and me by such meanes as I declared vnto thee thou camest to the knowledge of truth Thy second petition was that I should shewe mercie to the wordle Thy third petition was for the bodie mysticall of my holie Church beseeching me that I should take awaie from it darckenes and persecutions which it suffreth at this present And thou requiredst that I should punish the iniquities of the euell vpon thee Whereupon I declared vnto thee that no paine that hath an end or is geuen in tyme that hath an end is able of it selfe alone to satisfie for a synne done and committed against me which am an endles goodnes But it maie well satisfie if it be ioyned with contrition of hart and desire of sowle The maner also how this satisfaction maie be made I haue declared vnto thee Then I made thee answere that I will shewe mercie to the worlde shewing thee that it is proper to me to be mercifull Whereupon for mercies sake and for the inestimable loue that I bare to man I sent my only begotten Sonne and word The which thing that I might declare more plainely to thee I likened him to a bridge that reacheth from heauen to earth by reason of the vnion that is made in him betweene the nature of God and man And to geue thee yet a further light of my truth I shewed thee how the waie to clymme vp this bridge is by three steppes to witte by the three powers of the soule And of this true bridge shewed vnto thee I made a figure in my bodye resembling those three steppes as thou knowest verie well the first in my feete the second in my side and the third in my mouth In the which I put the three states of the soule to witte the state imperfecte the state perfecte and the state most perfecte in the which the soule atteineth fully to the excellencie of inward loue And in each of these I shewed thee plainely what thing that is that taketh awaie imperfection and what is the defecte or let of perfection and by what waie one maie come to it I spake to thee also concernyng the secret deceites of the deuels and concernyng spirituall selfe loue Furthermore I spake to thee in these three states of the reproofes that my clemencie maketh The first reproofe I put to be made in this life before they depart out of their bodie The second at their death which toucheth them that die in mortall synne Of whome I told thee that they went vnder the bridge by the waie of the deuell and I shewed vnto thee of their myseries The third reproofe I shewed should be at the generall iudgement where I shewed thee somewhat concernyng the paines of the damned and glorie of the blessed when euerie one shall receiue the dowries of his bodie In like manner I promised thee and doe promise that with much sufferance of my mynisters I will refourme my spouse the Church inuiting you to such sufferance complainyng my self with thee of their iniquitie and shewing thee withall what an excellent place I haue put them in and what reuerence I doe require that secular personnes should doe vnto them And I declared vnto thee that my will was that their reuerence should in no wise be diminished for anie defectes or excesses that are in them and how much it displeaseth me when the contrarie is done I spake also to thee of the vertue of those that liue like Angels Where I touched withall the excellencie and worthnes of the blessed Sacrament of the Aulter Againe while I was speaking to thee of the three states of the soule thou wert desirous to be infourmed concerning the states of teares and to know from whence teares proceede Whervpon I declared the matter orderly vnto thee shewing that the states of teares haue an accordance with the states of the soule and that all teares doe proceede out of the fountaine of the hart And of this I assigned the cause proceeding orderly Moreouer I declared that there were fiue kindes of teares of the which the fifte engendreth death Then I made answere to thy fouerth request which was that I should prouide for a certaine particular case that had happened for the which I prouided as thou knowest verie well And vpon this I declared vnto thee of my prouidence both in generall and in speciall from the begynning of the creation vntill the end of the wordle Where I shewed how I made and doe make all thinges with a most high and diuine prouidence geuing or permitting all thinges to witt comfortes and tribulations spirituall and temporall for your good that you maie be sanctified in me and my truth fulfilled in you For my truth was and is this that I haue created you to haue life euerlasting Which truth is opened to you with the blood of the Word which is my only begotten Sonne Last of all I satisfied thy desire and discharged my promise made to thee by declaring vnto thee and speaking of the perfection of obedience and of the imperfection of disobedience and from whence it cometh and what thing that is that taketh obedience from you And I put it for a generall keye and so it is And I spake to thee of the particular and of the perfecte and imperfecte personnes liuing both in religion and out of religion Of each of these pointes I informed thee plainely and distinctly I spake to thee likewise of the peace that obedience geueth and of the warre that disobedience causeth adding and shewing withall how by the disobedience of Adam death came into the wordle Now I the euerlasting Father the most high and eternall veritie doe conclude openly that you doe obteine euerlasting life by the obedience of the Word to witt of my only begotten Sonne And as all men haue taken death and damnation of the first man Adam so haue all men that will beare the keye of obedience taken life euerlasting of the newe man Iesus Christ my most deerely beloued Sonne Of whome I haue made you a bridge after the tyme that the waie of heauen was broken downe that you maie passe without harme by this sweete and streight waie which is a cleere and lightsome truth with the keye of holesome obedience And so passing without harme thorough the darckenes of this present life at the last with the keye of my Word you find heauen open vnto you Now I inuite thee with the rest of my frindes and seruantes to weepe for by weeping and by continuall and humble praier I mynd to shewe mercie to the wordle Runne therefore by this waie of truth that thou be not rebuked afterwardes for going slowly for there shal be more required of thee now then before bicause I haue shewed my selfe vnto thee in my truth And take good heed that thou neuer goe out of the cell of the knowledge of thy selfe but in this cell keepe and spend the treasure that I haue geuen thee which treasure is a doctrine of truth founded
vse at tymes by reason of great infirmities and diseases vnto the which her bodie was verie much subiecte The which thing her ghostlie Father vnderstanding at the lenght by them not long before her death being moued with pittie commanded her by vertue of obedience that she should leaue it off Which though she was verie loth to doe bicause she perswaded her self that the roughnes therof had a great comformitie with the life of Christ yet bicause she knewe on the other side that obedience was more acceptable in the sight of God then anie austeritie of life she did humbly as she was commaunded Of her wonderful watching and of the griefe that her mother tooke for the same Chap. 11. HEr watching was verie strange wonderful for at the length she had by a litle and litle so ouercome sleepe that in two daies two nightes she would allowe no more but one halfe hower to sleepe the which halfe hower also she would neuer take but when very feeblenes of bodie constreined her Her bed as it is said before was bare bordes her bolster or pillowe a hard peece of wood The which thing her mother perceiuing being moued with motherlie affection and pitie towardes her owne flesh entreated her earnestly that she would geue ouer her owne hard bed for a tyme and be contented to lie with her vpon her bed and there to take her sleepe if she could if she could not at the least to rest her selfe a litle She shewed her selfe in all pointes obedient to her mother and went with her into her chamber and when her mother was laid in one side of the bed she went laid her selfe downe in the other side Where she continued watching in praier and meditation vntill at the lenght perceiuing her