might be deceiued by the enemie whose crafte in deed is verie suttle yet would I faine learne of them who it was that kept her bodie so long tyme in her natural force and strength If they answere and saie that it was the Deuell then will I aske them againe who that was that preserued her sowle in such spirituall ioye and peace especially at that tyme when she was depriued of all outward delite and comfort This inward comfort and peace is vndoubtedly the fruite of the holie Ghost and maie in no wise be ascribed to the Deuel Last of all to come to them that of a wicked malice slaundered the blessed virgin of hypocrisie and vaine glorie I thinke it not so expedient to shape them an answere as to geue them good counsel I would wish all such to be better aduised what they speake against Gods seruantes and what iudgement they geue concernyng the wonderfull workes of God in his Sainctes For they shal receiue their iudgement for all such rash and slaunderous talke at the later daie before the iudgement seate of God and all this Sainctes How she shewed her selfe meruelous seuere and rigorous towardes her selfe and contrariwise wonderful gentle and meeke towardes them that slaundered her which she did to wynne then to God Chap. 15. WHen anie il disposed persones spake their pleasure of her slaundering and deprauing that vnwonted maner of Absteinence which they sawe in her she would answere then not with anie vehemencie of wordes but only simply and with such a moderation of speech as she thought most meete to qualifie and ouercome such hard hartes for sooth said she it is true that our Lord susteineth my life without bodily food and yet see I no cause whie you should be offended For in truth I would eate with a good will if I could But almightie God hath for my synnes laid this strange infirmitie vpon me that if I eate I am foorthwith in peril of death praie therfore to God for me that he will vouchsafe to forgeue me my synnes which are to me the verie cause of this and all other euels By such sweet wordes she hoped well to haue staied those malicious tonges But when she sawe that she preuailed not of verie pitie that she had of those weake myndes and to take awaie all occasion and coulour of offence she came to the table with others and did enforce her selfe to eate somewhat but in so doing suffred such intolerable paines that as manie as sawe it had great compassion on her For her stomake had vtterly lost the vertu of digestion by reason wherof the meate that she eate either she cast it vp againe and that was oftentymes procured by putting a fether into her throte or otherwise violently or els it remained in her stomake vndigested and there engendred windinnes colikes and other passions which tormented her verie cruelly and neuer ceased vntill she had brought it vp by one meane or other The which thing her ghostlie Father seeing and considering that she suffred all such paines only to stoppe the course of slaunderous tongues for verie inward compassion that he had of her great tormentes he spake comfortably vnto her and willed her on Gods name that she should rather leaue eating then to suffer such paines how soeuer they tooke it and whatsoeuer slaunders they raised vpon her Wherunto she made answere with a smyling countenance saying Father how thinke you Is it not better for me to discharge the debt of my synnes after this maner in this present life then to differre the payment of the same in farre greater paines to the life to come would you that I should flee Gods Iustice or rather to speake more to the purpose that I should not accepte this goodlie occasion that is offred me here to satisfie Gods Iustice with such temporal paines Surely Father I take it for a great grace and benefite of God that he will vouchsafe thus to chastice me here for my synnes and not reserue the same to be punished in the other life To this her ghostlie Father could saie nothing and therfore he held his peace And so by this meane she gaue a great example of high perfection to all men she ouercame the Deuel which had wrought all this trouble against her she stopped the mouthes of diuerse and sundrie malicious persones and prepared for her selfe a double crowne in the life to come On a tyme reasonyng with her ghostlie Father concerning the gyftes and graces of God she vttered a verie notable lesson which was this If man said she knewe how to vse the grace of God he should make his gaine and commoditie of euerie thing that happeneth vnto him in this life And so would I wish that you should doe good Father Whensoeuer anie thing hapeneth vnto you thinke with your selfe and saie thus God geue me his grace to wynne somewhat of this towardes my soules health And then doe your endeuour to gaine such and such vertues as that present matter shall minister occasion and within a litle tyme yee shall become verie ritch How our Sauiour tooke her hart out of her bodie and after a certaine of daies gaue her a newe for it Chap. 16. THe familiaritie that our Lord had with this blessed virgin was so strange the gracious priuileges that he endued her withal so singular that they gaue at that tyme may peraduēture geue now also occasiō of laughter to manie wordlie persones and to such as are in anie degree fallen from that simplicitie that is as the Apostles saieth and ought to be in Christ And yet are not the wonderfull workes of God therfore to be concealed from the vnfaithful but rather to be set out for the behoofe of the godlie well disposed For as almightie God doth from tyme to tyme worke such great wonders in his sainctes so doth he also frō tyme to time prepare some good hartes that wil receiue the same with a simple reuerence true Christian regard On a time while this holy maid was lifting vp her hart to God in praier with great feruour of spirite and saying those wordes of the prophet Dauid O God create in me a cleane hart and renue a right spirite in my bowels she made a special petition to him that he would vouchsafe to take awaie her owne hart and will and geue her an other newe hart and will that were wholly according to his holie will As she was so praying with great humilitie and instance behold our Sauiour Christ appeered to her after a verie comfortable maner and came to her and opened her lefte side sensibly with this hand and tooke out her hart and so going his waie lefte her in deed without a hart Afterwardes being in talke with her ghostlie Father emong other thinges she said to him that she had no hart in her bodie When her Confesseur heard those wordes he laughed at her and began after a sort to rebuke her for so saying
make them to vnderstand that she spake those wordes of a verie inward affection and great feruour of spirite to the end that they should the better beare them awaie and imprint them the deeper in their hartes My deere children said she loue one an other truly and syncerely for by this you shall shewe that you are willing to be my children and by this I shall take my selfe to be your mother If you loue one an other you shall be my crowne and glorie before God and I will acknowledge you before him to be my true children and I wil be a continual intercessour to his diuine Maiestie for you that as he hath voutchsafed to endue my soule abundantly with his grace so he will also powre the like abundance of grace into your soules Last of all she commaunded them after a certaine charitable maner that they should keepe their desires euermore feruent and burnyng and that they should offer vp the same before God for the reformation and good state of the Church of God and of his vicare the Pope affirming of her selfe that she had alwaies kept her hart and desires in such a feruour especially for the space of seuen yeares before that tyme and that she had neuer omitted specially in those seuen yeares to offer vp her hart and desires in such sort before the diuine Maiestie of almightie God And she confessed plainely that for the obteinyng of this grace at Gods hand she had susteined manie grieuous paines and infirmities in her bodie and that she did at that verie present susteine meruelous great and bitter paines for the same cause And she added furthermore that as almightie God had geuen licence to Satan to torment the bodie of Iob so it seemed also that he had graunted him power to torment and vexe her bodie in such sort that from the sole of her foote to the top of her head there was no one part without his peculiar paine tormēt in her And as no part was void of his proper paine so manie partes were tormēted with diuerse sūdrie paines together as it was sensibly perceiued of as manie as stood by her at that tyme saw her in that great agonie After that she had thus ended her sermon or exhortation she spake to them after a more familiar maner and said My right deere and hartely beloued I now see cleerely that my most louing spouse hath so disposed of me that when my bodie hath indured such tormentes and afflictions as his B. goodnes hath graunted me my soule continuing still in these vehemēt fyerie howeful desires shall in that state be deliuered out of this darcke prison so returne againe to his first original begynning Those that stood about her were meruelously astonied to see her patiēce cheerefulnes in all her paines Which they sawe by verie euident tokēs were so great vehemēt that they thought it impossible for her or anie other creature to beare them as she did without shewing so much as anie litle sigue of sorrowe or lamentation but that she was staied by some verie great special grace of God And as they wondered as her patiēce so did they make great sorrowe and wept verie pitifully to see their good mother in such tormentes The which when she perceiued she spake to them againe after a cōfortable maner and said There is no cause my deere children whie you should be sorie to see me in these paines considering that these paines are the meane to bring me to death by death to a better life But you ought rather to reioyce with me to thinke that I shall now leaue this troublesome place of paine and goe to rest in God that cleere calme sea Be of good cōfort for I promise you faithfully that I will stand you in better steed after my passage from hence then euer I did or might doe so long as I was in this darcke life full of miseries True it is that I do put my life my death all in the hāds of my deere and euerlasting spouse If he shall thinke it expedient for anie creature of his that I tarrie here still in labour and paine I am right well cōtēted glad for the honour of his name edifying of my neighbour to suffer if it were possible a hundred deathes and martyrdoms in a daie But if it be his will pleasure that I shall passe at this time and in these tormentes be you well assured that I haue at the length with long and instant sute obteined at his hand a verie special grace which is that it would please him to accept my bodie as a sacrifice and burnt offring for the reformation of his Church After this she called thē vnto her one by one and gaue thē in charge what order of life euerie one should take after her decease Some she appointed to liue in religiō some to be Heremites and some to be secular Priestes Ouer the sisters of Penance she appointed Alexia to be mother And she willed them all to haue recourse to Doctour Raimundus after her death euen as they had had to her in her life tyme and to vse his direction in all matters When she had thus disposed of all thinges particularly by the directiō of the holie Ghost which vndoubtedly spake in her at that tyme as it was euidently seene afterwardes by the goodlie and blessed successe of all such thinges as she tooke special order for in that extremitie she asked them all forgeuenes and said Decrely beloued though I haue ben alwaies verie desirous of your soules health which thing in deed I can not denie yet I know well that I haue failed in manie pointes both because I haue not ben to you such a perfect paterne of spiritual light vertue and good woorkes as a true handmaid and Spouse of Christ might haue ben and also because I haue not ben so diligent and careful about your bodilie necessities as I ought to haue ben Wherefore I most humbly and instantly beseech you all and euerie one of you to pardon me and I exhort you all to hold out in the waie of vertue vntill the end for in so doing as I said you shal be my ioye and crowne before God With that she ceased of her exhortation to them and called for her ghostlie Father and to him made a general Confession of her whole life and so receiued the blessed Sacrament with meruelous great deuotion That done she required the rest of the Sacramentes which were likewise ministred vnto her in due order and tyme Last of all she demaunded a full remission or Indulgence that was graunted her before by two Popes to wite by Pope Gregorie and Pope Vrbanus After that she had thus prepared her selfe she drewe on fast towardes her end and being in a verie paineful and vehement fitte it was well perceiued by her wordes and outward gestures that she susteined a meruelous sharpe dreadful conflicte with the
