clare Kominska, a citizen of Kraków, sixty years old, rich and wealthy with mercantile gains, and moreover pious, who also had a son a priest at the church of St. Magdalene, was beset with red pustules in her throat and palate, so that, loathing life, she desired gladly to exchange it for death: for being sound in her stomach, she hungered incredibly; but to pass and swallow brought the highest torment; whence she scarcely consumed a small morsel in three weeks. Roused, therefore, by the fame of the benefits of Blessed Cantius, she goes to the church of St. Anne, and at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius pours out her heart in most ardent prayers. She feels herself impelled, if indeed she desires to be healed, to touch the sepulchral stone with her tongue, which the troublesome pustules had filled. She obeys, and on the day of St. James, praying in the same place, with tongue thrust out she touches the face of Blessed Cantius expressed in the stone, and soon, a miraculous alleviation having been received, on the third day after, the pustules vanishing, she obtained full health.

[84] A woman recovers from a three years' infirmity. On the day of St. Stanislaus in autumn. The noble Lady Sophia de Rusce, (from) the country estate called Zimna Woda, not far from Lwów, struggling for three years with most acute and various diseases, at length, all her goods having been spent in vain on a cure, having become beside herself, seemed to herself to have seen a Man adorned with priestly vesture and venerable in age, who, nearer to her bed, addressed her thus: If you desire to be healed, bind yourself by a vow of visiting my sepulchre at the church of Blessed Anne. Then, collecting herself, and reviewing with herself what she had heard of the benefits of this blessed Man, she conceived the vow of which she had been admonished, and a little after, fully freed from all evils, she related on oath the benefit with its circumstances.

[85] Pain of the feet is removed. Mr. Peter, from the suburb of Kraków formerly called Kawiory, was tortured with an intolerable pain of the feet, so that he did not walk even leaning on a staff or crutches, but had to be carried from place to place, even from his bed. Touched by a certain pious instinct, and with the hope of recovering his feet from the offering of himself at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, delaying nothing, he bound himself by a vow of visiting the sepulchre with the sacrifice of the mass, and of fixing there waxen signs of the benefit received. At once he felt himself somewhat stronger in his feet, and shortly after was able not only to walk, but even to run.

[86] Report of the Rev. Mr. James of Błonie on his healed hand. In the year 1479. "I, John, son of James of Błonie, a cleric of the diocese of Gniezno, profess by this writing that for eighteen weeks, as I can remember, I was affected with most grave pains and contortions in one of my hands, which took away from me even sleep and almost all rest; and I applied in vain medicines, plasters and things like these even to alleviate the force of the evil; accordingly I judged that I must flee from human means to divine helps, and I implored in my affliction the patronage of Blessed Cantius, who rests at St. Anne's, by a vow of honouring his tomb. This having been conceived, I felt a notable mitigation of the torment, which failed more day by day, at length on the seventh day vanished too. But I neglected to satisfy the vow, and put it off until I should be initiated into the priesthood. In the following year, therefore, which was 1480, ordained and performing the sacred rites, I did nothing less than what I vowed, and so, setting out, I left Kraków. And behold, the former pains attack my hand again. I return to Kraków on the day of St. Margaret of the same year, yet I think nothing of the account of the vow by which I bound myself. Suddenly, therefore, I am struck with a most acute torment in the hand, and then there came to me the memory that these penalties were repeated on account of the neglected vow. I renewed, therefore, the obligation of the first vow, binding myself infallibly to celebrate at that altar which was nearest to the tomb of Blessed Cantius; and at once the most acute pain began to rest. At length I went to the church of St. Anne on the 23rd of July, the day sacred to St. Magdalene, and offered to the almighty and merciful Deity the eucharistic sacrifice for the benefit received, still humbly supplicating Him that I might be totally freed from the pain. And I had not yet brought the mass to an end, and I was moved by no sense of pain. All of which I do not hesitate to ascribe first of all to almighty and merciful God, then to the merits and intercession of Blessed Cantius; and, an oath being interposed, I assert that the matter is so and not otherwise, and I beseech that solemn commemoration of this benefit be made in preaching to the concourse of the people."

[87] Lameness healed On the second of May. The Lady Helen, a citizen of Wojnicz, for three years was so lame that she had to be transferred by another's service from one bed to another. Her healing, when she asked it of Blessed Cantius by a vow of visiting the sepulchre, she soon obtained. Her husband hindering her, lest by haste in going to the tomb she should cast her health into danger, she at length inclined him by prayers to consent, and with great confidence in the merits of Blessed Cantius she appeared at Kraków on the third day, equal to the sound as regards strength and health, perceiving in her feet the customary fatigue but not infirmity, and paid her thanks by procuring a sacrifice.

[88] Paralysis removed. On the eighth of June. Mr. Nicholas Obronczka, a furrier of Piotrków, touched with paralysis, was moreover racked by another disease, and besides for a whole week lay motionless, most like a dead man. Good friends, with compassion

therefore drawn for him, offered him at the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass. And he a little after this vow recovered, freed from his twofold evil.

[89] Sight restored. In the year 1482, on the fourth of May. A girl of thirteen years, daughter of John the Cutler, in the lower Bursa of the poor, as they call it, was groaning that the keenness of her eyes had been wholly lost for two years by the force of pain. From the vow made to the tomb of Blessed Cantius the pain began to be eased, and, the pain falling away day by day, her sight began to return. Accordingly on the day named she soon betook herself to the church of St. Anne and showed herself grateful at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius to the kind God, through his merits, for the benefit.

[90] Healing from pain of the eyes and a swelling of the face. In the same year and month. A pain of the eyes had so swollen the face of Mr. Matthias, from the suburb of Kawiory, that not only from the vehemence of the pain, but also from the size of the swelling, he could see nothing. From the vow made of honouring the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius and of hanging there an image of his face expressed in wax, soon he began to be somewhat better; then within a short time he was freed both from the torment of the eyes and from the swelling of the face.

[91] A youth first snatched from the jaws of death, then healed of madness. On the eighth of May. Nicholas, a youth of twenty years, son of Mr. Martin, a citizen of Lublin of the diocese of Kraków [aa], a certain most grave disease had cast down upon his bed, and at length had so finished him off that on the vigil of the Finding of the holy Cross in the year 1479, about dinner-time, he appeared dead to all: for in his whole body he was both livid and stiff. The mother, sorrowful at the death of her son, imitating the widow of the gospel, after many wailings and tears, at length trusting in the merits of Blessed Cantius, falling on her knees, said that she would be bound with her son to visit his tomb if it were granted her to enjoy her son revived. The time from midday to evening had flowed by; no sense, no sign of life appeared in the dead man. Accordingly the neighbours came together in numbers to honour his burial. But the most kind Deity, who once consoled a weeping mother with her son raised to life; so also, looking upon her tears for the sake of illustrating the merits and holiness of His servant Blessed Cantius, presented with life the son who was to be buried. And truly the multitude of onlookers was seized with wonder at the rising of the youth, and likewise with fear, as once at Naim. The youth therefore went to Kraków, and paid his thanks to God at the tomb of Blessed Cantius. But because he had not taken care that this miracle should become known, nor reported it to those whom it concerned at that time, although perhaps, from ignorance, it was free from the mark of ingratitude, he paid new penalties. For when he was preparing himself for the priesthood, and was copying a breviary, he suddenly fell away from the use of reason, and fell into such madness that, lest he should injure men by beating them, he had to be restrained with fetters and iron chains. Again, therefore, he is offered by his mother, mindful of the first benefit, at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius. And he, from his mother's vow, began to return to himself, and at length, having obtained the total use of reason, venerated the remains of Blessed Cantius, and, besides the thanks which he gave to God, immediately besought that both the first and this other benefit should be made public by the preachers as soon as possible. This attestation, as also that of the other benefits, was made by the mother and son with an oath added, many witnesses worthy of credence being present.

[93] Speech is restored to a certain judge. On the eighteenth of July. The noble Mr. Nicholas of Dobrzykon, judge of the land of Płock, had gone out sound into the fields to inspect the workmen, when, from a sudden paralysis in the tongue, he could not utter a word, experiencing moreover a certain stiffness in his whole body. Accordingly, still present to himself, having proceeded to his house, entering the church, and standing under an image of the Saviour stretched on the cross, in his heart he bound himself by a vow of venerating the tomb of Blessed Cantius, whom he had known well among the living when he was still devoting himself to studies in the university of Kraków; at the same time also that, if he should enjoy health, he would visit the place of St. Stanislaus called Skałka. And soon after the vow, in the same place, he began to form words, but not yet perfectly, before his parish priest. In the afternoon, however, he spoke out all things expressly and perfectly. The judgment of the physicians was that by natural course he could in no way have been restored so quickly to free speech. This is had from the mouth of the same Mr. Nicholas, when, bound by his vow, he appeared. In the year of the Lord 1483, on the thirteenth of May.

[93] A cancer of the throat removed, and another benefit, a penalty preceding. In the year of the Lord 1483, in the month of September. The Lady Catherine, wife of the noble Mr. Michael of Rajsko, not far from Oświęcim, had a daughter of eight years. She, in the year in which the plague was raging, was troubled for twelve weeks with a double cancer in the throat, so that she could admit nothing of food or drink for two weeks, and lay half-dead, her eyes swollen with blood and closed. At a certain time the mother, amid tears and lamentations over her daughter's life, seized by sleep, beheld two distinguished persons; of whom the one was venerable in priestly habit and advanced in age, the other bore the appearance of a certain illustrious Lady. Then that venerable Man addressed her thus: Are you sleeping or awake? When she said she was not sleeping, he said: Do not lament your daughter, because she will escape death, if, however, you offer her at the sepulchre of doctor Cantius with the holy sacrifice of the mass; likewise vow wax to St. Hedwig, if you do not wish her to be deprived of her eyes. Meanwhile, the vision disappearing, the sick daughter calls out to her mother, asks for something to drink; then also she begins to speak, to take food and to recover day by day. The mother, however, did not fear to put off the fulfilment, so notable a benefit having been obtained, until, she herself being cast down by sickness, in a certain swoon, there appeared to her again the venerable Person, of priestly and advanced appearance, who had appeared before, and convicted her of ingratitude and negligence. Are you, he said, the one who still puts off the execution of the vow made? Rise, and fulfil your promises as soon as possible, otherwise to pay greater penalties of ingratitude: and remember to bring forth into public each of the things which the Deity has deigned to confer for your solace. Accordingly, going to the church of St. Anne, on the day named above, she duly narrated all things as we have related, amid praises and thanks to God and to the merits of Blessed Cantius [bb].

[94] A priest struck by the plague recovers. On the nineteenth of December. Stanislaus Karbo, priest and bachelor of the university of Kraków, provost of the hospital of Tarnów, after Mass in the church of St. Anne, related on his priestly word that on the day sacred to the Mother of God visiting he had been struck by the plague in the right part of his whole body, so that he altogether lacked motion of the tongue, hand and foot and other members, and was afflicted with that sickness for four weeks. But when he had bound himself by a vow of visiting the tomb of Blessed Cantius, whom he had well known among the living, even for his holiness, for bringing back solace from so great an evil; soon soundness began to return, and at length it was fully restored.

[95] A nun next to death is restored to health. On the twenty-sixth of November. The Venerable Anne in the monastery of Staniątki, professed in the rule of St. Benedict, cast down by a most dangerous infirmity, lay for four weeks, and was even given up by the physician. The superior of that place, having considered the need of the virgin for the chant, and incited by the love with which she regarded her, trusting in the merits of Blessed Cantius, promised that if she should survive among the living, she would venerate his sepulchre with her virgin. Accordingly a short time after she recovered excellently. And the same Anne, the nun, in the third year after, since she could not sooner by the will of her superiors, carried out the vow.

[96] A notice on the preceding and following miracles. All these aforesaid miracles were written out by the hand of the Rev. Mr. Matthias, doctor in the sacred page and parish priest of St. Anne's. May God himself reward him for this labour and others with eternal recompense. But those which follow were written and received by a sworn notary, whom we name Public.

[97] One dead, about to be carried to the grave, revives. In the year of the Lord 1487, on the second of May, Mr. John, instructor of the engines of war at Lwów, appearing with his son of five years, George by name, related on oath that this same little son had exchanged life for death, and had lain dead for three hours, and, washed, had been placed in the coffin, and all things had been in readiness for burial, and the religious themselves, whom we here call Bernardines, had been waiting to honour the funeral; when meanwhile a certain lady began to exhort us, the most sorrowful parents, to offer the dead son at the tomb of Blessed Cantius. Which when it was done, soon the son revived, and, raising himself from the coffin, demanded that drink be given him, and so, brought unharmed after a year to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, thanks having been paid to God by a sacrifice of the Most Holy Trinity and kisses having been given to the tomb, they returned with great joy of soul [cc].

[98] Healing of the right hand. In the year 1489, on the fifth of July. Mr. Nicholas, a citizen of Koprzywnica, miserably tortured for half a year with pains of the right hand, could be helped by no counsels of physicians and others. Accordingly, going to the church of his city, falling on his knees before the image of the Saviour stretched on the cross, with tears he ardently begged help for his pains from the heavenly physician. As he thus prayed it was inspired in him that he should promise himself to the tomb of Blessed Cantius. Which when he had eagerly vowed, at once he was freed from the pains of his hand.

[99] A dead infant revives. In the year 1490. The Lady Elizabeth, a citizen of Wolbrom, related that she had left her boy named John, who had not yet lived a year, taking sleep in a basin on the table, and had herself gone to the church. The infant, waking and behaving most restlessly, fell to the ground, broke his foot, and moreover, covered over by the basin for an hour, suffocated and expired. The sorrowful mother, therefore, found him lying thus, and even towards evening no sign of life appeared. Accordingly she fled to the vow of visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and soon obtained altogether solace for herself and life for the infant. Accordingly a little after she visited the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and had as hearer of this benefit the parish priest of St. Anne's, the Rev. Mr. Bartholomew of Sienno, doctor in canon law [dd].

[100] In the year 1491. The noble Lady Dorothy Woyszczynska in the church of St. Anne, by the command and order of Blessed Cantius, confessed before witnesses designated for this, A boy lying dangerously sick recovers. that in the year 1490 her son of seven years, Matthias by name, had lain most dangerously sick. And since no hope remained in human means, as he was already hastening to the goal, she had implored the help of Blessed Cantius by a vow of honouring the sepulchre with her son surviving among the living. Immediately the son rose up, as if he had never been cast down by disease. But Blessed Cantius, appearing a third time to this lady, enjoined on her to take serious care for the manifestation of this benefit.

[101] A son revives in the womb. In the same year. The Lady Sophia, a citizen of Sącz [ee], gathering from certain signs that the offspring in her womb was already extinct, offered herself with the greatest devotion she could at the tomb of Blessed Cantius; and in the same hour in which she bound herself by the vow, she felt that the dead foetus had revived in her; which also a little after she brought forth alive. And while she was rendering thanks to God at the remains of Blessed Cantius, she lawfully set forth these things.

[102] An instantaneous healing of a hand In the year 1492. The Lady Catherine Sitova from the Castle

street had become most gravely swollen in her hand, so that she could neither move it, nay nor use it for guiding a knife. Moreover the force of the pain kept her both from eating and from sleep. From the vow made to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, in the twinkling of an eye she was freed both from the pain and from the swelling; and in memory and sign of the benefit she hung a waxen hand at the tomb, and paid thanks to God by hearing a mass.

[103] A certain servant is restored to health. In the same year a report was made at the church of St. Anne by Andrew, servant of a certain smith from the castle of Niepołomice, on the Tuesday after the Octave of the Nativity of the Mother of God: that, cast down by a dangerous disease, deprived of his senses, and not even able to confess, as soon as he had been offered by the father of the household at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he immediately returned to himself, began to speak and was altogether presented with health.

[104] A fever driven away. The Lady Sophia (from) Kazimierz, having long suffered various and acute fevers, from the vow of honouring the remains of Blessed Cantius at once obtained the fullest soundness.

[105] Sight is restored. The Lady Catherine Brachova, (born) at Myślenice, long sick in her eyes, so much so that at length she remained properly blind for some weeks; from the vow of venerating the memory of Blessed Cantius, obtained from God, on account of the merits of Blessed Cantius, the keenness of her eyes unharmed.

[106] A boy in his agony is preserved unharmed, On the Tuesday before the feast of St. Stanislaus in autumn. Jerome, the son, eight years old, of the most illustrious Palatine of Poznań, from a long and grave disease was already at the point of his agony. But when he had been promised by both sorrowful parents to be presented at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, he was at once restored to soundness. For the sake of this benefit as much wax was brought into the church as the eight-year-old son could weigh, to the glory of almighty God, of St. Anne, and of His blessed servant Cantius.

[107] likewise a certain citizen of Lublin. In the year 1493. Mr. Matthias, a citizen of Lublin, oppressed by a grave and sudden evil, for two weeks could eat nothing, pronounce nothing, and when he was already in his agony a candle had been held out to him, by which, by the custom received among christians, testifying that the faith which he had received in baptism is not extinguished even by death, he might commend his spirit to God. Meanwhile, when he had been promised to the sepulchre of St. Cantius by a certain priest together with his kinsmen grieving over his death, soon, bathed in sweat, he became hungry, ate and even a little after recovered. When he was reproached and blamed by the same priest and his kinsmen for the longer delay of the vow made, he would elude it with a laugh, saying: You vowed; you also, if you please, apply yourselves to the care of carrying out that vow. Not long after he was permitted by God to be afflicted with a most grave stroke: for he became so contracted in his whole body that he could neither bend himself to the ground, nor raise his hands, nor stretch himself out on his back. Accordingly, professing that his ingratitude had been touched by the avenging hand of God, sighing he proposed to carry into execution the vow made in his former disease, and by the admirable mercy of God the infirmity departed from him, and he himself came out unharmed, and paid in good time the thanks for the twofold benefit.

