the caue would suffer her to rise And so she continued from mornyng till noone But whē she perceiued that she was thus lifted vp from the earth she began to feare and to suspecte that it might be some deceite of the ghostlie enemie whose drifte might be by this meane to put her in feare and so to hinder her designement of going into the wildernes And therfore she set her selfe to praie more feruently and to abase her self more and more before God Wherevpon about that verie hower that our Sauiour after his passion was taken downe from the Crosse it pleased his diuine maiesty that she likewise should descend by litle and litle in like maner as she had ascended And he made her to vnderstand by his secret inspiration that the tyme was not yet come in the which she should forsake her fathers howse and put her bodie to such penance and affliction Wherfore she was in mynd to returne home againe But when she came foorth and sawe her selfe all alone and beheld the gate of the citie which seemed to be so farre off that she douted her weake and feeble bodie would neuer be able to endure so long a iourney fearing also lest her father and mother should thinke that she had ben lost she set her selfe againe to praier and cōmitted the matter wholly to God who failed not to supplie the weakenes of his litle hand maid and sent a litle clowd which tooke her vp from the grownd and carying her in the ayer set her in a verie short tyme in the gate of the citie from whence she went with all speed home to her Father and mother who suspected nothing at all of anie such matter but thought she had ben with her sister Bonauentura How shee vowed her virginitie vnto almightie God Chap. 4. SVch was the vertue and operation of this afore mentioned reuelation that it drewe al wordlie loue and affection out of the hart of this yong maid and wrought in the same a certaine holie loue to the Sonne of God only and to his most glorious mother the virgin Marie And this loue was so great that she accounted all the delites and pleasures of this wordle as verie durt and dong in comparison of her sweet spowse Iesus Christ Moreouer being now seuen yeares old she had learned only by the inward instructiō of the holie Ghost in her hart that is was a goodly state of life withal verie acceptable vnto God to liue in all puritie cleannes both of bodie and sowle She had learned also that our blessed Ladie the most pure vnspotted mother of God was the first that dedicated her selfe by vowe to serue God in that most cleane and perfecte state of virginitie And therfore she thought it most expedient for the obteinyng of that grace to make her humble suite to her who had before al others obteined the same at Gods hand for her selfe and vndoubtedly for all those that should afterwardes require it at her hand with the like humilitie and earnest desire Being therfore of the age of seuen yeares she set her selfe verie grauely sadly to take aduisement what order of life was best for her to take and for the better resolution in that point she praied to our blessed Ladie queene of Angels and virgins that it would please her to make intercession to her deere Sonne that he would vowchsafe to teach her by the instincte of his spirite what waie she might best take that were most to his glorie and to her sowles health Our blessed Ladie mother of pitie and comfort by whose gracious mocion this holie desire was first planted in her hart heard the discrete demaund of this wise yong virgin and answered her iust request First with a dailie increase of greater desire longing after the thing requested which was to knowe how she might order her life to be most acceptable vnto God then also with a resolution from God certifying her by secret inspiration in her hart that his will and pleasure was that she should serue him with all purity both of bodie and sowle in the state of virginitie The which when she vnderstood she suffred not that heauenlie fyer enkendled in her hart to be quenched nor to slake but being wholly inflamed with the loue of that most excellent and goodlie maner of life she chose out a secret place in the howse farre from the conuersation of all persones where she might with the more freedome of spirite offer vp her praiers and vowes to almightie God and there composing her selfe both in bodie and mynd with all humilitie she made her praier after this maner O most blessed Ladie O most glorious and sacred virgin mother of God which before all other women diddest by vowe consecrate thy virginitie vnto God becamest therby so gratious in his sight that he would haue his only Sonne to be borne of thee I most humbly beseech thee trusting not in anie merites of myne owne but only in thyne vnspeakable pitie that thou wilt vowchsafe to obteine me such grace and fauour with thy only begotē Sōne that frō this day foreward I may take him for the lawful deerly belowed spowse of my sowle And I here geue my faith and promise both to him and to thee that I shall neuer take other spowse but shall by the assistance of his holie grace doe what in me lieth to keepe my selfe a true and vndefiled virgin to him alone Thus praied this yong handmaid of Christ with great lowlines and feruencie of of spirite And her praier was heard her vowe accepted and she receiued to be the vndefiled spowse of the vnspotted lambe of God Iesus Christ The which thing when she vnderstood as she did by and by by the inward inspiration of the holie Ghost being replenished with a certaine holie feare she emploied her whole care and studie how she might best keepe her selfe chast true to her deere spowse And though as yet she felt no motion to vncleannes in her flesh yet to prouide like a wise womā for the tyme to come she began euen in those tender yeares to tame her bodie with fasting watching abstinence from all deliteful thinges and namely from eating of flesh In so much that when anie flesh was laid vnto her at the table either she gaue it to her brother Steuen that sate by her or els she conueied it priuily awaie that no man might see it She praied verie often and much subdued her bodie with much hard and sharpe discipline sometymes by her selfe alone sometymes with other yong children which resorted vnto her at tymes and were as it were trayned vnder her in spiritual exercises And so with these and other the like workes she preserued increased the graces of God that were plāted in her by her deere spowse Iesus Christ Of a woderfull zeale that was in her to wynne sowles to God and how for that cause she cast a great loue to
and enuironed round about with that heauenly and vnspeakeable light the beawtie and brightnes wherof was so great that no tongue was able to expresse it This testimonie of the sicke woman was spread allouer the citie by reason wherof the fame of the blessed virgin and the opinion of her rare vertue and holines was so much increased as the malice of the deuel had thought to haue obscured the same by this false treacherie But in all this as she was nothing deiected by the raising of that slanderous reporte so was she nothing puffed vp with pride for all the honour that the wordle gaue her but acknowledging humblie all vertues and holines to be the gyftes of God she continued still in her foremer state at the seruice of that sicke woman But the ghostlie enemie whose malice ceaseth not though he sawe that he had had verie euel lucke in all that he had euer attempted against her before yet like an earnest gamester he thought he would aduenture one cast more as it were vpon desperation On a tyme as the holie maid was dressing the old womans sore by the malicious working of the feend there issued out of it such a loathsome and horrible stench that she was vpon the point to haue cast vp all that was in her bodie The which when she sawe perceuing that it was the practise of that venemous serpent she entred into an earnest displeasure against her owne flesh and spake to her selfe with great vehemencie of spirite saying Ah wretched and caraine flesh dost thou loath thyne euen Christian I shall make thee not only to endure the sauour of it but also to reciue it within thee With that she tooke all the wasshing of the sore together with the corrupt matter and filth and going aside put it all into cup and drancke it vp lustely And in so doing she ouercame at one tyme both the skeymishnes of her owne stomake and malice of the Deuel This was told afterwardes to her ghostlie Father in her presence and she confessed that it was all true and said furthermore that she could not remember that she had euer eaten or droncken such a pleasant and delicate meate or drincke as that seemed to be in all her life The next night folowing after this glorious victorie our Sauiour Christ appeered vnto her and showed her his handes feete and side in them imprinted the fiue woundes of his most bitter passion said vnto her Deere daughter manie are the battailes that thou hast susteined for my loue and great are the victories that thou hast atchieued through my grace and assistance For the which I beare thee great good will and fauour But especially that drincke that thou tookest yester daie for my sake liked me passingly well in the which bicause thou hast not only despised the delite of the flesh cast behind thy backe the opinion of the wordle and vtterly subdued thyne owne nature I will geue thee a drincke that shall passe in sweetnes and pleasure all the licours that the wordle is wont or able to geue With that he reached out his arme and tooke her about the necke and brought her mouth softely to the sacred wound of his side and said vnto her Drincke daughter drincke thy fill at the verie founteine of life This drincke shall replenish thy soule with vnspekeable sweetnes in such sort that it shall abound and ouerslowe into thy bodie also which thou hast so vtterly despised for my loue Then the holie maid set her mouth to with great greedines and drewe out of that founteine of euerlasting saluation the licour of life And so she continued sucking a good while not only with the mouth of her bodie but also and that much more with the mouth of her soule vntill at the length when his holie will and pleasure was she gaue ouer feeling her selfe in a meruelous blesful state For she had droncke her fill and yet was nothing glutted but rather thirstie and desirous to drincke still Which thirst and desire was no paine at all to her but rather a passing great delite pleasure After this tyme the holie maid was so replenished with heauenlie grace that she neither did nor might eate her bodilie meate in such sort as she was wont to doe before How she was endewed with manie goodlie priuileges How she had a passing desire to receiue the blessed Sacrament How being fortified by the spirite of God she endured much labour and trauaile without bodilie sustinance Chap. 12. AFter that the faithful disciple of Christ had thus by the grace of God ouercome diuerse and sundrie tentations being now thoroughly tried like fine gold in the fornace of tribulation there remained nothing els but only to receiue the crowne of iustice in life euerlasting But bicause the diuine prouidence of God had so disposed of her that she should yet remaine in this life a litle while for the benefite of others in the which tyme she was not able to receiue the fruition of that endles blesse that is prepared for the tyme to come and yet our Lord of his goodnes would not suffer her to continue anie longer in this present life without some degree or state of blessednes he gaue her a certaine tast or pledge of that blesful state that she was to receiue in the other life euen in this vale of miserie And he did it after this maner On a tyme while she was praying in her chamber our Lord appeered vnto her and spake after this maner My deere daughter Catherine I geue thee now to vnderstand that the rest of thyne abode in this wordle shal be full of such strang and vnwonted gyftes of my grace that it shall cause diuerse and sundrie effectes in the hartes of men Simple and ignorant persones shal be greatly astoined to see the thinges that shal be wrought by thee Carnal men and such as haue litle experience in spiritual matters shal be in danger to fall quite from their faith Yea and manie of those also that are good and vertuous seeing certaine tokens of my passing great loue towardes thee such as haue not lightly ben heard of and withal the wonderful strangenes of the thinges that thou shalt worke shall suppose that all is but deceite and illusion For I will endue thy soule with such abundance of grace that it shall redound into thy bodie also by reason wherof thou shalt lead such a meruelous kind of life as the wordle hath not oftentymes seene or heard tell of Againe I will enkendle in thine hart such a fyerie zeale both of myne honour and of the saluation of soules that thou shalt in a maner forget thyne owne kind and alter the wonted order of thy whole conuersation For thou shalt not from hence foorth shonne the compaine of men and women as thou hast hitherto but rather to wynne them to God thou shalt presse in emong them and labour to the vttermost of thy power Of this maner of
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
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
THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN SAINCT CATHARINE OF SIENA Drawne out of all them that had written it from the beginning And written in Italian by the reuerend Father Doctor Caterinus Senensis And now translated into Englishe out of the same Doctor by Iohn Fen Priest Confessar to the Englishe Nunnes at Louaine I H S With permission of Superiors Anno 1609. TO THE VERTVOVS AND CONSTANT LADIE THE LADIE D. I. ALL HAPPINES PERSEVERANCE AND INCREASE IN VERTV MADAM It is now long since that my hart hath had not only a verie inward compassiō of your miseries but also a vearie earnest desire to present vnto you some godlie Treatise which might both be consolatorie vnto you amidst your discomforts and a patterne for your conformitie vnto the life of Christ Knowe you therfore that amongst all the vertues which can shine in a perfect and constant Christian the forsaking of worldly riches and the patient supporting of tribulations are two most noble and incomparable vertues Which doctrin was set foorth by our Sauiour him selfe whē he willed the young man in the gospell first to forsake all that he had and next to take vp his crosse and to followe him Vnto this contempt of worldly riches especially when there is question of the honor of God or zeale of vertu many examples not only sacred but prophane doe plentifully exhort vs. Bias one of the seauen Sages of Greece seeing his cuntrie all in fire and flames and euery man gathering of moueables and riches to carrie with him beeing admonished by one to doe the like said Truly so I doe for all myne I carrie with me meaning his vertues Crates the Philosopher hauing cast all his monie into the bottom of the sea said Malo te perdere quam vt tu me perdas I had rather cast away thee then that thou should cast away me Aristippus coming to Diogenes and finding him washing his rootes said vnto him Thou bening a wise man and a Philosopher if thou vvouldest credit me thou shouldst not neede to vvash rootes but shouldst remaine in the court of a noble Prince with me To whom Diogenes answered and if thou quoth he wilt credit me and vse meane pouertie thou oughtest not with flatterie to lie to Princes To applie these examples vnto our selues That of Bias doth teache that vertu is the only iewel which a wise man should seeke to preserue before al worldly riches That of Crates that riches are to be cast from vs to be renounced when they can not be kept without the hinderance of vertu or offence of God That of Diogenes that the vertu of pouertie with peace of conscience is far to be perferred before a princes fauour when for the same we must flatter or dissemble against our conscience And thus you see in these heathen Philosophers which knewe no God what riches they contemned what treasures they despised what honors they refused what pouerty they embraced only for the zeale of morall vertu But alas so passing greate is the corrupted and abused iudgment of many in these our dayes that no man is deemed happie but he that is in honor no man wise but he that is wealthie no man wretched but he that is in wantes nor no kinde of punishement like to worldly pouertie How many are there who expose their soules to euerlasting perill thorough the inordinate loue of their worldly riches And how few are there who like vnto the mariners when they see any stormes or