vnderstanding perfectly the state of her soule he knewe right well that such wordes in her came not of anie inordinate heat or passion of the mynd but only of a verie perfecte and pure zeale that she had to the honour of God and aduancement of his Church The reformation of the which she so much tēdred that manie tymes whē she made hir praiers vnto God for the same she would beseech him in most hartie maner that she might die for it in extremitie of paines and tormentes and that she might afterwardes be restored to life againe and so die againe and againe so oftentymes as should be thought sufficient for the obteyning of that blessed reformation that she so earnestly longed after Verie manie tymes being in praier she would vtter these wordes with a passing great feruour of spirite O Lord let all the partes of my bodie all my bones all the marowe within my bones be beaten and pounded together in a morter only restore thy holie Church againe to her comelines and beautie And though the whole state of her life were in deed a verie martyrdome yet had she such a longyng and impatient desire to shead her blood for the loue she bare to Christ and his Church that all her wordes and deedes seemed after a sort to tend to it as it maie appeere by a letter that she wrote to Doctour Raimundus concernyng the same matter In the which it is to be seene what a passing delite she tooke in iterating these wordes againe and againe blood blood Iesus Iesus How the holie maid made a final exhortation to her spiritual children and so passed out of this life Chap. 22. WHen the holie maid vnderstood by reuelation from God that her tyme drewe neere in the which she should passe out of this wordle she called all her spiritual children about her both men and women and to them all in general she made a meruelous godlie and excellent sermon exhorting them to goe forward constantly in their purposed waie of vertue vntill they came to the perfection of the same And in this sermon she expressed manie notable pointes of doctrine which I thought good to touch briefely in this place for the direction of all such as mind to walke perfectly and not to erre in the streight patthes of a true Christian life The first and most principal point of her doctrine as it were the ground-worke of all her exhortation was this To a man that cometh vnfeinedly to the seruice of God and myndeth in deed to possesse God perfectly it is necessarie that he do vtterly spoile his hart and make it naked and bare of all sensible loue not only of all persones but also of all creatures whatsoeuer they be and being so spoiled that he do earnestly bend him selfe towardes God his Creatour with a single and whole hart For the hart said she can not be wholly offred vp to God vnlesse it be free from all other loue and withal open and simple without all doublenes And she declared vnto them that her principal labour studie euen from her childhood to her dying daie had ben to atteine to the perfection of this point Item she said that no man can possibly come to such state of perfectiō as to be able to offer vp his hart to God freely and wholly without anie let or encombrance vnlesse he seeke it at Gods hand by praier And she said withal that it is necessarily required in praier that it be grounded vpon humilitie and that the man that myndeth to obteine anie thing by praier must haue no cōfidence in anie vertue or merite of his owne but only in the goodnes of God reputing him selfe as nothing in the sight of God And she added furthermore that she had ben alwaies careful and diligent to geue her selfe to praier that she might haue a cōtinual habite of the same because she sawe that of praier all vertues receiue their increase strength as contrariwise without praier all vertues decaie fall quite awaie And for this cause she exhorted them to geue them selues earnestly cōtinually to the exercise of praier And here she declared vnto them that there were two kindes of praier the one called vocal the other mental that these two kindes were to be vsed the one at tymes appointed in saying or singyng the Canonical howers and Church-seruice the other at all tymes either in acte so long as it might be done with discretion or els in will and desire when it might no longer be continued actually Item she said that she sawe cleerely by the light of a liuely faith that whatsoeuer happened to her selfe or others in this life came all from God not of anie hatred that he had to anie but of a passing great loue that he bare to his creatures And thereof she conceiued a certaine loue and readines to obey the cōmaundments both of God and also of her superiours so taking their commaundments as though they had come immediately from the mouth of God either for the necessitie of her saluation or els for the increase of vertue in her soule Item she said that whosoeuer is desirous to come to a cleane and pure state of mynd must of necessitie refraine him selfe from all iudging of others and from speaking vainely of the doings of others and looke only to the will of God in all his creatures which doth or permitteth all thinges to a good end And for this cause she charged them verie effectually that they should neuer iudge anie person that is they should not by waie of iudgement despise or condemne anie persone though they sawe euidently with their eyes some synne committed but contrariwise if the synne were manifest they should haue cōpassion on the partie that had offended praie to God for his amendment And cōcernyng this point she added thus much not as of her self but as a most vndoubted truth receiued at Gods owne mouth that manie persones for not obseruing this precept had failed of their final intended perfection in spiritual life which otherwise for a nomber of excellent vertues that were in them might haue prooued great Sainctes Item she said that she had alwaies reposed a verie great hope and affiance in the prouidence of God and so she exhorted them to doe affirmyng that she had tried by experience that the prouidence of God was passing great and neuer failed them that put their trust in him The which thing both she and manie other that kept her companie had seene verified oftentymes by verie certaine and euident miracles These and manie other goodlie pointes of doctrine she vttered vnto them and in the end she concluded her long exhortation with that precept of our Sauiour Christ exhorting them verie humbly and withal verie earnestly that they should loue one an other My deere children said she loue one an other This saying she repeated againe and againe after a meruelous sweet and louelie maner and did what she could to
great hedach which tormented him verie sore and were as he knewe vndoubted signes of the common infection that raigned ouer the citie at that tyme. The which notwithstanding he did what he could to make an end of his diuine seruice In the mornyng calling a felowe to him he went with great paine towardes the holy maides house whether when he came he found her not at home For she was gone out to visite an other that was sicke Then being no longer able to hold vp his head he laied him selfe downe vpon a couch that was there in her house praied the sisters that they wold send for her with al speed When the holie maid came home and found him there and vnderstood in what case he was she kneeled downe by the bed and laying her hand vpon his forehead she began after her maner to lifte vp her hart to God in praier And foorthwith he sawe that she was quite abstracted from her bodilie senses rauished in sprite Which was no vnwonted sight to him nor yet vncomfortable at that tyme. For he hoped well that she should obteine some great benefite for him both of bodie and soule at Gods hand When she had continued after that maner about the space of halfe an hower he felt in him selfe a mightie alteration and stirring in euerie part of his bodie and withal a vehement prouocation towardes a vomite which he had seene to hapen before to many that had died of that disease How beit it fell not so out with him but rather contrariwise For it seemed to him that he felt sensibly how those corrupt humours that caused his paine were violently drawen from within to the vttermost partes of the bodie And certaine he was that he found present ease of his paines And before the holie maid came to her selfe againe he was fully and perfectly restored to his health sauing only that there remained a litle feeblenes in him which he thought our Lord suffred to remaine in him as a token either of the disease that was cured or els of the weakenes of his faith So soone as the holie maid had obteined this grace at Gods hand for her ghostlie father she was foorthwith restored to her bodilie senses And finding him as yet in some weakenes she willed her sisters to prouide some meate for him such as is wont to be geuen to sicke folkes The which when he had receiued at her holie hand she willed him to lie downe and rest a while and so he did And when he had rested a litle tyme he rose vp and felt him selfe as strong and in as good liking as if he had neuer ben sicke Then said the holie maid to him Father goe your waie and labour about the edifying of soules and be thankeful to almightie God that hath deliuered you out of this present danger The like miracle did the holie maid worke about the same tyme vpon father Bartilmewe of whome mention hath ben made diuerse and sundrie tymes before The miracle was much alike but the cure seemed somewhat greater biause he was both longer and also more grieuously sicke How the holie maid healed a great nomber that were sicke of other diseases after the like maner Chap. 4. AFter the tyme that this pestilence was ceased in Siena it chaunced that manie deuout and well disposed persones as well religious as others but specially certaine Nunnes of Pisa hearing the fame of the holie maid had a great desire to see her and to heare her doctrine which was reported to be and was in deed verie wonderful And because it was not lawful for many of them that had this godly inclination to come to her to Siena they sent letters and messengets to her very often beseeching her that she would take the paines to come ouer to them to Pisa And to allure her the more to take that iourney vpon her they declared vnto her what frute and gaine of soules was like to ensue by her comyng thither The holie maid though she had no desire to be from home yet being ouercome with their long importunate sute especially considering that there was great hope of winning soules to God first she asked the aduise of them that liued in house with her of the which compaine some were with her going to Pisa and some against it Then when she sawe that she could not be resolued by men she fled vnto almightie God as her maner was and besought him humbly that he would vouchsafe to make her to vnderstand what his will and pleasure was that she should doe in that case And it came to passe after certaine daies that our Lord appeered to her and willed her that she should accomplish the godlie request of those his seruantes hand maides in Pisa without delaie Wherupon she went to her ghostelie father and declaring thus much to him besought him like an obedient daughter that he would geue her licence to doe as she was willed by God He assented willingly to her demaund and went him selfe with her and with him two other of his brethren to heare the confessions of such as should resort vnto her according to a graunt made to her by Pope Gregorie the eleuenth When she came to Pisa she lodged in the house of an honest citizen called maister Gerardus where on a daie there was presented vnto her a certaine younge man of the age of twentie yeares or there about which had ben sore vexed with a quotidian ague for the space of a yeare and halfe and neuer missed one daie And though there were no fit of an ague vpon him at that tyme yet might she see that he had ben long sicke For whereas he was by constitution of bodie a verie strong and lustie yong man he was now brought so lowe that he had neither flesh strength nor colour And no medicine could be found that would doe him good Wherfore they entreated the holie maid that she would commend his lamentable state to God in her praier The holie maid pitied his case verie much and asked him how long it was sence he was last confessed To that he answered and said that it was a good manie yeares Yea said she and that is the cause whie our Lord hath laied this discipline vpon you bicause yee would not clense your soule in all this tyme by confession Wherfore deere sonne see that yee goe out of hand to confession and rid your selfe of these sinnes that haue infected you both bodie and soule With that she caused Doctour Thomas her owne confessour to be called and deliuered the yong man to him willing him to heare his confession That done the yong man returned to her againe and she laied her hand vpon his shoulder and said these wordes Sonne goe your waie with the peace of our Lord Iesus Christ For I will not that these agues trouble you anie more She said and it was done for the almightie power of him spake in her who said and it