[108] A girl drowned comes out of the waters safe after the space of an hour, In the same year, on the Monday, on the vigil of St. Stanislaus in May, Bernard of Wsieca, going to the church of St. Anne for the sake of carrying out a vow at the tomb of Blessed Cantius with his daughter Agnes, related a thing worthy of wonder; namely that this very daughter had through carelessness fallen among the mill-wheels, without any hope at all of life: for a most rapid river descends upon these wheels; and if by chance a dog or cat falls into this place, it can in no way come out alive: for it is torn to pieces and sunk by the force of the falling water and by the wheels. He himself, however, raised up by the memory of a recent benefit, namely that a boy of his wife, the stepmother of this daughter of whom we are speaking, having fallen into a burning oven and died, had been raised to life by the imploring of Blessed Cantius, conceived a vow for this drowned girl, who, lying hidden in the waves for the space of an hour, at length came out of them unharmed and whole.

[109] A dead woman returns to life. On the Saturday, then the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Mr. Nicholas Ceszanowski in the church of St. Anne affirmed on oath before the Rev. Mr. Bartholomew of Sienno, doctor of canon law and parish priest of St. Anne's, that on Tuesday two weeks before he had asked his wife to soothe their crying boy in the upper part of the house; while she was doing this, cast to the ground by a sudden swoon, she lay long estranged from herself and her senses, and no indication of life could be found in her. Seeing his wife dead, therefore, sorrowful, having collected his mind, he addressed Blessed Cantius thus: Blessed Doctor, it is long that I venerate thee; now I beseech thee, raise up my wife for me; and I bind and oblige (myself) to honour with her the place of thy remains. And wonderful to say, she who was already dead suddenly rose up.

[110] A boy recovers. In the same year. A certain noble of the family of Szydłowiec had a son gravely sick for half a year. He could eat nothing, drink nothing, and yet with continual cries he demanded to eat and drink. When, therefore, he had commended the son, given up, to God and to Blessed Cantius with ardent prayer, from the vow made of visiting the sepulchre with him in sound health, he at once began to recover, and fully recovered, to the great solace of his parent.

[111] Healing from suffocation. In the year 1494. On Saturday, the day of the Innocents. The Lady Margaret Sitonska had a daughter who was plainly suffocating in her breast for pains and the freedom of breathing being taken away. She most devoutly pledged herself to venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and soon was freed from the suffocation and the pains.

[112] Health restored to a dying man. In the same year. Mr. Andrew, a citizen of Sandomierz, afflicted with a disease for half a year, at length, the use of his senses being lost, could now neither recognize those known to him nor utter a word. By his kinsmen and good friends, who had the holiness of Blessed Cantius well in view, the help of God was implored, a vow to his sepulchre being conceived. About the same time the sick man returned to himself, began to speak and fully recovered. Accordingly in person, on the feast of St. John the Evangelist, he paid thanks to the Deity at the tomb of Blessed Cantius.

[113] A man blind for seven years recovers his sight. In the same year. Matthias Wilkowicz, a citizen of Wieliczka, was so bereft of sight for seven whole years that he had absolutely no hope of ever receiving it back. At the beginning of the eighth year two men, appearing comely in white garments, addressed him thus: If you have a desire of recovering your eyes, you must go to the church of St. Anne, which is at Kraków, and to the tomb of the Blessed doctor Cantius; there you will obtain the sight you desire. The blind man answered: I truly do not know where this church is. Again he who had spoken before: Only go to Kraków, there will not be lacking men of the city who will show it to you, and also lead you there. Accordingly, his sleep being broken off, he binds himself to venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and at once he so beholds all things with his eyes that it was established to him altogether entirely that his keenness of sight had been restored. It was the Tuesday before the Assumption of the Mother of God when, appearing at the tomb of the Servant of God, he cheerfully rendered thanks to God his healer and to Blessed Cantius.

[114] A virgin freed from the harassment of the devil. In the same year moreover. A virgin of Kraków, twelve years old, named Margaret, having suffered incredible persecutions of the Stygian enemy and beatings in her body, many places of the Saints having been visited, had brought back no help against the demon. Meanwhile there appears to her a Man very venerable for his maturity, and openly asks (addresses) her thus: Was she sleeping or awake? She answering that she was quite awake, that Man spoke thus: If you have it in your wishes to be freed from this foul and troublesome cacodemon, go to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and you will be withdrawn from this tyranny. She obeyed, and on the day of Simon and Jude came out in possession of her wish, and narrated the series of the miracle.

[115] A tailor healed of pain of the foot. In the year 1495. John, a tailor of the city of Skalbmierz, surnamed Kulka, was suffering in his left foot, and was wonderfully torn in it. Moreover he bore three cauteries on the affected place, and lay for twelve weeks. By the counsel of friends he offered himself at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and at once, the pain being mitigated, in time he recovered, and on the twelfth of May gratefully paid his vow by hearing a mass, returning thanks to God and to Blessed Cantius.

[116] A certain maidservant restored to life. In the same year Catherine, maidservant of Mr. Martin, a merchant and citizen of Kraków, then living in the Stone House of the Lord Doctor Regula, fell through carelessness onto the pavement of the neighbouring house, and from this fall died. As soon as she had been promised by her master to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, she returned to life and health; and she came, accompanied by a great people, to the remains of Blessed Cantius, and above all with her master, on the Saturday, at that time the feast of St. Peter in Chains.

[117] Deliverance from a dangerous disease. In the year 1496. Paul, son of Stanislaus Naroszjna, a citizen of Radymno, lying in a most dangerous disease and moreover given up, as soon as he had been promised by his sorrowful parents to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, was presented with his former health, and appeared, bound by his vow, on the vigil of the Lord's Ascension.

[118] The faculty of walking is restored. In the year 1498. The Lady Hedwig, a citizen of Pilzno, having lost the power of walking, could not even stand on her feet; and moreover she was dead in half of her body. Brought on a sledge in winter time before the door of St. Anne's, getting down from it as she was able, and supporting herself with her hands, and dragging with her the dead part of her body, she crept to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius; and there with tears she supplicated the Deity through the merits of Blessed Cantius for receiving solace. Meanwhile, as she could, she raised herself up, and stood upon her own feet, and returned to her house, needing vehicles no longer, in good health, amid praises and thanks to God and to Blessed Cantius.

[119] Soldiers preserved in battle. In the same year. A certain soldier of the equestrian order, on the feast of St. Agatha, in the church of St. Anne, before its priests and the Public notary, an oath being employed, related that there were very many soldiers in the battle against the Turks and Tartars who commended themselves to the patronage of Blessed Cantius, and none of them fell. And he asked, in testimony of thanks, that a mass be said at the altar which was nearer to the tomb of Blessed Cantius.

[120] Still in the same year. Mr. Gregory, a citizen A threefold healing. of Tarnów, accompanied by three persons, appeared at St. Anne's on the feast of St. Stanislaus. Of these the first was Margaret, dumb for five years from birth, who soon after her being promised to the tomb of Blessed Cantius was loosed from the bonds of her tongue. The second, Hedwig, a daughter harassed for four years with various fevers, obtained health through being offered at the same sepulchre. The third, Matthias, struck by the contagion of the plague, had lain in extremity; through a vow to Blessed Cantius he likewise shook off the force of the evil and recovered. These showed by hearing a mass the joyful thanks which they owed to God and to their Blessed Cantius.

[121] Sight and walking restored. In the year 1499, on the fourteenth of April. A certain priest, before the Rev. Mr. Bartholomew of Sienno,

doctor in canon law and parish priest of St. Anne's, related that for more than a year he had been able to see nothing with one of his eyes; moreover, his feet being affected, he had been unable to walk; that from the offering of himself made at the remains of Blessed Cantius he had at once been sound both in his feet and in his eye. Wherefore the same man willed that signs of this benefit, of wax, both of the feet and of the eye, should be hung above the tomb.

[122] One next to death suddenly recovers. In the year 1500, on the fifth of April. Clement Opocki, a citizen of Kraków, laid low by the sudden force of a disease, the physicians not knowing how to resist the vehemence of the evil and trembling, was at length next to death. Most devoutly, therefore, amid the sighs of his heart he implored the help of God, promising himself to Blessed Cantius; and in the twinkling of an eye, all present being astounded with wonder, he appeared unharmed, deprived of his pains. For the sake of which thing praises and thanks were paid by all, because by the merits of their Blessed Cantius God had restored to life and health, with their solace, one already dying.

[123] A boy freed from the danger of madness. In the year 1500, on the same day. Adam, twelve years old, of Kraków, tortured with pain of the head with danger of falling into madness, which could be met by no medicines by his parents. When God, the arbiter of death and life, and Blessed Cantius were invoked, at the vow made to his sepulchre he began to return to himself, and showed signs of present reason.

[124] A fever and a flux of blood cured. In the year 1504. The Lady Catherine, a citizen of Sandomierz, attacked by two diseases at once, the one of burning fevers, the other of a flux of blood. The vow made to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius both abolished the two diseases and presented her with her former health.

[125] A contracted hand twice restored to its first state. In the year 1509, on the twelfth of November. A huge pain had so contracted the right hand of the Lady Agnes, a citizen of Kazimierz, that for half a year she was equal neither to stretching it out nor to raising it. Scarcely had she fled to the divine help and the merits of Blessed Cantius when she was deprived of the pain, her hand was put back into its former state, and the former vigour and strength of using it were restored. But because she had neglected, and perhaps had not even thought of discharging the obligation, within eight days the very same evil seized her and miserably contracted her hand. Then, however, recognizing the avenging hand of God, she bound herself faithfully to venerate the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and at once recovered. On the next day, therefore, delays being cut short, she went to St. Anne's, heard mass at the nearest altar amid thanks, and satisfied her vow.

[126] A boy safe from contraction. In the year 1510. On the Sunday after the Ascension, in the church of St. Anne, the Lady Anne, a citizen of Szydłowiec, related of her son, with whom she was also present, that by the force of a disease for the space of half a year he had been contracted in his whole body, so that he could not walk at all: but that, a vow having been made to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he had begun to recover, and at length had obtained full safety. For the sake of which benefit offerings were made with the most holy sacrifice of the mass.

[127] A year's pain of the foot removed. In the same year, on the Monday after the octave of Corpus Christi. A woman named Elizabeth had been affected for a whole year with a most grave pain of the foot, so that she could not walk on it. She fled to promising herself to the remains of Blessed Cantius, and at once began to enjoy walking, visited the tomb, and professed herself grateful for so great a benefit.

[128] One condemned to death, but innocent, is freed in a wonderful manner. In the year 1514, on the seventh of January, the Rev. Mr. Michael of Paris, doctor and professor of sacred Scripture, and at that time rector in the university of Kraków, appeared with a priest, who was then provost of the hospital of Radom, who related this miracle. In the city of Radom four thieves who had been caught were making their confession to this same Provost; one of the four was not guilty of theft, yet because he had been taken with the others and had kept company with them, he was being condemned to death. The Provost gave him this counsel, that since he was by no means conscious of the crime, he should trust in God and in Blessed Cantius, whose relics rested in the church of St. Anne, so that he might thus be freed through his merits from an ignominious death; but that he should be bound to honour his sepulchre. Which he accepted, and promised that, if he should obtain his wish, he would by no means be negligent of the vow. When, therefore, they had been condemned to punishment, and, the decree having been read, handed over to the lictors, the executioner threw ropes upon them, and bound their necks and hands, and led them to the appointed place. While these things are being done, that innocent man most devoutly invokes with heart and mouth the patronage of Blessed Cantius; and behold, those ropes with which he was bound at the neck and hands are broken, to the astonishment and wonder of all, and are altogether scattered. Accordingly he withdraws to the church, and gives praises to God, and thanks also to Blessed Cantius, whom God willed thus to render glorious in him, when He turned away from him so great an ignominy.

[129] An acute pain of the teeth ceases. In the same year. The wife of a certain shoemaker from the Bakers' street had spent not a few sleepless nights on account of a most acute pain of the teeth. It profited her to have implored the help of Blessed Cantius and to have bound herself by a vow: for soon the pain was mitigated, nor was she further tried by it. Which benefit she valued so much that in sign of a grateful soul she asked that it be published in the sermon.

[130] A youth is freed from a foul disease at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius. In the year 1518. A certain youth was attacked by a most venomous disease: for, having occupied his throat, it penetrated into his breast; and it inflamed his whole body, and his life was already given up. Accordingly he who had the care of him, as far as his strength allowed, took him up on his shoulders and carried him to the church of St. Anne, where, the help of St. Anne and of Blessed Cantius having been implored before his tomb, he was miraculously presented with his former health, to the wonder of all; grateful for which benefit he himself did not hesitate to hang up a votive offering.

ANNOTATIONS.

Poland but also in the neighbouring German regions is sold: likewise by a monastery outside it, set upon the hill of Claromontium (Claremberg), and by the celebrated image of St. Mary, which St. Luke is said to have painted, and which is wont to be visited in sacred pilgrimages by a great concourse of people. The monastery itself, of the Order of St. Paul the hermit, furnished with a notable treasury, the Swedes besieged in the year 1955 (1655), compelled by the cold to raise the siege. The same in the following year 56 tried in vain to besiege it. The Dominican monks have in the neighbourhood their residence of Gidle, also celebrated for an image of St. Mary, working many miracles, as they themselves say, where a Carthusian dwelling too has been raised. These places are very near to the borders of Silesia."

k. See above, letter e.

p. The manuscript Life renders this raising thus: "Valentine, of Anne, wife of a potter, from the suburb of Kraków, a boy of one year, killed by his younger brother, who unknowingly moved the posts with force with a cart, returned to life through the vow of his father promised to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius. In the year of the Lord 1478, July XVII."

q. The river Rudawa, flowing into the Vistula at Kraków. "The river Rundissa, by which name the Speculum cosmographicum of Daniel Cellarius in the Theatre of Cities calls it, or Rudawa, as it is called by the common people and by Cromer, flows round the city and is led through it, until it runs into the Vistula" [Andrew Cellarius, Poloniæ novissima descriptio, p. 139. See also there the Image of Kraków.].

r. The manuscript Life has: "Hedwig, a daughter of three years of Gregory of Mydlniki, having fallen through negligence into the river Rudawa and been found dead, from a similar vow by the intercession of Blessed Cantius revived. In the year 1478, July XVII."

s. I would think Skarbimiriensis should be written. Now Scarbimiria, Skarmiers, Scarbimiers is "a little town distant VII miles from Kraków, to which the Tartars too came in the year 1240. Rich in crops, it is honoured with a college of canons" Ibid., p. 162.. For the rest, in the manuscript Life this raising is rendered in these words: "Luke, a boy of two years of the honest matron Deambona of Skalbmierz, suffocated in bed, lying dead through the whole day, through the vow of the parents made to Blessed Cantius is restored to life. In the year 1478, September XXII."

t. Is perhaps the raising from the dead referred here which is rendered in the manuscript Life in these words, certainly not a little different? "The noble Andrew, a youth of twenty-five years of the family of the Szafraniecs of Pieskowa Skała, having fallen by accident from a rock of twenty cubits' height and expiring, at the vow of his parents pronounced to the Blessed, is called back to life. In the year 1478, May XII." And there is subjoined another likewise raising, of which I do not know whether Opatowski made mention: "The noble Anne, sister of the above Andrew of the Szafraniecs of Pieskowa Skała, out of grief for her dead brother, by throwing herself headlong from a tower, dead and shattered, by the same vow received both life and sound limbs. In the same year and day."

u. These things, according to its custom, are thus briefly in the aforesaid manuscript Life: "Sophia, wife of Stephen, in the suburb of Kraków, in the parish of St. Stephen, weary of her husband's hatred, hanged herself; into whose house, when lightning was falling horribly with a stroke of thunder, she, released by the neighbours and promised by them to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, revived after three hours. In the year 1478, May IX."

v. Let us remember that from n. 3 to n. 96 the words of the Rev. Mr. Matthias are recited here. The manuscript Life has: "Nic. of Kraków, son of Nicholas, a boy of three years of age, having fallen by fortuitous chance from the window of the chamber of a house of the height of forty cubits and died, through the vow of his parents offered to Blessed Cantius, is presented with life. In the year of the Lord 1478, May V."

y. The following narrative is had in the manuscript Life: "Thomas, an infant of Kraków, of Barbara, born lifeless in childbirth, offered through the vow of the matrons present at the birth to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, received at once life and holy baptism. In the year of the Lord 1478, April XXIV."

z. The same more briefly thus, ubi supra: "Mark, son of Catherine and John Zydek of Bochnia, dead, and another son of the same Zydek, deprived of speech in a grave infirmity and given up, through the vow of the parents made to the Blessed, both the dead revived, and the infirm and dumb are made sound and speaking. In the year 1478, June II."

aa. "Nicholas, a youth of twenty years, son of Martin of Lublin, of the diocese of Kraków, dead in a grave infirmity, through the vow of his parents made to St. Cantius (to whom, dead, the same Saint appeared) revived. In the year 1483, June XII." Manuscript Life.

bb. The same manuscript Life numbers this healing among its twenty-four raisings from the dead. But here, as also above happened not infrequently, the narrative has been contracted by a yawning hand, and departs not a little from Opatowski. "The noble Agnes, a daughter of eight years of the noble Nicholas of Rajsko, lying in a grave sickness, dies; to whom Blessed Cantius and Blessed Hedwig, queen of Poland, appeared, and admonished that they should present her at their sepulchres. The parents, sorrowful at the death of their daughter, devoted her to the sepulchres of the blessed Cantius and Queen Hedwig, by whose merits and intercessions she, called back to life, narrates the vision, and fulfilled the vow. In the year of the Lord 1483, September XXIII."

cc. "George, son of John the bombardier of Lwów, of five years, coming to Kraków oppressed by a grave infirmity, and dead, and already placed on the bier for burial, through the vow made for him in the church of St. Anne revived, and after many years lived into old age. In the year 1487, May IV." Manuscript Life.

dd. "John, a boy of one year of Elizabeth of Wolbrom, having fallen from the table out of a trough, and with a broken foot dead, promised and offered by his mother, coming home, to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, is restored sound to life. In the year 1489, July V." Ubi supra.

ee. I would think Sandeciensis should be written. "Sandecia, Sandetz, on the river Dunajec… a city near to Hungary and the Carpathian mountains, well fortified, surpassing its neighbours in civil usage, and carrying on a not contemptible commerce, has a quite pleasant situation: it is adorned with an abbey of Premonstratensian monks and a collegiate church, and looks upon Old Sącz, separated from it by one mile, where the Premonstratensian nuns possess the richest monastery in all Poland" Regni Poloniæ novissima descriptio, p. 174.. The manuscript Life has these things: "Peter, the child of Sophia of Sącz, pregnant, dead in his mother's womb, the mother devoutly visiting the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius by a vow, returning from the church, is happily born alive. In the year 1491, April II."