tempestes arise at sea doe cast out of their ship their riches and marchandise to saue their liues This caused holie S. Bernard to crye out and say O Vtinam congregata perirent non congregator eorum O would to God the thinges gathered might only perish and not their gatherer This caused holie Dauid to crie out and say Cadent à latere tuo mille decem millia à dextris tuis There shall fall a thousand on thy left side ten thousand on thy right side By the right hand spiritually is signified riches and prosperitie and by the left pouertie and aduersitie In both these men are mightilie assaulted many fall and many are quite ouercome but without comparison far greater slaughter is made in the time of prosperitie wealth and pleasure then in the time of aduersitie pouertie and miserie And this caused S. Gregorie to say that the seruantes of God in his world are more a fraid of prosperitie then they are of aduersitie For this respect our mercifull Lord out of his tender loue to his elect and fore-knowing to what hurt and danger their riches may turne them if they should beare an inordinate loue vnto them by sundrie meanes doth take them from them Imitatinge herein the cunning hunter who hauing espied out the tree against the which the Elephant vseth to leane when he would sleepe doth saw asunder the tree wherunto he thinking to repose falleth downe and so is taken Euen so doth God from some by cutting a sunder the liues of their frendes from others by taking from them their temporall goods vnto which they leaned more then to him and vnto others by touching them with sundrie kindes of tribulations Which yet he doth not of any hate but of a speciall loue which he beareth vnto them In figure whereof Isaac said vnto Esau gen 27. Come neere me that I may touch thee and that I may proue if thou be my sonne And S. Gregorie askinge the question what was wanting to Iob that he should be afflicted seeing he was adorned with all vertu This saith he that he might knowe to giue thankes in aduersitie For as the Apostle S. Paul saith Vertu is perfited in infirmitie To vvhich purpose vvhen a certaine person besought a holie man that by his praiers he vvould deliuer him of his sicknes the holie man hauing heard that he vvas better and deuouter in his sicknes then in his health ansvvered I beseeche our Lord to keepe thee in that state in vvhich thou art best For vvell he knevve that our Lorde hath a vvonderfull care ouer such as he suffereth to be afflicted Vnto vvhom he is as the phisitien is to the patient vvho fighteth not against the man but against his disease Vnto vvhom he speedely runneth as to a hurt member of his bodie and vvith a most speciall care and prouidence doth looke vnto him and povvre into his soule most plentifull store of heauenly grace and diuine consolation Novv Madam for as much as you haue voluntarily depriued your selfe of the riches and pleasures of this vvorld for the honor of God hovv may you not ioyfully reioyce vvith our Sauiour Christ and say Nunc venit princeps mundi huius in me non habet quicquam Novv the prince of this vvorld cometh and in me he hath nothing And hauing likevvise so paciently supported so great tribulations hovv may vve not al vvith vvonder say Venite videte opera Domini quae posuit prodigia
super terram Come and see the vvorkes of our Lorde vvhat vvonders he hath put vpon the earth For as Sampson being demanded vvherein his great force and strenght consisted confessed it to lye hid in most vveake haires so truly vve may rightly cōfesse say the like that God hath hidden in a most vveake sex most vvorthie valor victorie and inuincible courage You may vvell be confident in the goodnes of him who neuer permiteth any to be tempted aboue their abilitie For our Lord dealeth with the iust as he which casteth a pretious glasse vp on highe and suffereth it to fall vntill it come neere the ground and then catcheth it and saueth it that it be not broken meaning thereby not to breake the glasse but to shew his art that he knoweth how to saue it euen when to others it seemeth to be vtterly lost Wherfore good Madam nether let your longe afflictions seeme tedious vnto you nor account that lost which you haue left for Christ If we cast water about the roote of a fruitfull tree we doe not thinke that water lost because we expect great aboundance of fruite euen so that which we forgoe for the loue of Christ is not lost for we shall gather of that tree the fruite of eternall life Rather reioyce herein that by this your patience and sufferance you preserue your soule in the grace and fauour of almightie God Which such as this world would be if the sunne were taken from it such is a soule when it is depriued of the light of grace Againe reioyce for that you are made herein a true imitator and follower of Christ who as S. Augustine saith did him selfe contemne all earthly goods to shew that they ought to be contemned and likevvise suffered in him selfe all earthly euills vvhich he commandeth vs to suffer that nether in the one should be thought felicitie nether in the other should be feared infelicitie Againe reioyce for that there is laid vp for you a copious revvard in the kingdome of heauen For if to him that had employed his fiue talents and made them ten so great a recompence vvas assured vvhat a vvonderfull recompence shall you receiue for more then ten hundred poundes a yeare vvhich you haue forsaken for the loue of Christ Hovv shall not our Sauiour say vnto you Well done good and faithfull seruant because thou hast bene faithfull in litle I will set thee ouer much enter into thy Masters ioy Againe reioyce for that you haue so vvisely defeated the diuell and and escaped and auoided his craftie snares whose sutteltie and meaning was by disposessing you of yours to haue posessed him selfe of you For the Diuell when he depriueth vs of our worldly substance doth it not for the loue thereof for that such thinges are not so pretious to him it is our soule that he would gayne all the rest he nothing regardeth For so he tooke from Iob his substance his children and the health of his bodie but chiefly intended to destroy his soule Now therfore for as much as it is perseuerance which bringeth euery vertu to his perfection you must euer be furnished with perfect Fortitude the only vertu of all others insuperable for all the world can not ouercome one man in whom is true Fortitude And as Seneca saith It is more easie to ouercome one whole nation then one such man For what can all the enimies and persecutors in the world doe when they haue done the vtmost of their malice but that which euery litle ague or any other litle disease can doe vnto you as well as they Yea if al men and diuells should bend their forces against one man alone what greater hurt or euil can they woorke him then to deliuer him out of this vale of miserie and to send him the sooner into the cuntrie of heauen and company and societie of the blessed Saintes Wherfore if besides all the troubles you haue all readie sustained for the loue of Christ you should further be threatned vvith a thousand euils arme your selfe to surmount them all with this only ansvvere recounted by Cassian in his Collations Who telleth that an Infidell outraging vpon a day an holie Hermite asked him Quaenam miracula prodigia tuus Christus in mundo edidit What miracles and vvonders hath thy Christ done in the vvorld To vvhom the good Hermite made ansvvere saying Vt his ac maioribus iniurijs non mouear nec offendar minis That I be not moued vvith these and vvith greater iniuries nor am feard vvith threatninges Yf yet further you should be threatned vvith a thousand deathes ansvvere as Seneca ansvvered the like obiections vvhich he made to him selfe saying Thou shalt dye One this condicion quoth he to goe from hence I came hither Thou shalt dye It is the lavv of all nations to restore againe vvhat one hath borrovved Thou shalt dye It vvere foolishnes to feare vvhat can not be eschued Thou shalt dye I am not the first nor shall not be the last All haue gone before me and all shall follovve after me Finally let not I beseeche you the exāple of such as flinch or goe back in the time of affliction be any offence or trouble to you True it is that it is a great scandall vnto the vveake and a great discomfort griefe to the seruants of Christ But Madam remember that of such it is said that they departed because they loued more the glorie of the vvorld then the glorie of Christ They be of those vvho vvere present and follovved Christ vvhen he entred into Hierusalem in glorie and triumphe but forsooke and left him at the time of his passion Men that vvould haue a Iesus of silke and veluet Svvallovves vvho are present at the beging of summer but depart in vvinter But you vvoorthie Ladie haue begunne a glorious combat for the loue of Christ you haue honorably entred the same you haue patiently pursued you haue victoriously sustained Prospere procede regna perseuer that you may be crovvned Shevv your selfe to be that happie mother of the Machabes vvho by hir vertuous and constant example exhorted hir children to endure all torments yea death it selfe rather then to violate the lavv of their God Which constancy blessed perseuerance vvoorthie Madam I chiefly vvishe vnto your selfe and next to your selfe vnto your Sonne and heire and to those good gentlevvomen your daughters vvhich haue remained vvith you in your tribulations And for the rest of all yours vvhich are seperated from you from the verie bottom of my hart I humbly pray for their conuersion Good Madam so iudge of the hart vvher vvith this vvorke is consecrated and dedicated vnto you as if it had bene in his povver the selfe same hart vvould as gladly haue presented you a vvedge of gould With the vvhich as you might haue bene more enriched so are you by this more honored by hovv much the praise of vertu is to be preferred before all the treasure and
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
had seene that from this tyme forward her whole care and studie was how to recouer the same againe Now whē our Lord had after this maner watered the roote of his litle plāt with the dewe of his sweet blessing she began foorthwith to yeald not only buddes blossomes of great matters in expectation but also ripe frutes of diuerse and sundrie excellent and perfecte vertues in so much that in all her behauiour she shewed her selfe to all those that God vowchsafed to conuerse with her not like an infant as her yeares required nor yet like a young woman which not withstanding in that age had ben a verie strange matter but like a graue and sad matrone This heauenlie fyer of Gods holie loue had wrought such an alteration in her hart such a light in her vnderstanding such a feruour in her will such a plyantnes in all her powers both of bodie and sowle to folowe the instincte of his holie Spirite that to them that sawe her behauiour and tooke good heed to her wordes and deedes it seemed that she was wholly transformed into IESVS-CHRIST her sweet spowse and Sauiour In so much that on a daie going to confession as her maner was she declared of her selfe to her gostlie father that she had learned the liues and austeritie of diuerse auncient fathers in Egipt other Sainctes and specially of the holy patriarke S. Dominicke not by the teaching of men nor by reading in bookes but by reuelation from God and that she had such a desire to frame her life after the examples and rules of those holy men that she could think vpon none other thing but only how to bring the same to passe Whervpon she entred into a newe course of life which was so strange vnwonted especially in that tender age that all men had great wonder of it First of all she gaue ouer all maner of plaie and sport wherein yong children are wont to take delite Then she withdrewe her selfe from all companie that she might haue the freer and more familiar accesse to God in holie meditations and praiers She bound her selfe to a wonderfull kinde of silence she punished her bodie with much abstinence and other hard discipline The which that she might doe with the more commoditie secrecy she sought out a priuie place in the howse where she might scourge her selfe with a cord which she had prouided for that purpose And as she was a towardlie scholer in the schoole of Christ yealding her selfe verie ployantly to be lead from vertue to vertue whether soeuer it pleased the spirite of God to lead her so was she also a diligent and discrete schole-mistres and vsed meanes to allure and trayne other litle children also of her age in the same patthes of vertue and austere life In so much that when the neighbours children resorted vnto her as they did oftentymes being sterred to grace by the sweet wordes and holie example of this gratious infant they would gather them selues together in a certaine secret place of the howse which she had chosen out for the nonce and there would they scourge them selues as they sawe her to doe saying in the meane tyme ech of them a certaine nomber of Pater nosters and Aue Maries according as she prescribed them to saie By these other the like exercises of piety and deuotion she fownd such fauour in the sight of her heauenlie spowse that verie manie tyme when she set hir self to goe vp and downe those staiers in her fathers howse saying her Aue Maries after such sort as we declared before it was seene by diuerse and sundrie persones that she was caried sensibly in the ayer by the almightie power of God and ministerie of Angels without towching anie steppe of the same with her feete And this happened vnto her namely at those tymes when she retired her selfe from all companie and specially of men And there is no doubt but that it happened in that place to geue her and others to vnderstand how acceptable that deuotion towardes the most glorious mother of God which she exercised in that place was to almightie God Of a bold entreprise which this blessed infant made to liue a solitarie life after the maner of auneiēt Fathers in Egipt And how she vnderstood that it was not the wil of God that she should enter into that state of life as yet Chap. 3. THis yong virgin had learned by reuelation that the trade of life which the auncient Heremites liued in Egipt was verie acceptable vnto God and therfore she had a passing great desire to seeke out some solitaire place in the wildernes where she might likewise liue after their rules and examples But she could not deuise how to bring her desired purpose to passe And bicause it was not the will of God that she should take that trade of life in such maner as she desired he left her in this point to her owne natural wit and would geue her none other direction but only what her owne childish wit could deuise Wherupon to accomplish the great desire that she had to serue God in the wildernes on a daie tymely in the mornyng she made her prouision like a child of one loafe of bread and with the same tooke her waie towardes her sisters howse which was maried dwelt neere vnto the gate of S. Ansanus Howbeit she entred not into the howse as she was wont to doe but passed by and went out at the gate and so did she neuer before that tyme. And so passing foorth vntill she came at the lenght where she sawe the howses standing one here and an other there and not together as she was wont to see them in the citie she begā to be glad hoped wel that she was neere to the wildernes Yet she held on her waie a litle further and came at the last to a place where she fownd a litle caue vnder a bancke which pleased her very well And foorth with she entred into the same with passing great ioye gladnes for she persuaded her selfe verily that she had now fownd out that wildernes that she so much desired And when she was entred she stood not long to consider of the opportunitie of the place or how she might accōmodate her selfe in that newe oratorie but by and by without anie further aduisement or consideration she fell downe on her knees and set her selfe to praier with great humilitie and feruour of spirite The which lowly and deuout mynd was so acceptable in the sight of our Lord that although it was not his holie will and pleasure that she should followe that order of life yet to geue her to vnderstand that no holie desire or purpose shal euer passe vnrewarded he gaue her this tokē As she was praying with a verie vehement bent of mynd she was taken vp by litle and litle from the earth where she kneeled and her bodie was lifted vp as high as the height of
