Chapter 15 that it is no common or

ordinary thing for the souls of the dead to appear to the living; but that the appearance of Samuel and Moses in the Scriptures proves that they can do so.
To conclude shortly, there is un- limited authority on this matter. Therefore, that I may not be tedious, I will only quote the authority of cer- tain Theologians; such as Richard de Middletont; Peter of Palude,t 4,
t ‘“‘Richard de Middleton.” ‘Doctor soli- dus et fundatissimus’’; the date of his birth ts unknown; most authorities name 1300 as the year of his death; but some say 1304, and others 1307 or 1308. This great schoolman paid due attention to the important problems of demonta- lity, “‘Quaestiones disputatae’’ (1284), q. xxxi; and he also treats of the Incubus and Succubus, “In secundo Sententiarum,”’ d. viii, a. 1, q. 6. For a full study see Edgar Hocedez, S.f., ‘Richard de Middleton, Sa Vie, Ses GEuvres, Sa Doctrine,’’ Louvain, 1925.
t “Peter of Palude.”? A Dominican theolo- gian of the fourteenth century; died 1342.
BK. I. CH. XVII.
distinct. 4.5, q. 3; Scotus, quest. 1, art. 43 Denys the Carthusian, Compendium Theologicum, 4, distinct. 45, q. 1., and in his work on the Four Last Things, and in his book inscribed to the Novices of his Order; Dominic Soto* and Peltanusf in their several treatises, de Purgatorio, cap. 5; S. Peter Canis- ius, S.J.{ and Gregory of Valencia, S.J.§ in the Third Part, of his Commen- tarit theologict, distinctions 6, 9, and 11, point 1. disposit. 11, quest 1, part 1; and very many others. Let us now turn to some examples.
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Examples.
Socrates and Rufinus record that S. Spiridion had a daughter named Irene who, having well ministered to him, died a virgin. After her death there came a man who said that he had given her something to keep for him.
* “Dominic Soto.” A renowned Spanish theologian of the Order of S. Dominic. Born at Segovia, 1494; died at Salamanca, 1560. See Echard-Quétif, ‘“Scriptores Ordinis Prae- dicatorum,”’ II, p. 171, sqq.
t “‘Peltanus.”’ Theodore Peltanus, a Bibli- cal scholar of note, who translated several commentaries from Greek into Latin. His own glosses are very highly esteemed. One of his most important works is his version of the “Commentary on the Apocalypse,’ by Bishop Andrew of Caesarea (sixth century), which was published, 4to, 1584.
t “S. Peter Canisius, S.F. 1521-1597. Doctor of the Church.
§ “Gregory of Valencia, S.F.” Professor of the University of Ingolstadt. Born at Me- dina, March 1550 (some say 1551; others 1540); died at Naples, 23 April, 1603. He wrote many theological works of great value. The lectures given at Ingolstadt (1575-92) ap- peared as “‘Commentariorum theologicorum tomt quatuor,” 1591-1597. There have been many subsequent editions. Gregory of Valencia has been much criticised for holding (‘‘Com- mentari,’ Liv. III, col. 2008, sqq.) that where the guilt of witchcraft is legally estab- lished the judge must inflict the penalty, even though he himself were personally convinced of the nullity of the charge.
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The father knew nothing about it, but searched the whole house without find- ing what the man wanted. But he insisted and said with tears that he would lose his life unless he recovered the thing. The old man was touched by his tears, and went to his daughter’s tomb and called her by name. Then she said from the tomb: ‘What do you wish, father?” He answered: ‘‘Where did you put that thing which this man gave you to keep?” She indicated the place, saying: “If you dig there, you will find it.”” He went home and found it just as his daughter had said, and gave the thing to the man. Ifshe could speak, could she not also appear? Certainly she could. Hear also how the dead subscribed to the Council of Nicaea.
Gregory of Neocaesarea records the following marvel, writing of the Coun- cil of Nicaea. Two Holy Bishops, Chrisantus and Musonius, happened by God’s will to die before they had appended their signatures to the Council’s decisions. So the Holy Fathers met together at the last rest- ing-place of the two who had gone before, and when they were where they could be heard, they said: ‘‘Brethren and Fathers, you have fought a noble fight with us, and have run your course and kept your faith. If therefore, in the light of your clearer knowledge, you judge that our decisions are pleas- ing to God, let there be nothing to prevent you also from adding your signatures.’ Saying this, and leaving there the signed decisions of the Holy Fathers, they passed all that night in prayer: and on the next day when they came there, they found added to their own signatures those of the two Holy Fathers in the following words: ‘‘We, Chrisantus and Musonius, who sat with all the Fathers in the First Holy Oecumenical Council, although we are translated in body, with our hands we agree to and sign this docu- ment.”’ From this it is clear that with God’s permission the souls of the dead can return to us.