mother to be fast a sleepe she rose vp softely without making anie noyse gott her selfe to her wonted exercises But the suspicious mother whose hart was euermore waking espied forthwith the wilines of her daughter and tooke it verie grieuously VVherupon the good daughter who had alwaies a great care to doe nothing that might grieue her mother deuised a newe sleight by the which she thought she might both satisfie her mothers mynd and exercise in some degree her accustomed discipline She tooke two peeces of tymber and put them priuily into the bed vnder the sheet on that side where she should lie and laid her selfe downe vpon the same But it was not so secretly done but that the mother who had a great iealousie of all her doinges within a short tyme fownd it out The which when she espied and sawe withal that how diligent and carefull soeuer she was to qualifie the rigour of her daughters life she would on the other side be as politike and inuentiue to find meanes to continue the same as one ouercome she gaue ouer and said vnto her after this maner Daughter I see well it booteth not to striue with you anie longer I doe but leese my labour Wherfore a Gods name goe your waie take your rest in your owne chāber at what tyme and after what maner yee shall thinke best And so after this tyme she entermedled no more in her doings but suffred her freely to folowe the instincte guidāce of the holie Ghost in all thinges When the blessed virgin had thus by her godlie wilines ouercome this battaille that was raised against her by the malice of the ghostlie enemie to hinder her heauenlie designemētes she returned to her former spiritual exercises againe with a passing great increase of feruour and deuotion She tooke such a delite in meditating reasonyng vpon thinges apperteinyng to godlines that doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father who was a verie graue wise and learned man affirmed this to be a thing which he tooke to be most certainly true that if she might haue come into the companie of men of vnderstanding that would haue reasoned with her of God a hundred nightes she would haue continued with them in such communication without eating drinking or sleeping Yea he affirmed furthermore that whē she had anie such occasion to speake or heare others speake of God she was sensibly nourished recreated and conforted withal as contrary wise when she might not be so occupied it was euidently seene that she drooped and became leane drie and feeble He confessed also to the honour of God of his holie spowse though withal to his owne shame confusion when that blessed virgin would at tymes speake of the goodnes of God and of his mercies towardes her he by reason of the lenght of tyme which she spent euermore willingly about that matter and also bicause he was farre from that feruour of loue that was in her being ouercome with the heauines of his bodie fell into a slomber she in the meane tyme being mightiely caried vp into God by the vehemence of her spirite continued her discourse still taking no heed to him vntill at the lenght after a long tyme casting her eye aside and seeing that he was a sleepe she would crie to him alowd and saie Alas Father why leese you the profite of your sowle for a litle sleepe Doe I speake to a wall or to you How she beate her selfe for a long tyme thrise in the daie with a chaine of yron Chap. 12. THis holie virgin hauing a great desire to folowe the steppes of S. Dominicke vsed for a long space to beate her selfe three tymes euery daie with a chaine of yron The first tyme for her selfe the second for the liuing the third for the dead The which discipline she was enforced at the lenght to geue-ouer by reason of the weakenes of her bodie Being demaunded on a tyme of her ghostlie Father how and after what maner she did that penance she answered with great bashfulnes that for euerie tyme she tooke an hower and a halfe and beat her selfe so that the blood tricled downe from her shoulders to her feet And while she was in this exercise laid on so sore vpō her bodie that her mother being one tyme neere vnto the chamber hearing the noise of the strokes was in wardly moued with motherlie pitie and so entred in sodainly vpon her But when she sawe the maner of it when she beheld presently with her eyes the roughe yrō chaine wher with she beate her selfe the bodie of daughter miserably rent and torne the bloodie streames that ranne downe to the grownd on all sides being ouercome with natural compassion she cried out like a woman besides her selfe and said Alas Daughter what doest thou what meanest thou Wilt thou kill thy selfe Who hath counselled my daughter to exercise such crueltie vpon her tender bodie with that she scright out as lowd as euer she could and tare her haire and clothes and sared like a madd woman In so much that the neighbours rownd about hearing the lamentable criyng of the old woman and dowbting of some strange and heauie mischance came runnyng into
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 anie man and that it is not in the power of anie creature but only of God to moue the hart of maÌ„ to what him listeth And so with this intent he went vnto her without declaring anie thing particularly he desired her that she would doe him a pleasure What pleasure said she forsoouth said he that you would be a meane to your spowse for me that he of his great mercie would pardon me all my synnes Whereunto she made answere with a cheereful countenance as casting no doubt at all of the effecte that she would doe it Then said he againe Daughter I thanke you for this But yet thus much I must tell you more That vnlesse you procure me some good assurance of the same you doe me no pleasure at all What assurance would you require said she I would require said he that I might haue a full Pardon and a Bull drawen vpon the same after the maner of the court of Rome With that she smiled sweetly and asked him what maner of Bull he would haue The Bull said he that I desire is that I maie feele in my selfe a certaine deepe and perfecte Contrition of my synnes beyond the common course At that word she gaue him such a coÌ„fortable looke that it seemed to him that she had entred into all the secrets of his hart Well said she such a Bull shall you haue also And so they parted for the daie was almost spent The next mornyng doctour Raimundus was taken after his customable maner with certaine infirmities which were notwithstanding verie grieuous and as then so paineful vnto him that he was inforced to keepe his bed There was at that tyme about him brother Nicolas of Pisa a verie religious man and one that he loued deerely The place where he laie was a Monasterie of Nunnes of S. Dominickes order not farre from the lodging of this holie maid who saw right well in spirite in what case doctour Raimundus was and said to her companion Come let vs goe to visite our father doctour Raimundus for he is sicke what will you doe said she ye are in worse case then he But she foorthwith set her selfe in the waie with her companion and making more hast then she was wont to doe at other tymes came vpon him sodainly â—â— lying in his bed and said Father how is it with you Which was to him so vnlooked for that he had no tyme to talke with his brother and to take order for thinges as he would haue done if he had knowen of her comyng And scantly could he answere her and saie that he was sorie that she should take such paines in comyng to him being her selfe in farre weaker state then he was but that she was entred without anie further circumstances into an high discourse as her maner was of heauenlie matters of God and of his benefites bestowed vpon his creatures and contrariwise of our vngratefulnes towardes him and pronenesse to offend such a good and bowntiful Lord. Which wordes were spoken with such grace that he felt that his hart was strangely drawen by the vertu of the same and that it receiued great comfort And so for maners sake he caused him selfe to be taken out of the bed were he laie and to be set on an other lower cowch neerer to her Who went on with her discourse he neuer thought of his petition made vnto her ouer night coÌ„cernyng the Bull but was caried awaie with the efficacie strength of her wordes which pearsed his hart like