feare of interruption when he was laid to sleepe So that night and daie she sought none other thing but how she might occupie her selfe in such vertuous exercises as were most liking to her heauenlie spowse vnto whom she commended her selfe and praied without ceasing that it would please him to be the keeper of her virginitie saying euermore with the glorious virgin and martyr Cecilia O Lord let my hart and bodie be kept vndefiled And our Lord who neuer faileth to succour his faithful seruantes in their distresse heard the crie his vniustly afflicted spowse and gaue her such strenght and comfort from aboue that she bare ouercame with great facilitie all that heauie burthen of vexations and troubles that her parents and kinsfolkes had laid vpon her And the greater enforcement they vsed to remoue her from her holie purpose the more firme and vnmoueable she shewed her selfe to be in continuyng the same In so much that at the lenght when her parentes sawe her firmenes and constancie they confessed and said in plaine wordes She hath ouercome vs. And her father who was more innocent then the rest considering secretly with him selfe of the doinges of his daughter perceiued euerie daie more more that she folowed in the whole state of her life not anie lightnes of youth or stubbernes of hart towardes her parents but only the motion and guidance of Gods holie spirite For the better confirmation wherof it pleased God so to dispose that on a daie when she was in her brothers chamber at praier leauing the doore open for her father mother had geuen her charge that she should be no where with the doore shut vpon her her father in the meane tyme entring into the chamber by chaunce seekyng some thing there of his sonnes that he had need to occupie at that tyme fownd her in a corner kneeling deuoutly vpon her knees and casting vp his eyes sawe a litle white doue sitting ouer her head which doue so soone as he was entred to his seemyng flewe out at the chamber windowe wherat being somewhat amazed he asked her what doue that was Sir said she I neuer sawe doue nor other byrd in the chamber that I wote of The which when he heard he was verie much astonied but kept the matter secretly to him selfe About this tyme the desire which this holie virgin had had of long tyme to put on the habit of S. Dominicke began to increase in her hart daily more more for the accomplishment wherof she ceased not by daie by night to offer vp her humble praiers and supplications to almightie God Who liked well of her request graunted the same therfore for her better assurance confort sent her this strange and euident vision Being on a tyme a sleepe it seemed that she sawe diuerse and sundrie of the Fathers and fownders of the rules of religion and emong them she sawe S. Dominicke whom she knewe well ynough by a white lilie that he held in his hand which lilie seemed to her to be all in a bright fyer as the bush was that Moyses sawe which burned and cōsumed not Those Fathers willed her to choose some one of their rules in the which she might lead her life and serue God with the greater merite She cast her eyes vpon S. Dominicke and turned her selfe whole to him who likewise came towardes her bringing in his hand the habite of the sisters commonly called the sisters Penitentes of S. Dominicke and said thus vnto her Daughter said he be of good comfort and dread no peril for it is certaine that thou shalt receiue this apparel and weare it The which wordes were so comfortable vnto her that she wept for ioye and gaue most humble thankes to almightie God and to the worthie patriarcke S. Dominicke And so with the force of teares gushing out of her eyes she awaked and came to her selfe againe By this vision she receiued such comfort and strength both in bodie and sowle and withal such a trust and affiance in God that the selfe same daie she called her father and mother brethren together and spake vnto them with a great grace and comelie boldnes after this maner It is now a long tyme sence yee first began to treat with me that I should marrie with some mortal man The which talke how much I euer abhored I neuer declared plainely but concealed it in part for reuerence that I bare vnto you But now I may no longer hold my peace and therfore I mynd to open my hart and purpose vnto you in plaine wordes It is so that I haue made a full resolution and promise to my Lord and Sauiour and to his most glorious Mother the blessed virgin Marie that I will serue them all the daies of my life in the cleane and holie state of virginitie And I geue you to vnderstand that this is no newe thing or lately come vpon me but a thing that I did long since euen in myne infancie being not with standing therunto moued not by anie childish lightnes but by long and sad aduisement and that not without verie euident tokens and most assured reuelations from almightie God And I haue vowed withal that I will neuer incline myne hart to accept anie other husband but only him And therfore now being come by his gratious goodnes to the yeares of discretion and more perfite knowledge I thought it my bownden duetie to aduertise you in expresse termes that thus much I haue by the will of God faithfully promised and thus much I will by the grace of God truly obserue This determinate purpose is so deepely imprinted in my sowle that it shal be more easie to make a hard flint softe then to take this godlie resolution out of myne hart Wherfore I most humbly beseech you that yee wil leese no more tyme in treating with me about mariage For in this matter I maie in no wise condescend to your request bicause I haue plight my faith and truth to Iesus Christ alone whose loue I doe and must preferre before all earthlie creatures Now if it shall please you to keepe me in your house with this condicion as your common seruant I will serue you willingly and obediently to the vttermost of my power If yee thinke by putting me out of your howse to enforce me to yeald vnto your demaūd for lacke of necessarie prouision assure your selues no feare of lacke can alter my mynd in this case For I haue chosen him for my husband that geueth foode to al liuing creatures who will not suffer them to be destitute of thinges necessarie that repose thēselues with a sure affiance in his prouident goodnes With these wordes pronounced with such a comelie grace modestie they were all so astoined withal so ouercome with tendernes of hart and weeping that for a good space they were not able to geue her one word for answere At the lenght her father who was a man that
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
the howse to comfort the afflicted mother When they were there and sawe what had happened it is hard to saie whether of them two they pitied more either the mother whose bowels they sawe were so inwardly moued with compassion on her deere child or the daughter who had exercised such rigorous iustice and bloodie reuenge vpon her owne bodie for the synnes of others How she desired earnestly to receiue the habite of S. Dominicke and how her mother to turne her mynde lead her awaie to the batthes What penance she did euen in the batthes Chap. 13. WHen this blessed maid was thus at libertie to occupie her selfe in the afore mentioned exercises of godlines and penance the more the ghostlie enemie busied him selfe to hinder her good purposes the more earnest she waxed in folowing the same And now calling to mynd the religious habite promised vnto her long before by the blessed Father S. Dominicke she neuer ceased to praie to God with inwarde groanyng teares both by daie by night that he would vowchsafe to fulfill his promise with speed For she sawe that she should neuer be free from the molestatiō of her parents vntill such tyme as she had receiued it therfore she humbly besought thē also that they would be contēted to dismisse her to be meanes to the sisters that liued in penance vnder the rule of S. Dominicke cōmonly called there the sisters of the Mantel that she might be admitted into their cōpany But her mother who had no liking of her sute but sought rather somewhat to qualifie the rigour of her exercises alreadie begon determined to goe to a hoat bath and to take her daughter with her hoping thereby to bring to passe what by cherishing of her bodie with such sensual delites and what by distracting her mynd from her wonted meditations that she should in tyme by litle and litle relent the extremitie of her rough discipline Vndoubtedly this was not done without the instigatiō of the deuel whose bent was to withdrawe that deuout sowle from folowing the calling of her spowse But there is no counsel against God who taught his true seruāt to turne all the treacherous wiles of the enemie to her further cōmoditie profit Whē she came to the bath she fownd out a new maner of bathing such as had not lightly ben hard of before that tyme. she intreated her mother that she might be in the bath alone when all other had bathed thē selues The which thing when her mother had graunted with a verie good will being in deed a plaine meanying woma nand nothing suspecting the wilines of her daughter in that matter she went and set her selfe vnder the spowt where the water came scalding hoate into the bath and there suffred patiently greater paines of the heat of the water then she was wont to doe at home when she beat her selfe with the yron chaine Now when her mother had espied that also and sawe that whatsoeuer she coulde deuise for the solace or comfort of her daughters bodie was by her wilines turned to the contrarie she determined to returne to her howse againe where not withstanding she ceased not to shewe in wordes that she had a great misliking of her extreme seueretie and penance Vnto the which wordes the good daughter gaue but a deafe eare hauing euermore greater regard to the holie spirite of God speaking inwardly in her hart then to the outward sownd of wordes that tended to the hinderance of her godlie designementes Afterwardes when her ghostlie Father who had heard tell of her bathing by the report of her mother demaunded of her how it was possible that she shoulde be able to suffer the heat of that scalding water so long tyme without the extreme domage and peril of her bodie she made answere and said verie simply that being in the bath she called to mynde the paines of hell purgatorie and so made her praier to almightie God whom she had so grieuously offended that he would vowchsafe of his endles mercie to change the tormentes that she had deserued by her synnes into those paines that she would willingly put her selfe vnto there for is loue Vnto the which praier it pleased God to make answere by geuing her such a passing great ioye and gladnes in her hart that all the paine that she suffred was pleasant and deliteful vnto her and the almightie power of God so dispensed with her bodie that it had in deed a verie great and sensible feeling of paine but no hurt or blemish at all When she had thus satisfied the demaund of her ghostly Father she went home and fell againe to the exercises of her accustomed penance How she receiued the habite of S. Dominicke and how she was the first virgin that receiued the same Chap. 14. NOw to come to our matter againe whē this blessed virgin was returned from the batthes she ceased not to sollicite her mother that she would moue the aforenamed sisters of the Mantel that she might receiue the habite that she had so long and earnestly desired The mother being ouercome with the importunitie of her daughter went to the sisters and intreated them that she might be receiued into their companie Wherunto they made answere that it was not their maner to receiue yong maidens into their habite but only widowes and women of sad yeares such as were thought able and likelie to haue experience to gouerne them selues bicause they had no common place and conuersation as commonly couentes of religious persons haue but liued echone a part from other in priuate celles When the mother came home with this answere to her daughter she was nothing daunted withal but besought her mother after a verie humble maner that she would take the paines to renewe her sute againe and vse more earnest meanes to perswade with them then she had done before Which thing she was well content to Doe and went againe but in fine could obteine no better answere then she had at the first The which vnpleasant answere also the good daughter tooke in verie good part remitting her selfe humbly to the will of God in all thinges and making her selfe well assured that the holie Father S. Dominicke would in tyme when it should please God fulfill his promise In the meane tyme it chaunced this blessed virgin to be visited with a verie painful sicknes Her bodie was so disfigured with the measels that she could scantly be knowen and withall she was so sore vexed with a hoat burnyng ague that her mother who loued her emong all her chidren most tenderly had verie great pitie and feare of her The which occasion the wise virgin thought was not to be slipt but taking the oportunitie of the present state and tyme began to moue her mother once againe after this maner Good mother as yee tender my life and health so I beseech you to vse diligent and earnest meanes to procure me the habite that I haue so long
him and directeth all her workes and thoughtes together with all the powers of her sowle in him according to the rule and direction that she findeth in him And without him she listeth not to be forsomuch as in him she findeth all that the hart maie delite in all beautie all sweetnes all quietnes all peace And so by this meane there increaseth daily a certaine vnion and streighte bande of loue betweene her and God which in tyme cometh to be so wonderfully wrought that she is altogether as it were transfourmed into him Wherupon it cometh to passe that she can loue delite thinke and remember none other thing but only him All other creatures she loueth knoweth and considerereth in him euen as a man doth that diueth and swymmeth vnder the water who seeth and feeleth nothing that is not either water or conteined in the water And if he see anie thing that is out of the water he seeth it not properly as it is in it selfe but as the likenes of the same sheweth in the water and not otherwise This is a verie perfecte and sure rule by the which a man maie make a iust estimate both of him selfe and of all creatures grownded vpon a most certaine and infallible truth which is almightie God Vpon this she brought in an other Doctrine also which she tooke such pleasure in that she ceased not to repeate it againe and againe as a thing verie worthie to be noted A sowle said she that is thus plonged in the loue of God looke how much she loueth God so much she hateth her selfe that is her owne sensualitie which is the roote and beginnyng of all synne and from whence she seeth to arise the cause of her separation from God which is her whole felicitie and final perfection The which thing when a sowle preceiueth she conceiueth a great misliking which bringeth foorth a certaine holie hatred against her owne lustes and withal an earnest desire to kill the roote of the same which roote is selfe loue But bicause she seeth that the roote is so deepe that it can not be vtterly grubbed vp but that there will remaine some peece of it which will from tyme to tyme molest her therefore doth she likwise increase daily in this holie hatred whereof is engendred a certaine frutful despising and setting at naught of her selfe which by the force and vertue of the loue of God the ouercomer of all deiection and confusion riseth vp with a greater hope desire and auanceth it selfe towardes God for whose loue she is desirous to abide all paines and roughnes of discipline hoping thereby to subdue al inordinate appitites and pronenes to synne in her selfe which are the lettes and staies that keepe her from her desired ioye and vnion with God And in this humble submission of her selfe she receiueth an inward light of grace by the which she cometh to see and to acknowledge the mercifull goodnes of God who is euermore readie to pardon and will not the death of a synner but rather that he turne and liue Which consideration increaseth her loue towardes him passingly and by loue she purchaseth daily greater grace strenght and fulnes of peace in her selfe and so goeth foreward in perfection of charitie vntill at the lēght it pleaseth God to plucke her as a melowe apple from this tree of bitternes and to transpose her wholly into him selfe who is the euerlasting tree of sweetnes and life And thus is this holie hatred the true keeper and gardian of the sowle the forteresse and sure castel of a quiet and assured hope in God This