62
Blessed Paul the Deacon (not S. Paul of Nola) says in his Life of S. Ambrose: “On the day of his death a letter was received from the East by his vener- able successor Simplicianus, written by S. Ambrose as if he were still living, and this letter is still preserved in a monastery at Milan. He appeared to certain saintly men, praying with them and laying his hands upon them; and we found that the letter bore the same date as that of his death. And in Tuscany at Florence, where the good Zenobius is now Bishop, because he had promised that he would often visit them, he was seen praying at the altar in the Ambrosian Basilica which had been built there by him, as we learn from Zenobius himself. When Radagais the Ostrogott was besieging Florence and the citizens were in despair, he appeared to some one in the house where Eugenius lay sick, and promised that they would be relieved in two days; and at this the citizens took heart, and on the second day Count Stilicho came with an army and defeated the enemy. The follow- ing we learned from Pansofia, a religi- ous woman who was mother of the boy Pansofius. When Mazcezel was in despair for his own safety and that of his army which he was leading against Gildo, S. Ambrose appeared to him in a vision at night holding a stick; and when Mazcezel cast himself at the Saint’s feet, the old man struck the ground with his stick and said: “Here, here, here,’ pointing out the place, and giving the man who had been deemed worthy of the visitation to understand that in the same place where he had seen the Saint he would in three days gain the victory. And so he brought his war to a prosperous conclusion.
“But we who are dwellers in Milan know these things on the authority of Mazcezel himself; for in this our Pro- vince he related this matter to many priests, and therefore we have set it down in our book with the greater confidence.
‘Further, we received at Milan with
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the greatest reverence the Relics of the Martyrs Sisinnius and Alexandrin- us* who in our time, after the death of S. Ambrose, gained the Martyrs’ crown in the parts of Anaunia through the persecution of the heathen. And we know that on that day there came a blind man who touched the coffin in which the Relics of the Saints were being carried, and received his sight. For in a dream he had seen a ship coming to the shore with a number of men clothed in white; and as they came to the shore he prayed one of them to tell him who they were, and was told that they were S. Ambrose and his companions. Hearing this name he prayed that he might receive his sight, and was told by the man: ‘Go to Milan to my brethren who will come there onsuch a day, and you shall receive your sight.’ For the blind man was, as he said himself, from the coast of Dalmatia and had never been to the city before he came straight to the Holy Relics, although he was yet blind; and when he had touched them, began to see.”
Constantius Presbyterf in his Life of S. Germain of Auxerre, chapter 17, writes as follows: The Saint was fearlessly abiding in a ghost-haunted house, when suddenly there appeared before the master of the house a terrible Shade which slowly raised it- self before his eyes, and the stone walls were hidden by acloud. In terror the man begged for the priest’s protec- tion; and the Saint ran forward and saw a fearful apparition. He first in- voked the Name of Christ, and then asked who he was and what he did
* Martyrology,” 29 May. ‘‘In the district of Trent, the birthday of the holy Martyrs Sisin- nius, Martyrius, and Alexandrinus, who in the time of the Emperor Honorius, as Paulinus writeth in his “Life of S. Ambrose,” obtained the crown of martyrdom, being persecuted by the heathen in the parts of Anaunia.”’
t “Constantius Presbyter.”? See Constan- tius, ‘‘Vie de St. Germain d’ Auxerre, tr. frang. avec une étude,” 1874. ;
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there. The spectre at once put off its empty frightfulness and answered humbly as a suppliant that he and his companion had been guilty of many crimes, and lay unburied; and there- fore they haunted men because they themselves could not rest quiet : and he asked him to pray God for them that they might be granted rest. The Saint was grieved at this, and asked to be shown the place where they lay: and the ghost went before them and by the light. of a wax taper, at dead of night among ruins most difficult of access, showed them the place where they had been thrown. When it was light he called upon the neighbours and urged them both by word and his own example; and they threw aside all the rubbish and searched the place with rakes, and at last found the bodies lying quite disordered, with the bones still bound in chains. He directed a grave to be dug, freed the bodies from their chains and clothed them in shrouds, and buried them decently in the ground, uttering a prayer of inter- cession over them; and so the dead found rest. After that day the house was happily inhabited without any sign of haunting.
Every faith may be placed in the following history of Sinesius, Bishop of Cyrene, and the Philosopher Evagrius, which is preserved by Sophronius* from Leontius. Sinesius tried dili- gently to convert Evagrius to Chris- tianity ; but he objected that he could only regard as fables the Christian doctrine of the Resurrection of the body, and the teaching that alms-
iving would be rewarded a hundred fold after this life. At last, however, by sparing no effort, the Bishop per- suaded him to become a Christian and to be baptised together with his child- ren. Not long after his baptism he gave the Bishop three hundred pieces
* “Sophrontus.”? c. 560-638; Patriarch of Jerusalem and Greek ecclesiastical writer, much of whose work is preserved in *“Symeon Metaphrastes.”’