sharpe dartes Whereupon his mynd being thus forcibly driuen and entring at the length into a certaine deepe and inward coÌ„sideration of his synnes such as he neuer had in his life before there was represented vnto him iâ— a most cleere vision the iudgement seat of Christ before whom being arrained accused and acknowledging him selfe gyltie he heard a sentence of euerlasting damnation pronounced against him selfe which he confessed he had deserued by the order of Gods iustice This senteÌ„ce he heard openly read and he sawe withal a preparatioÌ„ made for his execution in such order maner as is wont to be when malefactours or theeues are condemned to the gallowes At the length when this dreadful and horrible vision had continued a good space our Sauiour appeered againe vnto him not like a terrible Iudge but like a pitiful Father wheras he was naked he clad him with his owne garmentes lead him into his howse gaue him to eate and drincke plentifully made verie much of him accepted him into his familie as one of his howsehold seruantes and changed the sentence of euerlasting death into a firme promise of euerlasting life The which when he sawe and considered inwardly with him selfe first the deformitie of his sinnes and danger that he was in and then the merciful goodnes of our Sauiour that receiued him againe so louingly he burst out into groanyng sobbing sighing and weeping so aboundantly that in all his life tyme there neuer happened the like vnto him The holie maid that was by all this while sawe how the medicine wrought began then to hold her peace and to let him alone for a good tyme that he might haue his fill of weeping CoÌ„trition And when she sawe her tyme she spake to him againe and said Father I praie you geue ouer this maner of reading and coÌ„sider well of the tenour of the Bull. The Bull said he And with that turnyng him selfe towardes her he said Ah daughter maie this be the Bull that I required of you yester euenyng This is it good Father said she Wherefore be yee myndful of the benefites of God That said she tooke her leaue foorthwith went her waie Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father declared yet an other verie euident signe of her great holines and familiaritie with almightie God which was this Being on a tyme verie sicke and feeble she laid her downe as her maner was vpon her boordes Where hauing diuerse and sundrie reuelations she caused her ghostie Father to be sent for that she might impart the same to him So soone as he was come she began after her accustomable maner to speak of God to recite vnto him many thinges namely those thinges that our Lord had vowchsafed to shewe vnto her at shrofte whereof we spake a litle before When he heard the thinges that she reported and considered of the greatnes of the same in comparison of that he had read of other Sainctes he said thus in his mynd Is it possible that all this should be true that she saieth And with that looking stedfastly vpon her he sawe her face sodainly transfourmed into the face of a man who likewise set his eyes stedfastly vpon him and gaue him a meruelous dreadful looke The face that he sawe was somewhat long he shewed like a man of middle age his beard was of the colour of ripe wheat that is betweene red and yallowe his countenance was verie comelie
to eate her meate and not to geue anie credit to such deceueable visioÌ„s Wherunto she made answere and said that she found by experience that she was more healthie in bodie when she receiued no bodilie sustenance at all then she was when she did eate The ghostlie Father was nothing moued with that talke but taking all to be but only excuses he commaunded her precisely that she should eate Then she to shewe her selfe a true daughter of obedience did as she was commaunded and began to eate her meate vntill by eating she became so weake and wasted that she was at the verie point of death without anie hope of recouerie vnlesse she returned againe to her former Abstinence Wherupon she sent for her ghostlie Father and said vnto him Father said she I praie you tell me one thing in case I should by ouer much fasting kill my selfe should I not be gyltie of myne owne death yes said he Againe said she I beseech you resolue me in this Whether do you take it to be a greater synne to die by ouermuch eating or by ouermuch Abstinence By ouermuch eating said he Then sir said she seeing it is so that you see by experience that I am verie weake and euen at deathes doore by reason of my eating Whie doe you not forbid me to eate as you would forbid me to fast in the like case To that reason he could make none answere and therfore seeing by verie euident to kens that she was neere the point of death he made her this final resolution saying Daughter doe as God shall put in your mynd folowe the guydance of his holie spirite praie for me For I see the thinges that our Lord worketh in you are verie strange and not to be measured by the common rule How her strange maner of life was gaine-said and slawndered and how such gaine-sayinges and slawnders maie easily be answered Chap. 14. THis strange and vnwonted maner of life as it was to some of the better sort an occasion of praysing God in his wonderful workes so did it minister to manie vngodlie and ill disposed persones mater of slaunder and offence Some said that she made her selfe better then our blessed Ladie the Apostles yea better then our Sauiour Christ him selfe who as the holie scripture recordeth did eate and drincke Some other alleaged the rules of spiritual life which doe precisely forbid anie Religious persone to folowe anie singular maner of life Some other reasoned and said that vertue consisted in the meane and that all extremitie was to be suspected of vice Some said that she was beguyled by the Deuel some other said in plaine termes that she was an hypocrite and perswaded them selues that she did fast openly to bleere the eyes of the worlde but that she had good morsels in corners which the worlde knew not of Thus did euerie bodie thinke and report of her as it is wont to happen in such cases not as they found her better or worse but as they found them selues better or worse disposed But to make answere to these vaine surmises and false reportes briefely it is to be knowen that all men especially Religious and spiritual persones if they haue not vtterly ouerthrowen or done their best to ouer throwe selfe-loue in them selues but do labour still to gett the vaine estimation of the worlde are in great danger to be ouerthrowen by their owne ambitious mynd and so being blinded with such malice to enuie the gyftes and graces of God in others namely if they be such excellent and singular gyftes as maie seeme in anie degree to make their owne qualities to shewelesse in the opinion of men Such persones are wont commonly to couer their owne malice with the cloke of a certaine zeale which they pretend to haue to the honour of God and edifying of sowles vnder the which couert they will goe about to obscure and slaunder the gyftes of God in their neighbours geuing the worlde to vnderstand that whatsoeuer they see in them all is but the deceite of the Deuel illusions counterfeicting hipocrisie or lacke of discretion But in the end such malice is wont to discouer it selfe as this against the holie virgin doth especially if it be examined and tried by the rules of holie Scriptures and examples of other Sainctes of whom we are well assured that they were in the like case directed by the spirite of God To them therefore that saie that she preferred her selfe before our blessed Ladie the Apostles and Christ him selfe in that she obserued such a streight kind of fast as we read not the like of them it may be answered that our Sauiour Christ did as it is writen both eate and drincke contrariwise S. Iohn Baptist as our Sauiour him selfe witnesseth did neither eate nor drincke and yet will no man preferre S. Iohn before our Sauiour in regard of his singular Abstinence The like maie be said of manie of the auncient Fathers as S. Antoine Maâ—arius Hilarion Serapion and others who likewise kept a streighter fast then we reade of the Apostles and yet doth no man preferre them before the Apostles If they will adde furthermore and saie that this holie maides case is not