is that which the holie Apostle meant when he said VVhen I am weake then am I strong For our Lord had declared vnto him that strenght is wrought in weakenes And therefore he saieth also I will gladly reioyce in myne infirmities that the power of Christ may dwell in me Now this infirmitie was nothing els but only that hatred of him selfe that we here speake of Which was caused in him by the knowledge of that roote of inordinate lustes and of his weakenes and insufficiencie to all good workes which he sawe was in him selfe The which thing when he perceiued he waxed weake and feeble that is he despaired in him selfe and acknowledging his owne feeblenes yealded him selfe humbly into the mightie handes of God in whom only it laie to cure his infirmitie Who like a louing Father foorthwith accepted that lowlie resignation of him selfe and laying his almightie hand vpon him made him strong in God that was content to confesse how weake and in sufficient he was in him selfe When this holie virgin spake these and other wordes to like purpose she burst out as it were of a certaine inward ioye and iubilee that she felt in her spirite and said O wonderful goodnes of God how strangely dost thou dispose of of thinges Out of vice thou drawest vertue out of weakenes strength out of offence great grace and fauour O deere children said she haue this holie hatred in your selues for out of it ariseth true meekenes and humilitie of hart by reason whereof you shall account all your workes and other thinges as smoke and vanities and shall glorie only in God This holie hatred shall make you to haue a great moderation and staie in prosperitie and withal a goodlie quietnes and patience in aduersitie It shall cawse you to be modest and comelie in your conuersation with men gratious and acceptable in all your workes of pietie before God Manie tymes also she would adde furthermore and saie contrariwise Woe be to that sowle in the which this holie hatred lodgeth not for it can not be chosen but that in such a sowle there must needes reigne selfe loue which is the roote fowndation and syncke of all inordinate lustes And therefore when she sawe anie synne or vice in anie person being moued with a certaine compassion she vsed often tymes to saie This is the frute of selfe loue the mother of pride and of all other euels Doe therefore said she to her ghostlie Father and others your vttermost endeuour to grubbe it vp out of your hart and to plant in the same that holie hatred for that is the kinges high waie verie certainly knowen and well troden in the which all our defectes are perfectly corrected without anie errour and by it we clyme vp to the mount of all vertues in the highest perfection Thus much sawe the glorious Father S. Augustine when he described two cities the owne fownded vpon the loue of our selues which tendeth to the dishonour of God and the other grownded vpon the loue of God which tendeth to the abbasing of our selues Of the strange battailes which she had against the deuel and how she armed hir selfe with a strong faith and other heauenlie vertues and so gate a most glorious victorie ouer her enemie Chap. 20. AFter that she had learned these lessons which were manie moe then are here specified it pleased the wisedome
passing great Charitie like to this afore writen Chap. 7. AFter that our Lord had thus by his ioyous presence and large promises allured the hart of his spowse to doe yet greater workes of charitie on a daie when the diuine seruice was done at the Fryers and she remained behind alone with one of her sisters to praie as she was comyng downe from a chapel that was there ordained for the sisters of penance our Lord appeered to her in the likenes of a poore pilgrime at the age as it seemed to her of two or three and thirtie yeares halfe naked and besought her that she would geue him clothes for the loue of God Tarrie here a litle while said she till I goe to yonder chapel and come againe and then God willing I will helpe thee of clothes With that she went vp againe to the chapel and did of her kyrtel vnder the which she ware a sliueles peticote which she put off and came downe againe and gaue it to the poore man with a glad cheere When the poore man had receiued that cote he besought her furthermore that seeing she had serued his turne of a wollen garment to weare outwardly she would also be so good as to geue him some shirt of lynen to weare next his bodie With a verie good will said she come home with me I will seeke one out for thee And so she went on afore and the poore man came after When she was come home she went to the chestes and presses where the lynen clothes of her Father and brothers were laid vp and tooke out a shirt and certaine other lynnen clothes and gaue the same gladly to the poore man When the poore pilgryme had receiued all those thinges at her hand he went not his waie but praied her yet more that she would geue him slewes to his peticote to couer his armes withal With a good will said she for otherwise I graunt this cote were to no great purpose And with that she went and sought all about for slewes and at the last sownd a newe cote of a maid seruant that was in the howse hanging on a perch which had neuer ben worne and tooke of the sleeues from the same and gaue them cheerefully to the poore pilgrymme Who receiued those sleeues also thankefully at her hand as he had done all the rest and said vnto her Maistres ye haue now clothed me thoroughly he for whose loue ye haue done it thanke you for it But yet one demaund more I haue to make vnto you I haue a companion lying in an hospital hereby who standeth in great need of clothes If it shall please you to send him anie I will carrie them vnto him in your behalfe with a verie good will This newe request troubled her somewhat and cawsed her to haue a certaine conflicte within her selfe On the one side she was much moued with cōpassion of that poore man and had a passing great desire to supplie his necessitie On the other side she cōsidered the murmuring grudging of as manie as were in the howse who waxed so weerie of her liberal dealing out of thinges that to keepe them from her handes they began euerie one to keep their apparel other goods vnder locke keye Againe she thought she had done ynough to take awaie the sleeues of the seruantes newe cote that was neuer worne that she could not with discretion take anie more from her being her selfe also needie poore Then began she to reason with her owne selfe to discusse in her mynd whether she might conueniently depart with her owne garmēt or no. She was much inclined to doe it bicause she knewe that it was a great worke of charitie and sawe also in reason that she was better able to bear that lacke of clothes then the pore man was But cōtrariwise she cōsidered that if she should spoile her selfe of her clothes and goe naked she should in so doing trangresse the rules of common honestie which might cause great offence in the myndes of as manie as should happen to see her All the which thinges thus considered and discreetly weighed she resolued in her selfe that in this case it was farre better for her and withall more pleasing to God to absteine from geuing her almes then by geuing the same to geue iust occasion of offence to her neighbour And vpon this resolution she spake to the poore man after a verie gentle and sweet maner and said Truly good man if I might doe it with honestie I would spoile my selfe euen of this cote that I weare with all my hart bestowe it vpon thy companion But bicause I haue no moe garmentes to put on but only this and therefore to geue it awaie to an other and to lacke my selfe were not only an vndiscrete part but also against all honestie woman-hood I mustes needes praie thee to hold me excused for in truth there lacketh no good will in me but only abilitie With that the poore man smyled vpon her and said Maistres I see right well that if yee had ought to geue you would gladly geue it I thanke you for your good will God reward you and keepe you And so he tooke his leaue of her and went his waie in such sort that she gathered by certaine signes that this poore pilgryme should be he that was wont to apeere vnto her But such was her lowlines base estimation of her selfe that she thought her selfe vnworthie to receiue anie such cōfort and honour at Gods hand therefore with an hūble mynd she returned to her wōted seruices in the howse where not withstanding she kept her hart euermore fixed vpon her deere spowse Iesus Christ who the next night folowing appeered vnto her againe as she was praying in the likenes of that poore man holding in his hand that cote that she had geuen him all decked and set with goodlie perles and precious stones that shone all ouer the chamber and said vnto her Deere daughter knowest thou this cote yea Lord said she I knowe it verie well but it was not so richly decked when it was with me Then said our Lord to her againe Yester daie thou gauest me this coate verie freely charitably to couer the nakednes of my bodie and to keepe it from cold and shame This daie for recompence of thy great charitie towardes me I geue thee a cote that shal be inuisible to other men but to thee alone both visible and also sensible by the vertue whereof thou shalt be defended both in bodie and sowle from all hurtful cold and with this garment shalt thou be clad vntill the tyme come that in the presence of all Angels and Sainctes I shall put on vpon thee that most blisful and glorious garment of immortalitie in my kingdome When he had said these wordes foorthwith he tooke out a cloth of a sanguine colour with his owne holie handes out of the wound of his side shynyng all about
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
she was come the sicke woman which was now verie weake in bodie but well strengthened in spirite made signes of great reuerence and ioye and partly with woordes as well as she could partly with tokens and gestures of bodie and countenance she lamented her vncharitable demeanour towardes her and besought her of mercy and pardon That done she made her cōfession with great humilitie and contrition so receiuing the Sacramentes rightes of holie Church she yealded vp her soule to God At what tyme it pleased almightie God to shewe to the holie virgin what a blesful beautiful state that saued sowle was in which as she declared afterwardes to her ghostlie father was so great that no tongue of man is able to expresse it And yet was not this that beawtie that she should receiue afterwardes in the blesse of heauen but only that godlie state that the sowle had in her first creation and receiued againe at the tyme of her Baptisme Thē said our Lord to the holie maid How saiest thou my deere daughter is not this a faire and goodlie sowle which through thy paines and diligēce is now recouered out of the hādes of the enemie What man or woman would refuse to take paines for the wynning of such a beawtiful creature If I which am the most high and soueraigne beawtie and of whom proceedeth all maner of beawtie was notwithstāding so ouercome with the loue and beawtie of mans sowle that I refused not to come downe from heauen to clad my selfe with the simple weede of mans bodie in the same to susteine labours and reproches for the space of manie daies and yeares and in the end to shed myne owne blood for his redemption yet had I no need of mans sowle but was most sufficiently and most perfectly blessed in my selfe how much more ought you to labour one for an other and doe what in you lieth for the recouerie of such a noble and excellent creature For this cause haue I shewed thee the beawtie of this sowle that hereafter thou mightest both thy selfe be the more earnest about the wynnyng of sowles and also procure others to doe the like With that she thanked our Lord in most humble maner and besought him furthermore that he would vowchsafe to geue her a newe grace which was that she might from that tyme foreward be able to see the state and condicions of all such sowles as should by occasions haue anie conuersation or dealing about spiritual matters with her that by the sight of the same she might be the more prouoked to procure their saluation Vnto the which demaund our Lord made answere after this maner Daughter bicause thou hast forsaken all carnal conuersation for my sake and hast by all meanes laboured to vnite thy selfe to me in spirite which am the most excellent and soueraigne spirite therefore I here make thee a full graunt that from this verie instant thy soule shal be endewed with such a gracious light that thou shalt see and behold both the beawtie and also the deformitie of euerie sowle that is presented before thee And as hitherto thou hast seene the proportion and qualitie of bodies with thy bodilies eyes euen so from this tyme foreward thou shalt see the condicions of sowles with the spiritual eye of thy sowle not only of such as shal be present before thee but also of all other for whose sowles health thou shalt make intercession to me though thou neuer see them with thy bodilie eyes How she serued an old widdowe that had a festered sore runnyng vpon her by whom she was also infamed And of diuerse strange accidentes that ensued vpon the same Chap. 11. THere was emong the sisters of penance one sister called Andrea who had vpon her brest a verie lothsome sore commonly called a Canker This sore had fretted and eaten so much flesh rownd about and the corruption of the same yealded such an horrible sauour that none might come neere for stench By reason whereof there was none fownd that would attend vpon her in her sickenes The which thing when the holie maid vnderstood she went out of hand to visite her and seeing her vtterly forsaken and destitute of all succour and comfort she made her selfe well assured that the prouidence of God had reserued that sister for her keeping And so accepting the charge of her as at Gods hand she began to speake comfortable wordes vnto her and to make her a free offer of her owne person to attend and serue her to the vttermost of her power which made the widowe a glad woman The holie maid therefore set her selfe to the seruice of that poore woman she tooke care for her that she might haue whatsoeuer was necessarie or requisite for a woman in that case when tyme was she opened her sore clensed it of all the fowle matter she was shed it and wypt it and couered it againe with plaisters and cleane clothes and in all this she neuer shewed so much as one litle token of lothsomenes but did euerie thing with such diligence and cheerefulnes that the sicke sister was astoined to see so great loue and charitie in a maid of those yeares But the malicious feend who hath great enuie at all workes of charitie bent him selfe to doe all that in him laie to disannull if it were possible if not at the least to hinder this godlie and merciful enterprise so much as might be And first of all vpon a daie as the holie maid was about to open the sore to dresse it there came out such an horribile stench that she could hardly beare it but that she must needes vomite The which thing when she perceiued she entred into a passing great choler and displeasure against her owne skeymish bodie ane stomake and said to her selfe Ah vile and wretched flesh dost thou loath thy sister whom our Lord hath bought so deerely euen with the price of his owne most precious blood The daie maie come when thou also maiest fall into the like sickenes or peraduenture worse As I am a Christian woman thou shalt abide for it And with that she bowed downe and held her mowth and nose ouer the sore so long vntill at the length it seemed that she had comforted her stomake quite ouercome the skeymishnes that she felt before All the which tyme he sicke sister cried out vnto her and said Good daughter stand vp good daughter geue ouer cast not thy selfe awaie endanger not thy bodie with this infectuous sauour But she would neuer geue ouer vntill she had ouercome both the tew lines of her owne stomake and also the tentation of the ghostlie enemie When the suttle serpent sawe that this his assault was thus repelled being vtterly in despaire of anie better successe against that holie virgin which stood euermore like a strong fortresse well furnished defenced he deuised to laie his batterie to the weake woman whom he knewe to be of lesse experience and