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of gold for the use of the poor, saying: “Take this gold and distribute it to the poor; and give me a written undertaking that Christ will restore it to me in the next life.”? He took the gold and at once gave him the under- taking required. The Philosopher lived for some years after his baptism, and at last fell sick to death. When he was near his end, he said to his sons: “When you arrange for my funeral, put that paper in my hand and bury it with me.” When he was dead they did as he had asked, and buried the paper with him. On the third day after his burial he appeared to the Bishop as he was sleeping at night, and said: ‘“‘Come to the tomb where [I lie, and take your paper: for I have re- ceived my debt and am satisfied. And to convince you of this, I have signed it with my own hand.’ Now the Bishop did not know that they had buried that paper. In the mornin
he went to the sons and asked: “‘Did you place anything in the grave with your father?”’ They, thinking that he was asking about money, said: ‘‘No- thing, Lord, except the customary garments.”’ “What, did you not bury a certain paper with him?” Then the sons remembered and said: ‘‘Cer- tainly, Lord; for when he was dying he gave us a paper and said, ‘When you bury me, place this paper in my hand’; but we did not know what it contained.” Then the Bishop told them his dream which he had seen in the night; and taking them with the Clergy and Elders of the city to the Philosopher’s grave, they opened it and found the Philosopher lying, holding in his hand a paper written in the Bishop’s writing. They took it from his hand and opened it, and found newly written in the Philoso- pher’s handwriting the following words: “I, Evagrius the Philosopher, to thee, Sinesius the Most Reverend Lord Bishop, greeting. I have re- ceived the debt stated by you in this letter and am satisfied; and I have no legal claim against you for the gold
64 which I gave to you and, through you, to Christ Our Lord and Saviour.” Hugh Etherianus relates the same story.
In his De regressu animarum ab in- feris, XVI, Hugh Etherianus relates how the Abbot Menas told that he heard S. Eulogius* of Alexandria say as follows: ‘“‘When I had set out for Constantinople, I was lodging with Master Gregory, Archdeacon of Rome and a famous man, who told me the following concerning the most Holy and Blessed Pope Leo. He said that Pope Leo had written in the Church at Rome a letter to S. Flavian, Bishop of Constantinople, against the heretics Eutyches and Nestorius; and that he placed the letter upon the tomb of S. Peter, the First of the Apostles, and devoted himself to prayers and vigils and fasts, beseeching the mighty Apostle as follows: ‘If I, being but a man, have put anything in this letter ill-advisedly, do thou, to whom this Church and See were committed by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, amend it.’ After four days the Apostle appeared to him and said: ‘I have read and amended it.’ Then he took the Letter from S. Peter’s sepulchre and, on opening it, found it amended by the Apostle’s hand.”
Theodore, the Holy Bishop of Dorna in Lybia, told us as follows: When I was lodging with the Holy Father Eulogius I saw in a dream a man in the habit of amonk and of huge stature, who said to me: “Announce my arrival to Eulogius.” I said: “Who are you who tell me to announce you?’ He answered: “I am Leo, the
* “ from 580 to 607. He was a warm friend of S. Gregory the Great, who bestowed upon him many signal marks of esteem. S. Eulogius stoutly refuted the many heresies which were vexing the Church, but unfortunately with the exception of one sermon and a few fragments his writings have perished. Those that remain are in Migne, ‘‘Patrologia Graeca,” LXXXVI
(2), 2913-64.
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Pope of Rome.” So I went in and told him, saying: “The Most Holy and Blessed Pope Leo, Bishop of Rome, desires you to come to him.” Hear- ing this, Father Eulogius quickly arose and ran to him; and they saluted each other and, having prayed, sat down together. Then the Exalted Lord Leo said to S. Eulogius: ‘““Do you know why I have come to you?”’? And when he said ‘‘No,”’ he told him: ‘“To thank you for your just and eloquent defence of my Letter which I wrote to my Brother Flavian, Patriarch of Constan- tinople, expounding its sense and meaning, and closing the mouths of heretics. For know, my Brother, that your holy zeal and labour were not for me only, but also for S. Peter, the Chief of the Apostles, and for Him whose truth we all preach, namely, Christ ° Our Lord.” I saw this vision not once only, but twice and three times; and so, being assured of its truth, I told it to S. Eulogius. ©
About the year 587 a vision of this sort appeared to King Guntram about Chilperic, that terrible tyrant of the Franks; and the King related it as follows to S. Gregory of Tours: “And I saw another vision which foretold the death of this man. For he was led before me in chains by three Bishops, the first of whom was Tetricus, the second Agricola, and the third Nicetus of Lyons. Two of these Bishops were saying : ‘Loose him, I beg, and scourge him and let him go.’ But the third Bishop answered them bitterly: ‘Not so; but he shall be burned in the fire for his crimes!’ While they were dis- puting together at great length, I saw at a distance a bronze vessel set on a fire and glowing fiercely. Then, as I wept, they seized Chilperic and broke his limbs and threw him into the pot, where he was soon dissolved by the flames so that no trace remained of him.”
In the year 600 the Most Blessed Gregory I, Pope of Rome and Doctor of the Church, tells (Dialogorum, IV, 17) the following of S. Musa. One
BK. I. CH. XVII.
night there appeared to her in a vision the Blessed Mother of God the Virgin Mary, together with some maidens of her own age clothed in white. She wished to mingle with these, but dared not; but she heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin Mary ask if she wished to be of their company and live in Her service. The girl said that she did, and was at once ordered to behave in no foolish or girlish manner, and to abstain from laughter and joking; for she must know that on the thirtieth day from then she would enter Her service with those other virgins. The girl followed these precepts and be- came changed in all her habits and with great gravity put away all her girlish levity; and when her parents expressed surprise at the change in her, She told them what the Blessed Mother of God had commanded her and on what day she was going to enter Her service. On the twenty-fifth day she was taken with a fever; and on the thirtieth day, as the hour of her death drew near, she saw the Blessed Mother of God come to her with the same virgins whom she had seen in her vision, and spoke to Her aloud with eyes reverently lowered, saying: ‘‘Be- hold, Lady, I come.”? And with these words she gave up the ghost.