altogether like to those auncient Fathers forsomuch as though they liued a meruelous streight kind of life and fasted farre aboue the common course of men yet did they eate somewhat and fasted not simply from all maner of bodilie sustenance to that it maie be answered that she had euen for that point the example of Marie Magdalen who liued in a rocke of the sea for the space of thirtie yeares together and neuer eate nor drancke in all that tyme. And yet was she neuer thought to be better then our blessed Ladie which did both eate and drincke To them that alleage the rules of spiritual life which doe expressely forbid all singularitie it maie easily be answered that no man ought to take such order of life vpon him selfe without a verie good and assured warrant from God but if he be commaunded by God to take anie such singular maner of life vpon him he maie not refuse it in respecte of the singularitie for that were to refuse the gyfte and grace of God The like answere maie be made to them also that reason and saie that all extremities are to be eschewed and only the meane to be embraced For it is a most certaine ground that whatsoeuer almightie God willeth can not be taken for an extremitie forsomuch as his will is to vs a most true and infallible rule by the which rule he measureth to euerie one accordingly as he seeth most expedient And manie tymes what we imagin to be to one man a great extremitie that knoweth he to be to an other man the verie iust meane wherin consisteth vertue As for those that said that she was deceiued by the Deuel there needeth none answere to be geuen forsomuch as the thing it selfe answereth them sufficiently For admit that she
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
restitution both of the one and the other to wite both of the honour of God and also of the saluation of man was appointed by God to be wrought by the meane of his Crosse therfore he had euermore a meruelous great desir to come vnto it which desire was vndoubtely a verie cordial and continual Crosse vnto him and neuer ended vntill the tyme came that his bodie was in deed stretched out and nailed vpon the tree of the Crosse She reasoned yet further concerning that Crosse of desire and said thus No man liuing is able to make a iust estimate of the paines and tormentes that our Sauiour suffred in his hart by reason of the desire that he had to paie the debt of mankind to deliuer them from the sentence of death and to bring them againe into the fauour of God They only that loue God with all their hart with all their sowle with all their strength and their neighbour as them selues maie ghesse in some degree what his paine was Such good men maie iudge in part by the loue that they haue thē selues to the honour of God and saluation of man and by the griefe that they feele in them selues when the thing that they loue is either taken awaie or long delaied what his griefe was They maie iudge I saie in part not perfectly forsomuch as the loue that man hath or can haue to the honour of God and saluation of man be it neuer so great is nothging in comparison of that passing great loue that was in the hart of our Sauiour Christ And therfore the desire that he had to recouer both the one and the other must needes cawse in him a greater sorrowe without all comparison then euer was or could be in man vntill he sawe an effectual and perfecte restitution made to God of his honour and reuerence to man of his former state of grace in this presente life and of glorie in the life to come And thus much he signified to his disciples when he said those wordes I haue had an earnest desire to eate this passeouer with you and afterwardes likewise when in his praier to God the father he said Father take awaie this cup from me Which is as if he had said in plaine wordes Father I see here prepared for me a verie bitter cup of most sharpe tormentes and death which I haue droncke continually in desire euen from the hower of my conception but now do begynne to drincke the same in deed and so to make an end of drincking this paineful potion of the Crosse which I desire thee to hasten and bring to an end For that being once passed and gone I shall reape the frute of my long and earnest desire to witte I shall haue fulfilled myne obedience in all pointes to thee restitution shal be made perfectly to God of his due honour to man of his foremer state And I desire not to haue this cup of my passion taken awaie which thou hast here made readie for me which I take at thy fatherly hand like an obedient sonne and drincke it willingly but I desire to haue that cup taken awaie from me and ended which I haue droncke with such an earnest and greedie desire so manie yeares for the loue that I beare to thyne honour and to the saluation of mankind This was the exposition that she made vpon this place of the gospel against the which bicause it seemed straung and singular her ghostlie Father doctour Raimundus reasoned after this maner Mother said he you knowe that the holie Fathers do commonly geue an other interpretation to this place almost contrarie to this that you haue said They saie that our Lord desired in deed rather not to drincke that cup then to drinke it meanyng therby to declare to vs that he was true man and that as true man his flesh did naturally abhorre death as the flesh of euerie man doth And by this he would geue a doctrine and withall an example in him selfe to all weake and fraile men that they should not be dismaied though they felt in them selues that they did feare death Forsomuch as the like feare frailtie was seene in our head also who tooke vpon him all our infirmities onlie synne excepted To this the holie maid made answere thus Father said she I knowe right well that the holie doctours do expound this place as you haue said and I find no fault with their exposition And though this interpretation that our Lord hath taught me seeme diuerse or almost contrarie as you thinke to that yet is it verie true and maie well stand with the common exposition of the holie Fathers Father it is certaine that our Sauiour Christ was head not only of the weake and fraile that feare and flee death but also of the strong and mightie that beare it manfully and yeald not to the feare and shrynking of the flesh And therfore he would in this acte and wordes geue a doctrine and example to them both He would tremble and feare and desire that the bitter cup of his passiō might passe awaie to geue an example to the weake that they might likewise feare and flee death without anie offence if they had no commaundement from God to the cōtrarie He would also ouercome that feare and quaking of the flesh by the force of reason and zeale of Gods honour and desire his Father to hasten that cup of his passion and death to geue an example to the strong that they should not yeald to the frailtie of the flesh and shrincke at the terrour of death but folowe the direction of the spirite and offer them selues valiantly to tormentes and to death it selfe when by so doing they might either honour God or edifie their neighbour And I see no cause whie one place of the scripture should not haue manie interpretations forsomuch as the holie scripture as you knowe hath manie senses and meanynges Which the holie Ghost hath so ordained that the holie scripture might serue diuerse and sundrie persones to diuerse and sundrie effectes As we see this present text being diuersely expounded serueth men of diuerse qualitie to verie good purpose The weake for a refuge if they retire and saue them selues the strong for a warrant if they steppe forewardes and offer them selues to euident danger for Gods sake Then if you aske me how these two interpretations maie stand together the one being contrarie to the other for by the one our Sauiour required that the cup of his passion might be hastened by the other that it might passe awaie I answere that I take it for none inconuenience that in that agonie he should haue those two contrarie effectes in him selfe the one according to the flesh whose propertie it is naturally to repine at anie thing that maie hurt the other according to the spirite which looking to the honour of God and saluation of mankind desired earnestly the bitter cup of his death by the drinking wherof he knewe
