Sea and the Tempest ceased See his Life pag. 60. St. Anthony was a corpulent man but the Devil displeased with his good life molested him and one night would have strangled him and had already set his Hands to his Throat so that he was in danger of death but recommending himself to the glorious Virgin and saying the Hymn O Gloriosa Domina the Devil left him and vanished away See his Life pag. 193. Saint Anthony had the gift of Tongues with a pleasant cleer and ringing Voice and though there was at his Sermons many Thousand persons of different Languages yet they all understood him As at Rome where the People of sundry Nations listening unto him and he Preaching in the Italian Tongue yet they all understood him Preaching one time in France near Bruges in the Field because of the multitude of People it was Summer and whil'st he Preached it began to Thunder and Lighten grievously wherefore the People doubting to be throughly wet began to haste away to shelter St. Anthony bade them be quiet for they should not be wet all the People gave credit to his words and none stirred out of his place then it began to Rain very much throughout all the Countrey but upon the People that heard his Sermon there fell not one Drop It happened in the same Province in France that a devout Woman was desirous to go to the Sermon of St. Anthony but her Husband would not suffer her because she was sickly she went up unto the top of her House looking toward the place where he Preached and though she was two Miles off yet she heard the words of the Preacher as if she had been hard by Of this the Husband of the good Woman was witness who calling her and she answering that she stayd there to hear the Sermon he scoffed and derided at her words and with some pain he went up to the place where his Wife was and he also heard the words as plain as if he had been hard by One time St. Anthony Preaching he saw a Traveller approach unto a Noble Lady which was at the Sermon and speak unto her the Saint seeing her much troubled and change Countenance bade her as he stood in the Pulpit not to believe that false Messenger who brought her news that her Son was dead for it was a lye without doubt and said withall that he that told it her was the Devil The wicked Fiend would by this Lye have disturbed the Sermon but seeing himself discovered he vanished away in all their sights St. Anthony being in Padua it was revealed to him that his Father was in danger of death at Lisbon being accused of Man-slaughter whereof he was innocent wherefore he asked leave of his Guardian and having obtained it he was carried in one Night only by an Angel from Padua unto Lisbon Being come thither he spoke with his Father and brought to pass that the Judges caused the dead Body to be brought before him St. Anthony before much people asked him if his Father had killed him the dead Body spake and said No and that he was falsly accused thereof The Judge having seen the strange Miracle set free the Father of St. Anthony who remained in his company all night and the next day he was carried back from Lisbon unto Padua as he had been brought thither One time St. Anthony Preaching at the Funeral of a Rich man and among other things discoursed upon these words Where thy treasure is there is thy heart to confirm these words the Father said that the former words be true it is evident in this Rich man who was covetous for his Heart was to be found in his Chest where his Money lyeth forthwith some went and opened it and there they found the Heart of the Covetous man indeed as fresh as if it had been taken out of the Breast of a Man It happened often at the end of the Sermons of St. Anthony that the People departed with such desire to be Confessed that the Confessors of his Order and of the other Orders also were not sufficient to satisfie them He also heard Confessions among others he heard the Confession of a Paduan who told him that he had kicked his Mother St. Anthony reproved him sharply and told him that the Foot that had strook his Mother was worthy to be cut off The words of St. Anthony were of such force in the mind of him that was Confessed that when he came home he himself cut off the same Foot St. Anthony being advertised thereof caused him to be brought unto him and restored him his Foot again with the sign of the Cross. All these Stories that follow are taken out of Cressy's Church-History ST Winwaloc and his Disciples being not content with their Habitation prayed to God that he would direct them to a more convenient one he shewed them a place remote in the Sea but wanting a Ship he renewed his Prayers and having done this he said to his Brethren Be couragious and firm in a strong faith and as you see me lead this Brother by the hand so do every one of you take his next fellows hand and follow one another Then invoking the Name of our Lord with his Pastoral Staff he strook the Sea upon which it opened a passage for them so that