Hugh Etherianus* again writes of the spirit of the owner of a bath who for his sins was, after his death, de- /puted to the heat of the hot rooms where he was compelled to attend carefully upon the bathers. He had performed this duty to a priest of Civita Vecchia more than once when, in charity, the priest gave him two
* “Hugh Etherianus.’ A Tuscan em- ployed at the Court of Constantinople under the Emperor Manuel I (Comnenus 1143-1180). He was a very learned theologian and on ac- count of his treatise commonly known as “‘Ad- uersus Graecos’’ he is esteemed as one of the most eminent Catholic controversialists against the Eastern Church. His “‘De regressu anima- rum ab inferis” was composed at the request of the clergy of Pisa. His works are in Migne, *‘Patrologia Latina,’ CCI.
F
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pieces of Blessed Bread. But he, weep- ing and lamenting, said: “Why do you give me this, Father? This bread is holy, and I cannot eat it. For I whom you see was once the Master of this place; but for my sins I was de- puted after my death to serve here. If, however, you wish to help me, offer this bread for me to Almighty God and intercede for my sins: and you will know that you have been heard when you come here and do not find me.” Saying this, he disappeared and so showed that, although he seemed to be a man, he was a spirit.
In the year 1139 Alfonso, King of Portugal, when about to join battle with five Saracen Kings, was told by Christ in a dream to be of good heart, and to use in the battle a Standard on which the Five Wounds were depicted. He won a notable victory which was the foundation of the glory of the Kingdom of Portugal. Fourteen years later Alfonso, King of Castille, was besieging Baeza, when S. Isidore ap- peared to him and advised him to make an assault, which resulted in one of the most remarkable victories ever won,
A very wonderful thing is told as an eye-witness by Bishop Constantine concerning the translation of the Relics of S. Euphemiat the Martyr. In order to put a stop to her marvellous miracles, Leo IIIt the Isaurian secretly removed the Martyr’s Relics, putting dry bones in their place and throwing into the sea the true Relics in their coffin. Some sailors chanced upon this coffin, knowing nothing about it; and thinking some treasure was hid- den in it, they took it and opened it. But by the miraculous scent which came from it they knew that they were
Holy Relics. While they were still
{ “SS. Euphemia.” Virgin and Martyr. She suffered under Diocletian. Feast Day, 16 September. Her Relics were venerated at Chal- cedon.
t “Leo I.” The Iconoclast; Emperor of Byzantium, 717-741.
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ignorant of whose they were, on the same night they saw lights and candles and men wondrously chanting and praising God. And when they had reached Levinum and had gone to sleep, in the quiet of the night they saw Glycerias the Martyr come to Euphemia the Virgin and embrace and kiss her, congratulating her on her arrival; and so they knew whose Relics they were. Three times they sailed from that place, and three times the winds drove them back again. At last S. Euphemia came to them in a dream and told them what would hap- pen, saying that she wished to remain in that place, from which she had been cast into the sea by the impious Leo.
In the year 800 Ramiso I, King of Spain, fought fiercely all day with a mighty host of Saracens. Towards night he retired to a hill with a small band of his followers. As he was watching and praying to God, S. James appeared to him and com- manded that they should all purge themselves by confession and take the Eucharist, and then give battle. In the morning, when they had _ all obeyed the divine warning, they ad- vanced their standards and slew sixty thousand of the enemy. In that battle the Apostle was seen riding on a white horse bearing a snow-white banner with a red transverse cross upon it. This is told by Bishop Roderick in his Chronicum generale Alphonst Regis,* and by Mariana,} Bk. VII, 13.
* °° Alphonsi Regis.’ Alfonso X ‘el Sabio,”’ 1220-84. It was under his patronage that the ““Crénica de Espana,’ more commonly known as “‘Crénica general,” was compiled from many historical sources.
+ “Mariana.” Juan Mariana, SF., 1530-1623. His most important work 1s the great history of Spain which during the life- time of the author himself went through several editions, to which he added, continuing his chronicle of events. The work first appeared as ‘‘Historiae de rebus Hispaniae, libri XX,” 1592, but the Spanish version made by Mari- ana, which was published at Toledo in 1601, has Thirty Books.
BK. I. CH. XVII.
In the year 1117, among other pro- digies which were appalling Italy, an infant was lying in its cradle at Cre- mona wrapped in clouts and, contrary to all nature, opened its mouth and began to speak, calling from her bodily cares its mother as she was preparing food for its elder brother who was cry- ing for something to eat. The babe said that it had seen Mary the Mother of God standing before the Judgement Seat of Christ, interceding with Him with the most earnest prayers for the doom which was coming upon the world because of its sins. After this it ceased to speak until the natural time for a child to begin talking. This is told by Dodechinus in his History.