induced to withdrawe anie tyme from the inward decking of her soule to make it appeere seemelie in the sight of God and to bestowe the same about the outward adornynge of her bodie to make it gratious and liking to the eyes of men And therfore she shewed her selfe to be vtterly vnwilling to folowe her mothers counsel in that point When her mother sawe that her wordes and perswasion could take no place she was verie angrie with her and sent for her other daughter called Bonauentura which was maried and willed her to deale with her sister and to vse all possible meanes to cause her to condescend to her request Who did as she was willed by her mother and in deed left no thing vn-assaied wherby she thought she might wynne her purpose And so in the end what by the importunitie of the mother and what by the example and faire speach of Bonauentura vnto whome Catherine had alwaies borne a special loue affection euen from her child hoold the yong virgin was as it were enforced to yeald somewhat to the folie commonly receiued emong women and so to spend some tyme more then she was willing about the attiere of her bodie But afterwardes when she had retired her selfe from companie and considered of the matter by her selfe alone she tooke meruelous great sorowe for it and was Confessed also for it with such sobbing and sighing that anie man would haue supposed that she had committed some verie grieuous offence She vsed often times to make a general Confession of her whole life and euermore when she came to this point she could make no end of weeping and lamenting The which thing the Confessour perceiuing though he knewe that it was a token of a timorous and well disposed mynd sometymes to feare synne where none is yet bicause it seemed strange to him that she should haue a conscience of it as of a mortall sinne wheras he by his learnyng was fully resolued that in truth it was not so he asked her whether she had in all that tyme anie deliberate will and purpose to doe anie thing contrary to her vowe Whervnto she answered and said that it neuer came in her hart Then he asked her further more whether she did it to that end that she might be the better liked of men To the which demaund shee made aunswere likewise and said that there was no one thing that grieued her more then when she was driuen by anie necessarie occasion either to see or to be seene of men whom otherwise she was wont to flee like as men flee serpents For the which cause she would neuer stand at the doore or windowe to see or to be seene of men passing by the howse The Confessour proceded in examinyng the matter and demaunded whether her attiere were ouer gaie light or otherwise excessiue aboue that that was commonly vsed of other women of her degree Wherunto she answered said that it was not Whie then said he do yee take your offence to be so grieuous in the sight of God Sire said she sobbing and sighing from the botome of her hart bicause I thinke I did at that tyme preferre the loue of my sister before the loue of God and whiles I was afraid to offend a silie transitorie creature I offended the diuine maiestie of the euerlasting Creatour and sweet spowse of my sowle Iesus Christ And with that she fell a weeping and wailing verie ruthfully did great penance vpon her selfe The which the Confessour seing pitying her state and thinking it expedient to comfort her in that case said vnto her Albeit there was some maner of excesse yet considering that it was but litle and done for no wicked or euel intent but only for a vaine pleasance for that tyme I take it it was not against the commandement of God When she heard her Confessour saie so she lift vp her eyes to heauen and cried with a lowd voice Oh my Lord God what a ghostlie Father is this that excuseth my sinnes And so with an earnest displeasure against her selfe she turned to her Confessour againe and said Father thinke you that this most wretched and vile creature which haue receiued so manie graces and gyftes of my Creatour only of his more goodnes without anie merite on my part should withdrawe anie tyme from the seruice of such a louing and bowntiful Lord and bestowe the same about the setting out of this rotten and stincking flesh which might also be a cause or inducement to deadlie synne When the Confessour hard those wordes and sawe that they proceeded from a hart wonderfully inflamed with the fyer of Gods loue being not able to answere her he gaue ouer to speake of that matter anie more Neuertheles he proceded to examine the whole state of her life And when he had done in that behalfe so much as apperteined to a learned and discrete ghostlie Father to doe he gaue afterwardes a verie sufficient testimonie before God and his holie Church that when he had heard her Confessions both general and speciall all the tyme of his life he could neuer espie anie spot of mortall synne in her conscience vnlesse this be taken for a mortal synne which no learned diuine I thinke would euer iudge He testified furthermore both by word of mowth and in writing that he found her alwaies so cleane from venial synnes that he could scantlie perceiue by her Confession which she made both verie often and verie exactely that she did commit anie offence at all in so much that it was well knowen not only to her ghostlie Father that examined her conscience but also to as manie in effecte as had anie conuersation or doinges with her that she did neuer or seeldome offend so much as in word And so will anie man iudge that shall with good diligence and attention read ouer the whole storie of her life For he shall see that the order of her life was such her silence so wonderful her sleepe so short her eating and drinking so spare her praiers so continual her meditations and contemplations so heauenly her exhortations to others so earnest and so often vsed her whole conuersation so meeke sweet that where such graces did abound it was not possible that sinne should take anie place and where so much tyme was spent in holie exercises there could not be much tyme spare to be bestowed in synful workes How she recouered her wonted libertie in seruing God and was reconciled againe to her spowse How the persecutions that she susteined at home did not only not hurt her but also profit her verie much Chap. 7. WHen this yong maid had ben thus induced by the importunitie of her mother and sister to condescend to their vngodlie request so farre forth as is before declared she perceiued in her selfe that she was much slacker and colder in her praiers and meditations then she was wont to be before Which happened vnto her vndoubtedly by the permission of
cried out Alas daughter said she what hast thou done But the maid couered her head againe and went aside At this crie of the mother came the good man of the howse and his other children hauing great feare and wonder what the matter should be But when they vnderstood the cause they were verie much offended with her in so much that they reproached her both in wordes and deedes Thou vile wretche said they trowest thou thus by cutting of thyne haire to escape our handes It will grewe againe in spite of thy teeth Though thou burst for curst hart thou must marrie And make thy selfe well assured of this thou shalt neuer haue good daie vntill thou conforme thy will to our will And with that they tooke order that she should haue no more anie secret chamber in the howse to resort vnto but should be continually occupied about the commō seruice of the howse that she might haue neither tyme nor place to retire her selfe to praier and meditation And to geue her to vnderstand how litle account they made of her they put awaie the kitchen maide and appointed her to doe all the workes of drudgerie about the howse And while she was so occupied they ceased not to reuile her whether soeuer she went in the howse and to loade her eares with most opprobrious and despiteful wordes weenyng therby to bring to passe that she should either yeald to them or be weerie of her life Last of all to enforce this battaile vpon the seelie maid with as great strēgth and policie as was possible they fownd out a comelie yonge man of a good kinred and welbeloued of all that were in the howse whom they tendered vnto her But her hart was so thoroughly possessed with the loue of Christ her chosen spowse that she might not abide to heare of any other And wheras they had debarred her of that commoditie which she was wonte to haue of a secret place to withdrawe her selfe vnto for praier and meditation our merciful Lord who will not suffer his faithful seruantes to be tempted aboue that they are able but euen with the tentation geueth an issue taught her by the inward instincte of his holie spirite how she should buyld a secret chamber or oratorie in her owne hart where she might dwell delitefully with her sweet spowse so long as she listed and neuer be plucked out whatsoeuer befell And wheras before she was enforced sometymes by occasions to goe out of her chamber and so to be distracted with out ward affaires now contrariwise she shut vp her selfe so closely in this closet and tooke such passing delite in the presence of her loue and ioye Iesus Christ whose delite it is to dwell in pure and cleane hartes that howsoeuer they cried and called about her whatsoeuer beating and bounsing they made outwardly reproching her in wordes or deedes she passed with all such thinges so quietly as if they had neuer ben spoken or done to her And thus had she a verie sensible and experimental vnderstanding of that goodly lesson which our Sauiour teacheth vs in the ghospel where he saieth The kingdome of God is within you For vnto a sowle thus disposed where Christ reigneth by faith and holie loue all creatures are made vassal and do serue ech thing in his kind and course orderly euen as obedient subiectes do their Prince in a well gouerned kingdome Now when this towardlie disciple of Christ had thus learned this high lesson by the teaching of the holie Ghost as she had shewed her selfe to be an humble scholer in the schoole of God so had she also a charitable desire to become a discrete schoole-mistres to others and namely to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father whom at tymes when he was occasioned to goe abroad by reason of his charge and affaires she would warne that he should buyld a secret cell or closet in his sowle out of the which he should neuer depart The which wordes at the first seemed to him to be verie obscure and darcke but afterwardes when he had considered of them aduisedly he sawe that they were to verie good purpose and profit He sawe what a goodlie thing it was for a man to buyld a tēple in his hart for almightie God and to dwell in the same with quietnes of conscience and peace of God that passeth all vnderstanding And he sawe how litle the deuel had gayned at this holie