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
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
that goodly light and to returne againe to dwell in his former darke and stinkinge dongeon O good Father I am that wretched creature vpon whom this calamitie is fallen by the ordinance of God for my sinnes How so said he Forsooth saide she the fyre of Gods loue was at that time soe stronge in my harte and the desire which I had to be vnited to him so vehement that though my hart had ben of stone or of yron it must needes haue broken in sonder And therfore I geue you thus much to vnderstand for certaine that my hart was in deed vndone and opened from the vppermost part to the neither only by the violence of that mightie loue which I beleeue was of such force that no creature in this worlde had ben able to abide it in so much that me thinketh I feele yet certaine tokens of that clefte in my hart And so often as it cometh to my mind what a blesful state my soule was in in that meane tyme while it was separated from my bodie I can not but weepe lament for my returne againe to this vale of miserie With that her Confessour praied her that she would make a declaration of the whole matter from the begynnyng Wherunto she made answere and said Father after that I had ben fed and comforted a long tyme with diuerse and sundrie reuelations and visions which it pleased our Lord of his great mercie to shewe vnto me at length for verie pure loue I fell so sicke that I was constreined to keepe my bed Where lying I made my humble petition to our Lord that he would vouchsafe to deliuer me out of this wretched wordle and vnite me perfectly to him selfe Which petitiō as then he would not heare But yet he graunted me thus much that I should suffer in the tyme of myne abode in this life all the paines of his Crosse and passion by the suffring wherof I should both learne the better how passing great his loue was towardes me and also be stirred by the example of his vnspeakeable loue in some degree to loue him againe And so in deed it came to passe that seeing as it were by an euident experience in my selfe how great loue our Sauiour bare to me and how intolerable paines he suffred for my sake I was wholly ouercome with the force of such inestimable kindnes and my hart being not able to beare the strength of so much loue as it had conceiued brake in sunder by reason wherof my soule was also deliuered out of this mortal bodie and had the fruition of his diuine maiesty howbeit but for a litle tyme which was my great griefe Then said doctour Raimundus to her I praie you good mother tell me how long was your soule out of your bodie And what thinges did you see in that tyme With that she fetched a deepe sigh said Faher those that were about my bodie made preparation for my burial said that it was about a fower howers In the which tyme I sawe the diuine essence of almightie God which causeth me now to liue with such discontentation of mynd and misliking of all thinges here in the worlde And had it not ben for the zeale that I haue to the honour of God and edifying of myne euen Christians for whose sakes my sowle was restored againe to the bodie without all doubt I must needes haue dyed for sorrowe And now the greatest comfort that I haue in the worlde is that I knowe and am well assured that the more I suffer in this life the more blessed I shal be in the life to come And therefore all tribulations are to me not vncomfortable and yrckesome but rather comfortable as you see and deliteful I sawe also the paines of the damned in hell and of those likewise that are in purgatorie which were so great that no tongue of man is able to expresse them I assure you Father if wretched synners might see those horrible paines and tormentes they would rather choose to suffer an hundred deathes in this worlde if it were possible then to endure the least paine that is there for the space of one daie But aboue others I sawe that they were specially punished which had broken their faith and promise geuen in matrimonie not keepinge them selues within the honest boundes and yoake of wedlocke but following the inordinate lustes of their flesh and sensualitie Which was so ordained not bicause the breach of weddelocke is the most heinous offence that is there punished for there be manie greater synnes but bicause the offenders in this vice for the most part had neuer had anie remorse of conscience for this offence as they had for the rest of their synnes and also bicause they had commonly fallen more often into this synne then to any other for manie tymes a synne which is in it selfe not so great displeaseth God highly if it be oftentymes committed and no care had of amendement by contrition and penance Now when I had seene all these thinges and had conceiued withal a most certaine hope that for myne owne part I was passed all paines and come to a state of all ioye and gladnes our Lord said vnto me Daughter seest thou not these vnhappie synners and transgressours of my lawes on the one side what ioyes they haue lost and on the other side what paines they haue found for this cause haue I shewed these thinges to thee bicause I will haue thee to returne againe into the worlde to declare to my people their synnes and iniquities and withal the great peril and paine that hangeth ouer them if they will not amend When I heard that I should returne to the worlde againe I was striken with a meruelous great feare and horrour Wherupon our Lord to comfort me againe spake thus sweetly vnto me Daughter there are a great nomber of sowles in the worlde which I will haue to be saued through thy meanes and that is the cause whie I send thee thither againe Wherfore goe thy waie with a good will and be of good cōfort From this tyme foreward my will is that thou shalt change the order of thy life Thou shalt no more keepe within thy cell but goe abrode into the worlde to wynne sowles Thou shalt beare my name before al sortes of men high and lowe clerkes and secular I will bring thee before the bisshops and head prelates in my Church to confownd their pride Be not afraid to conferre with them in high pointes concernyng the saluation of sowles For I will geue thee a wit to conceiue and withal a mouth to speake in such sort that none shal be able to withstand thee While our Lord spake these wordes to me of a sodaine my sowle was restored to the bodie The which when I perceiued for verie sorrowe I wept three daies and three nightes and neuer ceased And yet to this daie I can not possibly absteine from weeping when it cometh to my mynd how I
the sisters that was there with her at that tyme that when the holie maid came to her selfe againe she should desire her in his name and also charge her in the vertue of her obedience that she should extend her charitie towardes that miserable man that laie on passing and praie to God hartely for his recouerie When the holie maid vnderstood the lamentable state of the sicke man and withall the charge that was geauen her from her ghostlie father she taried not but foorthwith set her selfe to praier and besought our Lord with great instance and feruour of spirite that he would not suffer that soule to perish whome he had redeemed with the price of his most precious blood To that our Lord made answere and said that the iniquitie of that wicked man was so heinous in his sight that the crie thereof perced the heauens and called for iustice for he had not only in wordes most horribly blasphemed the holie name of God and of his Sainctes but also with great despite and malice throwen a table into the fyer in the which was painted the death and passion of our Sauiour Christ together with the images of our blessed Ladie and other Sainctes By the which facte he had deserued euerlasting damnation When the holie maid heard that she fell downe prostrate before our Lord and said O Lord if thou wilt looke narrowly to our iniquities who shal be able to stand Wherefore camest thou downe from heauen into the wordle Wherefore tookest thou flesh of the most pure and vnspotted virgin Marie Wherefore diddest thou suffer a most bitter and reprochfull death Hast thou done all these thinges ô Lord to this end that thou mightest call men to a streight and rigorous account for their synnes and not rather that thou mightest vtterly cancel their debtes and take them to mercie Why dost thou ô merciful Lord tell me of the synnes of one lost man seeing thou hast borne vpon thyne owne shoulders the synnes of the whole wordle that none should be lost Doe I lie here prostrate at thy feete to demaund iustice and not rather to craue mercie Doe I present my selfe here before thy diuine Maiestie to pleade the innocencie of this wretched creature and not rather to confesse that he is gyltie of euerlasting death and damnation and that the onlie refuge is to appeale to thyne endles mercie Remember ô deere Lord what thou saidest to me when thou diddest first will me to goe abrode and to procure the saluation of manie soules Thou knowest right well that I haue none other ioye or comfort in this life but only to see the conuersion of synners vnto thee And for this cause only I am content to lacke the ioyful fruition of thy blessed presence Wherefore if thou take this ioye from me what other thing shall I find in this vale of miserie wherein to take pleasure or comfort O most merciful Father God of all comfort reiecte not the hūble petition of thyne handmaid put me not awaie from thee at this tyme but graciously graunt me that this my brothers hard hart maie be mollified and made to yeald to the working of thy holie spirite Thus did the holie maid continue in praier and disputation with our Lord from the begynning of the night till the nexte morning All the which tyme she neither slept nor tooke anie maner of rest but wept and wailed continually for great compassion that she had to see that soule perish our Lord euermore alleaging his iustice and she crauing his mercie At the length our Lord being as it were ouercome with her importunitie and crying gaue her this comfortable answere Deere daughter I will stand no longer with thee in this matter Thy teares and lamentable crying haue preuailed and wrested the sword of my iustice out of myne hand This synful man shall for thy sake find such fauour and grace as thou requirest for him And with that our Lord withdrewe him selfe from the holie maid and appeered the same hower to the sicke man and spake to him after this maner Deere child why wilt thou not be repentant for the synnes that thou hast committed against me In anie case be sorie for thyne offences and confesse the same and I am readie to pardon thee That word so persed the hart of that obstinate man that he relented foorth with and cried with