* falling.

* lying beside?

SECOND PART.

Of those miracles with which the venerable John Cantius became renowned at the finding and opening of his tomb.

[Prologue. Where it treats of the place of the deposited relics of Blessed Cantius.] All these prodigies and miracles which we have recorded were written out from the ancient codices of the church of St. Anne, somewhat damaged by their very age, made by the labour of three pastors of the same church, that is, of the Rev. Mr. Matthias and the Rev. Mr. Bartholomew of Sienno, doctors in canon law, and of the Rev. Mr. Peter Lubart, of Kraków, doctor of S. Scripture. I find moreover that these sacred relics, buried from his death under the preaching pulpit, were raised, entrusted to a tin coffin, and enclosed in the wall in the nearest side of the church. The very Inscription, taken from the tin coffin by the lord commissaries (the most Illustrious and Most Rev. Lord Martin Szyszkowski, bishop of Kraków, ordering inquiry whether his relics truly existed), testifies that this happened in the year 1539. Moreover I learn from old writings that in the year 1553 the Rev. Mr. James Kleparius, doctor and canon of Kraków, erected in the same church a monument to Blessed John Cantius of cut stone, with excellent art and proportion, which still lasts to the present day ^a. Accordingly from the year 1518 up to the year 1596, that is, for the space of almost seventy years, his miracles were celebrated, and yet behind his monument there was seen an altar adorned with an image of St. Anne. This the afflicted venerated and felt that it was present to them. And they were astonished

the priests of that church, why the devotion of the people did not rather turn to the high altar, where Blessed Anne was sculptured, which now hangs in the middle of the church. The old professors of the Great college, however, gave as the reason that near this altar rested the sacred relics of the venerable John Cantius, whose merits were gracious in the sight of God and approved by many miracles, as this was clear also from the old writings of the church. Yet in what place they were situated they could neither say nor point out ^b. In the year 1603, therefore, in which we were celebrating the jubilee for Poland in the basilica of St. Stanislaus, when certain stones of the tomb were moving out of their seat and were about to fall out, by consent of the chapter it seemed that the tomb was to be moved. And when it was being taken apart, the wall being disturbed, a certain brick too was moved by chance, and thence there appeared the tin coffin with incredible fragrance and great miracles. To recording these things, therefore, we now come, when, however, we shall first have recorded those things which we found in the archive of the church, as being those which preceded the finding of the sacred relics.

[132] A woman freed from unhappy childbearing. In the year 1596, on the twentieth of February. The Lady Agnes, wife of Mr. Martin Swiechovic, a citizen of Kraków, for some years brought forth dead offspring: wherefore, sorrowful that she was deprived of that solace of marriage, judging that she must flee to God, she made a vow to the tomb of Blessed Cantius. And she proved worthy of solace: for afterwards she received a threefold offspring: Anne, Cecilia and John. And she returned thanks for so great a benefit, after God, to the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[133] A like benefit. In the same year. The Lady Catherine Kalecina, a citizen of Kraków, subject to the same evil, and therefore afflicted because the offspring which she brought forth bereft of life could serve neither God nor herself, confidently promised herself to the remains of Blessed Cantius, and quickly brought forth a threefold offspring too, living: Anne, Stanislaus and Catherine; the praises of which benefit she celebrated, grateful and joyful, at the remains of that Blessed.

[134] A dead woman revives. In the year 1598, on the sixteenth of February. The Lady Sophia Rozycova, a citizen of Kraków in the street of St. Anne, having brought Theodore into the light, struggling in various ways, as women in childbirth are wont, at length by the force of the evil fell into a swoon, so that, altogether estranged from herself, she was believed to be dead. Meanwhile her mother, with the ladies present who were then there and had cried out, falling on her knees, raised her voice to God and to Blessed Cantius, and after most ardent imploring the Deity did not delay to console them: for she was restored to herself, and began to be better. And afterwards, having obtained health, she went with the same son to the tomb of Blessed Cantius and paid her thanks to God.

[135] A barren woman is presented with fruitfulness. In the year 1599, on the thirteenth of June. The Lady Anne Witova, a citizen of Kraków, although, joined in matrimony, she experienced an abundance of all temporal things, yet desired to be blessed by God chiefly in this, that she might celebrate the divine praises not alone with her husband, but also with children, whom she lacked. Trusting, therefore, in the merits of Blessed Cantius, she was made possessor of her wish: for at various times she brought forth one daughter, Anne, and two sons, Gabriel and Michael. And she appeared grateful for this benefit at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius.

[136] A woman healed from a dangerous disease. In the year 1600, on the twelfth of December. The Lady Anne Mercatoria, a citizen of Wieliczka, promised her daughter, lying for eight weeks in a most dangerous disease, to the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, and beheld prompt solace in her healed, and satisfied her vow with thanks at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius.

In the year 1600, on the twelfth of December. The Lady Anne Mercatoria offered (her daughter) lying for eight weeks at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with a sacrifice, and a little after presented her in good health in the same place. [c]

[137] A fever ceases. In the year 1603, on the twenty-eighth of March. Mr. Francis, a tailor from the street of St. John, quickly shook off, from the help of Blessed Cantius implored, an acute and long-lasting fever of half a year expelled by no medicines, and gratefully venerated his remains.

[138] A woman in childbirth helped. In the same year and month. The Lady Agnes, wife of the named Mr. Francis the tailor, encountering danger to her health amid the difficulties of childbirth, by a single devout sigh commended herself to the patronage of Blessed Cantius, and promised herself in her heart to his tomb; and she both brought forth a sound offspring into the light, and she herself escaped the danger, being presented also with health.

[139] Epilepsy healed. In the same year, on the sixth of April. The little daughter of the same parents, tossed by a huge falling sickness, when she had been promised to his tomb by her parents, otherwise beholden for the benefits of Blessed Cantius, from that time the disease left her.

[140] Fragrance from the sepulchre of the Blessed Man; In the same year, on the twenty-fifth of May, when it was planned to move the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, as we have recorded, because it was collapsing from age, a brick of the wall being moved in which his venerable relics were enclosed, at once an admirable fragrance poured itself forth, and miracles followed. And although this matter is known and widely spread to the whole city of Kraków and to the household, since the memory of the deed is recent; yet on account of foreigners I judge that three documents and testimonies of witnesses beyond all exception must be brought forward by me, which were rendered before the Lord episcopal Commissaries.

[141] of which a threefold report: The first, The first confession is of the Rev. Mr. Sebastian Nucerinus, doctor of S. Scripture, canon of Sandomierz and preacher of the cathedral church of Kraków, in these words: "In the year of the Lord 1603, at the time of the Jubilee, at Kraków a miraculous fragrance from the place of the tomb of Blessed Cantius spread itself most widely through the whole church of St. Anne, and an innumerable multitude of people can attest this, which, the fame of that miraculous and most pleasing odour having been perceived, at once entered the church and sensed and perceived it."

[142] the second, The second is of the Rev. Mr. Stanislaus Selidius, vice-provost and at that time sacristan of St. Anne's, in this manner: "In the year 1603, on the twenty-fifth of May, when, the most illustrious and most reverend Bernard Maciejowski, bishop of Kraków and cardinal, now of pious memory, being then alive, the jubilee was being celebrated at Kraków, on the Friday before the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, at the fourteenth hour, the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, which they were disturbing in order that it might be renewed, lay open, a certain brick having been moved out, and there appeared the tin coffin which preserved his sacred relics, and at that very same time a most pleasing fragrance, as it were of violets, spread itself from his sepulchre, so that it filled the whole church and breathed with its odour even over the cemetery; at this fragrance moreover a certain light too was seen. And this odour lasted through Friday, Saturday and Sunday; but when the mandate of the most illustrious and most reverend bishop Maciejowski came that the sepulchre should be closed, it ceased. Accordingly an incredible multitude of men flowed together to perceive that fragrance and to render thanks to God, who also bore it very ill that the tomb was being shut: for they wished to enjoy so great a miracle longer. On the same Friday two men recovered who had touched the coffin. Of these below."

[143] the third. The third report of the same fragrance is of the magnificent Mr. Albert Kochański of Brzezie, of almost fifty years of age; "that at the great jubilee sent into Poland by Pope Clement VIII twenty-five years ago" (this date coincides with the year 1628, in which Opatowski published the Latin life of Blessed Cantius), "a huge multitude flowing together to Kraków to gain it, when he too was visiting the church of St. Anne, he saw the tomb of Blessed Cantius open, and perceived a fragrance of violets, nay far more excellent than these, and the whole church was most full of it. And to him inquiring whence this so unusual and sweet fragrance was emanating, answer was made by the men who were most crowded in the church: That it was miraculous and that it was spreading itself from the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius."

[144] A splendour about the coffin of Blessed Cantius. At the same time Mr. Procopius Zielopolski, cap-maker, related before the Rev. Mr. Nicholas Dobrocieski of pious memory, canon of Kraków and of Sandomierz, examiner of the bishop, the Lord Maciejowski, and approver of the miracles which were then taking place, who also repeated this same testimony of his before the Lord episcopal commissaries: that when he was on the Friday after Pentecost in the church of St. Anne, at the fourteenth hour, at the same time when the tomb of Blessed Cantius was being taken apart, he saw the tin coffin, having the bones of the venerable doctor John Cantius, shining and transparent after the manner of crystal, and surrounded with a huge splendour, in which his relics were seen placed as in a most thin and most fine web. And he pointed out the same miraculous portent to those standing round; which others too beheld with their eyes, and especially very many of the female sex beheld this splendour of the coffin and of the venerable bones. The same moreover confessed that a certain fragrance pervaded the whole church, which all, as many as were present (and they were present in very great crowds), perceived and experienced. And since at the same time, at this illumination and fragrance, two were presented with health from the touch of the coffin, we shall gladly record these things:

[145] Under these a twofold healing happened: the one, of a hand. And the first is the miracle which is related in these words: "I, the Priest Martin Orzeszek of Jędrzejów, provost of Jemielnica, profess that, when I had been suffering pain in the elbow and arm of the right hand for seven years, having learned, while I was at Kraków in the house of the vicars of St. Anne's, that the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius had been opened, one brick having been struck out, full of confidence of obtaining solace in my evil, I ran to the church of St. Anne, and, rolled on my knees, beheld the coffin shining through after the manner of crystal; and therefore, raised up with greater confidence, I asked the Rev. Mr. Seledius, then sacristan, that by his good leave it might be permitted me to touch the coffin with my sick hand; and when I applied my face and hand to it, I perceived an admirable fragrance; in my hand too I soon obtained the fullest health. Accordingly I profess that I obtained this benefit from God by the intercession of the venerable John Cantius."

[146] The other, of a fever. The other is. Mr. Stanislaus Szablinski, in the service of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Bernard Maciejowski, lying in a most burning fever, having heard the fame of the miracles of the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, at once promised that he would venerate it, and on the same day, recovering, went to it, and, touching the coffin of the Blessed Father, confessed both that he had perceived an inexplicable fragrance there, and that he had been most fully restored to health; and accordingly he gave thanks to God, who had deigned thus to console him by the intervention of His Servant.

[147] Other miracles again. Palpitation of the heart healed. Still at that time, on the thirtieth of May, the Monday after the Most Holy Trinity. Mr. Matthias Wiruszek, a tailor, from Lent up to the said day, by a rather vehement palpitation of the heart and convulsion, was thrown into frequent swoons and estrangements from himself; at length he was also altogether prostrated in the strength of his body. Having heard the fame of the miracles with which the Deity was illustrating the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, from the vow conceived of piously venerating it, in the same hour he was presented with health; and, going to the church, he took care to carry out what he promised. The attestation of this miracle was made before the Rev. Mr. Nicholas Dobrocieski as episcopal commissary, as has been recorded above.

[148] A boy drowned in the Vistula is preserved. In the same year, on the fifth of June. Andrew, of fourteen years, son of Mr. Balcer ^d, a sword-

smith and citizen of Kraków, from the Castle street, in the octave of Corpus Christi, going far ahead of his parent and friends who were walking for recreation, was drowned while swimming near the monastery of Zwierzyniec, without a witness. A certain woman well known to his parents had seen, from the place of her dwelling, the boy preparing himself for swimming; but when she looked for a long time at the clothes on the shore, but could by no means see the boy, she conjectured, as was the fact, that he had been swallowed by the shallows. Accordingly, terrified, she prostrates (herself) on the ground in the form of a cross, praying God and the Mother of God that, by the intercession of Blessed Cantius, to whose sepulchre she would promise the boy, he might be preserved. And soon she sees the boy thrown up several times by the waves. By fortune it happened that a man was sailing along the Vistula on that side. She calls out to him; and he, seizing the boy by the foot, puts him back on the shore, who, soon returning to himself, owed his life to the merits of Blessed Cantius, on account of which the parents too, valuing the vow of that woman, confessed with thanks that they were bound, after God, to the same servant of God.

[149] Healing from epilepsy. In the same year, within the octave of Corpus Christi, the Lady Anne Telania with her husband Philip had a son of two years. He, harassed for some days by an atrocious falling sickness and held almost for dead, when he had been confidently promised to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, was restored to himself and to health; and, quite sound, was brought by them to the veneration of the remains.

[150] A girl next to death recovers. Still in the same year, within the octave of Corpus Christi. Helen, a nun of St. Dominic, in the Chest-makers' street, when she had seen a little orphan girl of five years, whom she was teaching the fear of God and manual work, burning with so great a fever that she ordered a lighted candle to be presented to her as already given up: trusting in the merits of Blessed Cantius, she promised her to his sepulchre, and, made bound by the promise, a short time after paid her thanks at the tomb with that girl.

[151] Healing from a fever and On the fourth of June. Mr. Matthias of Majowice, servant of the Rev. Mr. Fulgierd, canon of Kraków, inflamed for some weeks with a most acute fever, and altogether exhausted in his strength, judging that no other remedies would now profit him, fled to God, the promise of himself to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius being interposed. Having thus received miraculous solace, he went with the chaplain of the same canon to the venerable remains, and there wished to be seen grateful by hearing a mass.

[152] from stitches of the side. On the fifth of June, within the octave of Corpus Christi. The Virgin Anne, Mother of the nuns of the Holy Spirit, overwhelmed by a sudden and dangerous disease of most acute stitches of the side, was failing in senses and mind. Offered by the nun Anne Niemsczanka, then her sorrowful nurse, falling on her knees and devoutly, at the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, she shortly returned to herself, and within a few hours recovered. And coming to the church of St. Anne, she both lawfully attested the benefit and satisfied her vow.

[153] A house preserved from fire. In the same year and time. Mr. John Cezarovicz, citizen and butcher of Wieliczka, when he was at Kraków in the Castle church of St. Stanislaus, and heard that Wieliczka was burning with fire, with bended knees supplicated Blessed Stanislaus and Blessed Cantius for his house and his family. Hence, full of hope and confidence, he takes the road and found himself consoled: for he found his house whole, the neighbours round about having been given to ashes. Wherefore, returning to Kraków, he gave thanks to the holy Patrons and hung a little waxen house at the tomb of Blessed Cantius. The credibility of this miracle was moreover asserted by the citizens of Wieliczka themselves.

[154] The healing of various diseases. At the same time also very many extinguished burning fevers by the offering of themselves at the tomb of Blessed Cantius. Among these we report Mr. John Kolabicki, from the hills of Wieliczka, most acutely and continuously feverish; John the furrier, suffering convulsions in his forehead and overwhelmed with pustules; Andrew the tailor, lying for three weeks with fevers. All these, a promise having been made to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, obtained full health.

[155] Pain of the head removed. On the sixteenth of June. Mr. Paul Parvus, a citizen of Lwów, harassed with most acute pains of the head, and thence altogether prostrated in his strength, from the promise of himself with the sacrifice of the mass to the remains of Blessed Cantius shook off those pains, and appeared at the sepulchre of this Blessed Father in thanksgiving.

