and yealding a meruelous beawtiful light in proportion and quaÌ„titie answerable to the measure of her bodie and putting the same vpon her with his owne handes said This garment I geue thee for all the tyme that thou shalt liue here vpon the earth in token and pleadge of that immortal garment that thou shalt receiue at my handes in heauen And with these wordes that vision ceased and left her endewed with such a strange grace and qualitie not only in sowle but also in bodie that from that verie instant that our Lord spake vnto her she neuer felt alteration in her bodie but continued euermore in one temper whether it were winter or somer hote or cold wind or raine And whatsoeuer wether came she neuer ware moe or fewer clothes then one only single peticote vnderneth and one only single kirtel aboue and that rather for decencie then for necessitie Of two euident miracles which our Lord wrought to declare how accceptable her workes of Charitie were to him Chap. 8. THere was in the citie of Sienna a certaine poore man that had dispossessed him selfe of all his worldlie goods for Gods sake and was in great distresse for lacke of necessarie sustenance The which thing when this holie maid vnderstood being moued withal compassion she tooke a lynnen bag the she had and filled the same with egges and caried it priuily vnderneth her cote towardes the howse of the said poore man to relieue him withal When she came neere the place were he dwelt seeing a Church there by she entred into it first as her maner was to doe her deuotion Where lifting vp her hart to God in praier and comtemplation she was foorthwith so rauished in spirite that her bodilie senses failing she fell downe with all the waight of her bodie on that side where the bag of egges was There was also in the bag a thymble such as taylours do so we withal which she had forgoten to take out when she put in the egges This thymble was broken in three peeces and the egges remained as whole and as sownd as they were put in notwithstanding that she had lyen vpon them with the burthen of her whole bodie and that for the space of certaine howers It pleased almightie God to work an other verie strange miracle also to the like effecte a thing well knowen and testified by as manie as were in the howse which were to the nomber of twentie persones It happened that the howsehold had dronke out a vessel of wine so lowe that the remnant that was left seemed not good ynough to geue to the poore for her maner was alwaies to geue out the best in almes for Gods sake Where vpon she went to the next vessel and drewe out of that largely for the poore a nomber of daies together and was neuer espied by anie of the howsehold At the length when the other vessel was quite drawen out the Butler also went to the vessel that she had broched and drewe of it for the whole howse The howsehold drancke as they were wont to doe sufficiently and she gaue out as her maner was plentifully And yet the wine neuer decreased nether in quantitie nor qualitie but kept euermore at one staie both for fulnes and for freshnes All the howse had great wonder how the vessel should continue so long and withal so good For they all knewe that such a vessel was wont to serue the howse but only xv or at the vttermost xx daies And this had continued a ful moneth and yet to all their seemyng was neither the lesse in measure nor worse in tast but rather they all confessed that in their whole life tyme they had neuer tasted a better wine But that holie maid made no wonder of it for she vnderstood that it was the worke of God whose propertie it is to blesse multiplie the substance of those that are readie to geue to the poore for his loue One moneth was fully expired an other was well entred yet the wine continued still as good and as fresh as it was the first daie that it was broached At the length when the tyme was come that the grapes were ripe and readie to the presse to make newe wyne he that had the chiefe charge about the making of the same tooke order that this vessel which had continued so long with old wine should be emptied that it might be filled with newe wine Whereupon one of the seruantes which thought of all likelyhood that there had ben litle or nothing left in the vessel went about to drawe it out into bottels After the which maner when he had drawen a good deale he sawe still that it ran with full tap At the last they resolued to gawge the vessel and so to see what was in it The which they did and behold they fownd the vessel so drie as if it had stood without licour for the space of manie monethes before Whereat the whole household was meruelously astoined in so much that they had no greater wonder before to see the cleere colour freshnes and long continuance of the wine then they had now to see so sodaine an alteration and fayling of the same Of a passing great charitie and diligence which she vsed in attending vpon a sicke woman and of her inuincible patience in bearing the waiwardnes of the same woman Chap. 9. AS this holie maid had a passing great desire to relieue the poore in their distresse and extremitie so had she also a meruelous tender care and compassion ouer them that were sicke and diseased Concernyng the which vertue she left manie wonderful examples to the wordle emong others this was one There was in the citie of Sienna a poore widowe called â—ecca who for lacke of necessarie attendance and sustentation in her owne howse being verie weake and feeble was constreined to craue the