a lowd voice to them that were there present besought them for Gods loue that they would helpe him to a ghostlie father with all possible speed For said he my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ hath shewed him selfe mercifully to me and willed me to be confessed of all my synnes When they heard that they were verie much astoined but withall meruelously comforted to see that soddaine and blessed alteration in him And they made great hast to bring him a ghostlie father to whome he made a perfecte Confession of all his synnes with great contrition and so passed out of this wordle in the state of grace How the holie maid by praier procured the conuersion of a fierce yong gentleman in Siena called Iames Tolomes Cap. 12. THere was in the citie of Siena a gentleman of a worshipfull parentage called Francis Tolomes who tooke to wife on Rabes a gentlewoman likewise of a good howse and by her had manie sonnes and daughters His eldest sonne was called Iames a prowd and hawtie yong man and of nature verie fierce and cruel in so much that being yet but a child of age he killed two men with his owne handes which cawsed all men both to dread him and to shunne his companie And as he grewe in yeares so did he also increase in malice and wickednes and ranne without raine or bridle euen as his outragious mynd caried him into all kindes of mischiefe He had two sisters the one called Francis the other Ginoccia which were also dissolute and light of behauiour and specially Ginoccia which was wholly geuen to vaintie and superfluous decking of her selfe And yet had she euermore a care to keepe the virginitie of her bodie which she did rather for feare of shame in the wordle then for anie feare or loue of God Which thing was no small griefe to their mother Rabes who being a woman that feared God and tendred much the soules health of her daughters went on a daie to the holie maid and declaring the state of her daughters besought her for Gods loue that she would bee so good as to come with her and geue them some godlie exhortation The holie maid which had euermore a passing great desire to wynne soules to God went with the gentlewoman with a verie good will and did as she was required And her wordes so wrought in the hartes of those two yong maidens that they gaue ouer all the vanities of the wordle and tooke the habite of S. Dominicke Ginoccia foorth with and Francis soone after In the which rule and discipline they liued a verie streight and rigorous life
vvealth of the vvorld The continance and encrease vvherof I euer vvish both to you and yours Your Ladiships seruant euer during his life IOHN HEIGHAM THE LIFE OF THE MOST PVRE AND ANGELIKE VIRGIN S. CATHARINE OF SIENA IN whom by whom almightie God wrought manie strange and wonderful thinges THE FIRST PART Of the birth and infancie of this holie virgin and of certaine wonderful tokens of holines that shewed in her euen in that age CHAP. I. THere was in Siena which is an ancient citie of Tuscan in Italie a certaine man called Iames benincasa a dyer by occupation no ritch man of substance but hauing conueniently well to liue He liued as he was brought vp in the feare of God and towardes the worlde he was a plaine and vpright dealing man welbeloued of all that had anie cōuersation with him by reason of his sweet and gentle demeanour which vertue emong manie other was noted in him to be singular This Iames tooke to wife a woman called Lapa who was likewise a vertuous woman verie careful and diligent about her familie and withal of verie modest chast and womanlie behauiour And therfore almightie God blessed her with manie children of the which she bare for the most part euerie yeare one and some yeares two Last of all it pleased God so to dispose that she brought foorth two daughters at one byrth The one was called Ione which after she was baptised liued not many daies The other was this Catharine of whom we mynd here to speake whom the mother brought vp with great diligence and loued more tenderly then she did the rest of her children bicause the rest coming on so fast one vpon an other that she might not endure to nourse them her selfe but put them out to others this only she noursed at home with the mylke of her owne brestes which was one great cause of special loue But the thing that did most principally moue the mother to cast a singular affection towardes this daughter was a certaine vnwonted and meruelous grace which shewed in the deliteful presence deedes gestures and wordes of this child euen in the tyme of her tender in fancie For when she was but only weaned from the mothers mylke and could a litle goe about the howse the parentes and neighbours thought they could neuer haue their fill of seeyng and hearing her her countenance was so sweet and amiable her talke so wittie and to so good purpose And as she grewe in yeares so did she also increase in grace and wisedome in so much that when she was fiue yeares old hauing then learned the Aue Marie she vsed continually to saie the same with ripe iudgement and feruent deuotion And going vp and downe a paire of stayers that were in the howse her maner was to say one Aue Marie vpon euerie steppe kneeling vpon her knees with great reuerence The which singular deuotion towardes our blessed Ladie how acceptable it was to almightie God it may right well appeere by the most excellent graces and priuileges that ensued therupon euen in her tender age which were vndoubtedly most certaine tokens of a verie noble high calling of God as hereafter shal be declared more at large Of a verie strange vision shewed vnto her and of certaine wonderful effects of the loue of God towardes her and of her loue towardes God Chap. 2. When she was sixe yeares olde her mother seeing her to be of a verie towardly wit sent her on a daie with her brother Steuen who was somewhat elder then she to a sisters howse of theirs called Bonauētura a maried woman either to see how she did as the maner of kinsfolkes is or els in some other arrand When she had done what she was willed by her mother to doe she returned homewardes againe and passing by a street which is called in their tongue Valle piatta she cast vp her head a litle and looked towardes the Church of S. Dominicke which stood there right ouer against her and behould she sawe in the aier a goodlie chamber royally decked and in it our Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ sitting in a seat imperial clad with a solemne pontifical robe wearing on his head a mitre such as the bisshops of Rome are wont to weare and with him she sawe the Apostles S. Peter and S. Paul and S Iohn the Euangelist When this blessed infant beheld all this at the first she was astonished But afterward being come to her selfe and well aduised she cast vp her eyes both of body and sowle to her Sauiour who likewise cast the eyes of his diuine maiestie vpon her with a louelie and smyling cheere And stretching out his right hand towardes her and ouer her made the signe of the Crosse as the maner of bisshops and prelats is to doe and gaue her his blessing The which foorthwith wrought so effectually and mightily in her that she was rauished and transfourmed spiritually into that most glorious and beawtiful Lord whom she beheld with such an inward and spiritual liking that she forgat not only her going and waie but also her own selfe In so much that she stoode still there without mouing any part of her bodie so would she haue stood not only then but manie other tymes also without regard or feare of either men or beastes which are wont to be dreadful to litle childrē if she had not ben towched or taken awaie by some other But at the lenght her brother Steuen who was gone on his waie imaginyng that she had folowed turnyng backe and seeing her a great waie behind standing still in the waie looking vp into the elemēt cried vnto her alowd called her by her nam But she gaue him no word to answere for she was in deed so wholly occupied in al her senses both in wardly outwardly that she gaue no heed to his crying whereupon he went neerer and neerer and euermore as he went he cried vnto her But all was to no purpose vntill he came at length to the verie place where she stood tooke her by the hand saying What doest thou here whie comest thou not awaie At the which wordes and pulling of her hand she cast downe her eyes a litle like one that had ben awaked out of a dead sleepe and said Oh said she if thou haddest seene that goodlie sight that I sawe thou wouldest neuer haue done so to me And whē she had said those wordes she cast vp her eyes againe thinking to haue seene it as she did before But when she sawe that it was vanished awaie she reuenged the iniurie done vnto her by her brother as childrē are wont to doe with weping And it grieued her so much the more bicause she perswaded her selfe that by the casting downe of her eyes she had deserued to leese the blisful fruition of that glorious sight Thus ended this wonderful vision leauing her with such a thirst and languishing loue after that heauenlie beawtie which she
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
feared God and had a more Christian consideration of thinges then the rest had calling to mynd the Doue which he had seene not lōg before ouer her head with diuerse sundrie other the like verie euident tokens of some strange grace and fauour of God towardes her after a good season when he had wonne so much of him selfe that he was able to speake made her this answere Deere Daughter said he God forbid that we should will or desire anie thinge contrarie to the will of God from whom we doubt not this holie determination of yours proceedeth Your long patience and constancie declare vnto vs verie euidently that this your designement cometh not of anie childish lightnes but of a feruent loue towardes God Doe therfore a Gods name freely what you haue vowed folowe the waie that the holie Ghost sheweth vnto you From this daie foreward we shall no more hinder you but shall confourme our willes to the will of God Only this praie hartely for vs to your spowse whom yee haue chosen in your tender age that we may after his life be fownd worthie of the blisse that he hath promised vs. Then turnyng to his wife and other children he said likewise to them From this daie foreward see that none of you be so hardie as to molest or hinder my Daughters deuotion Let her serue her spowse with all diligence and freedome for in truth this alliance that she hath made is both more honorable and also more for the aduancement of our familie then that was that we sought to make We haue no cause to complaine of her doinges The exchange that she hath made is this She hath refused to match with a mortal man and hath chosen to be maried to the immortal