virgins hand by mouing her parentes to debarre her of that litle commoditie of a secret chamber which she had in their howse The losse wherof was an occasion to her to buyld an heauenlie chamber in her hart where she might enioye the sweet presence of her louelie spowse so often and so long as she listed without anie trouble or molestation And as for the abbasing of her to the vile seruices of the howse how litle that turned to the aduantage of the enemie it may appeere by that that she her selfe declared afterwardes to her ghostlie Father When she sawe that her father and mother had appointed her to doe all the workes of drudgerie in the kitchen and other places of the howse she neuer repined at it but turned all that basenes to her great commoditie merite by this holie imagination She had this conceite with her selfe that her father represented in the howse our Sauiour Christ her mother our blessed Lady her brethrē sisters and others of the familie the Apostles and disciples of Christ The kitchen she imagined to be the innermost tabernacle of the temple called Sancta sanctorum where the most principal burnt sacrifices were dight and offred vp to God And with this godlie imagination she went vp and downe the howse like a diligent Martha and in her father mother and brethren serued Christ with his blessed mother Sainctes so cheerefully and with such a glad hart that the whole howse had great wonder of it And thus she turned all that drudgerie wherunto she was put by the malice of the ghostlie enemie to the honour of God to the inward comfort of her owne sowle and to the great contentation of her parentes and edifying of as manie as sawe it Of her continuance in her feruent and deuout exercises and how her father sawe a Doue ouer her head Of a singular affection that she bare to the habite of S. Dominicke and how it was declared vnto her by a cleere vision that she was heard How she preuailed against all those in the howse that went about to hinder her holie designementes and vowes Chap. 8. BVt yet bicause she cold not be without some chamber where she might take her rest in the night season and a priuate chamber she might not haue bicause her father and mother had taken order to the contrarie she chose to be in her brother Steuens chamber where she might in the daie tyme withdrawe her selfe from companie whiles he was out of the waie and in the night set her selfe to praier without
able to atteine to all grace all truth all charitie without anie great difficultie or hardnes This is a briefe doctrine by the which a man may without reading manie bookes without discussing manie suttle and perplexed pointes of philosophie be made blessed and vnite him selfe with God Full well did my seruant Augustine vnderstād this when he saied O Lord when I knowe thee and when I knowe my selfe then haue I obteined the frute of all my praier Verie fewe atteine to the perfecte vnderstanding of this matter and therfore geue thou good heed to my wordes that thou maiest be made able to conceiue it Thou art she that art not Is not this true Art not thou she that was made of nothing In so much as euerie creature is made of nothing and so hauing no maner of being of it selfe it begynneth to haue a being by my almightie power to witt what soeuer is it is by me and not by it selfe And therfore of it selfe it tendeth euermore to nothing againe that is to haue no being And if I should withdrawe my hand that conserueth it but for the space of one moment it would foorthwith turne to be as it was of it selfe that is nothing Now bicause synne is a defecte and so consequently nothing therfore man vnlesse the hand of God did alwaies preserue him would of him selfe tend vnto synne and so to al maner of defect This is the doctrine which I taught my disciples when I said VVithout me yee can doe nothing And by the mowthe of myne Apostle He that taketh himselfe to be somewhat when he is nothing deceiueth him selfe And in an other place VVe are not sufficiēt to thinke anie thing of our selues as of our selues but our sufficiencie is of God Be thou therfore wel assured that whatsoeuer you are that are you by my creation and by my cōseruatiō by the which it may be said after a sort that I doe as it were create you againe and againe from tyme to tyme and geue you a newe being euerie moment And knowe thou also for an vndoubted truth that as of your selues you are nothing so of your selues you do euermore tend to nothing Now if a man were thoroughly perswaded in this truth to witt if a man were fully resolued that in truth he were nothing how could he be prowd How could he glorie in him selfe or in anie worke of his owne if he knewe that there were nothing properly his owne but only defectes and synne How could he vaunt and set him selfe before others if he did consider with good aduisement that he were equal with all others to witt nothing as al others be How could he beare enuie to any other or disdaine the state of anie man or woman in the wordle if he sawe cleerely that all goodnes were of God and all euell of him selfe And if he tooke these growndes to be true how could he put his hope and affiance in anie man or other earthlie thing How could he be brought to saie or to thinke that this thing is myne if he were resolued that it is God that hath made it and not him selfe who as of him selfe is nothing And none can geue that to an other that he hath not him selfe He that hath not his being of him selfe but hath receiued the same of an other by waie as it were of petition and beggyng can not impart it vnto anie other And therfore the creature that knoweth this accounteth him selfe vile and base and full of defectes and maymes on all sides The which conceit causeth that he can not loue anie thing in him selfe bicause he seeth that there is but one thing properly and truly to be accounted his owne which is synne But bicause man standing in these termes should fall awaie and liue in a wretched kind of despaire forsomuch as naturally he is inclined to haue a being therefore the other part of this doctrine is verie requisite to be vnderstood which is that I am he that am as it was said to Moyses in the vision of the bush that burned was not consumed In truth that thing is that is of it selfe And that thing only is of it selfe whose being dependeth not of anie other nor hath anie superior cause which thing is only God All other creatures haue their being of God in so much as they are created conserued by him God only is vnchangable incorruptible and cause of his owne euerlasting being That creature therefore that seeth this and hath a natural desire of being when he seeth that he can not haue anie being and much lesse anie good and blessed being in him selfe or in anie other creature he turneth him selfe to God with an humble and deuout mynd and setting him selfe to contemplate and behold his Creator and Conseruer the geuer mainteiner and increaser of all being and blessednes the euerlasting founteine and spring of all goodnes which only is able to slake the thyrst of all his natural lustes and longynges he begynneth to sigh towardes him and knowing him to be a most liberal and bowntifull geuer he is inflamed with the loue of him and so much the more bicause he seeth that of all the gyftes and benefits that he receiueth at his hand there returneth no cōmoditie to the geuer againe forsomuch as he is in him selfe and of him selfe the most high perfecte and sufficient goodnes And thus encreasing in knowledge he cometh to vnderstand that as it is he that geueth and extolleth so it is he also that taketh awaie and abaseth when his pleasure is Wherupon he conceiueth a certaine holie feare which is the gardian of the sowle by reason wherof he will not suffer anie thing to passe from his hart that maie offend so sweet and bowntifull a geuer And withal he setleth him selfe so fast vpon his prouident goodnes that whatsoeuer trouble or aduersitie befall him he is nothing moued withal but knoweth for certaine that almightie God permitteth it to come vpon him for his saluation either for his further instruction or to make him to looke better to him selfe or to increase his merite or els as a iust punishment for some offence committed Moreouer this consideration bringeth him to vnderstand that there is no labour no trauaile no affliction in this wordle so grieuous that maie in anie degree seeme worthie of that glorious reward that he looketh for at the most bountifull hand of God And therefore he looketh no more to him selfe but only to the mercifull goodnes of God in whom reposing him selfe with a verie sure affiance and sweet loue he receiueth euen in this present life a pledge and earnest pennie of the life to come This was the first lesson that the blessed virgin learned of her spowse and maister the which she tooke of him verie willingly like a towardly scholer and laid it vp verie charily in the chest of her hart This was the sure foundation that the great workeman laid in the sowle of his deere spowse vpon
therefore lesse circumspecte in such matters and so to make his entrie vpon them both together He began to sowe in the hart of the sicke woman diuerse and sundrie surmises against her by craftie meanes bringing her in great gelowsie and disliking of all that she did by reason wherof in processe of tyme she waxed meruelous weerie of her and might not well abide to see her Which weerisomenes increasing in her daily more and more engendred a certaine malice and malice in tyme bred a plaine hatred Now this malice and hatred had in continuance by litle and litle so corrupted her iudgement that she not only suspected of her the worst that anie euel mynd could ymagin but also bleleeued firmely that all such ymaginations were most certaine and vndoubted truthes in so much that whensoeuer the holie maid was anie where out of her sight she beleeued assuredly that she was about some fowle acte of fleshlie pleasure The which thing though the innocent virgin vnderstood verie well yet did she shewe her selfe no lesse louing meke seruiceable about her then she was wont to be before But the more meekenes and diligence the good seruant of Christ vsed towardes that froward old woman the more testie and cholericke waxed she against her by the instigation of the deuel in so much that at the length she came to that that she would no longer keepe her conceiued suspicions vnder the couert of priuate gelowsie but without all modestie shame gaue them out in plaine and brode termes to as manie as would geue eare to her slawnderous talke This fowle brute being once thus raised it went on from one to another vntil in the end it came to the eares of the sisters who to vnderstād the verie original of the rumour went to the chamber where the sicke sister laie and examined her of the matter She auowched stowtely to them so much as she had reported to others before and accused the maid constantly of actual incontinēcie vncleannes Whereat they were verie much astoined at the first but yet wheighing the age behauiour constācie of the accuser they gaue credit to her wordes thereupon calling the maid before them they gaue her verie rough and sharpe language rebuking her with meruelous vile and reprochful wordes and asking her how she was caried awaie and brought to commit such a synful and vncleane acte Wherunto she made answere with great humilitie and patience saying no moe wordes but only these Truly good mothers and sisters by the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ I am a maid And whatsoeuer they said to her she gaue them none other word to answere but only this Truly I am a maid Truly I am a maid neuer vtterring so much as one word that might seeme to touch her accuser Vpon whom she attended and serued with as great loue and diligence as if there had neuer passed anie such matter betweene them And yet was she sorie at the verie hart for the slaunder and infamie that was raised vpon her Wherefore when she had done what was to be done about the sicke woman she retired her selfe for comfort as her maner was in all aduersites into her chamber and there casting her selfe downe prostrate vpon the ground she opened the griefe of her hart to almightie God more with gronyng of hart then with sound of voice after this maner O almightie God my deere Lord spowse thou knowest verie well what a tender thing the good name of