Fregoso (Exemplorum, TX, 12) tells the following: Since Udo, Bishop of Magdeburg, would not for any sign and warnings from God keep himself from impudicity, certain religious men prayed God either to correct or to remove the Bishop. One night, as one of these, Canon Frederick, was so praying in the Cathedral of S. Maurice, all the lights of the Church were suddenly put out by a violent gust of wind, and soon afterwards two young men came bearing lighted wax candles, and following them came Christ with His Mother and the Apostles, calling upon the Holy Men whose bones were resting in the Church. Among these came S. Maurice, who spoke gravely and at length in denunciation of Bishop Udo. Soon afterwards Christ passed sentence that Udo should be brought there naked by two of them. The Bishop struggled and one of those who were fetching him struck him in the belly; and he vomited into the Chalice upon the Altar the Host which he had taken the day before in Communion. Udo was struck down with an axe, and then all that vision vanished. Frederick was greatly frightened and went up to the Altar, where he saw the Chalice with the Host in it, and the dead body of the Bishop lying on the ground. He then roused the other religious
BK. I. CH. XVII.
men, who took the Bishop’s body away and buried it in a field.
Two rich merchants of no mean birth were entering France by the Mont Cenis Pass, when they met a man of more than human stature who ordered them as follows: ‘‘Speak to my brother Lodovico Sforza and give him this letter in my name.” As they stood wondering who he was, he told them that he was Galeazzo Sforza, and soon vanished from them. They at once returned to Milan and thence to Vigevano where the Moor lived. They delivered the Duke’s letter, which was written in these terms:
“Oh, Oh, Oh, Lodovico, beware! For the Venetians and French are about to come against you and destroy your Dukedom. But if you will give me three thousand pieces of gold I will help you to conciliate the Spirits and avert your evil fate; and this I hope to do if you do not oppose me. Fare- well!”? The signature was: ‘“The Spirit of your brother Galeazzo.”’
And though some may laugh at this thing, yet it is true that not long after- wards the Duke was thrust from his Dukedom by Louis XII,* King of France, and was led away captive. Bernard of Arles testifies that he was an eye-witness of this.
The father of Lodovico Alidosi, the Lord of Imola, not long after he died appeared like one on horseback with a hawk, to a man secretly sent by his son Lodovico to Ferrara as he went on his way, and told him to tell his son to meet him in that place on the next day, for he had a matter of great importance to say to him. When Lodovico heard this, both because he did not believe it and because he feared a trap, he sent another in his place, to whom the same Shade ap- peared and bitterly grieved that his son had not come; for he said that he had been going to tell him much
* “Touis XII”? This king imprisoned Sforza for the remainder of his life in the Castle of Loches. .
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more, but that now he would only say that after twenty-two years and one month, on a specified day, he would lose the Lordship of the city that he then enjoyed. When the time pre- dicted by the Shade had come, al- though the greatest precautions were taken on the night indicated by his father’s spirit, the Confederate Army of Duke Philip of Milan set up lad- ders, since the moats were frozen over, and captured the town and its Prince. This is from Marcantonio Cocceius Sabellicus.
Francesco Guiccardini says that there was a popular rumour that the spirit of Ferdinand, King of Naples, appeared on three different nights to Jacopo, the surgeon of his son King Alfonso; and first with mild and gentle words, but afterwards with threats and commands, had ordered him to acquaint Alfonso that he must not buoy himself with a vain hope of withstanding the French power: for it was written in the Book of Destiny that the House of Aragon must be sub- ject to untold misfortunes, and finally be cast out from the Kingdom.
The Ven. Cesare Baronio relates that Michele Mercatis the Elder was bound by a strong friendship to Mar- siglio Ficino by reason of their com- mon interest in Platonic philosophy. They happened one day to be dis- cussing, as they frequently did, Plato’s theory of the survival of the human soul after death; and not without re- verential awe they decided that his opinons could not stand without the support of the Christian faith. (A record is extant of that argument, in a learned letter concerning God and the immortality of the soul written by Marsiglio to Michele Mercatis.) When they had argued this matter for a long time they concluded it in the following manner: they joined hands and agreed that whichever of them died first should, if he were permitted, reassure the other concerning the next life. Having sworn this together, they parted. Not long afterwards it hap-
68
pened that, as Michele was engaged in philosophical speculations at high morning, he suddenly heard the sound of a horse galloping and stopping in front of his door, and the voice of Marsiglio crying: ‘“O Michele, Michele, it is true, it is true!’’ Marvel- ling at the spirit’s voice Michele rose and opened the window, and saw him whom he had heard riding away upon a white horse. He cried after him: *“Marsiglio, Marsiglio!’? and watched him until he disappeared from view. Wondering at this strange occurrence, and feeling anxious about Marsiglio, he went to seek for him at Florence where he was living when he died, and found that he had died at the same hour that he had heard and seen him.