life manie a one shall take occasion of slaunder and offence and thou shalt be gainesaid of manie that the thoughtes of manie hartes maie be opened But in anie case see that thou be nothing afraid or troubled with anie of these thinges For I will be with thee alwaies and will deliuer thee from lying lippes and slaunderous tongues Folowe therfore freely the guydance of my holie spirite and labour diligently in this charitable woorke wherin I haue apointed thee For by thee I haue determined to deliuer manie soules out of the dragons mouth and to bring them to my euerlasting rest in heauen These and other the like wordes spake our Lord to her and repeted the same againe and againe and specially that word where he bad her that she should not be afraid or dismaid Wherunto the holie maid made answere with great humilitie and perfecte obedience saying Thou art my Lord and my God and I thy creature and vnworthy hand maid thy will be done in all thinges Only this O Lord I beseech thee remember me according to the multitude of thy mercies and helpe me And with that the vision ceased and the blessed virgin conferred those comfortable wordes of our Sauiout in her hart easting earnestly with her selfe what that gracious alteration might meane From that tyme foreward the grace of God increased daily in her hart so much the gyftes of the holie Ghost replenished her soule in such aboundant maner that she was her selfe astoined at it and by reason of that passing great increase of spiritual ioye and comfort that she felt in her soule her bodie being not able to beare it waxed feeble faint Her hart was wholly caried vp into God and that with such a vehemēcie and feruour of loue that she could not endure anie tyme without thinking and meditating vpon his most noble workes and endles mercies towardes her selfe and all mankind The force of the which loue so ouercame the natural powers of her bodie that she languished and decaied in strength and could find none other remedie for that sickenes but only to runne vnto God with an amorous affection and to powre out her hart befor him with great aboundance of teares and so to renewe her selfe as it were in the forge and fyer of loue At the length it pleased our Lord to geue her to vnderstand by the secret instincte of his holie spirite that the most soueraigne medicine for that disease was often tymes to receiue the blessed Sacrament of the aulter Where she should haue the ioyful fruition of her loue not in such sort as she should haue it afterwardes in the blesse of heauen but yet so as that she should find her selfe satisfied in some dergree for the tyme Now after that she had vsed for a certaine tyme to comunicate euerie daie as she did vnlesse she were letted by sickenes or by some other necessarie occasion she had at the length such a passing great longing and as it were an impatient desire to receiue the blessed Sacrament that if she were enforced by anie such vrgēt necessitie to abstaine but only one daie it seemed that her body fainted sēsibly failed forsomuch as being now fully accorded with the soule it had abādoned the natural powers senses and so receiued nourishment and sustentation not of the meates that the bodie is wont to be fed withal which did her more harme then good but of the foode of the soule which is the grace of God which grace was so abōdant in her soule that it redounded into her bodie and by miracle tempered that wasting heat that is wont to consume the radical moisture Her ghostlie Father examinyng her vpon this point asked whether she had euer anie appetite to eate or no. Wherunto she made answere that she was fully satisfied with the holy Sacrament and had none other appetite Then he asked her yet further in case by occasion she absteined from receiuing the blessed Sacrament whether she were then hungrie or no. To that likewise she answered and said that the only presence of the Sacrament did satisfie her and not only the Sacrament but the priest also that had touched the Sacrament did satifie and comfort her in such sort that she could not so much as thinke of anie other meate And in deed it was well knowen to as manie as liued with her from the begynnyng of Lent vntill the Ascension daie she continued in verie good liking without receiuing anie maner of bodily food or sustenance in the worlde And vpon that daie by commaundement of God she tooke only a litle bread and a fewe herbes for her stomake might not brooke anie deintie or fine meates After that she obserued a simple maner of fasting for a tyme vntill at the length by litle and litle she came againe to her old maner of abstinence which was to eate nothing at all And so she passed ouer her life in a continual and euident miracle verifying that saying of the holie Scripture that man liueth not only by bread but by euerie word that cometh out of our Lordes mowth Her ghostlie Father testified that he sawe her him selfe and that not once or twise but often tymes when continuyng after this sort without anie maner of sustenance vnlesse it were a litle water she became so weake that as manie as were about her looked euerie hower when she would geue vp the ghost At what tyme if occasion were ministred to wynne a sowle to God or to doe anie other charitable worke to the honour of God they all sawe to their great astonishment that she was sodainly altered in the state of her bodie in such sort that she was able to rise and goe without anie token of weakenes or weerines and also to endure great labour in doing that good worke that she tooke in hand for Gods sake And those that went with her hauing their perfecte health and strength could hardly folowe her here there but that they must needes be more weerie then she shewed to be Which made them all to confesse that it was the almightie power of God that susteined her and not anie naturall force How she was molested by diuerse and sundrie persones disswading her from her streight Abstinence and how she ouercame her ghostlie Father by reason Chap. 13. THis streight and vnwonted maner of Abstinence was to the holie maid an occasion of great vnquietnes and trouble both by them that liued with her in howse and also by others who seeing the order of her conuersation to be so farre aboue the common course of mans life perswaded them selues and trauailed much to perswade her also that it was not the gracious gyfte of God but only a suttle deceite tentation of the Deuel With this errour were a great nōber caried awaie emong others her owne ghostly Father who imagining all this to be nothing els but only a craftie illusiō of Satan transforming him selfe into an Angel of light commaunded her
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
But she affirmed constantly that so it was and for confirmation of the same declared how our Sauiour had taken it out with his owne hand All the which talke perswaded him nothing at all How is it possible said he that anie man should liue without a hart yee saie truly Father said she vnto man it is in deed impossible but vnto God there is nothing impossible Within a fewe daies after this it chaunced her to goe to a certaine Chapple of the Friars preachers where the sisters of penance were wont to kneele And when they were all gone home she continued there in praier wherin lifting vp her hart to God with great feruour and deuotion she was rauished in spirite as her common maner was That done she set her selfe in the waie to goe homeward And as she went behold a goodlie light from heauen enuironed her round about and in that light appeered our Sauiour Christ holding in his handes a redde shinyng hart At the sodaine sight wherof she was so afraid that she fell downe to the ground all quaking and trembling Then came our Lord vnto her and openyng her side put the hart that he held in his hand into her bodie and said these wordes Loe deere daughter as I did this other daie take awaie thy hart so do I now in steed of that geue thee my hart with the which thou shalt liue euerlastingly When he had so done he closed vp the wound againe that was made in her bodie and went his waie Howbeit he did it in such sort that there remained euer afterwardes a certaine marke or scarre as it were of a wound healed as she declared oftentymes to her ghostly Father and manie of her sisters sawe it with their eyes From that tyme foreward she altered the maner of her praier and said not as she was wont to doe before Lord I beseech thee keepe my hart but Lord I beseech thee keepe thy hart Of diuerse and sundrie visions which she had at the sight and receiuing of the blessed Sacrament and how she felt her selfe wonderfully altered after the receite of that newe hart Chap. 17. AFter that she had receiued this newe hart she increased meruelously in high and heauenlie contemplations especially when she was occupied in praier about the Aulter from whence she neuer parted without some verie strange visions and illuminations namely when she receiued the blessed Sacrament Manie tymes she sawe our Sauiour Christ betweene the priestes handes in the forme of a litle sucking babe sometymes she sawe him like a pretie stripling and sometymes also like a hote burnyng fornace into the which it seemed to her that the priest did enter when he did communicate Many tymes when she receiued B. Sacramēt she felt such passing sweet sauours that her bodie was almost ouercome with the sweetnes of the same And generally whensoeuer she did either see or receiue the holie Sacrament she receiued withal such aboundance of newe ioyes and vnspeakeable comfortes that manie tymes her hart daunced in her bodie and made such a sensible noyse that it might well be heard of them that stood by And it was well perceiued that the noyse was not natural such as other mens bodies are wont to make but it was altogether strange and aboue the common course of nature In this inward and spiritual Iubile that she felt in her selfe she would breake out sometymes speake to her ghostlie Father after this maner O Father see you not that I am not now the same woman that I was before O that you could feele that I do now feele in my hart Surely surely Father there is no man in this worlde so proud or so hard harted that would not relent and become humble if he felt what I feele And yet is that that I tell you nothing in comparison of that that I feele inwardly There is such a great fyer of Gods loue enkendled in my hart that this external and material fyer being compared with that seemeth rather cold then hote I am so replenished with inward ioye and gladnes that I can but meruaile how my soule maie abide in this wretched bodie This hote burnyng fyer doth so purifie renewe my soule in innocencie and cleannes that me thinketh I am come againe to the age of fiue yeares This diuine fyer doth so inflame me with the loue of my neighbour that it were the greatest ioye in the wordle to me to die for anie man that liueth in the wordle These thinges did she declare to her ghostlie Father to the glorie of God and to the behoofe of the worlde that we might vnderstand and see the vnspeakeable loue of almightie God towardes man and what wonderful effectes the holie Ghost bringeth foorth in flexible and ployant hartes to moue vs that be dull of spirite to the keeping of his holie commaundementes in hope of the comfortable rewardes that we are to receiue at Gods hand not only in the life to come but also in this present life How our Lord reueled manie high misteries to the holie maid and how Marie Magdalen was assigned to her to be her mother Chap. 18. AFter that this holie maid was thus replenished with such great abondance of verie singular graces and gyftes it pleased almightie God to reuele vnto her diuerse and sundrie high mysteries of the which this was one On a tyme our Lord appeered to her to comfort her in her holie purpose accompanied with our blessed Ladie and S. Marie Magdalen and asked her this question Daughter said he what thing desirest thou Wherunto she made answere and said Lord thou knowest better then I what thing is most behoueful for me And of my selfe thou knowest I haue no will nor hart but only thy will and thy hart As she was speaking those wordes it came to her mynd how Marie Magdalen committed her selfe wholly to our Lord when she sate and wept at his feete With that she felt the like swetnes in her hart as Marie Magdalen felt at what tyme she wept at our Lordes feete whereupon she fixed her eyes vpon her Our Lord seeing that and withal looking to the inward bent of her mynd to satisfie her godlie desire said these wordes vnto her Behold deere daughter from this time foreward I geue thee Marie Magdalen to be thy mother to whom as to a louing mother thou maiest at al times flee for special cōfort for vnto her specially haue I committed the gouernemēt of thee When she heard that she gaue our Lord most humble thankes turnyng her selfe to Marie Magdalen with great humilitie and reuerence she besought her that she would vowchsafe so to take her vnder her motherlie protection And from that tyme foreward Marie Magdalen acknowledged the holie maid for her daughter and she tooke her euermore for her mother which thing maie seeme to be done not without great mysterie if we consider what liknes there was betweene the mother and daughter in the whole state of their life
and conuersation How hangyng in the ayer she sawe certaine secrets and high mysteries of God which it is not lawful to disclose to anie man Chap. 19. THIS holie maid from the tyme that she was thus endued with newe graces vntill the xxxiij yeare of her age at what tyme she departed out of this life was so wholly occupied in diuine comtemplations that in all that tyme she neuer needed anie bodilie sustenance And in those contemplations her soule was so mightely drawen vp to heauenlie thinges that her bodie also was by the vehemencie of the spirite taken vp often tymes withal and suspended in the ayer At which tymes she sawe manie wonderful thinges and spake manie high wordes of heauenlie matters which were heard of diuerse and sundrie persones On a tyme her ghostlie Father seeing her so rauished from her bodilie senses and hearing her speake certaine wordes softely to her selfe came neere to hearken what she said And standing by her he heard her speake these wordes distinctly in latine Vidi arcana Dei that is I haue seene the secrets of God And she repeted the same wordes often tymes Vidi arcana Dei Her ghostlie Father afterwardes being verie desirous to knowe what she meant by those wordes and whie she repeted them so often asked her after this maner Good mother said he I praie you tell me whie you repeated those wordes so often What is the cause whie you will not declare your secrets to me now as you were wont to doe To that she answered and said that she might not speake otherwise whie so said he whie maie you not declare the thinges that our Lord reuealeth vnto you as well now as you were wont to doe Good Father said she I should haue as great a conscience if I should declare the high misteries that almightie God hath now reueled vnto me with my defectuous and imperfecte tongue as I should haue if I had blasphemed or dishonoured our Lord in wordes For there is so great difference betweene heauenly thinges apprehended in an vnderstanding that is illuminated by God and the same thinges vttered by the speach or tongue of man that me thinketh they are almost contrarie the one to the other And therefore for this tyme I praie you hold me excused For the thinges that I haue seene are vnspeakeable After this great reuelation that our Lord made to her of vnspeakeable thinges it seemed to her that her hart did leap out of her bodie and that it did enter into the side of our Sauiour Christ and there was made one hart with his hart And at that instant she felt her soule all molton and resolued with the force of his diuine loue in such sort that she cried out with a loude voice often tymes Domine vulnerasti cor meum Domine vulnerasti cor meum Lord thou hast wounded my hart Lord thou hast wounded my hart This thing was done vpon S. Margarets Daie in the yeare of our Lord. 1370. How she put her mouth to the side of our Sauiour and drancke and of manie other wonderful thinges that happened about the blessed Sacrament Chap. 20. IT chaunced also the same yeare on S. Laurence daie that this holie maid comyng to the Church to heare Masse set her selfe downe neere to the Aulter as her maner was that she might the better see the holie Sacrament And kneeling there deuoutly in her praiers she brake out into weeping and sobbing so much that her ghostlie Father came to her warned her that she should refraine so much as was possible for not molesting the priest at Masse Wherupon like a meeke and obedient daughter she remoued her selfe farther from the Aulter and made her humble praier to our Lord that