virgins is especially of them that haue vowed their virginitie to thee and how much subiecte they are to the violent strokes of slawnderous tonges And that was the cause why thy prouident wisedome disposed that thy most glorious mother should be committed to the charge of Ioseph who was called and was in deed her husband not for anie acte of matrimonie but to keepe her name of virginitie from slander Thou knowest O Lord that all this slawnder that is raised vpō me is wrought by the father of lying who hath done this to withdrawe hinder me from this charitable woorke that thou hast appointed me to doe I haue willingly takē vpon me for thy loue Wherefor I most hūbly beseech thee O my deere Lord most mightie protectour of all innocentes that thou wilt not suffer this wicked serpent whom thou hast troden vnder foote in the tyme of thy sacred passion to haue the mastrie ouer me When the holie maid had thus made a long praier to our Lord with much inward gronyng and plentie of teares behold our Lord appeered to her holding two crownes in his hādes one in his right hand of gold all decked with ritch perles and precious stones an other in his left hand of verie sharpe thornes said these wordes vnto her Deere daughter it is so that thou must needes be crowned with these two crownes at sundry tymes Choose therefor whether thou haue lieffer to be crowned with the sharpe crowne of thorne in this life and that other to be reserued for thee in the life to come or elswhether thou like better to haue this goodlie golden crowne in this life that other sharpe crowne in the life to come To this demand the hūble discrete virgin made answere after this maner Lord said she thou knowest verie well that I haue resigned my will wholly to thee haue made a full resolution to doe all thinges according to thy direction and therfore I dare not choose anie thing vnlesse I maie knowe that the same shall stand with thy most blessed will and pleasure Neuertheles because thou hast willed me to make answere concernyng this choise that thou hast here made vnto me I saie thus that I doe choose in this life euermore to be conformed and made like to thee my Lord Sauiour cherefully to beare Crosses thornes for thy loue as thou hast done for myne With that she reached out her handes Iustely and tooke the crowne of thornes of our Lordes handes and put the same vpon her owne head with such a strength and violence that the thornes perced her head rownd about in so much that for a long space after she felt a sensible paine in her head by the pricking of those thornes as she declared afterwardes to her ghostlie Father Then our Lord said to her Daughter all thinges are in my power And as I haue suffred this slawnder to be raised against thee by the deuel and his membres so is it in my power to cease the same when I will Continue thou therefore in that holie seruice that thou hast begon and geue no place to the enemie that would let thee from all good workes I will geue thee a perfecte victorie ouer thyne enemie and will bring to passe that whatsoeuer he hath imagined against thee it shall all be turned vpon his owne head to thy great ioye and his great paine Thus was she well comforted againe and so continued still at the seruice of that
and conuersation How hangyng in the ayer she sawe certaine secrets and high mysteries of God which it is not lawful to disclose to anie man Chap. 19. THIS holie maid from the tyme that she was thus endued with newe graces vntill the xxxiij yeare of her age at what tyme she departed out of this life was so wholly occupied in diuine comtemplations that in all that tyme she neuer needed anie bodilie sustenance And in those contemplations her soule was so mightely drawen vp to heauenlie thinges that her bodie also was by the vehemencie of the spirite taken vp often tymes withal and suspended in the ayer At which tymes she sawe manie wonderful thinges and spake manie high wordes of heauenlie matters which were heard of diuerse and sundrie persones On a tyme her ghostlie Father seeing her so rauished from her bodilie senses and hearing her speake certaine wordes softely to her selfe came neere to hearken what she said And standing by her he heard her speake these wordes distinctly in latine Vidi arcana Dei that is I haue seene the secrets of God And she repeted the same wordes often tymes Vidi arcana Dei Her ghostlie Father afterwardes being verie desirous to knowe what she meant by those wordes and whie she repeted them so often asked her after this maner Good mother said he I praie you tell me whie you repeated those wordes so often What is the cause whie you will not declare your secrets to me now as you were wont to doe To that she answered and said that she might not speake otherwise whie so said he whie maie you not declare the thinges that our Lord reuealeth vnto you as well now as you were wont to doe Good Father said she I should haue as great a conscience if I should declare the high misteries that almightie God hath now reueled vnto me with my defectuous and imperfecte tongue as I should haue if I had blasphemed or dishonoured our Lord in wordes For there is so great difference betweene heauenly thinges apprehended in an vnderstanding that is illuminated by God and the same thinges vttered by the speach or tongue of man that me thinketh they are almost contrarie the one to the other And therefore for this tyme I praie you hold me excused For the thinges that I haue seene are vnspeakeable After this great reuelation that our Lord made to her of vnspeakeable thinges it seemed to her that her hart did leap out of her bodie and that it did enter into the side of our Sauiour Christ and there was made one hart with his hart And at that instant she felt her soule all molton and resolued with the force of his diuine loue in such sort that she cried out with a loude voice often tymes Domine vulnerasti cor meum Domine vulnerasti cor meum Lord thou hast wounded my hart Lord thou hast wounded my hart This thing was done vpon S. Margarets Daie in the yeare of our Lord. 1370. How she put her mouth to the side of our Sauiour and drancke and of manie other wonderful thinges that happened about the blessed Sacrament Chap. 20. IT chaunced also the same yeare on S. Laurence daie that this holie maid comyng to the Church to heare Masse set her selfe downe neere to the Aulter as her maner was that she might the better see the holie Sacrament And kneeling there deuoutly in her praiers she brake out into weeping and sobbing so much that her ghostlie Father came to her warned her that she should refraine so much as was possible for not molesting the priest at Masse Wherupon like a meeke and obedient daughter she remoued her selfe farther from the Aulter and made her humble praier to our Lord that he would vouchsafe to illuminate her Confessours hart that he might see and vnderstand that such violent motions of the spirite might not be witholden and kept in by the strength of man and her priaer was not vaine For it pleased God to make her ghostlie Father to vnderstand perfectly by experience that such feruour of spirite could not be so kept in but that the force of diuine loue would needes breake out The which when he vnderstood he neuer rebuked her afterwardes for anie such matter Now kneeling after this maner farre of from the Aulter she groned in her hart and manie tymes also brake out into wordes and said after a languishing and ruthful maner I would faine receiue the bodie of my Lord and Redeemer I would faine receiue the bodie of my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ One tyme as she was so so crying behold our Lord appeered vnto her with the wound of his side all open and bringing her mowth to the same said Receiue of my flesh and drincke of my blood so much as thou wilt With that she sucked greedily and tooke so much that it seemed to her that for verie pure loue she was at the point of death by reason of the passing great sweetnes that she felt in her hart The selfe same yeare vpon S. Alexius daie this holie maid made her praier to God that he would vowchsafe to graunt her a feruent and burnyng desire to receiue his most holie bodie and blood At what tyme she vnderstood by reuelation that on the morowe she should receiue without all doubt For she had ben forbiden for certaine respectes that she should not receiue so often When she had that comfortable reuelation she praied againe to our Lord that he would vowchsafe to clense her hart against the tyme of receiuing that she might receiue the more worthily to her greater profite Behold while she was so praying she felt a certaine raigne comyng downe into her soule in maner of a great abondant flood not of water or of anie other such licour but of blood myngled with fyer which as it seemed to her clensed her soule so mightely that the strength and operation of the same redounded into the bodie and clensed it also After this on the morowe she was so extremely sicke that to her seemyng she was not able to moue one foote though the worlde had lyen on it All the which not withstanding she doubted nothing of the promise made vnto her by our Lord but with a ful affiance in him set her selfe in the waie towardes the Church Whither when she was come she kneeled downe in a chappell besides an Aulter and besought almightie God with great instance that her ghostlie Father might come and saie Masse there For she had a special inhibition not to receiue at anie other priestes hand And she vnderstood by reuelation that almightie God had graunted her that petition also Now while she was thus attending there for the performance of all these comfortable promises her ghostlie Father who before found small disposition in him selfe to saie Masse that daie knewe not of her being there was sodainly touched at the hart with a verie strange feruour and deuotiō Wherupon he prepared him selfe to Masse and went
restitution both of the one and the other to wite both of the honour of God and also of the saluation of man was appointed by God to be wrought by the meane of his Crosse therfore he had euermore a meruelous great desir to come vnto it which desire was vndoubtely a verie cordial and continual Crosse vnto him and neuer ended vntill the tyme came that his bodie was in deed stretched out and nailed vpon the tree of the Crosse She reasoned yet further concerning that Crosse of desire and said thus No man liuing is able to make a iust estimate of the paines and tormentes that our Sauiour suffred in his hart by reason of the desire that he had to paie the debt of mankind to deliuer them from the sentence of death and to bring them againe into the fauour of God They only that loue God with all their hart with all their sowle with all their strength and their neighbour as them selues maie ghesse in some degree what his paine was Such good men maie iudge in part by the loue that they haue thē selues to the honour of God and saluation of man and by the griefe that they feele in them selues when the thing that they loue is either taken awaie or long delaied what his griefe was They maie iudge I saie in part not perfectly forsomuch as the loue that man hath or can haue to the honour of God and saluation of man be it neuer so great is nothging in comparison of that passing great loue that was in the hart of our Sauiour Christ And therfore the desire that he had to recouer both the one and the other must needes cawse in him a greater sorrowe without all comparison then euer was or could be in man vntill he sawe an effectual and perfecte restitution made to God of his honour and reuerence to man of his former state of grace in this presente life and of glorie in the life to come And thus much he signified to his disciples when he said those wordes I haue had an earnest desire to eate this passeouer with you and afterwardes likewise when in his praier to God the father he said Father take awaie this cup from me Which is as if he had said in plaine wordes Father I see here prepared for me a verie bitter cup of most sharpe tormentes and death which I haue droncke continually in desire euen from the hower of my conception but now do begynne to drincke the same in deed and so to make an end of drincking this paineful potion of the Crosse which I desire thee to hasten and bring to an end For that being once passed and gone I shall reape the frute