was depriued of that passing great ioye and felicitie and sent backe againe to this darcke prison of my bodie Thus much I thought good to signifie to you father and to others also for this end that when you vnderstand what a blesful state of life I haue forgon for a tyme God knoweth howe long and that I haue forgon the same by the ordinance of God for the weale and edifyng of soules you should not meruaile hereafter if you see that I beare a great loue to them who haue cost me so deere and that to wynne them to God I do alter the state of my life and conuerse with them more familiarly then I haue done hitherto When doctour Raimundus had heard thus much he gaue a great charge to as manie as were present of the brethren and sisters that they should in no wise vtter anie part of her talke so long as she liued For being a wise man he sawe that wordlie persones such as had not wholly and perfectly subiected all their vnderstandinge to the power of Christe were like to take more harme by it then good And he sawe then presently by experience that some of her owne scholers which had before that tyme heard and folowed her doctrine went backeward bicause they were not able to apprehend the high mysteries that she vttered vnto them But after her death fearing lest he should haue offended God if he had concealed such great workes and wonders he committed all to writing for the benefite of the posteritie For further confirmation wherof I thinke it not amisse to towch briefely a verie notable thing that it pleased our Lord to worke by her while she was so seperated from her bodie At what tyme this holie maid drewe neere to her death to the seemyng of such as were about her there resorted vnto her diuerse and sundrie of her spiritual children to see the maner of her passage and with them manie deuout persones both men and women By whome her Confessour doctour Thomas was also sent for to be present at her departure and to helpe her as the maner is with the praiers and Sacramentes of holie Church Who came speedily and three other of his brethren with him When they sawe that she had geuen vp the Ghost they lamented all for the losse of their deere mother but aboue the rest one of the religious brethren whose name was brother Iohn of Siena sorowed so much and wept so vehemently that he brake a vaine in his brest by reason wherof he coughed and auoided great gobbettes of blood Which was an occasion of double sorowe to as manie as were there for both they lamented the decease of the holie virgin which was alreadie gone and also the peril of that good man who with such paine was not like to continue long after Wherupon doctour Thomas her Cōfessour being inwardly moued with compassion said to that sicke Friar with a great faith and affiance in God Brother Iohn you knowe that this holie maid was of verie great merite and estimation in the sight of almightie God for her vertuous conuersation Wherfore take her hand and put it to the place of your bodie where you feele your selfe aggrieued And I doubt not but that you shal find helpe and comfort He did as he was willed and foorthwith the disease of his brest lefte him and neuer came againe so long as he liued There was present at all these doinges besides these afore named one of her spiritual daughters called Alexa who departed out of this wordle not long after There were also two other of the sisters of penance who came to make the bodie readie for the burial One of them was named Catherine which had bene her companion long tyme in religion the other was her cosen and was called Pisa These spirituall persons with many other gaue testimonie for the truthe of all this matter but aboue all others Friar Ihon did not only testifie it in wordes as other did but also declared the maner of it and affirmed it constantly in all places wheresoeuer he became How she had a meruelous deuotion and longyng after the blessed Sacrament and how she bare manie reproaches and slaunders for the same Chap. 30. THis holy maide had such an earneste longinge after the blessed Sacramente of our Lordes body and blood and receiued the same so often that manie of them that resorted to that Church and saw hir verie often at the Aultar to receiue supposed that she had communicated daylie Which was an occasion of greate trouble both to her and to her Confessor by certaine vndiscreet and ignorant persons who being puffed vp with an opinion of knowledg and withall pretending some colour of pietie said that her often receiuing was not to be liked bicause it would in tyme cause her to haue the blessed Sacrament in lesse reuerence and estimation Which vaine and ignorant supposition her Confessour answered very learnedly alleaging most certaine and infallible groundes first out of the Actes of the Apostles where it is writen by S. Luke that the disciples of Christ and such as were newly turned to the faith by them did continue daily in breaking of bread that is in receiuing of the blessed Sacrament then also out of S. Denyse S. Pauls scholer who declareth likewise in his booke intituled Ecclesiastica Hierarchia that in the primitiue Church the faithful people did vse to communicate euerie daie and last of all out of the holie ghospel where we are taught by our Sauiour him selfe to saie in our dailie praier Geue vs this daie our daily bread Which bread maie in deed signifie our bodilie food and sustenance but not only nor principally for the bread that we ought principally to seeke at Gods hand euerie daie is the bread of our soule or rather to speake truly the bread of our soule and bodie Which is the bodie and blood of our Sauiour Christ really substantially ministred vnto the faithful people in the Church vnder the forme of bread in the holie Sacrament of the aulter But contrariwise for confirmation of their opinion they alleaged to the holie maid a saying of S. Augustine whose wordes are these To communicate daily is a thing which I neither praise nor blame Which fond allegatiton she answered her selfe verie pretily saying If it be so said she that S. Augustine will not blame me wherefore do you blame me As who should saie If S. Augustine who was a great learned man and knewe how to directe his iudgement by the rules of Gods word durst not take vpon him to determine the matter lest he should seeme to set him selfe a iudge ouer other mens consciences how dare you to iudge of my conscience and to blame me for often receiuing considering that the thing being in it selfe indifferent is made either verie good or verie euel according to the disposition of the persone that receiueth verie good and holesome if it be receiued worthely verie euel and pernicious if it
affection towardes the Church of God so did those wicked feendes increase their crueltie towardes her beating and bounsing her daie and night and withal filling her eares with their most horrible cries saying O thou cursed wretch thou hast euer ben against vs. But be thou well assured the tymes is now come that we will be euen with thee Thou hast oftentymes disappointed vs of our purposes And therefore now we will neuer geue thee ouer vntill we haue made a full riddance of thee in such sort that thou shalt neuer be able to hinder vs anie more Thus much the holie maid wrote her selfe in a letter to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father And so she continued in such vexation and tormentes from the sonday of Septuagesima vntill the last sauing one of April on the which daie it pleased our Lord to call her out of this life How the holie maid obteined by praier that she might satisfie the iustice of God for the paines dwe to her father in Purgatorie Chap. 8. WHen Iames this holie maides father sawe that his daughter was wholly geuen to the seruice of God as it hath ben declared in the first part of this booke he cast a verie special loue and affection to her and entreated her in his house with great respecte and reuerence and had this opinion of her that she was able to obteine at Gods hand for him what she would And she likewise bare a verie singular loue and reuerence to her father and commended his health to God in her dailie praiers in most earnest maner It chaunced that her father fell into a verie grieuous sickenes kept his bed The which when she vnderstood she turned