[156] A youth freed from several evils, On the eighteenth of June. James, son of Raphael Bianka, an Italian mason, first inflamed for some days with fevers, then tossed by the falling sickness, there being added to this also a palpitation of the heart, from which he was cast into a certain unusual dread so that he would hide himself; promised by his sorrowful mother to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, by the mercy of almighty God he was at once freed from all these evils.

[157] likewise a woman from an ulcer in the throat. The Lady Anne, wife of Stanislaus the mason, from the street of the Doves, beset and inflamed in her whole throat by a most dangerous ulcer, going to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius in the church of St. Anne, and offering herself at it to the merciful God, after confession and the Eucharist received there, went home cheerful and sound. And again returning to the venerable sepulchre, with her husband and sister, having venerated it and acknowledging the benefit, she paid thanks to God.

[158] An infant girl healed. On the twenty-third of June. The Lady Catherine Witona Zabrzesca, from the fishwives, offered her infant of half a year at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and rejoiced that she was made sound; and, grateful, appeared with her husband and family to venerate the remains of Blessed Cantius and acknowledge the benefit received through his merits.

[159] likewise a woman from cruel pains On the second of July. The Lady Regina Krzynokolska, crushed in her whole body by I know not what pains, when she offered herself at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, quickly recovered, and, presented with full health, satisfied her vow and proclaimed the holy servant of God.

[160] and a nun from various diseases, About the same time the Dominican virgin nun and mother Magdalen, afflicted with various diseases of swellings and fevers, and that for a long time; could use neither her feet nor speech, and therefore was given up by her nuns. Yet because the frequency of the miracles of Blessed Cantius was echoing about, she was offered by them with the sacrifice of the mass at his sepulchre, and quickly enough, by the help of God, through the intercession of Blessed Cantius, she came out unharmed, and venerated at the sepulchre the Saint so propitious to her.

[161] likewise another woman too. On the seventh of July. The Lady Catherine, (wife) of Joseph the sword-smith from the Castle street, harassed by various and long-lasting evils of diseases, and tormented in her whole body, made a vow to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and obtained solace. She, coming with her neighbour, acknowledged the benefit, and rendered thanks to God at the remains of Blessed Cantius.

[162] Pain of the throat driven away. On the twelfth of July. Gaspar Sikora, a boatman, from the village of Przykopy near Osiek, going to the church of St. Anne and the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, acknowledged that his throat had been beset by an ulcer with huge pain; that, when, the fame of the miracles growing, he had confidently offered himself at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, he had been freed both from the pains and from the danger of life; wherefore he gladly held himself bound by the vow made.

[163] A woman freed from an acute evil. On the twentieth of July. The Lady Apollonia, wife of John the shoemaker, a citizen of Kraków from the street of St. Florian, related in the presence of several priests of St. Anne's that she had for some weeks suffered an acute pain with swoons, but had soon shaken it off by the offering of herself at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, celebrated for miracles; and she paid there to God the thanks which she promised.

[164] A fever ceases On the twenty-ninth of July. The Lady Barbara Ozarovska, distant from Kraków three or four miles, trusting in God, offered to Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass her daughter, approaching death in a most dangerous fever. She began to recover, and presented herself at his sepulchre in thanksgiving and in attestation of the holiness of blessed Cantius.

[165] as also various diseases. On the third of August. The Lady Anne Sievicka, from the Siennensian street, various diseases which she could drive away by no medicines, and therefore abandoned by the physicians and destined to death, by the sole refuge of the vow of the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius escaped all the infirmities infesting her; and, being sound, she said that she was grateful to God for this benefit at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius.

[166] A like benefit. On the twelfth of August. The Lady Regina Mencinska, a citizen of Wieliczka, when she was unable to meet various pains of half a year with any medicines, implored God to be present to her through the promise of herself to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, having obtained health, gratefully rendered also her vow.

[167] A woman from a long infirmity, On the thirteenth of August. The Lady Eve Raciborska, distant four leagues from Kraków, in a long infirmity, her appetite lost, and human means given up, promised that she would venerate the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, recovering in good time, appeared there grateful.

[168] her husband safe from a dangerous fall. Likewise Martin Raciborski, her husband, having undertaken a certain journey, having fallen from the horse on which he was carried, had so injured both thighs that he was very nearly held for lifeless. The wife, mindful that she had received solace from Blessed Cantius, with constant confidence promised him to the relics of Blessed Cantius. Accordingly, recovering in a short space, he, present, ascribed his health to the intercession of Blessed Cantius.

[169] A girl's healing. On the twentieth of August. The Lady Regina Ochelska, wife of the captain of Tyniec, offered her daughter, lying dangerously sick, at the remains of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass, and brought back the solace which she desired. Wherefore she appeared grateful with her daughter presented by her.

[170] A horse is preserved. On the same day. To Mr. Stanislaus Ostrovski, living four leagues from Kraków, when he had undertaken a certain journey, the horse, falling down from a certain force of disease, began to breathe out its life. Having conceived hope in God and confidence in the merits of His servant Blessed Cantius, that they were at hand in helping not only men but also the beasts of burden destined for their service; he offered it at his sepulchre. The horse soon recovered, and was fit for completing the journey. And grateful, according to the law of God commanding the firstborn of the larger beasts to be redeemed with smaller ones, he appeared with a singular offering to God and to His Servant.

[171] A fever is extinguished. On the first of September. A most dangerous fever had attacked Mr. Stanislaus Zadorski as he was dispatching his business at Kraków; which since he could escape by no human help, he made a vow of honouring the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, suddenly healed, he went to the church and proclaimed the benefit.

[172] A threefold offspring freed from fevers. On the sixteenth of September. In the house of Mr. John Mirosz, girdle-maker, a citizen of the Tanners' quarter, three children, kindled with fevers, incredibly afflicted their mother; who, however, not at all hesitating that the help through the merits of Blessed Cantius, which others had everywhere experienced, would be present to her, offered them at his sepulchre. And, solace having been received, the parents with the same three children venerated the remains of the blessed Father.

[173] A girl is restored to health. On the fourteenth of September. Mr. Valentine Baiol, from the Shoemakers' street, innkeeper and citizen of Kraków, had a daughter whose life was already despaired of. The mother of that daughter, bathed in tears, went to St. Anne's, and promises her daughter to the sepulchre with the sacrifice of the mass, which she was hearing; when, this being finished, she returns home, she finds her daughter recovering. On account of this benefit, thanks were again paid at the tomb.

[174] A horse rises up from a fall. On the twentieth of September. To Mr. James a Kotharo, from the Shoemakers' street, riding on a horse on a certain business, the horse, touched by some evil, fell down, and could in no way be raised. Accordingly, considering the weight of the business, he pledged himself to honour the remains of Blessed Cantius; and the horse at once rose up on its feet, and, a little delay having been spent in the inn, was made strong. This benefit he ascribed, after God, to the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[175] A girl freed from a flux of the belly. On the twenty-third of September. The daughter of the Lady Elizabeth Ochocka, from the street of St. Florian, had been wasting for two years with a flux of the belly, nor could it be stayed by any means. She was offered at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, having obtained health in a short space of time, rendered her vows to God at the tomb of Blessed Cantius.

[176] A boy's healing. On the twenty-eighth of September. The son, Stanislaus, six years old, of the Lady Regina Oczkova, a citizen of Wieliczka, affected with a most grave disease, and moreover with paralysis, had been lying for some weeks altogether not master of himself. The sorrowful parent sought solace by a vow to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and testified that she had found it, when she flew there in good time with her son to give thanks.

[177] A girl restored in strength from languor. On the fourth of October. John and Agnes, from the village of Oleśnica, testified in the church of St. Anne at the tomb of Blessed Cantius that their daughter Catherine, sick, had begun to recover for two whole years, yet had never been strong enough to be equal to labour, because, often lying sick, she was useless to her parents. With what devotion they could, they promised her to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and they appeared to give thanks with their daughter, who before could not walk, strong enough

[178] A fever removed. On the seventh of October. The Lady Barbara Liberina, a citizen of Kraków from the Castle street, burning for two weeks with acute and continuous fevers, seeing herself exhausted and prostrated in strength, bound herself to venerate the tomb of Blessed Cantius. And God presented her with health, and she paid her vows with thanks.

[179] A boy of six years recovers from various diseases. On the twenty-seventh of October. The Lady Anne Zolaszowska, a citizen of Kraków from the street of St. Florian, relying on God, promised to the tomb of Blessed Cantius her son of six years named John, dangerously sick for twelve weeks, whom at last the faculty both of speaking and of hearing had deserted, and whom the physicians had given up. And he at once began to be restored to himself and to health, so that afterwards, presenting him quite sound, she rendered thanks with the sacrifice of the mass at the relics of Blessed Cantius.

[180] A man is freed from a fever, On the sixth of November. Mr. Gregory Brodovski, steward of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Bernard Maciejowski, bishop of Kraków, was burning with an acute and continuous fever for fifteen weeks; and noticing that the evil was increasing day by day, with such devotion as was fitting he bound himself to honour the tomb of Blessed Cantius; accordingly the fever too (began) notably to be extinguished and to fail. Sound, he appeared at the relics of the servant of God with one of the Bernardine fathers, and, confession having been made first and the divine banquet received, he gave thanks to God and to his Blessed.

[181] likewise another; On the thirteenth of October (November?). Mr. Andrew Ochocki, roused by the fame of so many miracles of Blessed Cantius, extinguished by a vow to his sepulchre a most burning fever, which bade him despair of life, and quickly recovered.

[182] and his threefold offspring. About the same time, when his three children, of whom two were sons and one a little daughter, had lain sick together, he offered them with the sacrifice of the mass at the same sacred relics, and testified that he had received solace, when he presented himself with the same children and his wife to render thanks.

[183] Pains of the head lulled. On the seventeenth of November. Stanislaus, a petty steward from the village of Koszyce, having suffered for seventeen weeks stitches of the head to the point of estrangement from himself, already at the point of death, was offered by his sorrowful wife at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and at once the stitches of the head were lulled. He, sound, venerated the remains of the blessed Father, and published that he was beholden to his benefits.

[184] A report of a healing from stitches of the side. Such is the report which Martin Baron made of his benefit. "I, Martin Baron (from) Jarosław, invoke as witness almighty God, the blessed Angels and all the Heavenly ones, that I report a most true thing. In the year of the Lord 1603, on the nineteenth of November, returning from Rome into Poland through Lombardy, in the Italian city of Bassano in the Venetian dominion, distant thirty Italian miles from Venice, I was seized with most acute stitches of the right side, which for some days took away entirely both my walking and my breathing; but neither was it possible to lie down: for like a scimitar the force of the stitches pierced my very heart. No remedy more apt for mitigating the evil occurred than refuge to God alone and His Saints. Accordingly, by a promise to the most celebrated tomb of John Cantius, doctor in the sacred Page, at Kraków, that I should be bound to hear three masses there, on bare knees bent on the ground. And on the night following this vow, falling asleep as I could, I beheld the venerable John Cantius, surrounded with great light; and he addressed me thus: Rise, and pursue your journey in good time. Mindful also of your promises, take care that they be fulfilled by you at Kraków. I meanwhile, released from sleep, found myself unharmed."

[185] A dangerous swelling of the hand is healed. On the first of December. The Lady Catherine, a widow, from the street of St. Anne, having suffered a most grave pain in her hand, which had swollen with a purulent swelling from the fist up to the arm, and was cured by no medical arts or plasters, but rather, the evil being increased by them, was more inflamed. With her whole heart she invoked God and offered herself at the relics of Blessed Cantius; and the hand subsided and the pain went away. Grateful for which benefit she venerated the remains of Blessed Cantius.

[186] A woman lying dangerously sick after childbirth recovers. On the fifth of December. The Lady Sophia Langova, from the rampart of the gate of St. Nicholas, her health injured by a difficult childbirth, tossed with dangerous symptoms, was already gathering from certain indications that she was approaching her end. Yet scarcely had she sighed to God, mindful of Blessed Cantius, and commended herself to his patronage, when soon the pains vanished, and she began to be restored to herself. This benefit was published by herself with tears at the remains of Blessed Cantius.

[187] Pain in the breast removed. On the tenth of December. The Lady Anne, from the street of St. Nicholas, had felt so great a torment in her breast that she had altogether despaired of prolonging her life into another day. Thus afflicted she fled to God, the patronage of Blessed Cantius being interposed; and at once she was relieved of the evil, and, sound, paid thanks to God and to Blessed Cantius.

[188] A cardinal, bishop of Kraków, is presented with health. In the year 1604, on the fourth of January. The Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Bernard Maciejowski, bishop of Kraków and cardinal of the H. R. C., in his grave and dangerous infirmity promised himself to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and experienced a miraculous accession of health; and, perfectly restored to soundness, he visited the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and there offered to God the Eucharistic sacrifice. And that the memory of the benefit might remain eternal, he offered as a gift a sacred chalice with his arms.

[189] Healing of leprosy. On the thirtieth of January. Sophia, cook of the college of the jurists, deformed in her face by leprosy, and harassed for some weeks day and night by its pains, had scarcely promised herself to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius when she was immediately relieved of the pain. Grateful to God for which benefit, she paid her thanks at the remains of the servant of God.

[190] A matron who had hitherto borne dead children is presented with a living child. On the thirty-first of January. The Lady Kasprova, daughter of Mr. Dziula, sorrowful that she brought forth children not alive, and that such had already been granted her by God with pains four times, which nevertheless did not multiply joy, since they were carried from the womb as from a sepulchre to the sepulchre. Thus afflicted she hears the fame of the miracles of Blessed Cantius, and, her heart raised to God, to Blessed Anne, to Blessed Cantius, she supplicates by a vow that she may receive in childbirth the solace of life. She distributed a certain alms to the priests of this church every Tuesday. Not long after, the Deity made her possess the desire of her heart; she brought forth a living little daughter, imposed on her the name of Anne, and professed that she owed the benefit to God, to Blessed Anne and to blessed Cantius, and that at his venerable remains.

[191] Returning safe from war. On the tenth of February. Mr. John Gebski, having set out to war in Livonia, had commended himself to the patronage of Blessed Cantius, and, secure in this, returned unharmed to his native land, and in sign of a grateful soul offered two great candles and a cloth to his tomb.

[192] A man freed from various pains. On the twentieth of February. Mr. Paul Chechelski, a tailor, afflicted for four weeks with various diseases and pains, perceiving no remedy of the evil in human help, implored the divine mercy, binding himself by a vow to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, released from his evils, appeared with thanksgiving at the remains of Blessed Cantius.

[193] Two children healed. On the twenty-sixth of February. The Lady Catherine Jaszczurkova, a citizen of Kraków from the Florian street, afflicted by the dangerous fevers of her children John and Catherine, fearing their simultaneous death, a vow to Blessed Cantius having been conceived, gave herself as a suppliant for their life, and testified that she had received solace by going there with her two children.

[194] A daughter recovers, her mother invoking Blessed Cantius. On the seventeenth of March. The wife of Mr. Albert the chest-maker, from the Nicholas street, when she was sitting beside her daughter, named Sophia, cast down by a grave disease, and was sad on that account, it occurred to her to promise her to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius. And when she had performed this, at once she noticed that her daughter was gathering strength, and she presented her, quite sound, at the tomb of Blessed Cantius to say praises to God.

[195] A woman injured in childbirth is healed. On the twentieth of March. Mr. Malcher, a baker, offered at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius his wife, injured in childbirth and already encountering danger of life, and asserted at his sepulchre that he had received solace by the help of Blessed Cantius, his wife recovering in good time.

[196] A dead child revives. On the sixteenth of June. The Lady Hedwig, wife of a certain Lawrence, near the Vistula, from the parish of the Holy Rock (Skałka), had brought forth a daughter (whom they afterwards named Regina), but void of life. The parents being thus overwhelmed with grief, the Lady Marusza, a native of Masovia, falls on her knees, promises the child to the tomb if she should live, and begs that the grace of baptism be granted her. In the space of half an hour the child revived, and was presented by her mother, as she recovered, with the sacrifice of the Mass at the tomb of Blessed Cantius.

[197] A whole family restored to health. On the twentieth of October. Mr. Sebastian Cyrus, advocate of the higher court of Magdeburg law, with his consort Anne, three sons and two daughters, asserted that in various diseases of his own and of his children the help of Blessed Cantius implored had been present to him, and that he had come for the sake of rendering his vows. And moreover he fixed up a votive offering, in which he himself was seen painted with his wife and children.

[198] Help given in disease to the Margrave Sigismund. In the year 1605, on the twentieth of February. The Most Illustrious Lord John Sigismund, Margrave Myszkowski, grand marshal of Sigismund III, king of Poland and Sweden, because, a vow having been conceived to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he had been restored to health, present, accompanied by a splendid and numerous court,

and moreover by many illustrious persons, visited the tomb of Cantius, and at it, in order to testify that he was grateful for the benefit, devoutly attended the sacred sacrifice of the mass.

[199] A little boy drowned revives. On the fifteenth of May. A woman of Mydlniki, beyond Łobzów, found a boy drowned in a tun (cask) full of water, and, having taken him out lifeless, pursuing it with many wailings, deplored her imprudence, the occasion of the boy's death. At length, the memory coming to her of the graces which the afflicted experienced with Blessed Cantius, with great confidence she conceives a vow to his tomb, and the boy revives within the hour. Accordingly on the next day she came with the same little boy to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius to celebrate the divine benefit ^e.

[200] One almost dead (restored) to life On the twenty-fifth of June. Valentine Pawlik, a citizen of Piotrków, coming from the suburb to Kraków, in the church of St. Anne, binding his conscience, related, the testimony of one of his neighbours also being added, that, the force of an infirmity growing day by day, he had been brought to the point that he was like a dead man, and was already lamented for the space of an hour; that meanwhile, his friends offering him on their knees at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, he had revived within a short space of time and been as though roused from sleep. And grateful for the benefit and for the life presented to him, he rendered praises to the Deity.