he would vouchsafe to illuminate her Confessours hart that he might see and vnderstand that such violent motions of the spirite might not be witholden and kept in by the strength of man and her priaer was not vaine For it pleased God to make her ghostlie Father to vnderstand perfectly by experience that such feruour of spirite could not be so kept in but that the force of diuine loue would needes breake out The which when he vnderstood he neuer rebuked her afterwardes for anie such matter Now kneeling after this maner farre of from the Aulter she groned in her hart and manie tymes also brake out into wordes and said after a languishing and ruthful maner I would faine receiue the bodie of my Lord and Redeemer I would faine receiue the bodie of my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ One tyme as she was so so crying behold our Lord appeered vnto her with the wound of his side all open and bringing her mowth to the same said Receiue of my flesh and drincke of my blood so much as thou wilt With that she sucked greedily and tooke so much that it seemed to her that for verie pure loue she was at the point of death by reason of the passing great sweetnes that she felt in her hart The selfe same yeare vpon S. Alexius daie this holie maid made her praier to God that he would vowchsafe to graunt her a feruent and burnyng desire to receiue his most holie bodie and blood At what tyme she vnderstood by reuelation that on the morowe she should receiue without all doubt For she had ben forbiden for certaine respectes that she should not receiue so often When she had that comfortable reuelation she praied againe to our Lord that he would vowchsafe to clense her hart against the tyme of receiuing that she might receiue the more worthily to her greater profite Behold while she was so praying she felt a certaine raigne comyng downe into her soule in maner of a great abondant flood not of water or of anie other such licour but of blood myngled with fyer which as it seemed to her clensed her soule so mightely that the strength and operation of the same redounded into the bodie and clensed it also After this on the morowe she was so extremely sicke that to her seemyng she was not able to moue one foote though the worlde had lyen on it All the which not withstanding she doubted nothing of the promise made vnto her by our Lord but with a ful affiance in him set her selfe in the waie towardes the Church Whither when she was come she kneeled downe in a chappell besides an Aulter and besought almightie God with great instance that her ghostlie Father might come and saie Masse there For she had a special inhibition not to receiue at anie other priestes hand And she vnderstood by reuelation that almightie God had graunted her that petition also Now while she was thus attending there for the performance of all these comfortable promises her ghostlie Father who before found small disposition in him selfe to saie Masse that daie knewe not of her being there was sodainly touched at the hart with a verie strange feruour and deuotiō Wherupon he prepared him selfe to Masse and went
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
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
maid How almightie God permitted the deuel to haue power ouer her bodie and how she ouercame all with great patience Chap. 33. THe malice that the damned sprites bare to this holie virgin was verie great and the battailes that they made continually against her to remoue her from her constancie and vowe of virginitie were surely verie fierce and cruel All the which she ouercame by the grace of God and triumphed ouer all their malice and wilines as we haue in part touched before but as our Lord would not suffer them to haue anie power ouer her soule which could not be without synne so did he permit them to vexe her bodie and put it to great paine for her further increase of merite and higher crowne In so much that some tymes they threwe her into the fyer sometymes they cast her downe headlong from her horse and one tyme when doctour Raimundus her Confessour with diuerse other was present they hurled her downe in such sort that both she and her horse were ouer the head and eares in the myer Wherat she smyled pleasantly and said to her companie Be not afraid for this is the worke of Malatasca And this happened most commonly vnto her when she had done some special worke that tended to the edifying of soules As she declareth verie well her selfe in her hundreth and sixt epistle where after that she had declared what intolerable paines she suffred which were in deed so vehement that for verie paine she raught at her garmentes and looke how much she latched with her hand so much she rent awaie and how the next daie being to write letters to the Popes holines and to three Cardinals when she had ended her letler to the Pope she was able to write no more by reason of the violent paines that came vpon her she writeth these wordes And so standing stil a litle while there began a terrour of deuels which was done in such sort that they set me quite besides my selfe raging like mad dogges against me as though I seelie worme had ben the occasion of taking out of their handes that which they had holden longe tyme in the holie Church And this terrour together with the paine of my bodie was so great that I had thought to haue gone from my studie and to get me to the chappell as though my studie had ben the occasion of my paines but sodainly I was throwen downe And being throwen downe it seemed to me that my soule was departed from my body howbeit not so as when it was departed in deed for then my soule did tast the felicitie of the immortal spirites and did receiue that most soueraigne blessednes with them But now it seemed as a thing reserued though it seemed not to be in my bodie but I sawe my bodie as though it had ben an other These be the verie wordes that she writeth in that epistle in the which she describeth certaine newe battailes made against her by those damned sprites farre greater and more terrible then euer she susteined at anie other tyme. And in the next epistle she declareth how she was verie sore beaten and tormented by them bicause she praied with a great zeale for the Catholike Church where she saieth moreouer that the more she suffred in her bodie the greater was her loue towardes the Church and the more she desired to see the same refourmed How she deliuered a certaine yong maid that was possessed of a wicked sprite Chap. 34. AS it was well knowen to diuerse and sundrie persones that this holie maid was meruelously vexed and put to intolerable paines by the malice of wicked sprites so it pleased God to shewe likewise to the wordle that he had graunted her as it were by special priuilege authority iurisdiction ouer the said sprites to commaund bynd and cast them out at her pleasure to the great comfort of the true and humble seruantes of God and withal to the vtter confusion of those proude sprites that set them selues vp against God and his seruantes as maie appeere euidently by these examples here ensewing There was in the citie of Siena a certaine notarie called maister Michael who when he was well striken in yeares determined with the consent of his wife to forsake the wordle and to geue him selfe to a more streigth order of life He determined also to dedicate two of his daughters to the seruice of God in a monasterie founded in the name honour of S. Iohn Baptist in the same citie Where when they had continued a certaine tyme one of the daughters whose name was Laurentia a child of eight yeares old was by the secret iudgement of God posessed with a wicked sprit by reason wherof the whole monasterie was much disquieted Wherupon by common consent they sent for her father and gaue him his daughter againe After that this child was thus taken out of the monasterie the wicked sprite vttered many wonderful thinges by her mouth and answered to manie darcke and hard questions And which was most strange he spake commonly in the latine tongue He disclosed also manie secret vices of diuerse and sundrie persones to their great reproach and slaunder Which thing turned the father and mother and others also of their kinred and acquentance to great heauines who left no meane vnsought wherby they thought they might ease the child Emong other thinges wherin those deuout folkes hoped in tyme to find helpe comfort one special meane was the reliques of Sainctes kept in manie places in the citie vnto the which places they resorted daily with all diligence namely to S. Ambrose tombe who had ben in his life tyme a Fryer preacher to whome almightie God had graunted a singular grace in casting out deuels frō such as were possessed in so much that his cope or scapular which were there kept being laied vpon them that were vexed with vncleane sprites did verie commonly chase them awaie Wherfore they brought the child thither and laied her downe vpon the tombe cast the said clothes ouer her And the father and mother in the meane tyme set them selues earnestly to praier beseeching our Lord with great instance that it would please him at the contemplation of that holie Saincte to take mercie on their child But their praier was not heard as then Which thing happened vnto them not for anie synne that they committed but bicause it was otherwise disposed by the prouident wisdome of God who vndoubtely put it in the heartes of certaine of their frindes to geue them counsel that they should repraire to the holie maid for the reliefe of their child Which counsel they folowed in deed and first sent vnto her praying her in most earnest maner that she would vouchsafe to doe her best to helpe their daughter wherunto she made answere that she had inough to doe with the wicked sprites that did from tyme to tyme molest and trouble her selfe and therfore praied them that they would hold her
Raimundus to goe with him certaine other religious persones to the place When she was come the Priour ordeined for her and for her sisters that came with her a conuenient lodging without the monasterie the men he tooke into his cloister with him selfe The next morning he came with his whole couent to the holie maides lodging and besought her verie earnestly that she would voutchsafe to saie some thing wherby both he and his brethren might be edified She of humilitie refused a great while and said that it was more meete for her being a woman to be instructed by them then to take vpon her to instructe them But at the length being ouercome with their importunitie she spake as it pleased God to put in her hart And specially she tooke occasion to touch a nomber of sleites and illusions which the ghostlie enemie is wont to vse to deceiue and entrappe those spiritual persones that geue them selues to solitarie life And when she had briefely and plainely declared the tentations she did with the life briefnes and plainenes teach them against euery particular tētation a particular remedie And these thinges she vttered so orderly and with such apte termes that they were all astonied to heare her When she had made an end the Priour turned him selfe to Doctour Raimundus said these wordes Thus manie yeares haue I heard the confessions of these my brethren as the maner of our religion requireth whereby you maie presume that I do knowe the state of euerie man And I saie to you that if this holie maid had heard their confessions as I haue done she could not haue spoken more to the purpose and more to the profit and edifying of euerie one of them then she hath done Whereby we maie cleerely see that she is vndoubtedly a great prophetesse and that the holie spirite of God speaketh in her VVhat a singular grace the holie maid had not only in seeing the state of their soules that were present with her but also in discerning the qualities and condicions of them that were farre from her and in strange countreis with certaine other pointes of like sort worthie to be noted Chap. 6. MAnie deuout persones resorting vnto the holie maid at tymes for spiritual comfort did vse to kneele downe before her and to doe greater reuerence to her then was vsually done to other religious persones The which thing because she did not refuse some that were present tooke offence and murmured ymagining with them selues that she had ben vaine-glorious and that she had taken pleasure in such curtesies Doctour Raimundus to take awaie this occasion of offence went to the holie maid and told her what was conceiued of her To whom she made answere in this sort Father said she our Lord knoweth that I am so thoroughly occupied in vewing the secret qualities of the soules of them that resort to me that I take litle heed to the outward gestures of their bodies And as she sawe the secret disposition of soules so did she likewise take either passing great delite in them if they were vertuously disposed or verie great griefe and bothsomenes towardes them if she sawe them geuen to vice and vncleannes On a tyme while the holie maid was talking with Pope Gregorie concerning the state of the Church where Doctour Raimundus was vsed for an interpretour betweene them because the Pope vnderstood not the Italian tongue and she spake no latine emong other thinges she lamēted her verie much of the court of Rome and said that where of reason there ought to be a most pleasant paradyse of vertue and holines there she found a most lothsome syncke of all stincking vice and vncleannes The Pope being somewhat moued with those wordes asked of Doctour Raimundus how long it was sence she was first acqueinted with the court of Rome And vnderstanding that it was but a fewe daies he asked her how she came to haue such knowledge of the maners of the court in so fewe daies With that she raised her selfe vp with a certaine comelie boldnes whereas before she held downe her head and said these wordes to the Pope To the honour of almightie God I dare well saie thus much that I had a more perfecte sent of the horrible stench of the synnes that are cōmitted in the court of Rome when I liued at home in myne owne countrey where I was borne then they haue them selues that doe commit such synnes euerie daie When the Pope heard these wordes he held his peace and wondred much at the strangenes of her answere But Doctour Raimundus aboue all other was meruelously astonied seeing her to speake in the presence of so great a Prelate as that Pope was with such an vnwonted boldnes and authoritie It happened often tymes as Doctour Raimundus and diuerse other credible persones reported that when she came with them into places where neither she nor they had euer ben before there resorted vnto her manie men and women that seemed by their apparel wordes and outward behauiour verie honest and godlie folkes but were in deed geuen to some vncleane vice Which thing she perceiued by and by and therefore would in no wise be brought to speake with them of heauenlie matters as they required nor so much as to turne her face towardes them And if she sawe that they taried ouer long she would breake out into wordes also and saie to them that if they mynded to talke of God or of godlie matters they should first ridde them selues out of the deuels snares and amend their liues And with that she would find some occasion to withdrawe her selfe from their companie Now her Confessour and other that were about her at such tymes enquiring further of the behauiour and conuersation of such persones as she refused thus to speake withal found in deed that they were noted of some grieuous crime and that they continued in the same without repentance An other tyme there came a woman to speake with the holie maid whose behauiour was so woman lie and talke so honest that so manie as were there present tooke her to be a verie vertuous woman The which notwithstanding the holie maid turned her face awaie from her as it seemed of purpose because she would neither see the woman nor be seene of her Whereof Doctour Raimundus had great wonder and therefore tooke occasion afterwardes to aske her secretly what the cause was whie she had so done To whom she made answere after this maner O Father said she if you had felt such a stench of synne as I felt while that woman spake to me I am well assured you would haue cast vp all that had ben in your stomake Vpon this Doctour Raimundus vsed meanes to come to the knowledge of that womans conuersation and vnderstood that she was a priestes concubine How the holie maid praied continually for the state of the Church and how by praier she obteyned of God the ceasing of two rebellions in Rome Chap. 7.