God and man Iesus Christ the redeemer of the wordle When the father had spoken these wordes not without manie teares both in him selfe and in others that were there present and namely in the mother who bare a verie tender and natural loue to this daughter the ioyous virgin whose hart was as it were rauished with vnspeakeable gladnes yealded most humble thankes First to almightie God by whose gracious assistance she had ouercome this battaile then to her father and mother for their most comfortable graunt made vnto her from that hower foreward she had none other care in her hart but how she might best directe her life wholye to the honour of her deere spowse Of her great Abstinence Chap. 9. AFter that her parentes had made her this graunt of freedome to serue God without anie hinderance or molestation she began foorthwith to dispose her life after a meruelous goodlie order And first of all she besought them that she might haue some litle chamber to her selfe which was graunted without anie difficultie in the which what rigorous discipline and austerite she exercised vpon her bodie with what diligence and carefulnes she sought to haue the deliteful presence of her spowse no tongue is able to expresse There began she to renewe the exercises of the auncient Fathers in Egipt which wer the more meruelous in her bicause they were done without anie example or instruction of man by a fraile woman in her tender age not in a wood caue or solitarie place but in a citie not in a couent of Nonnes but in her fathers howse At the verie entrie therfore into this streight maner of life first and foremost she resolued vtterly to absteine from all flesh the which kind of abstinence she continued so precisely that at the length by long vse and custome all flesh became lothsome vnto her in so much that it was euidently seene that the only smell of it was noysome to her bodie Wherby she became verie leane thynne and feeble Which thing her ghostlie Father perceiuing on a tyme and knowing that the cause therof was that she receiued no meate or drincke that was of good substance and nourishment gaue her counsel that she should put in her water which she dranke a litle suger to comfort and quicken the spirites Wherat she was somewhat moued and turnyng sodainly to him said these wordes That litle life that is lefte in me me thinketh yee goe about to quench it vtterly With that he began to examine her concernyng the order of her diet and fownd by examination that the wordes which she spake were verie true for in deed she had so accustomed her selfe to bitter meates and vnsauorie drinkes that all sweet thinges were become hurtful to her bodie forsomuch as her natural disposition was altered by custome Her ordinarie drinke from the begynning was a litle portion of wyne as the maner of that countrey is myngled with so much water that it lost both tast and sauour and a great part of the coulour also But when she was fiften yeares old she gaue ouer all wyne and drancke water alone She weaned her selfe likewise by litle and litle from all maner of sodden meates and susteined her bodie with bread only and a fewe rawe herbes After this when she was of the age of twentie yeares or there about she gaue ouer the eating of bread also and held her selfe to rawe herbes only Last of all she came to such a high state of life not by anie force of nature but by the supernaturall power of God that for a long tyme together she susteined her life without eating and drinking at all and yet endured withal willingly and cheerfully both verie paineful sickenesses and also verie hard labours of the bodie Moreouer and all this it was certainly knowen that her stomake had quite lost the office and power of digestion and yet neither was that moisture which the phisitians call Radical consummed nor the strenght of her fraile bodie anie iote decaied Which thing can not be ascribed to anie exercise or custome of abstinence but only to that fulnes of spirite which abounded so much in the sowle that it redownded into the bodie also Of the great austeritie which she vsed about her bed and apparel Of the shirt of haire and chaine of yron which she ware about her middle Chap. 10. SHe made her selfe a bed of boordes only without anie other thing betweene them her body vpon the which sometimes she sate or stood vpright in meditation and sometymes she kneeled or laie downe prostrate in praier And when she would lie downe to sleepe she neuer put of her clothes The clothes that she ware both next her bodie and without were all wollen Sometyme she would weare a rough shirt of haire vpon her skynne But bicause she was much geuen to cleanlines she tooke it that the haire was an occasion of some vncleannes she laid it aside tooke for it a chaine of yrō which she gyrded so hard to her sides that it made a deepe dent into the flesh as though it had ben burnt with a hoate yron as some of her spiritual companions and daughters reported afterwardes whose helpe she was ēforced to
lothsome tentations Daughter said he I was in thyne hart Then said she againe O Lord sauing alwaies thy truth and my dutiful reuerence to thy diuine Maiestie how is it possible that thou shouldest dwell in an hart replenished with so manie filthie and shameful thoughtes Whervnto our Sauiour said Tell me daughter Those vncleane thoughtes did they cause in thy hart grief or delite No said she they caused very great griefe and sorrowe Who then said our Lord was he that caused that griefe and misliking in thyne hart Who was it but only I that laie secretly within in the middle of thy soule Assure thy selfe of this If I had not ben there present those fowle thoughtes that stood rownd about thyne hart seeking meanes to enter but euermore with the repuâ—â—e had without all doubt preuailed and made their entrie into thy sowle with full consent of thy will and synful delite But my presence was it that caused that misliking in thyne hart and moued thee to make resistance against those fowle tentations the which thy hart refused so much as it could bicause it could not doe so much as it would it conceiued a greater displeasure both against them and also against it selfe It was my gracious presence that wrought all these goodlie effectes in thyne hart wherein I tooke great delite to see my loue my holie feare and the zeale of my faith planted in thy sowle my deere daughter and spowse And so when I sawe my tyme which was when thou haddest through my grace and assistance thoroughly vanquished the pride and insolencie of thyne enemie I sent out certaine external beames of my light that put these darcke feendes to flight For by course of nature darckenes maye not abide where light is last of all by my light I gaue thee to vnderstand that those paines were thy great merite gayne and increase of the vertue of Fortitude And bicause thou offredst thy selfe willingly to suffer for my loue taking such paines with a cheerefull hart and esteemyng them as a recreation according to my doctrine therefore my will and pleasure was that they should endure no longer And so I shewed my selfe where vpon they vanished quite awaie My daughter I delite not in the paines of my seruantes but in their good will and readines to suffer patiently and gladly for my sake And bicause such patience and willingnes is shewed in paines and aduersitie therefore doe I suffer them to endure the same Take this similitude of my bodie At what tyme my bodie hong vpon the Crosse in extreme paines and tourmentes and afterwardes when it laie dead vpon the ground no man could euer haue thought that all that notwithstanding there had ben in it hiden that true life that geueth life and mouing to euerie liuing thing And yet so it was by reason of the inseperable vnion that was and is betweene my Godhead and humane nature though not so vnderstood of men no not of myne owne Apostles and disciples that had conuersed with me a long tyme. Now as at that tyme when my bodie laie there dead void of sense and without all outward shewe of anie inward power there was not withstanding in it a diuine power able to quiken and geue life to other creatures no lesse then afterwardes when it was raised from death and endewed with the glorious gyftes of immortal life euen so though after a different maner do I dwell in the sowles of my faithful seruantes at one tyme couertly and without shewing my selfe for their exercise further merite and at an other tyme openly and without couert for their comfort and ioye In this the tyme of thy battaile I was in thyne hart armyng and fortifying thee with my grace against the force of the enemie but couertly for to exercise thy patience and increase of merite But now that thou hast through my grace fought out thy battaile manfully and vanquished the enemie I geue thee to vnderstand that I am and wil be in thyne hart more openly yea and withal more often for thy comfort And with these wordes that blessed vision ended at what tyme the holie virgin was left replenished with such abundance of ioye and sweetnes that no penne is able to describe it And specially she tooke passing great comfort in that that our Lord called her Myne owne daughter Catherine And therefore she entreated her ghostlie Father that when he spake vnto her he would vse the selfe same wordes and saie My daughter Catherine to the end that by the often repetition of those wordes she might often tymes renewe the inward sweetnes that she felt in her hart of those ioyous wordes of her Deere Lord and spowse How our Lord with diuerse other Sainctes visited her oftentymes verie familiarly And how he taught her to read by miracle Chap. 22. FRom that tyme foreward it pleased our Lord to vse a verie vnwonted familiaritie with her and to visite her both verie often and verie louingly euen as one frend is wont to visite an other comyng to her sometymes him selfe alone sometymes bringing with him his most blessed mother the virgin Marie some tymes the holie patriarke S. Dominicke sometymes also with his mother S. Marie Magdalene S. Iohn the Euangelist the Apostle S. Paul and other Sainctes whom he brought with him sometymes all together and sometymes againe some one or els some few of them according as his pleasure was For the most part he came alone and conferred with her euen as one familiar is wont to doe with an other In so much that manie tymes they walked vp and downe in her chamber together and said the psalmes or diuine seruice together as though they had ben two clerkes or religious persones Which maie seeme a verie strange thing and so much the more if it be considered withal that she neuer learned to read by the teaching of anie man or woman for as she declared to her ghostlie Father she had a great desire to learne her mattins and therefore on a tyme she besought one of her sisters to geat her an A. B. C. and to teach her the lettres But when she had trauailed about the same a certaine of weekes and sawe that she did but leese her tyme she thought good to geue ouer that course and to set her selfe againe to her customable exercises of praier and meditation And one tyme lying prostrate on the grownd she made her praier after this maner Lord if it be not thy holie will and pleasure that I shall atteine the knowledge of reading I am verie well content for thy loue to continue in my ignorance and to spend my tyme in such simple meditations as it shal please thee to graunt me But if thou wouldest vowchsafe to shewe me so much fauour as that I might be able to read and sing the deuine seruice I would be right glad also to serue thee in such maner It is a wonderfull thing to report that she had no sooner ended her praier