taking one another by the hand and himself marching in the front they walked securely over the dry Sands the Waters on both sides standing like Walls Cress. pag. 183. St. Benignus discovered to St. Patrick the Motives of his Journey to a solitary place who exhorted him to pursue his purpose saying Go Brother take only your Staff with you and when you shall be arrived at the place for your repose wheresoever having fixed your staff in the ground you shall see it flourish and grow green there know you must make your abode St. Benignus being accompanied only with a Youth named Pincius began his Journey through woody and marish places but as soon as he was arrived in an Island where he saw a solitary place he presently fixt his Staff in the ground which without delay wonderfully grew green and brought forth fresh Leaves and to this day the same Tree remains flourishing with green Boughs Yet one incommodity it had that there was no Water near whereupon St. Benignus gave his Staff to young Pincius commanding him to go to a certain place full of Reeds and there striking the ground with his Staff he should without doubt find Water so earnestly desired by them the Child obeyed went to the place and strook the ground three times making three holes in it with the end of his Staff which he had no sooner done but immediately a Fountain gusht forth from whence to this day a Brook is supplied which is good for Fishing and healthfuâ— for many Infirmities Cr. p. 194. St. Piran fed ten Irish Kings and their Armies with 3 Cows rais'd to life dead Pigs and dead Men. Cr. p. 195
the Cure the bands of the sore were unfolded they found the wound perfectly healed closed up and sound One Ferdinando Pertel having fallen into a Tertian Ague which afterward proved to be a double Tertian and at last a pestilent Feaver with a kind of raving and fearful horrour of his Senses was forsaken by the Physicians and lay in his last extremity being prepared with all the Rites of the Church and invoking St. Ignatius whose Picture he held in his hand he began suddenly to recover and was cured of his Disease One Anne Barzellona a Woman of sixty years of age having for about the space of two years been so miserably strooken with the Palsey that she was unfit for any labour and unable without Crutches to go up and down stairs and with her Crutches also seemed rather to creep than go to which when the application of no Remedies would serve and she besides was taken with an Apoplexy in her other side so that she became impotent and was confined to her Bed finding her self thus void of all Human help by the assistance of her Crutches and one Margaret her Sister she betook her self to a Chappel of St. Ignatius two hours travelling distant from her Lodging where making a Vow in honour of St. Ignatius immediately she began to find her self better and was able to bow her Knee which before was grown stiff and having ended her Devotions arose full of contentment and returned a joyful Woman nimbly to her Lodging A Bone and Superscription of St. Ignatius being applied to the Eyes of a certain Widow of Majorca called Iane Clara Noguera who was Blind restored her to sight Divers other Miracles of St. Ignatius are related in a late Life of his set forth by Father Pedro Ribadeneira in Spanish Printed at Madrid in the year 1601 and Translated by others into Latin Greek Italian the Polish and other Languages and published in the chief Cities of Italy Spain France Germany and other places where such as are curious to peruse them may find them Miracles wrought by Saint Francis Xaverius and Saint Philip Nerius taken out Chapt. 18 and 20. of the fore-mentioned Book Upon the Frontiers of Piscaria he raised a Boy who for many hours together had layn drown'd in a Well In the Town of Mutan in like manner he raised another Boy who dying of a Pestilential Feaver had remained dead four and twenty hours At Comire he rais'd a third Body which had layn buried under the Earth a whole day together Near the Promontory of Comori he rais'd a Girl not far from that place a certain married Woman In the Island of Vaccare near Zeilan the Son of a certain Infidel At Malaca the Daughter of one who had been lately Converted At Bembari a certain Boy Another at Comari At Punical he raised a Man who had lain dead a whole day Near Manapar he rais'd one Antoni Miranda At Malaca a certain mans Daughter who had been three days Buried and overwhelmed with Earth He restored to Life in like manner the Son of one Mahomet Sarangio who had lain three dayes under Water to omit others Raised by him in his Life time After his Death he restored almost as many to Life In the Processes of his Canonization mention is made of above five and twenty persons raised by him from death to life He often restored Blind men to their sight dispossessed possessed persons cured many lying desperate and given over by the Physicians healed Lepers calmed Tempestuous Seas preserved Ships