of my long and earnest desire to witte I shall haue fulfilled myne obedience in all pointes to thee restitution shal be made perfectly to God of his due honour to man of his foremer state And I desire not to haue this cup of my passion taken awaie which thou hast here made readie for me which I take at thy fatherly hand like an obedient sonne and drincke it willingly but I desire to haue that cup taken awaie from me and ended which I haue droncke with such an earnest and greedie desire so manie yeares for the loue that I beare to thyne honour and to the saluation of mankind This was the exposition that she made vpon this place of the gospel against the which bicause it seemed straung and singular her ghostlie Father doctour Raimundus reasoned after this maner Mother said he you knowe that the holie Fathers do commonly geue an other interpretation to this place almost contrarie to this that you haue said They saie that our Lord desired in deed rather not to drincke that cup then to drinke it meanyng therby to declare to vs that he was true man and that as true man his flesh did naturally abhorre death as the flesh of euerie man doth And by this he would geue a doctrine and withall an example in him selfe to all weake and fraile men that they should not be dismaied though they felt in them selues that they did feare death Forsomuch as the like feare frailtie was seene in our head also who tooke vpon him all our infirmities onlie synne excepted To this the holie maid made answere thus Father said she I knowe right well that the holie doctours do expound this place as you haue said and I find no fault with their exposition And though this interpretation that our Lord hath taught me seeme diuerse or almost contrarie as you thinke to that yet is it verie true and maie well stand with the common exposition of the holie Fathers Father it is certaine that our Sauiour Christ was head not only of the weake and fraile that feare and flee death but also of the strong and mightie that beare it manfully and yeald not to the feare and shrynking of the flesh And therfore he would in this acte and wordes geue a doctrine and example to them both He would tremble and feare and desire that the bitter cup of his passiō might passe awaie to geue an example to the weake that they might likewise feare and flee death without anie offence if they had no commaundement from God to the cōtrarie He would also ouercome that feare and quaking of the flesh by the force of reason and zeale of Gods honour and desire his Father to hasten that cup of his passion and death to geue an example to the strong that they should not yeald to the frailtie of the flesh and shrincke at the terrour of death but folowe the direction of the spirite and offer them selues valiantly to tormentes and to death it selfe when by so doing they might either honour God or edifie their neighbour And I see no cause whie one place of the scripture should not haue manie interpretations forsomuch as the holie scripture as you knowe hath manie senses and meanynges Which the holie Ghost hath so ordained that the holie scripture might serue diuerse and sundrie persones to diuerse and sundrie effectes As we see this present text being diuersely expounded serueth men of diuerse qualitie to verie good purpose The weake for a refuge if they retire and saue them selues the strong for a warrant if they steppe forewardes and offer them selues to euident danger for Gods sake Then if you aske me how these two interpretations maie stand together the one being contrarie to the other for by the one our Sauiour required that the cup of his passion might be hastened by the other that it might passe awaie I answere that I take it for none inconuenience that in that agonie he should haue those two contrarie effectes in him selfe the one according to the flesh whose propertie it is naturally to repine at anie thing that maie hurt the other according to the spirite which looking to the honour of God and saluation of mankind desired earnestly the bitter cup of his death by the drinking wherof he knewe
Of this euident miracle were witnesses the ladie Bianchina that holie Anchorite in whose lappe it was done other moe to the number of thirtie persones Manie other miracles she wrought of like sort in casting out of deuels in the presence of diuerse and sundrie credible persones the which honour triumph ouer the enemie it pleased out Lord to geue her in the sight of the wordle bicause she had at all tymes so valiantly resisted and ouerthrowen him in her owne persone when soeuer he moued her by anie meanes either to pride of mynd or vncleannes of bodie THE THIRD PART How the holie maid was endued with the spirite of prophecie and foretold what calamities should happen to the Church and likewise how it should be restored againe Chap. 1. EMONG manie goodlie gyftes and graces with the which this holie Virgin was endued one was the spirite of prophecie which was in her so strange and singular that she not only foresawe the thinges that were to come so perfectely as if they had ben present but also persed into the verie secrets of mens hartes told them what they thought Which thing caused the wordle to haue her in such admiration that when she spake to them of matters concerning their soules health they heard her wordes with greater attention and reuerence About the yeare of our Lord. 1375. at what tyme Gregorie the eleuenth was Pope manie cities and territories in Italie rebelled against the Sea Apostolike withdrawing them selues and their yearelie reuenwes from the Church of Rome Which reuolt all good men tooke verie heauily and namely Doctoure Raimundus whose griefe was so great that he went of purpose to Pisa where the holie maid chaunced to be at that tyme to powre out his hart before her As he was declaring to her the lamentable state of thinges abrode with sorowful wordes and manie teares she shewed likewise in countenance that she had great compassion of a nomber of soules that were like to perish through that synful rebellion But when he had said she made him answere after this maner Father said she begynne not to weepe so soone for all this is but honye mylke in comparison of that that shall come hereafter What said he Thinke you that I shall euer haue greater cause to sorrowe then I haue at this present seeing as I now see the people so wickedly bent that they are not afraid to set them selues against our holie mother the Church and to make light of her curse excommunication What remaineth now but only that they do vtterly denie the faith of Christ To that the holie maid made answere and said Father all that ye see hitherto is done by the common laie people but you shall see hereafter an other maner of rebellion then this is contriued and practised by the clergie When Doctour Raimundus heard that he was meruelously astonied for a tyme. At the length he asked her whether she thought it a thing possible that the clergie should rebell against the Church Yea said she it is possible and you shall see it For when our holie Father the Pope shall goe about to reforme their maners then shall they set them selues vp against him and make a schisme in the Church Wherof shall arise great slaunder and offence to all good men And therefore I geue you warning before that you arme your selfe with patience for you shall see all this Doctour Raimundus at that tyme mistooke the holie maides wordes supposing that she had meant that all these thinges should haue come to passe then presently in Pope Gregories daies And therefore when he sawe that Pope Gregorie was dead he thought no more of her wordes because he imagined that the terme of her prophecie had ben expired But afterwardes in the tyme of Pope Vrbanus the sixte when he sawe and felt also that wicked rebellion that was raised against him by the proude prelates of the Church he called to mynd what the holie maid had said vnto him before and thought euerie hower a daie vntill he might haue some oportunitie to conferre with her concerning the state of those present troubles Which by the disposition of almightie God came to passe euen as he desired for in that furie of rebellion and schisme the holie maid was sent for to Rome by commaundement of the Popes holines where Doctour Raimundus repaired vnto her and put her in mynd of such communication as had passed betweene them long tyme before in Pisa I remember well said she that such wordes I spake to you at that tyme which now you see verified And now I will geue you to vnderstand thus much more Like as I said to you then that the rebellion of that tyme was but mylke and honey in comparison of this that you see now euen so I tell you now that these present troubles are but a childes game in comparison of those horrible calamities that are to come And with that she began to recite diuerse and sundrie plagues which she foresawe should fall vpon manie partes of the wordle and namely vpon the Kingdome of Sicilia and countreis there about The which prophecie was in deed fulfilled soone after in the tyme of Queene Ione and of her successour with such vnwonted scourges calamities and almost vtter subuersion not only of the Kingdome of Sicilia but also of all other Kingdomes Territories and Cities lying neere vnto it that Doctour Raimundus and as manie as liued and sawe afterwardes the horrible state of that bloodie tyme confessed that the like had not ben often seene in those partes of the wordle before When Doctour Raimundus had heard thus much concerning the scourges and afflictions that were towardes the Church of the which some he sawe then presently verified and therefore doubted nothing of the rest he asked the holie maid whether after all these stormes there were not like to come a calme emong the people of God Wherunto she made answere after this maner Father said she almightie God hath determined thus to purge his Church by calamities and tribulations The which when he hath once done he will raise vp a newe spirite in his chosen seruantes and send such godlye Pastors and Curates ouer his flocke that my hart reioyseth within my bodie to thinke vpon that goodlye reformation that shall insue in all states of men And as the Church of Christ seemeth now poore deformed and naked so shall it then be seene in a verie glorious and beautifull state clad with the seemelie ornamentes of vertue godlines The good shall ioye to see the Church of God in such a flourishing peace and the euel shal be allured by the sweet sauour of their vertuous conuersation to folowe them in the patthes of Gods holie commandementes Therefore father thanke our Lord who of his gracious goodnes voutchsafeth after raine and tēpestes to send faire wether Thus much spake the holie maid touching the state of the Church to Doctour Raimundus whom she lefte in a