to leese no more tyme about her she turned her selfe to God who only is the phisitiō in such desperate cases besought him most instantly that he would take mercie on her sister molifie her hart This praier was made with such feruour vehemēcie of spirite that it perced the heauens and sownded into the eares of almighty God who to cure that froward womā finally of her synful disease of mynd smote her mercifully with a certaine grieuous infirmity of bodie Whē the holy maid heard tell that Palmerina was so dāgerously sicke she was a heauie womā for her For she sawe that if she should depart the worlde in that state her soule was lost euerlastingly Which consideratiō wrought so in her that she determined to leaue nothing vndone that might possibly be done for the recouerie of that sowle And so she went to her and with verie sweet and louelie wordes offred both her selfe all that she had to be at her deuotion and seruice But the churlish woman was so maliciously bent against her that she not only refused al this courtesie but also reuiled her vsing most vnseemelie and reprochful lāguage against her and in the end bad her goe out of her chāber with great threates thundering wordes All which vilanie the holy maid bare with great meekenes patiēce and continuyng her wonted charitie and cōpassion towardes that furious womā turned her selfe to God againe in praier In this meane tyme that wretched womans sickenes by the diuine prouidence and disposition of God increased so vehemently vpon her that without making anie reconciliation with God or the wordle she drewe on verie fast to death both of bodie soule The which thing when the holie maid vnderstood her hart being thoroughly perced with the dartes of compassion she shut her selfe vp in her Cell and there casting her selfe downe prostrate vpon the grownd with much sobbing weeping and lamentation she made her praier vnto God after this maner O Lord my God Maker maie it be that I wretched creature shold be borne into the worlde to this end that sowles which thou hast created to thine owne ymage likenes should by anie occasion of me be condemned to euerlasting paines Canst thou my good Lord and deere spowse suffer that I which ought to be to my sister an instrument of euerlasting saluation should now become an occasion of her euerlasting woe and calamitie Turne awaie that dreadful iudgement O Lord I beseech thee for thy mercies sake It had ben better for me that I had neuer ben borne then that the sowles which thou hast redeemed with the price of thy most precious blood should through me be brought againe into that miserable captiuitie of our auncient enemie the Deuel O Lord are these the promises which thou madest vnto me when thou diddest saie that I should be an instrument and meane to wynne manie sowles to thee Are these the fruites of life which I thyne vnworthie hand-maid should bring foorth to the behoofe of others There is no doubt O Lord but that my synne is the cawse of all this out of the which I can not looke to receiue anie better fruite then this is But yet O Lord I am right well assured that the botomles sea of thy mercies can not be drayned or in anie part diminished and therefore I set my selfe here before thee with a great affiance and humbly beseech thee that thou wilt vowchsafe to cast downe the eyes of thy clemencie vpon this wretched creature thy seruant my sister This I most instantly craue of thee o most sweet comforter of all afflicted hartes not trusting in anie worke or merite of myne owne but only in thy wonted mercie and goodnes These and other the like wordes did the holie virgin vse in her praier as she declared afterwardes to her ghostly Father which she powred out before God rather with feruour of desire and inward affection then with outward noyse and sownd of voice And our Lord to moue her to further compassion and to make her yet more earnest in praier gaue her to vnderstand and see the euident and imminent peril that her wretched sister was in and she heard it pronownced in plaine termes that the iustice of God could not beare but that such an obstinate malice and hardnes of hart must needes be punished The which horible sentence geuen vpon her sister Palmerina whose sowles health she tendred exceedingly strooke her to the verie hart so mightily that she fell downe to the grownd againe and there lying prostrate groned vnto almightie God after a most lamentable sort saying O Lord God almightie Father of mercies and onlie helper in all extremities I am right well contented yea I most humbly craue it at thy hand that thou wilt vowchsafe to laie all the paine dwe to this wretched womans synnes vpon my backe punish me for them for I am the cause of them and not she Wherefore I most instantly beseeche thee beate me but spare her And with that she raised vp her hart to God with a greater affiance and said furthermore O merciful Lord I will neuer rise out of this place vntill thou shewe mercie to my sister Wherefore I here groane and crie vnto thee O lord euen from the verie botome of myne hart beseeching thee by thyne vnspeakable goodnes by thine infinite mercie and by the price of thy most precious blood shed for the redēption of mankind that thou wilt not suffer my sisters soule to depart out of her bodie vntill the tyme that thou haue graunted her the grace of due penance and contrition for all her synnes Thus did the holie maid make intercession to almighty God for the recouery of her sisters soule her praier was as the euent shewed of meruelous great force vertu For the sicke womā laie in extremes three daies and three nightes drawing on continually in such sort that as manie as were presēt looked euerie hower whē she should passe out of this wordle for they all saw that she was staied in that paineful state of life not by any strength of nature but by some secret extraordinarie power All the which tyme the deuout virgin cōtinued in most earnest feruēt praiers for her and neuer gaue ouer vntil she had with her teares and humilitie as it were wrested the sword of Gods iustice out of his almightie hand and obteined for that wretched woman so much mercie grace that she might first see the deformitie of her synnes then vnderstand the dreadful decree of Gods iustice against her for the same last of all be hartily sorie repentant for her life past with a sure hope of forgiuenes by the mercy of God through the merites of the most precious blood death of our Sauiour Christ This blessed alteratiō was reuealed by God to the holie maid also who vpon the vnderstanding of the same went foorthwith to her sicke sisters chamber to comfort her Whether when
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
to the same Aulter wher the holy maid was at which Aulter he was neuer wont to saie Masse at other tymes When he came thither and found her there attending his comyng and desiring to communicate he vnderstood that it was our Lord that had moued him to saie Masse that daie and to choose that Aulter contrarie to his accustomed maner He said Masse and at the end as the maner is he came to minister the blessed Sacrament to her at the Aulters end While she was receiuing her ghostlie Father beheld her and sawe her face all red and shynyng and bedewed with great aboundance of teares wherat he was meruelously astoined And she by receiuing the blessed Sacrament at that tyme was so replenished with the ioyous presence of our Lord and so mightely drawen inward by the vnspeakeable sweetnes that she felt in him that all the daie after she might not speake so much as one word to anie creature On the next daie her Confessour asked her what she eiled and what the cause was she had such a goodlie shynyng read in her face the daie before while she was receiuing the blessed Sacrament To whom she answered and said Father of what coulour my face was at that tyme I knowe not But this I knowe verie well When I vnworthie wretch receiued that blessed Sacrament at your hand it drewe me into it after such a sort that all other thinges sauing it alone waxed lothsome vnto me not only temporal thinges and delites of the worlde but also all other comfortes and pleasures were they neuer so spiritual Wherupon I made my humble praier to our Lord that he would take all such comfortes and delites from me that I might take pleasure in none other thing but only in him I besought him also that he would vouchsafe to take awaie my will and geue me his will The which petition he graunted me and said after this maner Behold deere daughter now I geue thee my will by the vertue whereof thou shalt be so strong that whatsoeuer shall happen vnto thee from this tyme foreward thou shalt neuer be altered or moued but shalt continue euermore in one state She declared yet furthermore to her Confessour and said Father said she will you knowe how our Lord serued me the last daie for sooth he dalied with me euen as a mother is wont to dalie with her child whom she loueth tenderly She will set her child some tymes a good waie from her when she myndeth to shewe him her tette and there will she suffer him to stand and crie after it All the which tyme she taketh pleasure to laugh at the fondnes of the child At the lenght when she hath suffred him to crie a good while she runneth to him with a laughing cheere clyppeth him in her armes huggeth and kisseth him and so geueth him the tette In like maner did our Lord with me He shewed me the blessed wound in his side and made as it were a certaine tender of the same vnto me but yet a farre of The which I seeing for the great desire that I had to put my mowth vnto it out of hand wept abondantly Our Lord suffred me to weepe and seemed to take pleasure in it At the length when I had wept a good while he came to me with a meruelous sweete and cheereful countenance and tooke my soule in his armes and put my mouth to his blessed wound Where by reason of