ordinarie charitie of an hospital that was there by Where she was charitably receiued but the hospital was so poore that they were not able to make her allowance of such thinges and seruices as her disease required and so her maladie increasing daily more and more at the length she became disfigured with a verie fowle leprie all ouer her bodie Which made her so lothsome to all that were in the hospital that they eschewed her and there was none fownd that would serue her anie longer Wherupon they determined to send her to a spittle-house that was ordained for such Lazarous folkes about a mile from the citie But before she was remoued it pleased God that this holie maid should haue vnderstanding of their determination Who being inwardly moued with pitie went foorthwith to the hospital where she laie and serued her both with her bodie and with her goods mornyng and euenyng prouiding for her whatsoeuer she thought necessarie or requisite for a woman in that case and dressing the same for her with her owne handes And all this she did with as diligent a care and
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
affection towardes the Church of God so did those wicked feendes increase their crueltie towardes her beating and bounsing her daie and night and withal filling her eares with their most horrible cries saying O thou cursed wretch thou hast euer ben against vs. But be thou well assured the tymes is now come that we will be euen with thee Thou hast oftentymes disappointed vs of our purposes And therefore now we will neuer geue thee ouer vntill we haue made a full riddance of thee in such sort that thou shalt neuer be able to hinder vs anie more Thus much the holie maid wrote her selfe in a letter to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father And so she continued in such vexation and tormentes from the sonday of Septuagesima vntill the last sauing one of April on the which daie it pleased our Lord to call her out of this life How the holie maid obteined by praier that she might satisfie the iustice of God for the paines dwe to her father in Purgatorie Chap. 8. WHen Iames this holie maides father sawe that his daughter was wholly geuen to the seruice of God as it hath ben declared in the first part of this booke he cast a verie special loue and affection to her and entreated her in his house with great respecte and reuerence and had this opinion of her that she was able to obteine at Gods hand for him what she would And she likewise bare a verie singular loue and reuerence to her father and commended his health to God in her dailie praiers in most earnest maner It chaunced that her father fell into a verie grieuous sickenes kept his bed The which when she vnderstood she turned her selfe to God in praier after her accustomed maner and besought him that her father might recouer againe But answere was geuen her from God that the end of his daies in this life was come and that it was not expedient for him to liue anie longer With that she went foorthwith to her father to visite him and to examine him how he was disposed in his soule and found him readie and willing to passe out of this wordle whensoeuer it should please God to call him wherof she was verie glad and thanked our Lord with all her hart Then she praied furthermore that seeing our Lord had voutchsafed to call her father out of this life in the state of saluation it might also stand with his holie will and pleasure to make him this graunt that he might passe out of hand to the ioyes of heauen not be staied anie tyme in the paines of Purgatorie Whereunto our Lord made her answere that the order of iustice must needes be obserued which would not beare that anie soule should haue the fruition of those vnspeakeable ioyes vnlesse it were most perfectly purged before And though her father had lead a conuenient good life in his vocation and had done manie good workes also which were verie acceptable in the sight of God of the which one principal worke was the mainteinyng of her in religion yet there remained some rust of earthlie conuersation which of right must be tried out with the fyer of purgatorie When she heard that she made her praier to our Lord after this maner O most mercifull Lord how maie I abide that the soule of my deere father whome thou hast appointed to be the meane to bring me into this wordle by whome I haue ben so carefully prouided for in my tender age at whose hand I haue receiued so manie comfortes and reliefes by whose handie labour and charges I haue ben mainteined thus maine yeares in thy seruice should now be tormented with the paines of Purgatorie I beseech thee O father of mercies and God of all comfort for all the louing kindnes that euer thou hast shewed to mankind that thou wilt not suffer my fathers sowle to depart out of his bodie vntill it be by one meane or other so perfectly tried and purified that it need no further purgation A wonderful thing to consider After the tyme that the holie maid had said those wordes it was euidently seene that her fathers bodie decaied more and more as it did before to wardes death all his powers failing sensibly in such sort that all men sawe by the course of nature it could not continue anie tyme. And yet for so long time as she continued in praier wrestling as it were with almightie God and labouring to incline him in some degree if it were possible from iustice to mercie they might perceiue that his soule was holden in his bodie by some spiritual power and could