her selfe to God in praier after her accustomed maner and besought him that her father might recouer againe But answere was geuen her from God that the end of his daies in this life was come and that it was not expedient for him to liue anie longer With that she went foorthwith to her father to visite him and to examine him how he was disposed in his soule and found him readie and willing to passe out of this wordle whensoeuer it should please God to call him wherof she was verie glad and thanked our Lord with all her hart Then she praied furthermore that seeing our Lord had voutchsafed to call her father out of this life in the state of saluation it might also stand with his holie will and pleasure to make him this graunt that he might passe out of hand to the ioyes of heauen not be staied anie tyme in the paines of Purgatorie Whereunto our Lord made her answere that the order of iustice must needes be obserued which would not beare that anie soule should haue the fruition of those vnspeakeable ioyes vnlesse it were most perfectly purged before And though her father had lead a conuenient good life in his vocation and had done manie good workes also which were verie acceptable in the sight of God of the which one principal worke was the mainteinyng of her in religion yet there remained some rust of earthlie conuersation which of right must be tried out with the fyer of purgatorie When she heard that she made her praier to our Lord after this maner O most mercifull Lord how maie I abide that the soule of my deere father whome thou hast appointed to be the meane to bring me into this wordle by whome I haue ben so carefully prouided for in my tender age at whose hand I haue receiued so manie comfortes and reliefes by whose handie labour and charges I haue ben mainteined thus maine yeares in thy seruice should now be tormented with the paines of Purgatorie I beseech thee O father of mercies and God of all comfort for all the louing kindnes that euer thou hast shewed to mankind that thou wilt not suffer my fathers sowle to depart out of his bodie vntill it be by one meane or other so perfectly tried and purified that it need no further purgation A wonderful thing to consider After the tyme that the holie maid had said those wordes it was euidently seene that her fathers bodie decaied more and more as it did before to wardes death all his powers failing sensibly in such sort that all men sawe by the course of nature it could not continue anie tyme. And yet for so long time as she continued in praier wrestling as it were with almightie God and labouring to incline him in some degree if it were possible from iustice to mercie they might perceiue that his soule was holden in his bodie by some spiritual power and could in no wise depart At the length when she sawe that the iustice of God must needes be satisfied she said thus O most merciful Lord if it cā not otherwise be but that thy iustice must be answered I beseech thee turne thy iustice vpon me whatsoeuer paines thou hast appointed for my father laie the same vpon my bodie I will willingly beare them To that our Lord consented said vnto her Daughter for the loue that thou bearest to me I am content to graunt thee thy petition to transpose the paines due to thy father to laie the same vpon thee which thou shalt beare in thy bodie so long as thou liuest With that she thanked God most hūbly and said O Lord thy iudgemētes are all iust be it done to me as thou hast determined And so she made hast towardes her father who laie in extremes And she cōforted him meruelously with that glad tidinges wēt not frō him vntill he had geuē vp the ghost So soone as her father was departed she felt her selfe foorthwith pained with a grieuous disease in her side called Iliaca passio which neuer wēt frō her so lōg as she liued The which paine she bare not only patiētly but also cheerefully cōceiuīg such an inward ioy of that B. state that she knew her father was in that she litle esteemed the outward paine of her owne bodie In so much that at the tyme of her fathers departure when all other that were present made great lamentation she smiled sweetely and shewing great gladnes in her countenance said these wordes Deere father would God I were as you are Our Lord be blessed How the holie maid by praier brought her mother to life againe and so deliuered her from the paines of hell Chap. 9. AS the holie maid shewed her selfe to be a verie louing and duetiful child towardes her father so did she likewise afterwardes shewe the like loue and charitie towardes her mother as her duetie required Her mother Lapa was verie sicke and her sickenes grewe on her euerie daie more and more in such sort that there were seene in her great tokens of death and small hope of life All the which notwithstanding she was so drowned in the wordle that she might in no wise heare of death and be brought to confourme her will to the will of God When her daughter
sawe that being moued with pitie she turned her selfe to God after her accustomed maner in praier and besought him with great instance that he would voutchsafe to prolong her mothers life Our Lord made answere that if she could be brought to dispose her selfe to die at that tyme it would be best for her forsomuch as if she liued longer there were such stormes of troubles and aduersitie towardes her as she should not be able to beare The holie maid hearing that went to her mother and comforted her and vsed manie sweet perswasions with her to induce her to be content seeing it was the will of God to passe out of this wretched state to a more happie and blessed life But the mother geuing but a deaffe eare to this kind of talke charged her daughter earnestly that she should rather praie to God for the continuance of her life for as yet she could in no wise be brought to depart out of the wordle Then the holie maid in great anguish and perplexitie of mynd became a mediatrix betweene almightie God and her mother humbly beseeching him on the one side that he would not suffer her mother to depart vntill she were resolued to die willingly for his loue and earnestly exhorting her on the other side that she should yeald her hart fully and wholly to the will of God But she was so fixed on the wordle that she might not abide to heare of death Whereupon our Lord speake to the holie maid after this sort Daughter said he tell thy mother that if she will not consent to die now a tyme shall come when she shal be so afflicted that she shall desire to die and shall not be heard Which saying of our Lord tooke effecte within a litle tyme after and she was in deed so miserably tormented in mynd with the losse of her temporal goods vnto the which she bare a meruelous inordinate loue that she brake out impatiently into certaine wordes as it were of desperation and despite against God saying Is it possible that God hath so inclosed my soule in this crooked bodie that it can find no waie out Haue I sent so manie of my sonnes and daughters kinsfolkes and frindes housband and all out of the wordle before me with great griefe and now am constreined to remaine here alone after them all to see my selfe ouerwhelmed with heauines and miserie And so with this bitternes of hart and murmuring against God she passed out of this life without anie further contrition or repentance for her synnes Her daughter tooke this maner of her departure meruelous heauily and could receiue no coÌ„fort but setting her selfe to praier which she had euermore tried to be a present remedie against all euels she sighed sobbed and wept verie lamentably and powred out the griefe of her hart before God with these wordes O my deere Lord and God are these the promises that thou hast made me that there should no one of my house and familie perish in the handes of the enemie Behold ô Lord my mother is now passed out of this life without repentance for her synnes without confession without the rightes of holie Church O sweet Lord O Father of all comfort I most humbly beseech thee in the bowels of thy tender mercie that thou wilt not reiecte the petition of thy lowlie handmaid at this tyme. See ô Lord I lie here prostrate before thy diuine Maiestie and will not rise out of this place vntill my mother be restored to life againe and I ascertained