the greedie desire that I had my sowle entred in all wholly and sucking there at will drewe out such vnspeakeable sweetnes and withal such a great knowledge of his diuinitie and godhead that whoso were able to conceiue it would be astoined to consider how it was possible for my hart not to breake feeling and receiuing such aboundance of loue into it as it did at that tyme. And he would meruaile now also to thinke how it were possible for me to sustaine life hauing such a continual flamyng fyer of charitie in my hart as I feele Of certaine other reuelations shewed vnto her vpon the receiuing of the blessed Sacrament And how she obteined graces for diuerse and sundrie persones Chap. 21. THe same yeare vpon the 18. daie of August when she was to receiue the blessed Sacrament she said with great feruour and deuotion these wordes Lord I am not worthie that thou shouldest enter into my bodie And our Lord made her answere againe but I am worthie that thou shouldest enter into me And so receiuing the blessed Sacrament it seemed to her that her soule entred into him and he into her soule euen as a fish entreth into the water into the fish And with that she felt her selfe so mightely drawen vp into almightie God that the powers of her bodie failing her she had much a doe to returne home to her chamber whether when she was come she laied her selfe downe vpon her hard bed of boordes and laie there for a good space like a stone without anie mouing At the length her bodie was taken vp in the aier and there hong for an other space in the presence of three persones that bare witnes of all that happened at that tyme and so comyng downe againe she began as it were to awake out of a dead sleepe and lying verie weake and feeble vpon her bed she spake softely manie sweet wordes and vttered much good matter of high contemplations which caused as manie as were present to weepe Emong other wordes that she spake she praied for manie persones and for some specially namely for her Confessour who was at that tyme in the Church and had no mynd of anie thing that might moue him to deuotion and yet of a suddaine found in him selfe such a strange and wonderful feruour of deuotion as he neuer felt the like in his whole life before wherat he had great wonder While he was thus casting with him selfe what that strange and soddaine alteration might meane one of the sisters that had heard and seene the whole processe of the matter came in to him and said Father sister Catherine hath praied for you verie much this daie at such an hower When he heard that he vnderstood foorthwith that her praier was the cause of all that gracious alteration in him selfe Then he asked that other sister what maner of praier the holie maid had made And she tolde him that she had praied for him and for other that our Lord would vouchsafe to graunt then euerlasting life She tould him furthermore that when the holie maid had made this praier she stretched out her hand and besought our Lord to graunt her this petition And so taking in her hand againe she seemed to make as though it had ben verie sore and said with great sighing these wordes O Lord worshipped maiest thou be For so was she wont to saie so often as she felt anie griefe in her bodie When her Confessour heard all this he went foorthwith to her lodging and praied her that she
litle before euen song tyme being in the Church occupied in praier manie reuelations were shewed to her by S. Dominicke him selfe and by diuerse other Sainctes The which reuelations were so familiar to her that she was able at one tyme both to geue heed to them and also to declare the same to others While she was thus occupied it chaunced that brother Barthelmewe her Confessours companion entred into the Church in whom she had as great affiance as in her Confessour him selfe for in her Confessours absence he was her ghostlie Father When she perceiued that he was come she arose and went towardes him and said that she had to conferre with him concernyng certaine reuelations Wherupon they sate downe together in the Church and she began to declare to him manie strange thinges that our Lord had reuealed to her Emong other thinges she declared to him that at that verie instant while she was speaking to him she sawe her holy father S. Dominicke there present as well as she sawe the Friar that sate by her and that he was neerer to her then the Friar was In this meane tyme while she was thus declaring to him manie wonderful reuelatiōs it happened that hir yonger brother whose name was also Barthelmewe came by And she seeing by like the shadowe of his bodie or els hearing the noise of his feete cast her eye a litle a side and beheld her brother and so thought to returne to her foremer discourse againe But considering with her selfe what she had done she was toched at the hart with such an inward grief for that litle distraction that for a good tyme she held her peace and spake not one word but wept and wailed verie bitterly At the length the Friar that was there seeing that she made no end of weeping spake comfortable wordes vnto her and praied her that she would goe foreward in her godlie talke But she so sobbed and wept that she was not able to geue him one word to answere After a long spcae when she had wonne so much of her selfe that she was able to speake she began with her selfe after this maner Ah wretch that thou art thou shalt surely abide for it With that Friar Barthelmewe asked her what offence that should be that she tooke so heauiely Out vpon me vile wretch said she sawe you not while our Lord was shewing me his great mysteries and secrets how I turned myne eye a side to behold a creature Then the good man who had great wonder to see the tendernes of her conscience and therfore desired to excuse or qualifie her offence said vnto her Surrely mother it seemeth verie strange to me that you should make so great lamentation for a matter of so light importance for that turnyng aside for your eye endured so litle tyme that I assure you I could not espie it O father said she if you knewe how sharply our blessed Ladie rebuked me for that trespas vndoubtedly you would weepe and lament with me When she had said those wordes she held her peace and would speake no more of her reuelations but continued sorrowing and weeping for her offence vntill such tyme as she had made her Confession and so with heauie cheere she went home to her chamber She declared afterwardes to her ghostlie Father that S. Paul appeered to her also and reprooued her so roughly for that litle losse of tyme that she would rather suffer all the shame of the worlde then abide such an other rebuke at the Apostles hand And of that rebuke she tooke occcasion to speake to her ghostlie Father after this maner O Father saide shee thinke you what a confusion and shame that shal bee that all wicked and vnhappie synners shall abide at the later daie when they shal stand before the maiestie of God seeing that the presence of one only Apostle is so dreadfull and intolerable I assure you father the apostles wordes and contenance were so terrible to me that if I had not had comfort of a goodlie bright lampe that stood by while he spake to me I thinke verily my hart had neuer ben able to abide the same but would haue dyed for verie sorrowe that it had of that extreme shame and confusion And thus it pleased God now and then to put her in mynd of her owne frailtie especially after such great reuelations which otherwise might haue moued her hart to pride How it pleased God to reueale to her the worthynes and excellencie of the blessed Partriarke S. Dominicke and of his true children Chap 25. ON a tyme conferring with Friar Barthelmewe of the reuelations that our Lord had shewed vnto her emong other thinges she declared that she had seene in deed by a vision of imagination how almightie God the Father brought foorth his coequal true Sōne as it seemed to her by his mouth the which Sonne in the nature of mankind which he had taken shewed him selfe to her also in the substāce and fourme of a true man She sawe likewise how almightie God brought foorth the glorious patriarke S. Dominicke not out of his mouth but out of his brest enuironed round about with a meruelous goodlie light and brightnes And she heard a voice proceeding from the mouth of almightie God which said these wordes Deere daughter I haue brought forth as thou seest these two sonnes the one naturally the other by adoption She was much amazed at the strangenes of that comparision made betweene the Sonne of God and S. Dominicke Whereupon the voice proceded and declared the meanyng of it after this maner As this my natural Sonne was in his humane nature which he tooke euermore most perfectly obedient to me euen to death so was this my some by adoption obedient to me in all pointes euen from his childhood to his dying daie and directed all his workes according to my commaundementes and kept that puritie both of bodie and soule which he receiued of me in Baptisme cleane and vnspotted vntill the end of his life And as this my natural Sonne spake openly to the wordle and gaue a most cleere testimonie to the truth that I put in his mouth euen so did this my sonne by adoption preach the truth of my gospel as well to heretikes and scismatikes as also emong my faithful people And as this my natural Sonne sent out his disciples to publish the gospel to all creatures so doth this my sonne by adoption now at this present and shall hereafter from tyme to tyme send out his brethren and children vnder the yoke of his holie obedience discipline And for this cause is it graunted to him and his by special priuilege that they shall haue the true vnderstanding of my wordes and shall neuer swarue from the same And as this my natural Sonne ordained the state of his whole life in deedes and wordes to the saluation of soules euen so did this my Sonne by adoption emploie him selfe wholly both in his doctrine and in example