in no wise depart At the length when she sawe that the iustice of God must needes be satisfied she said thus O most merciful Lord if it cā not otherwise be but that thy iustice must be answered I beseech thee turne thy iustice vpon me whatsoeuer paines thou hast appointed for my father laie the same vpon my bodie I will willingly beare them To that our Lord consented said vnto her Daughter for the loue that thou bearest to me I am content to graunt thee thy petition to transpose the paines due to thy father to laie the same vpon thee which thou shalt beare in thy bodie so long as thou liuest With that she thanked God most hūbly and said O Lord thy iudgemētes are all iust be it done to me as thou hast determined And so she made hast towardes her father who laie in extremes And she cōforted him meruelously with that glad tidinges wēt not frō him vntill he had geuē vp the ghost So soone as her father was departed she felt her selfe foorthwith pained with a grieuous disease in her side called Iliaca passio which neuer wēt frō her so lōg as she liued The which paine she bare not only patiētly but also cheerefully cōceiuīg such an inward ioy of that B. state that she knew her father was in that she litle esteemed the outward paine of her owne bodie In so much that at the tyme of her fathers departure when all other that were present made great lamentation she smiled sweetely and shewing great gladnes in her countenance said these wordes Deere father would God I were as you are Our Lord be blessed How the holie maid by praier brought her mother to life againe and so deliuered her from the paines of hell Chap. 9. AS the holie maid shewed her selfe to be a verie louing and duetiful child towardes her father so did she likewise afterwardes shewe the like loue and charitie towardes her mother as her duetie required Her mother Lapa was verie sicke and her sickenes grewe on her euerie daie more and more in such sort that there were seene in her great tokens of death and small hope of life All the which notwithstanding she was so drowned in the wordle that she might in no wise heare of death and be brought to confourme her will to the will of God When her daughter
reuerend full of maiestie And for a litle tyme he sawe that face only and could see none other thing which put him in such a feare and terrour that casting vp his handes aboue his shoulders he cried with a lowd voice and said Oh Lord who is this that looketh thus vpon me It is he said she that is And with that she came againe to her owne fourme These and other the like thinges did doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father report of his owne experience all which he affirmed to be most certainly true with a verie great and earnest protestation THE SECOND PART How the spowse of Christ was made by litle and litle to shewe her selfe to the wordle Chap. 1. AFter that our Sauiour Christ had thus espowsed this holie virgin to him selfe and beawtified her with manie graces and gyftes his will pleasur was that she should from that tyme foreward by litle and litle shewe her selfe to the worlde that the graine that had now lyen hidden in the grownd a conuenient tyme and was sufficiently mortified might bud flower and bring foorth the frute of manie excellent vertues to the comfort of men Wherefore on a tyme when he had shewed her many mysteries of the kingdome of heauen and had taught her also to saie the Psalmes and Canonical howers with him selfe as is declared before he bad her that she should goe downe to eate with others and then returne to him againe When she heard that she sobbed and wept fell downe at his feete after a verie pitiful maner and said vnto him O most sweet Iesu whie wilt thou put me awaie from thee If I haue offended thy diuine Maiestie behold here my bodie at thy feete laie what penance it shall please thee vpon it and I will helpe with all my hart Only this I beseech thee let me not be so sharply punished as to be sundred from thy blessed presence What haue I to doe with their meates I haue meate to eate that they knowe not of Oh my good Lord wherefore dost thou will me to goe to eate with them Doth man liue of bread only and not rather and better of euerie word that cometh out of thy mouth Art not thou he my deere Lord that hast cawsed me to eschewe the conuersation of men that I might the better conuerse with thee And now that I haue fownd thee without anie desert on my part only of thy mere liberalitie and goodnes shall I be so vnhappie as to forsake such a goodlie treasure for to returne to the conuersation of men and so to dymme the puritie and cleerenes of my faith Suffer not that O my deere spowse and Lord for thyne infinitie goodnes When she had thus powred out her hart before our Lord pitifully sobbing and weeping and lying prostrate at his feete he like a merciful Lord gaue her verie sweet wordes againe and said My deere daughter leaue the care of thy selfe to me It is meete that thou doe fulfill all righteousnes Which thou canst not doe vnlesse thou be fruteful and profitable not only to thy selfe but also to others Thinke not my good daughter that it is my meanyng to separate thee from me but rather to vnite thy hart more firmely vnto me Knowest thou not that all the lawe and prophetes stand of two pointes to witt of the loue of God and of the loue of thy neighbour Wherefore to make thee perfecte my will is that thou exercise thy selfe in the loue of thy neighbour with great compassion and mercie that thou