[201] A dying woman recovers. In the year 1609, on the twentieth of April. The Lady Regina, wife of Clement of Krosno, cast down by a grave infirmity, and faring worse day by day, the medicines in no way crushing the force of the evil, already given up, was in her agony. Andrew, her son and a priest, seeing his mother now on the point of passing elsewhere, threw himself on the ground in the form of a cross, and pledged her to the tomb of Blessed Cantius with the sacrifice of the mass. At once the mother began to draw back from the preludes of death, and, quickly recovering, gratefully visited the tomb of Blessed Cantius.

[202] A matron healed from a dangerous disease. In the year 1610, on the fourth of May. The Lady Hedwig Dobroszowska, burgravine of Kraków, in a dangerous disease, doubting of her life from certain indications, implored the help of God, Blessed Cantius being interposed, and experienced it. For, presented with health in good time, by hearing the sacrifice of the mass she asserted that she owed her cure to the intercession of Blessed Cantius.

[203] A report on the healing of a certain priest. The report of the miraculous benefit which the Rev. Mr. Luke Regelius experienced in his grave disease runs thus. "In the year 1617, on the thirteenth of October. I, Luke Regelius, from Montana near Mstów, vicar altarist and sacristan of Lelów, candidly assert by this writing of my own hand that last year about the feast of St. Luke the evangelist I burned with very dangerous fevers, and for almost two weeks did not rise from my bed, and that it was noticed (perceived) by the friends visiting me and by myself that the nearness of death was upon me. Accordingly, human remedies failing, the memory of Blessed Cantius coming to me again and again, whose relics rest in the church of St. Anne, I judged that I must flee to his intercession. On the night following, therefore, given up by all, and lying alone in bed, I raised my eyes towards heaven, and beheld the blessed father Cantius in the garment which we call the Gown, with hands joined and also raised to the stars, and behind him the Virgin Mother of God. And at this sight I was wet with sweat; at once I began so to recover that at early morning I found myself fully unharmed. This benefit, therefore, of miraculous healing I gladly ascribe first to the most holy Parent of God, next after her to the blessed father Cantius; and I have attested myself grateful by the holy sacrifice of the mass. Moreover, that it may be celebrated by others too, for the greater increases of the divine glory and of propagating the honour of His venerable Servant, by my own hand, binding my conscience, by the things subscribed I certify that these things were done just as I have related. Be thou praised, my God, in thy Saints."

[204] Another report on sight restored. Another report, on blind eyes restored to light, of Mr. Albert Philinius, notary of Kraśnik, in the year (1610?). "I, Albert Philinius, bachelor of the liberal arts and of philosophy, citizen and notary of Kraśnik, binding my conscience, profess in truth that, when by an unhappy accident I had been bereft of the light and sight of both eyes, and was lying for pain, pressed also by greater wearinesses, there appeared to me a hand coming forth from the wall, offering me a lighted candle, with these words: I am Cantius, I present you with light. From this time I began to see with one of my eyes, and day by day I used a stronger power of seeing; and with this one eye I enjoy sight as excellently as formerly with two, so that I am able to dispatch without any impediment not only my own causes and those of my private friends, but also those of the city itself. And desiring that this benefit be recalled in the memory of posterity, I hang up and consecrate a silver votive offering to the glory of God my maker and to the honour of Blessed Cantius, devoutly dedicating myself also."

[205] A child presented with health. In the year 1610. Mr. Paul Karniovski, from the city of Widawa, fearing for his child, with his wife Barbara (for it had been seized by an extreme disease); Blessed Cantius having been invoked, they at once received the child unharmed, and so, joyful, they carried into execution their vow to the sepulchre.

[206] Likewise another In the same year. Mr. John Lachowski, from the city of Chęciny, coming with his wife to venerate and to discharge their vows at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, related that his son Peter, already oppressed by a grave disease and already in his agony, as soon as he was offered by a vow to Blessed Cantius, at once recovered.

[207] and again another In the year 1611. Mr. Sebastian of Szczepanów with his wife confidently offered at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius their son Albert, lying dangerously sick and already given up; and he recovered in good time, and presented himself with his parents at the sepulchre.

[208] In the same year, on the eighth of May. Paul the candle-maker, beyond the gate of St. Nicholas, falling from a boat in the Vistula, drowned and drawn out dead, promised by pious friends with the sacrifice of the mass to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, A drowned man revives. suddenly revived, and was restored to his first health.

[209] Healing from a grave disease, In the same year. Mr. John Tolsin, a citizen of Wieliczka, because by the intervention of Blessed Cantius he had obtained healing from a grave disease, gave thanks at his sepulchre and professed it.

[210] likewise from palpitation of the heart In the year 1612, on the eighth day of March. Mr. Erasmus Domaszowski, prefect of the stable of His Royal Majesty, seized with a palpitation of the heart, which is the fount of life, so dangerous that his life seemed to be despaired of. Trusting in God, he implored the patronage of His holy Mother. Meanwhile, as he was overwhelmed by slumber, the Mother of God appears and addresses him thus: Go to the sepulchre of John Cantius, which is in the church of St. Anne, and so you will obtain health. Awakened by so delightful a sight, and perceiving no sense of pain, he delayed not at all, and on the same day venerated the sepulchre. Moreover, in sign of a mindful and grateful soul, he offered at the remains of Blessed Cantius a sacred vestment of very precious silk, which he also marked with his arms.

[211] The use of speech restored. In the same year. The Lady Hedwig Czynska, brought to extremities by a long disease, had lost her speech. Her sorrowful husband, thinking that he would obtain solace by a vow to the sepulchre of the Venerable Cantius, promises her to be presented there. After this Blessed Cantius appears to the sick woman, blessing her, in that appearance, as she related, in which he is represented in his image, and at once she is restored to speech and health. She did not leave off venerating this sepulchre, which God decided to adorn with such solaces to be received.

[212] A woman recovers from a dangerous disease, In the year 1613. The Lady Susanna Oleska, sub-chamberlain's wife of Pomerania, seeing herself already given up in a dangerous disease, invoked Blessed Cantius with the sigh of a devout heart and at once recovered. And therefore when she appeared at the sepulchre for the sake of carrying out her vow, she by no means neglected to record it.

[213] likewise the Palatine of Lublin, In the year 1614, on the seventh of February. The Most Illustrious Lord Gabriel Tęczyński, palatine of Lublin, because in his infirmity he had obtained present help and solace by the merits of Blessed Cantius, venerated his sepulchre in person. And accordingly, for the sake of declaring his grateful soul towards the Blessed Father, he offered three parts of red silk, from which a sacred vestment and two dalmatics were made, and moreover a covering with which his coffin is covered on the more solemn feasts.

[214] likewise several others. In the same year Adam Osmolski, a citizen of Lwów, appearing with his consort Hedwig and two children in the church of St. Anne at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, related that they, sick and given up by the physicians, as soon as they had conceived a vow of venerating the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, had begun to be restored to health. In order, therefore, to testify that they were grateful, a sacrifice of the mass was sung.

[215] Speech restored. In the same year the Lady Sophia of Kleparz, having venerated the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with her daughter Regina, confessed that the same little daughter, lying in a long and grave disease, had lain a whole week without the faculty of speaking; that as soon as she had promised herself with her to offer honour to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, she had at once begun to speak.

[216] A boy healed. On the first of August. Mr. John Polakovicz with Anne his consort, from the Castle street, promised to present themselves with their son Hyacinth, very sick, at the remains of Blessed Cantius; and at once the boy began to recover, with whom, now unharmed, they paid their thanks.

[216] One next to death recovers. On the fifth of October. Mr. John Poleyski, from the land of Sieradz, in a dangerous infirmity, seeing himself failing in strength and approaching death, conceived a vow to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and at once began to be restored to strength and health; and a little after he carried it out and related it.

[218] Votive offerings. There exist moreover many miraculous graces shown by the intercession of Blessed Cantius in various necessities and infirmities. And this very thing is attested by the waxen signs, the wooden tablets, but above all the silver votive offerings fixed above his monument. According to the annotation of the public notary sent to the City, the silver votive offerings are reckoned at fifty, excepting those which were added afterwards. Among these we place the Most Illustrious Lady Sophia of Tęczyn (Tęczyńska), daughter of the palatine of Lublin, who, having experienced solace in a certain disease, offered to Blessed Cantius a case for a hand, ingeniously fabricated of silver, and venerated his sepulchre with the sacrifice of the mass solemnly sung amid harmonies. These votive offerings, moreover, as is established from the year inscribed on them, profess miracles worked from the year 1603, in which his sepulchre was found and opened. Likewise the Lady Elizabeth Altembergia, about to exchange life for death, in proof of a devout and grateful mind towards Blessed Cantius for the benefit received, and that his prayer might profit her soul, bequeathed to his altar a silver figure of the Saviour dying on the cross. To God the best and greatest, therefore, all these things are to be attributed, who, standing by His promises, deigns to honour His servants, to whose heart the enlargement of His glory on earth was dear, not only with heavenly but also with earthly honours.

ANNOTATIONS.

"Andrew, son of Balthasar Bruczek, sword-maker of Kraków, washing himself in the river Vistula without his parents' leave, swallowed by the waters and drawn out of them dying, by the vow of a woman then present made for him is called back to life, witness the R. P. D. Nicholas Dobrocieski, canon of Kraków, and examiner of the miracles of the same Blessed Cantius. In the year of the Lord 1603, June V."

THIRD AND REMAINING PART.

Of the miracles examined before the Lord episcopal commissaries.

A Commission is instituted by the bishop of Kraków. In the year 1622, on the second of June, the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Martin Szyszkowski, of pious memory, bishop of Kraków, at the just instance and ardent request of the Rector, the doctors and all the professors of the university of Kraków, on behalf of Blessed John Cantius, their doctor and professor, to be enrolled in the roll of the Saints in the church of God, since the will of God had been declared by so many miracles, was entreated as pastor that, according to the custom used in the church, he would not be loath to join himself also to this by his commission. Moved by this petition, he gave a commission and designated as commissaries the Rev. Mr. John Toxa, archdeacon of Kraków, the Rev. Mr. Luke Doctorius, the Rev. Mr. James Naymanovic, canons of Kraków, and the Rev. Mr. Martin Klocinski, provost of Corpus Christi; granting them this, that, the life and miracles of Blessed Cantius having been accurately inspected, they should send a splendid report of them to the apostolic see; so that the kingdom and nation of Poland, he having been exalted in the church of God and his holiness published, might with solace more confidently and more ardently invoke him as Patron with public cult in their necessities. From this commission, therefore, we shall record some miracles.

[220] A possessed woman freed. In the same year, on the Monday after the mid-Lent Sunday, the third of April, the Lord Commissaries beginning the commission, the venerable Fr. Anthony Lezasnko, professed Reformed Bernardine, preacher and confessor at Wieliczka, came to the church of St. Anne with the Lady Sophia Kozlowska, a citizen of Wieliczka, beset and harassed for sixteen years by several cacodemons. Among these, one, at one time cast out, kept coming back into the same woman. Accordingly, the sacrifice having been performed with great faith, when the Eucharist was to be held out to the possessed woman, the demon would in no way allow it to be done. The garment of Blessed Cantius having been put to her mouth, and his hood also having been wound about her throat, then the devil began to cry out: Throw away from here the stinking garment of this rotten one, which so harasses me from behind. And crying out many horrible things besides, amid howlings he went out of the body, yet in such a way that he rendered the woman he had beset lame in the left foot and also deaf in the left ear. But she, perceiving herself free of the Stygian guest, both returned thanks at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius in prayer for a continuous hour, and, having begged the restoration of her injured health, came out altogether unharmed in her whole body, senses and members. Accordingly the Bernardine Father, appearing with the freed lady before the Lord Commissaries, and an oath having been made first, they asserted that the things were done as we have related. And truly this miracle had as witness a very numerous people, who on that day were praying for the blessing of God on the Commission.

[221] Kęty, the native place of Blessed Cantius, freed from the plague. Mr. Paul Kasperkowicz, a citizen of Kęty, forty years old, related that three years before, at Kęty, the plague had grown strong about the feast of St. Catherine, V. and M., and had carried off very many. Their affairs being given up for lost, the common people of the town, to escape the wrath of God, offered themselves by a vow, in the name of the city, to venerate his sepulchre. This being done, the pestilence ceased, and breathed upon no one any more. Accordingly in the following year, the chief men of the city having prepared a supplication, a very great multitude of the common people flowing together, they went to the remains of Blessed Cantius with harmony and song, and gratefully venerated their patron. A similar report too was made by Thomas Smolka, a citizen of Kęty, and in almost the same words, concerning this removal of the pestilence in the same town.

[222] Pain of the bowels healed. On the eleventh of April. Mr. John Wieloglowski, (from) Słupia, forty years old, related before the Lord commissaries that from boyhood he had been accustomed to be afflicted every year with such a torment of the side and of the lower bowels that he wished (rather) to die than to experience it. And this pain lasted three or four weeks. It happened, when that vexation was holding him for almost six days, that he was visited by Mr. Martin Piotrowski, a citizen of Kazimierz, who recounted to the sick man the healings and miraculous solaces of Blessed Cantius. Moreover the same, moved by his groans and the force of his pain, went away into the garden, and, falling on his knees, offered him at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and from that time the sick man in the same hour felt a notable mitigation of the pain, nay even a cure.

[223] A girl recovers from a fever and dropsy. In the same year, Mr. Alexander Kozuchowski of Kozuchów, vice-captain of Kraków and judge of the Castle suits, related before the same Lord commissaries that his daughter of five years, his firstborn, Sophia, had fallen from an acute fever into a lethal dropsy in the year 1618; and since no hope of life remained, offered by the counsel of a friend, Mr. John Konopnicki, at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, within seven days, mild medicines having been applied which could rather harm her than profit, she was cured both of the fever and of the dropsy with which she had swollen in her whole heart (body?), and still enjoys soundness by the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[224] A blind boy is given sight. In the same year. The Lady Hedwig Sulimierska, a citizen of Kraków, sixty years old, professed before the same Lord commissaries that twenty-four years before, her nephew, by her brother Mr. Adam Olzewski, now living in Russia, seven years old, had been so sick that he lost his sight, and for seven whole weeks could see nothing; and needed another as guide who might (direct) him where he wished to go. With great desire of restoring the light to him, she offered him at the tomb of Blessed Cantius; and, hearing mass with the same nephew, when the priest wiped his eyes with the purificator, he was at once given sight. And so he who entered the church blind went out seeing, and today, by the benefit of Blessed Cantius, is gladdened, rejoicing in his sight.

[225] A man freed from the dangers of the road by the help of Blessed Cantius. On the same day Mr. Stanislaus Jagodynski, thirty-three years old, related before the same Lord Commissaries that in dangerous times he had undertaken necessary journeys into Italy, and from it had penetrated with peril through Germany, Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, at that time beset on every side by soldiers and robberies, and roads marked not so much by the footsteps of travellers as by the corpses of the slain: first indeed in the year 1622, about the city of Brno and Auspicana in Moravia; secondly in the year 1623, on the borders of the Tyrol and Italy, at the town of Grini, where the Rev. Mr. Albert Grochowski, abbot of Wągrowiec, retracing his own footsteps, was murdered; thirdly in the year 1624 in the middle of a forest near lcsum and Peryia, cities of Moravia; and other places full of danger through Germany and Bohemia, by name at Legnica, where behind him and before him he met others despoiled, others even murdered. While, therefore, evil was threatening him, he invoked the patronage of very many Saints whose relics rest at Kraków, but singularly and chiefly of Blessed Cantius, who he remembered had fallen among robbers and had escaped whole from their hands; promising that if he were free from all dangers he would venerate his sepulchre. And he expressly confessed that he had been affected by the loss neither of health nor of anything. This moreover he added, that when at Brno, with Mr. Samuel Plaza and the Rev. Mr. Mistowski, and Mr. Stanislaus Czarnecki, his companions, he had been despoiled, and they were being searched by the robbers for the rest on them, in case gold should lie hidden sewn in some part, it had fallen to his lot to be searched by the chief of the robbers. But when he had touched seventy gold pieces in a hidden place on him, and had begun to take them out, it cannot be explained what happened to him; for as if the strength and motion of his hands had been taken from him, though he had everything ready to hand, he took none of them. This benefit Mr. Jagodynski attributed to the intercession of Blessed Cantius; and he offered up vows and thanks first to God his leader and bringer-back through places full of dangers, then to Blessed Cantius His servant.

[226] The Lady Regina Barankowicowna, a citizen of Kraków, from the Hospital street, A jesting laugh at Blessed Cantius is punished and afterwards remitted. twenty-six years old, related that as a girl of ten years, in her mother's house, looking from her bed at an image of Blessed Cantius on silk, playful and jesting, she had said these words: Canti, Quanti. Now by this name Quanti a certain peasant was called. These words having been uttered, suddenly a round stone, which was then used for polishing cloths, falling out, struck the face which had not honoured the Saint so hard that it knocked out her teeth and foully wounded her lips and nose. Ointments and plasters applied with the greatest care profited nothing. Accordingly the mother fled from human to divine means; and, imploring perseveringly for three days the help of Blessed Cantius, at length both, falling on their knees before the same image, bound themselves by a vow of venerating the tomb of the Blessed Father, if he would drive away the just stroke from her face. And soon, no surgeons having been applied, the face recovered its first wholeness and appearance, no spot or scar at all being left which could in any way disfigure her. This benefit she ascribed to the merits of Blessed Cantius, and by no means neglected to fulfil her penance after confession.