right well that both the one and the other should be restored When her Confessour had heard this reasō discourse he replied no more but held his peace for in deed he was astoined and knewe not what to answere to the wisedome and spirite of God that spake in her An other exposition vpon the same place of the gospel with certaine other mystical sayinges And how she passed in deed out of this life in the paines of the Crosse Chap. 28. BEing on a tyme rauished in spirite she learned an other exposition vpon this place of the gospel which her Confessour douctour Thomas commited to writing and it was thus Our Lord said she approching neere to his passion set before the eyes of his mynd that great multitude of wicked men and women which he sawe through malice and obstinacie would not take the benefite of his death The which sight put him into such an agonie that he sweat water and blood for verie pitie that he had of those miserable creatures he was as it were enforced to vtter those wordes Father if it be possible let this cup passe from me Which is as much as if he had said Father this cup that is here presented before me is surely a verie bitter cup to me seeing as I do to my great griefe the damnation of so manie soules which without anie cause shall make light of this great loue that I am here to shewe to mankind and leese the benefite of my blood which is now readie to be powred out for their sake Wherfore if it be possible I beseech thee that thou wilt pardon them and in so doing take awaie this bitter cup from me This said she was the praier that our Sauiour made to his eternal Father And she added furthermore and said that he had without all doubt obteined the thing that he demaunded if he had requested the same absolutely and without condicion for what petition could he make to his Father that should not haue ben heard who as the Apostle saieth was heard for the verie reuerence that was in him selfe But as on the one side the tender loue that he bare to mankind wonne so much of him that he made that petition in their behalfe so on the other side the loue of Gods iustice moderated the vehemencie of his loue towardes mankind and cawsed him to qualifie his earnest demaund with this clause and condicion howbeit O Father not my will be done but thyne This holie maid declared yet further to her confessour and said that the paines which our Sauiour suffred for the redemption of mankind were so excessiuely great that it had ben impossible for anie man in this wordle to endure the same but that he must needes haue dyed if it had ben possible manie tymes For as the loue that he bare to mankind was vnspeakeable and incomprehensible so were the paines that he suffred for their loue so great that no man had ben able to esteeme them and much lesse to beare them What man said she would haue beleeued that those thornes of his crowne should haue persed thorough his scull into his braines And yet so it was Againe who would haue thought that the bones of a man should haue ben drawen a sonder and disiointed And yet the prophet Dauid saieth They told all my bones speaking of the vnmerciful and cruel tormentours which haled and pulled him here there so violently that they plucked his bones out of ioynt Certaine it is that the malice of those wicked Iewes was verie great and that they vsed him verie cruelly and yet could not their malicious and cruel vsage haue done it but only that his will was to shewe his vnspeakeable loue towardes vs as it were vtterly to forsake him selfe and to suffer his bodie to be destitute of all such force and strength as might make anie resistance against paines and tormentes So that the principal cause of his passion was the desire which he had of shewing his loue to vs euidently and effectually It was not the violent hand of those tormentours that were able to hold him whome he made to fall downe at his foote with one woord of his mouth It was not the nailes that were able to holde him fast to the Crosse which were his creatures and had no further power vpon their Creatour but only so much as he would geue them but it was the loue that he bare to mankind that tooke him it was loue that held him fast it was loue that nailed him fast to the Crosse and made him there to endure a most bitter and reprochful death Such high wordes and sentences did she vtter to her confessour concernyng the passion of our Sauiour And she affirmed furthermore that whatsoeuer paines our Sauiour had borne in anie part of his bodie the same had she borne in her bodie also in like maner as our Sauiour did but not in like measure for that had ben impossible for her bodie to beare And to shewe in deed that she knewe by exeperience which of all those paines was greatest she said that all the other paines were passed and gone but one remained still in her bodie which was the diuulsion as they terme it or sundering of the bones in the brest which paine was of all other paines as she said most grieuous Now this paine of the brest grewe on so vehemently vpon her and withal the loue of our Sauiour to whome she was confourmed by suffring such paines increased so mightely in her hart that she was wholly ouercome with the force of the same and her hart like a thynne glasse filled with a verie strong liqour being not able to beare the strength of that diuine loue brast in sunder as she declared afterwardes and clefte in the middle from the highest to the lowest part of the same And certaine it is that she dyed in deed in the presence of manie vertuous and credible persones and so continued a long tyme. Of this matter she made mention afterwardes in a letter writen to her ghostlie Father with her owne hand in the which letter she declared emong other thinges how she was taught by S. Iohn the Euangelist and S. Thomas of Aquine to write in a verie short space How she passed in deed out of this life and had the fruition of heauenlie ioyes and how afterwardes her soule came againe to the bodie Chap. 29. HEr ghostlie Father being desirous to learne the verie certainty of this matter at her owne mouth on a tyme reasonyng with her besought her that she would tell him plainly what had passed She stood still a great while and could not geue him one word to answere for weeping but at the length she spake after this maner O father said she is it not a pitiful and lamentable case that a soule which hath ben once deliuered out of a darcke prison and hath had the fruition of a most ioyous and beawtifull lighte shoulde be constreined to forsake
in conscience to talke with her of certaine matters when doctour Raimundus heard that for verie charitie he lefte his owne busines vndone and went with him towardes the holie maides chamber supposing to haue fownd her there But when he came thither and asked for her the sisters answered that she was gone to Church To Church said he when went she to Church for sooth said they before Masse and there she hath continued euer sence With that he was much astoined and turned backe againe to the Church with the priour of the Carthusians where he fownd her in deed in a corner kneeling vpon her knees rauished in spirite as her maner was to be some other of the sisters with her To whome he spake and praied them that they would vse such meanes as they might conueniently to bring her to her selfe againe so soone as were possible For there was there with him a frind of his that had a great desire to speake with her and yet might not tarrie long Now when she was come to her selfe againe doctour Raimundus tooke her aside and in fewe wordes opened his owne case to her that he might geue place to his frind whose vrgent busines required a more speedie dispatch When she hade saide she smyled on him after a comfortable maner and asked him whether he had vsed such diligence as was requisite in seeking that peece Wherunto he answered that he had sought it with as great diligence as was possible If you haue done so said she whie are you so careful VVith that she smyled againe and went towardes the priour of the Charterhowse to speake with him In the meane tyme doctour Raimundus remained somewhat comforted but not fully satisfied vntill he might knowe in deed what was become of it So soone as she had done with the priour and satisfied him in all such demaundes as he made vnto her she returned againe to doctour Raimundus who being verie desiours to vnderstand the truth of the matter began with her after this sort Mother said he it is you I trowe that hath taken awaie this peece of the holie Host No for sooth father said she it was not I but an other that tooke it awaie from you and therfore take no more care for it for I assure you you shall neuer find it Then doctour Raimundus praied her that she would declare to him the whole processe of the matter which she did with a good will to the honour of God and to satisfie his careful mynd Father said she be you no more careful for that peece of the blessed Host For I tell it to you as to my ghostlie father that it was brought to me and I receiued it at the reuerend handes of our most blessed Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ And that you maie vnderstand the cause also I thinke it good to make yet a further declaration of the matter vnto you Father it is so that I was this mornyng in purpose and had withal a verie earnest desire to receiue But my sisters gaue me counsel to the contrarie bicawse my receiuing was like to be troublesome to some of the brethren who as they said grutched somewhat at it wherupon I thought with my selfe to folowe not myne owne will but their aduise But my desire was so great that when I sawe that I could not receiue at the hands of men without their great trouble and disquet I turned my selfe to God and besought him in most humble wise that he would vouchsafe to helpe his poore handmaid Our gracious Lord heard my petition and so foorthwith appeered vnto me and ministred that fourth part that you speake of to me with his owne handes wherfore good Father be you of good comfort for you haue lost nothing and I haue fownd that wherby I remaine meruelously well refresshed and satisfied When doctour Raimundus heard that he was likewise fully satisfied and so departed towardes his couent praising and magnifying the infinite goodnes of almightie God who filleth the hungrie with good thinges and geueth the peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding to them that serue him in holines and righteousnes and keepe them selues with a warie and fearefull regard from all such thinges as they thinke maie in anie degree offend his diuine maiestie How her face did shine like an angel while she was receiuing the blessed Sacrament and of certaine other strange signes Chap. 32. ON a tyme doctour Raimundus returnyng from Auinion to Siena went to visite the holie maid and entering into her lodging about noone tyde fownd her praying in her oratorie This thing happened vpon S. Marckes daie the Euangelist When she sawe him she rose vp after a ciuil maner as it were to welcome him and said these wordes O father if you knewe how hungrie my soule is Doctour Raimundus vnderstood wel what she meant and therfore made her answere that the tyme was farre spent and that he was him selfe so weerie of his iourney that he could hardly dispose him selfe to saie Masse that daie With that she held her peace a litle while and soone after brake out againe said Father I am verie hungrie Then doctour Raimundus to satisfie her impatient desire which he knewe was of God prepared him selfe to Masse in her owne chapple not farre from