of her saluation that thy promises maie be verified and my soule comforted While the holie maid was thus praying there were a nomber of women in the chamber some of the houshold and some of the neighbours that came thither at that tyme as the maner is to mourne and to doe such thinges as were to be done about the dead corps Emong these women some there were also that gaue diligent eare to the holie maid heard distinctly what wordes she spake in her praier But they all sawe this and were witnesses of the same that soone after the holie maid had ended her praier the sowle returned to the bodie againe and the woman liued afterwardes a conuenient tyme to repent her of her former offences and so died in the state of grace This storie did the holie maid her selfe declare afterwardes to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie father How the holie maid obteined of God by praier the conuersion of two theeues that were lead to execution Chap. 10. ON a daie while the holie maid was in the house of one of her sisters called Alexia it chaÌ„ced that two famoê° theeues condemned to death were caried in a cart thorough the streete towardes the place of execution Their sentence was that by the waie as they were caried they should be pinched now in one part of their bodie and now in an other with hote yrons or pincers and so in the end put to death Which paine was so intolerable that they which were before in a desperate state and might by no perswasions be brought to repent them of their manifold and heinous offences committed against God and the wordle blasphemed God all his Sainctes In so much that it seemed that the temporal tormentes that they were now in were but a begynning and waie to these euerlasting tormentes and fyer that they went vnto But our merciful Lord whose prouident goodnes disposeth all thinges sweetly had otherwise determined of them When they were come neere to this house Alexia hearing a great concourse and noyse of people in the streete went to the windowe to see what it might be And seeing the horrible maner of the execution she ranne in againe and said to the holie maid O mother if euer you will see a pitiful sight come now With that the holie maid went to the windowe and looked out and so soone as she had seene the maner of the execution she returned foorthwith to her praiers againe For as she declared afterwardes secretly to Doctour Raimundus she sawe a great multitude of wicked spirites about those fellons which did burne their soules more cruelly within then the tormentours did their bodies without Which lamentable sight moued her to double compassion She had great pitie to see their bodies but much more to seâ— their soules wherefore turning her selfe to our Lord with great feruour of spirite she made her praier to him after this maner Ah deere Lord wherefore dost thou suffer these thy creatures made to thyne owne image and likenes and redeemed with the price of thy most precious blood to be thus lead awaie in triumph by the cruel enemie I know ô Lord confesse that these men are iustly punished according to the measure of their offences So was the theefe also that hong by thee on the Crosse whom notwithstanding thou tookest to mercie saying that he should be with thee that verie daie in Paradyse Thou diddest not refuse Peeter but gauest him a
frindlie and comfortable looke though he like an vnkind man had thrice refused and denied thee Thou drewest Marie Magdalen to thee with the lines of loue when she had estranged her selfe from thee by her manifold synnes Thou tookest Mathewe the Publicane from a synful trade of life in the wordle to be an Apostle and Euangelist Thou diddest not repell the woman of Cananee nor Zacheus the Prince of Publicans but didest most sweetly accept the one and inuite the other Wherefore I most humbly beseech thee for all thy mercies hitherto shewed vnto man and for all those also that thyne infinite goodnes hath determined to shewe hereafter that thou wilt voutchsafe to looke downe vpon these wretched creatures mollifie their hartes with the fyer of thy holie spirite that they maie be deliuered from the second death Our Lord heard the praier of his Spowse and graunted her such a grace that she went in spirite with those two theeues towardes the place of execution weeping and lamenting for their synnes and mouing them to repentance for the same Which thing the wicked sprites perceiued well inough and therefore they cried out vpon her and said Catherine leaue to trouble vs. If thou wilt not we will surely enter into thee and vexe thee To whom the holie maid made this answere As God will so will I. And therefore I will not cease to doe what lieth in me for the reliefe of these poore wretches because I know it is the will of God that I should so doe And so continuing in praier she procured them a verie singular fauour and grace as the effecte declared For when these theeues were come to the gate of the citie our Sauiour Christ appeered to them shewing to them his precious woundes all streamīg downe with blood inuiting them to become repētant for their former life Which if they did he put them in a sure cōfort that all was quite forgeuen At this strāge sight their hartes were sodainly so altered to the great wōder of as manie as were there presēt that they changed their stile and turned their blasphemie into thākesgeuing praysing God for his great mercies And shewing thēselues to be hartely sorie contrite for their synnes desired earnestly that they might haue a Priest to heare their Cōfessiōs That done they went forward cheerfully towardes the place of executiō where they shewed likewise great tokens of ioy cōfort for that they had to passe by a reproachful death to a glorious life All the people sawe this strange alteratiō were much astonied at it because as thē they vnderstood not the cause thereof which afterwards came to light by this meane The Priest that heard these fellōs Cōfessiōs wēt soone after to visit Doct. Rai the holie maides Cōfessour in talke declared vnto him how wonderfully God had wrought with thē Doct. Rai foorthwith begā to suspect as it was indeed therfore asked Alexia what the holie maid was doīg at that tyme whē the theeues were lead thorough their street towardes the place of executiō She made him answer declared the whole processe of the matter so much as she had seene heard in her owne house Whereby Doctour Raimundus sawe a verie great likelihood that the thing had ben wrought as he deemed before by the praier and intercession of the holie maid Howbeit for the more assurance he tooke an occasion afterwardes to aske the holie maid her selfe And she to the honour of God and for the satisfaction of her ghostlie father declared vnto him particularly how euerie thing had passed Within a fewe daies after this was done certaine of the sisters that chaunced to be present while the holie maid was praying heard her saie these wordes in her praier with a full voice O Lord Iesu I most hartely thanke thee that thou hast deliuered them out of the second prison Of the which wordes being demaunded afterwardes what she meant by them she made answere that the soules of those theeues were as then deliuered out of Purgatorie and restored to Paradyse Such was her charitie towardes them that as she had by praier deliuered them from the euerlasting tormentes of hell so she neuer ceased to praie for them vntill she sawe that they were also passed the temporal paines of Purgatorie and receiued into euerlasting blisse How by the praier of the holie maid an obstinate synner was turned to God Chap. 11. THere was a man dwelling in the citie of Siena called Andrewe Mardine well endued with wordlie substance but bare of heauenlie ritches void of the loue and feare of God a baretter blasphemer and wicked liuer This man about the fortieth yeare of his age was sodainly taken with a verie grieuous sickenes which held him so vehemently that he was faine to keepe his bed where he laie waxed euerie daie weaker weaker vntill at the length he was geuen ouer by the Phisicions and despaired of all men His curate hearing that came to visite him and as his Pastoral charge required exhorted him with manie wordes that he should now in the end of his life dispose him selfe to Confession and penance for