especially Ginoccia which of the two liued in greater austeritie and penance When their brother Iames who was at that tyme abroade heard tell of this strange alteration of his two sisters he raged like a mad man and cursed all them that had moued his sisters to take that habite And he threatned verie boldly that he would teare those garmentes from their backes and bring them home againe And no man durst aduenture to staie him in that rage but only a yong brother of his that was in companie with him at that tyme who spake to him after this maner Brother Iames said he you are not acqueinted with this sister Catherine But if you goe to Siena you shall see she shall turne you also and make you to goe Confession To Confetsion said he I defie thee and them all Assure thy selfe I will cut the throtes of all those Priestes and friars before they shall bring me to confession Well brother said the child and he repeated his wordes oftentymes speaking with great affiance as though he had foreseene the euent of this matter in the spirite of prophecie you shall find my wordes true and shall see that the holie maid shall bring you to grace Those wordes set him in such a furie that he cursed and banned and fared like a man distracted And in this furie he entred into the citie and went foorth with to his fathers house where he tooke on like a madd man threatnyng and swearing that he would doe manie horrible mischiefes vnlesse they brought to passe that his sisters and specially Ginoccia might put off that habite and come home againe But his mother Rabes who was well acqueinted with his furious nature therefore feared lest he would of a sodaine do some mischieuous acte as his maner was came to him and with faire wordes staied his rage that he did no harme that night And the next morning she sent for Doctour Thomas beseeching him for Gods sake that he would take the paines to come and geue her sonne Iames some godlie exhortation Doctour Thomas came with him frier Bartilmewe And they spake manie good wordes to the impatient yong man but for ought that they could perceiue all in vaine All this tyme was the holie maid in praier and laboured earnestly to wynne that yong mans soule to God for she vnderstood not by the relation of anie man but only by reuelation from God in what a damnable state he stood and she sawe in spirite what paines those good men tooke to recouer him And it was euidently seene afterwardes by the proofe that our Lord blessed and furthered their charitable trauaile in that behalfe for the holie maides sake and in contemplation of her deuout praiers For when these men had spent a good tyme about him and sawe that they could doe him no good at the length while Doctour Bartilmewe was speaking to him behold of a sodaine and contrarie to all expectation the yong man being vndoubtedly touched by the finger of God resented and said of him selfe that he was verie well content and glad that his sisters should serue God in that holie rule and discipline And he required furthermore with great humilitie that he might be Confessed and absolued of his owne synnes that he might serue God with them also The which he did in deed verie perfectly to the great wonder and comfort of as manie as were there present which a litle before had seene him as fiercc as a lion and now as myld as a lambe His mother Rabes was a ioyful woman to see this strāge and blessed alteration in her sonne and so were all the rest of her familie with her Now when Doctour Thomas and Doctour Bartilmewe his companion had rendred thankes to almightie God for this great mercie shewed vpon that yong man they went out of hand with ioyful hartes towardes the holie maides lodging and thought the tyme long vntill they might impart these glad tidinges of his conuersion to her But when they came thither they vnderstood that the holie maid was aboue in an vpper chamber in praier and rauished as her maner was in spirite and one other of the sisters with her By reason wherof they were constreined to tarrie a while At the length when the holie maid was come to her selfe againe that other sister came downe to enterteine Doctour Thomas her Confessour who saluted her with a cheereful countenance and began foorthwith to declare the cause of his coming to her Sister said he we are come to bring you verie good newes Maister Iames Tolmes is by the grace of God become a newe man and this mornyng hath made a general Cōfession of all his synnes to Doctour Bartilmewe Father said that sister we haue great cause both to reioyse and also to thanke our Lord for these ioyful tydinges Howbeit they are no newes to vs for sister Catherine before I came downe to you told me so much as you tell me now And with that they went vp into the vpper chamber to the holie maid who immediatly vpon their entrie spake to them after this maner Fathers said she we are much bound to thanke our Lord and Sauiour that neuer dispiseth the humble praier of his seruantes And as he putteth holie desires into their hartes so doth he also accomplish the same to their benefite and comfort The wicked feend had thought to haue gotten a litle lambe of the which he had conceiued some hope But he hath through the vnspeakeable goodnes of God lost a great preie of the which he had full posession He laid for Ginoccia but he hath lost Iames. And so it falleth out oftentymes with this rauenous and insatiable wolfe that while he openeth his iawes wider to geat more he both letteth fall some better morsel that he had in his mouth before and yet misseth of that other thing that he so griedily snatcheth after Our Lord be blessed and thanked for euer more whose prouident wisedome disposeth all thinges sweetely and turneth the wilye malice of this suttle serpent to the benefit and comfort of his chosen seruantes After this Ginoccia continued without anie molestation in that holie state of life that she had vowed wherein when she had suffered manie sickenesses with a verie patient and cheereful mynd she passed out of this wordle to God with a meruelous inward sweetnes and comfort as it was euidently seene by the maner of her departure Soone after her sister Francis likewise tooke the habite and rule of the sisters of penance and therein continued with great commendation and opinion of holines so long as she liued which was in deed no long tyme. And it was noted of her also at the tyme of her passing out of this life that she smyled sweetely and shewed great tokens of spiritual ioye euen when she was at the verie point of death And this Iames their brother after that he was thus reclaimed by the deuout praier of the holie maid and diligence of
suspected that the holie maid should be departed out of this life though she knewe well that she was verie sicke bicause she had seene by experience that the holie maid had often tymes recouered and escaped out of sickenesses that seemed verie grieuous and past all hope of recouerie VVherefore she rather thought that for so long tyme as she had ben occupied about this vision the holie maid had ben after her accustomed maner in some singular traunse or abstractioÌ„ in the which our Lord had shewed vnto her some great and notable reuelations But bicause the mornyng was so farre spent that she stood in doubt of finding anie Masse that daie she supposed that all this vision was none other thing but only some suttle illusion of the deuel to make her to transgresse the commaundement of our holie mother the Church in not hearing Masse on the sondaie Wherefore she hasted her selfe vp and set her pot ouer the fyer and ranne towardes the parish Church saying thus in her hart If I leese Masse this daie I will take all this to be the worke of the ghostlie enemie But if I come in good tyme to heare Masse then will I thinke that our Lord hath shewed these thinges vnto me for my good mother Catherines sake When she came to the Church she found that the gospel was done and the offertorie song Wherof she was verie sorie and said Out vpoÌ„ me wretch the wicked feend hath deceiued me With that she made hast homwardes againe to set her thinges in the kitchen a litle foreward that she migh goe to some other Church and find a whole Masse While she was at home thus occupied she heard a bell ring to Masse in a monasterie of Nunnes not farre from her house which made her a glad woman And so she set her selfe in order againe to goe to Church and for hast lefte her colewortes which stood by her readie piked and wasshed euen as they were and put them not into the pot as she had thought to doe VVhen she came to the Church she found them at the verie begynnyng of Masse wherof she was verie glad and said to her selfe Surely now I see that the deuel hath not deceiued me as I thought he had done But she had great care of the displeasure of her sonnes which were now of good yeares bicause she knewe their dyner was nor readie nor could not be made readie in anie conuenient tyme. Houbeit she committed all to God that she might heare Masse deuoutly beseeching him notwithstanding that if that vision were of him he would so prouide that there might no displeasure or cause of offence rise of the same betwene her her children And with that she set her selfe downe and heard out the whole Masse to the end wheÌ„ Masse was done as she was going homeward her sonnes met with her in the streete said Mother it is very late I praie you let vs goe to diner Tarrie a litle good children said she you shal dyne in good tyme. She went home a pace and found the doore fast locked and the keie within euen as she had lefte it So soone as she was within the house she weÌ„t streight to the kitchin thought to haue gone foreward with the dressing of dyner But when she came in she sawe that all was done to her hand her colewoortes and flesh thoroughly soddeÌ„ al other thinges in such readines that they might goe to the table when they would VVherat she was much astoined and said to her selfe Surely now I see our Lord hath heard my praier And she determined to goe after dyner to the holie maides house whome she thought to be yet aliue in the wordle and to tell her of all the thinges that had chaunced that daie Her sonnes that were not farre from the house she called home and set them to dyner And while they were eating her mynd ranne still vpon the strange vision that she had seene in the mornyng and vpon these wonders that had ensued vpon the same Her sonnes also that knewe nothing of the matter began to commend their meate and said that it was passing well seasoned and had a farre better tast then it was wont to haue Which wordes she put vp in her hart and said to her selfe as she declared afterwardes to Doctour Raimundus O my good mother Catherine it is thou that hast come this mornyng into my house to supplie my rome and office in the kitchen Now I knowe in deed that thou art a holie virgin the true haÌ„d maid of Christ And yet for all this she suspected nothing of the holie maides departure out of this life but so soone as her sonnes had dined she went forthwith to her house as she was wont to doe at other tymes and knocked at the doore but no bodie giue her answere The neighbours told her that of likelihood she was gone out as her maner was to visite some holie place and that there was no bodie at home Which she supposed to be true therfore went her waie Now the truth was that all those that vvere vvithin vvere in great heauines for the losse of their good mother vvhich vvas departed from them and had lefte them as motherles children in this wicked worlde And they did what they could to conceale her death from the people both for the auoiding of that great presse and tumulte which they knewe would be made if her death were once noised and also that they might with the more quietnes conferre with discreete persones concernyng the maner and order of her funerals But howsoeuer they laboured to keepe the matter secret the next daie when her bodie should be caried to the Church of the Fryers preachers commonly called Our ladie ouer Minerua it was knowen all ouer the citie And there was such a concourse of people runnyng and pressing towardes the place where she laie to touch some part either of her bodie or of her garmentes that those of her familie retinue that were there attending vpon the corps were in great feare and danger to haue had both their garmentes torne from their backes and their bodies sore hurt with the violent presse crowd of the vnrulie multitude In so much that they were constreined to remoue the beere from the place where it stood and to set it in S. Dominickes chappel which was well defended with a strong grate of yron While these thinges were in doing Semia came thither by chaunce and seeing such a great concourse of people asked what it meaned They made her answere and said that Catherine of Siena was dead and that her bodie was there caried to the Church to be buried VVhen she heard that she sâ—right pitifully and ranne towardes the place where her corps laie VVhen she came thither and sawe certaine women and sisters of the holie maides familie standing about her bodie she cried out and said O most cruel women whie haue you kept the departure of