her lodging which she had peculiar to her selfe by special licence from the popes holines when he had receiued the blessed Sacrament him selfe he made readie an Host that he had there consecrated to minister to her also And turnyng him selfe to her to geue her the general absolution as the maner of holie Church is behold he sawe her face transfigured like the face of an Angel all cleere lightsome and casting out beames of a meruelous brightnes With the which strange sight he was so astoined that he said in him selfe to almightie God Surely Lord this is not Caterines face this is vndoubtedly the face of thy deerely beloued spowse With that he turned him selfe againe to the aulter and looking vpon the consecrated Host said these wordes in his hart Come O Lord to thy spowse And he had no sooner spoken those wordes in his mynd but that the holie Host came of it selfe into his handes and did as it were offer it selfe to be caried to the mouth of his deer spowse Thus much did doctour Raimundus testifie him selfe who was a verie graue wise and learned man There were also diuerse other credible persones that affirmed constantly that when this holie maid did at diuerse and sundrie tymes receiue the blessed Sacrament they might heare sensibly how the holy Host made a noyse in her mouth as though it had ben a stone cast with great strength and violence For confirmatiō wherof brother Barthelmewe who was likewise a doctour of diuinity verie godlie man testified that manie tymes when he ministred the blessed Sacrament vnto her the holie Host departed from his fingers after a violent maner and so entred into the mouth of the holie
good men became a newe man and liued in the state of matrimonie a verie quiet and orderlie life to the great comfort of his frindes and example of vertue to as manie as chaunced to conuerse with him How the holie maid obteined by praier the conuersion of a gentleman called Nannes Chap. 13. THere was in the cittie of Siena a worshipful gentleman called Nannes de Vannis which bare a great swaie emong the people by reason that as he was a verie fierce and warlike man so he was also of a meruelous suttle and craftie wit to deale in wordlie affaires This Nannes with the rest of his familie allies and frindes mainteined a faction and perpetual quarrel against certaine other families in the cittie who dreading his power and policie sought by meanes and with great submission to make their peace with him He made them answere that it was all one to him whether they had peace or no peace and that for his owne part he was verie readie and willing to come to accord if they could wynne certaine other to it to whome it apperteined as well as to him selfe And thus he gaue them verie faire wordes and put them in hope of peace but in the meane tyme he dealt secretly with those other persones willing them to stand stiffely to it and in no wise to condescend to anie condicions of peace This matter came to the eares of the holie maid which seeing herein a goodlie occasion ministred vnto her of working a verie charitable worke sought by manie meanes to speake with him But euermore when he vnderstood that she was comyng towardes him he fled from her euen as the serpent is wont to flee from the enchantour that cometh to charme him At the length by the importunitie of a certaine holie Heremite of S. Augustines order called brother VVilliam an English man they wonne so much of him that he was content to heare the holie maid speake but yet with this protestation that whatsoeuer she said concernyng the accord he was fixed and would not be remoued And with this resolution he went to the holie maides house at a tyme when she was abrode by a verie vrgent occasion of procuring the health of soules But Doctour Raimundus by the prouidence of God was there at that tyme who vnderstanding that Nannes was comyng was verie glad of it for he knewe that the holie maid had a great desire to speake with him Wherefore he went out to meete with him and to geue him enterteinement vntill her returne When they were come into the house Doctour Raimundus lead him the waie into the holie maides chapple or oratorie where he caused him to sit downe and ministred such talke vnto him as he thought most conuenient to protracte the tyme. But after that they had sate there a litle while and sawe that she came not Nannes thought the tyme long and therefore began to breake with Doctour Raimundus after this maner Father said he I promised brother VVilliam that I would come hither and speake with the holie maid But now seeing she is abrode about some other busines and I haue at this present certaine affaires that must needes be dispatched out of hand I praie you excuse me vnto her and tell her that I would gladly haue spoken with her if she had ben at home Doctour Raimundus was verie sorie that the holie maid came not awaie Howbeit to wynne yet a litle more tyme he tooke occasion to enter in talke with him concernyng the peace and asked him how the matter stood betweene such and such persones Whereunto he made answere after this maner Father said he to you that are a priest and religious and to this blessed maid of whome I heare report of great vertue and holines I will make no lie but tell you plainely and syncerely how the case standeth betweene these men True it is that I am he that letteth this accord and agreement though in deed it seeme otherwise because the matter is openly contriued by others I alone do priuily mainteine and vphold one side and if I alone would geue my consent to the peace the matter were ended But to tell you my meanyng in fewe wordes my peace shal be made and firmed with the blood of myne aduersaries This is my resolution and from this I will not be remoued Wherefore I praie you set your hartes at rest and trouble me no more And with that he rose vp and tooke his leaue to depart But Doctour Raimundus was verie loth to let him goe and therefore though he sawe that he was vnwilling to tarrie there and for that cause loth also to heare anie moe wordes of that or anie other matter yet did he to gaine more tyme aske him diuerse and sundrie questions and by that meanes held him there so long that the holie maid was come home and entred into the house before he could get out of the oratorie When Nannes sawe the holie maid he was sorie that he had taried so long But she was right glad to see him there and bad him welcome after a verie charitable and louing maner and caused him to sit downe againe And when he was sette she asked him the cause of his comyng He made her answere and declared so much in effecte as he had declared before to Doctour Raimundus adding his protestation withal that concernyng that matter of the peace he would abide no talke for he was resolutely bent to the contrarie The holie maid hearing that began to exhort him to brotherlie loue and concord and shewed him withal what a dangerous and damnable state they were in that liued out of charitie But he gaue but a deaffe eare to her wordes Which thing she perceaued well inough and therefore she sate still and spake no more to him but casting vp her eyes and hart to God she besought him of grace and mercie for that hard harted man When Doctour Raimundus which had euermore a diligent eye to the holie maid had espied that he spake some wordes to Nannes to occupie him the while nothing doubting but that she should worke some better effecte in him by that silent praier then both he and she had done before with manie wordes And so it prooued in deed for within a litle tyme after he spake to them both after this maner It shall not be said of me that I am so hard and vntractable that I will haue myne owne mynd in all thinges and relent in nothing I will condescend to your mynd in some one thing and then I will take my leaue of you I haue fower quarels in the cittie of the which I am content to put one into your handes Doe in it what you shall thinke good make you my peace and I will abide your order With that he rose vp and would haue gone his waie But in the rising being inwardly touched he said these wordes to him selfe O Lord what comfort is this that I feele at this instant in
The which when the holie maid perceiued she gaue charge to the rest that were about her that they should haue a care of the confesssours and prouide them of thinges necessarie Which was in deed verie requisite for they were so intentiue to their spirituall haruest and tooke such a passing inward delite to see the wonderfull increase that almightie God had sent in all places where they trauailed with the holie maid that they liue mynded either meat or drincke or anie thing els belongyng to the bodie And when all bodilie recreations failed it was no small recreation and comfort to them to see the holie maid her selfe what a spirituall Iubilee she kept and how her hart did as it were leape and daunce for ioye when she sawe such nombers of soules to leaue the broade waies of their accustomed synfull life and now by her direction to walke in the narrowe pathes of Gods holie commandements And as the wordes of the holie maid had a wonderfull vertue and strenght in drawing the hartes of such as were present and might heare her speake so had she also a singular gyfte of perswasion in her writinges to them that were absent and might not heare her wordes as it maie appeere by her letters writen with a meruelous heauenlie grace and eloquence to Popes and Cardinalls to Kinges and Princes to Bishops and Prelates to Lordes and Rulers to communities and common weales to Magisitates and priuate citisens to religious persones both men and women and also to diuerse and sundrie secular persones And such was her zeale and charitable affection towardes all kindes of men that whether they were present or absent she omitted not to doe good where soeuer occasion was ministred How the holie maid made manie goodlie sermons or collations in the presence of Pope Gregorie and afterwardes likewise in the presence of Pope Vrbanus and his Cardinals Cap. 15. AFter that this chosen vessell of God was apointed to shewe her selfe to the wordle as is before declared to beare the name of Christ before kinges and rulers and all other states of men and women she made diuerse and sundrie sermons in the presence of Pope Gregorie the eleuenth with such a wonderfull grace eloquence and authoritie that the Pope him selfe and all that were about him were astoined to heare her And afterwardes being required by Pope Vrbanus his successour to doe the like in open consistorie she made such a wonderfull and dreadfull oration concerning the particular prouidence of God ouer his Church and ouer the head pastour of the same whom she declared to be the said Pope Vrbanus the sixt affirming constantly before them