[227] Healing of an ulcer. The same related that her mother, named Barbara, who died fifteen years before, had been tortured in the part of the lower mouth by such an ulcer that on the outer part it equalled a plum in size, and in blackness the colour of a coal; and such a stench exhaled from it that on that account she allowed no one to eat with her. The surgeons shrank from her cure for fear lest the whole face should become subject to cancer. Thus situated, therefore, as soon as she promised herself to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, she immediately obtained the solaces of a miraculous healing. The Lady Hedwig Maternicowa, a citizen of Wieliczka, thirty-six years old, sister of the Lady Regina Barankowicowna, confessed that all these things related by her sister concerning the wounding stone and the healing, and the ulcer of her mother miraculously cured, happened just as they have been narrated.

[228] A contraction of the foot and another disease healed. The Lady Lucy Piechorowska, from the street of St. Anne, a widow thirty-four years old, related that by the force of a disease she had been so contracted in her feet and hands for seven weeks that she could neither rise nor move herself from her place; but since no medicines gave any hope, when her sorrowful mother promised her to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, she recovered within a few days, to the highest admiration of all. The same moreover confessed that her little daughter, dangerously sick, from a vow likewise of honouring the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, soon came out unharmed.

[229] A woman in danger in childbirth comes out safe. The Lady Eve Grochtotovichowna, a citizen of Wieliczka, related that in a difficult childbirth, in the year 1604, she had wished to bring forth the foetus in whatever way, provided only that it should be granted her to live, since slight hope shone for the life of the child; the ladies present

were also thus despairing of the life of the woman in labour. One of them, however, named Wengzrynska, who now serves God in enclosure with the other pious widows at the church of the Most Holy Trinity, promised her to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and at once she brought forth her offspring and was relieved of pain. Moreover the foetus, almost dead, carried with great faith to baptism, revived on the very road, and was cleansed in the sacred font.

[230] Epilepsy healed The same confessed that she had obtained another benefit by the merits of Blessed Cantius for her son Albert, whom, having suffered a year and a half before the epileptic disease and in it a failure of reason, after, by the counsel of the venerable father Bonaventure, prior of the Reformed Bernardines, she had promised him to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, she soon saw freed from the disease and having obtained health.

[231] Safe from the danger of childbirth. The Lady Anne Przeworska, living towards the gate of St. Nicholas, related that five weeks before, encompassed by sudden and incredible pains, she had brought forth a dead child, and, anxious for her own life, had most devoutly offered herself at the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and at once, the pain being mitigated, had also obtained health.

[232] Strength of the feet restored The Lady Susanna Cieszynska, a citizen of Kraków, asserted that from her tender years she had been a venerator of Blessed Cantius and of his sepulchre. But having heard that the Commission on his life and miracles was proceeding, she offered at the sepulchre on that very same day a boy of three years lacking strength in his feet, and lamented by common voice as one who would never use them, and on that very same day the boy began to walk.

[233] A happy childbirth is obtained. She testified also that she had obtained another kind of grace by the benefit of the merits of Blessed Cantius. For at this time, bearing in her womb, next to childbirth, wholly broken and weak, she went to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and, hearing mass devoutly, she prayed against the difficulties of childbirth, again and again recalling how devout a venerator of Blessed Cantius she had been from her tender years. Returning home after the divine offices had been completed, she seems to herself stronger. Then on that very same day, the 24th of March, at the third hour of the night, with no helping hand, which she had otherwise been wont to require in births and pains, she brought forth without pain a son, afterwards named Stanislaus.

[234] Fragrance perceived from the sepulchre. The Lady Eve Popiolkowa, a citizen of Kraków, affirmed this concerning the holiness of Blessed Cantius, that when her husband's son too was moving the stone monument, on the striking out of one brick, there burst forth a fragrance which equalled the pleasing odour of violets, and that people then ran there from all sides.

[235] A contraction of the hands and feet removed The same confessed that, a widow, eighteen years before she had been afflicted with a wonderful disease which had so contracted her hands and feet that she could neither walk nor eat, and that for seventeen whole weeks. By the counsel, therefore, of a certain youth, she bound herself by a vow of rendering veneration to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, and soon, raising herself, she stood on her feet, and began to stretch out her hands freely. Then, going to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius with the support of crutches, she was deprived of all pain; going away, however, she still used one crutch, which she by no means needed, and at last returned home fully sound. And what is more admirable, neither by this nor by any other kind of disease was she tried from then on, which she ascribed entirely to the merits and patronage of Blessed Cantius.

[236] On the fragrance from the sepulchre. The Lady Sophia Gzelowska confirmed that the holiness of Blessed Cantius had been divinely established, when, the tomb having been opened, a miraculous and delightful fragrance spread itself through the whole church; and on this matter there is a certain and constant rumour and widely spread talk. And she proclaimed that she had brought back this kind of benefit, that when this year a certain acute humour so offended in her eyes that the pain kept her from all work, and that for four weeks; as soon as she promised that she would venerate the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and also performed it in deed, at once the pain began to flee, and she so recovered that today too she enjoys excellent sight. And therefore she decided within herself to rejoice in him as patron, and from now on chooses and invokes him as such.

[237] A bruising of the head healed; Mr. Matthias Szypinski, a citizen of Kraków, travelling twenty years before, having entered an inn in the evening and avoiding the multitude of drinkers, was walking about the upper part of the house, and through carelessness so fell through an opening lying open for drawing up hay that he bruised his head, and blood flowed copiously from his ears and nostrils. His mother gathered him up, but for two days he could neither speak nor give signs of a present mind. So sorrowful and afflicted, therefore, she promised him to the remains of Blessed Cantius, and he immediately both began to speak and to recover, and at last within ten days to rejoice in full and entire soundness.

[238] likewise dropsy. The Lady Susanna Kuczynska confessed that, surrounded by dropsy from the sole of the foot up to the crown of the head, she had altogether despaired of prolonging her life by human means. When she bound herself by a vow that she would venerate the tomb of Blessed Cantius, she obtained the solace of health: for all the water under the skin subsided, leaving only some slight traces of itself in her feet.

[239] A report confirming the casting out of the demon. The Lady Sophia Kozlowska, a citizen of Wieliczka, of whom we said above that the demon was cast out at the sepulchre, appeared in person before the Lord Commissaries, and, an oath having been taken first, asserted that she was altogether free from the demon and immune from every assault of his, which was driven from her on the third of April. Which benefit she attributed, after God, to the merits of Blessed Cantius. This report was made on the 27th of April.

[240] An eruption of blood is stayed. Mr. Andrew Pisarzowski, of the arms Topór ^a, or the Axe, thirty years old, confessed that by a certain misfortune he had lost the middle finger of his left hand, and that, one week having elapsed, so great a force of blood had burst out from the injured part that for two whole days and one night the gore flowed continuously. No art of skilled surgeons could avail to stop it. Accordingly, the hope of life being despaired of, by the counsel of his confessor, and raised up by the fame of the miracles of Blessed Cantius, he promised that he would venerate the sepulchre, and at once the gore ceased to flow. So, therefore, from despaired-of health he was carried over to certain health by the merits of Blessed Cantius.

[241] Healing of body and soul. The Rev. Mr. Adam Malagovius, priest and preacher of St. Florian's at Kleparz, related that on the day on which the Commission had begun, going to St. Florian's for the sake of preaching, he first turned aside out of christian charity to Mr. Albert Bierkowski, a cattle merchant, tending to his end with fevers. But when he recalled to him the necessity and utility of confession and the other sacraments, he found the sick man altogether resisting his counsels. Accordingly he was the author to him that he should ask health for himself from God through the intercession of the Saints, especially of Blessed Cantius, into whose holiness and miracles inquiry had begun to be made. Suddenly the sick man was softened, and, contrite, invoked Blessed Cantius, and at his admonition also made a vow of venerating the sepulchre, and within three days fully healed, he venerated the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and also confessed his sins.

[242] A fever is removed. Mr. Albert Zboinski, twenty years old, related that he had encountered danger of life from a fever; but after he promised himself to the remains of Blessed Cantius, he had at once been presented with miraculous health from a disease of three weeks, by which he was by no means permitted even to raise himself from his bed. Of this there are very many witnesses, and the father of the household himself.

[243] A sudden and vehement disease ceases. Mr. John Pietrowicz, a citizen of Kleparz, asserted that he had been oppressed by the sudden force of a certain vehement disease and so prostrated in his strength that he had to be carried home by the hands of others and laid in bed, and there lay like a dead man. His afflicted wife with great confidence promised him to the tomb of Blessed Cantius, and he immediately recovered. He himself testified on oath that it had been so done with him, and said that the matter was widely known to the whole neighbourhood.

[244] An end is put by the Commissaries to the inquiry into the miracles. There was moreover a great concourse of men, even on the day on which the Commission was being closed, as also when it was being begun, of various condition and age, of both sexes, who were ready duly to record those benefits, and those great ones, which the divine liberality had poured forth upon them through the patronage of Blessed Cantius. But because the Lord commissaries judged that the vicar of Christ would be sufficiently informed from these alone concerning the holiness of Blessed Cantius; and then also because they gathered that they would by no means satisfy so great a concourse, which was increasing and growing day by day, yielding to the shortness of the time, they put off the inquiry into the miracles to another opportunity, when the matter should require it.

[245] Two more recent miracles. Healing of a foot Passing over the other miracles which followed the Commission, I shall record two, as being more notable and known to few. In the year 1631, on the ninth of July, the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Bogusław Radoszewski, bishop of Kiev, abbot of the Holy Cross, having suffered certain acute pains in his foot, humours flowing down, leaving aside the temporal means, which with difficulty brought any alleviation to the evil, having invoked the patronage of Blessed Cantius obtained full health from God. This benefit the most illustrious man himself published, letters having been drawn up to those whom it concerned. And moreover, for the sake of propagating the divine honour in His Servant, the same cure was duly promulgated from the pulpit at Blessed Virgin's on the Sands, in the octave of the Visitation, whence a huge multitude of men, invited, went in procession to the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius, that, a mass of the Most Holy Trinity having been sung, thanks might be rendered on the tenth of July. The same Most Illustrious man, loving Blessed Cantius and being grateful to him, counted out five hundred florins, and destined them for his canonization; which liberality we pray that the divine liberality may repay him. He himself then in person, having performed the sacred rites, paid his thanks at the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius.

[246] A dropsical man recovers. In the year 1629, on the last of May. The sworn vice-advocate and citizen of Brzeziny, Mr. Luke Seculant, appearing in the church of St. Anne, related before the Public (notary) that, when he was suffering from a long and dangerous dropsy, and saw himself destitute of human help, and was awaiting death hourly, he had prayed God in simplicity of heart that at length it might be granted him to die as a christian, truly penitent and fortified with the sacraments. Meanwhile there appeared to him a Person, advanced in age, venerable, in black vesture, with a hood adorned at the head with white fur, addressing him in such words: Is the amendment of your life at your heart; and do you wish to live as a faithful and genuine servant of the divine Mother? He saying that he did not know; the appearing Person said: I am John Cantius; and having said this he disappeared. The sick man soon began to recover, and within some days was miraculously restored to full health. But when he long reflected within himself who that one of the Saints was who had been sent to him by God and the Mother of God as healer (for he had heard nothing of Blessed Cantius), for the sake of counsel he called in his confessor, to whom he narrated the series of the whole matter. The confessor bade him make his way to Kraków and seek out the church of St. Anne and the sepulchre of Blessed Cantius. But he put it off, until he was again admonished in his sleep not to delay and to gird himself for the journey. And then, delays being cut short, he undertook a journey of twenty-four miles. And arriving, he paid his thanks by confession and the reception of holy communion and the hearing of the sacrifice of the mass. And looking at the image on the altar

of Blessed Cantius, he asserted that a most similar appearance had been presented to him in the vision. There exists in the sacristy the autograph of this Luke himself, if anyone should require it for giving credence.

[247] Why three miracles worked by the invocation of St. Anne are added here. Three benefits obtained through the patronage of Blessed Anne, by those who promised themselves to her in the church existing at Kraków in their necessities; also for consoling and inciting to more ardent devotion those who have adopted her as their Titular, written out from the old codices of the same church of St. Anne, from which the miracles of Blessed Cantius too were written out, lest by the injury of the times, like other things, they should become food for moths and worms.

[248] A dying man is restored to life. In the year 1519, on the day following the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Mr. Stanislaus Goyski, innkeeper and citizen of Kraków from the Castle street, brought to extremity by a dangerous disease (for long before the named feast it had been possible for him to use no food or drink, nature resisting and rejecting even what was lightly tasted), now forming no words, was awaiting death as next at hand. Then, the thought occurring to him with what great merits Blessed Anne, mother of the Mother of God, was with God, with the whole effort of his heart, as much as his broken strength permitted, he commended himself to her; and scarcely had he put an end to these words when he soon began to speak, and with plain words vowed that he would venerate the church of Blessed Anne with the sacrifice of the mass. And he performed it, and asked the preacher of the same church that the benefit conferred on him by the patronage of Blessed Anne should not fail to be published to men.

[249] Likewise another similarly. In the same year, on the day of St. James before the feast of St. Anne, a certain woman related that her husband, living with Mr. John Zatorski, citizen and merchant of Kraków (he held the post of scribe in the citizens' office), recently married to her, a few days before had fallen gravely sick, had been in his agony, had sweated with a cold sweat, had lost his speech, and had shown the other preludes to death. There were present there the Fathers Preachers, to commend the departing soul to the Lord, constantly asserting that he was now dying. The wife, seeing these things, in grief and sorrow falls on her knees, and speaks thus: Most blessed Anne, I beseech thee and also adjure thee to leave me in life this husband married to me not so long ago; to thee I commend him and myself, an orphan. And soon she sends her mother into the church of St. Anne, for the sake of having a sacrifice said for the sick man. Not yet had the mass come to an end nor had the mother returned, when the husband, as though roused from a heavy slumber, as he used to do when well, calls his wife with a firm voice, and, wiping off the sweat, speaks out these words: I had already exchanged life for death, and saw those wonderful seats which are destined for us after death: but most blessed Anne with her Daughter and Grandson willed that this should be obtained, that I should be restored to life for your sake: for you are the woman who has conceived. The woman, however, altogether did not know this, and afterwards proved that it was so. Accordingly she both received her husband unharmed through the patronage of Blessed Anne and learned that she had conceived.

[250] A boy of twelve years drowned is restored to life. In the same year the son, twelve years old, of a certain poor mother, drowned while swimming, lay hidden in the waters for three hours before he was taken out lifeless by fishermen; and so he lay from the space of midday up to the Saturday. The mother, most bitterly lamenting the unhappy accident, at length commended him by a vow made to St. Anne, to her church, if she should receive solace in a living son. And at once the dead son rose up, and unharmed flew with his mother to the church of St. Anne, and paid thanks to God and to Blessed Anne for his life. This boy was well known to very many ecclesiastics and seculars, who frequently saw him begging alms among other beggars.

[251] Conclusion. This very brief memorial of the holiness of Blessed John Cantius, doctor of S. Scripture and professor at Kraków, we dedicate and consecrate to the glory and honour of the Deity alone, who wills that His name be celebrated and praised in the solemnity of the Saints; desiring this, that "the bones of the Saints may spring up out of their place," and that his most blessed soul may not only enjoy heavenly joys, but also that his sacred relics may flower from the sepulchre like lilies, and console the afflicted and the sick; and, what we vow most of all, that by his patronage they may make abundance of peace and the universal propagation of the orthodox faith spring up for this kingdom. This life was printed at the expense of the foundation of the most illustrious Mr. Bartholomew Nowodworski ^b, Maltese knight of the order of St. John the Baptist of Jerusalem, courtier and ever-present prefect of the soldiery of His Royal Majesty: to whose soul may God grant everlasting rest.

ANNOTATIONS.

APPENDIX.

John Cantius, presbyter and confessor, at Kraków. (S.)

FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

A notice on the miracles approved and not approved. We said in Prelim. comm. § III, n. 38, that the cause of Blessed Cantius stuck fast for many years, miracles proved in suitable number being lacking. Which will perhaps seem strange to someone after the almost innumerable miracles recited here from Opatowski. But it is necessary to recall to mind how severe the rules are which the congregation of S. Rites has prescribed for itself in this matter. Nor can it be inferred from the fact that the S. Congregation either did not expressly examine or did not approve some miracle, that it was rejected by it or declared or reputed fictitious. Such a conclusion would extend too widely. This one thing is lawfully made out, namely that the said miracle is not marked with those notes by which its complete authenticity may be exhibited, demonstrated on every side, or that at least it does not appear such from the beginning; whence one does not come to its more severe examination. For the rest, since only few miracles (say two, or four if the cause proceeds by way of the excepted case) are to be proved more accurately in regard to canonization, it follows that by far the most, nay innumerable ones, whether collected and brought forward by bishops or by special commissaries and inserted in the acts, are not subjected by the S. Congregation to a more diligent examination, which are accordingly left resting on their first testimonies, without any further question being instituted about their value and quality. It would therefore be absurd and rash to banish them among little tales on that sole head, that they were not approved in particular by the S. Congregation. Lastly, in the place cited above, we saw that of the four miracles first submitted to examination in the cause of Blessed Cantius, only two were accepted by common vote under Benedict XIV. But since that Pontiff had decided that thereafter, in causes proceeding by way of the excepted case, no step should be made to canonization unless four miracles had been proved; the cause was silent up to the times of Clement XIII. But then only three new miracles were being proposed, which, although each had been proved, were nevertheless not of sufficient number. It was requested, therefore, that to those three new ones the two older ones should be joined, which the aforesaid Pontiff also granted. Compare Prelim. comm. n. 39. And these five miracles, recorded indeed, but very briefly, as is customary, in the bull of canonization, it has seemed good to develop somewhat more broadly in this appendix, as they are presented in the little book on the deeds of Blessed Cantius Rome 1767, p. 44 and following; which little book, as we have advised elsewhere, was composed from the Authentic Acts. We shall then set down the bull of Canonization itself.