AT what tyme Pope Vrbanus the sixt was enforced to flee out of Rome by reason of a rebellion that was raised against him in the citie by the french faction the holie maid which as then was left behind in Rome and sawe the miserable state of the Church wept daie and night and with continual sighes and sobbes made her praier to our Lord beseeching him most instantly that he would voutchsafe to cease the furie of those wicked rebels and geue peace to his afflicted Church And it was well seene that her praier was heard For soone after it pleased God so to dispose that in one daie both those factious schismatikes that had taken armes against the Sea Apostolike were vanquished and taken and the castle of S. Angelo which had holden out long tyme before rendred it selfe into the Popes handes When our holie father the Pope vnderstood of this great victorie he returned to the citie againe where he asked the holie maid her aduise what she thought best to be done in that case And her aduise was that he should goe bare footed to S. Peeters Church and all the people with him to thanke God with all submission and sowlines of hart for that ioyous calme after so lōg stormes And thus the Church of Christ began as it were to reuiue againe and the holie maid tooke passing great comfort to see it But that ioye endured not long For within a litle tyme after these troubles were pacified the deuel whose malice is euermore vigilant against the Church of God raised vp a newe tempest And what he could not bring to passe by the furie of strangers that did he attempt againe by sowing discord betweene the citizens of Rome and the Popes holines When the holie maid perceiued that and sawe the imminent peril that was like thereby to ensue to the Church of God she turned her selfe to our Lord in praier and besought him that he would hold his holie hand ouer the people and not suffer them to commit such a wicked and heinous synne And as she was thus praying she sawe the citie full of damned sprites stirring and exciting the people to kill the Pope And those sprites cried horribly to her and said Thou cursed wretch thou art euermore busie to let our designementes But be thou well assured we shall put thee to a foule death She gaue them no word to answere but continued her praier with greater feruour and deuotion beseeching our Lord with all instancie that he would voutchsafe to keepe her from all mischiefe and also that it would please him to preserue the Pope his lieuetenant and vicar general in earth from all the violent attemptes of those wicked conspiratours for the honour of his owne holie name and for the redresse of his deere Spouse the Church which as then was in verie lamentable state She praied likewise for those impious rebels and besought our Lord most earnestly that he would voutchsafe of his infinite mercie to mollifie their hartes not suffer them to commit such a horrible sinne as to murder their owne Father and Pastour When she had praied often after this maner it pleased God one tyme to geue her this answere Daughter said he suffer the people to accōplish their malice in committing this damnable synne that they are about that I maie exercise my iustice and punish them according to their desertes For their wickednes is so odious and horrible in my sight that it maie no longer be endured When the holie maid heard those dreadful wordes she set her selfe to praier againe with farre greater deuotion and vehemencie of spirite then before and said O most merciful Lord thou seest how thy deere of Spouse the Church whom thou hast redeemed with the price of thy most precious blood is this daie miserably vexed and afflicted almost through out the wordle Thou knowest on the one side how fewe there are that shewe them selues readie to assist and comfort her and thou art not ignorant on the other side how manie there are and how cruelly bent that seeke by all possible meanes to annoye and discomfort her And in this behalfe it can not be hidden from thyne eyes which see all thinges how manie treacheries and treasons there are now in contriuing to make our holie father thy vicar out of the waie The which most detestable conspiracie if it take place must needes turne not only this citie of Rome but also the whole bodie of Christendome to great discomfort and slaunder Therefore ô blessed Lord I most humbly beseech thee that thou wilt for this tyme temper the rigour of thy iustice and spare thy people whom thou hast bought so deere After this maner did the holie maid continue manie daies and manie nightes together in feruent praier in the which tyme our Lord did euer more alleadge iustice and she craued mercie And all the tyme that she was thus occupied in praier the wicked sprites did so vexe and torment her with their horrible scriching and crying that her bodie waxed meruelous feeble In so much that if our Lord had not by his almightie power susteined her it had not ben possible for her to haue endured but her hart must needes haue burst in sunder In the end she concluded her praier with these wordes O Lord said she seeing it is so that thy mercie maie not be granted without thy Iustice I beseech thee despise not my praiers but whatsoeuer paine is to be laied vpon this people laie it vpon my bodie and I will beare it with all my hart for the loue that I beare to the honour of thy holie name and to the saluation of their soules After the tyme that she had spoken these wordes our Lord made no more mention of his iustice but held his peace and gaue her the victorie as the effecte declared euidently For from that verie hower foreward it was seene that the people did by litle and litle cease off their conspiracies and practises against the Popes holines and in the end submitted them selues wholly to his authoritie But as their malice relented by litle and litle and in tyme ceased so did her paine and smart likewise increase answerably by the permission of God by whose suffrance the wicked sprites vexed and tormented her bodie so cruelly that it seemed incredible but only to such as were present with her and sawe how it was in part rent and torne as it had ben with yron hookes in part swollen and full of blacke and blewe wailes as though it had ben beaten with clubbes and all ouer so pitifully araied that it seemed rather a thing to wonder at then a natural bodie All the which notwithstanding she gaue not ouer her accustomed maner of praier but continued in the same both longer tyme together then she was wont to doe before and also with greater feruour of spirite and deuotion then she was wont to haue at other tymes And euermore as she increased in praier charitable
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
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
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
of her paines with the Popes holines but tooke it vpon her with a verie good will When she came to Auinion she spake to the Pope so effectually and vsed such perswasible meanes to induce him to condescend to the peace that he without anie further deliberation or sticking at the matter made her this resolute answere Daughter said he that you maie see how much I tender peace and concord I put the whole matter in your hand Doe in it as you shall thincke good Only this haue a regard to the honour of the Church And with that he reuoked his processe and sentence of excommunication against the cittie of Florence by reason wherof they had some respite for a tyme from such vexations and troubles as they suffred before in all places where they had trafficke with other nations The which when certaine craftie persones that bare the swaie at that tyme emong the people perceiued they thought to vse the oportunitie of that release to the furtherance of their malicious intent which was to hinder the peace And though they spake openly of pacification yet did they worke couertly by all possible meanes to depraue and discredite whatsoeuer was spoken or done for the confirmation of the same In so much that when the holie maid sent the condicions of peace to them requiring them to set their handes to them and to make a publike instrument vpon the same as the maner is when anie composition of peace is made they denied vtterly to doe it The which thing Pope Gregorie foresawe verie well and in deed said these wordes to the holie maid before she sent vnto them Beleeue me Catherine said he these Florentines haue beguyled thee And either they will send thee none answere at all or if they doe they will not doe it to such effecte as thou requirest And in truth as he said so it was For afterwardes when the Embassadours came from Florence to the Pope and it was thought that they should haue conferred with the holie maid they refused it plainely and said that they had no such commission The holie maid seeing that was in deed verie sorie to see ther vnhonest and craftie dealing Howbeit she ceased not to asswage the displeasure of the Popes holines iustly conceaued against them and she vsed meruelous meanes to perswade him that he should rather shewe him selfe a pitiful father towardes them then a rigorous iudge While the matter stoode in these termes the Pope being resolued to returne againe to the cittie of Rome which was also wrought by the wonderful perswasion of the holie maid thought good to differre this treatie of peace with the Florentines vntill he came thither where it might be done with better oportunitie And so the Pope returnyng to Rome the holie maid with Doctour Raimundus and the rest of her companie went home to Siena where she busied her selfe after her accustomed maner about the wynning of soules to God How the holie maid was sent backe from Pope Gregorie to the Florentines with the condiditions of peace freely put in her owne hand Cap. 17. AT what tyme these thinges were in doing it chanced that Doctour Raimundus was verie familiarly acqueinted with a worshipful gentleman of Florence called Maister Nicolas Soderines who was well thought of emong all good men for vertue and godlines Doctour Raimundus reasonyng with him on a tyme and complainyng of the vniust dealyng of the Florentines in that treatie of peace the gentleman made answere that in truth it was the fault of some fewe which being in office and authoritie emong the people were able to lead the multitude where they listed And if those fewe could by anie meanes be displaced he doubted not but that anie iust demaund would be heard emong the people When Doctour Raimundus had heard that he conferred with the holie maid and by her aduise drewe out certaine treaties of peace which were thought both verie honorable and also verie profitable for both parties if they might be receiued and exhibited the same to the Popes holines as sent from her And declared withall what he had heard of the afore named gentleman concernyng the hinderance of the said peace Within a fewe daies after the Pope called for Doctour Raimundus againe and spake vnto him I haue said he receiued letters in the which it is signified vnto me that if the holie maid will goe to Florence the peace is like to be concluded To that Doctour Raimundus made answere that not only the holie maid but he also and all the rest of her spiritual sonnes and daughters would be found readie at all tymes to offer them selues to Martyrdome whensoeuer anie like occasion was ministred to shewe them selues dutiful and obedient children to our holie mother the Church No said the Pope I thinck it not good that you should goe at this tyme. It maie be dangerous for you But she being a woman and also holden in great reuerence emong them for her vertue and holines maie I thinke goe without anie danger And so it was concluded and the Pope wrote his letters to the cittie of Florence in the which he gaue her a meruelous testimonie of holines and with the same sent her as an oratrice from the Sea Apostolike When she came to Florence she was receiued of the godlier sort with all honour and reuerence and by the meanes of the afore mentioned Maister Nicolas Soderines came to conferre priuately with manie of those citizens that liued in the feare of God who were easilie induced by her to accepte the peace that was offred vnto them by the Popes holines After this she went and conferred likewise with that companie or partie of the cittie that were called Guelphi and to them set out with manie vehement wordes what a prowde insolent and vngrateful part it was to hinder that holie peace calling those fewe that were the doers therof enemies and vndoers of all common weale and therefore vnmeete to beare office emong the people She declared furthermore what a profit was like to insue to their cittie by that peace if it might be receiued not only in their temporal goods but also and much more for the furtherance edifying of soules Then she shewed the heynousnes of their faicte to be such in the sight both of God and man that if the rigour of lawes and iustice should be extēded vpon them they had deserued to be extremely punished in bodie and soule Last of all she gaue them to vnderstand what a fatherlie loue the Popes holines bare to them and how inclinable he was to shewe mercie if they would submit them selues seeke it at his hāds And these pointes she set out vnto them with such a comelie grace with wordes of such efficacie that all those Magistrates with manie other honest citizens being brought by her talke into an vtter misliking of their present troublesome state and also into a great loue and longyng after that blessed peace which they sawe
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
make them to vnderstand that she spake those wordes of a verie inward affection and great feruour of spirite to the end that they should the better beare them awaie and imprint them the deeper in their hartes My deere children said she loue one an other truly and syncerely for by this you shall shewe that you are willing to be my children and by this I shall take my selfe to be your mother If you loue one an other you shall be my crowne and glorie before God and I will acknowledge you before him to be my true children and I wil be a continual intercessour to his diuine Maiestie for you that as he hath voutchsafed to endue my soule abundantly with his grace so he will also powre the like abundance of grace into your soules Last of all she commaunded them after a certaine charitable maner that they should keepe their desires euermore feruent and burnyng and that they should offer vp the same before God for the reformation and good state of the Church of God and of his vicare the Pope affirming of her selfe that she had alwaies kept her hart and desires in such a feruour especially for the space of seuen yeares before that tyme and that she had neuer omitted specially in those seuen yeares to offer vp her hart and desires in such sort before the diuine Maiestie of almightie God And she confessed plainely that for the obteinyng of this grace at Gods hand she had susteined manie grieuous paines and infirmities in her bodie and that she did at that verie present susteine meruelous great and bitter paines for the same cause And she added furthermore that as almightie God had geuen licence to Satan to torment the bodie of Iob so it seemed also that he had graunted him power to torment and vexe her bodie in such sort that from the sole of her foote to the top of her head there was no one part without his peculiar paine tormēt in her And as no part was void of his proper paine so manie partes were tormēted with diuerse sūdrie paines together as it was sensibly perceiued of as manie as stood by her at that tyme saw her in that great agonie After that she had thus ended her sermon or exhortation she spake to them after a more familiar maner and said My right deere and hartely beloued I now see cleerely that my most louing spouse hath so disposed of me that when my bodie hath indured such tormentes and afflictions as his B. goodnes hath graunted me my soule continuing still in these vehemēt fyerie howeful desires shall in that state be deliuered out of this darcke prison so returne againe to his first original begynning Those that stood about her were meruelously astonied to see her patiēce cheerefulnes in all her paines Which they sawe by verie euident tokēs were so great vehemēt that they thought it impossible for her or anie other creature to beare them as she did without shewing so much as anie litle sigue of sorrowe or lamentation but that she was staied by some verie great special grace of God And as they wondered as her patiēce so