all that she vnderstood so much by a most certaine reuelation from God and she rebuked both the pope and all his Cardinals with such a constant boldnes for their base myndes and lacke of manlie courage in Gods cause that they were all enforced to confesse that it was not she that spake but the spirite and wisedome of God in her Whereupon Pope Vrbanus turning him selfe to the rest said these wordes Behold brethren how contemptible we are become in the sight of God for being thus fearefull in his cause Our Lord hath sent here a seelie woman to controll and reproach vs of cowardise I call her a seelie woman not for anie defecte that I note in her but only to expresse the frailtie of her sexe or kind which as you knowe is naturally more subiecte to feare then we are It would be thought in this case that she as a woman should be timorous and we manlie and stoute But we see nowe that we are faint harted and deiected and she contrariwise verie full of manlie courage and comfort It is surely a great shame and reproach to vs all that we haue need to be comforted at this tyme by a woman Howbeit seeing it is the will of God to send vs such a comforter let vs accept it especially considering that her wordes are most true which are that the vicare of Christ ought not to feare though the whole wordle should set them selues in armes against him for so much as almightie God who hath taken the charge and protection of him is stronger then the wordle When the pope had said these wordes he turned him selfe to the holie maid and gaue her a verie graue testimonie of vertue and holines And when he had so done he opened the treasure of the Church and gaue manie spirituall graces both to her and to them that were there with her Manie other collations did she make in places where occasion was ministred to edifie soules to the great profit and comfort of them that heard her as it maie appeere in part by some thinges that are alreadie declared in this booke before and more by this present matter and some other thinges that shal be declared hereafter How the holie maid was sent to Pope Gregorie from the Florentines about a treatie of peace and how she was sent backe againe with the condicions of peace in her owne hand Chap. 16. ABout the yeare of our Lord 1375. the citie of Florence which had in foretymes shewed it selfe euermore loiall and obedient to the Sea Apostolike being moued partly by the instigation of certaine euell disposed citizens that were in authoritie and partly also as it was thought by the lewd demeanour of some insolent persones that bare office in the Church began to withdrawe their obedience and to ioyne them selues with the enemies of the Church By reason whereof there ensued a general reuolt in Italie almost of all the territories that belonged to the Sea Apostolike which were at that tyme as it is reported to the nomber of three score cities and ten thousand walled townes Pope Gregorie the eleuenth seeing that proceeded against the Florentines by waie of excommunication whereof it came to passe that their merchantes and trauailers wheresoeuer they went were taken robbed and spoiled in all places and debarred of all trafficke with other nations The which smart and losse of temporal goods so pinched them that they were enforced to seeke all possible meanes how they might be reconciled to the Popes holines againe And because they vnderstood that the holie maid was in great credite and fauour with the Pope by reason of her vertue and holines the lordes and principal rulers of the cittie thought good that Doctour Raimundus her Confessour should be sent before as it were to make her waie And that done they sent for the holie maid also And when she was come almost to the cittie of Florence they went out against her to receiue her with all honour and besought her for Gods loue that she would take the paines to goe to Auinion where the Pope was then resident and to entreate him to condescend to certaine reasonable condicions or peace The holie maid had such a passing desire to make peace that she cast no doubt neither of the trauaile and tediousnes of the long iourney nor yet of the effecte
was done who gaue commaundement and all thinges visible and inuisible were created This strange miracle was wrought before so manie witnesses that it was in a verie litle tyme bruted thoroughout the whole citie And the yong man him selfe that was cured within a fewe daies after came to Doctour Raimundus as he was passing by the citie so fat and in such good liking that the Doctour did scantly knowe him and before a great multitude of men and women recited the whole maner of the miracle as it hath ben declared here before and thanked God and the holie maid most humbly for the benefite of his health which he confessed he had receiued perfectly at Gods handes by her meanes and intercession One of the sisters of penance called Gemina being so extremely pained with a disease of the throte commonly called the Squynancie that so often as she tooke breath it seemed that she was in great danger of strangling found the meanes to be brought where the holie maid was and besought her of helpe The holie maid being moued with compassion laid her hand vpon the sisters throte and made the signe of the Crosse vpon it and foorth with the disease lefte her and she returned home againe with great ioye When the holie maid went from Pisa to Auinion there were in her companie two deuout yong men that wrote her letters the one called Nerius Landoccius de Pagliar ensibus which afterwardes forsooke the worlde vtterly became an Heremite the other Steuen Corradi which likewise gaue ouer the world at her commandement and became a Christian in the which rule discipline he lead a verie streight holie life Now when the holy maid returned from Auinion into Italie againe and was come to the citie of Genua it chaunced this Nerius to be taken with such a paineful gnawing and grieping in his bowels that he cried pitifully and crope vpon his handes and knees from place to place for he was not able to raise vp him selfe and could find no place where to rest And thus he continued daie and night without anie release in extreme paine and made great lamentation to the rest of the compaine which loued him all verie tenderly Wherupon doctour Raimundus with other of them wente to the holie maid and told her in what a lamentble case the poore man stood She shewed that she had great compassion on him but she gaue them no word of comfort or hope of recouerie as she was wont to doe at other tymes but contrariwise willed them to seeke to the phisicions and cause them to minister to the sickeman When they sawe that the would put them in no maner of comfort they sent out of hand for two learned phisicions which came and ministred to him with great diligence and their precptes were obserued verie precisely But the man recouered not but ratherwaked worse worse in so much that at the length the phisicions them selues said to doctour Raimundus that they despaired of his health The which iudgement of the phisicions when doctour Raimundus declared afterwards to the rest of the compaine as he was sitting with them at supper that other yong man called Steuen of whome mention is made before rose vp sodainly from the table with great feruour and vehemencie of spirite and went to the holie maids chamber and there casting him selfe downe at her feet wept bitterly and besought her in most humble maner that she would not suffer his brother companion to die in the waie and his bodie to be buried in a strange land especially considering that he had taken that iourney vpon him for Gods sake and for a charitable cause With those wordes she was inwardly touched and said vnto him Sonne if God will now take your brother Nerius from you reward him for all his paines in heauen me thinketh yee should not be sorie for it but rather reioice O good mother said he I praie you heare me at this tyme and helpe him for I doubt not but that you are able to doe it if you will Then she being no longer able to refraine her motherlie affection spake thus vnto him Sonne my meanyng was to exhort you that you should comforme your will to the will of God But now seeing you are so much afflicted to morrowe in the mornyng when I goe to heare Masse and to receiue the blessed Sacrament put me in mynd and I promise you that I will offer vp your petition vnto God In the meane tyme praie you to God for me that it maie please him to heare my praier Steuen was glad of that promise and the next daie he waited diligently for her And when she went to heare Masse he kneeled downe before her verie humbly and said I praie you good mother remember your promise made to me yester night With that she went to heare Masse and after Masse receiued And when she had receiued she continued a certaine tyme abstracted from her bodilie senses as her maner was So soone as she came to her selfe againe she spake to Steuen who attended there with a cheereful countenance and said Yee haue obteined the grace that yee desire What said he shall Nerius recouer Yea said she for certaine Nerius shall recouer for our Lord hath graunted him vnto vs. When Steuen heard that he ranne to Nerius and told him what comfortable wordes the holie maid had spoken After that the phisicions came againe to the sicke man and considering diligently of the state of his bodie pronounced plainely that they sawe no hope of life in him But whatsoeuer they sawe in natural causes Nerius was by the almightie power of God restored to perfecte health within a fewe daies euen as the holie maid had said Soone after the recouerie of this man it chaunced the same Steuen to fall sicke also being as it was thought ouercharged with watching and paines that he had taken about the said Nerius He was sore pained with streynyng and vomiting and withal with a passing great head ach The which thing when it was signified to the holie maid by the rest of the house who were all verie sorie for him she went foorthwith to his beds side where he laie and asked him how he did and felt his pulses Whereby she perceiued well that he had a verie sharpe feuer Then she spake to him with great feruour of spirite and said these wordes I commaund thee in the vertue of holie obedience that thou be no more sicke of this ague She had no sooner spoken those wordes but that Steuen was fully and perfectly deliuered of his ague and sate vp and made merrie with the rest of his companie and they all together praised the goodnes of God that had geuen such power to the holie maid At what tyme the holie maid was in the citie of Florence about a treatie of peace betweene Pope Gregorie the eleuenth and the Florentines there was such a broile stirred in the citie by certaine euel disposed and