maiest flie vp to heauen not with one wing but with two Call to mynd the zeale that thou haddest of winning sowles which I planted in thy hart euen in thyne infancie at what tyme thou haddest a desire to change thyne habite and to clad thy selfe like a man that thou mightest be receiued into the order of the Fryars Preachers Remember that this habite which thou wearest is the habite of thy father S. Dominicke and was geuen vnto thee by my deere mother namely for a special loue and affection that thou barest vnto him for the great trauaile that he susteined in wynning of sowles Behold I doe now dispose and ordaine thee to that end that thou diddest through my secret inspiration so much desire in thy yowth I dispose thee to that function that my Father disposed me vnto in the earth I ordaine thee to that ministerie that I ordained my beloued Apostles and disciples vnto before I departed from them on the earth And all this I doe for thy further merite and greater crowne At these wordes the humble virgin tooke great comfort and bowing downe her head with all submission said O Lord thy will be done in all thinges and not myne for thou art light and I am darckenes thou art he that is and I am she that is not But yet I beseech thee my Lord God let me be so bold as to aske how I a wretched vile woman should be able to doe anie good in thy Church How shall I being a simple womā be able to instructe wise and learned men How shall it be seemelie for me to liue and conuerse emong men Vnto that our Sauiour answered and said Who is he that created man made a distinctiō betweene man womā was it not I If I thē be the creatour of man womā what lawe maie restraine me that I shall not doe with my creatures what I shall thinke good Can my power be limited that I shall not dispose of man and woman of learned and vnlearned of noble and base according to my will Touching thy question therefore which is how a woman that is the weaker vessel should be an able and sufficient meane to edifie men with doctrine and example bicause I knowe that this thy demaund proceedeth not of anie lacke of faith in my almightie power but only of an humble consideration of thyne owne weakenes and frailtie I will impart vnto thee my secret in this behalfe Daughter it is so that now a daies there aboundeth such pride in the worlde and specially in those that hold them selues for learned and wise that my iustice can no lōger beare it But bicause my mercie is aboue all my workes as I haue determined to doe iustice vpon this heinous synne so haue I also prouided a soueraigne medicine against the same to as manie as will accept it The proper medicine and punishment of pride is to be confownded and brought to shame And therefore my deliberation is that these men that are wise in their owne conceite shal be made ashamed and controlled in their owne iudgemēt when they shall see those creatures that they account vile and abiecte as fraile and weake women to vnderstand the hidden mysteries of God not by humane studie but only by grace infused and to shewe the same to the worlde both by word and example of life and for confirmation of such doctrine to worke manie strange signes wonders and miracles
in awe of her euen as a child doth of his maister and was wholly directed by her in all thinges vntill his dying daie which was within one yeare after And so he liued a godlie life and died in the state of grace How the holie maid deliuered Doctour Thomas her Confessour and an other Fryer that iourneyed with him from being murthered in the waie Chap. 3. ON a tyme Doctour Thomas the holie maides Confessour and an other Fryer called brother George Naddi Doctour in Diuinitie likewise went on horse backe together towardes Mount Politan to visite Doctour Raimundus who was at that tyme there Father Cōfessour ouer a Monasterie of Nunnes These two religious persones being on the waie chaunced to be espied by a nomber of theeues that were drincking in a tauerne where they should passe Of the which there arose from the table to the nomber of ten or twelue which preuented these Friers in a place whether they knewe they must needes come and there setting vpon them verie fiercely made them to alight from their horses And when they had spoiled them almost of all their clothes and of whatsoeuer they had about them besides they lead them towardes a darcke thicket that was there by mynding there to haue murdered them and so to haue bestowed their bodies in that vnhaunted place that their facte should neuer be espied When Doctour Thomas perceiued partly by their suspicious maner and partly by some wordes that they cast out what their meaning was being in a great agonie he cast vp his hart to God and to the holie maid and said these wordes secretly to him selfe with great deuotion O deere Catherine Gods deuout seruant and spowse helpe vs now in this our great distresse He had scantly spoken those wordes in his hart but that one of the theeues that was before in mynd to haue killed them being quite altered from that cruel purpose spake after this maner to his felowes Sirs what meane we to she we such crueltie to these good men that neued did vs harme Surely it is a great synne Let them goe a Gods name We maie trust them well inough they will neuer discrie vs. At these wordes the rest being likewise touched as it were with a certaine remorse of conscience restored vnto them againe their horses clothes and all other thinges only a litle money excepted and sent them awaie without anie