I.

Miracles approved by the S. congregation in regard to the canonization of Blessed John Cantius.

An instantaneous healing from hereditary consumption. With a sharp cough, with putrid spittle to the point of blood, and very unpleasantly smelling breath, there broke out in the third year of his age into black consumption the hereditary wasting which Sebastian Luzark had contracted from his father's seed. The disease spreading widely, it put on the nature of dropsy with a swelling of the belly, the upper part of the body declining into great leanness. Nothing was left untried by the physicians to restrain the flood of the disease; yet its obstinacy, far from being broken by the remedies of art, had already ripened for death the boy advancing to the ninth year of his age. At that time he had begun to be tortured by more atrocious symptoms. A more vehement cough, almost never remitted, rose up, putrid pus teemed from his mouth, a heavier compression of breath came on, and assiduous and wasting sweats flowed out, by which the physicians pronounced that he had been brought into a desperate peril of life. Struck by this most bitter news, Sebastian's mother, in order to try the last resort, goes to a religious of the Society of Jesus staying in the college of St. Peter at Kraków, and quite skilled in medicine, and begs him to be willing to come to the aid of her dying son. He goes immediately to visit the boy, and, having examined the habit of the body, extremely worn away, and the frequent convulsions, he advises the mother that no help is to be sought from human science: for he had detected that his life could by no means be prolonged beyond three days. What measure of grief was there for the wretched woman? Indulging her sorrow to tears, to sighs, to sobs, she lamented that the chief part of her heart was being snatched from her. Like Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham, sitting so as not to look on her dying son, she raised her voice opposite to heaven, and not in vain: for I would believe that by its counsel Alexander Janicki arrived, who exhorted her to beg from Cantius the healing of her beloved pledge, despaired of by the physicians. By chance an image of the Blessed hung from the walls of the chamber; before it the most sorrowful mother falls on her knees, earnestly asking that he would bring help, since there were no human supports for her. She pledges that she will offer wax torches at the sepulchre, that she will procure a priest who would perform the sacred rites at his altar. She vowed, she fulfilled; and at once the symptoms of the disease grew faint, the belly subsided, the boy recovered, and, leaping from his bed on the next day, was restored safe to his mother.

[2] A sudden healing from an acute fever. An acute fever, accompanied by dire symptoms, had so routed the strength of a girl of eighteen years, Hedwig Paskovna, that she seemed already next to death; there conspiring to this a most frequent delirium, assiduous wakefulness, impeded breathing, a huge phlogosis (inflammation) of the mouth, and a throat forbidden to drink and food. Through one and another week the plague of the disease, raging with monstrous impetus, all the hair having been torn from her head, had put on the last leanness; when from the nuns whom they call of Charity a sister, according to the custom of the region, is summoned to nurse Hedwig. But she, seeing no room left for medicine, announces that she will very soon depart. Having then bidden farewell to those standing by, she withdrew. Nevertheless the most loving woman, omitting nothing of maternal solicitude, illumined by divine light and driven by heavenly confidence, which deceives no one, hastens to the sepulchre of Cantius; poured out in tears, she prays; she gives alms for the sacrifice of the mass, that He might be at hand to her daughter in peril, whose merits innumerable graces conferred on those who prayed to him testified to avail very much with the author of life. O wonder! As the mass began to be performed, no otherwise than fire's fury is suppressed by water thrown on it, the heat of the fever was at once extinguished

. You would have believed that the girl had woken from the peaceful rest of sleep; such alacrity of body and mind, further, did she rise from her bed with, that she seemed never to have been affected by any inconvenience of ill health. She orders food to be prepared for her, sits at table, refreshes her limbs long unfed and the strength of her body prostrated to destruction by the ruin of the disease; and, meeting her mother as she returned, she rushes into her embraces.

[4] likewise from a grave and pernicious disease, Salowa is a village of the Palatinate of Kraków. Next to the Inn of that place lay a pit, into which horse dung was thrown, and all the filth of the road flowed down, driven by the flood of waters. Since, from the vapours drawn up thence by the heat of the sun, the air smelt heavy and to the point of ruin, the inhabitants bring complaints to the prefect; and, he ordering the pit to be cleaned out, of the men and women who were hired to do the work, Marianna Gavlizka, and another named Sebastian, having contracted a grievous ill health from the stench of the filth, took to their beds. The latter, having struggled with fever through the third and fourth week, at length restored his diminished strength, although with difficulty. But a harder fate seized Marianna, with an accession of vehement torments of the head, and a haemorrhage which flowed most abundantly for three days, recurring at intervals. This was followed by a bad rigor, a most severe languor of strength, the highest dryness of mouth and tongue, a heat of body and a thirst going beyond measure, obstinate wakefulness, and an inflamed redness of the face, without there being any means of hiring a physician to restrain the onset of the disease. Grieving at so bitter a lot, the anxious husband goes to a noble matron of Salowa, asking her to cure his wife's monstrous disease with whatever remedy she could: and, she giving him one and another hemina of medicated wine, he returns and gives it her to drink. Yet the matter inclined for the worse; for more atrocious symptoms succeeded, of idle talk and deliriums, which portended a certain peril of life. Hence the parish priest is called, that divine helps might be prepared for the dying woman; nor did the pastor delay, and, having received her sacramental confession, he forthwith ministered the sacred Eucharist, water being let into her throat on account of the dryness to swallow it. The eighth week having now rolled by, the ninth had cut off the faculty of speaking, and had brought on graver inconveniences through the oppression of the mind and the routing of the other senses, excretions being stopped, limbs stiff, and so foully shaking her as she lay with horrifying aspect that it drew tears from the eyes of all. And when this was still the one indication of her living, namely beer sipped drop by drop; those standing by, admonished of most present death, cried out that one must hasten to the parish priest, that he might anoint Marianna's body with the sacred oil, and with the customary prayers of the church commend her soul, departing from it, to her creator. He came, and duly performed all things, and, a candle having been lighted according to custom, pitying the husband's lot in such words, "Wretched you! you will lose the consort of your life," he departed. As they had received it handed down by their forefathers, they place Marianna, removed from the bed, on the ground covered with straw, her right hand being applied to the image of the Crucifix, her left to holding up the candle: but since neither could perform this, the husband takes on the office, himself too almost lifeless. In this office of last piety towards his wife, he turned his mind to Blessed Cantius, whose power of signs was already held celebrated in our times, and his image for many years, by the dwellers of that village. To implore his help, therefore, he hurries with headlong step to the parish priest, that, having received a stipend, he might say mass at the altar of the man of God; but since the divine office had been put off to the morrow on account of food having been tasted, falling on his knees at the altar, he prays; and, trusting in so great a Patron, returns to his father's house; solicitude occupying the husband for the rest of the day and the whole following night, and his wife's struggle with death. The parish priest, waking at early morning, sets up the victim of propitiation, at whose signal received from the bronze bell Marianna's husband runs to the church, renews his prayers, and, mingling sighs with weeping, turns his sad eyes to the image of Cantius. To what end these things? The sacrifice was not yet completed when the dying woman suddenly rose up with entire strength, and, sitting up on the straw, demanded that a cup be given her to drink. And when she had eaten broths prepared very quickly at her nod, affected neither by pain of the head, nor by difficulty of swallowing, nor by any other inconvenience, in the afternoon, sound in body and mind, she walked about the chamber at leisure; and when the next day dawned she rendered vigorous service in the domestic duties, as she had formerly been accustomed.

[5] as also from a huge and deep ulcer. Anthony Olexowiez, a leather merchant, wearied from a journey, had sat down catching the shade; which having delighted him to the rest of sleep, on waking he noticed that on both sides of his neck at the lowest part of the ear continuous abscesses had swollen up, which equalled a goose's egg in size. Hence so vehement a pain, and so great a weakness of strength came on, that, with feet bent back, he could not complete the rest of the road unless carried in a cart. By the counsel of his kinsmen, using a plaster of wax, he very quickly brought them to suppuration; but though the pus flowed copiously, the torment was eased but not extinguished; new tubercles breaking out daily at the throat, without their closing into a scar, no otherwise (than) the former ones most painful and teeming with intolerable putrefaction. Nor had the most foul plague occupied that part of the neck and the whole throat only, but also the nape, flowing from twenty-three holes; among the rest, however, a most foul ulcer stuck fixed on the chin, by which the gullet was pierced and rejected the food or drink taken in: wherefore, to retain them, there was need for the neck to be bound tight with linen cloths. For almost three years in that deplorable state, an object of loathing not to strangers only but even to his own, he himself too, shunning the company of men, committed himself to a rustic life: no medicine being prepared except leaves of comfrey, lest, when the linen put round his neck was unwound, by tearing away the congealing pus, the pain of the ulcerated part should become greater. At the urging of some, however, he allowed water of certain herbs, with which the ulcers might be washed, to be prepared for him by an old man; nor did he admit it a second time, since he experienced no relief. By chance a noble knight, John Suykoski, making a journey, came upon Anthony, at whose sight, driven to horror and pity, having taken him as companion of the journey and brought him to Tarnów, he commends him to a surgeon, that, a fee having been agreed, he might undertake the cure of the most atrocious ulcers. But the latter, gaping after a larger sum of money, affirming that the work of healing proposed was beyond his powers, says that he will not make the attempt unless the highest sum is counted out: and, entreated that he would at least apply some plaster to the ulcers, with unheard-of savagery of mind he refused even this light office of christian piety. Then at last Anthony, having repaid very great thanks to the noble man, said: Farewell; and since, by the hope of an unjust fee, I have been defrauded of your help, I withdraw to seek out a more excellent surgeon. I shall go to Blessed John Cantius; he himself will call me back to my former health. Accordingly, as the new dawn arrived, he met a presbyter, and, part of the money having been assigned which he had received as a gift from John Suykoski for his return, that he might perform the sacred rites at the altar of blessed Cantius; he stood by the sacrificing priest with such firmness of mind that, although, broken in strength, he could with difficulty remain on bended knees, he seemed already unharmed. The issue of the matter was equal to his vows: for when they came to the consecration, at once he felt that the pains had receded, that the ulcers had been dried up, that he was held by no fault of the nape, by no weakness of the limbs; and, the scars forming only by the following day, on the third his neck and throat appeared covered over with flesh, without any trace of foulness.

[6] Goods fallen into the river Sola go back against the stream. Teresa Chylinska, returning to Żywiec in a carriage loaded with goods from the fair of the town of Kęty, in which John was born, had directed her journey to the river Sola; but, the snows melting, since it was overflowing, being prevented from crossing with the vehicle to the opposite shore, she climbed the pathless places of the nearest mountain, horses having been procured to carry the packs. Lest any damage should be taken from the roughness of the path, the muleteers went ahead, the merchant woman following: nevertheless, one of the horses stumbling, chests shaken from the pack-saddles let themselves down, slipping, into the waters. They at once emerged from the deep channel, swimming, and were snatched away by the headlong force of the river, the mistress lamenting with vain groaning the loss not only of the goods but also of the money put into the chests. Stupor seizes her weeping; but solicitude overcoming this, she calls the drivers of the horses and the shepherds tending cattle in the neighbourhood, promising a very great reward if they would commit themselves to the waters to recover the goods. They refusing (for they were deterred by certain peril of life), despair comes upon Theresa, and, like a raving woman, having measured out long spaces along the banks of the river, she would have thrown herself headlong into it, had she not, breathed upon by a better counsel, looked to the help of Blessed John Cantius. At once she rolls herself on the ground, with laborious groans she implores the right hand of the Saint. Nor was the prayer neglected; for scarcely had it been conceived when Theresa's maidservant and companion of the journey arrives, announcing that the chests are running back against the river (against the stream). She hesitated, however, her huge joy perhaps taking away credence from the wish obtained; but at the repeated news of Dominic the Saddler, whose horse had stumbled, every reason for doubting was removed. For rising to look, she now sees the goods, struggling against the force of the waters, already driven to the shore of the river which had received them as they fell. Brought out thence by the Saddler's hand, she receives them, and, returning home, pays thanks at the altar of John for so great a benefit conferred on her.

II.

The bull of canonization.

How profitable to the church is learning joined with holiness. Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, for the perpetual memory of the matter. God has so furnished his Church, as a certain most fortified citadel, that a thousand shields hang from it, all the armour of valiant men; and the shields and arms of this kind are the zeal and knowledge of the doctors, who undertake to hand down sound doctrine, whether from the chair or from the pulpit, and commend the same, that it may easily flow into souls, by integrity of morals and holiness of life. For, to protect the church, lest the gates of hell prevail against it, neither has doctrine enough authority without holiness, and holiness has greater strength joined with doctrine. When the Samaritans were trying to prevent the Israelites returning from captivity from rebuilding the cast-down walls of Jerusalem, those to whom the restoration had been committed did the work with one hand, and with the other held the sword: and these indeed the excellent doctors whom God raises up from time to time have imitated at every time, and imitate daily, especially in those regions which are surrounded by the enemies of the church, such as are the heretics and schismatics, as by certain Samaritans hostile to Jerusalem and obstinately opposing it.

[8] St. Cantius was eminent in both. Further, that among such excellent men, outstanding in learning and holiness, who should at once do and teach, and should defend the orthodox faith attacked by these most wicked adversaries, blessed John Cantius was certainly worthy to be numbered among the few, no one will doubt who knows that he handed down in the university of Kraków knowledge drawn from the purest spring, when in those times heresies and schisms were raging in other regions not far distant; and that he confirmed the holier discipline of morals, which he strove to explain to the people by preaching from the pulpit, by humility, chastity, mercy, affliction of the body, and the other virtues of a most upright priest and vigorous labourer. Accordingly he not only added singular ornament and honour to the professors of that university, but also left an example wonderfully to profit all the others who are engaged in a like office, that they may discharge the office of a perfect doctor untiringly

may strive, and may endeavour with all zeal and effort to teach the science of the saints together with the other faculties, which as handmaids serve it, to the praise and glory of the one God. Meanwhile blessed John himself will never cease propitiously to look down from on high upon the university once adorned with his virtues, and will cherish and protect with his perennial patronage his renowned nation, not only an excellent cultivator but also a strong champion of the orthodox Roman faith.

Wherefore, since blessed John Cantius, referring the pursuit of knowledge to the praise and glory of the one God, was a lamp in the church of God burning and shining, and shone no less with the miracles performed after death than with virtues in life; we accordingly, after that accurate and long discussion of the virtues and miracles which the gravity of the matter required, having called into counsel our venerable brethren the Cardinals of the H. R. C., and also the patriarchs and very many archbishops and bishops assembled in the City, and above all having piously and humbly invoked the Father of lights, decree, define and declare that the same blessed John is to be enrolled in the number of the saints, and to be venerated and honoured in the church of God.

[9] His birth, studies, labours; In the Town of Kęty of the diocese of Kraków blessed John Cantius was born, of parents illustrious for consular race and christian piety, on the 24th day of June, in the year one thousand three hundred and ninety-seven; a careful education joined with an excellent disposition was followed, as is usual, by a singular innocence, and such gravity of manners that one might in a certain manner wonder at the man in the boy. Sufficiently cultivated in those arts by which boyhood is wont to be formed to humanity, he was sent to the university of Kraków, not so long before founded, to learn the philosophical and theological faculties. And indeed in these, by sharpness of talent and patience of labour, he advanced so much beyond the rest that in philosophy he obtained an exceptional grade of honour, in theology not only the laurel but also the office of doctor. And that office he so discharged both from the chair and from the sacred rostrum that he implanted in the souls of his hearers, together with pure and sincere doctrine, the pursuit of piety and religion. And this sincerity of doctrine, plainly agreeing with the Roman church, was to be valued the more because in those times it was as it were a most present remedy against the plague of errors and heresies which had infected the schools of Holland, Britain and Germany. Further, so great an integrity of his, both of doctrine and of life, was divinely shown by a splendid sign. For when, a fire having broken out at Kraków, the flames, growing beyond measure, were so creeping that the whole city seemed soon about to be consumed, John, poured out in prayers, since there was now no hope in human force, saw standing by him a man mature in age, venerable in aspect (it was the opinion that it was St. Stanislaus, bishop of Kraków), and from him understood that the fire would not advance further: but that he should admonish the citizens to desist from their crimes: if they should do otherwise, far graver penalties were threatening. But when the citizens, unmindful of the prediction, had returned to their natural bent and former manners, a fire, roused again, consumed the city in great part.