maid laie aboue the ground there was in Rome a certaine citizen called Antonie Lellipeeters which by ouer labouring his bodie had fallen into such a nommenes of his limmes that he was as it were an impotent man and could neither walke nor stand And the phisicions could find nothing in their art that could either cure him wholly of his disease or ease him in anie degree of his extreme paine This Antonie hearing what wonderful thinges were done by the holie maid commended him selfe deuoutly vnto her and made a vowe that he would doe some special thing to her might honour if he be deliuered by her merites He had no sooner geuen out that vowe in his hart but that he felt him selfe perfectly healed both of his lamenes and paine and began to walke as nymbly as euer he did in his life before went by and by to the place where the holie corps laie and perfourmed his vowe and declared with great ioye in the presence of all the people there assembled at that tyme what a wonderful grace he had receiued at Gods hand through the merites of that holie maid There was also a certaine deuout matrone in Rome called Paula which was vsed of the holie maid or rather vsed her verie familiary for shee was her hostesse and enierteined both the holie maid and all her companie in her house This Paula was at the tyme of the holie mades departure pained with two diseases which had continued vpon her four monethes before The one was the gowte the other the paine of the flancke And because these two maladies were of such contrarie qualitie that whatsoeuer was ministred vnto her for the helpe of the one was hurtful to the other the one requiring thinges to loose the other contrarie wise thinges to bind the sicke woman was pitifully vexed and manie tymes brought euen to the verie point of death When the holie maid passed out of this life she besought them that were about her verie instantly that they would let her haue certaine thinges that had touched the holie maides bodie The which thinges being geuen vnto her ouer night the next mornyng she rose out of her bed which she was neuer able to doe in fower monethes before and walked as lustely as euer she had done when she was in her best health These and manie other miracles did almightie God worke to the honour of the holie maid in those three daies while her bodie laie vnburied which through the negligence of men were not so duly examined and diligently writen as these Emong other thinges that chaunceed within the space of those three daies one thing which seemeth to geue a certtaine credit confirmatiō to the rest is not to be passed ouer with silence There was a certaine Doctour of diuinitie which in the tyme of that great concourse of people went vp to the pulpet to make a sermon or collation in the the praise of the holie maid And when he had stood there a good while and had assaied by diuerse and sundrie meanes to get him audience and sawe at the length that it would not be he said only these wordes This holie virgin hath no need of our preaching She preacheth much better her selfe then we are able to doe And with that he came downe ano lefte the people sufficiently edified with the wonderful thinges that they sawe there with their eyes What miracles almightie God wrought to honour the holie maid after her burial Chap. 11. WHen the holie maides bodie had ben thus kept three daies and three nightes aboue the ground they buried it Howbeit almightie God ceased not to honour his deere spouse with miracles but wrought both moe and greater thinges then before A certaine Romaine called Iohn Veries had a litle sonne which could neither goe nor stand vpright on his feete This man hearing by others what great miracles were wrought by the holie maide made a vowe to God and her for the recouerie of his child and brought him to the place where she was buried So soone as the child was laied vpon the holie maides graue his feete and legges receiued firmenes and strength and he began to stand vpright and walke so well as if he had neuer had anie such defecte In like maner one Iohn Tozos had a verie strange and horrible infirmitie in his eyes in so much that there bred wormes in one of his eyes This Iohn made a vowe to the blessed virgin S. Catherine and foorthwith he was perfectly healed of his paineful and lothsome disease Wherupon he went to the holie maides graue and offred vp a certaine memorial of waxe as the maner is in token of his deliuerie and declared what a wonderful grace he had receiued There was also a certaine woman that came out of Germanie to the citie in pilgrimage whose name by negligence of them that were appointed to write these thinges was not taken This pilgrymme had with long sickenes as it were lost the vse of her eyes and was without hope to recouer the same by anie medicine Wherefore she commended her selfe deuoutly to the holie maid and made a vowe So soone as she had so done she receiued her sight againe and came to the graue to perfourme her vowe and sawe as well as euer she had done in her life before There was also a woman of honour in Rome called ladie Marie which had such a grieuous paine in her head that in continuāce of time she lost one of her eyes though she had vsed diuerse and sundrie medecines for the sauing of the same For the which cause partly for sorowe and partly for shamefastnes she kept her self euermor within her owne house would not be seene abrode neither in the church nor els wher in any open place This ladie vnderstanding by others what great thinges had ben wrought in the citie by the holie maid commended her selfe vnto her and made a vowe The night folowing the holie maid appeered to one of her waiting women in her sleepe and willed her to tell her ladie that she should make no mo medecines for her eyes but should goe euerie mornyng to Church to heare the diuine seruice and so doing she should find helpe The ladie hearing that did as she was willed by her seruant and found as she was promised by the holie maid For she recouered not only strenght for that eye that remained which was much weakened but also perfecte sight in that other eye that was quite out And which was the greatest cure of all the eye of her mynd was also restored in such sort that she sawe now how to obserue the commaundement of God in going to the sermons and keeping holie the sondaies and other holie daies commaunded by our holie mother the Church There was also a certaine yong man in Rome called Iames the sonne of a certaine citizen called Peeter Nicols which with long sickenes at the length was brought so lowe that it booted not to minister anie
to praier And whē she had done she thought to rest her selfe a while as she was wont to doe Howbeit she had a care not to sleepe ouerlong bicause it was sondaie she entended to heare high Masse that daie which she could not doe conueniently vnlesse she rose vp quickely bicause she had her childrens dyners to dresse before she went to Church Now lying downe with this care her mind was so fully occupied with the same that as it is wont to happen in such case she seemed to speake to her selfe in her sleepe and to saie thus Woman what meanest thou Thou must needes rise quickely there is no remedie that thou maiest dresse thy childrens dyner and so goe to Church in dewe tyme. As she was speaking these wordes in her mynd to her selfe behold there appeered a meruelous goodlie child vnto her of the age as it seemed of an eight or ten yeares which spake to her after this maner I will not haue thee to rise yet vntill thou haue seene a thing that I will shewe thee She was much delited with the sight of that child and yet bicause she had great care of her busines and specially of hearing Masse she spake vnto him and said I praie thee good child let me rise for I must needes heare high Masse this daie In no wise said the child vnlesse thou see before certaine wonderful thinges that I am commanunded by God to shewe thee And with that he tooke her by her garmentes as it seemed to her and lead hir into a certaine open and large place in the which she saw the forme of a meruelous goodly oratorie or Church and in the top of the same a tabernacle of syluer close locked which shewed verie princely Then said the child to her Abide here a while and thou shalt see what is in yonder tabernacle He had no sooner spoken those wordes but that there appeered an other child like him which brought a ladder and with a golden keie that he had in his hand opened the doore of the tabernacle When the doore was open she sawe a meruelous goodlie and beawtiful yong maid roially appareled all in shynyng white with collars and owches of price She ware three crownes vpon her head which were verie finely wrought and set together in such sort that euerie one of them might be perfectly seene and discerned from the other The lower crowne was al of pure siluer and shewed white The second was of syluer myngled with gold and shewed a certaine glistering red colour such as is wont to be when an orient red ground is wrought ouer with threedes of gold The third and highest crowne was all of pure gold richly decked and set rownd about with perles and precious stones The widowe beholding this goodlie sight began to reason with her selfe what yong maid that might be that was so gorgiously trymed And looking steddily on her she might well discerne that it was the face of Caterine of Siena but her age was not answereable Which made her to suspecte that it should be some other Then the child that appeered to her first asked her whether she knewe that faire maid or no. Truly said she this is the verie face of Caterine of Siena but her age agreeth not While the woman stood thus and looked wishly vpon her the yong maid that was within the tabernacle smyled sweetly and said to those two children Loe this woman knoweth me not After this there came fower other children like vnto these and brought with them a settle to carrie one in made in fourme like a bride chamber and furnished thoroughly with ritch clothes of a purple colour And when they had set downe this chamber or settle by the aforesaid tabernacle of syluer they went vp nymbly and tooke the yong maid that was there crowned in their handes to bring her downe and put her in that chamber But while this was in doing the yong maid spake to those children and said Let me goe a litle to that woman first that seeth me now and knoweth me not And with that she went towardes her as it were fleeing and said vnto her Semia do not you knowe me I am Caterine of Siena euen as my face sheweth What said Semia Are you Caterine my spiritual mother I am said she But marcke well what thou hast seene and what thou shalt see When the blessed virgin had spoken those wordes the sixe children tooke her and brought her backe to the said bride chamber and placed her in the same and so lifted her vpon high Semia stood still and looked after to see what would become of her And behold she sawe in heauen a seate and vpon the seate a king sitting royally clad and crowned hauing in his right hand a booke open The children mounted vp with their cariage vntil they came to the foote of this seate and there they set downe the bed chamber and the maid in it And she foorthwith went out of the chamber and cast her selfe downe prostrate at the feete of the king and worshipped him That done the king said to her Welcome my right deerely beloued spowse and daughter Caterine Then being commaunded by the king she lifte vp her head and read in the booke that he held in his right hand so long as a man would well saie a Pater noster When she had done that the king commaunded her to stand vp And so she did and stood by the seate looking for the comyng of the Queene Which came foorthwith accompained with a goodlie traine of virgins and went as it seemed towardes the king When the Queene approched neere the holie maid went downe from the place where she stood and kneeling vpon her knees worshiped her The Queene embraced her verie louingly and said Hartely welcome my deere daughter Caterine And with that she tooke her vp and kissed her Then the holie maid kneeled downe againe and worshipped the Queene And when she had so done she went by commaundement of the Queene to all the rest of the virgins one after an other and they all receiued her likewise with passing great ioye and kissed her Now Semia that stood and behold all these thinges was so moued with the sight that she cried out alowde and said O blessed Ladie O mother of our Lord Sauiour Iesus Christ make intercession for vs. And againe she said O blessed Marie Magdalene O blessed S. Catherine O blessed S. Agnes O blessed S. Margarite praie for vs. And with this crie she awaked out of her sleepe and openyng her eyes sawe that the sonne was of a great height Wherof being verie sorie both for the high Masse which she doubted would be almost done before she could come to her parish Church and also for her childrens dyner which could not be made readie against the due tyme she began to thinke with her selfe what the cause should be whie that vnwonted and strange vision should be shewed vnto her for she neither knewe nor