further hurt Now the thing that is most to be noted in this storie is this At that verie tyme when Doctour Thomas spake those wordes in his hart the holie maid being then in Siena said to one of the sisters these wordes Doctour Thomas calleth me And sure I am that he is in great distresse where soeuer he is And therefore let vs praie to God for him And with that she set her selfe to praier by vertue whereof she ouercame and altered the myndes of those wicked theeues that would haue murdered him as the effecte declared afterwardes How she prophecied long tyme before of the conuersion of a gentleman called Francis of Malauolt Chap. 4. THere was in the citie of Siena a gentleman called Francis of Malauolt worshipfully borne but youthfully geuen And though he had a wife yet could he not keepe at home but would be oftentymes abrode Which thing grieued all his frindes and especially one man that kept him cōpanie most commonly who being a vertuous man for verie entier loue that he bare vnto him and also for compassion that he had in his hart to see his frind to liue in such a damnable state exhorted him that he would goe one daie with him and heare the holie maid The young gentleman was well content to goe with him and to heare her speake And resorting vnto her at diuerse and sundrie tymes he was then presently much stirred to compunction by her godlie exhortations and determined with him selfe to leaue his synful life but within a fewe daies after he fell to it againe The which thing the holy maid perceiued well and had great pitie on his weakenes therefore praied to God earnestly for him on a daie when the young man came after his accustomed maner to heare her exhortation she spake these wordes to him with great feruour vehemēcy of spirit Sōne said she thou comest often to me but afterwardes thou farest like a wild byrd and fliest awaie from me to thy old hauntes But one thing I tell thee I shall once by Gods grace laie such a yoke on thy necke that thou shalt not flie from me anie more as thou dost now The yong gentleman tooke good heed to her wordes and so did manie moe that were present but yet he sawe them not verified so long as she liued And for a tyme also after that she was passed out of this wordle he gaue him selfe againe to his wonted licentiousnes and vicious maner of life And so much the more freely because he had none then to restreine him as he was wont to haue of her before But as the holie maid was an earnest intercessour for that yong man while she dwelt here on the earth so was she also a much more diligent sollicitour in his cause before God when she was in heauen as the end declared Not long after the decease of this holie maid it chaunced that the young mans wife and that deere frind that loued him so intierly and in whom he reposed a verie speciall trust died also The departure and lacke of which two he tooke so deepely because he seemed as a man abandoned and lefte alone in the wordle that he willingly forsooke all the vaine ioyes and pleasures of the wordle and put his head into the holie yoke of religion in the which discipline he liued and died not without a verie great opinion of vertue and holines And whensoeuer he happened in his life tyme to talke to others of his dissolute life in the worlde and of his conuersion and entring into religion he would confesse that whatsoeuer grace he had he had to thanke God from whom all goodnes proceedeth and the holie maid by whose effectual praier he acknowledged he was wonne from the wordle to God How the holie maid made an exhortation to the Carthusian Monckes in the which by the spirite of prophecie she touched the most secret defectes of diuerse and sundrie of them verie particularly Chap. 5. THere was besides the citie of Pisa in an Iland a couent of Carthusians the Priour whereof was called Don Bartilmewe of Rauenna This Priour being a good religious man and desirous to traine vp his couent in all perfection of spiritual life hearing of the vertue and holines of this holie maid and what a singular grace she had in mouing mens hartes with her godlie exhortations besought Doctour Raimundus that he would be a meane to her and intreat her to come one daie to his house to geue some spiritual lesson to his brethren The holie maid was content at the request of Doctour
frindlie and comfortable looke though he like an vnkind man had thrice refused and denied thee Thou drewest Marie Magdalen to thee with the lines of loue when she had estranged her selfe from thee by her manifold synnes Thou tookest Mathewe the Publicane from a synful trade of life in the wordle to be an Apostle and Euangelist Thou diddest not repell the woman of Cananee nor Zacheus the Prince of Publicans but didest most sweetly accept the one and inuite the other Wherefore I most humbly beseech thee for all thy mercies hitherto shewed vnto man and for all those also that thyne infinite goodnes hath determined to shewe hereafter that thou wilt voutchsafe to looke downe vpon these wretched creatures mollifie their hartes with the fyer of thy holie spirite that they maie be deliuered from the second death Our Lord heard the praier of his Spowse and graunted her such a grace that she went in spirite with those two theeues towardes the place of execution weeping and lamenting for their synnes and mouing them to repentance for the same Which thing the wicked sprites perceiued well inough and therefore they cried out vpon her and said Catherine leaue to trouble vs. If thou wilt