Not many years ago, when Ales- sandro Farnese* was conducting his admirable siege of Antwerp, the Hol- landers and the English made a fierce onslaught upon him in order to relieve the besieged, who at the same time made a sally; and having captured from the Royal Army their offensive works, they seemed to have won safety. Then a few of the King’s soldiers saw standing by the works Pedro de Paz, a Spanish Tribune famous as a soldier and for his piety, who had died a few months before. He was seen fully armed, just as he used to lead his regiment ; and beckon-
* “Alessandro Farnese.’ This renowned and noble commander was the son of Margaret of Parma. The history of his campaigns in the Low Countries 1s a tale of herowe genius and victory. He commenced the siege of Antwerp in 1584, and on 17 August, 1585, the city sur- rendered. Alessandro Farnese was created Duke of Parma in February 1586. He very properly attributed his success to Our Lady, Patroness of Antwerp. The occasion to which Guazzo refers was the great attack, 26 May, 1585, when the Antwerpers endeavoured to make a gap in the Kauwenstein dike. One contingent was headed by Hohenlo and Fustinus of Nassau; another containing English auxi- liaries under Colonel Morgan, and Scotch under Colonel Balfour, was commanded by Marnix.
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ing to his former soldiers, he ordered them to follow him. The front rank encouraged the second, and the second the third, and so on; and they all saw the same thing and marvelled and, taking courage, followed their well-known leader. He went in front and led them straight against the enemy. A battle was fought; and the Hollanders were forced to retreat to their ships, leaving the works to the Royal Army. In that moment that impregnable town lost all hope of victory or of defending itself. This is confirmed by the evidence of many soldiers who were eye-witnesses of the event.
In the Diocese, and not far from the city, of Pavia we read that a horrible thing happened in April of the year 1601 at a town called Correto. The funeral rites of a certain notary were being performed in the Church, when suddenly the corpse rose up in its coffin and, turning to one of his rela- tives who was attending the funeral, said: “Go quickly to my house and take a certain written instrument and restore it to such a place where it justly belongs: for because I suppressed this instrument, when I died I was sen- tenced by God’s judgement to the fires of Hell.”? Having said this, he laid his head down as before. This was per- mitted by God that mortals should know what heavy punishment awaits such dishonest lawyers who embezzle the legacies of the pious.
In the year 1590 occurred the fol- lowing event, which is most worthy to be recorded. It is taken from a col- lection of Peruvian Letters and the writer is said by some to be Francesco Bencio, and by others Gaspar Spitilli. In a certain lady’s house there was a native maid of about sixteen who had been captured in war, and had been baptised in the name of Catha- rine. As she grew older, she developed a sad freedom and dissoluteness of behaviour, and frequently had to be scolded and punished by her mis- tress. At last she became so wicked
BK. I. CH. XVII.
that she associated secretly with certain lost souls: yet she did not neglect con- fession, although she kept silent as to this sin, lest she should be thought a harlot lost to all shame. On the first of August, 1590, she fell ill and sum- moned a priest, to whom she opened the sins upon her soul, but not wholly : for though the priest came and went away from her nine times during that same sickness, she laughed contemptu- ously and said to the other servants that she had committed another thing which she would not confess among her sins; and she added ‘such filthy and obscene words that the others were offended and went and told all this to their mistress. The lady scolded Catharine as she deserved, and then with gentle looks and kind words asked her what were those sins which she would not confess to the Father. She made no difficulty about answer- ing and said that, as often as she sum- moned the Father in her sickness in order to purge herself with confession, there stood at her left hand one like an Ethiopian who told her not to confess, because they were very little sins of no importance, and if she confessed them the Father would only think her the more dissolute; while on her right hand appeared S. Mary Mag- dalene urging her to rid herself of whatever sin it was. So the Father was summoned again and the lady told him how matters were; and he tried by every means to induce her to make a full confession, but in vain: for the more he urged her the more obstinate she became, so that she would not even utter the Name of Jesus. Another time when they offered her a Crucifix that she might look upon it and consider in her soul that Christ was crucified for us, she answered with the greatest indignation and perturbation of spirit: ‘‘ I know that; but what would you have me do?’ Her mistress said: “That you should turn to Christ, who will remit you your sins if you acknowledge them in confession.” To this Catharine
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replied: “I beseech you to cease from troubling me.” And when her mis- tress had gone away, she began to sing about her loves and her shame, and continued to do so for several days, until one night her mistress and some of the maid-servants came to her, and she broke out into these words: “I am in the greatest torture and anguish of spirit because of my violated confes- sion.” And from that hour up to midnight her whole body became rigid so that they thought that she was dead and began to think about her burial. But she came to herself, and the priest was Called ; but she in no way changed her former behaviour with regard to confession. Three hours later, a little before she died, the servants urged her to take in her hand the Cross and a holy candle and to call upon the Name of Jesus; but she said: ‘‘Who is this Jesus? Ido not know Him.” And she sat up on the end of the bed and was heard talking to someone else who was invisible. And another servant who was lying sick in the same room urgently begged her mistress to move her to another room because, she said, she could see certain black demons which terrified her. On the night that Catharine died the house was filled with such a fetid and putrid stench that the corpse had to be placed in the open air: the lady’s brother was dragged out of bed by his arm: a serving-maid was struck on _ the shoulder by a stone, and bore the mark of the blow for several days: a most gentle horse went kicking its heels against the wall and rushing madly about all through the night: and the dogs went running about and barking. After the body was buried one of the maids entered the room where Catharine had lain, and though no one was there, she felt a vessel, which stood on the table, hurled at her. And over the greater part of the town tiles and slates were seen to be hurled about with a great uproar to a distance of two miles (not that there are many tiles or slates in the suburbs
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of Callao, as the houses of that city are nearly all roofed with palm leaves). Another maid-servant was, in the sight of many people, dragged for a long way by her foot, although no one could be seen dragging her.