[10] piety, humility, and a wonderful candour of simplicity; John was accustomed to perform the Sacred Mysteries daily with such ardour of soul, and with such an appearance of piety shining forth from it, that he instilled in those who were present the highest veneration towards the divine office. And since the adversary of the human race could not bear this, one day, having assumed the appearance of a swallow, flying about the church, he tried to disturb the minds of those standing by and to turn them elsewhere. Accordingly, that all might see what he himself divinely knew, having seized the bird he dashed it to the ground. And there it, turned into a snake, with a horrifying hiss at once withdrew itself from their eyes. To the religion with which he handled divine things humility was joined, by which, growing vile to himself, he never preferred himself to anyone, although easily the first of all in knowledge, nay he even desired to be spurned and despised by all; so far was he from bearing with too little equanimity those who disparaged him, which sometimes happened, and those who despised him. Which was also the cause why, in order to decline the honours offered him, in the habit of a vile and needy man, he undertook long pilgrimages, always on foot, once to the holy places of Palestine, four times to the holy thresholds of the Apostles. The companion of humility was a certain rare simplicity, worthy of a boy: accordingly in his deeds and words there was nothing deceitful, nothing feigned: what he had shut in his breast, this he had ready on his tongue. And of this exceptional sincerity, which there was no one who did not know, this was surely a plainly admirable specimen. He had fallen among robbers, who, after snatching the money which he carried in his purse, asked whether any other remained. He denies that anything is left: but soon, remembering that he had some gold pieces sewn into his garment, having called back the robbers, he offered those too which had fallen out of his mind. So unusual a sincerity bent the souls even of the abandoned men. Accordingly, astounded, the money which they had taken away being at once returned, they ask pardon for the crime, commend themselves to his prayers; both they easily obtain from the holy Man. A parish conferred on him he administered for some time most diligently; but although he diligently fulfilled the duties that are a pastor's, according to that scrupulous conscience which he had, thinking the business full of danger, he gave it up, and judged it safer to resume the customary office of teaching in the college.

[11] Devoted to abstinence, after obtaining the laurel of theology he never ate meat. For the rest, his food was most sparing, abstinence and mercy towards the poor. his fasts frequent, his use of scourges frequent and of the hair-shirt perpetual, his sleep very brief, on the bare ground, in old age only with a bear-skin spread under him. He kept chastity accordingly unimpaired both of soul and of body; and its proof likewise and reward was the white garland with which the virgin Mother of God, showing herself to be seen with the boy Jesus, adorned him as her exceptional client. He abhorred sin as much as anyone. He wept over light faults as though he were guilty of grave crimes. If perchance he suspected that any offence had arisen in others from his words while he spoke the truth, before he approached the altar he asked pardon as a suppliant, not so much for his own as for another's error, while on the contrary he bore with an equable and mild soul the insults and reproaches which were heaped upon him by others. And there was almost no office of mercy towards his neighbours which he did not perform most lovingly. To raise the afflicted to hope, to console the sorrowing by his address, to receive pilgrims, to visit those shut in prisons, to cover the poor every year with garments bought was customary with him; so much so that, a beggar meeting him on the road who walked with bare feet, he would take off his own shoes to cover his nakedness, covering his own meanwhile with his cloak until he should get himself home. On the day sacred to the Lord's nativity, as he was going to the church, having come upon a poor man stiff with cold on the snow, moved by the lamentable voice of one asking for help, he covered him with his own garment, which, however, soon after, having returned home, he found in his chamber by divine means. From this charity of John towards the poor a pious and praiseworthy custom was introduced into the college of Kraków, which remains to this day, that its professors should daily admit some one poor man to their common dinner, as though in his person they had Christ himself as a guest. And this so excellent affection of soul, by which the pious Priest thought no calamity of his neighbours foreign to himself, God approved by a notable miracle. For when a certain maidservant was groaning on account of a pail which she was carrying full of milk, which had slipped from her hands and been broken, because she feared her mistress's reproaches, John, led by pity, the fragments having been gathered and fitted together, restored it to its former wholeness, prayers having been poured out to God, and by the same soon changed into milk the water with which he ordered the pail to be filled.

[12] He makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Christ the Lord, who suffered such dire and unspeakable things for our salvation, he both meditated on assiduously and loved in return most ardently: and that he might at once kindle and satisfy this love, he undertook a journey on foot to Jerusalem, to the places memorable by the torments of Christ. And there it can scarcely be said how reverently, how piously, how ardently, not without groans and tears, he went through the most notable monuments of our Saviour. Nor indeed could he restrain himself from rebuking the impiety and perfidy of the Turks, and from most freely preaching the truth of the christian religion; thinking that it would go excellently with him if it should befall him to pour out his life for that cause, which he most desired. Before an image of the crucified Lord he would spend almost the very nights in praying, and more than once he was rapt into long ecstasies. But by day, after he had discharged his office, straight from the lecture-hall at once into the church, where before Christ hidden in the Eucharist he would draw out contemplations and prayers for a long time. Altogether God alone was in his heart, God alone in his mouth. And that he might cherish and increase this pious ardour of soul day by day, he longed to keep company and converse with certain holy men who at that time flourished in virtue, and, looking up to what was highest in them, he emulated it.

[13] The death and burial of St. Cantius. But the untiring labourer had now laboured enough in the vineyard of the Lord. The time was at hand for receiving the reward: accordingly John, foreseeing from the languor of his body that death was not far off, was wholly intent on preparing himself for a happy departure; and first by mercy towards the poor, on whom he paid out whatever remained at home, he won the divine mercy for himself more and more, then by sacramental confession he wiped away the stains of conscience, if there were any, and, refreshed with the most holy body of Christ, he lay down on his bed. The disease, growing heavier, brought not fear but hope. For he desired nothing more than to migrate as soon as possible from exile to the fatherland. Fortified at length with the divine viaticum, after salutary admonitions by which he inflamed his colleagues to all the offices of christian virtue, and especially of charity, he happily flew away to the embraces of Christ Jesus, for which he was panting, on the 24th day of December in the year of restored salvation MCCCCLXXIII, when he was passing his seventy-sixth year. The body of the holy man, carried to the church, the citizens of Kraków followed with great sorrow equally and honour, and then especially, when his holiness, although sufficiently perceived, began to shine more clearly with miracles. Moreover a greater veneration was added from a certain most sweet odour which, a hundred and thirty years after his blessed death, the sepulchral urn having been opened, it breathed forth, of which thing there were witnesses worthy of credence. Further, the purple garment of Cantius (they call it the Reverenda), religiously preserved, whoever, newly dean of philosophy, takes the solemn oath is accustomed to put on, that together with the garment, namely, of so great a former master, he may in some manner put on also his manners and virtue.

[14] The process on the holiness and miracles. The fame of his holiness and miracles, spreading abroad, impelled the bishop of Kraków to make a process on both, and, this having been duly discussed, Pope Urban VIII of holy memory, our predecessor, committed the business to the congregation of sacred Rites, enjoining this, that, the general one being omitted, it should institute only the special inquiry; which since it was not done, the cause was silent up to the year MDCLXVI, in which at length, by command of Pope Alexander VII of happy memory, also our predecessor, the congregation of Rites having previously

given counsel, the cause began to be treated again; but on account of the decrees issued by the said Urban, our predecessor, it was necessary to dispatch remissorial letters for making a process on the immemorial cult of the blessed Man, through which, namely, an exception might be made from the decrees of Urban. And the approval of cult of this kind came forth in the same congregation on the 20th day of May MDCLXXVI. New remissorial letters having thereupon been dispatched for instituting the special inquiry, meanwhile our predecessor too, Innocent XI of venerable memory, on the 27th day of September of the year MDLXXX, granted to the wishes of the king of Poland that on the anniversary day of Blessed John the office and mass under the double rite might be recited and celebrated in the city of Kraków and in the whole kingdom of Poland: which venerable memory of Blessed John, however, was a little after, for just causes, transferred by the congregation of sacred Rites to the 19th day of October. After this, the process of the special inquiry having been completed and found valid, since certain writings compulsed in the process were falsely attributed to blessed John Cantius, the same congregation of Rites declared on the 17th day of September MDCCXXX that it was not established that the works compulsed in the apostolic process attributed to the Blessed were the Blessed's own; and therefore that one could proceed further. Afterwards, on the 4th day of July MDCCXXXIII, the same congregation asserted and approved the excellence of the heroic virtues. Meanwhile blessed John was elected principal co-patron of the kingdom of Poland and of the grand duchy of Lithuania, and the congregation of Rites itself ratified that election on the 16th day of February MDCCXXXVII, an office being moreover granted under the double rite of the first class with an octave, and on the 31st day of March MDCCXXXIX a prayer and proper lessons of the second nocturn of the same having been approved.

[15] Which miracles were approved. Further, one came to the examination of two miracles which were reported to have been divinely worked by the intercession of Blessed John, and these were weighed first indeed in the general congregation on the 3rd day of the month of August of the year MDCCXLV before Benedict XIV of happy memory, then in a particular one before us on the 22nd day of April of last year: and although the votes of all the voters agreed in the affirmative opinion; nevertheless it seemed to us that nothing was to be decided until we had perceived the common sentiments of mind concerning other miracles to be examined before us in a like general congregation. When, therefore, on the 2nd day of the month of December of the same year MDCCLXVI a like general congregation had been assembled before us on the new miracles, although by all the votes they had seemed altogether worthy to be approved; nevertheless, for imploring the divine help and the light of heavenly grace, we put off their approval to the Kalends of the month of January just elapsed. Which day indeed, consecrated to the Lord's Circumcision and to the most august name of Jesus, seemed most opportune for that matter. Four, moreover, of the miracles proposed we approved in the third class, and they are these. The first, the instantaneous healing of the boy Sebastian Luzark from consumption transmitted by the fault of his parents and confirmed. The second, the sudden healing of the girl Hedwig Paskowna from an acute fever with an entire and complete restoration of strength. The third, the healing obtained in a moment of time of Maria Gawlika, brought to the extreme peril of life by a grave pernicious fever. The fourth, the sudden and perfect healing of Anthony Olexowic from a great and deep ulcer which, carried from the throat up to the jaws, had left nothing untouched except the tendons and the larger vessels, and teemed with most fetid sanies, with a falling of the food from the perforated part of the throat. To these is added one in the second class, of this kind: the return, against the stream, to the place where they had been sunk, of goods fallen into the river Sola and carried far off by the impetus and force of the waters.

[16] The decree of canonization: and the secret consistory which followed, These things being so, we, having poured out prayers to God that the light necessary to our mind might shine upon it from Him, at length on the 2nd day of February of the current year, which day is sacred to the Purified virgin Mother of God, pronounced the decree of the canonization of blessed John Cantius, to be performed whenever it might be. And since formerly christian princes, and very many bishops, and the nobles of the kingdom of Poland, desiring greatly the canonization of blessed John, had pressed our predecessors with common wishes and petitions, and still our most dear son in Christ Stanislaus Augustus, illustrious king of Poland, and also our beloved sons the Magnates of the same kingdom, especially the ecclesiastical ones, the senate of Kraków, and all the colleagues and professors of the university of the same city, were pressing us with repeated prayers that we should at last pronounce the final sentence on the so greatly desired canonization of the blessed Man; in order that we might accomplish a matter of so great moment according to the custom and practice of our predecessors, we thought fit first to hear the counsel of the whole college of our same venerable brethren the cardinals of the H. R. C., assembled before us in secret consistory on the 27th day of April just elapsed: and since, after they had been fully instructed on the series of the whole cause, they exhorted us to its completion, not merely approving it, thinking that we should delay no longer, we caused our venerable brethren the archbishops and bishops, not only the nearer, but also the more remote staying through Italy, to be convoked to the City, that they might declare to us the opinion which God had inspired in them concerning the solemn canonization of blessed John Cantius, and also of the blessed Joseph Calasanz of the Mother of God, Joseph of Cupertino, Jerome Emiliani, Seraphinus of Montegranaro called of Ascoli, and Jane Frances Frémyot de Chantal.

[17] likewise the public and semipublic. Moreover, that the exceptional virtues of blessed John, and the approved miracles, and also the precautions employed in the discussion of the whole cause, might be made known to all, we ordered a narration of them, drawn from authentic documents, and diligently reduced to a compendium, and published in print, to be presented to all the fathers who were to vote. Soon, a public consistory having been appointed before us on the 7th day of May of the current year, and the whole assembly of the ecclesiastical orders and colleges standing by, we enjoined that our beloved son Alexander Litta, advocate of our consistorial court, should set out openly by word of mouth the virtues and miracles of blessed John. Lastly, having convoked on the first day of June just past, in a semipublic consistory, the same cardinals of the H. R. C., and also the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops who had come together in the City, we asked them whether they judged that one could come to the canonization of blessed John Cantius. They then, with the highest agreement of minds, were found to go into the affirmative opinion for several and grave reasons. Wherefore we ordered public instruments to be drawn up by our beloved sons too, the notaries of the apostolic See, and copies of the votes themselves, subscribed by each, to be brought into the archive of the Roman church. And in order that we might clearly recognize from God the Best and Greatest what was pleasing to Him, we appointed also public prayers and days of general Fasting through the City, and designated three patriarchal basilicas, in which we ordered the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist to be exposed publicly for the adoration of the faithful for three days, exhorting all that, after they had been expiated by sacramental confession and refreshed with the body of Christ, they should pray with us, in at least one of the said basilicas, to almighty God for obtaining for us the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, under whose guidance His will might become manifest, a plenary indulgence and remission of sins being granted for this. We too ourselves, besides the assiduous prayers full of humble confidence which we had poured out privately, took care that public ones also should be added in the three designated basilicas, in which indeed, not without a certain tender sense of piety and exultation of our soul in the Lord, we beheld how great was the religion and piety of this Roman people, when from every condition and order they had come together to the same basilicas, and, even while silent, poured forth their most fervent wishes for decreeing a more solemn cult to the Blessed.

[18] The solemnity of the canonization. Lastly, on this day sacred to the most blessed virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, on which day the annual solemnities of our coronation return, in the basilica of the Prince of the apostles, splendidly and magnificently adorned, to which, the form of a public supplication being kept, all the orders of the secular and regular clergy and the colleges of the ministers of the Roman curia went before us, together with our venerable brethren the cardinals of the H. R. C., and also the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops; before we offered the immaculate Host in the solemn sacrifice of the new law to almighty God, our beloved son Charles, presbyter cardinal of the H. R. C. of the title of St. Clement, called Rezzonico, chamberlain of the same H. R. C., appointed procurator for obtaining the canonization, insisting again and again; the sacred prayers of the church having been sung, that we might implore the divine help by the intercession of the virgin Mother of God, of the angels, and of the saints reigning with Christ, and the Paraclete Spirit having been invoked with groanings to be present, to the honour of the holy and undivided Trinity, to the exaltation of the 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 by the fullness of the apostolic authority, and with the counsel and assent of our venerable brethren the cardinals of the H. R. C., the patriarchs, archbishops and bishops being in the City, we decreed and defined that the blessed John Cantius himself, secular priest, together with the blessed Joseph Calasanz of the Mother of God, Joseph of Cupertino, Jerome Emiliani, Seraphinus of Montegranaro called of Ascoli, and Jane Frances Frémyot de Chantal, is a Saint, and enrolled him in the catalogue of the Saints, and commanded that he be honoured with religious cult by all the faithful of Christ as truly a Saint, as also by the tenor of the present letters we define, decree and declare: establishing and granting that by the universal church churches and altars in which sacrifices may be offered to God may be built and consecrated in his honour, and that every year on the prescribed 19th day of the month of October the memory of St. John Cantius himself may be recalled by the church among the holy confessors. And by the same authority, to all the faithful of Christ who on the same day every year shall come to visit the sepulchre in which the body of the same St. John rests, we mercifully relax in the Lord, in perpetuity, seven years and as many quarantines of the penances enjoined on them or otherwise in any way due, in the customary form of the church.

[19] [The glorification of Blessed Cantius turns to a special glory of the church and the solace of the kingdom of Poland.] After this, having venerated with due thanksgiving the eternal Father, and Christ the Lord, the king of glory, son of the everlasting Father, and the holy Paraclete Spirit, one God and Lord, and a plenary remission of sins and indulgence having been granted to all the faithful of Christ present there, we solemnly celebrated the most holy sacrifice of the mass above the confession of blessed Peter, a special commemoration of the same Saints having been made. For the rest, if among the illustrious marks by which the true church is recognized not the last is the holiness, divinely revealed and attested, of those who have flourished in it from every order and state; it is altogether just and consonant with piety that we give thanks to God the Father through Christ Jesus, that it pleased Him, from that treasure whence He daily brings forth things new and old, to pour forth so many and so great riches of His grace upon St. John Cantius, and then to make them manifest for the ornament and glory of His church through the miracles which opened the way and access to the solemn canonization of so notable a Servant of His.

There is moreover cause for us to congratulate the renowned Polish nation, which, since it is devoted to piety above all others, cannot surely fail to exult with the highest joy that in so great a disturbance of affairs, and in so great a danger to religion, this new protection has been added to it, whereby the excellent and generous disposition of its people, more and more terrified by no dangers, may both closely retain the Roman faith against its neighbours, heretics as well as schismatics, and bravely defend it, as it has always done with great praise, even to the shedding of blood. And the university of Kraków, whenever it shall fix its eyes upon this once its pupil, now its patron (and it will fix them daily), will see set before it a most illustrious exemplar, from which its masters and doctors may learn both to teach well and to act rightly; while John, being dead, yet speaks, and exhorts to every office of virtue.

[20] Closing clauses. But since, all these things having been performed according to custom, the same Cardinal Charles, the designated procurator too, requested of us with fitting deference that we should decree our apostolic letters as a perennial monument of all that had been done; we, assenting most gladly to the petition, have ordered our present letters to be issued and made public: establishing that to copies of them too, even printed ones, subscribed by some one of the public notaries and fortified with the seal of a person in ecclesiastical dignity, exactly the same credence be given by all as would be given to the original letters themselves if they were exhibited or shown. Let it therefore be lawful for no man whatsoever, etc. Given at Rome at St. Peter's in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MDCCLXVII, on the seventeenth day before the Kalends of August (the 16th of July), in the tenth year of our Pontificate.