did they make great sorrowe and wept verie pitifully to see their good mother in such tormentes The which when she perceiued she spake to them againe after a cōfortable maner and said There is no cause my deere children whie you should be sorie to see me in these paines considering that these paines are the meane to bring me to death by death to a better life But you ought rather to reioyce with me to thinke that I shall now leaue this troublesome place of paine and goe to rest in God that cleere calme sea Be of good cōfort for I promise you faithfully that I will stand you in better steed after my passage from hence then euer I did or might doe so long as I was in this darcke life full of miseries True it is that I do put my life my death all in the hāds of my deere and euerlasting spouse If he shall thinke it expedient for anie creature of his that I tarrie here still in labour and paine I am right well cōtēted glad for the honour of his name edifying of my neighbour to suffer if it were possible a hundred deathes and martyrdoms in a daie But if it be his will pleasure that I shall passe at this time and in these tormentes be you well assured that I haue at the length with long and instant sute obteined at his hand a verie special grace which is that it would please him to accept my bodie as a sacrifice and burnt offring for the reformation of his Church After this she called thē vnto her one by one and gaue thē in charge what order of life euerie one should take after her decease Some she appointed to liue in religiō some to be Heremites and some to be secular Priestes Ouer the sisters of Penance she appointed Alexia to be mother And she willed them all to haue recourse to Doctour Raimundus after her death euen as they had had to her in her life tyme and to vse his direction in all matters When she had thus disposed of all thinges particularly by the directiō of the holie Ghost which vndoubtedly spake in her at that tyme as it was euidently seene afterwardes by the goodlie and blessed successe of all such thinges as she tooke special order for in that extremitie she asked them all forgeuenes and said Decrely beloued though I haue ben alwaies verie desirous of your soules health which thing in deed I can not denie yet I know well that I haue failed in manie pointes both because I haue not ben to you such a perfect paterne of spiritual light vertue and good woorkes as a true handmaid and Spouse of Christ might haue ben and also because I haue not ben so diligent and careful about your bodilie necessities as I ought to haue ben Wherefore I most humbly and instantly beseech you all and euerie one of you to pardon me and I exhort you all to hold out in the waie of vertue vntill the end for in so doing as I said you shal be my ioye and crowne before God With that she ceased of her exhortation to them and called for her ghostlie Father and to him made a general Confession of her whole life and so receiued the blessed Sacrament with meruelous great deuotion That done she required the rest of the Sacramentes which were likewise ministred vnto her in due order and tyme Last of all she demaunded a full remission or Indulgence that was graunted her before by two Popes to wite by Pope Gregorie and Pope Vrbanus After that she had thus prepared her selfe she drewe on fast towardes her end and being in a verie paineful and vehement fitte it was well perceiued by her wordes and outward gestures that she susteined a meruelous sharpe dreadful conflicte with the
patience contempte of the wordle and feruour towardes religion The which state of life she tendred so much that he buylded two monasteries of Nonnes and in the later of the two she liued a holie life and died a blessed death where it pleased God to worke manie greate and straunge miracles by her in her life time and many moe after her death Emonge other this was and is one that her bodie continueth still whole and vnputrified euen as it was at the verie hower of her departure When she was newly dead the people in regard of the wonderful signes that she had wrought emong them in her life thought to haue preserued her bodie with baulme But when they came to the bodie they sawe that it was needles forsomuch as there distilled a verie sweet and precious liqour out at the endes of her fingers toes that passed all baulme which was diligently gathered by them and put in a viole in the which it is kept to this daie and at tymes shewed to the people for a perpetual remembrāce of this great miracle The night that she died the yong babes that laie in bed with their fathers and mothers cried out and said Sister Agnes is now departed and she is a Saincte in heauen And the next mornyng a great companie of yong children by the instincte of God gathered them selues together and would admit none into their companie that was not a maid and set them selues in order after the maner of a procession and so went with candels burnyng in their handes to the monasterie where they offred them vp at the bodie of the blessed virgin euen as we are wont to doe at the monumentes of Sainctes These and manie other miracles were wrought by almightie God in the honour of S. Agnes which caused the people of the country to haue her relikes in great price and reuerence How the holie maid in hir life tyme healed manie that were sicke of the plague Chp. 3. ABout the yeare of our Lord 1373. ther was a great plague in the citie of Siena of the which manie men and women of all condicions and ages died verie soone after they were once taken some within one daie some within two and fewe or none passed the third daie which mortalitie caused a great terrour emong the people Doctour Raimundus chaunced to be in the citie at that tyme reader of the diuinitie lesson in his couent who being a charitable man tendring more the health of soules then the preseruation of his owne bodie as his profession and rule required he tooke great paines and went by daie and by night to the houses where he might vnderstand anie to be sicke to visite comfort and counsel them for their soules health And manie tymes when he was weerie of runnyng thus to and fro he vsed to turne a litle aside into an house or hospital called Our ladie of mercie and there to repose him selfe a while partly for rerecreation both of bodie and soule and partly also to speake with Maister Matthewe the rectour of the said house whome he loued entierly for vertues sake and resorted vnto him commonly once in the daie and so did the holie maid also verie often sometymes to conferre with him of spiritual matters and sometymes to aske either his aduise or charitie towardes the reliefe of the poore On a daie doctour Raimundus going to visite the sicke after his accustomed maner and passing by the gate of this house went familiarly to see how Maister Matthewe did with the rest of his family When he was entred he saw the bretheren and clearkes busilie occupied in carying Maister Matthew from the Church towardes his chamber With that he asked him cheerfully how he did But Maister Matthew was so feeble and so farre spent that he could not giue him one word to answere Then he asked them that were about him how that sicknes came to him And they made answere that he had watched that night with one that was sicke of the plague and about midnight tooke the sicknes of him since the which time said they he hath remained as yee see without coloure without strength without spirit When they had brought him to his chamber they laide him downe vopn his bedde VVhere when he had rested a litle while he came to him selfe againe called for doctour Raimundus and made his confession to him as he was wont often times to doe That done doctour Raimundus spake to him comfortablie M. Matthew said he how feele yee your selfe where is your paine My griefe said he is in my flancke and it paineth me so sore that me thinketh my thighe is ready to breake in sunder And I haue withal such a vehement headache that it seemeth as though my head would cleaue in fower partes With that he felt his pulses and fownd in deed that he had a verie sharpe feuer Wherupon he caused them to carrie his vrine to a learned phisicion that was in the citie called maister Sensus and soone after went him selfe to vnderstand his resolution and aduise in the matter When he came the phisicion declared vnto him that he sawe in the water verie euident tokens of an ague pestilential and also of death neere at hand for said he this water sheweth plainely to me certaine bubling or boiling of the blood out of the liuer which is the common disease that reigneth now ouer all the citie Wherefore I am verie sorie for I see we are like to leese a verie deere frend and they of his howse a verie good rectour What said doctour Raimundus is it not possible by your art to deuise some kind of medecine that maie doe him good We will see to morrowe said he whether we can purge that blood with Cassia Fistula but to tell you truely I haue small hope of doing anie good The disease is to farre gone When doctour Raimundus heard those vncomfortable wordes he returned towardes the sicke man againe with a heauie hart In this meane tyme it came to the eares of the holie maid that maister Matthewe was dangerously sicke and of the plague When she heard that she was troubled in spirite as it were against that euel for she knewe him to be a verie vertuous man and therefore loued him verie entierly and forthwith went in great hast towardes his howse And before she came at him she cried out with a lowd voice saying Maister Matthewe rise rise vp maister Matthewe It is no tyme to lie now sluggyng in your bed At that word and at that verie instant the paine in his slancke and headache and the whole disease forsooke him quite and he rose vp as merrie and as sound in all his bodie as if there had neuer ben anie such disease vpon him And when he was readie he honoured the the holie maid and gaue her most humble thankes saying that he knewe now by experience in his owne bodie that the power of God dwelled in her and wrought strange thinges by
great hedach which tormented him verie sore and were as he knewe vndoubted signes of the common infection that raigned ouer the citie at that tyme. The which notwithstanding he did what he could to make an end of his diuine seruice In the mornyng calling a felowe to him he went with great paine towardes the holy maides house whether when he came he found her not at home For she was gone out to visite an other that was sicke Then being no longer able to hold vp his head he laied him selfe downe vpon a couch that was there in her house praied the sisters that they wold send for her with al speed When the holie maid came home and found him there and vnderstood in what case he was she kneeled downe by the bed and laying her hand vpon his forehead she began after her maner to lifte vp her hart to God in praier And foorthwith he sawe that she was quite abstracted from her bodilie senses rauished in sprite Which was no vnwonted sight to him nor yet vncomfortable at that tyme. For he hoped well that she should obteine some great benefite for him both of bodie and soule at Gods hand When she had continued after that maner about the space of halfe an hower he felt in him selfe a mightie alteration and stirring in euerie part of his bodie and withal a vehement prouocation towardes a vomite which he had seene to hapen before to many that had died of that disease How beit it fell not so out with him but rather contrariwise For it seemed to him that he felt sensibly how those corrupt humours that caused his paine were violently drawen from within to the vttermost partes of the bodie And certaine he was that he found present ease of his paines And before the holie maid came to her selfe againe he was fully and perfectly restored to his health sauing only that there remained a litle feeblenes in him which he thought our Lord suffred to remaine in him as a token either of the disease that was cured or els of the weakenes of his faith So soone as the holie maid had obteined this grace at Gods hand for her ghostlie father she was foorthwith restored to her bodilie senses And finding him as yet in some weakenes she willed her sisters to prouide some meate for him such as is wont to be geuen to sicke folkes The which when he had receiued at her holie hand she willed him to lie downe and rest a while and so he did And when he had rested a litle tyme he rose vp and felt him selfe as strong and in as good liking as if he had neuer ben sicke Then said the holie maid to him Father goe your waie and labour about the edifying of soules and be thankeful to almightie God that hath deliuered you out of this present danger The like miracle did the holie maid worke about the same tyme vpon father Bartilmewe of whome mention hath ben made diuerse and sundrie tymes before The miracle was much alike but the cure seemed somewhat greater biause he was both longer and also more grieuously sicke How the holie maid healed a great nomber that were sicke of other diseases after the like maner Chap. 4. AFter the tyme that this pestilence was ceased in Siena it chaunced that manie deuout and well disposed persones as well religious as others but specially certaine Nunnes of Pisa hearing the fame of the holie maid had a great desire to see her and to heare her doctrine which was reported to be and was in deed verie wonderful And because it was not lawful for many of them that had this godly inclination to come to her to Siena they sent letters and messengets to her very often beseeching her that she would take the paines to come ouer to them to Pisa And to allure her the more to take that iourney vpon her they declared vnto her what frute and gaine of soules was like to ensue by her comyng thither The holie maid though she had no desire to be from home yet being ouercome with their long importunate sute especially considering that there was great hope of winning soules to God first she asked the aduise of them that liued in house with her of the which compaine some were with her going to Pisa and some against it Then when she sawe that she could not be resolued by men she fled vnto almightie God as her maner was and besought him humbly that he would vouchsafe to make her to vnderstand what his will and pleasure was that she should doe in that case And it came to passe after certaine daies that our Lord appeered to her and willed her that she should accomplish the godlie request of those his seruantes hand maides in Pisa without delaie Wherupon she went to her ghostelie father and declaring thus much to him besought him like an obedient daughter that he would geue her licence to doe as she was willed by God He assented willingly to her demaund and went him selfe with her and with him two other of his brethren to heare the confessions of such as should resort vnto her according to a graunt made to her by Pope Gregorie the eleuenth When she came to Pisa she lodged in the house of an honest citizen called maister Gerardus where on a daie there was presented vnto her a certaine younge man of the age of twentie yeares or there about which had ben sore vexed with a quotidian ague for the space of a yeare and halfe and neuer missed one daie And though there were no fit of an ague vpon him at that tyme yet might she see that he had ben long sicke For whereas he was by constitution of bodie a verie strong and lustie yong man he was now brought so lowe that he had neither flesh strength nor colour And no medicine could be found that would doe him good Wherfore they entreated the holie maid that she would commend his lamentable state to God in her praier The holie maid pitied his case verie much and asked him how long it was sence he was last confessed To that he answered and said that it was a good manie yeares Yea said she and that is the cause whie our Lord hath laied this discipline vpon you bicause yee would not clense your soule in all this tyme by confession Wherfore deere sonne see that yee goe out of hand to confession and rid your selfe of these sinnes that haue infected you both bodie and soule With that she caused Doctour Thomas her owne confessour to be called and deliuered the yong man to him willing him to heare his confession That done the yong man returned to her againe and she laied her hand vpon his shoulder and said these wordes Sonne goe your waie with the peace of our Lord Iesus Christ For I will not that these agues trouble you anie more She said and it was done for the almightie power of him spake in her who said and it