On the seventh of October, when a serving-maid went into the wardrobe to fetch a certain garment, she saw Catharine standing stiff upon her feet; and as she ran away the apparition took up a vessel and hurled it against the wall with such violence that it was smashed into a thousand pieces. The next day a Cross was fixed upon the wardrobe door, but it was torn down and rent in three pieces before their eyes. The same day, as the lady was dining in the garden, a brick was hurled and overturned the whole dinner ; and at the same time her four- year-old son began to cry out: ‘Mamma! Mamma! Catharine is suffocating me!’ They then hung Holy Relics about his neck, and so delivered him from that pain. These occurrences compelled the lady to change her house, and she went and lodged with a kinswoman, leaving her own house in charge of some servants. On the tenth of the same month one of the servants went into the house- keeper’s office and heard herself called three times by Catharine, and was so overcome with fear that the other servants urged her to call upon Our Lord for help and to take a lighted holy candle and go back with two of the boldest of them. This she did safely, and the dead woman then told her to send the others away and throw away her candle, since it hurt her, and to remain alone. Catharine sent out flames from all her joints, with an incredible stench, and was afire from head to foot, and was girt with a blazing girdle eight or ten fingers wide, the ends of which fell to the ground, which seemed to be some punishment for her lust and acknowledged lewd- ness. Seeing this spectre, the servant began to tremble and grow pale, and the wretched corpse said to her:
BK. I. CH. XVII.
‘Come here. How many times have I called you?” The servant, nearly dead, replied: ‘Good Jesus! Who would not be terrified to see you?” When she had said this, there came down to that place a most beautiful youth in white garments who told the servant to lay aside her fear and be of good courage, and to take careful note of what she heard from Catharine and spread it among the others, and to expiate all her sins by confession as soon as she left that place. Then Catharine spoke as follows: “Know that I am sent from Hell, and that I am subjected to the most terrible punishment because, when I went to confess my sins to the priest, I con- fessed only the least of them, as that I was garrulous and talkative and prone to anger, and such things; but was silent about my lusts and my habitual meetings with young men. Do you then learn to confess well and to keep no sin back. I give you this warning because I am so commanded and am compelled to speak of this matter as an example for others.’? Then the bell was heard ringing for the Angelus, and the dead woman quickly withdrew into a corner and vanished. And the Angel (for such was that beautiful young man) told the servant to go to her companions, which she did. We have set down this well-attested story, because all the kinds of apparition are found in it: Angels, S. Mary Mag- dalene, the devil in the form of an Ethiopian, and a damned spirit in an assumed body not, I think, its own, but one formed of air in the likeness of its own body.
At Naples about the year 1370 it happened in a Dominican Friary (as Brother Antonio of Siena says in the Chronicon Fratrum Praedicatorum) that, after he had completed his last duty of the day the Friar whose task it was to look after the Refectory entered it, and found it filled with Friars wearing hoods who were sit- ting down as if it was the hour for supper and they were expecting a
BK. I. CH. XVII.
meal. He at once ran and told the Prior of it: but the Prior thought he was mad or dreaming; yet, as he insisted, went with him, and saw, and believed. At this he also was per- turbed, and at once consulted with the gravest and most prudent Fathers of the House. On their advice he put on sacred vestments and, bearing the Holy Body of Christ, proceeded with all the Brethren to the Refectory and, addressing him who sat in the seat of honour, adjured him to say who they were and for what they had come, and urged him to answer in the Name of that Lord whom he bore in his hands. When the Prior appeared thus before them with the Holy Sacra- ment, they all rose and bowed their heads, but they kept their faces so hooded that they could not be seen. Then they sat down and, being com- manded by the Prior to answer his questions, nodded in agreement. At last the chief among them said: “We formerly belonged to this same religious Order, and were for the most part Masters, Priors, Superiors, Lectors, or holders of other offices.” And he went on to say that they had all been judged to damnation because they had been guilty of ambition, pride, envy, and many such mortal crimes; but that by the mercy of God they had been commanded to come there to warn them and all of their Order to be content in their vocation. For because they had thought too little of it, they were all damned and were being burned in eternal flames. And in sign of the truth of this, let them all look upon them. Saying this, they opened their hoods, and each of them was seen to be surrounded by flames of fire. Then their leader struck the table as a signal, and they all vanished: and the whole Convent was mightily dis- turbed with fear.
In proof of this I will add another no less credible authority. In the year 1599 at Naples, Fra Tiberio, a most holy man who was Superior of the
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71 Dominican house, says that the follow- ing happened to him. One night when he was going the rounds to see if the Brethren were in bed as usual, he went through the Refectory, and there saw many lights and heard the voice of a man reading from a lectern, and saw men serving. Finally he who sat in the chief place gave a signal upon the table and spoke as follows: “Ambition and gluttony led us to Hell.’”? And even now there is a scar upon the table as if it had been burned.