from Wrecks restored the Lame to their Limbs and recovered men strooken with the Palsie He foretold infallibly many things to come penetrated mens concealed thoughts had a certain knowledge of Secrets and things absent He appeared in divers places far distant at one and the self same time he spake several Languages which he had never learned as readily congruously and eloquently as if he had been born and bred among those Nations And it fell out often times that at such times as he Preached to multitudes of people men of several Nations at the same time heard him utter their own Language and with one and the self-same Answer he often satisfied the demands of several Infidels He was so ravished and transported with the desire and love of God that he was often and miraculously raised from the ground with a countenance inflamed Eyes sparkling and fixed upon the Heavens and being surcharged with Celestial joy was forced to exclaim Sat est Domine sat est By the sign of the Cross he turned salt Water into fresh in several vessels at Sea Having dipped a brazen Crucifix which he wore about his Neck into the Sea to appease a Tempest and by accident lost it walking next day upon the shore he espied a Sea-Crab miraculously bringing him his Crucifix in his claws which having delivered it suddenly returned back into the Sea from whence it came He ended his life at Sancion near China in the year 1552. famous for many Miracles His Body was found entire long after his death howbeit it was neither bowelled nor balmed but buried in Quick-lime and it appeared many Months after its decease lively full of juyce and fresh colour soft and tractable sending forth an admirable sweet favour and many times Bleeding for which he was honoured and reputed a Saint immediately after his death It appeareth by the Process of his Canonization that many-dead Bodies were raised by him after his death that many Lamps burned before his Body with Water only put into them as clearly as if they had only been filled with Oyl which being oftentimes extinguished took fire again of themselves without Human help that divers were Cured by him or by his Reliques or Pictures of Leprosie Palsie and other incurable Diseases Saint Philip Nerius preserved his Virginity untouched and he discerned in chast persons the persume of Chastity and in others the rankness and stenoh of Unchastity He arrived to the Knowledge of many things concealed from him such as are the most intimate Secrets of mens Hearts He restored one dead Man to life in his life time another after his own decease He was seen raised from the ground in the time of his Masses Miracles of some others taken out of their Lives POpe Iohn when he came to Corinth a Gentleman lent unto him a Horse whereon his Wife used often to ride and when the Horse was sent back he would never abide that the Woman should come on his back so that it seemed that Beast which had carried the greatest Man of Dignity and Authority in the World disdained to be checked and ruled by a Woman the Gentleman marking it and holding it for a very strange thing as it was indeed sent the Horse to be given unto the Pope Pag. 147. A Ship wherein were three hundred persons being in a Storm and in danger to be cast away they recommended themselves to St. Iuvenal and they saw him walk on the waves of the
At the Church of St. Almedhâ— one especial thing usually happening on the Solemnity of this Virgin seems to me very remarkable for you may oftentimes see there young Men and Maids sometimes in the Church sometimes in the Church-yard and sometimes whilst they are Dancing in an even ground encompassing it to fall down on a sudden to the ground at first they lye quiet as if they were rapt in an Extasie but presently after they will leap up as if possessed with a Frenzy and both with their Hands and Feet before the People they will represent whatsoever servile Works they unlawfully performed upon Feast-days of the Church one will walk as if he were holding the Plough another as if he were driving the Oxen with a Goad and both of them at the same time singing some rude Tune as if to ease their toyl one will act the Trade of a Shoomaker another of a Tanner a third of one that were Spinning Here you may see a Maid busily weaving and expressing all the postures usually in that work After all which being brought with Offerings unto the Altar you would be astonished to see how they would return to their Senses again Cr. p. 217. The manner of St. Kentigern's Birth A certain King of Britanny who was a Pagan begot of his Wife a very beautiful Danghter she having been a frequent hearer of Sermons became a Christian and though she had not been Baptized yet she was addicted to the duties of Ecclesiastical Discipline as much as the fear of incensing her Father would permit she bore so great Devotion to the fruitful Virginity of the blessed Virgin that mov'd with Womanish presumption she begg'd that she might imitate