not we will surely enter into thee and vexe thee To whom the holie maid made this answere As God will so will I. And therefore I will not cease to doe what lieth in me for the reliefe of these poore wretches because I know it is the will of God that I should so doe And so continuing in praier she procured them a verie singular fauour and grace as the effecte declared For when these theeues were come to the gate of the citie our Sauiour Christ appeered to them shewing to them his precious woundes all streamīg downe with blood inuiting them to become repētant for their former life Which if they did he put them in a sure cōfort that all was quite forgeuen At this strāge sight their hartes were sodainly so altered to the great wōder of as manie as were there presēt that they changed their stile and turned their blasphemie into thākesgeuing praysing God for his great mercies And shewing thēselues to be hartely sorie contrite for their synnes desired earnestly that they might haue a Priest to heare their Cōfessiōs That done they went forward cheerfully towardes the place of executiō where they shewed likewise great tokens of ioy cōfort for that they had to passe by a reproachful death to a glorious life All the people sawe this strange alteratiō were much astonied at it because as thē they vnderstood not the cause thereof which afterwards came to light by this meane The Priest that heard these fellōs Cōfessiōs wēt soone after to visit Doct. Rai the holie maides Cōfessour in talke declared vnto him how wonderfully God had wrought with thē Doct. Rai foorthwith begā to suspect as it was indeed therfore asked Alexia what the holie maid was doīg at that tyme whē the theeues were lead thorough their street towardes the place of executiō She made him answer declared the whole processe of the matter so much as she had seene heard in her owne house Whereby Doctour Raimundus sawe a verie great likelihood that the thing had ben wrought as he deemed before by the praier and intercession of the holie maid Howbeit for the more assurance he tooke an occasion afterwardes to aske the holie maid her selfe And she to the honour of God and for the satisfaction of her ghostlie father declared vnto him particularly how euerie thing had passed Within a fewe daies after this was done certaine of the sisters that chaunced to be present while the holie maid was praying heard her saie these wordes in her praier with a full voice O Lord Iesu I most hartely thanke thee that thou hast deliuered them out of the second prison Of the which wordes being demaunded afterwardes what she meant by them she made answere that the soules of those theeues were as then deliuered out of Purgatorie and restored to Paradyse Such was her charitie towardes them that as she had by praier deliuered them from the euerlasting tormentes of hell so she neuer ceased to praie for them vntill she sawe that they were also passed the temporal paines of Purgatorie and receiued into euerlasting blisse How by the praier of the holie maid an obstinate synner was turned to God Chap. 11. THere was a man dwelling in the citie of Siena called Andrewe Mardine well endued with wordlie substance but bare of heauenlie ritches void of the loue and feare of God a baretter blasphemer and wicked liuer This man about the fortieth yeare of his age was sodainly taken with a verie grieuous sickenes which held him so vehemently that he was faine to keepe his bed where he laie waxed euerie daie weaker weaker vntill at the length he was geuen ouer by the Phisicions and despaired of all men His curate hearing that came to visite him and as his Pastoral charge required exhorted him with manie wordes that he should now in the end of his life dispose him selfe to Confession and penance for his soules health But he was so obstinately bent that he litle esteemed the Priest and lesse his counsel Which thing his wife perceiuing which was a good woman and had a great desire to sawe her husbandes soule ranne to diuerse and sundrie religious persones both men and women besought them that they would come and doe their diligence to turne his hart They came at her instance and vsed manie perswasible meanes to bring him to a better mynd setting before his eyes now the horrible threates of hell fyer and now the sweete peomises of the ioyes of heauen but all in vaine After them came the curate againe with great heauines and care to doe what in him laie towardes the recouerie of this sowle that was thus in danger to perish He exhorted him as he had done before and thereunto added manie goodlie perswasions to induce him to be repentant for his foremer life and to call to God for mercie But the wretched mans hart was so hardened that he might not endure to heare him speake but scorned both him and his holesome exhortations In so much that at the lenght he fell into plaine desperation and synne against the holie Ghost and in that damnable state drewe on a pace towardes his end This matter chanced to come to the knowledge of doctour Thomas who hauing great compassion of the wretched mans case went foorthwith towardes the holie Maides lodging hoping by her mediation to find some grace in the sight of God But when he came thither he found the holie maid rauished from her bodilie senses And so long as she was so he durst not doe anie thing to her bodie wherby to bring her againe and tarrie there anie longer he might not bicause it wae verie late in the euenyng Wherefore he gaue a verie streight charge to one of