Blessed Peter of Cluny * tells the following, which he had from a Spanish noble: ‘When King Alfonso of Aragonf succeeded to the Kingdom of the greater King Alfonso of Spain at his death, it happened that he was gathering an army against certain rebels in Castile, and issued an edict that each house of his Kingdom should send so many horse or foot. Obeying this command, I sent to the army one of my servants, named Sancho. Some days passed, and when all who had been in that expedition were returned to their homes, he also came back; but not long afterwards, as is the way of men, he fell ill and died. Four months after his death, while I was lying in bed near the fire in my winter house near Estella, the same Sancho suddenly appeared to me at midnight, I being still awake, and sat down by the fire and stirred the coals so as to give more light or heat, and so made it far easier for me to re- cognise him. He was naked except for a slight covering upon his shameful parts. When I saw him, I said: ‘Who
* “Blessed Peter of Cluny.” Blessed Peter of Montboissier, also known as Peter the Vener- able, c. 1092-1156. He was ever honoured as a Saint both by the people and his Order, and thus Pius IX confirmed the cult of this great and glorious monk. His works are in Migne, *‘Patrologia Latina,’ CLXXXIX.
+ “Alfonso of Aragon.” Alfonso II. Al- fonso I, the Fighter (‘‘El Bataleador’’), reigned
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are you?’ He humbly answered: ‘I am your servant Sancho.’ ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘I am going to Castile, and a great army accompanies me on the road, that we may do penance for our sins in the place where we sinned.’ ‘And why,’ I asked, ‘have you turned aside here?’ ‘I have hope,’ he said ‘of pardon, and if you will have pity on me you can obtain an earlier rest for me.’ ‘How?’ ‘When I was lately in the expedition you know of, I was seduced by Satan’s wiles to enter a Church with some companions, and despoiled it of its contents and stole away with the priestly vestments ; and on this account especially I am pun- ished. And with all my might I pray you, as my master, to help me; for you can give me many spiritual benefits if you will. Further I beg that you will ask my Lady your wife not to delay in paying the eight soldi which she owed me for my service, and to devote that money, which she would have paid me for the needs of the flesh if I were still alive, to the far greater needs of my soul by distri- buting it amongst the poor.’ Taking more courage after this conversation, I said: ‘What has happened to our fellow citizen Peter Deioca who lately died? Tell me what you know of him.’ He answered: ‘Because of his frequent works of mercy, and especi- ally because of his gifts to the poor during the late famine, he has earned the rest of the blessed and is a sharer in eternal life.’ When I heard him answer so promptly and easily, I added: ‘And do you know anything of our other fellow citizen Bernecio, who died a little while since?’ ‘He is in Hell: for when he was appointed to determine the boundaries of this town, he gave many unjust decisions owing to having received bribes or favours; and because he did not shrink from taking from a poor widow her only pig, which was the sustenance of her life.’ Then, being incited to ask greater things, I said: ‘Can you know anything of our King Alfonso
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BK. I. CH. XVII.
who died a few years ago?’ At this, another voice spoke to me from a window near my head: ‘Do not ask him this, for he does not know it; for he is but recently come among us and has not yet been permitted to know this thing. But I have been dead for five years and know more than he. What you ask of the King he cannot know.’ I was astonished to hear this fresh voice and, wishing to see him, turned to the window and, by the light of the moon which then lit up the whole court very clearly, saw a man sitting on the sill of the window, clothed just as the other was. ‘Who are you?’ I asked. And he said: ‘I am his friend, and am going to Castile with him and many others.’ ‘And do you know, as you said, any- thing of King Alfonso?’ ‘I know where he was, but I do not know where he is. For he was for a time terribly tortured in Purgatory, but was delivered from there by the Monks of Cluny,* and what has happened to him since, I do not know.’ Saying this, he addressed his friend who was sitting by the fire: ‘Rise, and let us now resume our journey; for the army of our com- panions fills all the roads to Castile, and we must join them.’ At this Sancho arose and tearfully repeated his former request, groaning: “Master, I implore you not to forget me, and that you will persuade my Lady your wife to restore in mercy for my soul what she owed to my body.’ When he had said this, they both at once vanished. But I called my wife and aroused her as she lay by me in bed, and before I told her what I had seen and heard, I asked her whether she owed anything to Sancho our servant for his services. She answered what I had never heard
* “Monks of Cluny.”? The Benedictine Monks of Cluny inaugurated the Solemn Com- memoration of All Souls, which was ordered by S. Odilo (died 1048) to be held annually in all the monasteries of his Congregation.
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from any except the dead man, that she owed Sancho eight soldi. I could no longer doubt the truth, since my wife had confirmed the dead man’s story. In the morning I took the eight soldi from my wife and, myself adding what I thought suitable, distributed the money among the poor for the soul of him who had appeared to me, and had the priests say Mass for him, and spared no expense to obtain for him pardon of his sins.”
In this clear, certain and most edifying vision we are taught that men’s deeds follow them in death.
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