her in her Conception and Birth At length as she thought she obtained her desire for she found her self with Child Now it is not to be conceiv'd that this hapned without the embraces of a man notwithstanding who that man was or in what manner or when this was done she oft protested and with Oaths confirmed it that she was utterly ignorant Her Father perceiving this and not being able by fair speeches or threatnings to wrest from her who was the Father of the Child for she seriously protested that she had never suffered the unlawful embraces of any man hereupon in a rage he determined to execute upon her the Law established by his Ancestors by which it was enacted That whatsoever young Maid should be with Child by Fornication in her Fathers house should be thrown down headlong from the top of a high Mountain and the person corrupting her should lose his Head In conformity therefore to this Law the young Woman was placed on the highest point of a Mountain in that Countrey called Dunpelder from thence to be thrown down and torn in pieces She therefore with deep sighs looking up to Heaven implored Mercy After this she was cast down but by the Fall was neither bruised nor received the least harm but sliding down easily and slowly came safe to the bottom The Pagans ascribed this to the Magical Enchantments of Christians therefore they carried her several Miles into the Sea and there left her destitute of all humane help in a small Boat made of Leather without Oars but the Boat was carried to a far distant Haven with great swiftness being arrived there the young Lady went out of the Boat and presently after was brought to Bed of a Son without the assistance of a Midwife The next morning St. Servanus came to the place and seeing the Mother with her Infant he took them into his care and baptized them and called the Mother Thanen and the Child Kentigern Cr. p. 231. St. Iustinian having reproved his Servants for idleness and mispending their time they were inflam'd with fury against him insomuch as rushing upon him they threw him to the ground and most cruelly cut off his Head But in the place where his sacred Head fell to the ground a Fountain of pure water presently flowed by drinking of which in following times many were miraculously restored to Health But Miracles greater than these immediately succeeded his Death for the Body of the Martyr presently rose and taking the Head between the two Arms went down to the Sea Shore and walking thence on the Sea past over to the Port called by his Name and being arrived to the place where a Church is now built to his memory it fell down and was there buried by St. David Cr. p. 234. St. David being enjoined to Preach he commanded a Child which attended him and had lately been restored to Life by him to spread a Napkin under his Feet and standing upon it he began to expound the Gospel and the Law to the Auditory All the while this Oration continued a snow white Dove descending from Heaven sate upon his Shoulders and moreover the Earth on which he stood rais'd it self under him till it became a Hill from whence his Voice like a Trumpet was clearly heard and understood by all both near and far off On the top of which Hill a Church was afterwards built which remains to this day Cr. p. 235. St. David when Priest went to Paulens who in a certain Island lived a holy Life with him St. David lived many years now it fell out that his Master Paulens fell blind hereupon calling his Disciples together he desired that one after another they would look upon his Eyes and say a Prayer or Benediction on them When they had done this and that he received no ease or remedy David said thus to him Father I pray you do not command me to look you in the Face for ten years are passed since I studied with you and in all that time I never had the boldness to look you in the Face Paulens admiring his humility said Since it is so it will suffice if by touching my Eyes thou pronounce a Benediction on them Presently therefore assoon as he touched them Sight was restored to them Cr. p. 238. St. Iohn a British Priest avoided the Sight of Men confining himself to a little Cell where in a little Orchard cultivated by himself he had planted a few Lawrel Trees which are now so increased that they afford a very pleasing shade his custome was under these to sit read or write as he thought fit After his death among the said Trees there was one which through age was withered then he to whom the care of the Place was committed digg'd up the Roots of the said dry Tree and of the Body of it hewed out a Seat or Bench upon which he used to sit After he had used the Seat for the space of above two years a thought of remorse coming into his heart he said Alas Sinner that I am why do I for my own conveniency make use of a Seat framed of the Tree which so holy a Priest planted with his own hands Having said this he presently took a Spade and digging a deep hole in the ground he put