his soules health But he was so obstinately bent that he litle esteemed the Priest and lesse his counsel Which thing his wife perceiuing which was a good woman and had a great desire to sawe her husbandes soule ranne to diuerse and sundrie religious persones both men and women besought them that they would come and doe their diligence to turne his hart They came at her instance and vsed manie perswasible meanes to bring him to a better mynd setting before his eyes now the horrible threates of hell fyer and now the sweete peomises of the ioyes of heauen but all in vaine After them came the curate againe with great heauines and care to doe what in him laie towardes the recouerie of this sowle that was thus in danger to perish He exhorted him as he had done before and thereunto added manie goodlie perswasions to induce him to be repentant for his foremer life and to call to God for mercie But the wretched mans hart was so hardened that he might not endure to heare him speake but scorned both him and his holesome exhortations In so much that at the lenght he fell into plaine desperation and synne against the holie Ghost and in that damnable state drewe on a pace towardes his end This matter chanced to come to the knowledge of doctour Thomas who hauing great compassion of the wretched mans case went foorthwith towardes the holie Maides lodging hoping by her mediation to find some grace in the sight of God But when he came thither he found the holie maid rauished from her bodilie senses And so long as she was so he durst not doe anie thing to her bodie wherby to bring her againe and tarrie there anie longer he might not bicause it wae verie late in the euenyng Wherefore he gaue a verie streight charge to one of
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
her But she might not abide to heare anie wordes that tended to her owne commendation and therefore she went awaie As she was going out doctour Raimundus came towardes the howse and met with her in the gate looking verie heauily of the matter for he knewe nothing of all this that was done in the howse but came directly from the phisicion When he sawe her there being as it were ouercome with sorrowe he said to her O mother will you suffer this good man that is soe deere to vs so profitable and necessarie to mà nie others to die after this sorte To that shee made answere verie humblie shewing in deed that she had no liking in such wordes O Father said shee what maner of talke is this that you vse to mee Take yee me to be a God that you would haue me to deliuer a mortall man from death I pray you said he speake these wordes to some other that is a stranger to you and not to me that knowe your secretes I knowe right well that whatsoeuer you aske of God hartely he will grant it you With that she bowed downe her head a litle smyled and after a tyme looking vp to him againe cheerefully she said these wordes Father be of good cheere for he shall not die at this tyme. VVhen doctour Raimundus heard those wordes he was a glad man for he knewe well what grace and prerogatiue was geuen to her from aboue And so he went into the house to comfort his frind not knowing in deed that he had no need of it but supposing that the thing had ben yet to do that was alreadie done VVhen he came in he found him sitting vp in good health and liking declaring vnto them that were about him the maner of the miracle that was wrought vpon him selfe For the further confirmation wherof the table was laid and they eate together that mornyng not such meates as sicke men vse to eate but rawe oynions and such other grosse meates as can not be digested but only in whole stomakes And as they were eating they tooke great pleasure to recite the wonderful thinges that it pleased God to worke by the holie maid In the tyme while this contagious disease reyned in Siena it chaunced a certaine Hermite called Sanctus that liued in an Hermitage a litle without the citie to be infected with the same The which thing when the holie maid vnderstood she caused him to be taken out of his cell and brought to this afore mentioned hospital of our Ladie of mercie VVhere she came to him with certaine other of her sisters tended him prouiding for him all such thinges as she thought necessarie or requisite for a man in that case And to comfort him with wordes also she put her head to his and whispered him softely in the eare saying Be not afraid howsoeuer yee feele your selfe for yee shall not dye at this tyme. But to the rest that were there she said no such thing but rather when they entreated her that she would praie to God for his recouerie she gaue them but an vncomfortable answere which made them verie sad for they all knewe him to be a holie man and therfore both honoured and loued him verie tenderly The disease increased howerly more and more and he decayed so sensibly that they dispairing his life gaue ouer the charge of his body and looked only to the health of his soule At the length when he was in extreames they all stoode about him with greate heuines looking only when he woulde giue vp the ghost the holie maide came to him againe and said in his eare Be not afraid for yee shal not die at this time The sicke man both heard vnderstood that word though before it seemed that he was past all sense And he tooke comfort in it rather crediting the word of the holie maid that sounded in his eare then the throwes of death that griped him by the hart Howbeit he shewed no token of amendement and therefore they not vnderstanding what she had said prouided lightes and other thinges necessarie for his burial looking still when he would depart out of this life And in this howerly expectation of death they continued certaine daies longer in deed then men are wont to liue that are sicke of that disease At the length when it seemed that he was euen passing out of the wordle the holie maid came to him againe and spake these wordes in his eare I commaund thee in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ that thou passe not at this tyme. At that word he tooke comfort of spirite and strength of bodie and rose vp in his bed and called for meate and in the presence of them all eate his meate with good appetite and receiued perfecte health and liued after manie yeares and was one of them that were present with the holie maid in Rome when she departed out of this wordle And he declared afterwardes what wordes the holie maid spake in his eare how by the vertue of the same his soule that was vpon the verie point of departing out of his bodie was mightely reteined adding furthermore that he esteemed the miracle that was wrought vpon him selfe to be no lesse then if she had raised him vp againe from death to life and that without all doubt it was no natural cause that had restored him againe but only the almightie power of God working by the meanes of that holie maid During this tyme of pestilēce in the citie of Siena it pleased God to worke an other miraculous cure by the meanes of the holy maid vpon Doct Raimundus her owne ghostlie father after this maner The plague increased so sore and the inhabitantes fled so fast for feare of infection not only the citizēs but also the priestes and religious persones that manie soules remained without comfort or counsel But doct Raimundus taried still in the citie would not remoue but determined with him selfe that he would visite helpe as manie as he could possibly The which charitable purpose being once knouē he was so much called vpō to earnestly intreated to come now to one house and now to an other bicause there were fewe or none to helpe him that he had scantly leisure to eate his meate or to take his rest One night whē he had rested on his bed thought to haue risen vp after his accustomed maner to say his seruice he felt a verie great paine in his flāke And feeling with his hand he found that there was a great sweelling in the place which made him sore afraid For experience had taught him that the disease begā commonly after that maner Wherfore he laie still in his bed durst not rise but began to thinke of death euermore wishing that it had ben daie that he might haue gone and spoken with the holie maid before the disease had taken full place in him In the meane tyme the ague came vpon him and withal a